December 2003 España Trip Photos
The month of December in 2003 was one that found us traveling quite heavily. In the early part of month, we travelled to New York and visited with the Dave and Heather Barnes family. After just a couple days rest in Sammamish, we were back in an airplane en route to the southern coast of Spain (Marbella) for one week and then on to the Balearic Islands (Mallorca) for another week.

As an aside... at the time of our travel to Spain (if you do the math), Berkeley was 17 months old, or just 1 month older than Eliana is now. I can't believe how time has flown by. And it seems impossible that our relatively recent trip seems so very long ago.

Marbella. Our first stop was in Marbella. We stayed at the Marriott Marbella Beach Resort and used that as a base camp to explore the surrounding area. Marbella is probably the largest town in the area, and it had some points of interest... most notably "Old Town Marbella" which is a compound of old houses (now all converted to retail shops and restaurants), fountains, parks, and a cathedral. We spent half of a day exploring Old Town Marbella and took lunch there. We had a good time.

Here are a few sample images from Marbella:

You can review the full Marbella gallery here:

December 2003 Trip to Spain: Marbella

Mijas. We used a half day during our stay in Marbella to travel to a small town called Mijas. Mijas is situated pretty much on the edge of the mountainside overlooking Marbella and the surrounding area. Mijas is not notable but for the fact that is home to one of the oldest bullfighting rings in Spain. All bullfights take place on Sunday in Spain (at least that was my presumption), so we did not attend one. We did however visit the Mijas bullfighting ring on a Monday, and dried blood could still be seen spattered about the ground in the ring.

I should mention that it was quite a climb up to the bullfighting ring from where we parked. At the top of the hill were the bullfighting ring, a park (with a nice lookout point), and a cathedral. We took some time to rest at the park and snapped quite a few pics of Berkeley playing there.

Here are a few sample images from Mijas:

You can review the full Mijas gallery here:

December 2003 Trip to Spain: Mijas

Gibraltar. On Tuesday the 16th, we packed in the car and set out for an all-day journey from Marbella down the coast to the Point of Gibraltar. We were traveling by rental car along the coastal highway for probably about two hours when all of a sudden we turned a corner and there it was, the 1400 ft high Rock of Gibraltar. It is an unmistakable landmark and it towers over the surrounding landscape... quite impressive.

Now, I wasn't aware of this at the time, but Gibraltar is actually a territory of and occupied by the United Kingdom. In fact, it has been in Great Britain's hands since the 1700s. So, we had to show our passports to the Spanish authorities before we were allowed to pass over into the territory. Once through the checkpoint, you immediately come upon a stoplight that marks the intersection between the road into Gibraltar and the main runway tarmac of the Gibraltar airport! It was quite a long intersection to say the least.

We spent some time in the retail district of Gibraltar and bought some Lladró (a beautiful piece of a mother, her son, and her daughter). Then we ventured up the mountain to have a look at the vast Nature Reserve (inhabited by Gibraltar's most famous residents, the Barbary Apes, the only wild primates in all Europe), the castle, and the huge network of caves and tunnels. It was all quite fascinating.

Here are a few sample images from Gibraltar:

You can review the full Gibraltar gallery here:

December 2003 Trip to Spain: Gibraltar

Alhambra. On Wednesday the 17th, we packed up the car for another all day journey. But this time we headed inland to the historic Alhambra of Granada. This citadel of castles, palaces, residences, reflecting pools, gardens, and fountains is impossible to see in just one day... it's huge. It is also incredibly beautiful. The architecture and finish work is so complex and ornate it defies description. It truly must be seen in person to be appreciated.

Here are a few sample images from Alhambra:

You can review the full Alhambra gallery here:

December 2003 Trip to Spain: Alhambra

After all that walking (Marbella, Mijas, Gibraltar, and Alhambra... not to mention all the walking we did in New York the week earlier), Kristy's body (she was 6½ months pregnant at the time) told her that was enough. She started having premature labor forcing us to visit the local hospital. The doctor said she was ok, but advised us to return to the US as soon as possible. So we complied (of course) and rearranged our travel to leave Spain one week early instead of traveling on to Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.

