Long Time, No Blogs...

I really got to get cookin on these blogs, because I've been a lot of new places since I wrote last. It was almost a month ago that I last wrote about Milan, Italy. Wow! Abby's family came to visit us for Christmas; and, together with everyone, we traveled to Madrid, Toledo, Bilbao, Zaragoza, and we celebrated Christmas together at our apartment here in Logrono. It was a very busy time, and it seemed like we were always on the run; but, now that I think that we have the time and the energy to look back at everything, we all realize what a special experience we had, and we'll always remember how we shared it together.


Sniff sniff. Sorry, I get sooo sentimental sometimes. I'll break down the trip for everyone who just wants to see some pictures of far-out places. Here we go!


December 20, 2007 (Madrid - Capital and largest city of Spain)

Abby´s family flew in to Madrid on the 20th, and we stayed in an apartment there for three nights. It was a nice furnished place, right near the center of town.

We saw museums and monuments and palaces and cathedrals, and on the 22nd we took a day-trip to Toledo (an hour south on the high-speed train).

I had so many pictures of all the places we visited, that it was easier for me to put them on My Pictures site instead. Click the link to go there, or look at the left side of my page for the My Pictures link. I´ve already posted pictures of Madrid and Toledo and Logroño and myself and Abby´s family, and I will be posting more very shortly; so, stay tuned.

What next? After our day-trip to Toledo, the next morning we took the bus four-and-a-half hours through the mountains and the valleys and the plains to Logroño, our homestead. We all stayed in our apartment (not too far from the center of our city) and we toured a little bit, got in the Spanish Christmas spirit of things, and cooked and celebrated together like only North Dakotans / Minnesotans can. It was a fantastic time, with lots of laughs, games, toasts, pictures, and more.

The day after Christmas, we took a day-trip on bus to the northern Spanish city of Bilbao. Bilbao is a good deal bigger than Logroño (though much smaller than Madrid), and so we found ourselves short of time to see the city in its entirety. I don´t think any of us would disagree though that the best part of the city has to be the fabulous Guggenheim museum. We got many amazing photos of the outside of the impressive structure (which was made to look like a metallic ship!) right along the river than runs through the city.

The very day after we got back we took another day-trip on bus to nearby Zaragoza (east of Logroño). Zaragoza is a similar size to Logroño, and we liked the feel of the city very much. It was a foggy day, but we managed to enjoy ourselves as we strolled amongst the castles, the bullfighting ring, the churches, bridges, and cathedrals.

The last day in Logroño was for pure relaxation. We shopped, we did some last day touring, and we assembled ourselves and our bags for another journey south to Madrid.

With our last remaining day in Madrid, we went to parks, and museums, and rode the city´s Christmas Bus. The excitement in the capital was only growing after Christmas because of the anticipation for the New Year.