Tuesday, October 18, 2011

trip to spain and france

so josh and i took a little 10-year anniversary trip to spain and france for ten days starting september 30th. we planned it over columbus day weekend so josh just had to miss 5 days of work( most of new england has off on columbus day- a bonus moving from ohio to mass. + rhode island). we have been planning this trip for awhile and researching out the yazoo. and i have to say that rick steves should get a hold of our itinerary because it was pretty awesome. the last time i had been to europe was more than ten years ago. and life with twins is a whirly twirly mess some days, so we thought we would treat ourselves to a little hand holding, picture taking, art seeing, wine drinking and tapa eating in an area that is filled with history (in some cities back to the romans), art, and architecture. our  very, very kind parents took turns taking care of the girls. all of their needs were met and then some so they barely thought about us. which makes me think, why don't we do this more often?  it was a win, win for all parties involved.

we took over 2,000 pictures because we were blown away by the beauty, so i thought that i would break the pictures up (not all of them of course-just the very best ones) in different posts. so more to come. anyway, here's where we went and i'll talk more about the details in later posts, but just wanted to give you a general idea today:

day 1:
7 pm direct flight from boston to madrid.

day 2:
landed in madrid. picked up rental car and stopped in segovia.
traveled on to bilbao where we stayed overnight.

day 3:
guggenheim museum in bilbao.
scenic drive to san sebastian where we stayed for 2 nights.

day 4:
san sebastian

day 5:
drive to provence, france and stay for 2 nights in arles.

day 6:
arles, france.

day 7:
drive through provence. towns including les baux, saint remy, gordes, roussillon, and aix-en- provence. spent night in cassis, france.

day 8:
drive to barcelona, spain where we dropped off our rental car and stayed for 3 nights.

day 9:
barcelona

day 10:
barcelona

day 11:
train from barcelona to madrid.
direct flight from madrid to boston.


seeing that i am a total romantic and visually oriented person, i totally fell in love with europe and have been dreaming about it all week! the outdoor cafes, local markets in every town, pedestrian friendly cities. bike paths galore, a mix of modern and old architecture, fabulous graphically designed signs, crowded playgrounds where parents and kids meet and socialize, not needing an excuse to sit down and relax with a coffee or wine, and pintxos. what is your favorite thing about the european way of life?


3 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fab trip! I had a week in Provence in the middle of September staying in Arles and also managing to visit Lex Baux, St Remy, Avignon etc. and then just this last week I had 3 days in Madrid - beautiful city - found an amazing foodie delight called Mercado San Miguel and enjoyed some warm sunshine. Spain and France rock!

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  2. I came across your posting on Simple Lovely and followed it to here. My husband and I live in Mass and returned from an absolutely amazing trip to Madrid and Barcelona, Oct 1 - Oct 9! Small world. Since I'm still reveling in all its greatness, I thought it only appropriate to leave a comment. Amazing art, equally amazing food and wine. A joie de vivre that is palpable in those cities. Ahhh, it's a good life. Cheers.

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  3. thanks so much Di + MCC! you made my week. seriously, it has been rainy + drowsy + these are the nicest words!
    MCC: i checked our your blog and that song by kate nash took a hold of me. so beautiful. you are a fabulous writer.
    Di: checked out your blog and love your photos of spain. thanks so much for writing a comment! i love seeing cities through different eyes.

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