Sunday in Spain

Sunday morning in Granada - absolutely gorgeous!  We got up early because we had to figure out how to find the church in Granada.  We tried to find it on Google maps and on our GPS and realized that we didn't trust either of them, so we took a cab.

 We met up with Pepe and Loli Sanchez, Rafael and Manuel at the ward in Granada.  Pepe was just 14 years old and a newly baptized member when Gary was serving in Granada. He is married now (converted his wife Loli) and has three children who are all doing well and active in the Church.  Rafael is also married and his wife is in the Relief Society Presidency in Granada.  Manuel was the second member of the Church in Granada and is still active.

Church was amazing!  There were three sisters in Relief Society who spoke English so they translated for me and the lesson was great.  It was about being self sufficient, home improvement, food storage etc and it was a VERY lively discussion!  The ladies all just speak out and talk over the top of one another and it is hilarious.  They get very passionate about their ideas and it is a blast to watch them interact with eachother.

After Church we went back to our little hotel, which was located in the streets right beneath the Alhambra Palace.

We walked up the street and found a great little tapas bar for lunch.  The streets were crowded with Sunday crowds so we ate our lunch on the wall by the river.  It was great just to sit and watch the people walk by.

 

The people in Spain, especially the women, are very very stylish!  They get all dressed up whenever they go out, even if it is just to the market to pick up fresh bread and cheese.  The standard uniform of the Spanish woman is a skirt, sweater, scarf and boots with heels.  Or designer jeans, a sweater, scarf and boots with heels!  I think I need to invest in a pair of chic boots with heels!

After lunch we decided to do a little exploring.  The streets around our hotel were full of gorgeous old buildings that had been palacios and estates in the 15th and 16th centuries, but have now been turned into hotels and apartments. Our hotel had a fresco in the entry courtyard which was painted in the 1700's.

There was also the most adorable little church in the plaza just down the street from the hotel.  It is like the perfect little village church!

This is a view from across the street up the little stairway to our hotel

The bridge across from our hotel.  It leads to a little cluster of hotels just below the Alhambra Palace

The hotels below the Alhambra Palace.

We walked down the street from our hotel to the Christopher Columbus Plaza.  Gary used to cash his missionary checks at the bank on the corner!

We were then able to wander through a few streets until we found the street that Gary used to live on, and the apartment he lived in!

 

Next, we wandered into the central part of Granada to the Cathedral.  There were so many buildings that had been built around it that it is almost hidden.  You can see the spires of the cathedral over this palacio.

Here is one of the entrances to the Cathedral.

 

The main entrance to the Cathdral is down a narrow alley that opens into a big plaza.

  

Across from the main entry to the Cathedral is the Convent - gorgeous building!

Here is the dome inside the Cathedral.  It was very ornately painted and absolutely gorgeous!  All in all, our Sunday in Granada was spectactular!!

On our way to Granada!

 We spent the morning of Oct 27th in Seville. We had breakfast at a little street cafe and were sitting there all peaceful and relaxed when suddenly the entire front of the cafe was overtaken by a band of troubadors.

They broke out their guitars, mandolins, etc and sat around singing and talking and laughing.  It was fantastic!

I was amazed at the troubadors - they ranged in age from late 60's to about 16.  They were all dressed in matching velvet and satin costumes with capes and ribbons.  The capes were festooned with ribbons from troubador festivals that they had competed in and patches of cities they had visited.

On our way to the rental car place we passed a cathedral where a wedding was getting ready to take place.  We caught a few of the guests in their Sunday best as they headed into the building.

 

We headed south to visit Rota, where Gary had served part of his mission.  On the way we passed huge olive orchards and this impressive olive farm:

We arrived in Rota, where there is a US Naval Base. Gary served part of his mission in Rota and actually baptized a female naval officer while he was there.  

We found the apartment that Gary lived in while in Rota.

 After Rota we followed the coast road to Granada.  Along the way we passed Gibraltar, which is absolutely HUGE! Gary was in a bit of a hurry so we had to snap a shot at full speed.

