Unrealiable

UGH

UGH

UGH

Marrakech and Morocco were treating us well up until 2 days ago. First, we eat a restaurant (versus all the street vendors and non sanitary conditions we had been eating at), mistake number 1. Joe wakes up the next morning sick as ever and me not feeling great either and we therefore spend the entire day laying in bed because I can't really go out by myself for fear of being heckeled by Moroccans. BUMMER

So, we leave yesterday morning to take our train to Casablanca and then fly to Paris. Joe is still not great so we head to the airport five hours early. We then go to check in two hours early because that is the earliest and BAM, flight says ANNULE in big red letters. What does that mean? I don't know that word in French.

I DO NOW. CANCELLED. OUR FLIGHT TO PARIS WAS CANCELLED. No order, no lines just masses of people spewing in French and Arabic at the Easy Jet counter trying to get on different flights. Needless to day being English did not help our cause. We got on a night flight to Madrid today (5/28) but have no idea how we are going to get north from there because of train schedules and god knows what else. Charles De Gaulle went on strike yesterday causing the choas and our extra night in Casablanca. With no prospect of a hotel we called in reinforcements (Mrs. Torreano) because we had no internet and no way of finding a hotel. She came through and we had a restful night and now we will try to get to Brussels somehow as Paris is out of the pictures.

C'est la vie.

It could be worse. I know it could. But I still feel sad. I will be happy to reach European soil and we will take it from there. At least we are together and healthy (well sort of)

Love from Casablanca,

Grace and Joe

Little bit of everything....

"Reunited and if feels so good" -the Roman aqua ducts of Segovia, Spain



Sweet fruit marinating in sweet sangria in Madrid, Spain



INTER, INTER, INTER, INTER!!!!!



Adding Africa to the continent list....




Yes, I may have caved and touched this kitten in Marrakech, who possibly could have rabies...but seriously....could you resist that face-I doubt it! (Don't worry, I hand sanitized right after-Joe is convinced I am going to get fleas)

AFRICA!!!

Hello friends! We are currently in the Madrid airport waiting for our flight to Marrakech,Morocco. We had a blast in Madrid with Brady and we can definitely see coming back here in the future. The final champions league game was amazing!!!!!!!! I can't wait to post pictures but I am at a computer in the airport. I cannot even describe how cool the stadium was!!!! Inter (the Italian team we were rooting for), won 2-0. The scene last night was intense; but so much fun. We had a great time catching up with Brady and I will post pics soon. Avila was amazing as well and Cory is the best tour guide around!!! He showed me his favorite pastry shop and I wantted to go all the time. The wall of Avila is sooooo impressive. Segovia (home to Roman aqua ducts was also a highlight

On the last night we went out to dinner and had a segovia specialty-cochinillo or translated to roast suckling pig. All you veggie friends close your ears but the little piggie is only 16 days old but very delicious!!!

Ill write in more detil later but my hands hurt typing on this odd computer.
Wish us luck on the flight and we will see you in Morocco!!!!!!!!!

Love from Madrid,

Grace and Joe

FINALLY!

And by finally, I mean we FINALLY arrived in Europe after not being able to get seats on the first flight (well, one could have gone but we didn't want to split up), although it was totally worth all the stress because when we did finally get on a flight we were in BUSINESS CLASS, in our opinion, the only way to fly!!! We had fold-out seats, fabulous meals, warm towels, and the wine was flowing freely! We didn't sleep much on the flight because we wanted to enjoy the whole experience and enjoy we did. We landed in Paris @ 6:30AM and set out to get on a train to Barcelona. We had some trouble because France and Germany were on a bank holiday (imagine that) so we had to wait in Paris to get on an afternoon train to Montpiller and then spend the night in Montpiller and get on an early morning train to Barcelona. We decided to get to the train station, dump our bags and wander around Paris in the early morning hours.

The second part of the title applies to the fact that we FINALLY GOT ENGAGED!!!!!!

As you can see we are ecstatic! I had no idea, and Joe has been scheming with friends and family for months. We grabbed a warm croissant and wandered by this Parc and decided to go in. Parc de Bercy for those of you that want to know (I don't think it translates to anything other than a name). Anyways, as soon as we walked in we both had feelings of content (Joe was thinking, this is the perfect place) and I was thinking (What a beautiful serene garden with birds chirping and flowers blooming, in other words, a place where I feel close to my mother).

Joe asked me if I wanted to sit down and I said sure, I had seen Joe reach into his bag and I had a slight inclination that something was about to happen but I didn't want to get my hopes up. We sat down and before I knew it, he was down on one knee in front of me and asking me to marry him!!!!! I SAID YES!!!! AGAIN AND AGAIN! We both love the ring and we are so excited to start this new chapter of our lives! We had always known that we wanted to be together for the rest of our lives but it is fun to make it official! We can't wait to celebrate with all of our friends and family when we get back to the States.

