Category Archives: Travel Blog

Travel stories – with Eric and Trish

IN DUBLIN’S FAIR CITY

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I wanted to stay there!! – (above Florrie with Trish)

I’d had a taste of green, soft, Irish, sights, sounds, colour (grey) 🙂 pubs, food, Grafton Street, O’Connell Street, Ha’penny Bridge, Stephens Green, Trinity College (again; wish I could go there!) visiting Florrie in Fourth Avenue, buses cleaner than in the 80s, bus out to Celbridge, three storey bookshop (Grafton Street) cakes, Butlers chocolate/toffees, RAIN, green, green, green – great for the soul!!

It felt like home – in my genes; in my cells!

I love Australia for all its faults, but the one thing that really kills me is the landscape! This won’t gell with many of you because lots of the people I know are attached to the land, particularly in country Australia. It’s a harsh and unforgiving landscape and for me it eats at and attacks the soul. It is the most stressful part of living in Australia. When is this alleviated? Early in the growing season when suddenly everything is green; for a second! Some people may cultivate a luscious garden, but with a lot of toil and use of precious water. It’s a lot of work finding the ‘soft’ in the Australian landscape.

Of course, this is very personal to me and everyone else is entitled to feel differently!

I didn’t need to SEE anyone; I could have just BEEN. And that is probably what I needed to stay there for.

I made the effort to catch up with some family; but not many were available. Anyone in touch with me on Facebook has known for about two years that we were going to be visiting in 2013. There were two particular relatives that I was surprised were unavailable and one old friend (but her father has recently passed, so understandable). The old boyfriend is a worry! Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t end up together. He couldn’t make a decision and in the end I said “it’s obviously not high on your agenda; we’ve only a few days, so don’t worry about it!” Funny thing is that he hasn’t said anything to that, but still comes on line on Skype every day, so he hasn’t disconnected.

The voice in my head is saying “dude, you weren’t really fussed if you didn’t catch up with anyone – except for Florrie – so it doesn’t matter” But of course it does! Even anti-social gits like me want to be wanted! (People, you know me! I’m private and reserved and not a people person – it isn’t me!)

So, we did catch up with some relatives – one lovely girl totally unknown before Facebook contact – Pamela; daughter of Aunty Teresa (and therefore cousin). Pamela is so gorgeous! She is loud and funny and articulate and Irish – and so welcoming!

We had dinner with Pamela on our first evening in Dublin at the North Star Hotel. Pamela was more excited at the recent refurbishments (I think 🙂 ) than catching up with her Aussie cousin (and Eric!!!) It was a really nice evening; easy. Like when we caught up with Rachel in the UK – no awkwardness at all. Thanks Pamela!

They say Dublin is a village – and here’s proof! We were staying at Cassidy’s Hotel in Upper O’Connell Street and went walking down to Grafton Street and surrounds, and who do we run into? Pamela! Just finished work and on her way to the airport for her visit to Glasgow. When you’re in a city (of approximately 1.5 million) where you don’t expect to meet someone you know and suddenly there’s a friendly madwoman waving at you (sorry, I mean friendly woman waving madly! 🙂 ) it feels awesome! Just as it did when we first met at the Spire on the Tuesday (newest favorite meeting place in Dublin) – hello, friendly face waving!

We grew up knowing the Byrne side of the family (mum) much more than the Shelleys (dad). I think that’s probably normal – women make the effort to keep the social familial stuff happening and it (again) makes sense that it’s easier to do that with your own family than the in-laws. Add to that, the Shelleys are very private and keep to themselves a lot – we don’t know the Shelleys very well.

Pamela is a Shelley and not only are we alike in our attitude and likes – we knew we were Shelleys!! As we’ve lived in Australia most of our lives anytime we’d say ‘it’s a Shelley thing’ we mostly mean’t as in the six of us! What I realized, beginning with Pamela is that the traits we recognize as Shelley are across the board – being reserved and private, being at the top of the list!

We caught up with Davy Shelley (uncle) too – travelled by bus out to Donaghmede. I remember Davy and his lovely wife Emily from my visit with them in the early 80s. Davy is a widower now and instead of inviting us to his ‘bachelor pad’ we visited with Tracey (cousin) her daughter Hannah and little Alex. AND that was easy too! He is lovely and from the moment I spoke to him on the phone, I could hear my dad! They laugh the same, make the same faces – dad has more hair!!! LOL 🙂

Even though most of his kids live close by they still keep to themselves a lot – although Davy is clearly proud of them and close to them all! It’s beautiful seeing the loving relationship he has with Hannah, who is a very lovely girl! Thank you Davy and Tracey for the very warm welcome; we loved it! Davy and I have been ‘friends’ on Facebook for a little while. Now we know each other and it will be a warmer Facebook friendship!

