A mix of grogginess and giddiness makes for a strange combination, so I try to be coherent as I write this.
As we have been planning this for nearly the last year (making sure you have a sufficient place to live for a month takes planning -- you just can't wait till one month before and book a central location with air conditioning, washer/dryer, wifi, etc.), we've gotten a couple of FAQs from our friends.
Why a Month?
Several reasons. First, as Carol likes to say, this is her study abroad program. By graduating in three years, she never got to go overseas for a semester. So we're doing that now (and I get to tag along!).
Second, and bigger reason is, we'll never choose to live overseas. As tempting as it is, we have three great reasons to stay in the U.S. (Julia, Maddy, Torie). There is no way we could leave for several years, maybe only seeing them once a year.
Third, travel is our passion, and this is a new way to experience it for us. Typically when we go places, it is to spend a few days in a city, beach area, or mountain region, and then move on to the next place.
This trip, we are immersing ourselves in a city and culture that we love for 30 days. We are not using Barcelona as a spring-board to visit other European cities. Yes, I've got some day-trips planned, but we plan to spend every night at our apartment, and these trips are still within the Barcelona region.
Fourth, we're maximizing the empty nest life. All three of our daughters are launched, it's a non-election year (except for some elections), and hey, guess what -- there's Wifi in most places in the world (including here!). So why stay home when we can live, even for just 30 days, some place else.
Why Barcelona
Well, we had originally talked about London or Paris, but our last time in Spain (spring of 2018), we had an epiphany -- Barcelona! Why? Because we LOVE Spain. This is Carol's sixth trip to Spain, and my fifth. Every time we have truly adored the culture, the history, the architecture, the food, the wine. Everything about Spain is incredible.
We came to Barcelona in August of 2009 for a few days. It was great, but it was not peak-Barcelona. It was hot/humid, many restaurants were closed, and we also believed that we had only scratched the surface of the city (well, to be fair, it's quite the surface that we scratched)!
So This Is Pretty Different, Huh?
Yup. We are not renting a car. Everything we do will be done by walking, taking the metro, a few trains, and maybe the occasional cab. Some days we will do a lot, and other days we might just do one or two things.
Oh, don't worry, I've come prepared!
We're always excited about our travels, and we are giddy about this one. Come and join us on our journey for the next month!
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