Wow, two blog posts in one day - this is not the new normal, don't worry!
While we had planned to continue vagabonding into the winter, and then perhaps find work elsewhere in Europe next year, the plans have changed and I think it's making us savor each of our adventures here even more. Eric has a great opportunity to take a role with a company in Arizona starting in January, so we will be wrapping up our European travels mid-November when we head home for Thanksgiving.
Lots to do between now and then, of course...finding a house and some cars and a job for me are all near the top of the list. Probably not surprising, but getting a mortgage and car loans when you're technically unemployed is a bit more challenging :)
While we're super excited about how much good Mexican food we'll get to eat, it will be tough to continue being far away from family and friends. But we'll have a guest room (and a pool, of course) so visitors will be welcome any time. We understand we'll have to come 'up north' to see any of you during the summer, though - somehow managed to find a place even hotter than southern Spain!
Thursday, August 25, 2016
The Alps and Bavaria
We just wrapped up our first train trip and are getting ready to embark on our second, and very much looking forward to it! We spent the past couple weeks traveling through Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany, and even tiny Liechtenstein. Besides going broke in Switzerland, everything was excellent :)
Eric went up to climb for about a week before Coco and I flew up to Geneva to join him. Traveling alone with her has become much less intimidating as she's gotten older and we've gotten more experienced at it. She was very excited to see Daddy (as always!) and it was nice for us all to be together again. The first few days in Geneva included beautiful weather, riding bikes around town and the lake, checking out the local parks, and me having a little stroke every time we got the bill after a meal. Eric warned me that he'd spent $24 for a plate of basic pasta at a truck stop, we tried hard to be frugal but it was nearly impossible. Took advantage of breakfast at the hotel that was included with our room, although that was counter-productive when I got so full I didn't want to move :) We checked out Cathedrale de St Pierre, the botanical garden, a museum and the old city, and ogled the hundreds of watch shops. Overall our verdict was a beautiful city in a beautiful setting.
A short train ride away was Bern, and while we just spent 1 day there, it was awesome that we got to see the Saturday farmers market that took over several squares near the train station. Coco ate a couple pints of blackberries within the first 10 minutes :) We walked down to the river after the obligatory cathedral visit, and saw the bears along the banks (in enclosures, not wild!). Then it was on to Zurich.
More beautiful weather, more watch shops, more expensive living, and more gorgeous scenery. We got bikes again, which is such a great way to explore a new place - especially one that's relatively flat. Through sheer coincidence and no planning whatsoever, we happened to arrive the evening of their annual Street Parade, so the town was literally mobbed with a couple hundred thousands partiers that had been enjoying the day with drinks and music along the lakeshore and riverbanks. Many had managed to lose their clothes in the process, and Coco was insistent that she join them, running amongst the revelers in her Minnie Mouse undies and Crocs. #greatparenting
From Zurich, the next train took us through Liechtenstein to Innsbruck, where Coco and I finally got up into the mountains. Hiked around a bit and was reminded how terrifying a fearless 3-yr old and her encouraging father can be. We all survived, however, and made it back down in one piece. Decided this would be a good place to do the tourist hop-on/hop-off bus, so we got to see an old palace on the outskirts of town that contained one of the world's first museums (just a very large personal collection back in the day). We explored the lovely little Old Town, got to hear an impromptu concert in one of the squares since Austrians (and tourists) apparently love classical music, and I'm sure we must've seen a church in there somewhere.
The final destination was Munich, and amazingly the good weather was continuing. First stop was a ginormous beer garden, of course, where we paid homage to my roots via sausages and pretzels and lagers. We did that several more times before leaving, and sprinkled in some church visits, park strolling, and museum exploration. Another highlight was the day trip out to the countryside where we got to tour the fairytale castle of 'Mad' King Ludwig II. After having seen so many castles that were built 500+ years ago and have survived wars and sieges and attacks, it was surreal to see a comparatively new one (built in the late 1800's) that hasn't seen any struggles whatsoever. Highly recommended putting that one on your bucket list!
