a week in spain.

Spain feels like forever ago.  With school starting and a bunch of other events that have occurred since our trip, I feel pretty removed from the romance of our getaway.  So I am going to immerse myself for the next hour in these photographs, re-read my notes, and try to give you a recap of our very lovely week!

As I mentioned recently in this post, every year we try to take one romantic just-us vacation.

We chose Spain this year because we needed to pick a spot in Europe (we sometimes piggyback our vacations with Hubby's work trips, which helps pay for part of the expense) and we wanted a warm beach getaway.  Plus, neither of us had ever been to Spain.  I really love Hemingway and even though we didn't travel to any places that he frequented, I still, of course, packed a Hem book (A Moveable Feast) that I'd been wanting to read for ages and devoured it during our trip.  (The book is about Paris, but oh well.  So, so good.)

I'll mostly let the photos of our trip do the telling.  If you follow me on IG and IG Story (those little circles at the top of your Instagram screen) you sorta knew what was going on while we were there.  

Here we go!

Flying from Barcelona to the island of Mallorca!

I've never felt so nasty and sweaty as in this photo, after only 3 hours of sleep on the plane.  Ew! But at least we were in Spain! 

fried goat cheese salad and beer while waiting for the train to Soller.

riding this cute old train was worth it - a beautiful scenic ride!

on the train ride from palma to soller

sign at one of the train stops.

we passed lots of pretty cities nestled in the foothills.

mountains and olive groves were all around us.

When we got to the town of Soller it was a short walk to our small hotel, which was near the popular city square.  A boutique hotel in a renovated beautiful old mansion, we unloaded our bags and marveled for a while over the beauty of our room -- smartly updated yet so old.  The ceilings were to the moon, the windows enormous,  and the views beyond lovely.  My kinda place.

I could wake up to this view every day.

Since we were both pretty exhausted from jet lag, the plan for the rest of the day was to take a long, luxurious nap, and then do a really late dinner - as is the fashion there, anyhow.

Dinner ended up being a nearby tapas restaurant, where we ordered various small plates of things we thought looked delicious, as well as grabbed things from the "toothpick tapas bar buffet" (my term) where everything has a toothpick in it and that is how you are charged at the end.  Maybe I was just ridiculously hungry, but everything tasted pretty fantastic along with the several glasses of cava I drank.  (I'm not trying to seem worldly.  I asked for champagne and I was informed they only have cava.  Which is champagne.  I think?)

Anyway, we sat right in front of a guy playing the saxophone, and they were projecting Charlie Chaplin movies on the wall...so there was a lot of interesting vibes going on in this place.  A really fun night out!

dark and grainy night selfie after our dinner date.

our hotel!  I highly recommend!

The next day we slept as late as we could, factoring in our messed up internal clocks, ate our hotel breakfast (meats, fruit, bread, cheese...Euro-style breakfasts are kinda my favorite thing) and I drank copious amounts of the amazing coffee that they brought to me in a French press.

Paul representing KY at breakfast by the pool.  

Then it was off to the beach!  We could have taken the tram, but instead we decided to get a workout in by walking the 1.5 miles down to the beach.  To work off all that bread I ate, right?  YES!

We got there and it was really lovely.  A bay, with calm water, lots of sailboats, and a chill atmosphere.  An interesting mix of tourists, as Mallorca is a favorite beach holiday spot in Europe, and August is prime season.  Fortunately, it wasn't crowded...and it was quiet!  People are not obnoxious or crazy like at many beach destinations we've been to.  No one is out to get really drunk there, in fact, you do your drinking away from the beach, in any one of the really great restaurants along the boardwalk.

some cool houses on the cliffs overlooking the beach.

drinking some local beers at lunch.

of course, we had to have some seafood paella at least once.

Day two on the island of Mallorca was market day!  Happily we discovered the big market day was Saturday, so after Hubby indulged in a massage (his vacay ritual) and I read by the pool for a really long time (my vacay ritual) we wandered a couple blocks over to the square where the big market is held weekly.

hubby pretending to enjoy shopping

me legitimately enjoying shopping (and eating fresh coconut)

fresh coconut!

all the olives!

we picked an outdoor cafe on the market perimeter and enjoyed a leisurely lunch of caprese salad and fish and drinks, of course.

