Barcelona, Spain

 The second stop on our journey was Barcelona, Spain. We arrived around 10 pm at the airport, made a quick transfer to the hotel, then immediately went out in search of a late dinner. Our hotel was only about two blocks from the Sagrada Familia so we walked in that direction, we found an amazing late night Italian restaurant that served up great pizza and pasta, in Spain! They even served after dinner "shots" of fruit juice which the girls thought was really fun. The following morning, we woke up early to head to our tour of La Sagrada Familia and wow! This church is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world and has been under construction since 1882! Antoni Gaudi designed the church and is even buried inside the church's crypt. The entry of the church is known as the Nativity Facade and is dedicated to the birth of Jesus, it is quite ornate and almost looks like a drip sand castle due to all its curved lines. The rear part of the church is the Passion facade and it is more angular and stark as it represents the death of Christ. What was most striking were the colors of the stained glass as well as the arches throughout the nave of the church, it almost felt like being inside a forest rather than a church. During our visit we also ascended the Nativity tower, which gave us panoramic views of Barcelona. The way up was fairly easy as we took an elevator ride but the way down was a windy and narrow stairwell over 246 feet down to ground level. Our legs were tired but the walk down was worth it because it allowed us to view other parts of the church you can't see from the ground floor. 

After our tour of the Sagrada Familia we headed over the Eixample district in order to catch a tuk tuk tour of the city. Our driver arrived a bit late which caused some frustration for us as we had another reservation immediately following the tour and we were concerned we'd be too late to arrive for our designated time. Fortunately, our driver hurried through the tour of the city and we were able to make our reservation at Terrassa Martinez which overlooked the port of Barcelona and a variety of Catolonian dishes. After our early dinner we explored the gardens at the Parc del Mirador which was right outside the restaurant. The park was full of delicious smelling flowers, manicured bushes, and sweeping views of the city. We explored the park for a little while then took a taxi back down the city center to explore the La Rambla market. We didn't buy anything at the market but it was fun walking through Barcelona's most famous street. After this long day, we headed back to the hotel so we could pack up and get ready for our super early train to Madrid. Barcelona was an amazing city but we're ready to head on the next stop.

Much Love,

Moises & Jennifer

Porto, Portugal

We arrived in Porto after a hectic transfer in Madrid at around 12:00 PM local time. A car picked us up and transferred us to our hotel in the heart of old town Porto. Our hotel was conveniently located close to the Duoro River as well as some other amazing spots. We dropped our bags and quickly began exploring, we first stopped at the world's most beautiful McDonald's and grabbed a Portugal snack then we made our way down to cross the iconic Ponte Luis into Vila Nova de Gaia. Once we crossed the bridge, we found sky gondolas to take us down to the riverside market where we explored the shops and grabbed small bites. Once our hotel was ready we quickly changed and headed out for our tour of  Livraria Lello. Livraria Lello is one of the oldest bookstores in the world and its ornate design and staircases are said to have inspired JK Rowling in her depictions of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. Afterwards, we had dinner scheduled at MUU Restaurant, an amazing steakhouse, for the official Father's Day dinner. By the time we arrived at dinner, the girls were hanging on by threads and nearly delirious from traveling almost 24 hours straight. We all pulled it together and toasted to the amazing Dad we are blessed with for Casa Ledezma. He pulled this entire European leg of this journey together on his own and meticulously planned it so we don't have to worry about a thing while we're here!

After dinner, we grabbed a gelato and cappuccino from a nearby coffee shop then headed home for a much needed rest! We woke up refreshed and headed out to see the Mercado do Bolhão. There we had an amazing lunch and drinks. Then we walked over to the Chapel of Souls, a beautiful 18th century chapel known for it's blue azulejo tile facade. Afterward, we went back to Vila Nova de Gaia for a Port wine tasting on the River Duoro. Finally, we headed to the airport to catch a late flight into Barcelona!

Much Love,
Moises & Jennifer

Casa Ledezma Summer Vacay Extravaganza

So, Casa Ledezma is about to embark upon an EPIC 3 week vacation which will span 3 continents, 5 countries, and 9 cities. Given the amazing experiences we're about to have, one blog entry simply will not justify it. So our plan is to do a blog for almost every day of our journey that way we have the memories catalogued for years to come! Since we are going to be out of the country for both Father's Day and Abigail's 14th Birthday, we decided to do a mini celebration with cards and gifts at home the day before our big trip started. 

We began our journey with a flight from Fort Smith to San Antonio to drop our pups off with Bibi & Jorge. We're sure going to miss those puppies but we know that they're going to have a blast at Camp Bibi & Jorge playing with Pickles and Sparky. Once we dropped the dogs in San Antonio we continued on to Plano for our first stop. We first got pedicures and the girls got manicures. Then we went to dinner at Yao Fuzi to celebrate an early Father's Day. We tucked in early to prepare for our first long flight to Europe. 

Our first flight was a direct from DFW to Madrid, then we were taking another quick flight to Porto as our final destination. The flight to Madrid was about 9 hours and was an overnight flight so we all tried to get enough sleep to avoid jet lag. Unfortunately, our flight to Madrid was slightly delayed so we were in a mad dash trying to make our connecting to Porto. Adding to the problem was the fact that the flight number updated so the boarding passes we previously downloaded no longer worked! Once we made it through security it was a mad dash to the gate. We were hot, exhausted, and sweaty but we made it in time to catch the flight to Porto.

Much Love,

Moises & Jennifer