la cesta = basket

Time with my parents in Sevilla, Italy, and Madrid…
Friday afternoon, Cole came with me to get the bus schedule for Italica, and then we went to try and check into the hotel, but they wouldn’t let me. Cole went home for dinner and I went to meet my parents at the train station.

I was really excited to see them and they were excited too! Both of them had tears in their eyes when we hugged. They were pretty wiped from the extensive traveling. We walked to our hotel and checked in. They didn’t have much time to gather themselves as it was so late and Concha was leaving for a day and Nacho was leaving the next day until Tuesday, so we went to my house right away to meet them.

Nacho went out for the night by the time we got there so they didn’t get to meet him. He left a hand-written note in English for us though! We sat in the living room and talked with Concha. Kristen came out of her room too and sat with us for awhile. It was fun having my two worlds combine for a bit. We took the metro back to the hotel and crashed.

On Saturday, we went to a café to get breakfast. I told my parents before we went out that they should drop any expectations they have of what Spain should be like. We had a few things go wrong in the morning and things yesterday didn’t go well for them. I told them that was one of the biggest things I learned is to not have expectations. You just have to go with the flow. Some things don’t work out or aren’t what you think they’ll be like, and you just have to roll with it and not let it affect you. At breakfast, my dad looked at the menu and said, I can’t read this, where are the eggs? I just laughed and said you have to drop your expectations..haha. They don’t serve eggs for breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to Carmen’s house to meet her and the family. We sat in their living room with Carmen and her husband, Fernando, Manuel, Lucia, Carmencita, and Lucia,their cousin. The maid/nanny rolled in some appetizers and drinks. It was fun talking with them. Lucia, the cousin, knows English pretty well and helped translate as there were often more than one conversation going on. Carmen got me a lot of tourist information about Sevilla and Semana Santa that was really helpful. They were really kind and invited us to Ecija, the city they have another house in and where I’ll be for the summer. We had to agree to go on Sunday because Monday wouldn’t be enough time.

We met up with Cole and decided to cancel the trip to Italica so we could go to Ecija with them. We spent the afternoon touring Sevilla and bought our bus tickets for Ecija. Carmen called and said that Carmencita was sick so they wouldn’t be able to meet us. She said she would call if Monday worked. I was pretty bummed because my parents and Cole were going to be able to see where I’d be living this summer and get to know the family a bit better too, but we were able to go to church then so that was great. We bought cereal for our next two breakfasts, and Cole went home. We went back to the bus station and returned our tickets. Then my parents and I got dinner and went back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we met Cole and went to church. My parents of course didn’t understand anything, but they got to experience it, which I was really grateful for. They recognized some American worship songs in Spanish and just sang the English..haha. Cole went home for lunch, and my parents and I got paella at a restaurant near the river. It was beautiful outside again and so nice to sit in the sun. It was fun realizing what a blessing it was to be doing what we were doing. I am still so blown away by God’s blessings in my life! Cole met up with us and we went to see a procession for Semana Santa. We didn’t really understand the routes but saw the people lining up for it. The city was packed with people like I’ve never seen it before. The metro was so busy too. It was nuts! Everyone was dressed up really nice too in their suits and dresses. I loved that part. I took a little nap in the room and then we went back out. We had to walk back to the center of the city because the metro was too full. Mom and Cole got Starbucks and we waited for a procession. I can’t believe how much goes into that. It is quite the site to see. It makes me sad that so much of it has become tradition and culture and not for Jesus.

After we saw enough of the procession, we went to get dinner. We played cards together in the hotel room. It was fun and relaxing. After carsd, I said goodbye to Cole for the week, and we went to bed.

Monday, we got up a little later and checked out of the hotel. We brought our bags to my house and then went to buy my bus ticket back from Madrid. I showed my parents this market on our walk back, and they seemed to like that. I brought them to this place that has good churros, but it was closed. I felt bad that we walked all the way there because my dad’s feet were hurting from all the walking and his blisters and then they wouldn’t be able to try churros : ( We got lunch and then headed to the airport. It started to rain and my dad was worried we wouldn’t make it on time so that was kind of a damper. We ended up being way early for our flight, like I said we would be :), but at least we didn’t miss it.

We flew to Madrid and then to Venice. We checked into the hotel and watched a little of the news. I ate the rest of the cookie dough that my parents had brought me because we didn’t have a fridge, and of course because it was delicious : ) I was shocked that they brought it for me but so happy! I love cookie dough : )

Tuesday morning we had breakfast in the hotel consisting of little pastries and croissants, typical European breakfast. We took the bus into the city of Venice, and we stopped at the tourist information center. I recommended we do this as it was really helpful in Paris, and she gave us good information. We took the boat to San Marco Plaza to begin our adventure. I loved seeing all the boats, different canals, gondolas, little streets, cute shops and buildings, and being surrounded by water. We walked around the city, trying to see some not so touristy parts and stopped at some bigger sites too. We had lunch at a little bar they refer to as a bacaro, which is said to be a great Venetian tradition that for centuries locals have gathered there to chat and have a glass of wine with cicchetti, savory snacks kind of like tapas. It was fun and a really quaint place that felt very traditional. I tried canolis and had my share of gelato too, as I found it’s cheaper there! After dinner, we took the boat back to the bus station and battled the rain getting back to our hotel.

We had breakfast at the hotel again and packed up to leave Wednesday morning. My dad rented a car that we took to our hotel in the countryside outside of Florence. The drive to Florence was pretty cool with the mountains in the background going through tunnels and over bridges. When we got into Florence, it was time for lunch. Then we did our site-seeing until dinner. Florence was much less touristy than Venice and quite peaceful looking over the city from the gardens. After dinner, we drove out to our countryside hotel, about an hour outside the city, which was a charming little room with wood-beamed ceilings, brick overhangs, and wood shutters over the windows, very cute.

