Ryan Air, one of Europe's popular discount airlines, gets a bad reputation for poor customer service and ridiculous fees, but I love them. Even with their outlandish fees (everything from luggage fees to processing and credit card fees), we've gotten some amazing deals making short weekend trips affordable. [...]

We arrived in Marrakech, Morocco shortly after the sun rose. The streets were quiet and mostly deserted besides the few random cars and bicycles. We were greeted by Rashid who ran the daily operations at Riad Mur Akush, our accommodations for the weekend. He said the tranquility was due to Ramadan; most people [...]

I'm glad I was awake for the bus ride back to Santander because the ride along the coast and through the countryside was very pretty (Jay slept). After a fun visit to Bilbao to see the Guggenheim Museum, we were back in Santander, a beach town on the northern coast of Spain. We checked into our hotel (right across the [...]

Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug. - John Lithgow This quote seems to summarize so much of life for me — and I know every year I will feel more that way. Jay and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last weekend with a short trip to Santander and Bilbao. I can't believe we have already been [...]

Two Saturdays ago we made our second attempt at a day trip to El Escorial. It was worth the wait. The morning weather was sunny and 70°F — perfect for a hike. And it was a festival weekend in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which meant free entry into El Escorial and a $20 savings for us. After an hour bus ride into the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains outside of Madrid we arrived in the small [...]

As I write this I am sitting in Milan's airport waiting to board our plane to Madrid. One flight down and one to go. I'm too tired to really know how I feel about leaving Split and making Madrid our new home. Right now I am just worried about making it on the plane with our slightly over-sized and overweight carry-ons without anyone stopping us to make us check them instead. [...]