The Denja Family: 2018

Welcome to another out-of-order blog post. I'm just so happy I finally got my pictures loaded and there are SO MANY of them and Blogger loads them however it wants instead of in any kind of way that makes sense. Sigh. Thank you for bearing with me. I'm going to start with the writing and end with photos. I wish I could be more integrated so it wasn't so boring, but for now, this will have to do.

Pre-Trip: I didn't think in a million years we could get to Europe. But for fun, I started poking around to look at flights. Once I realized it might be feasible, I booked a flight for Thanksgiving weekend to Malaga from Rome for Maria. I emailed her contact and asked him *if* we could make it - would she be able to have the time off. He assured me it would be okay. So I told Maria I just wanted to know she'd be with family for Thanksgiving and that I had booked her flight to Malaga from Thursday to Monday. It was about $110 round trip! What a deal :)

Then I started to look in earnest for me and possibly Mike. The day before Maria left we all got our passports...just in case! I found a flight to Malaga on Norwegian (I think?) that was decently priced. Around $800ish. I tried to convince Mike to go. He wasn't too sure. I knew Maria would want me to take Lucy. I knew it would be hard. I told Mike if he wasn't 100% really wanting to go I should probably just go on my own rather than make him go with me. I figured if we did that we'd fight and ruin it for each other with our stress. I told my parents and asked my mom/dad for help and they offered to give us our Christmas money early! Wow. We could do this!

But then the flight sale was over and I had missed it. Ugh. Flights from DTW were around $1400...from Chicago closer to $900ish. But then after looking on and off over a few weeks time, I found a (non-stop!) Toronto to Rome for $657!! Wow. How could I not book it? The non-stop idea really appealed to me knowing I'd be traveling alone with Lucy. It would be a long flight but better than dragging luggage through an airport with a baby to get to a connecting flight. I booked it. Then I booked the same flight Maria had from Rome to Malaga for Lucy and I. Infants don't fly free abroad, but their flights are usually priced at 10% of an adult ticket so for about $75 US round-trip Lucy went to Europe!

Day 1: Tuesday, November 20

I got up regular time (6:30amish) and we got the kids off to school. We had a plan for playdate for Paulina so no one would have to do PreK pick up and my parents were set to arrive noonish and uber to our house so they could do the 3pm dismissal. So at around 11am on Tuesday, Mike set out to drive Luciana and I to the aiport in Toronto.

Luckily I thought to screenshot the directions because about 10 minutes into Canada our phones were useless. They did have rest areas with free WiFi so that was helpful. The drive was pretty non-eventful other than going across the Ambassador Bridge which took probably about 20 minutes.

We arrived in Toronto around 4:30pmish I think. Our side was fine but I could see Mike would be fighting some major traffic on his way out. ugh. Our flight was 6:55pm so we parked in short term parking and Mike came in with us. We got Subway and killed time so the traffic might dissipate and so I didn't have to just sit at the gate. At first it looked like security was very loose in Toronto, but once I left Mike/the food court area, I realized it was the whole "9 yards" I'm used to. Everyone was very accommodating though when they saw me alone with the baby..."this line please! Oh come this way, skip that line, this is your line"...it was nice and as easy as it could be dragging two carry-ons with a back pack and a baby in the front pack.

We boarded the flight a little earlier than our zone due to me having Luciana. We got settled, it was definitely the biggest plane I've ever been on. We flew economy and there were 9 seats across (three sets of three seats). I was on an aisle seat and only at the very end did two people end up sitting in my row. One was a very snooty 20-something girl who I could tell was not happy about sitting in the middle seat next to me and Lucy. Luckily they were able to find her something else so we ended up with an empty seat next to us which was nice...to have the extra room.

I soon found out I love Air Canada. We got a meal (which I knew about) but also free drinks (yes actual alcoholic drinks too!) and though I didn't use them on the way there (I was listening to my book club book online - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) - there were also free headphones and movies, TV shows, etc. Lucy slept a lot...maybe 60-70% of the flight? I maybe slept for 45 minutes. When we landed it was 9amish Rome-time (and 3am my time and I had been up for 21 hours).

