Europe - Wild Color Macrame

November 10, 2019May 24, 2021

14 Highlights from our Babymoon in Spain and Portugal

Having the ability to travel is such a blessing. Everything fell into place to make this trip a reality, a trip I didn’t believe would actually happen. Too good to be true, I thought.

Thankfully, as I reach the 20 week mark of my pregnancy, I’m feeling energized and healthy. My doctor gave us the all-clear to travel, our supervisor’s approved our two-week time-off requests, and we had money set aside for a final vacation before our baby arrives March, 2020!

Below are the 14 neatest things we did during our time in Barcelona, southern Portugal, and Lisbon over our two-week vacation.

1. Quinta da Regaleira

Country Estate established in 1904 in Sintra, Portugal

One word: Magical. During our visit, Michael and I agreed that Quinta da Regaleira was the most beautiful place either of us had ever been, and it ended up being our favorite activity of the entire trip. Quinta da Regaleira includes gardens, a castle, a chapel, underground tunnels, waterfalls, and grottos.

We had no idea what to expect, which is the best way to walk into any attraction. After visiting the picturesque Initiation Well, which looked like something out of a movie, we found ourselves walking down a moss-covered spiral staircase into a maze of underground tunnels that led to a waterfall. Behind the waterfall was stepping stones across a grotto. Seriously, around every corner was another magical surprise. We laughed and smiled the entire time.

More photos from our visit to Quinta da Regaleira >>

2. Fútbol game at Camp Nou in Barcelona

Camp Nou has been the home fútbol stadium for FC Barcelona since 1957

Barcelona loves their fútbol! This was my first out-of-country sporting event and I’d say it’s a must for anyone traveling to Spain. In the United States, sporting events are as much about the food and drink as they are about the game, which means peanut shells on the ground, drunk people in the stands, and 20-minute lines for hotdogs. But at Camp Nou, the lines at the concession stand remained empty, except for halftime. In fact, no alcohol was served at the stadium at all. Instead, it felt like attendees were strictly attending to go freakin’ nuts for FC Barcelona. Pure, joyous fun.

3. La Sagrada Familia

Basilica in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí, projected to be completed in 2026

I imagine La Sagrada Familia will remain the single most incredible architectural masterpiece I will have the privilege of visiting in my lifetime. Every inch of the basilica has been planned for, from the juxtaposition of the façades on the exterior to the color of stained class and where it’ll shine as the sun streams in.

One of my favorite tidbits from the audio tour: When the basilica is complete in 2026, the tallest spire will be 560 feet, one metre less than the tallest mountain in Barcelona because Gaudí believed that his creation should not surpass God’s.

More photos from our visit to La Sagrada Familia >>

4. Park and Palace of Pena

Castle first built in the middle ages, reaching completion in 1894 in Sintra, Portugal

I’m a sucker for colorful buildings. Colorful castles? Even better. The Palace of Pena is an Instagram model’s dream, so yeah, this place is full of obnoxious selfie-takers. We were just as guilty. It’s impossible to not take a million photos here.

Shoutout to my Uncle Jeff for suggesting a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra. Though I doubt he took any selfies during his time in Sintra. We could have definitely spent another full day exploring Sintra, because we didn’t even get to Castelo dos Mouros or Sintra National Palace. Sintra was an easy 40 minute train ride from Lisbon, but I recommend studying the website above before making the trip. The advice about the 434 bus was invaluable.

More photos from our visit to the Palace of Pena >>

5. Carmo Archaeological Museum

Remains of a church built in 1389, Lisbon, Portugal

The earthquake of 1755, and the fire that soon followed the earthquake, all but destroyed the church of Carmo in Lisbon. Rather than rebuild, the city decided to leave the ruins as-is, and created Carmo Archaeological Museum, a memorial to the 1755 earthquake.

While the vast collection of artifacts, weapons, and mummies feels a bit random, the underlying theme of, “If it’s broke, don’t fix it, put it in a museum,” is hilariously beautiful.

More photos from our visit to the Carmo Archaeological Museum >>

6. Park Guell

Park system designed by Antoni Gaudí, continually being added to and enhanced

Michael and I learned a valuable lesson during our last trip to Europe. At some point in your travels, you will hit a wall of exhaustion. When this happens, go somewhere beautiful and just be still. Park Guell in Barcelona was exactly the place to do this.

