Seville

For the next several days, I found myself some help in my efforts to introduce Snowdrop to Andalucia. For Seville (where we'll be until Monday), I found Laura.

Laura is a women's history PhD student in Seville. (She lives in the countryside outside the city, where she also teaches in her local school). She'll spend a couple of hours today and tomorrow, walking us through some of the highlights here. When Ed and I visited Seville, I used a Lonely Planet Guide. This is definitely an upgrade from those times. I had used local young people in Venice and Athens with Snowdrop and I thought both times that the benefits of walking with them were tremendous. Snowdrop is attentive, I'm spared. Win win. (I know Paris too well to need this kind of help. But here, without Spanish in my pocket, and having spent so few days in this city, I could do with some help.)

But first, let's look out the window. Cloudy and warm. Just like yesterday.

 

 

I let Snowdrop sleep in a little. These late Andalucian nights demand it! 

(I get ready: yes, I caved to the trend and purchased a pair of elephant leg pants!)

And of course, there is breakfast.

(the fruit selection: we are not in Kansas anymore...)

Laura meets us at the hotel. The city is completely disrupted because of Holy Week and so she is making things easy for us. We go down at 10:15... 

 (one in a famous series of gaga-Snowdrop elevator photos...)

... and magically she is there.

The goal today is to walk the city. To look at it as a local (Laura was born and raised here). To get to know its key elements. To understand the significance of Holy Week. To soak in the city from its inside.

Laura is patient and enthusiastic and personable. She has every trait you would love in a person who is your buddy on a walk through the city. I wont describe "what we saw." It will not have meaning for you if I throw down random facts about Seville. But I'll show you some favorite moments and, too, I'll note some random thoughts I had about our walk:

1. I remain enchanted by Seville. The color of it, even on a mostly cloudy day, is magical. I'd call it goldenrod. They call it albero. Sevilla is albera.

2. The influence of Islamic culture is profound. Seville's history is a potpourri of Roman, Islamic, Christian and Jewish history. Despite the efforts to eradicate the past (the Inquisition), it never left. 

3. Holy Week is something altogether different here. Processions linked to patron saints. Prayer, incense, hooded walks with tall candles along miles and miles of city streets. It all starts today and the crowds for this are... intense. We see preparations throughout the city. Streets, cordoned off. Vendors of incense and incense pots are everywhere. 

4. After Holy Week comes the second most important festival in this city: The April Festival (Feria de Abril). It's all about dance and dress and celebration. Shops with traditional flamenco dresses on display are everywhere. If you are a girl, you want one. You wear one. It is yours for the next week after Easter.

 5. Seville oranges: the trees were likely first imported from China. There are 40,000 of them throughout the city. Right now, the smell of azahar (orange blossoms) is everywhere.

Okay, let's add some pictures.

(narrow streets, elaborate balconies)

 

 

 (Las Setas, or the Mushroom square: opened in 2011; it is the largest wooden structure in the world; controversial at first, beloved now)

 

(more from the Mushroom Square)

(she finds a playground)

(more from the Mushroom Square)

(Cathedral Tower sighting)

(oh those home balconies...)

(I do believe every woman, every girl has one for the next festival, right after Easter!)

(this week, however, is all about the hooded processions, which, dress-wise,  are frighteningly reminiscent of other meetings and processions in America)

(one of many squares, churches, cafes, procession stages...)

(for Holy Week)

(for Holy Week)

(the entrance to the Cathedral: do you recognize the Islamic influence? the ornamented horseshoe shape?)

(the tower, at over 100 meters, has at its bottom by far the oldest sections of the Cathedral -- dating to the 11th century)

(Seville's orange trees)

(to the Jewish Quarter...)

(Laura, by the old Roman aqueduct) 

(someone claims she is tired)

(music is everywhere; Flamenco as well)

(my App says this is an Orchid Tree)

(from the 12th century, by the river)

(river walk among the wysteria)

(to alleviate "tiredness")

We rest then. I suppose we both need it. You log in a lot of steps wandering through those Sevillian streets. But as we get past three, I'm thinking that I really should feed the girl lunch. Laura had suggested we cross the river and search out the eateries that spill out onto the little square right after the bridge. We do just that.