Fingers crossed that the next trip goes as smoothly, and that the weather continues to cooperate. It really makes exploring the cities so much more enjoyable. Will be interesting to see how different it feels in some Eastern European spots that are likely less cosmopolitan than the last trip...stay tuned :)
Eric went up to climb for about a week before Coco and I flew up to Geneva to join him. Traveling alone with her has become much less intimidating as she's gotten older and we've gotten more experienced at it. She was very excited to see Daddy (as always!) and it was nice for us all to be together again. The first few days in Geneva included beautiful weather, riding bikes around town and the lake, checking out the local parks, and me having a little stroke every time we got the bill after a meal. Eric warned me that he'd spent $24 for a plate of basic pasta at a truck stop, we tried hard to be frugal but it was nearly impossible. Took advantage of breakfast at the hotel that was included with our room, although that was counter-productive when I got so full I didn't want to move :) We checked out Cathedrale de St Pierre, the botanical garden, a museum and the old city, and ogled the hundreds of watch shops. Overall our verdict was a beautiful city in a beautiful setting.
A short train ride away was Bern, and while we just spent 1 day there, it was awesome that we got to see the Saturday farmers market that took over several squares near the train station. Coco ate a couple pints of blackberries within the first 10 minutes :) We walked down to the river after the obligatory cathedral visit, and saw the bears along the banks (in enclosures, not wild!). Then it was on to Zurich.
More beautiful weather, more watch shops, more expensive living, and more gorgeous scenery. We got bikes again, which is such a great way to explore a new place - especially one that's relatively flat. Through sheer coincidence and no planning whatsoever, we happened to arrive the evening of their annual Street Parade, so the town was literally mobbed with a couple hundred thousands partiers that had been enjoying the day with drinks and music along the lakeshore and riverbanks. Many had managed to lose their clothes in the process, and Coco was insistent that she join them, running amongst the revelers in her Minnie Mouse undies and Crocs. #greatparenting
From Zurich, the next train took us through Liechtenstein to Innsbruck, where Coco and I finally got up into the mountains. Hiked around a bit and was reminded how terrifying a fearless 3-yr old and her encouraging father can be. We all survived, however, and made it back down in one piece. Decided this would be a good place to do the tourist hop-on/hop-off bus, so we got to see an old palace on the outskirts of town that contained one of the world's first museums (just a very large personal collection back in the day). We explored the lovely little Old Town, got to hear an impromptu concert in one of the squares since Austrians (and tourists) apparently love classical music, and I'm sure we must've seen a church in there somewhere.
The final destination was Munich, and amazingly the good weather was continuing. First stop was a ginormous beer garden, of course, where we paid homage to my roots via sausages and pretzels and lagers. We did that several more times before leaving, and sprinkled in some church visits, park strolling, and museum exploration. Another highlight was the day trip out to the countryside where we got to tour the fairytale castle of 'Mad' King Ludwig II. After having seen so many castles that were built 500+ years ago and have survived wars and sieges and attacks, it was surreal to see a comparatively new one (built in the late 1800's) that hasn't seen any struggles whatsoever. Highly recommended putting that one on your bucket list!
Fingers crossed that the next trip goes as smoothly, and that the weather continues to cooperate. It really makes exploring the cities so much more enjoyable. Will be interesting to see how different it feels in some Eastern European spots that are likely less cosmopolitan than the last trip...stay tuned :)
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
6 countries in 2 weeks
How did August get here already?! It doesn't seem possible, but since half the businesses in Granada are closed for the next several weeks, it must be true. It will be interesting to see if this is also the case further north in Europe (Coco and I join Eric in Switzerland next week). Here, ~60% of the shops and cafes are either shuttered for weeks or operating on very limited hours for the whole month. I'm not exactly sure where everyone is, but they've gone. Hard to imagine that happening in the US besides a few days here and there around a specific holiday. Even Coco's school is operating on reduced hours before closing altogether in mid-August. Hopefully the Science Museum is open then, we'll be spending every day in their kids area that has great A/C :)
Over the past couple weeks, we got to spend time with my sister and her husband when they came over to vacation. Coco was BEYOND excited to have Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan as her constant companions, and I think this may have been one vacation where they needed another vacation to recover. Sorry!! :)
We started in Barcelona, checking out Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the 1992 Olympic grounds, and Camp Nou. We also did the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, which seemed really necessary there, since the town is pretty spread out. The little audio-guide they offer is kinda cheesy, but I do love to hear the details about the places we're seeing. Splurged on a nice hotel there using our Marriott points, so it was also pretty tempting to just hang out around the pool and let Coco 'swim' a bit.