Getting to the top of the park is a good workout. So naturally we grabbed churros con chocolate afterwards to cancel out any calories burned.

7. Praia dos Estudiantes

Beach in Lagos, Portugal

Our voyage to Praia Estudiantes started as a mandatory laundry errand because our hotel laundry was overpriced (literally 4 euro per pair of underwear). But the beach did not disappoint. Praia Estudiantes was a never ending series of surprise beaches. Each beach was bookended with caves leading to yet another beautiful beach. And through the final cave, a beautiful archway that brought my Portugal Pinterest board to life.

If you’re visiting Praia dos Estudiantes, stop at MAR restaurant for lunch afterwards. It seems too good to be true, since it’s located at the top of the beach steps, but the prices were great and the food was even better!

More photos from our visit to the Praia dos Estudiantes >>

8. Fortaleza de Sagres

Southwesternmost point of Europe and a 15th century fortress in Sagres, Portugal

Funny story…I was about to pee my pants because my pregnant bladder couldn’t handle another minute on the road. So we paid 3 euro each for entrance to Fortaleza de Sagres and learned way more than we expected to about the history of Sagres, what was once considered the end of the world – before European’s realized there was more to the world, of course.

This actually ended up being a really fun activity, because once again, we walked into it with zero expectations other than the hopes of a working toilet.

9. Tivoli Carvoeiro Algarve Resort

Resort in Carvoeiro, southern Portugal

Tivoli Carvoiero was the final push we needed to book our trip to Europe. Their website is sexy. In other words: their marketing absolutely worked on us and convinced us we had to go to southern Portugal. We stayed at this hotel for four nights and really enjoyed our time here. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for ocean-side pool time and a breakfast buffet fit for a queen.

10. Praia da Marinha

A word of caution for anyone trying to find a specific photo-op from Pinterest, you may end up wandering around said location hoping you’ll stumble across the exact vantage point. But hey, it worked for us this time!

Michael had found a photo of a heart-shaped cutout at Praia da Marinha and wanted to stop by before we left southern Portugal. He knows I’m a sucker for this kind of thing. The second we stepped out of the car I was in love, but not because of the beach. At the start of the trail were three beautiful stray cats, all totally willing to be pet by strangers. Freakin’ heaven. After about 30 minutes of, oh my gosh they’re so cute-ing, we went on a short hike trying to find the elusive heart cutout in the landscape. Nailed it. Rewarding and beautiful.

11. Livraria Bertrand

The oldest bookstore in the world, Lisbon, Portugal

Libraria Bertrand was cool in theory, but it looked just like any other bookstore in the world. Regardless, I was still excited to get a stamp that said my book was purchased at the oldest bookstore in the world!

12. Igreja hopping

The act of hopping from one Portuguese church to another, a term coined by me

Is church hopping inappropriate? According to travel expert Rick Steves, as long as you’re respectful, it’s all good. We stopped in to visit more igrejas than I can count, each time saying a prayer for baby-no-name in my belly and marveling at the beautiful architectural details.

13. Belem Tower

Fortification built in 1515, Lisbon, Portugal

If visited correctly, the Belem Tower and Jerónimos Monastery are said to be stunning attractions in Lisbon.

In our case, Belem Tower was a total fail and we didn’t even make it to the monastery. We decided against buying tickets and instead opted to take a few photos outside. It started pouring rain and homeboy (in this case, Michael is homeboy) was wearing flip-flops. We got our photo and ran back to the car. We’ll catch it next time.

14. Flamenco Show

A flamenco show is a must-see in Spain, according to every travel guide. I had high hopes for the Flamenco show we attended, but was ultimately disappointed. If you’re visiting Spain, aim to find a balance between authenticity and quality in the show you attend. We were hoping for an authentic experience, but what we found were talented flamenco dancers in an awkwardly small bar. We were one of four couples at the show, and felt very aware of our chewing between songs.

Overall, our trip was better than I expected it would be. Two-weeks was the perfect amount of time, giving us about four nights in Barcelona, Carvoiero, and Lisbon. Michael and I make traveling a priority because it’s what feeds our souls. We made memories that’ll last a lifetime, and we can’t wait to tell our baby about all of the cool stuff we did while they were in my belly!

