Day 10 Tarragona

We left the group early, they went to the airport and we went to Hertz rent a car.  Driving in Madrid during the morning rush was quite a ride.... Sophie was even telling me I had to be more aggressive.  We headed due east to the Mediterranean coast.  The hotel people in Madrid directed us to Tarragona and told us to take the freeway road. We opted for the two lane more direct route, which was extremely picturesque but much slower. 

On the route we saw fields/crops of Sunflowers.  They were all dried up and I would love to return (on a bicycle trip) when they are in full bloom.  Other crops we saw were corn, Olive groves, and a huge watermelon field.  The soil in tilled fields was reddish.  We passed by the quaint little villages, several monasteries and mailed 2 postcards in a small village....hopefully they will arrive!

We didn't make it to the coast by sunset, but the drive was beautiful during sunset.  Tarragona is a bigger city than I would have liked, we were tired, hungry and just wanted a warm plate of Paella.  It took a bit to get thru town but fortunately the hotel signs were helpful.  We arrived at the hotel and the area was nearly deserted, we are right near the beach but no restaurants.  We drove back into the city, and had a horrible time with parking and finding a restaurant.  When I asked a local, she quickly pointed towards McDonalds..... of course that was NOT an option, so she directed us to the old town area and we did find a place for tapas.

We returned to our hotel ~10p, jumped in bed and I woke up @ 9a this morning.....refreshed.  I went for a nice run on the beach boardwalk.  The beach area is nice for a run because there are mostly nice homes, no hotels or stinky restaurants..... so now I totally appreciate Tarragona.

Today we are off to Barcelona after we check out the local ancient Roman ruins here.....and maybe a bit of beach action!

Day 9 Madrid

Day 8 Madrid

Blah blah blah, CBL (check back later)

Day 7 Sevilla

Again.... behind.... check back later

Day 6 Sevilla

I am horribly behind... Check back later for this date

Day 5 Granada

Jody and I overslept..... missed running group..... missed MCS group breakfast..... missed bus to Mass at the Granada cathedral.  However, we did have a fabulous breakfast with other tour groups in the hotel and we did make it down to the cathedral just after Mass started.

After Mass parents and their children were able to spend the afternoon together.  Sophie and I joined the Tomas family (Andy, Carol, and son Kevin) for a walking tour of old Granada.  We rambled around the thin cobblestone winding streets uphill to the caves where the Gypsys live.

Along the way we enjoyed the view of the city and the Alhambra, this was very much out of the tourist section and a much better experience of daily life.  I was wanting Moroccan food and we stopped at a small place for Hummus and moroccan bread - yummy and very different and better than Costco hummus.  Just a quick snack as we were having so much fun walking around, although we did stop for the obligatory ice cream for Sophie!

Our next stop was for olive oil and we got a hot tip from a local.  The store had lots of goodies and a fabulous wine section too.... good prices as it was in more of a local shop.

The time went fast and Sophie had to reunite with her group off to Seville.  Adults spent one more night in Granada....  ladies went to the grocery store for Paella pans and Saffron (great prices) and then we went around the city at night for tapas.

Tomorrow we have a 3 hour trip to Seville, so running group will....get their butts out of bed.

***Photo of the day wouldn't load.... will try tomorrow

Day 4 Granada

Started out the day with morning run with the girls..... we headed to the river, so fun to see the Mosque lit up with lights.  It was nice to get in a run before sitting on the 2.5 hour bus ride to Granada.  Beautiful countryside the entire route, hills and fields of olive tree crops.

Once in Granada we headed straight to Alhambra Palace, super cool.....it was the Sultans palace and they built waterways that brings the water from the melting snow in the Sierra Nevadas, the walls are ornately decorated like a Persian rug but the colors have since faded, and there are fountains everywhere with beautiful gardens.  I took photos but you must check out the website or the picture book I bought.  

After the long Palace tour we were dropped off in the middle of Granada.  It was way past lunch and so we stopped for chow.  This is my paella, the signature dish of this part of Spain (rice, spices, and whatever seafood may be around.

