Spain Part 3

I sit here with an excitement, the kind you feel when you're off to an amazing and unexpected adventure. As all three of us, Joe, his mom and I are pretty spontaneous, this morning we decided to rent a car and drive 8 hours south to Sevilla, near Gibraltar and the tip of North Africa, Morocco. However, it took us several hours to procure a vehicle, which would have placed us in Sevilla sometime after midnight, which none of us were too excited about. So, tomorrow we are off!! Which means you must tune in to Spain Part 4.

But I hope this entry doesn't disappoint. Well, things just kept increasing in interest and beauty after I left off at the beach. I have to admit, the beach was so wonderful that I went back the next day all alone and took a very long walk and watched the sunset. A salty old dude decided to walk with me, a life-long Valencian. We got along just fine with bits of both our mother tongues as we walked along. He sang me a song in Spanish as if he were an old movie star and I was a beautiful senorita. It was wonderful. I felt perfectly safe, as he was gentle and very old.

One thing we knew we would do beforehand was to check out the Oceanographic, Valencia's amazing aquarium. We spent all day oohing and ahhing like children at the creatures, and we took in a fun dolphin and trainer show. We ate at a restaurant called The Submarine, which was fine dining as if you were inside the sea. The fish swam all around us in an infinity aquarium. It was breathtaking.

It was fun to celebrate Christmas Eve here in Valencia. Kathy and I walked to the beautiful Central Market where we bought an leg of lamb, mint, lemon thyme, salad, baked pumpkin (a treat here), fresh bread, lox, cream cheese, a special cream filled log cake, asparagus and mushrooms (the lox and cream cheese were for Christmas morning, something I have been eating on Christmas morning since I was little). It was a wonderful feast, having prepared the lamb seared and braised with rosemary, garlic, onions, carrots olive oil, broth and white wine. We dined with red wine and candles and ended the night with my personal Christmas Eve favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart. For once the streets were quiet, as most were home with their families.

The next day my very ambitious mother-in-law planned a train ride to Segunt for a hike to an ancient castle in ruins, then a visit to the Bancaja Nativity, the largest in Europe. Segunt is like something out of a movie, with narrow cobblestone streets, whitewashed or bright row houses, colorful verandas with flowers, and ancient Roman ruins. It wore me out but I am so glad we saw it. The nativity was a miniature recreation of the whole story of Jesus' birth - Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Egypt, the Temple...wow.

I must admit I was refreshed to not be reminded so heavily of Christmas in a commercial way like I am in America. We had a rustic, romantic, warm time that will forever stand out in my memory as one of my favorites. Dalton was perfectly thrilled with a tiny Christmas sock (we didn't have stockings) with a couple of chocolates and a some candy and a small wooded drum. For us it was more about the experiences we were having and the joy of simply being together in Spain.

I truly hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! More to come...