i was taking photos of our home away from home and then decided it'd just be easier to do a video - inspired by my Video Guru - Jacob:)

please excuse the fact that he's in his knickers at 4PM:)

so this is where we've been climbing stairs back to day after day. And we've come to find it so comfy and homey. We are going to miss it but looking forward to what's to come:)

late night snacks:)

after all our walking today, we decided on desert out on the town:) It was between that or more pizza...and now I'm hungry again;)

UP i had a teeny glass of wine, that I wasn't even able to finish cause it was SO potent. Boo:( BUT it was great to have a quick reunion with one of my most favorite friends...Wine:)

UP and again Jacob with the camera. Am I grateful that he's catching some things on film...YES. My motto IS 'it's all about the memories'...but I would love to be aware that he's taping ME. Dork;)

another great night to add to the books. We're nervous and excited to see what Seville holds. Lisbon has been amazing but I think it can be topped!!! (THINK;). Lisbon is quite a large city and from being here only a few short days...we've already decided that we're excited to get a taste of a smaller city/town. We like the hussle and bussle but getting offered weed/hash/coke 8 times while sitting at that small table eating desert...by the same 4 dudes. I mean...COME ON....nope, didn't want weed from your bare hands 3 minutes ago. STILL GOOD!.

I'd like to visit a city with a goat or sheep that walks by our table 8 times. THAT I think I would enjoy;)

and a reminder...here's where we are headed: Hotel Alcantara

We should arrive at 530PM tomorrow - about 930AM your time:)

until then!!!!

and then we walked:)

today was a bit more walking...and more walking...and you guessed it...MORE walking!!!!

but I'm not complaining. It feels great!

we were also quite productive. Found our way to the bus station and purchased our tickets to Seville tomorrow - 8 hr. bus ride, leaving at 9AM tomorrow morning:) And by finding the bus station, that allowed us to figure out the Subway route there...so we are all set to leave at 8AM tomorrow!

below are just a few random photos of our day:)

UP/DOWN the subway took us straight to the bus station, which was right across the street from a mall...which was right across another street from the Parque Das Nacoes - the Expo Site. Just a lot of modern buildings and such to look at.

UP/DOWN we also decided to take the air tram type dealio. So fun...and high...and scary:) But a great view of the things we had just seen walking around.

UP okay...the video seems kinda long at 1-1/2 minutes...but Jacob's discovered the video mode and there're really no stopping him;)

UP louis says..."if Madonna comes...she goes here":)

UP/DOWN after the Expo stuff...we just came back to our local area and did some walking there. Always beautiful:)

UP i've been craving NOTHING but desert...and fruit. I'm not sure which is worse for me at this point. But we've already had ice cream twice and tiramisu tonight. Totally worth it though:)

UP i want to shop my face off at most times of the day...BUT I'm staying in check!!!

after taking a rest...we headed back out for some wine and desert (tiramisu for me - french fries for Jacob;). We also wandered a bit more, as it's our last night in Lisbon.

adeus (good bye) Lisbon:)

pizza night bitchessss:)

after returning from the castle we decided to have Pizza!!! I've been craving brownies, chewy sprees AND pizza. Unfortunately, pizza was the only one we could cross off the list at this point:(

BUT we're gonna work on the rest:)

it was a great night and an equally great restaurant with fantastic food and views right out to the street!

and a quick video to let you know that we are indeed still alive, very much in love and actually having a good time:)

seeing as it's 11PM here...I'm hitting the hay. Another castle is on the agenda for tomorrow:)

our lisbon start.

as promised....some photos from the few hours we browsed Lisbon. A TEEEENNNNYYY tiny part of this enormous city!

we had planned to go walk around for a short while, grab some food and then be back and in bed around 8PM. It is now going on 10PM. Crap!

BUT totally worth it. We've meet Carlos. He works here at ZuzaBed and he's amazing! He's a local and has been showing us around. He's about our age and so he's very relatable and giving us some great tips and showing us things we would have walked right by unknowingly!