Day 2: Wednesday, November 21

Going through the airport and customs again was a breeze. With Lucy it was all skip the line and right this way...I mean I'm not sure I'd recommend traveling with a non-walking 10-month-old just to grease the wheels because she didn't exactly make life easy, but she did make lines easy. :)

Maria and I had already arranged to meet at Termini Station. I would find the train station from FCO and take the train right from there to Termini. It was pretty straightforward. Again, people were eager to help. We would meet outside Lush in Termini Station. Thank goodness we had the foresight to arrange this. My phone worked on WiFi in the airport but I forgot to text Maria once I got on the train (which I almost missed because I tried to board from the wrong side...idiot American! First foible of the trip!) and there was no WiFi on the train and so no way to contact her. My first glimpses of Italy were from the train tracks. Lots of graffiti. Then some countryside. Then some city...everyone hangs their laundry outside their balconies...at first seeing all the pants it looked like people were hanging off the sides ready to jump.

I arrived in Termini Station and attempted to find Lush. It wasn't as easy or straightforward as I thought. I wandered a little. Then found what appeared to be a mall/department store so I figured I was on the right track. I kept walking. Outside was cool and perfect. Inside was a burning furnace. Keep in mind I've been dragging two carry-on suitcases and have a baby on my back and backpack on my front. Bag lady indeed. I found Lush! Hooray! It was about 10:30ish I think? Maria had said she'd get there about 9/9:30...but she was nowhere to be found. No worries, I'll get on the WiFi...um...uh oh. I could not connect to any WiFi. I was so frustrated! Lucy had been so happy-go-lucky but now she was unhappy too. Ugh. I kept trying and trying to get on WiFi and couldn't. I just hung around outside of Lush. (Maria thinking I had missed the train that got in at 10:25 and that it would be another half hour minimum had wandered off not realizing.) I told myself I'll wait until 11am and if she's not here I'll go inside Lush and ask them for their WiFi password so I can try to connect to her. Maria showed up just before 11! Hooray!

Now I had hit the 24 hours of being awake mark. I had been traveling in a car, plane or train carrying a baby and 3 bags for most of those hours. I had already walked many, many airport and train station steps dragging bags and with a baby strapped to me. We bought a 24-hour bus/metro pass and walked toward Maria's new place. We walked. And walked. I entered sleep-deprived hangry-ness. We were approaching the Vatican. It was after the Wednesday Papal Audience so lots of people were flooding toward us. It was funny to see so many ladies randomly in wedding dresses :) Maria casually pointed "here's Saint Peter's" and that's when I lost it...just a little bit. "How much further to her place?" She said "about 15 minute walk I think?" She may as well have said 30 miles. I sat down and refused to budge. I couldn't let my first glimpse of Saint Peter's/the Vatican be in this state of grumpiness so I insisted we sit down and take it in. Maria bought me a bottle of water and I tried to hydrate myself back to happiness. LOL It worked! After a brief rest we powered on to her place which actually was a much shorter walk than I thought but ended with a steep hill to climb. Lord have mercy.

You'll see this later too but you deserve a picture for reading this far...

Having made it up the hill, we were greeted by Stephanie and Mr. Asaf (the coordinator of their program) and we sat in Maria's new temporary room while we waited for mine and decided to go get lunch with Jenna too (sort of her "RA" while abroad). We went around the corner for the 'best sandwiches in the city' - meh. They were okay but the company was wonderful! Mr. Asaf was lovely, funny, adorable. The kind of person you're glad your kid knows and has met in life. Somehow I ended up inviting Jenna to go to Spain with us...what? Ooops? Of course I did! And then Maria and I decided to go off and explore Rome.

Maria took us to get gelato, we bought one post card to send to grandma Paula (ended up being literally the ONLY (non-consumable) THING I bought in Rome) and to Saint Mary Major and then we took a bus to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. While there it started to rain a bit...nothing awful, but enough that I ended up with super chafed legs...ouch! We took the metro (I think? it's a bit of a blur...I think this maybe is when Lucy almost got shut in the doors? Maria might remember. It was a terrifying moment as it closed on me with her inside and most of me still outside the train car! and where we paid for a truly awful bathroom LOL) to another church which had a lovely bathroom and I literally used the only thing I had (chapstick) to address my chafing so that I could continue to walk. TMI? Too bad. Unvarnished truth must be told! This is traveling in the life of a 40-something-mom-of-eight.

