London Days begin...

I said goodbye to Murcia this morning..again. I really have such great friends there. Brittany and Nuria met me for breakfast at 8am in cathedral square. 8am for Spanish folk is darn early, and I was flattered that they joined me! We went to cafe y te, which is a little cafe that I used to go to quite often for English lessons with Bartolo and Juan. We watched the sun rise up behind the cathedral, enjoyed the coolness of the morning and had a nice time. 

After breakfast, Nuria drove me to the bus station for my 10:00 bus. She is too sweet. She offered to drive me to the airport (about an hour drive) but I already had my bus ticket purchased. 

I arrived at Alicante international airport about an hour and a half before my flight. It was plenty of time, but I must remember for next time the long lines. Apparently alicante is known for their long lines at the airport. My flight went well. The people next to me didn't speak English and the English accents all around me sounded so foreign to me that I almost felt like I was still in Spain.  I'm getting used to the accent now that it's all around me, but I've never heard so many British accents all at the same time! Anyway, border control at Luton... I don't think they noticed my previously expired visa, but they asked so many questions that I was really nervous. But, they let me in and I got a new stamp in my passport! 

Getting to London from Luton airport was a bit of a trick, but I had some luck and everyone here speaks English so I had no trouble asking for directions and understanding how to follow them. I don't know how I'd travel if I actually made plans post landing. Heck, somehow I thought I was landing at Heathrow. Had that been the case, it would have been a short tube ride to Ana's place. But, surprise to me, I landed at Luton, had to catch a bus to the train station, then a train to the tube station, a tube to covent gardens, at which point I was a 2 minute walk from Ana's but without a map or functioning cell phone. The best part was the bicycle carriage ride I caught with the Moroccan boy from Spain. He didnt understand my English so I had to talk to him in Spanish! In London! Apparently he was new to the job and we kinda drove in circles for a bit. Then he dropped me off and said "this is it!" I didn't think so....luckily he had a cell phone and let me borrow it to call Ana. Right street, wrong door, but after 2 hours of just barely knowing what I was doing, I arrived at Ana's place around 5! Whew...that was a story. 

Anyway, I have lots of pics (most of which I'll have to upload later) from my evening in London with Ana. We just walked around the city for like 5 hours. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, a pretty park, picadilly square, and so much more. We had so much catching up to do and never had a dull moment! We split a big dbl decker bacon chz burger from Byron's and I had an ice cream later. (No dieting on this trip!)

After traveling and walking all day AND little sleep from my long night out with Miguel and Chantell, we were home and in bed by 1 and ready to have a full day tomorrow! 

My first glance of Big Ben: 

Street selfie...Buckingham palace is way in the background:

Rose garden by Buckingham: 

Big Ben:

Dark, poor quality pic of me with Ben: 

No faces, but proof we saw the London eye too. Too cheap to pay the 20£ to go up though! 

Finished the night off amidst a crowd of ppl in picadilly square...it was like the Times Square of New York but different!

Last day in Murcia.

Well, not all can go perfectly. Last night in Murcia and I've been stood up. I walked 30 minutes downtown to meet with a friend for drinks. I confirmed our meeting an hour before we planned to meet and she messaged me 30 minutes later that she couldn't make it. Nice..just a little late, hun!!

So, I decided to make a visit to one of my most visited places in Murcia: the casino. Members only club that a lot of older people go to. Inma is a member and I come here with her membership and get cheap drinks and tapas. Of course, I'm here by myself though. Lol. My friend Miguel is supposedly on his way. I ordered a drink and will be just fine in the meantime. 

Now on to the good stuff...my last day here in Murcia has been great! I finally let myself sleep in and Loreto woke me up this morning at 10. I asked her if she'd had breakfast and she said she was waiting for me. So we had breakfast together and she hung out with me while I did laundry and got ready for the day. Then we all went to la huerta for swimming, fi de vouix, merineras, coffee and siestas. I said my goodbyes to Abuela again...I love that woman! She is so good to me, made all my favorite foods this week, and just makes me so happy! 

I was back home by 6 with my bus ticket for tomorrow at 10am to the airport. Breakfast at 8 with Nuria and Brittany and then off to London! Not complaining :) 

Sushi and a day at sea

As expected, I skipped a day of blogging. Yesterday was a pretty chill day. I had breakfast with the kids and we just hung out all morning at the apartment playing wii, puzzles, braiding our hair and watching tv. Inma made one of my favorite dishes for lunch. Gazpacho! It's basically just cold tomato soup. But she makes it fresh and we put veggies and iberico ham in it...it's just yummy!