And I gotta tell ya, he's pretty adorable AND we feel 100 times more safe walking around with someone who know's what's what:)

here's a bit of what we've been up to tonight!

UP the whole city is gorgeous but it's all in the details!

DOWN cut us some slack on this photo...we were going on NO sleep and we're trying to work our way up to asking others to take our photo. Just need to pick the kinds of people that won't run in the opposite direction with our camera:)

UP uh, oh..there's an H&M here too:) Although, I have no plans to make purchases that we could be making at home...no worries!

UP/DOWN dinner at Secura's. It's directly outside the door of our B&B and since we've been hounded every time we walk in or out..we figured we'd give it a shot on the first night to be friendly:) And it was great! Great location/view/service/food:)

UP right down the hill from our B&B:)

DOWN close up of the castle Jacob is obsessed with. We are hoping to take a tiny electric car up there tomorrow. Carlos is hooking us up:)

today has been a fantastic day. Started a bit nerve-filled but after meeting Louis and Carlos...we feel much more at home! Now to try to get to all the amazing things they are hoping we can do while we're here!

more to come:)

happy trails:)

honeymoon 2011:)

we've just arrived in Lisbon, Portugal after many, many hours of travel and very, very few hours of sleep. Holy crap. I don't think I've slept since Sunday night:(

BUT we're pushing through. I'll be finishing this post and then we're going to do some walking (it's currently 548PM in Lisbon - 1148AM Wisconsin) and then hit the hay earlyyyyyyyy!:)

this first post will be a bit photo heavy...actually...I think most of them will be. I'll try to stay on top of the posts and photos but I don't want to feel like I'm not LOOKING and seeing and walking...so I will do my best, while trying to stay in the moment:)

the following photos are a few tid bits from Chicago to Lisbon!

enjoy. or desfrutar....as they say in Portugal:)

UP jacob and I at the Chicago Airport (O'hare). The nerves were freaking insane at this point. No clue WHY...but we were on the verge of pooing OR crying...we couldn't be sure of which or why!!!

DOWN before take off...again...poo or cry. No one will ever know (a pact was made between Jacob and I;).

UP flying out at night was gorgeous. The highways looked amazing in the dark!!

I felt like this was a lucky sign:)

DOWN our dinner on the plane. I also watched Bad Teacher AND Hangover 2. Yep...news to me...I can't sleep on a plane. NO matter how exhausted I am. Sad:(

UP as it got light out we could see that it was super foggy but luckily it had no affect on our landing!!!

DOWN breakfast:)

UP i had initially thought we were flying to Germany and then on to Lisbon but that's on our return flight...on the way over we had a 2hr layover in Zurich, Switzerland! Amazing to see the Alps from our seat:)

DOWN I LOVE that we got a Switzerland stamp in the passport. We figure we'll have 5 stamps by the time we get back! Eeeeeeekkkk:)

UP layover in Switzerland. Disapointing to not actually get to SEE anything...but it was a nice quick stop

DOWN BUT if you ever have to stop there...the Apple Juice is not something I would suggest. I've been cravinggggg Apple Juice (damn manatee;) and this was not exactly what one would expect. A good reminder that ours and theirs won't always match up:)

UP our flight from Switzerland to Lisbon was about 2-1/2hrs. Very easy ride and we even got a free lunch. This was our first 'odd' meal. Only because we forgot that now things are going to start to become really unfamiliar. I mean...the apple sauce actually tasted like apples. Bizarre, right!?

