Dear Michael: I can't think of a better "addiction" to have than to want to travel the world. Just look at the treatment plan you've set up for yourself. Recovery includes meeting and getting to know different people, sampling different languages and food, enjoying and photographing different scenery, and adding memories to your memory banks. I'm living my life vicariously through yours and Brent's travels. Often I pick a book to read or a TV series or movie to watch due to the location of the story. And Spain always tops the list. One day, I'll have to tell you how I was fooled by Patricia Nell Warren in her book, "The Wild Man", about a Spanish toreador and his partner, a world-famous veterinarian. But that's a tale for another time. In the meantime, enjoy your recovery from travel by continuing to travel. Take care.
Thanks, William. Yeah, if I'm gonna be addicted to something.... LOL. And you're right about Spain. It feels like an endlessly fascinating place. Now I'm going to have to go check out The Wild Man!
Michael, I just read that you're planning a trip to Valencia and Seville. Although you haven't asked for it, I thought I'd offer some suggestions, simply because they're really good ones! My wife and I stayed in Valencia for a month and Seville for 3 months 3 years ago. You must check out Valencia Arthouse on AirBnB or else email me for a private contact email. The hostess is a multi-lingual Dutch woman named Ita and her apartment is fantastic. You would get your own comfy room with your own bathroom and even kitchen, and it's only a five minute walk from the Centro Historico. She also prepares the most sumptuous breakfasts. She knows everything about Valencia and will turn you on to many things you might never have thought of seeing or doing, and she's a real sweetheart too. We've remained friends ever since our visit. In Sevilla we stayed for 3 months in the house of a gay lawyer named Manuel. Totally campy, with all kinds of incredible oil paintings and old books, it's nonetheless a beautiful, comfortable home in the district of Nervion, just a short subway ride away from the city center. Manuel is about your age and lives with his much younger boyfriend, Jose, when Jose is not on assignment with the army. He is a real sweetheart. He picked us up at the airport and took us on a tour of Sevilla, with particular emphasis on the flamenco clubs. Only downside is, he only speaks Spanish, which was good for me, as I was trying to learn it! I don't remember what he is listed under on AirBnB, but I have his private contact info....we still text each other after all this time!
This is fantastic! Currently we're in Sitges (and we just found a really cheap cruise to Athens!), but we definitely plan to explore Spain more very soon. Your experiences sound wonderful! #jealous
Btw, the reason we opted to spend 3 months in Sevilla was because it came up as having the best winter weather in Europe! But so many more reasons to spend time there....
We spent a couple of weeks in Spain in 2019 and loved it! I think you should check all those places out. It's wonderful. Will look forward to seeing your posts from there.
Glad I'm not the only one! I'm also glad that I don't have a compulsion to see EVERYTHING. I'm more like Brent - if we see the big stuff, great. The rest of the time should be left for little surprises here and there :) Great post to help other travelers question and learn about the source of our addiction!
Seville is known as the "oven of Spain". You might want to go there first and then Valencia. We loved Valencia but haven't made it to Seville as yet. (We've heard good things about it.) Make sure you go to the Albufeira Nature Preserve. You can get there by bus but make sure you know where to get on and have small denomination bills (I speak from experience, unfortunately). No bathrooms, also unfortunately. But very interesting.
Alas, we're only here for two weeks this time, but definitely plan on coming back and looking at both Seville and Valencia. Your suggestions have been noted!
Dear Michael: I can't think of a better "addiction" to have than to want to travel the world. Just look at the treatment plan you've set up for yourself. Recovery includes meeting and getting to know different people, sampling different languages and food, enjoying and photographing different scenery, and adding memories to your memory banks. I'm living my life vicariously through yours and Brent's travels. Often I pick a book to read or a TV series or movie to watch due to the location of the story. And Spain always tops the list. One day, I'll have to tell you how I was fooled by Patricia Nell Warren in her book, "The Wild Man", about a Spanish toreador and his partner, a world-famous veterinarian. But that's a tale for another time. In the meantime, enjoy your recovery from travel by continuing to travel. Take care.
Thanks, William. Yeah, if I'm gonna be addicted to something.... LOL. And you're right about Spain. It feels like an endlessly fascinating place. Now I'm going to have to go check out The Wild Man!
Michael, I just read that you're planning a trip to Valencia and Seville. Although you haven't asked for it, I thought I'd offer some suggestions, simply because they're really good ones! My wife and I stayed in Valencia for a month and Seville for 3 months 3 years ago. You must check out Valencia Arthouse on AirBnB or else email me for a private contact email. The hostess is a multi-lingual Dutch woman named Ita and her apartment is fantastic. You would get your own comfy room with your own bathroom and even kitchen, and it's only a five minute walk from the Centro Historico. She also prepares the most sumptuous breakfasts. She knows everything about Valencia and will turn you on to many things you might never have thought of seeing or doing, and she's a real sweetheart too. We've remained friends ever since our visit. In Sevilla we stayed for 3 months in the house of a gay lawyer named Manuel. Totally campy, with all kinds of incredible oil paintings and old books, it's nonetheless a beautiful, comfortable home in the district of Nervion, just a short subway ride away from the city center. Manuel is about your age and lives with his much younger boyfriend, Jose, when Jose is not on assignment with the army. He is a real sweetheart. He picked us up at the airport and took us on a tour of Sevilla, with particular emphasis on the flamenco clubs. Only downside is, he only speaks Spanish, which was good for me, as I was trying to learn it! I don't remember what he is listed under on AirBnB, but I have his private contact info....we still text each other after all this time!
This is fantastic! Currently we're in Sitges (and we just found a really cheap cruise to Athens!), but we definitely plan to explore Spain more very soon. Your experiences sound wonderful! #jealous
Brent, just got a note from Manuel....the name of his place in Sevilla is 'La Suite de Villa Guadelupe' if that helps....
Thank you. Will keep in mind!
Btw, the reason we opted to spend 3 months in Sevilla was because it came up as having the best winter weather in Europe! But so many more reasons to spend time there....
We'll definitely have to check it out at some point.
We spent a couple of weeks in Spain in 2019 and loved it! I think you should check all those places out. It's wonderful. Will look forward to seeing your posts from there.
Thanks! Look forward to sharing!
Well, New Zealand is opening its borders again so you'll have another chance to visit us soon
Another of my favorite countries -- despite the fact it kept trying to kill me! LOL
Glad I'm not the only one! I'm also glad that I don't have a compulsion to see EVERYTHING. I'm more like Brent - if we see the big stuff, great. The rest of the time should be left for little surprises here and there :) Great post to help other travelers question and learn about the source of our addiction!
Thanks!
Seville is known as the "oven of Spain". You might want to go there first and then Valencia. We loved Valencia but haven't made it to Seville as yet. (We've heard good things about it.) Make sure you go to the Albufeira Nature Preserve. You can get there by bus but make sure you know where to get on and have small denomination bills (I speak from experience, unfortunately). No bathrooms, also unfortunately. But very interesting.
Alas, we're only here for two weeks this time, but definitely plan on coming back and looking at both Seville and Valencia. Your suggestions have been noted!