Tourism / Valencia

Alicante: another world on the Mediterranean coast

Visiting Alicante – the third province in the Valencian community, where we live – had been on our bucket list for a while. With Mom and Jim in town and a few extra days after New Year’s before I needed to get back to work, we decided to give it a go on our way back from Madrid. What we found was a picturesque city full of white sandy beaches and great restaurants. With all that beach, this is a really happening spot in the Summer, though we picked a great time to see and experience what appealed to us. It really

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Holidays / Madrid / Tourism

Oh no, we Madrid’nt

With New Year’s Eve coming up, our next stop with Mom and Jim was an easy choice: the Puerta del Sol, Madrid’s answer to Times Square in New York. We were able to secure a last-minute airbnb just steps away from the action, so it was go time. We arrived on the 30th, so there was even some time for sightseeing. We headed to the Reina Sofia museum the night we got in from Cuenca, after finding out admission was free after 6pm. Lots of classic art there by the likes of Goya and El Greco. We also got to

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Central Spain / Strolling / Tourism

Hanging Houses of Cuenca

We’ve been fans of Spain’s high-speed rail network, the AVE, since the first time we traveled on one of the trains last fall. After deciding to spend New Year’s Eve with my mom and Jim in Madrid, it made sense to first spend a couple of days in Cuenca, which is an easy stop between Valencia and the capital. Cuenca is most famous for its Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses), which date back to at least the 15th Century. Unlike uncle Rhino and aunt Saint, these houses were built this way and are in no danger of collapse! Once there were many such houses, but

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Burriana / Holidays / Valencia

Feliz Navidad – or Bon Nadal – in the Valencian Community

As lifelong Nebraskans, Doer and I tend to associate the holiday season with cold and snow. This year, we traded all of that in for sunshine and orange trees. And lots of life-sized nativity scenes, like the above display, which we came across in the city of Valencia. Though local Valencians have embraced their winter season with warm coats, hats, scarves, and gloves, most days Doer and I walk around in our mangas cortas  – short sleeves – and we’ve come to expect a refrain of, “no tienes frío?” (aren’t you cold?) wherever we go. Feels like spring break. The last

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Barcelona / Holidays / Tourism

Barcelona: The Return

We heard there was a Christmas market in Barcelona famous for its pooping figurines. Conveniently, we also had a free weekend in December. Other unaccomplished things from our last Barcelona trip could also be done. Therefore, we had to go. The Fira de Santa Llucia is one of Barcelona’s oldest Christmas markets. Catalunya – the Northeast area of Spain anchored by Barcelona – also happens to be home to some fun Christmas traditions centered around poop. And you know we can’t turn down such humor. First, there is Caga Tió (literally, shitting log). The following comic explains it better than we ever could.   Now, we

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Favorites / Other Countries / Tourism

Krampus, foto bitte?

Early last month, Doer and I crossed a big item off our bucket list when we visited Austria in hopes of experiencing a Krampuslauf, or Krampus Run. I don’t know how exactly our weird obsession began, but it has only grown throughout our years together. We both enjoyed watching Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained) explain the concept to Jimmy Fallon recently. Instead of Christmas cards, Doer and I tend to give one another Krampuskarten like the one up above – check out Pinterest for more examples (some are NSFW). Thus, we were thrilled to experience two Krampus events –

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