On the road to Cadiz

Judy. Back on the road again! When we first arrived in Georgia, the weather was beautiful, and we walked almost everywhere. Then the Polar Vortex made its first appearance, and the cold set in! Snow in December is almost 

Grandsons in the snow

unheard of there, but we had a good bit of it.

After spending quality time with friends and family there, Ted headed to Denver to see his dad while I took off for Springfield, Ohio, to visit one of my dearest friends, Terry.  But while Ted enjoyed 50-degree weather, Terry and I didn’t make it above ten degrees until my last day!

 

Staying warm with Terry

So the only logical thing to do was meet in Orlando and visit Florida friends for a few days. Dang if the cold weather didn’t follow us (sorry guys)! I did get a couple of days on the beach—a true happy place for me. We spent time with dear friends, from ones we’d seen a few months ago, to those we’d not seen in years. Cold weather or not, days with friends are always precious.

A word to the wise:  flights to Europe from Orlando are almost always less expensive—think Disney World. The down side is that they’re usually packed, but the savings are worth it. We flew on frequent flyer miles, so the only cost was the upgrade to Economy Plus (or World Traveler Plus, depending on the airline). We were offered a sale on Business Class—tempting till she said it was an extra $560 each.

We flew into Gatwick, London, arriving at about 7:30 AM. Ted had reserved a room at a hotel by the airport, the Premier Inn, and on an off chance, we asked about checking in early. No problem, but it would cost us ten pounds extra—DONE! Best ten pounds we’ve ever spent, and much cheaper than $1000+ for the Business Class flight!

Premier Inn was clean and QUIET! We crashed for about four hours, then headed across the street to the airport for lunch, which was surprisingly good. The plan had been to take the bus into Crawley, the little town nearby, but it was cold and rainy, so we walked around the terminal for some exercise, before heading back to the room. A little tv watching, and we passed out again for ten hours! So much for our London/Crawley adventure, but we felt well rested.

The next day we flew into Seville, where we were met by our Spanish son, Alex, who spent a year with us as an exchange student back in the ‘90’s. He’s married now to Inmita, who is as kind as she is beautiful, and they have two kids, little Alex and Lucia, who call us “Abu Ted” and “Abu Judy”, a form of “grandparents”. In the past several years, we’ve been fortunate enough to spend time with our Spanish family four or five times, even taking grandson Parker once to leave with them while we walked the Camino.

 

Alex & Inmita

Nos nietos

For three days we were immersed in love as well as the Spanish language, and despite how much Spanish we’d
forgotten, Alex, Inmita, and the kids worked hard to bring us up to speed, until they had to resort to English. A lot.  But we’re

better, and catching on to some of the differences in Mexican Spanish and Andalucian Spanish. And it warmed up!  

Jose' Maria, Alex's mom. 

On Monday we took the train to Cadiz, on the southwest coast of Spain, and we are now somewhat settled in our tiny apartment in the Old Town near Barrio de la Vina (appropriate, huh?) where streets are narrow and the sun can be elusive. In the morning it’s cool, but it warms up during the day. Besides, we’re only a block from the Atlantic with wide sidewalks and benches facing the ocean, and warm sun. We quite like it—and it’s quiet.

We’ve walked to a hypermarket (like a Walmart) to buy necessities and have spent a couple of days exploring the city and the local market. A few more days, and there will be more to tell!