Sevilla!

Ever since I lived in Spain I have dreamed of visiting Sevilla, the largest city in Andalucia, the southern part of the country. So when it came time for the annual Trifilo-Merback 3-day weekend trip sans children, I advocated for Sevilla. I didn't really even know why we had to visit, I just knew we did. Turns out I was right.

This kind of thing is everywhere. Brightly-colored buildings with a North African flair. Sevilla is where the Romans, the Moors, and later the ships returning from the New World would all enter the Iberian peninsula.

This is the gothic cathedral of Sevilla, the largest cathedral in Europe, with its mudejar-style bell tower called "La Giralda". Mudejar is the architecture style that was developed by combining the North African influence of the Moors with the European Renaissance.

This is Alcazar, the castle of Sevilla. Admittedly it doesn't look very impressive in this shot, but after European castle-fatigue, the Moorish arches and intricate patterns begin to inspire you more than yet another tower with turrets. The door behind us is the main entrance, but the entrance to the yellow building on the right is where we, and many others before us, went first.

You walk into this room and you see this painting. Which doesn't look like much, until you see Christopher Colombus under the Virgen's left hand, native Americans under her right (the darker figures in the back), and Colombus' ships below. This is the room where the goods from every single ship returning from the New World would have to pass through customs to be taxed. This painting is the very first painting of the New World in Europe.

And this is the ceiling of that room.

This is the staircase that leads up from that room to the royal chambers. We couldn't get enough of the tiles on the walls. Upstairs they had an exhibition celebrating the long tradition of tile-design in 

Sevilla.

Next we walked through the main entrance and into the courtyard. The arches have to be seen to be believed. Ashley said it felt like she was back in a 1st world version of Morocco.

This was the detailed design of the walls of the courtyard. You almost couldn't believe how intricate everything was.

Listening to the audio guide, amazed by the surroundings.

The halls inside of the castle. 

This was the main party area of the castle, a huge square room walled in by triple arches on all four sides and covered with a huge dome. Oh the parties they must have had here.

The intersecting lines in the pattern of the dome form stars, symbolizing the heavens above. The riches of the New World paid for all of this.

Another view of the courtyard.

This was the room of the dolls. The Moors forbade any and all imagery - portraits, sculptures, etc. So after they were banished, two very small "dolls' heads" were carved into the bases of the arch behind Ashley. We loved this room, which was right off of the main domed area.

These are the upper two floors of the dolls' room. Women would look out from the latticed windows on the 2nd floor on the people gathered below. Originally, it was open to the night sky and the 3rd floor and roof were built later.

Now we are out in the gardens of Alcazar. This pool had a giant green dome in the center, underneath which were statues of women who looked like they at one time had fountains in their mammary glands. My facial expression shows that I am imagining the debauchery that went on inside of this thing.

There were orange trees everywhere. In the gardens but also all throughout the city. Bitter oranges, not sweet ones. They tasted more like lemons than oranges. They are used to make marmalade and oils for scents. Megan was so overcome she just had to climb one of them. Greg is not impressed.

This is a two-story promenade in the center of the gardens. I liked these gardens better than Versaille or Schloss Schoenbrun. It was much more manageable, organic, and lively.

Here is Ashley inside the promenade leaning out.

Here am I from the other direction.

Ashley sitting in one of the promenade windows.

This is a shot of the promenade from the fountain that you could see in the background of my picture above. Gaudi, the famous architect from Barcelona, must have spent some serious time here because you could see the beginnings of his style everywhere.

At this point Megan was starving. She doesn't eat a lot, but she eats often. So we busted out Trip Advisor and found the #25 rated place in the city which was only a few blocks away. Bodega Santa Cruz, a busy bar in the wonderful Barrio Santa Cruz. Close to the tourist stuff but feels like a local place. It was PACKED with Spaniards, jostling each other and shouting out their orders for tapas and beer. 

