Two weeks in Alicante....living the good life.

Happy travelers

What more can I say about this jewel of a town called Alicante, Spain.  From my perspective and that of my friend’s, the Holland/Rhodes and their two children (young adults) who are with us, there is something here for everyone to enjoy. Our flow here starts with a good night’s sleep, leave the apartment about 10 AM for coffee and a croissant, visit one of the great museums, then a walk around town or up to a castle/fort, take a delightful nap, go to the beach for swim and sun, home or out for dinner and play some games before bed. This is just perfect for me.

Castillo de Santa Barbara

This little city of about 350,000 sits right on the Mediterranean Sea with its white sand beach and blue green water and it’s hundreds of coffee spots, tapas bars and restaurants with food that will never stop satisfying a hungry traveler. Also for us are the many excellent museums which are free here. I highly recommend this as a perfect weeks’ vacation with great weather and ample sunshine almost all year around. A caution I will give is that the summers here could be a bit on the hot side especially if you like to walk. Alicante has a few hills going up from the sea with the two Moorish castles or forts, which give the visitors a perfect view of the cities and its beach.  We ate out twice to enjoy the paella of the region and a forkful wasn’t left behind. Lastly let me not forget the ice cream and gelato places especially if ice cream is your passion which is one of mine.

Dragon Fruit

Thank you for traveling with us again in Spain.

Sending love,
Ricardo

Were winding down our two weeks in Alicante. We spent the first week on our own and the second with our good friends from Buxton, England...Dan, Fiona, Aidan and Will. How fun to travel with a family and enjoy good times together. We stayed in two different locations in this small beach city and will leave here feeling that we have a good sense of this place.

It is a tourist destination and we were here during Semana Santa and Easter Sunday which is a busy time with many religious events. Our weather was perfect - no rain (though they need it badly) and for the Brits, it was a lovely warm getaway.

Esplanada de Espana

Once again I will list our various activities to keep our memory alive. As usual, we started our trip with the City history walking tour with guide Jose. He was fun and full of knowledge and the city has a long history with several rebuilds after destruction during wars. It is on the Costa Brava which is along the Mediterranean and has a lovely beach within walking distance of both of our airBnB's.

700 + year old ficus tree

Playa del Postiguet

Santa Cruz neighborhood

Alicante is another great walkable city and we’ve explored most areas during our time here. The backdrop to the city is the mountain with ruins of the Castillo de Santa Barbara on one side and the Castle de San Fernando on the other. We walked up both giving us fantastic views of the city and the beach. Another walking tour included legends and the less touristy neighborhoods of Carmen and Santa Cruz.

We enjoyed some of the many museums all over town. First the Museo de Contemporary Art, and then Bellas Artes Fine Arts museum. The Ocean Race Museum, right on the harbor, tells the story of the big sailing race that goes around the world and leaves from Alicante every 3 years. It is modern and with many exhibits giving a real feel for what these talented sailors go through in this grueling race.

The Water museum gives the history of water in the city and shows the original wells used to store water until it began to be piped into the city in 1898.

We visited the Hogueras Museum which explores the festival of large sculptures similar to Las Falles in Valencia which I already wrote about in the last post.

Terracotta Warrior

We saved the best for last – the Archaeological Museum. We happened upon the unique exhibition of China’s renowned Terracotta Warriors. The Terracotta Army is one of the most famous attractions in China and is considered to be one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world and one of the greatest discoveries of the 20^th century.

Most of our days included time walking along the beach and enjoying the Spanish very laid-back lifestyle. Lots of eating – tapas of papas bravas, padron peppers and of course the paella. The rice and spices are a bit different in Alicante than Valencia but mostly to my taste it was the nearly the same.

Building sand castles

On our last day, today, we traveled out of the city to Elche (a smaller city 30 min away) with a large botanical garden and big Palm Garden.

Showing off for the camera

Palm Garden in Elche

We have changed our final week's plan. Because of the unrest in Paris, we have changed our return flights and now will return from Madrid. We will spend our last week in Cuenca, Spain which is new for us. I will let you know what we see and do next week.

Thanks to all for traveling with us. We are grateful for your many comments.

Valencia, Spain revisited

To begin our trip here, I need to mention that we were here 3 years ago, pre-pandemic in the month of January which was a bit cold but very doable for us.  After being here for one month we knew  that we had to come back,  if just to repeat what we did then. So here we are now, back at the beginning.

