Spain Part 5

Row, row, row your boat! James really wanted to take me to Parque del Retiro for a romantical boat ride on the lake there. He thought it would be so nice to row me around the lake. It really was a lovely day to stroll through the park and enjoy time on the water. We saw big fish and little fish and ducks.One of the many statues of men on their horses around Madrid. This one was on the edge of the lake.
Isn't he romantic?
The pretty monument on the lake.
Parque del Retiro

Spain Part 4

Delilah's Bar - it's one of Madrid's bars where famous people hang out. If we saw any famous people, we didn't know it. A lovely bar though.
James in Plaza Santa Ana - a square full of cafes and bars and their outdoor seating. It was very lively!
Maceira's, probably our favorite restaurant in Madrid. They serve seafood in the Gallaecian style...from the northwest part of Spain. The area is similar to Ireland in climate. Clams, mussels, and octopus were our favorite!
The Plaza Mayor at night. So lovely.
Inside Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas Restaurante - where we had another anniversary dinner. The restaurant is built into the ground like a cave and is the place Luis Candelas, a famous bandit, would go after his thefts. We ate so much meat here! We had serious meat comas that evening AND while we slept. Oh man, it's still hard to look at the pictures of the food we ate from there...which is why I didn't post any of the food. :)

First Sonogram

Aaahhhhh, little Kochuwa. :) Tera's girl, Ayuu, named the baby Kochuwa...some random name that popped in her little 2-year old head.

Weekend in Granada Part 2

We visited the Alhambra, a Muslim palace. It was amazing! Here are pictures from our tour.James relaxing at a typical outdoor cafe. This was after our tour of the Alhambra. Sorry for the out of order pictures!
James and the Sierra Nevada behind him. Hard to see with so much sunshine! There was snow on the mountains and it was 90 degrees in Granada.
One of the many ponds on the grounds. We were amazed at the structures for water running throughout the palace. Fountains, streams, ponds. Very nice to hear running water throughout the hot morning.
Lots of detail on a ceiling inside the palace. It was all carved! Amazing details.
There was a part with a circular courtyard. We climbed the stairs to be on the second floor of it. Here's the ceiling.
While we were there, a group of tourists stood in the center of the courtyard and sang a hymn. Made me cry! It sounded amazing with the acoustics of the courtyard. A hawk even flew above us while they were singing.
Me and Granada in the background.

Weekend in Granada Part 1

We celebrated our anniversary in Granada, Spain. A city in the south of Spain and home to one of my co-workers. He told us where to stay and where to eat our anniversary dinner. The hotel and restaurant were definitely two of our most favorite things we experienced in Spain! I highly recommend El Ladron De Agua Hotel and Las Tomasas Restaurante.View from our hotel room. The hotel was on a tiny street and next to a small stream. There were dozens of stray cats under a bridge on the stream that were exciting for tourists, including us.
Just down the street from our hotel there was a beautiful church.
James in the plaza by the church.
One of the main streets in Granada.
Catedral de Granada. Our camera battery died here and I left the charger in Madrid! So we bought throw-away cameras the next day.

Spain Part 3

Typical street signs in Madrid. All the street signs are on the corners of buildings! The first few days I could never find where the street signs were! The sign on the left is for Calle Mayor. The street (calle) where the Plaza Mayor is.
Beautiful buildings on Calle Mayor.
A little street off of Calle Mayor called San Gines (hee-nays). The famous Chocolateria San Gines is at the bottom.
I sat outside Chocolateria San Gines and this was my view. Pretty doors.
Mmmm, chocolate to drink, some fried goodness, and the typical small beer.
Chocolateria San Gines
Calle del Arenal. The shade was lovely! Follow this street to get to Palacio Real.
Plaza de la Puerta del Sol (Plaza of the door to the sun, right?). The Tio Pepe sign was a good landmark for us.

Spain Part 2

Choosing photos to post is really hard. I have a lot of close-ups of these buildings that even I couldn't mess up for a nice photo. I give you the zoomed out photos of the important things I saw.Palacio Real
Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena
Walking up to Plaza Mayor from the south.
Plaza Mayor