We have arrived in Biarritz, France.   A picturesque surfing town.  We were told on arrival that we would likely experience all 4 seasons in one day! C’ést vrai…

Our 2 bedroom apartment is just a 5 minute walk from the “Grande Plage”.  Today, the kids learned the word ‘beach’ in French: “plage”.  We will try to learn one French word every day.

The Grande Plage has enormous waves.  We have seen some top notch surfing, in fact the first day a surfing contest was taking place.  We have watched for hours from the sand but unfortunately the waves are much too big for the kids to even paddle in…

So on Wednesday morning, we decided to venture over a little further.  The kids were desperate to swim and boogie board. We packed up our two-wheeled shopping cart, 2 boogie boards, a surf board, 3 wetsuits, 2 skate boards, helmets, pads, some beach mats, beach pails and shovels, towels and a picnic lunch and we headed over to a beach called “Port Vieux” on foot.  We had read that this beach is often protected from wind and waves. We didn’t bother to check the weather.  The sun was out and there were only a few clouds in the sky.  There was a light breeze in the air.  We wore shorts and lathered ourselves in sunscreen.

We made our way down to the promenade starting at the Grande Plage.  Our load was heavy.  As we walked, we began to notice more than a ‘light breeze’.  The waves were crashing against the shore.  The beaches were empty.  Most walkers were wearing parkas.

Spirits still high, we ventured on.  15 minutes into our heavily laden walk, Matt declared sore feet.  Sure enough he had a blisters on both.  His shoes are officially too small.  To continue on or to turn back – that was the question.  The shoes were removed and we ventured on – barefoot.  Stunning views.  Amazing architecture.  A gothic church.  An old fishing port.  A statue of the virgin on the cliff.  Sun still shining.  Winds picking up slightly.  Huge waves. The ocean is powerful.  We could watch it for hours.

45 minutes later, we made it to our beach! We climbed down several flights of stairs with our heavy load and headed into the middle of the empty, clean and beautifully swept, beach.  Not a soul to be seen.  The wind was howling.  The waves were crashing against the shore.  The sand was whipping against our faces. We had to yell to be heard.  “Time for a picnic anyone?”

It may not have been protected but it was all ours.  We devoured our picnic of French bread, brie, saucisson and apple.  The boys dug in the sand.  Olivia gulped down a bottle.  And we gazed out to sea…

As we allowed our minds to drift into the big unknown, we slowly began to notice the ocean filling up with people. One by one, emerging out from rock cliff behind us, were men and women in bathing suits, swim caps and some had flippers.  They tottered down to the beach, walked into the ocean (it’s almost as cold as Tofino FYI!), and began to swim (or as Dave noticed, many were just floating/bobbing in one place).  (Today, on my walk, I returned to this beach to discover a private swim club built into the cliff.  It even had change rooms and showers.  There was a group of young kids (probably 8-10 year olds) doing beach drills with their coach as the lifeguards prepared their rescue surf boards.   The kids were apparently headed into the wild, roaring ocean for some boogie board fun.  They must be such incredibly strong swimmers.  The waves were crashing against the rock walls and the swell was coming way up the beach.  My boys are most definitely not ready for this!)

Back to our walk… A promise of ice cream helped the boys get back to the Grande Plage.  Turns out that this was the protected beach of the day and so we settled into another couple hours of beach play, boogie boarding (short lived), surfing and sand play.

That night Dave and I both collapsed on the sofa with a nice cold glass of Rosé…

We have arrived in Marrakech, Morocco where we have treated ourselves to a couple weeks at an all-inclusive resort. This is the first time we have ever done this as a family. We decided to go the resort route for a couple reasons. Firstly we liked the idea of a break from cooking and cleaning, but also the ability for the kids to join in the kids club. The kids club gives them the opportunity to interact with others their age, which is one of the main things they are missing having been taken out of school and pre-school. Nick especially had really settled well into kindergarten and is missing school and his friends. It has also given us all a little break from each other… None of us, kids included, is used to being together 24 hours a day like we have been for the last month. Katy and I have had a great time going to spinning classes and playing tennis for a couple hours each morning while Olivia naps in the stroller, before picking the boys up in time for lunch. We would have loved to have stayed in a traditional Riad, but a common courtyard didn’t seem like a good fit for three young kids – the other guests would not have loved us. We have heard since arriving that they are also quite cold this time of year so we are happy with our accommodation. Maybe we will try the Riad when Katy and I come back without the kids someday.

Our first day here was cold with quite a breeze so we thought we may be in for a repeat of unusually cold weather like we had in Seville, but luckily the sun is out and it is nice and hot. Most days seem to hit the mid to high 20s. This means on the very warm days the unheated pools are great, although we have been sticking to the heated pool most of the time. The kids pool has a fantastic water park but is a little cold most days.

We arrived in Marrakech to a beautiful new airport which we were told was entirely run on solar power.  Several planes showed up at the same time and it looked like we would have a real fun time with three kids waiting in the queue, but they saw us and put us in a separate line for families – a huge relief. Everywhere we have gone they have been very accommodating to kids here, they seem to really love children. The initial trip from the airport to our hotel was interesting. The first thing we found out when people heard that we were Canadian is that everyone seems to have family or friends in Montreal. After we found the car for the ride to the hotel we got to see the old city wall, the new city and a strange mix of old and new. Cars and buses shared the road with motorbikes, scooters and carts pulled by donkeys. The rules of the road also seemed to only be loosely followed. We saw a woman holding a baby in her arms sitting as the passenger on the back of a scooter.

Our first trip into the old city was quite an adventure. After being dropped off by the hotel shuttle, avoiding the first of the onslaught of offers for tourists, and finding diapers and formula for Olivia, we set off to find  Jemaa el Fnna square. The first landmark we found was the towering Koutoubia mosque. It looks taller than it is as we have been told the building restrictions say no other structure may be taller than the height of a palm tree, so it really sticks out. Just behind the mosque we found the square.

Jemaa el Fnna market square at mid day was an interesting sight. The combination of snake charmers, monkeys, and their aggressive handlers looking to place a monkey on your shoulder or snake around your neck followed by a demand for payment was a little intimidating. Add to this the musicians, people dressed up in traditional garb to take pictures with and aggressive sales people selling tourist trinkets, selfie sticks, sunglasses or water and it was a bit of a sensory overload. At one point a musician put his arm around Nick and was trying to take him off to play the drum with him. Luckily Katy had a tight grasp on Nick’s hand and saw it happening.  The aggressive sales tactics were a bit overwhelming for us meek Canadians. I don’t think I have ever said “Non merci!” so many times. We passed by the square (I took a noticeably wider birth around the snakes and especially the handlers trying to place them on tourists…) and escaped into the souks.

We randomly chose a road and checked out the shops along the way selling everything from leather goods, shoes, blankets, spices, tourist trinkets, raw meat, pastries, clothes, scarfs, metal lamps, to jewelry. This was not the relaxed shopping experience we were used to. High pressure sales is the norm, not to mention the haggling. Not knowing what a fair or reasonable price might be doesn’t help the process, but we had some fun trying our hand at it and probably overpaid for the clothes we bought for the kids but had fun and they were very excited by their new outfits.

When you were not on your toes dealing with the salespeople you also had to be vigilant to avoid the speedy motorbikes, bicycles, carts and donkeys navigating the same narrow alleyways. A three year old and a baby in a stroller don’t make this an easy task. At one point we almost ran into a donkey carrying a load of bricks to a job site.

We also got out for a ride on the camels. The boys had a blast and even Olivia was able to go. We weren’t quite aware of how large an animal a camel is, it was a long way up. We went for a short 30 minute ride. It wasn’t the most comfortable ride, so as romantic as the camel ride through the desert looks and sounds, the slow jolty rocking would undoubtedly leave you sore by the end of the day.

My travel read for Morocco was Lords of the Atlas by Gavin Maxwell. It was fascinating to read about the not so distant past with the French colonial history and that of the Moroccan warlords from the Atlas Mountains including the Glaoua. The fact that this all ended just 60 years ago was eye-opening. We really wanted to get out to the desert or Atlas Mountains for an overnight in the Bedouin tents, but the length of the bus trip out there just wasn’t conducive for the kids (talking to a few adults who did the trip they felt it was far too long on a bus, so it seems we made the right choice). Again another outing for the future trip sans enfants.

We managed to get back into the souks one more time before we left and felt more comfortable manoeuvring our way through. We decided on a route and stuck to it.  Matt had requested a toy cobra snake for his 4th birthday so Nick and Katy snuck away to buy him one (he was thrilled!).  On our way to the souks the second time, we happened upon the Artisans market.  This turned out to be great! We were able to see some traditional Marrakesh artists at work and we were also able to purchase some true Moroccan pieces. (The prices were listed and there was no haggling which was great, but did take away a bit from the traditional Moroccan shopping experience) We had been told earlier that most of what is found in the souk market is actually made in China.  We purchased a beautiful Moroccan wind instrument called a raita, which we have all attempted to play but so far only I seem to be able to make any sound!  The Arabic writing is beautiful, almost like an art itself.  We found a place that would write each of the kid’s names on a card in Arabic that we could buy as a souvenir.  The boys were engrossed watching for over 10 minutes as this man painted the phonetic sounds of their names on paper.

We enjoyed 12 days of blissful sunshine (and a small amount of r&r) in Marrakesh.  The hotel was great and the staff were awesome.  Olivia was a hit with ALL of the staff.  She was danced with most days and she charmed them all with her infectious smile.  The food was great (especially the tajines) and it was really nice to have planned daily activities like spinning and archery, (I even tried the trapeze!).  Matt loved the mini-disco and was found dancing nightly at 8:30pm (the same 6 choreographed dances every night, so he got to know them well). The pool, tennis and soccer were hits with Nick. We all enjoyed the small animal farm including the day old baby goat. Katy got an afternoon in the spa and Hammam and I even got away for a day of mountain biking in the Agafay desert. I took a guided trip with Pierre-Alain and Rasheed from Marrakesh Bike Action. It was a great experience and I would highly recommend them.

We left the hotel at 3:30am on Easter Sunday morning.  The children were woken very early and loaded into a taxi along with all of our belongings.  It was a VERY long day but we finally arrived in Biarritz to our new apartment 100meters from the beach at about 7pm that night.  And so the next phase of our adventure begins…

As our time in Sevilla comes to an end, we can honestly say we have had some great experiences and really enjoyed our time in Spain (despite the unusually rainy weather we experienced).  We wrote about some of them in an earlier post Sightseeing in Sevilla. Here is a little summary of some final impressions of Seville from the both of us:

• Seville is a very social city and at the same time Seville is a very child/family friendly city.  Every restaurant/cafe/bar etc welcomes children and so often there is a playground nearby for children to play while adults socialize. We have been lucky with this!

• It is important to have a very solid/strong stroller for travelling along the cobbled streets.  Babies enjoy very bumpy rides here. It often put Olivia to sleep, but it is taking a toll on our poor old stroller.
• It seems we have been very unlucky with the weather (apparently this is unusual for this time of year).  Lots of rain which means lots of umbrellas on the streets!  Everyone is ready to quickly pull out the umbrella when the sudden downpours occur.
• Most women have long hair here (we’ve seen very few short haircuts).
• There is very little craft beer here – if you order a beer (un cerveza por favor or uno canas) you automatically get a light pilsner called CruzCampo.  Everyone drinks the same beer and it often costs less than bottled water.  They seem to have a monopoly! If you find other types of beer, it’s usually very expensive. Dave tried a couple craft beers here and there, but they were hard to find. The best he sampled came from a brewery out of northern Spain called DouGalls who had some decent pale and amber ales. The Andalusian craft beers available on tap all seemed to be lagers.
• Apparently it is so hot here during the summer that everyone goes inside from 1-9pm (for siesta and the air conditioning).  Everyone then comes outside to play and socialize at 9pm (kids included!).  Makes sense in the summer but pretty strange for us at this time of year, and hard to adjust to with three young kids.
• Our favoritelocal foods have included: Churros con chocolate, salted almonds soaked in olive oil, rustico loaves of bread – x3 for 90 cents – (bought fresh/warm in the morning), manchego cheese, Iberian ham, paella (meat or fish), Solomillo al Whisky (pork in whisky), large sweet strawberries, oranges, carrots, Calamari, Salted cod (We have not figured out how to cook the salted fish – Katy tried and it was VERY salty), cola del toro (bulls tail), large fresh shrimp (gambas).  Here’s Dave’s first delicious attempt at a seafood (calamari and shrimp) Paella (yum!)

