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Leaving Barcelona

Posted in Architecture, Europe, Food, Markets, RTW Trip, Spain, Travel on January 21, 2012| 4 Comments »

We are leaving Barcelona in the morning.  What a great time it has been.  Now that we are actually on the road, living from our packs, and exploring the unknown, we have a lot more pictures and stories to share.  So without further delay, we present to you some of our favorite parts of this amazing city.

Gaudi

What a guy! The famous Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi, drew much of his inspiration from nature’s constructive beauty. Through this revolutionary style of design, he made so many incredible contributions to Barcelona.  He has even made Amy’s “Top 5 list of people to bring back from the dead to have dinner with.”  We dedicated one full day to exploring Gaudi’s contributions, including two of his most famous works El Templo de La Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell.

La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia – interior of basilica, stained glass projecting on columns

View from the top of the Nativity Lift at La Sagrada Familia

Gaudi’s House at Parc Güell

Open plaza surrounded by tile benches, Parc Güell

Columns by Gaudi in Parc Güell

Mercats

We spent a ton of our time in Barcelona simply walking around the city.  While not high on the list of must sees for most tourists, we found the neighborhood “mercats” in Barcelona to be a bright point of our time here.  While exploring a quaint old part of town known as La Barceloneta, we encountered our first mercat.  Imagine the produce section of Whole Foods on steroids. These are different than the make-shift, bazar style markets that you find in much of the world.  They are a well built structure, clean/sanitary, and packed with some of the best food we have ever seen.  Upon returning from Barceloneta, we found a very similar mercat just a few blocks from our hostel in the neighborhood know as El Clot. Since we had access to a full service kitchen at our hostel, we took advantage of the incredible produce, meats and seafood to cook affordable and yummy dinners.

Fish Vendor at Mercat El Clot

Cured Meat Vendor at Mercat La Barceloneta

Sitges

After a few days in Barcelona, we were eager to get out of the city and see more of Catalonya.  Based on a suggestion from Mike’s cousin, Lilli, we hopped on a train one morning headed towards Sitges.  Sitges is a pristine beach town, just 30 minutes south from Barcelona via a regional train along the coast.  Shortly after arriving, we stopped for breakfast where Mike enjoyed toast with “pata negra” ham, the most delicious cured meat he has ever tasted, and Amy a cafe con leche y croissant. We had a fabulous time strolling the beach and walking through the narrow, well kept streets.  It was a welcomed change from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona.

Cafe con Leche y Bocadillo de Jamón

Enjoying the sunshine in Sitges

Tomorrow evening we will be boarding a cruise to Spain’s Canary Islands, Portugal’s Madeira Islands and Málaga/Granada.  We found a killer deal on this cruise before leaving the States and it is an exciting change from hostel living!  Looking forward to sharing our travels upon our arrival to Valencia following the cruise.  Salud!

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Goodbye USA, Hello World

Posted in Food, RTW Trip, Spain, Travel, USA on January 17, 2012| 1 Comment »

We made it to Barcelona (as locals call it: Bar”th”elona)!  The journey to get here wasn’t without a few bumps along the way though…

We spent our last few days in the US relaxing and spending time with family in Florida.  Delicious food, great company, warm weather.  What better farewell from the States could you ask for?

Ft. Lauderdale Beach

But, three days before our flight was scheduled to depart, things got a little hectic.  The airline, Air Europa, called to inform us that they were no longer providing service from Miami to Spain.  That route simply did not exist anymore. They even sent us a very helpful automated email letting us know that the alternative flight available to us had left the week prior.  Great, thanks for giving us such advanced notice! Not.

After five hours on the phone with these people and some not so pleasant verbal exchanges, our flight was rescheduled on a different airline.  In hindsight, the challenge with the airline served as a good reminder that things don’t always go as planned.

The flight itself was not so pleasant however.  The eight hours from Miami to Madrid were pure turbulence.  Picture this: Amy’s nails digging into Mike’s arm, guy across aisle cold sweating and puking into the provided barf bag, and zero communication by the pilot as to why this was happening and when it was going to stop.  On a positive note, the food was pretty decent by airline standards and there was plenty of vino tinto to go around.

