OFF THE ROAD: Summertime, and the livin’ is easy..

Yes. I’ve been home for a while now, but I’m still involved with travel and photography. For me, a trip has three parts: the pre-trip planning, the trip itself and the post-trip reflection.

After a trip some things are predictable:

There will be jet lag. 

It’s  nice to get home but my body is still in Europe, for a time at least. I read a statistic somewhere that for each hour of time change means a day recuperating from it, so for me, a Californian, flying back from Spain or France means a nine hour time change – and nine days to get over it. Of course, some people are not plagued by jet lag at all  but I’ve found it takes me at least a week to get over a European jaunt.  I don’t fight it; I just accept it. As a result, I end up being wide awake at 3:00 AM or find myself  yawning or almost falling asleep during a mid- afternoon conversation.  I keep a fairly quiet schedule for several days and try to stay awake when the sun is out.

I will spend lots of time on my photography. I download photos to my desktop and study them to savor the special moments 

Time flies on a trip and with digital cameras, it is possible to take LOTS of images – some good, most not good, some terrible, and a few great ones, and even though I delete the worst ones from my memory card every night, there is still lots of editing to do after the trip when I get home.  There’s nothing like seeing photos on the big screen of a desktop computer.  Eventually I find my favorites, and then use them in gifts for family and friends.  I make calendars of all types and sizes and create note cards of special images for sale and for loved ones.  I can do this quiet work when I’m up bright and early, during the jet lag days!  Looking at the photos also reminds me so special moments during the trip.

Here are some special moments from the last trip:

I took this image with my phone as we were leaving the Pena Palace, in Sintra, an enchanted village near Lisbon. I love the natural border of the opening over the buildings, with the multi-colored towers.  It was a fairy tale place that I’ve always wanted to visit. We had a wonderful day there.

People often go to the Old World to see ancient architecture but I find the modern stuff just as compelling.   There is an area of Lisbon with great, innovative, creative buildings that glisten and glow. This train station, the gare do Oriente, was built by Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish architect, structural engineer, painter and sculptor, in 1998.  Even though I just had a glimpse of it from the bus, it has stayed in my memory.

Having breakfast within the cloister of the convent in Evora, Portugal was an amazing experience. Our tour accommodations were in historic  buildings which had been converted to four star hotels. The food and lodgings were magnificent.

I’m still totally enamoured with southern Spain and being in Seville again was a real treat. I love this picture of the Plaza de España,  built in 1928 for the Iberian-American exhibition. We had time to stroll all the detailed tile representations of various parts of the country. Truly a masterpiece!

Don’t miss the mesquite in Córdoba! Is it a mosque? Yes, it was. Is it a cathedral? Yes it is. The mixing of two cultures in a seamless fashion is a sight to behold.

After I relive my trip, I get back to my  real world, slowly, slowly..

I was busy working before I left on the trip, so now I’m using summer as a time to “get things done” around the house. As with most people, from time to time, homeowners experience domestic challenges. Even though I have homeowners’ insurance, it took me over two weeks to get two toilets repaired; the first plumbing company was inept but the second one was great. I now have a new toilet in my office and all repairs were done free of charge because of my inconvenience. My next door neighbor sold his place and there is renovation construction going on. As a result of this work, some rodents have also decided to make a move, so I am dealing with rodent roommates, much to my dismay. My next step is to hire a handyman to plug up any nooks and crannies that they’re using as their entrance. I am not a DIY person. I’d rather hire someone to do it correctly.

Good news: I just made a major purchase of new carpeting, which will be installed within the month. I’m thrilled with it. I’ve been involved in a massive clean up since I have to take all books out of bookcases and find a place for all knick knacks and breakables. What a job!   Now if the mice would just go away, I’d be happy.

In between domestic drama, I’ve also been taking day trips in the Bay Area to spend time with friends, and hope to send a post out on that soon, showing you some small town California charm. Summer has been a bit warm, but not extreme. I was in Marin County yesterday with old friends and the weather was perfect.

I’m also doing some pre-trip planning. I will be off to Italy next month! I’m meeting my friend Ann from England in Bologna for three days on our own, then we will be touring in Tuscany and Umbria..I have done some reading, and I SHOULD be working on my very basic Italian. I took an Italian for Travelers class a year ago, before our trip to Sicily, and I have new CDs I purchased for review. I have great intentions but little self-motivation at the moment.

One thing I always try to do: exercise.  Whether I’m enjoying a walk on the trail  or strolling the golf course on Mondays, I try to enjoy  nature where I find it – and photograph it for you.

Hope you’re enjoying summer, where ever you are. Enjoy each day!