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