After the second leg from Madrid to Barcelona landed, we hoped on a train straight to our hostel. We have stayed in many hostels in our lives and this is without a doubt the largest one we’ve ever seen.  It is literally a high-rise of bunk rooms – 14 floors with eight rooms on each.  We are staying in a room off eight and so far so good.

Urbany Hostel, Barcelona

After not sleeping all night on our bumpy flight, we were pretty exhausted.  A quick siesta turned into a four hour nap, but gave us enough energy to explore a bit and get our first taste of the Spanish tapas dining experience.  We had some great chorizo, croquetas and tortilla.   Today we are headed out to tour La Sagrada Familia and whatever else we stumble upon.  As always, let us know if you have any suggestions of must-sees in Barcelona.

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Lightening the Load

Posted in Gear, RTW Trip, Travel, USA on January 11, 2012| 5 Comments »

Just two backpacks; that’s all we’re taking with us.  The truth is that we’re taking a lot more than that.  You can actually fit quite a bit into a 40 liter sack.  For the first leg of our trip in Portland, we brought extra luggage along because we knew we would be staying with family and taking part in holiday festivities.  Until loading up our backpacks for Florida two nights ago, we couldn’t honestly say what we would be bringing with us on our RTW trip.  But the deed is done and we have shed our excess belongings!  Below are pictures and descriptions of what came with us to Florida and what we will be carrying oversees.

Amy’s Gear

3 T-shirts, 1 blouse, 2 tank-tops, 2 long sleeve shirts, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair leggings, 1 pair zip-off pants, 1 pair Chacos, 1 pair tennis shoes, 1 pair flip flops, 2 dresses, 1 sarong, 1 skirt, 1 pair shorts, 1 fleece, 1 raincoat, 1 hat, 1 pair gloves, 1 pair sunglasses. Not pictured: scarf, swim suit, undergarments and Gregory Jade 38 backpack.

Mike’s Gear

1 T-shirt, 1 short-sleeve collard shirt, 2 long sleeve shirts, 1 micro fleece, 1 zip-up vest, 2 pairs zip-off pants, 1 swim suit, 1 raincoat, 1 pair flip flops, 1 pair Chacos, 1 pair tennis shoes, 2 scarfs, 2 hats, 1 pair gloves, 1 pair sunglasses. Not pictured: 1 T-shirt, 1 pair pants, undergarments and REI Pinnacle 40 backpack.

Miscellaneous Shared Gear

starting at top left, moving clockwise

“The Junk Drawer” – Q-Tips, 2 collapsible water bottles, EmergenC, deck of cards, Yahtzee, First Aid Kit, plastic bags, Kleenex, sewing kit, watch, ear plugs, compass, head lamp, string, mini salt & pepper shaker, converters, immunization records, notepad, wet wipes, drain stopper, sharpie, duct tape, head phones, flashlight, extra batteries, zip ties.

“The Towel Rack” – 2 quick-dry towels

“The Bathroom Cabinet” – shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, toothpaste, floss, deodorant, body & face lotion, sunscreen.

“The Pharmacy” – various prescription and over the counter medications, including anti-biotics, malaria pills, anti-inflammatories, and many more.

“The Liquids” (carefully separated thanks to TWA) – Aquamira water purification drops, DEET, medications, saline solution, neosporin, etc.

Not pictured:

“The Library” – we are starting with 2 guide books and 3 novels, which we plan on switching out with newbies as we make our way around the world. Have suggestions on good reads? Let us know!

“The Safety Deposit Box” – passports, yellow cards, wallets, insurance cards, credit cards, cash, family photos.

Electronics

Acer Aspire One netbook, charger & waterproof case, Nikon 3100 SLR camera, charger, extra battery & shoulder bag, Fujifilm digital camera, charger & case, 1 flash drive, 3 memory cards, GorillaPod, portable speakers. Not pictured: iTouch and iPod.

Storage Cubes & Day Packs

1 REI backpack, 1 Sea To Summit packable daypack, 1 money belt, 1 purse, 3 EagleCreek storage cubes.

It feels liberating to have nothing but each other and the packs on our backs.  Surely the items described above will not be the same items that make it back home with us at the end of the trip. It will be interesting to see what we aquire, replace and discard along the way.