In the evening, we took a little roadtrip to Valle de Ricote for a little scenic excursion. W drove way up in the mountains, thru some typical Spanish villages, and had some great views. We stopped at a cafe for a drink and a snack and headed back to Murcia for my 10:00 dinner plans with friends. We went to this sushi bar called Moshi Moshi very close to the cathedral. They have half priced sushi on Tuesdays. We ate a ton of sushi and had wine and ended up just issuing 13€ a person. And it was a really nice time. I went with Miguel, Brittany, Nuria and Roberto (Britt's boyfriend). All friends of mine thanks to Inma for introducing to Miguel and Brittany from her German class :)

Jose and I took a walk and a selfie in front of the church in Archena (close to the Ricote valley) 

Today was a bit different and such a good day! Bartolo picked me up at 10am and we started our hour long drive to his hometown of Aguilas. Last year he took me to his beach in Aguilas. I found out he had a boat and thought it would be fun to take it out today. After a quick run by his apt. to pick up the boat keys and a run to the super mercado for groceries, we made it to the port. 6 hours at sea! It was a bit windy but we found a little cove where the water was calmer and sober the day suntanning, drinking, eating, snorkeling and swimming. Bartolo is super sunburned. I'm just a little pink and hoping I'll be tan by morning!

 

Beberechos..clams I think??

 

Leftovers for the birds and fishies:

 

Heading in as the rain clouds come our way:

Bartolo dropped me off at home and I was showered by 8. Inma picked me up and the kids and I went out for dinner and Ice cream. Pasteles de carne. Basically just meat pies, but very typical here in Murcia. I had to be sure to eat one before I leave on Friday...they're so good! Smooy ice cream for dessert, hair braiding on the street corner with the girls (the weather here is awesome!) and a night cap with Inma and Angelita at a bar down the street.

It's been a very full day! Just one more day and I'm headed to London!!

...more pics to come from camera!!

Day 5..holy cow!

I can't believe I've been here 5 days! Time is flying!! I am just so glad I came here for this visit, and I really can't explain it better than that. I really do love this city and the friends I've made here and today was just another reminder of that for me. 

I had a pretty simple morning/day here. Upon waking, I meandered over to the kids' apartment and had a breakfast of toast with them. We played and had a pretty lazy morning till Inma picked us and Chantell up and took us to the huerta. We has lunch there and swam most of the day. The only proof is the mini photo session we had at the kids' request: 

Not a great photo, but the fact that we are all looking at the camera was a small miracle:

On the other hand, this is how most of our pics turned out! So typical...this photo makes me smile a lot! :)

Of course, they all wanted photos alone with me next..

Mimi and I:

Jose and I: 

Loreto and I: 

The kids fight amongst each other just like they did when I was here before. Makes me feel right at home ;) I got a little frustrated with them today for fighting so much and they later came out, one by one, with kisses and sorries for me. Sweetest kids...wouldn't have made this visit if not for them :) 

I left la huerta around 8 and met with one of the very first people I met upon my arrival in Spain 2 years ago-Bartolome. We had dinner of marineros and caballito (Russian salad with sardine and fat fried shrimp) at our first stop, mini BBQ hamburgers at our next stop. And llaollao frozen yogurt for dessert. We spent most of the evening speaking Spanish and it was so refreshing to know I've still got it! 

Bartolo's family has a home in Aguilas. Last year, I took a group of friends and spent the day with him at his beach. He invited me back this week on his boat! He said we could spend the day out, go fishing, whatever! Hopefully I'll have time Wednesday or Thursday to make a day of it! Just 3.5 days left here in Murcia...gotta make the most of it!!

An afternoon of sun..

We went to la huerta this afternoon and grandma made me make lunch. Jk ;) She made me make the tortilla because I tried in Kansas one time and messed it up big time. With a little help from grandma today, it turned out perfectly! I'll try to recreate it again once I'm back home :) 

After lunch, I went to Mazarron beach with Miguel, his friend Sylvia from Berlin, and a couple of his scout girls. I really love this town. The water today was perfect and it wasn't too hot outside either. 

After the beach we took a long drive up the mountains to visit an old military lookout on Cape Tiñoso called la bateria

de castillitos (I think:-/) Anyway, it was really neat. It looks like a really old military base, but has these huge military guns and water pipes which made me suspicious of it's history. Apparently it was built around 1930 to protect Cartagena. It looks out to the south and you the views are just amazing. We stayed until it was too dark to see anymore and I made it home about 11:30pm. 