Thursday we got up and had breakfast at the hotel, which was the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time. Then we drove to Siena, stopping along the way to take pictures of the incredible rolling hills of Tuscany and in two little towns. They were so cute and I think I’m in love : ) I really really like Italy. We drove back from Siena a new way, but I didn’t stay awake. I had to take Dramamine to knock the motion sickness and it put me right to sleep. We had dinner at our hotel and enjoyed more time in the room.

Friday morning we got up and had breakfast in the hotel again. Then we drove to Milan. I slept almost the whole way there. I don’t know why I was so tired, but at least I didn’t get sick. We flew out of Milan and arrived in Madrid around 5:45. We took the metro to our hotel and dropped our bags off before heading to the center of the city. We bought grapes on the way there! I didn’t have grapes since the U.S; it was a treat! I showed my parents the area that Carmen showed me the first day I visited her. We had a delicious dinner downtown and then continued to walk for a bit. We got churros! I wanted my parents to try them in Sevilla and am glad they got to before they left. Then we took the metro back to the hotel.

Saturday morning, we got up and had Starbucks breakfast : ) Then it was time to say goodbye to my parents. I was comparing how long it had been since I’d seen them with my previous semester at La Crosse when I didn’t go home until the weekend before Thanksgiving break. I think this was sooner than that time, and so I thought well I did it last semester, I can do it again since they’ll be back in June. It wasn’t too hard saying goodbye initially, but when they were gone and I couldn’t see them walking down the street anymore, it hit me. However, it was such a blessing to have them come and visit and be able to spend a week with them. Praise God for time with family and the blessing of a loving family. I am so thankful that they came.

I met Carmen at the futbol stadium and we went to her house. We hung out and then had lunch with her family. After lunch, I took a little nap and Carmen did stuff on the computer. Then we met her friends and rented a movie and bought groceries to make a pastry. We went to Pedro’s house and made the same pastry that Carmen and I made last time. It was fun to bake again! We looked at Carmen and Pedro’s pictures from their week in Italy while it baked. Irene forgot the egg so it took a little longer to bake..haha. It was still very good though. We watched La guerra de novias (Bride Wars), got dinner, and hung out at Pedro’s house. I had a lot of fun, and it reminded me of being back home with friends. I got pretty tired later in the night, but it was a really good night.

We slept in on Sunday morning and then looked at pictures of Carmen and her family from when Carmen was younger. It was fun to see them and learn more about her family. I showed her pictures from my week with my parents, and then we went for a walk. We had lunch with the whole family again. Carmen’s mom is a great cook; it was delicious again! After lunch, Carmen and I watched an episode from a TV series that she watches before I had to go to the bus station. Carmen’s dad was really nice and drove us there. Carmen showed me where to be and then left. Praise God for the friendship I have with Carmen! I am so blessed to be able to spend time with her and her family and friends.

I took the 6 hour bus back to Sevilla, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

LAGOS!
Portugal was great. We took the bus Friday and saw the "End of the World" or what people used to think was the end of the world, which was really pretty. Then we went to the hotel and got changed for the beach. We took the bus to the beach and a group of us walked down a ways and laid down. It was so incredible to finally be on a beach again and just lay in silence and soak up the sun. I just wanted to praise God the entire time! Seriously, I felt so blessed. Kate and I went body surfing in the ocean which was a lot of fun. The waves were so powerful. We got tossed around and honestly, in a foot of water, couldn't stop. I got some scratches on my back from it. Then we sat in the edge of the water and let the waves come in and just talked. We marvelled at how God has blessed us and how far we've come since last semester. We had to go back to the hotel around 6:30, which is early here.

We got ready and went to dinner. I had asked the front desk for a recommendation for fish earlier in the day and we headed there. It looked kind of iffy but we trusted their recommendation, and I'm so glad we did! It was so good! The cook came out and showed us the fresh fish that he recommended for us and then grilled it. We got bread and sardines for appetizers too. We got veggies with the fish too. That fish was the best I've had. I was soo happy we got it! It was perfect. It was a very non-touristy place and excellent, fresh fish. I'm going to miss that for sure being back home. After dinner, we tried to get into a supermarket for dessert but they were all closed. We got a little ice cream from some little shop instead, which was a perfect way to top off an incredible meal. Then we all sat out by the pool and talked before going to bed.

Saturday, we got up and had a great breakfast at the hotel. Portugal is an hour behind us and I ended up getting up early, but it was great because then I had a quiet time. I read Psalm 23 in my SV bible that Jackie gave me and it's in the NLT translation. I loved the end! "...My cup of blessing overflows. Surely, your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life. And I will live in the house of the Lord forever." How great is that?! I was just thinking the day before about how much God has blessed me and that maybe He's preparing me for tough times and the blessings will end. What lies from Satan. I love how God showed me truth so immediately! I memorized it and kept running it through my head all day. Seriously though, how cool? goodness, unfailing love, PURSUE, ALL the days of my life. wow! We serve an incredible God!

After checking out of the hotel, we went to some point and saw incredible views of the cliffs and the water. It was beautiful. I was once again blown away by God. Then we headed back to the beach. It was windy and the sand was pelting us on the soft sand so we moved to the harder sand and enjoyed that better.. We left around 5 and got back into Sevilla around 9:45. I felt like I was hardly there because we spent so much time on the bus, but it was really beautiful on the coast.