I know there were many more churches it would have been wonderful to see but I was so tired at this point we just decided to find a restaurant that looked appealing and eat some Italian food. We ended up at a place just across from the sandwich shop and very near Maria's place. It was called "All Brothers" (I think?) and we got semi-cheap Italian food (definitely not foodie-food and Maria was so happy!) ravioli and spaghetti and shared a bottle of Prosecco (and by share I mean Maria had one glass and I drank the rest). It was lovely. We also had some delicious thing that we shared for dessert that was some kind of chocolate crunchy moussey magic ball of yum. We got back and moved my stuff into the room for Luciana and I and the next thing I know I was asleep. Lucy got a up a few times in the night and I remember hearing the rain through the open windows, but the temperature was perfect and I think I slept better than I have in 15 years that night. So...if you ever need a really good night's sleep, I think 40+ hours awake, a Xanax and 3/4 bottle of Prosecco might be the right remedy :)

Day 3: Thursday, November 22

Thanksgiving! Isabel turned 16 without me :( but I'm not sure I even had time to mourn that fact.

Lucy woke up around 6:15am and as I said, I was feeling rested. Maria and I had decided the night before that we wouldn't push it, but if we felt up for it in the morning we would head to the Vatican to go inside Saint Peter's before we had to take the metro to the train to the airport for our flight. I went to let her know we were up and waited...nothing. I was dressed and ready to go but Lucy fell asleep so I went back to bed too. About 8:30-9am, Maria came in and we made sure our bags were packed and we went down to stand in line to see Saint Peter's inside. I didn't get close to the Pieta because the crowds were a little crazy but I did get to pray at Pope Saint John Paul II the Great and go to confession and pretty much (inadvertently) interrupt the start of Mass at the chapel of Saint Jude. (Idiot American foible #2.) I wanted to post Paula's postcard from the Vatican post office so Maria stood in line to do that. I think she was a little frustrated with me as she had to drag me out of Saint Peter's so we wouldn't miss the train, etc. but I wasn't going to be rushed since after all I had been up and ready to go when the doors opened at 7am. Maria can tell you how fun I am to travel with...just ask her!

Jenna did end up able to book a flight so she had already left and was going to wait for us at the airport in Malaga. Stephanie flew with us (she had intended to go with Maria from the beginning) and she and Maria met me down the hill with the bags so I didn't have to go up again. I can't tell you how much easier travel is with two adult helpers! I was light as a feather! We took the metro to Termini I think and then after trying and failing at one kiosk, got our tickets just in time for the express train to FCO! After getting into the airport and through security, we had plenty of time but hadn't eaten so Maria and Stephanie went off in search of food and we had sandwiches and a coke...I had NO COFFEE for over 48 hours at this point so I just want you to take a moment and respect the sacrifice okay?

~moment of silence~

We then loaded a bus to take to the tarmac to get to our plane which we entered from both sides of the plane...weird. It turns out Maria had a row all to herself, so I moved up with Lucy to sit with her for that plane ride. Alitalia has you buckle your infant onto your seatbelt and provides you with an infant life vest you have to keep with you...which seems much safer and yet more terrifying all at the same time. Overall I was happy with the Alitalia experience too. They didn't question my carry-on bags and backpack which was nice for a pretty inexpensive flight (I think I was expecting Spirit-like strict rules for the fare we paid?)

When we landed in Malaga it was raining (it was predicted to rain pretty much the whole time I was in Europe so I was already happy with the blue skies we had most of the first day in Rome and the second morning). Jesus (Mike's cousin, Paula's sister's son) met us at the airport at the actual gate. He was already Whatsapping the family from the moment our plane came into view. He works for the police and has friends at the airport so he was able to do all that...wonderful! What a welcome. He hugged us all and carried all my luggage and Lucy and we headed for the rest of the family. I guess because it's EU we didn't have to do anything with customs or our passports and so we just found Jenna waiting near the baggage claims and headed to meet the family waiting for us! Carmen (Paula's sister) and Jose Antonio were there (Jesus' parents) and Rosalia (Paula's sister) and her daughter Paquita and son, Miguelangel (Mikey's godfather that came to the US 12 years ago) were there. And Paquita's son, Pedro was also there. We talked and hugged and hugged some more. Finally we made our way to the cars and headed back to Carmen and Jose Antonio's home (about 10-15 minutes away) in Malaga which is where we would spend the night.

