Home Sweet Home-After 41 of Traveling Europe

We finally landed back in Newark, New Jersey airport around 8:00 PM on Tuesday night after 41 days of traveling throughout Europe.

Sitting the train station in Barcelona

  Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt when we got back. After so many weeks of dragging our carry-ons and backpacks through train stations, we couldn’t bear the thought of one more train ride—so we skipped the hour-long +  train home and called an Uber instead. Worth every penny.

Before the trip, I wrote a pre-vacation post full of excitement and plans. Now that we’re home, I thought I’d follow up with how things actually unfolded—starting with our time in Spain. (I'll post about our initial 15 day Transatlantic Cruise on Virgin Cruises to Morocco, Canary Islands, Valencia, Portugal, and Barcelona in a future post.) Here, I'm beginning in Spain.

 

From Sea to Girona

After our amazing 15-day transatlantic cruise ended in stunning Barcelona, we hopped on a 45-minute high-speed train to Girona, where we spent the next three nights/four days in a lovely Airbnb.

 

It was a one-bedroom apartment just a 6-minute walk to the old city—and best of all, it came with a washer and dryer. After living out of suitcases for 2 weeks, that was a luxury!

 

Girona did not disappoint. This medieval town was straight out of a fairytale—beautiful Gothic cathedrals, colorful buildings along the Onyar River, narrow cobblestone streets, and ancient city walls (yes, we climbed tons of steps to get to the city walls!- we almost gave up they were so high). It was also fun to see filming locations for Game of Thrones—a treat for any fan.

 

We spent our days wandering shady tree-lined paths, sipping coffee in cozy cafés, sampling local restaurants (finding places that offered a gluten-free vegan choice—score!), and my husband treating himself to a daily gelato. Four days felt just right.

 

It's hard to believe but this was an individual thin crust pizza!!
He ate it all.. 

Olives are everywhere in Girona .
If you ordered a beer, Sangria, or other drink, it came with a small bowl of delicious olives. We ate a lot of olives in Spain!!

We sat next to this lovely young couple in the restaurant. After talking for more than an hour, they insisted on taking us out for ice cream to their favorite Gelato shop!! 

A Day Trip to Blanes

One highlight was a quick day trip to Blanes (pronounced “Blan-es”), a charming seaside town about an hour away. With its history, relaxed vibe, and beautiful coastline, it was the perfect little escape from our already dreamy getaway.

You may have noticed we were wearing matching jackets. We actually bought them in Barcelona 7 years ago. We were in Barcelona and it got chilly so we bought jackets. They have been our travel jackets ever since and we are easy to find in crowds and tours too!!! 

More on the food situation on the next post!