A day at "home"

Hanging out on bed watching Gilligan's island

Doing laundry in our very own wash thingy!

Making lunch

zoo pictures

We had a day at the zoo in Valencia. The zoo had an African theme so we got to see animals that they don't have in Manitoba. The other cool thing was that the animals were very close.

Almera, Spain

Aug.5-Day 36

We are in Almeria, Spain. We spent the 3rd of Aug. traveling here by train and bus. We arrived in the evening and luckily we had secured a room for the night as we traveled because everything seemed booked up when we arrived. We know this because we immediatly started to look for a new place as soon as we dropped our bags because we didn't want to stay in this place for more than 1 night.The rooms were not the greatest. We were hoping and did pray for an apartment with a kitchen that was close to a store for groceries. The back-up was that we would go to the hotel next door because it turns out the price was the same as the crappy hostel. In the morning we had breakfast, got kicked out of the main lounge area because we brought in our own food and the search was on. It was Dean's birthday yesterday and we didn't want to waste it looking for a room but we just did not want to spend one more day in the place we were and we really wanted a kitchen to cook some of our own food. We had to be checked out by 12 and so we had to rush. We had walked all ovewr the cith the night before and everything was booked. we walked and walked and found nothing. We were all at a point of getting really down. It was 11:45, Dean was checking one more place and YES he came back smilling. He found exacly the perfect place for less than we had paid at the hostel. It is a 3 star hotel that also had apartments. We have a one bedroom apartment with 3 single beds in the living room and the tiniest kitchen ever. But it is ours and we lOVE it and our spirits are all good again.
So after the move we put on our suits, headed for the beach and got some sun. Then we came back to shower and dress for supper in our fanciest attire. We took Dean out to an Argentian restraunt. Dean had the biggest, juiciest steak ever. We all ate better than we have for a month. Dean ended up having a great day after all.

Today we slept in and made crepes for breakfast. Went for a walk to the Moorish castle and came back to our awesome appartment for some freah salsa and quacamoli. We will be here for 2 more nights.
Here are some pictures of our day.

Spain pictures

We have Erin around taking lots of pictures so I will need to post a link to her blog so you get to see some of her awsome pictures.



We usually end up going for supper around 9 pm or so and afterwards walk around the city taking fun pictures and finding new and exciting things to see. Yesterday we danced around this open square with a big fountain in the middle.




We went out for Tapas and we also sometimes eat a really great supper in our room on the floor.




We went to tour Gaudi's buildings in Barcelona. They were very neat.

Valencia, Spain

Aug 2 -Day 33

We have been in Valencia for 3 days now. We are really enjoying the atmosphere of this Spanish city. We have found it to feel more townlike than like a large city. It could be because we have been staying in the old part of town and it is a slower pace here. It also seems like all of Europe is slower than what we have been expecting.
Today we scooted off to the zoo for the day. They have an African theme so we saw all the large African animals that are so cool to see. The zoo was set up so that there were no large fences but rather there were channels of water separating the animals from each other and the people. The kids reaaly enjoyed it but we found the price to be quite expensive(75 Euros).
We are trying to fiqure out the best place to travel from here tomorrow. We are slowly heading for Morroco and are really looking forward to it.

Spain

Aug 1-Day 32

I am looking around the room I am in, trying to figure out what city we are in. Don´t know. Can´t remember. Oh well. We arrived here yesterday by train and booked into a nice hotel because all of the hostels are booked up. We have a room for 4 and Colton is sleeping on the floor so Erin and Miranda can have the bed. It is kinda nice to be in a nice hotel. Miranda made a bee line for the bathroom to see what little presents would be on the vanity. She hit the jackpot, there was shampoo, lotion, body wash and a toothbrush with a tiny toothpaste and floss. It made her day.
We were so happy to be out of Barcelona. It felt a bit yuck as a whole. The city is a bit sleezy downtown. We were so pleasantly surprised with the city we are in(whatever it´s called), feels so nice. It is an old city with stunning arcitecture. The people are friendly, is feels so safe. We love it. We are also downtown here but it feels wonderful. We walked around last night taking pictures till 10:30. It was so great we had a hard time going to bed.
This morning we got up, had a coffee and toast and took the bus to the beach. It was deep soft lushious SAND. We haven´t had a nice beach like this one yet in the last month. Miranda yelled HALLELUYA sand. Whoo Hoo. Off she ran chucking her stuff into the warm warm Mediteranian sea. Ahhh, Spain.
Dean just walked in the room and said we are in Valencia. O.K. so now I know where we are.

Barcelona, France

July 30-Day 30

We are halfway into our trip and we still are having a great time. We still have energy and we still like each other. The best part about this week is that Erin arrived yesterday. We are so excited to be able to have someone new to hang out with. It definatly has brought a hop to our skip to walk around another city with someone like Erin. She is so fun.
We arrived into Barcelona yesterday evening by train. We had a long day (12 hours) and 5 trains till we arrived. We knew where Erin was thinking she would be staying for the night and so we booked our own hostel right near hers. Hers was booked up. We went to her hostel as soon as we checked into ours and they told us she had checked in but she had left. So we went on a mission to get something to eat, and to find her. We grabbed a donair from a vendor and walked around the area and finally we spotted her. I yelled Erin, she turned around and ran to us with big hugs. We felt very happy to have found her in a city this size. The crowds are massive and we definatly feel ready to leave for quieter pastures.
We spent our day today touring the works of Gaudi. We again did a lot of walking and think we almost pooped Erin out. But she was fine. Oh too be 22 again. We bought some salsa and guacamole makings and had an awesome supper in our hostel.
Tomorrow we will leave after breakfast to somewhere down the coast of Spain. We will stop when it looks quiet and we see some sand from the train.