Home is wherever I am with you...

The St. Croix River near my parents home: there is no place on earth like this. We've been enjoying Sundays on the boat with the fam...

Hello from the middle of a melting country! We've been home now for 20 days, and it's difficult to describe the transition. Let's just say that nothing can prepare you for such an extraordinary and inspiring experience like the one we just had, and certainly nothing can prepare you for it to end. We are so truly grateful for it, as it has changed our lives, opened our eyes, and brought us closer together than I could have imagined. I would recommend it to anyone. I hope not to sound didactic, but one of the greatest things I've been challenged with from the trip (and will be for the rest of my life!) was this: be slow to anger, quick to forgive, and always choose love. It's difficult to do! But now we have to resume our lives in a somewhat standard and stationary way: assembling pieces of an old life to somehow create a new one. It is both exciting and terrifying. 

For me, it is simultaneously the realization and the death of a dream I've carried inside of me for a long time. I haven't yet been able to look through our photos because I am too sad that it's over! But because Jon is such an optimist, I am choosing to see it the way he does: this is just another stop on our itinerary, and we need to look forward to our next goal and future adventures!! (He's so great!) We were inspired in so many ways on this trip, which will materialize somehow in the future of this blog. Thank you for taking this journey with us, and I hope you will stick around for next. 

Here are some pieces of our old/new life: 
It's been so awesome to be with family and friends! It's absolutely the best part of being home :)

Jon with our gorgeous niece Adara

Adara! So beautiful and smart. We can't believe how big she and our nephew Graham are...6 months does a lot for a 1 year old!

Our adorable nephew Graham...who could resist such a face and those curls!!!

At Barbette in Minneapolis with my dear friend Christine. This could almost be Paris...

We made homemade naan and chicken tikka masala. A new favorite from the trip, and so
fun to cook it together for the first time. 

This is where you can find me now: at BANGbang salon and creative space in Minneapolis! Come by and see me!! 

Looking for Bjork

We've spent the last few days in Reykjavik, Iceland and have absolutely loved it. It's quite a bit cooler than Europe was (50s) but super sunny and beautiful. They have 23.5 hours of sunlight this time of year, so we've been fascinated by how little the light changes throughout the day...the shadows are long and slowly change directions, but it's impossible to mark the time by the color of the sky. It's like one very very long winter afternoon. As expected, the landscape is also quite unusual. This is a place that has inspired such interesting and influential musicians, artists, and designers, and it's not hard to see why. Everyone is really friendly and stylish, the main street is lined with gorgeous independent/local designer boutiques, lovely little cafes with excellent food. A great way to end the trip. Next time you go to Europe from Minneapolis fly Iceland Air because they give you a free stopover here and it's well worth a visit. Here are some photos of this amazing place.

Lava fields outside Reykjavik

Blue Lagoon. Totally amazing in every way. Purely natural and filled with minerals, it is located where the Eurasian and American tectonic plates meet, so we bathed between continents. one of the coolest places we've been.

We soaked it up for the afternoon and did three facial treatments! They have help-yourself buckets of natural silica mud found in the lagoon, so we gobbed it allover ourselves.

We stumbled across a show in a hidden little bar in downtown Reykjavik. The beer (and everything else!) is super expensive here, but we had a few good nights out anyway! Gotta do as the locals do, I guess. :)

Reykjavik at 2:30am....this is the darkest it gets!

These are our happy-to-be-going-home faces!! See you soon...

Ah, Paris!

Oops! Forgot this one....;)

Last week on the road...

Bonjour! Jon and I arrived in London this morning from Paris via an overnight bus through the Chunnel. We were sad to leave lovely Lagos last week where we had a really relaxing and wonderful time...I don't think we saw a cloud in two weeks! It was just what we needed. We had a great time in Paris and did so much in the 4 days we spent there. We were really fortunate and thankful to stay with my cousin Hannah who is living there right now, speaks French, and showed us a really lovely time. It was pretty amazing because she is in France right now nannying for a friend of mine whom I met 10 years ago when I was a tutor in Barbados. He's a Kiwi and loves to surf, but he constantly talked about wanting to learn French, move to Paris, and open a Kiwi restaurant/ art gallery. And that's exactly what he's done! So when he contacted me last year to see if I knew someone to nanny for his daughter (he married a Parisian woman) and help out at the restaurant, Hannah was the perfect fit, and it was so amazing to see his vision followed through and what a great job she's done there. Its a nonprofit restaurant called Kiwizine in a great neighborhood and we had a lovely meal there one night. What an inspiration! We also went on a whirlwind bike tour of central Paris, visited the Pompidou, visited Versailles, had a couple of picnics, and saw some live blues. We really enjoyed Paris. (Thanks so much Hannah!) Today we walked to most of London's major sights, had fish 'n chips, almost lost Jon's passport, had Indian food, and a couple of pints at the Black Lion Pub below our guesthouse...pretty typical, eh?! It's really warm in London right now (the hottest day since 2006!) and it's so fun to be here. We wish we had a little more time to explore, but thankfully it's pretty easy to get back someday. Only a few more days til we are home, so we're trying to make the most of it! Ciao for now!

Photos: Lagos beach, Paris!, Versailles, picnic at Versailles, haircuts in a busy Paris park, St. Paul's in London, kids near the London bridge, London bridge...

