We had such a moving experience in Normandy. Lots of tears and lots of emotions. The energy is like no other. Here are a few pics from some of the beach landings we visited and of the American cementary.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day of our engagement
Here are some pics of the half day Eddie and I spent together on our own. The bridge you see us standing right below is where we sat with our bottle of wine and our continental blanket.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Paris- Life changing :)
We had a wonderful time in Paris. I am going to try to post some pics today. We are at the best Hostel in EU it is located in London. We decided to hang out here today so I will post some pics later. Let me tell you about Paris.
We landed on the 20th at about 1pm. We were lost for about 2 hours looking for our hotel. It was so far out. It was a nice hotel though. I was very lucky I stayed in a 4 star hotel with Cesar in Barcelona then Eddie and Dane had a 4 star in Paris. So I got lucky. It was far out but it was a great hotel. We just chilled out and went to dinner in Paris that night. We also booked our day trip to Normandy. We walked around the town after dinner to see all the night attractions like the Louve, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, The arc de triumph.
Then we woke super early on Thursday to go to Normandy. It is such a beautiful town with so much history. I must say I cried during the movie. Then we went to the beaches and to the cementary. It was so worth seeing. It was so moving and so emotional. Once we left Normandy we went to Paris and we headed for the Eiffel tower. We grabbed a bite to eat this guy was grilling Chicken on a stick it was so good in a french bread. We took it and ate it at the Effiel. We then popped 2 bottles open of red wine and drank them under the Effiel. We were there for a good 2-3 hours. It was so lively. People were everywhere. We meet some people from Paris and sat with them awhile and talked. The funny thing is they were just learning English so it was a bit difficult. What helped was one girl knew portuguse and so that is very similar to Spanish so that helped a lot. Eddie and I just spent most the time cuddled in my shawl becuase it had rained earlier and we were freezing.
Then on Friday we slept in a bit for the 2nd time in all our travel time. We slept till 9:30. We checked out of the Marriot and into this little French Hotel Cesar was staying in. It was nice because everyone had there own room for a change. Me and Eddie in one, Cesar in one, and Dane in one. We all headed out to lunch, to see the Notre Damme, then to the Louve. The Louve is so impressive and I feel so excited to say I saw the Mona Lisa twice-WOW!!!
I also saw Venus de Milo and the statue with Cupid and Venus in a lovers kiss. That is my favorite. Well then we went our seperate ways. Cesar and Dane went theres. They went to drink Congac in a Frech bar. They had Crepes and they went to take a nap. They also went to dinner. Eddie and I went on a River cruise, a very nice 3 course dinner and a walk along the river.
The life changing moment is Eddie asked me to Marry him on one knee and everything. He hit every childhood fantasy I had about being asked to marry someone. The wine next to the river, the romantic spot, and the one knee with ring in hand. I got a keeper. He asked me at 9:30pm. on June 22nd. It was 3:30 pm Dallas time. Somewhere through my tears I said yes. We are very excited. We are now engaged. We are planning to tie the knot next June or July. I want June 22nd. Eddie wants July for other good reasons so we need to decide later but just plan for a summer 2008 wedding coming soon :)!!!!!!!!!
Love you all and we are very excited!!!!!!!!!
Poor London, Amsterdam and Germany they can't beat Paris....
We landed on the 20th at about 1pm. We were lost for about 2 hours looking for our hotel. It was so far out. It was a nice hotel though. I was very lucky I stayed in a 4 star hotel with Cesar in Barcelona then Eddie and Dane had a 4 star in Paris. So I got lucky. It was far out but it was a great hotel. We just chilled out and went to dinner in Paris that night. We also booked our day trip to Normandy. We walked around the town after dinner to see all the night attractions like the Louve, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, The arc de triumph.
