Jim Pat

Two Days and Counting... The packing has begun, the itineraries have been sent out, the newspaper has been stopped as we are less than 48 hours from departure on our trip to Greece and Turkey. Along with our intrepid friends, Norm and Kathy, we are heading to Greece and Turkey for 3 1/2 weeks to do some touring, hiking, sailing, Greek Island hopping and good eating. We hope you'll enjoy our blog as we share our adventures. Jim and Pat ... read more

Our trip to wonderful Spain is wrapping up. We took our last stroll down the Ramblas this evening and head to the airport early in the mornking for the long flight home. Barcelona is a wonderful, crowded city that is easy to navigate-whether by subway, bus or on foot. Over the weekend it seemed the entire population was out strolling around, enjoying the sights, watching other people and just enjoying life. On Saturday we strolled the entire length of the Ramblas. There were bird markets, flower vendors, a wonderful huge open food market, street artists of every imaginable type and TONS of people. We went to the Picasso Museum. Most of the works were from his early period, but there was a great series of works from his later period. The later works were his interpetations ... read more

Another wonderful day of biking through olive groves and white villages. We did about 23 miles and only 900 feet of climbing so the day was much easier on the legs. We had a wonderful organic lunch at a local agriturismo and then pedaled up the mountain to Zuheros. We toured the remains of a Moorish castle that had been built in 700 AD. The views across the valleys to the surrounding mountains showed a sea of olive trees, an almost incomprehenible number of trees. We returned to our hotel for a little siesta, followed by wine tasting led by a local organinc vintner and then another great meal. Sadly, we are done with the cycling portion of our trip and must go our separate ways from our new cycling buddies. We exchanged email addresses so ... read more

Another great day of touring. No biking today, so we played tourist. First we had a tour by a local guide of the Juderia(Jewish Quarter). She spoke of the Jewish and Islamic philosophers that lived here in the 12th century. Also spoke of the diaspora in 1492. Next we went to the Mezquita, a former Mosque started in the 8th century. It was spectacular inside, with white and marble arches(over 900 of them), impressive carvings,etc. At its largest it held 20,000 for prayer. After the expulsion of the Moors the cathedral chuch of Cordoba was built inside the confines of the mosque and the minaret was covered by a Renaissance tower. After lunch we went to an Arab bath. Quite relaxing with a cold, medium and hot pool, followed by a massage with orange oil. After ... read more

First real day of bike riding. 34.5 miles, 2,200 feet of climb including 500 feet in the first 3 miles-just to get us going. Lots of liquid sunshine and reverse tail-wind, too. The countryside was gorgeous- olive trees, cork trees, orange trees, storks ( yeah, Bethany) A lovely dinner tonight followed by a flamenco erformance at local taberna (tavern). A good Saturday night in Rio del Palma. Onto to Cordoba tomorrow! Jim & Pat/Mom & Dad... read more