We bid fare-thee-wells on Tuesday morning, sending Ann & family off to work/school. No one was too sad, though, because they'd all be state-side within a month or so! (In fact, I am gearing up for 3rd Annual Auntie Camp set to begin July 12th!)

See ya later!!

On our way to the train station, we stopped by Dulce de Leche at Brian's suggestion.

I had severe camnesia, and regret that I didn't take any photos inside… the bakery case was incredible!! Take a gander at Instagram for an idea. So good.

Then it was on to Madrid to begin our journey home.

From the taxi, on the way to our Airbnb, we noticed that Catedral de la Almudena was practically around the corner! I hadn't even noticed that it was right next to the Royal Palace of Madrid.

The cathedral was, of course, AMAZING!

Party on the ceiling!! It was incredible, and one of my favorites.

It was SUPER HOT and very sunny, so we didn't go too far in search of food & drink.

We found a shady spot under an umbrella at el camarote and enjoyed a nice cold cerveza and some delicious tapas. Our server seemed to take a liking to us and treated us very well!!

Maddy hung out at the apartment, while I accompanied Kate to visit an artist-run gallery space that she'd previously connected with through Young Space. It was really fun to find ourselves in Madrid with enough time to stop in!

Then it was back to our Airbnb to chill for a bit and then go to bed early. We are willing to admit that the "open book headboard" totally won us over when we booked this place… though it was a bit less "ruffled" in the photos on the listing!

The next morning (Wednesday), departure from Madrid. We had a short layover in Dublin, and then were on our way to Chicago… scheduled to land at about 6:45 p.m.

…well, that was the plan. Everything was wonderful — we were even on course to arrive about :45 early — but it all fell apart mostly due to weather/weather-related backups at O'Hare. We were detoured to Detroit "to refuel," but then ended up sitting on the plane for 3 hours while waiting for Dublin to make the decision about whether we would continue. Eventually, and by then, they decided that some of the crew were too close to the limit on hours (to make the one-hour +/- flight from Detroit>Chicago) and we all got off the plane. Flight cancelled.

It might not have been so bad if we'd been on another airline, but I believe this may have been the first landing of Aer Lingus at Detroit. There was much, much confusion & delay… and long-story-short, there were no hotel rooms, no other flights available until Thursday evening, the promised "buses to Chicago" never arrived (at least while we were there, and with more than one false alarm), and the little coffee shop/deli had been all but cleaned out.

We ended up booking a train in the wee hours of the morning, taking a Lyft ride to get to that station, arriving before it even opened, and having breakfast at Tim Horton next door. The coffee was good.

We snoozed a little on the train (those seats are not very comfy), after little to no sleep overnight at the airport (those seats were even worse). We took the Metro to O'Hare to get the car, found some food, and then drove 3.5 hours home, switching off pretty frequently because OHMYGODSOTIRED.

About 24 hours after we were originally supposed to land in Chicago, we finally made it home. I was in bed by 8 and slept like a log. I'd originally taken Thursday off to run around and take care of some details with Maddy (and do laundry and recover), but instead begged off Friday morning to at least accomplish the most important of those things. Thankful for an understanding workplace and no complications!

I totally jinxed it, by the way, commenting way too early on how smoothly everything went during our trip! When you think about it, though, we had some pretty crazy connections and had purchased all of our train tickets in advance, along with our tickets to The Book of Kells and La Sagrada Familia — any little delay along the way could have thrown a wrench into our plans. It all worked out.

I wish that O'Hare had chosen a more Detroit-friendly flight to divert instead of us, and I wish that Dublin had allowed personnel some leeway… but in the end, it all worked out. My experience on Aer Lingus up to, and even after that point, was really quite nice (there was one flight attendant who went above & beyond in Detroit — as did all of the airport personnel we encountered), and I wouldn't hesitate to fly that airline again.

By the way, upping my organizational game, I used Tripit to manage everything (I opted for the Pro version) — flights, trains, tickets, lodging — including Maddy's separate flight itinerary, and it worked wonderfully! In addition to having everything in one place, easy to see and navigate, I found it extremely helpful in managing time.

On Monday it was back to work for Ann & Brian and back to school for the boys, so we were on our own for our last full day in Valencia!

The first order of business was a visit to a yarn/craft shop in the neighborhood.

Trusty Google Maps got us there.

There was a street market happening on the way. It was mostly clothing — some old, some new — and must only happen weekly or monthly, because there was no sign of it the next day.

Our destination was Lokita Botones. Ann had told me about it earlier, and it was only a few blocks from their apartment!

I forgot to take photos on Monday, so these are from Tuesday, before they opened, on our way to the train station (we took the long way). Isn't that adorable, though?

There was a little bit of everything — handmade clothing & totes, yarn, fabric, ribbon, knitting & sewing supplies — you know what I'm talking about. It was adorable, and it was in Spain! I came away with a ball of cotton yarn, a tote, and a big interesting button.

Maddy was in need of some "quiet time," so Kate & I dropped her off at the apartment before heading to Bancaja Cultural Center to see their Contemporary Art exhibition.

