Portugal: part 1

Hello friends! So, I think I'm doing pretty good updating the blog :) for once! I am so excited to share the pictures from our 4 day trip to Portugal. On this trip it was just Fede and me (his terrific parents did us the favor of staying with the munchkins in Madrid) and on the morning of August 31st we took a 7:00 am flight to Lisbon. Even though it's just next door to Spain, we actually changed time zones and gained an hour. So, the picture above is us at 9 am, after having dropped our suitcase at the hotel (right in the center of the city). We headed straight for the coast which is where this plaza is located. From Fede's perspective, all you see is open sea! very cool.

 
I remember my mother-in-law, Carmen Elisa, telling me that Libson is like an old-world San Francisco and in many ways I think she is right. It's very hilly, it has a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge (it's red, made by the same architect and everything) and the city is just amazing. Colorful, old, tangled streets with trolleys and an air of tranquility. The pace here certainly seems slower. Fede and I both agreed that it would be amazing to have a summer home here!  As you can see, on one of the days we rented one of those tiny tourist cars with a GPS that guides you through the city. We plodded along little cobblestone streets, winding in and out of Lisbon and it was a blast.

On the very day of our arrival to Lisbon, we took a 30 minute train to Sintra, which is to the north. It is a magical fairyland type place. Sintra is nestled in the wooded hills and is small, artsy and picturesque. At the top of one of the hills sits an ancient Moorish Castle; neighboring hills boast colorful palaces too. In the picture below, we took a picture of the Moorish Castle from where we stood in Sintra. Then, it was time to actually make the climb!

Halfway up the hill to the castle, we realized that we had come ill-prepared for what is a formidable hike! (Martha in sandals and a dress!) But we kept trekking along through forest and massive boulders. 

It was glorious to be amongst the trees and to almost feel lost in the middle of nowhere. 

Above we caught a glimpse of just how high we had hiked and we were impressed by the beautiful view, with the Atlantic ocean in the background. This, however, couldn't have prepared us for the spectacular view once we reached the castle.

So here we are --finally at the top, and boy was it worth it. When I finally got to peek over the sides of the Castle, I was blown away (almost literally by the wind) because the panorama from here was perhaps the most beautiful I have seen in all of my life. The sensation was one of wanting to stop time so that we could take it all in and just bask in the beauty all around us: the tones of green, the little palaces and chalets below, the Atlantic coastline which was perfectly visible and dotted with little villages and fields of agriculture....

In the picture above you can see several palaces (privately owned) that add to the magical feeling you get from visiting Sintra.

Here you can appreciate in a small way the view we had of the countryside (and also the enormous rocks that serve as the foundation for the castle). From the castle, you could see the nearby Palace below.

The "Castle of the Moors" as it is called was built in the 8th-9th centuries and has since then been reconstructed a bit. Still, it preserves all of the charm that you would expect from such an ancient structure.

Ok, I'm going to wrap up Part 1 of the trip, but soon I'll post the rest of the pictures. Cheers!

Cadiz & Sanlucar de Barrameda

While we were in Chipiona, we decided to take a day trip to Cadiz. Part of the fun was just getting there. We took a 15 minute bus to a nearby port and then hopped on a catamaran to Cadiz (45 minutes). The kids loved being on the second floor and sticking their faces in the ocean breeze, but it quickly it got really foggy and cold so we went down to the first level, which was indoors. To my surprise, I learned that Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in Europe and was an important port for the Roman Empire. As such, it contains an impressive collection of Roman archaeology and we considered it one of the loveliest cities of southern Spain.

This is the Cathedral of Cadiz, which is style differs greatly from the typical Gothic cathedrals of Spain. Cadiz is pretty touristy, laid back and very sunny. As we walked around the center of Cadiz, we noticed that painted along the street in every direction were different colored lines. These turned out to be walking guides around the city -super useful. All we had to do was stick to the colored line and we would come upon the monuments we wanted to see.

We were really impressed by these incredible monster-like trees!! They are amazing and a real treasure for the city.

It was a real treat to have visited Cadiz, a place where we would definitely go back if given the chance!

So pictures that follow are of us just hanging out in Chipiona. As you can see, the kids were absolutely enthralled by something on the other side of this window...that something was Abuelo Santiago making very funny faces!!

One day we took the tourist train around Chipiona, where we sang "Como me pica la nariz" and all the kids joyfully sang along. Another day we took them to the carousel and then for an evening carriage ride for little people (mini-horse, mini-carriage!) -which they loved!

