As mentioned in UNFAITHFULLY YOURS, I have been slightly amiss in relaying last Summers adventures. One thing comes and then another and before you know it, you've already planned your next epic journey, purchased your tickets, hired your car and are on your way. What can I say?! I'm going to Ireland. So, I will summarize and rhapsodize the subsequent legs of Europa 2009. After Santiago, we headed to the University town of Salamanca. It's a full yet empty kind of city; perhaps it was due to the fact that the Spanish students were on vacation and we ran into mostly English-speaking students... The city was beautiful though and not without it's adventures. Outside of the Catedral, a marvelous piece of architecture, Nicolas got harassed by some con-man who tried to lesson Nicolas' heavy burdens by relieving him of his wallet. And we smiled (maliciously on the inside) oh so sweetly at Nicolas as he tried to escape from this new-found friend! That evening also, Isabella and I wandered to the plaza major, via that street with the club with the dancing police... Isabella screamed... and then we laughed... where we, ice-cream in hand, met two very lovely Spanish gentlemen. They loved us. Isabella looked like she understood what was going on, and I was arguing and discussing politics in Spanish and hand gestures! Awesome!
We left Salamanca early the next morning! There was a lot on the agenda for that day; Valle de los Caidos: grand in scale and architecture; Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de el Escorial: Final resting place for the kings of Spain, and most especially my hero, Don Juan of Austria... Mmm... I've been blessed to visit his tomb three times already!... Segovia: Ancient Roman Castrum. We ended the day in Segovia. Driving in Segovia was an adventure in and of itself and we nearly scraped the carcass of our little Puegeot on some ancient Roman Acqueductos! We were able to explore the city a bit, but left the Alcazar for the next day. That evening on our way back to our little hostel we chanced upon a group of grey-haired men jamming with glistening instruments to the beat of days gone by. What a treat!
The next morning we arose and rushed to the Alcazar to be the first ones in... we had a lot to do that day as well! We had a lovely tour of the castle and it's components... including a Roof-top parterre garden and orchard... and then retrieved our car to move on to Toledo. Gosh, I love Toledo! It's such a cool medieval town. As it was physically impossible for any car to drive through it's four foot wide streets, we left our little friend outside the walls. Spain's public works installed a large escalator that flowed into the top entrance of the fortress on the hill, so naturally we helped ourselves to the lift. Into the walls and down through the streets we marched. Marched, marched, through the plaza to the Catedral. We paid an arm and a leg to go into the Catedral (definitely worth it though) marched by every side altar with religious speed and then made our way to San Juan de Los Reyes, the Catedral of Fernando y Isabel, a personal favorite. Marching, marching back to the car, we speed towards Madrid where my dear friend Fernando patiently awaits the mad-cap flurried Americans! We did make it to Madrid and we did find Fernando and he and his friends, Pilar and Miguel, gave us a tour of the downtown Madrid, ending at the Parque del Buen Retiro and a cafe con hielo!
We wandered through the streets of Madrid to Plaza Mayor, Paseo del Prado, Museo del Jamon (for good cheap food and drinks!) and thus ended our flustered Spanish tour. The next day we left our trusty friend at the airport lot and found the window to the next adventure. Nicolas to Paris and then home, Isa, Albert and I to ROME.
Italia. Rome. I had forgotten how much I loved Rome. I fell in love in Rome once... An amazing sensation of joy pulsated through my heart to my limbs as the familiar structures came into view... We rode aboard the undependable trusty RyanAir to the Ciampino airport with Chorizo Iberico y Jamon y Pan in addition to the Mini-Coopers... the assumed name for our rolling red, blue, and grey bags. The airport was small, but there were buses outside eager to transport pilgrims to the city. I love Italy. Only here can there be so much established disorder. I smiled as I contrasted the orderly line of Spanish people filing onto the shuttle bus to the shoving masses of Italian flesh screaming for priority seating! We made our way to the hotel near the main train station where we were to meet the St. Thomas More school group. They wouldn't arrive for a while, so in my excitement, I dragged Isabella and Albert around to the nearest sites that I could remember. Then Isa and I helped ourselves to a Roman Holiday style hair cut and paseo de compras! :) The school arrived and Albert joined his buddies and Isa, Thomas Cortese, Pia Larrabee formed our own expanding and contracting group. 
We explored Rome for a few days, never enough in my opinion, and then boarded the million passenger tour bus to Siena, hometown of my patrona, Saint Catherine. This is a really wonderful city to wander through on ones own. It is small and personable and it holds on to many of it's old traditions down to the medieval hair-pieces during parades and festivals. It is also the home of the famous Palio held in the coolest square ever: Piazza del Campo! I did a lot of solo trecking in Siena and stumbled upon this wonderful fortress outside the walls that now serves as a public park. Runners whizzed by as I quickly water-colored the Tuscan expanse from the ramparts.
We visited Firenze for four hoursish to my chagrin, but what can you do?... After Siena, we made our way through Padua home of San Antonio to Venezia. We didn't stay in Venezia, we stayed in a little city adjacent to the Islands called Mestre which had good shopping and a lively enough downtown. Venezia is such a singular city and is also home to some of the greatest masterpieces in the world... Tintoretto's can be found all over the place! On our last day in Venezia we took a swim in the Med off the Island of Lido; cute little town. That was fun and wet! The next morning, Isa, Albert, and I parted with the school and bussed to the Marco-Polo airport where we boarded an EasyJet plane this time to Paris.
Germany. I know we landed in Paris, but we rented a car there and drove that to Germany. Our first stop was Saarbrücken where we met up with my friend Joe Blewett. That was such a kool city. Vivacious and youthful with a college-town feel. We didn't stay there, but moved on with Joe to his house in Idar-Oberstein. Germany is so beautiful. It's green and the landscape is so articulated. It was just this way as we drove to the little town. Enchanting. And the food was sooooo good and inexpensive! :) The next day since we were in the Rhineland-Palatinate, we headed for the town where the Bumb's come from, Stoltzenbergerhof. Well Stoltzenbergerhof. We tried to find the family cemetery in this town of farms, but unbeknownst to us, it was in the next village over. It was beautiful though and it's amazing to see the place that your great-grandfather left. I don't quite know why as it was so ideal... We next went over to Bingen, Eibingen, and Rhudesheim, the land where my heroine Saint Hildegard is from. I'm not surprised that she was divinely inspired after seeing such beautiful cities... Anyone could be. These cities along the Rhine are the Napa Valley of Germany and plush and full of viridissimi not to mention medieval castles and fortresses spotted here and there.
We spent one more night with Joe and then left him to his own as we continued our traversing. Nürnberg was next.
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