OK, Valencia is a GEM of a place - very flat and walkable with much to do and you will never get bored. If we finished our travels here today I would just say  WOW!!! which is just how I felt the last time. Life slows down here, people are very friendly and willing to help with so many things to stimulate your senses and provide knowledge of this area. I would recommend Valencia to explore with only one caveat. In the summer months, I was told that the temperature can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit and for me that would be too hot to even walk around this magical place. The suggested best months here are March & April and for us the weather has been perfect, with no rain. (It would be welcomed now as there is currently drought conditions.)

Susan will clue you in on all of the things that we did while visiting in this part of Spain. Thank you for traveling with us.

Ricardo

We are grateful to be traveling again and visiting a favorite city that we visited in Jan, 2020 just before the pandemic. Having 2 weeks gave us a great chance to see places we loved the first time. Nothing disappointed us. 

I have been posting pictures on Facebook and so many friends have seen them but many have not so I am repeating some as this is my diary to remember all that we have done. 

The street where we live
Juan de Austria 4

We are back to our typical travel life which we enjoy when we are in the same place for a long enough time to feel like we live here. Each day includes meditation and chi kung and a daily outing for a decaf coffee for us and croissant for Ricardo. We enjoyed the outdoor tapas spots with our favorite papas bravas (the Spanish version of French fries). A specialty was vegan paella and we often ate home, cooking in our little kitchen. During this two weeks we took an online class – Sketchbook Revival and both learned from the 2 different people every day with different ideas for creativity. Our materials were limited but we did many experiments. We are happy to be back to some artwork daily.

Mostly I will list the places we went and include photos of some of them. There is so much to see and do in this “big city in a small, intimate package” (quote from an online tourist site). Valencia is Spain’s third-largest city. It’s just a fraction of the size of Madrid or Barcelona. It has a population of less than 800,000 in the city proper, and about 1.7 million in the great metro area.

·     Walking tour of Carmen street art

·      Jardin de Turia – the 6 mile former riverbed park that has been converted into a greenway for outdoor activities, museums, etc.

·      Fallas Museum – we learned about this festival last visit – the building of these giant sculptures that can take over one year to make and which are all (except for one) burned. The best is saved for this museum. We arrived on Sunday, Mar 19 which was the night that they were all burned. We saw two in the city from a distance and listened to firecrackers all night long. There were MANY people in town that day.

·      Tour and boat ride in L’Albufera. This is the area outside of the city that is home to many rice fields and is the reason that paella has become so popular in Valencia. The small village is home to this scenic area and to 35 paella restaurants. Definitely worth a visit.

·      Bioparc (zoo) – our second time – this zoo allows the animals to roam free and to live in their natural habitats. It felt like the animals were happy there.

Baobob tree

·      Cuevas (caves) de San Jose – also a tour and new for us. This is supposedly the longest underground river in Europe and the boat ride through a small part of the river was interesting and beautiful.

·      Institut Valencia de Arte Moderne

·      Oceanografico – a large aquarium which is part of the Arts and Science complex of the Jardins de Turia. The building are all designed by the architects Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.

 

Our street corner

Needless to say, I would recommend this city to any travelers. There is something for everyone. I think it is better knowing Spanish but without it you would still find it interesting.

 

Now we are off to Alicante. Thank you for joining us on our travels.

Reflections on the year 2022

Its always interesting to review our year as we write our final blog post of 2022. Many things were the same as prior years but of course we're different people every year. This year we're writing about the few things that defined our year and perhaps changed us in some way. I will write S when Susan is speaking and R when Richard is speaking.

R     We have listed 6 things that stand out for both of us. They include the following themes: Old and new friends, Libros para Todos, Exercise routines, Travel again, our HOA and creative endeavors. We will take a moment here to elaborate and record for our history purposes.

Friends both old and new

S    Number one for both of us is friends, both old and new. Our trips gave us a chance to visit with our old friends and catch up on the goings on, especially because we hadn't traveled much in the prior 2 years because of the pandemic.  We're always lucky and make a few new friends each year. (Unfortunately we loose a few as well.)

