'An act of conservation'

Malaga, a place that has been described as the bridge between Africa and Europe; a city whose name is a legacy of the Phoenicians who came here to salt fish, has been a pleasure. We saw the Mediterranean today in all its splendor along with an 11th Century fortress/castle. We delighted in the garden at the Hotel Monte Victoria for much of the morning.

Accommodations can make or break a trip and the Hotel Monte Victoria is one of those rare places that lingers in your memory and becomes a defining point on the horizon. In short, we were seeking a place that would be kid-friendly, QUIET, clean, and possess charm to make one feel a part of Spain from out of the gate. The Hotel Monte Victoria has surpassed all in spades.

It's quiet as a tomb (except for our very loud party of seven). It's the ancestral home of four generations of 'Victorias'. We have seen three generations with regularity in the 30 some hours we've spent there. As Don Jose explained today, he and his wife were occupying one room in the incredibly spacious and beautiful home that lies perched on a hill across from the castle; they had two choices: sell it or convert it to a hotel.

Don Jose working in the garden.

It's the only hotel in a residential zone of Malaga where we literally have seen no tourists except when we left and drove the five minutes to see the castle. They converted the home in 2003 and instead of seeing the family on weekends his daughter manages the hotel and his beautiful granddaughters are a fixture. It really feels like you're visiting a family friend and are privy to what lies behind the gargantuan wooden doors of the villas that dot the hillside. Don Jose explained that turning the family home into a hotel was really an 'act of conservation', for the lucky traveler it's like getting invited into a Spanish family's home and feeling like it's your own.

 Here's what it looks like on the inside:

Here's J sending down a bottle of water:

This is the view of the Hotel Monte Victoria from the castle- it was sooo close! The balcony where J stood is on the far right.

We're back on wifi so many posts on the way including one on a castle we visited and the 17th Century sheep pen we're staying in now- yes, it's been converted.

Thank you so much for trying to recover J's 'device' from Horizon. No news yet but Cyndi thanks for the link, Susan thanks for anything you can do.

Thanks for your patience.
xo

As the Latin saying goes that we saw on a clock at the hotel:

Time flies!

Made it! First leg of Family Sabbatical

In short, it's beautiful. It's sunny. So sunny you have to squint even when you've remembered to put on your sunglasses. It's a different universe filled with sidewalk cafes, thick plastered walls, plaza after plaza, and oranges clinging from trees on every other street. 

J, Tata and I went out this morning for provisions and J exclaimed, "I want to understand, I want to speak Spanish. How will I ever do that when I can't understand what they're saying?" We had a chat about active and passive language acquisition and he was quickly thrilled to see that I was asking either Tata (Grandpa) or the waiter to explain every other word. We told him not to be afraid if he doesn't know but to just try one word at a time to figure things out like a puzzle. He then proceeded to successfully order orange juice.

Yes, it was fresh-squeezed (he marveled at the machine that crushed the oranges right in front of us). It was delicious!

Gigi is translating a photo exhibit's quotations in the cafe as I type this- she just got this one right:

"The soft is stronger than the tough, water is stronger than rock, love is stronger than violence." - Herman Hesse

"Lo blando es mas fuerte que lo duro, el agua es mas fuerte que la roca, el amor mas fuerte que la violencia."

We are proud. 

These kids are brave (but nervous- I left Gigi and her Dad to get her something to eat while I whipped over to the cafe. She wailed, "But you can't leave! You're the one who speaks Spanish!"

J is an eater. He is thrilled. Yes, that would be 3 different types of protein on one gynormous platter. (My omelette had more olive oil than I consume in a week!)

Breakfast back at the ranch- one of them is showcasing the squint-factor. It is really that sunny. 

The garden at the 'hotel'- more on this later but it is the ancestral home of a wonderful couple and their family (including 4 generations of Victorias!).

The cafe is at the bottom of this building.

Gigi just nailed another translation.

On to some not so happy news:

Call for quasi-flash mob to Horizon Airlines to recover J's DSi. We've got one sad 9 year old who is beating himself up for leaving his 'device' on a 40 minute leg of what was a 17 hour haul.  The good news is that we arrived and everyone is handling the jetlag beautifully.

Definitions of Flash Mob on the Web:

• A flash mob (or flashmob) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. ...
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob

So what I'm hoping can happen is that you in our hometown can contact Horizon Air and try to track down J's DSi----it's white. It has Voodoo Doughnut stickers on the front. It is beloved. He feels pretty silly for losing it so quickly. I'm hoping technology and friends are willing to give Horizon a call and help us recover it. 

Horizon Air 2241

3:30 flight

Seat 10A or 10B 

Left in the seat pocket.

Thanks so much for anything anyone can do. I'd love to be able to tell him it's safe and waiting for him back home.

UPDATE: Never recovered. We were to end up losing our entire collection of DVD's and my favorite necklace. . .dumb idea to bring it! The moral? Limit electronics. Don't bring anything special.

Talk to you soon-