The little things really matter especially while traveling

Miracles do occur, we managed to get on the right train for a second time. We left beautiful Seville this morning, and before I continue, I can imagine some of you saying “Whoa – what they went to Seville without seeing the Alcázar?!?!?! WT…(fill in the appropriate letter).

We are doing this trip a little differently, and will be returning to Seville in 10 days to see the city with a knowledgeable guide. It will be interesting to compare the hack job we’ve been doing for the last couple of days, to the work of a professional guide. I’m not even going to guess. It’s going to be better with the guide.

Some of you who may have followed our previous trips may be wondering why we have not encountered our usual “Adventures in Hygiene”. For this trip I packed 3 ounces of face cleanser and face moisturizer. I thought this would be plenty for the 5 weeks we are here. But the diva I am traveling with has already gone through 1/4 of a bottle of face cleanser. For the record, I don’t think his face is THAT big. So instead of addressing it directly with him, I am passive-aggressively mentioning it in my post in hopes that the women who are reading this unite and let him know that a “little dab will do you”. Live update: Peter insists a dime-sized blob of cleanser is necessary, I countered with a pea-sized. He is still arguing with me as I type.

Also, while I’m on the topic of less is more. In Seville, we stayed in a place that made it clear you get two rolls of toilet paper and not a square more. Unfortunately, a roll was a 1/8 of the size we are used to, and princess goes through toilet tissue like a teenage girl (I’m talking about Peter)…and let’s not get into paper towels. I started rationing it after Day 1 and was so concerned that I was going to have to buy a four-pack somewhere and cart it around in the very precious space of my backpack. Chocolates or toilet paper?!?!?! I mean really, how can you choose.

Well, it was bound to happen. Our very first domestic foible. The apartment we stayed in provided pods for the dishwasher and washing machine. Peter, always on top of the laundry, did two loads of wash while we were here – using the pods meant for the dishwasher. I can’t wait to wear those clothes……or perhaps he stumbled on to a big unknown laundry secret. In his defense he would like me to share, that a dishwasher pod was in the clothes washing machine when he opened the door. So we must not be the only ones. Where is Cat when we need her?

So I mentioned that we successfully completed our second train trip here, which is nothing short of miraculous because Peter keeps referring to Spain as Italy and saying “Grazie” to everything.

Our big event for the day was going to lunch. Peter of course picked a fabulous place, I ordered my second paella in 3 days, Peter dissected all the shrimp and clams for me so I wouldn’t have to (that’s love), and we ordered a desert with such a long name that I made the waitperson say it word for word with me at the same time (that’s patience).

I have noticed in Spain, unlike Italy, that when you start speaking in Spanish, they continue in Spanish no matter what. Which would be OK, but they talk as fast as their high-speed AVE trains and the only response I can give is to nod and say “Si” and hope that’s what I want.

We did take a quick walk after our appropriately timed lunch at 2:30, which ended at 4:00 to get a sense of the town. I look forward to exploring much more tomorrow.

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