• There seems to be a beautiful church on almost every street corner and they are frequented daily and are welcoming to the public.  Religion is a big part of the community here.  Young and old attend and seem very committed to their local church. It was great to see each church in preparation for Semana Santa. Last Sunday, we noticed a very large number of people entering and exiting the church next to our apartment.  There was a constant flow all afternoon.  Curiosity finally took the better of us and we decided to follow the crowd in.  We stood in awe as we gazed upon four “pasos” that were beautiful carved and decorated in golds and silvers, with statues of Jesus and the Macarena on top. We also witnessed one of the bands that accompany the procession perform at  the square. It was a lot like our pipe bands but with trumpets instead of bag pipes.

• The other religion here seems to be football. There are two teams in La Liga in Seville: FC Sevilla and FC Betis. Betis seems to be the most popular, especially in our neighbourhood, but FC Sevilla seems to be more successful. Nick and I were lucky enough to catch a match between Sevilla FC and Valencia FC. We were unable to get 4 or even 3 tickets together (in a stadium of 42,700 seats), which is unfortunate because Katy, and hopefully Matt, would have really enjoyed it. It also became apparent that infants were not really welcome in the stadium. We got there early, bought our scarf to support Sevilla and had a hotdog lunch. The game started with the entire crowd standing and singing the team song and it seemed many fans didn’t sit down the rest of the game.
• The game ended in a 2-0 loss, but Seville went on to win last week in Champions league play against Manchester United and their birth in the quarter finals has the city excited. Our trip ended with Nick asking for a soccer ball, which I happily obliged. There have been daily games of street soccer with Matt ever since.
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• Construction is constant here.  The outside of buildings seems to be kept intact and the inside is often gutted.  So much cement is being made at each site.  It looks like very complicated work – the workers seem to always be ‘patching’.
• Flamenco dance is a major art form here.  The flamenco dance performance we saw was truly wonderful at the Flamenco Museo.  Intimate theatre environment, stunning dresses, incredible dancers (male and female) – such intensity and strength in their performance. We didn’t realize they did so much percussion with their feet/shoes! They aren’t tap shoes but they are specific Flamenco shoes (a bit like character shoes) and they play incredible quick and wonderful rhythms with their feet.   The flamenco guitar playing is also beautiful – classical intricate finger plucking – it really guides the whole structure for the dance and voice.  The voices seems a bit less classical trained – it’s very speech like/story telling.  Lots of moving chromatic melismatic lines – and contrasting dynamics.  Perhaps reflecting the emotion of the story or the characters dancing? Even when not singing, they are always calling out throughout the performance (we wondered what they were shouting!)
• Flamenco dresses.  Every other shop here seems to have beautiful flamenco dresses.  Mixes of so many different colours and patterns. There are also beautiful tasseled shawls of all different colors and floral patterns.  I was in a department store this week that had a new stunning display of silk flowers for the hair set-up (I’m wondering if it was for Semana Santa or the April Feria?).

• Not to mention the children’s clothes for first communion…
  

  

  
• We had lovely visits from Peter, Will, Maria and three B-R aunties (Jane, Sue and Annie)!  Thank you for coming and sharing our Spanish experience with us.  It was SO lovely to see you all:)

• The Seville Communion was our other travel read for Seville. It put you right into the setting of Seville and gave you a feel for the city including the importance of the church, bullfighting, flamenco, the former nobility, Santa Cruz, Triana and the tapas culture. It was a good read before our visit.

Our next instalment will be from sunny (hopefully) Marrakesh, Morocco!

Over the last three days we ventured out of Sevilla by train to visit the ancient cities of Cordoba and Granada. We negotiated through the ticket purchase at the Santa Justa station in Sevilla and ended up with tickets for the high speed train to Cordoba and then a late afternoon high speed train to Antequera and a bus (the new line was under construction) on to Granada. The high speed train was great but twice the price of the regional media distance routes.

Day 1

The train ride to Cordoba, the first ever for Matt, lasted about 45 minutes through orchards of oranges, and upon arrival we were ready to locate the famous mosque… that is after we fed the kids.

We found a restaurant with a patio where Nick had calamari (a new staple of his diet), Matt tried the Iberian sausage, but again defaulted to the bread (so far the staple of his diet) while Katy went with the artichoke tapas, and I tried the cold, creamy tomato soup called salmorejo. Yes we are travelling through Spain on our stomachs.

This was also our first hot weather, reaching the mid 20s by the middle of the day. It gave us our first feel of how hot it must be in the summer and why they need siesta time. Cordoba displayed a lot of history with Roman ruins and ancient bridges. We were also surprised by how muddy the rivers were, probably due to the amount of rain we have been experiencing here in Andalusia.

When we finally got to the Mezquita (mosque), it was an amazing mix of a church (16th century), built within a a mosque (8th century), built on top of a church.  We were in awe of the size of the structure, the columns (over 850 of them), the arches and the blending of Catholic and Moorish architecture.

The sun really came out in time to visit the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos (Palace of the Christian Kings).  The gardens, pools and fountains were outstanding, especially in the sun. With everything in bloom they would be even that much more amazing. It was originally built for King Alphonso XI, but housed Isabel and Ferdinand II during their campaign to conquer the Moors in Granada.

It was then back on the train. For a short trip to Antequera during which Matt had a much needed nap. Passing field upon field of olive trees. We then jumped on a bus to take us into the hills and up to Granada. The valleys and ridges along the way let you imagine the Bandelleros looking down for their next prize, as Washington Irving describes. That is, as long as you can ignore the wind turbines, solar fields and gas stations.