From there, we flew over to Dubrovnik, Croatia and got to see one of the best preserved old towns in Europe. These guys built some excellent city walls a handful of centuries ago, and they haven't been breached to this day. Truly feels like you have gone back in time...except for the Game of Thrones tours happening everywhere. Coco and I tagged along behind one guide and eavesdropped for a few minutes while the rest of the gang was out kayaking. Eric and Ryan also took a mini-road trip to nearby Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina and learned that the whole area is blessed with dramatic and breath-taking views of the hills and Adriatic Sea.
Next, a quick flight to Milan and then a drive down to the sea to explore the "Five Lands" or Cinque Terre. These are pretty tiny villages set along the rugged Ligurian coast, and connected by hiking paths up over the super-hilly terrain. Coco and I stuck to trains and the ferry, but the others made the trek from Riomaggiore back to Manarola (where we stayed). We didn't make it up to Corniglia, which is a hilltop village, but we did explore Vernazza and Monterosso Al Mare...and drink wine and eat pasta/pizza everywhere we could! 4 out of 5 ain't bad.
Then it was back up to Milan (with poor Coco car-sick again), and Ryan headed for home while we checked out the Duomo and some art, and had more wine/pasta/pizza. The next day was a flight back to Barcelona and then a quick drive to Montserrat. Maybe the pix on the Photo Album page will give you a better feel than I can, but that place has some incredibly unique rock formations, and I'm not even the one who's usually into that :) We managed to be there on the day that the train was on strike, but we drove up to the monastery set in the cliffs and got to explore a bit, and then hit up the community pool to cool off.
After getting back to Granada with Lauren, we figured it would be good to squeeze a bit more in, so took a beach day down in Nerja and then went through Ronda and over to Gibraltar for a night. Crazy how this tiny strip of land can feel and look so different from Spain. We came around a curve on the drive from Ronda (one of about 4,723 curves!) and realized that the weird shape in the distance was the Rock of Gibraltar, and in the haze beyond that were mountains in northern Morocco. Very cool. Went through passport control into British territory and then drove across the airport runway, which confused Coco a lot, then did a tour of the rock to see the monkeys and some caves. Finished the trip off with a couple of pints and some 'normal' food...cheesy garlic bread, yum!
Was sad to see Lauren off, especially knowing that we won't see her for 3.5 months, but the past 3 months have gone SO fast and I think it will feel like this adventure has gone by in the blink of an eye once we're back in the States living like 'normal' people again :) Today, Eric spent his birthday climbing around the Alps near the Swiss/French border, which is gonna be hard to top next year! After Coco and I join him in Geneva next week, we'll start the first of our 3 train trips, which I'm really looking forward to. Fingers crossed that the car-sickness Coco's been struggling with doesn't also exist as train-sickness, but the Dramamine will be packed just in case!
Over the past couple weeks, we got to spend time with my sister and her husband when they came over to vacation. Coco was BEYOND excited to have Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan as her constant companions, and I think this may have been one vacation where they needed another vacation to recover. Sorry!! :)
We started in Barcelona, checking out Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the 1992 Olympic grounds, and Camp Nou. We also did the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, which seemed really necessary there, since the town is pretty spread out. The little audio-guide they offer is kinda cheesy, but I do love to hear the details about the places we're seeing. Splurged on a nice hotel there using our Marriott points, so it was also pretty tempting to just hang out around the pool and let Coco 'swim' a bit.
From there, we flew over to Dubrovnik, Croatia and got to see one of the best preserved old towns in Europe. These guys built some excellent city walls a handful of centuries ago, and they haven't been breached to this day. Truly feels like you have gone back in time...except for the Game of Thrones tours happening everywhere. Coco and I tagged along behind one guide and eavesdropped for a few minutes while the rest of the gang was out kayaking. Eric and Ryan also took a mini-road trip to nearby Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina and learned that the whole area is blessed with dramatic and breath-taking views of the hills and Adriatic Sea.
Next, a quick flight to Milan and then a drive down to the sea to explore the "Five Lands" or Cinque Terre. These are pretty tiny villages set along the rugged Ligurian coast, and connected by hiking paths up over the super-hilly terrain. Coco and I stuck to trains and the ferry, but the others made the trek from Riomaggiore back to Manarola (where we stayed). We didn't make it up to Corniglia, which is a hilltop village, but we did explore Vernazza and Monterosso Al Mare...and drink wine and eat pasta/pizza everywhere we could! 4 out of 5 ain't bad.