I am not typically a rose drinker...but I ordered it a lot on this warm weather trip!

After our market experience, we headed back to the hotel and grabbed our beach stuff -- excited for another long walk down to the Mediterranean...

hotel pool (aka my reading spot)

random house on the walk to the beach.  green shutters were pretty much the thing there.

cute little grocery store on the way to the beach.

After swimming and just laying on the beach for a really long time, we decided to choose a random seaside bar for drinks and a snack.  I decided I am a much better day-drinker than night-drinker.  I like slowly drinking all day, getting a nice little buzz,  then actually being sober by sundown.  Obviously, this is only possible when we are away from our children. :D

bar with a view

This is my post ocean swimming look.  Not great.  My wrinkles definitely got worse on this trip...but totally worth it!!!!!

handsome hubby.

really fabulous mango margarita

delicious nachos.  

we walked off the nachos and took in the sights.

swimming just before sundown

took a selfie not noticing the dude lying in the water there - lol!  

hmmm...not the best shot but you get the idea.

The next day it was time to head to Barcelona!

in the cab to the airport

When we got to Barcelona we took a cab ride (in which our cabby got pulled over and ticketed) to our hotel, your basic Hilton near the beach.  Vastly different from our cute boutique digs in Soller, but, hey, we weren't planning to spend much of our time at the hotel for this half of the week.

We didn't really feel like trying to do a lot of sightseeing that day, so instead we took a run along the huge and busy Barcelona beach (100% different than that of Soller) checked out the crazy seaside scene.  Super crowded, lots of naked and partially naked folks sunbathing or showering off (Soller was more "tastefully topless") and a pretty good beach volleyball scene!  There were also lots of beach restaurants so we decided that after a nap we would take the metro over to Barceloneta (the beach area that was really built up for the '92 Olympics) and get dinner.

We found a cute little tapas spot on the beach and I might have drank the largest sangria imaginable. 

Paul likes to look things up on his phone mid-conversation (don't worry - pertaining to the conversation.) 

I like to take random selfies - like this one with this awesome accordion player

Apparently the subway tram closes at midnight in Barcelona...so we ended up walking a LONG way back to our hotel.  Which sobered me up pretty quickly.  Got offered drugs and beer several times along the way.

The next day, because our not-cute or quaint hotel was located across from a mall, we hit up the outdoor food court which boasted this cute sushi place - because, 'when in Spain,' right???  But seriously, we were both going through sushi withdrawals, and this spot was both adorable and delicious.  We need Miss Sushi stateside!

rose, obviously.

sushi is just fun to take photos of.

Now, on to Barcelona!  That second day we decided to get on the tram and head downtown, which was super quick and easy.  Coming up from the subway was a breath of fresh (okay, no, not really fresh) air for me, as I love the energy of downtown areas and obviously the architecture and feel of Barcelona was going to be historic and cool.

I just liked these periwinkle shutters.  A lot.

I remember thinking how much Finola would have loved chasing all these pigeons!

somehow I forgot my selfie stick at home...so here I am testing out a new one!  :D

eating this coffee float with almond ice cream.  almonds are a superfood, so it was pretty healthy.

taking a break in one of the many old squares

the Cathedral of Barcelona was one of the 'tourist spots' we made a point to visit - the rest was a lot of random wandering

beer break.  we sat at this cafe in front of the cathedral for about two hours.

another local beer.

Picasso's art and influence was everywhere

That night we decided to grab some takeaway food, a bottle of cheap (but, of course, really good) wine from a store, and have a night picnic on the beach in Barceloneta.  We listened to music and the waves and it was really chill and fun.  

The next day our agenda was to go back into the gothic quarter of Barcelona, tour the Picasso Museum, go inside the Cathedral, and then randomly wander the city some more.  
But first...a stop at the bakery on the way to the metro for Spain's version of donuts (amazing) and my daily breakfast of a ham and cheese baguette and a cappuccino.

