Our journey to Salobrena began Tuesday evening (March 22nd). Because we are picking up a new Volvo in Madrid, we were given complimentary passes to the SAS (Scandanavian Air Service) business class lounge in O'Hare Airport. The concern on the faces of the well-dressed scandanvaian customers was very apparaent as Vasco busted into the lounge and said "Mommy, I like this!" He was pretty good and both he and Anika slept the enitre flight to Copenhagen. The Copenhagen airport is very cool (how many airports have hardwood flooring!) with very awesome dining venues and enticing shopping.
From there, we headed to Madrid. The flight was quite scenic as were able to see both the Alps and the Pyranees. Upon arrival, we crammed all our baggage into a tiny Holiday Inn Express room. I picked up our new vehicle this morning (March 24th). Kelley Volvo arranged our purchase of a Volvo XC90 through their overseas delivery program. If you are in the market for a Volvo and want to take a trip, this program makes a ton of sense since you save consideably on the vehicle by taking delivery overseas, you don't need to rent a car, and the program includes shipment back to the states. Also Volvo throws in two roundtrip tickets. It was a very smooth process and we love our new car!
We had lunch with Gloria (and her daughter Maria, and grand daughter Greta who was Anika's age!), a dear friend that Angie was fortunate enough to meet over 11 years ago when she worked for L'Oreal. We stayed with her in May 2000 and like that time, she was an amazing host! We had an amazing multicourse Spanish lunch (almuerza) that included serano ham, paella, albondegas (meatballs) and lasagna. I took my first of many siestas while Angie caught up with Gloria and the kids played nicely.
We left Madrid to begin our drive down to Salobrena and arrived around 11pm. The home we have rented is incredible and the owner had a bottle of bubbly waiting for us. I will put many pictures up in the next posting. We were joined by our nanny, Sofia, and her father, who had driven her from his home in Marbella. He brought us three nice bottles from Rioja and I am working on one as I write. We will get settled in tonight and begin our true Spanish immersion tomorrow. Good night!
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