Saturday, March 14 - exploring Sevilla

This past Saturday we decided to go on a walking adventure from our apartment and then east and south to the Parque de Maria Luisa.  Scott had visited this park on a previous visit and we'd heard that there were multiple playgrounds there.  Scott & I figured that we would selfishly enjoy the walk and enjoy sightseeing and that just about the time that the kids were fed up with it we'd arrive at the park. We started by going to the Plaza del Duque in search of a Movistar phone store.  That's the cell phone company Scott needs to have to ensure that he has coverage at work.  We ended up in crowds and then needing to find a bathroom and eventually we gave up on the search to find a Movistar provider.

At that point we headed south meandering along mostly pedestrian streets.  It was so much fun people watching, enjoying the architecture, and window shopping.  We saw an ice cream shop and stopped for a snack.  And then we walked around the cathedral (saving a tour of it for another day).  And then we found the first playground of the day.  After some play time, we ate tapas for lunch along Avenida Paseo Cristina.  And then we meandered our way into the Parque de Maria Luisa.  We first walked around the Plaza de Espana which is absolutely beautiful.  While there, Rosa had a chance to Skype with Chloe.  And then we found one of the playgrounds in the park.  After that we walked around the park and enjoyed walking up to a lookout and then to the fountain with lion statues surrounding it.  From there we considered getting a taxi home, but decided we'd try and get the kids to walk it.

We took a route along the river and there were people everywhere.  In fact, that was the theme of the day.  It's as if every single person in Sevilla was out and about on Saturday.  It was amazing seeing such life!

There seem to be two routes along the river, the upper and the lower.  We were on the lower and there were bars and parties and runners and bikers and rollerbladers (Sarah G. - wish you were here to rollerblade with me).  There are people of all ages moving along the river.

We walked up to Plaza de Armas (where we'd been the night before) and stopped for dinner.  Then we walked the few blocks home and crashed.  At this point we were just about recovered from jet lag.

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures from the day.

Loads of people out and about near Plaza del Duque on a Saturday

Walking down one of the many pedestrian-only streets

View of El Corte Ingles across Plaza del Duque.  Notice the palm tree.  There are palm trees all over Sevilla.

Another view of the Plaza.

There are statues throughout the city.  I don't think we've seen a plaza yet without one.

Big plaza in front of a big and beautiful church (perhaps it's Iglesia del Salvador).  KP and Red - I think we had a coffee in this plaza back in September '99.

Loads of people out enjoying one another's company and the beautiful day.

Walking down a narrow street.  This one is pedestrian only.  But, there are streets the same size, and even smaller, that all cars.  There are loads of motorcycles here, likely since they fit better in the very narrow streets.

A place that looks like Dunkin' Donuts.

Corner where we hung out while eating ice cream.

First view of the cathedral up ahead.

Alise posing while the kids finished their ice creams.  It looks like I have been eating too much ice cream and other yummy foods here.

Along the north side of the cathedral.

La Catedral exit

View of the Universidad de Sevilla.  Does this bring back any memories Melissa or John?

Another place that looks like Dunkin' Donuts

View of the tower of gold (Torre del Oro) 

Hello from the second floor of the Plaza de Espana

Views of statues atop the Plaza de Espana.  They're of famous Spaniards.

Some sort of theatre with amazing architecture.

Las Mostazas (The Mustards).  Devon and I are the only ones in our immediate family who like mustard.  So, that's what we call ourselves.

More scenes from the Plaza de Espana.

Rosa, Cody, and Devon looking at the Plaza de Espana and the boats in the water.

Fountain in the center of Plaza de Espana

One of many bridges above the water in Plaza de Espana.

Shannon - this one's for you.  I loved the blue and white tile along the rails.  It reminds me of your collection.

A fountain in the Parque de Maria Luisa

There are orange trees throughout the city.  They are stunning.  And they smell so good.

Rosa

Rosa and Devon love ("The Brownies")

View along the river as we walked north back to our apartment.

Loads of restaurants, etc. on the other side of the river in the Triana neighborhood.

Bike path along the river.  There are bike paths all around the city.  

Statue with a quote about tolerance from Elie Wiesel

Yet another playground.  This one is a little south of us and next to the river.

Alise's cod tapa.  Yum!

La Macarena

Corinne - I'm having flashbacks to your wedding (such fun memories) as I realize that we live in the La Macarena neighborhood in Sevilla.  Remember this song had just come out and how against your wishes it was played at your wedding and everyone had a blast with it?

I had high expectations for Sevilla, and so far those expectations have been exceeded.  It's absolutely amazing here.  I love architecture, and my eyes can't keep from wandering left and right and up and down trying to take in everything.  I need to find a tour to get a lesson on it.  And the people are so friendly and super patient letting me practice my Spanish.  All 5 of us hope to be semi-fluent by the time our stay here ends.

Cody, Rosa, and Devon sliding together

Rosa

We met our first Sevilla friends the other day at the playground across the street.  The mom, Vicky, had to deal with my 20+ (as Scott says my 200) questions.  She was so helpful and told me about the Sevilla para ninos Facebook page to learn about things around town geared towards kids.  In fact, this weekend has a 3-day activity with booths and bounce houses.  The kids had a blast bouncing around.  

Vicky also hooked us up with a babysitting service (LudoNanny) that has English-speaking childcare professionals.  And, they had a booth at the kids festival (held at Plaza de Armas).  

