More Spain pictures

Here is a link to the rest of the pictures we have from our Spain trip.  It really was a wonderful experience.  Aside from a few hiccups, such as unexpected major blisters on both my feet from the first day, and the unplanned closure of the Royal Palace, we could not have asked for a better trip.  It really helped that we didn't have to worry about the boys at all, and were even able to Skype on Wifi on a couple of nights.  Otherwise, having five date nights in a row, an unprecedented occurrence since little Michael arrived, was just fantastic.  We travel really well together and I felt proud of us for successfully navigating the airports, trains, buses, taxis, and metro (although, given we each lived in D.C. for years, one would hope we'd have no problems with the metro!), along with so many hotels and restaurants.  It was simply fun.  Topped off by a great night out at Ruth's Chris when we came back to Orlando (thanks to AB for babysitting!), it really was the best kind of vacation.  Feeling very thankful for such a safe and relaxing vacation.

España - La comida

I'm not a foodie by any stretch, but when it comes to Spanish food I will go to special restaurants, seek out tony grocery stores like Central Market, and buy imported food from catalogs because it's not available most places and it's just that good.  Using my limited, non-foodie vocabulary to describe it, I would say that, while similar in some respects to other Mediterranean fare with lots of seafood, liberal use of olive oil, and plentiful baguettes, the Spanish are unique in the types of meats and soups they have, along with the whole tapas culture.  Paella is a unique rice and seafood dish that's very tasty.  Jamón serrano/jamón ibérico is the national dish, and you will see cured legs of ham in pretty much every restaurant (and home, at least in my experience):

America needs more jamón hanging around

A bocadillo de jamón (ham baguette) is pretty much the perfect lunch for me.  Or a bocadillo de tortilla (with Spanish potato/egg omelette).  Or a bocadillo de bonito (with line-caught tuna).  Mmm.  Yep, pretty much any of that.  I also love the Spanish varieties of chorizo - dry-cured sausages.  The texture of the Spanish chorizo and jamón is different than any other country's types of those meats.  The FDA doesn't approve it here, so it does have to be imported here specially to restaurants and distributors.  I wish it would catch on here more. Here are a few pictures of the many delicious meals we enjoyed on our trip.  It makes me happy just thinking about it.  (By the way, Mike likes it too.)

Stuffed chicken breast, jamón and eggs, and french fries at El Trebol in Toledo

A local Belgian-style beer and regional wine (from La Mancha) at La Abadia in Toledo

Selection of grilled meats at La Abadia in Toledo - I liked everything except the morcilla (blood sausage)

Absolute favorite: tapas of champinoñes (mushrooms with jamón and seasonings), jamón, chorizo, queso manchego (goat's cheese) and bread at Mesón del Champiñón in Madrid

Me, very happy to be at Mesón del Champiñón

España - Madrid

The last two days of our trip were spent back in Madrid.  We stayed a slightly nicer, more modern hotel right off Puerta del Sol, the city center (it was more modern, but they still had the key-card-for-lights setup).  I had thought it made sense to be in Madrid at the end of the trip so we'd be there already to get back to the airport on New Year's morning.  I did not really think about the fact that Puerta del Sol is Spain's equivalent of Times Square and we'd be there on New Year's Eve ... Yep.  When you're someone who doesn't "do" New Year's Eve, details like this tend to escape you.  Oh well!  It did make it an exciting place to be, although on Saturday night when you could barely open the doors to the hotel because of the crowds pressing outside towards the plaza, we stayed in, with a bottle of wine in our room and the traditional twelve grapes at midnight down in the hotel's restaurant.  Well, I say "we" had the twelve grapes, but I think only Mike managed it.  I was dealing with the fact the grapes had seeds, so I had about four.  Seriously, all grapes should be seedless!

In Madrid, we got to see the Reina Sofia, the modern (post-1880) art museum; the Prado, one of the great art museums of the world; the Plaza Mayor; and the Almudena Cathedral, which took a hundred years to build and was finally completed in 1993.  We weren't able to go to the Royal Palace because they randomly decided to close it on December 31, even though it had only been announced ahead of time that it would be closed on the 1st.  In Madrid we also got to eat at more excellent tapas places and small restaurants.  One neat place was Mercado de San Miguel, an early 20th-century marketplace that was just restored in the last ten years to make it a trendy, attractive market.  You could buy little chocolates, cones of calamari, fresh rabbit, wine, or octopus.  We enjoyed the atmosphere there.

