Costa Brava Exploration

We have been saying for a long time that we should try to do more local travel and not always leave Spain. It is difficult when everything feels so close and flights are so reasonable! But we are aware that Spain itself is so beautiful and within just a couple hours of driving we have villages rich with history and coasts rich with beauty. When Devin's parents were visiting, we had another excuse to go explore our own country!

The Costa Brava means ¨wild coast¨ in Catalan, and is indeed that. Full of quaint but beautiful beaches, clear water, rugged cliffs, palm trees and small footpaths that lead to secluded bays. We have been up the Costa Brava a few times before, but we have never maid it farther north than Tossa de Mar. This time, we decided to spend the night so we could get farther North. We made our way, stopping in Sant Feliu de Guixols to walk part of the Camino de la Ronda. This path connects the entire Costa Brava, although parts of it are not well kept. We chose to walk the paved section, which connected us to the beach in S'Agaró. Each turn revealed a different rocky cove with crystal blue water, or a new and beautiful angle of the coast.

 

We headed on to Llafranc where we stayed at a small hotel on the water, and dined at one of the waterfront restaurants, enjoying the Sheets' last opportunity to indulge in Spanish tapas.

The view from our room

The next day we made it to the beloved fishing village of Cadaques. This white village is at the very north of the Costa Brava, and we have been hearing about it for years now! We drove through the Cap de Creus National Park to reach it, and enjoyed a couple of hours winding up and down it's small streets. We wanted to get a bit of time laying by the beach, so we found a cove nearby the Bay of Roses (which is on the list of top 5 bays in the world, up there with San Fran!) 

 When we had sufficiently soaked in the sunshine, we returned to Barcelona, positive that we must spend more time discovering the jewels of the Costa Brava in the near future!

Switzerland yet again!

We know it seems like every other post is about Switzerland....but come on, if you lived this close to Switzerland, could you stay away??

Our most recent visit to the beautiful country was actually not to visit Sarah and Peter, but to show off the country to Devin's parents! It was their first time, and we were thrilled to show them some of our favorite places.

The main destination of the trip was the Lauterbrunnen Valley, which Rachel had visited in the summer of 2011, and has been dying to go back ever since. We began with a day in Zurich,  an afternoon in Lucerene, then two days in Lauterbrunnen, and a stop in Brienz. By the end of our four days, our eyes were overloaded with beauty (and our pockets nearly empty.)

The weather was abnormally overcast and rainy, which although partly a disappointment, was not entirely a let down. The low clouds and gray skies had their a unique element of beauty, as it's hard for any kind of weather to not be gorgeous in that country! We did get one day of sunshine, and spent as much of it outside as we could!

On lake Brienz

And then the sun came out!

These waterfalls contain all the snowmelt of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains. Talk about powerful!

It was difficult to pull ourselves away, as it always is. A deep part of us is most content when surrounded by mountains and lakes. I'm sure it won't be long before we are back, Switzerland!

Keukenhof

There are few words to describe how beautiful Springtime in the Keukenhof Gardens is! Neither of us are necessarily ¨garden¨ people. Although we enjoy looking at flowers, it is not necessarily something we know a lot about or seek out when we travel. But to our surprise, the Keukenhof Gardens are in a whole new league and impossible not to love. When we stepped into the park, the aroma of the variety of flowers immediately overwhelmed our senses. As we meandered through the paths, it was a feast for the eyes - each section featured a different arrangement or combination of vibrant colors. In addition to the gardens, we spent about two hours biking through the sand dunes and tulip fields in the surrounding countryside. We will let the pictures speak for themselves!

     

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a city we have had on our ¨list¨ for a long time now. Rachel had already visited the Netherlands in 2008 when she was studying abroad, but now vaguely remembers it. We have heard so much about the city from travelers we trust, we knew it was one we needed to visit/revisit. However, it's not known for having wonderful weather... so we tried to plan our timing very carefully! And thankfully, we lucked out!

We spent three days there in mid-April, and couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. Although it was chillier than Barcelona, we had sunshine every day we were there. The trees were barely budding and the flowers beginning to bloom. It was perfect for strolling along the canals and exploring the different neighborhoods. The famous crooked and slanted buildings of Amsterdam never ceased to humor us. With all of the city's quirky aspects, along with it's lusciously green Vondelpark, and endless serene canals, we pretty much immediately agreed that we adore this city and could envision ourselves living there if the opportunity arose.

We were fortunate to couchsurf there with another expat couple - an American girl and a Spanish guy. This gave us a sneak peek into the expat community, which is huge in Amsterdam! We walked so much during our two days there (over 30,000 steps each day according to the fitbit!) because we just couldn't make ourselves stop. Everything was perfectly picturesque, with the trees just starting to bud, and the sunshine on the canals, it was like a dream. Springtime is the perfect time to go, and if you get the chance to visit, don't let it pass by!

Started the morning at the Albert Cuyp Market

We'll have a piece of everything, thanks.

The perfect pancake house, we made a reservation and got seated at one of the four tables.