I’d pick Croatia because it really was a magical place to Jay and I. Split had a charming old town made up mostly of a giant old Roman Palace dating from 305 A.D. The buildings were all made of ancient stone with orange clay roofs. The streets were small and winding and seemed to offer endless new discoveries. We could walk to groceries, shopping, restaurants, parks, the sea, work – almost anything we needed.

Just a 10 minute walk from the center was a large park that offered beautiful views over the old town and the sea. It was full of jogging paths and rocky beaches. I’d run on the paths overlooking the sea a few days a week.

Split has just 220,000 people, but it is the largest Croatian port city, making it easy to get to the islands. There were three island we could get to in less than an hour on a ferry (and the ferry was just a 15 minute walk from our house). It was common to hear, “Oh, we just decided to pop on over to the island of Brac for the afternoon.” I’ll likely never be able to say that again in my life. And the islands were fabulous. They were mostly under-developed. There was pristine nature and crystal clear turquoise water.

For being a fairly small country, Croatia offered an amazing amount of beautiful places to visit. My favorite was the island of Vis because it was the least developed and offered such a variety of beautiful coves and diverse beaches. My second favorite was tie between the two national parks with waterfalls: Plitvice and Krka. Plitvice was a bit more impressive and much more expansive, but Krka was less crowded and we got to swim beneath the falls.

We met wonderful people in Split and not just acquaintances that we will lose track of now that we’re gone. Some are close friends that we’ve already seen since leaving Split. We visited Milda and Mario in Lithuania. And Paula and I vacationed together in Prague. We are looking forward to them visiting us here in the United States.

Sometimes when I think about it, Croatia seems like a little paradise, but then I remember that that it wasn’t. No place is perfect. And as much as I love Croatia, its not the place I would pick to live forever because the business culture and bureaucracy drove me crazy. Magical islands and sparkling turquoise seas can only sustain me for so long.

I get a lot of fulfillment in life from being a designer and helping businesses grow using design, but too much time in Croatia was dedicated to trying to overcome silly Croatian bureaucratic and cultural business obstacles. And this had absolutely nothing to do with internal workings of my company, Elevator. Croatia overall does a poor job at encouraging business growth and entrepreneurial success. The nonsensical constant changing laws and nepotism were never ending. I have seen some of the most intelligent people I know (local Croatians and expats) trying to make a career for themselves only to be spun in circles and spit back out by the bureaucracy. I am confident though that some of these people will succeed. I admire their perseverance.

That was the main reason that I would pick Madrid over Croatia as my preferred place to live forever. Madrid wasn’t quite as enchanting as Croatia, but it was still pretty spectacular. The city offered a never ending stream of exciting things to do, travel was cheap and easy, I loved my job and I got the opportunity to drastically improve my Spanish.

We lived in the center of the city so we could walk to most places and Madrid has one of the largest metro systems in the world so it was easy to get anywhere. Madrid doesn’t have the obvious tourist attractions like some large European cities, but it is a great place to live or visit. It has a very rich culture. There were wonderful museums, lots of parks, and always great events.

Retiro Park is my favorite city park I’ve ever been to because the gardens are beautiful, there are great walking/running paths, the beautiful main pond is fun for row boats, and there are plenty of grassy spots to find your own private corner for a picnic.

Jay and I appreciated the plethora of events that can only happen in a big city, like the free Linkin Park / Katy Perry concert. And being in Madrid for a victorious World Cup was something we’ll never forget.

Madrid also boasted an amazing amount of discount airline routes. We visited the island of Mallorca for less than $25 round trip each and made it to Marrakesh for less than $50 round trip each. Plus there were numerous great day trips we took by train. We were completely spoiled by the amount of wonderful places we got to visit. We wished we were able to snag such great travel deals here in Cincinnati (but we did learn we need to explore our own region more because it has a lot to offer).

I wish I had had more time in Madrid, especially for improving my Spanish and because work was fun too, but I know I should just be thankful for the eight months I had. Jay and I both feel amazingly blessed for the experiences we had the last two years. It surpassed all expectations. But no matter how marvelous Croatia and Madrid were, they were both missing what was most important to us: our families. We also feel pretty blessed to be back in Cincinnati spending time with those we love most.

It wasn’t all bad. Actually it was quite pleasant until the end.

Jay and I decided to spend our long Thanksgiving weekend this past November renting a car and driving through the south of Spain on a four-day road trip. Our first stop was Granada, home of the Alhambra, a palace and fortress complex constructed mostly during the 14th century by the Moorish rulers. The grounds of the palace are extensive and we spent the afternoon walking through the citadel, the royal complex and the Generalife villa and garden. Much of the beautiful intricate Moorish artwork was reminiscent of what we had seen in Morocco. The center courtyard, the Court of the Myrtles, which helped cool the palace in hot summers, was the highlight. We were even lucky enough to have it to ourselves for a short while. It made me very happy to be visiting in November because in the summer the area is overflowing with tourists. We even had very nice sunny weather, but it didn’t last the rest of the trip.