Then we woke super early on Thursday to go to Normandy. It is such a beautiful town with so much history. I must say I cried during the movie. Then we went to the beaches and to the cementary. It was so worth seeing. It was so moving and so emotional. Once we left Normandy we went to Paris and we headed for the Eiffel tower. We grabbed a bite to eat this guy was grilling Chicken on a stick it was so good in a french bread. We took it and ate it at the Effiel. We then popped 2 bottles open of red wine and drank them under the Effiel. We were there for a good 2-3 hours. It was so lively. People were everywhere. We meet some people from Paris and sat with them awhile and talked. The funny thing is they were just learning English so it was a bit difficult. What helped was one girl knew portuguse and so that is very similar to Spanish so that helped a lot. Eddie and I just spent most the time cuddled in my shawl becuase it had rained earlier and we were freezing.
Then on Friday we slept in a bit for the 2nd time in all our travel time. We slept till 9:30. We checked out of the Marriot and into this little French Hotel Cesar was staying in. It was nice because everyone had there own room for a change. Me and Eddie in one, Cesar in one, and Dane in one. We all headed out to lunch, to see the Notre Damme, then to the Louve. The Louve is so impressive and I feel so excited to say I saw the Mona Lisa twice-WOW!!!
I also saw Venus de Milo and the statue with Cupid and Venus in a lovers kiss. That is my favorite. Well then we went our seperate ways. Cesar and Dane went theres. They went to drink Congac in a Frech bar. They had Crepes and they went to take a nap. They also went to dinner. Eddie and I went on a River cruise, a very nice 3 course dinner and a walk along the river.
The life changing moment is Eddie asked me to Marry him on one knee and everything. He hit every childhood fantasy I had about being asked to marry someone. The wine next to the river, the romantic spot, and the one knee with ring in hand. I got a keeper. He asked me at 9:30pm. on June 22nd. It was 3:30 pm Dallas time. Somewhere through my tears I said yes. We are very excited. We are now engaged. We are planning to tie the knot next June or July. I want June 22nd. Eddie wants July for other good reasons so we need to decide later but just plan for a summer 2008 wedding coming soon :)!!!!!!!!!
Love you all and we are very excited!!!!!!!!!
Poor London, Amsterdam and Germany they can't beat Paris....
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wow, Barcelona!!!!!!!!
We got to Barcelona at about 11:40 a.m. on Sunday morning. We go to Eddie and Danes hostel. I did not stay because there was a huge concert going on in Barcelona the same weekend and we could not find a hostel for 3 people. It was so wonderful my brother was meeting us the same time so I just stayed with him at his 4 star hotel. Eddie and Dane where a bit jealous to say the least. Well my brother asked and he could only have 3 people in the room. We could not leave Dane out so Eddie bunked with him at the local hostel that they say is the worse hostel that they ever stayed in. They said it was okay but not at par to what we are use to.
Let me tell you about Barcelona. We get to Cesars hotel and he is not there. I am trying not to panic because we was suppose to get in hours before. I found out his plane was delayed due to bad storms in the US. He gets here and we just gave him time to leave his bag. We took him to the olympic area where there are rows of restraunts. We ate at this traditional Barcelona restraunt and had Patatas Bravas (Traditional tapas from Barcelona), we ate Paella and drank Sangria. We had the tradition Spainish cuisine. It was delicious. Then we jumped on a bus and saw some sights. At this time we run into the bull ring. People are crowded around this ring. It was hundreds of people. When I went with Maria last year it was like 100 people this was like 1000s of people. It was the 3 best bull fight in Barcelona history. We bought some scalped tickets and saw the show. The boys are like me you see it once for the experience but we all felt bad for the bulls. However, as my brother said we were going for the bulls. 1 bull almost won. He trampled one of the fighters. It was scarey but an amazing sight. The fighter was fine. We learned what to do incase you get knocked down by a bull. You roll like if you were on fire. We got a newpaper article talking all about the bullfight and how historical it was. It was the best bullfighters.
Then we went to walk Las Ramblas and the Gothic Quarter at night.
