We just got back from a lovely road trip which took us to Spokane, Seattle, Squamish, back to Seattle and finally Portland.  We lucked out with some great weather, did some fun climbing and sightseeing.  We also got to spend a lot of time with friends.

Spokane

The first leg of our trip took us to Spokane where we stayed with our friends Mike, Elyse and Elianna (their cute 2 year old daughter).  Ella got some good practice being a big sister and Kyle and I did some fun climbing in Deep Creek.  Kyle coined the term “vacation climbing” for Deep Creek because the holds are big and the bolts are close together.  He sent a challenging 13b and I sent two 12a’s and a 12b despite being 8 weeks pregnant!

Seattle

After a great week in Spokane, we headed west to Seattle to climb at Little Si.  On the way we stopped spontaneously for a bathroom break at a random exit (the benefits of traveling with a 4 year old) and found this turquoise trailer with amazing food and fresh juices.

After our snack, we continued on to a 3 mile hike to a waterfall called Twin Falls just outside of Seattle.  Ella did great on her longest hike yet.

Little Si is not a kid friendly climbing area, so Kyle and I traded off doing kid stuff with Ella in Seattle while the other one of us climbed.  I took Ella to the Seattle Zoo, which is an expansive and well run zoo.  We spent 6 hours there and still didn’t see the whole place!

Ella and I also spent a day going to the Space Needle and the Science Museum.  She loved the exhibit on dinosaurs, the butterfly pavilion and the planetarium.

On Kyle’s rest day, he took Ella to the Pike’s Market where she got to see flying fish and they had the best salmon sandwich ever.  Lucky me, they brought me one home for my dinner that night.  After climbing all day, I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

Squamish

After our fun days in Seattle, we headed north to Squamish.  The border crossing went quickly, so we spent some time in Stanley Park before heading on the gorgeous drive to Squamish.  We couldn’t believe our luck with the weather, a full week of sunshine!  I ended up climbing 6 out of 7 days.  I finally got to climb the Grand Wall, which was an amazing experience.  Our friends, Andy and Wendy were kind enough to find me a partner, Todd (from Tacoma), and accompany me on the climb.  We climbed hard and laughed a lot.  Kyle sent a tricky 5.13 at Chekamus and Ella started climbing.  She climbed a 5.6 and two 5.7′s and loved it!

Seattle (again)

After our unbelievable climbing week, we headed back to Seattle for Kyle to climb again at Little Si.  He fell in love with the climbing there and Ella and I enjoyed the sightseeing so much, we didn’t mind spending an extra day.  We decided to head to the Seattle Aquarium while he went climbing.  This aquarium reminded me a of a mini Monterey Bay Aquarium, as the sea life is quite similar.  However, Puget Sound seems to have some amazing bright green sea anemones, which I have never seen before.  We also enjoyed seeing the sea otters, river otters and seals swimming and playing.

Portland

We stopped through Portland on the way home to go to Pok Pok, an amazing, authentic Thai restaurant.  Chef Achatz recommended this restaurant to us when we were in Chicago and I’ve been dying to go ever since.  It truly lived up to our expectations.  We had the spicy beef and green papaya salad, a noodle dish with coconut milk and lemongrass, and even Ella loved the mixed veggies with tofu.  Served with the most incredible sticky rice, the meal was superb.  The next day, Ella insisted we go to the climbing gym before driving back to Bend.  The Circuit has a great kid’s climbing area with fun boulder problems up to a slide down (I wish all boulders had a slide descent).

The reward for getting to the top of the kid wall.

All in all, it was a great trip with wonderful weather, climbing, food and hanging out with friends.  We were happy to be back in Bend, though, as summer is in full swing and there are many festivals, music and activities going on right now.

After the Chicago part of the trip, we reconvened with Mike, Jeri and Ella in Santa Cruz.  We also joined Karen and Walter, spent 2 days visiting Ma and taking Ella to the Boardwalk.  She loved the kiddie rollercoaster and some of the other rides she wasn’t tall enough for last time.  We got up super early and had an easy flight to Kona where we met up with Debbie.  We originally decided to go to Hawaii because Ella wanted to see hot lava.  Unfortunately, the lava was not flowing to the sea at this time.  Since lava was present only inside the crater, the only way to see it was in a helicopter.  We managed to talk the whole group into going and everyone enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Big Island.

Hot Lava

Of course we also had to go to a luau.  Ella was super excited about the luau and we went to a really great one where they taught the kids a hula dance and then they got on stage and performed it.  Super cute!  The second reason we went to Hawaii was because Ella wanted to try poi.  So, she finally got to at the luau and seemed to enjoy it (although she was surprised it was cold).

All ready for the luau

Hula Dancers

Fire Dancer

Next it was time for some water sports.  Ella snorkeled and swam with turtles, which she loved.  She also did a little boogie boarding and although she had a wipeout or 2, she kept trying!

Ella riding the waves

Kyle and I decided to take a surf lesson.  We did better than we though we would and rode some waves, although we could have sworn they were at least 5 feet tall!

Surfing together

Finally we wrapped the trip up with a wagon ride into Waipio Valley.  The road into this valley is a 25% grade downhill and once you get down, only about 50 people live in the valley.  Of those, only half have electricity and running water.  Although rural now, it once was home to 20,000 people.  The valley is incredibly fertile with a source of fresh water, so in the days when being able to grow food and have fresh water was of utmost importance, it was the place to be.  Now, there’s not a whole lot to do there except guide wagon tours and grow taro.  It is an incredibly beautiful and peaceful valley.

Waipio Valley Wagon Ride

Waipio Valley Waterfall

Highlights of the trip also included eating at Merriman’s in Waimea, playing on the beach with Ella and just having some nice family and best friend time.  Everyone made it back to their respective homes safely and hopefully we can all go somewhere again someday.

To celebrate our 10 year Anniversary, Kyle and I left Ella with Grandma and Grandpa and went to Chicago to eat.  We secured reservations at Alinea and had our fingers crossed for “same day” reservations to Chef Achatz’s new restaurant, Next.  Alinea lived up to our expectations and now I will describe it in detail.  WARNING:  Food porn to follow…

The evening began with Steelhead Roe with watermelon, kafir lime and oxalis:

Steelhead roe

Then came Hamachi on a vanilla bean skewer flavored with banana and ginger.  This was like a savory, yet sweet and spicy fried banana.

