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Journal No. 9 I don't know how this works. At first I thought Barcelona was the jewel in Spain's crown, but I went to Madrid and oolala! Then I fell in love with Toledo....so quaint, so old, and so much smaller. Now I am in Granada and totally love this little city. Could it be that I'm just crazy about Spain? I love that this town feels small and I am enjoying the mix of Spanish and Moorish. We were the first ones at Alhambra this morning and although my visit in 2004 was more layback, I still enjoyed this. This is where Columbus came to ask Queen Isabella for money to buy his three ships and sailors to sail to India for spices and riches. It was a Moorish Palace, and the architecture, the tiles, the carving is so ornate. The water, coming from the mountains, is diverted and used in pools for drinking, washing and the like. The gardens are quite elaborate. It is an architectural wonder and holds so much history. It was good to be the Sultan! Magnificent palace and rooms for plenty of concubines.
The elaborate carving, beautiful ceilings and the reflective pool in the inner garden.
The bus brought us back and Victor took us to a un-touristy place for lunch. For lunch we had tapas. First tapas: Sangria, chorizo, and fried potatoes in olive oil with onions and bell pepper with a slice of French bread. Second tapas: pork and rice with more bread. Third tapas: fried eggplant. (crisp) with a drizzle of molasses with another Sangria. The third tapas were my favorite. The mixture sounds weird, but the combination of savory and sweet was great! We walked back to the hotel and rested as we had been going straight since six this morning. By then it was time to meet Victor for our 4:30 walk around the neighborhood. The royal families are buried here. The plan was to bury them at the Toledo church with the chains, they even had the crypt ready. But when the cathedral was built they chose instead to bury them in the cathedral in Granada. We decided to stay and shop in the markets as did many others. It is much easier to shop here! Audrey, one of our travelers, turns 86 tomorrow, so Janet and I got a card, candles and a present to be from the group. It is a brand new iPhone!!.......in chocolate. We got him a little cake for his candle that says 86. We will give it to him on the bus on our break tomorrow morning. I I I I I I I I I We were still full from lunch and on the way back to the hotel we stopped at a place where little tapa sandwiches were 1€ and big beers were 1 1/2 €. Some stopped for ice cream, but I had the homemade potato chips they served with my slider, so I didn't eat dessert. Of course, on our walk before, Victor had treated us to his favorite ice cream shop, and I had a strachiatella cone. It has always been the tradition that Spaniards don't eat ice cream in the winter. Always, the ice cream shops closed on Columbus Day...October 12th, and would not open until St Joseph's Day....March 19th. Now, with global warming, they eat ice cream all year, but this place stays with the tradition. On the last day and the first day, the line goes all around the block. It is still the first choice of all the locals. The girl (family run) reminded Victor that they close on the 12th and because this year March 19th is a Sunday they won't open until March 20th! We are all pretty well packed for tomorrow, when we leave for Córdoba. I can sign off and get rested before morning. Love, Grove and gang
Check out these
officers' plastic hats. There was a big thing with
dignitaries
Journal No. 10 It is time to say goodbye to this sweet vita. As we leave through streets of many, many apartment houses that are so nondescript I am reminded how Grand Circle always has our adventures in the most beautiful and exciting parts of the towns. It is 8:15 and we are already on the bus en route to Córdoba. Victor has taught us all not to say that as a tourist but put the emphasis on the first syllable. Today will be all about olives, olive trees, and the harvest. It will make memories of my life on the olive grove (first 18 years) come rushing back. Dad, I am thinking of you and mourning the replacement to almond trees.
