In a very short time Deb (La Viajera)

and I will be embarking on an adventure that has been 20 or more years in the making. We determined that we wanted to spend a year abroad after we stopped working and were still able to stand the rigors of traveling. Our original plan was to go to a country that was foreign but not so different that we would be totally 'at sea'. Several years ago we did a house exchange in France, about 35 miles northwest of Marseille, near Arles. We enjoyed the exchange and kept in touch with the family with whom we exchanged and it transpired that the woman's mother had an apartment in Madrid. Last year the woman's mother died leaving the apartment to her daughter. We contacted them and asked if we might rent the apartment for an extended period of time and they agreed. So we are planning to spend October, November, and December in Madrid. We will be making regular trips throughout Spain to visit other areas such as Barcelona, Sevilla, Toledo, etc. At the end of the year we will travel to France to spend the New Year with our 'landlords' and at that time we will rent their house just outside Arles for January, February, and part of March after which we will decide where we want to be until May. We've only spent 3 days previously in Spain so it will be a new and exciting challenge for us. I've given up the El Pendejo blogname and am now to be known as El Viajero, and of course Deb will be known as Deb. I hope to be posting fairly regularly but our apartment doesn't have internet so my posts will be dependent upon our finding a wifi hotspot.