Plaza Mayor was incredibly packed

Looking south in the Plaza Mayor

Tapas bar on Calle Cavas

Mercado de San Miguel was hopping

Puerta del Sol, decorated for Christmas and New Year's

Staying warm at Café Y Té

Almudena Cathedral

Chapel in the cathedral

 

 Mike by a statue of St. Peter; Interior of the Cathedral

Happy New Year!

España - Toledo

On the third day we were in Spain we went to Toledo.  That is where I studied abroad, and it was quite a feeling to be back there for the first time in twelve years.  When we got up to the Plaza de Zocodover, the city center, I saw the Number 6 bus drive by and remembered taking that out to the last stop on the line every day to the family I lived with.  We didn't go back to the school I studied at, but as we headed down the stone street to the cathedral I remembered exactly where I would veer off to the left to head to the Fundación.

Toledo is a special place.  We stayed outside the walls in a nice little hotel.  The Euro-quirky thing here was that you had to use a key card not for the door, but to turn on the power in your room - the lights wouldn't work otherwise.  That was new to me!  The proprietor was very nice and I got to chat with her in Spanish a little about my time here.  One nice thing about the whole trip was that my Spanish worked fine and almost everyone accepted me speaking it.  My accent was also normal here - my South American in-laws have always made fun of my Castilian accent, but I fit right in back in Spain :)

In Toledo we visited the Museo Santa Cruz, which wasn't open when I was there before, and which was free since it's under renovation.  We also saw the Cathedral, which was constructed in the 13th and 14th century, and the Iglesia de Santo Tome, which is where El Greco's famous painting El Enterramiento del Senor Conde de Orgaz is housed, but which is also a functioning parish.  I felt a tremendous sense of peace being in the little parish, with familiar church bulletins, pro-life posters, and the lit red candle to indicate the Blessed Sacrament was present.

The sense of Church history in this city and Seville in particular were incredible.  Unfortunately, one of the brochure translations in Toledo had some ridiculous wording about how, "today, this stands as a memorial to architecture, artwork, and common values of the West," or something like that.  It's incredibly obvious that these aren't any such things; they are monuments to the faith, and not a generic conception of "faith," but faith in Christ.  When you think about how Spain was under Moorish rule for over seven hundred years, a period of time that must have seemed interminable, the significance of each church and cathedral raised after the reconquest of each city becomes apparent.  One of the neatest features of the Toledo cathedral, also, is a room that has a picture of every bishop of the city dating from the 4th century to today, with many spaces on the wall for bishops yet to come.  That kind of history makes a deep impression.

Hiking uphill to Bisagra Gate into the city

This store made us think of Theresa

Mike by the side entrance to the Cathedral

Beautiful architecture

You weren't supposed to take pictures in the Cathedral, but all of the Japanese tourists were ignoring the signs so eventually Mike also  did take some pictures of the chapels and interior

There were vestments and hats dating back 600 years

After dinner in the Plaza de Zocodover

España - Sevilla

I studied abroad in Spain my sophomore year of college, and Mike has never been to Europe, so between the two of us we thought we'd like to go (back) someday.  I always thought the cost of plane tickets was prohibitive, and we haven't exactly had a lot of free time the last few years.  But earlier this year we decided that maybe it was time to just make it happen.  It would be right around our five year anniversary, I wouldn't be pregnant or nursing for the first time in four years, and my parents generously agreed to watch the boys.  So we were very excited to have the chance to go to Spain after Christmas, just about exactly twelve years after the last time I arrived there.

Everything thing went as well or better than we could have hoped for.  When we got to Madrid, we took a bus to the train station, and then took the AVE train to Seville.  We stayed there for two nights in a little hotel on a street so narrow it can't fit cars.  It was very nice and clean, although it did have its European quirks, like no stand-up showers.  In Seville the main things we were able to see were the Plaza de España, built for an early 20th century World's Fair; the cathedral, on which construction was begun in the early 1400s; and the Museo de Bellas Artes.  Here are a few pictures.

At the Plaza de España - a beautiful day

This may or may not be a location setting from Attack of the Clones...

