Friday I took a long walk down the beach and then helped us get all packed for the drive. Our car was packed to the brim! I definitely had forgotten what it's like to have long car rides with kids. But I saw the most beautiful landscapes, mountains, fields, flowers, and tiny villages on the way there. I was just thinking while on the beach earlier in the day how much I must be destined to live on the beach because I love it so much. Well I hope the Spaniard I marry is rich so that we can escape to the mountains every now and then too haha. I say this in all seriousness.
Valtablau is only about 2 and a half hours away. Andrea was mostly good but asked when we were going to arrive every 10 minutes. It reminds me of asking "are we there yet?" the second we pulled out of the driveway on long family trips as a kid. Alicia started crying with about 45 minutes left and we had to pull over for an emergency diaper change. And mostly I couldn't help but laugh at how excited Raul was to spot a deer and then how Andrea started crying because she didn't get to see it. I humored him though, feigning excitement when we finally saw some outside the window at the house.
It was much colder in the mountains than in Valencia. I literally didn't pack a single sweatshirt for Spain because I didn't want to waste the space since I figured it would be hot (more room for dresses!) Luckily Alicia lent me some warm pjs and a big snow jacket.
Valtablau
Even though we were far from civilization, we were at the house with 3 other couples who each had 2 kids, so the house was always full of life. Ali is the youngest and then there was a kid of pretty much every age up to 9. I had so much fun playing with them and talking to them and their parents. I felt so welcomed by everyone.
Playing with Andrea on Friday night
I pretended that I didn't know how to make tortilla de patata on the first night, so that I could hang out in the kitchen with the woman making it while she taught me all sorts of tidbits. We fed the kids and eventually got all of them to bed. The parents always seemed so relieved once the kid duties were finally over for the day. We didn't eat dinner until midnight! Haha Spain.
Learning to cook tortilla
Everyone was sitting around the large fire in the chimney in the middle of the house, just talking and enjoying life. All these people are friends from college and they used to come here back in their 20s. It's cool to see how their lives have changed, but their friendships stay the same.
I made it until about 1 by the fire and then went to bed. I slept in 4 layers of long sleeves, the top layer being a snow jacket. Literally I felt like Randy from The Christmas Story when he couldn't move or lower his arms. Haha I stayed warm though.
Saturday was a fun, outdoorsy day. I was the first awake in the whole house and had about an hour to myself to bask in the silence and the beauty of the area. Pictures will never do it justice, but I just couldn't get over the landscape.
The chair where I wrote each morning
We all went on a walk through the valley and the kids caught frogs and bugs and rolled down the hills. All the animals were out this morning, including the horses, bulls, donkeys, pigs, and roosters.
The house from the hill
Frog catching
After our walk we drove to beautiful spot by the river to have a picnic. And when I say drove, I'm not talking about on a road. I'm talking about a drive straight through the grass and hills. It was intense and I've definitely never experienced off road driving like that before. It was fun and obviously all the kids loved it. We put our feet in the water, even though it was freezing. Unfortunately I lost about half my pictures because of some problem with my memory card. I'm SO disappointed because I lost all the ones at the river. Oh well, life is life.
After the river, we came back and Raul made a HUGE paella. I wish I still had the picture to put in here. We all ate lunch at 4:30 and then I napped a siesta. I have whole heartedly embraced the Spanish custom of siesta. I'm trying to figure out if a day has gone by where I haven't napped in Spain... haha definitely not too many.
I spent a lot of time talking to different adults in smaller groups. When we're all together, I can mostly keep up with what they're saying, although sometimes I miss stuff because of their quick paced banter or humor I don't understand. But I really enjoyed talking with people one on one and they taught me so many things.
One woman in particular, a cop, was awesome and she was in charge of the barbecue for dinner. This is not like an American barbecue. It was cooked in this great big chimney over wood coals. She made tons of different types of meat, some of which kind of freaked me out. I was a good sport and even tried the pig face for them. Haahaaaa. Once again, we ate dinner at midnight. It's such a weird schedule!
Sunday morning I was up first again. I decided to take a walk to explore and was gone for about an hour. By the time I got back, the house was alive once more. We decided to do an afternoon excursion, which ended up being a walk to the same place where I had gone that morning. There is a plaza de toros, or bull ring, about 15 minutes away and we set up a picnic under a shade tree next to it.
Sunday was beautiful and so much warmer than the previous days. Surprisingly my face even got a little burned from being outside so much. For lunch they made spaghetti and then there was a frenzy of cleaning up and packing the cars. I mostly just occupied children and did what I could to help.
The car ride home was much easier than the one on the way. Both the kids slept and I was comfortable. Being back at the beach was great. I finally showered and I don't think I've ever been so excited to do so. It had been since Friday afternoon hahaha. Quite the rustic weekend. I skyped with my parents, helped get the kids to bed, and then finally went to sleep myself.
Now I've got another full week at the beach while Andrea is still in school! Although today I've got to take care of the baby on my own for a little while because their grandparents are occupied with some house renovations. Wish me luck!
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