Spring break with Mom

Thanks to my dad's handy-dandy frequent flier miles, I got to spend spring break with my mom in Spain. I just Skyped with her, and she tells me that interestingly, the boys actually survived their own cooking!

My mom and I travel quite well together.

Traveling is not the most relaxed activity, but even amidst the stressful moments (like when we had to ask random strangers to exchange our dollars for euros because all the banks were closed that day, and we kind of sort of needed to buy metro tickets to get to our hotel from a machine that wouldn't accept American credit cards), I think I remember us laughing about it afterwards. And whenever our itinerary changed, it was no big deal. I think our relaxed approach to this trip was what made it such a wonderful time.

We saw great things: paintings at the Prado that actually stunned an art-un-enthusiast like me, spectacular Roman ruins, the house of El Greco, dark green gardens that would even get the stamp of approval from fairies

We heard a beautiful symphony perform pieces by Brahms.

We ate all things: ice cream on late nights, pastries in bed on Sunday morning, Turkish fast food, Mediterranean tapas, pad thai, yummy sauteed local seafood at Chinese buffets (Ha, we are such piggies and thus enamored with the all-you-can-eat idea!)

But we also did little things: stopped multiple times at random places for tea and coffee breaks (my mom brought my thermos from home, along with little packets of Good Earth + sugar + cream, mmm best idea ever), started and finished one book each, went to the market and had picnic dinners by the fountain, and wandered till our maps became tattered and our feet turned into stiff little potatoes.

But in agreement with an old quote, I would have to say that the little things were actually big things, and they are my fondest memories.