Last year I posted this blog containing photos of doors throughout Spain and Portugal. While we were in Morocco, their doors were so colorful and detailed, I decided to bring you a second series of door photos for your viewing pleasure. So, without further adieu…
Which door is your favorite?
Before we moved to Southern Spain, I did what any overly excited travel-lover would do; I started researching the travel possibilities that moving to Spain would provide. One of my top travel destinations on my to-do list was Morocco. After researching, I soon made a jaw-dropping discovery; living in the Rota area, the only thing standing between me and my two feet landing on Moroccan soil was a mere 2 hour distance. One hour and 15 minutes by car and a 45-minute ferry ride. Dreams of camels, snake charmers and curry food started dancing in my head. I had to go. And so I did.
Of course I waited until my siblings came to visit. Such a special experience could have only been reserved to share with some of my favorite people in the entire world. Besides, going without them would have triggered years of overwhelming jealousy and never-ending sibling rivalry.
To begin the planning of our day trip, I booked a *tour guide named Jamal. He’s pretty well known within the American community as the go-to tour guide for Tangier. As soon as we exited the ferry from Spain, Jamal was there at the dock waiting for us. Originally, I had planned for a day full of walking. Much to my relief, Jamal had a private driver and a large, clean van for us equipped with A/C. We were able to leave some belongings in the vehicle safely each time we stopped to explore a new place as the driver stayed with the van. The trip was more comfortable for us with two small children and lots of little extras that we ended up not having to carry every step of the way.
After Moroccan security gave our passports a look-see, we were bright-eyed, bushy tailed and on our way to our very own Moroccan adventure.
Mosque in memory of King Mohammed V.
This is a restaurant that we popped in for a quick break. We didn’t eat our lunch there but I’ve known of several Americans that have. Next time I’ll have to try some of their food.
My brother is musically talented in several instruments (drums, guitar, piano and the ukelele). He met with these fellas while in Morocco and we’re all looking forward to when this newly assembled boy band puts out their first record.
In the museum in the Kasbah.
The Kasbah and two chickens out on a stroll.
Overlooking the port of Tangier.
Ah, yes. The snake charmer. An unbelievable experience.
Oh, what a trooper.
Growing up, my sister had a couple of snakes as pets. She loves them.
See?
And then… there were camels.
We went for a camel ride! This happened to be Andrew and Leila’s favorite part of the trip.
This little baby was hanging around enjoying the ocean breeze.
This was my camel for our short camel-riding excursion. We bonded.
A view of Cape Spartel.
After our camel rides, we were hit up a local restaurant for lunch. To start, we had this delicious seafood soup. My sister, brother and myself all had amazing chicken and lamb kebabs. Andrew went straight for the typical moroccan dish, Tajine.
Lunch ended on a high note with this Moroccan Mint Tea, mighty tasty indeed.
After lunch, we got to visit the Church of St. Andrew, an Anglican church built in 1894.
Then, it was off to shop. Here’s a few shots around the market:
Here we are all together basking in the beauty of experiencing Morocco.
*For those of living within traveling distance to Morocco (that means you, Rota), I highly recommend using Jamal as your travel guide. He has really great tours to offer you and is more than willing to work with you on your very own customized tour upon request. Contact Jamal for more info at jamal_chatt@hotmail.com
I love Spain. Seriously, I do. One of those reasons is because of places like Ronda. The location in which we live allows us to hop over to other beautiful towns and experience more culture. Ronda is a town that is only a little over 2 hours away. Ronda has beautiful, beautiful (I said it two times, so you know it must be true) views, good food and the rest is history. For reals, Ronda is full of interesting history. I’d love to tell you all about it but let’s move on to the good stuff.
This was one of the first places we saw (well, after I sort of led us into the wrong direction and got demoted from map-holder/line-leader).
I was trying to take a picture of the white buildings in the background but these two people got in the way of my shot.
I joke, I joke. This was actually my sisters’ favorite day while she was in Spain. It’s not hard to tell why.
This is one of my new favorite photos. My handsome husband holding my precious daughter on his shoulders makes me weak in the knees. Coincidentally, so does me holding my daughter on my shoulders on days full of walking. Another win for me for having a husband who has big, macho muscles.
