1,000 year old Oxford, England on our last night and other tales

Our family sabbatical to Spain (with trips to Morocco, Portugal and England) has come to an end; tomorrow we fly home.

Sorry that we've been out of touch for the last week- no 'wee-fee' as the Spaniards say.

We've been challenged by many of you over the last (nearly) two months with questions about how we plan to translate 'wisdom from the trip' to our life back home; our answer is we're not sure yet but we won't give up until we do it.

We'll keep you posted (no pun intended). We'll also play catch up and fill you in on the incredible places we visited over the last week and other weeks we couldn't post about the interesting places and learning we were doing. We'll also write about whether or not the kids' got 'behind' in school and how all that goes once we get back.

But for now, scenes from the last week.

From Roman ruins on the Atlantic

 

To standing upon a geological wonder of limestone that was part of the bottom of the ocean floor 100 million years ago

From experiencing Andalucian beaches and their bounty for the first time

To returning back to Malaga where we had begun the trip, we had a great last week. 

It is already abundantly clear that some things are permanent. Friends, family and history come to mind tonight while new discoveries and changes lie around every corner. . . if you've got your eyes ready and your heart willing.

The wonderful family of the Hotel Monte Victoria made us feel as if we'd returned home. It felt like we had and that everything was the same.

Like breakfast.

Except. . . the Nativity sets had been put away and as we had driven into Malaga we had stumbled upon early-carnival celebrations in advance of Lent 

Something else had changed too- Linda, one of the cats of the Hotel Monte Victoria that we had cherished the first time around, had just given birth to 7 kittens

One thing that hadn't changed was Tom. I'm convinced that our favorite Japanese kids' film director, Hayao Miyazaki used Tom the cat as an inspiration!  He is one of the most lovable creatures ever and as many previous happy Monte Victoria guests note, the real director of the house!

Tom delighted one and all- the power of pets and kids in tow should not be underestimated when booking accommodations.

We left Spain knowing the world had changed radically while we'd been away.

We believe we have too but travel, unlike a revolution, shows its effects more slowly. 

It's fitting we ended with a whirlwind trip to Oxford, England to visit a family we had met when Gigi was 3. Friends don't change even if the world does and you live one away from each other. 

Born 5 days apart, Gigi and Zebulon went to preschool together. His family now lives in England where the uber-smart Dad is now a Director in Applied Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Time doesn't matter when friends are involved; the night was pure magic. Here they all are in our hipster pad in Oxford 

More to follow in a forthcoming post on why you must visit this city with kids (or without) as soon as you can. Information about a great place to stay with family in tow, the food, the incredible things we saw like a Dodo, dinosaurs, endless weapons and Darwin's net at what the kids' declared was, 'the best museum ever!' are to come.

You'll also find out what it's like to attend a Hogwarts-like institution without the wizards of course, when we write about Zebulon's school. It was founded in 1480 and to give you a sense about how different it is from American 6th grade he takes Latin, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Art, Drama, Geography, Information Communications and Technology, and French to name a few of his weekly classes. Does that whet your appetite? Can you see his uniform up there? He's taken off the tie and blazer!

I was ecstatic to receive an email this week from the gorgeous Myriam. Remember our Tunisian friends we met in Marrakech? I didn't tell you they were newlyweds. We are going to post an interview with them about Tunisia (we are planning a visit!) and their life soon including the grand affair that is a Tunisian wedding. Here's a taste.

When the rowdy crowd that was hanging out at Riad Misria looked at the wedding pictures and we came upon Myriam's brother (pictured below) Gigi remarked later, "You guys went nuts when you saw Myriam's brother!" I'm guessing you can figure out why! What a family. 

One of the treasures about traveling are the friends you make. There's something very visceral about being away from home and meeting people that have chosen to do or be exactly where you are at that very moment yourself. Small-talk is non-existent, instead you dive right into survival points, acting upon their advice, side-stepping the surface for deep discussions and jokes that will linger in your mind for months to come. Sami and Myriam are like that along with other characters you'll meet, without Sami's kindness we wouldn't have experienced Marrakech in the same way.

We know we won't be seeing the same things once we go home.

Or, eating the same foods (I'll refrain from showing the taps at the many pubs we managed to frequent in literally less than 48 hours).

My curiosity lies now with how the trip might change the way the kids think, act, eat and wonder. And also, how we will think, act, eat and wonder with each other. 

One thing is for sure, making the decision to see and be with people you miss or experience places you dream of is not something I plan to postpone. I imagine many people in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are wondering why they waited for so long. . . here's a glimpse of a friend revolution aka kids having so much fun you know everyone will remember it for a very long time. 

I'm excited that Rick and Dr. genius, aka Zebulon's dad were already planning our next adventure and I was left wondering why we waited so long for this one.

I was reading a book about Japanese word puzzles last night called, "The Gateless Gate"

 (do you see how even the title is a puzzle?) and came upon these words,

"If useless things do not clutter your mind you have the best days of your life."

When you travel for a long time (or a short time if you're careful) you realize that there's less time or space to clutter your mind and literally, your space. Maybe that's why you remember it as some of 

the best days of your life. 

I hope I can carry that idea home with me

 and unpack it 

and use it 

every day.

I'm excited to try. 

Even though tonight is an ending it is really just the beginning. 

Thanks for traveling with us and for your generosity in words and spirit along the way; for all of you who took care of things back home so that we could be away, we thank you. 

Love Family in Tow