As I said earlier we were closer to the Byrnes growing up and although we couldn’t catch up with Greg and Emmett (best bud cousins in childhood) we did visit with cousin Kevin and his wife Fiona and children Philip, Rafe and Roisin – and with aunty Florrie and her husband Frank.

Last I knew Kevin he was (virtually) a snotty nosed kid. Put it this way; I was a self-absorbed teenager and he was a child!!

But Kevin and I have been in touch for a while through Skype and he was quick to invite us to visit; and we did! On the Thursday evening we were out in Celbridge, Co Kildare having delicious lamb shanks and mashed potatoes (Kevin had mash duty; because apparently he does it best!) followed by Bailey’s cheesecake (say no more Fiona!). It was all yummo – especially because the spuds had spring onions in and since I’ve been a mother I pretty much haven’t had potatoes with onions – because the kids all had fits!

Kevin is clever and well informed and we had a really great night. I’d want you on my quiz team any time dude! You and Fiona were generous and welcoming hosts – we also loved how the house was geared up for Halloween!

Kevin then went out of his way to collect us in the morning to take us on a whistle stop tour of Celbridge and district on his way to work in Dublin. Celbridge is famous as the home of Arthur Guinness (founder of the famous brewery) – and the countryside is lush!!!! Drool!

This only makes for a warmer long distance friendship for us and the Kevin Byrne family!!

However, the most important person for me to catch up with in Dublin was my Aunty Florrie (mum’s last sister) and her husband Frank. Probably because she’s my Godmother too (I don’t know) we were always closer to Florrie. We knew and loved Kay very well and knew Evelyn and her boys Greg and Emmett too. I was apparently very close to Greg as a small child and was definitely in love with him as a teenager 🙂 We knew Paddy (Kevin’s dad) and Johnny and their kids too, to a lesser extent. We didn’t know Nelly O’Brien and her family well at all, but then I think she was an unusual Byrne in that she was reclusive. She never came out (that I can remember) and as I said earlier, it’s the women who drive these things.

So, regardless of Florrie being the last Byrne aunty or uncle left to visit, she was and would always be the magnet for me in Dublin. And she’s not well and quite frail – of course she is getting older (no ages here; it’s against Shelley law!) but Florrie was always full of life and she has no energy for life left in her. It was fantastic to be able to visit with her now. Unless some miracle happens, it will be the last time!

She was asking after ‘her Patty’ (mum) and her Von (my daughter) who I think she remembers best as a child of four, not as a child of 12 (might be a misconception on my part). Florrie seemed as delighted to see us as we were to see her and Frank.

We caught up with them as soon as we got to Dublin on the Tuesday (straight to the hospital) and again for several hours on Thursday before going out to Kevin and on Saturday for a couple of hours, before flying back to Malaga.

It was very sad at the end, with Florrie very aware that it was almost definitely the last time we’d see each other 😦

Frank is her rock – and a devil!! I have lovely fond memories of Frank from my teenage years; but Frank is his own worst enemy. He’s very much “I don’t give a fuck!” about pretty much everything – fuck you, fuck them, fuck the dog, fuck the world – and then gets everyone offside, which is very sad from the outside, but he would just say “I don’t give a fuck!” Except that he does; about Florrie, about kids (especially his nieces and nephews) and animals. Maybe not grown-ups – but many would say he’s still a big kid himself, so no wonder!

Love you Frank (seriously!) and there’s always a place in my heart for you!!

Love you too Florrie and God Bless!!

One of the sad things about my family being just “us 6” here in Australia is that I don’t have a strong sense of identity – who I am and where I come from!

I am a Dubliner! That’s where I feel most myself. I love and adore my Eric and my children. I like being an Aussie. But a long genetic history rooted in Ireland is what makes me who I am!

The people I’ve met who have said I’m not Irish – because I’ve spent most of my life in Australia – can go and jump – in the Liffey!! 🙂

I flew out of Ireland wishing the next three weeks were to be spent in Ireland; not in Spain, which probably explains why I’ve been feeling down for the last week or so!

Tá míle blessings a thabhairt duit (a thousand blessings to you)

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Trish, Pamela & Eric

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Eric, Davy & Trish

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Frank, Trish & Florrie

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Kevin, Trish & Fiona

xxx

[Update] In January 2014, my Aunty Florrie died. And although this was very sad to the entire family, I’m so glad that I got to see and hug her before she passed. She was in pain and ready to go, even in the October. I think of Florrie often and even from as far away as Australia, she is loved and missed. God Bless Florrie! xx

SOME TIME LAST WEEK I SAID TO ERIC ‘WE COULD JUST GO HOME” – October 2013

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What are we doing here?

