Bienvenido!

WELCOME TO SPAIN!  Or better yet....Bienvenido a España!  Our day has begun with a flawless collection at baggage claim.  All flights arrived on time and that means that all people are here and accounted for.  (sigh of relief for the parents!)  

-I'm so excited to say that our little "family" of travelers is sure to make for a great trip!  Coming from all different backgrounds and majors, this will be a learning experience we won't forget. -

Now back to the trip... 

We loaded up onto our spacious coach and were greeted by our wonderful Tour Guide - Juan Mendez- (and yes, he is as suave as his name sounds!)  Juan brings over 30 years of tour guiding experience and I'm pleased to say he's going take great care of us while we're here;  not to mention throw in a few laughs as well as a Spanish lesson or two.  

If you look at our itinerary in my previous blog you can see that our destination today is the Lloret del Mar which is on the northern coast of Spain.  We left the airport in route for Lloret and the trip was filled with  amazing views along the way.  Traveling through the hills of Spain, the vegetation is something out of a movie.  Pine trees that look like umbrellas and wild flowers filled the land as we made our way through.  

Every now and then we could see beautiful abandoned homes alone in the landscape as well as castles that topped some of the hills.

After the ride we arrived to see this....

I know... it's gorgeous right?!    Well, we aren't playing on the beach but we did get to see it for a little bit during a break.  But I have to run...We're off to see some gardens!  Ciao!

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Alrighty... I'm back, coming at you from the wonderful location of Lloret del Mar in Spain.  As you can tell from the picture, the beaches are a gorgeous golden sand and feel like stone pellets on your feet.  But enough of the beach talk...I have some other good stuff for you.  We just went to visit a garden just a few minutes drive from where we're staying in Blanes, Spain.  It's called:

Jardi Botanic Marimurtra

In Blanes you can find two of the most important botanic garden in Europe.  One of these two garden is the Jardi Botanic Marimurta garden. It was founded in 1921 by the German scientist Kart Faust.  It is one of the most important biological stations in the Mediterranean Sea.  This garden is visited by thousands of guests every year that want to see the beauty of the plenty of plants that are placed in that park.  Here you can find an amazing combination of artistic garden architecture that is combined with the nature.  There are more than 3,000 different kinds of trees, shrubs, succulents and flowers situated within the park.  The garden is 16.5 hectors which is 45 acres in lei-mans terms.  The garden is literally situated on a hillside and is virtually suspended over cliffs that look out over the Mediterranean Sea.

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After the fantastic tour through the garden, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for our first official "Family Dinner."  Our group took foot to a nearby restaurant called the Authentic....  and boy was it authentic!  We had an amazing meal filled with flavors of Spain.  This dining experience started off with a Champagne toast to a good trip with good new friends.  (Don't worry, same rules apply for all our little underaged travelers- "must see ID please"! )  We moved on with an appetizer plate of Olives, Fried Cheese & sliced cured meat.  Our next course was a flavorful Mixed Field Green Salad with Goat Cheese, walnuts, pine nuts, honey vinegarette and preserves.  Which then led us to the main course...  Paella!!!  This rice dish was seasoned to perfection and filled with chicken, beef and various shell fish.  Oh, and lets not forget dessert... because that would just be awful if we did.  They served up fresh fruit, ice cream and chocolate cake that really topped everything off.  The service was fantastic and really made us feel at home.  

I'm off to bed... more for you tomorrow!