Dunn Talking About It: Time keeps on slipping

Well the holidays are finally behind us and what a holiday season it was. There was no Thanksgiving but there was Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years and Three Kings Day (and don't forget the everything is closed on Sundays in Spain) it felt like we were in celebration mode for 3 weeks straight.

Madrid

Everyone needs a craper in their nativity scene

New Years Eve 12 grapes

A piece of Rosca de Reyes (Three Kings Cake)

Our time in Spain was wonderful, after we left the Costa del Sol we stopped in Madrid for a few days. It was an interesting city where we were slightly overwhelmed with the holiday shopping crowds and the lack of English. We encountered our first travel hiccup that cost us an additional $300 and 8 hours (and a bad hair cut) but no complaints as this trip could have gone wrong so many times.

We spent our holidays in Barcelona house sitting for an awesome family with a fun dog named Poppy. We had a great time house/pet sitting, shared a few dinners together, attended the Three Kings parade and they even allowed us stay on a few more days once they returned home. Tatum immediately took to their youngest daughter and has not stopped talking about her or Poppy since we left. Every dog we see, black or white looks like Poppy, she is neither.

Poppy and I

Making Christmas cookies

Barcelona was a very fun city! Those of you without a child will probably not appreciate this as much but they have wonderful wide and flat sidewalks which make pushing a stroller for miles a joy. Barcelona is one of those cities where you just need to get lost, turn left or right and just wander the streets exploring the little shops, eating tapas and being in awe of the amazing architecture. We did the typical sites like the Sagrada Familia and the Park Guell but we did not pay the entry fee for either one due to having a toddler and a stroller, we don't feel like we missed out on anything. We strolled along the beach and had amazing weather in January, so much there were nude sun bathers or maybe just ocean swimmers no matter what they were nude and it was January. Spain was not my food inspiration city and I think it was the language barrier, looking back I should have come more prepared. I never found any particular dishes that spoke to me, paella is a given as is Jamon and of course the manchega cheese. I did however enjoy the abundance of oranges,, figs and dates. I will be coming home with my bag full of saffron and vanilla beans too.

Selfie stick success

Sagrada Familia

Hanging in the park

Playing in Sitges

A stroll on the beach in January

The first part of January we headed to Italy with a brief stop over in Nice, France. I knew because of pictures that the Mediterranean coast was beautiful but the Cote' d Azur was spectacular. We took the train from Barcelona to Nice so we passed through a lot of little towns but once we left Marseille, France and we were just blown away by the beauty. If you can, you must travel by train and see from the inside out.
We had a great time in Nice walking the Promenade des Anglais, shopping at the Cours Saleya farmers market (fresh lavender, beautiful winter vegetables and fruit abound) and wandering the streets of old town. We stumbled upon a little place for lunch that sounded interesting and fit our budget (we typically made and brought our own sandwiches), it was a Tunisian cafe so we ordered a brik,wonderful thin pastry filled with a whole egg, tuna, parsley and harrisa and then fried. This caught my culinary interest and will be tried back in the states.

Nice, France

Brik and a hot mint tea

Fishing at sunset

Afer a few days in Nice we traveled on by train to San Remo, Italy a quaint little costal town not to far from the French border. Little did I know when we booked it, but San Remo has a significant history dating back to the Medieval Times, a famous song festival held at the Ariston Theater (think American Idol but a lot lot older) and a world famous casino. We have really enjoyed walking up the hillside stairs twisting and turning to be pleasantly surprised by magnificent and old architecture. We have logged a lot of miles walking the coast line and each time we see something new. We have found a cute cafe that over looks the Mediterranean where we order a cappuccino, grab a table and sit in awe of the beauty and our life.