In earlier blogs I said we want to laugh, sing, dance ….

In my imagination I thought (and spoke about in passing to Eric – who clearly wasn’t paying any attention!) that we would find a second hand (cheap and working) guitar. Eric would play tunes more often (all the time) and I would sing along with him. At home, he only occasionally picks up his guitar – I thought this was because he was always working OR thinking about work. Also, he likes to spend his downtime with me – so if he is playing his guitar, he is not with me!

He’d also love it if I sang with him as he played. Makes sense! I can sing … and enjoy music; but inexplicably, even though Eric is the one person I can be myself with and trust the most in the world – I’m shy!! Back to that deep seated problem I have where I don’t want to look foolish OR make mistakes – even in front of my sweetie!

Sometimes Eric is playing to himself and I’ll be pottering around OR even reading – and I’ll start singing in the background, particularly doing harmonies! I do excellent harmony!!! But if Eric says ‘that’s great’ or ‘come over and sing this one’ or ‘join me’ I won’t. He has learned to not say anything.

Now he’ll come to me later and say “I love it when you do harmonies. I’m so amazed how you can do that and I wish you’d come and sing with me!”

So, I thought in Spain we’d find Eric a guitar; he’d play for himself, I’d get over myself and join in with him AND he could start teaching me how to play the guitar. When I said to Eric “we need to look out for a guitar for you” he said “I’m not that fussed. I don’t have a burning desire to play guitar”.

I was so surprised, but apparently Eric enjoys tinkling on his guitar every now and then, but has resigned himself to not ever being very good at it. And three months isn’t long enough to become an expert!

So, with one sweep of his ‘not really that interested’ broom, a large part of my vision of what eight weeks in Alora, Spain looked like was wiped out.

I’m very conscious of how much I do or don’t do and achieve or don’t achieve is down to me and I’m not blaming Eric’s lack of need/desire to play music or practice his skill for us not achieving this.

So, a couple of weeks later we’ve arrived in the UK for a whistle stop 5 days in England, then 5 days in Dublin and I say “okay, I’ve been keeping an eye out everywhere we’ve been in the last 8 weeks for a musical instrument shop or secondhand shop for a small guitar for me, so that you can teach me chords and I can learn to accompany myself. Eric shows great surprise at this “oh, I didn’t realise, why didn’t you say?”

So, we were in Horley and there is a guitar shop and I find a lovely small steel stringed guitar that I fall in love with, costing about 150 pound. The young guy in the shop was very helpful and lovely and if you’re ever in Horley and want to buy a guitar – go and see him! He described the differences between nylon and steel strings – mainly to do with the sound (more classical versus more grunt) and helped with sizing, because I have small hands.

We went away to consider the purchase – pros and cons.

The first con was that we’d bought all ‘best and cheap rate’ flights for our three legs (Malaga to Gatwick, Cardiff to Dublin and Dublin to Malaga) and had said we’d only do carry on and no checked baggage. If you wanted to check in luggage it was possible, but for approximately 60 or 70 euros.

Ryanair is the most pedantic You can have 10kg each carry on BUT it has to be in one piece of luggage – no laptop bag, no handbag, no duty free shopping unless they are INSIDE your carry on bag. This made it difficult to see how we could justify the expense of buying a guitar in Horley.

The pro for buying this particular guitar is that forever more when I play it, I will always remember buying it in my friend Rachel’s village!!

Of course, while we were pondering this decision we discovered that our credit card had temporarily run out of money and so the potential to buy was no longer an option.

So, we decided while away in UK and Ireland that we would look for a guitar in Malaga when we get back. Ideally finding something secondhand would be good (for our budget) but since a) I want a small guitar (therefore choice) and b) it’s hard enough to find a musical instrument shop in Malaga (due to language) then it will be hard to find a secondhand shop too.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we’ll find one tomorrow ….. when we visit Mal-a-ga!!!!

We hope!!

There’ll be less than 3 weeks left in Spain to learn some chords; but with still 2 weeks travelling in Morocco (no reason I can’t practice chords in the evening). If I can get a handle on chords and simple tunes in the next 5 weeks, I’ll be set up for continuing playing when back in Oz.

I need to find some more energy and anticipatory excitement from somewhere. Morocco will be amazing!!! It’s the next few weeks in Spain I’m not sure about!