Hamachi

Then we had seven more dishes we don’t have pictures for, but my favorite of these was the English Pea.  The Chef had made English Peas in about 4 different ways including an incredible soup and amazingly crunchy dehydrated peas.  The next course pictured is the famous “Hot Potato Cold Potato”.  This consisted of a perfect bite of a hot potato ball over vichyssoise flavored with black truffles.

Hot Potato Cold Potato

A few courses before this, the waiter had placed funny looking flags at our table and told us not to touch them.  Now it was revealed to us that these were sheets of pasta in which we were to roll the next course, a short rib.  A very interactive course, various garnishes including fermented garlic and blackberry, were to be added at our discretion.   At some point we were also served a bowl of eucalyptus leaves with a single silver pin in the middle.  You pulled out the pin to reveal a perfect bite of venison flavored with cherry and cocoa nibs.  As a palate cleanser, a test tube was given to us filled with dragonfruit, cilantro, cucumber and lemongrass.  The stopper was made of gelatin so we were instructed to lift the tube to our lips and suck the liquid out.  A flavor explosion ensued!

Dragonfruit shot

Another palate cleanser consisted of a small metal disk that we were warned not to touch with our tongues.  It contained yuzu (an asian citrus fruit) sorbet that had been super frozen with nitrogen.  The grand finale consists of Chef Achatz himself coming out and making dessert ON your table.  The waiter lays down a silicone table cloth and Chef creates a masterpiece in front of your eyes.

So, not only did we have an amazing meal, we also got to meet Chef Achatz!  I casually mentioned we were hoping to obtain “same day” reservations for Next the following night while Chef was creating our dessert.  After he left, a waiter came out and asked for our contact information and told us Chef wanted to give us reservations for Next!  How lucky are we?  Amazing.

Happy couple post-meal (and yes, that is my wedding dress!)

Our reservation wasn’t until 9:15, so we went to the climbing gym to burn some calories.  Incredibly enough, Chicago does not have a “real” climbing gym.  The best we could find was in the basement of a gymnastics studio.  Needless to say, they didn’t have much space to work with.  This resulted in some route finding difficulties.

"Am I climbing blue with white stripes or white with blue stripes?"

We also had time for drinks at Aviary (Chef Achatz’s cocktail lounge that is adjacent to Next) with Bill Brown and his lovely girlfriend Kirsten.  Aviary has custom glassware and a whole room dedicated to making ice cubes infused with various flavors and often spherical.  One of the most involved cocktails was the Rooibos Tea.  This was akin to a science project complete with bunson burner.

Cocktail or Science Project?

Finally it was time for our reservation so we bit adieu to Bill and Kirsten and stepped into Paris 1906.  Not being huge fans of French food, we wondered how we would enjoy the menu.  The flavors were amazing.  I had the first fois gras I actually liked!  We also feasted on duck with jus made in a duck press and the richest potatoes au gratin I’ve ever tasted.  The dessert was a Bombe Ceylan, a sort of ice cream bon bon.

Bombe Ceylan

We left Chicago for Santa Cruz, stuffed, but happy.

For the past month we’ve been traveling.  This trip has been so crazy and all over the map that it deserves several installations.  As an overview, we traveled first to Denver to see U2, then to Las Cruces for Mike and Jeri’s 50th Anniversary, then Kyle and I went to Chicago for our 10th Anniversary, then we all met in Santa Cruz for a couple days and flew to Hawaii for a week.  We finally returned home late Tuesday night.  All in all we had 6 separate flights and no delays, lost luggage or meltdowns!

The first part of this trip actually was added last.  About a month before we were set to leave, I see a mysterious message on Facebook from my mom asking my brothers if they like U2 and then saying to check their email.  So, I call my mom and say, “I like U2″.  I find out she’s scored 4 tickets to a 1000 person U2 concert and given them to my brothers without asking me if I like U2!  Well, luckily she made some calls and scored another ticket so Kyle and I could go too.  This extended our 3 week trip to a month and added a stop in Denver, but it was so worth it!  The concert was amazing and we even met Bono.

Are we close enough?

I just shook Bono's hand!

After that once-in-a-lifetime experience (thanks Mom and Dad) we hopped on a plane to El Paso and drove over to Las Cruces.  Kyle and I took a little side trip up to Datil for a couple of days climbing.  The first day was insanely windy, but the second day turned out better and Kyle sent “Goliath”.

"Goliath" follows the shadow / light arete. Arguably, an absolutely perfect line.

For those of you who don’t know, this is a 35 meter 13a, which is likely the best route in New Mexico.  (In non-climber speak, a very long and difficult climbing route).  We returned for the 50th Anniversary celebration.  Ella enjoyed dancing with her cousins and we all feasted on excellent BBQ.  I also made some killer sangria to accompany the food and Ella helped me make a strawberry orange sponge cake.

Dancing with cousins

Serious dancing

50th Anniversary Couple

After the party, we left Ella with Grandma and Grandpa and headed to Chicago to celebrate our 10th Anniversary.

All of the photos can be seen here

To be continued…

Skating with Sophie on one of our last days in Flagstaff

Okay, so I’m not doing great on my New Year’s Resolution.  Maybe a post a month is all I can handle?  January was quite busy though with moving to Bend, then the next weekend Kyle and I went to the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City.  It turned out to be a hectic, but successful trip.  I won the women’s division of the pull-up contest with 17 pull-ups and we scored deals with Sterling Ropes and Stonewear Designs clothes.  Thanks for their support!  And thanks to Grammy and Grandpa for staying with Ella so we could go.

Swimming Lesson

I would like to say our days have been filled with unpacking and organizing, which half of them are, but the other half are filled with climbing at Smith Rock and exploring the area.  Ella is making new friends at school and has started swimming and ballet/tap lessons.  Next week she starts ice skating lessons.  The most exciting news is that Ella got into an amazing private school called Seven Peaks.  They only take 18 students in their Junior-K class, so I think we got really lucky.

Ella likes to have her picture taken every day with these statues outside her school

again

This weekend we are headed to Portland with some of our new friends and we’re going to visit old friends as well.  My college roommate, Jennifer Nelson, is living in Portland and just had twins in November.  I think it’s been about 8 years since we’ve seen each other!  Should be fun.

