Seville Tapas Hop

It was chilly and rainy today, but we didn't let that quash our plans to do a "tapas hop" in Seville. We wandered around the city and stopped at several tapas bars to sample the local cuisine. We also saw lots of other interesting sights and had a great time.

Our first stop was the indoor market, where the boys had
a great time visiting with the butcher at one of the carnicerias.
Clay was thrilled when Jeff gave him some money
to buy whatever he wanted!

Bar Europa

El Zeste

Plaza Chica

Other sights in Seville:
1. One of the quaint streets in the center of town
2. One of many dress stores selling flamenco dresses
3. A John Wayne mural near one of the tapas bars
4. Weston posing with a barber pole (ref: Barber of Seville)
5. Churros left to cool
6. Orange trees line the streets
7. Metropol Parasol
8. A snail sculpture on the side of a building

Gibraltar

Yesterday we made a day trip over to Gibraltar, which seems like it should be part of Spain but is actually a British Overseas Territory. I think this means Gibraltar is sort of an independent nation, but not really. What it meant for us was that we had to go through the process of digging out our passports to show the completely uninterested border guards. There isn't much to Gibraltar--just a big rock, which you might have heard of. But, the view from the rock is pretty amazing, and it was cool to visit a cave on the side of the rock and the siege tunnels used in WWII. We also came across some Barbary Macaques, which some of us were a little wary of after encounters with some aggressive little monkeys in South Africa, though, thankfully, these Gibraltar apes left us alone. It was a fun outing, but, honestly, we were glad to get back to our little piece of paradise on the Spanish Riviera, which we were very sad to leave this afternoon. It was one of our favorite places of our whole trip, so far. But, we know new adventures await in Seville and beyond.

Rock of Gibraltar

The Bay of Gibraltar

St. Michael's Cave

Looking out from one of the siege tunnels.
We loved that the airstrip crossed the highway coming into Gibraltar.

Barbary Macaques

A date on the boardwalk in Benalmadena

Last sunset in Benalmadena...for now!

Mijas

We took the day off of school and headed for Mijas for a big surprise. It is a lovely little town in the mountains, known for its burro taxis and laid out in sort of a spiral, overlooking the Mediterranean. We had heard that there might be flamenco dancing, but, since today was a holiday, they weren't performing. That did not stop us from taking in the sights and having a blast. We wondered around the charming city for a while and then had lunch outside, at a wonderful little tapas bar with an amazing view.

The big surprise came after lunch. We had booked a workshop at "The World's Smallest Chocolate Factory," Mayan Monkey Mijas, to celebrate Max's birthday. We had so much fun and came home with about ten pounds of chocolate! We got to make marbled chocolates in the shapes of animals, caramel filled chocolates, chocolate dipped fruits, chocolate covered truffles, and three large custom chocolate bars apiece, with any of a number of interesting and delicious toppings. Plus, there was a brownie birthday cake that Max got to decorate himself and "mocktails" for toasting the birthday boy. It was one of the best birthday parties I've ever put on or attended! And, Max was absolutely thrilled with the surprise and said it was one of the best birthday gifts he's ever received.

Sit-on statue dedicated to the hard working burro taxis of Mijas

Breathtaking vistas

Mijas Mission

I would never tire of this view!

Lunch at Oscar's Tapas Bar

I took this picture from the balcony directly over the table where we had lunch.

A big birthday surprise!

Oompa Loompas

Max's special birthday cake

Cheers to the birthday boy!

Viva España

The first class of the day was interrupted by a pod of dolphins making their way across the sea outside our apartment. There were about six or seven, and they were so fun to watch! Eventually, they were out of sight, and we refocused our attention on Math and Literature. We have not had an interruption quite like that before, and it was a fun diversion.

This afternoon, we drove over to Fuengirola for the Three Kings parade. In many parts of the world, Santa is not that big a deal, but the Three Kings are the gift givers of choice. They show up with gifts for kids on January 6 every year, and many towns in Spain have parades on the 5th to welcome them. Since we didn't have any experience with a parade of this sort, we showed up early and were able to run some errands and play at a neat playground while we waited for the celebration to get under way. This was not your typical small town parade. The floats were quite large and carried internationally recognizable characters. And, there was more candy thrown from them than I can even conceive. One article I read in preparation for the event said that somewhere in the neighborhood of 11 tons of candy was thrown out at one of these parades in the past, and I don't doubt that statistic after what I saw tonight. It was a spectacular event, and we all had so much fun!

When the parade was over, we drove back to Benalmadena and headed over to the marina for dinner. We found a wonderful seafood restaurant and ate some truly delicious food. It was a wonderful day in a wonderful place!

Dolphins in our backyard

Working out at the playground

Waiting for the parade

Plaza de España

This man actually caught a piece of candy in his mouth (by accident)!

The Three Kings

Clay being tough with the polar bear at the marina

This boy LOVES fried sprat, a fish similar to a sardine.
He ate the majority of what you see on the plate!

After School Activities

We finished our school work about noon today and then played all afternoon on the beach. We also paid a visit to the Castillo de Colomares, an architectural wonder dedicated to the memory of Christopher Columbus and his discovery of the Americas. The structure itself was fascinating, but the view alone was worth the trip up the hill.

Benalmadena Beach

Every restaurant along the beach had a grill station set up out front.
They were particularly proud of the skewered sardines.

Sand Sculpture

Home, sweet home

Beach Boys

Castillo de Colomares

Captain Max on the Santa Maria

These boys had so much fun climbing up to all the look out spots at the castle.

Location, Location, Location!

Moving on down the road

This morning we left Consuegra, where the landscape reminded us very much of west Texas--flat, dry (except for obviously irrigated farmland), and mostly treeless. It wasn't long before the landscape changed completely, and we found ourselves driving through a beautiful mountainous area, overlaid entirely with olive groves. My mother-in-law stated that it was "olive trees like the stars in the sky," which is no exaggeration. Even in Italy and Greece, we never saw so many olive trees. As we approached our destination on the Spanish Riviera, the landscape changed again, as did the weather. It had been downright cold in Consuegra and drizzly for most of our drive, but when we arrived in Benalmadena Costa, it was sunny and very warm. Mimi and the boys were quick to change into swimsuits, so they could splash around in the Mediterranean and the pool. It really never gets warm enough for me to splash around in anything, but the view from our apartment is like Heaven, so I was quite content to hang out here and get us settled in. It's always challenging to start back to school after a holiday, but I think our the view and the promise of playing on the beach will help everyone make it through the morning tomorrow.

A lovely drive

The view out the front door of our apartment

The view from the bedroom and living room

La Mancha

We listened to Don Quixote's (abridged) adventures today, as we traveled into the region of La Mancha. We are only here for the night, but we have made the most of our time. We wandered around the lovely little town of Consuegra, hiked up to the castle and the windmills, saw chestnuts roasting on an open fire, played at a cool rope and rubber playground, took advantage of the free internet connection at our hotel, had an early Spanish dinner (around 9:00 pm), ordered blindly off menus twice, and literally closed down a churro stand by buying all their remaining churros.

Don Quixote de La Mancha and his little friend

Consuegra

The famous La Mancha windmills

Tilting at windmills

The windmills were really cool, and the castle was an unexpected treat.

En el castillo con abuelos

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Just a swingin'

Little Climber

Windmills, castles, and fun, fun, fun!