Tag Archives: Retirement abroad

Canada, Spain

Busy Summer

It has been a busy summer but a very rewarding and fun time. We went to Canada for a visit with friends and family. Ray was able to finally visit with his uncle, (first time since covid). They played some games and enjoyed quality time together.

Uncle Adrien and Ray playing shuffleboard.
Uncle Adrien and Ray enjoying the day

We were able to rent a beautiful cottage on the Ottawa River. 

Ray enjoying the view and a Timmy´s coffee

We spent a fabulous week there and enjoyed some relaxing time by the water.

Shelley enjoying the view and calm of the Ottawa River

One of the highlights of the cottage was that we were able to entertain and reconnect with close friends. Overall it was a great week at the cottage and the weather was quite nice during the week.  

Shelley at the waterfront of the Ottawa River

We went to Ottawa on July 1st and we celebrated Canada Day with family. It was raining but we had a Barbecue anyways. 

Keenan in the rain doing the Bar-B-que

Our grandson Keenan was a sport and did the barbecue cooking. The rain stopped later in the day and the sky was clear for the fireworks. We headed to the park and watched the fireworks celebrating Canada day.

Canada Day celebration fireworks in park in Ottawa

It was a great last day in Canada before we headed back to Spain with our Grandson. The next day we drove to the Montreal airport and flew back to Spain with our Grandson Tyreese.

The next few weeks in Spain were very busy. Tyreese was able to experience Spain for the first time. It was such a joy to show him around and try out new adventures with him. Each day we tried new things and had many adventures, below are only some of the activities we did during out time in Spain. We hiked up to the Castle of Santa Barbara and explored the 11th century castle. 

Tyreese at the turret on the castle of Santa Barbara

There are some amazing views from the castle and we would stop to take in the vistas and beauty of the area.

Shelley and Tyreese at the Castle of santa Barbara
Tyreese and Ray at the castle of Santa Barbara
Tyreese at the Castle of Santa Barbara

One day we explored and walked some of the beaches in Alicante.

Shelley and Tyrsse overlooking the Postuget Beach in Alicante

Along the way we would stop and enjoy a cool drink at one of the many chiringitos along the beach. 

Tyreese enjoying a refreshing drink

Each day we tried new things including Go Cart racing and we had a great time. 

Ray had the best time but Tyreese was disputing the winner outcome. All and all Karting Alicante was a lot of fun.

Tyreese at Karting Alicante
Ray and Tyreese of the race podium

We went parasailing and we had a great time. We enjoyed the best views and flew along the coast at 150 meters high. The views of the city of Alicante from the Mediterranean Sea  were amazing. 

Shelley, Tyreese and Ray getting ready to start our parasailing.
Shelley Tyreese and Ray 150 meters parasailing along the coastline of Alicante

Each morning Shelley and Tyreese were out for an early bicycle ride. 

Tyreese and Shelley heading out for daily bike ride

We took Tyreese for some surfing lessons and he loved it. Both Shelley and him spent the day surfing the waves. 

Shelley and Tyreese getting first lesson for surfing.

 

After spending two action packed weeks in Alicante and area we went to Madrid to visit this amazing city before he went back to Canada.

Tyreese and Shelley in front of the Almudana Cathedral in Madrid
Tyreese in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid

In Madrid we met up with a friend of Tyreese’s. Monica who was a Spanish student that lived in Ottawa as an international student for a year.   She took the train to Madrid to meet with us and spend the day.

Tyreese and Shelley at the Madrid Train station waiting for Monica to arrive.
Monica and Tyreese in front of the iconic bear and strawberry tree statue in the Puerta Del Sol in Madrid.

We explored the city of Madrid with Monica and enjoyed the day.

Monica and Tyreese in El Retiro Parque in Madrid.

The Next day we took Tyreese to the airport and said our goodbyes. It was time for him to go home.

Shelley, Tyreese and Ray saying goodbye at the Madrid Airport.

It was a very busy and enjoyable few months with lots of adventures and memories being made. These are only some of the activities we enjoyed during our busy summer. 

“El mundo es un libro y los que no viajan leen solo una página.”- St. Augustine

Andorra

Andorra

We drove through the country of Andorra which is located in the pyrenees mountains between France and Spain.

Andorra is the sixth-smallest state in Europe, with an area of 468 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 79,000.  The drive through the Pyrenees was very beautiful with winding road and high reaching mountains.

The road was winding throughout the base of the mountains and we eventually drove to the top of some of the mountains. 

Along the way we came to several small towns that were quaint and beautiful. 

 Andorra is the world’s 16th-smallest country by land and 11th-smallest by population. We drove to the capital of Andorra which is called “Andorra la Vella”. It is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level.

The Capital had some modern buildings and was quite nice looking.

Raised walking platform in the capital of Andorra de Vella
View of the Capital- Andorra de Vella
Metal statues of farm animals along the road near Andorra de Valle

It was an enjoyable and an interesting drive through the 16th smallest country in the world.

“The most beautiful in the world is, of course, the world itself.” – Wallace Stevens

 

 

France

Carcassonne France Medieval city

We went and explored the historic fortified city of Carcassonne in the southern part of France. We began by walking along the Roman bridge towards the fortified walled city.

View of the walled city from the Roman bridge.
View of the fortified city

Carcassonne was of a key strategic importance  between historic trade routes, linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea.  It has a very long history that dates back to around 3500 BC when the first signs of a settlement was established.  In 100 BC the Roman empire recognized the strategic importance of the area and began fortifying the hilltop. The hilltop eventually became a rural settlement and later under the control of Julia Carsaco. Eventually the name changed over time to Carcassonne.

