Our first American visitors in Spain!

I feel so incredibly lucky to have two amazing friends who came to visit me (and Todd).  They came all the way to Spain to travel and to catch a glimpse of our new lives here in Linares.  It's amazing how quickly the time goes by...  Here are some of the highlights of trip, along with pictures. =)

We started off in Sevilla, which is spelled Seville in English.  As you can imagine this led to a little confusion in the initial planning stages... It was raining Saturday when Beth and Alexis arrived, but we made the most of it and got the day started out with some drinks and tapas -- what else is there to do when the weather is bad?!?  Besides shopping?  (Which we did immediately after.)  Then we ordered more tapas and headed to a flamenco show nearby...

Beth and Alexis were troopers going to a flamenco show their first night despite feeling a little jet-lagged and Alexis took drowsy Spanish cold medicine on top of it all (my fault)!

After the flamenco show we decided to call it a night, so my visitors could get nice and rested for all we had planned for the next, busy day of sightseeing.  We all slept in on Sunday and went to breakfast where we ordered 'tortilla española' one of my favorite dishes in Spain.  We sat eating breakfast, overlooking the cathedral which we planned to visit as soon as it opened (not until 2:00pm on Sunday).  It was a great view for breakfast.

The three amigos (amigas, to be proper) reunited at last!  Here we are at the top of the Giralda tower, an original minaret from the original mosque that was built on the same site in the 12th century, it is the only remaining part of the mosque.

Standing in front of Christopher Columbus' tomb inside the lavishly decorated Cathedral in Sevilla.

It's always an adjustment getting used to Spanish time... especially when you try to fit in some shopping into your sightseeing time.  But, ahhhhh, what a life!

We waited until the sun came out the next day (Monday) to take a picture in front of the Cathedral.

Our 'penthouse' in Granada!  We made it finally... after a little mishap trying to catch a bus.  Who knew there are TWO bus stations in Sevilla?!??  Oops!

I love the Moorish architecture!  Here we are eating falafels, kebabs and drinking tea... yummy!

A whirlwind, less than 24-hour trip to see Granada.  We visited the La Alhambra in the morning and then did some additional sightseeing and souvenir shopping after lunch.

Beautiful fall colors!  Not to mention two gorgeous ladies!

Enjoying the beautiful sunset from our patio in Linares... it never gets old and company only makes it better!

Delta Delta Delta

Proudly showing Beth and Alexis what our town does best --- tapas!  Which are free with each drink you buy!  In this picture we are out with some friends in Linares at one of our favorite places - La Carbonería.

I love it when you order something on a menu, and you have an idea in your head of what it might come out looking like, and then when the food comes it looks NOTHING like you ever would have expected, sometimes with ingredients that weren't even mentioned in the description.  Another favorite part of life here and very true for our week together.

We couldn't have asked for better weather in Madrid, beautiful, blue sunny skies!  Finally!!!  Here we are outside the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) which used to be the home of the royal family.  They have since moved locations to another home a little outside of the city center and today the Palace is only used for ceremonies and official events.

Jump!  Being silly in the streets of Madrid!

Mercado de San Miguel - always a Madrid favorite!

A delicious pre-siesta snack of patatas bravas and tortilla española with brava sauce.  Brava sauce is basically a creamy, slightly spicy tomato sauce... delicious?  YES!  But probably not the best idea to pig out on before laying down for a nap.  I don't think any of us felt the same when we woke up!

All in all, it was a great trip and I miss my friends already!  We can't wait for our next visitors to begin a whole new adventure and to discover all sorts of new places!