We had such a lovely day venturing to Toledo this morning. It's a medieval city 45 minutes from Madrid, and the original capitol of Spain. Historically, Jews Christians and Muslims lived here peaceably until 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella evicted Jews and Muslims. Signs of the Jewish quarter still exist in small blue tiles inlaid in the cobblestone, showing menorahs and the Hebrew word for life, and Moorish influence on architecture can be seen in the horseshoe-shaped archways of the synagogue-turned-mosque-turned-church. Citizens were preparing for the Corpus Christi festivities tomorrow, so hundreds of children were gathered to lay flowers in front of the church, and the cobblestoned streets were decorated in bright floral adornments. Banners and flags flew from balconies. There was a celebratory hum in the air! After Toledo we returned to Madrid for lunch. ... read more

Dear Friends and Family, We are in the final stages of preparation for our Spain and Morocco adventure! The fund raising has been completed, passports have been renewed, and now we just need to finish seeking out those last-minute travel items, from plug-in adaptors to travel bottles of shampoo and sunscreen. Please follow along on our journey!... read more

This morning we pack for our overnight journey to Belgium. As time is limited before our early train, we choose a Starbucks in the beautiful train station in which to break our fast. It's muffins and mochas beneath high gothic ceilings, heavy wooden beamed architecture, and droopy, amber-colored chandeliers. A tile mosaic above the doorway reads Europa. It's the most stunning, ornate building for an otherwise familiar trip to a coffee shop. ROTTERDAM Our train whisks us to Rotterdam where we hop on a tram to the Erasmus bridge to await our water bus. The chill of the wind bites through our zippers and drawstrings. And yet, there's no rain, so we are pleased. We board the water bus (thankfully with indoor seating!) for a 30 minute ride from urban, modern Rotterdam to rural polder countryside. ... read more

On the morning of the second day, we rented two of our hotel's bright yellow bicycles with the words "Bilderberg Hotel" printed on the frames in bold black lettering. They also offered us a neon sign to carry around that announced, "WE ARE TOURISTS!" but we declined. We headed out into the flow of bike traffic to make our way to the breakfast nook Sean had chosen. And we survived! Actually, we quickly learned that once you are inside the stream of cycling traffic, you're actually safer than trying to make your way across traffic as a vulnerable pedestrian. Biking was smooth, quick, and efficient. Enjoy the pic of Sean's backside, snapped while riding my bike! We arrived at the Pancake Bakery to sample some Dutch pancakes--and what a sugary treat they were. Warm, crepe-like pancakes ... read more

Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236What a whirlwind day of sightseeing in London! We began the day with a city bus tour that bypassed Big Ben (named for the bell, not the building) and the Houses of Parliament, as well as Westminster Abbey and the River Thames. While bus tours are not everyone's favorite (we might have preferred exploring the city on our own two feet), our tour guide was a short, feisty woman who cussed freely until she learned there were middle school kids on the bus and unfortunately curtailed her colorful narration. She was highly entertaining! We ended the tour in front of Buckingham Palace for the conclusion of the changing of the guard ceremony. Then we were free to explore the city on our own. Because of a monetary gift from my aunt Kristi in the ... read more