I’ve been a very dedicated little student this week, spending every afternoon and evening after class studying my Spanish.  I was not put into a pure Beginners class, as expected/hoped, but into a “A1+” class which was already finishing up Chapter 7 of the textbook(!), so I have a lot to catching up to do. … Continue reading A “Student” Once Again…

I flew from the Madeiras back to Porto, where I had two nights before heading over to Salamanca where I’ll spend just over two weeks. I’ve been suffering a bit from a gimpy groin pull (what else?!!) so I stayed close to my hotel and caught up on old episodes of Lewis and Vera on … Continue reading Traveling To Salamanca

It’s my last full day in Madeira so I decided to check out the other half of the island – the east side. I scored a front seat in the minivan again, but unfortunately a middle one squeezed between the driver and a Polish Facebook fanatic so I wasn’t able to take many photos during … Continue reading Eastern Island Tour

I’m afraid that Madeira is just so beautiful that I’m going to have to convert my blog into a photoblog. I had nothing planned for today (I know, strange for me) and the sun was brilliant out so I just went for a stroll to check out the waterfront. This baby was built in 1614 … Continue reading A Morning Stroll and the Nun’s Valley

Roads are crazy curvy here and narrow, so as a solo driver I’d be concentrating too much on not plunging over a cliff let alone taking in the view, so I’m taking a few guided tours while I’m here. Today’s tour was the west coast of Madeira, famous for its dramatic scenery. As the trip … Continue reading Western Island Tour

A cloudy day but the heavy rain of last night was over and not expected to return so it was a good day to play tourist. My internet notes gave high marks to the Market, but advised getting there early to catch the fish vendors so I strolled up at the crack of nine (hey, … Continue reading Playing Tourist!

Funchal, Madeira New art, Old Town. New Town, old buildings. Funchal, the capital of Madeira, is a delightful mix of history, art, tourism, architecture and nature. I arrived to my hotel right about lunchtime but my room wasn’t ready yet so I set out to find a good place for a leisurely lunch. I knew … Continue reading Funchal, Madeira

Yippee! I’m on the road again, this time back to Europe for 6 weeks. My original plan when booking such a long trip was to walk two more medium-length Caminos, one in Portugal and one in Spain but just last week I finally admitted that wasn’t going to be possible (dodgy ankle) so I panicked … Continue reading Europe Spring 2017!!!