somewhere in Spain

Well, cruise days are officially over. We’ve gone from someone putting a napkin on our lap when we sit down for dinner to sweaty hiking and hand washing stained clothes that will never be clean again and eating bread and more bread. Becky took me for a pedicure when we were on the cruise. Chocolates were on our pillows every night. There was lobster. John also surprised me with a facial- my first since after Maddie was born, although now I think I got ripped off on that one. Who knew that it could take over an hour to wash your face? And that it could put you into an almost hypnotic trance and leave your skin feeling baby fresh? (I also didn’t know that they wash your arms when you get a facial. It seemed so random, like getting a free nose rub with your pedicure.)Of course, after wards she proceeded to inform me that my skin was troubled and imbalanced, talking about it like it was an unstable middle eastern country. When I told her what face products I use she shook her head and looked disappointed in me. Like here she had invested a good hour of her day only to realize I would mess it all up again with $15 cleanser. This is the problem with temporary luxury- as nice as it is, you feel like a bit of an imposter, just slightly undeserving. Anyway, super relaxing and rejuvenating and a world away from here.

Being in our little Spanish home, completely solar powered, chilly at night, cold showers, back to hand washing and eating… bread! But I love it. I guess I missed nesting, making soup and tidying up and hanging our laundry out in the hot Spanish sun (or French sun, Italian sun, English… drizzle). It feels good and homey, even though it doesn’t belong to us it’s our home for the week. My feet are a reminder of the luxurious oblivion of the cruise, London Red toes from Becky’s pedicure, matching the Spanish red dirt that’s in between them. I would take a picture except it’s kind of gross.

We went exploring yesterday, finding some abandoned farmhouses that were crumbling back into the ground. The guys that we’re renting from explained how kids inherit these places when their parents pass, but want nothing to do with them. They’ve moved on to the cities and forgotten about these little homes on the side of the mountain. It’s kind of sad because I can’t imagine a more beautiful place to live and if there’s anything I’ve learned about myself on this trip it’s that I’m no city girl. I’ve tried, and I’ve definitely appreciated certain aspects of the city life, but the most beautiful, friendly and genuine places we’ve been to on this trip have been the tiny out of the way towns that take a good long day to reach. To get to this place we took a train, a long walk, metro, another walk and train and then a taxi that got lost and cost us a small fortune. But so worth it.

Tonight we sat in the swing watching the sunset over the mountains with those Dr. Suess looking trees silhouetted against all the crazy colours. And the stars- you forget how many stars are actually out there until you’re one of seven houses on the entire mountain! We came inside and read by our one dim light, to conserve the battery needed for night time. I think John’s mentioned our super amazing hosts, but I feel I need to give them another plug. They’ve gone out of their way to help us out, driving us into town, taking us for coffee, bringing us wine (which you can buy here for 2 euros- what kind of joke is that???) and tomorrow they are making us paella and mussels and quince crumble from their very own quince tree. Plus, when Jeremy came down tonight to tell us they were out for the night, he didn’t bat an eye at John, who was crouched behind the plant in our living room. Jeremy just kept on talking until John stood up, red faced and explained that he was waiting to jump out and scare me. If you haven’t ever seen John embarrassed (a very rare occurrence) then you missed a good one tonight. It basically made my week.

So, as beautiful as Madrid was, this is where it’s really at. For me. I understand a lot of people really enjoy the night life and vibrancy of the city, and I do get it. But if I were to ever do this trip again, I would definitely stick to the little places. Aw- that sounded like such a concluding statement! Goodbye Europe… almost.

Angie