Delaware visit

My trip to Delaware was relaxing, refreshing, full of sunshine, and wonderful.  I couldn't have asked for a better vacation after a vacation.  I got to .. yes that's right I said 'got to' not 'had to' ... get up early and spend 3 days with Matteo.  All by myself:)

Day #1 was spent learning his routine and studying for my scuba certification class the following week (another post to come).  I was outside for a bit, came in to shower, and then waited on my sister to get home.  we dance, sang, boogied on down, and I may or may not have consumed a beer or 2 resulting my new name - Aunt Tipsy - hey, I didn't have a car and I was able to function just fine!!

Day #2 was actually spent going out for a the day!  We went up to visit my best friend/lifelong friend, Mary, in Smyrna about 45 minutes away.  She bought a house probably 3ish years ago and I had yet to see it so we ventured on up and visited with her.  We also went out to lunch for the classic chicken cheese steak that I dream about nightly still - some things just aren't better in TX - and Matteo was quite the popular kid in the lil' ol' place.  We then headed on back and visited my sister at work so everyone could see him and fall in love and get all oogly eyed over the cutest baby ever.

Day #3 he slept a ton - meaning I got a ton of sun time:)

Day #4 my mom arrived and we spent the day by the pool - as in all day - because mom just wanted to snuggle him.  We even ventured out at night with some whipped cream vodka sippin' and mom 'lifeguarding' just in case.

Day #5 we spent by the pool also and then got dressed and headed out for my birthday dinner at the beach.  Afterwards, I stayed with out with Mary and her husband at the beach for a bit.

Day #6 was spent celebrating Matteo and his baptism - another post completely on that.  It was a beautiful day and one to celebrate for sure!

I left bright and early ... like 3:30 I think... to head back to Austin and get my sweet Mia bug who I hadn't seen for over 2 weeks!!  She had been sent to the boarders for the first 4 days of our trip, then my friend picked her up and graciously watched her and our apt... and garden... and everything else... for a week... then Derrick came home while I was in Delaware... then he took her back to the boarders for 3 more days while he went to work.  Poor thing was exhausted but so happy to see me!!!


Below are some pics from my visit:)

Best friend of 28 years... almost crazy

I wish my pajamas were cool like Matteo's

True story kid

If you don't love a sleeping baby you must be crazy

Momma and baby

Are you in love yet?

Future cabana boy:)

And at this point it is July 1... my first month of summer consisted of nannying, tutoring, first week of camp, going to Spain, and vacationing in Delaware.  Whew wee!!!

Heading back to the States

We woke up and headed to the train station.  They have a train that is a fraction of the price that takes you to the airport so we totally opted for this.  Little did we know the train would take over an hour... we were a little stressed to the say the least.  Especially since when we arrived the lines were backed up to another universe - farther than I've ever seen.  Derrick walked up to the front and showed his badge, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.  Lucky for us - it did.  We got checked in for the flight to Newark, NJ but that was the flight that wasn't looking great - a lot of people were listed.  We had enough time to also go check in for the flight to Dulles, on the Irish airline, so we did.  During this time ALL of the computer systems shut down.... and the lines were re-donckey-lis.  Lucky for us our info was already put through so ours took a little longer than planned but we were at least checked in.  Not gonna lie, we did a little party dance in hopes that this delayed a lot of people and gave us better odds of getting on.

My sister was planning on picking me up somewhere, we didn't know where because I didn't where I was flying into nor how I was getting anywhere, so she was standing by for my call IF we even made it back to the US.  I was staying with her for another week to spend time with Matteo and be there for his baptism.  Needless, I wanted to get back, sleep, eat American food, and snuggle with Matteo.  I was beat and ready to come home.

We arrived at both gates, but the flights were delayed, big time.  Not looking good again.  An hour later they called our names .... FIRST CLASS on the Irish airline - say whatttttttt.  Holy cow - this vacation could not have worked out any better for us.  We were so lucky this whole trip and this was the icing on the cake.

We boarded the plane and were given our toiletry kit, seriously anything you could possibly need or want on a flight was in it - socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, contact holder, deodorant, the works!

 It was awesome.  We were also given our menus to make our selections with our 5 course meal and were greeted with our choice, champange or oj - hello is that a serious question? 

Enjoying the champagne

We experienced our firs time in Europe together

Derrick and I were the only 2 that opted for the champagne though so the flight attendant said, well you 2 can either finish the bottle before take off or we have to dump it out.  Seriously.... if that another question???  Yes, give give give:)  We then enjoyed our meal with a few glasses of red wine, and the funny part is that I didn't feel much of the affects - that's how much drinking we did in Spain my body was immune hahaha. 

Our seats were the kinds that lay flat into beds, and also adjust to tons of different positions so I layed down, turned out the lights which really makes it totally dark in the cabin, and watched a movie while snuggled in bed (oh yes... down comforters are also handed out).  We landed in Dulles after 8 hours refreshed and feeling good.  Sorry bout cha look coach cabin people - y'all looked rough:)

I rented a car in Dulles and drove to Annapolis which was a closer pick up for my sister and sat at a Dunkin Donuts for a while just playing on my phone being stared at by the owners... I bought a bottle of water to make it okay.  My sister arrived, headed back to her house, and Matteo and I bonded then I headed to bed. 

