Our last Thanksgiving. Nuestro ultimo dia de Accion de Gracias

Una de las cosas que mas nos han gustado en estos dos años y medio en Chicago ha sido la celebracion de "Accion de Gracias". Es una fiesta en la que las familias y amigos se reunen, se prepara comida realmente casera y en mucha abundancia y se comparten buenos momentos. Por suerte, nuestros amigos Christina y Lyle nos han invitado todos estos años que hemos estado aqui y ha sido un verdadero placer poder compartirlo con ellos. Gracias!!

El pavo siempre delicioso, jugoso y fresco. El resto de platos de acompañamiento son otro manjar: stuffing, jamon asado, toda clase de tuberculos, patatas, judias verdes, pudding de maiz, salsa de arandanos, tarta de calabaza y batata, maravilloso!!

Como siempre disfrutamos mucho de la comida y lo pasamos genial en una agradable noche. Aunque es nuestro ultimo año viviendo aqui, espero que podamos volar de vuelta en el futuro y compartir este dia con nuestros amigos.

Thanksgiving day is one of our favorite things since we arrived in the US two and a half years ago. It is a very traditional and familiar feast where people reunite with their families and friends to prepare and eat real home-made food and have a good time. Luckily, our friends Christina and Lyle were so kind to host us for three years in a row. It was a real pleasure for us sharing this day with you guys and the rest of your guests! Thanks!!

The turkey is always delicious and juicy. The rest of the side dishes are also amazing: stuffing, baked ham, roots vegetables, beans, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, gorgeous!!

We enjoyed dinner and company very much! We had a great time with our friends. Even though it is our last year living here, we hope we can fly back one day in the future to share this day with our friends.

El pavo. The turkey!

With Christina, Lyle and the turkey. Con Christina, Lyle y el pavo.

Pavo trinchado, salsa de arandanos, jamon, tuberculos, stuffing, patatas, ensalada, pudding...

Carved turkey, cranberry sauce, ham, roots, stuffing, potatoes, salad, pudding...

Gravy was served with the turkey! 

Tambien habia gravy para salsear el pavo!

Mi plato con un poco de todo :)

My plate with a bit of everything :)

Pumpkin pie. Tarta de calabaza

Christina cortando la tarta. Chritina slicing the pie.

FELIZ DIA DE ACCION DE GRACIAS!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!!

Visitando Palma de Mallorca. Visiting Palma de Mallorca

Durante nuestra estancia en la isla tambien visitamos la capital, Palma de Mallorca. Era la tercera vez que iba alli, pero las dos veces anteriores fue en viaje de estudios y no disfrute del turismo en la misma medida que esta ultima vez :)

Solo ibamos a estar alli una mañana, asi que solo visitamos la catedral en profundidad, el centro de la ciudad y poco mas. En otras ocasiones ya habia visitado el castillo de Bellver y otros puntos interesantes.

During our week on the island we also visited the capital, Palma de Mallorca. It was the third time I was on the islad, but the previous times I was on a trip celebrating the end of my studies and I didn't enjoy tourism so much :)

We stayed there for only half a day so we visited the cathedral, the center and some other nice streets. I had already gone to the Bellver castle and other interesting places previously.

Thomas, su padre y yo llegando a la catedral. Thomas, his dad and I arriving at the cathedral.

En la entrada principal. At the front door.

Interior de la catedral, con una pequeña contribucion de Gaudi sobre el altar. Cathedral's interior with a small Gaudi contribution over the altar. 

Detalle de Gaudi. Gaudi's detail.

En el año 2001, el artista Miquel Barcelo pudo realizar una de sus obras en una parte de la catedral. El tema esta dedicado al mar, hecho en escayola. Las figuras marinas se hicieron desde la parte de fuera de las paredes, haciendo las formas hacia el interior de la catedral. Es una obra polemica, puesto que no encaja con el estilo gotico y romano de la catedral, pero hay opiniones para todos los gustos. La mia es que la obra tiene su encanto, pero no en la catedral, no tiene ninguna conexion segun mi parecer.

In 2001 the artist Miquel Barcelo built one of his pieces in a part of the cathedral. It is dedicated to the sea and it is made in a kind of plaster material. The figures were made from the outside of the walls, creating the desired shapes to the inside. This piece of art is pretty controversial since it doesn't really match with the Gothic style of the cathedral. There are many opinions about it but I personally find the construction very interesting, but not for the cathedral. I don't find the connection between this part and the rest of the cathedral. 

Barcelo's part. Parte de Barcelo.

Labores de restauracion. Restoration work.

Despues de visitar la navel principal de la catedral, las capillas y el museo, pasamos al claustro. Son mi parte favorita de las iglesias, me encantan!

After visiting the main part of the cathedral, the chapels and the museum we went to the court yard. This is my favorite part of the churches in general, I love them!

Despues de la catedral nos fuimos dando un paseo hasta la Plaza Mayor, tiene mucho encanto, no es una  plaza enorme ni señorial, pero tiene ese toque mediterraneo de color y vida que tanto me gusta. Ademas, habia estatuas humanas muy chulas.