We see all the building of the infrastructure here, paid for by the two trillion euro they got from the European Union. So many jobs have been made, but the jobs are not very stable. People must keep changing their jobs. The only ones that are stable are civil service jobs. The European Union are happy to have helped Spain as now all the European countries can come to Spain with all of their companies. For example, before that, all the cars in Spain were Seats. (See Ott's). They used to be associated with Fiat but now Volkswagen. Since joining the EU, Spain has every last kind of car is available . Now, about the olives. They were not originated here in Iran. They did well here as they had enough water and plenty of sun. They used no irrigation. Now that the climate is different they use drip irrigation. He told us about his grandmother who would pickle the olives. They do not use lye to hurry things. First, she put the olives in a container and cover all with a lot of water. Then they add salt. Victor asked his grandmother," How do you know how much salt to put? ". She showed him how she put the raw egg in its shell inside the pot of water and olives. She added salt slowly until the egg was submerged. She changed the water/brine twice during the next three months. Mostly, here, the olive trees are used for olive oil. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil is first pressed and excellent. He said never fry with it but keep it in a dark cabinet unless it is in a can. Second press is virgin ....good but not as tasty. Third press is sold under a different name...inexpensive. The fourth press is used for animals, and what is left is toxic and must be first burned to make energy, or dried before it can be used for fertilizer. Spain produces 40% of the world's olive oil. They export a lot to Italy because people like to think that their olive oil came from Italy, like they want their wine to come from France. If you see a bottle of Bertolucci, you will sometimes see "bottled in Italy, grown in the EU." As far as we can see there are olive trees. He says the mafia in Italy has gotten in the olive oil business. He says they mix the extra Virgin from Spain with a lesser quality to make more money. The US is complaining. There are law restrictions in Spain but not in Italy. Some people bought little bottles of extra Virgin for gifts, but we have wonderful olive oil where we live. Victor tells us that the most influential person in his life was his grandmother. The first hands he remembers ware his grandmother's, for she took good care of him while his mom and dad worked. After college he lived in lots of places all over the world....even Florida. When his grandmother was turning 90 he decided to move back to Spain and spend some time with his grandmother. He told her he had one free day every week and that day he would spend with her. She would get to plan, and since she was very religious, the first thing they would do is go to a church and light a candle to St. Joseph, then another church to handle a candle to St.Michael, etc. He said he never knew there were so many churches and saints. He said he had so much quality time with his grandmother. He was the only one who didn't cry at the funeral as he had no regrets. She gave him 10 thousand euro, her meager savings, as she said she knew he would use it well. He decided he would get his MBA and with that he started his own travel business. His father and brother work for him in that. His grandmother would want that. Now, he is trying to spend time with his mother and father. He used to live with his parents, but wanting more independence, he got himself his own apartment. His parents said they wanted to check it out first. His mother told him she liked his apartment, but it had a common washer and she didn't like that. She said". How about you bring your laundry to my house and I will do it? Now he takes a big bag of his dirty clothes and next week gets it back all washed and ironed. He said it is what you call a win, win situation. Now, once a week, he eats dinner with his parents, and then the next day he buys them a special lunch....which is the big meal here in Spain. He is enjoying his parents as he did his grandmother. His mother really wants grandchildren now. Victor tells her to depend on his brother for the time being. He says when he has to mark married, single, or divorced, he checks "Travel Guide" Victor told us more about the Catalonian problem. He says it is not good. The day we arrived, the Spaniard President said they must abide by the Spanish constitution. The Catalan political folks feel the Spaniards are taking away their language and customs. He will talk more about the Catalonian problem. If he tells them on the way to Gibraltar, I won't be able to share with you. Later We have been to beautiful Cordoba, and it is amazing and more goose-bump-making than I remembered. Think of it as four levels. First, the Roman building was set. it was placed there to easily ship the wine, wheat, and olive oil back to Rome. The Roman buildings were destroyed and the next people, the Byzantine, built a basilica there. In 711, the Moors built the beautiful mosque that continued to grow until when the Christians took over. The double arches with red and white stones and the hundreds of pillars were constructed for the mosque. (Pictures coming later) The masons who made these signed each so they would get their wages for it, proving they were not slaves. It does not face Mecca as other mosques, as it was built on a foundation that was faced a different way. The Muslims didn't mind though, as it was such a huge and beautiful building. Imagine a mosque built in the eighth century that could hold twenty-five thousand in prayer!! When the Christians came in the 1200's they were so impressed with the mosque they decided to recycle it rather than destroy it. Thank God! They managed to put a Gothic Cathedral in the center of the huge mosque and turn all the side areas into family chapels for the rich families. Martin Luther hadn't complicated matters yet and people with finances could buy-off their sins to help pay for this beautiful church. There is a slow-motion video of a model showing how this building was made. That the mosque wasn't destroyed was quite wonderful as usually people wanted to erase the accomplishments of the people before them. I found this YouTube in Victor's web page. It is quite amazing as it showed how after the Basilica was destroyed and the mosque (and finally the church) was built. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q2QoWyXSzM Tired from standing and not wanting to wait for thick, cold tomato soup or oxtail stew, we made it to Subway for one of their sandwiches, chips, or a cookie and drink with a refill. We were able to sit outside and glance into the church's garden. It was good and fast, and while others waited for their stew, we walked down and partway across the Roman bridge, and enjoyed taking some pretty sweet pictures to end our Córdoba experience.
