Now then, first off - apologies for the length of time between updates - I've been too busy enjoying myself to post - sorry! ;-)
Since last blogging, we've spent time exploring our surroundings in Galacia; the towns of Vigo and Pontevedra; as well as looking up and down the Rias - a Spanish word which describes something like what I would call a fjord - large cuts into the coastline of north east Spain - which the area is famous for.
Another thing that the area is famous for is seafood - something which I enjoyed immensely - being a pescatarian (someone who eats fish, but not meat) - I sometime struggle in restaurants around Europe - but not here. The food highlight for me was a festival of the sea in Combarro - where I feasted on razor clams, mussels, and octopus - all washed down with a glass of abarino - the local white wine which was very good.
Having said goodbye to our little cottage in Soutemayer - we made our way up to A Coruna where we had lunch with friends, who then showed us around the city - culminating in a walk up to a 2000 year old roman light house.
After A Coruna we spent a night in Bilbao and then Bordeaux - both of which I would highly recommend for a visit - the first because of the Guggenheim museum, a Frank Gerry building which is worth seeing from the outside even if you don't bother going in (I didn't, Claire did) and the second because it's a beautiful old French city with all the charms of Paris without the millions of tourists.
Next stop was Disneyland - where we'd booked a table at a restaurant that specialised in character meet and greets - so Milly could spend some time with her best mate Mickey.
Before dinner, we spent about 6 hours in the Park, originally I wasn't sure if we'd be able to fill the time - but it wasn't a problem, there were plenty of rides that Milly could go on, and she seemed to eventually like them - even if she was a bit cautious to begin with.
At dinner, it's fair to say that Milly wasn't overjoyed to see her TV heroes close up - she refused to hug any of the characters, but did just about touch Donalds hand when he offered it to her. It was a different story when they were off interacting with the other children though - she'd watch them excitedly from the other side of the room - and as a result ate next to nothing of her €18(!!!) set menu.
The next day we packed up our car one last time and jumped on a ferry back to Blighty - it was a journey of mixed emotions, as the last time we'd been on a calais to dover crossing was about three weeks after we arrived in the UK the first time - so lots of memories of then came rushing back into our minds.
Once back in England we set about selling our car, which we did with not too much hassle, selling to a Romanian couple - which is a bit of a coincidence as one of the people we sold our house to was Romanian also.
The next few days were spent meeting up with and saying goodbye to our friends - and whilst it was nice to be back in London (which still feels like home), it was quite sad to be saying our goodbyes - as this time it felt pretty real.
Next thing you know, we were headed to Heathrow and jumping on a plane to Shanghai - where we are now.
Despite all our fretting, the flight was relatively uneventful. The flight was full, but we managed to nab a spare seat which meant that we took turns watching movies whilst the other one sat with Milly whilst she watched TV/coloured in/slept.
We've been in Shanghai for two days and we're really enjoying our time here. The locals are treating Milly like she's some sort of rock star - pointing and occasionally coming up and asking to take pictures - it must be the blue eyes and blond hair.
The town itself is quite interesting, situated on a river it has a past history of being an important trading outpost with the west. Because of this the architecture on one bank of the river is reminiscent of some of the grand old buildings in Europe, whilst the other side is more recent - almost futuristic - with it's multitude of neon skyscrapers, ten lane roads, and elevated walkways for the literally tens of thousands of people who seem to be coming and going (see above).
Trip in numbers:
Total miles driven: 8,506.9 (or 13,611.04 km)Length of Beard: 1mm - I shaved it pretty promptly upon arrival back in the UK - but not before Milly and I recreated the photo on the Ferry from three months ago, which you may have seen previously in this blog:
