Apartment Living

Still adjusting to being back at work after a vacation, but more so, apartment living again.

Since we had one crazy week before leaving on vacation, I had almost forgot that we sold our townhome and that we would be returning to the apartment we moved into shortly before we left.

It's been quite awhile for us having lived in an apartment. This is also the smallest apartment I have ever lived in since it's a one bedroom. We did put alot of furniture in storage and sacrifice closet space.

There are many upsides though:
1. It's cozy (no sarcasm...really, I like cozy)
2. When I need to get a glass of water, I don't have to feign dire thirst to guilt Leon into making the trek all the way downstairs to the kitchen. I can open my bedroom door, make a left, and viola!, the kitchen is at my disposal
3. Less to clean
4. No stairs (except to get to the garage for my car)
5. A shared gym? Haven't used this feature yet
6. Short commute
7. Close to alot of restaurants (including some of our fav Taquerias....hmmm, on second thought, that can be a downside too)
8. Closer to alot of friends for more impromptu dinners, lunches, drinks...whatever
9. We are paying 1/3 in rent of what we used to pay in mortgage! This is affordable Palo Alto living.

and last but not least....

10. We get a HOUSE after moving out of here :)

Yeah, those are all really good reasons for apartment living. It also is kind of nostalgic like the old days when Leon and I were first living together.

Sand Drawing

Long...but amazing to watch.

Granada & Estepona

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....that's how I felt today. As relaxed as ever. Spent the entire day at the beach, reading a book and occasionally napping. I will miss this!

I do miss Tank alot though, and by some coincidence, every book we brought on this trip contains a dog as a major character! Can't wait to see him.

So, we spent one day in Granada (that was Wednesday) and the one thing to do there is see the Alhambra. Before then, we were itching to try paella, and it was GOOD.


This was some beans and pork fried in olive oil, and that lovely paella. YUM! We were a bit spoiled by the food in Paris, so it was nice to have something like this on our plates.


These are from the Alhambra, which one day used to be a Muslim mosque before the Christians invaded the area. It was quite beautiful and we were glad to see it. Then we were off on a 3 hour drive to Estepona.


As you can see from the above photos, Estepona was all about relaxation and not really site seeing. It's been nice to do nothing here and to get in a little relaxation before we know we have to head off to the real world again.

So tomorrow we have a very early start in the morning and will be spending our 4th of July on a plane. Hope everyone else is BBQ-ing :)

Almost adios, Barcelona

My, time flies, doesn't it? It is hard to believe that we already have to leave Barcelona tomorrow. We really are ready to make it to Estepona though (last leg of our trip) and do absolutely NOTHING. However, one more stop tomorrow in Granada to see the Alhambra and Leon will test his driving skills in Spain.

Until then, we have crammed in as much as we could in Barcelona, starting yesterday with...

Park Gruell. Apparently, artist/architect Guadi seems to have designed much of everything here in Barcelona. what is impressive is that it is so modern, whimsical, etc. Park Gruell is one of those places.


After climbing to the very top of the highest point in the park on this rock-building-thingy, Leon and I put on our best "scared of heights" face...except Leon may have been half-acting.


Then on to another Guadi creation, La Sagrada Familia, which is a church that has been under construction for over 80 years...and STILL under construction. It was like nothing I had ever seen - gothic, modern, but yet, still old. See for yourself below...


After a short lunch break of tapas, we headed to the Picasso museum. We waited in a very long line (see pic below) and after getting in, the lady asked us what country we were from. Leon told her, and I jokingly asked "So...does that mean we get a discount?"...then she said "It is free". Wow! When did Americans get into foreign museums for free? In Espana I guess :) No pics inside the museum, so you only get us walking there and waiting in line.


Today we hung around the famous street called La Rambla, known for it's street performers and shopping. one guy inparticular looked like a gold spray-painted version of Seth Green...no really, check it out for yourself below.


The highlight of La Rambla, however, is the big market known as Mercat La Boqueria. Was pretty cool, and I bought some candy for our plane ride tomorrow because they had a lot of interesting gummy candies which included tennis balls, sunny-side-up eggs, cobra snakes, and many more things. We were also sorry that we ate a sandwich before coming to the market as they had bars inside serving up fresh seafood...DAMN, I know! We did manage to get a fresh fruit bowl and fresh smoothies though...yum.


Before I sign off, this next set of pictures is dedicated to Brett P. upon request :)


Tomorrow, adios Barcelona and hola Granada.

Buenos dias Barcelona, Espana!

Made it to Barcelona. So hard to believe that we were in Paris this morning at a patisserie, and this evening we had some great Catalonia food.

No exploring yet, but went to a local restaurant recommended by the trusted Lonely Planet. So basically, this blog entry will be a breakdown of our meal (which was way too big because we wanted to try everything!)