R    Not to mention names but since we have returned to our UU church new people have come into our lives. It is a cherished event whenever one meets like-minded humans. I always get more strength from people and it is always a joy for me . 

Libros para Todos

R     Our not for profit that was started almost 10 years ago has grown in size and is thriving. Our director has been very successful along with the many volunteers. What pleases me most is that our meetings are held predominantly in Spanish and the number of young children benefiting has more than doubled since it began.

S    I am so grateful that Libros para Todos is still going strong in Mexico. So many of you who are reading this post have supported this literacy program that we started 10 years ago. It has grown with Daniela Franco as its director and we are still involved behind the scenes as Board of Director members. I was able to attend a few of the summer camp days this year and witness the enthusiasm for learning and creativity of both the kids attending as well as the volunteers who help to make it happen. Our volunteer team has grown to include mostly Spanish speakers and it was a joy to attend a volunteer meeting in Spanish. (By way of comparison - when we began we were all English speakers and therefore couldn't really communicate well with the children.)

Exercise

S    Mostly new for me is Rocksteady Boxing - a special program for people with Parkinson's Disease. It is a national organization with great success helping us with strength, coordination, balance and large body movements. It is fun and exercise at the same time. While in Mexico I was able to find Janis who gave me personal boxing classes twice a week for the whole time I was there. 

R    Besides walking most days, usually over 3 miles, we both attend a gym 2-3 times/week. A new friend has given us his Nordic rowing machine. This device is a challenge but in time I hope to master it. I have been doing my juggling acts and practice almost daily.

Travel again and plans for the future

R    Finally we have traveled this year outside of the country. We returned to San Miguel de Allende for 3 months and will be returning again in 2023 to share our time with all of our dear friends and of course actively participate with our team, Libros para Todos. We traveled up north to Cape Cod for an adult Vogel reunion and to Long Island to be with my niece and her family and recently to Saint Augustine, FL to share time again with the Vogel clan and my cousins.

S    Having traveled a bit this year felt VERY good again. As you all know, we've had the travel bug for a very long time and felt a bit stifled for a while of no travel. Now I am back searching airBnB and airlines/trains websites getting ready for a trip in Mar/April to Spain and ending in Paris. We'll have a few car trips in the USA and then Mexico again from Oct-Dec 2023. 

Homeowner's Association - Volunteer

R    I wanted to meet my neighbors and I was elected to the board of our homeowner's association as the contract coordinator for our 56 home community. I have really enjoyed the process and meeting my neighbors, many for the first time. It has been interesting and rewarding. I will be continuing this volunteer job for the year to come.

S    I am very proud of all that Richard has done this year as a board member. His personality is perfect for working with others as he always brings joy to everything he does.

Creative endeavors

S    I found a new art practice which I hope to continue and perhaps expand. I have done online weekly classes along with a one month challenge of slow mindful drawing of repetitive patterns mostly from nature. (For more information see  https://mindfulartstudio.com/) I enjoy the calm, meditative act that this provides. I have also made a quilt which was auctioned and many placemats that we gave to Meals on Wheels as part of our UU Quilters project. This year we are making them again. It is great to be able to use my sewing and art gifts to give service to others.

R    For me, I continue to practice Tai Chi which can be considered an art form. It can take a lifetime to master.

Good bye charlie. 

S    We said our goodbyes to our friend charlie kast who left this world right after we headed to Mexico. We had been part of his "charlie's angels" team helping him in his last few months after his stroke. He was a very important person in our lives. I worked with him as he was the minister of our UU church during the 11 years that I worked there. We've been very connected to him during our retirements as well and looked forward to our time together. His greatest lesson for me was that it is OK to be me, whatever I am, without worry about pleasing others. He was a loyal friend who cared about others. He showed love and allowed us to show him love, especially in his last days. It was an honor to be one of his friends.

R    During the past year many dear friends have passed. I’m trying to get my head around this occurrence in life which is not an easy task for me. I will mention one person, charlie kast and many of you will know who I mean. He was not only my close friend but a mentor in so many ways. I miss him and others every day and will always keep them in my heart felt memories.

We wish you a peaceful and healthy NEW YEAR and look forward to seeing you all in the coming year.