Love to all! xxx

MONEY TROUBLE – CONTINUING SAGA! – 28th October

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This last 3 weeks in Spain will be interesting. I don’t know if I have lost interest now or whether it is just that I’m socialised to death from catching up with too many people the last couple of weeks – and the stress of all the money stress. You know how stressful it is when you don’t now what is happening with the money.
I slept most of yesterday and today – I think that’s a reaction to something!
I’m trying to pay finals on Morocco. I emailed them last week to say “guys, I haven’t heard from you about paying finals. Are you still emailing my home account, when I gave you all my travel details (including email)?” They emailed back ‘oh yes, you’re right – that’s exactly what we are doing!” So they’ve been emailing me about finals and haven’t heard.
Now we are communicating, but we are having issues with our credit card paying the balance. I called the bank and they said ‘yes’ there’s a hold on the account – from when they queried the Western Union transfer as a possible overseas fraud, but we’ve taken off the hold now and it should all be okay.
It wasn’t!
So I emailed them again and they said ‘sorry – the hold wasn’t completely off – but it should be good now’. It still isn’t. I just got a message from the tour group saying it has been declined.
So, I’ve emailed the bank again (pain in the butt being in Spain and being too expensive to call them) and said ‘guys, it’s getting desperate. These guys will think I can’t pay for my trip!”
Let’s see what they say now!
So, hopefully tomorrow we’ll have our act together again and go out to Malaga for the day; maybe Cordoba later in the week. Mark (Alora) says that Cordoba is worth a visit – and easily done by train!
BUT, I need to have that Morocco leg finalized – otherwise, what are we going to do for November? 🙂

MONEY TROUBLE – CONTINUING SAGA! – October 2013

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This last 3 weeks in Spain will be interesting. I don’t know if I have lost interest now or whether it is just that I’m socialised to death from catching up with too many people the last couple of weeks – and the stress of all the money stress. You know how stressful it is when you don’t know what is happening with the money.
I slept most of yesterday and today – I think that’s a reaction to something!
I’m trying to pay finals on Morocco. I emailed them last week to say “guys, I haven’t heard from you about paying finals. Are you still emailing my home account, when I gave you all my travel details (including email)?” They emailed back ‘oh yes, you’re right – that’s exactly what we are doing!” So they’ve been emailing me about finals and haven’t heard.
Now we are communicating, but we are having issues with our credit card paying the balance. I called the bank and they said ‘yes’ there’s a hold on the account – from when they queried the Western Union transfer as a possible overseas fraud, but we’ve taken off the hold now and it should all be okay.
It wasn’t!
So I emailed them again and they said ‘sorry – the hold wasn’t completely off – but it should be good now’. It still isn’t. I just got a message from the tour group saying it has been declined.
So, I’ve emailed the bank again (pain in the butt being in Spain and being too expensive to call them) and said ‘guys, it’s getting desperate. These guys will think I can’t pay for my trip!”
Let’s see what they say now!
So, hopefully tomorrow we’ll have our act together again and go out to Malaga for the day; maybe Cordoba later in the week. Mark (Alora) says that Cordoba is worth a visit – and easily done by train!
BUT, I need to have that Morocco leg finalized – otherwise, what are we going to do for November? 🙂

MONEY TROUBLE – the adventure!!! – October 2013

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We have been seriously stuffed for three days!

Firstly because we had a run of charges on our pre-paid credit card and didn’t top it up fast enough AND then because we didn’t know about the 200 pound security deposit required (to only be paid with an international credit card).

So, we had Harry Potter tickets booked for Friday 18th and worked out which trains to catch to get there (HP booked for 10am and ticket said if we were late they couldn’t guarantee entrance). We caught the first train from Horley to Clapham Junction but the number of people getting on the bus to Watford Junction was amazing (rush hour) and about 20 people were left on the platform – including us!!!

So we caught another train to Shepherd’s Bush (from which we could catch the next train to Watford Junction (don’t you love that name – WATFORD JUNCTION!!) but when we got there we realised that there was a wait for the train AND then it would take about another 40 minutes. We didn’t have 40 minutes +, so we decided to catch a taxi.

We knew this was an extravagance (maybe 40 pound?) and tried not to notice it getting higher and higher – until by the time we got there, it was 91 pound!!!! That’s approximately $180 AUD folks!!!

So crying on the inside but smiling on the outside, we handed over our cash (because his EFTPOS machine was broken) and kindly he’d reduced it to 80 pound. We knew it was a waste of money and not something we’d happily do every day – but we had resources and we had to be there by 10am. It was 10.07!!

We were waiting in line at HP and realised that some people were just buying their tickets on the day! What the??!!! I guess it isn’t peak season, so they were able to do it AND of course they weren’t fussed that we were late. We could have called them and turned up an hour late and it would have been okay!!!! 😦

So, we enjoyed Harry Potter – it was very well done – and luckily (phew) didn’t feel the need to buy lots of merchandise and caught the train to Victoria Station. We’d planned on doing a Charles Dickens walking tour of London, followed by a quick run into Harrods (in the many times we’ve visited London we haven’t gone in) and then high tea at the Atheneum! Cool!! But when Eric went to use his card to call home – the operator said there wasn’t enough money on the card! And that was when we learned that we had only the cash in our pockets – and we’d blown 80 of it on the bloody taxi!!

