Madrid and the Long Journey to Sydney

“Once you have travelled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

And so we arrive at our final twenty four hours of our journey in Europe after thirteen flights, thirty eight train journeys and three hundred and eighty one days on the road. Madrid was to be a one night stopover before the flight so we decided to take it easy.

Plaza de Espana, Madrid

 After arriving by super fast train we made the plan that today we would walk to the nearest park for the afternoon and the following day we would do the "hop-on-hop-off" bus before our evening flight home with a few hours in the del Museo Nacional del Prado in there somewhere too.

 Luckily for us the closest park to the apartment was Parque de la Montana and our  walk there took us past the Plaza de Espana. In the middle of the park we were surprised to find an Egyptian temple, the Temple of Debod.

The temple dates from the 2nd century BCE and was moved to Madrid after the construction of the Aswan High Dam posed a threat to its safety and as thanks for Spain's assistance with saving the Temples of Abu Simbel.

 The temple was closed for the day, but we were not concerned as we were enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the park and resting in preparation for the next day.

 Mostly it was case of Rob and I resting and the kids playing on the playground, while I talked about how much I was not looking forward to the flight home. I must confide that I'm not too keen on flying and dread the thought of the dreadful 24 hour trip from Europe to Australia and vis versa?..In fact I had delayed buying our ticket home as I just did not want to think about it. Also I must admit that I wasn't overly keen to return home, having no idea what life after this experience would be like.

 In the end I was on the flight before I even had to chance to worry about it, but not in any way I would have imagined. Over the year we had been away from home, apart from a healthy dose of Chicken Pox each for the kids in England and the odd cold here and there everyone's had been in good health. It was a nasty shock when just as I was going to bed that night that I noticed Julian was unsettled in his sleep and was running a  39.5 degree temperature. Luckily for us when our travel insurance expired at Christmas we decided to extend it for a further fortnight. After getting his temperature down with the emergency kids paracetamol from the trusty first aid kit we took everywhere I sat up watching him throughout the night. First thing in the morning we went to the nearest hospital and were transferred to children's hospital out of Madrid. He was diagnosed with Pneumonia and we were told we should fly home, leaving the hospital as late as we could so he could stay on a drip until then. Ten hours and twelve hundred euro later (never travel without insurance!!!) we were on the plane to Sydney. 

It was a nightmare journey of two nights and a short day for our poor little man as we flew to Sydney via Dubai. Emma I think enjoyed it as we didn't limit how much screen time she had and we even let a delirious Julian watch TV for the first time just to shorten the journey. As we flew over Perth, after three nights without sleep I was prepared to jump rather than face a further four hours to Sydney, which is of course the same distance from Perth as London is to Istanbul, but the thought of being looked after by my wonderful mother kept me going.

And finally we arrived and after two days of sleeping Julian got well very quickly we were able to spend such wonderful time with my Mum and some of my special friends. I spent most of my teens living in Sydney and I believe you never truly appreciate the places you have lived until viewed with the eyes of a traveller.                                        

 And so our holiday continued with special days with long lost friends and lovely long lunches with my wonderful family.  We were very pleased to have two weeks of mild summer weather, having expected unrelenting heat and humidity, and the kids loved getting out of their thick layers of clothing.

We even revisited scenes from my youth with my best friend and her gorgeous boys and had a fabulous day, though perhaps Luna Park is not what it once was.

BFF

 



 My mother and I had an amazing girls days out thanks to a Christmas gift from my big brother, a fascinating architectural tour of Sydney's history, not simply the buildings but the nitty gritty political history, with Sydney Architectural Walks.

 And so we spent two wonderful weeks with my Mum enjoying ourselves immensely and avoiding any thought of the trip back to Perth and the awful, unavoidable consequences of travel..unpacking

 

 



Our Adventures in Andalucia- Cordoba and the Reyes Magos Parade in Seville

“When we get out of the glass bottles of our ego,
and when we escape like squirrels turning in the
cages of our personality
and get into the forests again,
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves.

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power,
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down,
we shall laugh, and institutions will curl up like
burnt paper.”    

― D.H. Lawrence

Seville with kids, especially in sunny winter, was definitely proving to be another perfect destination. With a number of busy days under our belt and knowing the next day, our last in Seville, was to be another big day, I opted to have a day off. I devoted my day to blogging and sorting photos whilst Rob and the kids went in search of high sea adventures.

