Recovery, Torrential Rain and Babies

For us today was a chill day.

We went to bed at 5am and slept until 1pm and given everything are surprisingly rested.

Before John and Laura had to head to the airport all met for lunch. It got interesting though as there was a random and rare torrential downpour just as we all headed out. Being right next to a church with gargoyle gutters our street in particular was a small river! Somehow we all found each other and a taverna open on Sunday.

We returned from lunch to find a leak in the roof of our closet and about half our clothes soaked. Luckily the weather cleared and we wee able to hang dry them prior to packing. And our landlord was very accommodating which always helps.

With the rains passed and a rather cool afternoon upon us we had the privilege of taking an afternoon stroll with friends Enrique and Cristina AND their twin baby girls. 6 month old Clara and Cristina. SO cute! They were happy, healthy, smiling and smelled so good :)

Our group has started to shrink. James left immediately after the wedding at 6am. John and Laura flew off to Lisbon this afternoon. We leave next for Rome at 7am tomorrow followed by Mom and Dad bound for Barcelona and finally the Pratts all leave in the afternoon headed for Florida. It's only a wee but sad though since we'll all join back up in a couple of weeks to do it all over again for the Florida wedding!

The Seville / wedding chapter of this trip is closed. But it's not over yet. Now we're off to my favorite city - Roma!!!!

Arrividerci Seville!

Sara & Clara

Dad & Cristina 

Velma & Clara

La Boda de Dani y Megan!!!!

I still cannot quite believe this is all happening. I think part of it is because Meg's been living in Spain for the past 18 months and we haven't had as much exposure to the happy couple. It all seem so surreal. Just two and a half years ago, only two European adventures ago, I was sharing on this very blog about our trip to Seville and the cute guy Megan had a bit of a 'thing' with. And now I've just been to their wedding. Her Spanish is fluent, she clearly fits right into this community. How much can happen so quickly.

The wedding was perfect. I know there were many details that didn't go as planned or desired and yet it was perfect. Megan was absolutely stunning and a fantastic hostess. Dani the perfect image of poised, dapper and loving.

In total the event was about 10 hours long. It began with my family gathering to get dudded up in our dresses and suits. Then we met the Spanish crew and hopped on a private bus to the quaint country location of the wedding.

The ceremony was lead by friend, Cacho, who warmly welcomed us in English before sharing a very sweet summary of the cinematic love story that lead up to this moment. Then the mothers sent up and each poured some local wine, Spanish and Floridian, into one glass which the couple drank to symbolize their union. It was just so exactly as it it should have been. It makes me tear up to remember.

After the ceremony there was food and drink and cake and then a showing of the most thoughtful wedding present. Dani made a video of photos from both their last and managed to weave in a super cute version of their story. It culminated in well wishes from the state side folks who couldn't make it to Spain.
The couple enjoyed their first dance and after that the rest is a blur. There was much dancing and drinking and laughing and love.

We all rode the bus back around 4am to people yelling is Spanish, kiss the bride!

Sigh.

Just so honored and excited to have been able to share that moment with them AND the families.

Mom & Dad dolled up

On the wedding bus!

The international wine

So romantic!

The Family getting Crazy

All the ladies!

Parades

In total we are 12. This is a large group to travel together anywhere, through a mall or about a local town. Getting this many people paraded through Seville has been quite the production. Especially when you factor in Alan with his tendency to roam and his cane and brace from his back surgery 6 weeks ago and Dad in his wheelchair with his broken leg. Oh, and no cell phones :) we all have a limited number of texts but it's tricky for sure. Somehow we managed quite well and have always been able to find one another or stay together. Everyone's gotten to do what they want, felt included and yet had the freedom to break away as well.

I attribute this to several things.

1. Long term friendships. We all know each other about as well as possible.

2. Amazing hosting efforts by Megan and Dani even amidst their pre-wedding frenzy.

3. Excellent planning by Mom, John and Laura.

4. Communication. Duh.

Thanks to everyone who helped make things work thus far. It hasn't really felt like a big deal, but it kind of is! I say we rock!

Flamenco!!

Megan found us a legit place to go and experience authentic traditional Flamenco singing, guitar playing and dancing. It was mesmerizing. The beat and rhythm is so different than anything I'm used it so it was a bit odd but intriguing too.