Then it was back up to Milan (with poor Coco car-sick again), and Ryan headed for home while we checked out the Duomo and some art, and had more wine/pasta/pizza. The next day was a flight back to Barcelona and then a quick drive to Montserrat. Maybe the pix on the Photo Album page will give you a better feel than I can, but that place has some incredibly unique rock formations, and I'm not even the one who's usually into that :) We managed to be there on the day that the train was on strike, but we drove up to the monastery set in the cliffs and got to explore a bit, and then hit up the community pool to cool off.
After getting back to Granada with Lauren, we figured it would be good to squeeze a bit more in, so took a beach day down in Nerja and then went through Ronda and over to Gibraltar for a night. Crazy how this tiny strip of land can feel and look so different from Spain. We came around a curve on the drive from Ronda (one of about 4,723 curves!) and realized that the weird shape in the distance was the Rock of Gibraltar, and in the haze beyond that were mountains in northern Morocco. Very cool. Went through passport control into British territory and then drove across the airport runway, which confused Coco a lot, then did a tour of the rock to see the monkeys and some caves. Finished the trip off with a couple of pints and some 'normal' food...cheesy garlic bread, yum!
Was sad to see Lauren off, especially knowing that we won't see her for 3.5 months, but the past 3 months have gone SO fast and I think it will feel like this adventure has gone by in the blink of an eye once we're back in the States living like 'normal' people again :) Today, Eric spent his birthday climbing around the Alps near the Swiss/French border, which is gonna be hard to top next year! After Coco and I join him in Geneva next week, we'll start the first of our 3 train trips, which I'm really looking forward to. Fingers crossed that the car-sickness Coco's been struggling with doesn't also exist as train-sickness, but the Dramamine will be packed just in case!
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
It's all Greek to me
I would say our first travels outside Spain were a big success - whew! It was 10 full days of travel, and Eric and I were both a little apprehensive about how it would go with Coco...in the end, we all had a lot of fun, and Eric took some beautiful pictures (as usual!) and we added a few to the Photo Album page.
We started with a drive to Málaga airport (perfectly timed to coincide with taking Eric's buddy Joey to catch a flight after his visit to Granada) and 2 flights to get to Crete, with a 2 hr layover in Germany. Of course, trying to save some money, I had booked the legs on 2 different low-cost carriers, and they don't transfer bags for you. So we needed every minute of that layover to get the suitcase and stroller collected from baggage claim, get back to check-in and drop them off, get through security again, take a potty break, and get to our gate. Between the hassle of that and the cost to check bags on each leg of a journey, I think I'll try to be a little more choosy about flights in the future...even if it means spending some extra money up front. Anyway, we made it to Crete, figured out how to ride the bus from the airport into town, and made our way to our hotel. It felt great to get settled in, and we had a lovely dinner right across the street on the water where we could admire all the lights on the hills up and down the coast. Maybe we should've been spending a little less time staring at the scenery and paid a bit more attention to what Coco was doing, because she decided to take a shot of ouzo...thinking it was water in a cup that was just the right size for her! Needless to say, she wasn't a fan and it ended up sprayed all over me and my plate :(
The next couple days were for exploring Crete - Palace of Knossos was a huge site that you could walk around and get a feel for the Minoan civilization that was there 4000 years ago, Heraklion Archaeological Museum gave more insights to what life would've been like there, and a drive from the north side of the island down to the southwest side to enjoy Matala beach. The beach was lovely, but the drive was a little hilly and curvy and unfortunately Coco's carsickness surfaced. Either that, or maybe she was still feeling the effects of the ouzo from 2 nights before?!
From Crete we took a ferry up to Santorini, about 1.5 hr ride that was thankfully pretty smooth. Colette and I did spend most of the trip right next to the window trying to keep our eyes on the horizon...decided that we'd need to find some motion-sickness meds for future travels :) Santorini was gorgeous, as you would expect, and we spent every dinner in a picturesque spot staring at the setting sun. But I really was not a fan of how touristy and crowded the main town (Fira) was during the day when cruise ships were inundating the island with people. Tried to avoid that by doing a boat trip out to the volcano/hot springs and renting an ATV and driving around the island, which was an excellent experience since we could get off the beaten path a bit. Felt a little like Hawaii and a little like Spain on the rest of the island.
