I've been quite negligent with writing here... It has been a whirlwind few months! Since the last post in March, we have spent three weeks living in luxury at the Ritz, moved into our fabulous penthouse, spent two weeks in the German countryside, custom-designed a dream sofa, hosted 8 guests, traveled South and into Morocco, and gotten fully caught up on allllllll the Housewives shows! Suffice to say--It's been crazy!

I still find myself in shock that we are living in Europe. Not just living--Thriving. Whereas in the States we were so guilty of falling into a routine, here we feel like adventurers! We have just gotten back from the South and with Eric's birthday next week--We've decided to go North and into France!

Here are a few shots from some of our travels thus far...

                                                    Beautiful Germany and Austria...









Sometimes I find myself feeling overwhelmed at the sheer wonder of it all. There are challenges to living abroad, but for the most part--I'm in complete awe of my fortune. Plus--I get to do it with my best friend and one love by my side!

So, Navy is in Germany for the week... Which leaves the Poodle and I all alone in Spain. Though it totally blows being without the Navy Man, we are focusing on the positive and trying to keep busy. We met one of the other NATO wives and her dog at Retiro Park--To get there, Poodle and I took the Metro all by ourselves! SO proud! Lame, right? It's the small victories that you have to celebrate when you live overseas... Poodle has to ride in my bag to get on the train, which she hates, but I hate having people stare at my blonde hair as if it's on fire--Get over it, Poodle! We've all got stuff to deal with here! It really was a gorgeous day, and I was thrilled to get out of the hotel...





When we got home, I dropped off the Poodle and headed to a new grocery store. Uh, turns out it is some sort of weirdo-European-city-only-sells-their-brand kind of store. Naturally, I didn't want to buy some cheese with a logo of a dancing gnome, so I tried to leave without buying anything. Um... Didn't work. I literally couldn't figure out how to exit, since you have to go through a one-way gate to go in and any lane that didn't have a checker and a loooooong line is locked up tight! So, I bought hairspray--just to be able to exit! Felt like a total goose, but as least now my hair will look good for a while...

We have been in Madrid just over two weeks. It is remarkable so little time has passed... It feels so much longer. As we explore more and more of this city, we fall more in love. We have walked many miles... Over three hundred year old cobblestones, and down streets with shops that haven't been open more than a week... There is an electric pulse to this city that is intoxicating. Everywhere you look, you see life lived to its fullest. The Spanish don't live life indoors--Cafes are always full to bursting, fashion and design provide a feast for the eye, and young lovers kiss openly on corners... My favourite people to watch are the more 'mature' ladies of the city. Anyone with an extra Euro to spare owns some sort of full-length fur coat. They saunter around with fluffy dye-job hairdos, wearing low heels (even though many need a cane). Truly fabulous. This woman must have been at least 80 years old...



Our hunt for the perfect flat has been grueling, but we have made an offer and hear on Monday if they will accept! It is a penthouse with a fabulous terrace in the Goya area of Salamanca--Two blocks from Retiro park... Very weirdo European vibe to the place, but we kind of love it! The open floor plan is a rarity here, and though it's not in one of the old buildings with fabulous gargoyles, I would rather have a kitchen just off the living area (and not in the very back of the apartment, so the maid can sneak in), than 100 year old floors and charming leaded glass windows... Keep your fingers crossed for us!

I've been negligent in updating this, since we have arrived in Spain. It's been a bit of a whirlwind. We landed on Feb. 7th around noon. Our first taste of the relaxed Spanish attitude came when we tried to go through customs, but got waved right on into the country! No one looked at our passports or even Junie's paperwork that I was so stressed to have done correctly! We were greeted by some of the NATO contingent and whisked away into the city. I'll admit, my first impression as we drove in, wasn't so positive. The outskirts of the city are pretty dirty and with an extreme lack of sleep, it was hard to see any silver lining to everything around us.

Luckily, our hotel wasn't too hard to find and we were treated to a lovely efficiency apartment quite close to Gran Via (a popular shopping/tourist area--think Times Square, for comparison).

Since that first day, my impressions of the city have totally changed. It is beautiful! Everywhere I look, I cannot help but gasp at the ornate architecture. We have toured some amazing barrios so far... Centro, parts of Salamanca, we walked through Retiro Park... It's breathtaking.

My blonde hair affords me MANY stares. More than when I was in Singapore! Since we know very little Spanish, we are relying on lots of hand gesturing and broken words here and there... We have been told that out of all the countries in Europe, Spain speaks English the least and Madrid in particular...

Funny mix-ups so far: I bought baking soda, thinking it was salt... Eric took someone else's coffee at Sbux, and didn't notice till I asked if he had switched his name to 'Minosh', as it was written on the cup... I spilled water all over the table our first night at a restaurant...





While we are missing our friends and family, we are still too hyped up to be too homesick right now. Our house-hunt starts tomorrow and I am so excited!