Author: marionvermazen

I am a traveler, hiker, avid reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, Spanish and French language student, knitter and genealogist. I am retired after working for almost 30 years in the Computer Industry. I live in Reno, Nevada with my husband Duke.

We are in Spain!!

Duke and I are at the start of a two month European adventure. Wednesday we drove from Reno to my daughter’s house in Walnut Creek. Thursday afternoon Allison drove us to Bart and we headed to San Francisco airport. We had a very comfortable flight from San Francisco to Barcelona on Level Airlines.

The plane that took us to Barcelona.
On our flight to Barcelona

Entry into Spain was easy. After they checked out passport we went through a check where we had to show our QR codes. A couple days before we left we had to go on a Spanish website and provide our vaccine details and flight information. It was reviewed and we were sent a QR code which proved we were good to enter Spain

We are staying at a very nice hotel a couple of blocks from the Plaza Catalana. After checking in we went up to the rooftop terrace. They have a wonderful view.

La Sagrada Familia from the roof of our hotel.
Duke on the roof of our hotel

Although jet lag is definitely closing in, We were determined to stay up until at least 10. we went for a short walk. It is interesting to see that everyone here wears a mask inside. When people aren’t wearing their masks they have them pushed up on their upper arm. Given that we have only been in Spain about 6 hours this is a small sample size, but there don’t seem to be many Americans here.

This sign we saw outside a pharmacy advertises covid tests for €8.50 and 50 masks for €10.

We had great steaks for dinner at Patagonia restaurant. They started us off with three breads and three sauces. Yum!

Bread to start.

Our steaks and wine were great too and the bill was about $90.

Dinner
Patagonia Restaurant

Road Trip Day 18 – Cheyenne, Wyoming to Midway, Utah

This morning we visited the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne. The Capitol was built in 1888. Between 2015 and 2019 the building went through a major renovation. Part of the renovation was restoring the historic finishes. We got to see the result. Although the capitol is a relatively small building I thought it was beautiful.

Wyoming State Capitol Building
Interior of the Wyoming State Capitol

One kind of interesting detail is that when they scraped the layers of paint off the safes in the lowest level They uncovered old paintings.

Safe in Capitol basement

Wyoming Territory gave women the right to vote in 1869. According to the guide they were the first government in the world to do so. The Supreme Court chamber is where this right was written into the state constitution.

Historic Supreme Court Chamber / Territorial House Chamber

Wyoming was also the first state to have a women governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross. She was elected in 1924.

Nellie Taylor Ross – First woman governor

As we headed west from Cheyenne the smoke from California kept getting worse and worse.

Tonight we are staying with Duke’s brother at his place in Midway, Utah.

Road Trip day 16 – Correctionville, Iowa to Grand Island, Nebraska

Today we visited the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. It was completed in 1932. As you can see in the pictures it is a very different Capitol. The interior decorations were beautiful.

The Nebraska State Capitol

We also took the elevator to the nineteenth floor and enjoyed the view from the tower.

Garth Brooks is playing tonight at the Nebraska stadium so we couldn’t stay in Lincoln. We are staying a couple of hours west of Lincoln in Grand Island.