Baking in our new house with her new apron from Aunt Debbie

I can’t say enough about how happy we are and how much we love Bend.  The people are great and friendly, the weather has been pretty good, the climbing is amazing and there are so many things to do here.  Of course we miss our good friends and neighbors in Flagstaff, but we do hope they will visit us soon.  We are ready for visitors!

And now for an amazing recipe.  I made this last night for dessert for our realtor/friend who came over with her wonderful family.

Coconut Chai Chocolate Cake

adapted from Clean Eating cookbook

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cardamom

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 cup milk (after some thought, I should have used coconut milk)

1 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

1/4 unsweetened flake coconut

Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and mix with hand mixer until combined.  Mix in coconut flakes.  Pour batter into 9 inch round baking pan that has been oiled and dusted with flour.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely then frost.

My Coconut Chai Frosting

please forgive the lack of measurements

Steep chai tea extra strong (2 tea bags with about a 1/2 cup water), add to cream cheese, add coconut milk and about 1 Tbsp coconut oil and mix with hand mixer.  Add truvia to taste and powdered milk to thicken to frosting consistency.

This cake is amazing!

So we have spent the last three weeks in Bend / Smith Rocks, OR.  It’s been a ridiculous whirlwind of decision making.  I’m dizzy….what happened?

We came here 3 weeks ago to make some final decisions about whether to move here or not.  Within a few hours, it was easy.  It’s wasn’t a decision, it was an obligation.  The community, the food, cheap houses, lots of outdoorsy folk with kiddos, and the climbing (of course).

House hunting we went.  After a week or so we settled on a nice place in the middle of a great neighborhood.  Gangs of kiddos riding bikes and people living the good life.   Made an offer, got a loan (2% !!!), and signed our name a hundred times.  Trigger  pulled….boom.

Next was the schooling.  It was a choice between an orderly Montessori or full spanish immersion (the teachers are don’t to say a word in english).  Without a clear preference we chose both.  3 days at spanish, 2 days at Montessori.

In the middle of all of all that we had to get a proper tour of Smith Rocks.  Climbing about every other day was sufficient.  The place is simply AWESOME.  I absolutely love the challenge of a new climbing style with plenty of hard routes to choose from.  The beta is cryptic and exact.  Routes quickly change from 5.15+ to 5.13a with an obscure, far reaching foothold.   Thank you local beta lords for your help.

Since Smith will be our home crag I thought it was best to climb as many different routes as possible (rather than projecting something hard).  I’m in no rush in completing anything.  I have plenty of time. I did manage to feel reasonably comfortable on Badman & White Wedding (14a).  I was also able to successfully drag myself up Aggro Monkey (13b).  All are ultra classics.  I feel like I accomplished all of my goals for the trip.

Aimee wasn’t as enamored as I was.  She found the reachy pockets and the minimalist bolting to be….well…”crappy”.  But, after a couple of weeks things started to come together.  She adjusted, found more suitable routes, and started to crank again.  It seemed to all click on a single day and it was cool to watch.

This move is a huge deal for us.  We’ve lived in Flagstaff for almost a decade and have grown strong roots.  It will be difficult to leave our friends, but I know it’s for the best.  I can’t remember ever being so excited about the future.

I’m REALLY looking forward to visitors.  I can’t wait to give a proper tour to my climber friends.  I will put them on an easy 5.12 warm-up, sit back, stay quite, and watch the suffer.  Yes, a little cruel….but if I had to endure it and so will you  (hopefully).

Keep in touch.

-kyle

Yes, I love food. It provides fuel for climbing. I escape reality when I chew on something really good. It keeps me healthy. It warms me in the winter and cools me in the summer. It brings my family together every night. I love that Ella is learning how to cook, taste, and appreciate real food. If you are like me and appreciate real food (as opposed to boxed, frozen, processed food products) than you can appreciate what this night was for us.

El Bulli is, and has been, the best restaurant in the world. No question. Adrian Ferran is a genius. He single handedly invented the molecular gastronomy food movement. We’ve eaten at a few of America’s top restaurants and while those were good, nothing compared to this meal. Nothing. My best analogy is to imagine yourself working contently on a 1988 IBM PC. It’s slow but you don’t notice because you’re used to it. Now imagine someone gives you a 2010 mac book pro. That’s what this meal is like compared to other top restaurants.

At dinner, we met two people who lost their jobs for keeping their reservations. You can always get another job, but you will never get another chance to go to El Bulli (1/4000 chance). There are a few people I know that I would recommend selling their car (if needed) and flying to spain for the weekend. It’s that good.

The courses ranged from playful to intense. They were small and usually required instruction from the waiter. “Eat this first, then this in two bites.”

El Bulli is located 2.5 hours north of Barcelona. It’s a simple looking rustic restaurant in the hills above the Mediterranean Sea. Yes…it was expensive, but not as expensive as other top restaurants and probably less than you think.

