Southern Spain
Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, Sierra Nevada mountains
We rented an apartment for the month in Granada, which gave us a chance to slow down. Granada is an incredible city, even reminded us a bit of home.
Walking through the windy streets of the Albaićin neighborhood, where you can see the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the infamous Alhambra.
We saw Granada FC live in action at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes stadium. They tied 1:1 against Los Palmas.
We celebrated San Cecilio festival with fellow Granadians by hiking up to Sacromonte Abbey to eat fresh beans (abos), salty cod, and salaillas (small breads) while watching flamenco performances.
Our wonderful and dear friends Mike, Camille, Erin, and Ben came to visit!!
We visited wondrous Alhambra!
We ate so many delicious classic, local dishes - Piononos (custard pastries), churros, and boquerones fritos (fried anchovies).
We wandered the streets of Sevilla, taking in the tourists and the crowds - then got to watch Dinamo Zagreb beat Real Betis in the Europa Conference league first leg! Go Tibor, go!!
We explored the tiny towns in the Sierra Nevadas, hiked into an abandoned town, met a vampire, and had to run very quickly back to the car- just kidding ;)
In Cordoba, we were mesmerized by the multi-arched Mosque-Catherdral Mezquita, and in awe of the Roman Bridge!
We have truly enjoyed getting to know Granada in all its glory - in the tapas and flamenco, the orange trees and pomegranates, the hikes and walks. It's a city that loves its siestas and fiestas, and we had a glorious time!
London & Brighton
England
Loving London with our very gracious hosts, Mike and Camille! They gave Abby a great tour for her first time in the UK and they made Mark more of a fan :)
Celebrating Mark's birthday!
Abby got to go to Ottelenghi and wanted to eat everything.
We very much enjoyed the double decker bus rides.
Pun-filled cheese tour, an extraordinary speakeasy, and our first Sunday roast.
We got to be part of the jury in a classic Agatha Christie play, Witness of for the Prosecution.
Brighton visit with Christina and starling murmurations on the boardwalk!
Scotland
Fort William, Isle of Skye, Ullapool, Tongue, Dornoch, Inverness, Edinburgh
After a few train rides, we made it to Glasgow where we rented a car and started our roadtrip through the Highlands all while driving on the left side of the road!
The sheep, the hikes, rocks, fairy pools, lakes, and oysters - we were in awe of it all. Scotland is magical!
Edinburgh
Bike tour through Edinburgh- just a wee pedal!
Roadtrip to the Kelpies, then a very wet hike!
Gavin's first Sunday Roast
Marseille, Aix, Calanques NP
France
We had the luxury of spending a whole month getting to know Marseille, walking the streets of Le Panier and the promenade along the Mediterranean Sea.
We loved taking the bus to Parc National des Calanques - seeing how far we could hike along the coast and swimming in the inlets. One day we pushed ourselves to hike 18 miles all the way to Cassis!
With the help of some great friends, we got tickets to the fantastic OM versus PSG. We'll never forget the energy inside and out of the stadium. Crowd chanting, the ground shaking, fireworks! Incredible experience!
Gelato Sundays, friend visits, delicious food and wine - it was hard to say au revoir!
Sardinia
Alghero, Olbia
& beyond
Once we landed via ferry in Sardinia, one of our first stops was to Sinnos where we met Sam, a local cheesemaker from Gergei who (with his wife) makes delicious sheep cheese (Pecorino). He answered all of our questions, we ate a magical cheese tasting plate and little did we know this was the start of an incredible Italian food adventure.
Next, we met up with (most of) the Rileys! Sadly, we didn't get to see Adam, Eliana & fam, but got the pleasure of meeting up with Matt, Debbie and Randy for a wonderful Italian isle vacation, complete with cafe hopping, city walking, and boat rides!
Sardinia was pretty epic! Crystal clear beaches, windswept hikes, tons of delicious pasta and seafood. Best tiramisu Abby has ever eaten! We hope to come back again soon!
Kas
Turkey
We were lucky enough spend a week in southern Turkey scuba diving in the Mediterranean. We saw tons of groupers, triggerfish, starfish, and more. So fun to spend so much time in the water and on a boat!
We ate some delicious borek and kofte, saw some beautiful sunsets, but it was really all about the diving :)
Morocco
Marrakesh, Oumnass
Abby spent a week in Morocco on a yoga retreat where she made some incredible friends, did lots of yoga, explored the secret gardens in Marrakesh, and truly had a wonderful time!
Belgrade, Tara NP
Serbia
Our good friend David met up with us in Belgrade for a week! This including walking through the Belgrade fortress, finding gelato and sandwiches, and having a wonderful week together. David beat both Mark and I in cribbage, but we still love him :) just not as much as David loves his arcades.
We were sad to say goodbye to David as headed off to meet family and TSwift in Sweden, and we started our Balkan roadtrip!
Montenegro
Durmitor NP, Kotor
We took an overnight train from Serbia to Podgorica, Montenegro- supposedly a beautiful train ride but it was mostly dark the whole time :) We then rented a car and started our big roadtrip! First stop, Durmitor NP.
We hiked all over Durmitor - Black Lake, Bobotov Kuk, and more.
We couldn't make it to the top of Bobotov Kuk because of the snow, but we tried! We also met fellow traveler, Jimmy!
Drove by the Tara River as we headed north to Serbia!
Our Montenegro roadtrip ended in Kotor - enjoying the calm waters, mountainous views, and the old city full of cats :)
Croatia
Zagreb
We made a quick trip to Zagreb for our friends Tibor and Ana's wedding!
Shkoder, Valbona, Theth, Himare
Albania
We started our journey eating pastries in Shkoder, then took a ferry down Koman Lake to the small mountain town Valbona.
Once in Valbona, we stayed a few days to hike. My favorite hike of all time was Maja Rosit! It was unbelievably gorgeous at the top with a 360 view of mountains.
We then traveled the infamous hike from Valbona to Theth, which is part of the Peak of the Balkans tour. It was beautiful and busy with lots of fellow hikers. We also saw the Blue Eye, which reminded us of the Yuba :)
We then traveled to the Albanian coast to enjoy the beautiful beaches.
We loved Albania! The hiking, the calm water, paddle boarding, delicious food. Our bus did break down on our way to the airport, maybe it was a sign the country didn't want us to leave!