Our plans for days two and three were to drive to the coast and then up through the Sierra Nevada mountains and to stop at the various pretty “white villages” – small towns filled with old houses comprised of whitewashed walls hugging the mountainsides – scattered throughout the route. Day two was burdened by patchy rainfall. The rain stopped long enough for us to make a short stop at the beach and to walk around the town of Mijas. We were thankful for the respite because most of the day we spent driving by road signs pointing to “beautiful scenic panoramas,” though all we could see was fog. We could see just enough to taunt us and make sure we knew that on a sunny day the mountain view would be amazing.

That evening we had our first Couch Surfing experience. Couch Surfing is a website that connects travelers with people offering a free place to stay in their city – sometimes a couch and other times a private bedroom like we had. We stayed with Evi and her three dogs at her special farmhouse in Estepona. Evi is a German woman who spent much of her life in Africa so her unique home had an authentic safari feel. And her tropical garden looked like the rain forest under the torrential downpour. She shared a lot of fascinating stories about Africa over dinner and wine during the evening and spoiled us with a huge homemade breakfast before we left the next day. She was a gracious host that went well beyond any expectations.

The rain continued on day three as we continued our trip through the mountains. We made the best of the weather and headed out with our umbrellas to explore the town of Ronda which is perched atop cliffs and divided by a steep ravine. It was one of my favorite Spanish towns we visited. We walked all around town and then hiked to the base of a the tall New Bridge (a bit of a misnomer considering it was built in 1751). It is one of three bridges connecting both sides of town across the canyon.

I climbed down some rickety steps and across a narrow path to explore further under the bridge and the other side. Jay watched, thinking I was nuts. There wasn’t much to see except an old rundown slanted steel building that was being overgrown by plants and looked like it belonged on the set of Lost. One blessing from the rain was that the waterfall beneath the bridge was full and flowing.

We spent most of day four in Seville, the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. After Christopher Columbus’s expedition to the New World in 1492, Seville grew to its height of cultural importance. It was designated the only royal port to the New World and all trade from the Spanish Americas had to pass through the city before going on to the rest of Europe. The city’s development grew quickly over the next few hundred years.

Seville was a beautiful historic town to walk around. Like many Spanish towns, it has an impressive towering gothic style cathedral. It was a Sunday so we attended part of mass to get a good look at the inside. We also visited the old Moorish Palace, which had similarities to Alhambra, but was much smaller in comparison. My favorite part of town was the large Plaza de España and the Traditional Arts and Customs Museum, which were both in the The María Luisa Park. The sunny weather returned for our last day so the park was full of families and children. It was perfect people watching.

Our drive back to Madrid took us through the town of Cordoba. We didn’t have time to fully explore the town, but Cordoba is home to a magnificent Cathedral-Mosque, an old mosque that was converted into a cathedral. This impressive site was worth a short stop on its own. Today it is a World Heritage Site and the Cathedral of the diocese of Córdoba.

The mosque was built in 784. It is most notable for its giant candy cane-like arches, with 856 columns of jasper, onyx, marble and granite. After the Spanish Conquest it became a Roman Catholic church and a cathedral was built right in the middle of the mosque. It was fascinating to the the dichotomy and the two still existing side by side.

When we got back to the rental car, I took a photo of Jay in front of the passenger side. As we walked to the other side of the car, we realized something was wrong. The small front window was smashed and broken. My first reaction was, “Oh shit, someone smashed the window and we are going to have to pay for that.” Jay’s reaction was, “Oh shit, someone smashed the window and stole all of our stuff!”

Jay’s reaction was the appropriate one. We lost more stuff than I care to recall: both of our passports, Jay’s work laptop, a Kindle e-reader, Jay’s prescription glasses, a suitcase full of clothes and toiletries including my favorite tailored jeans, a laptop bag full of electronic stuff, my backpack full of stuff, the keys to our apartment and more.

I don’t need to be lectured that we shouldn’t have had all of the stuff in the car, even if it was in the trunk. I understand that, but it seriously baffles me that someone had the nerve to smash our window and steal all of our stuff in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon when we were parked by 20 other cars. And we were only gone for one hour. People never cease to surprise me.

We spent the evening at the police station waiting in a long line and then filling out forms. We did our best to clean up the glass and I created a make-shift window from cardboard and paper to cover the hole for the long four hour drive back to Madrid. The drive home actually had one bright spot – I discovered the iPod and GPS still in the glove box, which was a small miracle considering the glove box was left open by the thieves and they cleaned the car of everything else. I guess they got spooked before they cleared the glove box – they shouldn’t have saved that for last.

Our aloof landlady never answered her phone on our drive home, so we had no way to get into our apartment. We didn’t arrive back to Madrid until after 1:00 am, so we thought it was too late to call a friend for a place to stay, so we stayed at a hotel. It felt very odd staying at a hotel with no luggage – just the clothes on our backs and my purse. Luckily our doorman had a spare key and we were able to get into our apartment the next morning.

We eventually wrote out a list of everything that was stolen – just to torture ourselves I guess. It was very long and the monetary value made me sick. We didn’t have insurance to cover any of it. And for weeks afterwards, we kept discovering new things that we didn’t realize were stolen at first. It was a frequent reminder of the event, and I cursed the thieves each time. We know the situation could’ve been worse. We were lucky we weren’t hurt at all, and we know things can be replaced. The fact that Jay and I both considered this one of the crappiest events in our lives actually was a nice reminder of just how blessed we are.