Next was a quick flight up to Athens followed by a long bus ride into town...I think we actually may have spent longer on the bus than on the plane. Our hotel was right next to the Cathedral of Athens and beyond that it wasn't too far to the Acropolis. By this point, I think we were starting to take the amazing vistas for granted. Besides all the beautiful landscapes/seascapes, one of the most memorable things about our time in Greece will be how everyone was gaga over Coco (and I'm assuming other little kids in general, but especially Coco!). At our hotels, at restaurants, at random shops along the road, at ancient ruins, everywhere! It usually takes her a little while to warm up to new people, so most folks didn't get too much response from her, but they sure tried :) Saw a "train-bus" in Athens that was similar to ours in Granada, so of course Coco insisted that we ride that. We were also able to hit the Acropolis and museum, Nat'l Archaeological Museum, Ancient and Roman Agoras, Mt Lycabettus, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Central Market, as well as stroll through the Plaka, Monastiraki and Anafiotika districts of Athens. The gyro in the pita was by far the most-consumed item of the trip, over a dozen in Athens alone, I'm sure! Also got to sample lots of the local beer - Mythos, Alfa and FIX, along with some micro-breweries like Volkan.
Looking back, it would've been a very different trip without a small child along...I'm sure we would've gotten to see more of the museums and nightlife, and less of Peppa Pig, but I don't think we would've gotten the same level of interaction with local people if we were just another middle-aged tourist couple. It also forces a bit more downtime and makes you get more selective about which things you really want to see. At first that made me feel limited, but it sort of drove the need to research places ahead of time, which really helped us get the most out of our time there and experience each site a bit more deeply I think.
The next trip is just a few days away, and hopefully it will go just as smoothly. This will be the only time that we're traveling with other people (my sister Lauren and her hubby Ryan, yay!!) so that will be extra fun. There will be many hours in the car (where's that Dramamine?) but this time our 3 flights are all direct so hopefully the airports will be less stressful. We'll also be staying in a few AirBnB apartments for the first time, as opposed to just mid-budget hotels. Looking forward to the extra space that will afford, and not needing to sit in the dark hotel room quietly in the evenings after Coco falls asleep :)
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Things I miss, and don't
Now that we've been living outside the US for awhile, I thought it would be interesting to put together a list of things I miss from home, things I thought I would miss but don't, and things I don't miss at all! Of course, friends and family are on the top of the list, that kinda goes without saying :)
HOW I MISS YOU
- Land O'Lakes Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt...standard toast toppings here include olive oil and tomatoes, which are fine, but I really grew to love yummy butter over the past year at LOL
- Giant washing machine, and a dryer...I'm not a fan of doing laundry in general, so spending 3x as long doing it is pretty lame
- Dishwasher...basically the same deal as laundry, except worse since you get ants if you let the dishes sit in the sink
- Primrose School of West Plymouth...we knew this was gonna be on the list, Coco loved it there and had such great friends and teachers, school here just isn't the same
- My purple Kate Spade bag...so adorable, but just not practical for traveling :(
- Peanut butter...had no idea this would make the list, but it's a staple in our world and grocery stores here don't know what it is
- Functional door knobs...they're just decorative on front doors here, you can't get into the flat without a key even when the door isn't locked (luckily we haven't gotten 'locked' out yet, but odds are that blog post is coming)
HMM, I DON'T ACTUALLY MISS YOU
- Our 2 big automatic-transmission cars...you just kinda get used to having 1, it being smaller, and driving stick shift (during the first couple weeks, these would've definitely been in the "miss" category!)
- TV...besides GoT (which we watch on the laptop weekly) there was really nothing that good on anyway, and not paying $181 to Comcast every month is an extra special bonus
- Separate bathrooms...for the first time in our marriage, Eric and I are sharing, and it hasn't been as dreadful as I feared it would be
- Yard...let's be honest, I never really went in the yard, I just liked having the space
- Target...it feels blasphemous to even be typing this, and I never thought I could enjoy life without Target, but these days I have time to go to 3 different stores to buy lotion and a book shelf and cookies (plus I can only carry one bag home at a time without sweating all over myself)
THANK GOD YOU'RE GONE
- Commute to work...construction pushed me over the edge
- Mediocre bread...I didn't even realize what joy was absent from my life until I had the pan de pueblo from the store down the hill
- Mosquitos...window screens don't even exist here (and good thing, since laundry hanging would be tougher with a screen in the way)
- Political/election stuff...when we come back in November, just let me know who won (as long as you don't say Trump)
HOW I MISS YOU
- Land O'Lakes Spreadable Butter with Olive Oil and Sea Salt...standard toast toppings here include olive oil and tomatoes, which are fine, but I really grew to love yummy butter over the past year at LOL
- Giant washing machine, and a dryer...I'm not a fan of doing laundry in general, so spending 3x as long doing it is pretty lame
- Dishwasher...basically the same deal as laundry, except worse since you get ants if you let the dishes sit in the sink
- Primrose School of West Plymouth...we knew this was gonna be on the list, Coco loved it there and had such great friends and teachers, school here just isn't the same
- My purple Kate Spade bag...so adorable, but just not practical for traveling :(
- Peanut butter...had no idea this would make the list, but it's a staple in our world and grocery stores here don't know what it is
- Functional door knobs...they're just decorative on front doors here, you can't get into the flat without a key even when the door isn't locked (luckily we haven't gotten 'locked' out yet, but odds are that blog post is coming)
HMM, I DON'T ACTUALLY MISS YOU
- Our 2 big automatic-transmission cars...you just kinda get used to having 1, it being smaller, and driving stick shift (during the first couple weeks, these would've definitely been in the "miss" category!)
