US Airways Flight 301

I know its probably more exciting for me than anyone else. But I am currently on a flight from Charlotte to Phoenix (approximately 4.5 hour flight - which is deceptively long) and I have been able to catch up on all my emails from the past week (which were terribly ignored while on holiday in Barcelona) thanks to the FREE wifi that US Airways made available on my flight. It is very strange to be 30,000 feet in the air and be able to connect to the internet, but I am certainly not complaining.

We are halfway through the flight and my stress level is already significantly diminished. I went into the office this morning and ended up spending the greater part of my day doing my expense report so that I could pay my credit card down so I could actually afford the trip out west without maxing out the card. I do not like expense reports and I do not like that it kept me from being able to even check email from the past week.

OK- enough of the dorky pity party. After I land in Phoenix, we head on to Monterrey for a hotel check in of about 10 pm west coast time, which will make it  about 1am in Charlotte and about 7am in Barcelona...wow, I have got to stop doing that kind of conversion or I might get very depressed. I have just come to terms with the fact that I am going to be completely confused as to where I am and what time it is- I just hope I can remember to set my alarm!

No cool pics to post from the air- thanks for enduring my mid-air blog, I couldn't resist- afterall it is all about where the Willis' are....oh, by the way, as I sit high in the skys, my other half is heading downtown for the Bobcats playoff game with about 8 of our friends...not fair, but I do hope he is having fun! Go Bobcats!

Feliz Dia de Sant Jordi

We found out very quickly today that it was a holiday in Catalunya. Before I get into that I have to brag about the totally indulgent breakfast we had. The pictures say a lot, but what they don't show is the cup of pure chocolate we ordered - literally melted chocolate, with an optional side of hot cream to pour in. Can we say totally indulgent?

 Before we got out of the hotel lobby I was given a red rose and David and I were given a story about the legend of Sant Jordi (Saint George). 

Here is the Cliff Notes version: Its an old Catalunya legend that a long time ago there was a a vicious dragon that was killing many a men and beast, therefore the village decided to select a man, Jordi,  to offer up as a sacrifice to pacify the dragon. Not exactly sure of the connection, but I think everyone gives their favorite lady a rose, which symbolizes the blood shed in celebration of the offering of the patron saint of Catalunya. Then somehow, tradition says that you should also buy a book and take a stroll. In other words today was absolute madness- there were people everywhere, there were book stands everywhere and people selling roses on every corner. Catalunya flag was everywhere and it there were couples strolling hand in hand all over the place. 

Casper was a bit tired- and slept most of the day- except of course for the 1.5 hours we tried to sit and have a proper lunch- but what are you gonna do when he is this darn cute?

Kind of a cool thing to be a part of, aside from fighting the crowds everywhere, we had fun visiting both the market, the Picasso Museum and the Fundacion de Joan Miro.

We even had time to pause and have Casper take our photo.

Me and Uncle David volunteered to spend our last night in Barcelona hanging out with our precious nephew so mom and papa Ryan could go have a romantic night out. We kind of feel like we are the lucky ones.

Heading home tomorrow- can't wait to see you. XOXO-Man & Dave

Willis-Ryan Crew take on Priorat

Today was a good day. On the Willis scale, I think it ranked in the top 10 best days ever. An amazing adventure through the mountains of Catalunya, we visited two vineyards and had an unforgettable 2 plus hour lunch which consisted of 5 courses. I could spend all day writing about the day, but instead I will share pictures to let you see just a glimpse what what we got to experience. 

This first picture was actually taken at the first vineyard, Mas Martinet. What you don't is the 4-wheel drive pick up truck that we all piled into in order to drive to the tip top of a mountain where they keep a lot of their vines. 

Next came a tasting, where we got to try out the wine made from the grapes of the vines we had just visited. I  was driving so I spit my wine out, but Jess, Kalle and Dave got a nice mid afternoon sampling of some of the vineyards best!

These bottles where directly behind me during the sampling, they were aging in the bottles before being shipped out. Mas Martinet has several different labels or brands and exports wine to more than 13 different countries.

