My First Trip Abroad

 On a recent conversation with my daughter who I like to call Dr.J aka Joanne, she was telling me about her upcoming trip to England. She had planned all the excursions and was going by herself. You're my idol! I exclaimed, what a woman! Mom she said, don't you remember when you went to Spain 40 years ago alone? I drove you to the airport, Oh right, I forgot, This gave me pause, I started to think about it, the memories came flooding back. And as I enjoyed them ,I thought others may enjoy stories of my maiden voyage as well...So thank you Joanne for the inspiration.

I was 40 years old and newly divorced after 21 years of marriage and 5 children. I was excited/nervous. I was teaching then, working on my masters degree & had the summer off & I had just moved to Tibeca/NYC, Yes. it was a very exciting year! The plan was my teacher friend & colleague. Carole & I would meet in the train station in Barcelona. But first I would fly to  Germany & visit my son Glenn who was in the Air Force and stationed at Hahn Air Force Base. First stop Frankfurt, Germany. I was excited to see Glenn & see how he was doing in his new military life. By all accounts he was thriving, the lifestyle was agreeing with him. He had made friends, a girlfriend and bought himself a BMV that he was so proud of.I was duly reassured.Glenn had set up accomodations for me off base, he wanted me to get a taste of the real Germany.That piece of the trip worked very smoothly, we had a good visit & did the tourist thing visiting some castles & Octoberfest , beer garden festivals. When the weekend was over it was time to say Adieu. Happy in the knowledge that he had adjusted nicely, I proceeded to the next right thing. We said goodbye & Glenn put me on a train to Barcelona where I was to meet friend Carole...and that nervous feeling in my belly started, what was it ? butterflies/excitement/nervous again. It was an overnite trainride to Barcelona & I would arrive in the morning. We arrived on time & I disembarked to the platform. I looked around and went upstairs to the mezzanine area. I looked around for my friend and remember no cell phones back then, & I did not see her. So I looked around some more & no Carole, I was devastated ; what to do? I'll get a place for the night, take a relaxing bath & go back to the train station in the morning, that was my plan. Got a place near the station, no bath only shower. It was so hot in August, I learned one word pretty quickly: l'agua, my most prized purchase. I went back next morning , same time of train arrival. Voila! there she was, relief flooded thru me.Yay!

What happened was she went downstairs to the platform & I went upstairs to the mezzanine & thats how we missed each other. But now we were together and ready for our adventure. We had a whole month! Carole brought me to the cute apartment she had rented, luckily she was a Spanish speaker,I settled in and then we went exploring. Let the adventures begin!Here are some of our adventures, we saw the Alhambra,that Moorish Kingdom, we were 

awed by its  timeless art and artifacts. But most of all I remember, it was hot as hell that day, c'mon it was August!

We visited Catholic cathedrals as well and we were forewarned to dress modestly or we would be refused entry. Strict those Catholics. We had rich eyes viewing all those timeless treasures.

We had tons of fun in Barcelona, we went to the beach, shopped for bathing suits ,we listened to music, went to galleries and we rambled along Las Rambles, that famous street in Barcelona. A highlight was Gaudi architecture , we marvelled at the whimsical Disney like buildings, never having seen anything like it. We went to Flamenco dance shows many times. My friend is a dancer, we soaked it up. It was wonderful!One day we took a day trip to the Jean Miro museum which was laid out in a beautiful park like setting. I remember it being a very pleasant day. Soon our time in Barcelona was over (I loved it) and we were on to the next adventure, Cuenca a lovely little hamlet with a town square . This was a new feature to me & I delighted in the idea of a common area for the townspeople to hang out in. Later found out this was a common occurrence in Europe.Would this idea fly in the states I wondered? We then moved to Madrid where Carol had a friend who had a Vespa that we tooled around town on. What fun, I considered getting one for my life back home in Tribeca/Manhattan. Not, safety first. Visiting the Prada museum was awesome! I noticed a big difference in religous are ther & in America,, all the religous figures were painter slim & slender, unlike in the states.Curious. Seville was to be our last stop in Spain. We travelled to all the points so far by train or bus. We got accomodations on arrival. The plan was I watched the luggage & my friend who speaks Spanish got our lodging. We always lucked out with nice ,modest places. How gutsy when I think of it, no cell phones, no reservations yet we Yes, we did just fine getting accommodations.As a matter of fact my friend Carol, the dancer, went back every summer to those very same sweet places to study ,dance of course & Spanish, but I digress...Next stop Portugal! We took a bus to the sea and a ferry to the Algarve...it looked very beautiful upon arrival. I had a special interest in going there, my father who I only met recently was Portuguese and growing up I didn't know any Portuguese people, so I wanted to see them and get to know more about them. I had plenty of opportunities. The people were beautiful, warm and friendly. I liked that, especially the children. I remember meeting a bunch of kids on the beach, they were so playful & fun, they let me photograph them. 

Now, being a  couple of single women we were prime targets for the male persuasion. As predicted, 2 sailors tried to chat us up  & pick us up. They offered to take us on their boat out to see 'the grotto'. My friend was very interested. I hesitated, we will be at their mercy out on the water I reasoned. Being newly single I did not have the skills my friend had of coping with unwanted advances. So she went & I did not; I spent the day at the beach relaxing. When she returned at sundown I asked 'How was it?' They tried to make a move but I distracted them and I just loved seeing the grotto. Okay, live and learn. We heard some fabulous music in Portugal called Fado, so haunting. I did buy a tape which was the thing back then so I can always rekindle that memory when I listen to it. ( or ask Alexa) Before long the month was up & we were planning to fly home out of Lisboa. I suggested we stay our last nite in Lisbon at a 4star hotel, my friend agreed so on our last nite we had a very comfy, cozy stay at luxury hotel, livin la dolca vida. About a week before our departure . I had a strange felling in my belly, what was it? I felt homesick. I had never been away from home for such a long period, one month. My friend just laughed, you're so funny, so sentimental. Whatever it was, there's no place like home & just like that I completed my first trip abroad bringing with me beautiful souvenirs  & happy memories. This adventure expanded me more than I realized then but in retrospect it was pretty amazing: my own coming of age story at 40 years old!