Arriving by the high-speed Ave train left me a 15 minute bus ride from town, and then a 20 minute walk to the center of the old town. Cuenca is a small town and January isn’t a popular month for tourists, so I couldn’t just follow the crowds. I had to ask several people for directions to find my way. Throughout the day I saw just a handful of tourists and two buses of Asian tour groups.

I was traveling alone and I enjoyed the quiet of the city. I rarely travel alone, and though I wouldn’t want to make it a habit, I really enjoy it in small doses (even though the entire time I am wishing Jay was with me to see it all). A day I spent alone in Japan at the end of a work trip is one of my most vivid travel memories. I can’t really pinpoint why, but solo traveling can feel so refreshing to me.

I spent the afternoon in Cuenca finding the best views of the hanging houses (casas colgadas), seeing the Cathedral in Plaza Mayor and exploring the small winding streets that weave throughout the old town. Parts of the old town, the narrow alleys, some stone houses with clay tile roofs and an abundance of stray cats had me happily reminiscing about Croatia. I also visited the Abstract Art Museum and walked to the other side of town to find Ars Natura, a natural history Museum. I wish I had gotten up early and given myself more time to see different museums; most of them closed at 2:00 because it was Sunday.

Cuenca’s old town is perched up on a cliff above the Huécar gorge. The houses built right up out of the cliff side are called hanging houses or “casas colgadas.” They are the most iconic symbols of Cuenca as their dramatic stance make for picturesque views. Many of the houses were built in the 15th century and were once the houses of nobility. The most famous house is now the Abstract Art Museum. In the 1960’s Cuenca was the center of Spanish abstract art and many artists had homes in the city. A wealthy collector, Fernando Zóbel, donated his collection to the city and helped establish the museum.

The city has numerous other museums, but they were all closed by the time I left the Abstract Art Museum. After seeing photos of the architectural beauty, Ars Natura, it was on my list of “must-sees.” It sat high on a hill in a residential neighborhood on the other side of the gorge. It was an adventure just finding it. I had to navigate a complete maze of streets. There were very few people out to ask for directions so I couldn’t be too picky. Luckily even the guys I had unfairly judged as creepy were actually very friendly. I eventually came to a tall fence surrounding the property only to be told that the entrance was another 10 minute walk away on the other side. I honestly would have climbed the fence if there wasn’t someone out waiting for a bus right near the lowest point.

I’m glad I made the effort to find the museum even though it was closed. I thought the building, designed by architects Carlos Asensio y José María de Lapuerta, was stunning. It is one of my favorite works of architecture I have seen because it harmonizes so well with the environment. Even though it is very contemporary and mostly made of concrete of glass, its low and lengthy shapes and neutral colors integrate it with its habitat. Large windows, each spanning more than 1000 square feet, let light into the building and offer spectacular views out over Cuenca. If I ever make it back to Cuenca I will definitely make sure I have more time and visit the inside too.

My fiasco trying to find Ars Natura left me little time to enjoy it and then rushing to catch the bus so I wouldn’t miss my train. I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. I thought for sure I would need to take a cab (if I could find one) and even then I worried I might miss the train. I about gave up hope because I didn’t even know how to find my way to the bus station. Suddenly I realized where I was and that I just might make it if I ran. I ran, what in my mind was a full out marathon sprint, for about a half mile (.8 km). I could see the bus as I ran down the street and just prayed it wouldn’t pull away when I was so close. Luckily it didn’t. I arrived at the bus dripping in sweat and panting – not pretty – but I made it. I got on with one other couple, we paid our fares, and the bus driver shut the doors and immediately pulled away. I enjoyed a quiet train ride back to Madrid and immediately showered when I got home.

Click here to view more photos from my solo trip to Cuenca, Spain.

Below is a 90-second New Year video I made frame by frame with post-it notes. It was officially made for my work at Cato Partners Europe, but it was created with sentiments for my family and friends. Jay and I wish you the best in 2011 and all the years to come.

Notes: 1. Cato’s logo is a bee. 2. Turn your sound on.

A few weeks ago my boss approached me about making a New Year’s greeting to share with clients, something interesting yet short and simple. I’ve always been fascinated with stop motion animation, and somehow I thought this sounded like the perfect opportunity to experiment. The process was definitely not short and simple, but I’m happy I tackled the challenge.

The process involved over 1,000 post-it notes (250 hand-colored black), over 600 photos, and over 60 hours in 6 days. Jay and I turned our tiny studio apartment into a photo studio by moving all of the furniture into one corner and ever-so-professionally taping my camera to a dresser so it wouldn’t move. I arranged every light in the apartment so it was spotlighting the wall, which included rigging the overhead light with rope and paperclips to get it in the proper position.

Our apartment become an obstacle course rigged with traps and we were very careful not to touch anything so we didn’t mess up the lighting or camera positioning. We even climbed over lights and the couch to sleep in our bed that was nestled next to the window. I was thankful I never had to go the bathroom in the middle of the night; I surely would’ve tripped.

