donostia (aka: san sebastian)

I'm going back to posting about the trip. There were a few random posts thrown in there (i.e. the cheer leading video), but I just need to get through the trip documentation for posterity sake. The last city we visited in Spain was San Sebastian or Donostia, as it's known by the Basque population.

Everyone speaks Spanish and Basque in the region. The schools even teach in both languages. Below is a written example of the Basque language. It looks similar to Russian to me, but....

Interesting fact: the Basque people have inhabited the area for an unknown period of time. It has been so long, in fact, that historians cannot trace their origin. They are at the origin. Fascinating.

Anyway, we were hoping for sunshine in San Sebastian, but no such luck. It rained most of the day, so instead of going to the beach, we slept in by accident (jet lag finally caught up with us), walked around town and hiked a hill.

I really liked this building. You just don't see architecture like this everyday.

Kent in the pouring rain.

The water-filled harbor.

We saw this statue above us at the harbor and decided to find our way up to it.

Why not? Who cares that we're drenched.

We made it to the statue after waiting around in the San Sebastian Aquarium's art museum while the rain slowed down a bit. It was time well-spent though. A teenage girl, who I think had a thing for Kent, told us all about the Basque culture and Asier Elcoroiribe Lerma, a San Sebastian artist. I actually wanted to buy this painting, but it wasn't for sale.

We found an old fortress at the top of the hill and tour guides who were more than happy to show us around the small informational museum. The thing I remember the most is that San Sebastian has burned down multiple times. So sad.

Here's a view of the city below.

A hike well-worth the exertion, not that it was that difficult, but we were so close to not doing it. I'm glad we did.

We ended the day walking from one bar to another, trying to find the best-looking/tasting tapas and found a great place in the pension (hostel) district. When we got home, it was about 10 o'clock at night and the sun was just setting. It was a beautiful way to end the Spain portion of our trip. And we will be visiting San Sebastian again, but it will be in August next time, when there isn't a chance of rain and the city is in full, beach resort mode.

the sisters are coming, the sisters are coming!

I was never a cheerleader (I didn't make the squad in 9th grade), but this is the type of thing that happens when my sisters and I get together. On this particular occasion, we ransacked the "out of season" closet at my mom and dad's house and found Jeannine and Julie's old song leading outfits. It doesn't matter that they've both had a few children, they fit right on into those mini-skirts without a problem. (I hope I'm like that after a kid or two.)

Anyway, Jayne and Jeannine are coming into town which means the rest of us girls will try to make it to Redlands to join the fun. They come every summer when the heat of Arizona becomes unbearable and it is so exciting! We swim, we talk, we play, we eat....we simply spend time together and watch the kids soak up summer and life. That sounds so nostalgic and old, "watch the kids soak up summer and life"? How old am I? Am I allowed to be looking back? I don't even have kids of my own yet.

Either way, it's going to be a great time. I love my sisters (this includes the in-law sisters too) and I can hardly wait for the summer get-togethers. Let the fun begin!

catchy

So, I don't listen to KROQ very often, but as I was driving to work last week, I came across this band called Metric and now I can't really stop listening to one of their songs. I'm stuck on Help, I'm Alive (see video below), but they have a few good songs. I need to do a little more research on them, but I think I'm sold on their goodness. My goal is to somehow get us to Halifax, Nova Scotia to see them next month. We'll see.

curator kent

I'm not sure when it happened, but Kent has grown the proverbial 'green thumb'. It's true-I've seen it with my own eyes. I had no idea he enjoyed working in the yard so much, but guess what he does almost every day after work (besides watching soccer or some other sporting match)? He gardens and beautifies the backyard. Yes indeed. No more of this sitting on the couch business, not that he sat on the couch that much before, but now he is outdoors tending to the yard. He has been determined to get that yard fixed up since we moved in, but within the last couple of months, he has made some impressive progress.

Here's what the backyard looked like when we moved in last August,

and here it is now.

Pre-yard clean up,

Post-yard clean up.

We didn't do this all on our own though. We've had a lot of help from our families (and my mom and dad's trusted gardeners), but I feel like Kent has done most of it and has been the motivation behind getting that green grass. He really wanted to walk through some grass barefoot out there and now he can. Besides the grass, we also have two box gardens that are thriving. I love the garden part. I've always wanted one and now we have more vegetables than we can handle.

Box Garden #1: Our zucchini bushes went crazy.

Fruits of our labors.

Box Garden #2: The cantaloupe plants went kind of crazy as well.

But all the produce sure is pretty.

This guy works so hard. He just dug a hole under a cement slab (something I didn't think was possible) so we can run an electric line to the garage. Once we have light, maybe I'll clean up my mess in there?

I love this man,

and our new and improved backyard.

burgos

More documentation of the trip. I know, it keeps going and going.... but I love looking through our photos. It already brings back good memories. That being said, here's Burgos. David Axelgard recommended this city to us, so we decided to check it out on our way to San Sebastian and we were not disappointed. Another beautiful cathedral, a plaza full of senior citizens and a group of trees that Kent really likes....what more can you ask for?