Thanks for reading,

Emma

September 4, 2018July 16, 2021

The Laundry Struggles of a Backpacker

We arrived in Santorini, Greece, where everyone dresses to the nines. We stopped for lunch at an upscale rooftop bar. It had been about a week since we last did laundry and it was our third day wearing the same clothes. We were stinky.

Hey, laundry is hard when you’re hopping from country to country every few days and wearing a new set of clothes on a travel day is a backpacking no-no. I’m sure my fellow travelers are familiar with the difficulties of doing laundry abroad. Below are a few of our most humorous struggles.

Dryers aren’t a thing in Europe

My husband, father and I were in the first country of the trip: Germany. We knew our next destination wouldn’t have a washer, so we threw a load in the evening before we had to leave for Prague.

Our AirBnb didn’t have a dryer, so we used every square inch of the apartment to lay out our clothes to dry – jeans included. I can almost hear my mom groaning and saying, “Emma! The jeans wouldn’t be dry by the next morning!” Yeah, mom, we discovered that the hard way.

The next morning we each had a pile of wet clothes to haul to Prague. Thank goodness we were taking a bus, and were not required to weigh our luggage!

Lesson learned: If you don’t have a dryer, don’t wash your heavy clothes the night before traveling.

The washer settings are in a different language

On our second laundry attempt in the Netherlands we were thrilled that we brought small baggies of powder laundry detergent because our AirBnb didn’t provide any. I highly recommend doing this – buying a giant batch of detergent while traveling is such a waste.

While my husband and father were out grabbing groceries, I attempted to start a load of laundry. To be honest, I’m not that good at English laundry, so imagine my struggle with Dutch laundry.

So here I am looking at my options:

Intensief…hmm sounds too intense.

Kort programma… let’s skip that and come back to it.

Centrifugeren…skip.

Spoelen and centrifuge…crap.

Katoen…huh, maybe that’s for cotton stuff.

Synthetisch…maybe that’s for synthetic materials?

Handwas…no, I don’t want to hand wash, I want YOU to wash them.

Babykatoen…aww baby cotton!

After washing on Kort programma for 30 minutes our laundry came out fine. We put our clothes on the patio to dry. A bird pooped on them less than 10 minutes later so we kort programma’d a second time.

Halfway through our trip we got smart and started paying a laundry mat to wash our clothes. It usually cost about 10 Euro a load, which was a lot, but worth it.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

August 28, 2018April 25, 2021

Burano, Italy is a Colorful Slice of Heaven

The first time I heard of Burano it was on one of those, “Brightly Colored Towns you Have to Visit,” blogs. Today, images of Burano flood Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook. Many refer to Burano as an, “Instagrammer’s paradise,” because you really can’t take a bad photo here. Bottom line: this place is touristy. However, if you’re already in Venice, Burano is absolutely worth a day trip.

Read more about our time in Venice here.

What to expect

Lace

Burano is known for intricate lace pieces. Whether or not you’re planning on buying a souvenir, it’s fun to stop in a lace shop and take a look. We almost bought my sister an embroidered handkerchief for her wedding day, but at 40 Euro a piece we decided against it. I regret that – you’re only in Burano once! Go ahead and buy the easy to haul around souvenir!

Seafood

We ended up at some run-of-the-mill seafood restaurant that was stuffy and overpriced. My advice: look into restaurants before you reach the island. If you don’t do any research beforehand, get away from the main corridor for lunch. From what I could tell, the areas with the boldest, brightest colored homes had the highest price entrees.

Cats

If you’re a fan of felines, pick up cat food before you get to Burano. We offered treats to some local kitties (though they seemed well cared for). The cats loved the treats, but disliked being touched. We dropped a treat on the sidewalk and otherwise let them be.

Bright colors

Obviously, this place is colorful. My husband and I got creative and decided to showcase all of the building colors with goofy selfies. We could’ve taken a couple dozen more, but you get the idea!

Getting there

Getting to the islands of Burano, Murano and Torcello is easy, especially by ferry/water bus. I recommend getting an ACTV Water Bus pass the moment you arrive in Venice. We found an ACTV kiosk before we even left the main train station.

