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SPAIN 2023

October 2023
  • Vicki Bourckel
A 21-day adventure by Vicki Read more
  • Vicki Bourckel

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  • Portugal Portugal
  • Spain Spain
  • United States United States
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  • 14.2kkilometers traveled
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  • 22footprints
  • 21days
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  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    yarn art at Philadelphia airport
    more yarn artolive groveshigh speed train3I made it to Andrew and Dani"s house!1Birthday cake! I asked for chocolate, it was so good!exterior view of Andrew and Dani's house

    Happy birthday to ME!

    October 5, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    I am traveling again! It's my birthday and I landed in Madrid this morning. Ten years ago today,
    I celebrated with my mom and siblings and spouses in Barcelona, Spain! We had paella, hoping to have that again on this trip. I am here to visit Andrew and Dani. Those who followed my Malawi trip can opt out/unfollow if you don't want to read about this trip. But it's going to be a fun one!
    My flights were easy and short compared to Malawi, only 6 1/2 hours from Philadelphia to Madrid, and the flight to Philly was only 90 min. Spain is 6 hours ahead of the East coast USA. I landed around 8am in Madrid and then had a few hours to wait at the train station before catching a train to Puerto de Santa Maria, where Andrew and Dani live. A really smooth 4 hour ride on the fast train, and here I am. Dinner and bed for me as I only dozed on plane and train.    Read more

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023

    Adventures in transportation!

    October 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    And you thought I was just going to Spain? Surprise! After 12 hours of good sleep I woke at 9am ready to go. After a late breakfast, we packed for the weekend. Today we are heading to Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹, where Andrew and Dani will run a half marathon on Sunday. We walked close to 2 miles to the train station and rode the train for an hour north to Seville. From the train station we took a local bus to the bus station, and got on a Flixbus to Lisbon, about a 5 hour ride. Yay for public transportation! We then walked around the bus station to our hotel. Andrew planned all this so well! It was 10pm when we checked into the hotel, so it's time for bed. Sightseeing in Lisbon tomorrow.......no pics today.Read more

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    A & D, behind them there is a big bridge in the distance. that is where their race starts
    Practice de commercial, a long street with shopsthis woman was doing embroidery with this old metal sewing machinethe elevator that takes people up a hillfound a fabric store- mostly upholstery and curtain fabrics. it was a really big store1snack timebeautiful tiles at National Tile Museum

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    tile art at every subway stop
    sunrise before the raceAndrew finishingDani pushing through to finishthey earned their medalsback to the hotelNarrow walkwayslooking down into a neighborhoodrooftop view at sunsetFado musicians

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    bus had green interior lights when we boarded
    sunrise shortly after departing Lisbonrandom group of statues in a traffic circlewaiting for our train, was 30 min late

    Another travel day

    Oct 9–15, 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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    boardwalk next to the beach

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    house/villa inside the gate
    housethe forest on the way to the waterfrontlighthouse in background

    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

  • Vicki BourckelTravelerSPAIN 2023
    lots of steep hills in this village
    "patio" entrance to a homenice view of village thru buttress archescastle wallaqueduct at Roman ruins1forum columns at ruinsamphitheaterruins on the seaat the drive in

    Vejer, Roman ruins and Taylor

    Oct 14–21, 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

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