Next was lunch at a place called Irreductibles in Gratallops, a very small town just up the road from Mas Martinet. We were the only ones there and they spoke very little English, so when the chef came out from the kitchen to tell us the tasting menu he was preparing, I had to translate to the best of my ability! Didn't matter at that point because they didn't bring us any menus and we were prepared to eat whatever he brought. Wasn't a tough sell, check out some of the dishes...

Casper was very well behaved and got in some cuddle time with all of us.

Then we headed to another vineyard that was literally on the other side of the mountain, roads weaved in and out and around and down but we managed to stay on them and found more great views and got another tour of a local family owned vineyard called Mas Doix. 

We picked up some great wine, to age for special occasions and perhaps for Casper when he is of age one day! We got back to Barcelona just in time to return the car. Didn't get lost once, no back tracking and an impressive lack of bickering- I know, hard to believe, right? We seriously had a day like no other and hope the pictures do it justice. Can't wait to share more with you when we are home. 

Perfect Timing

We got another excellent night sleep last night and decided to venture out of town a bit to Montserrat, the home of a Benedictine Monastery about an hour train ride outside of Barcelona. To save our legs and knees a bit we decided yesterday to rely solely on public transportation from this point out. Walking is great, but you also don't want to perish completely mid day. Thus our mission was to find the metro to take us to the train station to take us to the cable car to take us to Montserrat. Oh- I forgot to mention that David forgot to bring the guidebook with him from home, so we were pretty much at the mercy of signs and maps. Believe it or not things could not have gone smoother- as we walked into the metro, there it was waiting for us. When we walked into the train station, there the train was waiting for us. You guessed it, we walked directly onto the cable car- no waiting. it was kind of amazing.

Montserrat was absolutely beautiful- like nothing we had seen before. We missed the choir singing in the  by like 2 minutes, but we still got to go in and take a peak around and then we hiked around a bit. It was crowded with tourists, but we were able to find a quiet place overlooking the mountains to have a bocadillo for lunch.

On the way back on the metro, we stopped off to find a wine shop that sold tons of different kinds of Spanish wines - but not before we stumbled upon a Burberry Outlet Store. They practically gave David a new suit...he is a little bit more than excited to say the least- about the suit AND the wine. We even bought a bottle to share with Jess and Kalle tonight- just got word that they are ACTUALLY ON THE PLANE to Barcelona!

Muah-  Amanda & David

Feliz Cumpleaños! Happy Birthday from Spain Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! This blog is for you- consider it the first gift I could give you from Spain. I can't promise I will have time to write detailed descriptions of our adventures in travel, but I do want to share some photos and some of the highlights of our trips so far. Plus- now that I started this blog, you can keep up with us wherever we all- all the time!

It all started out very touch and go. I made it over here with no problem, but as you know problematic volcanic ash has caused massive havoc on travel in Europe, and as David was boarding a plane to come join me, I was hearing rumors that the Barcelona airport was closed. Luckily it was just that- a rumor - and he made it no problem! His first day I was at the convention center all day (spared you pictures of that one - it was way out of town in an industrial area) but he managed to see one of the more popular sites in Europe- El Sagrada Familia. It is a massive privately funded Roman Catholic Church that has been under construction since 1882 and isn't scheduled to be done until at least 2026. It is considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi- there is a lot of his work in Barcelona.


Finally, I finished up work and got to meet up with David and we went exploring a little bit. We walked by a government building in a square with really cool lamp posts on our way to a wine bar. 

We enjoyed the wine and the view! We were sitting in a small plaza that faced, Iglesia Santa Maria del Mar. Apparently the church was built over the patron saint of Barcelona and is built in the Gothic style as you can see here.

We have done a whole lot more- but I am getting a bit tired and I would hate to ruin the post trip slideshow by giving away too much here! Lets just say we got to enjoy some fabulous weather and mostly just had fun hanging out....

Un beso muy grande- Amanda y David