August 28, 2015

Going Home

August 28, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Tomorrow morning, we load up our small car with 4 giant suitcases and carry on's to head to the airport, park the car, and get on a plane bound for Detroit, Michigan. To say we are excited is the understatement of the century. Just over a year ago, we were going though this same process, but in reverse - boarding a plane bound for Frankfurt. We are headed back for our ''long'' vacation this year: two weeks in the beautiful, glorious, water-surrounded, family and friends filled, state of Michigan. Eek! So excited!

August 21, 2015

Monserrat, the Mountain Side Monastery

August 21, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Aaron generally leaves most of the travel planning up to me, so when he asked if we could go to Montserrat when we were in Barcelona, I made sure to make it happen. Montserrat has a long history as a monastery, pilgrimage site, and the place where St. Ignatius (founder of the Jesuit order, the order of priests that ran Aaron's high school in Detroit) stayed in prayer and wrote his famous book, Hearts on Fire. Today, it is a Benedictine monastery with a beautiful church, a number of places to quietly pray, and a boys choir. Aside from it's religious significance, Montserrat is a stunning place to visit in the mountains just outside of the city.

August 18, 2015

Walking Tour of the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona

August 18, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

One of the best ways to see a city is to walk it. You can wander down that alley that looks interesting, stop into a store that sells unique items, or just grab a seat on a bench and people watch. An even better way to see a city is to take a guided walking tour of it. Not only do you get to see the sights, you usually explore areas that you would not have made it to otherwise, and you often get a historical context to associate with it. With limited time in Barcelona, we knew we wanted to try out a walking tour, and I am so glad that we did.

August 14, 2015

What We Ate in Barcelona - A Food Diary

August 14, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Let's just say this, the food in Spain ruined all food for us for a long time. When we got home, we actually had trouble feeding ourselves because nothing sounded as good as the tapas that we ate in Barcelona. Almost everywhere we went, we ate tapas. I realize that there are many other foods to eat in Barcelona, but the price and portion, not to mention all the different varieties to choose from of tapas are pretty much perfect. They're even more perfect when paired with a sangria (for Aaron) or a virgin mojito (for me). So wanna see some of the amazing food we consumed?

August 11, 2015

One Year Later

August 11, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

Well folks, it's officially been a year since we boarded a plane in Detroit with a one way ticket to Germany. Aaron and I were both just thinking about last summer and how stressful it was - packing up our lives, selling the our first home together, going on the most amazing two week vacation right before we left, wrapping up loose ends at our jobs, and saying dreaded good byes to family and friends. In all honesty, I can't believe it's been a year. The time has managed to pass both astonishingly fast, and agonizingly slow. I'm not entirely sure how that is possible, but it is. So in celebration of our one year expat-aversary, let's look back on what this year has brought us!

August 07, 2015

Sagrada Familia

August 07, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We had originally planned to visit Sagrada Familia on Saturday morning. We had purchsed tickets for both the church and a visit to the Nativity tower ahead of time (an absolute MUST if you want to see the inside of the church, and you will after you see the pictures), but with all of our travel issues, it didn't happen. Thankfully, I was able to cancel and get a refund for our old tickets and purchase new tickets for Monday morning, but because it was late, we weren't able to go up in either of the towers. Regardless, this church is still absolutely stunning, both inside and out, and should be one of the things that everyone sees when they visit Barcelona.

August 04, 2015

That One Time Our Travel Went Horribly Wrong

August 04, 2015/ Meghan Oaks

We are quickly running out of places that are within driving distance, and those that are left, we want to leave until later this fall and winter when flying will no longer be an option. But when a good deal on flights to Barcelona popped up a couple of weeks ago, we jumped on it! The flight out was on Friday night after work, returning on Monday evening. Despite excellent planning, I feel that everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. Let's start at the beginning.