All I know is that I did NOT sleep enough last night, and then it was compounded by the problem of not having enough coffee. John managed to get out the door to the car rental place at the airport by 9:00 p.m., just slightly behind schedule. I woke up at 7:00 a.m. and that wasn't nearly late enough since I couldn't fall asleep until 1:30. OK, technically maybe that's enough sleep to function, but I definitely didn't feel great.
The morning was a frenzy of packing up, cleaning up, and getting all the suitcases and bags down the three flights of stairs. The "no lift in charming old building" always seems like "no big deal" until you are actually carrying your bags down three flights of stars, and then it feels like a REAL big deal. John called from the car rental place claiming there was no way we'd actually fit in the car that he had received keys to, and so he was standing in line to try and get something that wouldn't require someone to ride on the roof rack (an idea which I wasn't totally opposed to because I would cut down on a lot of arguing.)
He eventually got a bigger car, and called me complaining that the car wasn't nearly "aesthetically pleasing" enough and he was angry with himself for not just splurging on the big Mercedes van. I asked him if it had 6 seats and 4 wheels, and if so we were good to go. He picked us up, we loaded everything up real quick since he was idling in a narrow one car street, and we were off. We spent the first five minutes listening to John complain more about the "ugliness" of the car (honestly, it's just a generic mini van, euro-style, I'm not sure what the big deal is), but it really threw him off. About 15 minutes later Gia declared that half a jar of maple syrup had leaked all over the back seat, and I think that officially ended John's longing for a better car. Let's face it, we'll trash this thing in 24 hours. The maple syrup debacle required a gas station stop, the purchase of baby wipes, a hose, and some restraint of emotions.
We had a 4 hour drive to Cordoba, and I would say the first 3 solid hours consisted of some less than exciting scenery. It's very dry, with a few agricultural spots here and there breaking up the barrenness of the landscape, but not enough to make it pretty. It was sort of like driving thru the Central Valley in California at it's worst spots.
About an 30 minutes from Cordoba it started to get nicer, and the landscape consisted of more and more olive tree fields until that was all you. saw. The oleander bushes in white and fuchsia lined the freeway. It was probably about 95 outside, which I suppose is why the oleanders were so happy. Spain produces 75% of the world's olive oil (yes, I google fact checked that after John said it was the "top" exporter of olives and oil. It's almost all grown in the Andalucian region we were in too--hence the millions of trees we drove past.
Cordoba was a "stop" for us, the destination being specifically to see the Mezquita, the most amazing Mosque-Cathedral. I've been once before, and I remember being awe struck by it, and it was no less impressive this time. I'm not sure the kids we're quite as impressed, I might. have talked it up too much, and it might have been too late in the day, because I didn't see the awe in their eyes I was hoping for. I think all the red and white arches and the combination of religious styles and architectural influences is just incredible.
We had lunch at a restaurant I had pre-researched called Boxer, which ranked.very high up there on the trip advisor list, but was still casual and kid friendly. Super good food, and I think almost everyone was happy. Romeo order some rib dish that came with black plastic gloves so you could pull the meat off the bone and then eat it--he had a blast with that. It was practical but there's something a little disconcerting about food you have to eat with plastic gloves.
We hit the road again at about 4:30 and had a solid 1.5 hours to Seville left to go. This is where the drive got beautiful, but tough. Everyone was tired and wanted out of the car and I think the kids were officially done with John's karaoke versions of perfectly good songs from my Summer mix (he officially has the worst voice EVER.). We arrived though, and it was well worth the wait. The apartment is fabulous. Nice and spacious, the owner has it dialed out (a younger architect and his wife redid the apartment specifically to rent). All the details were wonderful and we immediately felt at home and like we should have stayed longer than the three nights we booked. We organized just a bit, and then hit it...excited to see the town. All I can say is Seville is awesome, I could easily spend some serious time here. Gorgeous buildings, good shopping, great restaurants, and set along a river (always a picturesque bonus.) It's a little fairy tale, Spanish style.
We had a nice dinner, finally complete with some native tapas. Gia and Romeo went in search of a postcard, but secretly Gia bought me a little gift of "Seville" perfume (which basically smells like glorious orange water.). Seriously, she's the sweetest kid EVER and if ever there is anything that would confirm to me that parenting has little t do with you and mostly to do with your kid's personality, it's Gia. She's right there, third in line and victims to the same parenting (or lack thereof) that Ava and Lucia were, but that kid is just different (and way easier) and sadly I can't take any credit for it.
We strolled some more, found a grocery store, found the ice cream store (always essential), and then headed home to get the kids to bed by 11:00 p.m. John convinced me to head back out after that for another glass of wine (just a couple of blocks away from the action, it's too tempting not to), while sitting outside arguing about the rules we are going to set for our 14 and 16 year old teens next year. Good times right there. You'll love this though, for 7.0 euros we sat outside for an hour, on a gorgeous tree lined narrow boulevard, at an adorable restaurant and had two glasses of darn good white wine. I even got a bowl of olives with my wine. 7.0 euros people. 7. I know, it's blowin' your mind.
Tomorrow we're thinking about doing bike riding along the river and seeing the big church in town. We have Flamenco show tickets for tomorrow night which I can't wait for. The funny thing is that I booked a 7 p.m. show months ago thinking that the 9:00 p.m. show would be too late for the kids. Now 7 p.m. feels more like 3 p.m. in the afternoon--why would you ever go to a show that early?
All in all, a great day. Kid complaining decreased yet another 10%, and we are heading in the right direction. It's funny, the first few days if a kid didn't eat what they wanted at a meal, it was likely going to be a mini catastrophe, but now they are "getting it". Lucia hated her lunch, but she just picked at everyone else's to avoid starving and complained relatively little. Romeo wasn't feeling dinner, so he didn't order anything, had a few bites of my salad, called it good and then had fruit and yogurt when he got home. Gia had to find food (which was seemingly "normal foods" but not normal for her) at lunch and dinner and the kid ate it both times. Damn near a miracle. I would say overall, it's a huge win. The picture at the bottom left is the view from the apartment window, and the bottom right is Lucia sporting her tiger pants (had to include that.)
So excited to see more of Seville. It's even better than I remember.
Signed, ME {lv}
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