Love and gratitude from our family to yours. We loved celebrating with new friends, but missed Grandma Grand.
Happy St. Martin’s day
November 11th was St. Martin’s day, which is celebrated in the more Catholic regions of Germany, which includes Aachen. Since it is not celebrated at all in the USA, I had to learn all about it. St. Martin lived in the 4th century, and was a soldier in the Roman army. Legend has it that one day he was riding back to camp and there was a freezing homeless man on the road. He ripped his warm coat in half and gave half to the stranger. Later in his life he became a monk, and eventually a bishop. He did not want to become a bishop, but the townspeople really wanted him to. They were all encouraging him to, so he ran away and hid in a barn. The townspeople went out at night with lanterns looking for him, and eventually a goose honked, which gave away his position. He finally decided that he would be a bishop if the people really wanted him to. That’s how the traditions around St. Martin’s day started. You eat goose, and the kids make lanterns and make a parade. Oh, and they also have tasty sweet breads in the shape of St. Martin, which are called Weckmänner (around this region). Elsewhere in the German speaking areas they are known by a variety of different names such as Stutenkerl, Klaaskerl, or Krampus, and are actually usually eaten on St. Nicholas day instead of St. Martin’s day.
On Monday evening, the kids school organized the parade, which ended with a big bonfire – the biggest our kids had ever experienced, since big bonfires are a no-no in dry Colorado.
Madrid – last day

For our last day in Madrid, we mostly took it easy again. We walked to the royal palace and to the egyptian temple which was moved in the 1960s from Egypt because it would have been flooded with the creation of a dam. Both were a fairly short walk from our apartment. The kids really enjoyed the labyrinth-style gardens near the royal palace. After a couple hours we went back to the apartment and relaxed. This turned out to be good timing because it started to rain a bit. We did go out again to get some churros and hot chocolate, which was delicious. Clare and I had another date night, in which we simply walked around the plaza mayor and finished the last of the Lagavulin scotch we had bought at a great price in Andorra. I definitely did not want any of that to go to waste.
In the morning we packed up and started the long journey back to Aachen. Our plane was delayed by an hour or so because of plane traffic crossing the Pyrenees, so by the time we got home it was after 8 p.m. I made a quick pasta dinner while Clare went shopping, since the grocery stores are closed on Sundays in Germany. We were all happy to be home (although I was missing the Spanish weather).
- Royal Palace
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- Part of the Royal Palace
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- Meg, Spencer, and Meg by the Palacio Real de Madrid
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- Art exhibit by the palace
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- Church?
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- Clare and Meg by the palace
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- Gardens by the palace
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- Palace gardens
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- Meg and Spencer enjoyed the labyrinth-like hedges
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- Meg climbing a tree
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- Spencer climbing a tree
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- Meg and Spencer in a tree at the gardens
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- View of the Palacio Real de Madrid from the gardens
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- What kind of tree is this?
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- Interesting hedge trimming
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- Statues in the gardens
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- Garden gate and fountain
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- Plaza de Espanya
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- Church with apartment building attached
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- Egyptian Temple de Bebod
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- View from Temple de Bebod
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- Clare near Temple de Bebod
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- Meg near Temple de Bebod
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- Clare and Meg near Temple de Bebod
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- Clare, Spencer, and Meg near Temple de Bebod
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- Spencer near Temple de Bebod
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- Clare and Spencer with the Palacio Real de Madrid in the background
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- Clare, Meg, and Spencer with the Palacio Real de Madrid in the background
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- Rob with the Palacio Real de Madrid in the background
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- Pretty flowers
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- Demolition in progress
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- Cool art in the Plaza Mayor for the book festival
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- Cool art in the Plaza Mayor for the book festival
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- Meg and Clare enjoying churros dipped in hot chocolate
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- Spencer and Rob enjoying churros dipped in hot chocolate
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- The Fedibbletys at Chocaleteria San Gines
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Segovia

After a mostly relaxing day in Madrid, we had a more serious sightseeing day in Segovia, a town not too far from Madrid. To get there, we first took a local Renfe train (basically an express subway in Madrid which is different from the Metro system) to the north train station. We were a bit confused when we got to the north train station. There was a small board with upcoming trains, but we didn’t see ours. A friendly woman suggest we go ask someone at the counter. The only counter we saw was a bakery, but they were helpful. It turns out we had to exit this part of the train station and go upstairs to the far train part. We just barely caught our train. After a quick 37 minutes on the fast train we arrived in Segovia. Apparently the fast train is still quite new, as the train station was still partly under construction. It is also quite far outside of town, but we were able to catch a taxi into town for only about 12 Euros, which is not bad when you are traveling with 4 people. We first admired the aqueduct for awhile, which was built during Roman times. When the Moors conquered Spain they destroyed it, but some Monks rebuilt it in the 15th century, and it was in use up until the 19th century. It was used to bring water to the castle, Alcazar, which we also toured.
