January 6, 2012
The best Christmas gift I ever could have asked for: a visit from my family all the way in Spain! I knew my sister had been saving up to come see me, but at the last minute my parents decided to come too. We haven’t taken a “family vacation” in many years, so this is surely one we will never forget.
I flew straight from my Xmas vacation in the Canaries to Madrid to meet my family. I got in pretty late, crashed at a hostel, then got up super early to go retrieve my nervous, non Spanish speaking family from the airport! I was a bit over-prepared and anxiously waited an hour and a half for their arrival. Gina Bina was the first to come through those big glass doors, followed closely by the rents and I realized how much I had missed them all. Needless to say there were lots of big hugs.
My excellent navigation skills (Dana calls me a human GPS) got us in one piece to our hotel just outside the center of Madrid. We spent the first 2 days exploring Madrid – the palace, the gardens, the park…. then it was off to Sevilla for New Year’s. Sevilla is easily becoming one of my favorite places in all of Spain. After a day of exploring we got dressed up and went out to the main plaza to eat our 12 grapes at midnight – one for each second the bell rings. With all the chaos, shouting, fireworks, and drunk Spaniards and tourists alike, we couldn’t actually hear the bells, so we just scarfed down our grapes as quickly as possible. I had extras and obviously started throwing them everywhere and yelling “Feliz Añooo!” it was boatloads of fun.
From Sevilla, we made our way to my home away from home – Ubrique. It was so nice to share it with my family and show them where I live, the places I go, the streets I walk everyday. We walked around town, shopped for some leather goods, and stopped at all of my favorite restaurants and bars of course. One of the most memorable evenings, Pepe invited us all to dine at the hotel. We were all a little nervous about the language barrier – the fam speaks no Spanish and Pepe not a word of English other than “table” and “high-five”. Somehow, I managed to translate smoothly, with only a few hiccups here and there. We all talked, laughed and had such a good time you never would have guessed we were speaking different languages. Pedro waited on us and had a few good laughs with us too – including jokingly serving us a cardboard pizza box because that’s all Spaniards think we eat. It was really cool to see my two different worlds kind of coming together for that one night.
Our last day, mom and dad bravely got up early and ventured out on their own! The night before I taught them how to say “coffee with milk” and “hot chocolate”, so they went for breakfast on their own and even did some shopping afterward. I think they not so secretly had a little fun with it. In the meantime, Gina and I slept in to rest up for our big adventure – hiking the mountain to the Cruz del Tajo. I had made the trek with Clint once before and Gina really wanted to give it a try. It was a long, hot journey but totally worth it for the excellent view once again.
The next day, we traveled all the way back to Madrid, where we crashed in a really cozy, modern hotel for the night and got up early to depart. It was nice to have some downtime before leaving. The trip went by so quickly, and traveling with them to the airport just felt like my “vacation” was coming to an end and I was going home too. It wasn’t until we got to the airport that I realized I had to say goodbye to my family for another 5 months. “Good-byes” are always tough, I prefer “see-ya-laters.” I was very sad to see them go, but I’m looking forward to getting back to my old – well, new? – routine here in Spain.
Having caught the train from Madrid this morning, I have been wandering solo, enjoying the beautiful weather in Sevilla all day. The only bus back to Ubrique isn’t until 7:30 tonight because of the holiday. (Dia de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day is just as big as Christmas; the children receive presents from the Kings this day.) All the shops are also closed, but I can’t complain because it’s sunny and gorgeous. I’ve been taking the time to get to know the city and just relaxing in my favorite cafés and parks.
That pretty much sums up my 2011-2012 winter holiday extravaganza. It was definitely one to remember! Now to get my head out of vacation mode and back to work in my lazy little town in the mountains.
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