Hola
Mingle
Veteran
Hi guys, I have been back for a while now of course but I've been too busy to post. Spain was brill even on my own. I stayed in a place called Lloret de mar and it had the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen with my own eyes!! Honestly you couldn't take a bad picture there.
I spent the whole time exploring, going swimming in the sea (which was amazing) and of course doing a lot of shopping (The merchants there really put the pressure on you to buy things don't they?)
Mindfulness did suffer though, there where points where I just completely forgot to meditate but there was this time where I hiked to the top of this hill overlooking the beach and I just sat there for ages which was great. I just took it all in and tried to be one with the environment, pondering where I sat and how far from home I was.
Anyway it was all so great and that feeling of isolation I had was also a feeling of complete detachment from everything at home which meant I've just floated through the days since I returned home.
Another really fun thing was the learning of Spanish, It was great to be immersed in the language and it was so great making an effort to speak it with people. I was very happy when I ordered things in Spanish and I was understood. So now I am obsessed with learning Spanish as it still gives me that connection with Spain and I am getting better. I try to talk to myself (and my cat) in Spanish whenever I can, I've started watching Spanish shows and Spanish radio. I really feel like my brain is starting to accommodate my new language. I can't wait until I can comfortably have a conversation with someone.
Anyway an app I've been using which is really good for language learning is Duolingo, I use it all the time and it is sorta addictive. It's very simple to use and they have made it into a sort of game where you score xp and unlock stuff. I just pull it out whenever I have five minutes.
So yeah, it was awesome already planning my next trip.
PS no pickpockets
Comments
Walking talking advert for livin' la vida loca... ! Bienvenido a casa, @Mingle!
My son also loves Duolingo, he took both German and Spanish in school and finds it quite useful. He is looking to travel to Europe for spring break. Argh, a mom worries
Glad your trip was so wonderful and memorable. You should share a pic or 2 of these beaches! I love the ocean, unfortunately I live about as far from it as you can get.
I can see that you have caught the "travel bug" @Mingle...glad you enjoyed it
Here is one of the beaches I went to
This I thought was really cool.
Dónde está la playa
It was one of those 'empty', far shore, Zen beaches I take it? 
I have tried to use DuoLingo, it is excellent unlike my ability to learn ...
Thanks for sharing the pics. Loved the gravestones ... (I like that sort of thing)
These walls are actually like small cupboards and are for the use of those who cannot afford big funerals and deep holes. The Mediterranean Catholic countries still favour burial over cremation, but will offer cremation as a less expensive alternative to a full funeral. Caskets are very basic, plain and unadorned or lined... Depending on how deep the wall is, it's possible they actually contain the full un-cremated caskets....They're all over Europe. The cemeteries in Italy, France and it seems, Spain, are always wonderfully-kept places of interesting architecture. They set much store in grandeur for the dead, there....