SHIT!!

We quickly calculated what was happening for the next few days (this was Friday). Saturday at Rachel’s. Sunday collect car and visit Becky and on to Cardiff. Monday at Dr Who in Cardiff. Tuesday drop car off and fly to Dublin. All accommodation paid for, car paid for, flights paid for and Dr Who paid for – all we needed money for was eating and sightseeing.

So when we visited Rachel and Andy we got our courage up and asked for a loan. It was embarrassing because as I said on the ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS blog, I only know Rachel from a Mauritius holiday and Facebook penpalling! BUT thankfully Rachel said yes immediately. That gave us 200 pound in our pockets.

Then when we turned up to collect our car rental at Gatwick to drive and visit Becky in Poole and on to Cardiff (which we had paid for online) – we couldn’t collect it because we didn’t have an international credit card with us! We’ve been travelling with only our prepaid Currency Card.

We booked the car with a booking agent online with our prepaid card – but when we went to collect were advised that we also had to pay a refundable 200 pound security deposit, but that this can only be paid with an International Credit Card (attached to your bank accounts)! Not prepaid currency cards and not cash – we could have had 1000 pounds in cash and it would have made no difference!

Therefore, our plan to drive to Gatwick to Dorset to lunch with Becky and then on to Cardiff that afternoon couldn’t work. We luckily had enough cash to buy a bus ticket direct to Cardiff, where we had two nights accommodation booked and paid for. It seems ridiculous!

We have ID (passport and driver’s license) but we most likely won’t be able to hire a car in Dublin on Tuesday either (which we weren’t able to, of course) because of this problem.

I wanted to bring our Mastercard as well – for emergencies – but Eric said “No. It defeated the purpose of having bought a prepaid card – nobody getting hold of our card attached to a real banking account if lost/stolen, no scanning it at shops/ATM”.

The ticket seller at National Express (buses) said ‘it happens all the time!’ So, it’s not just us eejits!!

We had to decide (for both timing and cash reasons) not to visit Becky – which was very sad because we were so looking forward to it and since Becky and Joe left Australia to return to the UK last December, they are now expecting a baby. Joe has done up the nursery and of course Becky looks preggers!! We were really looking forward to seeing where they live and eating in their local!

For financial reasons the best decision was to head straight to Cardiff where we had 2 nights accommodation already paid for. The bus cost 105 pound for the two of us, which left us less than 100. Transfer of funds into the prepaid card was already in progress, but takes 2 to 3 working days to process, so potentially we wouldn’t have any more money until Wednesday (and it was Sunday).

We talked to Von that night about maybe using Western Union to send some instant cash – and she got that happening. But the next exciting money adventure was that the bank decided to ‘freeze’ our credit card in case it was a fraudulent payment out of our account to an overseas business – because they didn’t know we were overseas and because Von used our bank account but with her name and details. ALARM BELLS RANG AT BANK WEST!!!

It was all sorted and on Monday we got cash out. Our new BFF in Alora, Mark of Finca Fenix was offering to send us money immediately – but of course are his guests and we didn’t feel at all comfortable letting him help us. It was crazy! We had money in our bank – but we were living on ham and cheese sandwiches!!! 🙂

We hit Dublin airport on Tuesday morning assuming that the money wouldn’t be through to our prepaid until Wednesday – but checked it out at the ATM anyway and BONUS we had money again!!!

MORAL OF THE STORY IS: DO NOT LET YOUR PREPAID CARD RUN OUT OF MONEY and bring the bloody REAL CARD with you in case of emergencies – a message I need to pass on to our travel agent to pass on to their customers!

Reminds me …. better check what the balance of our card is now!

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! – October 2013

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On this day in Surrey in the United Kingdom, Eric and I met up with Rachel and Andy at their lovely home.

We met Rachel and her mum Sue in Mauritius four years ago, when we joined the same day trip and we offered to take a photo of them. They were staying at the HIlton further down the beach; we were at the Sands and we organised to meet up with them to eat at a local Indian restaurant (delicious food) and they joined us for drinks at our hotel on another evening.

After that day we only caught up a couple of other times, but I thought I’d found a kindred spirit in Rachel!

On the surface we aren’t that similar. Rachel has a big personality and a passion that saw her actively and intensely pursue a  career (in the police) that had not been available to her as a youngster, due to entry requirements. So, in her late 30s and after a 21 year Admin job in high end retail she had completed all the testing and interviews and was waiting for confirmation she had made it!