I started shooting photos on a Saturday morning and Jay was such a trooper that he helped out all weekend with very minimal complaining. I wanted black post-it notes for the video, which I couldn’t find anywhere, so Jay took on the task of coloring in 250 post-it notes by hand with marker. The marker I bought dried up, then another we had at home dried up too, so I ran out to the store to buy a third that got us through to the end. Jay even sporadically paused the UC basketball game to help fill in the post-it note grid as I created new words.

I spent about every waking minute of the weekend moving post-it notes and taking photos. And then I spent time the next four days editing the images in Photoshop (my make-shift spot lights weren’t good enough), creating more images, picking out music, and putting the animation together. I stayed awake until dawn to get it finished before we left for our Christmas holiday trip – it brought back memories from pulling all-nighters in college working on graphic design projects.

I will definitely think twice before starting another stop-motion animation project because of the time commitment needed, but I do hope an opportunity for one presents itself again. I learned so much throughout the process. I know that just having one under my belt will make a world of difference.

So, it’s been five months now. Did I achieve my goal? No, not yet. Studying Spanish during high school and at university gave me a good start, but my biggest obstacle is still listening comprehension. I do pretty well in one-on-one conversations because people slow down for me. I get lost quickly when I am trying to understand a conversation between native speakers; they just speak so quickly and often don’t wait for each other to finish sentences. And the same thing happens when watching movies in Spanish. It often becomes a jumble.

Even though I am not quite where I want to be with comprehension, I have made some great improvements overall. I got over the fear hump! I speak without much apprehension. I still trip over my words, but I don’t let it stop me. I can have a conversation in Spanish for hours without a problem – though a bit of Spanglish is always thrown in. My vocabulary has markedly improved, but still has a long way to go. My comprehension is a little better, and the optimist in me says I will eventually get over that hump too, though most days it honestly doesn’t feel like it.

There are still so many things I want to accomplish with my Spanish. Here are some things I have been doing to improve my Spanish skills:

Spanish Classes

Shortly after we arrived in Spain, and before I started working, I took two weeks of intensive Spanish classes at Don Quijote language school. I took five hours of classes a day full of grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and culture. I was actually disappointed that most of my teachers seemed unprepared and taught straight from the book. My class had four teachers in our two weeks, so it was hard for them to get to know our needs. Though a good teacher would’ve been nice, it was still a great way to get my brain accustomed to speaking and hearing Spanish.

Since then I have been taking evening classes at CEE. It is ironic that CEE’s classes are remarkably more affordable, yet I feel like I have gotten so much more out of them. Classes are one hour a day and I usually attend three or four days a week depending on work and travel plans. I’ve had two different teachers. The first teacher I had was one of my favorite Spanish teachers I’ve ever had (after my high school teacher Señorita Bock). He really helped me understand a lot of grammar so I can better say what I intend to say in Spanish.

One of the best things about my Spanish classes are getting to know my classmates who come from all different parts of the world. Along with learning Spanish, I always get a few culture lessons from other countries too. I love learning the little idiosyncrasies. Just the other day I learned that most Europeans pronounce Nike as it would rhyme with bike or like. I’ve always heard my boss refer to it that way and I thought it was just his weird personal quirk. I had no idea it was a peculiarity of millions of people.

Language Exchanges

A language exchange or “intercambio” is a good way to practice speaking a language. I’d meet up with a native Spanish speaker who wanted to learn English and we’d speak in English half the time and Spanish the other half. Though work has put an end to the regularity of my language exchanges, I did quite a few when I first arrived and I met some great people.

I found language exchange partners online through Couchsurfing and Loquo. Jay and I also did a group language exchange through Couchsurfing, which felt like a mixture of speed dating and summer camp. We spoke with lots of different people and played word games.

I liked doing language exchanges because they were a good way to meet people and to have someone to ask all of my language questions. One of my language partner, Noelia, and I would keep a notebook and write down all of our questions that came up though the week. We’d usually walk through a park or the streets of Madrid and then find a bench on which to sit afterwards and ask all of our questions.

Work

Working in a mostly Spanish speaking environment may be doing the most for my Spanish skills. I have to use all of my skills at work. Though my boss speaks perfect English, I speak Spanish with everyone else. I learn vocab and grammar as I write presentations and review my colleagues’ corrections of my errors. I read briefs and write emails in Spanish.

I think my biggest challenges have been a few ideation work sessions recently. Anyone involved in work sessions knows that sometimes everyone seems to be talking at once and when this happens in Spanish I can’t understand a thing. Sometimes I just want to yell, “One at a time, please!”

These sessions are completely exhausting as I use all of my brain power just to keep up with what is going on and then try to contribute on top of that. The first time I spoke up was the most nerve racking experience. It’s one thing to have no fear in the grocery store; its another thing to speak up at work in front of a group of professionals who are all native Spanish speakers. After breaking the ice the first time, I’ve gotten over my fears. I know it’s the ideas that count and not my grammar mistakes.

Anki

I have been using the online program, Anki, to improve my vocabulary. Anki is a spaced repetition flashcard program. It is just like the hand-written flashcards I used back in elementary school for studying, except these are online and use an algorithm to strategically space out how often I see each card. I recommend Anki for anyone trying to learn a new language.

