Fun in Spain

One of the goals of our trip was to do as many fun kid activities as possible, at least that was the girls plan. We found this trampoline place outside of the mall in Sevilla which the girls enjoyed immensely.



As well, we went to Isla Magica twice, we had to because two different families were joing us at different times so we had to accommodate them. It was hard but we sacrificed.

Sevilla Spain part one

So there have been two trips that I have taken one to Spain with the family and one to London by myself for a conference. really I was working during the day, although I did admittedly play at night, you know, out looking for trouble and finding it somehow. But first about Spain.

We decided to travel up to Spain by car and took the ferry over. We drove up to the city of Sevilla and stayed for nine days. We had booked a hotel (side note booking.com has no extra hotel booking charges) on line and arrived in the evening to a clean and warm room. Warm is important, since there is no heat in Morocco so houses are very cold.

An aside, having been used to BC Ferry Corporation, getting a ticket on the Moroccan side of the ferry service was an adventure. We traveled with a family, and watched as he bargained the price of the ticket. We ended up spending 1000 Dirhams less on tickets, I think. Glad he was with us. We eventually made it onto the ferry, although we almost had to pay a guy to tell us which line to go into.

So highlights from the trip included two trips to Isla Magica, a theme park ride like Disneyland, only on a smaller scale. we also visited the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world, the local palace, and did a variety of shopping for much needed winter clothes for the kids and adults. We also spent New Years Eve downtown, although I have since learned that Spaniards gather in homes and eat, then eat 12 grapes at midnight on each gong, then kiss everyone, so the streets where empty most of the night. There was a large group that gathered in the square downtown where we were, so we followed them and rang in the new year. Unfortunately though, no Spaniards kissed me. Maybe next year.

Here are some pictures, as they are worth many words I think. More later.

The Ocean

The ocean is a melancholy place for me these days. I was sick today and stayed home and slept, then got up and ate, then decided I needed to go visit it. These last days the ocean by my house has been in turmoil, there is no pattern to their travels; they crash into each other and then hit the shore. Each one travels a different distance, and hits the shore from a unique direction, traveling up to meet whatever is in its path, sometimes overcoming what lies in front of it, sometimes engulfing it. So as I was watching it, so powerful, so beautiful and so chaotic, I was reminded that while it is impossible to tame so strange a creature as the ocean, one can learn to ride it out, and to stay on top and not be suck in underneath and pulled away by its current. And I had meet such a person who was able to to do this, and who was teaching me to do the same. His name was Younes and he was the family surf instructor. We all took lessons with him, including the girls, and he was very good. He had a way about him that was sweet and gentle, I saw it when I watched him teach my girls.

You may have noticed that I am talking in the past tense, which is sad because he was killed over the weekend in an avalanche. He was adventurous and had gone skiing in the Atlas mountains, in the back country. Morocco apparently has had more snow than ever before, and this young adventurous man fell victim to the power of nature, one that he was not able to stay on top of this time, unlike the surf he knew and loved so well. I did not know him well, which is unfortunate because I got the feeling I would, and now I will not have the chance.

So I look at the ocean now with some sadness for a man (below in the white hat) who left this planet to early, for his family who miss him, and those kids lives he touched, and their parents who will not have the opportunity to learn from him anymore.