El Bulli
June 15, 2010

	The happy and hungry couple outside of El Bulli. We showed up 30 minutes early in hopes of a tour.
	We weren’t disappointed as we were able to take a tour of the kitchen and meet the head hauncho. Adrian Ferran is an absolute genius. and it was an honour to meet him. The kitchens were open and simple. There were about 30 chefs hunched over the cooking area who never even looked up while we were there.
	Sugar cane: mojito and caprihanha Corn Handkerchief The evening began with “snacks“. First up was corn bread and a mojito. We knew we were in for adventure right then. The bread was sweet, salty, corny, and crunchy. We laughed a lot because there’s something fun and child-like to eat fancy food with your fingers. It was fun tasting too. Like a carnival treat.
	The mojito and caprihana were “drunk” by chewing on the infused sugar cane sticks. A surprising amount of rum and lime came out.
	Snow Fizz: Super light and almost weightless. The Gin Fizz had a little alcohol kick and was just plain fun to eat.
	Gin Fizz Hot, foamy meringue on top of a near frozen gin. The temperature contrast was was fun and the gin had a citrusy flavour to it.
	Gorgonzola Globe Umami Cherries This is when the party really started. The gorgonzola cheese was frozen into an ostrich egg shape then “cracked” at the table. Salty and delicious. The umami was amazing. I had never had a pure sample of umami. Umami is a recently discovered defined taste that most people associate with savory. The flavour was intense, little familiar, yet undescribable. It took our brains for a whirl.
	Spherical Olives The famous El Bulli Olives. Ahhhh. He is a genius. at deconstructing and reconstructing simple foods. The reconstructed foods are similar to the original, but multiplied by a zillion. The newly created item is all natural. There’s nothing artificial and is unlike the concentrated syrups you can find at a grocery store. The moment the “olive” went into my mouth it exploded into a burst of intense olive flavours. Void of any bitterness I would have expected from a concentrated olive. Pure olive goodness. We both laughed out loud when we ate them.
	American Mimetics Peanuts Another El Bulli classic. The reconstructed peanut. Much more delicate and intense compared to an real peanut. It was sweet, salty, and brittle.
	Flower Nectar This was one of my favourites of the evening and my life. Here’s what it’s like. Imagine walking through a big field of flowers. Now gather all the flowers up and eat them all in a single bite. That’s close. You pull out the bottom stem and suck out ~2 ml of fluid. Bright and stunning and without any “perfumy” flavours. Just pure flower.
	Coconut Sponge The coconut sponge cake was so light that it was almost air. Perhaps just to cleanse the pallet and give your brain a break.
	Tea Biscuit A green tea biscuit with ginger. Very earth tasting with long lasting ginger tones.
	“Joselito” Ham and Ginger Canape The dish combined crunchy and chewy with rich flavours. followed by ginger.
	Tatar of Marrow The waiter brought it out and said the leaves were “special”. I took a small nibble and had a odd reaction. I started to cry. I don’t know why, because it was good. It wasn’t a simple leaf, as it was coated and concentrated with an earthy taste. It’s undescribable why it evoked such a reaction. I then scooped the bone marrow and oyster mixture on to the leave and was in love. We were definitely moving into “earthy” flavours.
	Shrimp with Seaweed Small boiled (?) shrimp on a bed of sea weed. Hints of ginger and green tea played out.
	Montjoi Lentils These lentils were another huge highlight of the night. I took a big sniff of the bowl and thought “ok, simple cardamom and cumin lentils”. Then I took a small spoonful and everything changed. Maybe a little cardamom initially, then came huge chocolate overtones that lasted for over a minute. I swore there was chocolate, but none was added. Finally, after about a minute the ginger kicked in. I’ve never eaten something that traveled so long on the tongue.
	Prawn two Firings Another trippy experience. The first taste was concentrated shrimp essence on the spoon. It was smooth and shrimpy. The second bite was chewy and the best bite of shrimp possible. The third bite was the shrimp head and legs. Fried and crunchy. I generally don’t like fried food because it’s too plain. Somehow he found something good about fried food.
	Mimetic Almond As I mentioned earlier, Fran is a genius at deconstructing a food and this was a perfect example. He took a simple almond and deconstructed it into it’s different components (salt, almond, crunch, & roast). Then he reconstructed each element into it’s own form. So in a single “bean”, I only tasted a single component of the almond. Each bean retained some element of an almond so there was no mistake the intention of the plate. The plate was accompanied by a salted apricot and tomato essence (the white mix).
	Pine nut shabu-shabu Another super intense and poetic experience. Have you ever walked in a japanese rain forest and ate buckets of earth, moss, roots, and bark? Well I have because that’s exactly what it tasted like (in a VERY GOOD WAY). After eating the earth I drank cool rain. That’s exactly what it tasted like. Earthy ravioli triangles served on bark- pine nut essence encased in the thinnest wrapping possible.
	Pine This was just a quick dish but it was not short on intensity. Have you ever ate a pine tree? Yes, a freaking pine tree! Only a small portion of this mix was edible and I don’t know how he did it, but it was damn good. Aimee said it tasted like pine sol only really good.
	Soya Milk with Soya Yet another deconstructing experience. He took soy and offered all possible tastes of it. Roasted, dried, fermented, sprouted. Also to play with the pallet he included an odd brown powder that dried up my mouth. Initially I thought this would be a plain dish but I was wrong. While the flavours. were subtle, they were very complex.
	Asparagus with Miso All I kept saying when I ate this was….”This is wooonderful, this is wooonderful”. Texturally perfect asparagus and accompanied with rich, creamy flavours.
	Miso Soup Another play on cold and hot. The dish consisted of sake ice balls (not shown) and hot miso soup. As instructed, I popped a frozen saki ball in to my mouth, then immediately drink the hot miso soup which melted the sake.
	Abalone The sea anemone was a texture adventure. Chewy and firm with developing flavours of ginger. The dish was a piece of art with small mushrooms decorating the dish.
	Whoa….I need a break. The flavours. were all so intense that we needed a breather. We were also getting FULL and knew we had more meals to come. I asked to visit the kitchen and they obliged. The scene was organized and busy. Everyone was moving with such intention and professionalism. Adrian stood at the edge of the table and hardly looked up from his stare at the menus in front of him. He only barked orders and pointed. He wasn’t rude, but he was to the point. He needed a certain meal NOW.
	Roses / Artichokes Fran spent many months in south america looking for this dish. Finding an edible rose is a hard task. The rose tasted exactly like how a rose smells. Sweet, pungent, smooth, and void of bitter. Prior to eating, the waiter offered a smell of a the fresh cut (raw) version to prepare the pallet.
	Sea Anemone with Te More ocean foods. Salt is very trendy in cooking and Fran probably has something to do with it. The salty sea anemone were salty, oceany, and fun to eat. The texture was very similar to a fig. Slightly stringy, meaty, and juicy.
	Eel Sandwich Feran is spanish so it makes sense that he would incorporate the much loved “bocadillo” (plain sandwich) in to the menu. Personally, I can’t stomach those tasteless white bread things, but the spanish love them. His take was far different though. The bread was airy and similar to a marshmallow in texture but without sweetness. Maybe a cross between a marshmallow and raw dough. The eel was a little sweet and simply the best eel I’ve ever eaten.
	Suckling Pig Tail Wow, I was getting really full when they brought this one out. I thought there was no way I could finish it and needed to take another break prior to tackling it. It was another example of good fried food and much lighter than I expected. It wa crunchy and airy from the space provided by the watercress. It was good, but not my favourite.
	Hare Juise with apple jelly-cru with black currant marinated This dish was playful and comedic. It came out near the end of all of the main course meals so naturally you are preparing for dessert. The bowl had a single red gelatin element that looked like a strawberry. Then they poured what looked like chocolate all around. Ok, strawberries and chocolate right? Nope, heart gravy. Rich and tasting a little like grandma’s pot roast. It was fun to be fooled. A woman near us looked very disappointed and we laughed.
	Pond After such a rich plate I needed something clean and bright. The dish was simple….a thin layer of aerated ice sprinkled with sugar crystals and concentrated mint. It was so refreshing and we said it tasted like the arctic.
	Puff Pastry of Pineapple This dish was just plain fun to eat. It reminded me of candy and made us feel like children. It was made up of sweet, crunchy, sugar “paper”. The inside was dehydrated pineapple and coconut. I really don’t like candy as I find it plain, artificial, and too sweet. This wasn’t the case with this dish.
	Passion Fruit Marshmallow These were small marshmallow like sandwiches coated with cocoa powder. Light and a little sweet that sandwiched milk chocolate and passion fruit balls.
	Roses This was a really rich desert that I wish I had a better photo of. The brown clump (shown) was a beautifully crafted rose. It tasted very rich with raspberry and chocolate overtones. It was intense and went well with red wine.
	Shellfish Another twist on expectations. as this was actually a desert course. The clam shells were filled with pearls of passion fruit that exploded in the mouth. The lemons were real lemons (I was actually thinking they weren’t going to be lemons because I had started to loose sense of reality). He dehydrated the lemons then rehydrated them with a slightly sweet mixture that broke down the fibers of the peel. This allowed me to eat the entire lemon (rind and all) without the sour or bitter from the rind.
	Big Box Not full yet? No problem, here’s a box of freaking chocolate A big freaking box. Not shown in this photo is another drawer filled with different types of chocolate. I don’t know how many there were. Maybe over a hundred pieces with probably 30 variations of chocolate. Aimee tried every piece (except the pink one). She’s a trooper, I could only manage a few samples.
	Drunk on food and wine. We may not look as happy, but we truly were. It was a great night.
	The complete menu given to us at the end of the evening.