I finally got to put my castellano skills to good use and ordered us a bunch of stuff: tortilla (egg & potato omelet), paella, pacheco (AKA cocido, a garbanzo stew), chorizo (amazing Spanish sausage), Jamon Serrano (Spanish cured ham), and the find of the trip, which was the specialty of the house, pringa. It is a mixture of ground chorizo and pork served with bread that was unbelievable. The Trifilos don't eat red meat, and we try to eat meat as little as possible, but we ate A LOT of pringa that weekend.

Megan's hunger satisfied we went inside the cathedral, which charges 8 euro entry. Why? Because behind Ashley is the final resting place of one Cristobal Colon, AKA Cristofero Colombo, AKA Christopher Columbus. Ashley is making a sad face because she wanted to pose like an explorer and I told her to be reverent. Each of the pallbearers carrying Colombus' coffin is wearing one of the four symbols of the Spanish crest.

Inside the treasury, Ashley tripped on a hidden step and made a loud "gurf!" noise. Then she couldn't stop laughing about it. Lots of New World gold stolen and displayed in those rooms.

The inner courtyard of the cathedral, complete with orange trees and stunning views. I had purchased an Atletico Madrid scarf, which I somehow escaped my mission and our previous trip to Madrid without buying.

Greg and Megan. Megan got braces a few weeks ago and we all teased her the whole time about looking like a teenager.

That night we went to a Flamenco show, complete with two guitarists, three male vocalists, and five dancers - three female, two male. It was outstanding. Different than I had imagined, but I think it was more modern and cutting edge. A lot of free-form clogging/tap dancing with music and singing. We bounced around to different tapas places afterwards, eventually ending up back at Bodega Santa Cruz to finish out the night with some pringa.

The next day we rented bikes, which was a great idea. We rode down to Plaza de Espana, the enormous public square south of the center of town. It was built for an Iberian-American Exposition back in 1918 or so. They filmed part of the Star Wars prequels here.

All around the perimeter are tiled murals for each of the provinces in Spain. I had to get a picture with the Madrid mural, of course.

A moat surrounds the square and you can rent row boats. Ashley looks fantastic here. As do the bridges.

Here, not so much. Well, the bridges still look good. Bad timing.

Trying to get as much of the Plaza as possible. It really is huge.

Next we rode around the park associated with the Plaza, and then headed down along the river until we got to the Plaza de Toros. No bullfights until March, but it was cool to be there at the heart of bullfighting country. It is a brutal, awful spectacle, but it is just so dang Spanish. 

We ate lunch in a charming, less-touristy neighborhood. Originally we tried to eat a a locals-only bar, but the owner-operator was extremely rude and wouldn't let me order almost anything I asked for. So we went next door to a more tourist-friendly place. I felt like a big Spanish failure.

We finished up our ride here, at the Metropol Parasol, which is the largest wooden structure in Europe (I think). Ashley and Megan were so glad to see the sun that they both laid down right there on those steps, soaking it in.

That evening was almost perfect. We sat outside on the hotel terrace in the twilight, watching the clouds turn colors, listening to the bells of the Giralda, and watching the various church towers start to light up. We talked all about Megan and Greg's impending adoption of Ming, a 15 month old toddler in China, and tried to share our experiences of being parents. Megan is sort of smirking here but in reality she was thoroughly enjoying herself and no one wanted the evening to end.

We ate at a restaurant near Bodega Santa Cruz, which was sort of fusion-modern Spanish. Greg and I bolted to watch the Atletico Madrid game at...where else but Bodega Santa Cruz. We had more pringa, of course, and then went back to find Ashley and Megan still at the restaurant thoroughly enjoying themselves. Our server was from Italy, which Megan picked up on because of her accent (huh?) and we utilized our Italian skills a bit.

The next day was shopping in the morning (boring) followed by Bodega Santa Cruz AGAIN (could not get enough of that place) and then catching a taxi back to the airport and home. The feeling was unanimous: Sevilla is fantastic, Spain is amazing, and pringa is the devil when you are trying to be a good vegetarian.

