Thank you for celebrating with us in September at our wedding! We hope to continue the celebration by taking an amazing "first anniversary honeymoon" to Spain!

Our plans changed from Cancun as we thought more about what we really want to do to celebrate our partnership and marriage. Sam, as mentioned before, hasn't really traveled outside the United States (except that one time he was in Canada for a hot second!) and Courtney hasn't traveled internationally since 2008! We wanted to go on an adventure together, an adventure of a lifetime, and what's more adventurous than crossing that pond to Espana?!

Courtney has visited Spain before, but only enough to spark her interest in visiting again... and that hasn't really panned out in over a decade. When they met, Courtney and Sam would have long talks about all that "getting-to-know-you" stuff and Sam shared that Spain is one of the top countries he wants to visit in his life... serendipitous, much?! Courtney told Sam about her high school trip to Spain and all of the beautiful art and architecture, the cultures, history, and all the sights and smells of a European country that has it all yet doesn't get a lot of publicity as a major travel destination! So, once we put a little more thought into our dream "anniversary-moon," and knowing we'd have time to save up PTO and funds to visit in Fall 2020, we decided to shoot for the "moon" and plan a trip to Spain!

We plan to keep room + board costs down, as that is easy to do in Europe with hostels and small locally-owned inns... we plan to explore AirBnB options also, so we could also have the cost-savings of cooking "at home." Our "Honeyfunds" will be spent largely on airfare and sightseeing (possibly a car rental to see all the sights of Spain), while keeping accommodation costs minimal, as mentioned.

So far we have our sights set on Southern Spain... the cities of Granada and Sevilla, each with incredible sights and the most delightful vibes! Courtney is determined to take Sam to the Alhambra just outside Granada, an ancient Moorish palace that's seen thousands of years of history and perfectly illustrates the history of Spain; from Moorish rule to the Inquisition and into the Enlightenment era. It truly is one of the unmentioned wonders of the world and Courtney can't wait to spend a day there exploring with Sam.

In Sevilla, there's Giralda, the tower of the cathedral that offers an exquisite view of the entire city. We want to be up there when the bells ring, to experience the sights and sounds of Courtney's favorite Spanish city.

From there, we have adventure on our minds. We may trek further south to the Mediterranean coast, maybe the "beach" town of Malaga... and since international travel is so easy in Europe we might even cross the border to Gibraltar, a British territory (it even has the red phone booths and fuzzy-hatted guards!), and across the Straight of Gibraltar to Morocco! It's an easy day trip from Malaga, and a lot of cultural diversity packed into one day!

... or, we may go north to Madrid and further to Barcelona, to see the architectural works of Gaudi and experience the more urban Spanish cities. If we trek north, who knows, we might even end up in the South of France!

Whatever we do, we'll be doing it together and that is what excites us! We also look forward to sharing our adventures with all of you via blog, photos, and sharing mementos!

We are pretty amped about a possible Spanish adventure, and we appreciate your gift in support of our adventurous dreams!