Spain: Day 2, Seville

In contrast to the night before, we had the streets to ourselves on our first morning in Seville.  At 9am the only cafés open for breakfast were near the cathedral and clearly for tourists, although we did have another delicious start to the day of fresh pastries, cafés con leche and freshly squeezed orange juice.  I had prepurchased online 10am entrance tickets to the Real Alcázar (the 10th-century Moorish royal palace in Seville), so after breakfast we still had a little time to explore and enjoy the empty streets.  It was a lovely, clear-skied, crisp morning with the breeze blowing through the orange trees which line the narrow, cobbled streets.  We stopped to watch the bells of Giralda Tower ring in the morning and took our time meandering back the way we had walked the previous night.  It was all such a lovely experience, taking in the sights and sounds of this old city on such a still morning. 

This was our only full day in Seville, so we made the most of it, hitting as many sights as we could but also making sure to take breaks, people watch, and have leisurely meals when we could.  Our morning stroll filled the time until the entrance time on our tickets for the Real Alcázar.  At 10am we skipped the line and just walked right into the palace.  The palace is a beautiful sprawling expanse of courtyards, arches, and domed ceilings, full of both Islamic and Christian details (a style known as Mudejar).  It is probably one of the most ornate structures Ella and Jack had ever seen and they were amazed at the idea that it was all handcrafted and so old.  It was also cool to think that, for a while, this was the royal palace of Ferdinand and Isabel.  We explored every room and spent quite a bit of time enjoying the beautiful day out in the gardens. 

From the Real Alcázar, we walked along the Guadalquivir River to the Parque de María Luisa where the Plaza de España is, both built for the 1929 international fair.  The tile work, a trademark of Seville, and fountains are stunning here.  We took a carriage ride back to the cathedral area to see more of the city in a way that seemed very Sevillan (they have horse festivals here and horse carriages are everywhere), and perhaps to rest our feet a bit after all that walking.  The cathedral line was pretty long at that point and we were getting hungry, so we found an outside café near the Torre del Oro (Gold Tower) and enjoyed a lunch of tapas and pan that wasn’t quite what we expected, but yummy nonetheless—and fortunately the kids were up for anything. 

After lunch, we headed over to the Catedral de Sevilla which is the the third-largest cathedral in Europe and the largest Gothic church in the world.  When we stepped inside and saw the towering columns, the kids both said, “Woah.”  The nave, art on display, and even Christopher Columbus’s tomb were all pretty awe-inspiring but it was the walk up the ramp and views of Giralda Tower that I thought spectacular.   We explored the cathedral and its grounds and then headed back to our hotel for a little rest.  It was a little early for siesta and we passed crowds of locals sitting outside for their late lunch which we probably should’ve taken as a sign that it was time to eat, but the adrenaline of being in a new place was wearing off and jet lag was creeping in. 

Well rested, refreshed, and starving, we headed back out on the narrow streets of Seville after a few hours in the hotel only to quickly find out that all of outside restaurants were only serving at this time of the evening—and what droves of locals were enjoying—was simply coffee and pastries (as in no substantial food).  Jonathan and I both shrugged, happy to find an available table, and said, “When in Rome…” or Seville, as it were.  The kids were none too satisfied.  We had tickets to a flamenco show and realized it’s probably best to have a great dinner after the show instead of forcing it before, but to ward off the grumps of the kids until then we found a great little Spanish “fast food” place (I use that term lightly—the food was good and well prepared) called ‘100 Montaditos’ (100 Sandwiches—every typed of tapa you can imagine on a little pan sandwich).  And there began Ella’s love for the Spanish tortilla montadito. 

We had reservations for an authentic flamenco show in a small theater with only a few rows of seating.  The fast-paced pounding of the flamenco dancers’ feet, the constant strumming of the Spanish guitar, and the wailing of the singer were mesmerizing, especially from the front row.  Our intent was to avoid restaurants that have a menu in English, but a restaurant around the corner from the flamenco show looked so wonderful and had available tables (the closer we got to our hotel the previous night, the harder it was to find a table), so we couldn’t resist.  When we requested our menu in Spanish I think the waiter almost sighed, but we managed, ordering everything we intended (artichoke hearts, cod, mushrooms, spinach and garbanzos, etc., trying to hit all of the Andalucían specialties).  Well, I guess that’s not entirely true—we did order a few things we hadn’t intended.  The waiter asked Jack if he, too, could speak any Spanish to which Jack simply just started listing random Spanish words he knows, “el baño, las papas fritas…café con leche…”  The waiter then said, “¿Para ti?”  And then I felt like playing along, so I said, “No, para mí.”  And then Jonathan joined in with, “Dos.”  The waiter then walked away and Jonathan and I looked at each other wondering if we had actually just ordered two coffees at 10 o’clock at night.  The answer to that was a definitive yes.  It was a delicious end to a delicious meal, and a good, funny memory, but between the two cafés con leche that night (one at 5pm and one at 10pm) and the boisterous Sevillans who enjoy partying in the streets until 3am, we didn’t get a great night’s sleep that second night.  But, no matter, we were up bright and early the next morning, excited to catch the 8am train to Barcelona.  Seville is a beautiful and bustling old city and I loved that we were out with the locals in their festivals and paseo—but, I can’t imagine how crowded it feels during Holy Week!