Jesus immediately became our translator. His English is very good...thankfully because our Spanish pretty much sucks...and it quickly became apparent what a good sense of humor he has. He kept us all laughing and then his wife (Lourdes) and son (Jesusito) and daughter (Paula) arrived to greet us too. Paulita had brought a bag full of toys for Lucy - so sweet! And Jesusito held court with the three girls as his English was also very good. We visited and had COFFEE (cafe con leche) and turron and montecado and all the Spanish sweets I love so much! Lucy also loved the pasas (raisins) from Jose Antonio's grapes and ate a bunch. I think our flight got in around 6pm...sometime after eating all these treats they asked if we were ready for dinner? Wow. So we all walked to a nearby restaurant for a wonderful meal of shared plates: calamari (fried and grilled), octopus gallega style (boiled and served on potatoes in olive oil with paprika on top), fried and grilled sardines, squid ink croquettes (Luciana's favorite!), little baby mussels, and probably other delicious things I'm somehow forgetting. We had red wine (Dona Paula) and just a delightful time as their other son, Antonio Miguel (Jesus' brother, Mike's cousin) and his family (wife...Maria Jose, sons Alvaro and Arturo and daughter, Clara) all joined us. Antonio Miguel is also funny and speaks quite good English so we were able to make fine conversation. Luciana slept while Tita Carmen held her (and I got to eat hands free!) and when she woke up all the little cousins (cousins once removed) loved on her and played with her and held her.

That night we went to bed with a promise for a mid-morning wake-up call and tour of Malaga. That night I also slept very well with Lucy in between Maria and I on a shared bed, another night of rain (I love sleeping to the sound of rain) and the perfect temperature and comfortable pillows and just all the things that could not work out quite right when traveling. It was wonderful. Only later did I realize because I had last-minute invited Jenna and she wasn't expected that they had given up their bed for us and were sleeping on a couch and a cot. For all the sleeping they did! We didn't get done with dinner and back to the house until midnight and of course they were up and totally ready to go by the time we got out of bed (around 7/8am I think?)

Day 4: Friday, November 23

It's hard to believe we packed all that in 3 days. 5 countries in 3 days. US to Canada, Canada to Italy, Vatican City (it's own state), Italy to Spain. Wow. Like I said when we woke up breakfast was ready for us. Cheese, meat, bread, tomatoes (almost especially for Maria! Everyone remembered how much she loved them when she was 6 and last in Spain...aww!), churros and CAFE CON LECHE. #bless I was already 400x more in love with Spain than Italy. Jesus and Lourdes came and we all packed in two cars to go into the city of Malaga. As Jesus said, we will go to see the ruins, the City Center and the Cathedral. That's what we did! It was another face-paced tour as we had to get it all in before they had to get the kids from school (this is something I realized in retrospect...because of our language barrier and my not having any clue what day it was in my own whirlwind visit, I wasn't thinking at the time about anything other than what was in front of my face!)

First we hit up the ancient ruins outside the Muslim Castle and then we went to the Malaga Cathedral (the one-armed lady) and they asked if wanted to go inside, we did! Only after did we realize there was a charge...oops. But we all got listening devices that spoke in our own language...that was cool. Not realizing we were on a rush trip, I spent entirely too long on the first portion and not enough on the rest...oh well. We flew through the beautiful church...which one could probably spend hours upon hours in and still not catch enough detail.

After the Cathedral we walked to City Centre of Malaga. All the lights were up for Christmas...but it was the middle of the day so we didn't get to see them on, but you can watch a video on YouTube. It was so beautiful. A lovely contrast to the gritty Rome streets with constant traffic, the streets there were only open to walking. We got helado de turron (a specialty in Malaga...basically ice cream that tastes like the sweet, turron, which I can best describe as almond paste but 100x more wonderful than what that actually sounds like...LOL) and then we had to get back to the car to head to lunch.

For lunch we headed to Litoral Pacifico which is right on the beach. To get there you have to pass a beach-side Burger King that seriously might tempt me to actually eat at Burger King - it was open air seating and so pretty! The menu was very similar to the evening before. Jesusito and Paulita got picked up from school and joined us. This time instead of red wine we had cerveza.