After finding our accommodations for the night, we ventured out to get some dinner before getting a good nights sleep. We have been happily subsiding off tapas in Seville, the serving size is great for the boys and we have enjoyed the variety and price. To our surprise we found the restaurants in the section of Granada were only serving entrees in the restaurants. This was both a lot of food and quite expensive compared to what we had been used to (Spain on the whole has been quite reasonable). We had calamari (for Nick), meatballs (for Matt), and more artichokes (for Katy), and I had some of each. We later found we were in a very touristy part of Granada and received some good recommendations for the next night (unfortunately none of them opened until 8pm…). After getting the kids to bed (with a chapter of Cervantes’ Don Quixote to lull them to sleep) we decided to stay another night in Granada, unfortunately the hotel we were in didn’t have a vacancy and we had to look for another spot, which is not easy when travelling with a young family of five…

Day 2

We woke up in Granada, had breakfast at the hotel, packed up all our stuff and headed for the Alhambra. We took the bus up the steep windy road and arrived fresh and ready to explore. To our surprise, and disappointment, the tickets including the Nasrid Palace were sold-out both for the day, the night and the next day. We settled for the tickets to the Generalife and Alcazaba. My mother-in-law, Annette gifted me with a lovely copy of Tales of the Alhambra– by Washington Irving for Christmas which was a wonderful way to get a feel for the Alhambra before hand. Both Irving’s description of his visit in the early 1800s and the legends of the palace he relays were thoroughly entertaining and set the scene for the visit. The Generalife, which was the traditional summer home of royalty when it gets too hot in the Alhambra, was a highlight with it’s pools, fountains and waterways. It would be marvellous to see when all the flowers are in bloom. We also really enjoyed the Palace of Charles V which was a renaissance building designed by a student of Michelangelo. From the outside it is a square building but inside it has a circular courtyard surrounded by great pillars. The Alcazaba was the bell tower, traditional defences and fortress that offered some amazing views over Granada and down to the Paseo de Los Tristes below. While we were disappointed in not seeing the Camares Palace and the Palace of the Lions, it was a pretty full morning with three young kids. I guess we will just have to come back one day… and book ahead!

Early afternoon we headed back down into Granada and went to find our new hotel, a single room with 4 single beds and a crib… This was looking to be a fun night. We checked out the train schedules and decided we would leave late morning the next day, so we headed for the Cathedral de Granada as we wouldn’t have time in the morning. It was an amazing space and had a great kids audioguide. Unfortunately the audioguide promised a surprise at the end of the tour and the bookmark didn’t quite meet Matt’s expectations, which meant the next hour with a tired Matt, was not a lot of fun.

Since we were leaving the next morning we decided to fight through the meltdown (probably to be blamed on the parents for the heavily scheduled day) and see the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) of Granada with the tombs of Isabelle and Ferdinand II. It was great to see the chapel after reading Dogs of God – by James Reston Jr, a great recommendation from family friend. It gives a great history of the creation of the Spanish nation state, Spanish Inquisition, Spanish conquest of Granada, and the beginnings of the exploration of the Americas. With Seville and Granada being major settings for much of the historical action this was a great travel read, thanks Hugh!

This was an ambitious day with the kids, and as we looked for somewhere for dinner we realized how tired the boys were. When we discovered all of our recommended dinner spots were not going to open until 8pm we decided to split up and Olivia and I hit up the grocery store to buy dinner, while Nick, Matt and Katy headed back to the hotel. Luckily the boys were exhausted and when Olivia and I returned Nick was already in bed. After a quick dinner (bread, ham & cheese) and a reading of the “Legend of the Two Discreet Statues” from the Tales of the Alhambra, everyone crashed (in the morning I discovered this was with the exception of Katy and Olivia who hung out a bit longer, much to Katy’s dismay).

Day 3

After a late start (everyone slept in after the big day before despite all five of us being in the same room) and a packed lunch (yes bread, meat and cheese again), we caught the 11am bus to Antequera and then the media distance (slow regional) train from there to Sevilla, during which Olivia caught a little more sleep.

The high speed route from Sevilla to Granada looks great (most of the line has been laid) and will probably cut the travel time in half, but unfortunately we were too early too take advantage of it. Once in Sevilla, the boys were happy to be “home”. While it was great to explore a little bit more of Andalusia, our little road trip confirmed for us that we made the right decision to base ourselves in one location for longer periods of time. With 3 young kids the varied train schedules, carrying luggage, uncertain accommodations, less than ideal sleeping arrangements, inconsistent meal times and over scheduled sightseeing make short term travel quite a challenge.  We now await the arrival of three of Katy’s aunts who will be visiting during the rest of our stay in Seville. It will be great to again have visitors come see us here in Sevilla!

Last Sunday, we headed out for our usual morning walk and noticed a large group of people gathering just outside our apartment.  Curiosity took us closer and we noticed a number of Spanish men (of very similar build, height and age and all wearing white undershirts) helping each other fasten something on their heads.  It looked like this:

We walked a little further and noticed a big wooden structure loaded on top with blocks of heavy cement.  Underneath the structure looked like more than 30 men huddled together in a crouched position preparing for something (see picture below)? An older gentleman (leader) suddenly shouted something and then the men grunted and jumped up onto their tiptoes lifting the structure up before gently settling it onto the back ‘roll’ of their headpieces.  The men then slowly began to shuffle their feet in unison – at first rocking back and forth – then inching forwarded.  When they came to a corner they rocked back and forth again in unison slowly turning each time they rocked.

We found out that this is called a “pasos” (float) and is carried by 24 to 54 men during the Semana Santa procession.  And here’s a little video of the men lifting the pasos up in rehearsal.

It turns out we happened upon a ‘rehearsal’ for the big Semana Santa (holy week).  This year it is March 25th to April 1st and it starts soon after we leave Seville.  Originally we had hoped to be in town for it but all the accommodation (including our apartment) was more than double the price and apparently it is a VERY busy week in the city so we decided it probably wasn’t worth it with our entourage.

As we continued our walk, we happened upon a number of other rehearsals throughout the city.  There are apparently over 70 ‘brotherhoods’ who will have one to three (very heavy) ‘pasos’ that will be carried through the streets of Seville during the week of Semana Santa.

Each float will go from its own church to the Seville Cathedral and back home again. Some can take up to 14 hours.

