Friends, It's Been a Long Time...And I've Missed You

Are you still enjoying your holidays?  Oh how the days, weeks, months and years seem to go by so quickly.

Family Gathering - Christmas 2017

 It has been over a year since I posted anything on my blog and I've really missed posting, sharing and connecting. It seems that with every passing day there is more to do with less and less time. As I sit down to write this post it is nearly impossible to figure out where to start. In fact, I took a look back to see what I was last blogging about.  So I see I was talking about Mexico.   

The "blue hour" in Park Güell, Barcelona

Hierve el Agua, Oaxaca, Mexico

Did you see that post? The one where I was trying to decide between visiting Puebla or Oaxaca, Mexico (and Puebla won)? Well since my last post, I'm happy to say that I've visited both cities. My trip to Puebla was a long weekend visit and  a solo trip.  I fell  in love with Puebla but was still longing to go to Oaxaca. This November my husband and I spent a week in Oaxaca and it was heavenly. It was one of those slow (well sort of slow) vacations where we relaxed. Our hotel had a rooftop patio so we sat up there to watch the sun rise and set. Then at night we sat up on the roof just to be out under the stars.  It really was heavenly. 

I finally got to walk in a field of sunflowers!!!

Trip to an elephant sanctuary in South Africa

We've managed to take several trips since that last post and I'm so grateful for each and every experience.  We are budget travelers which allows us to take more trips but we cut a lot of corners to do so.  And because of my work schedule, most of our trips are jiffy trips over long weekends. It's amazing what you can do and see in 48 - 72 hours. In the past year we've been able to visit Bogota, South Africa (we were able to do some driving around and it was incredible), Barcelona and Oaxaca and I'm looking forward to doing some planning of future trips on New Year's day.  I've got several magazines and decided it would be fun to create a new vision board with goals and wishes for the year, including my travel dreams!

As I looked back at my early blog posts, my first post is dated December 29, 2007. In that post I featured my granddaughters and niece.  It seems so long ago and so much has changed.  My niece is now a freshman at Berklee School of Music and the grandgirls are now 15 and 13!

Christmas 2007

Goddaughter's dance recital

Lantern Festival with friends

The past year was a hard one for me in many ways and yet, the year was filled with amazing and wonderful memories too.  I lost two friends in 2017 and both deaths, which were less than a month apart, were shocking tragedies. For months it was difficult to find happiness, but as the end of the year approaches, I realize there were happy moments that should be recognized and cherished. But, I'm ready for a new year with new hopes and dreams.   

As I get ready for the long weekend, I'm looking forward to a nice quiet few days to have time for reflection, reading, setting goals and creating order.  My sister brought me a box of cookies from my favorite hometown bakery and I'm looking forward to curling up with some delicious sweet treats before putting myself on a more healthy regime too. 

How about you?  Any big plans for NYE or the coming year?   2018 is nearly here. Happy New Year!!!   I'm so glad to get reconnected.  Let's do this!

Puebla...or Oaxaca?

I knew that I wanted to spend a couple of days exploring another part of Mexico but I was having trouble trying to decide on the next city to explore. After considering many factors, my final decision was Puebla Mexico and all I can say is WOW.

Unfortunately work has been busy so there wasn't much time to plan my trip and with only two and a half days to spend sightseeing, I needed to be prepared. Before my flight I sifted through multiple travel blogs and sites gathering up as much information as possible, printing off some material so that I could read and study some things on the flight. Thankfully I'd managed to make a hotel reservation so at least I had a room once I arrived. 

My hotel was a gem. It was nearly 10 p.m. by the time I finally got to the hotel but the front desk was waiting for me with a brochure and a map of the city that listed every major museum, park, church, art district or historic site. It didn't matter that my notes were spotty and I was unprepared. The hotel's brochure made my trip planning simple. Thank you Hotel Colonial de Puebla!

Did you know that Puebla is one of the 5 great colonial Mexican cities? The city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 and it is easy to see why just walking around the city. The city is famous for it chilies en nogado (my favorite), mole poblano (my second favorite) and Talavera pottery but I'll save the food and art for another post. In this city you will see examples of art/architecture from the Renaissance period as well as one of the finest examples from the Baroque period to be found in all of Mexico. One of my favorite places was the Biblioteca Palafoxian, a public library that was founded in 1646. The library contains roughly 42,000 texts, the oldest of which dates back to 1473. 

And just in case Puebla couldn't keep your attention, the city of Cholula is just a 15 minute cab ride away. This area has been inhabited for more than 3,000 years and is home to a pyramid that is over 2,000 years old with a base that is larger than any pyramid in the world. 

Traveling to Puebla was also interesting because I traveled alone. I don't speak Spanish, I'm often directionally challenged and I was a little nervous about managing things on my own but there was no need to worry. People were so nice and friendly. Instead of talking with a travel partner I was forced to spend a lot of time listening and people-watching. Twice while walking the streets I overheard English and once was especially interesting. I overheard a man say, "If I didn't know better I would think I was in Europe!" After hearing his comment I stopped to agree with him and learned that he is a professor from a California university who was visiting the city to map a student trip for the next semester (those lucky students)!

My next few posts will focus on a few of the highlights of this trip and believe me, it is going to be hard deciding where to start. 

Where are you planning to visit this summer?