After lunch we packed up and headed from Malaga to Cancelada where we would spend the next night at Rosalia's. When we arrived we dropped off our things and pretty much immediately walked to Paquita's to see Aurora and Pedro (Paquita's twins) who were celebrating their birthdays. We had a toast with some champagne and sang and ate some cake to wish them well and then walked back to Rosalia's for dinner.

At some point we saw Dolores (Lola) one of AnaMari's daughters (Paula's sister who passed away earlier this year) and got a big hug on the street. We also saw Carmen (Paula's niece who is the oldest of 4 siblings - the children of Paula's brother who passed away when they were all young) and Aitiana who is the oldest of all the grandchildren (Maria's generation). They didn't stay to eat with us but told us they would take us out the next day for breakfast and sight seeing.

Rosalia made us a salad with tomatoes (for Maria!) and there was a potato salad as well and the best, most juicy, tender meat you could eat. YUM. I can't be sure but I think after dinner this night we went to bed. Again, super comfortable bed, pillows, temperature, everything was perfect! With Lucy tucked in between Maria and I...the luckiest woman in the world.

Day 5: Saturday, November 24

We woke up in Cancelada! The city of Paula's birth! Pedro made us fresh-squeezed orange juice with oranges from his campo (just as Jose Antonio did at his home) and Rosalia made us CAFE CON LECHE. I had coffee in Cancelada! At some point we realized Carmen and Aitiana were there for us as they shouted up from their car on the street and we shouted down through the open window. IT IS EVERYTHING IT SOUNDS LIKE. The quaintest, most lovely, peaceful, adorable thing ever! Carmen's niece, Arianna (Mike's cousin Pedro's daughter), came along with us and we split up in two cars and headed to Estepona.

The drive to Estepona was beautiful, as was the drive before. Remember how I mentioned it was supposed to rain the whole time? We had beautiful days and not one sprinkle after the day we arrived. From the car you could see the ocean and eventually the Rock of Gibralter. In Estepona we had churros and hot cocoa (basically melted chocolate...nothing like ours) for breakfast and Carmen's other daugther, Carmencita, who is our Carmen's age met us and walked with us until she had to get back to something for school. We walked around the most charming, lovely Spanish streets. We visited Iglesia Santa María de los Remedios, the church in Estepona but weren't able to get inside. We also visited the Plaza de las Flores and saw one of the typical wall murals of Estepona. We tried in vain to get to a souvenir shop to get something "typical" for our folks back home but they were all closed. Oh well. It was a beautiful day. We headed back to Cancelada for a tour before lunch. In Cancelada we got to see the Adoration chapel, Miguelangel at work (he cleans in the town), Plaza Paula Medina (named after our own grandma Paula), the home Paula was born in, Carmen's home, as well as the view of the mountains and aquaducts and Pedro's campo.

When we arrived back at Rosalia's for lunch, Juan Carlos (Miguelangel and Paquita's brother - Mike's cousin - Rosalia and Pedro's son) was there with his family: Carlos, George, Angel and Ana and his wife, Ana Belen. Boy...I really thought my boys were good looking. Holy cow these kids! We hung out as both Juan Carlos and Ana Belen speak English pretty well and enjoyed each other's company for awhile. Then they left to go have lunch somewhere else (later found out it was Burger King! so American!) while we had Tita Rosalia's famous paella...YUM!

After lunch the kids went to the park and tried to get Maria to say naughty words in English (or Spanish) and I stayed behind with Luciana. After the park, we all went out to Pedro's campo and saw all his fruit - I managed to pluck the last good fig of the season for Paula! and a cat and even a Chameleon in the tree! We also met Paquita's husband briefly while we were out and about. When we returned back we almost immediately went out again for coffee/drinks at a local cafe. Antonio Miguel had caught back up with us and helped me order coffee just the way I like it. Once we got back from the cafe it was time to pack up once again and head back to Malaga and our other home in Spain.

