Spain

We are now regulars here in Spain. We meet people whom we saw last year and they remember us by name. We will stay here for a few days before moving on to Portugal. The familiarity gives us a few moments to breathe. All the last minute details we have to do before we leave home and the excitement of trying to get here makes our stay here just what we need before we move on.

Most things here begin in the evening so we take advantage of this and enjoy our late mornings and catch up on needed rest. Most Europeans have a light breakfast of bread and coffee, a good size lunch and then a light dinner or snack (tapas) late at night. We often miss breakfast to just enjoy the leisure of moving slow in the mornings. We have found the best cappuccinos right down the hall so we indulge in these and call it our breakfast. I do not wear a watch and enjoy not having to see if I will be “on schedule” for anything.

Tom is wearing a pedometer, which allows us to see that we are averaging about six miles a day of walking. We will pick up a car in a few days before we head to Portugal but for now we prefer the walk. We eat lunch at our favorite seafood place and they remember us from last year. We had the paella again (he made this special for us as we are ‘regulars’).

At night we meander over to a little bar that has a huge veranda on the waterfront. We come early enough so we can watch the sun set as we enjoy a little cervesa or vino, which they serve with the best olives, and then we have a few tapas for dinner. We are trying something new each time we go. We met a retired Navy physicist whom we seem to run into on a regular basis and he is introducing some new foods to us. What a pleasure! As we meander home we smell the chestnuts roasting on open fires and are enticed by the aroma. The sea air is cool and the chestnuts are warm. Not only do they warm our hands; they are a lovely snack to have along our way.

Our friends from last year have recommended a place to stay while in Portugal. It is the old military port in the southern part of Portugal in a town called Lagos. We will get permission to stay there from the attaché in Lisbon and hope to use it as our base for about a week or so. We hope for an apartment, which will cost us about 15E a night, and this includes our breakfast. From there we will meander and explore the countryside staying when we want to stay or moving on if we so desire.

Just when we were getting “comfortable” with our Spanish, it is time to “learn” another language. Thankfully we have our language books and are fluent in “trying hard” and hand movements!