After the tournament....doughnuts!

French soldiers

Jousting

They retold the story of Barnabus and the French fighting.

Burgos festival

We spent the night in Burgos and happened upon their yearly festival of St. Barnabus. It is soon to be the 500 year anniversary of Barnabus festival. He led the villagers in an uprising against the French...or something Ike that......

Ready to try the Rioja

Guido has been spotted in espana

Wine tasting

We got to climb the ladder and look into the cave vats where the wine is fermenting

The backpack is still working.

Laguardia, Spain

Laguardia, Spain

We drove to this hilltop town for a wine tasting in the caves.

Girls tried surfing

A big broom

You don't leave your napkin on the bar, but throw it on the floor. It would be rude to leave a dirty napkin near the food. Kind of makes sense...

Pintxo

Eureka!

I discovered another dining opportunity. San Sebastian has pintxo , little appetizers, out on the bar. Just point and eat.

San Sebastian

It has everything a town needs... The ocean, great food, bike paths, and a medieval downtown.

San Sebastian our favorite spot in Spain

Montserrat monastery

This monastery is an hour drive outside of Barcelona. You arrive at the base of the mountain and take a train up to the top. The cathedral is the only thing to visit. We went to the door and there was a sign saying they were closed for two hours, come again. So, we took a few pics, had coffee and took the train back to the car....

Outside of the nativity entrance

Stained glass in the chapel

The church has been worked on since Gaudi started it in the late 1800s. It is projected to be finished in 2027. The stained glass windows are almost finished.

Amazing

The church nave and ceiling are meant to look like tree trunks and a canopy reaching to heaven. It is really breathtaking when you enter and feel the expanse of the cathedral.

Outside of the Sagrada Famila church by Gaudi

We were glad to see Madeline!

John and Madeline

They met us in Barcelona. We are at the Sagrada Famila church

Spain

St. Peters

Vatican city

Jane, madeline and Stacy asked for directions on the street in Italy from a guy that turned out to be a priest at the Vatican. His name is Matt Grady and he showed them around Vatican city. He is from Florida. So, when we came to Rome he was kind enough to show us the North American College and what he has been doing while living in Rome the past 5 years. This is the view he has from the roof off his college. We had a great day visiting with him.

Yep, better than dominoes. Made in a real fire oven...

45 minutes of wandering paid off

We found the best pizza in Rome on a tiny alley in trestavre neighborhood .

Julius Caesar sat here too.....

Crowds at the forum

Roman forum

Coliseum

No $$$$$

Ok , I've told all you people to bring two bank cards to Europe. Today my card was eaten by this machine. So we had to use Margaret's . Last time this happened in Spain my was demagnetized and I had another card as backup.
Anyway, long story about card.....but finally after 2 days we were able to get some cash.

Laundry time

There is a downside to just having a backpack...laundry. It really is no big deal and we just hand wash every few days. However, we should have written down the Italian word for soap. We washed our clothes in softener for 2 days before realizing it. Our clothes smelled so good and were downy soft!

Walking and walking and walking some more

Most days we walk about 10 miles, but today in Rome was a record setting day

Nirvana

We discovered after much trial and error the best gelato place in Italy. Grom! I had pink grapefruit and limone. Fantastic!

Rome

Rome

Trevi fountain with 400 of our closest friends and fellow tourists

Sienna

There are 9 neighborhoods that participate in the yearly horse race. The race is only 90 seconds long, but they prepare all year long for the party, this is the dragon neighborhood having a pre race parade. The swan neighborhood paraded next followed by the alligators.

Sienna

We took a walk outside of town through the peach orchards

Sienna, our favorite Italian town

Lucky to be in Florence during the gelato festival