Granada

Wow! Granada was just amazing. We adored this lovely little place in the south of Spain.

Our house in Granada in Albaicín, the old Arabic quarter located on the hill opposite the Alhambra.
The area is known for its cobble stoned streets with white washed houses. The view of Alhambra from our bedroom! Amazing sight to wake up to each day 🙂Alleys and alley cats.Alhambra dogsIt’s a shopper’s paradise in downtown Granada.The strong Moorish influence is seen in many of the amazing shops hidden down tiny little streets.Alhambra from our room at night.And looking in the other direction from our room wasn’t too bad either 🙂There’s so many gorgeous cafes and shops scattered through Granada.A cute little florist in one of the main squares.Bit of a tight squeeze…How cool is this street lamp?!Views towards the mountains framed by the white washed houses.I couldn’t get enough of these picturesque little streets (as I’m sure this blog post shows).Until next time Granada…xo

Barcelona

Next stop – Barcelona!

Sunset from our apartment window. Thanks again to our lovely host Valerie for her hospitality.
Fruit in Santa Caterina Market.Barcelona’s beach.I love all the colourful clothes hanging out to dry in the streets.There’s so many great little cafes and restaurants in all the little backstreets.Cuines Santa Caterina – gorgeous interior and fantastic food right across from our accommodation. Paella!!Barcelona CathedralNow that’s a dog!
Gaudi’s Park Güell = AMAZING!How great are these gingerbread houses!Backstreets of BarcelonaAnyone who is a fan of Fawlty Towers will know why I found this so funny!

San Sebastian

Hello Spain!!

We were so excited to arrive at the beach and to explore San Sebastian as our first stop in Spain. Arriving and trying to order food we quickly realised how much French we knew in comparison with Spanish. The beautiful blue water and the mountains were gorgeous and we quickly fell in love with this place…I’m sure you can see why 🙂Soaking up the sun…One of the lovely streets in the old part of town.It’s a good place to just sit and watch the world go by.Lots of steps but the view is worth it!Please click on this panorama to view a bigger version – it makes it better I promise!Now THAT’S a busy beach! Coming from Australia we’ve never seen anything like this at all. But somehow it works!View from Monte Igueldo.We were treated to plenty of spectacular sunsets.Mmmm….tapas. Pretty much the best thing about San Sebastian in our book!

Sarlat-la-Caneda

During our stay in Domme we did a trip to Sarlat which I absolutely adored last time I visited. By the number of visitors that afternoon I can see that it is adored by many! It’s a gorgeous place with lots little back streets to explore.It’s the home of foie gras so there are geese everywhere.
Proof of how integral bread is to the French lifestyle.Ending the night with a delicious nutella crepe…mmmm

Paris

Of all the amazing cities in the world that I’ve visited, nothing beats Paris. It’s one of a kind and really holds a special place in my heart. We had a fantastic week staying right in the centre of Paris just near the Pompidou with a wonderful French lady. There wasn’t a whole lot of sleep…there was however an excess of nutella and banana crepes and several croissants too.

Paris beach by the Seine.Notre Dame and the beautiful gardens surrounding it.The Tuileries.I’m not sure I could accept a ticket from a policeman on rollerblades…Love locks – I’d seen pictures of this bridge but was still surprised by how many locks there are! Some art for sale along the river.The view from the Eiffel tower is well worth all the steps we climbed. It was even more beautiful than last time I climbed it in winter.The Pompidou.The view from the top of the Pompidou.The line to get into The Louvre.This guy looks pretty happy with himself 🙂Mona Lisa madness!Napoleon’s Aparatment.

They really do love rollerblades in Paris! Let the 90’s live on!!Sacre CoeurMatching brothers heheJardin du LuxembourgI love the Louvre by night! I know not everyone is such a fan of the pyramids but I think the look fantastic.The Champs Elysees cafes and the reward at the end of this ridiculously long street!The spiral staircase of the Arc……and the view from the top! Amazing!The view of the Champs Elysees from the top.
Dump some sand in the middle of the city and play beach volleyball there…why not!
And I’ll leave you with…Jesus…?(A quick note for my Dad) – Did you like that I put more captions on the photos? 🙂

Moel Famau

We headed further north to visit my oldest friend Luke and his lovely girlfriend Bev. They live just near the border of Wales and took us on a wonderful hike. We even found a tiny birds nest!

Oxford

While staying in London we did a day trip to Oxford. It was a fabulous day and had special significance as Andrew’s Dad was born in Oxford and his grandfather was ordained in Christ Church Cathedral which you can see below. We finished the day off with a delicious (and discounted!) meal at the Jamie Oliver restaurant.

London

Hello London!

We saw all the major London icons over a few days and enjoyed exploring the city. Staying just outside the city was a lovely retreat from the crowds and bustling nature of London. We were lucky enough to have great weather, spend our time with lovely people and have some wonderful experiences.
Camden Markets seating.This lovely family were kind enough to have us stay with them all week.

Thank you again Marie! We loved our time there with you all!

The lovely Hampton Court Palace and rose gardens.We were lucky enough to go to Wimbledon for the men’s semi-final day! We waited in ‘The Queue’ and it was SO worth it. We watched Djokovic vs Del Potro from Murray Mound / Henman Hill. THEN…we got resale tickets for Centre Court and saw Andy Murray win to get through to the finals!! The atmosphere was fantastic.Finals day was spent at a lovely English pub, in front of the tennis with a beer. The English couldn’t have been happier with the results either.Morrisons Supermarket in Wimbledon went all out 😉

New York

Our final destination in the US was New York. It’s such an interesting and diverse place that I feel words can’t describe the experiences we had all that well. We found America to be a land of contradictions and I think New York epitomises this. For now, I’ll let the photos tell the stories.

Charleston to Orlando

The next part of our journey took us down to Charleston to visit Andrew’s school friend Gabs and his girlfriend Melina. Gabs kindly organised the whole 4 day trip, picked us up from the airport and even got us free accommodation. Thanks Gabs!!

A little walk in the woods……and a trip to the beautiful beach. The day we drove from Charleston to Orlando was Andrew’s birthday. We went to a great Japanese restaurant with Gabs & Melina to celebrate. Andrew even scored a free birthday dessert!
The highlight of the trip was a visit to Island of Adventure in Orlando. The Harry Potter section was SO cool. I’m not even a massive fan & I geeked out over it. Thank you to Melina who let me use her camera to take these few photos 🙂