.:: Monday, May 28, 2007 ::.

i don't know how ppl who travel all the time do it. and i mean mostly sales ppl that are travelling for work every week. so after getting back from our vaca on tuesday night, we had to repack our bags friday night to spend the long weekend in oceanside with W's mom for her 60th birthday. since this was a big birthday, and also since we hardly ever go out there in general, we thought it would be nice for us to spend some time with MOL...no matter how difficult it would be to leave the bed i was so looking forward to sleeping in after only 3 nights. *sigh* but now we're back, and exhausted, but happy to know that MOL had a great birthay (with big birthday party thrown by friends).

this weekend we have a track event in la junta (yuck), so after this weekend, we'll have spent 5 straight weekends away from home! i can't wait til the weekend after when i don't have to go anywhere or do anything...and just be HOME!

still working on the pics from our trip...over 3300 pictures to sort thru (but i think W got it down to about 500 worth sharing).

:: joyce 11:03 PM [+]::
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.:: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 ::.

where to begin?? (from the beginning i guess? haha)

overall, our european vacation was FABULOUS!!! we had the most amazing experience, but i gotta say, it's great to be home. without going into too much detail (which i'm good at!)...

may 5 - may 9: berlin
we started our little journey in berlin, arriving at tegel early sunday morning (5/6). it was torturous trying to stay awake to fight jetlag. spent the first day just trying to adjust, went to the flea market (suggestion by M&K's friend), but was difficult because we were so tired! had a wonderful meal at anna blume (we just stumbled upon it, and it turned out to be one of the best places to eat!). the next day, the weather was not so great, but we still went on a walking tour of berlin. it was a very educational experience, and it was kinda crazy to think that all of this happened rather recently. the tour was great, and we learned so much about the city. M&K live in prenzlauer berg, a very artsy, up-and-coming area of east berlin, and we hung out mostly in mitte, which was a really cool area. we had a nice dinner in mitte, recommened by our tour guide. by that evening, it was pouring and we were totally drenched! the 3rd and final day of our berlin stay, we went back to mitte to go to the parliament building to go inside the dome. they built a huge glass dome that you can walk around and peer down at the parliament in session, as a reminder to the city's leaders that they are working for the people. kinda cool! then we went to the jewish museum, which was another cool history lesson for us, but about halfway thru it, my feet were so sore, i wanted to do anything but stand or walk. that night, M & their friend A made us a delicious dinner, and some more friends came over for some charades!!

my thoughts on berlin: i LOVED it. it was quite a pleasant surprise. there are a lot of young ppl there that speak english, so it wasn't a big deal going to places on our own. i felt really safe and comfortable there...i would definitely go back for another visit. M&K were great hosts and their beautiful top floor apartment/condo was fabulous! (they have 2 grand pianos!!) the fact that so much has happened in just the past 60 or so years is amazing to think about.

may 9 - may 5/14: barcelona
our 2nd leg of the trip...our main purpose here was to watch the formula 1 race at the circuit de catalunya. the apartment we rented thru habitat was pretty cool, and tho it was in a very central location, i wouldn't recommend staying where we did! we were just off las ramblas, the most famous street in spain, and next to the very busy and popular placa reial. and basically, ppl in barcelona seem to stay up and party all night, every night, so the first couple nights were quite sleepless for me. i can't imagine actually living there. after a quick nap, we walked around the port de barcelona and around barri gotic, where we ended up at the catedral de barcelona...very cool. thursday we went to the track, about a 30 minute train ride and 20 minute walk, which was open to 3-day pass holders for a visit to pit lane!!! it was pretty cool, and fernando alonzo (spaniard who won the world championship title last year) made an appearance to sign autographs and man, did the fans go crazy. all of spain is crazy with alonzo fever...and i'm not exaggerating. friday we decided to go back to the track for their practice rounds so W could practice taking pictures, and we could find some good viewing spots. since grand stand tix were outrageous, we had to find a good spot on the lawn. kinda sucked, but we just couldn't spend the $1200+ on grand stand seats! crazy! saturday we took a bus tour of barcelona, our only touristy day of our stay. and sunday was the main race. we woke up really early, left around 5am to get to the track early...and there were ppl just ending their night, on their way home! i told you barcelonians party all night! well, the race was okay. my favorite driver, kimi raikkonen, retired after about 9 laps due to engine troubles...so i was kinda bummed. but ferrari still came in first, so i was happy about that. :) after the race, we stayed in montmelo, where the track is located, knowing that the trains would be packed with ppl returning to barcelona. so we stopped at a restaurant and had the best paella ever! when we got back to the apartment, we decided to pack up and leave that night cuz we had a 6am flight, and knew it would be hard to get a cab to the airport (since the trains don't run that early). so we spent the most horrible night at the airport, getting about an hour of sleep on a very uncomfortable chair.