Kristy was quite worried about her prognosis as she was 6 months pregnant, was alreading dialating, and had contractions about 8 minutes apart. So I called up the nearby mission president and he was able to give me a phone number to the local english speaking LDS branch. I contacted an English ex-patriot who was happy to oblige in assisting me give Kristy a blessing. In the blessing I stated that Kristy would carry Eliana to full-term. Kristy recollects thinking "Full-term? I may not make it another 3 days, let alone 3 months." But make it she did... and, in fact, she had to be induced.

Málaga. We spent one night in Málaga (the hometown of Pablo Picasso) before our trip back to the US. We stayed at the Hotel Larios which is situated right in the heart of the downtown retail shopping district. While Kristy rested, Berkeley and I explored the town. We visited several shops and the beautiful cathedral there. We also visited the Museo Picasso and took the tour. It was a very fun little town.

I only have one sample image from Málaga:

You can review the full Málaga gallery (again... just one image, all my cathedral images came out poorly) here:

December 2003 Trip to Spain: Málaga

We had a great time in Spain on the whole, even though we were disappointed that we had to cut our visit short. Kristy had to take it easy for the duration of her pregnancy, but little Eliana ended up coming right on time. Perhaps, someday we can go back to Spain and see what we missed... this time with Eliana in tow.

(Update Mon Jul 4 07:42:04 PDT 2005 // added account of blessing)
(Update Fri Mar 10 09:59:38 PST 2006 // changed URL for New York gallery)

Product Review: Hartmann Luggage
About five years ago, I bought Kristy a couple of pieces of Hartmann Luggage (from their "Cognac Wings" collection"). The luggage is very attractive and quite well made (if not a bit pricey). Highly recommended.

On one of our recent trips, one of the feet of her wheeled garment bag was sheared off somehow, leaving only a small part of the shaft and the screw that held the foot in place. I didn't notice it until during our trip to Tahiti (in March). Recently, I went back to the place where I bought the luggage and asked if they sold a replacement part. No, they said, call Hartmann and they will ask you to ship the piece of luggage to them, fix it, and ship it back... which they implied would be at my own expense. They gave me the number and basically said... good luck.

Well, I wasn't very pleased about the result of my visit and the implied inconvenience (and additional cost) that the prospect of fixing this piece of luggage may entail. After all, I can fix the thing myself if I can just get the right part.

So, yesterday, I called up the Hartmann customer service line with very low expectations indeed. But after I explained the situation to the customer service representative, much to my surprise, I was informed that I would be over-nighted not one, but two, new feet... at their expense. Nice.

December 2003 New York Trip Photos
While looking through some pictures of our family vacations (specifically the vacation we took to Tahiti in March 2005), I noticed that I never posted pictures for a couple of trips that we took late in 2003. So, I'm going to add this entry (and one that documents our trip to Spain in 2003) as part of my effort to get our on-line photo albums up-to-date.

We travelled to New York in December of 2003, or more than a year and half ago (Kristy was six months pregnant with Eliana). We met Dave and Heather (Barnes) and their family (Braxton and Carson) in New York City and stayed at Times Square for a couple of nights. We walked around Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza and saw all of the Christmas decorations. We went to the top of the Empire State Building and rode the subway to Ground Zero.

After that we travelled (by car, in a blizzard) to the Barnes family home in upstate New York (Syracuse area). It was quite an adventure.

In upstate New York we had a great time. We mostly just hung out (their home was beautiful... but they have since moved back to Salt Lake City). However, we were able to visit some of the LDS Church historical sites such as the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, and the Joseph Smith home.

Here are some sample images from the trip:

You can review the full gallery here:

December 2003 New York Trip

(Update Fri Mar 10 10:00:41 PST 2006 // changed URL for Spain gallery)