One highlight from our visit to Spain was the opportunity to meet up one day with one of our former roommates from when we lived in Madrid, and his wife and daughter, who is just two months older than Emilia. Coincidentally, they also suffered a miscarriage two months before us, and are now expecting their second child two months before us. Above and below, Emilia and Celia get to know each other.
To celebrate Reyes (see previous post), most Spanish cities and towns have a big parade featuring the three wisemen, along with music and lots of projectile candy. Emilia was a little leery about it at first, especially when she took a handful of candy to the head. But she soon got really into it and was dancing in the street to the music like a maniac (she definitely takes after mom in this area).
Above: Enjoying a beautiful paella made by Agustín’s brother in the plaza in front of his house on Reyes.
Emilia kept stealing Javi’s sunglasses, acting as a model for Optica Malet (the family optical store).
Sevilla has changed a lot in the ten years since I lived there in 1998/99. The main downtown streets are now pedestrian-only and there is a great above-ground metro system. Both Agustín and I were impressed and took a few pictures to document the changes (see above).
Above and below: Meandering through the famous barrio Santa Cruz and historic district. 
Perhaps one of Emilia’s favorite memories from the trip was our visit to Parque María Luisa where it is a tradition to feed the pigeons. Although she loves the idea of animals, Emilia is typically a little reticent around them. Yet she was completely unruffled when the pigeons pecked away at the food in her hand and flapped their wings in her face. It was so funny to watch!
As usual, we spent two days in Ayamonte, a small town on the southern coast right on the border between Spain and Portugal, where Agustín’s brother has an apartment. This is the little street kiosk where Manuel and his wife serve up some great tapas (and good picos and pan, according to Emilia), and below we enjoy a walk along the beach.
And we stayed just long enough to attend Javi’s birthday party on our last day. Emilia wasn’t too sure about sharing her cousin with his friends, but was pretty excited to be included with the big kids. 
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