Sevilla

After days and days of sightseeing like crazy people, Sevilla could not have been a more perfect place to end our trip in Spain with.  There are several sites, fewer than the other cities, but the best part of the city is the fact that it is just an alive place with so much charm.  We could have spent hours just sitting in the little cafes and watching the city go by.  This was our favorite city; we loved it and so did the girls!

 The amazing bell tower

 The first night while dealing with a good hassle with parking the car (again, streets too small to park a 9 passenger van), Mike had seen some of the nightlife getting started and really wanted to get out in it.  That night we went out in shifts, Nonna and Papa went first while we put the girls to bed and then we went out after they got back.  We just walked around until we came to this little tapas bar.  We loved all the date nights we got, so much fun!

 The next day we found our favorite little breakfast place that we went to at least 2 mornings (by this time in the trip, we were all a little tired of cereal at the apartments).

 Total stinker with pictures!

 Beautiful bell tower

 Getting ready to see the sights!

 Love her

 Trying to not give me a good picture...

Caught ya!

 Playing with Nonna

 We went on a fun carriage ride

We went to this little square twice it was so neat

 Eliza wasn't feeling well, so I stayed back with her while the rest took Olivia to her first Flamenco show.  They first went out to eat before the show.

To say she loved it would be an understatement!  She told me all about it the next day over and over again :)

 Christopher Columbus's elevated tomb inside the cathedral

 The absolute highlight of the entire trip for Olivia.  She climbed to the top of the amazing bell tower (which actually was the minaret when it was a mosque).  As soon as we reached the top, the bells rang and Olivia just couldn't believe her luck that it happened right when we got up there. 

 Eliza actually had a little fever, but with the help of some Advil, just powered through it all.  Total vacation rock-stars.

 Olivia wanted to start taking pictures

 Totally done!

 The courtyard of our incredible little apartment.  We saved the best for last.  It was perfect!

 Back at our favorite breakfast place, saying goodbye to Nonna and Papa.  They left a day early to take the train back to Madrid to catch their early morning flight the next day.

 Yes, I was pushing an empty stroller!

 We went to the bull fighting museum.  Sevilla is one of the most famous cities for bullfighting.

 It was really really  interesting. 

 Ice cream and pizza break for the girls

 I had to take a picture of this to commemorate ALL of the laundry I did in Spain.  The four of us packed in ONE, albeit very large, suitcase for the entire 13 day trip.  This was only possible by staying in apartments that with a washer (no dryer!).  I was the laundry queen.  I have never been more excited to get home to a real washer AND dryer.

 The Alcazar in Sevilla, another example of stunning Moorish architecture.

 By this time, the girls we tired of looking at the sights and just got silly everywhere

 Now Eliza was trying her hand at photography.  She made us stand there for a good 10 minutes while she took our picture over and over and over again :)

Beautiful!

 We had been to this restaurant the night before with Nonna and Papa.  It was the best food we had in Spain and we couldn't help ourselves and went back for our last meal in Spain.  Best food ever! We thought Olivia was just tired, but when we got home, we found out that she too got struck by fever.  We knew it was just a one day thing, nothing Advil couldn't fix.

 Total sweetness

 Finally, a good picture!

 You can't really see this picture well, but I had to include it.  Like I said, the streets were too small for our giant van, so we had to park it in a garage a few miles away from where we were staying.  Our last morning in Spain, we had to get up at 5AM in order to get on the road to Madrid (5 hours away) to catch our afternoon flight.  We went to bed the night before not exactly sure how logistically we were going to get two sleeping girls, two strollers, and our bags to the car.  Mike went out at about 5:30 to see if there was a place to park the van somewhat near.  About 15 minutes later, he busts in and says there is a taxi outside waiting for us.  We run upstairs, get the girls up and dressed and start hauling it all to the taxi.  We shove our stuff and ourselves into this tiny taxi, all four of us in the back (no carseats!!) with some man in his pajamas yelling at the taxi for being loud, to go find our van.  It is dark and we are vulnerable (we had already had Mike's backpack stolen and 2 attempted pick pockets).  It was a heart pounding 30 minutes!  But, we made it and we were off to Madrid, so sad to be leaving.

Tired superstar travelers on the way to Madrid...so long Spain.  Thanks for trip of a lifetime.  We hope to return very soon!

It took us almost 24 straight hours of travel to get back to Abu Dhabi.  Our sweet housekeeper, Gina, took care of Maya while were gone.  After being gone for 13 days and 24 hours straight of traveling home, walking into a SPOTLESS house and fresh and ironed sheets were amazing!