Standing as close as possible to the black automatic doors that guard the arrival/baggage station, I stole glances and scanned the baggage area for my petite auburn-haired Mama. Doors open. The doors close. Doors open - I see her! But she doesn't see me. And she looks confused. Oh no. Doors close. Doors open - she sees me and waves! Doors close. Doors open - she tells me she doesn't know where her luggage is, and I quickly attempt to tell her to ask the people at the information desk. Doors close. And so our much-anticipated reuniting went - doors open, doors close until she finally found her luggage and made her way out to the openness. :)
I think it goes without saying that we were both extremely excited to be with one another! Catching a taxi from the airport, we headed to our hotel which was located about 15-20 minutes from the centro (center) of Sevilla. My mother was an AMAZING trooper -- despite all of her travel, she wanted to explore and walk around Sevilla the very day she arrived! Day one was filled with hugs, strolls in the centro streets of Sevilla, sights of the cathedral, and Mama beautifully ordering her first cafe con leche (translation: coffee with milk. And yes, this is a very important first here in Spain!). :) We even took a long-ish detour in the centro (aka - we got a little lost) which turned out to be one of those surprisingly beautiful happy mistakes. :) The cobblestone streets we wandered through were precious - filled with unique silver Spanish jewlery shops and artistry stores displaying cermaics painted with green twirling ivy and bright flowers. The few street-side cafes added to the quaint-ness of it all. I truly think that sometimes getting lost is far better than any pre-planned path on a map.
As mentioned, my mother ordered her first cafe con leche in Sevilla. Now this is something to write about: my mother's language skills. I have to say that her Spanish skills are yet another quality about her that I am amazed by. Now if you know my mom at all, you know that despite how much she denies it she has this sweet, totally recongizable-to-most-every-human-ear Southern drawl. So picture this wonderful, soft, and somewhat thick Southern drawl combined with jetlag and then mixed with lots of thick, hard-to-understand Andalucian Spanish. The result? I think you can imagine. :) But, the incredible part is that my mom solidly knows the phrase: Hablo un poco espanol. Translation: I speak a little Spanish. So when she needed to get something done - whether it be ordering a pizza, talking to a shop clerk, or going to the post office, she would start with the disclaimer: Hablo un poco espnaol.....and then she would rattle off in English just like the person could understand everything she was saying. But the amazing part is this: the Spanish people somehow, someway understood her! So I'm concluding that maybe I should quit trying to learn Spanish and instead just say "Hablo un poco espanol" with a sweet Southern drawl and then speak entirely in English. Sounds like a fine plan to me. ;)
Day two of our time in Sevilla was filled with more sight-seeing and LOTS of walking (Mom's pedometer read between 5 and 6 miles I think). Having spent some time in Sevilla, I was extremely excited to show Mom my favorite parts of the city. A visit to the Parque de Maria Lusia, Plaza de Espana, eating delicious helado (ice cream), shopping at Zara (which Mom now has an immense love for), and walking by the river filled our day. It was so wonderful to be able to share one of my favorite parts of Spain with one of my favorite people. :)
Day three we headed to the airport for our flight to Rome....and little did we know that our European fun had just begun....
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