Water wheel and an adjoining bridge. Below: Michael and I on that same bridge.
Now, we are on the bus going to The Costa del Sol. I have finished typing my longest entree yet, and am ready for the Spanish yoga......una siesta! That does it! Grove and the sleeping gang Journal No. 11 Another busy day in Costa del Sol! We were up in the morning to grab breakfast from a magnificent buffet. If you can think of it, they have it .....including champagne! We got our stuff together and made a bee line to catch the bus. The optional tour was Gibraltar. We saw it when we were here last year, but other things we'd seen before had been somewhat different, so we decided to go back, and we were SO GLAD we did. Arriving at the rock we were divided in two groups. Our wonderful local guide this time was cute, bubbly, funny and so informative! Her name was Chantelle, and was the only one with a name like that on the rock. I can relate. She told about growing up on the rock. Going to school can often mean having to wait for planes before crossing the runway. The runway is for sure the shortest in the world for commercial flights, and there is a traffic light that tells you when it is safe to drive or walk across. The lines from Spain wait in long lines to get across the border every day, and every one has to go show their passport to each country's immigration control....twice over and twice back (we had to take off any hats or sun glasses and hold it by our face so the guy could recognize us and let us pass. Since I didn't have glasses in my passport picture off they came).
(Pictures coming later) Chantelle told us that for fifteen years the border was closed under Franco. She said there was nothing for the kids to do, so their playground was the rock. They knew all the tunnels and rooms where the kids hung out together. It was the only way you could get away as everyone knew everyone. There used to be a night club in the rock where her parents first met. When the border was closed it was hard to get food. She said the people from Morocco helped them and brought fruits and vegetables. They are British and the airlines have flights from Heathrow to Gibraltar. She said you don't want to go on the really cheap ones as they are so light they can sometime not land due to the wind, and then have to reroute to Malaga. That adds another four-hour delay! It is one of the most dangerous; I'm sure the short runway and coastal winds are the reason. She said though, that the wonderful police have made certain nobody has been hit by a plane, ever! Graduation from high school is age 15. She said that is too young and that they are always bugging the government to teach kids longer. She has several degrees, but when she was a legal secretary, her bosses said. "You need to go be a teacher or a travel guide. You are too happy for this job!" She took them up on it. She went to Japan and taught English and learned Japanese. She has been in over fifty countries like us too, but she has stayed for awhile and learned some of the language. Her parents wanted her to see the world and not just stick there. She said everyone on the rock... it is not really an island... was naive and stilted if they didn't get the taste of the real life outside Gibraltar. It got her out to see the world amend then she came back. We first went up the hill to see the monkeys. They are fed fruits and veggies. They are not fed bananas, because they would leave the peels all around and make a mess. We watched two or three that were so funny.....posing and showing how flexible they could be. One got carried away with a difficult move and fell off the ledge twice. Still, he was agile enough to land on his feet. I don't remember having places they would feed them, and for that reason they would attack you for food. If it's in a bag they think it must be something sweet. (Pictures coming later) Kathy, in our group, asked if Victor would take a picture of her and one of the monkeys. As she was posed, he came from behind and pulled her hair and jumped on her head. She didn't get hurt, but her surprise on her face was hilarious. It will certainly get a bunch of "likes " on Face Book. Chantelle told us that in 1948 the oldest woman in the world was found in the caves of Gibraltar. Millions of years ago the Mediterranean was not there. It got filled later by a huge waterfall. This was a Neanderthal woman, and was found before the Neanderthal man they found somewhere else, She said she is certain she is 4% Neanderthal, but of course, I think we all may be! From there we took a trip through the tunnels. We went through different ones than we did last visit. It was made for tourists with mock ups of people working and sleeping etc. in the rock. This was the military part and those parts always sound like yada yada to me. Walking in those tunnels are damp and a bit tight, but we did have a beautiful look out at one point to the sea. The young man telling us about the tunnels said the monkeys never come into the rock as they are claustrophobic. So at least they don't have troubles with that. We then got on the bus, drove out to a great view, back to the rock, and the caves where there found the "old, old lady". We could also see Morocco. That would be the last time we would see Chantelle. It was time for our high tea. It was all set up for us, and very pretty, but, of course, nothing to compare with our magnificent tea that focus does in the spring. There were scones with clotted cream, jams, and sandwiches of beef, ham, tuna, and cheese (they brought turkey sandwiches to Janet), chocolate cake, carrot cake, and a lemon bar cake. They served tea and I had it with cream. Time