A day in Athens

Our first stop in Greece was Athens.  I was quite nervous about flying into Athens since we heard about all the strikes and riots in Athens.  Despite the news, we  both agreed were going to make the most of our week there since we might not ever have the chance to go back to Greece.  Greece was #1 on my travel bucket list so I was very excited to start this leg of our trip.

The day we flew to Athens there was a public transit strike so no metro and no buses.  Thank goodness for taxis!  We made it to our hotel which I booked through Jetsetter.  If you aren't a member of jetsetter and plan to travel abroad, I would highly recommend joining.  We booked a four star hotel Acropolis for $100! 

We only had one full day in Athens which was perfect.  Our favorite was seeing the Parthenon.

Greek salads taste so much better there.

Cool little bar in Athens, they served really yummy drinks!

Simply impressive



Walking through the streets in Athens.

For some reason, Dan and I both thought Greece was nice and sunny all year long.  Uhhh no, not at all.  We were lucky that it didn't rain while we were there but it was cold.  If I were to go again I would go in late May or early September which is right before or after the high peak tourist season. 

Our next and last stop of our three week adventure...Santorini. 



Barcelona!

It's been over a month since we moved and I realized that I didn't finish blogging about our Europe trip.  Our last stop in Spain was Barcelona, if you go to Spain you must stop there.

Highlights of Barcelona: Sagrada Familia, bike tour through the city, taking a cooking class, and one of Dan's favorite stops Camp Nou the home of Barcelona FC.

I have to say Sagrada Familia which designed by Gaudi was probably my favorite.  It was so impressive!  The architecture was amazing and its one of the must see churches in Europe.  If you don't believe me, just look at these pictures...

The church started construction in 1882 and it is still not finished.  Apparently, the goal is to finish it by 2026 which would be the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death but some are skeptical.  If it is ever finished, I'm definitely going to see it again. To read more about it here's the website: http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/?lang=0

Here are other pictures from our stay in Barcelona:

Bike Tour - we did one in Paris in 2010 and loved it so we decided to do another one in Barcelona.  It's a great way to see the whole city.

Casa Mila - Another work of Gaudi's

Cooking class - we learned how to cook a traditional Spanish meal and it was all you can drink wine!

Camp Nou - Dan read every sign and display in the museum.  Every soccer fan would love this place.  It's pretty impressive that this stadium was built just for Barcelona FC.

Park Guell

Two weeks in Spain was amazing, but the last week of our trip was my favorite.  Next stop..GREECE!

The new kid in class...

After not working for four months, I finally went back to work on November 16th.  In my very first post nine months ago, I shared the news about accepting my new job offer and I can't believe how fast time has gone by.  I feel like I'm the new kid in class but I've been adjusting well and I even made new friends, hehe.  Everyone I'm working with is really nice, which is a plus.  It's been a little rough having to get up early everyday again but I'm happy to get a pay check again.  I started feeling guilty that I haven't work for so long.

As for wedding planning, we're started up again after taking break for the last few months.  I'll save that for another post though. :)

Lucky to Live Hawaii

We've been in Hawaii for about five days and we're so happy to be here.  All 11 boxes made it safely and my car arrived with no problems.  It's great to have my car back, I missed it these last two weeks!  Dan's truck get here next week. 

Dan went back to work on Tuesday since he's working from home (lucky huh?).  He's been getting up early (before 7 which is early for us these days) to work 'Seattle hours' and is done with work around 3ish.  I've been getting up around the same time as him to get used to getting up early.  I start work in 12 days so I have to get back on 'work' sleep schedule and not my 'stay.at.home.fiance' sleep schedule.

On a good note, all 11 boxes have been unpacked and now we have to start organizing. We bought a bunch of organizational stuff from Walmart.  My goal is to have all of our stuff organized by the middle of next week.  *side note: I forgot how cheap Walmart is!  Before Tuesday, I haven't been to a Walmart in years since there is none near the Seattle area.  I wanted to look around Walmart more but Dan was in a "we can only buy what is on the list and let's go home kind of mood" hehe.*

Since Dan is working I've been trying do all the moving stuff/errands and get it done before I start work.  Yesterday, I got my safety check and registered my car.  I have Hawaii plates, yay!  I still have to get my Hawaii license but that will have to wait till next week.   I don't understand why I have to take a written test to get my Hawaii license but oh well...I just hope I pass.