Not far away they found the Pabellon de Navegacion, a maritime museum on the canal filled with displays of sailing ships and all things nautical, highlighting the discovery of the New World. Julian fondly calls it the Pirate Museum and both kids really enjoyed it, especially the interactive games and the view from the tower. They were far less impressed with the neighbouring dinosaur display, which may have been a temporary exhibit, in a lower floor of the museum.

The next day I was so excited as we had decided to spend the morning in Cordoba, with only one day left in Seville I did not want to miss it even though we had a big evening planned. As I have mentioned many times and from many places, the weather has a definite impact on your overall impression of a place that you visit.

Luckily all our days were sunny and bright but the next morning proved to be the coldest experienced in Seville that winter, according to the locals. Annoyingly we underdressed and arrived in Cordoba on a morning which reached close to freezing, when we had gotten used to 16degree averages..

Another import lesson I have learnt about travelling with children, no matter how thrilled or inspired you are, if they are uncomfortable it does not matter how incredible a place is, they will just want to leave. So take my advice, never forget extra layers of clothes.

In any case Cordoba, specifically the Mezquita, for me if no one else, was an amazing wonder and a highlight of Andalucía that once stood as a monument to religious tolerance and unity. Sadly though numerous requests for Muslims to again have permission to worship here have been denied.

Originally the Visigoths built a Catholic Church here in the eighth century, which was then divided and shared, with both religions worshiping in different areas of the one building. Later in the century it was razed and the grand mosque, the Mezquita,was built in stages over the next two hundred years.

Following the Reconquista the mosque was converted into an Catholic Church, and a nave was added in the 16th century. It is quite an experience to walk amongst the thousand arches of the mosque, which on a cold winters morning was quite deserted, and feel the amazing energy of this ancient place, and then to find yourself in a renaissance cathedral.

I found it best to leave the kids to Rob (bless him) and walk quietly myself, so an not to hear the complaints and make the most of the experience. I was reminded of my own childhood when my mother would decide to go for a bush walk to spot blue-wrens and would be tailed by a shadow who begged to come but five minutes later would ask "when can we go back"..it must be karma.

Our stay, by necessity was very brief, though we did have time for a quick walk through town and time to visit the ceramic shops which abound here.

 One of the reasons, apart from the fear of freezing solid, the kids were so keen to get back to Seville is that today, the 5th January, is a very special day in the calendar for Sevillanos, the parade of the Reyes Magos, the Three Kings.

 

After a quick visit to the hotel for warm clothes, we made our way to the Macarena district to find our spot to stand on the street. We had asked at a tourist office a few days earlier to find out the best place to stand and when to be there. When we were told the parade started at about 4:30 (from memory) and took at least four and a half hours to make its long journey through the streets of Seville. We decided so something so big the best place was close to hotel and not too late at night.

 

The atmosphere was electric, with excited children running around on the closed off streets, and the people living in the apartments above decking their windows out with balloons and raining streamers down on us long before the parade arrived at 6:30.

 

We were intrigued as to why people were taping plastic bags over their kids shoes or even running lines of masking tape along the soles of their own. It didn't take us long to discover why once the parade filed past.

 

The forty or so magnificent floats that we watched pass by where filled mostly with costumed children who all showered us in lollies, I read a report saying as many as ten thousand kilograms of sweets are thrown during the parade, one report claimed forty thousand, all I can saw was that it was a lot. By the end of the parade we understood why people covered their shoes, the ground was so sticky it was difficult to raise you foot to walk, we even saw a horse at the end of the parade shy because its hoof was stuck to the street.

 

And not just lollies, also small toys and balls came flying at us. Though it is rare in our household to have sweets we were catching and stuffing them in our bag with the best of them, though I must admit leaving those on the ground to the, mostly elderly, people scrabbling round on the ground filling huge bags to keep the grand kids happy presumably throughout the year.

About twenty minutes in, and with a five kilogram bag full Julian turned to me and said "Mum all these lollies are making me feel sick" which at the time was incredibly funny as he hadn't eaten any of them. And now with hindsight looking back on that day, and the rushed trip to hospital with pneumonia the poor little guy had thirty hours later in Madrid it is a little less funny, but still endearing.

The Reyos Magos parade, followed by a tapas dinner in a café along La Alameda de Hercules, a haven for children to run and play with other kids on a cloud free winters night, was a perfect farewell to Seville, and really to Europe as we were to fly to Sydney in two days time.  The following morning as the children of Seville woke up to see if the Three Kings had left something special in their shoes, we were speeding down the train line, at up to 270kmph, on our way to Madrid.