County Sligo, Ireland

I am sorry but I don’t have time to post commentary on the blog before we go to Africa. I am posting some of the many photos we took. Enjoy! 

Maive's Cave, Co Sligo, Ireland

Sligo Sunset

Near Easky Town

County Sligo

Leaffoney Area

Leaffoney Area

Rouse Celtic Cross

Driveway to Family Farm in Leaffoney

Mr. O'hera's house

County Donegal, Ireland

Stone Circle

Grianan Fort

View from the Fort

Beautiful Irish Beach

Bogside District, Derry City, Northern Ireland. Bloody Sunday took place here in the 1970s.

Our Caravan

Another Irish Beach

The house we worked on

Isle of Iona, Scotland

Western Highlands, Scotland

Iona

Iona

Iona

Celtic Cross on Iona

Iona Abby

Hiking on Iona

Cliffs on Iona

Iona

Iona Beach

Bristol and London, England

I am sorry, but I do not have time before we go to Africa to commentate on the blog. I am going to post photos only. Enjoy!

Around Bristol, England

Small English Town

Hiking Near Bristol

Beach at Bernum on Sea

Biking to Bath

Bath, England

Bath, England

English Countryside

London: Big Ben and Houses of Parliment

Westminster Abby

Paris

We spent the nights from May 15th through the 17th in the only campground in Paris and it rained the first two days we were there! That was ok… we spent the first two days going to many of the museums Paris has to offer including the Louvre. It was amazing to see in person all the different works that we have always heard about.

Paris Cafe

 

The Louvre

The Louvre

Winged Victory

We also were able to go up one of the towers of Notre Dame and got a spectacular view of the city. There was a bread baking competition going on as well in the plaza in front of the Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

View from Notre Dame

We saw the Eiffel Tower on the last day we were in Paris. It turned out to be a beautiful, clear day.   

Eiffel Tower on a sunny day

Last Day in Paris

Tower from the Metro bridge

Switzerland, Austria, and Germany

On the 6th of May we flew from Madrid to Geneva, Switzerland, rented a car and on the 7th drove north, through most of Switzerland, to the southern German town of Fussen. We camped near Fussen for four nights. We spent most of our time hiking around the Alps and visiting the Castles in the area.

The Alps near Fussen

The View from our Campsite

Neuschwanstein Castle

View from the Castle

Near Fussen

We also drove to Austria (only a few miles) to do some hiking. On the border between Austria and Germany we found some 13th century castle/fortification ruins high up on two hills in the mountains. We had a great time exploring them and it was wonderful to be back in the mountains again.

13th Century Castle Ruins

Ruins on the Hilltop

On the 10th of May we packed up our gear and drove back down to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland in the mountains an hour or so from Bern. The town is incredibly beautiful. It is set in a narrow valley with steep sides and a flat bottom. There are waterfalls everywhere falling 1000 feet or more from the tops of the cliffs to the valley floor. The area is very popular with base jumpers who we got to watch jumping from the cliffs almost every day. The campsite we stayed in was the best we have seen in Europe. As in Germany, we spent most of every day going for long hikes in the mountains. The second day we were there we hiked up to the small town of Gimmelwald, a town high on the cliffs accessible only by hiking or cable car. It was beautiful. The alps are incredible, we saw many glaciers and the colors are spectacular. We will come back here.

Lauterbrunnen

Waterfall

Hiking in the Alps

Gimmelwald

Local Dairy Cow

After our time in Lauterbrunnen, we met up with a friend near the town of Thun. We explored a local cave, did some hiking, made dinner, and talked a lot about everything. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the stimulating conversation.

View near Richard's House

After a night at Richard’s we drove back down to Geneva and spent the night in one of the worst campsites we have stayed in on this entire trip… oh well… had to happen sometime! We did enjoy walking along the lake and seeing some of the city on the waterfront. On the 15th we flew out of Geneva for Paris.  

Fountian in Geneva

Leaving Valladolid

Near the end of our stay we had the opportunity to move into our own apartment. Even though we only had about a week alone, it was great to have our own space and it helped complete our time in Spain.

Our very small but private aparment

We also enjoyed the first real efforts of summer during our last few weeks in Valladolid and finished up our semester well.

Good Weather

 

The small river in Valladolid

Italy Photos

Danielle and I had an amazing time in Italy over Easter. We started buy flying into Rome, renting a car, and driving into northern Tuscany, near Florence. We camped on a hill outside of the town of Empoli in Tuscany for 6 nights.

The first two days we went into Florence to see the city. One of the following days we drove up to Cinque Terre park along the coast north of us. There are 5 towns within the park that can only partially be described by photo alone. We hiked along the trail between the towns and took way too many photos! The day was completed with Pizza and Gelatto and the two hour drive home. What a day!

Drive to our campsite

Our campsite!

Lunch out of the rain in the Florence station

Florence Cathedral

Along the Italian Coast at 6 in the morning

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Trail in Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre

The other days we were in Tuscany we spent driving around and exploring the small towns and vinyards in the area. The beauty of this place is indescribable.

Small roads in Tuscany

Tuscany

This carved rock was in a very romote area we hiked to in the mountains

Beautiful Tuscany

 

After our time in Tuscany we drove the 4 hours back to Rome, only getting lost once in Rome…!, and then spent some entertaining time in metros and trains trying to get out to our 4 star hotel (our major splurge of our time in Europe) outside of Rome. We had an excellent meal in the hotel’s 5 star restaurant and a good nights sleep. The next two days we spent in Rome seeing all the things you are supposed to see when you are in Rome and doing a lot of walking and exploring.

The Vatican

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Arch of Constantine

Colosseum

Colosseum

Palatine Hill

Roman Forum

Arco di Tito and Roman Forum

Our trip ended with a day in Madrid, Spain while we waited for our bus ride home. We arrived in Madrid at 9 in the morning and left around 9 at night (the bus was, of course, late!). We spent time in the Prada museaum and exploring the city.

Our trip was incredible and just the break we needed before completing our last three weeks here in Valladolid.

Spring!

Finally spring in Valladolid!

Medina del Campo

Today (Friday the 13th and we survived!) we went with our friend Blanca to the town of Medina del Campo. The town is south of Valladolid by 70 kilometers or so. The interesting thing about this town is that it is where Danielle’s family’s ancestors came from around 500 years ago! The town is the birthplace of Bernal Diez del Castillo who came over to the New World with Cortez as a scribe and wrote down the history of Cortez’s conquests. He also stayed in Mexico and the family branched out from there an eventually made its way up to south Texas. This was very fun for both of us to see. It was amazing to see the castle of the town that we think is the one on the family crest.

Castle in Medina del Campo

Castle in Medina del Campo

Castle Chapel

Castle Courtyard

Danielle in front of the castle of Medina del Campo

I was also amazing to see the street named after Bernal Diez del Castillo and the house he was born in. There was also a monument with a bust of Bernal that gave a brief explanation of his history. In Plaza Mayor, the main center of town is where Catholic queen of Spain Isabella died.

Calle Bernal Diez del Castillo

Calle Bernal Diez del Castillo

House where Bernal was born

House where Bernal was born

Monument of Bernal Diez del Castillo

Part of Plaza Mayor

Thanks again to Blanca we were able to see some more of the area we are in and some tangible family history as well!