ok, i dropped the ball a bit...

ok - here I am, the night before the wedding trying to recap the week. I had high intentions of adding photos and keeping somewhat of an online diary for everyone back home... i dropped the ball. But, here I am at least admitting the facts, and aiming to re-cap briefly so I can get some much needed rest. Turns out the villa is as spectacular as David and I had remembered, so amazing, noone has wanted to go to bed much before 4am each night, and with travels departing around noon each day, that hasn't given us much sleep time...

Saturday: 8am-8pm picked up friends from the airport, went grocery shopping (what an experience, I went alone and filled 3 carts and had to pay in Euros and try to get help by non-English speaking employees - AHH).. But the night was worth our first dinner together, all 18 Americans in Pollensa eating dinner at 11:00pm!

Sunday: toured Formentor, the most northern piece of the island. This is one of my favorite places for it's amazing views and magnificent cliffs. Then, amazingly, there was such a storm coming in from Barcelona, that we couldn't snorkel at David's favorite beach, so we spent time at the villa.


Monday: went shopping at Majorica, the best place in the world for cultured pearls! We then "took the plunge" by rock jumping at Calas de Mallorca (beach)! SO FUN!! We did get to snorkel, though the beach was very sandy, so not a whole lot to see underwater - you could pretty much see straight to the bottom no matter which angle you were looking from!

Tuesday: a much needed "nothing" day - we enjoyed the villa, baked a little too long in the sun and rested! Dinner was originally planned for Palma, but driving through David's hometown, Biniali, we decided to stop in to see his parents... Low-and-behold, we were invited by the mayor to visit the next town over, as they were having a town dinner! We arrived to receive a variety of pasteries and dinner dishes, true Mallorquine style! And the night progressed with a DJ, dancing, and even a Spanish randition of "Achy Breakey Heart" - which, I sadly, yet happily remembered the line dance from childhood... And if you are wondering, YES, I totally joined in the line dancing!

Wednesday: A long and windy road to Lluc put pretty much everyone over the top, and we ended up scrapping all other plans after our journey to the Monestary where David's dad grew up. We enjoyed the trip, but after about 8 hours of traveling, we were spent and most of the girls ended up pumping our men with advil and trying to cool down fevers and warm up shivering bodies.

Thursday: Everyone is better now, and we woke early to visit market, a true taste of Africa and Spain in the second largest city in Mallorca, Inca! Some enjoyed haggling, and some were "had" but all had a good time! After Inca, our group, now at 20 Americans, hung out at the villa before attending the amazing, magnificent, unbelievable Pirates Theatre Show! It was incredible! Somewhat of a dinner theatre meets acrobatics, it was breathtaking!

Now here I am, reflecting on the trip and wishing I had gotten this information to you sooner.. but hey, here it is, and off to bed I go!

Photos to come as we gather them from our friends (David and I have been so busy as "tour guides" we haven't had time to capture the memorable moments of our trip... but our guests all have, so we will soon have those loaded).

Adios for now - see you next as MRS. BIBILONI!
Love, Jordyn.

First Day in Mallorca for our Friends & Family!

We'd first like to Thank God for safe travels for everyone and their luggage. David and Jordyn spent the entire day picking up friends and family at the airport and trucking them across the island to our villa. Lets Just Say - IT WAS WORTH IT 100%! We had a fabulous time sharing our little piece of paradise with the 16 guests who arrived yesterday from the states. Our numbers will be up to 21 by mid-week.


Yesterday we enjoyed the hot tub, pool, and amazing views from the villa with Dawn & Mike Dietrich, Jenise Roberts-Christie, Dave Hoffheins and Ashley Bagwell, photographer Jen Wiley and husband, David, co-worker Holly and husband, Denny, Mom, Dad and Brother Acklin and cousin Tim! What fun we have in store for this week!




Unfortunately this morning is cloudy, yet warm. We will be taking friends up the road to the north point on the island, Cap de Formentor, for breathtaking views and then relaxation at Calas de Sant Vincents (one of our favorite beaches).

Airport

Well we have arrived at the airport and after a long night/day its nice to finally sit down. David, Marisol (David's mom), and Jordyn are packed, checked, and sitting in a Philadephia airport tavern grabbing some much needed munchies before the flight. While sitting we reflect on how amazing the journey has been getting to this point.

God is great. It took a lot of trust (esp. financially) over the course of this past year... Heck, up until this morning we had planned to cancel our "honeymoon" which consists of 4 days touring the mainland... Yet ONE hour before leaving our home today we found a stack of checks from odd jobs we had done and paired that with our loving monetary gifts received yesterday at Pheasant Run and we are AMAZED that we DO get to travel on our planned honeymoon!