They said “YES” but it took another two years of waiting due to cutbacks; and as the queue of successful applicants grew – Rachel worked full-time while “volunteer policing” to improve her chances of getting in. Finally, two years ago she got her ‘dream’ job and I was as proud of her as if I’d done it myself (or was her mother, sister, best friend …..)!

So, what do we have in common? At the same time that I ask that question, I feel that if we had grown up together OR lived in the same town, we’d be buddies! As it is, through the wonder of Facebook and email (basically the internet) we are modern day pen pals – often though in ‘real time’. And we both love to get snail mail – and try to write or send small prezzies a couple of times a year!

In planning our holiday there was a magnet pull from Surrey, UK and it would have been seriously disappointing if we hadn’t caught up.

When we met, there wasn’t any awkwardness! The four of us talked and laughed the afternoon away. Andy cooked a simple and delicious meal and made a lovely cheesecake (hello Cheesecake buddy 🙂 ). Rachel had to work in the evening and pushed on as long as she could before she had to chase us out!!!

We had a great time and it was easy and comfortable. Andy was lovely with these strangers that Rachel had brought home!

Rachel is the woman who had a dream and went for it, with the loving support of her ‘rock’ Andy. Eric has always been my rock and will support me in whatever I want to do. Perhaps I need to decide what that is – and go for it 🙂

Thanks guys for a great welcome and a fabulous afternoon! xxxx

P.S. Thanks for the lend of 100 quid! That is part of the next frustrating and dramatic (da dum!) story – to be blogged soon!

xx

HOLA SEVILLA – it was an adventure getting to you! – September 2013

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Eric on riverboat in Sevilla

We made a great team today, Eric and I!

We couldn’t get a definitive answer from the booking agent yesterday, so went to bed uncertain whether we had a confirmed booking in Seville – or needed an extra night in Madrid.

This meant we couldn’t let our Madrid Hotel (Vincci Soho) know and couldn’t confidently book a car hire. So, this morning after breakfast we called the agent in the UK – and after about 20 minutes the answer was that we were definitely booked into Seville tonight (Monday).

So, okay – quickly hire a car and off we drive approximately 530 km – on the wrong side of the road!! We got some directions from Europcar – but Eric was nervous! A miracle! He was driving slowly and cursing heaps – I had my eyes on the road and my finger nails embedded in the dashboard! 🙂

Actually, the only really scary part was getting out of Madrid. Once we hit the A4 it was a direct route – with the biggest challenge being not getting off accidentally. We were brave enough, after a couple of hours, to jump off the highway for lunch.

Then we hit Sevilla – and holy guacamole! We just followed the traffic, pretty much. We were looking for signs, but since most street signs in Spain are written on buildings – and we were in large entry roads with no buildings; we had no idea where we were AND we didn’t have a Seville map. We had a printout from Google Maps with step by step directions into Seville and our hotel – but for coming in from another direction!

Eventually we found somewhere to park and Ricco ran off and got help. He got directions (to the other side of the city) and found ourselves in narrow cobblestone streets – mostly one-way.

I stuck my head out and asked for help ‘por favor’ and our hotel was about 20m up ahead! Great news!! Except that before then we hit a 4-way intersection – where our road ahead suddenly was coming our way … and we could only turn left. So, after we held up the traffic for a while ( 🙂 ) we got back around the block to the hotel! YAY!!!

We didn’t have a booking!

They cancelled our 3 night booking because we were no-shows last night and the last they’d heard from the agent was that we were rescheduling for arrival on 18th September – day after tomorrow! The agent confirmed our booking was still okay – so, the good news is that they had a room available; the bad news is that we may lose out on 100 euro. We’ll talk to the agent tomorrow. It was our own mistake in the first place – so we aren’t too stressed at anyone. The room is okay, we aren’t on the street, the receptionist is very nice – we went out and found pizza and beer for a late dinner – simple and yummy!

So, Eric is busy putting together a tender on a job that has come through, while I write this up. It’s 11.30 pm and we are knackered – we’ll sleep in a little and the next adventure will be driving through Seville to drop off the car!

The ‘laugh out loud’ moment of today was when I was navigating and looking at the map said “if we take the wrong turn, we won’t be heading in the right direction!” 🙂

Buenas Noches, Amigos xx

LAST DAY IN SANTORINI (AKA Thera, Calliste and Strongyle) – 13th September

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Sitting under the arches of an outdoor sitting area, in comfy rounded wicker chairs by the pool. It’s about 3.30 pm and we are the last of our tour group, as the others flew out this morning.

