Sintra and Cascais

What makes blogging possible? Internet.  What did I not have for the majority of today? Internet.  

Just another "life in Russia" moment.

After the weekend in Barcelona, we boarded a late flight to Lisbon. Two nights were to be spent in Lisbon, but the first night did not really count since we arrived fairly late. Most importantly, we picked up our car at the Lisbon Airport! The roundabouts proved a nuisance, as they have in EVERY foreign country we have driven in.  It never fails, the GPS lady very nicely tells us to leave the roundabout at the third, fourth, fifth exit, and we ultimately fail. If the exit is after the first or second exit, are chance of successfully exiting the roundabout diminishes drastically. With a few missed exits, and luckily the GPS reconfigurations we made it to our hotel. First task, getting that bad boy valeted, out of sight, out of mind, we were going to take public transportation while in Lisbon. We would get back in the car for our drive to the Algarve coast.

We did not do much in the actual city of Lisbon. Instead we took the recommendation from a friend, and boarded a train for a short ride to Sintra.  The roads of Sintra reminded us of the roads in Italy, on the Amalfi Coast, very narrow, and very steep.  Here we toured the National Palace of Pena. The weather was beautiful, the palace was beautiful, it was a wonderful way to spend the day.  

Rather than board the train from Sintra back to Lisbon, we decided to hop on a bus from Sintra to Cascais. In Cascais we enjoyed a delicious late lunch and sat in the sunshine sipping sangria. I do not know if it was the beautiful blue water, or the sunshine, but it was probably the best sangria I ever had. 

We were only a few days into our Spain and Portugal vacation and already enjoying the rest and relaxation. The next morning we would get the car out of parking, and prepare to drive the couple hours south, to the Algarve coast. At the time, we were planning a short, overnight trip to Seville, but I will tell you now, once we saw the beaches and felt the warmth of the sun, there was no chance we were going to leave.

Want to see more pictures?  Click on our photo album: Sintra and Cascais. 

Barcelona

I did not think it would take me this long to blog about our trip to Spain and Portugal.  After spending the week in Moscow, we returned to Novorossiysk on Friday, the 20th of September.  The small, daily tasks of life in Novo add up very quickly, and seem to fill my days.  Ryan has made a few culinary challenges that I have been busy conquering.  Nothing major in the term of challenges just individual items that I will post about later.  Throw in a couple days of the water going out and causing extra stress.  No worries, I type this post as one of the culinary challenges "set" in the freezer (any guess what it could be), and the water is currently working.  All is well in Novorossiysk.

We flew into Barcelona on a Friday evening flight, and were there for the weekend, flying to Lisbon late Sunday night.  No travel agent for this trip, I was the planner of events.  The week before we arrived in Barcelona, I purchased all our tickets for the sights online.  Allow me to insert a small announcement, if you travel, please, please, please go to websites of places you plan to visit.  If they give an option to purchase online, PURCHASE ONLINE!!  It amazes me the amount of people that choose to stand in the extremely long lines at the ticket booth, when others (myself) purchase tickets online and walk straight to the entrance, no waiting.  Of course I realize if everyone purchased online there would be a long line at the entrance, but I know only a handful of people read this blog, so considered yourself enlightened.

Sorry about that small announcement, turning into a paragraph.  Back to Barcelona, and most importantly Antoni Gaudí.  I do not know how to explain him, his designs are incredible, unlike anything I have seen before, yet I am compelled to believe his mindset may not have been the most logical.  Regardless of logic or reason, what he did was a feast for the eyes, and I enjoyed it.
I am no expert on architecture or design, and I cannot explain his concepts, but I will allow the photographs to show what Gaudí did throughout the city of Barcelona.

Exterior of La Pedrera - Casa Milá

Rooftop of Casa Milá.  

My first glimpse of La Sagrada Familia.

Exterior of Casa Batlló. 

Interior

Exterior of La Sagrada Família.

Interior.  Beautiful, colorful stained glass. 

We took a tour of one tower, elevator ride up, small, spiral staircase down. 

A trip to Park Guëll.

Other than the Gaudí houses, and La Sagrada Família we did not do much else.  We strolled through the small walking streets, enjoyed gelato, and Ryan found an adorable (not his choice of adjective) cafe where we enjoyed a relaxed meal of tapas and sangria.  At times I enjoyed the afternoon siesta, when the shops closed and the streets quieted, other times in angered me when I wanted to do a little shopping or visit a small cafe for an afternoon sweet treat.  Ryan did a bit of research Saturday afternoon and found a nearby movie theatre that showed English movies.  I know, it sounds crazy, we travel to Barcelona and go to the movies.  Remember, we do not get to go to movie theaters in Russia, so when we travel, if the opportunity arises, we go.  What movie did we see?  Elysium.  

Enjoying tapas and sangria at a little cafe. 

The weekend in Barcelona was the perfect start to our trip, and fulfilled one of my travel destination dreams.  I think a weekend was the perfect amount of time for us to see and do what we wanted, others may say it was too short, but we had Portugal calling our names!

The pictures are only a small glimpse of our sightings.  To see more pictures from Barcelona, 

click on Barcelona Photo Album.  

P.B.B.A.

My ever trusty research assistant, Google researched "Professional Beach Bum Association" and only came back with links to The Traverse City Beach Bum baseball team (who knew?).  If P.B.B.A (Professional Beach Bum Association) existed I believe Ryan and I would be official members.  I even have our membership picture chosen:

We have returned from another much needed relaxing and restful trip.  Yesterday, as our plane was making its final descent into Moscow, Ryan and I (while gazing out the plane window) discussed the incredible differences in the world.  Even with our travels, and frequent flying, we are still amazed how a few short hours on a plane can transport you somewhere completely different from where you left.  To be specific, sunny, warm, wonderful, beautiful Portugal to Russia (no adjectives for Russia since I am trying very hard to silence my Negative Nancy).

