One of our goals while living in Spain was to also see what we could of Europe when the kids had vacations from school. We figured Portugal should be included since it is one of Spain’s neighbors. Portugal’s turn came during Semana Blanca, which translates as “white week.” I got curious what we were celebrating …
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Hanging out with gimpy
The upside of Mom breaking her leg was that she got to spend a little more time with us. We were able to set up a bed for her in the living room, and we had a bathroom on that level, so she was able to get around in the house pretty well. Unfortunately, there …
More about hospital stays in Spain
By Mamo I learned something very important in the hospital. You can do a great deal with a smile, a touch, and a very small number of Spanish words. My words were “Hola” (Hello), “Como se Llama” (what is your name), “Dolor” (pain), “Gracias” (thank you), “Muy Bonita” (Very beautiful), and “Pi Pi” (no …
Málaga Massacre
As I was trying to get everyone fed and out the door to school this morning, I looked out the window to see a large group marching up the sidewalk next to our house. Many were carrying a flag that I didn’t recognize, so I looked it up. Turns out it is the flag of …
Hospitals in Spain
I was hoping to not have to learn about the Spanish hospital system, but mom’s fall made it a necessity. In three days, we went to 3 hospitals. The ambulance took us straight to the hospital. It didn’t dawn on me to inquire where we were until hours later. Turns out we were at the …
Granada
My mom returned for another visit, so we decided to take another road trip. This time to Granada. Granada means pomegranate in Spanish. And there are pomegranates everywhere. The main objective of visiting Granada was to see the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a Moorish fortress and palace built in the 13th century. Originally the buildings …
London
The last leg of our winter vacation trip was to London. Unfortunately, our stay in London was not all we had expected due to a horrific stomach virus that hit our family the morning we flew from France and followed us through London and back to Spain several days later, taking us out one at …
Vitré & Rennes
One place in France both Todd and I have always wanted to visit is Mont Saint-Michel. It is kind of out of the way, but we thought, why not? Our original plan was to take a high speed train from Paris that would take 1.5 hours. Well, thanks to the transportation strike, our train was …
Mont Saint-Michel
Mont Saint-Michel sits on a small island off the northern coast of France in Normandy. It is said that Archangel Michael directed Bishop Aubert of Avranches to build a church on the top of the hill in the 8th century. To arrive we had to walk 1.6 miles on a causeway across the bay. On …
Paris
Todd and I carefully planned our winter vacation back in October. A transportation strike effecting most trains and métros, and consequently many attractions, for all of France was not in our plans. But of course France had other ideas. We carefully watched the French news for the three weeks before we were due to arrive …
Adrift in Andalucía 