The Happy Wanderers

A Choral Surprise!

Posted on June 16, 2015 · 2 Comments

As we were leaving the square (more specifically La Place de la République, Arles, France), we saw this big tour group clowning around and getting their photo taken.

“That’s nice; they’re sure having a lot of fun,” we commented to each other.

We sauntered off down the “road,” thinking it was about time for an afternoon coffee and getting about a block away in our search for a café, when we suddenly heard this amazing choral music coming from behind us.

We turned around and zipped back, me pulling out my iPhone as fast as I could, and we captured most — not all — of the piece. The tour group wasn’t a tour group after all, it was a choir, and a very good one at that!

They appeared to be done, starting to step away, and I put my iPhone away to head out again, only to discover they had just decided to do another piece…

Alas, again, I missed the very beginning, but, oh well… I did my best. (Sorry…)

Jeff and I were thrilled with the unexpected musical treat, and hope you enjoy it, too!

🙂

ea/

Great packing advice from Sue!

Posted on June 16, 2015 · Leave a Comment

The day before we left for our grand adventure, our friend Sue, an experienced traveller, gave us a last-minute packing tip. She said to go and get a bunch of these packing cubes and organize our belongings into them.

She said that it helps SO much to be able to keep things organized without it all getting smushed together and mixed up when you are looking for that one particular top or pair of socks. Instead of rooting through the whole suitcase, we would just have to look through the packing cube with the tops, or the one with the socks.

She also said that they are a great way to sort-of unpack for quick stopovers, without having to totally unpack and repack everything the next morning. Just drop the cubes into the dresser, and you’re done!

I really didn’t think I had enough time to go to Vancouver to get them, so I didn’t think I’d be able to take her advice for this trip. I did need some luggage locks still, though, so I popped into the local travel shop to pick a couple up, and there were the packing cubes, right there in my neighbourhood!

I grabbed a bunch without actually knowing how many we’d both need, or which shapes/sizes to get. As it turns out, I didn’t quite get enough.

But I absolutely love the ones I do have! What a great invention. They really do work to let us pack a lot of stuff in really tightly without getting all jumbled up and lost, and they really make packing up for the next leg of our journey a lot easier.

When we get home, I will get some more to round out our collection.

They make a huge difference!

Thanks for the awesome travel tip, Sue J!

🙂

ea/

Filed Under: Travel Tip · Tagged: Eagle Creek, Packing cubes, Travel Tip

Walking into a painting

Posted on June 14, 2015 · 4 Comments

After dark yesterday, in Arles, France, we stumbled around looking for a late-opening place to eat dinner. Our travel day had gone more slowly than planned, and we were only just getting to dinner at about 10:30 pm.

The first place we tried (that looked like it could handle our odd collection of food issues), was already shutting down for the night. The lady there mumbled something about down that “street” and then the next turn …something like that…

So, we wandered off, hungry (down a “road” fit for a bicycle and nothing more yet used frequently by speeding cars that barely fit between the curbs), wondering what we would do if we couldn’t find anything open.

To our surprise, we rounded a corner and suddenly found ourselves in a bustling square surrounded by restaurants and cafes! Relieved, we scanned a few menus, rounded another corner to look at a few more, and then I looked up.

Bam!

Suddenly I was standing in the middle of the very print that had hung on my bedroom wall for years! I just stopped and stared.

“Surreal” is the word that comes to mind.

Finding myself in the middle of a Speed Racer episode, back when I was four or five and it was my very most favourite cartoon, might have topped that moment, but even that’s not a certainty.

It was THAT cool.

Do you recognize this scene? Can you name the painter? Do you know the painting I’m referring to?

A scene in a popular square in Arles, France

Standing inside a painting

Oh, and I had herbed lamb with mushroom rice and sautéed veggies, while Jeff had a still-mooing steak with French fries and different veggies. It was good, the wine was great, and it only cost 54€!

All’s well that ends well.

(Credit for this post goes to Jeff, who said I should definitely put a challenge out to you all to see who can get it.)

Now we know…

Posted on June 13, 2015 · Leave a Comment

So, the morning we leave Mallorca for France, we drop some stuff off at the post office to mail home.

We finish up, leave, and walk back out to the car, only to find a bylaw officer giving us a parking ticket.

Eh????

Turns out that, on Mallorca, parking spaces painted with blue paint instead of white are paid spots, and the meter was hidden across the street behind some huge, communal garbage bins. White parking spots are free. Blue are most certainly not free, not even when the meter is hidden and the spots are for going to the post office.

Nice trick. 40Euros worth.

Of course, we could skip our flight to Marseilles and go 15 km into Calvía on Monday to plead our case. Ha ha! Not.

Damn.

At least we’ll know for next time? At least now YOU’LL know for when YOU go to Mallorca. Which you, seriously, should do. What a beautiful, classy island.

(Even the bylaw officer was nice about it. It was already all written up and entered into his system, too late to reverse. He looked really sad for us, actually.)

Call this a hard-learned Travel Tip.

(Damn…oh, sorry, said that already…)

Filed Under: Spain, Status Updates, Travel Tip ·

I’m Proud of Me!

Posted on June 12, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Didn’t want to lose our VW Golf, so I took a picture of its location in the underground lot

Three months and one week before Carlin was born, I left my broken-down-again Subaru on the side of the road in Richmond, and told Subaru to go pick it up and sell it. After four years of doing battle with them over a dreadfully-constructed vehicle, I’d had enough.

Interestingly, they complied. They picked it up, took it in to their shop, did a full work-over on it, and sold it on my behalf, with a full used-car warranty to the new buyer and a decent price for me.

I think they were very happy to — finally — be rid of me. I know I was ecstatic to be rid of them! That car stank.

It was a brand-new 1988 wagon, stick shift, and I was so proud of it. It was the perfect go-camping car. Until it started breaking down. Over and over and over. Mostly under warranty, but that doesn’t matter when you’re stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Coincidentally, I haven’t driven stick since that chilly Friday night in December, 1992. We replaced those wheels with a Mazda MPV, automatic, and that was that.

So, the thing is, nearly all the rental cars in Europe are standard drive. You can get an automatic if you try, but they charge a massive premium for it when you can get it. So, we’re renting standard vehicles most of the way.

Jeff has been doing an amazing job of recovering his own long-unused clutch-and-shift skills, and I think he’s been really enjoying the little VW Golf we’ve had all week. The mountain roads (see this video for an idea), have been quite a lot of fun!

Finally today, with much anxiety about finding I’d lost my ability completely, Jeff took me into an empty parking lot that we spotted, and I tried it out.

Turns out I can still drive stick! Not perfect, for sure, but not like a beginner.

Now I’ll probably do more driving. And I’m even looking forward to it!

I’m actually rather proud of me.

Filed Under: Spain, Story · Tagged: Car, Majorca, Mallorca