{From top to bottom, left to right (like a book): Giralda Tower of Sevilla Cathedral in the morning; entrance to the Patio de Banderas of the Real Alcázar (Flags Courtyard, once a military parade ground for the royal palace); NO8DO is the city insignia of Seville—nodo meant “knot” in the old dialect, and this symbol evokes the strong ties between the citizens of Seville and King Alfonso X (during a succession dispute in the 13th century, the Sevillans remained loyal to their king) *per Rick Steves guidebook; the ironwork and traditional whitewash-and-goldenrod color scheme of Andalucía; part of the Catedral de Sevilla, the largest gothic church in the world.}

{Patio de Banderas; the iconic view of Giralda tower, this time without the need to cut the people on the streets out; the entrance to the Real Alcázar (the royal palace), decorated for the holidays—the Spanish celebration continues until Three Kings Day on January 5th.}

{The Real Alcázar, a 10th century Moorish palace that was renovated in the 14th century by Muslim workmen for the Christian King Pedro I—it’s the oldest palace in Europe still in use by royals—and this first image is of the entrance to King Pedro I’s Palace; tile work; courtyard and arches; altarpiece painting of St. Mary and Navigators (Santa María de los Navegantes) including what is to be believed as the most accurate depiction of Christopher Columbus; the Courtyard of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas), the center of King Pedro I’s palace.}

{Mudejar style stucco panels and tiles; more intricate stucco carvings; happiness and smiles captured, couldn’t delete this moment, however blurry; more of the Courtyard of the Maidens; looking out to the courtyard from an adjacent room.}

{The domed ceiling of the throne room; looking up; intricate columns and arch work; getting a little help looking up; Arabic writing, interlacing plants, and geometric shapes are molded into the walls and ceilings.}

{The palace rooms led from one to another; a peek to the gardens; the Real Alcázar logo, so to speak; marble columns in the Courtyard of the Dolls; we all found that throughout this trip there was quite a bit to see looking up.”

{I handed Jonathan the guidebook on this morning; tiles representing the various regions of Spain; beautiful tile work even on the outside steps; love these smiles; entering the Moorish gardens.}

{A view of Giralda Tower from an original part of the Moorish castle wall; lush gardens, even at the end of December; taking in the view.}

{The Mercury Pool, a reservoir fed by a 16th-century aqueduct; hand-painted tiles from the 16th century; world travelin’ cutie; even the garden benches are beautiful.}

{My cute family in the palace gardens; some time to run; and to explore; Sevillan orange trees—the oranges in Seville are bitter and only used for sauces and English marmalades; the tunnel under the Mercury Pool.}

{You can find tributes to Saints throughout the city; orange trees and Giralda tower, iconic Seville; more archways; trying out a Segway outside the palace; Ella had to try, too.}

{Plaza de España; beautiful tiled bridge—too crowded to get pictures on; hey look—I’m on vacation, too!; more of Plaza de España.}

{The Spanish Pavilion—the tiles show historic scenes and maps from every province of Spain; most of the benches were taken up by Spanish families taking photographs in their region, so we just picked one randomly; it was a lovely place to walk around, and not a hard one to find a horse carriage for a ride back to town.}

{Riding in the horse carriage; my cuties; my beautiful world traveler; Plaza de España is a treasure of Seville.}

{We ordered gambas and we got gambas—admittedly I was expecting shrimp in a garlicky butter sauce, but these were good, too; Torre del Oro (Gold Tower), built by the Moors in the 13th century, it was the starting and ending point for all shipping to the New World; pan and Fanta and this girl’s happy; dos Fanta de naranja y dos cañas; these kids were so adventurous on our travels with food.}