After visiting the cathedral we went walking to the Plaza Mayor. It is very special, it is not a big or rich main square, but it has a Mediterranean touch of color and life, I really like that. There were also pretty amazing human statues.

Desde aqui buscamos un sitio tipico mallorquin para degustar comida tradicional y no turistica (y/o alemana...). Nos tomamos unas buenas raciones de todo lo mas tipico en una tasca muy taurina (soy anti taurina, pero el sitio era asi...).
From here we looked for a typical Mallorcan place to enjoy traditional Spanish food, not too touristic (and/or German...). We had "raciones" of the most typical food in a bar decorated in the classical bull-fighting style (I hate bull-fighting, but the place was like that...).

Terminamos el dia comprando una rica ensaimada casera, que rica!! Un dia muy humedo y caluroso, pero yo lo disfrute mucho, me encanta visitar sitios interesantes, culturizarme y conocer la gastronomia. Pasamos un buen dia!

We finished the day buying an ensaimada, a typical Mallorcan sweet. It is delicious. 

The day was too hot and humid, but I don't care about that :) I love visiting places, knowing the culture and the gastronomy. We had a very nice day!

Visitando Artá. Visiting Artá

Uno de los pueblecitos mas cercanos a la nuestra casa de vacaciones es Artá ( Odio no poder poner tildes con el teclado americano, asi que esta a con tilde, la copio). Asi que en plan turista nos fuimos a visitar este bello pueblo, con sus calles empinadas, estrechas, con la calzada de piedra, miradores y ermitas. Muy bonito :)

One of the closer villages to our holiday house is Artá (it has an accent on the a and for a Spanish person who knows how to write it is very important to type the accents, I can't with my keyboard, arggg). We decided to visit some of the touristic places of the village. It is a charming place, small, with narrow streets going up and down hill, the road had stones like the old Roman roads, the view was beautiful from some of the highest points of the place and there were also tiny nice churches.

Vistas desde uno de los miradores.

View from one of the highest points.

Un poco de ejercicio para subir a la ermita :)

A little bit of exercise to go up to the church :)

Vista desde la ermita. Se ve el resto del pueblo y la iglesia principal.

View from the highest church. The rest of the county can be seen from there and also the main church.

Con Florian otra vez. Solo quiere andar :)

Again with Florian, he only wants to walk :)

Ayuntamiento. Esta foto es especial para mi padre.

The Town Hall. Especially for my dad.

Aunque hizo mucho calor para andar por ahi subiendo y bajando por el pueblo, vimos cosas interesantes, comimos rica comida española y en general, pasamos un buen dia :)
Even though it was too warm to go up and down around the village, we saw many interesting things and ate nice Spanish food. A nice day was had by all :)

La saga de la vacaciones. Primera parte. The holidays. First part.

Estas tres semanas de vacaciones se han pasado volando. Desde el dia que llegue a Ciudad Real, pasando por renovar el visado americano por tercera vez, la celebracion de la boda de Caroline (la hermana de Thomas) y viviendo en casa la victoria de "la Roja" :) La verdad es que siempre que empiezan las vacaciones, ya tengo tristeza de pensar que duraran poco y que tendre que volver a Chicago y estar separada de mi familia varios meses...Por otra parte, estas habran sido las ultimas vacaciones "largas" antes de volver a Europa definitivamente. Eso significa que la aventura de Chicago habra terminado, por un lado triste y por otro emocionante de pensar en poder estar mas cerca de nuestros padres. 

De momento, para no saturarnos comenzare con nuestra cita mas importante de las vacaciones, la boda de Caroline y Marcus en Mallorca!!

Time flies. Our three weeks of holiday run like h***, from the moment I arrived in Ciudad Real to the American visa renewal for the third time or Caroline's wedding (Thomas' sister) and of course, the victory of "la Roja" at home!!

I always feel sad at the beginning of the holidays thinking that they will be short and that I'll be far from my parents again...On the other hand, these holidays are the last long "holidays" we have before going back to Europe for good. That makes me sad since it means the end of our Chicago adventure, but it is also exciting thinking that we'll be closer to our families!!

For the moment, I'll start writing about Caroline and Marcus wedding in Palma de Mallorca, our most important day during the holidays.

Despues de volar a Madrid y pasar un par de dias en mi casa para arreglar papeleo y ultimar los ultimos detalles para la boda, vole a Palma de Mallorca, donde Thomas me esperaba junto a su familia. El viernes comenzaron los festejos y toda la familia cercana nos reunimos en el hotel de la celebracion de la boda para cenar. Yo era la unica española entre varios alemanes, holandeses y belgas :) Lo mejor, estar con la familia y en especial, con Julia y Florian.

After flying to Madrid and stop just for two days at my parents to arrange my visa and finish some details for the wedding, I flew to Palma de Mallorca where Thomas was waiting for me. All the celebrations for the wedding started on Friday night. The families of bride and groom went together for dinner. I found I was the only Spanish person among several Germans, Dutch and Belgian people :) The best part was enjoying the family and the kids in particular.