Guys' Ski Weekend AKA Mancation

Back in early 2013 Greg Trifilo and I received an e-mail from Kwame Curtis, the former audiologist here. He had just gone to Nassfeld ski area which is on the border of Italia and Austria. He was so stoked about it that he pretty much told us that we were going there with him for the first annual Guys' Ski Weekend. It was fantastic, and even though Kwame left for San Antonio in June of that year, we have carried on the tradition every year since. Last year Greg, Ben, Steve and I went to Cortina d'Ampezzo, and this year, minus Steve who is in SoCal now, we went to Tarvisio, which is northeast of here right on the border with Villach, Austria.

The snow conditions were not great, but the hotel and the views more than made up for it. Our hotel was easy walking distance from a ticket office and lift. It also had a great restaurant where we had lasagna and frico. Just like that first year, Greg and I shared a king size bed, but this time with no comforter folded into the shape of a heart. When we got back and told this to Megan her response was, "Of course you did."

Here are Ben and I at the top of Tarvisio. It was hard to find good off-piste stuff because of all the unmarked hazards, so we mainly stuck to the groomed runs.

This is the little town that is at the top of the gondola. Hard to believe that people live up here year-round. We skied the gondola pretty much all day. On one of the runs, Ben split his brand new ski pants wide open at the crotch. He skied like this for almost two full days:

Except that the split kept advancing and eventually spread from the crotch to the ankle. It was a little breezy and he got a lot of stares, but Ben is the kind of person who can blow that stuff off.

This is our lunch table at one of the restaurants in that little town. The view was outstanding and led to the following shenanigans:

I decided to take one of those pretentious Instagram-like photos of my feet up on a chair with our lunch view in the background. We joked about writing a caption like: "Just chillin' during our lunch break at Tarvisio. #thisismylife" We couldn't stop laughing about it.

Then came this moment when, their pasta and wine having arrived, Greg and Ben decided to take their own pretentious Instagram-like photos.

"Lasagna, gnocchi, and trofie with red wine for lunch at Tarvisio. #welivehere #notevenonleave"

Another shot of all three of us from the town. 

In all seriousness, the lunch was outstanding. We skied the gondola a few more times then headed back to our side of the resort. We came upon the only two-seater ski lift left on the entire European continent, where Ben snapped this picture of us from his chair.

The run that would have taken us from the top of the mountain directly to our hotel was closed off, making it technically off-piste. I was nervous that there wouldn't be enough snow or that there were too many unmarked hazards, so I insisted that we ride the chairlift down the mountain, which was the officially recommended course of action. We ended up pretty far from our hotel and needing to walk quite a ways to make it back. I caught no small amount of grief for my rule-obeying ways.

That night we walked from our hotel into downtown Tarvisio and found a great mom-and-pop restaurant with a huge fireplace where they would cook meat for carnivores but also delicious home-made pasta and more frico. We had a very serious conversation about our respective upbringings (Catholic, Evangelical, and Mormon) and how those informed but did not dominate our world views.

We decided to not ski Tarvisio again the next day, as we had covered the entire thing, and instead head to Nassfeld, which was only 40 minutes away and sort of on our way home. That was a fantastic decision.

 Greg at the top of Nassfeld. It was so very cold and windy up there, but the views were outstanding. 

This is the other side of Nassfeld, looking down into the Hermagor valley. Ben discovered a quasi half-pipe off to the left of this run and we pretty much skied that the entire morning.

Here I am at the top of the half-pipe. You can see how it curves to the left as you go down. The lip of that right side was very steep, almost a full 90 degrees, and we had a blast launching out of it, railing along the edge, and then dropping back in.

To finish out the day we made our way to the east side of the resort where we skied the run that Megan, Greg, and I had discovered last year, an off-piste section with lovely powder at the beginning, a sketchy middle section with trees and unmarked obstacles, and then a wide open section with more jumps than you could imagine. We ate speztle and kaiserschmarrn at the lodge and then finished up the day.

