The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

Buen amigos (good friends)

Hiking Los Cahorres near Monachil

Best buddies

Our dear friends from Seattle just paid us a visit and it was wonderful to be surrounded by people who know us so well. We've known these folks for over 20 years and were fortunate enough to have kids at the same time, thus our youngest is 3 months older than their oldest and they are all best of friends. It was wonderful to share all we have learned with someone back home and we had fun dining out, showing them the local sites, spending a day on the beach and just hanging out. 

Kid-friendly meal



Karb and Brooke

Mala suerte (bad luck)
They came to us via Barcelona where they had a string of bad luck. First off, getting sick on the flight over (all four of them,  adults as well as kids) which led them to miss Geo's beloved Barcelona futbol match, the bribery item his wife had used to get him over to Spain in the first place. Then an ATM machine ate their one and only cash card after withdrawing a measly 50 euros so no more access to cash for the rest of their trip. Then, when checking out of their Barcelona hotel to catch the night train down to Granada, the hotel "misplaced" one of their bags (still a mystery - either stolen or given to the wrong family) which happened to contain their eldest child's favorite stuffed animals from birth. Ugh. Then the rain started..... and continued for most of their visit which is truly a rarity here. 

Clark injures himself
on Friday the 13th

After school treats

They arrived at our house on the morning of Friday the 13th and mere hours after happily reporting that we had not yet needed to use the Spanish healthcare system, we got a call from the PE teacher from the boys new school who said that Clark had most likely fractured his wrist* and could we please pick him up to take him to hospital. Thankfully the pain wasn't too bad and the school's insurance was able to cover everything in full. After hours at the hospital and his first cast he returned home to a houseful of his buddies and we spent a rainy weekend at home catching up. Nat did tons of amazing cooking and the kids took over the house building forts in almost every room.

The Heynens on top of the Alcazaba

The next day, our friends spent a rainy morning at the Alhambra and with good fortune we happened to touch base by phone right when they were on top of the tower that looks directly at our house so they were able to get a great video of our house and we took their picture as well (see photo at left).

We later walked around town, kicking a muddy soccer/futbol around wherever possible (avoiding dog poop was the biggest challenge).

* Injury happened as he was playing goalie in futbol and he made the save. Fortunately 4 days later, the bone doctor confirmed that it wasn't a true break and he got his cast off.

Brooke fit perfectly in our mini
bathtub



Catheral in Granada

Girl time

The rest of the week we spent showing them our favorite hikes, restaurants and walking around town. I got some much needed "girl time" with Michelle (I finally bought some Spanish clothes at my favorite store Desigual) and we hit the Arabic baths for some soaking and massage. We also took Brooke shopping for flamenco clothes, to the local Teteria for mint tea and crepes and she even tried out our child-sized tub. And Michelle got me and her kids to visit the local Cathedral which was just amazing, covered in gold leaf and apparently the second largest iglesia in Spain. It is also where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are buried.



American kids picking up recycle
on the beach



Fresh fish

We pulled the boys from school on Wednesday and drove 40 minutes to the Mediterrenean and one of our favorite spots, Salobreña, where we were luckier with the weather although it was truly blowing a gale. (We saw a kite boarder which is a treat for this windsurfing crowd). We had lunch at a beachside restaurant and then drove to nearby Almuñécar in search of helado.

Dining on the beach

Adios amigos

Brooke with flamenco poster

After a week filled with treats, friendship and catching up, we said our goodbyes on Friday as they returned via night train to Barcelona for one more day before heading back to Seattle via London. We've already heard that it is sunny and warm there after their very rainy visit to Spain.