We are winding down this trip and what a trip it has been.  It’s hard not to be a little reflective about it all, even though  it’s not like we walked to Tibet to meet the Dali Lama.  Simply put, we wanted to expose Ella to another world and to do a lot of rock climbing.   Mission Accomplished.

We also wondered if we wanted to permanently move to europe?
We wanted to really get outside the crazy fishbowl of America.  Jump out, look back, and decide if we want to permanently live outside the U.S.  Well, the answer is “NO”.  Although Europe has so much to offer, there’s something that draws us back home.  I don’t know if it’s the simple conveniences of America (like stores being open on sunday and not closing in the middle of the day for 2+ hours), or if there is something deeper.  We are tentatively planning on spending a year in spain so ella can go to school and learn spanish properly.
We were also able to make some big decisions about our future, but that’s a whole other thing.

We started this trip in Italy (which as a country, really, really sucks), traveled around France, Germany, and have made Spain our home for over 2 months.

Here’s a list of 10 things we will miss in Spain:
(In no particular order)

Roundabouts: 
Who knew these damn little driving circles were so awesome.   I love how there is suddenly no exact rules or lanes as you enter one.  Without lanes or defined rules, you must drive more on feel and mutual cooperation with the other drivers.  After exiting, everyone goes back in line and the laws of the Universe return.  Also, from a safety point of view, they can’t be beat.  Everyone is basically moving in the same direction.  No hard t-bone collisions possible.  Just a few fender benders at most, which we have been lucky to avoid so far.

Small Cars:
We’ve had such a great reprieve from the humongous, ridiculous, insane cars of the U.S.  I feel like a penny on a railroad track in the U.S.

The Produce:
We don’t go to restaurants very often (I like to cook) so having such quality produce was awesome.  I thought that I had red bell peppers before Spain.  No, I just had little crunchy red things.  These were the real deal.  The weekly open air markets beat the pants off any Farmer’s Market in America!

Spanish Climbing Scene:
The best climbing scene in the world (IMO).  Passionate and yet relaxed enough to laugh about it all.  They don’t seem to come out to climb.  Rather they come to chat, smoke, chat, smoke, climb a little, scream, chat, etc.

Access to German Beer and Bread:
No, that’s not a typo.  Spain is such a tourist attraction for other euros that you can get good German bread and beer.

Damn Good Rock:

Pinches, tufa’s, underclings, everything.   It’s all true….it is that good.

Decathalon:
European’s version of REI.  Maybe more like a Big 5 on steroids.  Super bargains and well organized.

Playgrounds
Maybe Spain doesn’t have the best playgrounds in the world, but they’re still pretty good.  I appreciate the sense of creativity, adventure and a little dangerer.  It’s ok if kids get a little hurt.  At least they will know their limits.

Good Cheap Wine:
World class wines  that can be bought for cheaper than water.  I actually think they drink more wine than water.

Cool Old Stuff

I like that where ever you go, you see old stuff.  Old stuff on the road, on hilltops, in the city, it’s everywhere.  When I say old, I mean older than our country kind of old.  I think that this constant reminder of the past keeps traditions alive.

So what did we learn on this trip?

• Well, we learned that Italy sucks.  We like France a lot more than we thought we did. Germany and Spain are still favorites.
• We also learned a bit more about climbing harder and the patience of projecting a hard route.
• Ella is more agile from all of the hiking, loves to dance, and learned a bit of a few languages.
• There were a lot of ups and down.  People assumed that we were going on a vacation (which is a fair assumption), but in reality we still had to deal with all of the same everyday problems (but in a different language).  It was a rich, difficult experience that I’ll always be grateful for.  By far it was the most exciting and greatest 5 months of our lives.

It’s been great, but it’s not quite over.  For the grand finale, we’re off to Barcelona and El Bulli Restaurant.  More on that later.

We’ve finally been here long enough to be accepted into the local climbing scene.  We were invited to a “locals only” crag yesterday called “Rincon Bello”.  Our new friend, Jorge (aka “Big George”) invited us.  He introduced us to his friend, Marques, who seemed to be called Juanito at times.