We lucked out and a famous musician played guitar for the performance we attended and wow. The pick work was so intricate and he played for an hour nearly non stop.

Then there was the singer, she conveyed so much emotion in her singing and facial expressions, all while stomping and clapping louder than I thought possible. And she had a way of rubbing her hands that made her clap sort of hush on completion.

The dancer was so graceful and elegant yet still incredibly athletic. How she moved her feet that quickly while maintaining her facial expression I'll never know. She did a sort of triple snap that had us all looking for her castanets. And her dresses! So beautiful and varied. She started off in black and white velvet, then switched to the blue you see in my photos and then finished in a lacy black dress with a vibrant blue shawl. My favorite was the blue, it had a crazy long train that she managed to manipulate like a prop. I surely would have tripped and busted my face :) Most of their performance was 'no photo' but there was a brief period where it was allowed. Check out Flickr for some more pics and video too!

FitBit Time:
Steps: 20,500 +\-
Miles: 10 +\-
Calories: 4,000 +\-

A Day Outdoors

Knowing that the rest if the weekend will be dominated by wedding activities and recovery (yay!) we opted to get the rest of our site seeing in today and it worked out well that it is yet another beautiful Sevillan day and we spent most of our day outdoors.

Plaza de España is mostly famous from being used in Star Wars but we learned it was created in 1929 for the World's Fair. This got me thinking about all if the other cool landmarks we can thank Worlds Fairs for, Seattle Space Needle, Carousel of Progress, St Louis Arch etc. Whatever happened to the World's Fair? I shall have to look into this matter soon.

While at the Plaza we discovered a variety of books in the shelves surrounding the plaza like a sort if free book trade. We enjoyed pursuing the selection and opted for a comic book.

We spent the afternoon reading in the adjacent park before bravely finding a new random spot for lunch.

When everyone else opted for siesta Jeremy and I got ice cream and sat by the Eiffel Bridge to sketch and make use of the travel watercolor set Jeremy bought for my birthday.

Tonight? Flamenco!!!

Book Swap

Plaza de Espana

Jeremy holding the fountain

Our Triana sketching spot

Triana

The original plan for today was Cordoba however it just wasn't meant to be. Between train schedules, sleep schedules and a general desire to spend time together in chill mode we all voted to skip the day trip and spend the day exploring Triana and then a traditional lunch complete with siesta (nap) instead. This is a small neighborhood in Seville fairly close to where Dani and Megan live.

We spent a couple of hours wandering the Mercado de Triana which is a small, permanent food market similar to a Pike Place or La Boqueria. We enjoyed juice, fresh bread and marveled at the variety and differences from our own selection at Publix.

From there we meandered through the area, shopping for souvenirs, traditional fans for the ladies for la Boda (wedding) on Saturday, popping into small churches and finally an AMAZING lunch at one of Megan's favorite spots. The food was SO yummy, even if our waitress was a tad grumpy. Jeremy and I managed a three hour siesta before we had a second delicious meal at a taverna a couple of blocks from Megan and Dani's and then completed the evening at the Cadillac Bar. This was especially apropos since Megan and I went to this bar with Dani and his friends during our first trip to Seville two and a half years ago. At the bar the entire family took over a corner where we enjoyed gin tonics, whiskey cokes and chatted about the upcoming weddings and how unpredictable life is. So much joy....word can't express.

A Rare Event

After our day of wandering Triana and our traditional siesta we did some laundry rooftop and then made our way toward Dani & Megan's for a late dinner which was tasty.

Photo Bomb by John!

The juicy part came after. We all paraded to Cadillac which is a bar Dani, Megan, the crew and I went to during our first visit to Seville.

Cadillac Bar

We all enjoyed a large beverage and sat around laughing and discussing the upcoming weddings until 2am. Yes. My entire family out until the wee hours of the morning, lively and having fun together. It was a delicious moment that is now etched on my heart.

The Gang!

