Goodbye Europe

Dusty and I have had our last European adventure of this year. We left Hungary and flew back home to the states.

We had such an amazing time during our year in Europe. The twelve months feels much like a long dream! Over the length of our stay, we were lucky enough to visit 19 countries (counting Scotland as its own country). The following list is comprised of the 19-

UK, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Croatia

Every country was special and unique to us. When asked where our favorite place was, we find it hard to choose one country. We loved different things about different countries.

Our one-year European adventure was a dream come true. We made memories that we will hold on to forever.

Can Pastilla, Mallorca

We thoroughly enjoyed our Edinburgh adventure but were happy to get off our feet and into a plane to head back to Spain.

Our one-day in Edinburgh was exhausting. With backpacks on and only our feet to carry us up and down the Royal Mile, we had a long but incredible day.

Once on the plane, we experienced our own travel nightmare which can be read about here.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8125185/summer_horror_travel_story.html?cat=16

We finally landed on the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca and took a bus to the small town of Can Pastilla, just 10 minutes away. It was already after dusk and we had no idea where our hotel was. Unfortunately the bus driver didn't know either, so he dropped us off in the town and advised us to go ask someone.

With our California Spanish, we attempted to gather directions from locals. Once we thought we understood where we were going, we began our quest on foot to find our hotel. Finally, after walking parallel to the freeway for a good 15 minutes we turned around. We knew our hotel was on the beach, and we knew we were no where near it.

After getting directions from a second person, we found ourselves on the same road. Finally, we decided to listen to Dusty's famous sense-of-direction. He lead us to the beach, but we still had to decided which way to follow the shore. By this time, we had been walking unfamiliar Spanish streets for about an hour and a half, both wearing heavy back packs.

We took the shore to the right and followed the water for a few blocks. Frustrated and tired, I approached two older women. I politely asked them if they could point us to our hotel. After exchanging a few words to one another, one of the women walked us all of the way to our hotel. Her generosity was amazing and we were extremely grateful!

Can Pastilla can be read about in this article I wrote for Yahoo! Associated Content.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8228697/travel_to_can_pastilla_for_a_breathtaking.html?cat=16

Plane-Hopping Adventure Edinburgh

Dusty and I flew out of Dublin early in the morning and took off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Our wonderful day can be read about here, on an article I wrote for Yahoo!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8104129/edinburgh_in_one_day_on_a_budget.html?cat=16

Dublin, Ireland

Dusty and I left Torremolinos, Spain already missing it. Our next destination, on our plane-hopping adventure, was Dublin, Ireland. When we landed in Dublin, we took the bus downtown, to the area we knew our Guesthouse was located.

Again, thank goodness for Dusty's sense of direction because he lead us to the Glen Guesthouse. We checked into the guesthouse and walked up to the 3rd floor to our room. The Glen Guesthouse was unlike anywhere else we have ever stayed.

The house itself was older, and had a very antique ambiance. Beautiful antique furniture graced the hallways and cranberry colored carpet covered the stairs. Our room was huge, with two large beds, and a large window overlooking some of Dublin.

There was a coffee pot and packets of instant coffee in the room. Instant coffee is not something I love, but it was great to have some free coffee available!

For all of the sight-seeing Dusty and I did, I have written an article for Yahoo! which can be found here, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8077617/dublin_in_one_day_on_a_budget.html?cat=3. The article details what a person can do in Dublin in one day on a budget. In reality, Dusty and I had one and a half days to explore Dublin.

When we walked the streets of Dublin, on our first day, I was very surprised. Dublin was nothing at all what I expected it to be. All of my Dublin-expectations were based upon what I have seen in movies! So, when I realized that Dublin was much like any other large city in the western world, it took me some time to reconcile what I had excepted and the reality.

As you will read in the article. we drove to Howth village. This was definitely more of what I had expected, and I was super pleased. The views from this seaside town consisted of beautiful green hills and waves crashing onto rocky shores. It was incredible!

The morning of our flight to Scotland, we had to wake up at 3:30 am in order to take a taxi to the airport. For breakfast, we ate bananas and chocolate muffins that we purchased at Tesco the day before. Our taxi ride was extremely interesting and be read about here, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8071283/the_queens_unwelcome_visit_to_ireland.html?cat=37.

We left Ireland satisfied with the fact that we had seen it. If we were to travel to Ireland again, we would love to stay in a smaller town, or even visit Northern Ireland!

Torremolinos, Spain

We had an absolutely wonderful time on our Plane-Hopping Adventure!!

To begin, we drove to Bratislava, Slovakia and parked our car at a long-term parking lot. For 58 euros, we parked our car for 10 days and had transportation to and from the Bratislava airport. We flew out of Bratislava and enjoyed a 3 hour flight to Malaga, Spain.

When we arrived in Malaga, we rushed to catch the train to Torremolinos. The train, which was like a fast monorail, was clean and modern. Screens throughout the train indicated the route, making it easy to know when to get off. In Torremolinos, we got off the train and began our search for our hotel. All we knew was that it was near the water!

Luckily, Dusty has an incredible sense of direction and lead us right to the front of the hotel!! We walked in to Hotel Fenix and met a Spanish-speaking receptionist. Our Spanish "skills" came in handy and we communicated without any problems. After checking in, we found our beautiful room.

When booking the hotel in Torremolinos, we did so based on price (cheapest). So we were surprised to discover that the Hotel Fenix is 4 star! Our large room, included a huge patio overlooking the ocean. This luxurious hotel was a wonderful treat!

In the price of our room, full board was included. We enjoyed a late lunch which was buffet style served in a beautiful dining room. After lunch we went out to discover the town of Torremolinos. The town reminded us a bit of Sorrento, Italy. Thin, windy streets ran up hills, with shops and apartments of both sides. White beach ran for miles, with cabanas every few hundred feet. Restaurants and shops alongside the beach promenade sold cold water, ice cream and souvenirs.

After exploring the Spanish town, we went back up the room to get in our bathing suites. We walked down to the beach in front of our hotel and laid in the sand for about an hour. Not wanting to get too much sun in one day, and not having bought towels yet, we made our way back up to the room. We got cleaned up and headed down for a wonderful dinner. Again buffet style, fresh fish and other delectable items were offered.

A stroll in the cool night air came after dinner. Our first day in Torremolinos was wonderful and we looked forward to another 3 days in beautiful Torremolinos.

For the rest of our time, we enjoyed the incredible streets, food and views of Torremolinos, Spain. The service and food in the hotel were incredible. The beach, besides the FREEZING water, was beautiful, relaxing, warm and fun. Hanging out together, walking the streets, practicing our Spanish, and swimming in the ocean made our time in Torremolinos fabulous.

Plane-Hopping Adventure!

We are leaving at 5:30 tomorrow morning for our "airplane hopping" adventure! We will go to Spain, Ireland, Scotland, and then back to Spain to the island of Mallorca.

We will definitely have plenty of stories to share when we return!

In the meantime, please follow the link below that leads to my Yahoo! Associated Content profile. I have published 8 articles on Yahoo! Enjoy the reads!!

http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1080855/jennifer_brannies.html

United States Air Force Band

Dusty and I were fortunate enough to attend a concert of the United States Air Force Band. Their performance was wonderful. Please follow the attachment to an article I wrote for Yahoo! Associated Content to hear more about the great concert!

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8037905/assassination_of_bin_laden_and_the.html?cat=9