Cantabria

After our Europe trip we were a little disappointed in all the brown and yellow around us in Spain.  A friend mentioned that the Northern Coast was quite green and beautiful so we took her word for it and made plans to go North  to  Cantabria.  She was right, it is green, hilly and full of beautiful beaches, the best we have ever been to. 

We arrived Friday evening and had just enough light to check out a beach before it was too dark.

Playa de Santa Justa

Beautiful, but maybe too rocky for swimming.  To the right was an old building built into the wall with a ruin up above on the hill.  Of course we knew we had to check them both out. 

View from up on the side during our trek.

The building in the hillside turned out to be an old church "Ermita de Santa Justa" from the 16th Century.  The next picture shows what Mason was looking at.if you dare 

These GROSS slugs were everywhere and we had to really watch where we were stepping.  This particular one was just about 2" but we saw others that were up to  4" long-Uuck!

Looking back at the beach!

From on top of the hill with the ruin, just before it was too dark to make it back to our car without stepping on anything squishy. 

Playa de La Concha (the only beach where we saw shells)

We parked here to buy a necessary boogie board for the waves.  You can see the beach to the left of this old picturesque building below the amazing sky.

 

 

Saturday morning, with lots of waves and lots of beach.

The beach was extremely shallow for likely 100 meters  Morgan and Brent are way out there and the water is still below their waists. 

Kamree was worried that Mason would fly away.  By the time we were driving away the waves/water had moved up the beach to where Mason is standing.

Playa de Los Locos

This was our favorite beach because it wasn't too shallow or too deep and the waves were perfect for boogie boarding and apparently surfing.

There happened to be a surfing competition going on while we were there which we enjoyed watching from below.

Waiting for just the right wave!

Kamree and I went for a walk to the far end of the beach!  After this photo I turned to video the crashing waves on the rocks and Kamree dramatically shows me how ready she was to go back in the following video!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the boys were doing while the girls were out there in the waves.  Yes those three figures are Kamree, Kaiya and me.  Morgan got cold after playing in the waves and fell asleep,  of course when it was time to go he insisted he wanted to play longer.

All 9 of us running from the poisonous waves.  

Playa el Sable de Tagle

We didn't get in the water here.  The beach was really dirty, smelly, and it got deep really quick, but still beautiful. 

 

Castillo Aguilar de Campoo

We stopped here on Sunday on our way home. This castle, now just ruins, was built for defense and is first documented in 1039.  It was rebuilt several times in the 12th and 14th centuries.

This was the center inside the castle.  We climbed this mound of rocks to find an inner room/chamber at the top.

Queen of the Castle!

Kamree and Brent walking along the walls.

Mason guarding the wall!

 

Burgos 

We stopped in Burgos since we had nothing really to rush home for and this 13th century cathedral  looked really neat from the freeway.

 The cathedral's construction began in 1221 and it was in use as a church nine years later but work continued off and on until 1567.

And we even got to meet the prince!

 

Fiestas 2013

Our town has been celebrating  their Fiestas 2013 in honor of "the Virgen Navalazarza" for the last two weeks starting at the end of August and ends the 17th of September.  The main events were the last weekend of the Fiestas which included the bull fights.  The last Friday and Monday of the Fiestas many people in the town take work off, the schools close down and most of the stores are closed.

Swimming Races Friday 6 of September

The Fiestas include all kinds of competitions.  Morgan entered the swimming race and placed 2nd in his age group.  After the race we realized everyone that entered was awarded a shirt, medal and bag of candy so I think next year a few more of our kids will be entering. 

Parade of Giants and Fatheads September 10th

We heard a band playing from our home and ran around the corner to see what it was and we found this parade. This is a traditional Spanish parade that is lead by the town's Virgin Statue,  a giant King and Queen,  a band and lots of other fun characters.  It is more like a procession than our type of a parade because people don't sit and watch from the sides but they instead become part of it. 

Our kids wondered if it was the town's Halloween since most of the kids were dressed up.   They do have a costume contest at the end but there is no candy, not even during the parade. :(  

Concurso de Recortes September 13

Here we are inside our stadium waiting for  the "recortadores" who are a bunch of young guys that play with a bull by running from it, dodging it and diving, or flipping over it.  Apparently they get points for how close they get etc. and then the top 4 of 12 or so have a final round at the end.  This show did not start til nearly 10:30 at night which we hoped would help the kids stay awake for the midnight fireworks.



 One of the guys flipping over the bull.



This is our friend Paul, "uncle Pablo" who is temporarily staying in Madrid for 11 weeks for work.  He will be living here for 11 weeks twice a year for a couple of years.   We met Paul and his family our first week here at church and their first time,  unfortunately his family didn't come with him this time.    Our kids love him like an uncle since he plays games with them and gives them treats such as American root beer!

 

 

After each 15 minute round the 3-4 team of guys would kneel down facing the bull in honor of him!  Of course in a real bullfight it ends quite differently. 

 



The kids made these super cute clay bulls when we first moved here after we told them about bullfighting.    In case anyone did not know, in bullfights "Corrida de Toros", they repeatedly stab the bulls to weaken them and then eventually kill them. They had 2 consecutive nights of these during our fiestas which killed a total of 12 bulls.  When we explained what a bull fight is to the kids, Kamree said, "I wouldn't kill the bull I would just give em (the bull) the cape."



 

Midnight Fireworks

Not sure these fireworks were worth keeping the kids up so late.  They have two firework shows planned during the fiestas this one on Friday night at midnight and the other is scheduled to close the Fiestas on Tuesday night at midnight which seems strange since everyone is back to work and the kids are back in school. 