These images show what some of the floats look like.  The men we saw rehearsing are hidden under the float that is beautifully carved and is dressed in flowers, candles and fabric.  There are hundreds of other people in the procession as well as thousands of people watching from the streets. This is taken from Wikipedia to explain what Semana Santa is: ” It is celebrated in the week leading up to Easter (Holy Week among Christians), and features the procession of pasos, floats of lifelike wooden sculptures of individual scenes of sorrowfull Mysteries of the Rosary, or images of the grieving Virgin Mary.”

Some processions are silent while others have a music accompanying them (in the form of a brass quartet, trumpets and drum, brass band or accapella choir).

La Catedral

La Giralda and La Catedral in the background

On one of our very first walks to the Cathedral back in February, we passed through the Plaza Nuevo.  We noticed a large amount of scaffolding type materials leaning up against the wall of the city hall.  At first we wondered if maybe they were preparing for a concert in the square?  As it turns out, they were actually preparing for La Semana Santa (1 month before)!  We walk through this plaza most days now and they are busy every time we pass through setting up the stands – a carpeted viewing area as the pasos arrive to the cathedra for this massive week long celebration.  There are many workers involved in setting it up and they have been at it for 3 weeks already! In the image below you can see 2 cars parked – this is where the procession will pass through.

Something else that has taken us a bit by surprise – but we have come to notice all over Seville – is this ‘head dress’ – it is called the “Capirotes” (tall pointed hoods with eye holes).

This is a widely celebrated image in Spain.  We have seen both young and old trying on their Capirotes in shops in preparation for the Semana Santa week.  It will be worn as a sign of mourning for Christ.  It will then be removed in jubilation when he is resurrected.  This image can also be found in most souvenir shops – in the form of dolls, candy lollipops, cakes, costume etc.

We feel privileged to have witnessed some of the Semana Santa preparations.  It has been very interesting for us all to see how passionate and dedicated the Spanish people are to their religion.  There is a sense of belonging.  Of community.  The boys have asked many great questions which we have done our best to answer.

After we witnessed the ‘rehearsal’ last Sunday, we later found all these same men filling the bars socializing and having a good time together with their families!  They are really good at enjoying life here in Spain.

Our first visitors arrived this week and it was lovely.

When we began planning this trip, we really wanted to find a way to visit some of the many friends and family we have dotted around Europe and the UK.  As a family of five now however, we weren’t too sure how people would feel about us showing up on their doorstep. We are ‘busy’.  After many different planning sessions, we decided that the simplest way was just to book our own itinerary and then spread the word and hope that friends and family come and find us wherever we are.

I have lots of family in the UK still thanks to my British ancestry.  I also lived and worked in London for five years and some of my colleagues and friends are still living in London and other parts of England as well as Berlin, Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

So…we spread the word! And to our wonderful surprise, a few friends and family actually booked.  (And I’m still hopeful others might book last minute?! hint hint;)

The first stroke of luck was that cousin William proposed to his lovely Maria from Jerez a few months back and they have decided to move to Seville this month.  What are the chances!

William and Maria are busy searching for a home and work in Seville.  A very busy and exciting time for them. We enjoyed tapas and drinks with them on their first night here.  It was extra nice to have Maria help translate and interpret for us. We had many questions for her about life in Spain and she was kind enough to listen.  We are still trying to work out the very different time schedule here so we asked Maria.  From what we can fathom out, it seems to look something like this:

• 9am – shops open
• 2pm – shops close & tapasbars are open (and busy!)
• 5pm – shops re-open & tapasbars close
• 630pm – tapas bars re-open
• 830pm – restaurants open for dinner

The part of the day we’re struggling most with is early evening.  At home, 530pm is ‘pub’ time in our house. The bar is open and we enjoy a tradition of a drink with the kids.  This is a special time for us.  Dave gets home from work and instead of rushing straight into dinner/bed routine, we enjoy 45minutes together as a family.  We head to a different space in the house – our music room/pub so it feels “new”. We catch up.  We chat about our day.  We hear each other’s stories. We listen to some music.  Sometimes we play music together.  The kids climb all over us. They usually go a bit wild and then we know it’s time to quickly get dinner on the table…

Wine/Tapas at 4pm – playground for kids:)

As you can probably guess from the schedule, 5:30pm here in Seville is VERY quiet. We can’t find anywhere open for our ‘pub’ time so instead, we settle for our own tapas creations at home.  The tapas bars are open and full of life from 2pm – 5pm but everyone disappears around 5pm for siesta time!  We have tried many times to find somewhere to pop into early evening and everywhere is empty.

We have yet to attempt to go out for dinner as it means heading out of the apartment after 8pm and that just seems crazy with our entourage!?  Dave has ventured out after the kids are in bed a couple times and he has returned to tell me that the city is truly buzzing with people after 9pm.  We continue to hear it through the night from our apartment windows.

Our second visitor, was my long time friend and singing colleague Peter, from London.  Some of you might also remember Peter from the 2nd annual Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular (2008). What a joy it was (as he would say) to meet up in this beautiful city.  It was great to have some English speaking companionship and I loved hearing the British sarcasm again. We had a great time reminiscing about singing together and the fun we had while I lived in London. The boys also enjoyed getting to know Peter and by the second morning, they were waking him up and climbing into bed with him for morning snuggles.  He kept us well entertained for three days and we will miss his enthusiasm, energy, passion for delicious Spanish treats, ‘reason for everything’ and company!  We definitely need to eat salad tonight though…

We took Peter back to some of our favourite Seville landmarks and we also explored some new areas.  We especially enjoyed the experience of purchasing traditional sweets  called Yemas from the nuns at the San Leandro convent through the secret door.  The nuns aren’t allowed to be seen, so civilians leave money in the revolving door and this is exchanged for special homemade sweets (individually wrapped in a fancy box).  They are made of egg yolks and taste extremely sweet – too sweet even for Dave and Nick which is saying alot;)

It was lovely hearing Peter singing and humming most of the time he was with us and it really got me thinking I should start practicing my own singing again.  I’ve had a bit of a hiatus while having children but singing and music were such a big part of my life for so long – it would be great to get back at it! It was so nice to hear Peter’s beautiful baritone voice echoing through our apartment with an array of ditties: arias, Spanish songs, oratorio, pop tunes…you name it.  I found these pictures today – a trip down memory lane of Thursford when Peter and I sang together back in 2004. Who would have thought I’d ever be paid to sing dressed as a sunflower!?