On one of the last days, we got our act together and took a family picture after Mass.

On the final day with Valen and Miguel we went to Sanlucar de Barrameda, which is another little town on the banks of the Guadalquivir River (one of Spain's longest rivers).

Here we had stopped to have some ice cream and we snapped a few final shots of the kids together.

As a nice coincidence, it turns out that Sanlucar is famous for these horse races that take place once a year along the riverbanks and it just so happened that we were there one of those days. Apparently, these races have some high stakes involved and horses come from all over the world. The cutest part is that all of the local kids set up cardboard betting booths where other kids can bet on the winning horse (triple your money if you win!) and it was thrilling to watch the horses race.

Chipiona

While we were in Pamplona for the week, Fede's parents went to London to visit his sister, Valentina and her family. Upon our return to Madrid, we were delighted to welcome back the grandparents, as well as the kids' cousins, Tomas and Eva. We spent 10 days frolicking about Madrid with 5 kids (you should have seen the looks we got!!) and it served as a wonderful time for the kids to bond and play.

The Lighthouse of Chipiona. Tita and Fran enjoying the sunset. Some father and son bonding.

On August 18th we hopped on a train -2 grandparents, 2 adults, 5 kids, 4 suitcases and one stroller :) and three hours later we arrived in Jerez de la Frontera (the birthplace of "Sherry" wine). From there we took a local bus to Chipiona (in the Province of Cadiz), which is a lovely beach town, where we planned to spend 10 days. Valentina and Miguel flew in from London on the 20th and it was a wonderful reunion with everyone.

Chipiona is a small town and not super-touristy, which was a welcome surprise. The soft, sandy beaches were vast and the Atlantic waters somewhat chilly! The kids loved splashing around with Tio Miguel in the waves while they chanted made-up songs about not freezing. 

Our Funny Frankie

While we were in Chipiona, Eva turned 3 and so we had a terrific birthday celebration with all of the bells and whistles (complete with Abuelo doubling as the live-donkey to play "Pin the tail"!).

Tio Fede was always joking around with the kids, like in the scene above where he "accidentally" pinned the nose on Tomas instead of Kitty.

A party isn't complete with out the traditional games, like wheelbarrow racing (Frankie, in the background seemed to prefer the strategy of "slithering to the finish")

Take note of the middle-right picture: Eva glaring at her cake!!! too bad it's out of focus, because it is by far the most amusing picture of the trip! She is hilarious.

That's it for now. In the next post I will tell you about the side-trip to Cadiz and wrap up the trip to Chipiona.

Love to all,

-The Martinez Family

Artajona y Olite

Hello Everyone! It is clear that timely posts are not my forte....but, I will persevere in updating the blog slowly but surely. My goal is to get up to speed in the next two weeks, so we'll see how I do! Pictured here are Fede and the kids at the top of a small town called Artajona, in the Navarre region (about 20 minutes from Pamplona). We loved the beautiful view of farmlands, the patchwork colored hills of Navarra.

Like many small towns in the area, Artajona was a fortified castle-like complex centuries ago. When we visited it had a very rural, almost abandoned feel to it (in reality only a handful of people live within the castle walls) and the monochromatic sand-brown buildings only helped to add to this sensation.

Fede and kids standing at the entrance of Olite's walls

From Artajona, we jumped back in the car and drove another half an hour to a splendid little village called Olite. We were in for a pleasant surprise as this cute little town has a rich heritage and a beautifully preserved castle. Within the town walls, we found a colorful ambiance among the residents with many terraces, taverns and people walking the cobblestone streets.

Antonio took this picture of us in front of Olite's main church

Olite was very manageable to walk, which was great with the kids. This church is almost adjacent to the castle below. This castle, of all that we have seen this was the most fairy-like. It has several tall turrets and was simply beautiful to behold.

Tita and Fran can be seen from the balcony, and if you look closely Ale and Antonio are peeking out through the flower-like windows below!

Different views of Olite's Castle.

We called this turret Rapunzel's tower, because it was pretty much exactly as we pictured her home :) -needless to say, the kids were thrilled going up and down the towers and exploring all of the little hallways and rooms. Visiting Olite, during our stay in Pamplona, was definitely worthwhile.

Here we are at the top of our of the towers, which gave us a spectacular view of the Navarre landscape.

A final view of the Olite Castle...cheers everyone!