Monday, April 23, 2012

Parents' Visit

Arad, Romania
I picked my parents up at the Timisoara Airport Wednesday afternoon. We spent Wednesday and Thursday in Arad. 

On our apartment balcony

Budapest, Hungary
Thursday evening we drove to Budapest and stayed for two nights. While we were there, we went inside St. Stephen's Basilica. After we walked across the Chain Bridge to the Castle District and Fisherman's Bastion. This is a wonderful view of the city. For lunch we went the Central Market Hall to get a picnic. We took our lunch to Margarita Island to eat. We spent the rest of the day walking Andrassy and Vaci Street. Andy and my dad went into the House of Terror Museum. 

Thursday night before dinner

In front of St. Stephen's Basilica

Chain Bridge

Castle District

Vienna, Austria
Saturday morning we got up to drive to Vienna. This was all of our first time to visit Vienna, and we loved it! We did the Big Red Bus Tour to get oriented with the city. After finishing the bus tour we went into St. Stephen's Catholic Church. We spent the afternoon walking the main streets Karntner and Kohlmarkt Street. Sunday we took the subway out to the Schonbrunn Palace. This palace is filled with royal apartments and gorgeous gardens. Early monday morning Andy took us to the airport to head to London, and he drove back to Romania. 

In Vienna

St. Stephen's Catholic Church

In Vienna

Naschmarkt Street

Schonbrunn Palace

Schonbrunn Palace

Schonbrunn Palace

London, England
We started our trip by walking through Hyde Park. From there we headed to Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels and did the Beefeater tour. From there we headed to the amazing department store, Harrads. We did the hop-on hop-off bus tour on our second day and hopped off at the National Gallery. This was an incredible museum filled with Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and many more artists. The best part was that it was free admission! From there we did the river cruise down the Thames. While it was a little chilly, the view was great. Our next stop was the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. This was on the top of my dad's list! Early Wednesday morning we took the Chunnel to Paris!


Hyde Park

Tower Bridge

National Gallery

Olympics Countdown 

 Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus

Eye of London & Big Ben

River cruise down the Thames

River cruise down the Thames

Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms

Paris, France
When we got to Paris, we headed for the Eiffel Tour. Stephanie came to meet us in there! We climbed the Eiffel Tour for a great view of the city. After the climb, we walked the Champs-Elysees and headed to the Arc de Triomphe. From there we walked to Printemps. An incredible department store that we could have been in for hours! They have a Laduree in the department, so I stocked up on some Macarons. Delicious! Thursday we did the Fat Tire Bike Tour out to Versailles. This was amazing! We went to the market in Versailles and bought some great food for a picnic. In Versailles we were able to bike around the gorgeous gardens and grounds and then went into the Chateau de Versailles. 

Climbing the Eiffel Tour

Arc de Triomphe

Eiffel Tour

Fat Tire Bike Tour Versailles

Fat Tire Bike Tour Versailles

Fat Tire Bike Tour Versailles

Grounds of Versailles

Picnic at Versailles

Chateau de Versailles

Gardens at Versailles

We had such an amazing trip, and I am missing everyone already! 

Monday, April 2, 2012

Return to Barcelona

This past weekend I got to go back to Barcelona with Andy! Andy good friend, Jorge, and his wife, Marion, were visiting Barcelona to see family, so we went to see them and the city. We got there early Friday morning. We spent Friday morning walking the city and visiting the market off La Rambla. The market is absolutely incredible. We bought some berries and smoothies that were so delicious! We met up with Jorge and his family to get some tapas for lunch. Marion's aunt lives in Barcelona and knew all the best places for Tapas. In Barcelona they have a 2 hour lunch to hop from tapas bar to tapas bar! We went to several places and ate the most amazing tapas. For dinner that night, Andy and I went to another tapas restaurant that Marion's aunt recommended to us. Saturday we went into the Sagrada Familia Church. It was so gorgeous and unique! We walked down to the coast and walked along the beach in the afternoon. We ate lunch at one of the cafes that line the beach. The weather was perfect. We had such a great time! Spain is absolutely beautiful!

Outside the Market on La Rambla

Christopher Columbus Monument

Port in Barcelona

Arc de Triomf

With Little Jorge at Tapas Restaurant

Tapas Restaurant

Marion and her mom at the next Tapas Restaurant

Andy and Jorge

Inside Sagrada Familia

Inside Sagrada Familia

Andy with Gaudi (in Sagrada Familia Museum)

Sagrada Familia

On the beach in Barcelona

Beach

Beach