No Spanish town would be complete without small walkways. Eventually, we came upon the bullring (Plaza de Toros). As soon as we walked in, two real live bulls started having a face-off…
It was too much excitement so we ventured onward…
If any of you Rota folks get the hankerin’ for a little exploring soon, I encourage you to head over to Ronda.
Directions from Rota straight to Plaza de Toros in Ronda can be found here. Print out a guided walking tour here (you can even do the same walk Michele Obama took while she visiting back in 2010). Happy travels!
We’ve lived here for about 15 months now and we finally had our first family visitors come stay with us. I had been counting down the days ever since they bought their airline tickets. My older sister, Whitney and my little brother, Seth flew in together for a fun-filled 9 day Spanish vacation with yours truly. We saw and did a lot, but here’s the skinny on just their first couple of days.
The first day we ventured off to a small bodega hidden in the small alleyways in Jerez de la Frontera called Bodegas Tradicion.
I’ve visited Bodegas Tradicion in the past (there’s a whole heap of information here) and there are several reasons why I chose to go back to this particular one. For starters, when I knocked on the door (after getting lost in the small streets in the city and missing our appointment), the tour guide from our last visit, Sabrina instantly recognized me from more than a year ago and ushered me in excitedly. She remembered my girls and details about my life and I felt like I was catching up with an old friend. The rest of the visit with my sister and brother was much the same feeling; friendly chatting on top of filling us with plenty of information about sherry.
On top of the regular tour, she showed us where they bottle the sherry.
Sure, these just look like a couple of long necks now, but…
After a little DIY sherry-bottle decorating…
and finally, grabbing the nearest pretty little gal to help you stamp a seal onto it, it’s nearly drinkable. Speaking of drinking…
… we did a little of that, too. We could have stayed at the Bodega all day but it might have ruined their plans for a following appointment or two. So, we kept it moving right along and found a place to settle in for a good lunch in the city center.
Thoughts about this photo: my sister is one of the most photogenic people ever and thanks to the sunlight, it looks as though my little brother appears to have a patch of gray on his head.
Ahh, delicious gazpacho. A cool Spanish dish on a hot afternoon hits the spot and also gives you enough room for churros and chocolate for dessert.
The second day, we drove to Sevilla. Our first stop there was the Catedral de Sevilla. The Sevilla Cathedral is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world and the third largest church in the world.
Theories have been thrown around, but it is believed that Christopher Columbus’ remains are buried here.
As soon as we stepped out of the cathedral, we were melting in the Spanish sun. I couldn’t bare it considering I’m too much of a lady to perspire. Thankfully we found an entire street filled with cafes and restaurants with mist coming from their umbrellas. We planted ourselves there and gorged ourselves on paella much like any other smart tourists would.
This was my second trip to Sevilla. I’m super blessed because I live only a little more than an hour from this beautiful city.
Things that match: outfits (totally accidental) and our excitement to be in Spain together. Olé!
This past weekend, I got the hankerin’ for a change of scenery. Being Navy, our life usually brings us near the ocean. After almost 8 years of living near the sea, we’ve grown accustomed to beach life. The sand, sun and tan lines are wonderful, of course, but this Missouri girl sometimes misses spending a day in the woods. Living in Spain for over a year, I didn’t realize that we lived only 2 jolly hours away from the mountains. So, we decided to pack up just for a night and head to the mountains for a hike or two.
The drive there offered breathtaking scenery.
Okay, so the views were spectacular as you can tell. However, our American-sized SUV on European roads is one thing, but our American-sized SUV on tiny European mountain roads is a whole nutha story. The roads are built for one car but have two-way traffic. It was a nerve-wracking drive (not just for me, but for my man who put up with my whining the entire drive up the mountain), but totally worth it.
As soon as we could, we set off to find a trail. On a side note, both my husband and I are sporting HealthSource FWB t-shirts from our favorite chiropractors in Florida. Who here thinks that this should be their next billboard?
Babywearing while hiking is for hot Dads only. He melts me.
Aliana is our explorer. She’s the leader of our adventures and seeing new things is totally her element. And so is hiking. Obviously. Look at her. She loved every single second of it.
