Spain Day 4

Today was our last full day in Seville for stop #1 of 2 on this trip. Joel still had his conference so i decided take the kids, including Joel’s coworkers daughter, to the aquarium. Our morning started off much the same, with the breakfast buffet before taking a taxi to the aquarium. It was okay... definitely no where near the next aquarium we’ve been to and arguably possibly better than the MN Zoo, but honestly, i can’t even say it’s a lot better, maybe slightly more tanks. 

Bennett really wanted to buy a toy from the gift shop but I let the kids make a flattened 5 cent piece for souvenirs instead.


The museum took about an hour, not the 3-4 i was expecting,  so i decided we were going to go to the science museum (more accurately, science house) nearby. We were lucky that the rain had stopped for our 10 minute walk.












Trying the virtual reality:










The science house was also really small and we finished in about an hour, plus the kids were all hungry. Unfortunately there wasn’t a little cafe there, so we decided to go back to the hotel to eat. Very unfortunately, it was raining as we left. The area we were in was a super busy touristy place, but there wasn’t a taxi stand nearby that i could see, and definitely no taxis in sight. We were across a busy street from the Plaza de España, so i thought for sure there’d be lines of taxis there, and we started in that direction. Once across the street, there were clearly zero taxis. By this time, Caroline had fallen asleep in my arms, and i should also mention we didn’t have an umbrella, although all the kids had hoods on their coats. I asked a street vendor if he knew were a taxi stand was. He had the most sympathetic look in his eyes and said my best bet would be to catch one across the street, so off we went, again, in the rain. I saw him motioning to taxis as we left him, he clearly wanted to help. Crossing the street was a bust as no taxis were in sight. Then it started to rain harder. We found a little shelter under the canopy of a huge tree, and had enough time for me to scope out the situation and see there was a cafe back across the steeet by the street vendor. So i told the kids we were going to head back across the steeet to the cafe. Once we got back across the street, the vendor saw us and motioned for us to wait it out in the cafe. Honestly not the worst situation since the kids were hungry. A nice lady who worked at the cafe, and spoke English helped me order paella, a chicken sandwich, and croquettes. It was okay.






As we finished, it had started to rain much harder. For the most part the rain had been a heavy sprinkle. Now it was raining raining. I asked someone at the restaurant where to catch a taxi and he just motioned to the busy street outside saying, basically, anywhere along the street. Okay... as if we weren’t trying that... I did see a taxi with people getting out but it was quickly snatched up. Ugh. Finally i made the executive decision to just start walking toward the Alcazar. It probably would’ve been a 15 minute walk, but we needed to do something. Rain was in the forecast all day, so there was no used waiting it out. I should add that in my head, the original plan was to be dropped off at the aquarium, spend 3-4 hours there, then hop a taxi back to the hotel. Although looking back on it, when we exited the aquarium, there wasn’t a taxi in sight either, so we probably would’ve been in some kind of predicament either day. But it also wasn’t raining when we left the aquarium. Anyway...we started waking through the rain and we’re crossing the street when i saw an empty taxi at the stoplight, waiting for us to pass. I motioned to him and he waved us in. Success! Victory photo with Caroline, who woke up just as we entered the taxi:


This taxi fiasco probably ranks up there on the list of stressful vacation moments. If the coworkers daughter hadn’t  have been with, i think the stress level would’ve been lowered about 50%. I can make my kid walk in the rain. It’s another thing to have someone else’s kid do it, but they were all definitely troopers. 

When we got back to the hotel we took a short rest to decompress, and then went swimming. I’m pretty amazed Bennett had the energy to swim since he walked all morning. Then we had an hour to kill before restaurants opened for dinner at 8:30. I don’t know how Spaniards so it. It is just so let. Caroline killer time by taking photos of us. She’d even direct Bennett on where to stand.






We had Moroccan for dinner. Bennett fell asleep before the food came out, but Caroline actually tried a bite of everything. We had a puff pastry with cheese and caramelized onions, beef tagine and chicken skewers.








Tomorrow we leave Seville for Granada. After dinner we found out the train tracks from Seville to Granada are under construction, so we’ll have to take a train. This revelation is pretty stress indicing. Plus, I’ll have to pack tomorrow which is never fun. 

Fun story though: Last night Caroline was in her third or fourth trip to pee, delaying bedtime, and dropped a special rock in the toilet she had just peed in. Needless to say, I was equally as disgusted as i was angry. Joel found a bag to wear on his hand as he fished it out. Caroline went to bed crying. It was horrible. Since then, she has been telling me about the things she has dropped in the toliet at home, in the sleepy bedtime bathroom runs. “I just grab it with my hand and wash it off,” she casually says with a shrug. Knowing Caroline i can assure you that her idea of washing something pulled out of urine water is MUCH different than what you and i would consider adequately clean. Yuck!