There are many restaurants, but they're all packed, so we stop at the first one that has a free table. A little rickety table, with a leg stuck in a garbage can for balance, but hey, we're not fussy. It's called the Vela Azahares (orange Blossom Candle?). Fine, but what's there to eat? I pick the first two things that have a chance of appealing to my pescatarian granddaughter: scallops (meh... "I prefer the bigger ones, like you make"), and what they call "Traditional Sevillian Mixed Fry" with anchovies, squid, cuttlefish, dogfish (dogfish??), cod, baby squid.

She loves this. All but the anchovies. Put off there by the little skeleton running through them.

Well now, after that very late lunch and her super accommodating stance, I feel like I owe her a favor. And since I know the rains will start tomorrow, I offer her something she has been wanting since we first rode the taxi to the hotel and saw them, everywhere: the horse drawn carriages.

Want to ride one now?

Is she ever happy!

The route along the busy roads is okay (she loves it anyway!), but once we actually enter the large park, even I have to admit that it's quite enjoyable.

We identify trees (date palms, from the Canary Islands!)...

We watch families of ducks. We enter the Plaza d'Espagna. All beautiful!

(the driver insists on snapping a photo of us...)

(wait, I want the horse in it as well!)

The ride back puts us close to the hotel. Well, sort of close. The roads are blocked. The first procession of the Holy Week has begun. The carriage can go no further. We have to walk.

And it... is... crowded! Squeeze-tight crowds. Yes, I got one picture of the first row of processioners...

... but after that I was too concerned about losing sight of Snowdrop. She was, however, undaunted. Gaga, come this way! Follow me! She squeezed through and made her way to the block of our hotel. I caught a shot of the Christ figure, over the tops of heads and in between plane trees. Well, sort of a shot: his one arm.

I ask her -- how do you deal with crowds so well? Oh, carnivals. They're always like this. Well, close to this!

I think she deserves a half hour in the pool after that, while I recover!

We have a reservation for dinner at the hotel restaurant. At 8, just when it opens. Am I glad we have nowhere else to go. There's beauty in tumult, but there's greater peace in quiet.

 

The almost full moon shines brightly over Seville tonight...

to Seville

Of all Spanish cities, Seville may well be my favorite, far ahead of the others. Yes, I know. You should keep an open mind to all. Too, my bias may reflect the specifics of my previous visit to it: on New Year's Eve, with Ed, when the Sevillanos spilled out onto the streets, loving the moment, then came back again, filling those same streets on New Year's Day, with little kids in tow. It was a charming time to walk in a city of orange hues and orange trees and orange sunshine.

It's one of two Spanish cities that I want Snowdrop to get to know. 

But first, we start the day with breakfast at our Madrid hotel. We both got a good night's sleep which is just so grand! ("I woke up to sparrows singing outside! Just like at home!")

The plan is to use the next hour or two wisely. To maybe take a look at the Royal Palace, at least from the outside. [Snowdrop was tickled to learn that the oldest child of a royal (king/queen) gets to be called Princess (or Prince), and all the others are merely Infantes. You can see where this is heading -- so in my family, I would be called Princess Snowdrop and my brothers would be merely Infantes? Hey, missing piece here is that they are not Spanish royals, but oh well!] And to stop at the Corte Ingles, which is sort of like the Macy's of Spain. I'd neglected to pack a baggie of characters that the girl uses for story telling during a downtime. The store has a toy section. I promised a poke into it to see what's there. Finally, I need to find something to take with us to eat  on our train trip south.

You could say that we accomplished a tiny bit of all three goals, but none in the way that I expected.

First - the Palace. I made the mistake of taking Snowdrop to the hotel's rooftop before heading out. She'd noticed that some of the buildings here have red tiled rooftops. Just like in Greece and Italy -- she tells me. So we climbed the stairs to the top of the hotel, so that she could see more of that beautiful tile from higher up. What you can also see from up here is the Royal Palace. Or a fragment of it.

Since we cannot get inside the Palace, Snowdrop asks -- why do you want to walk to it if we've already seen it from the outside, from this roof? Okay, good point. Call it a superficial viewing, but realistically, she is not going to get that much more from the street level. (I know that others would disagree, but, I am with the girl on this one.)