Proof of my parents, in a BAR, at 1:30am

Oh. And then there was the walk back to Triana. It was so quiet! It felt a little like the zombie apocalypse! Check Flickr for a video :)

FitBit Time:

Steps: 11,500 +\-

Miles: 5.5 +\-

Calories: 3,000 +\-

Pillars of the Earth

Today I had the privilege of touring the Seville Cathedral with Velma. The rest of the family was there as well however Velma and I listened to the entire audio guide and looked at every chapel.

I absolutely love being in cathedrals, especially ancient and gothic cathedrals. The energy in them is indescribable. I'm eternally amazed by the engineering and the thought that the building I'm standing in was built hundreds of years ago, without modern technology, no cranes, or heavy equipment. Just men and ingenuity.  Also there was no electricity all of the ornate carvings that I marvel at today thanks to strategically placed lights was not seen by lay people and worshipers for hundreds of years. The artists who carved those pieces during construction added those details purely for the glorification of their god - talk about faith and service. I can't help but think about all of the lives the building has touched, not just through the obvious religious ties but also during the construction. Countless people earned their livelihood through the church, many of the ornate projects are the life work of it's artist. The main alter in the Seville Cathedral is the largest in the world and took just over 80 years to complete, this means that most men who started the project didn't live to see it's completion. We don't do that anymore, we don't have professions or even typically take on tasks that we don't think we'll live to see completed. Shoot we've become so used to instant gratification through texting, email, the internet etc that I can't really even fathom what that would look like. Like I said...I love cathedrals.

Seville Cathedral is technically the largest cathedral in the world, though it is considered to be the third largest in the world behind St. Peter's in the Vatican and National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in London (the technicality is that the other two churches aren't actually the seat of a Bishop therefore not official cathedrals). This church is so ornate, I feel as if I could spend days examining it and still not have time to appreciate all of the love and details it contains.

It was particularly special to enjoy this visit with Velma. I'm such a geek over cathedrals I typically have to get my travel companions to leave me for a day alone as no one else has the passion or attention span to stay for as long as I do. Velma however is just as much a geek as me and it was very cool to have someone to geek out with. :)

Ceiling of the main piece of the church - I love this.

The Alter - This took 80+ years to create

Jeremy's Cathedral Post

While I hung with Velma chatting about my more philosophical ponderings and wonderings about cathedrals Jeremy joined the rest of the family in a tour of the cathedral and then a hike up the Giralda for a stunning view of Seville.

Jeremy's thoughts on the Cathedral.

It's really cool something THAT old is THAT large and ornate. I especially enjoyed all of the wood and carvings in the choir. There was a massive structure in the middle that was actually a book holder to hold the book of hymns for the choir - they have to be some massive books. The stained glass was also really cool with all of the colors and how the light hit the stones. It's interesting too how some people devoted their entire lives to making the cathedral, that for them, making the church was their form of worship and a way to get into heaven.

The Giralda is a tower that was part of the Mosque that used to be where the Cathedral now stands, it was built to allow horses to climb to the top so it's one continuous ramp instead of stairs. Jeremy was a total crazy person and decided to push my dad up the tower.....CRAZY. He learned later that there are 37 'flight's of ramps to the top all about two people wide and he pushed my dad all the way and then all the way back down. Suffice it to say, he was a bit sweaty and sore at the end. The experience of being at the top was cool, but perhaps not worth all of the hard work to get to the top...

Selfie in the Giralda 

View from the Giralda

Jeremy's caption "it's puff puff pass dude, take it!" 

Jeremy's caption "ma'am you forgot to pay your bill...." 

Tapas look extra small next to Jeremy, but these were supposedly quite tasty. Jamon and Quail Eggs on toast.

The Gathering

After several hectic days of travel and hiking all over Barcelona today was a more chill day. We started the day early with a flight to Seville and by 1:30pm we had arrived at our Air BnB (which is amazing and air conditioned) and settled in. We spent the afternoon going to a local market, making ourselves a mini feast for lunch and...taking a nap!

By 5:30pm my brother John and sister-in-love Laura had arrived. Today was their big travel day as they came in via Philly to Madrid and then a train into Seville. My Mom and Dad also arrived today and we all met for dinner near our apartment. This is where the day got juicy. We had a table of ten, most of us just in from the US, gathered here in Spain to celebrate a marriage.