When we arrived, we left our stuff and went out to dinner again. This time we didn't do shared plates so I got a wonderful ensalada and some croquettes for Lucy (not squid ink this time ;) I got to chat with Jesus and Lourdes again and Jesusito and Alvaro chatted with the girls and each other while Clara and Arturo fought for Lucy's attention. They just loved her so much, it was the sweetest! After dinner we said our goodbyes to Jesus who had to leave for a training and we wouldn't see again. I already miss his sense of humor and wish we could kid around and go out to eat once a week together! We got back to Tita Carmen and Jose Antonio's knowing tomorrow was my last day. We were headed to the mountains! Even though it wasn't going to be easy they were going to squeeze in a trip for me to see :)

Day 6: Sunday, November 25

I woke up before pretty much anyone else besides Jose Antonio and Carmen. I'm not sure they sleep at all frankly. They were always up after me and always up before me. Carmen was cooking part of lunch for camp. We had another amazing breakfast: fresh squeezed orange juice, cafe con leche, bread, churros, cheese, meat and tomatoes! Luciana just adored Jose Antonio. If I had left her in Spain I half think it would have been okay so long as I had left her there! We ate our breakfast and then I packed up all my stuff since we would probably have to leave for the airport and may not have time to come back to the house. We headed for the hills. The drive was breath-taking. And yet, I fell asleep. LOL I tried so, so hard to be awake, but I just couldn't do it. After about an hour we were there! It was everything I could have imagined and more. I was so glad and grateful they had made the effort for me. I can't imagine having missed it...it's hard to pick a favorite part, but it may have been the mountains. Carmen worked her tail off cooking for us and the rest of us toured the farm.

Again it was supposed to rain (you can see it was quite cloudy) but it didn't. We even got some peeks of sun which was breath-taking hitting the hills through rays bursting through the clouds. Amazing. Jose Antonio was born here and he has just about everything you can imagine and we ate it up along the way...literally. Oranges, avocados, grapes, pomegranates, tomatoes, figs, olives, almonds, mangos, cherimoya! And so much more...so many different kinds of oranges too. Lucy was in Heaven. She spent most of the visit/tour in Antonio Miguel's arms and ate more oranges and pomegranates that is probably allowable. It was amazing.

After seeing so much outside, we sat down for another amazing lunch. Carmen and Jose Antonio used to work in restaurants/hotels so they know how to make a feast for many. It was wonderful. And we got to have his homemade wine from his own grapes. AMAZING! I was just so, so grateful and so much work went into taking us there but it was all worth it - I hope they felt so too! It was a perfect way/day to end the trip. On the way back down the mountain, I struggled again (in vain of course) to stay awake. I did a little better, but tears of gratitude just poured from my eyes at the thought of such a beautiful visit (and the thought of leaving Maria). What a gift.

The whole family took me to the airport and parked and went in. Jose Antonio insisted we have one last coffee :) So we did - the lot of us - and I prepared myself for travel alone with a baby again having been spoiled by the last few days of having Maria and Stephanie to help me and then once we were in Spain not even having to hold Lucy except to feed her because everyone loved her so much. Somehow I made it. They all stayed while I went through security and then had to go through a veritable shopping mall to get to the gates. Gratefully they had a little shop just by my gate where I could get a small gift for Paula and Maria. Had I been more prepared or thoughtful I probably would have gotten something for others too. Oh well. I had not one speck of room in my suitcase full of fruit anyway...that I just had to hope would make it through customs!

Alitalia was great again. When the gate agent saw I was traveling alone she bumped me up to a better seat with an empty seat next to me so I'd have more room with Lucy. The flight between Spain and Italy is only a few hours so I was set to arrive around 8:30pmish. I had pre-booked a hotel online - the Best Western - which had a shuttle to/from the airport so all my prayers at that point were just for the fruit to make it through customs once we got to Italy and then to Toronto...I arrived at the airport and did my best to figure out where a shuttle might be - knowing I had no way to call the hotel. There was an information desk and gratefully she spoke perfect English. Door 4, across the street, a sign should say Hotels...um yeah...that wasn't great. I had intended to eat at the airport before heading to the hotel, but since Lucy was happy in the front pack, I powered on. I walked across the street...no sign. I walked and walked and looked and looked...about 4 guys of course asked me "taxi? taxi?" No, gratzi. Finally I looked back at the airport and saw the Door 4 so I walked back and sure enough there was a sign (facing the opposite way) that showed you which hotel shuttle picked up where. Good grief. So I stood there. I had just missed one and then next wouldn't come for 40 minutes. If it came...I wasn't sure, did I have to pre-arrange one? Crap. I was on WiFi thankfully so I sent Maria a text to ask about calling them to double check. Right as she was able to connect with me and call, the shuttle showed up. Perfect. Doing well. Ok.

