Honey Nut Chex?

I can't remember the last time I had them, but I have a serious craving for Honey Nut Chex! It's funny the things you start to miss while you're away.

Having such a good time! Pictures to follow..

San Sebastian

Monday, May 19 thru Wednesday, May 21

San Sebastian is a small town on the Northern Coast of Spain. It became a popular destination back in the 1400s when some queen discovered the city and made it her summer home. It’s small and oddly shaped (google it to see what I’m talking about). People in Utah always use the mountains as their directional cue (ie If there are mountains on your right, then you’re headed north). This is always confusing to me because at any point in Provo you have mountains on three sides. In California it makes much more sense to me, if the ocean is on your left, you can’t be going any direction but north. This is not so in San Sebastian, its odd shape had us mixed around with directions all week.

We took a train from Madrid early Monday morning, arriving on the coast in the early afternoon. Our first day was pretty cold and we soon realized our dream of a sunny beach retreat would not exactly become reality. Notice we’re wearing sweaters and scarves! Perhaps more distressing was the realization that the spa we had heard so much about, perched right on the beach full of all sorts of relaxation opportunities, had been destroyed by a bad winter of storms. Sad!

The city has 3 miles of boardwalk that wrap along the coastline. It was fun to have a chance to run along the beach again and feel connected to fellow runners doing the same. But I found it odd that most of the men running along were wearing capris! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at home, rarely if at all. But here almost every single man running by was wearing a running outfit I wish I owned myself. I missed a photo of the perfect threesome of men all in cute little running capris but I caught some others.

Day two of our adventure began with an absolute downpour. Eventually it cleared up and we took a full tour of the town on the Tourist Txo-Txo (choo-choo) and enjoyed the warmth, sunshine, and people watching. There are tons of cool strollers here. This carriage one reminded me of a cabbage patch stroller Annee had back in the day. Most of the others look very space-agey and cool.

At 6pm, we waited outside the local McDonalds where we met up with Matt Harding and Mikel. (After figuring out where I was going, Sarah told me “Hey we have a good friend in San Sebastian.” Well of course you do! The Wileys are extraordinarily well connected.) Mikel grew up in the Basque region and Matt spends a few months a year here. Mikel brought his little daughter and they gave us a full tour of Old Town, full of recommendations for dinner. They pointed out about 10 different places, probably assuming we’d choose 2 or 3 for our night. We went to every single one.

Side note, apparently you are absolutely NOT allowed to take pictures of McDonalds. We took maybe 4 or 5 outside their window and got a serious scolding from the restaurant manager. Matt says people are always trying to blow the place up as a protest against all that is wrong with the corporate world. I guess management is just being cautious.




***Hmm experiencing serious technical difficulties so I'll have to finish this post tomorrow. Check back for an edit later. Ciao!

MADRID!

Saturday, May 17 & Sunday, May 18

I’m here! Madrid has been a whirlwind so far. My flights were good, pretty comfortable and flying through New York is always my favorite since the trip gets cut most closely in half. Courtney and Kirstin were waiting for me at the airport when I arrived at 1030am on Saturday.

We dropped my bags off at the hotel and started touring around right away. I was so worried that I would be too tired and worthless on my first day (as has been the case on every single other trip to Europe) but through some miraculous blessings and answered prayers, I have hardly felt any jetlag so far.

Saturday we went first to the Palacio Real de Madrid, the third-greatest palace in Europe according to Rick Steves. We were delayed slightly by a sudden downpour of rain, perching under trees for cover with everyone else. The palace actually reminded me a lot of Versaille since the Spanish King who built it was actually French. Outside we saw some wild Peacocks in full bloom! I’ve seen many wild peacocks in La Canada but never with their feathers fully displayed!

Lunch was Paella in the Plaza Mayor. My first time trying it (except for on the plane over to Madrid but I don't think that counts..) We got some ice cream and posed in front of this statue which is actually the symbol of Madrid. It’s a bear eating from a strawberry tree. I’m not exactly sure what it means since 1-there aren’t any bears in the city and 2-strawberries don’t grow on trees but whatever!

Next we looked through the Reina Sofina museum which houses many of Picasso’s great works, those which aren’t in Paris or Barcelona. By this time I was getting pretty tired so after browsing through the Picasso wings I waited/napped? on a bench for Court and Kirst to finish.

On the way home we passed through the Atocha train station which was the sight of the terrorist attack in 2004. Now they’ve turned most of it into a greenhouse/memorial which is pretty neat.

On Sunday morning we headed to church in the Madrid 6^th ward, which meets at the temple. We had to run from the metro station to ditch a metro-creeper who had followed us through the stations since we got on the train – sick. The temple site is huge and beautiful and it’s always fun to see temples in distant lands. After church we walked around and found a café for lunch where I finally tried Tapas! It can basically be described as a potato quiche as was very tasty.

