Firenze, Italia (a.k.a. Florence, Italy)

Mom and I went to Italy! A couple days after she arrived we jetted off to Florence, Italy. We had heard many good things about it and it was number 1 on Mom's list of places to go, so off we went. We had beautiful weather for December, hitting highs in the double digits the entire time we were there with sun every day. We couldn't believe it was December when everything was green, flowers were blooming, and the trees were still holding onto the last of their leaves.

Tuscany was more different from Spain than I had expected. It flourished during the Renaissance and all of it's sights boasted this. Moreover, the Tuscans seems to be very large fans of fresco. Instead of carving all sorts of stone for their magnificent churches like the Spanish, the Tuscans painted their cathedrals with arrays of white and green. We saw many churches in this design and it was quite interesting. But more than anything, those Tuscan's seem to have mastered that art which is food. I could have dined there everyday for the rest of my life. I was in a gastronomical heaven enjoying pizza, pasta, risotto, gelato, cannoli, and so much more.

In my opinion, Florence had many highlights. I thoroughly enjoyed how, like Bilbao, it is surrounded by rolling hills (My guess is they are the foothills from the Alps? While we were flying to Florence we had wonderful views of Lake Geneva and the Swiss Alps. It was a wonderful sight from above). Also, the Italian leather products made shopping delightful. You couldn't go more than a few feet without being tempted by purses, shoes, wallets, gloves... you name it. Of course, the food as mentioned above, and many sights. The ones that truly caught my attention were the view of the entire city from Piazzo Michelangelo, seeing Michelangelo's David in Academia, Piazza Duomo simply because I had never seen a church quite like the cathedral there, and Puente Vecchio. The old, old bridge looked like it was straight out of medieval times and was lined with little shops. From the next bridge over it looked as if people lived in shacks on the bridge, but once we were on the bridge it was a lively ambience and was very original. We didn't even realize we were on the bridge at first because it blended into the street shopping so well. Last but most certainly not the least notable were the christmas lights that lined almost every street. Although there was no snow, and the christmas ornaments only seemed to involved variations of the nativity, the lights on every street were beautiful.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Firenze, Italia (a.k.a. Florence, Italy)

I'm getting excited to come home!!

I'm starting to get really excited to come home to Canada. As much as I've enjoyed my time here, I miss all the things I consider normal... and pickles. And I can't wait to see all my friends and family! Also, I'm excited to feel the spirit of Christmas! With the weather being so balmy (+19 C today) and a complete lack of snow, it feels nothing like christmas here. Also, this extremely catholic country doesn't turn christmas into the commercial hullabaloo that North America does. Did you know there's no Santa Clause here?? There isn't! The Three Kings come in on their camels and distribute gifts to the children who leave out cookies for the Wise Men and hay for the camels. It just isn't right...I can't wait to sit under my tree and drink hot chocolate to warm up after being out in the snow. My Christmas tree here isn't quite the same...

My mom arrived today which means I only have 10 days left in Europe! We're going to enjoy some Bilbao and also make our way to Florence, Italy and Paris, France! Paris should be lovely at Chirstmas time.

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Christmas

Mi despedida soltera

After my spanish friends, and especially Eva, heard that Stu and I were engaged, they insisted on throwing a bachelorette or 'despedida soltera' for me. It was a bit early for such a celebration, but my time left in Spain is limited and they didn't want to miss out on the fun. So, Eva got everyone together and we had a great time at possibly the first bachelorette party in history to have more guys in attendance than girls.

We all met at Uno Muno Square in Casco Viejo where they dressed me up in a strawberry costume. However, this was no ordinary strawberry. The 'stem' of the strawberry drew the most attention and what was written on the front of the costume implied dirty things. This wasn't all they did. They also printed many, many 'WANTED' posters with a terrible picture of me and posted them all over town. My face was as red as my strawberry costume for most of the evening, but it was all in good fun.

The fiesta started with a pubcrawl down Calle Somera and then migrated to a shot bar in the middle of Casco Viejo. This is where the evening took a turn for the worst. When I first arrived in Bilbao, I got the name 'pitxiflu' by doing a strange shot in this particular bar. Our entire group did many of these shots, and about five minutes after we left that bar, the picures show just how they affected us all. Nonetheless, we walked down to the river to some of the discos and along the way encountered many randoms. I received 'fresh cut flowers' from a guy who had ripped an entire plant out of a nearby garden (and carried them with me for quite some time). We also came across a famous Basque band who were dressed up in tradition gear (capes and all!) and sang a song for us.

It was an excellent bachelorette party and will be hard to top. I'm really going to miss my crazy Basque friends. But, man, those shots were a bad idea...

Hasta la proximá vez,

Kathlene

Mi despedida soltera

Stu's time in "El Pais Vasco"

Well aside from our wonderful time traveling, we had some time in and around Bilbao. We spent some time exploring this beautiful city, but we also made our way to a couple of the smaller towns too.

We had a beautiful day for our day trip to San Sebastian. The bus takes about an hour and it's absolutely worth it. We had some of the best pintxos on the planet, followed by a pretty incredible walk around town. While walking around the old town, we saw a couple impressive churches, dozens of little bars (where the pintxos seem endless), and a group of Basque men playing music, marching down the street, and occasionally stopping to dance.

As much charm as the old town holds, it doesn't really compare to S S's main attraction: The Beach. This little city has an amazing crescent-shaped beach. It is protected by a mountain at either end, and a little turtle-shaped island between them. The wind surfers and sailboats were out in force and the waves attracted a good number of surfers and body-boarders too. We walked down the promenade, by some impressive real estate, and made our way to the funicular. This little contraption pulls a rail car up the side of the mountain. The one in San Sebastian happens to be the oldest in Spain.

Once at the top, we were treated to some gorgeous views and a surprisingly large variety of rides (pony rides too). It would seem that the top of this mountain was quite the tourist attraction. I insisted we take the log ride. It was a little anticlimactic, but an entertaining experience none the less. We got a good look out into the bay of Biscay, and down along the coast. After that, it was pretty much time to head back to the bus, so that's what we did.

Not too long after our trip to San Sebastian, I made my way out to the university to meet Kathlene for lunch. We took the afternoon to go explore Getxo and Potugalete. These towns are right across the river from each other and function as the gate between river and sea. Portugalete was old, but aside from the unique way to get there, didn't hold much character. There was however a very large marina, in which we saw a beautiful little house boat. The crazy thing about this house boat is that it's a duck-house boat. The uniqueness I mentioned has to do with crossing the river. The bridge between Getxo and Portugalete is kind of an anomaly. It's designed not to obstruct river traffic. This produced a bridge which acts as a crane, suspending a car, which is moved back and forth across the river. The picture might make it a little more clear.

Getxo is a beautiful town, with some amazing houses. The beach is quite nice, but my favorite element is the elevator. Since the land rises so quickly away from the water, it can be very tasking to get up to the town. The people of Getxo have built an elevator in the middle of nowhere, to facilitate that trip. It's seriously just on the side of a hill.

After a metro ride home, Ibai prepared a traditional Basque meal. An interesting take on an omelette, with a side of cheese-stuffed sausage and delicious bread. We ate it up and were happy to do so. It was delicious. The dessert may have been the best part. It was a blend of lemon ice cream and champagne. Possibly my new favorite.

With all of that done, I had only one more day in Europe. I did some packing and spent as much time with Kathlene as I could. I left the next morning (up at 4:30) and traveled for what seemed like an eternity. Now I can't wait to go again. If you get the chance, I suggest you go too.

Hasta la proxíma vez,

Stu