Along with the trips, sights, food and beaches God has in store as his wedding gifts to us, we look forward to sharing this all with friends and family from many countries! For now our prayers highlight safe flights for everyone!


Love and BESOS!
David y Jordyn

European Converters...

For those traveling to Spain, you will have to get European converters for the trip. You can get them on eBay, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart and probably any electronics store.

Here is an article of interest:

http://goeurope.about.com/cs/electricity/l/bl_electricity.htm
A few highlighted points from the above web article:

• Take stock of what appliances need power converters. Most modern laptops will automatically sense voltage changes and adapt; you may only need a plug adapter--check your owner's manual. Shavers, and any small, electrically frugal items may still need a voltage converter (sometimes called a transformer). These are readily available as well. Hair dryers are a special case, as their power requirements are enormous. If you wish to be a good neighbor to the Europeans, consider leaving the contraption at home. If you can't, make sure you buy a heavy duty converter that will handle as much as 2000 watts (2 kilowatts).
• Remember that if you're taking a recharger for your digital camera batteries, it'll probably need at least a plug converter.
• Before you say, "Cool. I'm off and running!" I need to warn you of something: what's coming out of that socket is a whopping 220 volts at 50 cycles, twice the voltage of American power systems. It may be way too much for your appliance. Remember: an adapter plug doesn't convert the voltage, it just converts the hardware (see the definitions below).

Here is another article of interest:
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/general/barcelona-basic-facts.html

A few highlighted points from the above web article...

• Electricity supply is 220 volts throughout Spain with 2 pin wall sockets. For any European countries that utilise 240 volts e.g. UK and Ireland most electrical equipment will function adequately.
• If you intend to use the UK electrical plugs then you will need an electricity plug adapter that will convert the standard 3 pin socket into a two pin socket. In the US where the electricity supply is 110 volts a transformer would be required to step down the voltage to 110 volts. Damage to the electrical appliance can occur if you attempt to use a 110 volt rated electrical appliance with a 220 volt supply.

Here we are, Mother's day, 2009, talking at the dinner table with David's parents. Marisol and Juan are so wonderful. I am so blessed to marry into such a loving family! And a patient family, which as many may not realize, is very important when you (I) cannot speak the native language of the family! Yes, NONE of the family, Bibiloni's (David's father's family) and Cuesta's (David's mother's family) speak much English. So patience, I have found to be a very important quality in the Bibiloni's (the only family I have met thus far).... God is so amazing, I can't believe I took German growing up, but David is so patient, translating daily for 8 weeks straight last summer, and continually supporting my efforts to learn both Mallorquine and Espanol! I have a long road ahead of me, but with patience (not MY best quality, for anyone who know's me), all will work out.. and soon Tu hablo Espanol!

No Preocupe (No Worries!)
Gracias por paciencia y informática traductora!

Besos! Jordyn

Mino HD

Well for David's birthday, I surprised him with the new Mino HD (handheld HD video recording device). We are devising ways to simulcast the wedding, or at least upload video clips throughout the wedding week in Mallorca, and of course, upload the wedding asap from the villa.

We are still looking into the best way to do this.
If you have any ideas, let us know!

~Jordyn~

The Traveling to Spain Party

We would like to begin by thanking all of you for coming to our rather unexpected get-together turned party Saturday Night. We had originally thought everyone would just come over and get some good food and information, but I wold have to say that it was in fact a party! We had a lot of fun with all of you, and, if Saturday night is a preview of what it will be like to spend a week in Mallorca together...we are all in for the vacation of a lifetime!


We hope you found the food good, the drink better, and the company great. We were delighted to share with all of you our home and great fellowship. But most of all, we hope you put some of your questions at bay. We hoped that our handouts and explanations would answer some of your questions. However, we also know that there may have been other questions raised. Please ask us anything you can think of regarding the trip: Currency, phones, travel, accomodations, itineraries, etc. We are here for you because you will be there for us!


Here are some photos of the night...if you have any else please send them to us so that we may post them.














Of course...I am also going to post the world-famous-king-of-the-party: Juan Bibiloni. He sang a beautiful rendition of "Mananitas" to Papa Acklin and then amped up the festivities with a crowd pleaser. He's the best and he has already shown that he will make your trip VERY memorable!


Click to Play

Thank you again to all and we'll see each other again in May!! Stay tuned for more info on that!



--David and Jordyn