Olivia - Superstar

Llegamos a Barcelona

Thursday, Nov 2 - Today was a quiet day... Karina is not feeling very well so we hung out at Valeria's house and I got caught up on work a little... back to reality... I knew it could not last very long.

Today I went with Oli to the Mercado to buy some fruit and had a Swarma at the plaza near Valeria's house. Oli is soooo Cute...

Tomorrow I am planning on taking Valeria's bike and going for a tour around the city... Let's see how the sun rises.

Murcia - Visit Dede

Tuesday, Oct 31 - Today we drove from Arcos de la Frontera to Murcia to visit Karina's cousin (Dede). On the way we stopped in Granada. What a city... too bad we had to change our trip around and will not be staying the night.

We spent the afternoon walking around and had lunch at the Parador on the La Alhambra. It was a perfect day without a cloud in the Sky... I think we can go back 10 times and we will not get so lucky. We did not have all that much time, as we needed to get to Murcia at a reasonable hour.

After spending the afternoon at the Alhambra we drove to Murcia arriving around 8 PM. We were very well received by Karina's cousin and had a nice meal, a Cigar, and watched the Barcelona game for the UEFA Champions league. A nice evening... (Special Thanks to our Hosts)

Wednesday, Nov 1 - (I can't believe we are already in November... Where has this year gone???)

We had breakfast at Dede's house and then went for a stroll in the old town. Murcia is a nice city but without anything special... It seems to be going through a Boom due to heavy British investment... The Brits all want to come over and enjoy a little sun and a much cheaper cost of living. It is crazy to see how Spain is booming... there is construction all over the place. Michel (Dede's Husband) said that the area has been growing at a staggering rate for the past few years catching up with the rest of Spain... If I only had a few million EU$ laying around...

Leaving Murcia around 1 PM we drove to Barcelona to meet up with Valeria... It was a +/- 6-hour drive with a few stops on the way... I personally much rather drive around EU than to fly when the distances are reasonable. Uneventful drive... We had a short stop at the Valencia Airport for Lunch and arrived in Barcelona in the evening.

We were well received by Valeria and Gianni and Olivia (a true inspiration of a Baby). Had a nice meal and chat... Makes me miss the real world a little.

Arcos de La Frontera

Today we picked up the car at the Santa Justa Train Station in Seville and drove south to Arcos de la Frontera. Arcos is a Small little town east of Cadiz. It is said to be one of the nicest Villas Blancas. It took us al but 10 minutes to explore the Villa. It is quite small but full of charm... We stayed at a cute little hotel that had an unbelievable deck with a breathtaking view from above.

After trying to find something to eat in the Villa and failing miserably as it was a little late (4:00 PM). We ended up at the Hotel again and had a nice snack on the deck. Karina can't see anther Tapa in front of her if not I will be the one ending up with a tapa. The south of Spain is great... But you better like tapas as this is what you will get.

We ended up watching the Sunset sipping some wine and realized that it is often better to visit the smaller little towns than going to the bigger cities... We relaxed and then took a little Nap...

At night we went to the Restaurante del Convento and made a special request... Boiled potatoes!!! We needed something neutral to balance the pH in our stomachs.

A Day in Sevella...

Today was a sight seeing Day. The temperature today was Crazy... 28 Degrees. A truly Hot summer day, not a cloud in the sky.

We walked about in the Morning close and around the Cathedral. We enjoyed a nice Chariot Ride around the City Center and then hopped on the "Hop on Hop off Bus Line" to see the city as a whole.

We had lunch at the Rio Grande Restaurant overlooking the River. It was nice to sit down and have some wine after a long day out in the sun.

Seville is a beautiful city... The Moorish influence really makes it special. It is very different from the "classical" Europe. A must see if you are in Spain. It is a city that has been around for 2,500 years so you can only imagine the history. It is always a wonder to be in a place like this.

After Lunch we made our way back to the Hotel for a Nap and now I am here in the hotel courtyard enjoying some wine and writing this update for all of you.

I will look up all the names of the places we went today but Seville is fairly Small... I think that we have managed to see most of the city in the two days that we have been here.

Tonight we are going to go out to see if we can't find some Flamenco dancing... Karina is anxious to get her blood boiling.

Tomorrow we will be picking up our car in the morning and drive to Arcos de la Frontera which is South of Seville. It is one of the Pueblo Blanco cities which seem to be very nice according to all the Guides. We plan on spending the night and driving off to Cordoba the following day, then on to Granada, Murcia, and Finally to Barcelona (Costa Brava) by Friday. It seems that Valeria will be going to the Costa Brava on the weekend so we plan on going with her and Gianni.

P.S. The Camera died today... I don't know what happened but it just doesn't work... Can't believe it!!!

First Day in Spain

We arrived in Sevilla yesterday afternoon... Took a shower and quickly made our way out of the Hotel for s stroll in the maze of little streets. It tooks us a little time to figure out our barrings but finally we found our way to the beautiful cathedral of Sevilla. Quite impresive... beautiful design and architecture.

After walking around for a few hours we found ourselves having some dinner at a little Plaza with live acustic guitar and plenty of Sangria. It was a nice way to start out the trip in Spain.

We finally made our way back to the Hotel around midnight and hd a nice nite of sleep.

Supermodels

The Walk Around Notre Dame (Day 1 & 2)

Well... It took us a few days to get connected but here we are to give you an update.

We arrived well in Paris and all of us (Karina / Juliana / Ioav / and I) hung out on Friday and Saturday walking the town.

Day 1 (Friday) - We circled Notre Dame bout 16 times... We Walked and Walked until we could no more. It is never a bad day to spend a day walking about Paris. We cetralized out walk East, West, North, and South of Notre Dame and it seemed that every once in a while we walked on by again.

We had a nice Ice Cream Cone on St. Louis Island (EU$8 for 1 Ball - That is Paris) and took in the sights.

After a long day of walking we ended up having a nice dinner in a little Italian restaurant close to Notre Dame. A great Day...

Day 2 (Saturday) - Another Great Day in Paris...

No Passport

The Trip stated out with some excitement... We found out last night that Karina's passport was expired... So, she spends the day running after the new passport. After a little tension, she was able to get the passport organized for tomorrow morning. Hopefully all will run smoothly and we will in fact get it. Not bad for Brazil... Getting the passport in 24 hours. (Not in hands yet but fingers are crossed)

Trip Schedule

19th October - Depart from SP to Europe
20th October - Arrive in Midrid in the Morning and spend the day in Madrid. Take an afternoon flight to Paris on the 20th and meet up with Juliana.
Spend 4 days in Paris
24th October - Depart to Holland (Karina will go to Amsterdam with Juliana and I will do to Maastricht for a meeting)
27th October - Karina and I will meet in Amsterdam and spend the night.
28th October - Depart to Sevilla, Spain
29th October - Spend the Day in Sevilla
30th October - Rent a Car and take off for a Drive in the region. We want to make sure we visit Cadiz / Marbella / Granada / Cordoba.
5th or 6th October - Return the Car in Sevilla and Take a Plane to Barcelona. Spend a few days in Barcelona with Valeria and then rent a car to drive in the region.
13th November - Return to Brazil
14th November - Arrive in Sao Paulo

The planning is subject to Change... We want to go with the Flow... Let's see what happens when we get there.

If you have any Tips, please make sure you post them.

Getting There...

Setting up the Blog

Today I am setting up the Blog with the hope that some of you will log in once in a while to check out our progress during this trip to Europe. We will try and keep the blog updates as much as possible.