Sending love,

Susan and Ricardo

"On the road again" ... back in Mexico

It sure feels good to be traveling again and here we are, back in San Miguel de Allende, MX after nearly three years in North Carolina. The world of travel for so many of us was at a standstill and it feels good to be out and about in another place. In the early part of the year we were invited to house sit and we feel lucky to be here in this beautiful home, in a beautiful city.

What's the best part???? I think the fact that we have reunited with so many of our friends that we haven't seen in so long is number 1. Then of course, the culture differences, the great weather, the warm and happy Mexican people, the colors and the food are all important to our lives here. I can't help but make comparisons to our lives in the USA though I always try to remind myself that comparisons, for me, tend to make me want to see one option as bad compared to one good. This is, of course, is not true. There are many shades in between.

What have we done in San Miguel for the last several months. Our stay will be 3 months total with 2 weeks left right now. I knew we had many friends here but until we really made plans to see everyone I had no idea how large our community was/is. We have spent time nearly every day with one or two friends having a meal together. We have been coming to San Miguel since 2000. The first few years were short trips and then some for several months until our retirement in 2009 when we began to be here 6-8 months/year - always coming and going. In that amount of time, one can make many new friends. Because of the pandemic there were nearly 3 years when we didn't see these friends so this was the perfect time to reunite. A benefit was a chance to sample many of the new restaurants that have sprung up in SMA over the last few year - and several are vegan only! 

We spent our time doing our usual activities; walking everywhere (carefully on the cobblestones!), yoga for me, tai chi for Ricardo, boxing for me, a new little mindful drawing art project of tiny repetitive pattern drawings, reading, watching a Netflix series nightly and as always, joyfully sharing our time with each other. 

Very important to both of us was reconnecting with our project "Libros para Todos". I was able to attend the creativity summer camp that was held in Dolores Hidalgo and in San Miguel and witness some of the art, poetry and theater sessions. We also attended a volunteer planning meeting for the upcoming months and were so proud to see the enthusiasm and dedication of this team. The meeting was in Spanish with some translation in English which was in contrast to the early days when it was mostly expats who were involved. Having native speakers enables us to do much more with the students to support their love of reading. To all our family and friends who are reading this blog post - we thank you so much for your support of this program over the years.

The weather here has been great. We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season meaning short rain storms many days but rarely more than one hour and in a short time it all dries up. The rain is mostly late afternoon or early evening so rarely affects our daily activities. Temperatures have been mostly in the 70's. 

For me, it has been a pleasure being out of the USA to listen to a bit less of the politics and to not feel the divisive energy that exists there. To be honest, we don't follow Mexico's politics and there are surely issues of differences here too.

So now it is time to leave "home" to go "home". Home, as I have written before is where we are and though all our belongings are now in NC, I think I will always have some of my heart in Mexico.

Thank you for traveling once again with us. We have some tentative plans for the coming year so we hope you join us on these upcoming adventures.

Here are thoughts from Ricardo:

After too long, we returned to our second home here in San Miguel de Allende, Mx. Now we are finishing our third month taking care of friend's precious home here in Colonia Guadiana. The home has more comfort than needed. In the past we have had several visitors from up north visiting but this time it's been just Susan and me.

For the first time we see ourselves and our dear friends getting older and beginning to live life with more care and caution. For example, the streets are cobblestone which creates a beautiful atmosphere but now we walk keeping our eyes open, always in front and being more mindful.

SMA has changed since we first arrived here over 20 years ago. The pueblo has become a wedding destination on weekends and a weekend getaway for many wealthy Mexicans. The expat community remains but due to online workers there are more young families looking for the alternative experience for themselves and for their children.  All of this brings in more traffic and congestion along with more demand for resources but on the other side, better restaurants and medical care etc. which has increased significantly. All of this keeps this place very very close to our hearts.

Like our permanent home in Carrboro we have many dear friends which has kept us joyfully occupied sharing our time with them and many new acquaintances.  Our lives are rich with many wonderful people here as well as other places in the world that we frequent.

The non-for-profit that Susan started 9 years ago is still flourishing and helping young children experience the love of reading and other good habits to help fulfill and enrich their lives. I’m so proud of her and our director Daniela along with the volunteers that continue to benefit up to 1000 children every year.

I will sign-off now as we get ready to return back to our home in North Carolina.

Sending love,
Ricardo

2021 We're HOME !

Greetings to all on this special 31st anniversary of our wedding day. I cannot believe how fast the time flies and looking back, how VERY full and adventurous our life is.

