As we finish up the first leg of our Worldwide Adventures, Valencia (Spain) is now a memory with some memorable things to take with us:
1) Las Fallas, the Fires, probably the loudest, most irritating but fun event I’ve ever been to! It pushed our envelop of annoyance and patience, with firecrackers popping at our feet just walking through the streets. Very, very crowded streets. The ninotes (statutes) were breathtaking and seeing them burn was exciting and heartbreaking as well.
2) we used Valencia as a home base with several side trips, including Sevilla, which Kat and I both loved. Very pedestrian friendly, lots of good energy, very clean, plus amazing history. A place to return to, including
3) San Sebastian. Again, history by the water with amazing views, coastline, castles, towers, etc…Oh, and food! One of the gastronomical capitals of the entire world. It’s weird to think that you get cynical and tired of cathedrals and churches, but they all do look similar. Although still worth touring.
So now, Spain is behind us, and between this trip and the last, I think I know it better than any country outside the US. I have been to all four borders, used their rail system extensively and visited most of their major cities. I give high, high marks to Spain as a place to visit and possible move to if you are looking for a laid back, affordable lifestyle. Now: Italy.
We arrived in Rome and had just a few hours to do a quick walk before our train to Tivoli. Even so, in just that time we saw the Colosseum, which gave me pause and brought on amazing emotions, plus the Forum and lots of other history which I could not name. We will go back for a few days to explore more thoroughly and my general sense of Italy is the amazing history here, equaled maybe only by Greece, which will be coming up in a few months. When you walk the same ground Caesar and Nero and a host of different historic figures have walked, plus millions of people walking those SAME steps, well, it brings perspective of how long history is- and how short a time WE are here.
When we contemplated doing this Worldwide Adventure the question was “Can we REALLY do this?,” and the answer has been yes. Had we NOT made this leap I would be remorseful the rest of my life. Can’t have that! Yes, there are long days and inconveniences and delayed trains and planes and bad meals as well as good. But the reality of the places we’ve been in less that eight weeks leaves me wanting more.
Now we’re in Tivoli, a “medieval” town about 20km from Rome, just a 30 minutes train ride, for just 3 Euros. Yup, that’s it. This town has REAL history since it predates the city of Rome and the Roman Empire which ruled most of the known world. The town itself was founded in 1215 BC, 1000 years before Christ. What this place must have looked like back THEN, when statues and pillars were new and clean and not aged by 20 centuries and war and pollution. So far the Villa Gregoriana has wowed us the most and we have only seen it from the top. We’ll be walking down to the bottom of the falls in the next few days. There are several sights here that we will visit and we have six weeks to do it. (But I will be making a side trip to the US for 15 days of that time).
My goal with Travel Younger was to inspire people to travel more and travel like the Millennials who do it so well. Between AirBNBs, online apps for flights, planes and buses, travel has never been easier! Trust me. The experience and memories are worth the small price to pay.
