26 January 2025

My visa renewal took a step forward this week. I needed a copy of the contract for my health insurance that included the start date for this year and proof of payment for the year. But the company website has been down for weeks. My sales rep is always very helpful. But he couldn’t get it done after working on it for three weeks. My attorney kept sending increasingly urgent messages saying that she needs this information. I kept reaching out to my sales representative, who kept reaching out to the insurance company…all to no avail.

After several emails and phone calls this week, on Thursday the contract was finally updated and sent. On Friday the attorney told me that she had sent everything and that she would notify me of next steps.

Wednesday was a holiday here, celebrating one of the two “Saint Vincent’s” who are patron saints of the city of Valencia. San Vicente Ferrer.

I spent the day with my own Vicente. We started the day early with a swim. Vicente is a life long swimmer. He swims 80 laps of a half-size olympic pool as part of his regular workout. And in the summer he swims in the open sea. He tried to coach me to improve my horrible form. After two laps, I was gasping for air like I was dying! He was patient and rather than try to fix everything (stroke, breathing, kicking, hips, etc), we focused on my stroke. I think I made progress. But after ten or twelve laps, I was wiped out!

That afternoon I helped him clean an apartment that he is getting ready to list for sale. (He’s a real estate agent.) It was disgustingly filthy. Layers of dust, grease, grime and dirt. But we made really good progress. It looked completely different when we were done. Fingers crossed for a quick sale.

I had lunch on Thursday with my friend Rafael. We hadn’t seen each other since before the holidays when he went back to the US to see family and friends. It was great to catch up.

Saturday, Vicente shared a uniquely Valenciano day. We started with a light breakfast (coffee, yogurt and orange juice) before leaving the house. We drove to Alzira, a town about 30 minutes outside of the city, where we had almuerzo (a “brunch”, not to be confused with “lunch,” as it’s known in the rest of the Spanish speaking world.)

I loved the restaurant, Abastos. It was so authentically Spanish, yet also very comfortable and familiar. Nearly everyone there were farmers and workers from the fruit industry. It felt like going into an Eastern Shore of Maryland diner (Dayton’s?). Locals enjoying lots of local food and solving the problems of the world.

We enjoyed sandwiches, fries, tomatoes, and a beer before ending with coffee. Coffee is always the last thing! For both of us, the check came up €20.

Afterwards, we went to pick oranges!

I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying fresh squeezed orange juice every morning! I’m really getting spoiled!

From there, we went hiking La Murta trail.

La Murta is the name of a bush with small berries.

We hiked past an old monastery.

It was more elevation gain than I’m used to. Valencia is remarkably flat. So while I regularly get lots of steps, this trail was a bit of challenge. I loved it!

Afterwards, we came back up my house for lunch.

We were taking a siesta when Vicente realized that it’s Chinese New Year! So we quickly got ourselves going and walked towards the parade!

We stopped for Indian food for dinner at a restaurant near my house. It was a full, wonderful day.

Sunday, I did laundry, some cleaning and relaxed. I ended the day by meeting Vicente to see the film, Conclave, with Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rosalinni. Two thumbs up!

Here’s wishing you a great week ahead. May all your trails be flat and may all your critics give you two thumbs up.