- TV...besides GoT (which we watch on the laptop weekly) there was really nothing that good on anyway, and not paying $181 to Comcast every month is an extra special bonus
- Separate bathrooms...for the first time in our marriage, Eric and I are sharing, and it hasn't been as dreadful as I feared it would be
- Yard...let's be honest, I never really went in the yard, I just liked having the space
- Target...it feels blasphemous to even be typing this, and I never thought I could enjoy life without Target, but these days I have time to go to 3 different stores to buy lotion and a book shelf and cookies (plus I can only carry one bag home at a time without sweating all over myself)
THANK GOD YOU'RE GONE
- Commute to work...construction pushed me over the edge
- Mediocre bread...I didn't even realize what joy was absent from my life until I had the pan de pueblo from the store down the hill
- Mosquitos...window screens don't even exist here (and good thing, since laundry hanging would be tougher with a screen in the way)
- Political/election stuff...when we come back in November, just let me know who won (as long as you don't say Trump)
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Hola de España
This
past weekend, we decided to road trip to Sevilla in southern Spain for Father’s
Day & Kate's birthday. She studied there during college, and she thought
Colette and I would enjoy it as much as she did - and she was right.
Sevilla
is absolutely beautiful and enchanting. If you are thinking about visiting
Andalusía, put Sevilla on the top of the list, as it is quintessential
Spain. It is really everything you could want in a regional European
capital, great sights (Cathedral, Alcazar, grand plazas, and a quaint old town
center), great food (tapas and cerveza anyone?) and a great
transportation system to get around (trams and grand boulevards).
We
stayed just outside of the city center, but that was to ensure we had a hotel
with a pool for Colette. She loves her pools! But, being outside of the center
was easy, as we simply jumped on the tram and were in the city in a few minutes
and off exploring.
We
started by visiting the Cathedral, and we were not disappointed. Supposedly it
is one of the largest (if not the largest in volume) cathedrals in the world.
The space is overwhelming, which is what they were looking for I guess. We then
were able to hike up the Giralda (bell
tower) and take in the views over the entire city! Colette was so inspired she
insisted that she take pictures at every window the whole way up. She is
persistent... :) After a quick dip in the hotel pool, we attended a flamenco show, followed by a late dinner
on the main street where we people-watched and kept an eye on the Euro Cup
games on a TV near the bar.
The
next day we decided to go see Kate's old stomping grounds in Triana, visit a
local park for Colette, and then visit the Plaza
de España. The plaza is huge, and
was built to impress for the World's Fair in the 1920's. After a quick stroll,
Colette wanted to ride a horse-drawn carriage around the city. A little
touristy, but Colette loved it. She even got to ride up in front with the
driver. Another pool afternoon followed by a Moroccan dinner in a highly rated
restaurant in the old quarter made for a pretty nice Father's Day!
We
woke up on Kate's birthday morning and quickly headed into the city to beat the
rush for the Alcazar, an ancient palace/fort/garden in the heart of the city. I
can definitely say it rivals the Alhambra for wow factor. Very intricate
carvings, paintings, tile work, and architecture make for a surreal experience.
We kept imagining how cool it would have been to be there when the
"final" palace opened hundreds of years ago, presumably to a party.
After
a nice lunch, we headed back to Granada for a few days before we are hosting
guests again. This time, my buddy Joe!
