Avila and Segovia

On Wednesday, we took a bus tour to Avila and Segovia.

 Our first stop was Avila.  The city lies behind a medieval wall.  

 

Saint Theresa (not to be confused with Mother Theresa) was born and raised in Avila.  This is the convent where she was a nun.

This church was built where her house used to be.  

There was an entire shrine room in the church dedicated to her.

 Next stop was Segovia.  The terrain reminded me of west and northern Texas.  

 We went straight to lunch.  

We ordered the typical Segovian meal (bean soup, vegetables, and suckling pig).

 They had prepared the boys a special kid friendly meal!

This is a 2000 year old aquaduct that the Romans built.

 Next stop was the Cathedral.  It was gorgeous!

 We walked a bit further to the town castle.

 The views from the castle were so pretty.

Viva La Vida Loca

 On Monday, the families took the hop on hop off bus tour of Madrid.  We were on our feet the entire day before and thought the bus would give us a chance to see the city sitting down!

 We stopped at a few stops to get coffee and let the boys run around.  

We also stopped to let the fellas buy some souvenirs.  

Ethan bought a really pretty Spanish fan, and Link bought a matador cape.  

As the boys were waving their capes, a cute spanish abuela asked the boys, "Cuantos toros?"

We ate pretty much ALL day!  Tapas are everywhere!

Today, we split up and our family did LOTS of walking.

 We started the day at the Naval Museum. 

 This museum was awesome and not just because we have a ship lover in the family.

 The Spanish Armada was so impressive back in the day.  The museum had so many mini replicas.  

 The artwork was gorgeous.  This is a painting of Christopher Columbus.  

 This is the oldest remaining map with America on it.  It was dated 1500.

 This room was dedicated to world explorers.  There were replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria, globes, and compasses galore.  We all really enjoyed this museum.

But, it was a gorgeous day and we wanted to spend it at the park. 

 We headed to Retiro Park.  It's compared to Central Park in NYC.

 Our goal was to find as many playgrounds as we could in the park.

 The boys counted eight in all.

 We stopped mid-day for tapas right outside the park.  

After a quick lunch, we headed back in the park for more playing.   

 I had read about some really good shoe stores a few blocks from the park, so we headed that way.  Someone fell asleep in Daddy's arms on the way.  Poor Nate got a work out today!  

 This crazy girl had FOUR dogs!  Her boyfriend/hubby/partner was hustling us to give her money.  

My guess is they needed money for dog food. 

 Right as we got to the door at Sephora, the workers broke out in a choreographed dance!  

It was really good!  The shopping in this city is great!

We ended the night with some paella.  Our feet were screaming for a break.  Nate's arms were crying for some relief.  We headed home for early bed!  We walked so much today and had a great time!  I can't wait for tomorrow!  We are loving Espana!!!

Bull Fight (warning...it's bloody)

 Months ago, as we were planning this trip, Jessica mentioned going to a bullfight!  

Nate and I jumped on the idea and said, YES! 

 My mother is the one that pointed out that the bulls actually die.  We did not think that one through!

 Jessica assured me that we were far up and it's mostly a spectacle show.  

I think all of us were a little nervous, but once it started it was amazing!  

It is hard to describe how colorful and exciting the show is.

In the beginning, the Toreadors just come out and run the bulls around.  This part is fun to watch.  

Then the horses come out and the guys on the horses stab the bull and then the pretty Toreadors stab the bull some more.  I have to admit on the first bull it was shocking.  Really Shocking!!! 

The fellas covered their eyes for the first bull and every time that the horses stabbed the bull.   The horses were in armor, but they still got rammed by the bull.  That was the hardest part to watch.

 By the time that the Matador came out, the bull was pretty tired and the show really started.  This Matador was not a crowd favorite. In fact, the Spaniards yelled at him the whole time.  

 This guy, on the other hand, was amazing!  He was quite the showman!

 There were six bulls in total and by the middle of the second one, Lincoln came around.  

Ethan was all in after the first bull!  

 It was a beautiful evening!  When the sun hit you, it was warm and cozy!

 This bull put up a fight!  He was stubborn!

 This Matador got on his knees in front of the gate and the bull came charging!  

The crowd went crazy and I almost had a heart attack!

 He actually got flipped in the air three times.  The blood on his suit is from the bull.  That is how close he got every time!  Again....he was quite the showman!

 Here he is showing off!

And, of course, he won for the night!  I was so proud of our fellas.  We thought we might make it through one bull, but we made it through all six!  The show was amazing!  We were out for twelve hours today, but we all were on an adrenaline high after the fight!

Madrid day 2

 After STARBUCKS (it's been nine months since we have had Starbucks), we went to the Royal Palace.  This place was gorgeous!  No pictures allowed.  :( 

 I noticed this hairdo while we were standing in line and I had to take a fake shot of Nate to get it!  My dad always made fun of my 90's bangs, but this lady may have me beat!

 We all loved the palace.  It was over the top and gorgeous.  The boys were fascinated with the chandeliers.  Greyson kept talking about how much cleaning it would take to keep them clean.

We did a lot of walking today and these guys were troopers!

They were troopers, but as usual, little bit had his Daddy carry him a lot!

 This city is so pretty, and our Spanish is much better than our German!

 After a nice lunch, we stopped at the Prado museum to check out some art from Caravaggio, Raphael, Goya, and Rembrandt to name a few!  The guys are really getting into their art....or maybe it's just the Ninja Turtles, but they seem to enjoy it!

The buddies were holding hands on the way to the Bull Fight!  I took 280 pictures today, and as I loaded them on the computer, I realized that over 200 were just the bull fight.  It deserves its own post!