my thoughts on barcelona: it was okay. if i was a big time partier, i might have found it fun, but i'm not, so it was okay. it was kinda dirty, really busy/crowded, didn't feel so safe at times, and just not my thing. and their train system really sucks. so i can't really say i'd want to go back. but it was still cool to experience. we ate paella, tapas, and lots of gelato. and the formula 1 race? soooooo cool! there's nothing quite like the sound of an F1 car. i think it's pretty damn cool that we got to experience being at the race. if we go to another F1 race, i think i'll book the hotel close to the track.

may 14 - may 17: pisa/florence/tuscany
so after a really rough night at the barcelona airport, we made it to pisa, very tired but excited to be in italy. pisa is soooo nice. we only spent a couple hours there, visiting the leaning tower, duomo and surrounding areas. we took the train to florence, and thus began my favorite part of the entire trip. :) florence was amazing. just a gorgeous city, so vibrant and full of history and amazing art and architecture. we rested up at villa la sosta, a beautiful B&B i found on the internet. it's run by a brother and sister team, antonio & giusy, and they put us in giusy's old room, which they said was the smallest room, but most romantic, with a lovely little balcony and view of the hillside. it was about a 10 minute busride to the town center, which was perfect after our super loud/busy stay in barcelona. our first full day in florence we were tourists, just kinda seeing the major sights in town and doing some shopping. we ate the BEST gelato at vivoli, which is known as having the best ice cream in the WORLD! and i believe it cuz it was pretty damn good! but the best part was our 2nd and final day in florence, when antonio took us on a private "tuscan family wine tour." it was the most amazing experience ever. brace yourselves, cuz i'm gonna go into some more detail here...it's worth it, trust me. we started off the tour after breakfast, with a drive to san gimignano, known at one time for having 100 "towers" like skyscrapers back in the 1100's when it was built. it's known also for their wine called "vernaccia" which antonio bought us a bottle of, after having some with wild boar salami, wild boar proscuitto & pecorino cheese. he took us around the touristy parts of san gimignano, then thru the parts only the residents go. the views were fantastic!!! then off we went to greve, the heart and capital of the chianti area. we went to this place where you can try over 100 wines from chianti...amazing!! we tried some really great wines, including last year's winner of wine spectator's "best wine in the world," solaia (which was wonderful!!!). from greve we went to montefioralle, a city built within the walls of a castle in the 900's...so cool!!! it was crazy to be walking around these areas, touching the stone walls, experiencing the rich history. then we took a windy gravel road to rignana, where we had lunch at "the best restaurant in tuscany," seriously grubbing on traditional tuscan food...soooooo good!!!! we sat at the VIP table, with the most amazing view of the valley. we had a typical antipasto platter of breads, proscuittos, salamis, cheese, onions, olives, artichokes. and some chicken liver pate (quite yummy). of course there was lots of wine (which i only had a glass of, and W & antonio polished off about 1.5 liters of). our primi course was tagliatelle with wild boar ragu and my favorite part, cheese raviolis in white truffle cream sauce. omg, so good!!! white truffles are super rare and very expensive, costing almost $2000 for a kilogram. yikes! they were delicious!!!! our secondi course was the famous florentine steak, which was also fabulous. by now i was STUFFED. and W was pretty buzzed. but we still had dessert...which was an amazing strawberry tiramisu, which is a house specialty and not always available. YUMMMMM!!! then antonio brought out the grappa, a hard liquor similar to vodka, made from the discarded grape seeds after the grapes have been smashed to make wine. i didn't care for it at all, but W & antonio took a couple shots of it. blech. after lunch we sat around and hung out with the chefs and staff at the restaurant (all of whom were friends of antonio), playing card games and just had a great time. 3 hours later, after the staff had all left, antonio took us to the private cellars of the restaurant owners, who also produced their own wine. it was soooo amazing!!! i know i keep saying that, but seriously, this was turning out to be the best tour EVER!! afterwards, we made our way back to florence, where we stopped briefly at the piazzale michelangelo where we got to see a great view of the city of florence. just when i thought we had seen the best view of florence, antonio said he was going to take us to see an even better view. he drove us to fiesole, just up the hill from florence, up this private road where cars aren't supposed to go, and omg...the best bird's eye view of florence...i was in awe. then antonio busted out a bottle of champagne for us!! we concluded our amazing tour with some champagne, looking over the city of florence, and just taking it all in. the tour was almost $600 for the 2 of us, but it was worth every penny, and much much more. we never would've had this kind of experience on our own, and i was grateful we did it. i was sad to leave florence...and i look forward to going back. this time for a much longer stay!

my thoughts on tuscany: the best part of our trip, and much too short. the wine tour definitely was what made it so great, but the whole area is just spectacular. if any of you are planning a trip to florence, i highly highly highly recommend villa la sosta, and the wine tour!!! it's located on one of the oldest roads in italy, which connects florence with bologna, and is part of the route for mille miglia. next time we'll plan our trip around mille miglia (usually mid-late may, we were just a few days too early) so we can sit on their terrace and watch all the classic cars drive by! tuscany is just beautiful, and i can't wait to go back!