Friday, June 17, 2016
Finances and big decisions
Over the past couple months, the most frequent questions Eric and I have received basically center around two main themes: a) how did you decide to pick up your life and move to Spain, and b) how are you affording to do this? Wanted to take a few minutes to try and address them in a blog post, maybe we can encourage someone out there who's considering taking a sabbatical! The answer to the first includes a lot of different considerations, so in some ways it was something we thought about for a long time, but in other ways it was sort of a snap decision. The answer to the second question is less complicated...I have a strong tendency towards budgeting and saving and planning out how each dollar we have is going to get spent, and Eric grudgingly tolerates my craziness :)
Several years back, at an annual 'check in' with our financial advisor, he posed a question to us that maybe got this whole ball rolling. We were putting money into our "rainy day" savings account each month, so he asked what the plan was for that money, what we were saving for...and we didn't really have a good answer. Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say we didn't have an answer that we both agreed upon - Eric could've spent it all on a few climbing trips without too much trouble at all!
Fast forward to the more recent past, and a somewhat regular topic of conversation for the two us was the idea of working abroad. We'd both studied abroad, both love traveling, and watched a lot of House Hunters International, so we thought it was basically a perfect fit for us! Europe was our first (and really only) choice for location because of the proximity of so many places that we wanted to visit together. The main challenge was that neither of us worked for companies that had opportunities in Europe :( This was a major bummer since we both enjoyed great jobs at excellent companies. It started to dawn on us that the dream of working abroad would mean both of us quitting, and I think once that really sunk in, the seeds for the sabbatical were starting to grow. If we were both going to quit our jobs, why should we get new ones right away that would inhibit our ability to travel as a family and experience all the things that made living in Europe so appealing? The window of time in which we could really do lots of travel (before Colette started school) wasn't going to be open forever.
In addition, some health issues in the family reminded us you can't always count on traveling and seeing the world in your later years. What good would all that "rainy day" savings do us if we kept putting off fun ways to spend it?! After a bit of research, we learned that Spain offered a visa that grants temporary residency without permission to work in Spain if you prove you can support yourself off savings and that you're not a criminal. That seemed ideal since we aren't criminals and didn't want to work, we both spoke a little Spanish, we wanted Colette to get exposure to a foreign language, the cost of living (outside of Madrid/Barcelona) is moderate compared to the rest of Europe, and the weather in southern Spain is pretty nice :) Also, there were at least two other families who had done the same thing and written really informative blogs about the logistics of getting the visa - we had a little bit of a roadmap to follow.
For the first time since our arrival, I'm also sitting down to go over our budget and see how closely we're adhering to the plan. I think it might be ugly, since we've been booking tons of travel for the upcoming months, plus there are some "start up" costs I didn't account for (deposit on car lease, rental agency fee for the apt, etc). Overall, I was anticipating we'd spend ~$7700 per month for everything from travel to groceries to health insurance to our PO Box back home. Nearly 40% of that is earmarked for Travel, which is the biggest category by far. Will be interesting to see if we have to start staying in the tent instead of in hotels to stay on budget there...
Another big chunk is the Rent/Utilities/Parking category coming in at $1350. We could've cut that in half by going with a place outside the centro, but thankfully Eric held firm that a great location was worth the money since city life is really what we're trying to experience. Instead, we are being more frugal in other ways...parking spot across the river means a 15-min walk to the car, but we don't drive every day; haven't gotten cable; only run the A/C when needed, since electricity is really expensive here.
Groceries/Eating Out is budgeted at ~$1100, and I'm very curious to see where we come in there...so tempting to grab a couple beers and tapas when you're walking by a cute cafe and everyone else is doing it! Automotive (car lease, insurance, gas) is expected to be $850/mo and I'm on the fence about whether or not it makes sense to keep the car once we start traveling by air/train more. By cutting out that cost (plus $100+ for parking each month) we'd be able to rent a car the few times a month when we want to road-trip from Granada and probably still come out ahead. The other half of Team Swanson feels otherwise...stay tuned to see how that plays out!
A boring category called Expenses Back Home takes $800 for things like life insurance, disability insurance, funding Coco's 529 account, the PO Box and storage unit, and Eric's Verizon plan (it was the only way we could easily keep his US number, need to remain accessible to Tom's care providers). Sure we could cut some of that, but we are still trying to be pseudo-responsible adults here :) Last but not least, things like Daycare ($330/mo here, which is less than what a week at home cost) and Health Insurance ($160/mo for what I think is a decent plan with low copy's that includes dental, another thing that's way cheaper here vs the US) and Stuff ($250/mo for clothes, souvenirs, gifts, etc).