Once in Barcelona, we toured the Picasso Museum, which was really cool for both of us (I'm an art history lover, and Paul loves anything with an audio tour!)  Then we actually walked through the Cathedral, since the day before I had short-ish shorts on and that is not allowed in the church.

Then, obviously, we had to eat and drink some more.  In the square of the Santa Maria church we found the perfect tapas spot.

If you travel to Spain, I hope pig is your jam!  

trust me, this was all very good.  whatever it was.

another serenade from a street musician!  I could get used to this.

So that was Spain!  

Such a relaxing, non-stressful vacation...which was just what we were looking for.  So, so grateful to my in-laws, who watched and loved on our kids while we were away, which gives us this awesome opportunity to see different parts of the world and reconnect with each other.

a new school year.

Today Cormac starts school.  Finola tomorrow. Official Pre-K and 3's.

Cormac's not really nervous.  Or excited.  As always with school, he tolerates it fine.  None of his little friends from last year will be in his class this year, so I'm a bit bummed but he seems totally okay with it.  He proclaimed over the summer, "I'll probably like the new friends better anyway!" My prayer is that he is not so hard on himself, he learns to laugh at his mistakes and be gracious and positive when he doesn't come in first.  Oh, and that he doesn't get bored and check out mentally, discounting things just because he isn't interested in the subject matter.

This year is extra-special because both blondies are in school.  Fin starts and I am not at all worried about her either.  She is pretty bold and adaptable.  My only concern will be her inevitable role as 'class clown,' and am hopeful that she learns to temper the jokes in favor of paying attention to the teacher and being kind to her fellow little friends, rather than stiff-arming them if they try to grab a toy from her or giving them a mean mug if they mess with her.

They are both unique little ones, and I am so excited to see how they both learn and grow this year.

+ + + + + + + +

I won't lie - I am pretty excited for this new chapter.  Three days a week where I get a tiny window of time to myself during the day?!?!?!   The cleaning I will do!  The coffee I will drink!  The blog posts I will write!   Well, in theory.   So much to pack into that little window!

Especially since we are in full-on project mode around the 'dream home.' Hubby is laying pavers in the backyard (finally!) and I am moving furniture all around and re-imagining different spaces.  I also plan to do "actual work" such as caulking and painting the trim in our bedroom.  Okay, at least I will prime it.  I leave all actual painting to Hubby.  I'm the worst.

If you are on Instagram you can keep up with daily projects and randomness on my daily IG Story!  I really like this feature, and if you can tolerate my really low voice and random bursts of loud laughter you can following along with daily goings-on there.  (@modgardengirl)

why I'd rather travel than have pretty nails.

I have pretty sad looking nails, on both my fingers and toes.  I mean, I try to make them pretty...but without the deft talent of a professional semi-regularly they can get pretty rough.  I look at other people's nails and feel admiration over their length, shape and overall prettiness.  I have moments of "I should really put more effort into my nail health!"  Then I remind myself why my nails look so bad. The reason, besides biting them mercilessly while consuming long novels, is that I don't put in the time, effort, or money it takes to have beautiful nails.

But this post is not about nails.  It is about travel.  (Don't worry - I'll get there.)

I am not the most well-travelled of my friends, or even some of my family.  I love this fact, because I love hearing about the adventures of others, and getting travel inspiration + tips from those I know and trust!  
Personally, I have been blessed to travel a decent amount in my life. This stems several things: 

1. An adventurous father who made sure that we, as a family, as well as our small church's youth group, took a great many trips.  By age sixteen I had seen most of the U.S., as well as various trips to Canada and Mexico, via borrowed or rented RV's, a giant brown conversion van, or a Purple Bus. We didn't have much money, but Dad made it happen.