Anyways, all in all, a great way to start the trip and it makes the trip even more special. We want to thank everyone for the congrats, it really means a lot to us.

So, finally got to Barcelona and had a blast. The pictures are of a huge lunch we ate right on the beach, paella, sangria, fresh salad and fabulous desserts!!! (Chocolate for me of course.) It was a beautiful afternoon. We ate tapas, wandered around the city, saw Sagrada Familia and other works of Gaudi and just tried to soak up as much sun and culture as we could. We could have definitely spent more time but we were excited to see Cory in Avila.

Right before we left in the morning we visited Merket de la Boqueria. It has been a highlight of my trip so far. So many beautiful colors and foods and every kind of fresh squeezed juice you could imagine (see picture!!) A perfect way to leave Barcelona! We grabbed some salami, machego, zamorano and bread for the train ride and set off for Avila.

We arrived after a beautiful ride through the mountains (Avila is at an elevation for 3200 feet) and were greeted warmly by our good friend Cory Richardson (Joe's freshman year roommate from college). Today we are off to Segovia to see Roman aqua ducts but that is for another post!

We love and miss everyone and thanks again for all the well wishes!

Love from Avila,

Grace and Joe

The Hour is Upon Us

This will probably be our last post until we have reached a new continent! Presently we are about to enjoy a fabulous meal prepared by Joe and our good friend Chris Yates. It will be a great way to get ready for the trip. We had a blast last night having dinner with Scott and then watching Kelsey at Urban Lounge and seeing all of our friends one last night.

Today we did some laundry, grabbed breakfast, packed our bags for the final time and got the odds and ends ready for the trip. I also snuck away with the girls to get a pre-trip pedicure, it was really relaxing, and hey, a girl needs her feet to look cute!

We are definitely ready to get on the plane! The 24 hour countdown has definitely begun.
I don't have much else but if you need to get a hold of us you can email us or facebook us or leave a comment here on the blog! I hope you enjoy reading about our adventure and I can't wait to share it with you all!

See you in Europe!!!!

-Grace and Joe

Un Semaine, Uno Settimana, Una Semana

Here we are, seven days away from the greatest adventure of our lives to date. Am I stressed you ask? HHHMM...mildly, but really not that bad. The house is packed for the most part, the backpacks are packed and lined up against the wall just begging to be put on, the money is saved (or as much as we are going to get) and we have the whole season of Modern Family on our phones..I think we are ready.


Words don't translate all the emotion I am feeling, I think Joe would say the same. Sad to leave, excited to travel, anxious that things will go mostly according to plan and that I've researched enough (I don't think I have) but at this point...I'm just going to enjoy the ride. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is really not in my vocabulary. I feel like Lewis and Clark....worlds unknown to explore...foods untried to consume.....languages unspoken that I still can't speak (I'm working on that now).

All in all...let the journey begin. I feel like I should be singing a song from Pocahontas right now..."just around the river bend" to be exact! CW will appreciate the reference.

Tonight we are having some friends over to say goodbye and celebrate the trip...a BBQ on a beautiful SLC day. The house is empty which is sad because it no longer seems our own...just a shell of what once was, but I guess that confirms that the place doesn't define you, you define the place. The end of an era, our first apartment just the two of us, and boy was it fun.

I am excited to share the night with good friends and there are many here in Salt Lake City!!

Oh by the way, new addition to the itinerary. We decided to extend our trip by 5 whole days and take a jaunt down to Morocco! We are so close by being in Spain and we wanted to experience something that will culturally challenge our comfort zone, and we thought...well why not? Within 24 hours we decided to go, changed our plane tickets, I bought the LP Morocco book and read the whole damn thing, thank god for my speed reading abilities. I am slightly nervous but really excited because it will be one heck of an adventure. We will be staying in Marrakech and then flying out of Casablanca with a day trip to another coastal city. On another plus of staying later, we will overlap with Scott and Jess's trip to Paris and will be able to stay longer with Claire in Aix and then head up to Paris and meet them for dinner before we fly out. I'm sure it will be awesome to see familiar faces and what a great way to end the trip. All in all, I feel so lucky that I have the opportunity to take this trip and I truly thank all those who helped us get there from the bottom of my heart!!

I'll write more soon as d-day approaches! Right now....I have a beer to drink and some meat to grill! (Well, Joe will be doing the grilling but you get the idea!)

Love from Grace and Joe!!!

P.S. You should all listen to just around the river bend right now...I bet you will all remember the words and be singing along by the end!