for shopping!! We had one hour, but we though it was until 3:30, and we kept everyone waiting for 10 minutes. We were very sorry and had to walk the walk of shame on the bus. Now, back to Torremolinos ( meaning tore and mill.....I don't know why). Back there in time to do my most un-enjoyable.....laundry! We had to as it is our only chance, and nothing will dry in time. It wasn't so bad, because while the Maxine was washed nag we shopped and while they dried we had wine and plan for dinner. We couldn't find anyone along the beach so we went for Thai. It was the very best chicken curry I have ever had... not spicy, lots of chicken, veggies (broccoli, asparagus, carrots), and coconut milk. Yum! Michael had shrimp and rice meal. Soon Ann, Marilyn and Aubrey came by. They were going for ice cream, and so when we finished eating we went there too, and had our favorite, like the night before....salted caramel with chocolate sauce that gets hard when it is cold! Back to the hotel to sleep.....heck no! Flamenco dancing show on the courtyard!!! That's it...and you made it! Grove and the gang P.S. One thing is that border Immigration is very lax. On our way in, I was holding my passport up. It wasn’t until we were walking to the second checkpoint that I realized that I was holding mine in a way that my thumb covered my photo. Oops. Ross floated/swam in the Mediterranean when we got back to the hotel, while we rested. The 3 of us had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. We decided to because the Chinese people in the group had gone the night before and said it was good. Moracco Facing Side of Gibralter We were here after touring the tunnels in the rock.
Journal No. 12 Another day, another adventure. You may notice that some journals are longer than others. It isn't because we did less, it is because I happen to be on the bus which has wifi, and it is easy to write, and I have people around me remembering the things I would ordinarily forget. We didn't leave Torremolinos until nine o'clock, so we had plenty of time to sleep, shower and check out the huge breakfast buffet. We are going to Malaga, and because it is the home of our guide, Victor, he will be our local guide. He has another business online, where he takes people on tours of Malaga, since that is where he was born and now lives. He took us to the building where Picasso was born. There is a statue of Picasso sitting on a bench, and I got a picture of me giving him a kiss on the cheek. The big surprise for us was the appearance of his father. He was a darling man, and Michael took pictures; maybe I can get friends to email me some. That was a highlight for me and being there by Picasso and of course seeing Victor's papa.
Meeting Victor's Papa
A Kiss For Pablo From there we walked around among the beautiful churches of the city. I didn't carry my iPad as it is hard to maneuver, and gave up on my phone because it doesn't let me take pictures.....keeps saying I'm out of room even though I have 41 g of storage in iCloud! For that reason, I don't tune in as well to what I am seeing. Church That Helped USA in Malaga
We stopped at a building with saints on a big door. Victor asked us if we could guess what was there....not a Clue! Come to find out, it is the place they keep the huge religious floats that the men carry down the streets during Easter. All the pictures won't come until later when I get home and put them from Michael's camera to my computer. More walking, and then... voila... we could see Victor's house (with his lovely balcony) overlooking a little square and park. Victor said this area used to be the red-light district of the city, but the people in the neighborhood had artists come in and bring their art. They cleaned up the place and renamed it Soho, and now It has been completely transformed into a posh and pretty neighborhood. Other cities and towns have come to see how they managed it. Victor said there were many sex shops there, and now just one or two could be found. He has a stickery tree called a Ceiiba tree that is covered with big thorns. It was the place where his parents had the meeting place for their first date; they were married in 1973. It is right outside Victor's apartment complex. I love his place. It has a neat park around it, and is vintage adorable. He even has his own veranda! He is doing very well with our tours and his own business. He has hired his brother and father to do " Tapa Tours" in Malaga. He says he has it planned and the three of them teach the tourist how to order and what to expect at Tapa Bars. He shows them around to the many in Malaga, and then they choose three tapa bars to visit. Each gives a tapa of their choice and a drink. As they walk around the city of Malaga, they get cultural and historical points, he started his company on-line and Trip Advisor had him as low as the hundreds. Now his company is number one. He has no office. He works at home and has four who work for him. I can see how he is so popular. He makes more money at GCT, and is able to travel around Spain and Portugal and still visit his parents one night, and check on his apartment and cats. He likes the challenge if keeping everything going for a big group (we are 39). He seems to do it so effortlessly, but being somewhat OCD helps. Malaga
These are the floats that bold the statues from the cathedral on Easter. The one on the left has Jesus on the cross laying on it, and requires 150 men to carry it. On the right is the float for the Virgin Mary. Sometimes she wears a cloak of real flowers. It is clad in silver and the upper threads that are gold in color are gold in metal. More than 200 men carry this one!