I just re-read our blog post of one year ago – the first “Stay at Home year”. At that time we couldn’t imagine another year of being home! Now I would have to say that HOME is really HOME in more ways than one.

•       Last year HOME was Carrboro, NC.
•       This year HOME is back to our house (in Carrboro, NC) that had been rented for 11 years. Though we lived here for quite a few years before we took off on our travel adventures, it feels like new to us. We did several updates like new floors and new paint and we find it the MOST perfect home for us – the right size and so beautiful. We love our new furniture and all our comforts and our minimalist lifestyle (as much as we can).
  
•       HOME is where our heart is. For now, this is where we love to be and don’t mind the fact that we are not traveling or doing much socializing as the world is in a careful mode with regards to the covid virus and the various variants. Luckily, we are vaccinated, boosted and still safe.
  
  
•       HOME is where I can recuperate from my knee surgery. As I write, I am 1 week out of the hospital where I had a total knee replacement. What a difference a week makes! I even walked twice around the cul-de-sac in front of our HOME as the weather is in the 70’s. My thanks go to my excellent physician Dr. Scott Kelley, his team and the joint replacement staff of Duke Regional Hospital.
•       HOME is where our stuff is. (I had gotten quite used to moving stuff from one place to another for so many years.)
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   HOME is our community of friends. Being dependent this last week has allowed me to receive such love from so many friends and family - near and far. To be honest, this is really the most important reason to be in community - to feel and share the love.
  
  
  
• HOME is where my creative juices are flowing and will continue to flow.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

•       HOME is where we will travel from and return to. We have just committed to Mexico from mid July to mid October in 2022. Just the thought of travel again has rejuvenated my spirit.
  
  
  
•      HOME is where I feel safe and secure. With the love and support of Richard I have faced a somewhat challenging year. I was diagnosed one year ago with Parkinson’s Disease (thankfully early in my symptoms) and through the year felt like a new uninvited person had moved into my brain and self. It is very hard to explain the feelings but they are like none other in my life. Just a few weeks ago I began medication which has helped significantly. The good that came was the discovery of Rocksteady Boxing for people with Parkinson's and I look forward to my twice a week class with others in different stages of this disease. There is much happening and great support here at UNC and in our local community. It has also given me new friends and much learning. I am learning patience for myself as well as others with compromised mobility or communication skills and numerous other physical and mental challenges of life. I have a new motto: May we all be blessed with the sanctity of moving at a snail’s pace. (Now even slower with my knee!)
  
  
  

·    This year has given us both a chance to be of service in our UU Community as part of the Caring Ministry and UU Quilters (for me). We have had many many walks with buddies on the local trails. We have had visitors and also the chance to travel north to family and friends in NY and MA. I will let Ricardo tell of a few of his favorite aspects of our year. 

As the year comes to a close we wish you all a peaceful and grateful NEW YEAR and may there be more peace and less suffering. May our country come together in some way on some aspects of our joined lives together so that we can get along in a better way than we have been doing.

 

Sibling love

Cape Cod 2021

High school friends

Sister LOVE

GREETINGS from RICARDO...

It's another year around the sun for almost 7.753 billion human beings not to mention all the other living organisms. I do feel honored to be just one of them in this trying time of the pandemic. When things get weird or just a bit out of control it gives me hope when I see people as a community coming together as one. The future has been transcribed in our DNA and I want to believe that it’s all good and that the collective wisdom will prevail.

We have returned to our home as of June 1st and feel that we are where we are supposed to be and very much liking 'playing house' again. Everything seems to have a rhythm and we are lucky to be able to tap into this pace.  We are looking at heading back on the road this summer and probably our first stop will be the beautiful San Miguel de Allende.

Being here has been a great gift to take care of our health concerns and I’m happy to say that they are now in check. We are on the mend and being here in Carrboro, NC with such great doctors and friends has made this healing possible as we look forward to aging in place.

What is new for me and a interesting change is giving up a 21 year old Corrolla for a almost new RAV4. They are like two different vehicles. The new car is so special that we gave it a name called BETTY BLUE.

Wishing you all a happy New Year and may this year's journey give us all another opportunity of a year full of wisdom and glorious joy.

Sending love,
Ricardo