We're Back!!!

The blog is in limbo for the time being; it's all about travel, and Mary and I are firmly planted in Southern California (sadly) searching for long-term employment. However, since the last post, we've actually covered a lot of ground (not to mention the Atlantic Ocean). As always, take some time to check out our flickr pics, and enjoy the conclusion of our Eurotrip!

After departing the beautiful beaches of Marbella, we spent a few days in Madrid, our last stop before the voyage home. Madrid is one of precious few European locales where I happen to have a good buddy staying. In the middle of the picture is Sam, who has been making a living in Spain teaching English. Sam proved to be an invaluable tour guide/translator, excellent ([American!] English-speaking) company, and, as you can see, he knew where to find the good beer in Spain.

We spent a day touristing around town, notably visiting Spain's premier Prado museum (not in the picture above).

On our last day in Europe, Valentine's Day, we took the initiative to put our heavy baggage in left luggage at the airport so we wouldn't have to haul it across town at 3 AM the following day. This did not go smoothly. We made it back to our hostel in time to catch Daniel Radcliffe across the street for the premiere of his new film, The Woman in Black. After escaping the preteen feminine madness, we lucked-out and found a great, romantic restaurant to cap our experience abroad with a fairy tale ending.

If only that was the end of it, because afterward, we caught precious-few Zs and had to make our way to the airport. This did not go smoothly. We had an itinerary for the night bus, but the night bus never came. After huffing and puffing our way across the city, dodging prostitutes along the way, we made it to the airport shuttle. The shuttle did not accept our city pass public transport tickets, which normally wouldn't have been a problem beside the fact that we had specifically spent all of our Euros knowing they would only be useful in America as fodder to bank exchange fees. Our initial flight to Brussels went smoothly, but at the airport we had only fifteen minutes to make our way across the airport, through security and customs. The ladder gave us a scare as the officer informed us that we had most likely violated our Schengen visa for the past three months. No worries- we were already en route to deporting ourselves. We had an overall positive experience on the long flight home aboard Jet airways, an Indian airline company.

The next week was spent in Long Island, on American soil, with Mary's best friend Leah (back-right). The lively folks that make up her boisterous Greek/Italian family were incredibly accommodating, entertaining, and unforgettable. Mary and I will be back in Long Island for sure! Trying to find light under the shadow cast over planet Earth by the passing of Whitney Houston, we ventured into the city, staying with Mary's friend Lauren (front-right).

It was a little chilly, but we made a couple touristic nods to the city, before diving into its buzzing nightlife. For me, the highlight here was eating real Mexican food (more real than its non-existence in Europe, less real than if we were in Mexico).

At the end of our visit to the Big Apple, Mary and I, for the first time in over six months, parted ways. Mary boarded a plane headed straight for California, and I took the next week to visit family & friends in Indiana.

I visited my grandmother's house in Brownstown, where I had the chance to catch-up with all the family I missed over the holidays. I quickly grew attached to one of Grandma's farm cats. This little guy is a dwarf cat: half the size of his siblings, fully-grown, and fits in the palm of your hand. I hope my little Penelope doesn't get jealous.

Before I had time to process the jet lag, I was headed three time zones west, where I hit the ground running helping everyone get ready for Mary's mom's wedding. I shmoozed as much as I could, everyone had a good time, and Mary read a segment from "The Velveteen Rabbit." Mary looked great in her bridesmaid's dress ;)

After the wedding, Mary's friend Lindsey came to visit for a few days. We hit a couple of the big touristy spots: downtown Hollywood, the beach in Santa Monica and...

...the sunset in Santa Barbara!

One day, we took a trip to Vasquez Rocks, a popular Hollywood set location about a half-hour north out of LA.

There were great views and easy climbs.

This biome doesn't exist in Indiana.

Some readers may recognize this cliff as the place were Bill & Ted died to kick off their Bogus Journey.

That catches things up to ~ a month ago. I'll keep the faithful posted about anything adventuresome we get into, look forward to a post concerning the jungle that is Los Angeles, and maybe some snobby summaries of California wine tours. Check out the flickr pics!

Hang ten!

-Jake