{Inside and outside the Catedral de Sevilla.}

{More details inside the cathedral—the altarpiece is the largest one ever made.}

{Checking out the views from Giralda Tower—the tower was actually a Moorish minaret that became the cathedral’s bell tower after the Reconquista.}

{More beautiful views from the tower.}

{And more details inside the cathedral; the Court of the Orange Trees—this was once a Moorish courtyard with irrigation streams and a fountain where 12th-century Muslims washed themselves before praying.}

{Walking the narrow streets of Seville—cars actually drive on some of these; the tower of La Iglesia de San Isidoro; the tortured face of the Spanish singer, wailing his sad tale; I couldn’t believe how fast the fingers of the guitarist could move; and flamenco, all at Casa de la Memoria.}

{You were only allowed to take pictures during the final dance.  The entire show was passionate and captivating.}

{Another gorgeous view at night of the tower; our hotel was on Abades Street.}

Spain: Day 1, Madrid & Seville

We enjoyed all of our usual Christmas family traditions this year—church, dinner with the Miners, new pajamas, and Christmas books on Christmas Eve and an early Christmas morning of stockings overflowing with small gifts, then a nice breakfast, and then onto the gifts under the tree.  This year we had fewer Christmas decorations around the house and fewer gifts under the tree and I have no pictures from our Christmas morning, but it’s all for good reason.  At about midday on Christmas Day, we headed to the airport, off on our real Christmas gift to each other: a 10-day trip to Spain. 

Christmas Day was a travel day, after a layover in Philly we caught an overnight flight into Madrid.  We landed in Madrid at 8:15am local time—2:15am East Coast time—after not much sleep (Jack still talks about the annoying toddler yelling random words in front of us overnight).  We had all decided, though, that we were going to do our best to get on local time, so we happily powered through, which honestly wasn’t too hard at first because we were all so excited to be in Europe (first travel out of the country for the kids).  Our first few nights in Spain we were to stay in Seville but our train wasn’t until 1pm so we had several hours to take advantage of some sights near the train station in Madrid.  Admittedly, we had a bit of a slow start in Madrid—granted, we were functioning on just a few hours of sleep—with a bit of trouble paying for metro tickets, getting cash, finding where to store our luggage in the train station while we explored Madrid, and then finding a place to eat.  But, we figured it all out and that’s part of the experience in a new culture.

Putting our schedule together for our time in Spain was a bit of a puzzle between all of the holiday days over the course of our trip and the resulting reduced schedules of the sights we wanted to see.  Ella and I were really hoping to make some time for the Reina Sofia modern art museum while we were in Madrid, but it wasn’t going to work out when we made our way back to Madrid.  Luckily, the Reina Sofia is right next to the train station so after our first breakfast in Spain of cafés con leche, churros con chocolate, and toasted pan (Spanish bread—unlike other bread, so I have to make the distinction because I remember as a kid just how special it is) with olive oil and tomato we headed to the museum.  At the Reina Sofia we saw works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Joan Miró (all artists we had researched before coming to Spain) as well as other contemporary Spanish artists.  The most striking piece of artwork we saw there was one we had paid particular attention to in our research, learning the history behind it, Picasso’s Guernica.  It is 11’5” tall by 25’ 6” wide and fills its own room.  Ella couldn’t believe an artist could paint something so large.  I think she was pretty awestruck in general to see the works of such famous artists in person.  I’m so glad we fit it in and it was fun to get a little taste of the sights before we got on our 3-hour train ride to Seville.

{pablo picasso’s guernica—no photography is allowed in that part of the museum, so this is as good as it gets.}

{the kids got spray sour warhead candy in their stockings so this was a regular occurrence throughout the trip…at least they were sharing…}

{atocha train station—beautiful train station with an atrium full of gardens, we went through here to get to all of our destinations.  train travel is so incredibly easy and comfortable in europe.  we got comfy seats, beautiful views, and free headphones and movies on each train ride.  it was wonderful downtime and you can get everywhere fast—we went up to 200 km/hr.}

