Menorca

As you know - we are still trying to decide on the target locations for our big trip.

Due to a bit of a change regarding the length of the trip, Portugal is no longer a forerunner. But we will be there for long enough that we could certainly visit more than Barcelona.

So . . . now what?? The options are endless - I am sure we could not pick a disappointing location but you still want it to be a great choice.

After piddling around on various searches one quiet night - I came across the Balearic Islands of Spain. They are in the middle of the Mediterranean, just off the Barcelona coast. Everything I looked at seemed to support the fact that this would be a fantastic choice.

I waited a day and searched again. Just in case anything had changed - and this time the sight boasting the beauty of these islands was sponsored by Tourism Nova Scotia. Surely they must be incredible then - at least Jimmy would think so.

I took a quick snag-it of the sight, copied the URL, created an email for Jimmy and fired it off to him to have a look before we put this forward as an option. And to my dismay he didn't seem as excited as I was. How could he not have been touched by his province' endorsement? What was the reason behind his slight hesitation??? I wasn't sure where I should look next.

But alas, when something points to being serendipitous, I find that it often is so. And last night at a fun little bbq, there happened to be some friends in town visiting from Halifax. And as every serendipitous moment also goes, the husband just happened to be from Spain. And they just happened to be on their way across Canada before they headed to Spain for 2 months. And we just happened to be able to talk about the various spots they were scheduled to visit and these places just happened to be many of the Canadian locations that I have spent some time in prior. And the conversation happened to move towards Spain. And so I was able to share that I thought the island of Menorca looked like a great place to visit. Before the night was over, not only did we receive further endorsement that Barcelona is the most beautiful city in Spain to visit but also that the islands are incredibly beautiful and a great vacation destination. The beaches are fantastic. The weather will still be perfect. And we can fly return from Barcelona for only $70 canadian.

Life truly is serendipitous.

A little tapas anyone?

I think we have narrowed down our choices to Spain and Portugal. Not only do these countries appear to have the best weather through the fall, they also promise to be full of beauty, adventure, great food and a fabulous culture.

Some interesting tidbits on Barcelona:

• Pick pockets appear to be in large number in Barcelona. Thanks to Two and a Half Men, Jimmy is already planning all of his hiding spots for his money - in his shoes, money belt, inner zipped pocket in his boxers and of course a stuffed moose head fannypack as a decoy!
• Barcelona has one of the highest air molecule content of cocaine. Although no need to be be alarmed, you will need to inhale the Barcelona air daily for numerous years to absorb the equivalent of a normal dose.
• Tipping isn't expected. Apparently servers can make the same wages in Spain as admin assistants.
• Tapas isn't a traditional Spanish meal. It has emerged from another tradition of going out for 'Vermut' on Sunday mornings which meant light food and drinks.

Travels to come . . .

So after continued probing by various individuals in my life to share my stories and travels with others, I finally relented to try to keep up on this posting thing again.

And since this started as a travel blog, and travelling is one of my favorite things to do, plan for and dream about I wanted to continue on.

And the link that brings this all together is that . . . I am soon off on more adventures!! Jimmy won a trip to Dublin through his work. So now the question is - once we meet up in London where should we explore next?? Spain?? Belgium?? Italy?? France??