Summer trip to Spain

After our quick layover in Iceland, we headed to Spain to meet Jake.  Since it was Eid, Jake had a good bit of time off from work so meeting in Europe worked well with his work schedule.  We all flew in Madrid but spent most of our time further south in Cordoba and Grenada.  Given the Moorish influence in those places, it was a particularly interesting place for our Middle Eastern raised girls.

Madrid:

In front of the old royal palace

Inside the palace

Wondered upon a playground - can't resist 

We thought these giant pedal powered vehicles looked like a lot of fun (but too much work!)

Fun art installation all over the city with these ladies in dresses (Las Meninas).  There are 80 different ones - all differently decked out all over the city.  We found many of them but not all.

At Retiro Park right near our hotel

Cordoba:

Rooftop hotel pool

Cordoba streets, art, and hanging plants

Anna helping to make jewelry

The courtyards of Cordoba are famous for their hanging plants, greenery and lush feeling in the midst of a hot, dry city.

Jane watering the hanging gardens

Rooftop meal overlooking the mosque/ cathedral

I managed to not get any photos of the wonderful meal we had on this rooftop with the great view.  Lots of yummy Spanish tapas like menu items

Getting to check out the famous Andalusian horses before a show

At the horse show

Getting ready to ride electric bikes for the first time

Bike tour destination: Medina Azahara where a palace was built for a beloved wife back in the Moorish days.  Many well-preserved ruins. 

They didn't have the tow-bikes that we like to use with Anna and the bikes were too big for her so she got to squeeze into a trailer - she loved it!

And off goes the family.  We started the tour in the urban center of Cordoba but then went about 8 miles or so outside of the city on a bike path.  It was gravel for a good bit of it and poor Jane took a tumble and skinned her knee pretty good.  We liked the e-bikes.  You petal like normal but get a boost when you do which makes going up hills a breeze.

Worn out little Anna

Exterior of mosque/ cathedral at night

Found a friend while we were grocery shopping for cooking class

As you can imagine, the kids couldn't *wait* to cook and eat the prawns (just kidding - they had no interest!)

Sitting down to eat what we made.  Wish I could remember it all.  Salmorejo is a famous dish from there that we made.  Kind of like gazpacho but with bread blended in to make it thicker.  We also made a version with almonds instead of tomatoes. 

Inside one of the oldest mosques in Spain where they built a giant cathedral inside it once the Christians took back this area

Fun to see Arabic in Spain

The workers wrote their names (in Arabic) on the columns they made.  Kids had fun reading many of them

The traditional cathedral *inside* the mosque - very interesting architecture melding!

Fun stop at a pizza place that some friends of ours loved during their visit (thanks, Amy!)

Flamenco dance class!

Regan was a natural

Even Jake gave it a try

The family that dances together....???

Grenada:

At the Alhambra

Beautiful tile work at the Alhambra

Echo corner/ room

Love the winding streets and mountains in the background

Olive farm visit

Where they turn the olives into olive oil

Lunch in the olive fields.  This was a highlight of our trip.  The family that owns this olive oil farm is interested in expanding into agro-turisum and we were their first guinea  pigs.  They gave us a wonderful tour of their farm, how they make the oil and then hosted a gorgeous and yummy lunch in the trees.

Jake found some new table mates

On our quest to see the beautiful and famous Granada sunset, we came across this great hidden restaurant on a rear terrace where we treated ourselves to ice cream.  We also met a family from Saudi Arabia where Regan delighted them by greeting them in Arabic. 

Back in Madrid:

Art museum/ tour exhaustion! 

A piece of art that Meredith particularly liked