Reading

I usually read for a little bit before going to sleep, so I have been trying to stick to Spanish language books. I recently started reading Paulo Coelho’s El Peregrino on Jay’s Kindle. I was loving the embedded Spanish English dictionary we bought for the Kindle – I could just hover the cursor over a Spanish word that I did not know, and the English translation would automatically display along the bottom of the screen. It was so useful for learning new vocabulary. I hope the thieves that stole all of our stuff last weekend are enjoying it too (sarcasm).

Podcasts

My walk to work is about 30 minutes and I have found that Spanish Language podcasts are a great way to productively spend that time. I definitely think it is helping my listening comprehension. The podcasts have really brought to my attention how much different accents trip me up. Even though South American Spanish speakers are generally thought to speak clearer, I find them very difficult. I do the best with native Madrid speakers since that is what I am becoming accustomed to.

My favorite podcasts are Nómadas and Viajeros del Mundo, two travel podcasts that take me around the world. The vocabulary is usually pretty basic so I can follow the story and they always give me ideas for new places I want to visit.

Movies

I make an effort to watch movies in Spanish with English subtitles to try to help my listening comprehension. The English subtitles are there so Jay can understand the movie and so I don’t get completely lost, but I find that I just read instead of listen. I’m not quite sure how much help they are.

Regardless, this has been a good compromising tool for Jay and I. I never wanted to watch all of the Godfather and the Star Wars movies, but I agreed to do it if we could watch them in Spanish. The Spanish voices definitely add a comedic element to the movies for us.

I know that when I move back to Cincinnati many of these efforts will consequently fall off the list, but I hope I have enough willpower to keep up a lot of them so that I continually improve. At times I feel desperate about my lack of comprehension skills. I often feel like I am just hitting a brick wall. I’m always looking for new ideas to improve. Anyone have language learning advice that worked for them, whether in the native environment or at home?

The bus dropped us off right near Segovia’s most famous symbol, its ancient Roman Aqueduct. It is made of over 25,000 granite blocks that were constructed without any mortar around the turn of the 2nd century. The aqueduct is a powerful sight — it is 94 feet tall at its tallest point. In front of the aqueduct was a big pedestrian-only square, which was the sight of a dog show when we arrived. I loved seeing so many dogs together. They had such distinct personalities: the dignified greyhound, the lazy beagle, the spastic french bulldog, etc.

We walked through town and stopped at the Segovia Cathedral, the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain. The magnificent exterior reminded me some of Toledo’s cathedral. For some reason, I always pictured Spain as lacking the glorious cathedrals that dot the rest of Europe, but I was completely wrong. I am repeatedly pleasantly surprised in many of the cities we’ve visited.

We continued on to the Alcazar of Segovia, a palace on the edge of the old city walls. It immediately made me wish we had time to take my parents here because my mom would’ve really liked it. Alcazar is a fairy tale castle, built for the King of Castile in the 12th century. We climbed the castle’s tower to the highest point and we could see out far over the valleys and to the cathedral shortly off in the distance. Up to this point, the sky had been full of gloomy, grey clouds, but as soon as we stepped out of the tower’s spiral staircase and onto the castle rooftop, the clouds in the sky began to break up and the sun peeked out. Not long later, it looked like a completely new day full of sunshine.

We took a break for a late Spanish-time lunch and a pleasant conversation with Gaelle and Thibaut. They told us stories about their time studying at Georgia Tech and traveling all around the United States. It is always fun to hear what surprises people about the States, from the large food portions and free refills to tipping etiquette to the abundance of fast food restaurants to dating misunderstandings to the lack of public transportation and the urban sprawl to giant houses. I think the urban sprawl of Atlanta would be a culture shock for anyone from Europe. At least now Gaelle and Thibaut are conditioned to long drives, and a three hour road trip for sightseeing is no big deal. After eight months in Georgia, their English is perfect, and luckily they still have French accents and not Southern ones.

After lunch we took a walk, downhill, outside the city walls, along a small river and through a wooded path that offered peeks of spectacular views of the castle and the cathedral. It was hard to believe the morning had been dreary and cloudy. We eventually climbed many flights of steps back to the center of town and leisurely walked through the uncrowded streets. Segovia had such a calm and tranquil feel, probably because there aren’t too many tourists in November and most head to Toledo anyways. I loved the traditional architecture of the old town: tiled roofs and walls decorated with sgraffito, contrasting patterned designs made of plaster.

As the sun set so did the temperature and we stopped for hot chocolate and tea. Before we knew it we were almost late for the bus back to the train. As we left the coffee shop we could see the cathedral brilliantly lit up, but there was no time to stop and enjoy it. We made it to the bus just in time – we were the last ones on the standing-room-only-filled bus. The day wore us all out; Jay and Thibaut both napped on the ride back to Madrid.

Click here to view more photos from our day trip to Segovia.