Overall, it feels like it should be pretty manageable to maintain that level of spending, but the proof will be in the receipts. As the past decade has been, it will probably continue to be a balancing act between Eric encouraging me to spend money on making memories and me trying to rein in the spending so we don't run out of money :)
Several years back, at an annual 'check in' with our financial advisor, he posed a question to us that maybe got this whole ball rolling. We were putting money into our "rainy day" savings account each month, so he asked what the plan was for that money, what we were saving for...and we didn't really have a good answer. Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say we didn't have an answer that we both agreed upon - Eric could've spent it all on a few climbing trips without too much trouble at all!
Fast forward to the more recent past, and a somewhat regular topic of conversation for the two us was the idea of working abroad. We'd both studied abroad, both love traveling, and watched a lot of House Hunters International, so we thought it was basically a perfect fit for us! Europe was our first (and really only) choice for location because of the proximity of so many places that we wanted to visit together. The main challenge was that neither of us worked for companies that had opportunities in Europe :( This was a major bummer since we both enjoyed great jobs at excellent companies. It started to dawn on us that the dream of working abroad would mean both of us quitting, and I think once that really sunk in, the seeds for the sabbatical were starting to grow. If we were both going to quit our jobs, why should we get new ones right away that would inhibit our ability to travel as a family and experience all the things that made living in Europe so appealing? The window of time in which we could really do lots of travel (before Colette started school) wasn't going to be open forever.
In addition, some health issues in the family reminded us you can't always count on traveling and seeing the world in your later years. What good would all that "rainy day" savings do us if we kept putting off fun ways to spend it?! After a bit of research, we learned that Spain offered a visa that grants temporary residency without permission to work in Spain if you prove you can support yourself off savings and that you're not a criminal. That seemed ideal since we aren't criminals and didn't want to work, we both spoke a little Spanish, we wanted Colette to get exposure to a foreign language, the cost of living (outside of Madrid/Barcelona) is moderate compared to the rest of Europe, and the weather in southern Spain is pretty nice :) Also, there were at least two other families who had done the same thing and written really informative blogs about the logistics of getting the visa - we had a little bit of a roadmap to follow.
For the first time since our arrival, I'm also sitting down to go over our budget and see how closely we're adhering to the plan. I think it might be ugly, since we've been booking tons of travel for the upcoming months, plus there are some "start up" costs I didn't account for (deposit on car lease, rental agency fee for the apt, etc). Overall, I was anticipating we'd spend ~$7700 per month for everything from travel to groceries to health insurance to our PO Box back home. Nearly 40% of that is earmarked for Travel, which is the biggest category by far. Will be interesting to see if we have to start staying in the tent instead of in hotels to stay on budget there...
Another big chunk is the Rent/Utilities/Parking category coming in at $1350. We could've cut that in half by going with a place outside the centro, but thankfully Eric held firm that a great location was worth the money since city life is really what we're trying to experience. Instead, we are being more frugal in other ways...parking spot across the river means a 15-min walk to the car, but we don't drive every day; haven't gotten cable; only run the A/C when needed, since electricity is really expensive here.
Groceries/Eating Out is budgeted at ~$1100, and I'm very curious to see where we come in there...so tempting to grab a couple beers and tapas when you're walking by a cute cafe and everyone else is doing it! Automotive (car lease, insurance, gas) is expected to be $850/mo and I'm on the fence about whether or not it makes sense to keep the car once we start traveling by air/train more. By cutting out that cost (plus $100+ for parking each month) we'd be able to rent a car the few times a month when we want to road-trip from Granada and probably still come out ahead. The other half of Team Swanson feels otherwise...stay tuned to see how that plays out!
A boring category called Expenses Back Home takes $800 for things like life insurance, disability insurance, funding Coco's 529 account, the PO Box and storage unit, and Eric's Verizon plan (it was the only way we could easily keep his US number, need to remain accessible to Tom's care providers). Sure we could cut some of that, but we are still trying to be pseudo-responsible adults here :) Last but not least, things like Daycare ($330/mo here, which is less than what a week at home cost) and Health Insurance ($160/mo for what I think is a decent plan with low copy's that includes dental, another thing that's way cheaper here vs the US) and Stuff ($250/mo for clothes, souvenirs, gifts, etc).
Overall, it feels like it should be pretty manageable to maintain that level of spending, but the proof will be in the receipts. As the past decade has been, it will probably continue to be a balancing act between Eric encouraging me to spend money on making memories and me trying to rein in the spending so we don't run out of money :)
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