Parc Güell

We almost missed getting to Parc Guell. It's hard to squeeze everything there is to see in a city in a mere two days. I mean I know that isn't even possible, to see everything. After seeing Baudi's Casa Batlló I wanted to see as much of his works in the city as possible so we added this to the list and thought, if we could get there before sunset that it would be worth it. Needless to say I'm grateful Barcelona is a few hours south of Leuven so we had an extra hour of sunlight there! 

We didn't pay extra to go into the Gaudi section of the park, a section that they just recently began charging people to enter, but I think we got the gist of it. I'm glad we were there for the sunset. We got to see it set over the city as we walked through the park on our last day in town. The very first thing we did was go to what ended up being my favorite part of Barcelona so these posts are not chronological by any means.

4 days left here in Europe. Today is Chris' final day of work in Belgium. We're meeting his coworkers in the center for ice skating and drinks. I'm wondering how well that combination will go together.

Barcelona!

I have something to admit. Before we left for this trip I didn't even want to go. I don't know what I thought to gain by staying back in Belgium that weekend. Honestly, it's not as if Chris and I sitting in our tiny apartment that weekend instead of exploring this Spanish city would have sped up time but I felt as though that's what would have happened. How wrong I was. And how glad I am now that we went! My favorite part about this city was the imaginative and distinctive architecture found throughout it. But first, a quick overview in pictures!

And lastly, a tiny view of the sea before we retired to the subway for a final journey on it and reemerged only minutes later to night, twilight long past already. The sun here was just beautiful, it felt as if it were perpetually two hours from sunset with the long golden rays of the low-set sun always on us. I love this time of year for those long shadows. It makes me continually grateful for even an hour of the sun.


5 days left. Insane. I get butterflies every time I think of leaving here. In a very good way. Lately, when we mention how much we love America and can't wait to get back, people have been saying to us (on multiple occasions) that it's nothing special and we'll miss Europe. That might be true to an extent. I will miss the travel to these places I've only seen in movies and read about in books. But what I've come to realize during our time here are the priorities I want to put into my life. And what I value most on this earth after my relationship with God are my relationships with the people in my life. When I think of the time and money and effort so many of our family and friends put into getting over here during our 17 month stay I am struck speechless with gratitude and a little breathless with the reality that I cannot pay back that generosity of spirit and actual wealth any time soon but that I want to in time spent with them all in the coming years. I'm overwhelmed with the love we have in our lives. And those who couldn't come out but called on a regular basis or video chatted with us, or sent even the sporadic out of the blue text to let me know they were thinking about us...it's all too much. That is why I want to move home so much because the saying "home is where your heart is" is true. Chris and I left a lot of heart in the good old USA.

Schönbrunn Christkindlmarket

Schonbrunn's Christmas spirit was in full swing by 10am. Everyone already had their mugs of punsch and gluwhein before we arrived just ten minutes after it opened. And the quality level of their Christmas goods to be sold was definitely a notch higher than what we'd seen before. If you want to take a peek at the seven-plus markets we went to...here's a video I made that's under two minutes that'll take you there:

Before we left for Europe I gathered up new music from all available friends and family because I knew I'd need it here. One particular friend gave me all of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas albums and for that, Andrew, I thank you sooooo so much! I remember you saying "You don't have to take all of it. You might not like it all." Wrong, Drew. I Love it. All. 

Proof that I got to enjoy the warm drinks of the markets too. This one was Chai. Mmmm Chai. 

6 days to go! I think I have barely enough posts to last to the end of our time here. I want to continue on as much as possible once we're home but I know it'll slow down a little at least, especially around Christmas. I have loved being able to look back at these posts of where we've been and what we've seen and done and I know I need it for my poor memory. Anyway, we head into Barcelona tomorrow on the blog, see you there!

Schönbrunn

Schonbrunn Palace may have been my favorite part of Vienna. The grounds were vast and while wandering through them, the sun decided to come out, making it all the more wonderful. I read ahead about it online and realized that we should probably get there right when it opens since there really isn't a time that it's deserted, no matter the time of year. I'm guessing that Christmastime actually revitalizes this area with tourists because I can't be the only one that learned online about the dozen or so markets in this one city.

The benefits of being the first ones there!

This is an adorable cafe. And by adorable I mean grand, opulent and gorgeous. We tried to go in and eat a late breakfast there and when we asked if there was room for two, we were basically laughed out of the place. The look they gave us was something along the lines of "Aww, poor fools...are you seriously trying to get in without reservations at 10:30am?" but oh well! We made our way down to the palace entrance once again for some more Christmas market action and the food and hot drinks there instead.

There is a funny story to go along with the two photos above. (If you've heard this before...these are the ones I was talking about) Small preface to the story; a weird thing about Europe, or at least our area, is that there aren't any squirrels around. So while we were walking down the pathways back to the entrance we noticed this little guy! He reminded me of one of the Sword in the Stone squirrels so I pulled out my camera. When I did that he stopped moving, just like a squirrel in New York would right before he's about to bolt back up the tree. I told Chris to stop moving so we wouldn't scare him off and snapped a photo. Surprisingly the next thing he did was jump down off the branch and come a step towards us. Gleefully I pulled my camera back up to my eye and tried to get a closer shot when he darted...towards me...and jumped on my leg. !!! I yelped and kicked my leg out and heard Chris yelling too. The squirrel dashed quickly off my leg and into the trees. Chris and I both stared at each other and started laughing in disbelief. Apparently these squirrels are very used to people since they're fed by the locals who come into the park regularly. I kept shaking my leg afterwards, I could still feel the tiny little paws and claws on my pant leg. Blaugh! I can still feel them! Almost lost my computer to the floor just now kicking my leg out again.  

7 days! Oh my gosh I can't believe in one week we'll be flying in a plane right now as you read this. OH MY GOSH!

Wiener Christkindlmarkt Rathaus

This is the Christmas Market that I had read about and knew we had to get to. Welcome to the Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathaus. I think we figured out that there are two types of people who come to these markets. Maybe three. Tourists like us who actually want to buy things and experience Christmas spirit! Locals who are only there for the seasonal gluhwein (mulled wine) and punsch and they crowd it from happy hour to closing time.  Thirdly are the families but really I'm only assuming that because I honestly didn't see many kids around. But that seems typical of all of Europe. Where do they hide their children here? It's like they don't exist here.

8 days!