We arrived in Florida yesterday to spend a week with family.  It is nice to be in 70 degree weather in January!  Our flight to Spain leaves this Monday and we will be in Barcelona on the 17th.  Looking forward to reporting from our first international stop!

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What Day Is It?

Posted in RTW Trip, Travel, USA on December 31, 2011| 2 Comments »

With the first few weeks of our expedition behind us and a brand new year ahead, we are beginning to feel more comfortable in our roles as travelers and adventurers. At first it was a bit difficult to let go of jobs and routines, but with each passing day it is becoming easier to stop thinking in terms of the past and future. We are now truly able to focus on living in the present.  It is a great feeling to wake up every morning and see each day not as a Monday or a Saturday, a workday or a weekend, but as simply another day of life filled with endless possibilities.

This last Thursday was one such day.  After a cup of morning coffee, we met up with Amy’s cousin Vanessa and headed across the Columbia River into Washington.  Pearson Field was our destination.  The game plan for the day was to hop into a single prop Cesna Skyhawk II and make a couple of short trips to nearby airports.  Vanessa was going to Pilot the plane from the right seat while Amy & I took turns flying from the left.  Unfortunately a faulty comm. unit and poor weather caused us to scrap that plan, but we still ended up with an amazing aerial tour of downtown Portland.   Under “normal” circumstances it would have been easy to feel let down by the change of plans, but with our completely open schedule we didn’t feel as though any time had been lost.  We had a great time flying around and seeing the city from a whole new perspective.  Thanks Vanessa!  We’ll fly with you anytime.

Our Skyhawk II

Mike in the back

Co-Pilot Amy

Cathedral Park, St. Johns, Portland

After returning from our flight we went for a nice little walk in the rain.  No need to worry about poor weather on our “day off”  because we don’t have days off; we just have days.  Walking in a light Pacific Northwest rain was actually quite enjoyable.  While all the world seemed to be trapped inside, we were out just enjoying each others company.

Sold Out Game at the Rose Garden

Our day ended with yet another treat. BLAZER’S GAME (vs. the Denver Nuggets).  Having lived in Denver my whole life, I will say that there is no other sports city like Denver out there.  Denver has it all, NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, MLL, etc.  You name a pro sport, Denver’s got it!  Portland on the other hand is dedicated to ITS TEAM (ok there are now 2 pro teams with the Timbers recent move to MLS).  Blazers fans are as committed as they come.

Game day for the team means game day for the city. There are few sporting events I have been to with the same energy and excitement as a Portland Trailblazers home game.   It was only game 3 of the season and the Rose

NeNe

Garden felt like a playoff game 7.  The game was great. An even match the whole way through.  In the end Portland prevailed and the city went to bed happy.
What a Thursday!

For tonight, NYE, headed to a local comedy club called Helium.  We’ll fill you in the the show next time.  But until then, have a fun & safe New Year’s Eve.  Wishing everyone a prosperous and joyful 2012.

-Mike

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The Journey Begins

Posted in Food, RTW Trip, Travel, USA on December 26, 2011| 1 Comment »

We are officially on our way.  While we don’t have any funny hostel stories to share, and have not eaten any exotic bugs yet, here is a taste of our lives during the past few weeks.  The trip has begun!  We are out of Denver and are even on our second stop already.  We had our camera shipped to Portland so we can begin to share some pictures with you all.  Here’s what we’ve been up to since leaving Colorado.

Stop #1: Gig Harbor, WA (well, we actually flew into PDX the night before, but drove up I-5N first thing)

Homes along the harbor

Memorial to fishermen lost at sea

Stop #2: Portland, OR

We’ve been here for 4 days so far and have over 2 weeks to go.  Being the holidays, we’ve spent a good amount of time cooking, eating and celebrating with family and friends.  No, we’re not sick of being jobless yet. And yes, we’re still enjoying being full-time travelers and bloggers.

