Churros con chocolate

Churros are yummy in your tummy. We've had them in Mexico, but they are more delicate in Spain. They can be served with chocolate, which is more commonly done in the winter. The chocolate is melted and then placed in a coffee cup. You dip the churro in the chocolate to enjoy. Spaniards like to sip the chocolate nice and hot. It is a very strong and pure dark chocolate. Little by little seems to be the best way to go.
The video here shows us having churros con chocolate in Murcia with Sayda, Pedro, Cecelia and Sergio-our wonderful Murcian family.

Murcia

We have family in Murcia who we visited-Sayda, Pedro, Cecelia and Sergio. They are the consummate hosts, taking us through the city and into the mountains for a good look at the Murcia life. We love Murcia-it is a sophisticated, thriving city with efficient public transportation, beautiful architecture, soothing weather, pleasant people, amazing food, and incredibly loving family (Sayda taught us to make paella). This has been our sanctuary where we decompress and laugh like crazy. The girls got their ears pierced, which caused squeals of delight.
We went to a fair, where we took daring rides.
We saw a parade with elephants, camels, Andalucian horses, soldiers from Christian and Moorish times, and a fire-eating man. We saw a beach the length of Manhattan with blue-blue water and soft white sand. We went to Carthage, where Hannibal landed on his way to Rome, where we saw a Roman amphitheater and a church from the first century. Murcia is great!
One of these pictures is of City Hall, with a sign out front saying, "Agua para todos," which means "water for all." Murcia has a shortage of water (even though it is less than one hour from the ocean and is close to mountains), and other cities do not want to share their water with Murcia. The sign is a form of protesting the neighbors' selfishness.
Another one of the pictures is of the girls on the bus, busy with a sticker project. We spend a lot of time on buses and trains, and the girls are good at finding things to do during travel time.

Segovia

We went to Segovia in early September. We took the train, which was a 2 1/2 hour ride, although it was only 52 K. The ride was long, but beautiful-we went through mountains and saw clusters of small towns (each with their own large church and train stop, of course). Segovia has a lot of narrow, winding roads that are paved with cobblestones. When the cars sped by, we squeezed up against the wall of buildings to save ourselves. We ate lunch at a small restaurant frequented by locals. It looked like an old European tavern with old wooden tables and chairs squished together and light coming mostly from rectangular, sunken windows. Their specialty (and that of Segovia) is roasted suckling pig. Went well with the red house wine. Katherine had tortilla (like a thick egg, potato and onion omelet) and Isabelle had a bocadillo (a sandwich with cured ham on a baguette loaf). After eating, we walked the town. The first thing we saw-the aqueduct-was the most impressive. It's huge, as you can see in the pictures. We saw a cathedral, which was adorned inside and out with great art and what Edgard calls the gold from Peru. Alcazar, the palace, looking Disney-ish, has an interesting history, as a palace of the Moore's, where Queen Isabelle was crowned after Christian reconquest, as a prison, and as an artillery range. The girls gave their stamp of approval to Segovia's ice cream.

Madrid

We walked all over the central part of Madrid during our first week. The first trip was with Edgard's students. We voted for the symbol for the next olympics (which will be held on Madrid)-we chose the winning symbol.

Alcala de Henares pictures

Beautiful flowers in Plaza Cervantes


Edgard and the girls in Plaza Cervantes












On the left: Plaza Cervantes with a beautiful moon rise.
On the right: sun from the sunset shining on the clouds.



The girls enjoying granizados at the churro shop. Bitter sweet picture for Isabelle, who later left that hat on the train. We explored a very old cemetary after this.

Isabelle and Don Quijote











The library.


Pretty flower pots on a balcony.