Last but not least!

France and Barcelona albums are done!  I have finally managed to upload ALL of our pictures to Shutterfly!  I guess there are some perks of being unemployed:)

http://emdefeo.shutterfly.com/pictures


Each destination has it's own album, here they are in order of stop!

Berlin, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Vienna, Austria
Budapest, Hungary
Bulgaria
Italy
France
Barcelona, Spain

Christo crunched the numbers and once it was all said and done we traveled a total of 14,500 miles!!  Not a bad way to spend the summer!

And.

In other news, we had a successful car shopping experience!

Meet our new ride,,,
2012 VW Tiguan!

We both love it!  I was a bit shocked how quickly we agreed on it!

Pictures, Pictures and back to REALITY!

I added Bulgaria and Italy albums to our picture site!  Check them out when you have some spare time!!  There are some pretty funny ones of Christo and I on the farm with my family in Italy!!

http://emdefeo.shutterfly.com/pictures

After a fabulous weekend in NYC we are back in Raleigh now trying to get back in the swing of things!  First up, car shopping,,, ahhhhh!  Stay tuned as we make our first official purchase together and learn how to live in the burbs!

Barcelona Day 2 and final day

As Christo is packing us for the LAST time and I sit here and write this post, we are both in shock that tomorrow we head back to the states! Almost exactly 2 months ago we began this European adventure and wow has it been just that, an adventure!

Yesterday was another hot day but that didn't stop us from heading to Mount Tibidabo! It is the highest point in Barcelona and after a subway ride and two trams we decided, YES, it was worth the sweat! We wrapped up day two with some yummy tapas and a stroll on the beach!

Today we ventured over to the stadium where FC Barcelona plays. From there we went over to Plaza Espana, Palau Nacionale and Park Montjuic.

The architecture here has blown us away, along with crowds of people ha! We didn't realize Barcelona was the place to be in August but apparently it is... take our word for it, if you want to visit this beautiful city, do it, just not in August!

We just got back from our final dinner in Europe. We toasted to our trip and the experiences we have had together with a chilled bottle of bubbly, then we both asked... Now what?!?!

Barcelona, Spain - Day One

Today was our first full day in Barcelona and boy was it HOT! Temps are in the 90s and that makes "sight seeing," well, lets just say a little difficult!

We set out today in every attempt to accomplish what was on our itinerary and we managed to complete most of it before bunkering down at a shady bar with cold beers!

Side note:
Our hotel is Aaaaamazing!!! Christo definitely saved the best for last! When temps are this high it's not too bad relaxing in a brand new hotel pumping surround sound tunes and enjoying each others company before reality strikes real soon!

Bordeaux, France (Part 2)

When I think of Bordeaux I think of wine, grape vines, chateaus and vineyards... And yes, we did experience ALL of those things, however, there is a whole other side of this beautiful city!

Bordeaux's city center is gorgeous and one of the most "tourist" friendly we have visited. Their tram system is well planned, their cobblestone streets are full of lively bars and bistros, their main squares are the center focal point and laid out perfectly for relaxing and people watching!

Bordeaux impressed us not only in the wine department but surprisingly in many other ways! Our drive through Pomerol and St. Emillon were extra special because we saw some familiar names. We found Chateau Haut-Surget, which is one of our favorites, it was cool to stand on their property and see the grapes that make our favorite wine!

We'd gladly come back for another visit in the future! In a few hours we are heading to our last stop of this trip (cannot believe I just wrote that)! Gasp. Sigh. Frown. Smile.

Barcelona, here we come!!

Bordeaux, France (Part 1)

Christo and I are officially in WINE country! When I tell you that there are grape vines everywhere I mean EVERYWHERE. We drove past a McDonalds yesterday that had their own "vineyard" in the parking lot!

We have had an amazing few days of touring vineyards and tasting exceptionally good wines! Christo arranged four tours, all beautifully well kept chateaus and vineyards! If we had to pick our favorite it would definitely be a hard task!

Obviously we LOVE wine but seeing the whole process behind the scenes before it is bottled has been so interesting and makes us appreciate buying that bottle even more now!

Out of the four wineries we toured, two of them only produce red wine, one of them produces red and white and the last one produces red, white and rose. One thing is certain, these "Frenchies" know their stuff!

Nantes, France

After our week in Paris it was time to hop a train but not just ANY train... We took the "bullet" train which currently holds the record for speed among all trains in the world! Traveling at 320 km/h we arrived to Nantes a mere two hours later.

Nantes is an average size city with a small town feel, situated on the Loire River. Christo and I are huge Loire Region wine fans so we figured a couple of nights on the river would be fitting!

We had to fight with the weather a bit but managed to make it work! We had a great time touring on bikes and enjoyed a sushi picnic in one of the castles courtyards! It was nice to experience the Loire River after appreciating their wines for so long!

Our week as Parisians!

Originally Christo and I planned to be in Paris for 4 days... well, scratch that because we decided to extend 3 more days and a make a full week of it!

Knowing that we had a week made us appreciate the city even more, truly enjoy ourselves rather than rush around to get everything in!

The first half of the week we had the pleasure of staying in one of the BEST apartments in the city (in our opinion)! Thanks to www.airbnb.com we were able to get a sense of living in Paris. Many nights consisted of relaxing and enjoying delicious cheeses, bread and wine we had purchased at a market earlier in the day. Parisians know their baguettes! They must be pumping crack in them because they are so damn good! A typical baguette purchased in the states does NOT taste anything like the ones in Paris. Period.

The second half of the week we stayed at an adorable boutique hotel. I think Christo found his calling because he has been so wonderful planning the absolute best trip for us!

It is amazing how fast a week can go when you're having fun! From museums to parks to churches to renting bikes to beautiful weather, we don't think there's one thing we would change about our week as Parisians!