St. Johns Bridge

Our signature dish – goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped with prosciutto

Baking 1 of 5 cookie recipes for Christmas Eve

Root veggie salad for Christmas dinner

Next up, more time in the lovely pacific NW. Also, finalizing China travel plans; it’s still months away, but the visa process is a bit involved. Looking forward to ringing in the new year as 2012 marks a year of adventure!

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Last Week in Denver

Posted in Beer, Food, Hiking, Music, Pre-Trip, RTW Trip, USA, Wine on December 12, 2011| 1 Comment »

It’s our last week in Denver. We’re done with work. We’re moving out of our apartment. And we’re enjoying lots of going-away parties.  With all the excitement and anticipation of leaving, we’re beginning to realize how much we’re going to miss this place. People often ask us if we’ll be returning to Colorado after our RTW trip, and the honest answer is we don’t know. A major goal of our trip is to live in the moment, which means making as few future plans as possible.

That being said, Colorado is an awesome place! For those who have never been, get here! For those who live here, appreciate it!  As we get all reminiscent and sappy about our years here, we wanted to share some of our favorites for locals and tourists alike…

While we still have a lot of the world to experience, Colorado has to be one of the coolest places out there.

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A Broad Vision Takes Clearer Form

Posted in Pre-Trip, RTW Trip, Travel on December 1, 2011| 2 Comments »

Word about our trip has spread amongst our friends, family, and colleagues and a question I am often asked is, “Michael, did you guys buy one of those ‘around the world’ tickets?”  The answer is no.  Those tickets are a great option for some but come with a lot of strings attached which lessen one’s flexibility in travel.  If you are planning your own RTW trip, think carefully before rushing into one of these.  We chose to build the legs of our trip on our own, with an aim to combine air, land and sea transport to maximize our freedom and ability to access more remote locations.  That being said, I felt a little strange telling people that we are leaving on a trip around the world but don’t know where we are going.  If you have read Where We’ve Been,  you know that we did create a rough list of countries that we want to visit; but up until recently we had resisted the urge to reverse our saving and start spending on tickets.

One thing I hadn’t put too much thought into prior to this week was the number of airlines we will likely patronize that I have never heard of before.  Have you ever flown with Air Eurpoa?  How about Vueling Airline? Cimber Sterling anyone?  I am sure these carriers are more well known to our friends in Europe, but I’m just saying. It took a little faith purchasing tickets from companies I’ve never heard of, but I am happy to say that in the last week we have made some travel plans that have started to bring the initial weeks of The Chamborres Expedition into focus.

The time has come for this experiment to get interactive.   A lot of people have shared their insight on great attractions, delicious foods, natural wonders, etc.  We would love to hear from more of you. What did you enjoy from your own trip?  What would you see if you were traveling the world?  Giving us an awesome, one of a kind, locals only suggestion is a great way to land yourself on the Shout Outs Page.  At the moment, I can tell you for certain that we will be visiting the following locations:

-Spain (Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Sevilla, Cordoba, Madrid, Canary Islands)

-Portugal (Faro, Lisbon, Madeira Islands)

-Denmark (Copenhagen, Roskilde, Osted)

-Czech Republic (Prague, Central Bohemia)

But seriously, help us out with the inside scoop.  We love hearing from our readers.  -Mike

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Funny Things You Start Doing Just Before Leaving on a RTW Trip

Posted in Gear, Pre-Trip, RTW Trip on November 29, 2011| 1 Comment »

It’s funny the things I catch myself doing recently.  It’s like my brain has been taken hostage by travel ferries and I can’t control my thoughts and actions any more.  For example, this Sunday I found myself packing up my backpack.  Again.  I guess it’s useful to practice these type of things. To strategize if it’s better to put my tennis shoes along the bottom of the pack, or standing up vertically, one on each side.  Wow, now that is a big life decision.

Pack Test #3 – this time my fleece didn’t fit inside….

Another oddity is my continual obsession with our budget.  While attempting to relax and watch a movie this evening, I drifted off in my head for at least a half hour thinking about our budget.  As if it matters?!  We’ve already quit our jobs and are leaving town in three weeks.

Obsessive googling of travel destinations for at least 2 hours per day is now the norm.

With only 23 days left until departure, I have become crazed with hanging out with friends and family as much as possible, and doing everything “Denver” before we leave.  Guess I should have been doing this all along, but no time like the present!