I  may not obtain the darkest tan, and I may have a strong dislike for salt water, but when it comes to life on a beach (with a lounger, not in the sand) Ryan and I would definitely be inducted into the Professional Beach Bum Association.

More posts to come from our time in Spain and Portugal.  But for now, we are back in Russia, and to answer the most frequent question we receive about living in Russia: yes, it's cold.....

la limpieza del congelador...

limpeza do congelador...I will explain the various languages (Spanish and Portuguese) shortly, but allow me to translate, cleaning the freezer...

While Ryan was hard at work landscaping our yard, I was hard a work preparing dinner.  After my long absence, I decided the freezer needed to be cleaned, and the frozen food needed to be used.  Our dinners this week were inspired by the task of cleaning the freezer....

First dinner, a bag of frozen shrimp, a bag of frozen spinach, and a bag of frozen cauliflower....

Spinach-cauliflower cake topped with baked shrimp, tomatoes, and feta.
Enjoyed with a glass of Portuguese wine (hint hint)

 Next dinner, frozen steaks, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables...

Basil pesto marinated steak with basil-yogurt sauce.

Macy being a good girl and staying on the rug while we eat dinner.
Snuggling with her gorilla.

Dinner is done, now it's time to play.  I am surprised the toy has lasted this long.
She has done a good job of consistently leaving small piles of stuffing scattered around the apartment. 

Now, let's get to the GOOD part.  Dinners were delicious, but Olé Ryan and I are going to SPAIN and PORTUGAL!!  We leave for Moscow TODAY, and TOMORROW we fly to BARCELONA!!  

We spend the weekend in Barcelona, then hop on a plane for LISBON!!  A day or so in Lisbon, then Ryan is DRIVING us to the southern Algarve coast of Portugal where we will spend the remainder of the week.  But, I know I will not have had my fill of Spain, so Thursday Ryan is DRIVING us to SEVILLE for the night!!

To say we are excited is an understatement.  Ryan gets to DRIVE, which he hasn't done since South Africa, almost seven months ago!!  Here's to another adventure for us....

hasta luego...

Lang's Landscaping...

Welcome home, now get to work.

Our little "yard" outside our apartment building, was in need of some much overdue landscaping.  Since I have no idea how to use a weed wacker-weed eater, call it what you want, it was left until Ryan returned home.

If you remember, the last time I documented Ryan's landscaping work was with a manual push mower. Manual no more, the man now has a gas powered machine.  Take cars and driving away from a man, and he goes crazy.  Give him a gas powered weed wacker and he is thrilled.

Macy and I safely watched from above.

Looks can be deceiving, but Macy was enjoying some snuggle (strangle) time with Ryan.

Just us girls...

All this talk about adopting animals around the world, you may be wondering about our number one, Macy!!  Little punkin' butt is doing very well.  I do not know who was more excited when we saw each other.  It had been far too long since I had seen her cute, little face.

After learning that Ryan was going to be in Moscow for his Kazakhstan Visa, we changed my airline ticket to Tuesday, the 27th of August.  Ryan was planning to stay in Moscow until Friday, but I felt I needed to get back to see Macy, and have the apartment all in order before he returned.  Well, in true Russian fashion, things never go as planned.  Problems with the Visa process extended his time in Moscow!  He is still there (insert angry face), but the good news, he received his Passport and Visa today (insert happy face), and will be flying home tomorrow!  It has been a week of just us girls, and we have enjoyed being reunited, but we anxiously await the return of Ryan....

I am a bit obsessed, but I know my parents will love seeing the latest pictures of Miss Macy.  She is absolutely the cuteness puppy dog to ever walk this planet...

Lounging and cooling off after an afternoon walk with Rose...

Nap time with Santa.  

Not one to help with cleaning, she would much rather watch from her chair... 

Life IS gooooood! Morning scratches, belly rubs, and puppy massages are back...

Santa received a bath this week.  His beard is once again snowy white. 

Enjoying her new bed and blanket on her chair.  She has lounging perfected...

One of the toys I brought back.  I shopped the clearance bin at PetSmart knowing that this toy would not last long...

I can't believe I just gave her this toy after getting the apartment spotless.  The extra vacuuming after she shreds it will be worth it. 

After a couple hours at the beach, I return to this.
I discovered a small wound to the jugular, and a strong attempt to remove the squeaker.
Surprisingly, the gorilla is holding together fairly well.   

"What?  While you were lounging at the beach, I was busy doing surgery on the gorilla.  A puppy has to rest."

Can't wait for you to get home, love.  Your girls are waiting for you!

Bella...

I returned to Novorossisyk on Tuesday, and since then I have been busy with my normal, obsessive cleaning.  With our trip to Borneo, and then my immediate flight to the States, it had been about almost 3 months since I stepped foot in our apartment.  The apartment is now back to its spotless self, and I am once again blogging away.

While going through the mail that had accumulated in my absence, I came across a packet from Orangutan Appeal UK.  If you recall, while we were in Borneo, we stopped at Sepilok Orangutan Rehab Centre.  It was during that visit, that we decided to adopt an orangutan.  Orangutan Appeal UK uses the adoption money to continue to fund research and rehabilitation of orangutans that are orphaned.

I would like to introduce you to our adopted orangutan, Bella.....

She was found by a manager at a palm oil plantation, and he brought her to Sepilok for the care she needed.  Bella has been with Sepilok since October 2010.  The rehabilitation centre keeps the orangutans until the staff believes they are ready to be released back into their natural home.

Our trip to Borneo was not only an adventure in nature, but also an adventure in adoptions.  We are now adoptive parents to Bella, the orangutan, and about one hundred sea turtles!