Why I (was) so excited about travelling again.
So we weren’t visiting Paris this time. Quelle surprise!
Rather I was saying hello again to Madrid and its breathtaking energy, visiting the spectacular ‘hanging houses’ of Cuenca for my feliz cumpleaños!, visiting wonderful friends in their new home in Valencia, and taking the minor roads west through Andalućia to our much loved Portugal. There is indeed some magic about Portugal, least of all the music, the cakes and deserts, beautiful university towns and friends in Lisboa.
We would also be exploring some of the northern delights of Spain, along the Camino (we drive; don’t walk it), as well as taking in the architectural masterpiece at Bilbao, and the famous Basque market at Tolosa where I hoped to buy some renowned paprika.
I’d have my French time, in southern France re-visiting Arles and then onto gourmet central Lyon, as we headed east to Germany, a country I like immensely, for our third Rudolstadt Folk Festival, meeting up with Australian friends for some fabulous music set in a medieval town and its castle.
So what not to be excited about? Well, what I was immensely excited about was two and a half months of eating out. Selecting small local places, or indulging in some highly recommended restaurants, returning to some favourites, enjoying some fantastic meals and laughing when things were a bit disappointing. Whatever. It all meant that I wasn’t cooking, preparing, planning, shopping, I was just eating! I love all the cooking I do. But sometimes, the most exciting bit about travel is letting someone else fill your belly. The rest I can manage myself.
Rather I was saying hello again to Madrid and its breathtaking energy, visiting the spectacular ‘hanging houses’ of Cuenca for my feliz cumpleaños!, visiting wonderful friends in their new home in Valencia, and taking the minor roads west through Andalućia to our much loved Portugal. There is indeed some magic about Portugal, least of all the music, the cakes and deserts, beautiful university towns and friends in Lisboa.
We would also be exploring some of the northern delights of Spain, along the Camino (we drive; don’t walk it), as well as taking in the architectural masterpiece at Bilbao, and the famous Basque market at Tolosa where I hoped to buy some renowned paprika.
I’d have my French time, in southern France re-visiting Arles and then onto gourmet central Lyon, as we headed east to Germany, a country I like immensely, for our third Rudolstadt Folk Festival, meeting up with Australian friends for some fabulous music set in a medieval town and its castle.
So what not to be excited about? Well, what I was immensely excited about was two and a half months of eating out. Selecting small local places, or indulging in some highly recommended restaurants, returning to some favourites, enjoying some fantastic meals and laughing when things were a bit disappointing. Whatever. It all meant that I wasn’t cooking, preparing, planning, shopping, I was just eating! I love all the cooking I do. But sometimes, the most exciting bit about travel is letting someone else fill your belly. The rest I can manage myself.
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