I arrived at the Best Western and gave my passports to the desk. We have your reservation but it's been canceled. Um...WHAT? I have a baby on the front of me, a back pack on and I'm dragging two way-too-full carry-ons that are SO HEAVY. I tried to call the booking site from the hotel phones. The international number didn't work. Great. The Best Western was full but she could call another hotel for me. Um...WHAT? It was only a short walk away. It's dark. By the airport. We are not in a "lovely" part of Rome. It was about $20 more than what my original booking was and at that point what choice do I have? I took it. I walked approximately 1km in the dark on streets with sometimes no sidewalks and I just couldn't believe someone would send someone like me out to do that. Not even a shuttle? Oy vey. I dropped some heavy f-bombs on that walk. But I was grateful because this was by far the worst thing of the whole trip and it hadn't happened until the end and it wasn't even honestly that bad.

We arrived, I paid, we got to the room. All I can think about is emailing the pre-paid booking place and demanding my money back. I'm like a woman obsessed. (I probably should have just eaten, but you can't reason with the unreasonable). I throw everything down when I get in the room, the lights kept turning off and everything would go pitch black (and it was approximately 100 degrees F in the room). I cried. I went through this ritual of finding my key in the dark and inserting in the slot and taking it out and then about a minute later, pitch dark. WTF. I called the front desk when I could finally find my phone for a flashlight while Lucy screamed. (Turns out you have to leave the key in a slot near the the inside of your door...American Idiot status unlocked! Thank God the bar was open until midnight serving food. I ordered an entire pizza, mixed drink and croquettes for Lucy. We sat and ate and loved life. This hotel had a pool and for a minute I wished I had my bathing suit. But it was midnight anyway. The room was SO HOT. I gave up trying to turn it down and just turned it off. Luckily the windows open - even though we're on the 4th Floor and it seems like encouraging suicide. So I just opened up those windows as wide as I could and got all my stuff ready for the morning and proceeded to pass out. Thank goodness I woke up in time to get my shuttle to the airport. (I had set an alarm but it didn't go off.)

My fruit all made it through security...I feel like the gate agents weren't as nice this time, but everyone else pretty much was. This time I really took advantage of the free movies and drinks. But I was exhausted. I tried so hard to stay awake and I'm happy to say that I only dropped Lucy about 3x falling asleep on the plane and 3 different strangers offered to hold her so I could sleep but she wasn't having it. LOL Anyway, we made it back. It was beautiful and wonderful and I miss my Spanish family every day. Paula came with Mike to pick us up and I talked her ear off the whole way because I just didn't want to forget a thing and totally needed to relive this magical experience!

And now the out-of-order photos...enjoy! Sorry Blogger's photo upload tool makes NO SENSE. LOL

Above: our travel time was closer to 4+ hours, Below: the Toronto Airport

I'm off! While I was heading to Rome, Maria was heading "home" from a trip to Ireland.

Here's a few of those photos...

The pics below are of Maria's study abroad group. These are not from Ireland but from Venice and Siena (I think?) I was intending to surprise her but this group has been adventuring together and I fear if I hadn't told her Lucy and I were coming we would have missed our day+ in Rome with her as she may have fled to Greece with them before heading to Spain

(which I had pre-planned to ensure any "surprise" would work out).

I was super impressed with Air Canada. I'm not sure if it was worth the 8+ hours round trip of driving (you'll have to ask Mike) but I thought for what I paid and what I got and how clean/easy/helpful everyone was it was a great deal!

Maria and I in Estepona on Costa del Sol - that is Gibralter and Africa in the background.

Top Left: Cathedral in Malaga and Top Right: steps down from Our Lady of Good Remedy church in Estepona

Below Left: a welcome arch to Cancelada!

Below Right: seeing Maria for the first time (outside Lush in the Termini Station)

Below: view from Jose Antonio campo and the welcome at the Malaga Airport!