 We stopped in Marbella for dinner with one of Gary's business associates from his days at OpenText.  Andres Lazano met us at a Tapas Bar and we had dinner and visited for hours!  Then we had to hurry because we still had to get to Granada and it was getting late.  Which is why the lights of Marbella look like this:

We finally arrived in Granada.  We had a portable GPS in our car and it tried to give us directions to our hotel, but we ended up in a tiny street that slowly narrowed to the width of a bicycle and Gary ended up having the back out of the street.  It took about 15 minutes because there were power poles to dodge, & motorcycles and cars parked along the side. We gave up on the GPS and called the hotel.  They told us there was no parking at the hotel anyway, so to just go dump the rental car in a parking garage in downtown Granada and take a cab to the hotel.  So we did!  The cab took us through the winding streets of Granada and we eventually found our hotel, which was so quaint and fun!

Our room at the hotel is a blast.  We have a tiny loft area with a spiral staircase.  We used the railing to dry our laundry while we were here!

Streets of Sevilla

 Flamenco.  A trip to Spain is a total bust if  you don't take in at least one Flamenco performance.  We went to the Museo del Baile Flamenco, which is a flamenco museum, studion and performing arts center.  We were treated to an amazing demonstration by two very gifted flamenco dancers.

The female dancer was so fast my camera couldn't keep up with her!

The music was live - there was a guitarist who played Spanish guitar and a flamenco singer and percussionist.  If you are not familiar with Spanish Flamenco dancing, the musicians use various types of clapping with their hands and stamping with their feet to add percussion and rhythm to the Spanish guitar music.  It is definitely a talent to perform the music and the dance. Flamenco makes Riverdance look like a one-legged butt kicking contest.

  Just outside our the flamenco museum was the most adorable little courtyard with a teeny tiny church.  Gorgeous!

 The streets of Sevilla are all lit up at night and so welcoming and warm.

 We headed over the the Sevilla Cathedral next to get some night shots. 

Here's a great shot of the Giralda Tower, which was originally built my the moors as a minaret to call the people to prayer.  When the Catholics took over the country they turned it into a bell tower for the Cathedral at Sevilla

 

Right next to the Sevilla Cathedral is the Alcazar, or royal palace. It was originally a Moorish fort, built in 913 a.d.and is currently the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe. The palace was the birthplace of Marie Antoinette.

 Alas, the gates to the Alcazar were closed, so we were not imbited to the hunket...

 So we headed around the corner to a lovely little plaza and street cafe!

Sevilla Spain!

I know, I know, you are all shocked and stunned that I am actually writing a blog update.  I seem to only get around to it once a year, so actually, I am ahead of schedule!

Gary and I are in SPAIN!!  Yes, after trying for the last 34 years to get back to Spain Gary was finally able to do it.  He served his mission in Southern Spain from 1976-1978 and we have wanted to visit Spain for years, but everyday life kind of took over...

We started out in Seville.  Gorgeous, spectacular Seville!  We stayed in a renovated 16th century hotel, and it was fun.  It was located right in the middle of Seville, near all of the major sights that we wanted to see so we were able to just walk everywhere.

  

We started  out by walking through the streets of Sevilla in search of Gary's first apartment building. as a missionary in the area.  Now, bear in mind that Sevilla is a city of around 800,000 and very similar to San Francisco in design - lots of hills and crazy streets shooting off in different directions, and Google maps wasn't a lot of help, so we headed in the general direction of where we though it might be, asked a few locals along the way, and next thing we know we turned a corner and Gary recognized exactly where we were!

We also found the Murallas, or original defensive walls of the city of Seville, which date back to the early 1100's and were built by the Moors.  Very cool.

On our way back to central Sevilla we bumped into the Basílica de La Macarena, where the Macarena de la Esperanza has her permanent home.  Unfortunately, we were there during the middle of the day and the Basilica was closed so we didn't get the see the statue...