Another long day jam packed with Spanish and sun and fun...but gosh I'm tired! 

Happy Corpus Christi!

Poor Inma. She is so good to me. She drove me all over town last night, finally getting rid of me after 10:30. The kids were still at grandma's in la Huerta. I'm sure the plan was sleep at their house, but by the time she picked them up I'm sure they were already asleep. So, when I woke up this morning I got the message that they were in the huerta and to call her to pick me up when I was ready. I love mornings. I think that's why I hate working nights so much. I got up a little before 9, got ready for mass, packed my bag for Mazaron beach later, and started the 5 minute walk to San Basilio. It was so nice to go to Spanish mass again! I've definitely forgotten a lot of my prayers, but it was good to be back! 

After mass, I thought breakfast in a cafe sounded nice. Of course, I forgot, I'm in Spain..although cafes are open on Sundays, they don't open till later. So instead I visited this little churreria and had myself a very fattening breakfast of churros and chocolate. 

Fortunately this cafe i planned to go to hasn't changed their wifi password, so I'm able to sit outside their door and pick up their signal on my iPhone :) Inma should be here in about 30 minutes. In the meantime, I'm reading my book, eating churros, and trying to ignore the strange looks I'm getting from passersby as I sit here looking like a street beggar ;) 

It's a good morning! 

Next stop la huerta! 

And later...Mazarron!! One of my favorite beaches!! 

The days just get longer!

Day 3:Saturday. I woke up earlier than everyone else this morning and sat by the pool with my book for a couple hours. This is the pool at Anna and Pepe's house. 

Around 10am I walked a couple houses down to grandma's. I had a breakfast of toast with tomato and cafe con leche. By 11am we were in the pool. Lots of water polo and Marco Polo and then the bread man came. Grandma leaves the bread bag on the gate and he honks for us to come out when he arrives. All kinds of goodies he's got. Today grandma got us a chocolate creme filled croissant! (Notice the wet ground under Loreto..she was fresh out of the pool)

I had grandma give me step by step instructions on the paella again. Maybe I'll attempt I make it in Kansas...she makes it look so easy! Here is she and grandpa carrying in the paellera...she made extra today because we has quite the lunch for my arrival to Murcia! 

After a day full of swimming and talking in Spanish I was pretty tired, but Inma and I made the 30 minute drive to Cartagena to visit hermanos Gaspar y Paco. We had coffee and ice cream and stayed till almost 10:00! The Spanish know how to party late...after all that, I met up with Brittany to watch her hubby Roberto play a padel tournament and we finished the night off with a farewell party for a friend if theirs. 

Now it's 3:00am (like I said, the nights are getting later!) and I'm going to bed! Inma gave me the keys to the extra apartment so I've got a whole piso to myself! Hope I don't sleep too late! 

Day 2:

I didn't plan much today except to meet a friend for lunch. So I got a solid 8 hours of sleep last night and hit the streets this morning. You'd think after walking all day yesterday I would have learned the city better, but it took me a good hour to find my starbucks and plan out my day. Although, that is one of my favorite things....getting lost in new cities :) So I got myself this yummy frappuccino to start my day off and headed to one of the pretty green parks to lay in the sun and read my book. The weather here is probably in the 80's...not bad at all! 

I was supposed to meet my friend at 1:00. I gave myself an hour for the 20 minute walk so that I could get lost (in my usual fashion). I found this sweet bridge. "Escalinta de fotografa Alfonso" it lead straight to the cathedral and royal palace. 

The royal palace from atop the cathedral:

Of course, the inside of the cathedral: 

Rolando took me to a hole in the wall cider house for lunch. Here is the guy pouring the sidra...you gotta pour it just right for the right flavor. I love that he smiled for the picture! 

One last walk by the cathedral on our way home for a picture. Good friend Rolando that I met on the Camino de Santiago. 

I caught a ride to Murcia with Anna's dad, Pepe. It was about 3 1/2 hours. He and his wife Anna live just next door to grandma in la huerta. They built this really nice house here and invited me to stay for dinner and stay the night. Typical Spanish dinner complete with gambas, jamon, bread, fruit, veggies, rabbit and vino! Made me feel right at home again! Plus I got to catch up with Alicia-Anna's sister, who I haven't seen since June. 1:30am now...another long day and I'm ready to sleep!