We leave on the hydrofoil ferry at 7 pm. Luckily for us we had a whole extra day here. We took time to go back to Oia (pronounced ee-ah) which is where Atlantis Books is – and one of my important reasons for visiting Santorini. We visited Oia earlier this week to see the ‘best’ sunset. Like the ‘best’ sunset in Mykonos, in Fiji, Mauritius – add your ‘best’ sunset here! This was followed by dinner – and we’ve had some beautiful evenings for outdoor dining here – apparently it has been quite windy prior to our arrival. We found Atlantis Books then, but were with other people and couldn’t stop.

Was the picture in my head up to the reality? No! But that can happen. It was in a white and blue building – TICK. There were a lot of books – in several languages – TICK. There were book quotes painted on the walls and cute cat signs around and it was in the kind of disarray that made it hard to find things.

We thought it would be exciting talking to the shopkeepers. Unfortunately, they seemed jaded (two Italian girls). I don’t know if they would have been more animated if we were Italian – or if they hadn’t only just got out of bed.

They literally sleep in the shop! We gave them plenty of time to open up – didn’t arrive there until about 10.45 am, but although the fans were running and we could see the power light on the EFTPOS machine, it didn’t seem open.

Eric tried the door and a scantily clad (knickers and t-shirt) girl scooted across the window (he was a happy chap!) at his eye level (the entry is downstairs and he is 6ft +) and said they would open soon. He asked ‘before 12?’ and she said ‘oh, should be!’

We weren’t the only ones waiting and places don’t open early in Greece, but usually by 10 am.

In the shop you can see their beds above the books – one girl clambered back up to her ‘bedroom’ while we were there. AND the boss was still in bed – as we discovered in the philosophy and Greek section when a deep coughing noise emanated from the bed above our heads!

We did buy books – only two – Atlantis Never Lost and a biography of Leonardo da Vinci. Eric commandeered the Atlantis book (I had already started it!). Apparently, there is a theory that the ‘lost’ city of Atlantis is below Santorini – lost when the original island of Strongyle erupted in 1615 BC, creating Santorini.

We will get into Athens tonight (Friday) at about 1 am and fly out to Madrid on Saturday night at about 8 pm. We’ve booked one night there and thought perhaps we’d spend a couple of days before catching a train – but we are eager to get to Alora and settle into our Spain idyll.

So, this week in the Greek Islands of Mykonos and Santorini has been great (especially Santorini) but it has been very expensive. They are the two most expensive Greek Islands. The Trafalgar tour we were on covered accommodation and breakfast daily – one highlight dinner each in Mykonos and Santorini, a walking orientation tour in Athens and both islands and a lovely tour manager, Kerri, to guide us, give advice and coordinate the ‘optional’ excursions.

So, between eating (40 to 70 dollars each time) excursions and some shopping – our budget is blown (ha ha). We’ll have to get supplies and hunker down in Alora for a week or so, to get back on track.

Won’t be hard – we are looking forward to ‘not’ sightseeing and not running to a schedule!  Yamas! 🙂Image

So, blogging (the beginning)

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So, blogging – the modern phenomenon. Like keeping a diary and instead of having it securely hidden away you share with people that you hope will hear you without judging – warmly chuckling and shaking their heads (perhaps) at your silliness and idiosyncrasies, but with you and not wishing you harm, while thinking ‘what an idiot!’.

I had a very quick Skype chat with my parents this morning before leaving the house. They just wanted to let me know that they’ve been following my blog (such as it is so far) and that they found it interesting and are learning new things about me. Dad, I hope you don’t mind me sharing this 🙂 I loved hearing you say that! x

Mum and dad live in Tasmania and we are in Esperance, Western Australia. Travel-wise that’s about three flights and a car drive OR an eight hour drive, two flights and a drive OR one flight or eight hour drive, another flight, a 14 hour ferry trip and another drive to visit them OR (as Mum and Dad did) a train trip across Australia, then a ferry trip and then another drive. Many hours and some days later – depending on mode of transport and need, occasion, mojo and time available – you find each other!

This does mean that there’s not a lot of meaningful contact and catch ups tend to be about the mundane, the everyday – kids, weather, TV or movies (you get it). Opportunities to say ‘Oh, so that’s how you think or feel; that’s how you are like or unlike me’ are rare; life is busy, demanding and complicated. “Life is full of interruptions and complications”, Karl in Love Actually. (I was so disappointed that this relationship was unresolved!”.

Whatever ‘work/job’ I happen to be doing, I tend to work at it until I’m a zombie – only good for the sofa and vaguely coherent mumblings (luckily with no gratuitous people eating or moaning!). So, developing deep relations outside of the marital relationship does not happen!

So, blogging! If I’d ever thought about it before I might have thought that ‘bloggers’ were seriously in love with themselves; self-absorbed, self-involved – all the ‘self adjectives’ that we (society) typically frown upon.