We got these images
from one of our fellow travelers when she got back
home. She was the one
On The Way To Salinos For Home-Hosted Lunch
After visiting the city we then boarded the bus to visit the families and have lunch with them (home hosted). We did not get to go with the Fishers and Smiths this time. We were with Denise and Kathy from California and Ping and Jo Ann from Florida. Our Hostess spent most of her time in the kitchen. We saw her as she served and she talked so fast I could understand very little. She has one son and two grandchildren. Her son is an engineer. The town of Salinas is very small and mainly agricultural. It started because of the train that went through it. Now, the bullet train bypasses it so there is no growth. They do most of their grocery shopping in another town 15 to 20 minutes away.
Kathy, Victor, Denise and our hostess
Denise and Ping Our Hostess
Ping and Michael We got back to Torremolinos in time to put stuff away and go for another shopping trek up the hill. Off Janet, The Fishers, and us went, to find the Best Buy. The challenge is to get something our family can enjoy that isn't too large, too gaudy, too expensive or made in China. We met with Ross, Joan and Sheryl for dinner. I wanted to go back for more chicken curry but Michael said " No more Asian food!!" So we want to the beach restaurant and I had spaghetti carbenera. Still, we had salted Carmel with chocolate sauce.
I had Janet take pictures of those Citroen cars to show Donn that the new model is called Picasso! We saw three of them in Torremolinos.
The entertainment at our resort hotel tonight was "a musical". We went down to see what that was about and it was sort of a dialog in Spanish which highlighted musicals throughout history. We soon realized that they were all lip synching, but the dancing was great. How they did it all in on that tiny stage was amazing, but we laughed as the applause was also taped. Back to the room, finish packing, and hitting the sack. No writing again tonight....not even my post card that I bought stamps for in Barcelona! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Grove and the gang
Journal No. 13 Up and out of Torremolinos by 8:00, on our way to Rondo. Jerry and Janet had been there before, and said it was very beautiful. When they were there, everything was green, as there had been a rain. Still, all the rolling hills were pretty with harvested grain in between. Our first stop was where they raise the bulls for the bullfights. There are two hundred hectares, or four hundred acres where they raise the bulls, the females, the working horses, the picador horses, etc. I got off the bus and took a picture of the practice ring where they used to find the mean mama cows to be the ones they mate with the mean bulls. I stopped to go to the restroom . The line in the women's room was long, so some of us went into the men's. I must have left my iPhone there. We took a quick walk in the practice ring, to see how the vets take care of the mean cows and bulls. We got in the bus and drove to the first paddock where some of the horses were. That is when I realized my phone was gone. I searched the bus and my purse and then told Victor. He immediately called back but it was nowhere to be found. We changed the password as I didn't remember it and Victor was afraid if we waited too long, the battery would be dead. While Victor worked on that, Tony from Taiwan called my phone. It rang, but nobody answered. Victor left messages on it to call his phone.... no luck! That pretty well ruined my day. For the entire tour of the place it was yada, yada, bull, yada, yada, iPhone, yada, yada, no artificial insemination, yada, yada, look again in my purse. Victor called again, and one of my fellow travelers called my phone again and it rang, but I think I have it on vibrate. Victor called where the bathroom is and nobody could find it. :-(,, It has pretty well taken the wind out of my sails. There will be only yada, yada, Rondo, yada, yada, gorge, yada, yada, shopping, yada, yada, McDonalds for the bulk of this journal. I am sure Leona will have her take from Vic as he was jazzed about the geology here. You won't get anything from Joan this time, as she is not a friend of bullfighting stuff......of course, putting that mildly. So for Journal 13 it's all yada, yada. Could 13 have been a warning? At least this one is not so long! Grove
Rondo's Big Gorge
Vic was so impressed
with the gorge; I was ". Oh! Big crack!
