We made it. Whew!

Annaleigh:

Me and my mommy went to Spain. I am looking forward to going to get postcards. today l went to the park. I saw the water.

Autumn:

As I sit here on what will be our first full night together in Spain, eating my favorite candy (oh how I’ve missed you!) and watching what can only be described as a Spanish amalgamation of Let’s Make a Deal, Name that Tune, and whatever game Ellen plays when she drops people through the floor, I have to admit that I’m pretty proud of how well we handled our journey. Granted, the kid has been passed out on the couch next to me since 7:30 Spain time, so it clearly took a lot out of her, but she handled it like a champ.

Thanks to Dave’s help, we sped through Dulles and made it through security without a problem. The kid brought a bunch of spending money with her and was desperate to exchange it for euros. This was a fail on my part for not thinking to take her to the bank ahead of time, so airport exchange it was. You would have thought that I lassoed the moon for her. She is OBSESSED with the colorful and multi-sized bills.

Upon boarding our flight, I discovered that we were sitting amongst forty teenagers that were embarking on a high school tour of Spain. At this point, I‘m relatively unphased by traveling with students, and aside from being woken up from the only 10 minutes of sleep I got when one teen accused another of stealing his favorite snack ("Dude, what if I can’t find Cheez-it’s anywhere in Spain?!), they were pretty well-behaved. One poor soul didn’t even bat an eye when my unconscious child started using him as a pillow.

We got to Madrid right on time and went through a painless customs process, so the only major hurdle was killing time until our next flight, four hours later. Eventually, we arrived in Santander, where we were greeted at the airport by our AirBnB host, María. Not only did she give us a ride and help us carry our luggage, but she also picked up milk and fresh croissants for our breakfast tomorrow. She is awesome, and her apartment is so fun, funky, and charming.

The kid adores this little balcony and even sat out there and read this evening.

After checking out our new digs, we moved on to what Annaleigh referenced in her blog contribution. We took a walk down to the area that gives this Puertochico (literally, "small port") neighborhood its name. Annaleigh thoroughly enjoyed the playground in the waterside Jardines de Pereda, and only gave me minor cardiac episodes when she scuttled her jet-lagged body all the way across the top of the entire length of this blue climbing structure.

When it was my turn to pick an activity, she was suddenly too exhausted to comply with my suggestion of a stroll along the water’s edge.

We compromised with a visit to the roof of el Centro Botín. This relatively new, spaceship-esque building houses a series of art galleries and offices.

The major appeal for Annaleigh was the outdoor glass elevator:

I was more excited by the view from the top:

By that point, the kid really was done for the day, so we headed to the supermarket to pick up some supplies (she was not amused when I forgot that customers have to weigh and print stickers for all produce before putting it in their carts, which meant the cashier had to send me back into the store before she could finish checking me out). On the other hand, I was pretty proud of myself for remembering the way back to our apartment without needing to use my phone, although Annaleigh clearly would have preferred that I teleported her there. She has now been out cold for more than an hour, but that crazy game show is still on for some reason, and now the contestants are dismantling a bomb.

I’m pretty excited to get a decent night’s sleep, and I’m looking forward to a full day in Santander tomorrow, which will apparently include postcard shopping. ¡Buenas noches!