Spain 2022

 Today we left Spain for a little while and entered the United Kingdom. Gibraltar is a city still controlled by the UK. After going through customs to get in, we took a smaller, local bus around the city. Our tour guide, Jeff, was fantastic and everyone loved his British accent.  From the end of Gibraltar, you can see a mountain on the Africa side of the Straight of Gibraltar so the kids not only got to visit another country today but also see another continent. We also got to see St. Michael’s Cave and the Gibraltar monkeys. We also got to go through the WW2 era tunnels built in the caves (the rock is still used as a military base). After a slight misunderstanding about how to get out of the caves, we made our way down the hill and had lunch at a traditional British restaurant which means we had fish & chips.  We got to shop and explore Gibraltar a little more and then made our way back to our hotel in Fuengirola.  Tomorrow is our beach day so we will just spend it hanging out at

Today was our last day of touring historical sites. We started the day by taking a panoramic bus tour of the city of Sevilla. Then, we walked through the Plaza de España and the Barrio de Santa Cruz (the old Jewish neighborhood of Sevilla). Then, we visited the Sevilla Cathedral. It is the largest gothic Cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest church in the world. To say it is impressive is an understatement. Also, in this cathedral you’ll find the burial place of Christopher Columbus. They have done DNA tests and there are remains of Columbus and his son. Kind of crazy to see! We had lunch in Sevilla - the kids are getting better ordering their own food - and then we headed to Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.  We got to the hotel and had dinner. Then we took our first walk to the beach to see the Mediterranean. Now, we are hanging out at our hotel pool and going over the plans for tomorrow.  We head to Gibraltar tomorrow. Then we come back to this hotel and have time to go to the b

 Another spectacular day here in Spain! We started the day by touring the Alhambra. It is a palace/fortress/city built by the Moors, starting about 1,000 years ago and was added onto by Charles V about 500 years ago. This is the building where Christopher Columbus met with Queen Isabel to ask for money and ships to make his voyage. It’s an incredible building! From there, we walked down the Alhambra hill and spent some time in the city of Granada. We went to the Royal Chapel where Queen Isabel & King Ferdinand (the monarchs who defeated the Moors and funded Columbus’ voyage in 1492 at Granada) and their daughter and her husband, Juana (La Loca) and Felipe are buried. It is so incredible to see the caskets of these people who changed the history of the world.  When we left the chapel, we got some ice cream (our favorite thing to do on hot days!) and got to see the Corpus Cristi procession. It was a really beautiful experience. We got lunch at a great little restaurant in Plaza Nueva

 Wow! For being a travel day, we sure did and saw a lot! We left Madrid this morning to make our way south to Granada. Along the way we stopped in Consuegra to see the windmills of Don Quixote and tour an 11th century castle. It is so hard to comprehend walking around a building that old.  We stopped for lunch along the way and bought some things in the olive oil store. I think it’s a requirement to get something made from olives when in Spain, since you can see the trees EVERYWHERE! We got checked into our next hotel and then came into Granada (our hotel is outside the city) for a flamenco show in the Sacramonte caves. From there, we walked around the Albayzin neighborhood. We stopped at the Mirador San Nicolas to see an amazing view of the Alhambra at night. It is spectacular! We will get to your the inside tomorrow.  Tomorrow we tour the Alhambra and make our way to Sevilla. After that, the beach and home. Our trip is going so quickly!!  

 Today was our first day adventuring outside Madrid. We traveled about 45 minutes south to Toledo. Here we saw the Cathedral of Toledo, the Sinagoga de Santa María La Blanca (a 12th century synagogue that was converted into a church in 1492) and a small chapel with a painting by El Greco (a famous Spanish painter) on the wall. Then, the kids had the chance to zip line over the Tajo River. They liked this adventure piece. We also visited a sword & jewelry factory. The demonstration on how the swords and jewelry is made was quite interesting.  We had lunch at a local mall (it was really hot and this was the coolest option available and it was greatly appreciated!). From there we headed back to Madrid to the city center and had a little time to relax and look for last minute souvenirs while in Madrid. We had dinner at a local restaurant and then came back to the hotel. Tomorrow we leave Madrid and head south to Granada with a stop in Consuegra to see the windmills of Don Quixote. It s

 What a day we had today! We started our day by going to the Prado Museum. I was so impressed with how many kids really enjoyed it. Manuel, our tour director, has a scavenger hunt for our students to complete and they did great-even earning extra points on all the extra credit questions!! There is a beautiful cathedral across the street from the museum. I’ve seen it before but haven’t ever been inside. Well, this time it was open so we got to see the inside, too. It was beautiful but nothing compared to what we are going to see.  After El Prado, we had lunch at a cute little restaurant in the center of the city. The kids tried some more new foods and are even liking it! 😊 Then it was time for the Royal Palace. The king and queen of Spain don’t live there (they have a palace outside of Madrid). It is so amazing and fun to get to see a real royal palace.  Next was free time in the city. We did some shopping and got ice cream. The kids definitely believe me now when I tell them that the