Bon Dia = Good morning in Catalan

Me @ Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain May 15

I woke up this morning, checked my e-mail and received a surprise. Roger is back in Barcelona and sent me some songs to get me up and going. I couldn't be any luckier.

this one reminds me of when we were in the city after Barce's big win two weeks ago and a live band was playing this and everyone was dancing, chanting "Barce" and singing in the streets.

I've been totally lazy lately and haven't written a thing about all the travelling I've been doing. I guess I'll start with the most recent trip back here in Texas. My good friend from college Carolyn tied the knot on Saturday in Austin. Roger flew into Houston Friday afternoon and we hit the road headed for the wonderful hill country. We stopped for dinner at Austin's famous Trudy's for some delicious margaritas and rich rich mexican food.

Saturday afternoon we witnessed the "I Do's" at a beautiful catholic church across from the UT campus.

After we headed to the Barton Creek Resort where the reception would be held 4 hours later. Once we got to the hotel I got to meet 4 very handsome little guys. These are just 4 out of about 10 babies that my friends have brought into the world this past year. Baby Fever!!

From Left to Right: Tristan Niebes (Katie & Jonathan); Nolan Kolwalski and his twin Carter on the far right (Rachael & Brad); Ryder Hemlock in the striped shirt (April & Matt)

They're so amazing.

Me with my gorgeous Delta Gammas sisters Carolyn & Sara.

The Sea Bass and Filet were unreal, not to mention they had potato lyonnais!

Sunday morning we refueled at the County Line for some of the best BBQ I've ever had.

Iced Tea, fresh wheat bread, along with some ribs, turkey, chicken and sausage. Yee haw!

We arrived in San Antonio later that day to Hotel Valencia where we got off to an interesting start. The hotel was very modern and was somewhat like a dungeon with its dark lighting and indoor waterfalls. It really set the mood for some mysterious surprises waiting for us in our room. Pretty much as soon as I was finding the spots of blood on our bathroom towels and on the floor, Roger discovered a lacy black pair of Fredericks of Hollywood underwear laying on the floor of the bedroom. Considering we probably stumbled across evidence of the murder of a hooker we should have gotten a little more than free breakfasts and a bottle of wine.  

The horror continues when we find that BP North America was meeting here as well.

Enough with the drama, out on the riverwalk.....

At the Alamo on Monday morning.

The Tower of Americas standing 750 feet up, built in the 60's for the World Fair held here in San Antonio. Despite my fear of heights, I braved this tower like Dallas' 650' Reunion in Tower last year.

Today I went with my two little cousins to see Shrek Ever After in 3-D.
It was better than I expected because the third Shrek movie was awful and I hadn't see any commercials for this movie, or for any current movies for that matter. On account of the hotness of the day, I decided to take full advantage of the A/C and rented The Road to watch as well. I finished the book a couple of months ago and can say that the movie was pretty good. Usually I am disappointed in movies after reading the books first i.e. Hannibal, and the Davinci code.

Maybe I'm feeling a little nostalgic today but there was commonality between the two movies. They both centered around the importance of fully appreciating everyone in your life and everything you've been given.

My Current Book, "All the Tea in China", I found in an Italian airport where I searching for a historical adventure to read.

Brief synopsis: An English horticulturalist sent by the crown secretly into China to find and steal Tea that was unavailable to the rest of the world.

After reading the summary I decided to purchase the book. Then I realized the author was none other than Sarah Rose. Amazing.

I continue to suprise myself every day.

a wonderful & much-needed reminder

just checking in

The past couple of weeks have been craziness. Jen's visit couldn't have gone better, and we exhausted ourselves in Paris and Rome running around seeing all the sites. Afterwards we wound down a couple of days in Lyon. We all left for the airport friday morning where Roger and I headed of to Barcelona and Jen left on her journey back to San Diego. In Barcelona Sunday night, we were at the stadium to celebrate Barce's victory as Spanish league Champs. We followed the victory route into the city where I witnessed thousands of the happiest people in the world with red and blue flags waving, horns honking, and people climbing over statues, bus stops, and the walls of buildings.
I've arrived in Houston Monday night after 24 hours of travelling. That day started out with cancelled flights in & out of heathrow thanks to the volcano again. Then after going to the airport and rerouting everything, I missed my connecting flight in NY to Chicago. Finally, I was able to get on a direct flight from NY to Houston, but my luggage wasn't so lucky. I finally recovered my luggage today and Im still trying to adjust to the 7 hour time difference. Plus after spending three months on another continent I'm feeling strange and a little out of the loop here.

Hopefully soon I will get to upload some pics and have enough concentration to give more details about the trips. In the meantime, here's a little song for your listening pleasure.

As a closet parrothead, I can't believe I almost forgot this one.

All my bags are packed

...I'm ready to go. I'm standin' here outside you door I hate to wake you up to say goodbye. But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn. The taxi is waitin' he's blowin' his horn....."

Well, almost....

I will be getting up earlty tomorrow because my train leaves at 7:56 in the morning, luckily the station is just a block away. Two hours later I will arrive at Charles De Gaulle airport to meet Jen who is flying in from San Diego. So far I've spent a great deal of time learning the public transportations systems there and not much time planning our sites. However, we have a loose agenda that we've put together with tips from friends. Since we're both pretty fascinated by the paranormal, we'll start with the catacombs and cemetaries.

Then Saturday afternoon we'll leave for Rome. I love the history of the Roman Empire and going to Italy has always been a dream of mine. I'm looking forward to seeing the Colliseum the most.

When in Rome (4 days)

A Chocolate Cake

No class today, or for the rest of the month for that matter. So the only things on my plate are planning my trip(s) and baking a cake. A Moelleux Fourre Au Chocolate to be exact.

Paris minus 3 days

Great song by Kate Nash who I like more and more everytime I hear her. Here are two songs about ways not to fall victim while we're out on our own.

You can do anything that you want, world is an oyster, dont dissapoint us

You can stand on your own two feet, you can lead me through the streets

Pave the way, so we can dream dreams, noone else can see what you made me see.....

Me with my spanish-speaking classmates celebrating after our last day of school. Joel, the Cuban Chef, Romina, the Venezuelan dentist, Ana Gabriela, the Brasilian student and Martin, the Argentinian Hockey star. It's not a surprise why my spanish is improving more than my french. Salud!