For the vast majority of the people reading this, we have already shared our exciting plans to do a family immersion in the south of Spain. Well over a year ago, I identified this time period (Spring 2011) as a unique window of time to do something like this that may not surface again for quite some time. As Anika and Vasco become busy with school and extracurriculars and Angie and I rework our respective career paths, our collective schedule will inevitably become much busier. Silly self-conscious justification aside, we are extremely blessed to have this opportunity and we aim to make the most it. A key aspect of making the most of it is sharing our trip with the wonderful and amazing people we are so fortunate to count as our family and friends.
Even if on the surface the only thing Vasco takes back from this trip is a rock collection, I believe travel of this nature will be good for him and that in ways neither he nor we can pinpoint this trip will be a source of growth for him. As for Anika, please quiz her on her Spanish (and perhaps her Flamenco dancing!!) upon our return as I plan to only speak Spanish to her going forward (we'll see how this pans out....). Quiz Angie and me too!
We will be staying in a home in a part of Spain called Costa Tropical. In May 2000, Angie and I were driving along the coast of Spain and saw this beautiful white-washed town perched upon a sizable hill overlooking the Mediterranean. We got off the highway to explore and because the narrow roads of the town wind their way up the hill, Angie had to take the wheel as she is much better with a manual car (no smirking!) and she did an amazing job of parking on a steep slope. We got out and began walking in this amazing little town and ended up touring the castle which sits at the very top. We mentioned to one another that it would be nice to come back to this spot some day and I think both of us thought that our return would not occur until well into our fifties.
The town is Salobrena and if you want to look at a map (next to hitting refresh on the ESPN.com looking at maps is my favorite lazy pasttime), Salobrena sits along the southern coast east of Malaga and due south of Granada. Within 5 minutes of our home is the beach and within an hour and a half we can be skiing or hiking in the original Sierra Nevadas. This area is part of a larger region called Andalucia (originally called al Andalus by the Moors) and the history of Andalucia is simply amazing. It is truly one of the first cultural melting pots of our wonderful world. Pagans, then Christians, then Moors and then Christians again have taken turns ruling this area and the region has gone in and out periods of religious tolerance. All the civilizations that have been here have left their mark on the language, the architecture and the culture. I will bore you with more history in future posts.
In this blog, we hope to share some recipes, restaurant reviews, wine reviews, pictures and hopefully many fun(ny) stories. Free sangria to those who got this far!