The next day(Monday) we saw all I mean all the sights of Barcelona. We were on the go since 9 am. We never walked so much in a day. We saw the Sagrada Familia a lot of Gaudis work. The best part was I was able to find this little cafe I went to last year in the gothic quarter where you can eat chocolate or xocolate (As they spell it in Catalan). It is a cafe that was open for more than 500 years. Before it was a bar and brothel but now it is a little cafe. The Chocolate is like nothing you have ever had. Then that night we saw Flamenco. It was the best show and the highlight of the trip for me thus far. Cesar said he never drank so much wine and Sangria.
On our last day which is today we took a day tour to the Torres Winery the best and biggest wine company in Spain. It was great. We had tons of fun. We bought a nice bottle of white wine. They funny thing is Eddie bought us a red yesterday which we drank at Parck Guielle. A park designed by Gaudi. It was from the Torres company. When we got to the winery that is the exact wine they gave us to try what a coincidence. So we got a white to drink later. We then went to Monserrat. It is a huge mountain near Barcelona that has a monestary. It was beautiful up there. From there we went to this colonial Spainsh town called Stiges. It was so beautiful there. It was right on the beach and it had this huge colonial church. We loved it. Then we headed back to Barcelona and had our white wine under the trees in Park de ciutad or park of the city. It is the best park I have ever seen. We had people play all kinds of music around us, people juggeling and people playing soccer. We drank the white wine and just relaxed. We swapped stories and just enjoyed each other and Barcelona. Then we headed home to pack because tomorrow is on to PARIS. We leave super early in the morning. We must be out of the hotel by 6:15 am. I must say I will be sad to say goodbye to Barcelona.
Miss everyone very much. Will post pics as soon as we get a chance. It has been very busy.
Let me tell you about Barcelona. We get to Cesars hotel and he is not there. I am trying not to panic because we was suppose to get in hours before. I found out his plane was delayed due to bad storms in the US. He gets here and we just gave him time to leave his bag. We took him to the olympic area where there are rows of restraunts. We ate at this traditional Barcelona restraunt and had Patatas Bravas (Traditional tapas from Barcelona), we ate Paella and drank Sangria. We had the tradition Spainish cuisine. It was delicious. Then we jumped on a bus and saw some sights. At this time we run into the bull ring. People are crowded around this ring. It was hundreds of people. When I went with Maria last year it was like 100 people this was like 1000s of people. It was the 3 best bull fight in Barcelona history. We bought some scalped tickets and saw the show. The boys are like me you see it once for the experience but we all felt bad for the bulls. However, as my brother said we were going for the bulls. 1 bull almost won. He trampled one of the fighters. It was scarey but an amazing sight. The fighter was fine. We learned what to do incase you get knocked down by a bull. You roll like if you were on fire. We got a newpaper article talking all about the bullfight and how historical it was. It was the best bullfighters.
Then we went to walk Las Ramblas and the Gothic Quarter at night.
The next day(Monday) we saw all I mean all the sights of Barcelona. We were on the go since 9 am. We never walked so much in a day. We saw the Sagrada Familia a lot of Gaudis work. The best part was I was able to find this little cafe I went to last year in the gothic quarter where you can eat chocolate or xocolate (As they spell it in Catalan). It is a cafe that was open for more than 500 years. Before it was a bar and brothel but now it is a little cafe. The Chocolate is like nothing you have ever had. Then that night we saw Flamenco. It was the best show and the highlight of the trip for me thus far. Cesar said he never drank so much wine and Sangria.
On our last day which is today we took a day tour to the Torres Winery the best and biggest wine company in Spain. It was great. We had tons of fun. We bought a nice bottle of white wine. They funny thing is Eddie bought us a red yesterday which we drank at Parck Guielle. A park designed by Gaudi. It was from the Torres company. When we got to the winery that is the exact wine they gave us to try what a coincidence. So we got a white to drink later. We then went to Monserrat. It is a huge mountain near Barcelona that has a monestary. It was beautiful up there. From there we went to this colonial Spainsh town called Stiges. It was so beautiful there. It was right on the beach and it had this huge colonial church. We loved it. Then we headed back to Barcelona and had our white wine under the trees in Park de ciutad or park of the city. It is the best park I have ever seen. We had people play all kinds of music around us, people juggeling and people playing soccer. We drank the white wine and just relaxed. We swapped stories and just enjoyed each other and Barcelona. Then we headed home to pack because tomorrow is on to PARIS. We leave super early in the morning. We must be out of the hotel by 6:15 am. I must say I will be sad to say goodbye to Barcelona.