Seville!  After a relaxing train ride, on which surprisingly none of us napped, taking in the rocky terrain spotted with fields and fields of olive and orange trees, we pulled into the Seville train station.  We made it to Seville on a gorgeous day, just in time for the beautiful warm late afternoon light to illuminate the intricate gothic and Andalucían sights of the city.  We took a taxi from the train station to our hotel and the taxi driver basically dropped us off in the middle of the street.  There was no hotel pull-in or driveway and no signs for our hotel.  The taxi driver didn’t really speak any English so he just kind of motioned up a curving side street when he saw our confusion.  Sure enough, our hotel, just blocks away from La Catedral de Sevilla (and Giralda Tower), was up a hill, off a side street, with just a small sign marking that it was the Fontecruz Sevilla (a Marriott).  It was such a beautiful hotel that unfortunately didn’t have rooms for more than three so we had to get two rooms for the four of us and, although our two rooms were in different parts of the hotel, the concierge seemed utterly confused that Jonathan was staying with Jack and I was staying with Ella—no adjoined rooms, but the hotel more than made up for it with the modern rooms, lovely views, wonderful breakfasts, and charming character of the old building it occupied (not to mention the complimentary wine, cheeses, fresh-squeezed orange juice and pastries on our first night). 

After getting settled, we enjoyed a lovely evening stroll, following one of Rick Steves walks, around the cathedral, over to the Patio de Banderas (where you get the picture perfect view of Giralda Tower and where they are currently excavating a Moorish palace), down Calle Agua, by the burial site of Sevillan painter Murillo, and on to see a statue honoring Seville’s famous 17th century citizen Don Juan.  On our walk we stopped in at a convent of cloistered nuns where through a lazy susan window (because you can’t actually see the nuns) you can purchase convent sweets.  We put our euros on the lazy susan, spun it into the convent, and out came two bags full of tasty communion wafer tabletas (basically the scraps after communion wafers were cut out).  Ella and Jack both loved this concept and actually loved the tabletas, happily snacking on them for our entire walk.  We found a few other cloistered nuns in Toledo and Madrid later in the week—and they are typically known for more delectable treats than communion wafers—but unfortunately they were all closed on the holiday days (and even days around the holiday days) we happened upon them.  I’m glad we at least got to experience this part of the Spanish culture once—the sisters raise money by selling their goodies and have for centuries.

After our walk through the oldest part of Seville, we followed the crowds (and locals were out in serious masses—January 5th, Three Kings Day, is the bigger celebration this time of year so while we were in Spain the Spaniards were out every night doing their holiday shopping, and actually this evening walk in the crowds, or paseo, is part of everyday life in general there) to the shopping areas (where we found Seville’s futbol club’s store), outdoor dining, and even a holiday festival and craft fair.  Our walk was ultimately leading us to what claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world, the Metropol Parasol, or known as the mushrooms to locals.  The entire bottom of the structure was surrounded by fair tents so my vision of spectacular images of the entire mushrooms structure was kind of shot, but once on the top it did make for some stunning views.  I love how Seville lights up all of its major sights.  Atop the mushrooms was the perfect place to watch the last lovely light of dusk fade away on our first night in Seville.

On the way back to our hotel, amidst the crowds, we searched for a place for our late Spanish dinner, amazed we’d made it so late on our first night.  We were lucky enough to snag an outside table at a restaurant busy with locals where we tried a mix of delicious tapas, trying to select those unique to the region—fried fish, jamón, espinacas con garbanzos, and montaditos (Ella particularly loved the Spanish tortilla sandwich) accompanied by what would be our usual mealtime refreshments, dos fantas de naranja y dos crianza (orange fanta, which has real pulp and is so much tastier in Europe, and two Spanish red wines—although sometimes we did order small beers, or cañas).  We were definitely in bed before the locals, but we did pretty well for our first full day in Spain!

{with their treats from the cloistered nuns.}

{heading to the top of the metropol parasol.}

{the view atop the mushrooms.}

{trying whole fried fish—love that the kids were willing to try anything.}

{some of our free hotel goodies.}

Christmas with the Crossons

We spent the weekend before Christmas down in Atlanta hanging with my sister’s family.  We were in town for their annual cookie exchange party on Sunday and, since I spent most of that party hugging people I’d met in Atlanta the February prior and eating almond-stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates, I didn’t take many pictures…and, most of what I did take, of course, involved the ever-changing, sweet and adorable Ivy.  Jake was out and about a bunch so he unfortunately barely made it into a photo.  It was a fun visit, nonetheless—hopefully we can get them up to see us soon!  Love these faces.  :)

{sweet little ivy often takes my hand and leads me around her house.}

{would you rather?—definitely a fun game for boys.  it can get pretty hilarious.  thanks, brooke brown, for the insight into good gifts for boys!}

