traveled in 6 countries Read more High Point, NC United States
  • Day 12

    El Puerto de Santa Maria

    October 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Today we stayed local. Andrew went to work. Dani and I walked to the beach, about a mile and a half. We walked along the Playa, a pretty walkway. Forecast had said rain all week a couple of days ago but it was beautiful, nice breeze and mid to upper 70s. Then headed to Castillo de San Marcos, where they had an audio guided tour. It is a small but very interesting 13th century castle built over a mosque. It also had a wine cellar, but that was not open for tastings, so I didn't get to taste their specialty, sherry, which I have never tried. At the end of the tour, you could go up in the tower. I got a little nervous on the stairs. They were so narrow and steep, glad it was only two flights. Going down was even worse, but the view of the city from the tower was great. By the time the tour was finished It was close to three, had not had lunch yet. But guess what, it's siesta time, almost everything is closed from 2-4. So I grabbed a snack at a grocery store and ate back at the house. A & D have a couples Bible study on Mondays, where they eat supper together. I stayed at the house and had leftovers and watched Netflix. I was tired after all the walking. The total was a little over 5 miles.Read more

  • Day 11

    Sunday

    October 15, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    We went to chapel service on base, then to the base galley-dining hall- for brunch. The food was good! Andrew went for a 20 mile run in the afternoon. I made supper for us, and then we played Ticket to Ride, original version. I won!Read more

  • Day 10–17

    Vejer, Roman ruins and Taylor

    October 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    After a late night, we had to get up early for an all-day trip sponsored by the base. We got on a bus and rode a little over an hour to a whitewashed village up in the hills called Vejer. It is a popular tourist spot for good reason, it is beautiful. We had a 2 hour walking tour to learn the history of the area and see the significant buildings, including a Moorish castle. Had lunch at an outdoor Cafe on the square-Plaza de Espana- then wandered our way back to the bus for part 2 of the day trip. We drove about 1/2 an hour south to the Atlantic coast to the ancient Roman ruins of Belio Claudia from the 2nd century. It was quite an extensive site that has been excavated. It was a fishing port for a couple of hundred years. The ruins of three aqueducts that brought freshwater several km have been found, and pieces of pipe. it was really interesting to see. Bus ride back to the base, about an hour and 45 min. Andrew ran for an hour while Dani and I went into the town of Rota to get supper from McDonalds. Then we went to the drive in on base to watch the Taylor Swift movie. Another late night but we can sleep in in the morning.Read more

  • Day 9

    NAVY BALL!

    October 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    This morning while Andrew was at work, Dani and I took a walk-at least 3 miles to the next little town on the waterfront. There is a lighthouse there but you can't go up it. But we did get th see a huge group of sailing dinghies- one person boats- in the harbor. There had to be at least a hundred of them. It was so fun to watch and really made me remember my sailing days in high school. Between the lighthouse and their house is a forest, the trees look like Dr Suess trees! The weather has been glorious, a little hot but so nice, cooling off in the evening. I sleep under an open window each night.
    After a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, we hung out yet another load of laundry, then had some chill time and I did my nails because tonight we are hoping to the ball! Each year the Navy celebrates its birthday with a formal affair. I am grateful that Dani and I are close enough in size that I can wear one of her gowns. I even put on makeup!
    Read more

  • Day 8

    Thursday

    October 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    Dani went to her Bible study. I brought in the laundry, emptied the dishwasher, and read until she got back. We went to Lidl for groceries, then to the base thrift store and commissary. Dani fixed quesadillas for supper, and then we played Phase 10. I lost. no picsRead more

  • Day 7

    Wednesday

    October 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Dani is feeling better. We got another big load of laundry hung, menus planned, and grocery list made. Chill afternoon, then went to the Navy base to pick up Andrew at work. He gave me a driving tour of the base, it's much bigger than I expected. Then we drove to the small town of Rota on the opposite side of the base from where A & D live. It is a cute beach town. We walked on a boardwalk next to the Atlantic Ocean and had dinner at a nice restaurant on the beach. Walked back to the car, back to the house, and it's bedtime.Read more

  • Day 6

    Rest day

    October 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Dani and slept in til 10am! Andrew goes to work every day this week. So it was a relaxing day for me, Dani was not feeling so good so needed to rest. Andrew got home and made chicken noodles soup, and then we played a few rounds of rummikub before bed. no picsRead more

  • Day 5–11

    Another travel day

    October 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    We got up at 6am to get ready, had breakfast at the hotel and walked across the street to the bus station for our trip back to A & D's house. The reverse of Fridays travels- long bus ride to Seville, then a city bus to the train station, then a 2 hour train to Puerto de Santa Maria, then a cab ride to the house. By now it was 7:30pm and we were hungry, so we walked to a nearby neighborhood to have a nice dinner and then were all ready for bed.Read more

  • Day 4

    RACE DAY!

    October 8, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    This is the reason we are in Lisbon. Andrew and Dani ran the Lisbon Half Marathon. They each had a personal goal time to finish the race and they were both pleased that they did better than they expected. They got up early to catch the shuttle bus that takes them to the start of the race. I didn't have to rush so much, had time for a leisurely breakfast, then went to catch the bus to take me to the finish line. After waiting for half an hour and no busses, I walked around the corner to the metro/subway station. I had to change lines once and then walk a couple of blocks and made it in plenty of time for Andrew's finish. He was 39th overall out of 15000 runners and the first American to finish-time 1:18.30. Then we waited for Dani to cross the finish line in 2:27.30. It was pretty hot-upper 80s- and they were worn out, so we took the metro back to the hotel for showers and rest time.
    We took a stroll on the waterfront before catching a bus back downtown for a special dinner out that Andrew had reserved. We wandered through a typical city neighborhood, up a hill with narrow passages and twists and turns. It was steep, but so interesting. The restaurant was O Corrido, a Fado restaurant. Fado is the music of Portugal 🇵🇹, traditionally an expressive singer accompanied by a portugese guitar and an acoustic guitar, performing in a fairly intimate setting , like a Cafe or pub. We had a 3 course dinner with music between each course. Food was good, as was the music and overall experience. Then a walk downhill back to the bus, back to the hotel to sleep before an early bus trip in the morning.
    Read more

  • Day 3

    Lisbon

    October 7, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, then walked a couple of blocks across the street to the arena where Andrew and Dani picked up their race packets, bib number and tshirt for the race tomorrow. Then we got on a public bus to where the finish line will be, and arranged a meeting place. The high tomorrow is going to be 90 again, so they moved the start time from 10:30am to 9 am to try to beat the heat. On the corner of the square where the finish line is, we visited the codfish museum. Interesting history of Portugese codfising off the coast of Newfoundland. Walked some more to see an elevator that takes people up a hill. The line to ride it was hours, so we didn't go up, but it was interesting. Found a huge fabric store, then stopped for a snack of pastries, including ham and cheese croissant, plain croissant, and little Custard pies, it was all so good. Walked some more and realized we didn't want to wear out the runners so took the bus back to the hotel- a 30 min ride. stopped on the way back to see the National Tile Museum, so many beautiful tiles. Definitely the inspiration for the game Azul. Some similar to quilts i have made. We rested for awhile, A&D went to the hotel pool. We walked down the street to a nice local restaurant for supper, then headed back so we could all get a good night's sleep for the big day.Read more

Join us:

FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android