Wedding Update

So, as of today, there is 1 month and 5 days until the Big Day! I'm a little stressed about getting everything ready in time and can't believe there is only a month left. With finishing the last wedding details to organizing the family flying in and making sure they have a fun european vacation, there is a lot to do still!

I made a final list of things to do and its only one and a half pages long! I look at that as a good thing, Pablo sees it as 'there is that much to do still?'

We made a trip to Asturias the first week I was here and will make another trip this week and then again in two weeks. So basically we'll be up there ever other week until the wedding! I hope we can get it all done.

It has been a struggle trying to fit in my "American ideas" into the Spanish traditions my new family feel so strongly about. This has been a little tough for me to handle but I also have to remember there are two people getting married and they are from two different cultures so I need to be more flexible. I just wish they were a little more open minded to my ideas too. Even a jeweler told me the style of ring I want isn't a wedding ring and I should get the normal 'wedding rings'! AHHH!

Also, I'm a little stressed about my family arriving in time for the wedding. Now that a volcano has erupted and closed almost all the airspace in Europe I can't imagine what other natural disaster can happen between now and then. Also the possible British Airways strike that is still looming. I'm not sure if I can handle the extra stress!

The latest roadblock we have run into (note to everyone: don't get married in a foreign country they will make it is as difficult as possible for you)

we can't open a wedding registry at the department store in Spain. Why you might ask? Well I don't have a social security number that apparently they need to make a list. Why they need so much personal information for a list? Not sure! I can't possibly be the first foreigner to marry a spanish person and if you are a foreigner you don't have a social security number until you are married. Registry if for before the wedding. Social Security number comes after the wedding. See the problem here? I don't really get it. There aren't any department stores in Spain either so not sure what we'll do yet. But one of the things we thought would be the easiest turns out to be another extra stress. Sometimes that is how everything has felt for the last 8 years!

But we will go on and we will get married and we'll have a great fiesta!

Salinas

We spent the afternoon with the fam in Salinas, a coastal town near Aviles in Asturias. It was another sunny day and so nice to be so close to the ocean. I miss the water in Madrid being that it is in the very middle of the country with no water insight!

We walked around the park which has an anchor museum. There about a dozen anchors on display donated from countries around the world. They are from old ships, some dating back to the 1600's. There is one from an old Spanish ship that was sunk off the coast of Florida. The park is named after Phillipe Cousteau the son of Jacques. His head is apparently on the rock.

The fam

Looking back at the park

There's the head of Phillippe

The Anchors

Ruta de los Miradores

Last Saturday we enjoyed the sunny and warm weather in Asturias once again by going on another hike. This time along the coast with some of our friends. The coast of Asturias is made of high cliffs along the ocean with little beaches in between. The trail we did ran along the tops of these cliffs and it made for some great views.

It was absolutely beautiful. You really can't get any better than this in Asturias. After the hike we relaxed on the beach enjoying the sand, sun and surf.....and its only April!

The start

The group

The views

Professional Hiker

The beach

Ruta de Les Xanes

When I arrived to Madrid I received my presents from Three Kings Day which is celebrated January 6th. I was already back in Seattle so I didn't get to open them until now and I got some great presents. One was a pair of hiking shoes!

Pablo and I did a great hike last winter in the mountains outside Madrid and we both really enjoyed it. So we decided that along with biking it would be our new hobby. Pablo made it official by picking out some great shoes for me. We put the new shoes to the test during our week visiting Pablo's parents in Asturias.

First hike we did with Pablo's mom was called the Route of Xanes. It is an uphill hike through a canyon called Witch Canyon. We zig-zagged our way up the mountain, at some points along a very narrow path, with a steep drop on one side. A river cut through the canyon as well and when we got near the top we could really see it and enjoy some great waterfalls.

The entire route was beautiful with great rock formations, wild flowers, tunnels, green trees and the river.

At the top was a cute little pueblo with tons of sheep grazing, a cute church and the goal of the trip- a great restaurant that promised a lot of food. The one only restaurant in the town always has the same items on their menu of the day- Fabada or Pote Asturiana (traditonal food from the Asturias) for the first course and meat for the second course, along with lots of sidra, coffee, dessert and liquors, all for 12 euros! We had quite the feast and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather.

After stuffing our faces we made our way back down the mountain, a lot faster than going up, and just as beautiful.

It was a great hike to break in my new shoes!

Start of the hike

First course

second course

church at the top

time to head down

New Bar

La Tabla de Gongora

A new bar opened right around the corner from our house while I was gone. This is something very exciting because around our house is a whole lot of nothing. We live in a new neighborhood of Madrid and so there aren't a lot of people and few businesses. They built all of these apartments with commercial spaces on the bottom floor but around our house the majority of these commercial spaces are empty. Therefore, we have to walk about 10-15 minutes to the grocery store and bars. So when Pablo told me they put in a bar right around the corner it sounded amazing!

Today we went so I could check it out and it is amazing. But we figured that this could be a bad thing as it will take all our money. We went for cañas and they had an amazing selection of tapas and we were in heaven. We had 3 cañas so we had 3 tapas. First, paella, second, hard boiled eggs with tomatoes and third, garlic bread with egg plant. Yea for the neighborhood bar- everyone is going to know our name!

The funniest part was our doorman came in to have a drink and Pablo was nice and bought his round since he held my luggage in his office this morning since the airport man came at 8am. He didn't call us up until 10am which was nice since I finally had gotten back to sleep at 6. Anyway, we left before the doorman and when we got back to the apartment, on his little office it said he was "doing rounds." We laughed pretty hard. Who doesn't like stopping at the bar as part of their "rounds"?

And I'm Back

I finally made it back to Madrid on the first of April. My original flight on the 29th was canceled due to the strike but luckily I didn't have any problems getting on a flight right after the strike ended. I was lucky I didn't have to be here on a specific date but I felt bad for all the people who had vacations and couldn't make it. Strikes are stupid!

I carried on my dress in its garment bag. We wrapped it in a sheet and I hoped it would survive being stuffed in the overhead compartments for 14 hours.

I arrived in Madrid around 6 pm. Everything went pretty well except that one of my suitcases didn't make it on the flight. I went to the doors of baggage claim to try and find Pablo to tell him since he had been waiting a long time. In Madrid the baggage claim is behind security and you can't enter. But the badge worked again and they let Pablo enter. He helped me at the Iberia counter put in a claim for my bag. The guy found it without a problem and it arrived bright and early the next day with everything inside.

When we got home I unwrapped my dress and everything looked pretty good. I hung it in the closet with strike rule for Pablo not to go near it. The dress needs to breathe a little but I think with the steaming it should be fine.

So in the end everything worked out, everything arrived and now that I'm here I guess I have to get married now!