Spain Archives - Weary Wanderer

A very, merry happy New Year to all you lovelies 😉

It’s that time again. An introduction. A blank slate. A chance to start over, continue being amazing, set new goals, or aim to keep the old ones. AND …. it’s reflect-on-the-past-year time, too. 2025 was a good travel year, for us, with lots of love, laughs, cuddles, and adventure. Here’s what we got up to.

January

In January, Chris and I booked it to Florida for a quick 48-hours so he could run his 10th marathon. We hadn’t been away from the girls overnight in about two years, so it was really quite fun to take that time <3

Chris ran his marathon in three hours and eight seconds. LEGEND.

February

In mid-February, Steph, Rosalie and Robert flew out for President’s Weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day and Rosalie’s 6th birthday. We had such a blast!

We checked out the Bubble Planet Immersive Experience in Denver!

Lotte, Steph & Ro got their ears pierced!

Lotte sang the National Anthem at a CU basketball game with her school choir!

March

In March we headed off to Taos, New Mexico, for spring break! It was a new state for the girls, and we had such a blast.

Pottery at the Imagine Children’s Museum was an unexpected delight.

April

I posted an ode to winter at the end of April, with highlights including lots of Lotte choir singing at fun events, art exhibits, author events (both mine and other authors!), plays, fancy tea services, tons of skiing .. and lots more!

The Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver Art Museum!

Easter tea at The Brown Palace in Denver was delicious!

Lotte performed with her choir for a festival and we got to hang at Elitch Gardens!

June & July

You guys. June and July were epic. We met up with all three grandparents for a month in Europe that did. not. disappoint. There was the press trip at an insane resort in Portugal. All the culture and food in Barcelona. Italy. (More specifically the Dolomites and Venice. Enough said.) Driving from the Dolomites to Paris, with a stop at the city where I was born. Paris and the French countryside. The shocking adorableness of Brugges. The out-of-this-world salty attitude of Amsterdam. And the gorgeous, glorious greenery of Ireland. It was the trip of a lifetime, to say the least.

As if that weren’t enough, when Lotte and Grace had their horse camp canceled last-minute, I booked a quick trip back East for the week before Lotte’s birthday! Grace was meant to come, too, but after a month in Europe, girl needed some R&R at home, which was totally fine. She’ll catch NY next time round!

We had a lot of good food and drinks AND a lot of time to chat, which was so much fun and so different from how it usually is. My brother-in-law was a doll and watched the twins a bunch, and Lotte & Ro entertain themselves, which left my sis and myself to our own devices on several occasions. I do not take those times for granted.

August

I wrote a farewell to the Summer of 2025 covering the final few weeks of our break before we were back-to-school. It included a birthday, camp, a visit from our NY loves and one final out-of-town trip.

Phew. What a summer it was!

Just a couple’a cuties at the Denver Zoo.

Rainbows in the mountains? Can’t beat that.

You also can’t beat a National Park. This one — Rocky Mountain National Park — is near and dear to our hearts.

September

September started with a bang when we celebrated Labor Day in our own Colorado backyard. Sunshine. Hikes. Moose. Bear. Glaciers. Lakes.

Oh, Colorado. You beautiful beast, you.

November

In November we hopped on the earliest flight possible to high-tail it to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday! We saw Wicked, had tea at the American Girl Doll store, drank hot cocoa in an igloo in Bryant Park, hung out with Bluey, deep fried a turkey … and so much more <3

Hot cocoa and cocktails in a cozy igloo by the Bryant Park ice skating rink? YES PLEASE.

December

Less than one week after getting home from our New York Thanksgiving, we were back on a plane! This time, it was to Knoxville, for the AAU Youth Track & Field Championships, which Lotte ran with her team, the Colorado Coyotes. We were so stinkin’ proud of her, I could cry. Oh and also … how cute is Knoxville?!

Then we spent Christmas in Hawaii with Chris’ parents, and it was SO FRIGGIN’ WONDERFUL!

And that was our near in a nutshell, friends! We had pretty amazing travel experiences and I never stop being grateful for all of it for even just one second.

I hope you all had a wonderful year … and cheers to an even better new one!

Hi friends — welcome to Spain! We spent the second leg of our European Summer in Barcelona, and she was so much fun! Besides a few crazy moments (all of which had to do with where we stayed … blurgh), we had the best time! Although not the best for several reasons, where we stayed was in a good location, so that was super fun.

Let me tell you, this city is ALIVE! And that’s coming from someone who spent 10 years in New York City.

Here’s a bit of what we saw and did …

We didn’t get to our hotel until 9ish, and then Chris had to run a mile to another location to get the keys. Oy. But still, we could tell how cool our neighborhood would be during the day.

Our balcony was definitely a favorite spot <3

Then we saw some Picasso’s at the Picasso museum … NO BIG DEAL!

They had an adult and a children’s listening tour, which was so cute!

Hot chocolate and churros at the museum cafe were a delightful after-treat.

Passing through the park in the Arc de Triomf area there were men with seeds to feed the parrots. This was obviously a highlight for our bird-loving girls.

Stopped into a lovely little bookstore on our walk to our next stop …

And we ended here — Sagrada Familia — for our tour!

This place was incredible. It was started in 1882 by Antoni Gaudi, and is still unfinished. It’s one of Barcelona’s most famed landmarks, though, even though it’s still under construction, and you can see it from pretty much around the city.

Finished Day One with sangria in the park. It was perfection.

Chris went to the grocery store and stocked up. This humongous tomato brought us a lot of joy.

Then we made it to the Mediterranean Sea 😉

This paella dinner from Arrosseria Xativa was nuts.

Park Guell on our final day was so gorgeous .. and so hottttttttt!

And now we’re off to Italy! The Italian leg of our journey includes Venice and the Dolomites and … the grandparents! All three of ’em! It should be a very fun time.

Until then … bis bald, friends!