We're back! There are a ton of photos, so I'll be loading them up as time permits. We had a great time. The wedding was beautiful! Peter and Esther make a perfect -- and handsome -- couple. You'll see for yourself, below.
We spent the first five days at a B&B above Algeciras, overlooking the Mediterranean and the African coast, with Mom, Tom, Pete Neu and, intermittently, Peter and Esther (as they prepped for the wedding and split their time staying with Esther's parents as well) . We had the whole place to ourselves. The wedding was Saturday, June 24, and it was warm but not humid, and very windy. The ceremony went perfectly -- Esther was beautiful! The reception was at a restaurant near the B&B, and many of the wedding crew danced until 6:00 am. We made it until 3:30, when Andy refused to nap in his stroller any longer. We had a ball! You'll see from the photos....
Next we went to condos in a resort village called Alcaidesa, east up the coast from Algeciras. Shawn, Andy and I shared a condo with Peter and Esther, and Mom and Tom and Pete Neu (and, for one night, Gregg) were in a separate condo. We had a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean. From there, we spent days on the beach, took a day trip to Seville, visited Gibralter, and got to spend more time with Peter, Esther, and Esther's parents too.
Shawn and I left on Sunday night, overnighted in a hotel in Malaga and took the early flight to Madrid. Our flight there was delayed for just long enough that we missed our connecting flight from London to Seattle, so you'll see from the photos that we spent some time in London! We had a blast, and it was probably a good thing that we were refreshed and ready for the longer flight the next day.
Okay, now for the "lessons learned" portion of our travel report:
(1) Always, ALWAYS count your bags before you pull away from the house. This will help you avoid the stroke you may otherwise have while waiting for your spouse to return from an unanticipated return home for the suitcase sitting on your bed while you wait at the airport, forced by the airline to decide before they'll check you in whether you will be flying even if he doesn't make it back before they give his seat away.
(2) Always, ALWAYS have the barf bag ready upon landing. Little boys may appear to be doing just fine during descent, but you may have a big surprise after touch down, and yelling "where's the bag, where's the bag" while he throws up repeatedly only proves to your fellow passengers (who already hate you) that you are not a prepared parent.
(3) Keep your books with you. There's nothing as demoralizing as getting on a flight and realizing you just left your book -- with only 10 pages to go -- on the seat in the boarding area.
(4) Be prepared to live without your luggage for at least 5 days ... and counting!
SNAFUs aside, we had a great trip, and it was wonderful to spend time with our family and friends and experience Espana!
Cherise