Next -- Corte Ingles. This leads us up a couple of small commercial streets. None of them are particularly attractive. We pass so many American fast food chains that it truly feels like we can be on Shopping Street in Anywhere Land. Snowdrop is again frowning at the litter in Madrid. I am thinking that I am doing the city no favor by walking here, but the fact is, street cleaning isn't as ubiquitous in Madrid as, say in Paris. (Even though on one trip to Paris, we hit the city just at the tail end of a sanitation strike and believe me, they had not finished the big cleanup of the city by then!) I let her stay with her impressions. I remember that on my first trip to Venice as a child just a few years older than Snowdrop, I positively disliked it for its smells and dirty canal waters. (It was July, they were less mindful of polluted waters back in the 1960s.) I totally flipped on the city a few years later. It became my favorite destination for years to come.

We walk along streets that are referred to as "pedestrian." It's interesting to see that the pavement is level, in that it does not distinguish the sidewalk from a car lane. No step down, no step back up. And we quickly learn that delivery trucks and special authorized vehicles are permitted, even on these "pedestrian" streets. This false double sense of security (it's called pedestrian, it's all one level) unravels the little girl. She says half jokingly, half seriously -- I am going to die on these streets! I tell her no truck wants to run down a grandma with her little granddaughter. They see us. They're moving slowly. Nonetheless, she walks on the inside, unused to these new for her city traffic patterns.

We enter the big Corte Ingles and ask for the toy department. Not in this one -- the door attendant tells us. Go up the block, turn that way, walk 50 meters, there's another Corte Ingles there. Fourth floor.

I think I am following her instructions. I find the Corte Ingles. Excuse me, do you speak English? No. Okay, toys for children (a lot of hand play on my part)? No. up that calle. We go up that street. Another Corte Ingles. No to English, no to toys either. We go back to the first Corte and re-ask the one attendant who seemed so certain and who spoke some English. She tells us -- turn left, not right. ("I told you!" -- this from Snowdrop; attendant laughs).

Why are there no fewer than four Corte Ingles stores within two blocks of each other?

We find the toy department. It's huge! The trouble is, we enter in the section with dolls. Snowdrop loves dolls. 

She doesn't play with them that much at the farmhouse anymore. Nonetheless, she loves them with all her little heart. I swear if there was a fire at the farmhouse, I'd rush to get those dolls out because they have deep meaning for her. 

I steer her away toward the bitty characters. She's patient. She nods with understanding. But she talks about the dolls. I'll pay for one! It's not the cost, it's the size. And the play potential. I know this about her: she wont devote many hours to a new doll. Still, her heart is there, in the rows and rows of dolls. 

We go back. She picks Aubrey. She loves Aubrey. (Aubrey also happens to be on a 50% sale. At 15 Euro,  I love Aubrey as well.) We get Aubrey. Aubrey is big. I will now have with me two suitcases, two backpacks, one purse, one camera, and Aubrey to load onto the train. Fun!

Finally, we walk down to the place recommended by our hotel to pick up something for lunch. The Opera Cafe. 

The selection isn't large, but Snowdrop spots a sandwich that she finds acceptable (I'm going to pretend the air-dried Iberian ham is not red meat for my little pescatarian)...

... and I'm taken by a cheese croissant that I'll eat to keep her company. As the Cafe guy fixes our small sandwiches, I watch one guy after another come in and order what is the real Spanish deal -- toasted bread, with olive oil and chopped tomato. Not today, but sometime soon I have to indulge that delicious Spanish food choice.

And now it's time to pack up our bags (while big Aubrey admires the view one last time)...

 

 

... and make our way to the station, where we board our fantastic train for the two and a half hour ride that will cover 528 kilometers (328 miles) and take us right into the center of Seville.

(past fields and hills, covered with olive trees)

If I thought that Seville brought out the locals on New Year's, then I have to say, I did not expect that I would get a repeat of this more than one week before Easter. I mean, what's so special about this weekend? The holiday is next weekend!