Tomorrow I have a free afternoon with Sophie!

Day 3 Cordoba

Monday:  Happy Birthday to my sister Jennifer!!!  I started out with running group in Retiro park, and then we boarded the high speed train to Cordoba (sweet!).

Beautiful day in Cordova.  We visited the Mezquita (means little Mosque but it was HUGE).  Story goes the Moors (Muslims from Africa) built this great building but it does not officially face Mecca because of some arrogent Muslim ruler guy.  Then the Catholics took over and built their stuff right in the middle and kicked the Moors back to Africa.

This is a photo of our guides' shoes:

This is a photo of the courtyard in the Mezquita...notice the irrigation system to the orange trees.

Tomorrow, run down the river before boarding the bus to Granada.

Day 2 Segovia

Sunday:  Started off the day with our Spain running group....~ half a dozen parents who want to keep up the running while away (personally it means that I can eat more).  We headed north to Segovia.  First we checked out the Alcazar castle, super cool....has a moat and a drawbridge.  Walt Disney's mother was Spanish and he loved this castle.... Cinderella's castle was fashioned after this one.  Best part was the armor and the artillery room where there were old books under special lights, relics, and drawings of....well.... how to shoot a cannon.  Hope you can see this photo:

We attended a mass and the choir sang.  Many locals attended and, boy, are some Spaniards small people.  I had a brief spotting of Sophie and we were able to snap a photo:

Notice my boots, quick story:  we were headed out to dinner the night before and in the hotel room I hid my passport in my boot.  The next morning I put the boots on and thought my passport was lost because "they could not have been in my boots"  because I couldn't feel them.  Poor Jody helped me frantically search for my passport and after several attempts to get me to take off the boots and LOOK, I finally took off the first and said "see", and then all I had to do was start to take off the second, and...well.... we now may be in business of the "passport and money boot"....Great for secured travel.  :)

The other main attraction here is the Roman Aqueducts.  The Romans built a waterway from the Rio Frio ~17km to Segovia.  This huge arched stone without mortar structure still stands and is pretty much an engineering wonder.  You can search for a photo of this on the internet.

The delicacy of Segovia is "suckling pig"....forgot the Spanish word and sorry, I am in too much of a hurry to run up to my room and look up the word.  Spaniards come from afar on Sundays to enjoy the very tender 21 day old porker, so tender that it is traditionally cut with a plate and then they break the plate.  Sorry to all my  animal lovers, but deep down my grandfather had a pig farm and even though that was my childhood favorite animal..... I ate the pig.  I had a hind leg and yes, it was great.....but I will spare you the photo.

That evening we attended a concert of the Segovia childrens choir and the MCS choir....with all the locals the little ancient church was packed and totally against fire code.

Day 1 Madrid

Saturday:  We arrived in Madrid unscathed but Zombies.  Drove around the city a bit to a famous bullfight ring (just the outside, no event going on), and then the statue of Cervantes and Don Quixote (I am sure my spelling is bad and I will blame that on the Spanish vino).  They let us loose in the city and a small group went for tapas and then to the Palace Real (Royal Palace).  We saw the typical palace stuff and enjoyed watching how the cherubs seemed to change positions as you moved from one area of the painting to the other.  I enjoyed the pharmacy which included the laboratory of huge mortars and pestles, beakers, and brick oven.  Dinner was paella....and of course preservative-free Spanish wine.

European Vacation......

Sophie attends the Madeleine Choir School (madeleinechoirschool.org).  Every other year the choir goes on a performance tour.  Two years ago we went to Italy and this year we are headed to Spain.  

The 10 day school tour starts in Madrid, swings up to Segovia, then heads south to Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and back to Madrid on Nov. 17.  Sophie and I will then start our own European adventure.  We are renting a car and taking a couple of days to get over to Barcelona, check out the city and take the overnight train (Trenhotel) to Paris.  We will have 4 days to explore Paris and return on Nov. 24.

Sophie, Katherine, Taylor, Emily, Catie 

layover @ JFK, ready to board plane to Madrid

I hope to post a daily blog and at least “photo of the day”.......