Miss everyone very much. Will post pics as soon as we get a chance. It has been very busy.
A Quickie with Valencia
We had such an experience. We left Granda at about 11:30 p.m. on Friday night. We were suppose to take the 9pm train to Valencia it was going to arrive at 6:50. We get to the train station and it is booked. The whole train is taken. Well we had meet so many people in Granda these two guys we met at the hostel were also trying to go to Valencia. They said they had read there were buses that left at 11. That was our only option because we did not have a hostel or anything for the night. So we get to the bus station and get our tickets. Now we have 2 hours to kill so we went to their version of walmart and walked around. It was kind of neat. Then we left at 11:30 and we arrived at 8am. We did not really lose any time but the bus was so uncomfortable. Thankfully Eddie had a couple of sleeping pills he and I fell asleep but boy were our bodies so uncomfortable. We got to Valencia and our hostel let us leave our bags but we can not go to our room yet because people were still asleep. So Eddie and I went to wash and Dane went to sleep in the DVD room because on the whole bus ride he slept like 1 hour. We get back from washing and now there cleaning our rooms so we decided to get our beach wear and head to the beach which is why we went to Valencia. We loved it. We were there 5 hours. We fell asleep and it was so relaxing. We all left a bit burned because we fell asleep in the sun. We have lots of funny sleeping pics. I will post when I can. Valencia is so beautiful and was our little break point. It was so relaxing and the hostel we stayed at was so nice, clean, safe and in a great area. We had these huge windows about 4 feet high. We opened them and Eddie and I sat on the top bunk in the room and watched fireworks. We dont know why they had fireworks that night but we sat and watched it was so nice. Then we crashed out. That hostel had the best showers we had been in since we left home and we slept the best that night. No sleeping pills and it was oh so comfortable. We loved it.
We were sad we only stayed a day. We left at 8:30 the next morning headed for Barcelona.
We were sad we only stayed a day. We left at 8:30 the next morning headed for Barcelona.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Goodbye Granda
Granada was awesome. It was the best city. It is like no other culture I have ever been exposed to. We had a wonderful time. We had a great hostel, we got lost in the city. The have such narrow confusing streets. We had great tapas and Sangria. We visited the Cathedral which is huge yet beautiful. We visited the best sight I have ever been too the Alhambra. We were literally there all day. We got there at 8am because they only let in 1000 people in the morning and 1000 at night. We heard it gets packed early and it is true. We were in line for an hour. We left at about 2pm. It wasn´t bad thought because we met some people from Seattle and talked the whole time about out travels. They were backpacking to. IT is such a beautiful sight rich in history. Then we went to eat at the best restraunt in Spain thus far. It was cheap and boy was it good. It was called the Montemautoro. We bougth a few little things and we strolled down the arabic district. Well I call it that. See Granda was part of the Musliums for many years till 1492 when the Fernando and Isabel conquered Granda (Catholic monarchs). However much of Granda still has an arabic feel. They have lines of hookah shops. Even our hostel had a Hookah tent. We sat at one yesterday and listened to the Gypsys play some songs and played the drums. The Gypsys and Flamanceo orginated here as well. There influence is everywhere. I was soooooo sad I did not go to a Flamenco show but there was not time. I was very disappointed ask Eddie!!!!!!!
I will post pics soon I have 3 minutes before time is out. Love yall!!!!
We love recieving your comments guys thanks so much. We feel so loved :).
PS in Valencia now will write about that later what an adventure that was!!!!!!!!!!
I will post pics soon I have 3 minutes before time is out. Love yall!!!!
We love recieving your comments guys thanks so much. We feel so loved :).
PS in Valencia now will write about that later what an adventure that was!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Granada- WOW!!!!!!!!