We were able to share many of our favorite places in Madrid with Mom and Dad and to discover new favorite places. We packed a lot into three days; we checked out the Temple of Debod, Campo del Moro Park, a city guided walking tour, Plaza de Mayor, Puerta del Sol and the yummy bakery, a walk along Paseo del Prado, Plaza de Cibeles and the old post office, the Caixa Forum Museum, the turtles at Atocha Train Station, the Costume Museum, San Francisco El Grande Basilica, the Royal Palace, the Cathedral of Almudena, Retiro Park, and a day trip to Toledo. We had perfect sunny weather everyday (Historically, Madrid has more sunny days than any other European capital – in a close running with Athens.) and my favorite part of their visit was probably simply walking all around the city spotting random beautiful buildings.

Here were a few of our other new favorites:

San Francisco El Grande Basilica
The San Francisco El Grande Basilica rises above La Latina neighborhood in the older part of Madrid not far from the Royal Palace. It has a commanding exterior presence, but the interior is where it really shines. We entered through one of the seven massive carved walnut doors.

There visiting hours are quite limited (11:00-12:30 and 4:00-6:30) and we arrived just in time to join a tour that was included in the small entrance fee. The tour was in Spanish and luckily the guide acknowledged non-native tourists in the group and he spoke very slowly and clearly. I enjoyed the listening comprehension practice and being able to periodically translate a few sentences for Mom and Dad.

The basilica has a round floor plan and our guide led us around the outer edge along the adjoining chapels. One by one he turned on the lights in each chapel while explaining its highlights and he would turn off the lights before heading to the next one. Each was elaborately decorated and once contained the basilica’s most famous painting by Goya. The center of the basilica boasts the largest dome in Spain, at 108 feet in diameter. Every surface was covered in decoration with minute attention to detail, gorgeous stained-glass windows, elegant frescoes and barrel vaulted ceilings.

The Costume Museum (Museo del Traje)
Mom and I have always been fascinated with costumes and period clothing, so when I found out Madrid had a Costume Museum, I saved a visit to share with her. I didn’t have high expectations because most museums and exhibits I have seen in other cities have been small and homogeneous; always the same with mannequins lined shoulder to shoulder displaying the costumes. Madrid’s Costume Museum quickly blew away my expectations with its size, voluminous collection, and very well-designed displays.

The permanent collection takes you on a walk through fashion history from 16th century tunics and doublets to contemporary runway designs. I loved seeing the cocktail dresses from the 1950s; there were so many that I wished I owned today. There was also a temporary exhibition displaying the costumes from a current Spanish movie set in the 17th century called Lope. Mom and I spent a couple hours strolling through all of the displays. I was impressed with the detail and ingenuity in each of them. I know Jay and Dad were thankful they didn’t have to go to this museum, but I know they would have enjoyed it more than they think. Mom and I could’ve spent all day there, but more of Madrid was calling.

The city of Toledo and its cathedral
We spent the last day of my parents trip visiting the medieval town of Toledo (Toledo, Spain (pronounced toe-LAY-doe), not Toledo, Ohio (toe-LEE-doe). It is a formal capital of the Spanish Empire and actually has a much longer history than Madrid. Long ago Christians, Jews and Muslims coexisted here, and the city boasts ancient sights representing the different cultures.

Toledo is just a half hour speedy train ride from Madrid’s main Atocha station, so it was an easy day trip, but there were so many places of interest that one day didn’t give us nearly enough time to see everything. It was the last chapter on a long trip and we were a bit worn out so we took our time, taking in what we did see a bit slower than normal. We walked around town enjoying all of the historic buildings. We visited inside the Alcazar fortress and the Army museum, the Synagogue of El Transito, and my favorite of the day, Toledo’s cathedral.

Toledo’s 15th century cathedral has a dominating gothic exterior, but it was almost hard to get a good view of it because it is nestled so closely between other historic buildings. The interior felt like a maze of treasures to me. There were so many side chapels, a sacristy, a treasury, and more and more rooms leading to other rooms whose names I quickly forgot.

My favorite part was the Transparente, an ornate Baroque altarpiece in the ambulatory behind the high altar. Its name refers to the unique illumination coming in from the skylight in the vault above it and the numerous stained glass windows. (The cathedral has over 750 stained glass windows.) The transparente is decorated with with fantastic figures in stucco and bronze, paintings, and many colors of marble.

Hanging from the transparente (and several other places in the cathedral) was a lone red hat. It belonged to a cardinal who was buried in a tomb directly beneath me. Toledo’s cardinals have the opportunity to choose anywhere in the cathedral to be buried, and their hats are hung above their tombs until they rot away (which obviously takes a long time). I had read about these before visiting the cathedral, so I had my eye out for them, but they were quite hard to spot at first. They somehow blended into the fabric of the decoration in the cathedral. I felt like I was playing a game of Where’s Waldo? So many cathedrals run together in my memory, but the transparente and the cardinals’ red hats made Toledo’s unique.

The last thing we did before heading back on the train to Madrid we was introduced Mom and Dad to churros, often referred to as Spanish donuts. They are fried rings of dough sprinkled in sugar or dipped in chocolate that taste similar to a funnel cake. They are my favorite Spanish treat — delicious!

The next morning we took Mom and Dad to the airport. We were so glad they had gotten to visit us in Madrid to share in a city we love. It may have been snug in the apartment, but I had gotten used to them being around. I surely wasn’t ready for them to leave.

