Family Vacation in Spain: the final installment.

From Scott:

Sunday afternoon the three of us had brunch at a cafeteria across the street from our hotel. Their food was Awesome. This was also the first place that a highchair was brought to us for Evie to sit in, which all of us appreciated. By the time we finished eating, Allie was waiting for us at the hotel so we could all head to Toledo for the day. (Note from Vita: Scott had actual beef at this place, and it was SO GOOD! Proof that beef not only exists in Spain, but that it has the potential to be delicious. hehe)

Toledo was beautiful! The architecture was very old, dating back several centuries. The walk through the part we explored took us up high, which we felt the effects of well into the next day. The downhill parts were better. ;) We browsed some shop windows and went into one of the shops that was actually open. We found a small playground where the boys played while the rest of us took a much needed break. Then we headed back down and out with the intention of checking out the cathedral. It was farther away than we realized though, and the boys starting complaining that they were hungry. So we turned back in search of a place to have dinner together.

Photo set from Toledo

After dinner we headed back home for the night. The three of us set out in search of a place to hang out for a while since Evie was wide awake, but everything was closed for the night. So instead we sat in the hotel lobby, let Evie crawl around us to get her energy out, and had a nice cup of tea courtesy of the hotel before turning in for the night.

Then the next morning we had breakfast in the hotel and dragged Evie out of bed so we could check out on time...

From Vita:  

The night before we left, I wrote down several general cultural differences that I noted throughout our trip.  Most were things that made me sad I don't live in Europe.  I'd always wanted to visit and going there just made my desire to visit again even stronger.  We were planning our next trip out before we even left.

• I did not see a single pickup truck or SUV.  Every truck I saw was a work truck of some sort.  Everything else was a small, fuel-efficient little thing.  Their gas may be more expensive, but I bet they complain about it less.
• Speaking of transportation, there were a TON of motorcycles.  The motorcycles didn't seem to have any rules on the road. ;)  Speaking of the roads, there were a lot of roundabouts and oddly places street lights.  I'm glad I didn't have to drive!
• "Green" and "energy efficient" meant much more than the advertising I so often see in the US (but rarely see in action.)  There were recycling cans on the sides of the roads, no paper towels in the restrooms, most lights were on a sensor that turned off pretty quickly, and there was little to no air conditioning.
• Food was cheaper. A lot cheaper.  Some wines were under 1 Euro!  Olive oil was ridiculously cheap, comparitively. And there was a lot less processed food at the grocery stores.
• Most of the grocery stores were part of a mall.  Kinda neat, but kinda annoying if you hate malls like I do. ;)  We went shopping a couple times anyway!  The malls are similar to our malls, except the employees NEVER bothered us! (Heaven!)
• They played pretty crappy (mostly american) music, everywhere we went.  I'm sure good music exists in Spain, but I didn't hear any.  The trendy mall stores all played annoying techno pop type stuff.
• WAY MORE BREASTFEEDING FRIENDLY. When I saw this, I about died.  (The sign is advertising that they have lactation rooms in the grocery store.)  I lost count of how many women I saw nursing, and they were everywhere!  Definitely no boob stigmas to be seen (I saw boob on the news, too.)  Refreshing.
• Hardly saw anyone texting and didn't see anyone rushing to get somewhere.  Most people were just sitting around talking face to face and enjoying each others' company.
• Time didn't really seem to exist there.  It took me a couple days after getting home to start operating on a time schedule again.  I know a lot of this has to do with being on vacation, but the feeling was really amplified there.
• A lot of people brought their kids out late, and no one gave them dirty looks.  There seemed to be a lot more for kids to do, too, or at least a much more relaxed attitude about children.  
• Dinner and lunch were really late!  My kind of schedule.
• They had a genius way of making sure carts were out of the way and in the right spot; charge for them, then return the money when the cart is returned.
• I think 70% of their population smokes. Lots of secondhand inhalation (ick).
• MEN really love babies.  And people touch babies, that's just the way they are.  (I didn't mind it!)
• Spainards eat A LOT of pork.  A lot.  I love pork and got sick of it after a week.  Their french fries put ours to shame, though.  I doubt I will ever enjoy American french fries again, which is good because I shouldn't be eating them anyway! ;)

I made a collection of all the spain photo sets here.  Can't wait to experience and share our next family vacation!