Mike at the Plaza de España

The Cathedral is the third-largest in the world, and largest Gothic cathedral

The artwork was stunningly detailed and beautiful

We took this picture because it reminded us of our nephew Canon :)

Choir area facing the high altar of the Cathedral

The lobby of our hotel

Walking in the Barrio Santa Cruz section of town

Atlanta

Last Thursday I had to go to Atlanta for a business trip (firmwide practice group meeting for the group I work with) for three nights. I was worried about how Michael would do with me disappearing for three days. When I asked at the La Leche League meeting, the leaders asked if I could just take him with me. I thought that was pretty unlikely ... but then I checked fares, and they were reasonable, and I asked Amanda if she'd be willing to come along and take care of the baby there, and she said yes. So, the three of us went on my business trip! I'm so glad it worked out -- kept me from having to pump around the clock for three days, and also kept Mike from being traumatized overnight back here. Michael has adjusted pretty well to me being at work so far, but I think if I disappeared for that long it would be a little rough.

The meeting was at the W Midtown in Atlanta. I've stayed at that hotel before on business trips to New York, and it is so postmodern and trendy, every elevator ride feels like you're at a club. There are black platform beds and modern couches, with trendy lighting fixtures, and dim lights all around. All in all, kind of a weird hotel and definitely not my style. It's perfectly nice, just ... not my style. Unfortunately I think it threw Michael off also. He is now a pretty veteran traveler who adjusts pretty well to different cities, but he did not sleep well AT ALL the whole weekend. He and Amanda did great for the most part -- there was a park in walking distance, a food court and some walkable areas around the hotel, and Amanda got to see a few friends -- but he hardly napped for her, and he woke up every two hours for me at night. He was just so stubborn, he wouldn't calm down to sleep like normal. I think something must have just felt different about the environment, even with Amanda's helpful sleep sounds machine. My co-workers who met Michael thought he was great, though, especially because he slept the whole plane ride home -- ha.

The meeting was not well organized overall, but some of the presentations were interesting and I tried to make the most of saying hello to co-workers I talk to and work with all the time but rarely get to see in person -- I do a lot of work for our other U.S. offices. It was great to meet the guys from Madrid and practice my Spanish too (they actually think my accent is good, in contrast to my Ecuadorian in-laws who make fun of my Castilian Spanish). They invited me to bring Mike there and call them, and they will show us around. I haven't been to Spain since my study abroad there (I won't even mention how many years ago now), and I would LOVE to go back. So I'll definitely have to take them up on that.

The best part of this business trip was getting to see Patricia, who I'd actually only ever gotten to meet in person one time before, at a closing in New York two years ago (!), but who has become a great friend since then. I finally got to meet her husband, her little baby girl and her toddler who is adorable and is going to be my future goddaughter :) We went to church on Saturday night at Christ the King cathedral and I enjoyed the beautiful music there (sadly, continues to be a contrast to our own parish). In all, I am extremely grateful to Amanda for coming with me so I could bring Michael and have a good business trip without worrying about him.

Gracias hermanito

My brother Chris gave me a few packs of jamon serrano for Christmas, which is an awesome present.  I have had tapas a few nights in the last week (with olives with pimientos and crackers) and then yesterday I bought a baguette from Target, so I just had a bocadillo with jamon serrano for lunch.  It was amazingly good.  Is it wrong to want another whole sandwich right away??

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Further making me think of Spanish food, last night the Travel Channel show with Anthony Bourdain played an episode he filmed in Spain recently.  Of course, he visits restaurants that serve more elaborate food than just tapas, soups or regular meals, but I saw enough bacalao, tortilla, gambas, and lomo to make my mouth water.  Even though I haven't been to Spain since my semester abroad in 2000 (it is definitely past time to try to make another trip there!), I haven't missed out on Spanish food that entire time.  Thanks to my friend Laura's original recommendation, I was fortunate to know a good, hole-in-the-wall Spanish restaurant in D.C. since I started visiting and then living there, and Mike and I made a fair number of trips to Adams Morgan over the years so I could indulge in jamon, champinones and sangria.  It's the place he took me the night he proposed, too, so happy associations all around.  I haven't found a Spanish restaurant in Dallas yet, though, so my brother's present was the first time I had jamon in a year or so.  Yum!