Granda is absolutely beautiful and such a different atmosphere as I have ever seen. I hope everyone is doing well back home. The best part of today was our Hostel. It is called Makuto Hostel. It is in a beautiful part of Granda. It has hamocks in the courtyard, it has a little room outside that looks like a Geenie room where people smoke Hookahs. That is a muslium tradition and Granda was a strong hold for the Musliums in Spain until 1492. There is still a strong muslium feel to the city. Granda is also the beginnings of Gypsies and Flamenco. So I hope to go tonight to a Flamaneco show. We are going to try. Today we saw so much of Granda I will let you see per the pics. However, first enjoy our fun adventureful hostel pics. We have to go up a ladder to an attic type place where there are just mattresses. It will be a very memorable experience. Enjoy!!!!
Surrealism
We are still in Madrid and we hopped on and off our bus :). We went to the Sofia Reina museum where the surrealist art is like Dali and we saw lots of Picasso´s work. We visited other sights around Madrid. My favorite was the palace and the Cathedral which you will see atop. The first picture is a government building but I thought the architecture was so beautiful. I will attach a few fotos of each. We went and had a great dinner with some great Paella, tapas and Sangria. The traditional feast of Spain :). We also walked around the beautiful Plaza Mayor. We will miss Madrid but also ready for a new adventure to begin.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
We have arrived
Greetings from Madrid,
We got here safely. We had a long, tired and cramped flight but we made it. We have a nice little hostel in a good location and clean!!!!!! We are so tired. We didn´t want to sleep so we can get oursleves into the EU time frame. Well today when we got here about 6am Dallas time. Then we freshed up and headed out. We went and walked around, we went to this great park called Retiro, it is similar to Central Park. We walked around and then chose a shady spot and laid down and just enjoyed the serenity of the park. We actually laid there for a long time and fell asleep on and off a bit but it was so beautiful and enjoyable. We then walked the rest of the park, did the hop on and off bus tour thing so we could make a plan of what to visit tomorrow. Madrid is very nice. It is so big and full of people. We are just thrilled we are here :).
We got here safely. We had a long, tired and cramped flight but we made it. We have a nice little hostel in a good location and clean!!!!!! We are so tired. We didn´t want to sleep so we can get oursleves into the EU time frame. Well today when we got here about 6am Dallas time. Then we freshed up and headed out. We went and walked around, we went to this great park called Retiro, it is similar to Central Park. We walked around and then chose a shady spot and laid down and just enjoyed the serenity of the park. We actually laid there for a long time and fell asleep on and off a bit but it was so beautiful and enjoyable. We then walked the rest of the park, did the hop on and off bus tour thing so we could make a plan of what to visit tomorrow. Madrid is very nice. It is so big and full of people. We are just thrilled we are here :).
Hopefully I will get these pictures on the computer if I do you will see the planes we were on with the NYC background, you will see us in our little hostel room and big Dane in our European shower :). You will see our room, pictures of us at the park, and on the bus.
Monday, June 11, 2007
European Vacation has begun
Martha and Eddie's big European Adventure has begun. We spent all day Sunday running around because of course we left everything to the day before buying clothes, books, washing and packing. As my friends would definately know I would have it no other way :).
However, I am very excited to begin our European adventure because we have so many fun things planned and so many special guests that will be popping in with us. The two most important guests that play such a vital role will be with Dane Wilson(Eddie's good friend, and my pal, along for the whole 3 week journey) and Julio Gaona (My big bro and the person I look up to the most). He will be joining us for the second week only(How sad I know). Eddie and I are thrilled he is coming though.
Last year was a wonderful life changing experience for me, as my dearest friends know. My partner in crime last year was Maria and it was the best partner I could have had. I would not have changed any of my experience or partner for no other last year. It was a perfect soul searching experience. I will be revisiting some sights and locations again. The best part of doing this is having those little romantic moments I only daydreamed about last year and now making them a reality with the love of my life Eddie. We both look forward to hearing from you guys this summer. Please stay tuned in with our blog so we know our friends are not far behind but able to share in our great memories and adventures.