From there it was a short just over two hour drive home. The next day my body was screaming at me for abusing it for two full days, one of those moments when you realize you are getting old. Ben will leave in October so we need to find a replacement for Mancation 2016.

Ski Vacation at Monte Cervino AKA The Matterhorn

We skied at the Matterhorn! Last year we went to Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria, for our annual ski vacation with the Jones family. This year we were missing the Keuhnes, but we still had an epic adventure in the Italian Alps. And not just any Alp, but il Monte Cervino, better known as the Matterhorn!

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon after a five hour drive, too late to ski but with enough time to explore the town and take a picture of the partially obscured Matterhorn. The more famous facade is on the Swiss side, which we did not get the chance to see, unfortunately. The kids look unbelievably excited about this once-in-a-lifetime experience, par usual.

This is the main street in the little town at the foot of the mountain, called Breuil-Cervinia. Everything was very convenient and walkable from our apartment, including restaurants, shops, and the ski lifts.

We skied Thursday, but it was white-out conditions and freezing cold. Juliet did not have a good time and Ashley ended up taking her to child care for the afternoon. Isaac and Georgie did great despite the conditions. This is a family selfie inside the protective plastic shell of our lift chair.

In addition to the Jones we had the Slabaugh family, close friends of the Joneses and planners of the trip. They have four children, the eldest son serving a mission in Thailand, and their three girls still here in Italy: Megan in the pink coat, Mia in the green, and Elise in the purple. Samantha, Payton, and Isaac round out the group.

The big kids did a great job that first day, but they took a break on Friday. The conditions were even worse, with major white-out, winds, and sub-zero temps. Some of the adults skied, but most of the resort was closed and it was a huge disappointment, despite the multiple feet of fresh powder that fell.

We did have a fantastic snowball fight out in front of the apartment building, however. Multiple children cried due to ear shots, but no permanent damage.

Saturday, our final day, dawned clear and bright. And we finally got a clear shot of Monte Cervino. You can see our minivan and our apartment building in the foreground. We had three Honda Odysseys parked at that place (if that doesn't scream "AMERICANS!!!" I don't know what does). We had the 2nd & 3rd floors of the place, which was very reasonably priced but not comfortable AT ALL, especially when you jam 12 people into a two bedroom apartment.

The Joneses put Jacquelyn into day care again and bought the international ski passes so they could ski the Swiss side, but I wanted to ski with Juliet so badly that I only bought the beginner lift pass (a bargain at 17.50 euro) and skied over a dozen runs with my baby. Here she is with the Matterhorn in the background. 

She started the day with her edgie-wedgie holding the ski tips together, but after about 10 runs she was done with it and finished up the day without the "training wheels." She had a great attitude and kept asking to go back up again and "race."

We took a couple of breaks for lunch and hot chocolate, which they were giving out for free as part of a promotional deal. Here's Jubie enjoying her "Ciobar" at the base of the lift.

Meanwhile, Ashley was skiing around with the big kids. Isaac is doing very well with his parallel turns, while Georgie talks and sings to herself all the way down the mountain. They could ski everything on that mountain except the off-piste stuff.

At the top there were 360 degree views of beautiful mountains. Here are the kids with the Joneses and Slabaughs before they split up.

Isaac in his natural habitat. There was amazing powder pretty much all day because it was so cold despite the sun being out.

We finally got back together for a family picture and Ashley swapped me ski passes so I could get some lovely powder runs in. I specifically told the kids to open their eyes and put their hands down so we could have a good family picture in front of the Matterhorn. You can see how that turned out.

Isaac and I at the top of the highest lift closest to the Matterhorn. We are right on the Swiss border here. No, we did not pick out a red parka and orange pants for Isaac to wear. He has a matching parka that he left on the floor in the upstairs hallway of our home. All part of the growing pains as you try to figure out how much responsibility to give your children and how much you need to pick up the slack. Luckily, Angela had brought two parkas and Isaac borrowed one.

