A Return to Santiago de Compostela

After 35 days and 350 miles we walked in to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on May 17, 2015.  We were beyond tired and physically beat.  The next day we witnessed the pilgrims mass at the Cathedral and garnered our certificates of completion from the pilgrims office.  The day after that… we boarded a train for Porto.  Our 48 hours in Santiago were not much more than a blur of exhaustion.

The Historic City of Coimbra

We were told the city of Coimbra was built on steep hills. I thought, surely they could not be steeper than the hills of Porto, right?  Wrong.  The historic City of Coimbra (pronounced co-eem-bra) is all about the hills and they are definitely steeper than those of Porto, and the cobblestone streets are brutal.  By the time we boarded our return train my feet were screaming.  But, would I do it all again?  Absolutely.

Hey Braga!

Although we are madly in love with the city of Porto, had we known about the historic and charming city of Braga, we may have instead planted ourselves there.

The Mosque of Cordoba

There are moments in time when one has to come to a complete stop to just take in said moment because one finds oneself in a place of perfection; a place so extraordinarily inspiring it takes ones breath away.  For us, that moment happened when we stepped inside the Mosque of Cordoba.  Never before had we seen such a place, and most likely never will we again.

After trekking the Vintgar Gorge, our day trip from Ljubljana continued as we found our way to Lake Bled, a truly majestic lake with the clearest water you can imagine.  The only comparison I can make is that of Lake Tahoe where the water is stunningly clear – and cold.

As we pulled away from the parking lot at Vintgar Gorge, the shuttle van driver asked, “How was the gorge?” “Crowded!” I responded, “But beautiful.”  He went on to explain that three years ago nobody cared about the gorge, and now, everyone wants to see it and he can’t figure out why.

The Ending

Our train pulled away from Malaga on Sunday morning at 10:40 a.m.  It had been ten days of rest and relaxation, eating our weight in tapas, drinking sangria and taking long leisurely walks along the waterfront and beach promenade.

That’s a Wrap!

The grand Eurail train adventure across Europe is done. Complete. Finished. Finito.  Our last train pass was used to travel from Seville to Malaga, which is where we are now.  We didn’t really know what to expect of Malaga, but it is beautiful.  We’re enjoying the temps in the low 80’s and fantastic sea breezes.  Malaga, it’s where the desert meets the sea.

Lest anyone believe long-term travel is all giggles and bubbles, here’s a little diddy about what happens when things don’t go exactly as planned and why we didn’t stay in Lyon. It’s a philosophy I’ve long-held close to my heart; life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.  Because let’s face it…. no matter how hard I might try to channel my inner Pollyanna, there are travel days when Murphy’s Law just stomps all over said plans.

When you conjure up the Burgundy wine region of France, in your mind’s eye, what do you see?  Think about it for a moment before reading further.  Now, did you envision green vineyards as far as the eye can see, stunning countryside with a historic church steeple rising on the horizon, granite cliffs and maybe a french castle on the hill?  Sounds pretty great, right?