A little over 5 days to go!

One always gets a little nervous before traveling. We have to leave our house behind - in Victor and Helinho's capable hands of course, but we still worry about our animals - Jessie in advanced stage of degenerative myolopathy cannot move much at all and requires a lot of care, Nikita is deaf and screams for attention, and Thor suffers huge pangs of saudade when we're not here. There's food to be laid in, bills to be paid, luggage to be thought of - but there's also preparing for the experience: a new country to get to know, with wild nature and an ancient history. I have been studying Spanish since May in preparation and because I find the language fascinating. We will be traveling with our Argentinean friends, Abel and Carlota, and it would be exciting to try my hand at their language - although they speak Portuguese fluently.The men will give talks in three cities, and we will all enjoy that pleasant connection with the universities, which almost always enriches our trips. I have read the guidebook cover to cover, and am reading Washington Irving's, Tales of the Alhambra, an exciting account of a trip much like ours, although undertaken around 1850. I have separated Hemingways For Whom the Bells Toll to be my traveling companion. In other words, I'm prepared. And, marked by my recent experience in Greece, I will watch my step very, very carefully!