And yet, I've been warned. Emails from my hotel front desk: be careful! pay attention! there will be disruptions! The Holy Week starts now!

Turns out there's the Holy Week but there is, too, the lead up to it. 

Spain is predominantly Catholic. If you go by the Baptism data, you come up with a number like 92% of the population. The true affiliation with Catholicism right now is closer to 60%, but I've seen this before, in countries like Italy: church attendance is on the slide, but this does not take away from the savage adherence to religious traditions. Too, if you look at the demographics, you see that of all cities in Spain, Seville is the most Catholic of them all. Blame the Spanish Inquisition (and the persecution of Jews and Muslims and Protestants for several hundred years) for it. So, on this Holy Week, we're not likely to see fewer people on the streets than, say, on a New Year's weekend.

We're staying at the very lovely old (but new inside) Colon Hotel, a cousin of the Madrid hotel.

(view out our window)

 

It's not that I am unimaginative -- it's that I looked around for this one amenity that I crossed my fingers for (because it could have been too cold for it). A pool. Oh, did we get lucky! Seville is just right now experiencing a heat wave, and only for the days that we are here. A high of 84f (28c) each day. Good weather for pool dips in the afternoon? I think so!

We leave the sight seeing for the next two days. On this late afternoon, we head for the roof!

(small, but for a kid -- delightful, though she did grumble that I did not go in with her!)  

Dinner is at La Piemontesa. I thought I'd do the girl a favor and sprinkle in places that combine Italian into the otherwise Andalusian cuisine. La Piemontesa has both pastas and pizzas. Snowdrop heaven.

(evening exuberance...)

 

 

(I realize she is plenty hungry when she proclaims the olives served beforehand are the best ever, and when she dives into her pizza within one second of its arrival.)

 

Seville is definitely closer to her heart. The late night boisterous social life out on the streets -- sure, there's that. More likely though it's the size of the city. It has the feel of linked neighborhoods. Someone I met by the pool earlier compared it to Florence. I get that. Though of course, tourism in Seville is an entirely different kettle of fish: there are many, many who come here this week from elsewhere, but that "elsewhere" is likely to be from other parts of Spain. There's a lot of Spanish out on the streets, that's for sure.

Okay, tomorrow we plunge into the heart of this place. Tonight? Sleep!

a day in Madrid

If you had only a day and a half in Madrid with a nine-year old, what would you do? Maybe stroll over to the Royal Palace? Most likely you'd hike around the vast spaces of Retiro Park. All great ideas. But the thing is, we landed in Madrid at 7:45 a.m. and of course, we have that first day mix of excitement and utter tiredness. Ambitious walks for the day are not going to be a great idea. Instead, we cab over to our hotel -- the Palacio de los Duques, where we have a lovely room waiting for us.

Tempting to plunk down and do nothing more except gaze out the window!

We're a little more ambitious than that. First -- breakfast. Downstairs. Partly outside. It's a high of 76F (24C) in Madrid today.

And then, well, I had thought I'd actually drag the poor girl to the great museum here -- the Prado. It's not that I love it. Too vast, too many El Grecos, too somber. But it has this one painting that I think says a lot about Spain's past. I mean, if you had to take a snapshot of this country's wealth, say in the middle of the 17th century, if you wanted to talk about how art flipped into something entirely new - the depiction of scenes from daily life at the time, you'd do no better than to study Las Meninas by Velazquez. But, as we were waiting in the hotel lobby to talk to the concierge about one thing or another, we see Velazquez's painting right there on the wall. Well, obviously not THE painting, but still, Snowdrop asked about this wall-sized "canvas" and we talked about it in great detail right then and there. Honestly, a trip to the Prado to see the real thing may have been meaningful to you, maybe to me, but as far as Snowdrop is concerned, she'd given the painting its due at the hotel. So I changed course for the day.

We rest up a bit, then head out toward the Botanical Gardens.This isn't just to please me. Snowdrop asked if we were going to stay outside any city on this trip. This surprised me, since our travels (with the exception of the week at Lake Orto and of course California), have mostly focused on urban centers. I think the drive into Madrid put her off a little toward the place. Her first comment about the city was that it seemed dirty, which honestly was probably a reflection of garbage day along one of the streets we drove through. Madrid, at least in its center, is not especially "unkempt." But, since she claimed she had a yearning for some nature, I thought the Gardens might soothe her soul! And on the way, we pause at Madrid's splendid Plaza Mayor -- truly one of Europe's prettiest squares. Some claim it is the largest of all public squares on the continent.

