Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting — page 3 — The next morning after breakfast Amanda Leah and her parents went shopping The warm smell of coffee greeted Amanda as they walked down a street lined with outdoor tables and chairs occupied by people sipping coffee and reading newspapers Amanda looked up Above the shops people stood on balconies looking down at them They looked real except they were dressed in old fashioned clothes with hair piled up high on top of their heads Similar to the paintings she saw the day before They also didn t move One of the figures smiled at Amanda turned around and went inside Definitely not a statue but a real girl wearing blue jeans and a white T shirt The strange thing was her face and her smile looked exactly like the girl in the painting Come along Amanda Why are you so interested in all these old buildings and things Wait until you see the lovely shop over here You will just go mad over the fashions Leah grabbed her arm and pulled her along Amanda wasn't sure she actually saw what she thought she saw a modern day girl who looked exactly like Doña

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting — page 4 — After some shopping they had a drink and a snack at an outdoor cafe Amanda and Leah drank descafeinado con leche coffee with milk and no caffeine Amanda loved the smooth milky coffee flavour and knew she would want another while she was in Spain That afternoon they boarded a bus and left the city of Madrid behind The bus twisted and turned its way through rocky hills travelling higher and higher into the mountains Amanda and Leah took little notice of the treeless barren countryside They were too busy catching up After some time Amanda looked out the window

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting — page 5 — and asked Leah's mom Where are we going It doesn't look like anyone lives around here We are going to Hotel Cueva Del Fraile for the night What does that mean It means the Cave of Friars It used to be a monastery explained Mrs Anderson Years ago they often built monasteries in remote areas away from other people so the friars or monks could live a life of silence and solitude I don’t think I would have liked that I like being around people too much and I like to talk We gathered that said Leah's dad with a smile Mr Anderson was an engineer who worked in dif

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting — page 6 — ferent parts of the world Often Leah and her mother travelled with him Amanda hadn't met him before this trip C Why does your dad have a different accent than you and your mom Amanda loved to listen to Leah and her mom speak with their crisp British accent Every word pronounced clearly Oh that's because he comes from Glasgow That's in Scotland you know and they speak funny there Leah laughed and ducked as her dad pre tended to smack her You'll have a wee kick around the backside if you're not careful lassie he said making his Scot tish accent more pronounced They arrived at the Cave of Friars in the dark so the outside wasn't very visible Inside the dark wood

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