Journal No. 14 Wonder Sevilla! The land of fans, castanets, and mantilla! Home of the third largest cathedral in the world, the flamenco and my favorite, the expo in 1929 for the Latin countries. After breakfast we boarded the bus for a city tour. The best stop was at the the expo. It is a half circle with a fountain, a stream, bridges, and two big towers (one for Isabella and one for Ferdinand). All around the semicircle were little venues from that area, with little shelves on each side for pamphlets of information. The pictures which tell about them are beautiful....I have included those tiles as it is hard to write and give them justice. There are many, but I chose a few of my favorites. Cordoba and the 1929 Expo for Latin American Countries were my favorites. However, in reality, having Victor and all my other wonderful fellow travelers really made this trip! 1929 Expo for Latin American Countries
We continued to see the city and all the pavilions from all the countries that are or were Latin......even USA, the Golden Tower, the bull ring, and the Flamenco place we went to tonight. What a show!! Flemenco Dancers of Sevilla A display of their dresses and staged dance numbers
After the morning bus tour we came back to the hotel for a short break, and then those who wanted to went with Victor to the cathedral. Of course, we all went to that. We remembered the cathedral from our visit in 2004, especially the bell tower that has a spiral ramp that allowed the imam to go up to ring the bells on his donkey. This cathedral has the remains of Christopher Columbus. I say remains, not body... it had been moved to San Domingo and other places, probably leaving some DNA behind at each place. They wanted to be sure it was Columbus' remains so they took DNA from the body of his son and his brother and tested it with his and it showed that it was home. They did it because many places in the world claimed he was buried there. I guess they thought he made a lot more journeys... some even when he was dead.
We visited the chapel of Saint Anthony, (its sister church is in San Antonio and is the oldest church). There is a picture there painted by Murillo. At one time some robbers came to the church and cut out the part where St Anthony is kneeling. It is called The Vision of St. Anthony, and he is dreaming of many little angels. Michael took a picture. It was cut apart but an antique dealer recognized the piece and bought it. He notified Spain and they reimbursed him. Specialists carefully restored the painting but when you look carefully you can see the scar.
The main altar is in the center of the cathedral, and the entire back (the altar piece) has 45 scenes of the life of Jesus from his birth to resurrection. That way people who could not read knew the story through the pictures. It was next to a mosque and they planned to reuse it like in Córdoba, but an earthquake destroyed the mosque. For that reason, they built the cathedral right next to it and included the wall that was still standing.
The remains of Columbus are in a raised tomb held by four soldiers. They represent Castile, Aragon, Leon, and Navarra... the four areas of Spain that are on the Spanish flag. The whole thing was really dusty and a man was cleaning it with a soft brush and a vacuum. It needed it, and you can tell the difference. It is a few days until Columbus Day, and already I can hear the protests from the USA. I guess when they tested the DNA, they found he was part Jewish....maybe not even a Catholic. The Knights of Columbus could have a hay day with that one!
Columbus's Tomb
At this point, many folks went back to the hotel, but we hung around to see the Kings Palace. Victor and our local guide were able to get us in the group so we didn't have the long wait in line. The tile work, wood carved ceilings, elaborate designs in the plaster, and tapestries were out of this world, many like in the Alcazar in southern Spain. We ate at the cafeteria, which enabled us to take our lunch outside to the gardens with the ducks and peacocks. Rather than going back on the street car and walking 30 minutes, six of us decided to take taxis. For three of us it was five euro and we almost beat Jerold home, and he left an hour earlier. I thought the taxi was such a bargain and so did my legs. We went up to the room and both Michael and I fell asleep... thank goodness we set the alarm. The Flamenco show was great! First she came out and told us about the different styles of dress and accessories for each. During the show there were no photos allowed, but at the end they all come out and dance, and you can take all the photos you want! I will send my photos I took with my tablet. Our dinner was soup or salad, fish or pork, and we all had a delicious flan for dessert. For drink we had red and white wine on the table, water, and you could order anything else. Michael had a beer with dinner, and I had Sangria during the dance, We got back to the hotel in time to pack for our ride to Portugal tomorrow morning. We heard word of news of more awful fires and worry for the folks that are losing their homes and lives. Those in Santa Rosa are a big worry. We are sorry to hear that more fires have been set in Butte County as well. Erick says they don't expect rain for at least two weeks. So sad! I finished packing, and when my head hit the pillow I was out! Grove and Gang
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