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For the last four months Laura's been in Oviedo, Spain, going to school. In Mid-December I flew over to meet up with her and we spent a month traveling around.

I proposed to her on Christmas Eve in Hotel Monge in Paris. And she said yes! We called our folks to give them the news. I think everyone, including Laura, had a hunch it was going happen. We had dinner that night on the Rue Mouffetard, and then the next night in the most amazing restaurant I have ever been in: La Truffiere. And the most amazing food! The Parisians sure know how to cook and enjoy food.

I also have to mention how much I loved riding the subway around Paris. So intuitive and classy! And another thing: all the negative stuff I've heard about Paris (the people are snobby, the city is dirty, etc) I found to be untrue.

From Paris we hit Versailles where we saw room after room of eye-goggling oppulence:

Then to Madrid for New Year's eve where we almost got smashed in the Plaza Puerta Del Sol. The tradition is to eat one grape for each chime of the clock at midnight. So we got our twelve grapes and strolled from our hotel to the plaza, along with about 30,000 other people, all pouring into the same plaza from every direction. I managed to extricate us against the torrent of humanity and the only thing left of our grapes back at the hotel was juice in the ziplock bags.

From Madrid to Grenada, then an awesome train ride up Spain's eastern coast to Barcelona where I fell in love with the work of Gaudi. Especially La Sagrada Familia.

Everything in Europe just blew me away, especially the culture, the food, and the history. At one point walking through the Jewish quarter of Paris I realized I was walking on the same stones the Nazi's walked on during World War II, and before that people during the Renaissance, and the plague, and who knows what else. It makes the asphalt and fast food joints in America look like trinkets.

After Barcelona we went to Venice where we enjoyed more food, more culture, and more stunning art and architecture.

Then to Florence and the Duomo, the statue of David, more museums and more taking-in of it all.

At one point we remarked to each other how seeing so many various priceless works of art one after another, day after day, can desensitize you. It's like, "oh yea, there's some amazing beautiful historical artifact. Yawn, what's next." There's just so much to see and do, it's hard not to try to pack it all in. Next time we go I vow to spend more time just having coffee and chatting with locals.

At this point I should also mention that when I say "chatting" I'm using it in the most liberal sense. With me and foreign languages it's more like charades. I always try to learn the basics, especially "please" and "thank you", and armed with a phrase book and willingness to try speaking the language, found that people were very helpful and friendly. I think many folks have a hard time with foreign languages because they're afraid to look like a total ass. Not me! :)

After a month of touring we were ready for home. We got to have a quick layover in Amsterdam for a day, which we spent in the Red Light District, and then home to Juneau via Seattle.