Love you all...First stop-Madrid here we come....
However, I am very excited to begin our European adventure because we have so many fun things planned and so many special guests that will be popping in with us. The two most important guests that play such a vital role will be with Dane Wilson(Eddie's good friend, and my pal, along for the whole 3 week journey) and Julio Gaona (My big bro and the person I look up to the most). He will be joining us for the second week only(How sad I know). Eddie and I are thrilled he is coming though.
Last year was a wonderful life changing experience for me, as my dearest friends know. My partner in crime last year was Maria and it was the best partner I could have had. I would not have changed any of my experience or partner for no other last year. It was a perfect soul searching experience. I will be revisiting some sights and locations again. The best part of doing this is having those little romantic moments I only daydreamed about last year and now making them a reality with the love of my life Eddie. We both look forward to hearing from you guys this summer. Please stay tuned in with our blog so we know our friends are not far behind but able to share in our great memories and adventures.
Love you all...First stop-Madrid here we come....
The story has begun to unfold...Aw the adventure of the passport
Well our adventure this summer began with a busy yet fun memories. We started our summer by heading to New Braunfels to meet up with Grace and company. Eddie and I brought Felipe (Eddie's younger brother) and Betty (Felipe's beautiful Fiance) along with us. We had a wonderful time floating down the comal river, grilling, tanning, playing games and just relaxing in our beautiful river house with the Guadalupe river literally in our back yard.
Then sadly we left on Wed. and had to depart ways with Grace which is always so hard for me. However, we had a mission. Eddie 5 days till our European Advenure had not yet recieved his passport. We were on the verge of complete panic but decided to just head to Houston and deal with the situation in person. Long story short we were able to get it with a great story to tell. You must ask Eddie for the detailed story it is a good one :). I will say when we first left for Houston no one really wanted to go. We would have rathered go home. However, afterward Eddie and I quite enjoyed our little Texas tour from Dallas to New Braunfels (Near San Antonio) to Houston to Dallas. We enjoyed the time we shared with Felipe and Betty. We also had the best Seafood ever in Houston. I was so glad we went and that Eddie's passport issue was not so hard to resolve as we had feared- I guess it was meant to be. With passport in hand we headed back to Dallas to Celebrate my little Krista's Quince on Saturday and to get ready for Europe.
Then sadly we left on Wed. and had to depart ways with Grace which is always so hard for me. However, we had a mission. Eddie 5 days till our European Advenure had not yet recieved his passport. We were on the verge of complete panic but decided to just head to Houston and deal with the situation in person. Long story short we were able to get it with a great story to tell. You must ask Eddie for the detailed story it is a good one :). I will say when we first left for Houston no one really wanted to go. We would have rathered go home. However, afterward Eddie and I quite enjoyed our little Texas tour from Dallas to New Braunfels (Near San Antonio) to Houston to Dallas. We enjoyed the time we shared with Felipe and Betty. We also had the best Seafood ever in Houston. I was so glad we went and that Eddie's passport issue was not so hard to resolve as we had feared- I guess it was meant to be. With passport in hand we headed back to Dallas to Celebrate my little Krista's Quince on Saturday and to get ready for Europe.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
2 tacos and Coffee
As every great story has a beginning Eddie and I have a great summer story to tell with a nice beginning. We were well on our way to begin our summer adventure when Eddie's mom (Debra) called and informed us she had breakfast waiting for us before we left on our road trip. Eddie and I had been running around all weekend so we were very excited to hear she had made us a great breakfast. We woke up late and needed so much more to do. However, when we walked in to Debra's home everything just stood still for just a second. It seemed so calm and the energy was just so loving. Eddie, Debra and myself sat and had some breakfast tacos she had made us with a delicious cup of coffee. We all sat and truly enjoyed our meal. We took every second to enjoy one anothers company as well as great food. This was going to be our inspiration for the summer. Eddie and I said no matter how busy and hectic our summer becomes we need to be sure to enjoy even the simpliest of pleasure like 2 Tacos and a cup of coffee.
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