Lagos, Portugal

Hello from over yonder! We are writing from Lagos, a small town on the southern coast of Portugal, and for the first time since we've left home we can look out across the ocean and know that the next big landmass is the good ol' US of A. It's a comforting thought. Jon found us this lovely little holiday apartment for like 45 euro a night (as it's low season) complete with a kitchen, a washing machine (a lifesaver as we've been smelly for months now...the bathroom sink just doesn't quite cut it) a large patio off the kitchen and bedroom overlooking the ocean, and a rooftop sun deck. Amazing!! Its just what the doctor ordered and we've been soaking up the sun on our rooftop, reading like crazy (we found a second had English bookstore run by a Scottish man, something we've been pining for since leaving Asia) and cooking all of our meals. We were pretty exhausted from traveling, especially the last few months. The three weeks we spent in Italy were not a high point on the trip and left us a bit discouraged I think. The weather was fabulous as of course the gelato and pizza and coffee and wine and architecture and art, but we found the people to be so rude and the cities more like Disneyland than actual proper cities. We enjoyed Tuscany and Torino was lovely, but I don't think we will ever go back. I can think of a guzillion places I would rather be, including here. Not that we expect people to be kind to us as foreigners, but because of the kindness we've received elsewhere in the world perhaps our expectations were too high for Italy, but everyone we've ever met including people on this trip just loooves Italy. I think the only true kindness we received there was on our first night in Rome when a French Algerian helped us navigate the bus system at 2am when we got off our plane. We never would have found our campsite without him. Another was the Chinese family who ran the guesthouse we stayed at in Torino, they always smiled and said hello. And on our last day in Italy when a Moroccan man chatted with us and welcomed us to Italy! Ha! Perhaps it's a cultural thing. The week we spent in Spain with my parents was lovely and revived us in a big way, and so far we've just loved Portugal. Strangely it reminds us of Turkey, perhaps because of its economic status or the kindness of its people or the slow pace of life or the way its cities are built up along the sea. Either way I could stay here for a long time. We spent a few days in Oporto wandering around the city and tasting port at the warehouses where it was first made. We went to Taylor's, since 1692...older than our country! Jon tried the 30year aged as he is now 30. A wine as old as him, and it was sweet like maple syrup but still very strong. Just like him.

We will stay here another week and rent a motorbike to explore the hidden beaches along the coast. Then off to Paris, London town, Reykjavik, and home!!! It's hard to believe! It makes me feel a little panicky and sad, but I know this won't be the end of our adventures, and of course the most amazing part of this trip is just getting to spend all of this time together. A rare gift! I've started getting a little misty eyed when I imagine our entrance back into the States through US customs when the person who, having looked through your passport, stamps it and says, "Welcome Home!" A small gesture, but one that has always been very meaningful to me. It has always been easy for me to romanticize the faraway, the exotic, the unknown, but now for us, nearing the end, nothing sounds as romantic as the familiar.

Photos: Oporto, Port tasting, Lagos beach house (it doesnt get any better than this), Oporto has a cute old town that's still walled and has lots of narrow winding streets and little shops andbcafes, The rest are Jon's gorgeous photos here in Lagos....

Hola from Barcelona!

We've just had a wonderful week in Spain with my parents, and it was so sad to say goodbye to them today as they are off on a Mediterranean cruise! We are so grateful to them for showing us such a marvelous time! It was so nice to see a friendly face after 5 months on the road. We certainly enjoyed the best of Spain's big cities with them in Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona: fabulous food (we liked manchego, queso de cabra tapas, sangria, paella, iberico jamon, fanta limon, patatas bravas, pastries, and so much more) siestas, architecture, Gaudi, museums, a bullfight, the symphony, the beach, high-speed trains, and our own cribbage tournament. We felt very spoiled and will somehow have to resume our backpacker lifestyle for a few more weeks!! As we enter the last month of our trip we are ready for some downtime and are heading to Portugal tonight in hopes of finding a sunny beach.... :)

Here are some photos of our time with them:
1. Palacio Real in Madrid. We loooved it, and was def. a highlight. No photos were allowed inside, but it was quite possible the most decadent place I've ever seen.

2. The newly restored CentroCentro in Madrid, formerly the post office. Really beautiful restoration.

3-5. Jon and my dad went to a bullfight in Madrid and really loved it. They say you can only begin to understand Spanish culture once you've attended one, so they are well on their way. Not for the faint of heart.

6. Paella in Valencia...with sausage, chicken, vegetables and snails!! (I wasn't brave enough to try a snail but the boys did...) So tasty.

7. Jon took this great photo of Barcelona at night from our hotel room.

8. Gaudi's Segrada Familia...still not done, but so interesting.

9. The symphony in Barcelona. A beautiful Art Nouveau building: Palau de la Musica Catalana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well.

10. On the way to the symphony...

Champions League Final from Madrid.

Skipped out on the Prado museum tour this evening to watch the champions league final (Manchester United vs Barcelona) from our hotel room in Madrid. I know, I know, I feel pretty bad leaving Jesikah and her parents hanging, but my team is playing in the final and I've been touring museums for the last 5 months...I figure I owe it to myself, right? Glory Glory Man United

Also I know what your saying...that room doesn't look like a budget hostel. Well Jesikahs parents Jeff and Kjersti are joining us in Spain for 7 nights and have graciously put us up in the same hotels they booked for themselves. We can't thank them enough the rooms are about 20x nicer then anywhere we've stayed on this trip. Plus they've taken us out for a nice dinner and lunch. I've also included a few from our balcony and some sight seeing in Madrid pics. Jesikah celebrating the fact she led us properly to the Prado.