Allie in the South of Spain

Jose and I have been on our Christmas vacation now for almost a week and it feels like we have taken advantage of every moment. Things have been busy to say the least. Pre-Christmas we cleaned and prepared for both the holiday and our visit with our friends, Erica and Ernie. Then we spent the 24th and 25th with Jose's family, one day with his mom's side and the second with his dad's. Santa even came to visit! On the afternoon of the 25th we stopped at the train station on our way home to pick up Erica and Ernie. They came back to our apartment where we relaxed before heading to visit Seville the next day. We went to the Cathedral, had a big lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and walked around enjoying the Christmas atmosphere. We ended our day in the best place in Seville, the Plaza de Espana. The next day we headed out to Cordoba to go to a winery because our friends really enjoy wine tasting. Ernie is basically a self-taught expert and one of the thing

So here I am again writing another Christmas Card via my blog. This is the third year that I have done so, choosing to update my friends and family on what is going on with us here in the south of Spain as well as recapping what has happened throughout the past year. We also use this blog post as an excuse to take a holiday picture which you can see below. It's fun to be able to look back at the past few years and the memories we have created. You can see the cards from 2012 and 2013 below: Christmas Card 2012 Christmas Card 2013 Without further ado here is our top ten from 2014: 10. Visiting Morocco for the New Year. This was a trip we had been wanting to take for some time and though we were in some ways disappointed with the tour we chose, this short vacation made us want to return again some day. Read about Morocco here . 9. Heading to Pure Michigan for another summer with my family. We always have a great time when we are back home in the U.S. We fill up on family

Recently we had a long weekend and Jose, Cooper and I headed to the south of Portugal. I love this part of our neighboring country because though it is quite similar to the south of Spain, it has it's own charm. We usually stay at my in-laws' apartment right across the border in Vila Real de San Antonio. It is less than two hours from home and we can walk to the beach when we are there. This area of Portugal is really popular with retired people from all over Europe and we enjoy exploring the villages that dot the coast as well as heading a bit in-land every once in a while. One of my favorite things about this time of year is the Christmas festivals, fairs and markets that pop up all over. Vila Real is no different. In their main plaza there is always stuff to do, see and buy. This month there was a holiday themed fair going on complete with an ice skating rink. There was a stand in the market with its own wood stove where they were making bread that looked FANTASTIC.