From what I remember, the passes were around 20 Euro for 24 hours. It was wonderful having unlimited access to the water buses during our time in Venice. Here’s an ACTV timetable, for reference. The ride took approximately 35 minutes from F.te Nove “A” (where our hostel was located) to the island of Burano.

My husband and I spent a full day in Burano and skipped Murano and Torcello. But I’ve heard that you could fit all islands into one day trip.

Could you live here?

I have a journal entry from Burano that’s all about picturing myself living there. Could I do it?

Imagine what it would be like living on a touristy island. That alone would be a little strange. Now imagine what it would be like having tourists take photos of your brightly colored home.

When we were passing through the alleyways of Burano, my husband and I saw a little girl playing with an Elsa doll from the movie Frozen (I guess the Frozen craze reached all corners of the Earth). When the little girl saw us she said, “Ciao!” as if she was used to people passing by her front door.

Another odd sight, when you see it through the eyes of the locals, is tourists taking photos of laundry lines. If I lived in Burano, I would be hesitant to hang intimates on the line for the world to see.

I genuinely loved Burano and was so glad we took a full day to explore it, despite it being a little touristy for our taste.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

August 21, 2018April 25, 2021

Sleeping in a French Bubble Hotel

To start, I’ll say that staying in the Attrap Reves Bubble Hotel in Allauch, France was a huge highlight of our trip. It was high on my bucket list when we started planning our adventure and it didn’t disappoint.

This is true “glamping,” or “glamorous camping.” You get to sleep under the stars, wake up naturally to the sunrise and have your morning coffee on a picnic table. However, you still have the comforts of a closed room, bed, air conditioning and full bathroom just a couple hundred feet away.

Privacy

Hmm, a clear bubble…can’t people see into that? Don’t worry, Attrap Reves is strict when it comes to ensuring the privacy of their guests. We stayed in the Zen Bubble and had very clear Zen signs pointing the way to our room. The signs are in French, so upon arrival a tour guide showed us which sign led us to the bathrooms, pool, kitchen and our room. She also pointed out what the signs to other bubbles looked like so we could steer clear of other people’s zones. While there was no lock to our actual bubble or bubble area, we never felt nervous. There’s less than 15 people on site at all times, and it feels safe.

Weather

We visited at the end of June and the bubble temperature was just about perfect, albeit a little warm at 5:00 p.m. when we arrived. The tour guide said that while the bubble heats up a lot during the day, the evenings are just about perfect because the internal temperature matches the external temperature. She was right, we slept like babies.

The bubble hotel is open year around, and as far as I can tell online, no one is hating on it in the dead of winter. There was a small air conditioner in our bubble, I believe it had a heat setting as well.

Inside the bubble

I got a kick out of this: our tour guide explained that if you open the bubble’s outside zipper AND inside zipper simultaneously the entire thing deflates. Boy, were we cautious: opening the first zipper, stepping in the hallway, closing the first zipper, opening the second zipper, stepping in the bubble, closing the second zipper.

The bubble décor was lovely. I just fell in love with the lime green bedding against the forest background. The furniture was purposefully low to the ground to allow optimal 360 degree viewing.

The acoustics in the bubble were pretty funky. My husband Michael and I felt like our ears were popping because of the way sound bounced off of the walls. The bubble itself is made of recycled plastic and feels soft to the touch, like an inflatable pool raft.

Getting there

The hotel is a 30 minute drive from Marseille, France. During the entire drive, we wondered if we were going the wrong way. For starters, Marseille is a big city and for a good 25 minutes of the drive you are still in the city wondering how you could possibly end up in a forested area. Then, for the last 5 minutes of driving, you’re winding through a very narrow residential area. The gate is not labeled and if it wasn’t for our navigation system insisting that we arrived, we wouldn’t have known it was Attrap Reves.

By the way, we totally crashed our rental car as we arrived at Attrap Reves. Be careful turning around on those steep roads, especially with a manual car! Each bubble comes with one parking space, by the way.

Dinner and breakfast

After crashing the rental car, there was no way we were heading back out for dinner. You need to let the hotel know in advance if you want a picnic dinner, and it comes at an additional cost. Thankfully, they had an extra dinner in the back for us, even though we didn’t reserve a plate. The cost was worth it! We ate in our bubble. Everything was delicious.