The first trail we were on was beautiful, but eventually got too narrow for my liking with two small, precious children. We took off on another nearby trail to see what else we could find.
Turns out, we found a whole lot of sheep hiney trying to soak up what little shade they could to stay cool.
Oh, and the views didn’t disappoint on this trail either.
Turns out a day hiking mountainside with the three people I love most was exactly what I needed. A perfect day indeed.
When you go to Feria, the women are the stars of the show. They’re beautiful, vibrant, confident and they know it. Photography-wise, the women were the most fun to photograph.
There were women wearing the typical clothing for horse-riding. They were tough and beautiful in their own right.
Her hat. Oh, her hat.
Then there were the women in the ever so lovely Feria dresses. The dresses are gorgeous. Sadly, I skipped the chance to get one this year. But, I promise next year I will go all out to make up for these last two years without one. For now, feast your eyes on these beautiful Spanish women in their colorful dresses.
If you follow my blog page via Facebook, you’ve seen this woman already. With the feria dresses being so expensive (ranging between $200-$600 per dress/per year), I could see why these women were so eager to be photographed and show off their beauty.
This is one of my favorite shots of the whole Feria.
Ole´!
Inside the castetas, you will find Spanish people drinking merrily (all day and all night) and dancing the night away.
Which feria dress is your favorite?
Horse-riding is a pretty common activity here in Spain. Driving through the local area, you can see horses all over the place. With that in mind, it still never ceases to amaze me at how confident young riders are and how confident their parents are to have them around such large animals in the first place. In any case, it makes me happy to see these kids enjoying life.
This young lady was so proud to be atop her horse. I was standing on a circle of grass in the middle of the pathway of horses and snapped this shot of her. She rode gracefully and with such confidence.
The wee fella on the right was precious; 2 or 3 years max. As the horse trotted, the little boy flopped around in his saddle.
It was so hot that afternoon and this little boy had the red cheeks to prove it.
Top hats clearly make this precious girl smitten. Me, too!
Alright, before you go wondering why I, a happily married woman, am writing all about men for this post… just take a look-see at these photos of the men of the Jerez Feria.
I loved their outfits. And their attitudes. And their horses.
Reigns in one hand. Rebujito in the other. You just know this man has tales to tell.
Random, but they wanted their photo taken. And I like his suspenders.
Last but not least…
I love having our new car. It’s such a blessing, really. Wanting to go see something new and having the freedom to be able to go at the drop of a hat is a beautiful thing. One day we had a free afternoon to do what we pleased and Andrew and I decided to take our globetrotting tots an hour away to Sevilla. It was fun. You should have went with us. But, since you didn’t, here’s what it looks like through my lens.
There are little surprises planted throughout the streets of Sevilla, like the above water fountain, that keep things exciting. Exploring is always interesting, but there was one thing on my must-see list that afternoon.
The beautiful Royal Alcazar of Sevilla. It’s absolutely breathtaking and the adventure of taking in every detail is pleasantly never-ending.
From the windows…
to the walls…
and everything in between, the Alcazar holds beautiful breathtaking detail.
There’s another sight I could look at all day; that smoking hot husband of mine holding my two little beauties. Hubba, hubba.
Oh, right. More of Sevilla.
After the Alcazar, we walked over to Plaza de Espana.
It was surprisingly busy that afternoon, live music playing close by, several boats rowing around in the water, tourists riding in horse and carriage. It was beautiful.
My little one is an animal lover. Horses are at the top of her list of favorite things. Horses are also all over Spain and their owners are always more than ready and willing to take too much money for a ride around town. But, we can’t just take a horse and carriage ride every time we see one.
Or can we?
We did so much traveling in 2011, brought our kids along and it made for one exciting year. We started out 2011 with a trip to California visiting DisneyLand and SeaWorld, then Minnesota in February to see my sister, moved to Spain in March with trips to Portugal and Barcelona and now here we are in Virginia (oh, can’t forget Washington DC or North Carolina). Even with all those trips, the year wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to see my lovely friends in Florida. I loved the two years we had in Florida; we had an amazing church, the weather in Florida is beauty-ful, the beaches are (hands down) the absolute best I’ve ever tanned my luscious body on been to and most importantly; it’s where my best friends live! I had a total of 11 Florida-riffic days. Each day was so full of spending time with friends, that I actually never stepped foot on the white beaches of the Emerald Coast. I know, I know; I’m such a boob. But, here’s what I did do.