Below churros y cocoa en Estepona with Aitiana and Arianna (Jenna left, Stephanie right)

Above: a multi-building "wall mural" in Estepona and below: ancient ruins in Malaga

Below: Arturo and Lucy our first night in Malaga and on right, gelato in Roma, Italia!

Sign on the Malaga wall from 1575. Chapel of San Rafael in the Cathedral in Malaga

Below: outside St Mary Major in Rome and Plaza Paula Medina in Cancelada

Below: the manger Christ was born in the crypt of Saint Mary Major

Below: a pre-dinner coffee in Cancelada

Below Left: our dinner out in Rome at "All Brothers" and Right: our flight to Malaga

Below: After 40+ hours, I finally sleep after a Xanax and 3/4 bottle of Prosecco first night in Rome. Thankfully Maria showed up to keep Lucy from crawling away...

The (half finished) Cathedral in Malaga...that's her good arm :)

The Colosseum on left and inside Saint Peters on right.

Saint Peter's Square - Maria's place is like 5-10 minutes walking (she moved the last month)

Below Left: inside Saint Mary Major (manger is below the tabernacle)
Below Right: with Jose Antonio at breakfast

At Rosalia y Pedro's in Cancelada: Tita, George, Ana, Carlos, Juan Carlos, Angel, Ana Belen, Arianna, Aitiana, Carmen

Below: a side chapel in Malaga, Maria and Lucy in Cathedral in Malaga

The mountains and aquaduct in Cancelada and my bookends <3 p="">

Below: calamari and walking toward Saint Peter's from Termini station

(This is when I was so tired, grumpy and hangry that it wasn't even funny.)

Below: Estepona and the Cathedral in Malaga

Below: sardines and Lucy on our last night in Rome when we finally reached Hotel Mercure

Below: cleaning one of the side chapels in the Cathedral and some street art in Malaga

Below: street outside the Colosseum in Rome

Salud! "Green Apples" with Jose Antonio

Group Photo from our trip into Estepona

With Antonio Miguel in the mountains and dulces/turron/montecado!

The nativity scene in Estepona - Arianna and I helped each other say Spanish and English words.

Below: sword fight at campo, three angels on the "Bridge of Angels" in Rome

Outside the home Paula grew up in.

Antonio Miguel takes a selfie!

Maria in estepona plaza de las flores

Below: Maria hugs Lucy for first time and on Right: Lucy tries all the Spanish dishes - her favorite was the squid ink croquettes...they were entirely black inside!

Below: Saint Peters Square at night

Below: across the street from Maria's corner up to the new place. We ate across the street.

Below: our last meal in Espana - at campo!

Below Left: St Peters Square and Below Right: the Adoration chapel in Cancelada

Below Left: the mountains and cactus, Below Right: Bienviendo Malaga!

Below: a restaurant in Estepona and Tita Carmen with Lucy on our first night

Below: with Arianna at Rosalia's and on Right: a chameleon in the tree at Pedro's farm/garden

Below: just before departure and a typical Spanish street in Malaga

Below: Luciana on the train to Fumicino and right: chapel in Rome (I think?)

Below: Jenna and Jose Antonio in Malaga Cathedral and Right: Saint Peters looking up!

Below Left: chapel in Cathedral and Right: Maria in front of the "new place" in Rome

Cactus and fruit at Campo in the Mountains

Sardines and seeing Miguelangel at work

Cathedral view and fig at Pedro's campo

Below: Carmen, Carmencita, Arianna and Lucy on the beach in Estepona

Below: the amazing decorations in Malaga and helado de turron!

Below: Malaga left, the Angel's Castle in Rome

Below Left: at campo and Right: Arch of Constantine

Below Left: Estepona street and Right: Malaga - Lucy adored Jose Antonio

Below: "spiders going to get you" works with babies in any language!

Another view from the mountains

Aquaducts!

In ESTEPONA (of course)

Above: column from scourging at the Pillar, below Our Lady of Good Remedy

Tita Rosalia said "I dreamed of holding her!" I thought she meant like she couldn't wait? Turns out she had an actual dream before Lucy was even born of holding a baby with dark hair and eyes like hers and when she actually had her in her arms, she remembered it :)