Something funny that other people have been doing is saving and giving us boxes.  “Hey Amy, I have some great boxes if you need some”…as if they’re precious jems or something.  Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate it, it’s just, well, funny.

The packing pile is growing…

As a result of the box giving, we started packing up our apartment. All sorts of weird stuff is coming out of the woodwork. We are also donating (and re-gifting) a lot of stuff we just don’t need anymore.  Our fake Christmas tree is probably better in someone else’s hands.

I’m sure we’ll get to the point where I won’t be able to sleep.  As for now, I’m still REMing. And will continue test packing:)

– Amy

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The Picture Wall

Posted in Pre-Trip, RTW Trip on November 26, 2011| 3 Comments »

We both caught the travel bug early in life.  No, not the bug you get while traveling that makes you hug the toilet for days on end…although we’ve had that too…the travel bug that creates an insatiable feeling of needing to go new places, see new things, experience new cultures, meet new people, try new food.  After studying abroad during college (Mike in Chile and Amy in Denmark), we both realized the need to see the world.  And thus a dream was born, to travel the world for an extended period of time.  Setting a goal is easy enough, but sticking with it can be a challenge.  How do you stay motivated to reach your dreams?

We created a picture wall in our living room to remind us of our love for travel and keep us motivated to reaching our goal of traveling the world.  Well, ok, let’s be real, the picture wall really evolved because we needed a cheap way to decorate the stark white walls in our apartment.  Not bad, huh?

Our Picture Wall

Our Picture Wall

In addition to being a fun piece of art and conversation piece, the picture wall truly has served as a motivator for our travels.  We can look at a photo of one of our past trips and remember the people we met, the lessons we learned, the new thing or food we tried.  All 26 of these photos represent something different, but together they make up the story of how The Chamborres Expedition was born.

Here are a few stories of the photos on our picture wall…We can’t even imagine the pictures and tales we’ll have a year from now.


Billy @ the Blue Hole, St. Ann, Jamaica

During our honeymoon in Jamaica, we met an awesome rasta named Billy who showed us around for a day.  The Blue Hole was one of our many stops that day.  Good people. Rope swinging into beautiful water. Everyting irie.


Vor Frelser KirkeVon Frelser Kirke, Copenhagen, Denmark

We went to Denmark in June 2011 for Amy’s host parents’ silver anniversary party.  We highly recommend attending such an event if you have the opportunity – the Danes know how to party!  While sightseeing in Copenhagen, we climbed to the top of Von Frelser Kirke, overcoming our uneasiness with heights to see the amazing views of Copenhagen and the Øresund Bridge to Sweden.


Hot Air Balloon in Napa Valley Hot Air Balloon, Napa, California

While Mike was living in San Jose, CA for a year in 2008, we took a week long vacation to Sonoma/Napa, where we actually ended up getting engaged:)  We were feeling a little queasy on the drive to the hot air balloon launch site from celebrating a little too much the night before, but once we were in the air, all other feelings subsided and we were left in awe.  What a peaceful and mesmerizing sport.

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A Month of Birthdays

Posted in Pre-Trip, RTW Trip on November 22, 2011| 1 Comment »

Do you like your birthday?

Some people really dislike the idea of growing older; others treat their birthday like it’s a world-wide holiday.  Either way the fact remains that another year has gone by.   We fall somewhere in the middle, but November is always a fun month for us because we both get to celebrate our birthdays and then head right into the holiday season.  But this year, having our “special days” amidst the final stages of our pre-trip preparations definitely brought a unique feeling.

We have so much going on that our upcoming trip has found its way into every part of our life.  Instead of spending on birthday gifts and big parties, we limited gifts to gear needed for the trip and had small dinners with friends.  We still had a great time, but it’s ironic because a major goal of our trip is to live in the moment. Right now we seem to be living very much in the future.  This brings us back to the fact that every birthday simply marks another year, giving you the chance to reflect upon the last year of your life and ask yourself, “what am I going to do with the year in front of me?”

However you answer that question when your birthday comes around, we hope the answer is doing something that makes you happy with people you really love.

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