Ashlocks in Roscoe

Our home in Nussloch, Germany and our cute, mini Mercedes

Today marks the one year anniversary of our departure to Deutschland. After an incredible six months, we moved back to the Chi. And yet another six months after that, we finally have a permanent home in Roscoe Village.

San Sebastian, Spain. Gorgeous beaches, famous for it's Pintxos and the first stop on our European tour of nearly 50 cities. 

Yes, it is true, Justin and I pretty much swore we would never move north of Fullerton, but somehow we decided to set up shop way further north than that. Though our place is still full of dust and nails from our "minor" renovation (two weeks behind schedule and still no end in sight), we are starting to settle into our new home. I must say, it feels good to not live out of a suitcase!

Photos of our home in RV to come once we are unpacked!

Gran Canaria

Watching the sun go down on 2010

Though this trip seems like it was ages ago, it was actually just the beginning of this month. As our farewell trip and one last dose of vitamin D before the frozen tundra, Justin and I headed to Gran Canaria for some fun in the sun. It was also where we rang in 2011.

Without set plans for the big evening, we opted to stay in and eat Spanish style junk food. Sounds a bit lame, I know, but it actually turned out to be perfect. As the clock struck midnight we watched the island set off fireworks from every direction. It was the perfect close to an exciting year!

Mountain tour on New Year's day

New Years day was spent driving around the breathtaking mountain side and getting off the beaten path. The back country was beautiful and reminded us of Arizona with red rocks and rolling hills. The island itself was quite rundown, and over developed on the coast, but our hotel was awesome with infinity pool after infinity pool (we stayed here).

View from our hotel room

With loads of relaxation, some spa treatments and a dab sun, it was a great way to close our European adventure. Thank you to everyone who followed us during our six months in Nussloch. We had a great time documenting our travels through this blog and we loved hearing from you all! Here's to our next chapter and to a happy and healthy 2011!

Feels like a distant memory- our Nussloch abode on a hot, summer day and our beloved A-class Mercedes! 

Madrid

Spain was the first leg on the European adventure. We started in Madrid where we stayed at the Hisperia Madrid. The hotel was really nice, but quite a walk to the sights. We arrived the first evening starving from the flight, so we went in search of dinner.

Plaza Mayor was our first stop, which is a large square with tons of tapas restaurants. It's a beautiful place and worth a look, but the restaurants are essentially tourist traps. Right behind the Plaza is the Mercado de San Miguel. This place is great! It's an upscale market where you can sample all of what Madrid has to offer. The sangria is €3 and is fantastic! We then moved onto Cava Baha where ate more delicious tapas.

Day 2 was Justins birthday and he wanted to visit all the museums. So we did!. First we visited the Thyssen Museum which was awesome. We loved the art of Matisse, Kirchner and Picasso. After we walked to the Parque de Buen Retiro, which is massive, and saw the beautiful Palacio de Cristal.

Onto the Reina Sofia Museum we went, which is free after 2 on Saturdays. The building is amazing, but we found the ultra modern art slightly bizarre. The last museum on the list was the famous Prado, which is also free on Saturdays after 6. Even after touring the Prado, we liked the Thyssen the best. We also managed to squeeze in a quick look at the breathtaking Palaccio Real.

Day 3 we got up early and headed on the road to San Sebastian...

San Sebastian

San Sebastian is located 20km from France in the Basque Region, where they speak Euskara- which does not sound like Spanish. The landscape is incredible with it's beautiful beaches and Pyrenees backdrop. We were in heaven!

The region's food is similar to that of Madrid, but it is much tastier. They eat Pintxos which are like tapas and are traditionally eaten in bars with red wine (never more than €2 a glass). Pintxos are lined up on the bar while the patrons help themselves and pay once they are finished- so the honor system is key. San Sebastian also has world renowned restaurants. There are 18 Michelin Stars in the city! It was like everywhere we looked, there was a Michelin restaurant.

Somehow we managed to pull away from the food to do some sight seeing. One morning we hiked up to the statue of San Sebastian and discovered the breathtaking lookout where we had a 360 degree view of the city. We visited both La Concha Beach and Onderretta Beach, which is famous for it's surf. Both of the beaches, and really all the attractions, were very close to our hotel which is a landmark in itself. The Hotel Maria Cristina was very luxurious.

After a few days in the beach town, we headed over to Elciego for some wine...

Elciego

The last stop on our Spanish getaway was in Elciego, which is in La Rioja region. Before getting to our hotel, we stopped in Haro to see a crazy festival where people shoot each other with water guns full of Rioja wine (Haro is the rioja wine making capitol of the world). While we arrived too late to see the fight, we did see some evidence. After leaving Haro and getting slightly lost, we arrived at our hotel...
Nope, that is not a museum. Gehry designed this hotel for the Marques de Riscal vineyard. It took years for him to be swayed into doing the project, and Gehry only agreed after having a vintage bottle of wine from his birth year, or so the story goes. It was the most spectacular hotel and we could not believe we had one of the 44 guest rooms!

The hotel over look a magnificent church that could be seen from our room and all of the Rioja region vineyards. The on-site Gastronomic restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. We chose to eat at the more "traditional" restaurant, and thought the food was excellent.

This will probably go down as the coolest hotel on our trip!

You can see all our Spain pictures via Flickr.