 But that doesn't mean you can't!  Here is an image of what she looks like.  Several years ago the residents of Sevilla and the patrons of the parish raised funds for new clothes for The Macarena. (apparently she was getting pretty shabby) so she now rocks a wardrobe of gold woven lace and lavish silk, velvet etc worth over $100,000.  She also has diamond and crystal tears and other precious jewels woven through her outfit and her headpiece.  The entire ensemble is worth millions.  During Holy Week in Sevilla she is carried through the streets of the city on the shoulders of the people.  She is very highly revered and is considered a blessing to the city.

After our jaunt through the holier regions of the city we headed to the Plaza de Espana, which was built for the Ibero-American Exposition World Fair in 1929.  The building was used as a location in the Star Wars movie series — Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) — in which it featured in exterior shots of the City of Theed on the Planet Naboo.

The towers at the Plaza de Espana were amazing!  I want to live in one.

The Plaza de Espana has a central arced courtyard with mosaic tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain.

 There is also a huge gorgeous fountain in the center of the plaza.

After the Plaza de Espana we then went to the Giralda Tower, a former Moorish minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the Cathedral of Seville. Which, along with the Cathedral, was closed for a special ceremony. Of course it was.  Just our luck!

But we still got some great photos of the outside!  Huge cathedral, absolutely gorgeous architecture!

 The plaza area in front of the cathedral was really gorgeous as well.  Just LOVE the architecture!  Amazing buildings with lots of details, exquisitely maintained, and I swear there are three or four restaurants in every plaza!  Just love it that

 

On the way back to our hotel we happened upon a LUSH cosmetics shop!  A little taste of home!

Got My Laptop Back!

Yay!  I finally got my laptop back!  Yes, since Mike created the All World of Warcraft All The Time Server it looks like I will only have access to my laptop while Nick and Josh are at school and after midnight.  This is probably a good thing, since I should be spending most of my time packing for the Big Move to Danville!

Anyhoo, now that I can access more current photos, let's see what's been happening at the Laney Casbah this past year:

Yes, this is us.  The crazy Laney clan. Our true personalities rule.

  

Nick and Josh hanging out in Shelter Cove, trying to sneak up on the seals.

the seals, however, are even more sneaky.   In vast amounts.  Vast amounts of sneakiness.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Ramses tried to snag us a real Thanksgiving turkey, but he was just a bit outnumbered!

 

So we went to Safeway instead.  Lovely turkey, but even more lovely painting!  One of the many things we will miss when we move!

More later, gotta crash now...

I Suck at Blogging

Yes, it's true, I do suck at blogging. Unless I am getting paid for it, then I do an adequate job. But if it's just keeping track of my veriest own family and all the precious goings-on, adorable photos, fun events, etc., then I am a total loser.

For instance, I am averaging a blog a year. That's pretty sucky. Especially when so many truly noteworthy and exciting things have happened this past year! Such as everyone turning a year older! And, as far as grandkids are concerned, a year cuter! Well, Nick and Josh too. And Leisa, Kylie, Morgan and Alex. Each one of them is a year cuter. But those photos are all on my other computer which is currently being utilized by Nick and his personal World of Warcraft vengeance machine. So I will post them another time. Like, in about a year. Let's look at what photos I DO have:

Hey! It's a not-too-out-of-date photo of Harper and Sky!!! But it kinda looks like it is at their Reno house, and they moved here in October so...I guess it is a bit out of date.

Let's see what else we have:

Woo Hoo! Leisa, Josh, Kadie, Laney and Crew from....last Christmas!! So it's only a few months out of date. I am getting better. And here's Nick! Running cross-country so that means it's from last fall! At least it's while he was still 16!

Josh, I'm sorry, but the most current photo I have of you on this computer is not of YOU, but of the madeline's you made for your French class Christmas party. And I'm not quite sure if it was this year's french class or last year's...

Wait! Here's one of Nick and Josh from last Spring's track team! So it's only a year old, since you had new team photos taken just today!!

I am going to try really really REALLY hard to be better at this blogging stuff. I think maybe Kylie should take over and do all of the family blogging, since she is better at it and much more fun to read!