Sha la la la sunshine

We've had a very rainy winter and a rainy spring here in Spain. The rainiest since 1947, so I'm told. Cold, grey, dreary days are romantic and perfect for curling up with a book, or candles and music and a nice oaky red. But weeks of cold, grey, dreary days, one after the other, take their toll. They cast a grey light on life - work is dull, friends are quiet, going for groceries is tiring... In short, keeping cheerful is work.
 
Yoga, cozy coffee houses to meet with friends, hanging out in museums, and eating really lovely soups are how I normally beat the grey, but my magic trick for conjuring up the sun is my mom:

Mom and the Music Man came for a visit, and, as usual, my mom brought the sun with her. From the day she arrived until the day she left, we had +20 and clear skies! Music Man swears he's never been on holiday with my mom and had a rainy day - Germany, England, Tahiti, Russia... No matter where she goes, the sun shines. A pretty neat trick, if you ask me, and unfortunately not one I've inherited.
 
Anyway, here's what we did in the sun:
 


we went on a nice walk - tall guy and i took the shortcut...

 


we ate outside nearly every day

 


in buitrago de lozoya we checked gothic-mudejar buildings... 



and storks on gothic-mudejar buildings...



and cheeky storks who mooned us from gothic-mudejar buildings



we went to segovia - that's the alcazar in the background

 
 
 


and that's the aquaduct

 

and of course we went to the retiro park in madrid