The next morning, we requested our breakfast at 9:00 a.m. and ate in the dining room area. It always cracks me up how Europeans include an entire loaf of bread with breakfast. My husband loved it. I stuck with yogurt. The cost of breakfast is included in your booking price.

Overall, our stay at Attrap Reves was incredible. We couldn’t get over the gorgeous view from our bed and loved waking up to the rising sun. Surprisingly, after sunrise we were able to fall back asleep until about 8:30!

Even if you aren’t heading to the south of France anytime soon, I encourage you to think outside of the box for your lodging experiences. At around 100 Euro a bubble, the price isn’t that outrageous for a once in a lifetime experience! Next on my lodging bucket list: a tree house. Any recommendations?

Thanks for reading,

Emma

June 28, 2018May 26, 2019

Looking Back On Our Past 35 Days In Europe

It’s our last day in Europe.

As you might remember, our first day in Europe was a disaster. Read more about that hot mess here. Don’t worry, things got better, a lot better! We had a nearly perfect trip and made memories that’ll last us a lifetime. It’s hard to believe all of the cool things we’ve done in the past month. After hiking the Meteora Monasteries, my husband said, “When we have kids, we can say, ‘Listen, your parents are hella dope. You are lucky to have parents this hella dope.’”

Kidding, of course.

In the coming months I’ll post about the experiences we had and places we saw, but for now here’s a sneak peak of our thoughts on the trip as a whole. My husband and I answered the questions independently so our reflections wouldn’t influence each others.

Reflections

My reflections are noted with an “E:” and my husbands with an “M:”

What was one touristy attraction that you thought would be lame, but was actually very cool?

E: Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. I always thought they were just ‘add ons’ to the Roman Colosseum tour, but they were actually a remarkable piece of history so wonderfully preserved in the middle of the city.

M: The Trevi Fountain. I thought, ‘Eh, it’s a fountain.’ In person, it’s so much more spectacular. It’s huge, and full of little sculpted details.

roman forum full day in rome — Palatine Hill, Italy

trevi fountain in rome — Trevi Fountain, Italy

Which country do you already want to go back to?

E: Italy. I feel like I only saw a small piece of Rome, just barely scratching the surface of what is a really incredible city.

M: The Netherlands. I’m still shocked by how friendly everyone was! The weather was amazing and Amsterdam was beautiful. It was great.

The Vatican gold room rome — The Vatican, Italy

amsterdam architecture the netherlands — Amsterdam, Netherlands

What was one of your biggest ‘WOW’ moments?

E: Kissing Michael under the Eiffel Tower. It was a bucket list item I had written in my journal shortly after Michael and I started dating 7 years ago. I just couldn’t believe all we’ve been through and that we actually made this trip a reality.

M: I remember a moment in Kalambaka, sitting on a cement wall overlooking all of the monasteries and thinking, ‘Is this really happening?’ I didn’t think I’d ever see a more beautiful view.

eiffel tower photo paris — Eiffel Tower, France

view from kalambaka monasteries — Kalambaka, Greece

Could you see yourself living anywhere that you visited?

E: Uitgeest, Netherlands or a similar small town. I loved the architecture, the people and the surrounding attractions. I felt very at home there.

M: Uitgeest, Netherlands. It’s close enough to Amsterdam, a beach and quiet countryside villages.

Nieuwkoop small town netherlands — Netherlands countryside

What was your favorite hotel, hostel, or AirBnb?

E: The SAS Attrap’Rêves Bubble Hotel in Allauch, France. Hands down the coolest place I’ve ever stayed in my life. It was a really unique experience that I’m so glad we splurged on.

M: We_Croceferi Hostel in Venice, Italy. I wasn’t expecting much from a hostel, but entering in to a large courtyard and sleeping in what used to be a monastery was really cool. Plus, we had a private room, which I wasn’t expecting.

Bubble hotel Attrep Reves Allauch France — SAS Attrap’Rêves Bubble Hotel in Allauch, France

we croceferi hostel venice — We_Croceferi Hostel in Venice, Italy

What was the best meal you had?

E: The steak at ZoetWater Hotel in Nieuwkoop, Netherlands.

