Day 15: Soria and Home Again

Our last full day together in Spain was in Soria. Brooklyn, Eli and I started off the day with a trek to the San Saturio Hermitage, picturesquely situated on banks of the Duero River. If I remember correctly, we walked ahead, then Jason drove down and met up with us later. (I think maybe Talia and Annika were tired and stayed home.) Anyway, it worked out great because the hermitage itself was locked when we first arrived but had opened up by the time Jason jogged up. He encouraged us to turn around and go back. It was absolutely worth it! While still interesting from the outside, we would have missed this hidden gem.

There's a hidden entrance to the hermitage through this super cool cave at the bottom.

These first rooms below are where Sarturio, patron saint of Soria, lived as a hermit for decades. The sanctuary above wasn't built until much later.

If you're ever in the area, the hermitage is a must-see.

Afterward we all went to seek pastries. I was especially interested in trying Soria's famous butter.  Mantequilla de Soria seemed like a good place to start.

Um, yes. We did purchase and consume everything pictured here...for breakfast. Hey, it was our last day!

Sleeping off the sugar rush after. 

Once again, stork in the belfry.

From there we took a daytrip to the Cañon del Rio Lobos.  No, we didn't actually see any wolves by the river, but that would have been pretty cool! On the otherhand, we did see an astounding number of griffon vultures.

Plus the trail markings were pretty cute.

Plus, we got to visit the Hermitage of San Bartolomé, it being a hermitage kind of day.

The carvings on each of the dentils were unique. I love how Jason pointed out this detail that completely would have escaped my notice.

Pretty as a picture with flowers in her hair.

Exploring a nearby cave.

In the background you'll see Annika starting to scale a wall, as one does. Or, at least as one does if one is Annika.

Unfortunately she got herself up so high that she couldn't get herself safely down. Fortunately Jason came to the rescue.

In the end it became a group effort to get our little adrenaline junkie down to safety without any skinned knees.

Still not ready to end our marvelous trip, we took one final detour on the way back to swim at Playa Pita. While called a beach, it's actually a large lake with some sandy beach front in places and lots of shady pines in others.

Not perfect rock-skipping conditions, but Eli gave it a go anyway.

I'd thought Annika would swim, but instead she spent her time hunting for tadpoles. Again, as one does.

Just for the record, no I did not let her bring them home.

That evening we went out for an elegant meal at the restaurant directly outside the front window of our apartment, La Gastro Tasquita. I loved it!  We ate this delicious infused burrata...

...some absolutely delicious squid

...and a dish that somewhat resembled migas, a Sorian specialy.  Next to it you will see an empty dish that contained pork tenderloin until we devoured it all.

The crowd favorite, however, was hands down the lagarto.  Yes, we ate lizard and found it heavenly.

The funniest part is that despite all of this deliciousness, the one thing that will make this meal legendary is the mushroom pâté.  While most of us liked it or at least found it tolerable, Brooklyn absolutely hated it. This was so funny to me because she is such a foodie with generally refined tastes who is willing to try most everything. She also likes mushrooms--usually. But something about the texture and the way this was prepared made it rise to the top of her list of least like items ever. 

So there you have it!  We finally found the one thing she didn't love in Spain. I guess that meant it was time to go home.

And fly home we did. The next morning we drove to Madrid, returned our rental car (uneventfully, thanks to a heads-up from Grandma Susie that it can be difficult to find the drop-off), and began our series of flights back. I really don't remember much about them, so they must have been reasonably smooth.

Kids look happy! We came home with only a few souvenirs but mountains of joyful memories. (And an equal number of photos, obviously.)

Flying in to rainbow skies.

There is so much I could say about Spain, but the word I feel most is gratitude. Gratitude that everything ran so smoothly. Gratitude for this special time with our family. And above all, gratitude to this nation for welcoming us warmly, for treating our Brooklyn well, and for sharing its beauty so gracefully. Despite the political ugliness that tarnishes world relations, we felt welcomed as citizens of a singular globe instead of judged for the poor decisions of leaders. The Spaniards were patient even in moments when we obviously didn't know what we were doing, like when we got in the wrong toll lane and held up the entire line. Coming back to Salt Lake, I hope I can share this spirit of hospitality and warmth to all.

Day 14: Logroño & Viana

Day Fourteen! We bid farewell to beautiful Bilbao so that we could connect with Brooklyn's lovely mission friends in Logroño & Viana. Here we are doing Annika's hair super fast before meeting up. The hair tie in my mouth kind of makes it look like a grew a speedy mustache.

Logroño was quiet on a weekday morning, but still pretty.

Okay, so this is totally off-topic, but Jason is always asserting how roads are more picturesque when the buildings are closer together. Look at this side by side of Logroño (above) & Viana (below). Both are lovely and very similar, but the Viana photo feels more intimate, largely beause of the physical connectedness of the buildings. And then, there's Salt Lake.  Thanks to Brigham Young, many of our streets are wide enough for a team of oxen to turn around. Functional for car traffic, but I wish our streetscapes had more character.

But I digress.  Back to Logroño, even the trees looked colorful! It was fun hearing about all of the experiences Brooklyn had while serving here.

Apparently Logroño is right on the Camino de Santiago. If you speak, Spanish this sign is hilarious. El Camino de Santiago se hace por Etapas. (The Pilgrimage of St. James is completed by stages tapas. Speaking of el camino, Brooklyn and I are already planning a future adventure.

Here is Brooklyn and her lovely friend Marcela from .

Marcela invited us into her home where we met her son Cristián and their fantastic pet bird, Mango.

Much to Annika's chagrin, Talia was Mango's favorite.

Before long we continued on our way to the small town of Viana where we were lucky enough to meet the sweetest family: Estela, Oscar, Ana & Esteban. Even though we were meeting for the first time, it felt like we'd known each other for years and would be best friends if only we lived closer. The food was extraordinary--my only regret is that I was so busy eating that I forgot to take more pictures. 

We are so grateful to this family for taking such great care of our missionary daughter, feeding her on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's! They never knew that back at home Brooklyn's little sister was getting a heart transplant at the same time, but I feel such peace knowing that Brooklyn was being cared for too. (Hermana Talia, we pray you've found some special people too!)

The family took us on a lovely walking tour of their beautiful little town. 

Their cathedral was destroyed during WWII and  intentionally left without a roof after in remembrance.

Inspired by our own goofy photo, Oscar called himslef a "mono" in this pic.

These two would have gladly chatted for days.

By the way, in case you wanted to know where all the oreos in Spain are made, Viana is the place! Apparently the factory is right next to the elementary school so the kids smell cookies all day long.

As much fun as Viana was, we needed to continue on to Soria, our final AirBnb for two days. The apartment was clean, modern, spacious, and a block away from the town square. True, the view out the back balcony was just construction, but Jason and Eli were fascinated.

Here's another family selfie, taken just as we headed out to explore the town. Soria had a delightfully vibrant vibe, with locals out on the streets everywhere chatting and dining. It really was enchanting. Jason decided that if we ever moved to Spain, this would be the perfect place.

Just as long as he doesn't take off with another woman...

Modern art? Perhaps, but we suspect the chair simply collapsed.

Apparently storks can be a bit of a nuisance in the area as their giant nests clog gutters. The belfry doesn't seem to mind.

You're never too old for a playground.

Since we planned to splurge on dinner out the next day, here's our smorgasbord from cleaning out the fridge. We were all out of baguette (tragedy!), so I made homemade tortillas with our remaining flour, oil and salt.  The kids were pretty impressed--apparently I've been hiding my tortilla making skills from them all these years.

Stay tuned for our very final post about Spain!