Day 36: Pleasant Surprises

On our 36th day in Valencia we made plans and rolled with the surprises

Plan for Day 36:

• Paint by the beach
• Write with Frank
• Day 4 of Yoga Interventions
• Quietly mark the start of Rosh Hashanah

Actual Day 36:

• Enjoy a slow start to the day with our first ever cups of home-made coffee in Spain (surprise!); walk down to the beach to meet up for painting (planned) and discover the Valencia European Paracycling Cup in process (surprise!)

Coffee! At home!

Surprise Cycling Event!

• Go on a tour of El Cabanyal with an online friend (surprise!); get coffee and ice cream, and make it back in time to watch the awards ceremony (surprise!); head home and discover a sweet little free bookstore dedicated to saving books from being destroyed along the way (surprise!)

Making friends and exploring — surprise!

Awards!

A lot of books, literally give or take — surprise!

• Day 4 of Yoga Interventions (planned)
• Discover the sweetness of a collection of round foods your husband has made to capture the essence of the holiday meal in the absence of community and challa; watch a storm roll in and get to stand outside in the rain without getting wet (surprise!)

Bill doesn’t do things by half…round surprises!

Less stress, more surprises, and a whole lot of joy. Rolling with what’s in front of you seems to be a very Spanish trait and I am embracing this with gusto.