Category: Travel

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!

Katy and I have both travelled a bit before, but this trip required a lot more preparation than we are used to. Planning for 4 months with a family of five adds unique challenges. It has meant countless hours spent researching destinations, flights, accommodation and transportation. With 3 kids aged five and under, we wanted to be as prepared as possible.

Packing for 4 months with three children who cannot yet carry a suitcase means choosing what to take very carefully. We are travelling with only two checked bags, a stroller, a diaper bag and a carry-on backpack each.  We know we can get what we need here, but with 3 young kids the more logistics we could take care of ahead of time the better. This meant packing diapers, pull-ups, baby wipes, formula, toys, bottles, medicines, first aide kit, sunscreen, nightlights,  and of course in this day and age there were laptops, phones and LeapPads for the kids. Just minutes before leaving for the airport we were still cutting weight to meet the flight restrictions….

Travel insurance was another piece we needed to do a little research on. My extended benefits from work give us 30 days of travel insurance and we booked everything through our travel credit cards which in the past would normally be enough for us. This time, with a trip length of 120 days, (not to mention a five month old) we decided we needed to supplement this. When I tried to extend through my benefit provider we found that they would only insure the entire length of the trip, so we couldn’t benefit from the existing insurance. Luckily with the help of our insurance agent we were able to find a plan that would compliment our existing coverage and give us some much needed piece of mind.

Speaking of 120 days… We had originally planned to spend all 120 days in Spain, Portugal and France. We booked our flight into Seville and out of Paris accordingly. After booking the flight I discovered that my visa would only allow 90 days because of the Schengen Agreement. This wouldn’t have effected Katy as she also holds a UK passport which means (for at least the near future) she holds an EU member passport. This meant a little juggling of our plans. Luckily we are allowed 90 days within an 180 day period. We decided to detour south after Seville to visit Morocco for a couple weeks, before flying to France for a couple months. After our time in the Dordogne we required a second detour, so we decided that three weeks in Croatia would be a nice way to end the trip, before returning home by way of Paris. This did cause a little initial stress but it was definitely a first world problem that added a little more unknown to the trip to that will stretch our comfort levels a little and help us grow.

Phones required a little more planning than in the past. Worldwide calling and roaming plans are getting better. We first checked it out with our carrier and we were able to add $10/day to call and use data in Europe to a max of $100 per month. This would have worked well for Katy to keep up with work back in Canada, as even though I am off until July, Katy needs to keep working with her show, the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular, while we are away.  Unfortunately, when we called back to confirm a couple weeks ago the price was $12/day with a maximum of $200 extra per month. This put adding to our existing plan financially out of reach, so we are back to the more traditional plan of purchasing sim cards at each destination and Katy communicating through email as much as possible. With the necessity of naps with young kids and wanting to be able to split up during the day and find each other again, we believed having phones was a must. Luckily we found a voice and limited data plan for just 10 Euros/month in Spain. It means no texting, but it is a cheap way to stay in touch. We will see what we find for options in France and Croatia.

The flight was the first thing we booked after sketching out an itinerary. I checked out our travel points, but sadly we were woefully short for airfare for five. Happily, I found a great tool to aid in the process. Google Flights was a handy way to explore flights, compare prices, flight length, layover and levels of service. It even emailed alerts when the price went up our down and kept a history of prices so that we could book at what we believed would be the best price. I used it to select every single one of the flights (9 in total) we ended up booking. The actual booking was done through the individual airlines and I found that knowing the options and itinerary before working with the airline made a huge difference. In the end I booked using each airline’s website because in all instances it gave me a better price than over the phone.

Our initial flight found us leaving Nanaimo at 12:15 pm and arriving in Seville at 3:15pm the next day. We had a 3 hour layover in Calgary that allowed the boys to run around and wear some energy off, us to get some lunch, and a much needed diaper (and clothes…) change for Olivia. We then had an 8 hour flight to Frankfurt. The flight went well, with Olivia sleeping a respectable amount in the basinet (the other screaming baby nearby actually let us relax a little as it wasn’t our child keeping everyone up), the boys glued to the in-seat TV’s for the better half of the trip before sleeping for the other half, and Katy and I catching perhaps a couple hours each. The connection in Frankfurt left us with a mad dash to an adjoining terminal after going through security. We were the last to show up for the connecting flight to Seville and after some tense moments when they couldn’t find the booking for Olivia and Katy, we breathed a sigh of relief as we went through the gate to board a bus to the plane. I’m not sure how well we would have handled the missed connection with the three kids… The flight itself was uneventful and we landed in Seville on time. We then unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a taxi for all of us to our apartment, but they were adamant that they could only take 4 people maximum in a car, even though they didn’t require car seats in taxis in Spain. So Matt and I went in one with the luggage and Nick went with Katy in the other with Olivia on her lap. I counted two occupied seats and two empty seats in each taxi… With our limited Spanish we decided it best to just nod and say “si”. I’m sure it won’t be the last time we do that…

When we arrived at the apartment we breathed a huge sigh of relief as it looks like a great home base for the next month. More to come soon after we catch up on some much needed sleep!

Just over four years ago, Dave and I decided to join his employer’s salary deferral program.  We had our sights set on a “family adventure” of some kind.  The day has finally arrived and our adventure begins…

We chose Europe. We have four months.

I work from home and as a family we enjoy a comfortable routine of work, school, activity, a busy social life and the great outdoors.  We enjoy spending time together exploring and experiencing life.  We laugh, we cry, we share, we negotiate and we compromise.  Not every day is easy but we try to never go to bed sad or angry and we wake up to a family breakfast together in the morning.  We find time to chat.  We find time without screens.  Some days are good, and some days we could do better.  We are constantly reminded that we are lucky to be here and lucky to have each other.

So it is with great trepidation and great excitement that we embark on this next journey together.  We have much to see, much to learn, much to experience.

Tomorrow, we will lock up our home and familiar life and we will step onto a plane…followed by many more planes and trains, cars, buses and boats.

Our adventure includes an apartment in the centre of a large Spanish city, an all-inclusive resort in an African country, an apartment by the beach in a small French surfing town, a stone farm house in the French countryside and a road trip through Croatia’s old walled towns.

We say goodbye to family and friends.  We say goodbye to school and work. We will miss everyone.  We will miss our routines. We will miss home.

We take with us two suitcases and four small backpacks.  We each have a journal. And we have each other. We venture into the unknown…

Tomorrow we wake up here in an apartment in the centre of Seville, Spain. For our first month, we will immerse ourselves into Spanish life.  We will try new food, we will attempt to speak a new language, we will meet new people, we will live in a new home and we will explore a new culture… let the adventure begin!