Click here to view more photos from Mom and Dad Klocke’s visit with us in Madrid and Toledo.

We flew into the pretty town of Palma, which has a beautiful waterfront dominated by the large gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma built between 1229 and 1601. We were disappointed to learn that the interior closed for the day before we arrived, but we got lucky because on our second stroll past the cathedral a wedding was concluding. We got to see a beautiful bride, and as the bridal party left, the cathedral remained open for visitors. The interior didn’t quite live up to the stunning exterior, but I enjoyed the soaring pillars and stain glass roses.

We debated for way too long about eating dinner in Palma or heading to the beach of Magaluf where our hotel was located. We eventually hopped on a bus for a 45 minute ride to Magaluf. The bus quickly filled until there was one small seat left in the back row bench already filled with four men. Most people getting on after that stood, but a heavy man decided that he AND his two small children would fit into this last seat. As he sat down squishing everyone around him and then proceeded to pull the two kids on his lap, I watched with slight horror thinking how annoyed I would be if I was next to him. There were two tall African immigrants in the row who made me think twice about my attitude; instead of being perturbed by their new seatmates, they quickly readjusted their bodies turning sideways, moved partly off their seats, squished even closer together and made room for the five year old boy to share their two seats. The boy sat contently between them and his dad, and I sat thinking that I should have a kinder disposition.

As we checked into our hotel, we were reminded that our stay included half-board (breakfast and dinner). We were sure glad we didn’t eat in Palma. The buffet was unexpectedly large and delicious and it made us feel like we had started our cruise eating early. The creamy lemon ice cream will be especially remembered by Jay.

Afterwards we headed to the beach for a night time walk along the sea. Though Magaluf felt a bit like a smaller version of the overly-commercialized Panama City, Florida, we were pleasantly surprised to find the beach completely deserted and lit only by the moonlight. The sand was soft and damp. The cool night air made the water feel very warm in contrast. We hid our shoes in a paddle boat pulled ashore for the night and waded along the sea’s edge.

The next day was pleasantly uneventful, except perhaps for the massive amount of older voluptuous topless German and British women. There were more topless woman than we had ever seen (which is always a bit of a culture shock for me), and I don’t think Jay enjoyed it quite as much as he would’ve hoped.

There were so many vacationing Germans and Brits that I am pretty certain I heard more English and German than Spanish being spoken in Magaluf. People just seemed confused when I would try to speak to them in Spanish. I eventually gave up and resorted to English. My favorite part of the day might have been when we went into a sports bar to ask if they would be showing American football on tv that evening and the bartender said, “Maybe. Is the Super Bowl on tonight?” It was still September, and clearly, we were far far away from our Cincinnati home.

After a short run and a swim, we spent the rest of the day laying on the beach reading. The water was a pleasant 74°F, which was warmer than the water ever got in Croatia, so it was a nice surprise for the last weekend in September. We swam out to the buoys and I enjoyed the buoyancy of the salt water. That, along with the calm Mediterranean waters made swimming easy. I lamented that I wasn’t sure of the next time I would be in the sea. I soaked up the sun and tried to take it all in.

Jay rented two beach chairs and an umbrella for reading while I was running. I about had a heart attack when I returned and found out they cost $15 USD. It seemed a bit steep to me, but in the end I was glad he did. We put them to good use. We laid there reading until the sun almost set.

After another delicious meal that was way too big, we set out to find wifi to watch the Bengals’ game. There was none near the beach like we had been told, but we were surprised and happy to find unsecured wifi from our hotel room. We got to end our relaxing trip watching a Bengals’ win before heading back to Madrid early the next morning.

Click here to view more photos from our weekend trip to Palma and Magaluf on the island of Mallorca.

Jay and I were quite pleased with our food in Santander. Our appetizer that night was some of the best potatoes we’ve even had. They were soft and seasoned with herbs and oil and came with a spectacular garlic and olive oil aioli dipping sauce. Jay is still talking about it. And for our main course we split yummy lemon chicken and ground beef pizza.

The next day was our beach day. We walked all along the coast in Santander checking out the different beaches. It was so nice to dig my feet into soft white powdery sand. It was something we had missed on the pebbly beaches in Croatia. While we loved the sand, we missed Croatia’s beautiful crystal clear turquoise sea. It’s impossible to have both; we debated which was better and ultimately came to no conclusion. We love both.

As we walked along the street above the beach, I almost felt like I could be in Florida. We could see small waves crashing on the wide white sandy beaches. The sidewalk was lined with pretty flowers, grass and hedges. There were plenty of ice cream parlors, nice looking restaurants, and even Starbucks. It was an odd sensation after being in the south of Croatia, because no place there ever felt like the United States to me. Once on the beach though, the abundance of topless women ended the Florida feeling. I joked that the beaches in Santander were just like Florida plus topless women, wine, and Spanish tortillas.

