Thanksgiving
I've been away for while - not just from the blogosphere, but from Canada. I was leading a trip along the pilgrimage route of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. It was some of the toughest money I've ever earned, but a bit of distance always provides a better perspective.
It did allow me to revisit parts of Spain that I have always enjoyed. I'm happy to say that I still do. What this trip showed me more than anything was that I could live in Spain again. The pace of life, the love of life, the concept of working to live and not living to work are all things that greatly appeal to me. And things that Calgary could learn a thing or two from right now too.
Spain has grown up a lot since I first lived there in the late 80s. The EU has been a boon to their economy, and they are now a thoroughly modern European country. And yet.... and yet they are still wholly Spanish. Try to find peanut butter in the supermercado - I dare you. The regional cuisine we enjoyed is a thing of beauty. One of the women on the tour asked me how the Spanish can remain so thin while eating so much. The key is in the walking - everyone walks in Spain, every day. In our car-centred communities, we have forgotten the simple joy, and the health benefits, this offers.
Sure, there are frustrations. Smoking - although banned in workplaces as of January 1, 2006 - is still fairly pervasive. Although noticeably not so much as it was previously. Some contracted services just never get done - like luggage delivery to rooms. Sorry, no one around to help. Hurrican Gordon even made a brief appearance.
But on the whole, it is one of my favourite destinations, and I should be giving thanks I was actually paid to visit it again and rediscover both its charms and its foibles.
It did allow me to revisit parts of Spain that I have always enjoyed. I'm happy to say that I still do. What this trip showed me more than anything was that I could live in Spain again. The pace of life, the love of life, the concept of working to live and not living to work are all things that greatly appeal to me. And things that Calgary could learn a thing or two from right now too.
Spain has grown up a lot since I first lived there in the late 80s. The EU has been a boon to their economy, and they are now a thoroughly modern European country. And yet.... and yet they are still wholly Spanish. Try to find peanut butter in the supermercado - I dare you. The regional cuisine we enjoyed is a thing of beauty. One of the women on the tour asked me how the Spanish can remain so thin while eating so much. The key is in the walking - everyone walks in Spain, every day. In our car-centred communities, we have forgotten the simple joy, and the health benefits, this offers.
Sure, there are frustrations. Smoking - although banned in workplaces as of January 1, 2006 - is still fairly pervasive. Although noticeably not so much as it was previously. Some contracted services just never get done - like luggage delivery to rooms. Sorry, no one around to help. Hurrican Gordon even made a brief appearance.
But on the whole, it is one of my favourite destinations, and I should be giving thanks I was actually paid to visit it again and rediscover both its charms and its foibles.
Comments
Going away often reminds us of the nice things we like about home, too. :-)
You've got me thinking 'can we have that here too?" ...a thought for a blog post, definitely.
New scenery definitely gives new perspective. It sounded like a great trip.