We skied the full day and then couldn't get out of the driveway because of all the snow. We ended up buying snow chains for 120 euro just to get out of the driveway. Then came the five hour drive home. Luckily we had all day Sunday to recover before going back to school/work. We agreed that although the scenery was amazing, we would be taking only short ski trips from now on, with all of the amazing ski areas we have within 2-3 hours of us.

I Presepi di Pofabbro

The good thing about Italy extending the Christmas season until mid-January is that you don't have to cram everything into December. Plus, I can insist on no more Christmas music after Christmas Day while still enjoying some of the trappings of the season.

One of the best of which are the nativity displays (presepi) in Pofabbro, a very small town of only a few hundred people northeast of here. We went in mid-December last year with the Crandalls but had arrived a day too early and the presepi were not lit up yet. We did however eat at a wonderful Osteria that we were looking forward to again. This year we went in early January with Ben (Charlotte and Luca were in the US). The presepi were all lit up, but the Osteria was closed.

Juliet standing in front of one of the larger displays. She was not being cooperative with Ben's efforts to capture a cool picture.

One of the coolest presepi ever: Jesus being born on a ski slope. We took this picture in honor of our ski-crazy friends and family. Wishing you were with us.

This was my favorite, a huge presepe made completely of pasta. I'm not sure that the actual stable had interior lighting.

This was the heavenly choir above the stable. I love the star, the grand piano, and the gong. 

This was one of the best moments of the night. After seeing over a hundred presepi, the kids spontaneously created their own scene while we sat drinking hot cider and taking a break. The Italian ladies selling the cider were laughing hysterically.

Yet another recreation, this time using scaffolding as the stable.

We had a great night, even though our Osteria was closed. We found another great restaurant close by and closed out the evening correctly. Such a great time with Ben while his family was away.

Christmas 2015

This was our first Christmas together in two years and our first without any extended family in a long time, maybe ever.

Juliet pulling down a sock from Ashley's crafty advent calendar. Every day comes with some type of fun activity or surprise. Way too much work for me to execute. An acquaintance in San Antonio was so taken with it that she wanted to copy it, exactly, with the same type of sock in the same position on the calendar. Weird.

In front of the tree on Christmas Eve, with Isaac looking fabulous. We went to the Jones' house for their annual Christmas Eve blowout feast and party. I had been to two of these events in the past, by myself, on two different continents, and they are always a blast.

Christmas morning the kids were fantastic. They slept in until 7:00 and then stayed in their rooms until I woke up at 8:00. Our friends' children were not so kind. Good things come to those who wait.

 Georgie was pretty stoked about getting a Taylor Swift piano book and an American Girl doll.

Isaac was excited about his magnetic chess set. He challenged me to a game and I trounced him. That's the way to earn Father of the Year, destroy your son in chess on Christmas Day. Hey, I guarantee that Bobby Fisher's dad never let him win, and look how he turned out. Oh, wait...

Isaac also got numerous LEGO sets, all of which were built by the end of the day.

Little did Georgie know that she was getting two American Girl dolls this year. One is a depression era girl and the other a 70s era girl.

That evening we had the Jones and Weatherwax families over for a low key soup dinner. We spent a lot of time with the Joneses this year, they were our substitute extended family this year. After our company left we got the chance to FaceTime with the entire Merback family minus Liz. I had been looking forward to it for a long time, but the reality was that with that many people and children it was somewhat anticlimactic. Better when you have significant time with one family in turn.

On Boxing Day, also known as Santo Stefano, the kids went ice skating with...who else? The Jones family. Isaac has the same talent as Mimi for having his eyes closed in pictures.

The Weatherwax girls joined in the fun as well. Georgie loves them and Samantha and constantly asks to have them over to play. Georgie has also transferred schools from the Italian school here in Sarone to the American school on base. She had been dealing with a bully at school for two and a half years and she was done. After a lot of talking and discussion, we finally decided to move her. She is in Samantha's class and loves it so far.

Overall it was a very calm, tranquil Christmas, which suited us just fine. I was on call and had to go in on both the 24th and 25th, but it wasn't a big deal. Next year we will be here again and will probably do the same thing.