Traveling With Judi . . . .

I've made it back to the States safely and am happily ensconced in the warmth of my sister's home in Indiana (Brrrrr.... 20 degrees certainly is chilly compared to the lovely 65-degree-days I just left behind)!! I'm excited to hang out with family for a bit (waiting for my niece's 4th baby to arrive!!) after what seems like a long, lifetime "wandering Journey" around Europe.... but in reality was only a few months! I was too exhausted to post anything in my last couple weeks (and had run out of words while I was participating in my final English Immersion Program in Spain), so here are a few Bits and Pieces from the end of THIS Journey (with more Journeying to come in the future, I'm sure)!! As I mentioned briefly in one of my last posts, my last night with Sheryl was at an Airbnb on a boat/yacht in a marina in Lisbon! We thought it would be fun, unique, and interesting, and it was certainly all of those (let's just say it was MEMORABLE in the same

As promised, here is the completion of my post from Seville (and my apologies for posting so many in a row.... it's just that I had lots to share and finally had time)!! I get so busy traveling, exploring, pondering, and writing that I sometimes lose track of what day it is!! So.... Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! I hope your lives are filled with Love, Kindness, and Ever-Present JOY!! And thanks for being the "Valentines-of-my-heart" no matter where in the world I find myself!! XOXO Part Two.... Morocco!!! We got up early on Friday morning (before sunrise - ugh!!) and headed along the cost - past Gibraltar, Algerceiras and to the southernmost coast of mainland Spain - the Port of Tarifa! The glorious views along the way woke us up as the sun sparkled on the sea, and by the time we arrived and navigated our way around the parking situation, we still had plenty of time before boarding the ferry for a cafe con leche! Watching the water sparkle on the waves, feeli

My last post was a bit intense with all that carefully-planned travel being turned upside down, so I thought I'd share some of my more fun, pleasant travel experiences from the last couple weeks!! So.... even though I'm a week late, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all your wonderful Birthday messages!! I definitely feel well-celebrated this year, especially with all the fun and extra-special adventures I've had with my sister, Sheryl!! We started out my birthday week visiting The Alhambra and Gibraltar (which I've already told you about)!! That could have been more than enough wonderful sights and places, but we decided to meander up to Seville for paella (followed by a horse & carriage ride around the city) to see all the sights ON my birthday; then we went to Morocco on Friday and had a wonderful tour which included sight-seeing in a van, as well as a walking tour of the medina, lunch - and a camel ride!!! Seville is a busy, lovely city with o

There are some travel days that flow and meander along easily like an inner-tube floating downstream on a lazy summer afternoon - and then there are those that feel like never-ending, bumper-to-bumper traffic with so many crazy stops and starts that you're left with whiplash!! Today was the former - yesterday was the latter!! Following two wonderful, fun, busy but relaxing weeks with Sheryl (culminating with her drop-off at the Lisbon airport), I expected a gentle ebb and flow on my day of travel from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela yesterday, but I ended up with more "adventure drama" than I expected.... Yikes!!! The day started out with the kindness of our AirBnb owner picking us up at sunrise (got some great photos of the Marina!!) and dropping us off at the airport (after helping me off the boat with NO STAIRS..... but that's a story for another time)!! Everything was easy and uncomplicated, and after a leisurely goodbye over coffee with Sheryl, I hopped on

Oh my....what a week we've had!! Picking up Sheryl at the airport and finding our way to the hotel was pretty easy.... a fairly uneventful train to the airport.... waiting a LONG time for her arrival wondering the whole time if I might've missed her!!.... then... Yaaaay for sisterly time to reconnect!!.... train to Fuengirola.... wandering the streets to find lunch only to realize we had wandered almost all the way back to the train station by the time we found the right place.... bags and all!!, then a taxi to the hotel.... and finally we made it.... whew!! After no sleep for Sheryl on the plane and all that busyness of the English Immersion program for me, our next few days included sleeping, chatting, eating, sunshine, swimming (in the indoor pool since it was a bit TOO chilly for the unheated outdoor pool with wind and overcast skies!!), then rinse and repeat....sleep, chat, eat, enjoy!! Finally once we had chatted ourselves silly and caught up a bit, it was time to exp

I...LOVE...meeting new people!!! I had the most fascinating conversations last week with the Spanish participants and learned a lot about their lives, their culture (and conflicts), and the people! Thanks to my new Spanish friends, I now understand a bit more about some of the distinct language groups (and subcultures) in Spain (although it is very complicated and somewhat controversial)!! I'm hoping I understood what they were trying to convey - in English - and my apologies ahead of time if I didn't get it exactly right.... So..... Castilian (or Castellano in Spanish) is the main language spoken and taught in Spain, but Catalan (the official language of Andorra) is spoken in parts of northern Spain (in addition to Castilian). Catalan sounds as much like French as it does Spanish, and many of the Catalan people want an independent country (although it's been part of/connected to Spain since Isabella and Ferdinand II married in 1469, uniting the Kingdoms of Castile and

I was going to write something last week about my time in Torrevieja, but I think I used up all my words participating in the English Immersion program (so I didn't feel much like writing during our siesta break each day)!! So now I have a day to catch you up on all that's happened in the last couple weeks (before my sister, Sheryl, arrives in Malaga and we enjoy some sunshine and oranges together....wooohooo)!! I wasn't really sure if I'd have much to share from my week alone in Torrevieja because all I did was enjoy the sunshine, the view, and a few of the fun beach restaurants (because NOTHIN'S better than coffee, a sea view and sunshine!!)!! It was an incredibly peaceful week (other than the 10 hours a day - off and on, depending on siesta time - of jack hammers chipping away at the building I was in!! I just kept asking them if it was "seguro??!?" - safe - meaning was the building going to fall, and of course they just nodded reassuringly and sa

Ahhhhh sunshine!!! Glorious, beautiful, bone-warming, Soul-rejuvenating sunshine!! I felt it on my face the moment I landed in Valencia, and I literally felt my body relax! I'm not much of a warm-weather/sun-worshipper but for some reason, I have felt especially renewed and rejuvenated every time I take a moment to stop and feel the warm sunshine on my face! Maybe it's because it was so cold in Central Europe (or maybe something a bit more "energetically-related" to Central Europe's long, heavy history) - or maybe I was just tired from all that sightseeing and cold weather - who knows?!?! All I know is.... I felt my body relax, and I've been enjoying lots of lovely quiet time since I arrived a couple weeks ago! I spent a very nice 10 days with 4 sweet cats about an hour south of Valencia and besides relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and kitties, my greatest accomplishment was learning how to build a fire (and keep it going)!! As I mentioned before, the ho