What catches our eye though is the bloom of the trees in one corner! We are so hungry for spring!

From here we walk... 

 

 

 

(unique architecture of Madrid: big windows and roof ornamentation)

 

... to the Gardens. 

 

(almost there: just across this boulevard)

 

 

There is a line for tickets, and we have to wait, even though she is free as a child and I am free as a retired prof, but Snowdrop insists that the Gardens are at the top of her list. 

Not a long wait at all and oh my is it worth it!

Honestly, I think we struck the gardens at exactly the right moment -- a sunny day in what surely is for them the middle of spring.

What else is blooming? Camelias. Irises, lavender, and yes, even an early rose.

She is enraptured. 

(The shaded greens are no less beautiful)

I'm starting to wonder if this will be our favorite moment from the trip!

Afterwards, we begin our walk back to the hotel. It's just about a 40 minute trek and we are starting to drag, so I do us a favor and hail a cab. We do miss out on a walk along the splendid Gran Via, but the cab takes us right along this wide boulevard and I swear at this point, Snowdrop doesn't much care. 

What happened to lunch? Well, there was an ice cream cone early on...

 

 

... and we picked up a few snack foods from the hotel lobby and made do with that. Not sure that exactly suffices for a growing girl but the suddenly warmer temps and tiredness do suppress the appetite a bit. We'll make up for it at dinner.

This was plenty for that first sleep-deprived day. We have the morning tomorrow for taking a look at the palaces and such. But for now, we feel satiated.

Now, about dinner: we had a reservation. We cancelled the reservation. We just could not wait until the late opening hour to eat. Not because we were starving (well, we were really underfed!), but because we were that sleepy. Me especially. In reading together in the late afternoon, I found myself stumbling over words and lapsing into sleepy pauses. Not much chance of staying awake until the Spanish supper hour. 

We eat instead at the hotel. There are three eateries here. I chose the most casual one -- Coroa Royal Gallery and Garden. It's liked among locals, who come to it for the tapas and the drinks. True, Snowdrop's recent adherence to a vegetarian/pescatarian diet may not be a good thing for eating your way through Iberian ham-heavy Spain, but in fact we do find stuff on the small menu that pleases the both of us. And because she is hungry, she devours plantain chips and olives. And fried calamari. And yes, her scallops, but also my squid! And a whole bunch of roasted veggies. 

We are off to a good start!

To bed now! We. Need. Sleep!

with love...

in transit

So many small and big events almost toppled our departure today. Basically everything but the weather! Surely not the first time that I had to cross my fingers that we'd actually take off. In October, there was Covid and we almost had to stay home. In January, it was the snowstorm and we almost had to stay home. Travel, in the age of the unexpected! But, no matter. We did take off. Much to her delight and my relief.

Of course, I had the usual morning at the farmette. It's sunny but cold! Below freezing! 

A warm breakfast is a lovely way to get ready for a departure.

(goofy faces, warm hearts)

Sigh... See you soon Ed.

And then I am at the airport and there I meet Snowdrop and we are off!

Where to? Well, Atlanta first. 

And after? In part, it was the girl's choice. She'd asked last year -- could we go to Spain? I think it was the language thing. She knows a few Spanish words and I can see there is that real longing to be able to say something that belongs to the place you're visiting. I was rooting for southern Europe, if only because when you live in Wisconsin, March can be fierce! A few days in a warmer place can be restorative. When she asked for Spain, I gave her a big smile and a nod.

I can't say that we'll be doing a typical "first trip to Spain." When Ed and I used to travel to this country, we'd always start with Barcelona. It was close to Sorede in Southern France (where we spent many, many June weeks) and, too, it was part of Catalonia. Spanish, but not really. Spectacular countryside, lovely people, great food.

Snowdrop and I are not going to Barcelona. 