M: The 4 € slice of Philadelphia cream cheese and mushroom pizza I had at Pizza Florida, a hole in the wall spot under our hotel in Rome. We didn’t take photos of it, you’ll just have to trust me that it was awesome.

ZoetWater Hotel steak the netherlands — ZoetWater Hotel, Netherlands

Do you feel like there were any unnecessary splurges, or areas where we could have saved money?

E: Breakfasts! A couple of times we went to the supermarket and bought granola bars or yogurts to hold us over for the mornings, I wish we would have done that the entire trip. Europe breakfasts aren’t like back home — they’re usually a loaf of bread with meat, cheese and jam. It just felt like a waste of calories and money first thing in the morning.

M: Dinners. We didn’t need to eat nice meals out as often as we did. In each country it felt like we said, ‘We NEED to go out for [insert food here] because the country is known for it!’ Most times the food was just like what you’d find anywhere else in the world.

What was something you are glad you can say you got to experience?

E: Swimming in the hot spring of the Nea Kameni volcano in Santorini. The ocean water goes from cold to warm and the sand is a rusty orange color.

M: The Dult Festival in Regensburg, Germany. It was cool to attend a local, authentic Oktoberfest and dance on tables yelling, “PROST!”

Santorini Greece Sunset cruise volcano swimming — Santorini, Greece

Germany Dult Festival — Regensburg, Germany

What was the hardest day of the trip for you?

E: Probably the 2nd or 3rd day of our trip when we were in Germany. Almost everything that could have gone wrong did. I truly felt like throwing in the towel, quitting my blog, and ceasing to travel outside of my comfort zone. It was a hard day.

M: Our Santorini to Rome travel day was the worst. First, we missed our bus. Then, the Santorini airport was a hot, crowded, disaster. When we arrived in Rome, our hotel was closed (no 24 hour reception) so we had to scramble to find a new hotel room, paying double the price for lodging. Our computer and phone were dead, and I had to leave Emma alone in a restaurant with no way to contact her. When I got back with the good news of a booked hotel room an hour later, Emma was in tears thinking that something had happened to me because I had been gone for so long. It was the hardest day by far.

travel from santorini to rome — Travel day from Santorini to Rome, before the chaos

Was there anything you think we should’ve spent more money on?

E: Hotels. We were so budget conscious when booking and chose some really crappy AirBnbs and hostels. The last thing I wanted to do at the end of a travel day was share space with fellow stinky travelers or go sleep on a stranger’s dirty mattress.

M: Audio guides or guided tours in English. We saw so many cool things, and didn’t know the context behind half of it.

What town/city would you be content with never visiting again?

E: Regensburg, Germany. Loved the town! But it was our first destination and we had enough energy to see everything on our list. I feel confident that I saw the best of the town.

M: Regensburg, Germany. We had the most time there for how small of a place it was. We were able to see the best of it.

Regensburg Germany view from bridge museum — Regensburg, Germany

What stands out as the best day of the trip?

E: ATVing through Santorini. Laying out on the Perissa Black Sand Beach. Finishing the day with a romantic dinner overlooking Oia.

M: It’s almost impossible to say. Probably the day we rented ATVs in Santorini. We were scared to drive it on the busy roads at first, and ended up cruising all over the island, in and out of traffic with huge smiles on our faces.

santorini atv rental full day — Santorini, Greece

perissa black sand beach Greece — Perissa Black Sand Beach, Greece

What was one thing you did that you wish you could’ve given a little more time?

E: The Cat Sanctuary in Rome. I felt such a sense of purpose there, and realized it was a calling of mine to volunteer at a Cat Sanctuary. If I could, I would’ve spent a full day playing with the stray cats, just loving on them.

M: I would have cliff dived in Manarola. I wish I would’ve had my swimsuit, or had the guts to just dive in my underwear.

cat sanctuary in europe — Cat Sanctuary, Italy

manarola cinque terre italy — Manarola, Italy

We’ve been away from home for 35 days, and it sure feels like it. Sometimes vacations go by too quickly and in the blink of an eye you’re back home again. This trip has been quite the opposite. I feel like my days in Denver were a lifetime ago!

Tomorrow, we catch a flight back to the United States and three days later we move from Colorado to California. Some would call us crazy, and to those people I say, you’re abso-freakin-lutely correct.

Thanks for reading,

Emma