Sevilla Happens! – Day 2

March 22nd – Well, as much as we would like to center this blog around the great sights on our 2nd day in Sevilla, there is one event that left an indelible mark in our memories. We have commented before that while we are traveling and having lots of great travel experiences, we are also “living” and having real life experiences. One of those real life experiences is potty training Austin. Before I get to the “story” of the day, let’s start back at the beginning. Today, Austin woke the rest of us up since he fell asleep early last night and the rest of us enjoyed a late night in Sevilla. I left the hotel with Austin on a journey for a large Starbucks coffee while Amy took a shower and Abby played on Disney.com. It was my first Starbucks since we left and I didn’t really need the Starbucks as much as a large cup of coffee. The small café con leche just wasn’t going to do it this morning. As you’ll understand later, it’s a good thing I had my caffeine. Anyway, we got the coffee and went back to pick up the girls at the hotel. We walked a mile or so into Bario Santa Cruz, Sevilla’s once-thriving Jewish quarter, to enjoy breakfast at a small café in Plaza Santa Maria la Blanca. We had a great breakfast outside on the square; enjoying the sunny weather and the various Cathedral bells ringing for Sunday mass. The kids were playing in the plaza while we were waiting on our check. All of a sudden Austin shouts, “uh-oh, poopy”. Amy jumped up with him and thought she had caught him quick enough to get him to the potty; or worse case, contain the damage. No such luck. Apparently, Austin is the first one to get the “traveler’s trots”. He had pooped (read “diarrhea”) everywhere. I will spare you the entire gory details, but suffice it to say that after about 15 minutes, Amy and Austin finally appeared from the tiny bathroom in the cafe with his underwear and socks having been lost as casualties. His shoes and jeans would have gone in the trash too if they weren’t his only pair of shoes we had and we weren’t halfway across town from the hotel. To make matters worse, the light in the bathroom was on a timer (with the switch outside) so every minute or two, Amy had to open the door to turn the light back on. We took off for a quick journey back to the hotel and had many “Jimmy Jones” laughs. Along the way, we passed some horse drawn carriages and honestly couldn’t tell if the smell was the horses or Austin. We got back to the hotel and threw Austin in the shower. I will say this, I’m not sure about the normal use of a bidet, but it makes a great impromptu jeans washer. After we finally got everyone cleaned up, we headed back out to restart our day. We headed back the direction we had just come from to see the Alcazar. The Alcazar was originally a 10th century Moorish palace. However the palace was destroyed during the Reconquista period so what exists today is a 14th century rebuild done by Moorish workman for the Christian king Pedro I. As a side note, it’s been interesting learning the history of Spain. We are now beginning to be able to spot architectural influences from the various periods. For example, the horseshoe arches in buildings, green doors, ceramic tiles, etc. that are Moorish legacy. After leaving the Alcazar, we stopped by a deli to pick up items to make sandwiches. We then headed up the pedestrian street Avenida de la Constitucion to Plaza Nueva. We sat on the steps of a statue in the Plaza and enjoyed our picnic. We left the plaza and went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and head to the train station. We left Sevilla at 3:40 and arrived in Malaga at 5:30. The Malaga train station is connected to a mall so we went to the food court for a light dinner and ice cream before heading back to Marbella on the 7:00pm bus. It was a great trip to Sevilla and a day our minds (and noses) won’t soon forget!