“It’s a Small World”

Abba medley

Peter and I also got to enjoy the Calle Aire Ancient Baths.  My hydrospa tradition at Kingfisher didn’t work out this year after the Christmas show so Dave promised me a spa day in Spain instead (amazing!). He hung out with the three kids for the afternoon while Peter and I lounged in luxurious spa baths and drank champagne.  What a treat! Just what I needed after a few sleepless newborn nights, lots of walking and playing tourist and lots of child management.  Thank you Dave!

Each morning we venture out (usually on foot) to explore the city. We try to hit at least one highlight each day. Here are our favourite sights so far.

Plaza d’Espana

Sevilla!

Military Museum: Ohh that’s a big cannon!”

Fans!

Our first outing in Seville was to the Plaza d’Espana, built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. We walked to the centre and took the tram to the Parc de Maria Luisa. It was a great choice to get the boys acclimated to sightseeing. They loved the tram, the fountain, the boat ride, watching the horse carriages and the flamenco dancers busking in the plaza. They also loved that it was a backdrop from one of the Star Wars movies. We made it back there when our friend Peter came to visit, but unfortunately the Park was closed. We did get to see the rather impressive military museum and will be heading back to spend another morning or afternoon exploring the park (perhaps on one of the 4 person bikes), next time we have a sunny day.

Real Alcazar

Fish!

Peacocks

The maze!

It was easy to see why this was chosen as a setting for the television show Game of Thrones. This former palace built for the Moorish rulers is a fantastic combination of gardens, pools, fountains, tiled floors, and tapestries on the walls. The boys loved the maze and following the peacocks around the gardens.

La Catedral & La Giralda

Waiting in the rain to get inside the cathedral

The tomb of Christopher Columbus

From the top of La Giralda

Learning about the Catholic Church

La Giralda and La Catedral in the background

La Catedral

We visited the La Catedral and were amazed by the vastness of the building, it is the worlds largest gothic cathedral . The columns are huge and the arches and ceilings are pretty awe inspiring. We stopped at a side chapel on the way in and the kids were amazed by the gold altarpiece. This was easily surpassed in the main cathedral with the enormous gold altarpiece the silver side altar and the gigantic organ. We were also able to see a chapel dedicated to Magellan and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. It was evident at every turn how prosperous a city Seville was when it was the main port leading to the Americas, and what an important role the church obviously played to the people of that time. We climbed up La Giralda tower (Olivia in the carrier) and braved the winds to take in some incredible 360 degree views of the city. We returned a couple days later to take in a mass. It was amazing to see the cathedral without the mass of tourists and in everyday use. The children were surprisingly well behaved throughout the service and had lots of questions about the “treasure box”, crackers, smoke, and the people praying. The organ was incredible and the singing (while not to the standard Katy was expecting) added to the experience. There was a considerable lack of female representation during mass. We see convents all over Seville, so obviously women play a major role in the church, but all the major positions are noticeably still filled exclusively by men.

Museo de Belle Artes 

Appreciating the paintings and learning about Christianity- the Last Supper

The well

“That’s Jesus on the cross!”

Learning about heaven and hell

On our first rainy day we decided to take in the Museo de Belle Artes located in a former convent. With our recent bedtime bible stories this was a bigger success with the boys than we expected. We jumped on the little C5 circle route bus and stayed dry for the morning. The boys were a hit with the seniors on the bus, so we were able to practice our spanish and learn a little more about the city from a lovely older lady. They happened to have a large Murrillo exhibit at the museo on loan from one of the churches. While there were some amazing canvasses on display from Murillo, Zurbaran and Valdes Leal. The boys favourites were those of the bullfighters and the battles, especially a work called “Death of the Maestro”.

Metropol Parasol

The “Mushrooms!”

Resting

The view over Sevilla

On top

Churros con Chocolate

One of the boys favourite places in Seville is the “Mushrooms”. It is a unique architectural insulation that really does resemble a clump of mushrooms. In the basement there is an exhibition of the roman ruins found below, on the ground level there is a great food market, on the upper level there is a playground and fountains (not operational this time of year, but perfect for the boys’ Beyblade battles), and you can even go up on top to get a great 360 degree panoramic view of the city. There are also a few great places nearby to get Churros con Chocolate, which has been a favourite treat for the boys.

Calle Feria Market

Helados

The butcher

Calamares Fritos y Pescados Fritos

Paella Carne

Lagostinos

The FC Seville match

Just down the road from us is one of the first little Sevilla gems we discovered, the Calle Feria Mercado. It is a food market in the mornings with seafood, meat cheese, bread, fruits and vegetables, but also has a tapas market in the afternoon and evenings. For 4 Euros you get a bebidas (drink) and a tapas at one of the various stalls. We have sampled some great paella, calamari, fajitas, noodles and salted cod with a vino tinto or cana. There is also heliados (gelato) for the boys and they brought down the big screen to watch the FC Sevilla match on the weekend. It seemed that the boys and I were more into the game than anyone else, so we are guessing that the locals are fans of the other local team FC Betis. We are hoping to get to a live match before we leave.

Alameda de Hercules

Coffee time

Bumper Cars

Cafe con Leche

Chasing Birds!

Still Chasing Birds!

The Alameda has been a go to spot with the boys first thing in the morning, late in the afternoon and after dinner. They chase the birds, play in the playgrounds and interact with the local kids. There are plenty of places for us adults to grab a seat and have a coffee, beer or glass of wine with a tapas while keeping an eye on the boys. There has been a craft market and a small carnival type fair there as well at times which was a big hit for the kids. Especially riding the bumper cars.

Toro del Oro

The Toro del Oro from the river

“The Golden Tower”

Columbus’ Santa Maria

The view from the top

The tower was originally a defensive lookout on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. It is now a maritime museum holding a model of Columbus’s ship and exhibits that included details of the Magellan and Columbus expeditions and of special interest to us from Canada and the BC Coast, those of Malaspina, Galiano, Cortes, Valdes and Cordoba.

