Madrid

As you can see Derick and I pretended to be real Madrilenos and went to a bull fight. I don't know how I missed out on the fact that they actually kill the bulls right there in front of you!!! I cried! Aside from that the building was beautiful as were the costumes that the toreadors wore. I am obsessed with the Madrid Airport! The open air design is amazing, the signage is clean and clear and I love the use of color! It made for a very relaxing morning while waiting for our flight home. We stopped by the Soccer/Futball stadium before a game. As in Barcelona (and most of Europe!) soccer is HUGE here! The Real Jardin Botanico is right next to the Prado and the entrance fee was something like 2 Euros, so quite a bargain to wander around for an hour or two. The Prado! Thanks Derick for letting me get a little bit of an Art fix! We (or I...) enjoyed seeing paintings from all of the Spanish Greats: El Greco, Velasquez & Goya!

Granada

When we arrived in Granada it was a rainy Saturday Morning. All of the stores were closed and the town seemed lonely and deserted! After checking in and dropping off our bags we waited out the rain in a small cafe near by (secretly wishing we were still in Barcelona!) Once the rain cleared, the stores opened and the town was 100% different and we loved everything about it! The prices here were a lot cheaper than everywhere else we had been. 1 Euro gelato, a meal for two for 15 Euros...

Most of the town's tourism is due to the Alhambra, a palace constructed in the 14th century by the Moors. The Generalife is where the residents of the palace lived in the summer months. It's also where all of the food was grown.

View from the Alhambra

Generalife Garden at the Alhambra

Court of the Myrtles (for ladies only back in the day!)

More Alhambra, look at the details, it was AMAZING!

My favorite Tapas, fried eggplant with a honey reduction and salt. Sweet and savory!

View of the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolas in the Albayzin.

Bern

View over Bern from the Rosengarten

Bear Pits

We took a nice day trip to Bern before going on an overnight train to Barcelona. We (again!) were lucky with the weather and enjoyed walking around the city. We had lunch at the

Altes Tramdepot Brauerei Restaurant and Derick enjoyed some of their beer that they brewed there. The desserts were amazing, I wish I would haven taken a picture of it!

We spent most of the afternoon relaxing in the Rosengarten and then went on a wild goose chase trying to find one of the Swiss Cowbells for Derick's parents hunting dog. They are such touristy kitsh and we saw them EVERYWHERE. Only of course when it came time to leave the country and we actually wanted to find them we couldn't... we tried store after store and they were all closed. Luckily we found one at the train station :)

Luzern

The Lion Monument - It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. View over Luzern from one of the towers at the Musegg Wall. We climbed up a few of the towers and along the wall. It was built in the 1300's! Another view of Me on the top of the first tower. View of Luzern from the Tower at the Glacier Gardens.

The Chapel Bridge

Paris

Paris was the first stop on our backpacking trip! We skipped most of the museums this time around but we definitely enjoyed all of the culture and most importantly, the food! Basilique du Sacre Coeur - We had a great night in Montmartre. It's a really cute area full of great restaurants and shops. To reach it you need to walk up a ton of stairs but the view over Paris was worth it! Derick enjoying his first, of many, crepes! My favorite were the ones with Nuetella. Down one of the streets in the Jewish Area. We went out for a great Falafel at L'As du Falafel down the street from here.Outside of the Notre Dame. This is my favorite place to take pictures, the front of the church is always packed with tourists but the small park around the pack is relatively free of people.