Jen's parents decided to spend the winter holidays with us. As no one was excited about a cold, gray Berlin Christmas, we hit a Berlin Christmas market, opened presents early, and headed for sunny Andalusia, staying in Seville, Ronda, and Granada.
We started our trip with Christmas Eve in Seville. Jen booked us into a four-hour food tour for our first morning. Although everyone tried to be a good sport, there was some not so great food and a bit of boredom, especially for the kiddo … and Grandpa. Our tour included a stop at La Fresquita a “Semana Santa” bar full of religious iconography celebrating Holy Week. The kid didn’t understand why we were surrounded by paintings of people wearing crowns of thorns and crying blood. Grandma’s explanations didn’t seem to resolve her questions. Apparently her “world views” religion class at JFKS is not preparing her for this stuff.
Luckily, Garth and John escaped to buy the sea for dinner. We had Christmas Eve dinner at our Airbnb with special guests Paul and Misty, who flew in from Olympia and joined us for most of our vacation!
We stayed right next to Metropol Parasol (aka "Las Setas" - the Mushrooms). Hazel enjoying using the rooftop as a race track.
On Christmas Day we did a family photoshoot at the Plaza de España. It was our first time paying someone to take our picture. Jen claims we were long overdue given we've been married eight years and Hazel is seven years old. The plaza was built for the 1929 Exposición Ibero-Americana. According to Wikipedia, it is "an outstanding example of Regionalist Revival Architecture, a bizarre and loftily conceived mixture of diverse historic styles." Indeed. After we caught a flamenco show at the Museum of Flamenco (no photos allowed and we were photo-ed out by that point).
The next day we visited the Alcázar. In contrast to the Plaza de España, this place has some serious history. Again from Professor Jen’s favorite source Wikipedia, the Alcázar “was developed from a previous Moorish Palace which was developed from a Visigoth establishment which was itself developed from an existing Roman construction. Redevelopment was started in 1181 and continued for over 500 years”!
We also visited St. Mary of the See Cathedral, which was built from 1401–1519. It is one of the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals. Hazel went from being confused by the contents of the Cathedral (so many questions) to being enthralled by a giant polar bear on parade (so much easier to explain).
We left Seville and headed to Jerez for sherry tasting. Our rental car broke down, so we missed sherry tasting, but after picking up a new car we stopped for lunch in Arcos de la Frontera and Hazel got to PET OWLS. MULTIPLE OWLS. SHE IS A LUCKY DUCKY BABY! After we left, we wondered why we didn't think to pet any owls.
Our next stop was Ronda. The main sight is Puente Nuevo ("New Bridge") that spans the canyon dividing the town. The "new" bridge was constructed from 1751 to 1793. We looked at it. A lot.
Our last stop was Granada. Apparently the only pictures we took were of the Alhambra, dating from the 11th century. It's impressive. Google it. Jen and Joyce enjoyed a few hours soaking at a Hammam, but no photos were allowed and they were too busy relaxing anyway.
We finished our trip with lunch by the sea in Almuñécar. Sea air and sunshine were a lovely way to end the vacation.