Jorge and Marques horsing around

He also introduced us to Miguel, who is demonstrating the “Spanish” belay technique here:

Notice the cigarette in hand, although usually there is a much larger loop of slack brushing the ground and the belayer is often mid-conversation with someone other than the climber.  The Spanish tend to take huge lead falls due to these facts, which is quite entertaining, especially coupled with the angry outbursts of “Joder”, “Puta”, and “Madre Mia”.  The Spanish can pitch wobblers like no other.  Then they come down and smoke and laugh just like nothing ever happened.  They get over their defeats quickly.  They also sport some great fashion.  Here is Ruben in his stylin’ jean “manpris”:

Reuben searching for his climbing pants after meeting and greeting for 30 minutes

I was wishing “Spanish George Clooney” would show up in his skin tight white manpris again, but alas, he never did.  Spanish climbers show up late (after noon), arrive at the crag, greet everyone there, smoke a cigarette, change their pants in the middle of the crag, smoke another cigarette, chat more, put their harness on, smoke another cigarette, chat more and then finally get down to climbing.  They then repeat the smoking, chatting, resting all day interspersed with a burn or 2 on their projects.  Climbing is a very social sport for the Spanish.  They often bring their families and non-climbing friends out.  They do not bring music or attitude.  Well, there was one guy with attitude whom we named “horker” for his propensity to “hork” his snot every 2 minutes.  But he was the only one.  Then there are super chill guys like Armando:

Kyle and Armando comparing climbing shoes

Armando is a typical “dirt bag” climbing who lives in his van 10 months out of the year and works for 2.  He explains simply, “I don’t like to work”.  He is a generous soul who is kind to children and animals, even the pesky dog, Tito, who inhabits the local crag.

We’ve had such a good time getting to know the local climbers.  I’m going to miss them (but not “horker”).

From Ella to everybody:

I got my camera for my birthday.  It has Hello Kitty on it.

I was at a climbing area and now we know the river has fish in it.

Emily’s picture came out good.

It was very hard to climb this rock outside Calpe, but it was a nice view.

It was very fun to go to MundoMar.  We met a guy dressed like an animal.  The sea lion was just lying there taking a nap after the show.  The dolphins did tricks.

The penguins would go out of the water and stand up on the rocks.  They would swim underwater.

I looked very mean with my “shark face”.

Maybe it’s my ego?  Maybe I think this trip or our climbing is somehow important to the world.  Either way I feel compelled to continue with this blog.  It’s been a long time since I last updated this thing.  I would write more but our lives aren’t that interesting.  We climb on 3-4 days/week.  On rest days we go to the grocery store and go on some crazy adventure with ella.

CLIMBING
The conditions and rock are splendid.  We are driving about an hour down to sella about every other day.  ”Wild Side” is world class.  Pinches, slopers, and underclings are the name of the game.  I don’t know how much it will improve my overall climbing, but I am getting good at pinching little “chorreritas”.  I fully realize the opportunity to climb this much on quality hard routes.   I try hard.  I’m horrible at knowing how much to rest and we constantly struggle between climbing too much, or not enough.

I continue to be close to climbing my first 8c (14b’ish).  Although I regularly get through the crux, I’m surprised how difficult it is to get to the top without falling.  Here, on this public forum, I am having to admit that I am resorting to a kneepad to achieve my goals.  This pains me as I’ve belittled their use soooo much in the past.  I’m only going to use 1 of the 2 kneebar rests on this route!  (I only have 1 knee pad with me).  I occasionally play on a few neighboring routes that feel much easier.

Me, near the top.

Aimee is climbing the best of her life.  She recently did her first legit 8a.   Felt like 12b climbing to a big rest followed by 3 bolts of V8.  Success.  Days later she took a nasty fall that kept her from climbing for about a week.   She’s back at it, linking together another 8a.

Aimee on her way to a proud ascent.

Ella still digs coming out with us.  I enjoy this time in her life when she is unaware of gravity.  She’ll get to a top of a tall boulder and jump off (rope attached to anchor above her).  HUGE swings into air.  Then pull her to the top and we fully open the belay device so she comes falling down.  I really need to get a video of that.

Ella, flying high

ELLA STUFF
Like our climbing life, we take advantage of our surroundings.   Every other day we go do something with ella.  There are a bunch of pics in the gallery portion of the site.  Here’s a short list of recent trips:

• Penon De ifach: It’s an 1100′ mountain that ella hiked most of the way up.  It was cool to see her pass 90% of the people that ultimately  turned back.

• Beach: We live about a mile from a nice beach.  She cruises up and down on her new “big girl bike”, and plays with the other kiddos.

• Font d’ Algar: Darn nice water fall about an hour south.  Beautiful crystal clear waterfall.  It was the only day that I wish that it was screaming hot, but the water was still too cold to dive into.

• Mondo Mar: The sea world of Costa Blanca.

• Valencia Aquarium: I’m blown away every time I see the “Les Arts” building complex.

GRANDPARENTS
Aimee’s parents came out for a couple of weeks and we all enjoyed having them with us.  Now my parents are here for the remainder of our trip.  I’m never offended when we’re regularly ignored by ella when grandma or grammy are in the room.

NEXT PHASE
With great luck we were able to secure a reservation at El Bulli restaurant.  We extended our trip by a few days to accommodate our dinner plans.  ”Big Deal” you may think.  It’s just a dinner.  Despite my small structure, I’m really, really into food.  El Bulli is usually rated the best restaurant in the world.  I’ve heard rumors of a >30 course meal.  Total journey.  I’m psyched.  Our reservations are for june 15, 2 days before our return home.

WE LOVE GERMANY!
It’s my favorite country in the world.
Well, I suppose I should clarify that statement.  I love everything that is connected to the earth and dislike everything not connected.  Items connected to the ground include: the rocks, the trees, and all it’s glorious grain products (bread and beer).  I dislike what’s just above the ground.  This includes the air, sky, and all of the cold rain it produces.

Last year we spent a few weeks in germany and fell in love with it.  One of the highlights was the playmobile funpark.  Ella decided that she wanted to spend her next birthday there and didn’t waiver over the year.

So, since we were in europe anyways, off we went.  Yes, she is an only child and can be on this side of spoiled, but don’t go thinking we flew all the way to germany for her birthday.  Germany happens to have world class climbing set in an amazing forest.

Ella’s birthday was all that she hoped for.  Playmobile funpark followed by pizza, orange cake with orange curd frosting. All topped with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

Hanging in the ropes room.

Fun at the playmobile funpark.

Queen for the day.

B-day Dinner - Big salad and a pizza.

Orange cake with orange curd frosting. Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting

Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano

We spent a few days climbing then we heard something about a volcano in iceland.  Little did we know how much it would effect our lives.  All european flights cancelled and all train tickets sold out.  While driving back to spain is possible, we’d rather not choose that 18 hour option.  We are still scrambling around looking for alternatives or when we can leave germany.