Leon starts with a beer he called "hoppy"...I called it yellow-looking foamy


I had some fancy water


This is a tuna dish with herbs in a spicy sauce you put on "toast"


the "toast" with tomato sauce baked on top


cod, zucchini, and parmesan cheese with some oil and spices


fatty beef dish with mushrooms

We also had a chorizo tapa dish that was marinated in red wine...but it did not look appetizing and those reading this blog would think it was something else. It tasted great though!

Now came dessert and we got a surprise...


We ordered lemon sorbet and it came...soaked in tequila (that's the liquid you see)! WTF? I know...it did taste good though. Would never have thought of that as a combination.


My coffee...which in Spain seems to translate to espresso

We have only two full days here in Barcelona so we plan on tackling alot tomorrow.

For now, buenos noches.

Au Revoir Paris!

A quick post before we head off to Barcelona. We ended up getting to the Eiffel tower last night just before closing to get to the top. It was quite a view and quite the crowd. Certainly can see why it is a top proposal spot, but with the crowds there, maybe not as romantic as you envision. Leon did well, even with his fear of heights - but no looking straight down for him.

Here's some pics from last night...


This is our feet while waiting in line


And that line was VERY long


Beautiful view from the top

This morning we had our last breakfast at our hotel. Did I ever mentioned that when we ordered coffee here, they bring a whole pitcher of perfectly frothed milk? I will miss that.

Since we didn't really get to try any patisserie's while here (well, one chocolate beignet yesterday), we decided to get some goods to go at a patisserie right down the street.

Mmmmm...so much to choose from


We took two of those giant macarons


These are called choquettes, a popular french pastry...I tried mastering these at home, but still working on perfecting them. It is hard to find the pearl sugar that goes on top (found some at Ikea of all places!). Very yummy and airy.

We will miss Paris...

Now on to Barcelona!

Paris - Days 4 & 5

I was so tired yesterday, I couldn't muster up the strength to post. But alas, today was easy breezy and time for catching up.

Yesterday, we headed by train to the village of Giverny to see Monet's home and gardens in person. What a sight to see! So unreal to see the home and the famous 'Water Lilies" pond, along with the "poppy field" we have seen in his great paintings. It was a truly beautiful place.



Skipped the nap and headed off to dinner on the metro. It was raining, but we wanted to brave the rain to head to a place we read about that quoted best value for your dinner. Can you believe the photos below were from 10:30pm? Still so light out, it tricks you.


Well another night and another wonderful dinner. Yum! I started with a crab served with avocado mousse, while Leon started with a sundried tomato, goat cheese, egg concoction. I had duck and Leon had lamb. Last but not least there was dessert. I had a homemade chocolate mousse and Leon had a mango and rasberry crumble...heaven, ALL of it. We rolled out of there and had to unbutton our pants.


Today was a kickback day. Since we are in France, we were determined to find a crepe place. Well, apparently, Paris isn't known for it, but the internet is our friend and helped us to find a wonderful crepe place best known for it's buckwheat crepes. after stuffing ourselves again, we headed over to the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, known for many a famous author to frequent. Did a little bit of shopping too, but decided to head back here to the hotel.


We are up in the air about heading to the Eiffel tower again tonight to try and make it to the top, but thinking we may try and find a lovely sweet crepe tonight.

Paris has been wonderful and I can't believe that this is our last night. Certainly, it is a city I may come visit again.

P.S. just have to mention a R.I.P. for Michael Jackson. We've been hearing his music EVERYWHERE today in Paris.

Paris - Day 3

Another busy day. Much warmer weather but still so nice and breezy.

We started out today tackling the Louvre. It is quite alot to see, but we (like many) made a beeline for the famous Mona Lisa and got to see a few other works we knew, like Venus de Milo.



After a short ice-cream break, we made our way to the next museum not too far away called Musee de l'Orangerie. It housed a few Picasso's and some of the famous "Water Lilies" paintings of Monet.


We then visited the Arc de Triomphe again to make our way to the top. Another exhausting climb in a skinny stairwell, but the views made it worth it.



Took another short break at a cafe where I enjoyed a soy and cherry smoothie (surprisingly good) and Leon enjoyed a beer while we snacked on a club sandwich and frites. The we headed to the Sacre Coeur basilica. No climbing this time, we decided on the tram up the mountain to spare our tired soles. Another amazing view of Paris.


We headed back to our hotel and proceeded to sleep for the next couple hours. We then had dinner at a local cafe. I chose the beef tartare and Leon had a salmon dish. And as we have been used too, we always have wine and dessert with coffee, yum!

Still waiting to run into the "rude" Paris folks people have told me about. Thus far everyone has been very nice. They put up with our little known French in which most of the time we are asking if they speak English. I also have eaten like a king, but was told by some that portions are so small...not so my friends! I've been very full the entire time I have been here.

We have decided to move up our trip out to Giverny to tomorrow as it is suppose to rain on Friday - which wouldn't make for a pleasant trip to see Monet's home and gardens.

On a random note, Leon and I have been seeing advertisements all over the subways for the movie "The Hangover", which in France seems to translate to "Very Bad Trip". Funny how translations work, but not as funny as in Asia I must admit.