Traveling With Judi . . . .

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...

It's been awhile since I've written anything, but I think that's because I've been in hibernation/pondering mode since I last wrote in Budapest!! So rather than write one REALLY long post, I've split it into two "chapters".... pre- and post-arrival in Spain! It kind of reflects how this Journey has been for me internally - the first part much more "external" and extroverted (and exhausting in many ways!!), and the second part which has been (thus far) all about relaxing, rejuvenating, enjoying the sunshine and coming back to Center (oh - and enjoying the sunshine - did I mention how much I'm lovin' this sunshine?!?!??)!! So here we go.... I made it to Slovakia on New Year's Eve, but I didn't really see much of Bratislava other than the train station and a few sights between there and my AirBnb because it was freezing with bitter cold winds.... DEFINITELY not good weather to go sightseeing!! So, after  listening to and watc...