We never really felt jet lagged or bad from the time change, we actually don't feel like we ever adjusted.  Since dinner is so late there we were forced to stay up really late and sleep in because nothing really opens early so we kind of stayed on our original schedules.  Now I was in DE for the week, the longest time I've been back there since 2003 I think, which was crazy.  But here I was, ready for the dream that everyone always wants - a vacation after a vacation:)

Toledo - Day 8

We hadn't booked our tickets yet for Toledo because we weren't sure which train we were taking there.  We arrived at the station and only have 15 minutes until the one train left so we figured we'd take the one leaving in an hour.  Nope.  Apparently if you have more than 2 minutes to spare they will put you on the first one. 

Off we ran and made it on our train literally with 3 minutes to spare... not the best way to start our last day in Spain!  But off we went for the 1 hour train ride.

When we arrived the train station was beautiful. 

Inside of the station

I wanted to go to Toledo for many reason - 1. I have planned to study abroad there in college but never did 2. I went to University of Toledo in Oh and found this to be so funny...?  and 3. It was supposed to have great sites to see.

We took a cab into the center of town, which wasn't far but we were confused with where to go based on the map.  We opted to go to Alcazar first, which was my breaking point.  I was already exhausted and this place was completely not what I expected.  It was a museum dedicated to Spain's wars they had won and lost... no pictures allowed, and no joke we couldn't get out.  You had to keep following this terrible map that was so confusing to the next exhibit and go up and down then up and down stairs.  It was so unorganized and if someone stabbed me with one of the swords they had in there I would've said thank you.  I was driving Derrick nuts but I was in full on break down mode and wanted nothing to do with being there.

I'm smiling for camera, not for being happy about this place

So, how to solve my problem?  Eat of course!  We found a cute place for lunch and sangria.  Pricey, but good, and Toledo is so small there weren't many options.  At this point the temp was rising - over 100 - and we were just D.O.N.E.  But we wanted to see a bit more and the Cathedral didn't open for another hour.

Can't take my eyes off of the ice cold gelato

Street of Toledo - Cathedral straight ahead

We wandered around with my melting gelato and got to the cathedral early.  Guess what sign I saw when we arrived?  No shorts, skirts, or tank tops.  Guess what I was wearing... white jeans (perfect for the Cathedral) and a really cute halter top (not perfect).  Guess who almost had another meltdown... yep me.  I was bored and frustrated we came out here anyways and then to top it off I wasn't going to be able to get in!?!

Hang on... I looked around and saw all of these people purchasing their tickets in skimpier and well.. trashier... clothes than mine.  We watched  them get in with no problem.  Alright - let's do this.  We fell between the crowd, Derrick put his arm around me, and WE WERE IN!  Muahahahahaha!!!

University dorms

The Cathderal was so pretty and there was A/C - my stamina was returning.  We spent a long time in here, partly because our return train didn't leave for a long time. 

We loved this image - the light was coming through with the statues shadows also - it was beautiful

We laughed and said I was 'creepin' on Jesus... we were delusional apparently because it's not as funny as we thought it was

Well, after so long we hopped on the bus and headed towards the train station.  We sat at a bar for a long time reminiscing about our favorite parts - me naming my favorite sites and Derrick being sweet saying 'spending it with you'. 

Yep that's celsius - conversion is 105!!!

Cruz Campo baby beers - loved them

We headed back and went to.... big surprise... the tapas market.  I wasn't feeling great, dehydrated for sure, so just Derrick ate.  We then heard huge screaming and music - there was a HUGE parade led by the church and priests through the street right by where we were.  Again... I didn't have my camera because we were just eating dinner, but it was amazing,  I loved it.

We headed back and debated on how to get home.  Would we make it back tomorrow on the flights?  If not, we cleared it with the hostal to stay another night - he had space - and Derrick would stay because he would at least go out and about and enjoy another day where I would stay holed up in the room alone and worried I'd get lost.  We saw that the flight we wanted wasn't oversold but there were a lot of people listed, but to our surprise there was an Irish company that we could fly on through United that was WIDE open with no one listed!!  As in... first class was WIDE OPEN along with coach - what a dream that would be, we thought, to top off our trip and get first class home......

Madrid - Day 7

At this point we were exhausted, are you yet?  Shew!  Let's just say we didn't take the advice of anyone saying 'don't try to do it all' - we were trying and we accomplished it... but we were getting tired!

In Madrid we got up, enjoyed breakfast at the hostal which was nice because we weren't keeping track of our money and I had NO IDEA how much we had spent... we figured this is a once in a lifetime event so we were living it up!