Next we walked to the Museo del Prado, describe by Rick Steve’s as Europe’s top collection of paintings (um Louvre?). They were having a big Goya exhibit, collecting his paintings from around the world for the most complete Goya exhibition ever. I convinced C&K that audio-guides are the best way to enjoy a museum so I got a thorough understanding of Fancisco de Goya’s life. His most famous works Second and Third of May 1808, were on display there again after a couple years of cleaning. I still remember Professor Gough’s lectures where he talked about all these paintings so it was very cool to see them in person.

The museum also houses Diego Velazquez’s Las Meninas painting “considered by many to be the world’s finest painting, period.” And several Rubens (which can’t compete with the entire floor of Rubens in the Louvre…).

To wrap up the day we strolled through Retiro park and stopped for dessert at a patisserie near the metro. It was another full day but, miraculously, I didn’t hit the jet-lagged wall at 5pm like I normally do!! Can’t believe it.

Tomorrow we’re off by train to San Sebastian for some beach time. Hopefully it’ll warm up because it has been pretty overcast and dreary in Madrid.

Spain!

I've spent the last couple days in Provo, resting, recouping, and repacking. Tomorrow morning I am off on Summer 2008 Adventure #2 - Spain! I'll meet up with friends Courtney & Kirstin in Madrid, and we'll head on from there. So exciting! I'll keep you updated on our excursions.

Not much else to report... I've had a good time joining Sarah on some Yoga at It's Yoga at the Riverwoods. (Although it feels good, I can't say the 6am yoga class is a REALLY good time...) And after 5 years in Provo, I have finally hiked the Y! I didn't take any photos, but I hiked it first with Haley and have done it a couple times since. It's a fun challenge and a good workout. I look forward to more permanently incorporating that climb into my routine when I return to Provo.

Off I go!

MIA

Still posting for the Earnests...
So that I can remember, find me
here
here
here
and here.

Colorado!

See my review of the 1st day's events on Annee's Blog.

:-)

Packing

So I've been packing for the last week. I leave tomorrow for Adventure #1 of Summer 2008 and needed to have my stuff almost completely packed up so when I come home at the end of August I can move out of my apartment quickly.

It hasn't been too terrible... I bought the Premium Moving Supply Kit from Costco and several plastic boxes from Home Depot (**I was slightly stranded there last Saturday night...). With all the supplies I needed on hand it was a fun logistical puzzle to transfer all of my belongings into organized boxes. There was much labeling, listing, sorting, reorganizing, and planning.

The part I didn't love was washing and dry cleaning literally every item I own so I could pack them away in boxes or have them ready to pack away into suitcases. Nothing makes you want to burn all your clothes and move to a nudist colony more than doing 12 loads of laundry and 3 trips to the dry cleaner in 2 days. I'm serious.

I should've taken pictures of all the boxes before I drove them all over to storage and their various resting places... Instead, I'll show you a picture of my new swimming suit! I just packed it away into Suitcase #1: Destination-Colorado Springs where I'll babysit Annee's 4 kids for 4 days.

Kinda cute right? I'm so excited!! Beach week can not come soon enough.

Speaking of Beach Week 2008, I would like to again revisit the concept of the Base Tan (where did this obsession with Proper Nouns come from??). This is something everyone should seriously consider adding to their preparation. It will greatly improve your vacation. Testimonials to follow.

It's all in the name

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car):

Lucy Infiniti

2. My gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor and favorite cookie):

La Vell's Vanilla Mint Surprise

3. My "fly girl" name (first initial of first name and first 3 letters of last name):

R Zac

4. My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal):

Green Elephant

5. My soap opera name (middle name and city where you were born):

Lenore Silver Springs

6. My Star Wars name (first 3 letters of your last name and first 2 letters of your first name):

ZacRa

7. My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "the" in between):

Yellow the Arrowhead

8. My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers):

John Jack

9. My lounge singer name (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and your favorite candy):

Vera Wang Take Five

10. My witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names):

Lenore Alma

Six will do...

Just as a follow up, and because I know you are all worried about me getting my oatmeal fix, last week I went to target and bought 6 boxes of Cinnamon Oatmeal. I will pack it with me on all my travels this summer.

Last Friday, Ken and I went to The Tree Room up at Sundance to finally celebrate and close out his college graduation. The last few times we've gone, we have indulged in ordering appetizers even though we usually skip this step at other restaurants. Each time it's been rather disappointing as they bring out some tiny morsel on some tiny plate which costs about $15, more than dinner for two at El Azteca. We usually plan to split the dish but how do you split a cracker, ya know?

Despite knowing I would probably be disappointed, I couldn't resist ordering the Ricotta Tortellini appetizer. It came, and just as I had suspected, there was one tortellini in a bowl of broth. One. So weird! After informing Ken that there would be no sharing, I ate the delicious morsel and he asked,

"So was that really worth 44 packets of oatmeal?"

You know you've reached a sad level of devotion when you measure other meals' worthiness in packets of oatmeal...

Sorry about the weird coloring, I don't know why it's doing that...