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| Sunny homeland |
We finally coaxed Aunt Simone to come visit
by promising her a huge palace penthouse overlooking a castle and several trips
to Portugal, our homeland (“Rico,” after all, does come from the Azore Islands,
part of Portugal; my great-grandfather stowed away on a boat to California!). Before she arrived, Tia and Sasha stole off
to St. Tropez with Aunt Suzi and Uncle Ethan while Aunt Steph whipped Ado, Grif
, and Todd into shape at her home military academy.
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| Beach beauties |
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| High Style in St. Tropez |
Aunt Simone arrived at the end of September
to the delight of her nieces and nephews,
and we showed her a good time around Puerto, Cadiz, and even hit the
last of the ferias in Arcos de la Frontera!
Speaking of ferias, we also made it to the
feria in Villamartin, which holds the honor of being our very first feria when
we got here in 2011. This year we took
Suzi and Ethan along with the boys to hang out with our friends Begoña and
Carmen. Highlight of the evening: Ethan learning the sevillanas with
Begoña!
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| ¡Óle Sasha! |
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| ¡Que maestra excelente! |
But the highlights for all of us was our
trip to Portugal. Todd and I had only
made it as far as the coastal resort of Albufeira, a former fishing village now
dolled up for tourists. This trip packed
the nine of us into a 7-seater Renault Espace, complete with a bucket seat made
out of—yes—a bucket squashed between the two back seats to provide an eighth
seat. Yes, you counted correctly: with
Aunt Simone we squashed NINE of us into the Renault!
(picture of
us in the car)
We drove out to Huelva first (not much to
see), and stopped in Palos de la Frontera, home of the museum housing replicas
of the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria (named for the Virgin but also
because it was from Puerto!). The museum
is worthwhile and you can climb all over the little boats, marveling at the
chutzpah of sailors willing to travel in these tiny wooden tubs across an
unknown sea.
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| This is what they dared cross the wild Atlantic in!!! |
Then off to the golden sands of the Algarve
we went. We’d found a outrageously cheap
condo on airbnb.com in a little, unknown (to us) town called Manta Rota. There we found a stunningly beautiful wide
beach a five-minute walk from our condo, as well as some of the most delicious
food we’ve had since being in Europe. A
little beach restaurant called Cha Com Agua Salgada (“Tea with Salty Water”)
(!!), owned by an architect couple-turned-restauranteurs, was not only
beautiful but also a delightful dining experience. Paolo, the owner, catered to our every whim,
creating dishes for the kids not on the menu and making us feel special.
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| Sun god and godesses |
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| Overlooking Tavira, Portugal |
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| We love Aunt Simone |
Back in Puerto, Aunt Simone babysat while
Todd, Steph, Suz, and Ethan dressed up for the Navy Ball. Suz gave Ethan a new haircut which went
terribly awry—only to be saved by some creative trimwork.
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| All dressed up... |
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| ...and lookin' sporty |
Finally, Aunt Simone’s month in Spain came
to an end just before Halloween. We had one last big Moroccan dinner at El Jardin
de la Califa in Vejer de la Frontera.
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| Moroccan dreams |
She would have loved the party we threw for
all of the girls in the 5th and 6th grades as well as a
bunch of the boys from the 1st and 3rd grades; what a
cultural exchange! Come back soon, Simmie!
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| Quite a troop |
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| The pumpkin contest was a success |
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| Happy Halloween! |
