Spartan - Andy and Stephany Beckstrom

We have been keeping this Blog for the past 3 years in order to keep our friends and family up to date on our travels around the world. Here is an update of where we have been and where we are going.

Blogged Travels
2002 - Andy living and taking classes in Valladolid, Spain and traveling Spain and Europe (January - May)
2003 - Living and taking classes in Cuernavaca, Mexico and traveling Mexico. (June - July)
2007 - Living and taking classes in San Jose, Costa Rica and traveling Costa Rica (June - July)
2008 - Backpacking through Europe on our Honeymoon (June - July)

Upcoming Travels
2009 - Living and taking classes in Madrid, Spain and traveling Spain and Europe
2010 - There is a plan . . . stay tuned! :)

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Joined on: December 21st 2006
Last Login: September 15th 2009

Blog Entries: 56
Photos: 509

TB Code: [blogger=28611]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Spartan, order by Date newest first.

By Spartan
July 31st 2009

Tea and Crumpets in London Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London » London City

Christine and I in front of Buckingham Palace

During Andy's final week of classes in Madrid, our friend Christine came over from Chicago. We spent a few days in Madrid and then her and I (SJ) headed up to London for a week! This left Andy plenty of time to study up for his big week of finals! We took a short flight from Madrid to London and quickly realized the difference in temperature. No more 100 degree days... much cooler, around 70 and a few days of rain. I thought weather.com was joking when I checked the forecast ahead of time, but I guess it was correct. So [View Full Entry]

Masses of people waiting for the Changing of the Guards

By Spartan
July 29th 2009

Return to the Heart of Spain ... VALLADOLID Europe » Spain » Castile & León » Valladolid

Ready to take on Don Quijote

Steph and I made our way to my favorite town in Spain, Valladolid. After a 7 year absence, it was time to get reaquainted with the city where all of my ideas about traveling got started. As Steph and I headed north through the heart of Castilla y Leon it was like a complete time warp for me ... possibly for Steph too but she was sleeping during the entire time we were in the train. In 2002 I counted 9 times that I made the trip from Madrid to Valladolid so it was a route with which I am quite [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
July 20th 2009

Life in Madrid Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid

Off to school!
Andy by the building on campus where his classes are.

For the last 2 weeks we have been very lucky to be living in our favorite city in Europe... Madrid! It is nice to unpack our bags and get settled in one place for awhile. We are staying in a dorm on the campus of La Universidad de Complutense Madrid. It is a beautiful area! We each have our own spacious dorm room, complete with a full bathroom and air conditioning. Three meals a day are provided for us and they have been really delicious. (Although what looks like chicken is not always chicken... could be rabbit... could be another rodent... [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
July 14th 2009

Surviving Running of the Bulls in Pamplona! Europe » Spain » Navarre » Pamplona

Sarah, Andy, Natalie and Kate
Anxiously waiting in the plaza de toros for el encierro (running of the bulls) to begin!

Two weekends ago we went to Pamplona with our University group from Madrid to partake in what is the most unbelievable cultural event in the world. The actual festival is called San Fermin, a week long celebration from July 7-14 every year to honor the patron saint of Pamplona, San Fermin. The main event of this festival is el encierro, the running of the bulls. The running of the bulls takes place at 8AM each morning during the week long festival. People begin lining the streets at 4AM for a place to observe, or for the brave ones, a place inside [View Full Entry]

A little musical entertainment to start things off

Watching the "pre-game" on the jumbo tron!

By Spartan
July 9th 2009

Our Night in Jail! Europe » Slovenia » Upper Carniola » Ljubljana

The outside of our prison!

One last stop in Eastern Europe.... Ljubljana, Slovenia. Yeah, we can´t pronounce it either! We took the scenic train ride in from Croatia and were greeted with our first big rain storm of the trip. It is always nice to get use out of the ponchos we brought! We quickly found our hostel, which happened to be an old prison, converted into a hostel. Interesting concept, but it seemed OK, so we stayed! I guess it makes sense, but we didn´t realize our room would be an actual prison CELL! Yep, there was a heavy barred door and then another thick [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
July 7th 2009

Croatia = Paradise Europe » Croatia » Istria » Krk

Yes, we could get used to this life...

After 3 weeks of being in big cities and urban life, we took a vacation from our vacation and headed to what we are sure is one of the most beautiful islands in the world...... Krk, an island in Croatia. This seemed to be a popular vacation destination for Croatians, Italians and Germans. It was no easy task to get to the island. 10 hours on the train, a 2 mile hike up hill, followed by 2 hours on a bus, with just enough energy and daylight left over to look out the window and see the Adriatic Sea, surrounding by [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
July 2nd 2009

Hungary ... why wait? Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Budapest

Pest

Hungary awaited us on our next leg of Eastern European travel. A short train ride from Bratislava got us to Budapest around 1pm and after checking into our hostel we started exploring the streets of Budapest. This is a very cosmopolitan city in comparison with the last 2 Eastern European capital cities that we have been in ... there is a ton going on and a places to eat and shop abound. People here compare it to the "Paris" of Eastern Europe, although we didnt see any crepe stands. Usually the places we have been staying are nothing out of the [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
June 30th 2009

Bratislava, Slovakia Europe » Slovakia » Bratislava Region » Bratislava

La bandera

For our next stop on our backpacking adventure we made our way south by train to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We found out quickly that the trains in Eastern Europe operate a little slower than trains elsewhere. But, we arrived safely and only a hour late. Bratislava is one of the more random stops on this trip as we really didn't know much about it or what to expect. But I guess that is what made it exciting! Usually we've been able to rely on English or Spanish to get us by, but not here! Since our working knowledge of [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
June 30th 2009

Venturing East... Prague Europe » Czech Republic » Prague

St. Charles Bridge
Crossing over to "Lesser Town" from "New Town"

We officially have landed in Eastern Europe, starting out in Prague, Czech Republic. Our plane from Belgium got in around 5pm and after finding our hostal we made our way to a restaurant to taste the fine Czech cuisine. Dumplings, pork, sauerkraut, beef goulash and apple strudel.... just what our stomachs were searching for. After eating we made our way to the main downtown square which was jam packed for the local Prague music fest. Similar to Aquafest, we joined in the fun and sampled MORE food from the stands and listened to the live music. Andy can't resist the local [View Full Entry]

By Spartan
June 30th 2009

Waffle Time!! Europe » Belgium

Excited for the waffle?

Well, on our way to Prague we had a 6 and a half hour lay over in Brussels, Belgium. So we thought ... instead of waiting around and falling asleep in the airport why not take advantage of the time we have and explore the city. So we caught a train to downtown and made it to the center of Brussels. Our main goal was very simple, find a place where we could have some excellent Belgium waffles. Considering we got there at 9am due to our early morning flight, we were in need of some breakfast. Anything beyond a fine [View Full Entry]

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