I know this is out of focus but I think it clearly shows that there was a very large mass of people we had to follow down the street to get home after the fireworks.  They had scheduled a rock band for 3am just before the 3:30-7:00am disco/dance so I doubt anyone besides us was in a hurry.  We thought this would be the only loud night of the weekend, but it was 3 in a row!!! 

 

"Encierro" Bull Run Saturday 14

 

 Here we are, again with Paul, waiting for the bull run to begin.  By the time the running started there were many more people around us and we felt the constant risk of losing our front row seats.   Besides watching out for the bulls charging the fence we had to watch out for the runners jumping on the fence. The most exciting part of the run was when a bull turned and charged this fence tearing off a large piece of wood with his horn just below my feet.    

 

 

Each run starts with 3 lead bulls "guides" that lead the aggressive, usually black bull to the bull stadium. 

 

 

This is short video of a bull that fell just as it passed us.  The total run distance is not very long so we can nearly see both the beginning and the end from where we were sitting.  They allow just one bull at a time behind the guides and then everyone waits about 5 minutes until they repeat it by sending the guides back to the beginning for the next round with up to 8 bulls.  Pamplona and other larger cities send the bulls all at the same time.  By the end, the poor guides are very tired of it and become very stubborn.

 

When the thrill-seeking runners still want more, they follow the bulls into the stadium.   We were bored after a few minutes and left.  

Mason, Kaiya and Kamree (that is her swimsuit, not underwear in case you were wondering)



Also included in the fiestas are a carnival with expensive rides, and a street market with booths of toys, clothes, food etc.

Getting Ready for School

Shopping Wednesday 4th of September

Sorry no picture, but just a little story about my wallet.  We went to an outdoor market near Madrid to do some school clothes shopping .  We were at the market for less than 10 minutes when a lady tried to take my wallet out of my purse, fortunately I caught it as she hurried and looked away.  About 10 minutes later, just after buying a pair of shoes for Kamree, she tried again successfully.  I felt like I had been stalked and was so mad at myself for not paying closer attention.  The day was ruined as we had no hidden backup cash in the car to continue with our shopping; therefore, we returned home praying that I would get at least my residence card and driver's license from Utah returned.   The next day the police showed up and said they had my wallet with everything less the money and food certificates.  We felt so lucky since we are sure that rarely happens. 

Madrid Zoo Saturday 7th of September

School was starting Monday and we wanted to do something fun before that so we made plans with a new Madrid Family from New York to go to the Madrid Zoo.  We had a great time and have added a few pictures of the highlights.

Unk lady, our 4 girls: Avery, Kamree, Hailey (Kamree's new BFF) & Kaiya watching the Orangutans. 

There was a lady tossing full apples and carrots to the bears when we walked up.  The bears would get right up to the edge either standing on their back legs or sitting with their arms up until she tossed them something that they would often catch in their mouths.  It was so much fun to watch. 

This one is raising his hand saying, "Me, Me!!!!"

This was one of our favorite exhibits. We later found some lost produce by some monkeys and we  returned to these bears to feed them ourselves. 

 

There were also lots of super cute babies there:

a Baby Orangutan

Baby Goats, with Hailey in the background,

a Baby Elephant

and a Baby Gorilla.

    Dolphin Show 

This was our favorite part of the zoo.  Constant, amazing tricks for 1/2 hour.

   After the Zoo 

For Dinner we met up with the only other American family that we know at Tierra Burrito Bar for Café Rio style burritos, yum yum! and then we went to a park for more playtime.  Here are Elizabeth, Daniel, Ryan, Morgan, unknown girl, Kaiya, Avery, Hailey, Kamree and Mason.


 First School Day Monday 9th of September

Yes Kamree truly was the most excited!  The older kids are asked to use roller bags because they have to carry several books back and forth everyday.   I'm not sure if all schools in Spain are the same, but our school the kids stay in the same classroom, with the same teacher and the same kids for two years and then they switch.  I suppose it was helpful for them to know who would all be in their classes, where to go and what to expect with their teachers.

After school, when I asked each of them about school I received very differing responses.  (The following are very old pictures)



Kamree asked before school what she would be doing in Kindergarten and I told her they would be teaching reading and a few other things.  When she walked out of school she said, "They didn't teach us to read, I don't think it's kindergarten." 

Mason came out of school with a huge smile saying, "I like school this year, because it's a lot shorter."  June and September school is shortened just an hour from 2:00 to 1:00.  Mason must have had so much fun that the time flew.



Morgan exited school looking quite upset and announced that both his teachers gave him homework on the first day and repeatedly cried, " What kind of teacher does that?"  As we checked his homework, one was just a list of supplies to bring in, and the other was asking the kids to bring their English books from last year.  What a hard way to start out the year!



Kaiya  was smiling when I first saw her after school and she explained that her picture was in the school agenda.  Last year they had an art contest for the school's theme this year "Magic of Reading".  All the kids entered and she apparently got third and therefore it was printed in each kids school agenda. 


Later After School

Elder Ward, Elder Lyman, and Elder Blanchard

 

Monday night we had the missionaries over for dinner and a message for our first time and it was so much fun.  They brought with them Elder Ward, the missionary that had been in the Spain train wreck.  He had been home for surgery and just got back to Spain last week.  He will be with the office missionaries for about 3 weeks while he takes it easy with his neck before going out to a full-time proselyting area.