June Around The Web
Happy summer, friends! Between our Europe trip and settling back into real life at home this month has flown by. I'm really excited to get into a routine in our new house once Dale starts working July 1st! And of course there were still some great finds around the web this month, starting with this adorable pineapple cake I am planning on making when my sister Grace (who turned 14 this month!) comes over for a sleepover later this summer. Enjoy!
I love the idea of a wedding theme based off a quote
You can never have enough plants, or cute planters for them to live in.
I've been loving my Branch Basics, this month I ordered the starter kit and I think it will now be my go-to cleaning product!
A favorite dinner recipe we tried this month
Though I've traveled quite a bit in the United States I am missing a lot of east coast states. Mackenzie's guide has me dreaming of visiting Nantucket!
These slippers are at the top of my wish list..
A really cool studio tour in St. Louis!
Stunning paper flower bouquet based off the royal wedding!
Enjoy those long summer days!
Southern France Part One
We arrived in France on Monday, May 28th and immediately picked up our rental car in Nice and headed to our Provence Airbnb. We decided to drive through Monaco on the way, which was very crowded but I'm glad we at least got a glimpse! For lunch we stopped for pizza and made our way through the mountains to Puimoisson. This was by far one of my favorite places we stayed, each morning we were served a delicious breakfast and the mountain view from our room was amazing. Our first night we ventured out to the neighboring town of Moustiers-Sainte-Marie for dinner at La Cascade and had amazing pasta with view of the cliffs.
On our first full day in Provence we headed to Aix-en-Provence after our delicious breakfast. We didn't love Aix-en-Provence because it was so much larger and crowded than we were expecting. After looking around a bit we decided to move on to L'Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue. This was more our speed and we loved wandering around through the shops and walking along the stream in the middle of town. We got to-go quiche for lunch and then headed on to the next town, Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. First up Dale and I stopped for gelato, I tried the lavender which was amazing! We followed the river up the mountain to see where it starts at the base of the mountain and did some more exploring in the town before heading to Gordes!
If you are in the area Gordes is a must see! There are so many towns in the area its difficult to decide which ones to visit, but don't miss Gordes. We took a ton of photos before walking into the town in search of a place to get a glass of wine. Dale humored me on our way home and let me take a bunch of photos in a poppy field before we stopped in Riez for dinner. I'm so happy we decided to rent a car and drive through this part of France, it was the perfect country escape having spent so much time in cities at the beginning of our trip! Be on the lookout for a recap of our last full day in Provence next before heading back to Nice.
Barcelona Part Two
May 27th was our last day in Barcelona, and my favorite! That morning we got up early and headed to La Sagrada Familia. Visiting the church was by far the best part of Barcelona. We choose to take the elevator up the Nativity tower and while the views of the city were great the church itself was really the stunning part. The guided tour was really great to help us understand all the details behind the architecture and it ended on the Passion side of the church. We would both love to go back when the construction is completed!
Our tour took up most of the morning and afterward we headed to a nearby Italian restaurant near the church for lunch. We decided to make it a long relaxing lunch before our last Gaudi stop of the trip, Casa Milà, La Pedrera. The rooftop views were my favorite part. Dale and I were ready for a nap after our day so we headed back to the Airbnb before our Segway tour! Neither of us had ever ridden one before and while it was a bit scary at first once we got used to it we loved it! It was a great way to see the parts of the city we hadn't seen yet. Our last dinner in Barcelona was at Alsur Cafe and we ended the night with a glass of sangria! Next up — France!
Barcelona Part One
On Friday we headed off to the airport really early, but the hills in Lisbon are no joke and we didn't know exactly how we wanted to make the journey to the airport. We ended up taking an Uber from our Airbnb and made it with lots of time to spare. After arriving in Barcelona we headed straight to our new Airbnb to drop off our bags. We were starving after our morning traveling so we visited the La Boqueria Market to find something to eat. There were an overwhelming amount of options, but we ended up trying an empanada, a sandwich, fresh fruit and some chocolates for dessert. We were also overwhelmed by the crowds walking down La Rambla so Dale and I hopped in a taxi to the Montjuic Castle!
After wandering around the castle we walked down the hill in search of the Mossèn Costa i Llobera Gardens which for some reason we weren't able to find... definitely somewhere to come back to based off the photos I've seen! For dinner we decided to go to Bar Jai-Ca, somewhere our Airbnb host recommended. Our amazing tapas included patatas braves (Dale's favorite), Greek salad, fried calamari, and meet & cheese. Our early flight got the best of us and after dinner we were off to bed so we could enjoy our first full day in Barcelona the next day!
Day two started out with a visit to Park Güell. It took a long uphill walk to get there from the Metro but the views were worth it! After exploring the park Dale and I walked through the Gracia neighborhood before lunch at La Menuda. Our next stop was visiting Casa Batlló, one of my favorite Gaudi visits during our trip. The colorful tiles were probably my favorite part, but all the details were spectacular. Before heading to our Airbnb we stopped in Zara and did some shopping. We had dinner at a small restaurant and ordered the seafood paella before watching the Champions League Final at a nearby bar. Our next spur of the moment decision was booking a segway tour and then heading for a drink at Ocaña. Gelato was our real final stop before heading to bed. We had a great eveniing in the Gothic Quarter!
