VISITING OLD FRIENDS AND NEW PLACES

One thing I like to do whenever I go to Europe is to stop in Germany to visit my friend Patrick.  He lives in the lovely city of Mainz and it's always a pleasant stop-over in my travels.

Patrick and me

Mainz Street

Visiting a castle near Mainz

There's always a lot of adventures waiting and Patrick likes showing me around the city as well as other places nearby. Sometimes we travel by train to see the sights.

Train passing archaeological site (probably Roman)

  
This trip we'll take the train to the little village of Zetting, just across the border in France.  It was once part of Germany.  There is an 1000 yr old Romanesque Church there that Patrick wants to show me. (Patrick is a talented organist and plays the pipe organ in various churches in and around Mainz).

ZETTING

Old Romanesque Church

We're going to visit his mother, Hanna (Anna) who lives there.  I have met her before and she even came to Canada to visit when Patrick lived here. So it's going to be a very nice reunion.  Patrick says we are invited to go with Hanna and her husband to sample a delicious French meal! 

Hanna and me

Hanna and Patrick

I'll only be in Germany a few days, but as always it will be a great adventure and lots of fun seeing my friends again!

EXPLORING NEW TERRITORY: Part 1 TORREVIEJA, SPAIN

I have visited Spain previously. On one of my first trips to Europe back in the '70's my friend Rosalie and I took our daughters with us on a camping adventure to Sitges with a day stop-over in Barcelona.  Then, during the '80's when I was living in Greece, I met up with Rosalie and her friends in Spain and we went to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls.  On that trip we also spent a day in Barcelona exploring the Gaudi exhibits and Pablo Picasso museum.  I've always wanted to go back and see more of the country. So this year, on my way to Greece, I am going to visit Spain again.

I'm flying from Cardiff to Alicante, a seaside resort city on the Cosa Brava.  My friend Inka, also a travel writer, will meet me there and we will go to her home in Torrevieja. Inka says her apartment opens up right onto the beach! 

 Torrevieja is a seaside city on the Costa Brave about 30 miles from Alicante.  It was originally a salt-mining and fishing village locate between the sea and two large salt lakes.  The name "Torrevieja" means "Old Tower" as until 1802 it existed as only a guard tower and a few laborer's cottages. In 1803 King Charles IV ordered that the Royal Salt Works be moved to Torrevieja and this began the history of the town. It now has a population of about 104,000.  Torrevieja is still a salt exporter and you can visit the Museum of Sea and Salt.  It's popular with tourists from northern Europe who live there including a lot of Brits.

Inka promises to take me on a number of excursions. These will include a visit to a pirate's island. There is lots to see and do in the area and I'll try to squeeze as many adventures as possible into the 4 days I'll be there. Another travel writing friend, Darlene Foster, from Vancouver, lives nearby so I'll get chance to visit with her as well. 

www.torrevieja.com

THE FILER FAMILY REUNION, MAY 30, 2009

MAY 30, 2009
THE FILER REUNION

How it came about: Some months ago I was contacted on-line by a woman who said she thought we shared the same great grandfather.
She was doing family genealogy and was tracking down members of the Filer family whose roots are in Wales, mainly around the Caerphilly area. How amazing the internet is! Janet has tracked our family back to the late 1700's. She has found a number of relatives in Wales, some right in Caerphilly, and a large group who are part of the family who went to the States at the turn of the century, some to work the mines in
Pennsylvania.

As I was planning to go to Europe, and had at first planned to go to Rome, then Greece, I decided that it would probably be a better idea to go to Caerphilly to meet these new family members. It had been a few years since I'd been there and was due for a visit. My sister and niece had already planned to come to Greece for my birthday, so the opportunity was perfect for a family reunion.

Janet, my new-found cousin, was the main organizer with some help from a few of the others including the cousins I already knew in Caerphilly (photo above). Everyone was contacted and a hall was rented. It was an old hall known as "Spooks Hall" because it's across the graveyard and the Spiritualist Church holds seances there. (What a perfect place to reunite with long-lost family!) I'm sure the spirits of our grandparents and great grandparents where hovering about that day.


About forty people, young and old, showed up for the gala occasions. There was enough food to feed an army -- an army of Filers! -- and there was even a D.J. On the wall was posted a genaeology list with photos of the old relatives who have passed on.




It was such a thrill to meet everyone. It seemed as though we'd known each other for a very long time! And I have to say the Welsh are a real fun bunch of people, so warm and friendly.

There was even a birthday cake for me, which was such a sweet gesture.
My sister, niece and I were overwhelmed by all the kindness and love that was generated by these long-lost, and the familiar cousins. I know my Dad's spirit was there and he would have been so thrilled to be a part of it. **and Janet, the little Welsh teddy is sitting on my desk right now!

We can't thank Janet enough for getting us all together like that and we only wished we'd had more time to spend there getting to know everyone a bit better. But I plan, on my next trip overseas, to make it a longer visit. And meanwhile, we're all on Facebook and we keep in touch with each other on-line. Isn't the internet fantastic?

So, with all that love surrounding us, we left the next day to return to London and continue on our holiday, leaving on June 1 for Athens, Greece.

SOME NEWS ABOUT A PHOTO COMPETITION AND NEW TRAVEL PLANS

As my blog readers know, I also edit/publish a new Travel e-zine TRAVEL THRU HISTORY
www.travelthruhistory.com
I'm thrilled with the response I'm getting from this site, including the excellent contributions of travel writing from all around the world.

One of my contributors, Paolo Fornari, has some of her photos in a contest and would appreciate you having a look. It's an interesting concept, this collection of photos. Here's a little blurb that Paola sent me to explain it:

Come and share how expat women see their itinerant lives!

Voting is open in the photography competition of the Italian section of expatclic.com. The aim of the competition is to build bridges between Italian women abroad, to communicate our life experiences outside our borders, to observe our host country and share it with our friends scattered around the world, and to transmit through images the feelings which surround expatriate living.

In order to vote, you need to register: it’s a simple procedure, and your data will be protected. You will receive no spam. It’s simply to avoid people submitting multiple votes: you can vote for up to three photos.

Simply go to: http://foto.expatclic.com/ then click on ‘registrati’. After that you can login, click on Il termine per l'invio delle foto è scaduto. Sono aperte le votazioni’, and vote!

Take a look. There's some wonderful photos on display there!

On the new travel plans news: I'm leaving on Tuesday for a road trip, by Greyhound, to California. It's been several years since I was there except for passing through LAX. The main purpose of the journey is to attend the graduation of my grandson Mike from the U. of Santa Barbara. But I decided to make it a real 'family reunion' trip, so I opted on taking the bus so I could stop first at San Francisco to visit my cousin Harold who I haven't seen in 30 years, and after the grad at Santa Barbara, I'll go on to Bakersfield to visit my Auntie. While I'm down there of course I'll keep my eye open for good travel stories, and I'll try to post on this blog so you can share in my adventures. Stay tuned! I'm anxious to get out of this cold, wet weather and I hear it's 80 in S.F. So I've packed my swim suit and sun-block and away I go, riding into the California sunshine!