These were some of my favorite pieces. (I see knitting!) Those first two pieces were huge — the people in the images almost life-size.

We met up with Maddy again and — surprise! — we visited another cathedral. This time, it was the Cathedral of Valencia — home of many amazing works of art, the arm of Saint Vincent of Saragossa, and the Holy Grail. We paid for the self-guided tour, which included an audio guide, and we were not disappointed. It is beautiful, inside and out.

Words fail me.

The preserved arm of St. Vincent.

Works by Goya

The Holy Grail right there!

Skulls & bones!

It was definitely worth the price of admission, and I highly recommend it if you're ever in Valencia!

I don't remember the exact order of things, but we had a lovely tapas lunch — during which we watched two men walk by carrying an enormous pan of paella between them — and found our way to Torres de Serranos, the city gate.

We made dinner together at home that evening — tacos! And then went out for ice cream. The girls & I had been enjoying a gelato a day (sometimes two) on this vacation… bakery & ice cream were never hard to find, no matter where we were!

Oh boy… Believe it or not, this was the smallest of the confections at our table! Turns out, though, that most of it is "whipped cream" with a couple of scoops of ice cream plopped on top + various toppings and, at least to our tastes, that stuff was only palatable in very small doses. (Kind of yuck.) (But that picture menu had us all starry-eyed!!)

We amused ourselves…

Self-explanatory — the boys' work!

Everybody's on Snapchat now (except Brian)!

It was a wonderful last day! There are no firm plans yet, but I am definitely looking forward to a return visit…

Good night, Valencia!!

Sunday was Mack's 12th birthday!! To celebrate, we visited Albufera National Park, just south of Valencia, for a boat ride and paella. Addy had already visited the park once on a school field trip.

So, away we went to catch another bus! Ann & Brian don't have a car in Spain, though they were able to get driver's licenses — something that most of their American co-workers have been unable to secure. Apparently, there is no reciprocal licensing relationship between Spain & the USA… but there is between Spain & Brazil and they were both licensed there! Incidentally, they rented a car just last weekend to take the boys to camp — it's that in-between time when school's out but teachers & administrators still have to go to work.

It was a gorgeous day and the bus was crowded!! We stood most of the way.

There's ^^ a wedding!

So, apparently the thing to do in L'Albufera is to go on a boat trip on Albufera Lake and then eat paella — or vice versa! There are many establishments offering package deals.

Our boat captain was this kindly old gent whose name I don't recall. He made a point of telling us that his grandparents came to Spain from Great Britain. He had fun goofing around with our three youngest passengers — twins, at least, but we thought possibly even triplets.

We saw fish and birds and lots of ducks & ducklings… patos y patitos!

El Palmar is literally nothing but restaurants. There wasn't a convenience store or gift shop to be found, which I found astounding!!

We had a very traditional paella – Paella Valenciana — which includes chicken, rabbit, and snails. Yes, I ate snails!! Between all the tapas restaurants we visited, the mercado, and this, I had octopus, squid, oysters and snails (a couple of firsts). Anyway, it was delicious!!

And another type of beer: SIVARIS TOSTADA is the first rice, artisan and gourmet beer, designed to accompany rice. Aromatic, full of nuances, balanced structure, with a certain turbidity, soft bubble and kindness in the mouth. Perfect to drink alone, with a good paella or maridar with strong rice, red meats, game, foie or risottos. (source)

We missed a bus heading back to the city, so had a long wait for the next one during which we sat in the shade (it was HOT!) and found some water at a nearby restaurant, and I mused (again) on the lack of convenience/gift shops because I'd have totally rather shopped while waiting.

Annie had made the cheesecake before we left in the morning (with the graham crackers I'd brought for the crust). Upon our return, Mack's best friend popped over with a gift and we all sang and ate cake!!

I can't believe this little baby is 12!!

This is a stitched-together photo to show the wonderful view from the window in Addy's room, which he kindly lent me during our visit.

And this was my view from bed — the window is really more like a door. No screens, only the iron railing.

It was gorgeous… and also LOUD!! In the big city, they don't empty the dumpsters between 7 am and 5 pm, they do it at 2 am!! Most buildings are tall — 4, 5, 6 stories and more — so there's also AN ECHO IN THERE!! Yikes. I live on the end of a dead-end street in a sleepy little city, and I'm sure not used to that! I tried to liken it to Rio and the "joyful noise" emanating from Rocinha, but this was not that at all. I resorted to earplugs after the first night.

On Saturday morning, we walked to Mercado Central. Wow.

The food!

We watched a fish vendor shuck some oysters and then had them for a mid-morning snack… along with some champagne!

Meandering back, we found the narrowest house in… the world? Europe? Spain? certainly in Valencia!!

Orange trees line many streets! But they are not Valencia oranges and apparently are bitter and not very good to eat.

They sure are pretty though!

In the afternoon, we packed up and hopped a bus headed for the beach.

It was a gorgeous day!!

Between Saturday & Sunday, despite being under cover practically the whole time, I managed to get a pretty good sunburn!

And day is done. It was so great to have a more relaxing day after the frantic pace of those preceding!