Spain!!

'Twas the week before Christmas

We just couldn't take the cold anymore!

So we packed our bags and headed for Spain,

The sun, the sea and the shore!

Our trip to Malaga, Spain was wonderful.  We left on Saturday, December 17th.  We really enjoyed seeing new things, being together as a family and loved every ray of sunshine!  We haven't seen the sun here in Germany for a while so it was fabulous to head down to Spain and get a little vitamin D before the long German winter:)

The SUNrise on our first morning in Spain, so beautiful

The resort we stayed in had a mini golf course right outside our hotel room.  Every day the boys went out and played all 9 holes!  They loved it!

We also enjoyed the hot tub and swimming pool.

And of course, we spent lots of time at the beach:)

On Monday, December 19, we made a short overnight trip to see some sights.  This is Townsend showing off his kung fu moves on a statue during our visit to the "Balcony of Europe" in Nerja.

We drove over to Granada to visit the Alhambra palace.  This was the final stronghold of the Moors during the Spanish reconquest of Spain.  The palace was beautiful.  The walls and ceilings were covered with calligraphy and there were colored tiles on floors and walls.

The boys in one of the many decorated doorways.

The boys loved running around the ruins of the old palace.

After our visit to the Alhmabra we drove up to Cordoba and stayed for the night.  The next morning we went and looked around the Mezquita Mosque/Cathedral.  In the 600's there was a Christian church on this site.  In 784, after the Islamic conquest, the church was destroyed and this Mosque was built in it's place.  After the Spanish once again controlled Spain they were going to tear down this Mosque and build a Cathedral but the King did not want to destroy such a work of art so there is a Catholic Cathedral built in the center of this Mosque.  It's hard to explain but AMAZING to see...

This is the mihrab.  The holy wall in which the Muslims would have faced to pray 5 times a day.  The ceiling was gorgeous, I'm so glad the Christians didn't tear this place down!

And here is the Catholic Cathedral, plopped into the middle of all the pillars inside the Mosque!

Each year Cordoba holds a contest for the best patio.  The patios are traditionally inside the house in a courtyard.  We were lucky enough to find a few open doors so we could sneak a peek at a few of the beautiful patios.

After we left Cordoba we stopped in Ronda, one of the many hillside towns in Andalusia that we drove through.  This is a picture of the New Bridge which spans the gorge that separates Ronda.  It's called "New Bridge" but was built in 1751:)  Looking over the bridge you can see straight down, 360 feet!

This is a photo of the boys in front of the first bullfighting ring in Spain.  Ronda was the birthplace of modern bullfighting.  We were very unlucky and the museum was closed for the day...I guess we'll just have to go back and visit another time:)

Our final stop for the day was the hill town of Zahara.  We got there just as the sun was beginning to go down.  We tried three different trails to make our way to the top of the castle on the hill before the sun went  down, unfortunately it was dark by the time we found our way to the hill top.  It was still a fun stop and a great hike.

Julian and I, hiking up to the castle.  I couldn't believe Julian hiked the whole way up the hill.  There were too many stairs for the stroller and I was worried I would have to carry him the whole way, what a trooper!

The boys peeking around the gate that led into the castle.  There were no lights in the castle and there was little sun left once we got there.  We had to carefully make our way up winding stairs to the top, but the view from up there was worth it!

After our two day excursion to the hills we were ready for some more time at the beach!

The boys working hard in the sand...

...Man, their sand sculpture skills are sure improving!

By Thursday, December 22, we were ready for another adventure.  We drove over to Gibralter to ride the cable car up to the top of the rock.  This is a shot of Julian and I in the cable car.

The view from the top.  You could see the coast of Spain as well as Morocco, a bit cloudy, on the other side of the Mediterranean.  We were super lucky to have a clear, sunny day.

Family photo op.  Yes, that is a sheer cliff just behind us, and yes, the boys were climbing all over the walls, and yes, I did nearly have a heart attack!

We did see the famous Gibralter apes.  They were everywhere, it was hard NOT to see them.  The boys were mostly interested and excited about their up close and personal interaction with the apes...until the thieving little beasts stole all our sandwiches!

Our last full day in Spain was Friday, December 23.  We had a relaxing day at the resort.  Some mini golf, some pool time, some playground time.  We decided to go and visit the aquarium in town.  This was my favorite exhibit, a Christmas tree, decorated with a starfish at the top, inside the shark tank.

A little more beach time before the sun went down on our last day in Spain.  This is Townsend with his sand drawing of a fox, I thought it looked pretty cool.

It was so hard to say goodbye to the sun.  We left Spain so early on Saturday morning that we didn't get to see the sun come up for one last, parting glance.  We really enjoyed our trip to Costa Del Sol, hopefully we'll see it again someday.

We flew home on Saturday, December 24, just in time to get ready for a Christmas Eve party we were hosting...but we'll save that for another post.