The main gate entrance with draw bridge behind it.

The castle itself possesses its own drawbridge and ditch leading to a central area of the castle.

The draw bridge section into the main fortified city.

The fortified city consists of two outer walls with a total of 53 towers and fortified outpost to prevent attack. The walls consist of towers built over the years.

View of the outer wall fortification with a sentinel tower

We could see the different styles in the construction some were Roman and is notably different from the medieval walls.

One of these towers housed the Catholic Inquisition in the 13th century and is still known as “The Inquisition Tower”.

We explored the inner city and enjoyed walking along the narrow streets with unique shops and restaurants. 

One of the many narrow streets inside the walled city

We walked the walls of the city exploring the different towers along the way.

Shelley and Ray on the walls of Carcassonne
Shelley and Ray on one of the sentinel lookout towers in Carcassonne

We had great views of the surrounding areas of the city.

View of the outer wall and the rolling hills of the countryside

There was views that overlooked the outer areas of the fortified city while other views overlooked the inner city. Both were tremendous and beautiful in their own way.

View of the city of Carcassonne
View of the Cathedral from the walls of the city.
View of the inner portion of the walled city.

We spent the entire day walking throughout this amazing walled city. There was so much history and unique things to see. There was even a Roman Amphitheater within the walled city.

The Amphitheater in the walled city of Carcassonne

We thoroughly enjoyed this UNESCO world heritage site . It is an outstanding example of a medieval fortified town, with its massive defences encircling the castle. Here are a few pictures of the castle and walled city. It was well worth exploring this city.

“Certes, voyager est plus que voir des sites touristiques ; c’est un changement qui s’opère, profond et permanent, dans les idées de vivre. “– Miriam Barbe

Spain

Oldest restaurant in the world in Madrid

We were in Madrid and exploring the streets when we came across the restaurant called Casa Botin. It is known as the oldest restaurant in the world and was founded in 1725. This is according to the Guinness Book of Records. 

Shelley Kathy and Dan outside of the oldest restaurant in the world Botin in Madrid

It was featured on several documentaries and was listed by Forbes magazine’s as third place of the world’s top 10 classic restaurants. It is renowned for its delicious suckling pig. 

We took a look at the outside of the restaurant and noticed a mockup model of the interior of the restaurant in the window. We stopped and checked out the layout of the nearly 300 year old restaurant. 

The Botin Restaurant model layout

Inside the restaurant was packed with patrons and it was very lively with lots of laughter and chatter..

We decided to ask on the off chance that we could get a table for dinner, even though we did not have a reservation. We were greeted by a friendly waiter who after looking for a few minutes found us a table. We were very fortunate to be able to be accommodated and had a table on the second floor. We walked along the main floor past the kitchen area which as we looked in we could see the wood fired oven and an array of meals being prepared.

The Botin restaurant wood fired oven
Suckling pigs and preparing area inside the kitchen area.

So upstairs we went for a meal at the oldest restaurant. We ordered several different meals including the suckling pig. We had some wine and enjoyed the amazing atmosphere of the restaurant.

Ray and Shelley at the Botin Restaurant in Madrid
Kathy and Dan at the Botin Restaurant in Madrid

 After enjoying our very tasty meals we mentioned to the waiter that we had seen a documentary on the Botin Restaurant. He was very friendly and we even were given a quick tour of the lower area of the restaurant which was quite interesting.

Dan walking down the stairs into the lowest level of the Botin restaurant in Madrid

Shelley, Kathy and Dan in the basement level of Botin Restaurant in Madrid

Down in the lowest level of the restaurant we could see the old curved brink walls of an ancient wine cellar. You could almost see the history come out of the walls. Earnest Hemingway was a regular at the Botin restaurant along with many other celebrities over the centuries.   It was truly a great experience to see and have a meal at the Botin restaurant.

“Disfruta cada día y la vida”

Spain

Vallodolid

We stayed for a few days in the city of Valladolid which is located in the autonomous region of Castile and León. This is also in the Riebera del Duero area. The city of 300 thousand is very beautiful with lots to see and do. 

Statue in front of the Calvary academy in Valladolid. Spain

There were lots of statues that appeared to be randomly placed throughout the city.

Statue of person wearing a pointed hood which hides the identity. Traditionally this is done on the holy week where their faces are covered in mourning, and also as a sign of shame for the sins they have committed throughout the year. .
Statue to honour a police officer
Statues in water fountains

Many times we would be walking along a street and come across a bronze statue of some kind.

Bronze statue of a walking man with umbrella, Shelley taking a stroll with him.

It was easy to see where people sat or touched the statues by the polish on the bronze.

Bronze statue of a person with suitcase and umbrella- Note the polish of the suitcase where people have used as a seat

One in particular that we came across was part of a fountain and was a little bit unexpected and surprised us.

As we got closer to this particular statues it was clear that they were naked men. It was not hard to see where the bronze was polished.

There was a beautiful park located in the centre of the city, so we decided to walk through and check it out.

It wasn’t long after we entered the park that we were being followed.

Peacock in the park in Valladolid Spain
We stopped to take a selfie at one of the fountains located in the park.

We explored some of the many different churches in Valladolid. They were very ornate and quite beautiful. 

Modern Church in Valladolid

We explored the streets of Valladolid and worked our way to the Plaza Mayor.  

Shelley and Ray in Plaza Mayor in Valladolid Spain

The Pisuerga River flows through the city and has beautiful trails on the shoreline. We walked the trail for a while exploring this area of the city.

The city of Valladolid was a great experience and we enjoyed our time very much. I can see us returning in the future to explore more of this city. 

“La vida se trata de las aventuras que tomas y los recuerdos que haces.”