Our Favorite Castle So Far

Today we went to a castle about 30 minutes outside of Pamplona with Dani, his mother Sylvie, and his little brother Manuel, or Manu as everyone calls him. This was the castle of the kings of Navarre, and also the castle that Walt Disney is supposed to have based the Disney Castle off of. It was a wonderful castle. It had many different levels and walkways and spiral staircases, and we were able to climb all over nearly all of it! We had a great time with Manu, who is absolutely adorable. The architecture was stunning, and getting to explore the whole castle was so much fun.

San Sebastian

Yesterday Dani took us to the seaside town of San Sebastian, which is about an hour away from Pamplona. He says that many people think it is the most beautiful town in Spain. It certainly seemed that way when we were there! The weather was so nice that people were swimming in the ocean, and sunbathing on the beach. We walked all over the town, and saw the beach where all the surfers went, and the many tourists walking down the clean, picturesque streets. Finally we came to the biggest beach of them all, which stretched a couple miles along the sparkling blue bay that led to the Atlantic Ocean. We walked along the beach, and were able to watch everyone who was out enjoying the day. It was warm enough that I wished I was able to go swimming too! When we reached the end of the beach, we marveled at the waves crashing over the rocks, and the stunning scenery that surrounded us. We walked back into town along the beach, and did a little shopping after sitting in a sidewalk café. As we watched the sun set back on the beach, it was clear that this had been a perfect vacation day.

Pamplona!

We're in Spain! At the moment, we are visiting our friend Dani, who lives in Pamplona. We had quite the time getting here, with a train ride that took 11 hours, but we are so happy to be here now! Hannah likes Pamplona so much she can see herself living here one day. And we are so glad to see Dani again. Our first day here, he took us to a soccer game between the team from Pamplona (Osasuna), and the team that was at the time ranked first in Spain (Levante). It was so exciting to sit in the front row of the stadium and watch some of the best soccer in the world. Pamplona won, 2-0. Being in Spain with Dani is a lot of fun, and Hannah is getting to practice a lot of Spanish! Dani's family is really nice, and it is so great to be able to stay with them. Pamplona is slightly more modern than the towns we have visited so far, but it still has just as much history. This is the city where the famous running of the bulls takes place. It also holds an old fort, and a beautiful cathedral.

Flavigny

While staying with Agathe in Dijon, she also took us to several interesting places in the area. One of these was the town of Flavigny. It was a beautiful medieval town, best known as the place where the movie Chocolat was filmed. It didn't look very much like it did in the movie, but it was still a wonderful place to visit! Not many tourists come there, so it was quiet, and we came on a day when the weather was nice and sunny. We also met several friendly cats!

Dijon

In France, we stayed with Agathe, a friend of Hannah's from Dijon, who has visited Hannah in Vermont a couple of times. She was kind enough to let both of us stay at her house in Dijon for a week. It was great staying with Agathe and her family, who, contrary to sterotypes, are some of the kindest and friendliest people we have met so far! Agathe also took us to Paris, and it was so great to have her show us around. Dijon is a beautiful old french town. She described it as very small, but being from Vermont, it seemed like a pretty large town to us. We were taken around the whole town, which consisted of many nice shops, as well as interesting buildings that dated back to the middle ages. On one of our last days, we went to the highest tower in Dijon, from which you could see the entire town, and even all the way to Mt. Blanc in Switzerland! We had a lovely time in Dijon, and greatly enjoyed our stay in France.