What a roller coaster of a week it’s been! We’re a little over halfway through our stay in Sevilla, and things have definitely been…interesting this week.
It all started on Monday when our host sent someone to look at the air conditioning. Turns out, the filters hadn’t been cleaned since the building was built, they were absolutely full of gunk. Once cleaned, the apartment cooled down significantly! We were so excited to be able to do homework and planning without sweating our asses off.
But that high was short lived. That same afternoon, the power went out. The wiring to our unit was completely fried. And, of course, we were in the middle of a heatwave, 42.2°C (108°F) on Monday and 43.8°C (111°F) on Tuesday. It took almost two full days to restore power. In the meantime, we did our best to make lemonade out of lemons.
Monday Night: Midnight Magic
That night, we headed into the city center and found a restaurant near the Catedral de Sevilla that was still serving food, at nearly midnight! It was pricey, but the experience made it worth every euro: great service, a talented guitarist playing nearby, and a stunning view of the cathedral.
We had a lovely chat in Arabic with our server, Abdula, who’s from Morocco. J even got to practice his Tagalog with the two busboys clearing tables.
Back at the apartment, J had the genius idea to run extension cords from the hallway to power our fans and charge our phones. 💡 Sleep was rough that night, but we woke up hopeful the power would return on Tuesday.
Spoiler Alert: It Didn’t
On Tuesday, our host sent an electrician to assess the damage, but it turned out to be a building-level issue he couldn’t fix. All he could do was notify the building management and wait for their electrician.
To escape the heat, we tried to hop on a bus tour of Sevilla, but that didn’t pan out. Still hoping we can fit that in before we leave! Instead, we suited up and headed to the rooftop pool, where we played Yahtzee!…in the water. First time for everything.
Dinner was something quick and easy, Burger King, lol. After the chaos of the past few days, greasy fast food felt oddly comforting. While the kids waited on the food, J and I grabbed drinks at the bar across the street. We struck up a conversation with a sweet young couple from Cork, Ireland, who asked (in English!) about smoking policies in Sevilla.
Later, we got creative again, plugged the TV into the hallway extension cords, used my phone as a hotspot, and watched a few episodes of Wednesday via Ethan’s PlayStation. As for sleeping? Not ideal. Ethan slept on the patio couch, Ainsley camped in the living room with a fan, and J and I made do with plastic lounge chairs. Definitely not our most restful night.
Wednesday: Power at Last!
J went out early for his usual coffee run while I waited with the kids for the building electrician, who was supposed to arrive at 7 a.m. He showed up closer to 9, but by 10:52 a.m., we had POWER! 🙌
The rest of the day was low key. Everyone had catching up to do, J worked on one of his finals, Ethan dove into math, and Ainsley tackled ELA. I began planning our move out of Spain and into Thailand.
Since Thursday was Ainsley’s 13th birthday, and we had plans to be on the road, she chose to have her special dinner, chicken Alfredo, on Wednesday night. She and I hit our favorite grocery store for ingredients, plus a cake and candles. She picked 3D dinosaur-shaped pasta and a chocolate ice cream cake. After several hot and uncomfortable days, things were finally looking up for the Steck family.
Thursday: Birthday Adventures & a Zipline to Portugal
We were up and out the door by 8 a.m. (an early start by Spanish standards)! We Ubered to the airport, picked up a rental car, and hit the road for Ainsley’s birthday adventure.
Destination: Sanlúcar de Guadiana, a tiny town on the Spain-Portugal border. We had coffee and tostadas before heading to the day’s highlight, LimiteZero, the only zipline in the world that crosses an international border!
We were fitted for our harnesses and bussed up to a hill near Castillo de San Marcos. The staff spoke limited English, and between that and our limited Spanish, we got the gist. Then we zipped across the Guadiana River and into Portugal!
The views were incredible, lush riverbanks, historic towns, and rolling hills. Ainsley was the first Steck to set foot in Portugal. She went first, followed by Ethan, J, and finally me. At one point, both our kids were in Portugal while we were still in Spain, we joked with the staff about leaving them there!
Once across, we took a short walk into Alcoutim and had what was easily the best restaurant meal we’ve had since leaving Morocco. Jered had an Iberian pork skewer, while the kids and I ordered spare ribs in gravy. Both dishes came with Migas, a garlicky fried bread. When the food arrived, our server said, “Sorry the portions are so big. In Portugal, we love to eat.” I replied, “We have that in common, I love to eat too!”
After lunch, we ferried back to Spain (had to go in two shifts due to space) and took a slightly different route home, passing by the coast and Isla Cristina.
With the rental car, we made a quick stop at Costco to return Ainsley’s broken Beats headphones and pick up some essentials. After dropping the kids and groceries at the apartment, J and I returned the car and made our way back home, this time to a cool, powered apartment. 🙌 I think it’s safe to say Ainsley had a pretty unforgettable zip into her teenage years.
How do we already have two teenagers?!
Saturday: Coffee, Chaos & Catching Up
Saturday morning, I was up before everyone else and ran to Carrefour for cold coffees, Tassimo pods, and some Greek yogurt to make fresh ranch dressing.
By the time I got back, J was up and ready for his coffee. We walked to our favorite café, only to find it closed (Saturday hours), so we hit a spot just around the corner.
As we sat, I noticed the guys at the table just inside the door, clearly drunk and possibly wrapping up an all-night bender. One had his pink shirt unbuttoned halfway down, exposing a chest forest. Another could barely stand and spilled beer all over himself without blinking. The third was the most “put together” of the bunch.
We watched them part ways. Pink Shirt headed north on foot, the messy one stumbled south, and the third got in his car. I turned to J and said, “There’s no way that guy should be driving.” No sooner had I said it than he tapped the car in front of him. Instead of backing up, he pushed forward, denting the other car’s bumper, and then sped off into traffic. Wild.
After that bit of chaos, we headed back to the apartment to get some work done—J had to finish his last final, I had some writing to catch up on, and the kids needed time to make up schoolwork after our powerless week.
We’re definitely enjoying our time in Spain, a chapter of our lives none of us will soon forget.
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