El sabado por la mañana teniamos una cita en la peluqueria para el pelo y maquillaje de la novia!! Aproveche para darme un retoque yo tambien :) La parte mas divertida fue el peinado de Julia, la peluquera hizo todo mientras ella jugaba con el iPhone de su madre, jeje!

We had an appointment at the hairdresser's on Saturday morning for the hair and make-up of the bride!! I also had a nice touch of make up for myself :) The funniest part was Julia's hairdo, the hairdresser did everything while she played with her mom's iPhone, hehe!

The beautiful bride. La novia.

Make-up session. Sesion de maquillaje.

Peinado y maquillaje. Guapisima!! Hair and make-up

Julia y el iPhone. Julia and the iPhone.

El siguiente paso, despues de una comida ligerita, fue directamente prepararse para el gran momento!! 

Next step was a quick lunch and then getting ready for the big moment!!

Caroline already wearing her wedding dress together with Florian and her friend Viola.

Caroline con su vestido de novia junto con su bebe Florian y su amiga Viola.

Todos los invitados nos reunimos en la entrada del hotel para conducir juntos hacia la ermita donde se celebro la ceremonia. El camino fue un poco tortuoso y con muchas curvas, pero una vez llegamos alli merecio la pena. Una capilla al lado del mar y con preciosos acantilados, un sitio muy especial para celebrar la boda.
All the guests gathered at the lobby of the hotel to drive together to the wedding venue. The road was kinda curvy, but the view was beautiful. The chapel was located up in the mountain, next to the see and cliffs. It is without any doubt a very special place to celebrate a wedding.

No tuve mucho tiempo de fotografiar la capilla y el lugar for fuera, pero era precioso.

I didn't have time enough to take pictures of the chapel's surroundings, but I assure you it was great!

Una de las pocas fotos mias del dia en cuestion, junto con Thomas y su abuela.

One of the few pictures I have of myself. Here I am together with Thomas and his grandma.

La ceremonia fue sencilla, un pastor anglicano caso a la pareja, con un rito muy similar al catolico. La ceremonia fue corta, alrededor de 30 minutos, con entrega de anillos y el tipico ritual del "si, quiero". Al final de la ceremonia, el padre de Thomas les dedico una bonita cancion, fue tanta la emocion que algunas notas se quedaron casi afonicas.
The ceremony was easy and simple, an Anglican priest married the couple with a very similar ritual to the Catholic. The ceremony was of about 30 minutes with the rings and the typical "yes, I do". At the end of the ceremony Thomas' dad dedicated a beautiful song to the couple. It was very emotional and we could notice that in some of the notes.

No podia faltar una recepcion con cava mallorquin al finalizar la ceremonia :)
Of course, after the ceremony there was a reception with local cava :)

La cena se celebro en una tipica casa mallorquina, el Casal de Santa Eulalia, un lugar impresionante. Las habitaciones eran preciosas y el patio estaba muy bien decorado para la cena, que fue una cena tipica de una boda española, muy similar.
The dinner was celebrated in a typical Mallorcan house restored to be a kind of rural hotel. It is called "El Casal de Santa Eulalia", I highly recommend it for a nice holiday on the island. The rooms were beautiful and tidy and the court yard were the dinner was celebrated was very well decorated. The dinner was very similar to a typical Spanish wedding dinner.

Aunque nosotros no tenemos esta tradicion, en esta boda se tiro el ramo :)

Even though in Spain we don't have this tradition, the bride's bouquet was thrown to all the single ladies :)

Aunque esta borroso, la foto es muy graciosa. Dos de las chicas corren a coger el ramo.

Even blurry, the picture is very funny. Two of the girls are running to catch the bouquet.

Antes de empezar el bailoteo llego la tarta nupcial, de crema, bizcocho y maracuya, buenisima!

Just before the dance started we ate the wedding cake, with cream and passion fruit, delicious!

Despues de la tarta llego el momento de la fiesta. Los novios abrieron el baile con una coreografia de un tema house, no con el tipico vals :) A esas horas de la noche no tenia bateria ni memoria suficiente en la camara para grabarlo, ayy!! Una vez el baile quedo abierto, todos los quisimos nos tiramos unas 4 horas bailando al son de todos los temas mas bailongos del panorama internacional :) Eso si, con el telefono del bebe en nuestra mano, ya que teniamos a uno de los niños a nuestro cargo, jeje!
After the cake it was time for dancing!! The bride and groom opened the dance with a choreography of a house song, not with the typical waltz :) At that time of the night I didn't have any batterie or memory to record the nice moment, ayy!! Once the dance was open, everyone who wanted could stay and dance all the coolest songs of the international panorama. We dance for 4 hours carrying with us the baby phone :) just in case Florian could wake up, hehe!

Thomas con el telefono del bebe. Thomas with the baby phone.

Acabando la noche con el vestido enganchado en el escote...

Finishing the night with my long dress made short...

Very good times were had :)

Lo pasamos genial :)