Traveling, parenting and teaching

Today, Dave and I breathed a sigh of relief as we opened the door to our apartment at the end of our 5th full day as tourists in the centre of Seville.  In unison and with a gentle smile on our faces, we both cried “this is exhausting”!

We then took a brief moment alone to discuss how “exhausting” it is parenting our two busy boys while playing tourists in a foreign country.  Today I was a safety guard, peace keeper, translator, teacher, counsellor, police, mentor, tour guide, first aider, mother and wife.  It was “exhausting”.  It was also amazing of course…

After a couple of punches were thrown between the boys during our cherished ‘quiet’ time late this afternoon, we realized we needed to take some time to chat with the boys about how different our life is here in Seville compared to home.  It was good to talk.  We all needed it.  We talked about how no one is going to school right now.  No one is going to work.  No one is going to the gym.  We have no garden to play in. We have none of our toys here.  We have no friends here and we have no grandparents to play with (we miss you guys!). We are with each other 24 hours a day.  We are experiencing so many wonderful new things together but it is pretty intense and it is pretty tiring (jet lag isn’t helping either I’m sure).

Our days look quite different in Seville.  We start with coffee (of course!) and breakfast in the apartment (usually).

Today however, we tried Churro y chocolate for the first time at a local cafe.  YUM!

We then usually pack sandwiches, baby bottles, diapers, water, snacks, blankets, soothers, rain coats and our wallets all into our tiny travel stroller and we head out into the city. Usually in time for Olivia’s first stroller nap. The apartment location is fantastic and is walking distance to most monuments.  We stroll into the city down several tiny cobbled streets, past some familiar little shops before we arrive at the “mushrooms”.

The boys have come to LOVE the mushrooms.  I think they actually just like knowing where we are.  Some familiarity.  Some routine.  It also means they get to ‘bey blade’.  I should point out that we have had some serious ‘bey blade battles’ outside many of Seville’s most famous landmarks.  Dave and I usually try to find somewhere for coffee near the mushrooms so that the boys can “battle” and we can enjoy a few minutes of peace.  Something for everyone:)

From here, we carry on down one of the touristy pedestrian shopping streets to Plaza Nuevo where we either walk further to a monument or we hop on the tram.  We have chosen one monument a day.  We spend ample time wandering through, pausing for bey blade battles, for running races, short history or language lessons, a picnic and usually a bottle and diaper change for Olivia.  We end up back at the apartment by about 4pm where we try to enjoy some much needed quiet/alone time.

So far we have seen the Arco de la Macarena, Muralla Almohade, Plaza de toros (closed for an event), Plaza d’Espagne & Maria Luisa Park, the Real Alcazar (setting for Dorn in the Game of Thrones) and the stunning grand Seville Cathedral.  We still have a long list of things to see but we’ve already seen some pretty cool stuff!

I hear myself repeating a variety of the below statements throughout our outings:

1. Don’t push
2. You lead
3. Hands to yourself
4. Don’t step on his heels
5. Get off my feet
6. Hold my hand
7. Hold onto the stroller
8. Don’t grab my sunglasses
9. Watch where you’re going!
10. STOP!
11. This way…
12. Don’t walk backwards
13. Now is not the time to ‘bey blade’
14. No we can’t buy that

After quiet time is when the day becomes a bit different from home.  Instead of winding the kids down with dinner and our bedtime routine, we prepare to head out into the city again. We do a promenade and people watch and then follow this with a drink and a tapas or two.  Sometimes to our wonderful local market (Calle Feria) and sometimes to the Plaza de la Alameda de Hercules.  A small beer is about 1.2 Euro and a red wine is 2 Euro.  A tapas is about 3.5 Euros (tonight’s tapas was braised pork cheeks and tequila soaked onions on some frites).   It also came with olives and bread and we only spent about $11CAD in total – actually felt like a small meal for us all. The boys had a playground to enjoy nearby and Olivia had her 3rd nap of the day (something we’d NEVER allow at home for fear it would prevent sleep at night!).

We were home by about 8pm where we enjoyed a light dinner together and some playtime before stories and bed. (check out Dave’s latest blog if you want to know what story was requested again by the boys tonight…there were many questions!). On our way home, we went past the local market to see if it was going to open again later and sure enough, it was just re-opening. Round two! Alas (and perhaps fortunately), with young children, we will rarely experience this part of the Spanish day.  We hope to try it once or twice though and will no doubt have to deal with the consequences the following day.  (Maybe when the aunties are here? or perhaps Mr Willcock!?).  We had always heard that life really gets going in the evenings in Spain but didn’t really believe it.  It’s true – kids and all.

On that note…it’s bed time for me.  On top of all this ‘exhaustion’, we still have a newborn who wakes up several times a night and I really need to try to catch up on some much needed sleep!