Honeymoon Part 1: Barcelona, Spain

Dan and I LOVE traveling. Neither of us had ever been to Europe (besides a layover here and there), so we thought that our honeymoon would be the perfect opportunity to take time off of work and see the places that we were dreaming to see. Asking for a month off was a bit of a stretch, but luckily our jobs were flexible enough (and bosses gracious enough) to swing it. Once we got the a-ok, Dan and I began brainstorming for possible destinations. “Should we go to one place and stay for a few weeks or should we travel all over and only stay a few days in each spot? Hmmmmm…what to do?” We ended up doing a whirlwind trip, stopping in 10 different countries and 17 cities! We thought it would be best to see as much as we could with the time we had.

Our first half of the trip was a Mediterranean cruise that started in Barcelona, Spain and ended in Venice, Italy with 8 stops along the way. And for the second half of our honeymoon we bought a Eurail Pass and traveled in a huge loop that ended in Paris, France. It was the perfect trip -- a grand adventure with my hub. We loved every second of it, even the running around like chickens to catch trains and getting lost in Berlin and Istanbul! It was all magical.

-- Honeymoon Part 1 –

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Our plane landed in Barcelona, Spain and we had 3 amazing days of exploring the city until we boarded the ship. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called AC Sants located near the SantsTrain Station and Plaza de España. The front desk was very helpful... they mapped-out all of the places we were hoping to see. It also helped that Dan is fluent in Spanish, God bless him and his bilingualism!

We took a walk down to the beach. It was fun to see the hustle and bustle of the Mediterranean cafe's and the colorful changing closets on the boardwalk. Dan jumped in the water and swam out to the furthest buoy {this is a habit of his}. The water was WARM and the beach was spectacular.



{Barcelona's fish sculpture, known as Peix in Catalan by Frank O. Gehry}

{Exploring La Boqueria was my favorite!}

{So many bright colors and tasty treats!}

There were tons of mini restaurants with bar seating in La Boqueria. We found a crowed counter at El Quim {crowded usually means good food right?} and we snagged two seats after a couple left. People were elbow to elbow, drinking wine and eating beautiful dishes like huevos fritos con llangueta y chipirones {Fried eggs with baby squid in ink sauce}.

It's always somewhat hard getting pictures of the two of us together when we travel {unless if you do the one-arm selfie}. Our tip is to ask someone who's holding a camera, chances are they're from out of town as well and they won't mind helping you out.  Offer to return the favor. "Can you please take our picture? We can take one of you too!"

{Gaudi's Casa Batlló and Casa Mila}

The gorgeous Sagrada Familia! Construction started in 1882 with Francisco de Paula del Villar and then with Gaudí until his death in 1926. Since then different architects have continued the work. They say it will take another 20 years to complete. Yikes! But what a magnificent sight it was!

{Feeling very small}

 {At Park Guell}

{Catedral de la Santa Cruz y Santa Eulalia AKA Barcelona Cathedral}

{A lit door in the depths of the cathedral. What's inside!? }

  

I heard of this little gem -- Granja La Pallaresa on a travel show and knew we had to find it. They serve crispy churros  that you dip in thick hot chocolate! Gaaaa it was to die for. We got lost along the way and must have asked 15 people for directions. We finally found it amongst a menagerie of windy little streets in El Barri Gòtic.

Carrer de Petritxol 11, 08002 Barcelona, Spain (El Barri Gòtic)

 P.S. Danny looks so handsome ^^^^

{In our happy place} 

Churro Recipe Here!

 {I dig this house. When can we move in?}

The McDonalds in Europe are super luxurious two-story mansions with plush chairs, chandeliers and real drinking glasses. They even had macarons! We had to try one. Why can't we have fancy McD's at home?

{Barcelona you are beautiful and amazing}

Check out Part 2 of our trip in Monte Carlo!

Our Honeymoon Plans!

So guess what? Dan and I are going on our dream honeymoon! A month long European adventure! Yaaahooo! We have a 2 week cruise in the Mediterranean followed by 2 weeks of backpacking.  We are so excited! Oh man, I'm feeling really spoiled right about now! We've been working hard and saving for years, so this honeymoon is a well deserved trip! We were thinking, you only get married once -- so why not go BIG!" And it's the perfect time in our lives to travel (no kids, flexible jobs etc.)

Europe here we come!

Here are some spots we'll be checking out.

If you have any recommendations let us know! We would love to hear about your favorite places, hideouts, restaurants and must do's!

Barcelona, Spain

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/pisa (livorno)

Rome, Italy (civitavecchia)

Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)

Mykonos, Greece

Istanbul, Turkey

Kusadasi, Turkey (for Ephesus)

Athens, Greece

Venice, Italy

 

And then...

We hope to see these during our 2 weeks of backpacking

Germany for Oktoberfest and a visit to Opas hometown

Switzerland because we've heard it's cool...

 

Lake Como, Italy

Paris, France (We're flying out of Paris) and I need to get my booty over to Laudree! Oui Oui!

Oh my gosh! Is this really happening? I need to pinch myself sometimes...we are feeling very blessed and excited for such a grand adventure ahead of us! What a wonderful way to start our marriage. We can't wait!

Pictures: Istanbul, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Ephesus, Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Switzerland, Paris, Munich, Lake Como

Churros con Chocolate

One of my dreams is to temporarily house swap and live in Spain with Danny! Oh how great would that be? Dan was a lucky duck; he grew up in a bilingual family and can switch from English to Spanish like it ain't no thing. Spain could be my chance to finally learn Spanish fluently! Until then, I will continue to practice my Rosetta Stone and make Churros con Chocolate -- a popular breakfast treat among Spaniards. Believe it or not, this recipe is really easy to make. And...it's AMAZING!

Churros are usually served plain with a hot chocolate dipping sauce in various European countries. And check this out...when we were in Costa Rica, they made their version with dulce de leche in the middle! Awww so good! But my all time favorite would be rolled in cinnamon-sugar and dipped in chocolate!

Makes approximately 20 churros (depending on size)
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (I used salted butter, if you use unsalted add a pinch of salt to the batter)
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
3 eggs
oil for frying

Cinnamon sugar
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate sauce
100g (3.53 ounces) dark chocolate
50ml (1.69 fluid ounces) cream

• Start by making the chocolate sauce and the cinnamon sugar. Melt the chocolate and cream together and set aside. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine the water, butter, sugar and salt. Allow the butter to melt and stir everything together.
• Combine the saucepan mixture with sifted flour and stir until a ball starts to form.
• Transfer the mixture to your stand-alone mixer or to a separate bowl if you are using a hand-held blender.
• Allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes.*You don't want the hot dough to currdle the eggs
• Place enough oil into a pot to fry the churros and allow to heat.
• Start beating the dough and add the eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. The mixture will become slightly sticky and more like a batter, but still thick.
• Place the batter into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
• When the oil is hot, pipe long shapes into the oil and allow to fry until golden brown, flip them over and fry on the other side.
• Continue until all the batter has been used.
• Coat the churros in the cinnamon sugar.
• Serve warm with chocolate sauce.

Adapted from Simply Delicious