When going to a Spain - ask your friend if she plans on moving while you're visiting!

What better friends could Jackie ask for but ones that fly 7+ hours to help her move!

While we were in Spain, Jackie moved from her familiar family in Haro to the city of Bilbao.  We took a bus for a few hours then a subway, much like the L in Chicago to reach her new home.  She was quite familiar to this new home as she lived in the same apartment in the same room nearly 5 years ealier when she studied abroad!

Bilbao was a great experience.  I was able to see how Jackie lived 5 years ago and know how her life has changed over the last few years to bring her back to the same place she spoke so fondly of.

We wasted no time getting in and aquainted with the public transportation and city itself.  While Jackie unpacked, Shorty napped (she loved the siesta!), Aubs and I went into downtown to look around (which I will feature in another post).


That afternoon we met up with Jackie's boyfriend, Sergio who graciously drove us North to the Bay of Biscay where we could hike to San Juan Gaztelugatxe.   If you have the opportunity to visit and hike this - DO IT!  Jackie was so inspired the first time she went, she decided it is where she'd like her ashes spread - so yes, when we're all old and wrinkled she wants us to do this hike and spread her ashes... hmmm?

Describing the hike just doesn't compare to the photos we took.

Above is the hiking path.  We parked high upon the hill because they only open the road to the base of the walkway when there is a special event going on, like a wedding.  So we hiked down the dirt path (in red) first to arrive at the road (in green) to eventually arrive at the stone walkway only to ascend 200+ steps to the church!  We picked a great time to hike - right at sunset!

Our initial descent.

 Smiling because we haven't really figured out how much further we still have.

 Finally to the stone walkway!

 We have a bit still to go...

 

Finally the church, if you look to the left of the photo under the awning, there is a white square.  Below is a bigger version of what it looks like.

I have been in school since being back from Europe, one of my classes is Digital Illustration where I used the church as my inspiration.  Below is my illustration.

We captured some spectacular sunset photos on our hike back - oh and remember we still had the reverse hike to do, down then back up.  I feel like I am mimicking a parent telling their child, "I had to walk to school up hill both ways!"  Well we really did go up hill BOTH ways!

Sunsets are my favorite!

And then because the sun was setting we had to watch out for these squishy suckers!

 

I still have the rest of Bilbao, San Sebatian, and Paris to deliver so, stay tuned!

We've waited long enough - pro photos

I'd like to share some of my professional photos with you.

Before we walked down the aisle, we walked down a pier!  We used one of the piers running toward the middle of Lake Tahoe to capture some of our formal photos.  I loved the location, it was just how I wanted to first see Nolan all dressed up.  
Nolan and I did a "first look" (a meeting of the bride and groom before the wedding) and then a little fun photo session with our bridal party. 

me and the man

our bridal party

the men

 

bride and groomsmen

 

the ladies

"how high?"

"Let's go get hitched"

All photos by Michelle Lee

Fair Trade?

Sunday, Nolan and I were able to spend some nice downtime at the beach (meaning no wedding talk, no company, no worries)! Yes, that's right, Chicago has beaches! It was a relaxing time riding our bikes north to Foster Beach, laying our towels out, breaking out the Cheez Its and reading our books.

We hadn't visited Foster Beach before, so when we rode past it, we thought, "Well, good enough!" It was about 3-5 miles north of us and 15 minutes using the Lake Shore Path. The day was sunny and with little humidity! It was fantastic, I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon! Cocktails could have improved it, but I digress.

On our way home we planned on hitting the store to pick up some necessities to complete our spaghetti and meatball meal we had spent hours masterminding. Nolan's bike chain popped off 2 miles into our ride home. No big deal, we were once 8-years-old with bikes. Chain back on, off we go.

2 minutes, chain's off! Frustration, from both of us, as he won't listen, and I won't shut up! Good communication lesson: when he's too frustrated to answer, walk away and patiently wait. Chain's back on. Smile!

Chain's off!!! Grimace, I gauge the frustrated face... oh, more mad this time! He threatens to leave the bike where it stands, or give it away to a bum. I tell him to stop being irrational, there's a bike shop that can fix it tomorrow. He doesn't put the chain back on, he scooters it home (one foot on the peddle and the other advancing him while he steers).

We hit the store and as we leave there is a yard sale. Yard sales are rare in the city but when you see one, it's fun to pass through, as you're almost obligated to since it's more of a sidewalk sale than anything.

Nolan trades his bike for some nice, tall golf clubs! Good trade, they're in nice condition.

We're home, unpacking, defrosting the meat, he takes out a club to admire it. LEFT-HANDED CLUBS!

Craigslist.