I suggested we use the toilet before we start walking towards the castle. We tried to go to Burger King, but it wasn’t quite open yet, so we went to McDonald’s instead. We ended up having a little lunch there, and then got on our way. It was a mostly pleasant walk through the narrow streets of the old town to the castle (other than the kids fighting and complaining). We tried to visit the cathedral on our way, but mass was still letting out, so we continued on the castle. We got the audio guides for the castle tour, and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was a very impressive building indeed, and the gardens were also splendid. After the castle tour we tried to get some lunch at a restaurant, but most of the restaurants were on siesta. However, the cathedral was open at this time, so we looked inside there for awhile. It was yet another impressive church. I particularly found the chapel with the recumbent Christ very unique. It was a very graphic depiction of his death. After visiting the cathedral, we finally ended up finding a bakery/lunch counter and had some treats there, including several tasty empanadas.
In hindsight, we should have booked a train for an hour earlier (or eaten lunch at a restaurant before they closed). We ended up waiting at the train station for about an hour for the train, but we had some time to relax and write postcards. By the time we got back to our apartment we were all quite hungry, so we had a bite to eat and then went to bed.
- Aquaduct, angle one
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- Aquaduct, angle two
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- Cathedral seen through the aquaduct
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- Spencer, Meg, and Clare by the aquaduct
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- Cool projected game at McDonald’s
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- Aqueduct, angle three
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- Clare by the aqueduct
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- Meg and Spencer sharing a Fanta by the aqueduct
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- View of Segovia
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- Central Segovia with aqueduct
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- Central Segovia
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- Aqueduct, angle four
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- Rob checking out the aqueduct
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- Clare by the aqueduct
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- Clare and Spencer by 3D map of Segovia
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- Meg and Clare by 3D map of Segovia
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- Narrow streets of Segovia
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- Cool buildilng in Segovia
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- Relaxing in Segovia
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- Cool arch in Segovia
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- Segovia Cathedral
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- Spencer, Clare, and Meg by the cathedral
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- Resting under a pretty tree
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- Cathedral up close
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- Small but nice fountain
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- Interesting facades
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- View of fields on the outskirts of town
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- Evidence of how the moat was created
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- Spencer looking at the moat of Alcazar
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- Clare and Meg listening to the audioguide at Alcazar
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- Pointy-toed coat of armor
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- Former wall covering
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- Arches and stained glass
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- Elaborate ceiling
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- Lots of detail
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- Scissor chair, used to provide a comfortable ride for women on horseback
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- View from Alcazar
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- Another view from Alcazar
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- Meg peeking through a partial wall
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- Adoration of the Magi – 16th century painting
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- Crossbow
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- Decorative facade
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- Foundation (possibly roman)
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- Half-timber house and playground
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- Massive walls in cathedral
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- Altar in cathedral
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- Cathedral ceiling
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- Recumbent Christ
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- Chapel of the recumbent Christ
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- Gigantic prayer book
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- Organ
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- Romulus and Remus statue
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