as a seventeen-year-old in paris

2. I don't think I've ever said no to a travel opportunity.  At age seventeen I plunked down several thousand dollars I had earned working part-time at a party goods store to take a high school German trip to Europe.  It was not actually my high school, but one of my best friends from church encouraged me to go with her school's group.  We spent nine days zipping through Austria, Switzerland, France, and, of course, Germany.  That was my first European travel experience, and it definitely left me yearning for more.  Travel, to me, is always worth it.  For the experience, for the fellowship with loved ones, and for the broadening of life views.  I can't remember a time when I turned a travel opportunity down that was seriously on the table.  I have always made it a point to attend family gatherings if humanly possible, no matter where it is (my fam is pretty spread out!) We lug our kids around the state and country (and once, with baby Cormac, to Europe) because it's always worth it. Hubby and I plan one big romantic getaway per year. We do "friend weekends" whenever possible!  Part of this prioritizing is that my love language is quality time.  You get to know people better than ever through shared, intimate experiences.  Making memories.  Laughing and eating and even arguing due to close quarters.  I love social media as much as anyone, but often I feel depressed by the lack of real connection.  "Likes" do not equal true affection, but often are just a quick check mark of fleeting recognition.  Travel - anywhere - provides a setting for personal growth, as well as relational growth with others.

double decker bus fun in london

3. Hubby and I prioritize travel in our budget - over many other things!  When we discuss finances (which we very often do) it always involves me saying, "Yes, yes, yes, I agree to all of that.  But...we will be able to still travel, right?"  We are blessed with a comfortable income, but like all couples we have to make choices. Saving and investing is HUGE to my husband, so when it comes to "extra spending" we prefer to allocate funds towards travel rather than : eating out, expensive clothing, expensive mortgages, paying professionals to renovate our home, expensive hobbies, expensive alcohol, expensive home furnishings, expensive art...okay, you get the picture.  Our home is pretty nice, in my humble opinion, thanks to "good bones" and all Hubby's hard work renovating it mostly by himself; however,  a burglar wouldn't find much to take.  My wedding ring is the only jewelry I have of any value, and even that is pretty modest.   We don't get much joy out of "stuff." Also, I am pretty sure the last time I paid for someone to wax my eyebrows or paint any of my nails has been at least three years ago.  (See - I told you I'd get there!)

Side note : I do indulge in twice-yearly haircuts (occasionally coloring, too) since all my self-done hair 'dos up through high school were, well, really disastrous.  My last trip to the salon was in February...so I think I am due for a 'do soon!

So I don't have pretty nails - and I am okay with the reason for it. My ill-manicured hands and feet have become a personal metaphor for a well-travelled existence.

For my money, that is worth it.  I never want to look back and regret a missed adventure.   Sure, I have personal regrets of things that have happened during travel -- fights, moments of fear, moments of withdrawal into myself which caused me to miss moments of utter beauty.  But never have I experienced the regret of not going.

So,  I will hold dear the photographs taken, the freckles permanent on my skin from long walks to the ocean,  and the smells that will forever remind me of places we have been.  The ferocious city smell of garbage the night of July 4th by the Hudson in NYC.  The faint scent of coffee and rain outside a Covent Garden cafe.  Dust and mule droppings while staring up at the stars from the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
We all have had moments and memories like these.

Take a moment and be grateful for all of your "travel moments" - write them out and describe them. Re-read journals you kept on your trips.  Call a friend or have a drink with your spouse and reminisce.

on the train to soller

If you haven't had many travel experiences, it is never too late to start.  My mother had not left our continent until she was in her sixties -- and now I believe she has more stamps in her passport than I do!

Also, when it comes to finances, some of the best travel stories I've listened to or read about come from people who didn't have much money to do it, but found a way to adventure anyhow.

"We were poor but we were happy."  - Ernest Hemingway, writing of when he was living in Paris, traveling often to Spain and Austria with his first wife, before having gained any financial success through writing.

on the beach at night in Barcelona - eating take-out burgers and drinking cheap (but good) wine

I'll leave you with one more Hemingway travel quote I like...

"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love." Hemingway, talking to his wife Hadley after a "friend weekend" with Fitzgerald.  I think he did end up loving Fitzgerald, though.  He wrote of the experience in his memoir of Paris, fondly and amusedly, and they certainly ended up as friends.

Maybe our love for others deepens through these travel experiences.   It never hurts to take the chance, right?

+++++++++

Recap of Spain to come!
Have a fabulous weekend, friends!