I don't think it's an enjoyable place for a child her age. Crowds of tourists, late nights, hard to get a real feel for it. No, not Barcelona. Instead, I wanted to replicate parts of a trip that Ed I did exactly a dozen years ago -- to Andalucia. It is, in fact, my very favorite region of Spain. In the far south, it gives us a shot at good weather. More importantly, it has a beautiful vibe and a fascinating history. I'm hoping she'll like it!

But first, we fly to Madrid, where we will spend almost no time at all. The spring break isn't that long. If we're going to go all the way south, let's at least get a real taste for that region, rather than spreading ourselves too thin. But, tomorrow evening, I should write from Madrid.

buenas noches!

countdown, continued

Ed tells me this morning -- you're preoccupied with your forthcoming trip. Well, sort of. I still have appointments this morning and the morning walk to barn..

(run! here comes the scary human!)

And eventually, breakfast...

But, too, luck would have it that the persimmon trees arrived today and I hover around them as we try to figure out how and when to put them in. This mostly falls on Ed. (Let me rephrase that: it entirely falls on Ed!) I have given up on digging through matted weeds and heavy clay soil, made heavier, it seems, by the earliness of the dig. And I sense he's not that in love with the task either. We talked about what would happen going forward. If these trees fail, how long into our old age will we continue to replace them? It's hard work! 

Trees unpacked, bags packed, what's next? 

(a moment to admire, perhaps for the last time this year, the crocuses!)

 

 

I pick up just Sparrow at school. 

 

(enthusiasm!)

 

 

Snowdrop is off doing Girl Scout things so the boy comes here by himself -- a rare thing for him. 

(he just loves hearts!)

And in the evening, Ed and I eat our farro dish and I fall into my day before departure normal state of, well, missing him. This is the difficult part of any trip -- leaving behind what I love so intensely -- our time together. But, the guy wont budge, so here he stays as I print boarding passes and do a final check before retiring for the night.

Happy spring to all!

 

 

With so much love...

countdown

I'll say this much: I picked a good time to be going away (later this week): the cold snap has settled in for the long haul here, in south central Wisconsin. Or at least for the time that I will be away. It's all a matter of unplanned luck though. I did not pick this period to travel -- it's been in the books for almost a year now and it falls on school spring break. I'm traveling with the oldest grandchild, to a country that used to be a favorite destination for Ed and me, but one that is totally unfamiliar to the girl. 

We leave on Wednesday and neither of us is ready for that departure. I purchased books to get in some background reading. We've looked at none of them. Packing? Ha! 

So today, after the walk to the barn...

 

And after breakfast...

(Ed's on the floor tending to a cat's needs)

I stare at my open suitcase and make some decisions about what to take.

And then, after school...

 

And after an abbreviated time at the farmhouse, I take Snowdrop and Sparrow home, and I do the same for the girl: with her assistance, we pack up her bag for our trip. (What about Sparrow, you ask? Fact is, he's much less ready for such travel, nor does he particularly ask for it. His idea of adventure is very different from hers. Too, I am definitely not feeling strong enough to make such a complicated trip a success for two kids. Snowdrop was a light challenge even two years ago. By now, she is so good at managing on her own that I can have downtime each day and not worry about keeping her happy. Too, if things unravel, she can handle it.)

The packing is not without guesswork. The temps in our destinations have been bouncing around a lot and we can expect some cool evenings (and a mixture of warm and cool days). How do you prepare for that? The proper attitude, in my view, is that it doesn't really matter what you pack. Take something warm for those colder days and a good pair of shoes. All else is trim. You can re-wear or wash if you're a fanatic. Yes, there's always something that you'll wish you had brought along. More often though, you work with what you have and don't give it a second thought.

In other words, packing took no time at all.

In the evening I cook up my farro-cauliflower dish for supper. It's one that will have leftovers for Ed (in addition to yesterday's leftovers). He claims he doesn't need them, but I do know that he likes not to fuss with food in the evening. Reheating something in the microwave is about as simple as it gets.

We watch the next to last episodes of the least season of Loudermilk. That show has given us periods of loud laughter every evening!  In your everyday, if you can find just one wee source of merriment -- you are golden.

With chocolate. And love...