Madrid, Spain: Almudena Cathedral

Actual date of this event: 16 May

As always, I have too many pictures, so this just had to be a single post!

For a long long time, Luke and I would bypass visiting churches. Sure we would stop and snap a few pictures from the outside, but we kept seeing the same interior over and over, so we stopped going in. While in Madrid, we knew there wasn't a whole lot to see, so we decided to stop into Almudena Cathedral. Perhaps it was a little too hot for our liking that day, and perhaps the sun was causing Debbie's-ghostly skin to boil and frying more hair off of Luke's head... a indoor stop somewhere was in order. Let me tell y'all, this church was gorgeous! And sooooo different than any other church I had seen.

From the outside, it was like any other church we see. But stepping inside was like Disney World - a very happy place. Really. I felt happier inside! (The parents are probably thinking we need to move to Madrid that way we will actually go to church! Sangria and tapas? Okay! Oh, is that not the purpose?) Anyway, the interior was crisp and clean and so amazingly colorful! It was like the Burano of churches.

The most amazing part was the stained glass. The sun actually shined through and actually made color on things inside. I had never seen that before! Maybe I have visited too many places where the sun barely makes an appearance, but this was amazing. I could have stared at it for hours! (Again, the parents are probably thinking the priest should begin mass at some point during those hours while I'm in there.)

Have you ever seen stained glass shine like that? It's magical!

RANDOM FACT:
Almudena Cathedral (complete name: Santa María la Real de La Almudena) is a new church. It was consecrated in 1993, but construction began in 1883.

Visitors: The Zalewski's Round 2

Actual date of this event: 1-10 May

As it was my parents second time visiting us in London (first was last August), they didn't have much they wanted to do during their visit, so I didn't make many plans. I was expecting a relaxing week... during which I would get caught up on blogs (that didn't happen one bit). I also expected a tube strike to occur throughout most of the week. Fortunately, the tube strike was canceled just a few days prior! A week of relaxation didn't last for long though...

Thursday, May 1
Mom and dad arrived bright and early around 8:00am. I met them at the airport, and brought them back home. Dad went for his usual jog and mom took a nap. In the afternoon, we all went to the grocery store and ran some errands, just to get them up and moving so they could fall asleep that evening. Luke had a pub night for work so he didn't get home until later. The three of us watched Frozen since I had never seen it (meanwhile mom watches it like everyday <sigh>). We had curry for dinner then went to bed some early since we had an early morning the next day.

Friday, May 2 to Monday, May 5
All four of us made our way to Krakow, Poland for a long weekend. Read about it here.

Tuesday, May 6
After a long weekend, we had a relaxing morning, but when lunch rolled around, mom and dad wanted fish & chips. I proposed taking the bus to Kingston, so we could eat on the water as it was a nice day. Unfortunately, all of the pubs and restaurants were out of fish due to the bank holiday the day before. I literally don't understand how that happens. But anyway, we resorted to normal food which was still good. We hit up the pub before going back home where I made Shrimp Etouffee for dinner.

Wednesday, May 7
Since we struck out on fish & chips on Tuesday, we decided to go to an actual chippie assuming they would for sure have fish in stock. We went to Camden to try Poppie's which I had been wanting to try for a long long time. It was good, but definitely not as good as Stonehaven's (Scotland) fish and chips. Afterward, we took a walk around Camden Lock & Stables Market. As we were on the way home, dad wanted to make another pub stop, so we got off at Charing Cross for The Sherlock Holmes. After enough drinks, we headed home where I made us some Chicken & Chorizo Chilli for dinner.

Thursday, May 8
It was a pretty crappy day! It rained a good bit in the morning, but we still went out anyway. Mom really enjoyed Borough Market last time, so we headed there for lunch. She got fish & chips, again, while dad got Raclette on potatoes, and I got a Duck Confit sandwich. After a brownie and cookie, we walked along the river in light rain until we got to Tower Bridge. Oddly, we saw a cruise ship docked right next to the HMS Belfast. London is pretty far away from the coast for a ship to dock! Anyway, we crossed the bridge, and stopped at The Minories for a drink. We had a deadline for the evening as we had plans to go see Cats. Cats.Was.Weird. Great dancing for sure, but I wasn't so much of a fan of the actual show.

Friday, May 9
It was finally time for us to fulfill dad's initial request: Golabki! Last time he visited, we went to a little Polish cafe at Ravenscourt Park, and it had the closest golabki to his mom's (my grandma) that he has had. Even during our time in Krakow, he still preferred this cafe's golabki, but not more than grandma's :-) The three of us ventured back to Lowiczanka for lunch. We checked out a few Polish markets - I was on the hunt for the polish sausage that is the closest thing to andouille in the UK, but still no luck! Then, we headed to Buckingham Palace because dad wanted to check out the tulips that I had seen two weeks before, but their time had already expired :-( Our timing just wasn't right because next we went to check out the Queen's Rose Garden in Regents Park, but that was a work in progress. The weather was all right, so we sat for a bit and walked for a bit. We were due for a pub stop, so we did that then went back to Wimbledon. For dinner, Luke and I took them to our favorite Indian restaurant near us, Cocum. We had a few drinks at the pub afterward before heading home.

