On the Road Again

Hello all!

The adventures of "Laura Leaves NH" continue as my French Partner in Crime (FPIC) and I are relocating again. This time from the Basque Country to Vermont, USA. Although, admittedly Vermont is not that far away from New Hampshire, we are determined to make the best of this opportunity.

It is very sad to leave Pais Vasco. Last week we packed up our apartment and tried to do all of the things we have come to love at least one last time. I have compiled this list of things that everyone should do when moving away from this region. This list can also double as recommendations for those visiting for the first time.

THINGS TO DO BEFORE LEAVING:

1. Eat some torilla de patatas (Spanish omelette made with potatoes).

2. Visit the beach.

3. Say goodbye to all the barmen in the bars on your block.

4. Take a ride through the mountains.

5. Eat some more tortilla de patatas, but this time in a sandwich.

6. Visit all the elderly people who frequent the bars and buy you cider.

7. Watch your last soccer game in the bar.

8. Eat some last tapas from the bar.

9. Realize that this is the last place you will probably ever live where a glass of wine is 45 cents.

10. Realize that you probably spend too much time in bars.

11. Realize that you will never really learn to speak Basque.

12. Dispose of your collection of umbrellas that have been destroyed in the crazy Basque wind/rain storms.

13. Stock up on bags of fried corn (very tasty!)

14. Eat some more tortilla.

15. Swear you will be back again.

In our panic about leaving Spain, we also drove like mad to the east coast to visit Barcelona before we left the country. This is a very fun city! We stayed in a hostel by the beach and shared a room with some Spanish girls and a few guys from Israel and visited all the sites! I highly recommend going to see Gaudi's works here (Sagrada Familia, Park Guell and my favorite, Casa Batllo) but also would caution about walking around at night. It's the first place where I have ever been happy that I had a man with me for protection.

Below are some photos!

First, the famous unfinished (expected to be finished soon, in 2050 or so, haha) Sagrada Familia.

Second is the Barcelona coast at sunrise (which we only saw because we had to move the car out of the paying parking zone before they started charging on Monday morning. Totally worth it though.)

That's all today friends! Until next time!