We were even running late even on Spanish time we packed in so much. We stopped to leave a note for our host family first. We are supposed to meet today for lunch. We then discovered our favorite cafe now has new owners. We were hoping Gabriel would still be there! After that we stopped for helado. It's like our portion sizes have crossed the ocean. We were disappointed to see not only the price go up, but a small is 2-3x larger than it used to be! We enjoyed our small little servings! After that we went about Nervion mall and went to some of our favorite stores- pull & bear, Stradivarius, blanco, amici & also looked for bad English shirts. Favorite one: "Why I cannot understand you?" We were cracking up. We went to ... read more

Hola de Málaga! We have arrived after spending a second day in Madrid. I finally met my friend, Sigrid! We've been friends through the skating world but never met til today. She took us around to some great parts of the city-namely parts of the park we didn't make it to yesterday. The Atoche station's little rainforest was impressive. Talk about turtles! Finally got to try Jamón Iberico de Bellota. Specially fed Iberian pigs. It was quite tasty! Found my favorite yogurt in the world at Corte Inglés...& had two...& more Maria cookies! They've been my snack on the run. Took the train to Málaga & arrived 22:00 & temp was 26C (a little warmer than 75F). Our hostel backs up to the Mediterranean w/a street in between. It's fantastic. Took a walk, tapas for dinner. ... read more

Buckingham Palace. We're laughing...sooo jet lagged last night!... read more

Started out by trying to find my cat for a half hour so I could get him situated before I left. Ran a couple errands, picked up Katie, quick stop to see Grandpa and we were on our way! Chicago's flights were grounded due to weather & ended up getting delayed. Finally got out to O'Hare. Then we had to wait for a gate to open & by the time we got to our next gate, we were boarding! Much nicer sitting in a large plane. We arrive in London early tomorrow & have a handful of hours to switch airports, then onto Madrid! I am very proud to say I have a backpack and small tote bag for two weeks. Room to shop! Looking forward to reading my airport book-Red Velvet Cupcake Murder, watching the ... read more

I'm going to go with London City. I think that's where I am. Anyway, I haven't been able to blog too easily as my computer hasn't been hooked up to the net and I've been checking with other computers and such. I could have blogged had I remembered my password. I didn't bring an adapter for the UK so I couldn't really use my computer without completely killing the battery (just turning it on drains it a bit...needs to be replaced). I'm in a hostel for tonight and some kind gentlemen left an adapter in the outlet. I'm borrowing it. Hopefully he won't mind. I'm in a coed dorm with 4 beds and it appears as though the other 3 are guys. Plus side: they have a lot less stuff and the room is barren. Compare ... read more