Instagrammin’ in December

Another year of Instagramming has gone and it still hasn’t lost its luster.  If anything, I am enjoying the immediacy and art of iPhone pictures and posting to Instagram (and sometimes even to Facebook) even more—there are some great editing apps out there and, considering some of the images can end up looking pretty good, there is currently no better way for me to keep up with the documentation of everyday life.  Or, in the case of December, keep friends and family up-to-date on our travels to Spain.  The trip spanned the end of December through early January, so here you’ll just get a glimpse of our trip (Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, but not our excursions to Toledo, Ávila, and Segovia which were all in January).  I haven’t started editing the “big camera” pics from our trip yet, but it’s hard to feel the need when the iPhone shots turned out so good.  ;)

handmade holiday.  #cinnamondoughornaments | a tooth is finally coming in! | ladies rule! #beerpongchamps | guys drool. #beerponglosers | the boys at a panthers game. | sporting our new lobs. #longbobs | every party’s more fun with a photobooth. #schoolwinterparty | first christmas in over a decade without my christmas pup. #bluechristmas #bestchristmaspresentever | hobbit time! #dinnerandamovie | merry christmas to our atlanta cousins! #cottoneyedjoealwaysmakesbabiessmile | so excited about our trip to spain!! | christmas day and we’re at the airport headed to spain! #rockingforluckytravels | landed in madrid with very little sleep but still fit in a trip to the reina sofia art museum. #picassomirodali #laguernica | seville! #orangetreesliningnarrowstreets #flamenco #giraldatower #tapas #flamenco #gorgeousweather #soexcitedtobehere | quite a view at night! #seville #fromatoptheworldslargestwoodenstructure #themushrooms #metropolparasol | still kickin’ it in seville! #readyforagoodnightsleepthough | real alcazar de seville. #oldestpalaceineuropestillinuse #10thcenturymoorishpalace #14thcenturychristianreno | look up! #realalcazardeseville | the gardens and my royalty. #realalcazardeseville | plaza de españa. #seville | plaza de españa. #seville #magicaltrip | catedral de seville #largestgothiccathedralintheworld #3rdlargestcathedral | kids’ first words when we walked in, “woah.” #catedraldeseville | here lies christopher columbus. #catedraldeseville | the view from giralda tower. #seville | authentic flamenco, spanish guitar, and singing—amazing show! #seville #casadelamemoria #wheninseville | good night, seville! #onelastpicofthecathedral #offtobarcelonatomorrow | bullet-train-to-barcelona selfie.  this was 2:30am EST. #adjustingtothetimechange #siestaslater | our first look at some gaudí in barcelona. #casabatllo | our little artist at picasso’s old hangout. #elsquatregats #the4cats #barcelona | another day, another gothic cathedral. #catedraldebarcelona | good morning, barcelona! #parkgüell #gaudí | sitting on the iconic benches of park güell. #barcelona #gaudí | me and my cute little world travelers. | beautiful view from park güell. #barcelona #gaudí | la sagrada família! #barcelona #gaudí | can’t beat the view for lunch. #lasagradafamília #barcelona | nativity façade of la sagrada família. #gaudí #barcelona | pictures do not do the inside of la sagrada família justice. | truly awe inspiring. | and then we found an official fc barcelona shop and jack was in heaven. #futbol | la boquería market on las ramblas—we got a variety of olives and chocolates. #kidschoice #snackofchampions #barcelona | paella in barcelona. | our hotel is in the lovely walking area of la latina in madrid. #madrid | might be my favrorite treat while in spain. #vermut #vermouth #delicioso | plaza mayor all decked out with a christmas market—i remember coming down here when i was a kid. #madrid | a reality check of some of the brother-sister antics going on during our trip. | walking near the palacio real. #madrid | the kids could hardly wait for this experience—churros con chocolate at chocolatería san gines. #madrid | capped our first night in madrid off with dinner at the world’s oldest restaurant. #elbotín #checktheguinnessbookofworldrecords #since1725 | day well spent at the prado. | hangin’ with goya. | puerta del sol—where it’ll all go down on NYE (tonight)! #spainstimessquare | kilometer 0—the center of spain. #madrid #puertadelsol | hanging with the locals. #madrid | lovely night for a walk in madrid. #almudenacathedral | the royal palace. #madridatnight | temple of debod—a gift from egypt to spain of an egyptian temple from 200 b.c. #madrid | fascinated by the jamón culture in spain. #mercadodesanmiguel #madrid | street art. |we’re ready to ring in the new year! #puertadelsol #madrid | joining the masses on the streets tonight to celebrate noche viejo. #oldnight #newyearseve #madridatnight | ¡feliz 2015! #happynewyear #madrid | it was fun celebrating the 12 days of christmas in spain where their biggest holiday celebration is on three kings’ day.