Reset search
Dobbs Without JobsDobbs Without Jobs
Satellite
Currently traveling

Dobbs Without Jobs

May 2017 - May 2019
May 2017 - May 2019
Follow
  • 194footprints
  • 645days
  • 33countries
  • 98kmiles
  • 1,059 photos
  • 115 videos
Newest first
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day645

    Santa Oliva

     February 10 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Our last stop in Spain and the end of our explorations of new places was in the tiny village of Santa Oliva located in the heart of cava country and just an hour south of Barcelona.
    We stayed in a beautifully restored 17th century apartment and enjoyed a daytrip to Tarragona – a world heritage site known for its impressively preserved Roman ruins.
    Most of our time here was spent cooking in, trying new cavas and savoring
    the final week of our travels before we return to the US and begin a farewell tour across the country. It’s been a wonderful time in Spain and we will be back!    Read more

    +5
    Map
    • Explore, what other travelers do in:
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day643

    Girona

     February 8 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Girona is a beautiful city steeped in history having been ruled by Rome, the Visigoths, Moors, Charlemagne, and others. Wandering through the medieval streets showing layers of consecutive inhabitants, it’s a wonderful place to visit. You can still walk much of the city’s original walls and its cathedral has the second largest nave after Rome.
    We also visited some neighboring villages including Banyoles for a walk around its scenic lake, and Besalu which is one of the cutest little towns we’ve visited so far with a beautiful bridge as the highlight.    Read more

    +5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day639

    Cadaques

     February 4 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 50 °F

    After saying farewell to Cindy until we meet her again in Philadelphia in a few weeks, we drove the narrow mountain road to Cadaques. We rented a Fiat 500 and are so glad to have such a tiny car on these very tiny roads. Sometimes, even the tiny Fiat barely fit down the little lanes.
    While it must be insanely busy during summer, it was wonderfully quiet during our visit. We spent our time wandering the narrow, medieval streets, walking along the shoreline and visiting the impressive Rodes Monastery with expansive views of the coast. Salvador Dali had a home here and did many paintings of the area - unfortunately his house, which is now a museum, was closed for winter.Read more

    11+5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day630

    El Port de la Selva

     January 26 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    We splurged on a beautifully designed house overlooking the sea and rugged, rocky coast and spent much of our time cooking together, enjoying gin & tonics and cava while admiring the view.
    We did manage to visit the Dali museum, do a little hiking and explore Cadaques together as well.

    1+5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day628

    Barcelona, Spain

     January 24 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 43 °F

    Barcelona – why did we wait so long to visit you?
    Such a beautiful, grand city packed with wonderful restaurants, cafes, shops and remarkable architecture. There was a taxi strike happening for many of the days we were here, but the city is so walkable and the metro so excellent that we didn’t miss the taxis at all.
    Our dear friend Cindy met us here (she also met us in South Africa and Peru making this our 3rd meet-up!) and it was wonderful to catch up and explore the city together.    Read more

    +2
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day618

    Oaxaca

     January 14 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Mexico City was great, but Oaxaca is even better!
    After a short flight here, we got a taxi to our Airbnb in the Colonia Reforma neighborhood. It’s a bit out of the center of town, but a cute suburb with lots of restaurants. On our first night, we had the best mole of our lives (better than Pujol!) cooked by several older ladies who run a restaurant out of their garage. Every meal we’ve eaten since has also been delicious. No wonder every Mexican we met who we told we were coming to Oaxaca got starry-eyed when raving about how wonderful it is. The area is also known for producing most of the country’s mescal, so we did a tasting one night to learn about this strong, smoky alcohol made from agave. It’s interesting, but we prefer our Mezcal in cocktails vs. straight. We’ve enjoyed walking through the town’s historic center, doing a little shopping (Oaxaca is famous for wood carving, weaving, pottery and other crafts) and visiting some impressive churches. Oaxaca has become our favorite town in Mexico – a great way to finish off our time in Latin America. We would definitely have spent longer here had we known how wonderful it is.Read more

    1+5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day601

    Mexico City

     December 28, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Despite some reports of “road assaults” on tourists, we took a public bus into Mexico City’s Northern Bus Terminal and then hopped into an Uber. We’ve felt safe here and highly recommend visiting Mexico City, despite what bad stuff might be going on in some other parts of the country. The scariest thing we’ve encountered are the almost daily earthquakes. They’ve been small, but unnerving.
    We’ve been very impressed with this ginormous city packed with beautiful, old buildings, distinct neighborhoods, incredible restaurants and cafes, and – most impressively – an amazing cultural scene. Within the city we’ve visited Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul, the Anthropology Museum, Chapultapec Park and Diego Rivera’s mural and sculpture there, the National Palace and more murals from Rivera, The Plaza of Independence, and more.
    One day we took a bus out to Teotihuacan – the impressive pyramids built starting in the first century by unknown people and eventually lived in by the Aztecs starting in the mid-fourteenth century. It’s interesting to see similarities among these great, ancient ruins. These ones reminded us of the pyramids in Egypt because of the incredible size and scale, though they’re a few thousand year’s newer.    Read more

    +5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day594

    San Miguel de Allende

     December 21, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    A short flight into Leon, then a few hours by taxi and we arrived in San Miguel de Allende (SMA). SMA is a very charming colonial UNESCO city. It’s very popular with expats and tourists, yet still feels lived in and not overdone.
    We spent our time here walking through the hilly, cobbled streets and admiring the many beautiful old buildings, many of which have been converted into shops and cafes. John also got his haircut at a very hip barbershop where they used lots and lots of products with names like “beard lube” and the barber had tattoos of a barber pole on one side of his neck and a pair of scissors on the other. We had been looking forward to some cooler weather, but were a little surprised how cold it was with nighttime temperatures dipping below freezing. Enjoyed shopping at a local farmers market for Xmas dinner complimented by some Mexican bubbly and catching up on some Netflix (Narcos Mexico – Yikes! - and The Sinner).Read more

    +5
    Map
  • Dobbs Away II
    Day592

    Merida

     December 19, 2018 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We drove back to Merida as a base for our visit to Uxmal, a site of more recent (mid-800’s) Mayan ruins just an hour's drive out of the city.
    This UNESCO site was refreshingly empty and the ruins were distinct in that the pyramids and structures were more rounded and you were allowed to climb to the top of some of them, offering fantastic views over the old city and surrounding jungle. Some of the architectural details were maybe more interesting and better preserved than Chichen-Itza. John remarked that it seems crazy that the Star Wars filmmakers had trekked to Tikal, in the middle of a civil war, to film one short scene instead of coming here.Read more

    1+4
    Map