Although I have the best of intentions when it comes to blogging about our trip, I have discovered that, between our busy schedule, rare access to the computer, and questionable internet connections (particularly, or perhaps only, when I am trying to post a blog entry), I can't quite keep up. So now I face the challenge of sharing our experiences of one week and three and a half Spanish cities in one fell swoop. Since a picture is worth a thousand words (and, therefore, Sierra's 1,873 pictures are worth, well, you do the math), I will rely on a few of them to paint the outline of our time here in Spain, although they cannot possibly capture the depth and the richness of our experience here.

Sierra gets in a summer workout rowing her parents around the lake in Retiro Park, Madrid

She didn't even charge us 25 euros for this lovely photo!

As our time in Spain draws to an end, I am so thankful for the amazing experiences we have had while here. Madrid was lively, Sevilla was sultry, Nerja was relaxing, and Barcelona is filled with good memories. We have seen churches,

Sierra's panorama of the Church of Saint Salvador in Sevilla

palaces, a massive tile filled structure created for the 1929 World Expo,

La Plaza de Espana, Sevilla

 ancient ruins nestled beneath sprawling modern structures,

Atop "the mushrooms" in Sevilla. I like the juxtaposition of the old and the new (buildings, not people) in this photo and the next. Below these sprawling towers and walkways sit ancient Roman ruins, uncovered when the city sought to create a new underground parking garage

traditional Spanish flamenco dancing,

Flamenco show in Sevilla

conventional and innovative tapas,

The "shell" on this mussel was edible

Thanks to the waiter for talking us into this one.  Yum!

crowded beaches, landscapes rushing by at 300 km/hr on the high-speed train, narrow cobblestone streets,

In Frigiliana, above Nerja

 massive pans of paella being prepared and eaten beachside,

colorful people, beautiful scenery.

We're colorful too!

Colorful and beautiful

Sierra's adorable little friend from the train to Barcelona

Nerja

View of Nerja from Frigiliana

The Spanish people truly know how to embrace the moment and live life with gusto and it has been a joy to be a part of that culture for a short period of time.

Back in Barcelona!

Tomorrow we reunite with Jonah at the Barcelona airport and it's on to Norway!

After just three days in Spain, we have adopted the Spanish culture as our own--sleeping late, taking siestas, dining on tapas, staying out past midnight.  We are even speaking Spanish (well, Sierra is speaking Spanish, Tom is attempting some sort of French/Spanish hybrid, and I am saying "si" every time I think I might have just understood what a Spanish speaker said). Just when we thought we'd adjusted to the heat, we moved on to Sevilla, where the temperature at 4:00 this afternoon is registering 95 degrees. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our journey to Spain began early Thursday afternoon when Sandy and Conner arrived at our house to kindly transport us to the airport. It was good that Jonah had that time with Conner since it turned out that he was not able to sit with his school group on the plane after all. But, maybe being stuck with his family for a few more hours wasn't the worst thing of all, given that I think he got more sleep than the rest of the group. I'm sure he appreciated this later, since we didn't arrive in Madrid until 4:00 on Friday. Once we landed and got our bags, we quickly parted ways with Jonah so that he could begin his independent adventure. Tom, Sierra and I located our driver and, as he navigated central Madrid, I became increasingly relieved that we had not decided to drive ourselves while traveling in Spain. This was especially true as he drove down the pedestrian walkway for the final approach to our hotel.

We've been reunited with our friend, Rick Steves, on this trip and, as usual, we are so thankful for his books offering wise and thorough tips on navigating our way through all of our adventures. He found us a great place to stay in Madrid and helped us make the most of our 2 and 1/2 days there. We began with his walking tour, hitting all the major sights in a compact mile-long triangle. We finished our first day in a busy square, eating tapas and drinking wine at 9:30 (a little early for dinner, but hey, it was our first day).

We awoke on Saturday somewhat weary, but having slept better than expected. Our first stop was the Royal Palace. We learned (from Rick) that the king and queen no longer reside here, but that it is used for many ceremonial and celebratory functions and this was illustrated in a grand fashion when we walked through the dining room with the elegant, long table carefully set for a party of 144 people. It was a beautiful room and I would love to post the picture Sierra took of it, but since it's against the rules to take photos in the Royal Palace, I won't. I don't want to get her in trouble. We've seen our share of palaces in our travels, but we really enjoyed this one--not only that grand dining room, but another room with a very unusual vine and greenery motif scaling the walls and ceiling, and another room outfitted with leaves and cherubs on what appeared to be a single piece of porcelain (but which, we learned from eavesdropping on a nearby English-speaking tour guide, was actually 480 separate pieces, with seams and junctions carefully masked). We followed our trip to the palace with a tour of the Mercado, where we found yummy sandwiches and fruit to eat in the plaza for a picnic.

In the Mercado

Royal Palace

The princess praces past the Royal Palace on the first day of our trip

     

Yum!

Tom and Sierra contemplate the life of a royal

The rooftop terrace with couches

Bebidos en la tarde

After a lengthy siesta, we ventured back out and made our way to the top of the Circulo des Bellas Artes building, where we enjoyed the lovely terrace with views over the city. Sadly, we were unable to snag one of the comfy couches in the center of the terrace, but it's probably just as well. We might just have fallen back to sleep. Our next stop was a Rickommended restaurant, and we set off to find it, our mouths watering imagining the "inverted patatas bravas." But, alas, it was not to be. Despite our best efforts and two out of the three of us having a generally uncanny sense of direction, we could not find the place. We looked and looked and looked, but thirst and hunger finally got the best of us and we settled for patio tables, people watching and lesser food in another part of the city. After dinner, we wandered back to our square and were treated to a very entertaining mime show right near our hotel. He started as a mild irritant to our quiet enjoyment of our seats in the center of the square, but as time went on, he grew on us--and apparently everyone else as well, as the crowd watching him ballooned. It's hard to describe a mime show in words (and that seems like a violation of some kind of mime code), but suffice it to say that it kept us smiling and laughing so hard for almost an hour that my cheeks actually hurt when it was over. By that time, it was already midnight. Now, you'd think that after a long day like that, we would have gladly dragged ourselves back to the hotel and collapsed on our beds, but, no, we are Spaniards now! Instead, we meandered into Plaza Mayor for more people watching and some gelato (yes, the gelato shops are still open at 12:30 a.m.) before heading back to the hotel and collapsing on our beds and dreaming about our successful first full day in Spain.

It is three years, almost to the day, since we returned from our family sabbatical and today we embark on another adventure. This one is much shorter and less ambitious, but it is a celebration to mark many milestones. In the last month, Tom and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, Jonah graduated from middle school, and Sierra graduated from high school. When we returned from our sabbatical, I still felt like the mom of two kids.  Now, Sierra is a young woman about to head off to college in two months and Jonah is a teenager who has made me the shortest person in the family. I certainly have a heightened awareness of the passage of time these days.

For this adventure, we will first head to Spain, where Jonah will travel in Madrid and Barcelona with friends from Gateway School, and Tom, Sierra and I will chart our own course through Madrid, Sevilla, the Costa del Sol, and Barcelona. At the end of our Spanish adventure, we will reconnect with Jonah and the four of us will head up to Norway. It is not your conventional European summer vacation, but we all look forward to experiencing the contrasts between these two climates and cultures. And, we are so thankful to be able to share this last hurrah before we return home and begin the adjustment to our new family configuration. I hope to post stories and photos along the way, so check back often!