I loved the street signs - hand painted with art too

We then headed out and had planned to go to the Cathedral there which also overlooked the Palace.  A downfall to this was in Madrid we weren't allowed to take ANY pictures in the places we went.  Don't worry... we held the camera our necks (we being Derrick, I couldn't break the rules) and took pics as best we could.  Didn't work out too well....

Center of Plaza Mayor

In front of the palace

View of Madrid

Not supposed to be taking pictures... the armory

We then grabbed some lunch at the famous tapas market.  It was overwhleming for me - too many people and craziness but Derrick loved it so I grabbed a table each time we went there (every few hours... seriously) and he shopped around with his euros to spend.  We got adventurous and have caviar, octopus, and so much more!  Delicious!  For those of you wondering 'tapas' are bite size or single serving portions.  Most of them ran for about 1-2 euros so about 1.30-2.60 a piece. 

Trying caviar and loving it

We then enjoyed the gardens of the Palace and wondering around Madrid.  Madrid was very easy to get around so I really enjoyed it here too!

Genius - we need these in TX - they seriously keep it so cool

We headed home and enjoyed a dinner and then headed back to watch the Spain world cup game.  We were heading to Toledo for the day in the morning... seriously... we didn't give up!

Valencia/Madrid - Day 6

We woke up and had the morning to enjoy our last parts in Valencia.  They have a big market that they are known for so we went there to order breakfast and walk around.  It was neat and I ordered our meal in full Spanish - go me:)


We then took a train to the train station to Madrid and were crazy early --- like 2 hours early --- so we relaxed in McDonald's.  Yep in Spain.  It for some reason was my dream to eat McDonald's in Spain - so I ordered a Big Mac and ... yep you guessed it... a beer... all at McDonald's.  I have to admit - as anti fast food, especially McD's, it sure hit the spot.  Derrick also has had his eye on this 'orxata' (horchata) drink- I think his face says how much he liked it.


We took a high speed train which was neat and were in Madrid within the hour!

We opted to walk to our hotel.  I convinced myself that I could find the way since I looked at so many maps over the past few days so off we went - luggage and all in the 95+ degree heat.  And guess what... WE MADE IT!  I did it!!

Our hostal was really neat - it had full service coffee, water (so expensive in Europe we paid for the room just with the free water) and snacks and breakfast food.  The shower was so funny - it was 2 feet elevated off the ground and it came with cute little soap. 

We got dressed up for the night to go out to the old restaurant in the gusiness book of world records!  We were early (dinner in Spain doesn't start till around 9.... seriously) so we enjoyed sangria and olives and then headed down to dinner.  It was the most amazing little restaurant with white coat service and such a neat place with kind servers. 



 
They were known for their lamb and their suckling pig - we ordered both and shared.  We also got a huge plate of cheese for our app and of course... sangria.  The food was to die for, indescribable, and to top it off in full Spanish I asked 'If it is possible for me to take a picture of the main kitchen and cook' - the server was so proud and excited for me to speak in Spanish he let me!!!  Whoo hooo


 
 
We headed back after dinner and enjoyed some of the night activities like fire dancers and then headed back to our hostal. 

Valencia - Day 5

We slept amazing our first night Valencia - we had FULL and I mean FULL control of the A/C which is crazy in Europe - they are quite the opposite from us when it comes to AC and electric.

So once we got up we headed out to get to the Cathedral and enjoy it and also walk up to the top of the tower- over 250 steps for a full city view!  We loved the Cathedral - it was again beautiful - and learned some cool facts like how they believe that if you rub the virgin mary's foot on the statue and then walk the perimeter of the cathedral nine times you will have a healthy pregnancy.  Interesting.  I didn't do it - I'll have to go back and do it when it's my time:)

We then climbed the stairs-  it was a bit overwhelming and scary - so narrow and hot - but once we reached the top it was awesome!!

We enjoyed some lunch - pizza sounded awesome and since beer is cheaper than water or soda we did beer and pizza - yum!  Derrick loved the spanish way - which was tuna on everything - so he got tuna pizza:)  We also found a place that makes this special drink only in Valencia - success:)

We then took the bus out to an arts and science center which was amazing.  It was so different than the rest of Valencia.  Valencia was old and full of history and the arts and science center was new and architecturally modern.  Very cool!

We headed home and this day was ridiculously hot - about 95 - so we were exhausted.  We had dinner plans again at the restaurant we attempted to get to the night before and wanted to be well rested.  We actually decided last minute to cancel those plans and went to the place paella was created.  And to say it was amazing would be an understatement.  We enjoyed Cavat - Spain's version of champagne that they believe is of course better than France's - and iberian ham for an appetizer which Derrick had been wanting to try since we arrived.  Pork is a huge thing in Spain.  The Iberian ham was to die for!!  Then they brought out a HUGE cast iron skillet of Paella (of course I didn't bring my camera) full of seafood - YUM!  We headed home extremely full and satisfied to rest up for our trip to Madrid the next day.  On a side note - apparently Derrick and I travel very differently when it comes to unpacking... examples below:)

Derrick's organized area

My area - it's organized in a special way