Traveling With Judi . . . .

Happy Easter everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying a nice day and everyone is safe and well?!? I've been thinking a lot the last few days about all the Easter celebrations that had to be cancelled around the world, but especially all those in Spain for whom this week is sacred and celebrated in a BIG WAY with processions and all kinds of religious traditions!! My heart aches for everything my friends in Spain have endured because of the Coronavirus since I left Madrid, but they are pushing on through (just as we are here)! Thinking waaaaay back to February (which feels like a lifetime ago with all that's happened since!!), I've been reflecting on the many, many changes and unexpected upheavals during my trip (but also the many, MANY blessings and delights.... like the time I spent with "My Spanish Family" in Madrid)!! I've been wanting to share about my time with them because it was so special, and thinking about them on this family holiday seems like th

I just wanted to thank everyone for your kind words, thoughts and prayers in response to my mom's passing. Your outpouring of love and kindness was overwhelming, and I could feel your love though your words!! We miss her every day, but my heart feels happy knowing she's where she wanted to be (with my dad)! I finally made it out of our 14-day-post-Spain quarantine.... Woohoo!! Carol and I had a lovely time together and enjoyed each others' company (entertaining ourselves daily with our Spanish telenovela, Italian detective show, crosswords, Carol made cooking videos and read a book to me (kinda fun.... try it!!), and lots of chatting of course)!! Not being able to see people and hug her grandbabies was probably the most stressful aspect (and coordinating a "germ-free bathroom" for her husband who graciously hung out, cooked, ate and slept downstairs for 2 weeks), but overall it wasn't too bad!! As we neared the end of our quarantine, we realized that quara

My sweet mama passed away last night and although she will be missed GREATLY, I’m so happy her soul is finally free!! She has struggled a bit since my dad passed almost 8 years ago (they were 2 peas in a pod and inseparable during their 60 years of marriage!!), and her increasing dementia didn’t help (but she remained loving and kind throughout)!! She was a sweet, kind mom who loved and cared for us deeply, ALWAYS wrapping us up in the warmth and support of her prayers!! Towards the end, she couldn’t always remember exactly who we were, but she remembered that I was her “traveling daughter” and she’d begin every phone conversation over the last few years with “where are you now?” She and dad instilled a love for the world in all of us, and she loved hearing about (and seeing pictures) of where my latest adventures had taken me! She finally got her wish to “move up north” (a phrase she used in almost every conversation I had with her the last year or so - and because of her incre

For those who are on quarantine and possibly bored, I've created a bit of entertainment for you!! For those overwhelmed with caring for children or other "pandemic-related chaos," feel free to save this for another time if it's too long!! So when I last left you, I was unexpectedly back at Gredos and ready to start my third week of talking nonstop as a volunteer in the English immersion program! Durdaana had made it back home with her broken ankle (and has since had surgery to put in a plate to stabilize the bone so it will heal more strongly.) Needless to say, all hell has broken loose since then and my travel plans have been upended in wild and interesting ways!! I'll fill you in on my unexpectedly wonderful time in Madrid in a future post, but since I've had numerous inquiries on how I'm doing and what's been happening, I thought I'd fill you all in at the same time!! (I've included lots of details and a "blow-by-blow" accou

Wow!! What an unexpected turn of events last week!! My friend and travel companion for the next month broke her ankle while "walking and talking" (something they encourage during the English Immersion programs because the theory is that it helps keep the conversation flowing more smoothly in English, but it's something I don't usually do because I like a lot of eye contact to best understand the conversation - and I'm afraid of tripping if I'm not watching the ground!! I now feel justified)!! Sorry, I got a bit off-topic!! So ANYWAY.... poor Durdaana stepped into a hole she didn't see and BOOM - fell to the ground!! We thought it was just a sprain, so she hobbled around on it for about 12 hours, but then she wisely went to the hospital to get it checked out (since we had an interpreter and figured the care might be easier to get in Spain than Morocco - which was our next planned destination)! Good thing she did because it was a fractured fibula, and s

I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for your wonderful birthday wishes!! I had a very special birthday in Spain and was well-celebrated by the people in the English Immersion program in Barco de Avila! It was our day to explore the village (about a 25-minute walk from our hotel) to look around, see the Castle and "take a coffee" (my favorite Spanish saying) in the town square!! What a surprise when we encountered a sweet (sometimes off-key) band and ladies dancing in the main square! I asked if the celebration was for my birthday (but of course I was just joking)!! It was actually the Festival of Santa Águeda, a festival day when the town belongs to the women of the village for the day (hmmm.... what does that mean for the rest of the year?!?). Santa Águeda is celebrated on February 5 (better known as the Day of the Águedas), when the women in the village are the stars of the Festival alongside the Patron Saint (Saint Agnes). All of the women from town gat

Wow!! I can’t believe another 10 days have passed since I last posted, and I feel like I need to catch up on posting all that has happened(since every day seems filled with so much)!! So… after a lovely week with Sheryl in northern Spain, visiting San Sebastian/Donostia and Santiago de Compostela, I am now at my first English immersion program (1of 3 that I have scheduled for this trip)!! After experiencing the language and culture of Catalan in Barcelona, it was fascinating to visit northern Spain and experience Basque country (in the northeast) and Galicia (in the northwest) of Spain. All of these areas have their own language (in addition to “traditional” Castilian Spanish), as well as varied cultural histories that influence how they experience and interpret the world! I could really feel the difference in each sub-culture and they are each proud of their heritage! We did a bit of sightseeing in Donostia-San Sebastián (Donostia being the Basque name and San Sebastián being t

It’s been kind of a crazy 10 days since my sister and I arrived in Barcelona! We had a few days of sightseeing (mixed in with a lot of sleeping to catch up, adjust to the time difference, and get rid of “airplane colds”), and it’s been a wonderful time together!! I haven’t had as much time as usual to write and ponder the Journey (and didn’t have good WiFi on the ship), but I put together a quick video and an overview of our trip!! First we enjoyed an overview of Barcelona via the “hop on hop off bus” (with pictures of the beautiful Sagrada Familia and Gaudi’s architecture), followed by our 7-night cruise around the Mediterranean with stops in Marseilles (LOTS of rain and a transportation strike meant lots of WET walking!!), a stop in Genoa (where we took the train down to Cinque Terre to see the cute little cities there), a VERY intense walking day sightseeing in Rome (where we got to see the Pope do the Anglus/prayer on Sunday), Palermo, a lovely visit to Malta, and finishing