Before settling ourselves in the sand, we walked around the small headland on the eastern tip of Santander called Magdalena. It is covered with a green park and tall trees. Here the sandy beaches ended and the coastline turned into rocky cliffs offering some beautiful vistas. We checked out the 19th century Magdalena Palace, which was mildly interesting, and a small zoo with penguins and sea lions. Jay practiced his Spanish with me by reading the educational signs about the animals. We then searched out some lunch before we headed to El Sardinero, the town’s largest beach.

As expected all of the sandwich shops along the beach seemed overpriced and mediocre. We crossed the street and headed down a small side street and found a “hole-in-the-wall” sandwich shop where Jay hit the jackpot. He ordered a veal sandwich. The old man behind the counter opened his fridge, took out a fresh perfect cut of veal, cooked it in front of us on his grill, and served it up on a warm fresh roll with melted cheese. Jay said is was so tender it melted in his mouth. All sandwiches from here forward will be compared to that one.

We spent the afternoon lying on the beach in the sand, reading, and wading into the ocean. It was cold, so we didn’t venture deep. The day was overcast, but we didn’t mind because it made our walking and reading comfortable. During our walk we had kept our eyes out for beach volleyball, but just saw a lot of paddle ball. As we were leaving though, we saw four courts in play and two more being setting up. We timidly asked if we could play too, and got to partake in two good games of doubles. We lost, but we held our own – they were close matches. And we got to expand our Spanish volleyball vocabulary more. It was great way to end the day.

Our walk back to the hotel took much longer than expected — over an hour, but it was all along the beautiful cost, so it was enjoyable for the first 45 minutes. The last 20 minutes, we were just sick of walking and ready to be back. We carried our beach bag like traveling Europeans: sharing, each of us holding one handle. (This is how we frequently see European tourist carrying their bags, but rarely Americans. I’m not sure why, other than it looks silly.)

We had a small dinner at a hopping sandwich shop called The Green Frog (ha ha). I was saving room for a big piece of scrumptious moist chocolate cake from a local dessert shop that I read about online. When we got to the dessert shop, they were out of chocolate cake for the day! It felt tragic at the time. I got cheesecake instead, which always seems to be a mistake wherever I’ve been in Europe. I guess one small tragedy for the weekend isn’t too bad. We headed to bed early and were up before dawn again for our early short flight back to Madrid. Weekend trips always go so quickly.

Click here to view more photos from our trip to Santander and Bilbao.

After an hour bus ride into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains outside of Madrid we arrived in the small town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which is dominated by El Escorial, a historical residence of the King of Spain built in 1584. Today, it is a large monastery, an austere royal palace, a fascinating museum, a school, and a royal pantheon where Spanish royalty are buried. We walked around the exterior of the building and peeked over the walls to the gardens and decided to take advantage of the cool morning air with a small hike. We headed to the tourist office so they could point us in the direction of Silla de Felipe II (Chair of Philip II).

The hike to Silla de Felipe II was about 2.5 miles. It began on a wide path through a park, climbed up a rugged trail through the forest, and ended at a magnificent view of El Escorial set against the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains. It could have also been reached in the opposite direction by car, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun — plus, we don’t have a car. The hike itself offered many outstanding views and we had the path to ourselves most of the time.

At the site we sat on several blocks of stones that were in the forms of chairs and overlooked the vista. Supposedly they were the same stones where King Philip II sat and watched the building of his palace and monastery. We relaxed on his throne, ate our granola bars, and watched two young boys interact with their grandpa and his binoculars. It was fun watching their excitement at seeing faraway things so big, and I was just happy I could actually understand some of their conversation in Spanish. The boys were rambunctious and impatient. They wouldn’t let grandpa look through his binoculars for a second without chanting, “Give them to me, give them to me, I want them.” As they left, they gave us a cheery, “Adios.”

After our hike back and a quick lunch, we entered El Escorial. The well-directed path through the massive building led us to the Museum of Architecture, the Art Gallery, private apartments, the Hall of Battles, the Pantheon, numerous ceiling paintings, the Grand Staircase, the Basilica, and the Library. My favorite was the Library. I am always drawn to books and the room was beautiful. It glowed a warm gold. The walls were covered with books and the ceilings were covered with paintings.There were over 40,000 volumes, including King Philip II’s personal collection. The paintings on the ceiling were frescoes depicting the seven liberal arts: Rhetoric, Dialectic, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy.

I also really enjoyed the Basilica and the Museum of Architecture. The Basilica had wonderfully high ceilings and an impressive 92-foot tall altar adorned with gilded statues and religious paintings. The Museum of Architecture featured original plans, drawings, models, and tools detailing the building of El Escorial. The blueprints and detailed drawings of the building’s exterior were fascinating. They were pen drawings, but they were so intricate and precise that they looked like they could have been printed from a computer today. It was compelling to think about how far we’ve advanced technology in the past five hundred years, yet so many principles of architecture are enduring and relevant.

The Museum of Architecture was the first feature we visited and I probably spent too long perusing all of the drawings there because by the time we made it through the building we were exhausted and a bit slap happy. We spent a short time in El Escorial’s gardens checking out the hedges that were trimmed and sculpted into silly fun patterns. And we ended the visit on a high note with a perfectly yummy lemon icee.

Click here to view more photos from our Day Trip to San Lorenzo de El Escorial as well as other recent adventures around Madrid