In fact, when I asked my son Mathew had he accepted my invite he said something like “Oh no, Mum – as soon as I saw the word ‘blog’ I was over it. I’m pretty sure I’ve deleted the invite”. My immediate feelings were embarrassment (because the word ‘blog’ incites similar feelings in me) and some hurt, because he wasn’t supporting me.

So (I know, I use ‘so’ a lot 🙂 ) first instinct at hearing ‘blog’ (for some) might be negative on the whole – but these days people blog for all sorts of positive reasons. To tell stories of strength in adversity, to support causes or people in need and to highlight concerns that need attention.

So, I’ll refer to my travel blog as ‘the Story’ – and the story so far has lead to me sitting in a coffee shop for an hour writing this – on my day off – with the pink Parker pen that Becky gave me to ‘note all my great writing ideas’. THAT is a positive outcome.

Lots of love xx

P.S. For those of you who have only very recently become friends and may be thinking ‘What? I thought this was a travel blog’ please don’t feel pressured to stay with me! The idea did start off as writing specifically about our trip to Spain; in the meantime it has morphed somewhat to a story of life and a long introduction to our ‘hopefully amazing’ holiday adventure! xx

So, why do we travel?

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One could travel for freedom, education, a challenge, doing something new, getting perspective (the grass is not always greener and our way isn’t the only way!) personal growth and developing skills you never knew you had – like learning a language!

For me – it’s a combination of all of the above – particularly to take a break from the routine and as a transitional thing. Eric and I can spend more time together, instead of spending most of our time with other people, at work.

I’m hoping that we’ll be more active every day – because at the end of a day in the office the last thing I make myself do is exercise. We’ll be walking and perhaps cycling – we’ll be swimming and in fresh air for many hours of the day. Also, we are hoping to help some way in the community.

We’ll read (like we always do) and we’ll go out to local music venues (like we don’t now!). Where do you go in Esperance (or indeed in regional Western Australia) that isn’t the local pub – and our full-on drinking culture?

The original idea of this extended holiday was to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Then we realised that David was still at school (Year 11) and what crazy timing that was, so we’ve made it 2013 when David is in his first year at Uni.

It also happens to be the year of my 50th birthday – so there is the flavour of a mid-life reassessment! Perhaps I’ll be more creative, be braver and talk to more people – coming out of my shell a little. The kids are grown and don’t need me as much and I’m bored with working in admin and am looking for insight.

Talking about being bored with Admin – straight after I finished the Cert IV in Travel last year, I signed up for a double Cert IV in Frontline Management & Business Admin. Pretty much immediately I thought ‘why have I signed up for another dry and uninteresting course?’. Well, of course it was a ‘practical’ decision – related to growth in my work skills (these days, everyone wants you to have a new certificate!). Nothing to do with spiritual or creative growth.

After much fighting with the College,they’ve thankfully let me transfer to something else. There wasn’t a lot I was interested in truly and I’ve ended up enrolled in a travel writing and photography course! At least it is not Admin related and I do want to write and I am going to be travelling – BINGO! Perhaps a step in the right direction! 🙂

So, why have we chosen to spend such a large block of time in Spain? Well, we’ve travelled a little in Europe – a 2 week bus tour in 1994 a couple of visits to Paris over the years. I was born in and lived in Ireland and Eric and I have travelled extensively through the UK – 2 months in Edinburgh and several weeks based in Wales and Scotland – as well as a 2 week bus tour of England.

We’ve also done 4 weeks in Canada, 2 weeks in South Africa, had holidays in Mauritius and Fiji and a week each in Hong Kong and New York. Apart from New York, I’m not interested in America at all!

In our European travels though we never got to Spain. And with its combination of Christian and Moorish history (particularly Andalusia) it feels like somewhere that we can really explore and delight in. For a long period of time the Christians and Muslims lived quite happily together – the Moors ruled the land, but were quite tolerant of their Christian neighbours. Something to aspire to really!

Chuck the Greek Islands in for 10 days and 10 days in Morocco and you’ve got the best of all worlds – ancient Greece and North African heritage! Sounds like magic to me!

So why am I travelling? Personal growth, adventure, culture, escape from the ‘real world’, potential writing fodder, time for quiet and many days and hours in my beautiful husband’s company! Muchos gracias!

Why do you travel? Where do you travel to? When are you travelling again? The daily grind can wear you down and escape to where nobody knows you and there are no demands on your attention, other than what you sincerely choose to pay attention to, can be so rejuvenating. Why humanity likes to holiday, yes?

Bye for now xx

Cork, 2023
Red centred, yellow outer, native Australian flowers, surrounded by green leaves
Photo prompt from Trish Nankivell
Florrie & Trish October 2013
Eric Nankivell builder’s labourer!
Spanish Parade, Galway 2019
View from Kylemore Abbey, Co Clare, Ireland 2019