I was in Florida over my birthday (lucky me) and had planned to spend the day with my lovely friend, Paige and her 6 kids. I love Paige. Seriously. I have my “sister moms” and my “sisters in Christ”. Paige fits in both those categories. I remember the day I met Paige for the first time. We were fresh into the Floridian life and hadn’t met too many people yet. There was a park nearby our house that I would bring Aliana to. One afternoon, Paige was there with her kids (then just 4) and her daughter, Anna and Aliana made fast friends and the rest is history. I had originally intended to be in this photo but, my photography skills flew out the window that day when I completely cut myself out. Photographing 8 children and 2 adults on a timer with no tripod is not my strong suit. Not sure if it’s anyone elses’ for that matter, either.
Any day with Paige and her crew is always fun. Having her friendship is a blessing and no matter the distance between us, I’m always thankful to have that wonderful woman in my life.
Now let’s move on to what is this wonderful creation, baby Abigail. Who, actually, isn’t the baby of the family anymore now that little John came along. I love each and every one of Paige’s kids but, Abigail has the most vibrant soul of any toddler I’ve met. She’s so dang cute, silly and fearless. Can’t you just see it in her eyes?
She’s so full of love; ready and willing to squeeze her lovins into others whether they like it or not. We fit into the category of the ones who like it.
No shoes? No problem!
After a couple hours of walking/running/jumping/climbing around Eden Gardens State Park…
… we all felt like this. Which, is a pretty good sign that my birthday was a success.
Meet two of the greatest Moms. Ever. Sabrina (left) and Jessie (right) are fellow Moms of 2. We fall into the same category of crunchy-ness as mothers and baby, I like it. I met Jessie in 2009 in Pensacola, Florida at a birth doula training and tried to keep in contact ever since. She’s a mother of two beautiful little girls, military wife, home birther, extended breastfeeder, and one of the best Moms I know. I’m lucky to call her my friend. I met Sabrina through Jessie. Sabrina happens to be just as awesome; a mother to two beautiful babies, home birther, extended breastfeeder, avid gardener, and birth photographer. Like me, both of these ladies became mothers at a young age and strongly felt motherhood as a calling. Their friendship is refreshing; they make me feel more comfortable in my own skin, inspire me to be a better person and I’m extremely blessed to know both these gorgeous ladies.
We’re just so cool, y’all. Seriously.
We stayed at Jessie’s house for about a week while we were in Florida. Jessie’s daughters are the same age as my two girls. Ellie is her oldest who is quickly approaching 5. Ali and her got along great and we miss her so much!
Meet Vera. If I could pick a picture that speaks a thousand words, this one would be it. This is exactly Vera’s personality through and through. I love her and all of her cuteness!
Our kids’ are part of a pretty technological generation. Not quite sure if this was before or after they figured out how to Skype each other.
This is Lori. If you seriously stalk my blog and read every single one of my posts (which you should, people), then you probably remember her. Let me refresh you (you’re going to want to thank her after I give you this information), she started my blog for me. Yes. All of this amazingness that you see here is because of her. See what I mean? Go ahead. Tell her thank you by visiting her blog and checking her out. She also organized a play date with all my old church peeps while I was in town.
This fine young woman is Carmen. She introduced me to Shoreline Church where her husband is an associate pastor. Meeting her and getting to know her completely changed the direction of my marriage to my husband. We needed Jesus in our marriage but didn’t know where to start. On several occasions, her and her husband Dani counseled us through our journey discovering where a relationship with Jesus fit into our marriage. Thank you, Jesus for giving me this beautiful sister in Christ!
That little beauty you see on the left is Carmen’s sweet daughter, Jadyn. Aliana and her were inseparable when we lived in Florida. This is Aliana’s very, very best friend.
Paige came to the play date that day as well. I had to include this photo so you could see a close up her pretty face!
Florida was such a great trip filled with such great memories of the ones we love. Oh, Florida. Until we meet again.
Just remember, Florida friends; it’s not goodbye… it’s hasta luego.
