Looking Back. What I Loved.....

Herbed olives from the local market; Jesse comfortably speaking Spanish with the locals; sopping up the amazing sauce from the stuffed squid tapas in Barcelona; Dali’s mustache; the incredible blue of the Mediterranean; my gnocchi, pesto, pancetta and vegetable dinner; the incredible industry and dedication of the ants who hung out at the pool; the lily pond at our house; the views from the mountaintop Cathar castles; the tree canopied heart of Cerret; the sunsplashed brilliance of Cadaques; seeing the Valmy castle as our beacon guiding us home; the crispy “pork tower” I had in Girona; the croissants and baguettes that Bob faithfully retrieved every morning from down the hill; drinking beers and playing speed scrabble at the beachfront café in Collioure; the low lying clouds that drifted below the peaks of the Pyrenees; Lily’s drawings on old tiles she found on the beach or on hikes; the little carousels in Collioure and San Sebastian; Maggie’s epic turns as my sous chef; the incredible white wine from the Valmy vineyard; strolling La Rambla in Barcelona with Lily and Jesse; Jamie’s earnestness; sweet apricots from the tree at our front door; the all-consuming organ music at the Palau de Musica in Barcelona; the Oreo Express; crossing the Greenwich Meridian in the middle of nowhere Spain; Brendan’s ability to swim three laps on one breath; Donna’s ipad; the hike above the monastery in Montserrat; Lily and Maggie’s homemade hummus; the flea market in Cadaques; Picasso’s painted bowls of bullfights; cassoulet; Hannah’s incredible energy; the delicious dinner Lily and I had in the cave-like dining room in Montserrat; hearing Matt idly trying his hand at the grand piano; the admiring way women looked at Lily’s dresses in San Sebastian; the coastal drive from Cadaques to Argeles-sur-Mer; Donna’s wonderfully unrelenting enthusiasm for taking group photos; the death defying cliff hugging hike we took at Gorges de Carança; Lily's blue hat; the fabulous outdoor dinner we all enjoyed courtesy of our husband and wife team at “Le Marilyn” in Cap Leucat; Donna’s goat cheese salad; the incredible bells of the Montserrat basilica; magnum ice cream bars; the amazing artistry of Victor Omar Torres; the electrified hair of all those standing atop the Chateau de Peyrepertuse in the (literally) electrified atmosphere; old men playing bocce; Jesse’s amazing father’s day card for me (and the personally formatted Cds); and….

Mojo’s entire body wagging when we arrived home.