Trip of Champions

As I mentioned earlier, a few of my friends came to visit recently! Lesley's short adventure was crammed full of sight-seeing, good food, and an all around wonderful time together. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures because they are on her camera...in Denver. Thanks again for coming, Les--I had so much fun!


Jordan and Julie arrived just in time for a random cold and rainy day amidst the warm, enjoyable weather. We braved the nastiness and did some sightseeing to take advantage of their limited time in Vienna. One of Julie's lifelong wishes has been to see Venice, so that was our first destination. I don't know that I can do justice for Julie's reaction to Venice as we stepped off the train, but she was quite impressed to say the least. Jordan and I were very fortunate to have Julie's sweet spirit remind us just how great it was that we were in Europe. We spent 24 hours in the city and made the most of our visit.


Our next stop was Nizza Monferrato, Italy where a childhood friend, Rachel, and her husband, Guiliano, live (sorry if I misspelled his name). Many families in their region have some type of vineyard, and we were lucky enough to visit theirs!



I included this video so that you could see just how incredible the countryside is. We were thrilled to spend time with them, and they were wonderful hosts in spite of being sick. They also took us to a traditional Italian feast where we ate very tasty food. We were completely spoiled during our time in Nizza, and we loved EVERY minute of it! Thanks again for having us!

We had high hopes for Milan but were not that impressed. Luckily, we decided to take a short trip up to Lake Como, which was beautiful. The lake was set in between the mountains, which were covered with houses. We walked down the bridge (middle picture), which extended into the middle of the lake to get a better view. While we were standing at the railing, a boat passed by a few yards away. I noticed the man near us moving away from the edge and did so myself. At the same time, Julie and Jordan are saying there's no way the water could come up on the bridge. Well, guess who didn't get wet? That's right...me and the random man who snickered when the girls were splashed with water.


As if our trip couldn't get any better, we then had the privilege of going to Barcelona for three days. We all agreed that Spain is a magnificent country. Thankfully, we all thought the hop-on/hop-off bus was a good idea so we could see the most of the city during our short visit. Overall, it was very convenient, but we did have a few mishaps when we missed stops and/or went the wrong direction. Regardless, we have fabulous memories. Tapas are a typical Spanish cuisine, and we went to the same restaurant twice because the food was so good.

We made a list of all the funny stories that occurred during our trip, but I don't have it with me, nor do I think it's all appropriate blog material. However, I hope it's obvious that we thoroughly enjoyed our time together and the new places we experienced. Thank you to my dear friends who took the time, money, and energy to visit me! [For those friends reading this who were not able to come, I still love you just as much because I know you would have come if you could have. :)]