Casa de Pilatos

A grand palace located in the middle of the Santa Cruz area of Seville. A mix of Italian Renaissance style with Roman statues, moorish Mudjelar style. We took a wonderful tour of the rooms upstairs with the furniture and artwork still in place that gave you a real feel of what life would have been like in the palace. The boys were enthralled by the audio guides which gave us the opportunity to really enjoy the palace.

Guadalquivir River Cruise

We took an afternoon cruise down the Guadalquivir River that gave us a different perspective on the city. There were some amazing views. It was a lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon.

La Maestranza Bullring

This was the first thing the boys wanted to see in Seville. While they were disappointed not to be able to see a real bullfight (we weren’t sure we really wanted to take them to one anyways), we all appreciated the tour. The spectacle of the bullfight was well represented by the costumes, paintings, mounted bull heads, and the stadium itself.

Hotel Alphonso XIII

“We are statues!”

Avenue de Constitucion

Cafe cortado y chocolate for les niños

Katy outside Hotel Alphonso XIII

After sitting through mass at La Catedral we took the boys over to Seville’s most exclusive hotel for coffee. The Hotel Alphonso XIII was built for visitors to the 1929 Exhibition.  We were eager to check it out, as the building our apartment is located in was designed by the same architect. He also built a wonderful building on the Avenue de Constitucion. We ordered a couple cafe cortados, chocolates for the boys and pastries to share and pretended we were wealthy for a little while.

Still to come….

A Flamenco Show, Triana, and weather permitting a football match.

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…

“Boys: we need to have a chat…”

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”.

Bey Blade battle zone

https://en.adrianohotel.com/the-mushrooms-of-seville-metropol-parasol

Resting

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!

We have settled into the first stop of our adventure, after surviving the 15 hour journey with 3 young kids, and are staying in an apartment in the Macarena district of Seville. Life here is a little different from life in Comox… It is an adjustment for us for sure, but entails a lot of unknowns for the boys.

The Language:

We are just outside the main tourist areas of Seville. This means that most people here only speak Spanish. For our five year old in French Immersion this has been a little uncomfortable, as he expected to be able to speak french during “the big trip” but was surprised to have to wait another month for the opportunity.  Katy and I know a little of the language from basic Spanish lessons, a few trips to Mexico and using the Duolingo app. Katy has some Italian from her music training and spending time as an au pair in Italy as a teenager, but the similarities have actually made it more difficult for her as she keeps shifting into Italian. When this means we are now relying on my Spanish to get by, we are in trouble. For Nick and Matt to see their parents, who they think have all the answers (poor innocent kids), a little vulnerable is a little scary. We have however been able to get by okay, without too many blunders. We have had some surprise orders in restaurants, smirks from locals, and a few moments of inability to communicate, but for the most part we get by and are able get what we need as long as we try. This has been a great lesson for the kids. You don’t need all the answers, and remember you are allowed to make mistakes and figure it out as you go. Our Spanish is improving daily… I now know to order a vino tinto instead of a vino rojas, and heard today that by copying the local pronunciation for gracias as “gracia” (as I have been doing since my second day here), it is kind of like saying something is humorous, as apparently the Andalusians are just lazy with their “s”‘s. I’m still unsure but I am going back to gracias…

Religion

Living in Canada, organized religion does not play a very big role in our lives. Katy and I were both raised going to Sunday School and have a basic understanding of the stories of the bible. We haven’t really had reason to explain religion of any kind to the kids. We hadn’t actually really thought of it at all until we walked into a church just down the street from our apartment here in Seville. Then came the series of questions and observations from the boys:

• What is a church?
• What do you do there?
• That guy has blood. Is he dead?
• He has nails in his hands!
• Who is the girl?
• Who is her baby?
• That’s gold! That’s silver!

We knew it was going to just be the start of the questions. So Katy and I had a quick chat about how to approach it, and I was “elected” to start the conversation about religion and Christianity that night. The old social studies teacher in me took over and I started by asking them how they thought people came to be. We talked about how nobody over time really knew for sure but every civilization had a creation myth to explain it. We then talked a little about evolution and that we could prove through science that people evolved from cells, to animals, to apes and then to humans. We then talked about how we couldn’t prove the other creation myths were true, but we also talked about how we couldn’t prove they were untrue. I then fumbled through an explanation of Christianity and how god created the world in seven days. What they really wanted to know after the visit to the churches though was the story of the statues they saw. Who is Jesus? Who is Mary? So I continued on about Jesus being the son of god and that Mary was his mother, while successfully saving the birds and the bees discussion for another time. This opened another can of worms about sins and the ten commandments and coming back to life. I have been telling another bible story (along with reading one of the only other books we have with us: If I Built a Car, The Snail and the Whale or Oi Frog) every night since to attempt to answer their questions… At least it means I can give myself a refresher after they go to bed in order to be one class ahead of them. I am sure Katy is giggling listened to my feeble attempts from downstairs (thankfully she is doing it quietly so she doesn’t get “elected” to give the next bedtime story).  Tonight they asked me whether there is a book with these stories in it…….

Food

Eating with young children is always a challenge. What they loved last week they won’t eat today. Take away most of their current favourites and you are playing with fire.

The first night here we ended up at a Mexican restaurant (primarily because it was next to a playground) in the Alameda de Hercules. Our first Spanish tapas experience was nachos with ground beef, cheese whiz and canned salsa. The kids were okay with it, but we were far from impressed by our first Spanish culinary experience, while thoroughly intimidated by our lack of Spanish language skills.

Calle Feria Day 1 – Tapas bar: We heard that there was a great market just down the road from us, (Katy picked up some fruit and bread there the first morning) so after a morning of sightseeing we decided to check it out. The Calle Feria market includes fresh tapas, so I used my limited Spanish to order us drinks: dos cervezas and a couple bottles of coca-cola as a treat for the boys, and then ventured off to find some food. I spotted some fried Calamari so I ordered some calamares fritos. I was expecting them to give me what was on the tray. Instead they breaded a fresh batch of calamari just for me and put that into the fryer. While waiting, I attempted to ask what the small fried fish was on the tray. I totally missed their explanation but they told me to try one. I liked it and ordered some of them for everyone to try. They explained that there were no more left to cook, but put the rest of the cooked ones in a paper cone and  gave it to me for free. Things were looking up, or they were taking pity on my poor Spanish. I took the paper cones of pescaditos fritos and the calamari back to the family. Nick was excited but Katy and Matt were far less impressed, especially with the pescaditos. “They have eyeballs” was Matt’s only remark. Nick was a trooper trying the pescaditos and wolfing down all of the calamari. Katy and Matt were still left empty handed so I tried again. Katy requested some empanadas she had seen, so I looked at the menu board and picked an empanada at random. I think it was tuna. What I received looked more like a meat pie than what I thought of as an empanada, so I also ordered a chicken empanaditas which was the filled pastry I was expecting. Katy was happy, and I found something Matt would at least try. We called it a day and bought some pasta at the store on the way home for dinner.