Anyway, sorry there are no pictures in this post.  I hope to take lots of pictures this weekend since it's our first weekend here. :)

Happy Friday everyone!

So long Seattle...

After 5 years, tomorrow Seattle will no longer be my home and I'm moving back to Hawaii.  I always knew I wanted to move back eventually, but I never thought it would be with my husband to-be and that we would move back together to get married and start a family.  I am one lucky girl.

This week was jammed pack with lunches, dinners, and saying our good-byes.  Dan and I are truly blessed with the friends and family that we have here in Seattle.  We love all of you soooo much! 

Leaving Seattle is definitely bitter-sweet.  There are lots of things that I'll miss like our friends/family, my T-mobile family, our favorite places to eat, snowboarding, etc.  But I am very excited to start this new chapter of my life and see where it takes Dan and I.

Since a blog is so much better with pictures, here are a few Seattle pictures from the last 5 years...

My sissy

@ the JT Concert ;)

T-mobile team trip to Lake Chelan

The Girls

Our first summer together - 2008

PwC Golf Day: Olympic themed costumes + Drinking at 8am = No actual gold played

Sharky..he introduced Dan and I. I guess I kinda owe him, hehe.

Wendy: My bestie who came to visit me.

Our group of friends

This is one of my favorite Seattle pictures @ Kerry Park

My family @ Ray's (my favorite restaurant in Seattle)

I'll miss our weekend snowboarding adventures.

I love this picture of Sondra and I!

All dressed up for PwC's Holiday Party

So long Seattle..hope to see you again soon! :)

I ♥ San Sebastian

After Valencia, we headed to San Sebastian for three nights.  To get there we had to ride a bus for eight hours which I was totally dreading but it ended up not being that bad. 

I ♥ San Sebastian, it was my favorite city that we visited in Spain.  It was absolutely beautiful!  San Sebastian is known for its amazing beaches since it is on the coast of bay of biscay and for its food.  We ate the best food out of our whole trip here.  If you go there, you have to eat pintxos which is there version of tapas.  Pretty much every night, we went to several bars and ate pintxos.  Every bar has plates of bit size goodies on its bar (kinda like pupus).  All you have to do is ask the bartender for a plate, pick whatever you want to eat, show him the plate so they know what you took, and enjoy!  There was also pintxos that are made-to-order, like ox cheeks, pigs ear, foie gras, etc. 

Other than the food, we also enjoyed the beach.  The weather was perfect to spend each afternoon on the beach.  The water was a little cold but tolerable. 

If you go to Spain, I would highly recommend spending a day or two in San Sebastian.  It's a great city to have a relaxing couple of days since its a small with not a lot of 'touristy' sites. 

Yummy pintxos!

The bar counter with all the pintxos.

Panoramic view of the bay

Playa de la Concha



Streets in Old Town

Random old guys we met on our pintxos crawl, they were super nice and funny. hehe.





We ♥ San Sebastian

Next stop Barcelona, our last stop in Spain!

Home of Paella - Valencia, Spain

Our second stop in Spain was Valencia.  From Madrid, it was a quick two hour train ride.  We stayed there two nights so we really only had one full day there.  We arrived in Valencia around 2ish in the afternoon, so we were able to check into our hotel and walk around the city for a bit. 

Prior to leaving Seattle, Dan did some research and found out that Valencia CF had a game the first night we were going to be there.  He was super excited that we got tickets.

The stadium was HUGE! (also really old)

We bought a beer then realized that it was 0% alcohol. Booo!

Valencia CF won!

The next day we went to the City of Arts and Sciences.   We ended up going to the aquarium and to a paella festival.



The best aquarium that we've been to!

Valencia is the home of Paella and there was a paella festival going on that day.  We got two beers and a plate of paella for 6 euros, what a deal!

Look at that pan of paella!

We also went to the beach, but we didn't go in the water.  We just sat on the beach and enjoyed the scenery.

Of course, we couldn't leave Valencia without eating Paella Valenciana which is paella with chicken and rabbit.  To be honest the rabbit tasted like chicken.  It was very yummy though!

Next stop San Sebastian...