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We left home in May, excitedly headed to Granada to visit Hayden, Andrea and Brianna. By now we knew that Andrea was carrying a “bump”, but it was still a secret to the world.
We took advantage of the location and managed a few side trips.
First destination was Sicily, Thea’s choice and Rhodes, Bruce’s choice. They were destinations we hadn’t been to before. In Taormina we found Carlo the Koala, who gave us the opportunity to send pictures back to Brianna and Aida, to engage them in our adventure.
We marvelled at the ancient ruins and enjoyed finding craft beer, wine and ice cream.
We stopped off at Athens and found it depressed from previous visits. No doubt the economy is suffering there.
We were back in Granada in time for Brianna’s end of year concert.
Our next adventure was Switzerland to visit Denis and Martine. It’s a familiar destination. They took us to Annecy and we enjoyed a few days exploring the lovely city and it’s lake and canals and experimenting with cooking some local food.
Our journey back to Granada was via Genova, where I had lived in 1972, then to Barcelona, a city that never disappoints us.
We were back in Granada in time to celebrate Brianna’s 5th birthday.
We made a mistake with our bookings, finding ourselves in Europe for more than the 90 days allowed in any six month period. After much deliberation we settled on exploring the Channel Islands – Jersey, Guernsey and even Sark, but that journey was not without challenges. Our plan to drive there was thwarted by hire car companies no longer allowing you to take a car from the EU to the UK. Oh! Brexit!
Wonderful islands with extraordinary history. Sadly Carlo the Koala refused to continue on our travels. Distraught, we adopted Jessie the Jersey cow and yes, she made it home.
We flew into Gatwick, one of the few destinations directly linked to Granada’s airport, and explored Portsmouth. On our return from the Channel Islands we visited Devon and Wiltshire.
By now, Andrea’s bump was growing and Brianna was on school holidays – but it is oh so hot in Granada in July and August.
As a treat we took off again, this time driving west to see more of Andalucía, the region that Granada is in. We reached Portugal and, staying close to the border, travelled north, coming across small towns that the tourists don’t know about. We then drove east back to Granada.
We stayed in Paradores in Spain and Pousadas in Portugal, wonderful ancient buildings like convents and palaces that have been updated for tourism. They are so very comfortable and stylish.
A few days back in Granada and sad farewells. Of course we are planning to meet the Luna in 2025.
One thing that struck us on our travels, was the number of destinations calling out violence to women – it was displayed in many forms and gave us hope that there is a turning point in this obnoxious behaviour.