Saturday, May 10
Three of us (take a guess at who was missing from the group) woke up early and went to the airport to drop off the parentals. We said our good byes, and they were whisked back to Houston.

It was great to have my folks come visit again! I'm sure it was a bit different than the first time they visited as it was spring this time. Next time, they need to come around Christmas time! I promise, Christmas in London is fun fun fun!!! Anyway, thanks for visiting mom and dad!!

RANDOM FACT:
During the Second World War, British soldiers would yell "fish!" to receive a response of "chips!" to identify a fellow soldier.

Krakow, Poland: Wieliczka Salt Mine

Actual date of this event: 4 May

One of my dad's requests for our time in Krakow was to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Wieliczka... I have typed that word plenty of times since I first saw it and still have to look it up and copy it. I am a terrible half-Polish(by blood). Anyway, I really didn't know what to expect of the tour, but I was really quite blown away by the experience. It was very cool!

The mine is located just outside of the city center, so we decided to take a taxi there rather than figure out public transport... we were being lazy. I picked up our tickets for the tourist route that I pre-purchased, and then we waited for our entrance time.

Wieliczka Salt Mine was on the first UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978.

The salt mine only allows you to visit in groups, so everyone has a certain time slot and a tour guide to go along with you. We each got a headset, so we could hear the guide even if we were in the back of the group. We started the tour by going down 380 stairs, 64 meters below ground. The stairway was very small, and it zig-zagged back and forth. Just this was a neat experience! I do have to say though that this tour was not a tour for the claustrophobic! (Note: I'm not calling anyone out, but he is a great photographer, except when it is dark. I apologize for the blurry pictures.)

The tour guide was very patient and waited at the bottom for everyone to arrive. It was a very good thing a guide was with us because we were taken through so many corridors, not even Luke The Navigator would have known the way out.

All of the sculptures were made out of salt. It was difficult to tell at first, but the guide would shine her flashlight on the salt and show that you could see through it.

 In some corridors, even the ground was made of salt. I felt like I was ruining a future good pot of cajun cooking while walking on the salt floor.

Since the salt mines are underground with no natural light, some of the corridors were painted white to give the impression that there is natural light. I wasn't convinced, but maybe after hours and hours of working in the mines, it helps.

Horses were a big part of mining, doing many big jobs. The last horse to leave Wieliczka was in 2002.

In several areas, salt was dripping from the ceiling. It was pretty neat to look at as some drips were about 15 inches long!

The most exquisite area of the whole mine was the Chapel of St. Kinga. The pictures don't look like much, but I promise this place was stunning! The entire thing - floor, ceiling, walls, sculptures, chandelier, everything - was made of salt. It was beautiful!

Masses are held in the chapel every Sunday, open to all visitors. The chapel is also used for weddings. Can you imagine getting married in a room of salt? How cool!

After the chapel, we continued our way, going farther underground. In the end, we descended a total of 135 meters and walked down 800 steps. It was quite a bit of walking, but it was great!

The lake is located at the 135 meter mark underground. It has about the same amount of salt as the Dead Sea. Years ago, a boating accident occurred in the lake and the men did not survive. A Memorial Of The Drowned Persons was placed here to commemorate the accident.

At the end of the tour, we were taken to the gift shop... of course... where the guide left us. A display showed all of the different kinds of salt and rock in the mine. We also had a chance to go to a museum, watch a film, and learn some more about the salt mine if we wanted.

To get out of the salt mine, we had to climb those 800 stairs back up! Just kidding! Just kidding! Just kidding!! But we did have to walk a really long way, I'm guessing it was close to a mile, to get to the elevator. The elevator was two levels and each level had a max capacity of 8 people. We had six people in our level, and I do not think two more people could have fit! It was really tight, and the ceiling was probably only about 6.5 feet tall, if that. It was really creepy! Like I said, this tour was not for the claustrophobic! In the end, it took us about 3 hours to go through the tour. It was a bit chilly underground, but we were prepared for it and had jackets with us. Thanks, Dad, for putting this on our Krakow list. It was fun!

RANDOM FACT:
Way back when, salt was more precious than gold as its preservation purposes were a life-saver.

#FBF: Five Years

The past five years have been more than great. More than fantastic. More than I could have ever expected. 

It is all due to my passionate, caring, hard-working, loving husband, and I can't imagine a life without him. 

Soppy love story? 

Happy Fiveversary, Luke!

{Studio Tran Photographers}

RANDOM FACT:

I originally wanted to get married on July 11th (7-11, easy to remember), but there was a Swingers Convention in New Orleans that day, so we decided we didn't want to join in on that party.