Velma, Megan's Mom, has been my Mom's best friend for 35+ years. This means that our families have been incredibly close my entire life. This table of ten in Spain was filled with some of the dearest people in my life and honestly it was like we brought the "Pratt Mutius" vibe with us. We created this little bubble of love, laughter and joy around us and we could have just has easily been in Orlando as in Seville. It was awesome. The only thing missing is Hannah, the youngest, who is on her way right now from Gainesville to join us. I will work harder tomorrow to articulate the warmth and joy that surrounds me here with my loved ones traveling, exploring and getting to be together under such extraordinary circumstances. For now I want to revel in it, experience it and go to sleep so I can get up tomorrow and have the super exciting opportunity to visit the Seville Cathedral with everyone.

PS - My dad basically broke his leg about a month before they left for Europe. He's okay, the wheelchair was loaned by Megan's friend to allow Dad to participate in more activities without risking the healing process. But it's still fun to poke fun at him.... ;)


FitBit Time
Steps: 17,000 +/-
Miles: 8.5 +/-
Calories: 3,500 +/-

Barcelona Together

Today was fun.

I love Barcelona. Based on all of the places I've been so far, my perfect scenario would be to live in Barcelona and vacation often in Rome. I love the vibe, the feeling here; the people; how liberal it is, how open folks are; I love how, even though the stereotypes live strong, when events happen, even on weekend, the stereotypes are defied and folks from all walks of life come together and are accepting. I love the food, the attention to wellness, the weather, all of it. I don't like that none of my friends or family are here, which is why I still live in Orlando.

Today, my favorite part was getting to be with Jeremy. We saw Sagrada Famila, which brought me to tears at the beauty of it on my first visit, the Boqueria, Park Guell etc. All awesome, fun things, however my favorite part was being with Jeremy for his experience of it all.

This morning he realized that yesterday was his first time on a subway, his thoughts on the topic 'it works' :)

We went to the rooftop of the Barcelona Gothic Cathedral and he spent extra time marveling at it's construction, the view and the genius of it's design. I think he might be a blossoming fellow cathedral junky.

We went into Sagrada Familia and he was incredibly appreciative of the fact that I had bought advanced tickets allowing us to skip the line. Once inside he kept marveling at it's lightness, at the color sand overall visual loveliness. He has decided I need a tattoo to link me to this place as the moment we walked in he said 'it feels like you here'. We spent about three hours there.

We went to Park Guell where we hiked and then I rested and read while he sketched. Looking down on the sprawling city below, snuggling together and just chatting and observing the differences in culture, people and general vibes between the US and Europe was perfect. We enjoyed a lengthy discussion on aesthetics, Gaudi vs Wright (as in Frank Lloyd) and the virtues and differences in Abstract Art vs Realism.

We enjoyed a typical Catalonian dinner, during which he thanked me for 'forcing him' to eat 'good food' (which is code for, I think I might like 'fancy' restaurants) and are now back at our Air BnB, relaxing and preparing to leave this comfortable city.

Tomorrow we fly again. Off to Seville to meet up with the WHOLE family!

Highlights from today are below, but don't forget to check out my Flickr for all of our mobile uploads - high res/artsy pics from our camera will be added once we're home.

Bubble Guy next to Sagrada Familia 

My next tattoo? 

Sagrada Famila and Us

FitBit Time

Steps: 19,000 +/-

Miles: 9.7 +/-

Calories: 3,300 +/-

Longest Day Ever

Whenever I travel internationally the first day feels like an eternity. It's totally worth it to spend the rest of trip adjusted to local time, however it does require extra patience, planning and a sense of humor to survive 'day one' (which is really two days mushed together). 

This trip started in Orlando, we hopped to NYC where we spent a couple of hours snacking and chilling at JFK. Our $20 lunch of a tuna sandwhich, chips and a coke was well worth it once we got on the AlItalia flight to Rome, plane food always sucks. :) 

The 9 hour flight was fine, great movie options, nice attendants etc. Only challenge was that their seats are even smaller than Delta's coach seats and Jeremy just flat out didn't fit. There was a lot of up and down for him throughout the night.  Luckily once we got to Rome we had three hours in FCO before our Vueling flight to Barcelona which gave us about two hours to chill. We discovered a wonderful little nook of our terminal with these amazing loungers where we curled up for an hour plus nap. What a luxury!