I have no idea what life was like before Skype.  We’ve spent hours on hold or trying to talk to someone.  I think we would have spent a thousand dollars on phone bills.  Also, it’s nice to do something other than holding a phone.

So here we sit.  Stuck in an idyllic little german town.  Incredible weather and climbing right outside our door.

I think the climbing in Frankenjura is an overlooked climbing destination.  I started thinking about why that is.

#1) Maybe it’s because it’s not very photogenic?  The rock is grey and not very inspiring.  It’s overhanging with lots of bumps and a few odd pockets.  Nothing like dramatic blue-streaked limestone seen in France.

#2) Maybe because it is initially difficult due to the odd pockets?  Begining a new route starts with the same process.

First try on Route: Stop at the crux move.  Look down at your belayer and tell them that you’re on the wrong route.  ”There’s NO WAY this is X grade”

Second Try: Stop at crux move and tell belayer that the move might be possible, but it’s really hard for the grade.

Third Try: Almost do route and realize that you’re on the right route, and the grade is about right.

#3) The weather generally sucks.  The skies are often grey, it rains a lot, and it can be cold.  Ok, those are pretty good reasons not to come to Frankenjura.  But, it’s worth it…I promise.

Aimee on some german named route (13a).

Kyle close but not sending a route I can't pronounce (13+)

Rest days are spent at the market or simply driving any direction and finding cool stuff to do.   There’s no shortage of bread, beer, or fun times.  Spain awaits though and we shall return….someday.

I know that everyone has their morning rituals and I thought I’d share mine.  I like to absolutely minimize any cognitive processes in the morning.  Also, since we like to get out climbing early, I like to have as much done in the morning as possible.

So, this is what our counter top looks like every morning.  If I took a picture tomorrow morning it would look EXACTLY the same.

STEP 1: Come into the kitchen and have a big drink of water.

STEP 2: Coffee maker filled night before.  Light coffee.  After coffee is done and poured use the spoon on the right hand side of counter to remove grounds from the stove top coffee maker.

STEP 3: Chop up fruit for the morning’s “homemade jelly”.  (Chopped and cooked fruit)

STEP 4: Make oatmeal.  Pan is already filled with water so I just need to boil the water and add the oats.

STEP 5: Water bottles filled  and sandwiches made the night before.

Brush teeth, get dressed, get ella dressed, grab pack, grab ella. Time to go.

Fascinating…I know.

Terra Natura

Just outside the bustling town of Benidorm there is a zoo called Terra Natura.  It’s quite innovative in design.  The layout comprises 4 “continents”- Pangea, America, Asia and Europe.  In the Greek region, you actually feel like you are walking the streets of Mykonos.  We saw elephants being fed up close:

and a sea lion show:

and of course Ella loved the characters:

We only had time to see about half the zoo, so we’ll have to go back.  There’s also a large amusement park nearby, Terra Mitica, which we are hoping to go to soon.

Denia

Ella and I had another Mommy/Daughter day and visited an old castle in the town of Denia.  She was an excellent model for me.

"Ballet arms"

More ballet?

View of Denia

After our castle visit, we found a shopping mall.  I was surprised at how excited I was to go to a shopping mall!  Ella was excited about the rides.  Since the day we went was her actual birthday (we’re celebrating next week when we go to Germany- at her request), I bought her a cute outfit she picked out.  She was very excited.

Climbing

Ella has been going out climbing with us a lot more lately.  She really enjoys it and was almost in tears one day recently when we had to leave her home.  She has been getting in her harness and swinging.  Yesterday in Sella, she kept wanting to go higher and was so excited that she got all the way to the anchors.

About 50 feet off the deck

Calpe in the background

Valencia

We go to Valencia about once a week.  Last time we were there we re-inacted our Guliver pic from 2 years ago.

Spring - 2010

Spring - 2008

We’ve been having such a great time, that we are now exploring spending a school year out here.  It sure seems like paradise.

It’s been awhile since we’ve last posted anything, so I suppose it’s time for an update.

After some challenging times in italy we decided to drive south west to the Costa Blanca region of Spain.  We were here 2 years ago and loved it, so enough of gambling on uncertain rock and weather.

The Costa Blanca region is truly a suburb of the U.K.  Everywhere we go everything is in english.  British and german food is plentiful in the grocery stores (not necessarily a good thing).  Although it’s not very true Spanish experience, we love it.  Life’s logistics are easier (we can park right outside our door!), and the weather is wonderful.
Our first adventure was to return to the science and aquarium park (Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias).  One of the most amazing set of buildings I’ve ever seen.

We all had a great time.  Ella watched a 3-D movie and played construction at the kids area.

Aimee working her new project

There are probably 50 climbing areas within an hours drive of our home.  Unfortunately most of them are sharp, slabby, and easy.  There are 2 gems though.  Los Pinos is a nice roadside crag with a dozen or so hard routes.

.

.

.

.

.

Kyle flashing my first 8a.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

And there is Sella.   Sella has one of the most spectacular cliffs I’ve ever ever seen.  Perfect tufas reach 100 feet into the air, creating hard and pumpy routes.  It’s a shady crag so it will only get better with time.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The other great thing about being back to this area is the Gulliver Park of Valencia. A big crazy park Based on the story “Gulliver’s travels”.  Mom and daughter enjoyed a sunny day there while I never left the house.  One bite of a rotten turkey sandwich was enough to give me horrible food poisoning.  I’ll leave out the details.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Just a quick note on the climbing.  After all, we have invested a ton into climbing up small sections of european limestone.  While others come to the look at old statues and eat delicious carbohydrates with olive oil.  We climb.

The weather is finally turning sunny and warm.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that we are dealing with water that flows through limestone via capillary action.  As it warms, there is an increase in the energy gradient and thus greater flow.  The warm air literally pulls out the water.  So, as it warms up during the day and weeks, the rock actually gets wetter.  All that education has finally paid off.

Our areas have been limited.  Our favorite crag (Castillion) is unclimbable.  We have been able to spend a couple of days in “La Turbie”.  It is situated high above Monaco and is absolutely spectacular.  Truly one of the most awe inspiring crags we’ve ever seen.  There is one large cave that is mostly wet.  The routes outside the cave are mostly dry.