DOWN coming into Lisbon!:)

UP and here we sit. Jacob's watching a bit of TV...I'm doing my blog for you fine followers and now I'm going to wrap up so we can get out for just a bit! Eeeeeek. Deeeeppp Breathsssss:)

it's a bit of a dream yet. We still can't believe we're here. We feel like we're in a movie or watching a movie or something. It's just so hard to wrap our minds around yet! BUT in love...yes. We're in love (with eachother;) and (the manatee...ofcourse;) AND the fact that we did this and we're here and this is one of the most amazing things we've done or will do together:)

more to come!!!

p is for packing...

and procrastination:)

SO I just know at 1AM (after a wedding reception we have that night), the morning we're supposed to be leaving for Chicago...to begin our honeymoon...to Spain...with only a carry-on bag (one for me...one for him:)...I'm going to be in my room, clothes piled to the ceiling on the bed, chocolate milk on the dresser and How I Met Your Mother reruns playing in the background....BEGINNING to pack for our 26 day stay in Portugal/Spain.

uh, yeah. That's how I roll.

BUT that doesn't mean I haven't found some inspiration along the way...or that I haven't designated this Sunday as Practice Packing Day:

- try on outfits (so that I can pack as minimally as possible and still have ALL that's packed work together:)

- pile ALL paperwork together (passports, printed airline ticket/receipt, and randoms - plastic bottles, bags, outlet shiat:)

SO yeah...so much to remember and there is NO room for error. None:) Kinda:)

photos courtesy of A Sorta Fairytale - what I'm loving is the middle girl. Crossover bag, rolled up jeans/capris, sneaks and a nice light sweater. Yep. Need this outfit in Spain for our walking about days:)

photo courtesy of Embarrassment of Riches - i could pretty much just replicate this entire situation.

photo courtesy of Embarrassment of Riches - again...perfection in packing happening here!

and then there's my sad attempt to bring it all together....hmmm. Going to go home and give it a go!!! I'll report back:)

10 - TEN - 10 - TEN daysssssssss:)

lisbon to lagos.

i decided to give my hand a break from writing out checks for the wedding and come up with some ideas of what we can do while we're on this amazing honeymoon of ours.

I'm surely not 'planning' anything...but I've been searching for ideas of what we can do while we're at each location and then we'll kinda just figure the rest out when we get there. Like how we'll get to these fun/beautiful places that I found online.

the photos below, all courtesy of Trip Advisor, are of Lagos, Portugal. It's about 3 hours from Lisbon, Portugal. The first stop on our Honeymoon.

my idea for this possible day trip - Lisbon to Lagos - would be to rent a car and drive down the coast. I've found that renting a car is very close in cost as riding the bus. SO why not rent the car and be able to have a bit more freedom!?

now...these photos are amazing and they're straight from traveler's just like us. BUT if you want to see why I wanted to come to Lagos in the first place, check out W+E Photographie. If it weren't for the way she captured Lagos, I would have nothing to do with it;)

and below is the trail we'd take in our compact rental to Lagos:)

View Larger Map

spain in one post.

dreaming big is our middle name and by some miracle we're making this one come true for the future Mr. and Mrs. Jacob 'BIG dreamerssssssss' SMITH:)

we're going to Spain. For 25 days. And here's the breakdown of where we'll be staying - starting with Lisbon, Portugal and working our way to Barcelona, Spain.

tonight, while me and Jacob sorted through hotels and dates and prices, we stopped several times to throw out 'what the FUC****'s'. Cause this is really happening and I honestly don't think I'll realize that till my cutest outfits are packed and we're posing in front of the terminal window so mom and dad can take our pictures right before we board our flight (I'll be crying...mostly cause I suffer from some massive separation anxiety but a teeeeeny bit of that will be because of the guilt over eating SO much Chicago Deep Dish pizza only an hour before and now I'm so nervous I could poo. EVERYWHERE).

i can't wait to get there. I can't wait to be there, with Jacob. I can't wait to see what happens. I can't wait. I can't wait. I CAN'T WAIT:)

PS. all pictures are from the hotel/hostel/b&b sites and mostly wishful thinking that our room will be THAT room;)

Zuzabed & Breakfast Lisbon, Portugal

Hotel Alcantara Sevilla, Spain

Hostal Berlin Marbella, Spain

Hotel Zaguan Granada, Spain

Hotel Ad Hoc Monumental Valencia, Spain

Live and Dream Barcelona, Spain

215 days and this is for real:)