The kids have been amazing with all of the walking that they've been doing.  Of course, we've also managed to get in a lot of playground time.  So far we've found 6 playgrounds, 2 of which have been visited twice.  The favorite is the one across the street that's along the river.  It's also where we met Vicky and her two kids (Blanca and Teo).

Here are some pictures of views from that playground.  I love seeing the rowing.  In fact, there is a rowing club (Club Remo Ciudad de Sevilla) next to the playground.  Perhaps I'll check it out and reminisce about my rowing days at UVA while I think about the amazing friends I made on the team.  

Also, there is a public library (Biblioteca Municipal Felipe Gonzalez Marquez) next to the playground.

There are tourist ferries that go up and down the river.  We plan to go on one soon.

Rewind - packing up in Denver and travelling to Sevilla

We emptied the bottom portion of our closet
and moved most items to the attic.

8 suitcases ready the night before in the garage.  When all was packed, we had 9 suitcases (1 is the car seat bag that fits all 3 car seats) + 5 carry-on bags.

The stuff that didn't get packed for Spain or moved to the attic
 is being stored in Rosa's room.

The cab that took most of us and most of our luggage to the airport.  Our driver is originally from Somalia.  This was the boys' first taxi ride and the first taxi ride that Rosa will remember.  Her first was when she was 4.5 months old and we went to NJ and NYC for Alyssa & Scott's wedding.  Scott and 3 pieces of luggage followed in a 2nd cab.  The minivan taxi didn't fit all of us and our luggage.

9 pieces of luggage on a cart at the Denver airport.

Riding the train at DIA to the gate.  The kids travelled in pjs.

Ready to board the plane to Madrid in Chicago.  Our route was Denver - Chicago - Madrid - Sevilla.

Cody, Rosa, and Scott sat together on all 3 planes.  This is the plane to Madrid.

Devon and I sat together on all 3 planes.  This is the only one where we had the window seat.  Devon was infatuated and amused for hours by having his own tv/screen with which to watch and play.

Cody, Rosa, and Devon are in our rental car at the airport in Sevilla.  Most of the luggage fit.

Here's the luggage that didn't fit.  I went with these bags separately in a taxi.  It actually made it easier in that Scott followed the taxi to the apartment while he drove the kids.

All in all, the trip went smoothly.  We did have about 1 hour to connect in Madrid and while there we needed to go through passport control and security.  At passport control Devon had fun getting his passport from his teacher Ms. Ange stamped.  We arrived at our gate to Sevilla with the plane still at the terminal and the jetway still connected, but the door closed.  Luckily the gate attendant pulled some strings and got us on our flight.

Once in Sevilla, it took a bit of time to rent our car.  It's unusal for the car rental companies to have a 3-month rental.  We'll likely trade in this rental for a new one in 3 months so the rental company (Avis) can do regular maintenance on the car.

The taxi arrived at 9:15am in Denver (4:15pm Spain time) and by the time we got to our apartment in Sevilla and had signed the lease with our property manager/landlord (Rosa), it was noon Spain time.

Wednesday, March 11

We had to wake up ourselves and the kids at 1pm today.  We ate lunch at the apartment and then walked to the kids' school.  It's next to this amazing structure - Metropol Parasol.  We had a great tour of the school with the English para for the boys' class.  She's from Ireland and obviously a fabulous English speaker, but what we experienced is that even the native Spanish speakers at the school who we met were amazing English speakers.  The school has 3-4 classes/grade, so much bigger than what we're used to.  But, the staff and students seem as friendly as what we're used to.  The kids will start on Monday morning.

After the tour, the kids and I had coffee (me) and water (all of us) in the plaza where the picture is taken (Plaza de la Encarnacion).  The waiter thought the kids were triplets.  As we left, I was asked for directions in Spanish.  Apparently we're already looking like locals.  Of course, I had no clue where we were.

Then we walked partway back to the apartment and stopped at the playground across the street from El Corte Ingles in the Plaza del Duque to play.  

Scott had left early so he could go back and do a little work.  He took a different route and found a playground we plan to check out tomorrow.  It's just across the street from here and along the river.

Tonight we walked down the next street, Calle Banos (aka Bathrooms Street).  It's a narrower street with a very narrow sidewalk.  It was super fun to explore as after 8 or so blocks we stumbled upon a new to us plaza, Plaza de la Gavidia.  There were a few restaurants/cafes there with outdoor seating, and in this beautiful weather, we had our 2nd dinner in a row outdoors.  We at at Bodega Amarillo Albero and experimented with a few tapas and enjoyed them all.  Here are pictures of the inside of the restaurant.

We've arrived!

We need to sync our pictures so we can post them here.  But, right now we're tired and settling in.  The brief scoop is that it did take about 20 hours, but the kids were FANTASTIC and the flights, etc. all went more or less smoothly.  We almost missed our connection in Madrid as it was a tight one and the plane doors were already closed (though the plane was still at the gate) when we arrived at the gate, but a smile, or perhaps the thought of the work it would take to reroute us and our 9 pieces of luggage was overwhelming to the airline staff.

So far we're super excited to be here in this super friendly, beautiful, interesting city.  And Scott found a great apartment in a super central but quiet and peaceful location.

It's siesta time and then time to explore more and start stocking our kitchen with ridiculously fresh fruit and other essentials.