Aimee high above Monaco.

I was able to do an 8a in a couple of tries that required a technique I’ve never tried.  One of the crux tufa pinches was dripping wet.  Aimee first went up and dried as best she could.  Then I climbed as fast as I could and right before I grabbed the hold I smeared a handful of chalk over the pinch.  Worked OK, and I did the route.  Oh well.  Spain is soon.

-kyle

On our way back from Provence we met a nice Canadian lady (who has lived in France for the past 12 years) named Kathrine, at a gas station.  She has 2 sons, Ilan who is 2 and Andoni who is 4.  Adoni and Ella hit it off playing at the gas station and so she invited us up to Isola, France where they live.  Since the weather hasn’t been so nice here on the Riviera, we took them up on it.  They showed us a lovely time.  We went ice skating, sledding and Ella went skiing for her second time.  Ella skied better the second time.  She was able to ski further without falling and even started snowplowing and turning (possibly by accident) a bit.

The "small" ski area near Isola (There's a lift to the top of the mountain on the right!)

Ella sledding as Pascal and I look on

Little Ilan sledding

The kids had a great time playing and having dancing and music making parties.

Ella shaking an invisible maraca

We happened to go up on a weekend, so we introduced them to Pancake Saturday.  Since it’s Carnivale around these parts this month, we had Mardi Gras pancakes with faces make out of gum drops.  They were lemon and orange flavored because in Menton, France, Carnivale is celebrated as the “Fete du Citron”.  They make huge sculptures, such as life sized houses entirely out of lemons and oranges.

Yes, that is a replica of the Taj Mahal made out of lemons and oranges

Ella had a great weekend and made a new best friend.

Today Ella and I met up with Kathrine and the boys in Nice.  The sun came out, so we walked through the market and had a lovely picnic on the beach.  We then climbed endless stairs to a wonderful playground at the old castle.  It had a spectacular view of the Med.  Afterwards, we headed down the stairs and Kathrine showed me some great secret restaurants and stores in Old Nice.  Ella and I hope to bring Kyle there before we head to Spain next week.

About a week ago we headed to the Provence region of France for a little vacation from the urban living of Imperia.  On the drive up we saw this truck:

We arrived in the town of Seguret and were met by our host, Thierry, who lead us to the beautiful house in the wine country with a kitchen that had Kyle drooling.  Kyle and I climbed at St Leger, which had amazing looking, but super wet tufas.  The next day we took advantage of the sunny weather to attempt to get to Chain du Clapis, but after a 20 min steep uphill hike, we bailed and tried the routes closer to the road.  These were in a beautiful setting, next to a small stream, but once Kyle started up the first route he found drilled pockets filled with mud.  I tried another route that had me climbing through a thorn bush to a horrible slab.  The clouds had moved in and it had gotten cold, so we bailed instead of subjecting ourselves to more terrible climbing.

The next day, we went to an amazing market in Vaison-St.-Romans.  Emily and I bought knee high leather boots 2 pair for 15 euro.  Now we fit in with the French and Italian women, but only when we wear our pants tucked in, which always makes me feel a bit like a jockey.  In the afternoon, Kyle and I went to the climbing gym in Avignon while Ella went to a fun place called Royal Kids with slides and ball pits.

The gym was interesting- no leading, but they had a funny stick clip contraption you could use to clip the rope into quickdraws on the horizontal roof.  Then the rope was dynamic and only through 2 carabiners at the top.  These elements combined made for some interesting falls.

Cool French dude sketching out because he's going to take a whipper on top rope

Anyways, I think my favorite part of Provence was the wine and chocolate store in Chateauneuf du Pape.  I had the best chocolate of my life there, including these amazing chocolate covered almonds:

I think Kyle’s favorite part of Provence was scoring this amazing truffle:

Apple for scale and the jar the truffle was delivered in

I’m looking forward to tasting it.  It smells amazing.

Finally we returned to Italy to a new home in a town called Vallecrosia.  It’s closer to the French and Monaco border where we find ourselves climbing and bringing Ella to activities.  Speaking of Monaco, we went there today.  Feeling truly European, we took the bus to the train station, then took the train, then took another bus to the Aquarium in Monaco.

First submarine

Ella had a great time and even made some French friends:

Ella's new boyfriend (she thinks he loves her)

All done

The it was back on the bus to the train to the other bus to our home.  We all decided we love Monaco (and Provence is pretty cool too).

Ella and I set off for a full day in Monaco this morning and left Daddy at home to clean, cook and work (lucky us!)  We arrived in Monaco and promptly got lost, as usual.

A driver's eye view of Monaco traffic

I eventually found a parking garage near play group and parked the car, but we didn’t get to play group until 20 minutes before it ended!  At least we got a feel for the group, a nice mix of expats from England and the US.  It was so nice for Ella to be able to talk to the kids in English and she was excited because there were tons of fun toys!  Then we headed off for a kilometer walk to have crepes.  We walked past yachts that cost more than our house and arrived at the creperie.  The crepe lady loved Ella and her few French phrases.  After our extensive lunch of savory and sweet crepes, we caught the bus and headed to the Jardin Exotique (cactus garden).

The bus stop

Ella is pointing to the climbing cave (La Turbie) Kyle and I unsuccessfully tried to find a few days ago.

Once inside the Jardin Exotique, we found ourselves winding down the rocky hillside with amazing views of Monaco, surrounded by gorgeous cacti and succulents.

The view of Old Monaco

Truffala tree

At the bottom of the garden, we found an entrance to a large cave where a French and German speaking tour guide was waiting.  His few English words were, “slippery” and “photo OK”.  We followed him and an older couple down, down, down a few hundred steps deep into the cave.  It was a magnificent cave, very much alive, with many stalactites and stalagmites.

Cave formations

Fortunately our cave companions were very patient with us on the way back out.  Ella was a trooper up all those stairs.  She’s getting much faster, since we live on the 4th floor and she gets lots of practice.  We made our way back up the cactus garden on another path that had neat limestone arches and little nooks with small ponds.

Limestone arch

Small pond behind Ella

We then caught the nice, clean, energy efficient bus to Ballet.  Ella was very excited that she was dressed all in pink.

Dance class

Finally after Ballet, we retrieved the car, and I managed to drive out of Monaco sans GPS with only one wrong turn!  We got home to a clean house and some yummy homemade lasagne.  We had a fun and full day!