Calamares Fritos y Pescados Fritos

Empanada y Empanaditas

Calle Feria Day 2 – Tapas bar: With a bit more confidence now, we decided to try the market for a late lunch. An older gentleman came up to me and started explaining something to me far too quickly. When he noticed I wasn’t really following along, he switched to English and explained how the market works. For 4 euros you get a  ticket included 1 tapas and 1 drink (alcohol or pop) anywhere in the market. I ordered a couple glasses of vino tinto and a chicken fajita tapas, while Katy chose a ‘carne’ paella. The boys even let us order them some chicken chow mein.  This I ordered with a “uno … (finger point)… por favor”. By all accounts this excursion was a success and we planned to make it a regular stop, until we went back the next day at 3pm and it was closed. We ended up with Italian thin crust pizza that night. We tried the next day at 4pm and again it was closed, so we headed out to the Alameda (avoided the Mexican restaurant) and had some delicious pork cheeks tapas while the kids played in the playground. We headed home around 8pm and the Feria market was now open. We are still figuring it out. The late night lifestyle seems to be the rule but we haven’t yet figured out what they do with the kids.

Paella Carne

Pizza Tradicionelle

Calle Feria food market: The food market is great to have just down the road. I ventured out with Matt the other morning to pick up a few things. One of the vendors noticed Matt’s Canada sweatshirt and asked where we were from. He used to live in Vancouver, worked on Granville Island, and had a brother in law in Nanaimo. Small world. He left us to shop, but came by a couple times to help when my Spanish was failing me. I ordered some fruit, vegetables, bread, Queso Manchego and sausage for sandwiches. I then eyed up the Jamon Iberico and had a sample. Delicious.  I was sold and ordered 200 grams. I took advantage of my new friend from Granville Island and asked him to recommend a bottle of red wine, as what we had sampled so far was quite cheap (3 Euros a bottle) but not as enjoyable as we would have hoped.

I was pretty happy with myself for getting all the items I had sought and was ready to go home proud of my first shopping adventure and hadn’t really thought about price until I was given the cuenta (total) which was far higher than expected. Not wanting to admit my lack of understanding, further stretch my Spanish language skills or just admit my mistake, I simply paid for it and headed home. It wasn’t until I looked at the bill closely that I realized the Jamon Iberica sold for 100 Euro/kilogram (I spent 20 Euros on ham!) It was delicious though and went tremendously well with the recommended vino tinto (Viejo Mundo for 9 Euros), but I won’t be repeating that purchase…

Jamon Iberica y vino tinto

I am sure there will be a few more stories to tell before we are done.

After a gruelling 18 hours of travel, we have arrived!  3 flights, several hours of airport hanging, a tram, a bus and two taxis later…

Juan Antonio greeted us on the street outside our apartment.  He led us up 4 flights of stairs and into our new home.  Marble floors. 10′ ceilings.  A rooftop, geranium filled, sunny terrace overlooking the city of Seville.  A view of the highest cathedral steeple. Windows with inside shutters.  A spiral staircase.  A second floor 14′ dome ceiling framed with rafters and several lookout dome windows.

First impressions: “boys, did you know that you are staying in what used to be a castle?”  Let’s just say the look on Nick’s face said it all:)

We can hear the hustle and bustle of working people going about their daily routines.  We can hear the hoots and hollers from the many cafe bars throughout the day (and the night!).  We are in a very large city and it feels very different from home.

Olivia and I rose early (yawn) on our first official day in Spain and we went out to explore the city while the boys slept in. These are some of my first impressions:

• Parents pushing empty strollers moving quickly through the streets (perhaps heading to work after walking their kids to school/daycare?)
• Everyone bundled up in scarves and down jackets (it was about 10 degrees celsius this morning – winter!)
• Delivery vans blocking the narrow cobbled streets.
• The local market slowly beginning to bustle (fish, smoked, cured and salted meats, cheese and more cheese, olives, churros, fruit, vegetables, fresh bread, tapas, flowers…)
• We were told that the market price was the same, or less, than the grocery stores.
• Every other shop seems to be a cafe bar here.  Coffee in the morning and beer/wine and tapas in the afternoon and evenings.  Ingenious!
• Dog poo on the cobbled sidewalks.
• No grass to be seen but the streets are lined with orange trees.
• Extraordinary architecture – decorative motifs on every rooftop
• Many people still smoke here – especially women
• Playgrounds in the middle of the piazza’s – and several cafe-bar seating areas right next to them for the parents and all their extended families!

Tapas Bar & playground behind

This morning I placed my first market order – Diez fresa (10 of the biggest, juiciest strawberries I’ve ever seen) and cuatro naranja (4 oranges). Dos euro todo (2 euros).  Dos baguetinas – still warm from the oven.

I did not do my Spanish homework before this trip.  I have a good grasp of French and I have some very basic Italian – my Spanish comes out in a combination of all three (French, Italian and English) shall we say FrItaGlish? Frustrating.  I have set myself the task of learning several Spanish phrases and new words every day.

Today Nick learned the word “castillo” – castle.  We all drew and wrote about our first impressions this afternoon.  Nick drew a castle after our visit to the “murallo de la Macarena” (see image below from his journal).

Castillo (we saw the “Muralla almohade de Sevilla” today)

We are all adjusting.  Change, new and the unknown is always a challenge – more challenging for some of us than others.  We are negotiating and we will continue to negotiate.  This was only day one… we have 25 more days here to work it out and to adjust!