Los Arboles

La Catedral

Un cartel

Amigos viejos de Kent

Me gusta esta foto.

La calle

El Toro

Up next: Basque country.

lady of light

Today is my mom's birthday. She is 73, but you would never know it. She is fun, full of life and beautiful. If you break her name down-Donna Louise-it means 'lady of light'. I can't think of a more fitting name for her. Here are just a few things I love about my mom:

Her voice. It's melodic.
Her smile.
Her laugh. It's sincere.
She's a lady.
She plays the piano so well-can sight read anything, even the Messiah!
She is sassy and classy.
She is intelligent.
Her testimony is as solid as it gets.
She is devoted to her husband and children.
She gets things done and makes things happen.
She makes everything fun.
She is grounded.
She loves everyone.
She helps her community.
She is constantly reading.
She is creative and multi-talented.
She has great taste.
She gets worked up over politics-I love it!
She's a Sudoku Master.

She just has a beautiful spirit and I am so lucky to have grown up with someone who magnifies goodness and shares it with everyone around.

Thank you for being one of my best friends, Mom.

Happy Birthday and I love you!

roman aqueducts and such

Our next stop in Spain was a little town called Segovia. Kent spent a few months on his mission there and he loved it. Now, I love it. There is a roman aqueduct running through town that used to supply the local castle with water. It's not in use anymore, but I'm glad they built that huge, beautiful support system for a single stream of water. Really. I bet the architect had no idea that people would flock to see his/her aqueduct hundreds of years later. Nice combination of form and function.

Mid-air plumbing. Why not?

I became intrigued with foreign manhole covers.

Just a typical Segovian street with an atypically attractive man.

This is probably my favorite picture of Kent in existence. How can you not love that guy?

It rained for most of our time in Segovia, but it cleared up every now and then to display scenes like this...

and this. All cities should have roman aqueducts.

Next stop was the Cathedral of Segovia. We basically went in because of the rain, but it was worth the 10 euros.



It doesn't get much better than a thunder storm in an old church in Spain.

We couldn't wait out the storm anymore, so we took our drenched selves to the Alcazar of Segovia (aka Segovia Castle). Kent made a new friend there.

I was thinking this could be Christmas card worthy, but the rain gave me some big hair. We'll see.

Here are the sites from down below. Segovia was one of my favorite stops on the trip.

Churros y chocolate. We bought this from a vendor on the street and mmm....

The chocolate was delicious! It was like warm, sweet-but-not-too-sweet chocolate pudding sliding down my throat. Just look at that jug full!

A ruin we found along the way. I made Kent take a dirt road to get there.

This picture was Kent's idea and I love it. It was across from the gas station where we filled up to make it to our next destination: Burgos.

espana

Home to bull fights, Don Quixote, flamenco dancers, tapas and last but never least, Real Madrid. We came and went in four short days, but what a fantastic stay we had. Let me begin in Madrid, the capital of Spain and the place where Kent spent two fun-filled years of his life.

Kent took the metro or walked as a young elder, so we drove around like this for awhile before we found the temple. At least we got to see some real life Madrid neighborhoods and not just tourist areas. Lots of bread shops and joggers. Yes, joggers.

We finally made it to the the Madrid Temple.

Like all temples, it was lovely. I like the straight, simple lines.

I'm not sure when we pulled this out, but it really helped. There was a map of the entire northern region of Spain in the back of the rental car, but we didn't find it until we were about to go to France. Oops.

Disneyland? Not quite.

It's the Plaza Mayor, the center city plaza in Madrid. Apparently, every town has one in Spain.

And like most plazas, there was a statue as well.

I can't remember who that is on the horse. Someone related to Queen Isabella I think.

Oh, and of course there were weird street entertainers, including these random heads.

The streets of Madrid.

This is where all roads in Spain begin. That's what Kent tells me anyway.

We visited "El Prado" where we got in for free by chance and saw some works by Murillo, Velazquez and Goya. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch was on exhibit there and it was interesting to see in person. It is one of the few paintings I remember studying in Humanities (probably because it's so bizarre).

We also stopped outside the Museo del Jamon. That was pretty amazing as well. Nothing like hundreds of pig legs hanging from the ceiling.

That night we made it to a Real Madrid game. Kent's dream come true.

We were two rows from the field. Kent went big on those seats.

And HE made sure we stayed in our seats and didn't make it onto the field.

Our treats during the game....

Their treats during the game. Everyone pulled out a jamon y queso sandwich during halftime. Much better for you than our potato chips and gummy candies.

So glad we were able to watch Real Madrid. I've decided soccer is much more fun to watch in person, but I don't know how often we'll be able to make it to Bernabeu Stadium.

One day in Madrid wasn't long enough, but it I guess it gives us an excuse to go back.