Our good luck continued on our flight to Barcelona. Once we boarded and again settled into our tiny seats, Jeremy's knees pressed firmly agains the seat in front of him, delicately wedged in place, praying the seat in front of him didn't attempt to recline, the flight attendant approached us. "You're so tall! Would you prefer the exit row?" there is only one answer to that question...they moved us both to the more expensive, comfie seats. What a difference a couple of inches makes! We slept like babies the whole flight.

Once in Barcelona we took a train into the city and fairly easily found our B&B. We are staying with a cute young family right in the Gothic Quarter. We are only 200 feet from the Barcelona Cathedral in a VERY old building. BUT like I said, no rest for the weary, it was only 3pm locally, we couldn't go to sleep until at LEAST 9pm. So a quick splash of water on the face and off we went to site see.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at my favorite little Vegetarian cafe and walked Las Ramblas before making our way lazily through the Gothic Quarter and to the Gothic style Barcelona Cathedral. This was the first true Cathedral Jeremy has ever been in. Now I'm a Cathedral nut, I have been known to plan entire trips around getting to spend hours inside these amazing structures. It was beyond cool to get to be with Jeremy for his first experience. The grand size of it alone is overwhelming, but then to think of how old it is, how there was no modern technology to aid in it's creation. All of the lives that have been impacted by its existence, people seeking sanctuary, all of the changes that have happened in the world outside while this building remained....it moves me beyond words. Jeremy too was touched 'this is really cool' he kept saying as we circled the interior. 

 View of the Apse from the Choir.

Geese, Swans and Coy in the Cloisters.

After an hour or so in the Cathedral we spent the rest of the evening wandering the side streets of the Gothic Quarter and eventually found a small market where we bought Jeremy's favorite Spanish snacks for a light dinner: Cheese and Onion chips, Tucs Crackers, Cruz Campo beer and Milk Bar chocolate. As you can see we absolutely had to free our 'barking dogs' from the socks and shoes and spent the last bit of our day on our balcony enjoying the cool evening air. At one point Jeremy is pretty sure a tourist took a picture of him mistaking him for a local :) Jeremy is wearing my FitBit for the trip so we'll know each day how many steps he takes, how many miles we go and how many calories we burn. Today, since we landed in Rome we've taken about 20,000 steps, walked 10 miles and burned about 3,000 calories. Yowza!

Finally, finally, around 9pm we both fell asleep, exhausted, as you saw from the post last night. Jeremy literally crashed. Now it's 9am here in Barcelona and we're both well rested and ready to get back to the streets. Today we will see Sagrada Familia. I can't wait! 

Safe

We made it, better than expected. Awesome two days. And I'm too tired to keep my eyes open to post. Peace out for now.

Doughnut!

This morning Jeremy got up early and while I packed up and got ready for the day he went, by himself and found the bakery from yesterday and brought me another chocolate doughnut! He's such a sweetheart :)

Tapas Adventure

After convincing Jeremy that we should NOT eat at the one Irish Pub in Cadiz (seeing as we'll be back in Dublin Sat night) we found a taverna to kick off our tapas hop.

It looked promising with a good blend of tourists and locals however we decided that while the food was good it was over priced. What they called 1/2 portions were an average of €6 but were really tapas sized portions. We had tortillas de patata (a sort of potato omelette, Dani's is way better), queso de monchego (Daisy's favorite Spanish cheese) and pescadillos (small salted and fried fishes). Given the high prices and our waiter's bad mood we moved on.

From there we actually wound up at our hotel's restaurant. Here we had queso frito (Spanish cheese sticks), a pork sandwich and solmorejo (it was good but still not Dani and Pablo's). Then we got lucky and another table ordered paella which left enough for us to get a taste, so yummy! Jeremy not only like it but he even ate the mini octopus that was in it. We had all of this and a super nice waiter for €12. You just never know.

Unless you ask them not to they always bring bread which you pay €1-2 for. Since we pay for it I always make sure that if we don't eat it we take the edge back to the room for a midnight snack. Jeremy's gotten pretty good a sneaking the bread...:)

Tomorrow we take the train back to Seville for a couple more days with Megan and Dani before flying back to Dublin.