Gnoming

When I left for Spain, a very good friend of mine gave me a very sweet card along with some going away/airport survival gifts. On the inside of the card were tender and loving words of encouragement, and on the outside was a gnome. You see this friend of mine absolutely loves gnomes. Which is great, except I hate gnomes, esepcially the ones she keeps in the dark recesses of her closet. Although I will admit I've grown very fond of this little guy. He used his small gardening tools and creepy little ceramic hands to claw deep down and nestle his way into my heart.

Melissa, this is for you.

Here we are together in the fresh fruit, underwear, scarves, shoes, jewelery, stroller sleeping bag market that happens every Monday morning in Alcala.

You might be able to see the market a little better in this one.

Warning: I am not the best photographer, and most especially not the best one handed photographer. Just know that this is a celebration of you being in my memories, and not a compilation fantastically artistic shots. 

Here we are getting cozy in Retiro Park. Retiro Park is super pretty, but it is also known for being very dangerous after dark. Watch out...the sun is setting behind us. 

Hmmm... things are getting a little bit more sunsetty, and romantic, and probably sketchy.

Here you are posing next to the beautiful sunset.

Then you up and hopped into this little tree crevice. "Go child, [jump in] a tree."

Yep, nice and snug.

Here you are being very cool, modern, and blurry in the Reina Sofia. The Reina Sofia is The modern art museum. It's super cool, and is home to Picasso's Guernica. Unfortunately you can only take pictures of it from some small little doorway in the back, so I didn't get any with you.

You did however get your picture taken with this Picasso piece.

It says Reina Sofia in the background. Behind your blinding white face. Also it's artistically blurry.

Later on I went to Bilbao to visit my close family friends the Santamarias and the Andollos. Gaizka took me to go see the town Gernika (the Basque capital), and then we drove a few minutes further to see the beautiful coast. That's Gaizka's hand holding you in the picture.

This one's my less Spanish, less manly (I hope) hand.

More of the beach. Isn't it stunning? It's like a dream.

When we were in Bilbao they celebrated a few different Saint's days. The first day I arrived was San Blas, I believe. They fed me blessed cookies, cakes, and caramels, and then gave me a string to tie around my neck that would bless my throat. (Remember my Spanish isn't amazing, so I don't really know why they do all this, but then again I'm not sure they do either). The next day to celebrate some Saint, groups walked around the town and sang traditional songs and beat sticks on the ground. The group I saw was a bunch of old people that actually had quite amazing harmonies. You would have loved it so I took a picture of you with them.

Here's a better shot of them in their traditional garb, just circled up in the middle of a street.

The next weekend we traveled to Southern Spain. Here we are on our way into Cordoba. This is where we saw the beautiful Mezquita. Unfortunately I feel a little weird pulling out my lovely little gnome friend in holy places, so you're not in many of my cool mosque or cathedral pictures.

You got the full experience. Here you are riding in the bus with us. You love the bus! And behind you can see Becca's anxious face.

More Cordoba.

And again. You're such a lovely model.

After Cordoba we went to Sevilla (still Southern Spain). We visited the summer home of past kings and queens. It was built by the moors, and has a lot of Islamic Art influence. This is you by a cool ceiling.

And here you are riding in a model of one of the boats Columbus came in when he discovered the New World.

This is a typical doorway in the palace. If you look closely you're tucked in there.

In the garden. Start naming, Mliss. 

You can start with this one. He practically walked over my feet.

This is a tower of the largest (or maybe the 3rd largest, darn you Spanish tour guides) Gothic cathedral in Europe. This was taken from the courtyard which is gorgeous and filled with orange trees.

The cathedral was built over a mosque, and so one of the towers of the Cathedral used to be a minaret. This is the view from the top of the minaret that we walked all the way up.

You made friends with Chelsey, and took a very posh "too cool for school" picture.

This was in Sevilla by a lot of organ donation propaganda.

That went all the way down the street.

Then we went to Granada to see La Alhambra. They call it a city within a city and this palace "city" was added onto for hundreds of years by each subsequent Sultan. Very cool Islamic art.

And ceilings like this.

And cool Alice in Wonderland pathways with crazy bushes. There you are peeking out of one.

Whoo. This post is long. Sorry about that. We just have so many adventures together.

Well back in Madrid I went to this cool museum called ONCE. It's a museum for the blind so you can touch everything in there. It was like a dream come true. A museum where I can touch everything! You were excited too, and you came with me to...

Paris, (we're going there for real soon)

London, (here too)

And even the Taj Mahal. (I don't think we'll make it to this one)

Later we took a trip to nearby Toledo.

This was an awesome cathedral.

Here you are on a very ornate porcelain Egyptian slave boat.

Next to the creepy baby doll nuns hard at work, making Mazapan.

by a huge Mazapan cathedral. Yes, that is all edible.

You found some fun little gnome friends.

You aren't in this picture, but this is Becca eating an orange. 

And finally, I was laying on my back in Madrid soaking up the sun after lunch, next to the giant growing wall, and just enjoying life, and I wanted you to share that moment with me.

Beautiful.

That was a very long post. Melissa, you're probably the only person who made it through all of that, except for my mom. (Hey mom.) But I want to tell you that you are amazing. You inspire me. You make me laugh, smile, ponder, dance, sing, cry (oh no that's right, I only make you cry. Sorry again. No more sneaking or pouncing). You are so incredible. You bring joy and happiness and light with you into every room you enter. I am so excited for what life has in store for you because I know whatever it is you will turn it into something beautiful and wonderful. I am so grateful to have known you, and I can't wait until we can party it up together again. Hasta pronto.