April 2017 Travels: Portugal, France

In April, we had our spring break and I got the privilege of going to Olhão in the south of Portugal with my friend, Nike and some of her friends. This trip was one of my favorites that I have taken. The south of Portugal is so beautiful and relaxed. We made our own meals every night (fresh fish!), ate the best bread, and I introduced them all to American pancakes. We took the longest bike ride ever, a ferry to the islands across the way, laid out on the beach, and ate some great seafood. We ate octopus stew (the regional specialty) and hiked! And the sweetest part was that everyone spoke English for me, even though they were mostly German :). I am always so grateful to make new friends through old friends and experience new places with them. Thanks to Nike, Fabi, Ame, Fleur, Mai, Benita, and Lucy for making it such a beautiful week!

Here are some photos of that trip.

Beautiful tile, sunsets, and people!

January 2017 Travels: Malaga, Spain

In January we went to Malaga, Spain for a midyear conference. While we were there, we had an excursion day wherein a few of us went to Granada and took a (LONG, too long) tour of the Alhambra Palace (built in the 1300s, a beautiful Moor palace). I got to use my Spanish in a painful ordering of Spanish tapas that ended up being not enough to fill us and we were too embarrassed so we went elsewhere. (sometimes living in a foreign country is hard and you have to admit defeat).

This part of Spain is beautiful and relaxing!!

Granada: Alhambra Palace

these calm fountains were an important fixture of Moor palaces

friends on top of the palace: Beau, me, Liz and Lyn

Granada

the beach at Malaga

the girls that I worked with!!! i love them!