Spain Wedding

Before:

I have never had a wedding quite like this one, not least because it is my own father who will be getting re-married. I have just learnt that I shall be staying in a monastery before the wedding, which itself will be in a castle, where Game of Thrones was filmed no less - what an experience! It ought to be a fun and interesting weekend abroad. I hope that the wedding shall be not to stressful for my father and I hope the language barrier for me shall not be a problem...

After:

The weekend was like something out of a fairy tale, a truly awesome experience. I felt sad that mamon could not be here and I did miss her a lot during the weekend. Luckily enough, however, I was very well looked after by my sister and my carer Sophie Protheroe, both of whom are no less than living Saints.

I always struggle with getting to the location of any holiday. Yet, I felt that I had chosen well with Sophie P as she had travelled a lot in Japan and was at ease with the stresses of travelling. I was also very grateful that Sophie drove us to Stanstead airport, rather than having to take the bus. From the moment that we stepped out of the airplane into Spain I feared that the heat of the sun would get the better of me. As my mother noted, we would all suffer from the heat, and she was a hundred percent right.

We stayed in a 500 year old San Franciscan monastery, this one being extra special as it is where the city San Francisco got its name from. The monastery is located between Seville and Cordoba, and is now a famous hotel. What I loved about staying in the monastery is the vaulted ceilings and stunning courtyards. They also had beautiful gardens with a swimming pool.

I loved the peace and the tranquillity of the monastery. I fell in love with the stately gardens that were filled with orange trees. It was wandering through these gardens that I realised I now have a new Spanish family through my father. (Our family is now expanding throughout the World!) I also realised that being married is a huge commitment to another person. I liked meeting Virginia, daddy's second wife, and now my new stepmother, she was very kind and welcoming.

On the first night of the wedding, I was introduced to a lot of people from the UN in Africa who were friends of my new Stepmother, Virginia. They said that they were the women warlords of Africa and I don't doubt it! Virginia is greatly admired by her friends. My father originally met her at a diplomatic Ball in the holy city of Jerusalem. When I was sitting next to her in the grand hall of the monastery, she was able to tell me herself about parts of her life as a director of the UN when she was stationed in the Holy city.

During the second course of the dinner I met one of my father's best friends from the army. He was called James Hewitt and he had been a tank commander during the Iraq war. I admired him greatly as he was both charming and very kind. He told me many stories about my father's time in the army, when they served together in the Iraq war.

After supper, Sophie P and I had a cool drink in the bar in the monastery. It was a splendid bar, as it was part-garde and decorated with Roman pillars. We were introduced to a few diplomats and ambassadors while we were having our drinks. There was a lot of excitement in the air as we we were going to be seeing some legendary flamenco dancing. The performance was spectacular and I enjoyed it immensely.

The Castle of Almodover del Rio is where the famous Highgarden from Game of thrones was filmed and where the main wedding took place the following day. Before the ceremony started, I bumped into my father's friend from the Gulf War, James Hewitt. We picked up our conversation from the previous night and he told me a little more about the Gulf war and what role he had as a tank commander. He was one of the best people to talk to and he had such an array of amazing stories, it was truly epic to have met him.

The Wedding Ceremony itself took place in the medieval chapel of the Castle, where daddy and Virginia both signed their names to say that they are now man and wife. Even in the air conditioned room of the chapel it was still so hot that I thought that hell would be cool in comparison! The ceremony involved a mixture of guitar music. At the end of the wedding ceremony there was the old fashioned British songs like "I vow to me my country", which I also enjoyed. What was special for me was that this was the first time that I had ever sang out loud, and I honestly think I was ok! I started to sing very slowly and quietly, and I think I just about got away with it.

The dinner itself reminded me of a splendid Medieval banquet, as it was out in the courtyard of the castle, underneath gorgeous chandeliers. I liked hearing my Uncle Andy speak. He is my father's older brother and he did a great best man speech. This Uncle has four degrees and one of them is in Scottish Law, which must be fascinating. He spoke very well and was very funny. I got on rather well with him as he had done a history project on Hadrian's Wall, so we spoke at length about the Roman Empire.

I thought that the best speech of all was my father's. He did the beginning part of the speech in Spanish, then he switched to English, and throughout he was very confident and at ease - something I need to learn and emulate when I do my tour guiding. The best part of the whole wedding was when my father mentioned me in his speech. He said that he was very proud that his son Alexander worked at the famous Victoria and Albert Museum.

I liked seeing my father and his new wife walk around the ramparts after supper. They were silhoted against the moonlight and then lit by an incredible fireworks display - everyone gasped in amazement.

Following the wedding there was dancing; Sophie P and I had been practising Spanish dancing throughout the summer for this wedding. We danced until 3.30 in the morning and it was a mixture of Scottish dancing and very excitable Spanish dancing. I found the dancing to be tiring but even so I was having so much fun, I didn't stop. I was fortunate to have been practising before hand with Sophie P so we could both go through some funky moves with relative ease!

The wedding itself was a wonderful occasion and it went by rather too quickly. The Castle itself I shall always remember for having beautiful turrets and a commanding view over the landscape. Even so, the best bit of it all was seeing my father get married again. It was a wonderful experience and I am very pleased for my father and his new wife Virginia.