Spain 2025

Our second week here in Calpe has pretty much exceeded all my expectations.  Our apartment is in a perfect location, right in the center of town, in the middle of the beach front walkway, And two blocks from the Baguet bike cafe, so both Norma and I have close to unlimited recreation opportunities!  So far, I've ridden on 4 large group rides from Baguet- typically about 50-60 miles each, and with about 5000' of climbing each. I am fortunately fit enough to be pretty close to on par with most of the Belgian, Dutch, and English retirees who make up the bulk of the non-professional riding population here, so I'm really enjoying having an "instant" social group to slip into. Here's some pics from a few of my rides: Norma is also getting lots of exercise walking all over town and a long the miles of waterfront walks and trails.  Today she met a couple of women when were doing local outdoor yoga classes which she's...

We arrived here in Calpe this past Friday after a wet drive down from Valencia. The "move in" was easy, and while we needed to do a bit of cleaning to get things up to Norma's exacting standards, in general we were impressed with our $44/night apartment.  Most importantly, the view from our balcony is to die for: Pretty special!  We are right on the beach, with everything we need in easy walking distance. There are a ton of walking routes up and down the beach and further along the coast, as well as a great set of trails up the rock you see in the photo, known locally as the "Penyal d'Ilfac." Pretty  much everything Norma has been hoping for!  As for me, the cycling is the main attraction to Calpe... After getting settled in, I then set to work unpacking and building up my bike.  On Saturday morning, i set out with a group I've been following on Strava - a bunch of primarily Belgians who call themselves "Fietsvrienden Calpe," and wh...

After enjoying very easy flights over, we have arrived safely in Valencia. We are staying in a very nice hotel in the center of the old city about 100 meters from the cathedral, just off the main plaza. We even got an upgraded room, so our travel luck is holding for now! After two days here, Valencia has proven to be a remarkably beautiful, clean, uncrowded, and walkable city, far exceeding our expectations.  We've walked about 20ish miles since arriving, and enjoyed some outstanding food (paella Valenciana is delicious!) great wine (local Bobal red is our favorite), and truly outstanding architecture, including some great public plazas, the best central market we've ever seen, and a couple of baroque churches with ceiling frescoes that easily rival anything in Rome, including the Sistine Chapel!  The Roman ruins in the archaeology museum were the best we've seen outside Rome itself. Tomorro...

So... We are off and running again!  I'm starting this off from the airport on Syracuse at our new "lounge" (not much really, but we do get a good cup of free coffee!).  So far so good.  The weather gods appear to have given us a pass today; it's gloomy enough to still want to get out of here, but nice enough to do so without fear of delays or flight problems!   Most importantly today, thanks to a wonderfully generous Coast Guard parent who donated us some expiring elite points and got us upgraded to 1st class for the red-eye leg!  With luck, we may actually sleep on the way to Spain, and arrive as real humans as opposed  to our usual 1st day zombie status :-)  Definitely settling into fully retired mode!