While were still not completely over the high cost of everything in Europe, we are beginning to relax and enjoy the people and places we came to see and experience. There are so many great things to take pleasure from that it is difficult to list them all but the main ones are: the culture, history, arts and architecture; the people, languages and food; and meeting other travelers.

We started with a three-day stay in Portugal where we were surprised at how much of the language we had retained from our two-month in Brazil a couple of years ago. In the capital of Lisboa, we saw beautiful tiled buildings, Obama getting a haircut at a local barber shop, huge crabs and lobsters in a restaurant fish tank, and some pretty weird-looking store mannequins wearing baptismal clothing. Photos of each are included here for your enjoyment. We didn’t stay very long as we wanted to allow for as much time as possible in Spain and France where much of our travels will take place.

Sevilla, Spain quickly became one of our favorite cities with its amazing architecture, winding streets, friendly people, and great food. It’s difficult to say what it was about the city that gave off an air of long-established luxury and comfort. But the entire city was well-maintained; the people dressed very fashionably; there was no litter to be seen and very few beggars, buskers and vendors. The few Romani (formerly known as Gypsies) we encountered didn’t even approach us with their palm-reading scam: maybe we blend in well enough with the locals as the scammers usually target tourists.

We visited the oldest castle still in use by a reigning monarch – the current King Juan Carlos I – with its Moorish arches, medieval tapestries, tiled fountains and semi-tropical gardens. We also added many specimens to our collection of photographs of religious and government buildings as there was always some arch, column, tiling, curlicue, or other architectural detail to fascinate. Click on any of the photos below to see an enlargement in a new window.

WHAT’S NEXT: three days in the Cadiz-El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain; skip over La Linear de Concepcion and Gibraltar for a day; then to the cities of Malaga, Valencia and Barcelona. We’re staying at our friends’ apartment in France during the holidays. It doesn’t look like we’ll make it to Italy, Greece and Turkey as we’re running out of money faster than we thought we would. We’ll be traveling to China in early February in time for Chinese New Year; and settling in Wenzhou, China in February 2010.

NOTE: My “This Expat Life” & “Writing on Wednesdays” blogs are on hiatus until we settle down in Wenzhou in February 2010. Between now and then, I’ll be writing only about Baby Boomers Traveling. Hope you enjoy coming along with us.

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