may 17 - may 21: sardegna
now, we didn't have any clue what sardegna was gonna be like, and we were only going there to see the WRC rally d'italia sardegna. little did we know we were staying on the "billionaire's playground!" sardegna was a much bigger island than i realized, and it was just beautiful! situated in the mediterranean sea, between spain & italy, it was like a tropical paradise! we stayed in porto cervo, with its huge yachts along the marinas, clear turquoise waters, and beautiful mountains filled with hotels and houses for the rich!! we were lucky to be there during the off-season, which is WAY cheaper than the busy summers. we arrived in time for the ceremonial start at the marina vecchia, just a 15-20 minute walk from our hotel. friday we made our way to stage 2 of the first leg, got some great views of the cars driving by, just about 10 feet in front of us! so exciting!!! we got VIP passes to the BP ford world rally team's service area, where we got to see the technicians working on the cars, and got a picture with marcus gronholm! we got a little info about the team and the cars, and got an idea of just how much money you need to have a WRC team! saturday we went to stage 7 of the 2nd leg, and got some more great shots of the cars. again we were just feet from the cars, which was a little scary but very exciting! that evening we had VIP passes to the subaru world rally team's service area, and we were the only ones, so we got a TON of info from their rep, and got REALLY close to the cars! we also got our rally d'italia sardegna sign autographed by the subaru drivers and co-drivers!! soooo cool!!!! then sunday was the last leg of the race, and we went to stage 13, which was also the area for the rally finish. this was a GREAT spot cuz we could see the cars coming down the hill before turning a corner and heading right by us. we got COVERED in dirt this leg, and even got pelted with rocks. and we were about 6-7 feet up the embankment from the road! it was sooo cool tho!! afterwards, we headed off to the podium finish at the marina vecchia. my fave driver, sebastian loeb, ended up hitting a rock halfway thru the final leg. :( so i guess i'm a bad luck charm for my favorite drivers!

my thoughts on sardegna: a VERY cool place to go, especially if you're looking for something different in the mediterranean. definitely go before june when hotel rooms can go for upwards of $8000. it seemed like there was a lot to do, but we didn't have the time (nor the energy) to really explore. the rally was AWESOME! it was so cool to be right there, so close to the cars! we booked with rally travel, which took care of our hotel, rental car, and gave us a ton of info on where to go for the best viewing of the rally, with very detailed driving instructions and maps. i definitely recommend them if you're interested in going to a rally!

may 21 - may 22: berlin (part 2)
so we left sardegna and made our way back to berlin for a pitstop before heading home. we didn't do much when we got back, just walked around a bit at alexanderplatz, drank hefeweizen and gingerale and ppl watched. did a little shopping, and took M&K out to dinner at a really great japanese/sushi restaurant near their house. the chef graduated culinary school and asked himself "where in the world do they need a great japanese restaurant?" and landed in berlin! the prices were very reasonable and the food was great! afterwards, we watched "the departed" with M&K and a couple of their friends. then packed up and got ready to come home. left early tuesday morning, and arrived in denver tuesday late afternoon.

and here i am. my thoughts on europe in general: ppl are very pushy and have no sense of personal space. they don't care if you're standing in line, they'll cut in front of you like it's nothing. in italy, you can only get italian food. we got REALLY sick of italian food, and were very glad to see a mcdonald's, where we had the BEST mcd's EVER. hahaha... in italy, you can get a half liter of wine for 3 euros, or a half liter of water for 2.50. (a quarter liter was $1.80...OMG!) the roads are super narrow in europe, for the most part, so it's no wonder they have such little, narrow cars! driving in sardegna was interesting, and W LOVED the twisty, windy roads. eating in europe was a lot more expensive than i thought it would be. and they eat all day. dinner in barcelona didn't start til 9pm at some places. italy was about 7:30. and meals take FOREVER, which is not good for travelers on a tight, busy schedule! we ate a ton of food, and had desserts after almost every meal. but funny, i didn't gain any weight, probably cuz we were walking about 20 miles a day! i LOVE the "hopper" planes they have, like easyjet and ryanair, where for as low as 30 euros (about $45) you can fly from one country to another! why can't the US figure out how to do that?! we know we barely scratched the surface for europe, and we are already planning our next trip. :)

we had the time of our lives, but i have to say, it is really great to be home. i really missed my bed, my bathroom with my huge shower and plenty of counterspace, my kitchen where i could make whatever i want for dinner and not have to wait til 9pm for the restaurant to open, my car and not having to rely on crappy public transportation (mainly in spain, italy was better than spain, and berlin was better than italy). it was pretty rough being at work, but i made it thru the whole day. unfortunately i made it back just in time for month-end...yuck.

W estimates we took over 3000 pictures (mostly his car pics, which we'll probably only use a small fraction of). so it'll take a while to sort thru them all. i'll be sure to post some when they're ready. so stay tuned...

:: joyce 6:22 PM [+]::
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