Yesterday we spent most of the day touring Vienna. Because we had all been there in 1992 and seen A LOT of the city, we only took the included day tour then peeled off and spent the rest of our time wandering around looking at the sites. It has not changed much in the last 20+ years. Yes, it was still beautiful, but it was nothing new.. there was a lot of traffic in the city and we enjoyed a lot more learning about Sisi but that was the only new thing we learned. Then we took the subway back to the river and joined our boat. Nancy and John had a night excursion. Susan and I stayed on the ship. Few people were at dinner, most went into the dinner that Nancy and John were ... read more

Day 1 Clt to Budapest I woke up in the hotel in Charlotte on Sat morning and took it easy until Susan and Patrick came. I left my car at the hotel and Patrick drove us to the airport. We hung out at the airport and then caught our flight to Detroit. After getting on the plane, Susan decided she needed nose spray and was working with the sprayer when it shot off. Most of it went on the seat in front of her but a bit got the person in the seat. We broke out in laughter… The rest of the flight was uneventful. In Detroit we went to our gate and then decided we should eat and just try to think of it as dinner. Our flight was to leave around 3 and so ... read more

Saturday – what a fun day. We met Nicky and Tim around 10 and took the train to Monserrat. This is a monastery that is built up on the hill. It has the black Madonna in it. Once we arrived there we had to wait in line for over an hour to catch the gondola up the hill to the monastery. We ate once we arrived. We then spent the afternoon touring the different buildings and then went thru the market. We all bought honey there and Nicky and Tim also got a cheese cake. When the sun came out, there were some beautiful views…. We took the gondola back down and caught the train back to BCN. About 8:45 we headed out to eat. Nicky had reservations for us at Dans Le Noir. So what ... read more

Thursday - Today is Nicky's birthday. I woke up early and worked some. Nicky and Tim have Thursday - Monday off so they said they were going to sleep in but that we should come over around 11 for a pancake breakfast. At 11, we arrived and Nicky and Tim were cooking... We talked as they prepared the breakfast and then we ate. Nicky then opened her cards and presents and we talked some more. Nicky had made reservations at 3 for us to break tiles and make mosaics down in old town. We decide to leave around 1ish and go thru the park on the way there. We take the subway there and see the Arch de Truimph of Barcelona. It's made of brick. I'd never seen it before. We went into the park and ... read more

Tuesday, Patty and I went to Freixenet to taste some Cava. Nicky gave me good instructions. They told me where to buy the train/tour ticket at the station, which train to take... The Train was the R4 but it was to go to St Vicenc De Caldeis and which stop to get off at. The train was supposed to leave at 11:18. The ticket person told us which track "7" and we waited. Well a couple trains came by and I saw the R4 so we jumped on. Well after getting on I started to get nervous. it's only 11:05 but everything looked familiar. We ride for about 20 minutes and I see signs for St Vicenc... but I was still worried. So I asked. Luckily, I was on the wrong train but going in the ... read more