Sorry, we’ve been distracted by friend visits and family matters, but have been in Chicago for a while, with a pit stop in New York. We’re in the States for the summer, but need to catch you up on June and July.

So, after Steven’s birthday, it was my turn. I got a little distracted from the blog by celebrating myself for 10 days (or more) followed by an incredibly lovely visit from friends.

On the actual day of my birthday (June 10, put that on your calendar if it’s not there already) I forced Steven to go to a vegetarian restaurant named Disidente, because that seemed perfect for me. We had a nice lunch, nothing special I would say, except for the company, which was Steven, of course.

Given that it was a Wednesday and we don’t have a lot of friends (plus I am now IN MY SIXTIES, EEEEKKKK!), I decided that I just wanted to go for a walk in the Turia with our nice camera and shoot photos. That is what we did, but if you’re expecting to see those in the blog, you will be disappointed. We are now in the States for the summer and for once, we wanted to travel light. That meant one suitcase and one backpack each, so no heavy camera. In case you’re worried, we do plan to take at least one extra piece of luggage back with us.

The Saturday before my birthday, we did what we do best … wander. We headed into Old Town, where we saw the set up for the Festival of Corpus Christi. We didn’t really know what it was about and that the main events would be happening on Sunday. Not sure we would have gone, but probably yes. We missed a big street party in which residents dump water on the parade participants. This year was extra big because it was the 700th anniversary. At least we got to see some of the sculptures and the traditional portrait made of flowers.

We also walked through an encampment of teachers who have been striking for weeks. Poder para los maestros! (Power to the teachers!) Apparently, they don’t get treated any better in Valencia than they do in the States. They march on the weekends, but were showing up for school, albeit not teaching, just babysitting.

I had some grand plans for my birthday week, but you can’t do everything. We have never eaten in the restaurant right downstairs from us where the old men sit around drinking beer at 10 a.m. That was on my list, but never happened. I’ll keep you posted.

On the Saturday night after my birthday (my second birthday weekend), our friends arrived. Steven has known Stu since college, but we had never met Sheri. Wow! They were delightful guests. Easygoing and excited about everything. We can get jaded (oh, yes, there’s another narrow, cobbled lane, woo), but they reminded us of how to look at things with a beginner’s mind. That’s all I’m going to say about their time with us now, because that’s fodder for the next blog. (See how I piqued your interest?)

We forget the we have checked many items off our wish lists that other people still have on theirs. Having guests in town reminds us not only how lucky we are, but how to look at the world as if it’s all new. Not quite like having a child, but similar. We did a free walking tour of the Old Town again, but each one is different and Sheri and I chose to do the Spanish version (Stu and I decided that English would be easier — so we did that one). Wow, that reminded me of how fast people from Buenos Aires speak since the guide was from Argentina, along with many of the other tourgoers. I was proud that I was able to catch maybe 60-70 percent of what our guide said. It did help that I already knew some of what he was talking about.

Stu and Sheri are excellent guests who are just as excited by supermarkets as we are, so that worked out well. We did what we do best … wandered. We also had a delicious meal at El Temple, a tapas restaurant in our neighborhood, where we ordered so much food that the waiter told us to stop. Luckily, we all love leftovers.

Right after they left, we packed up for our return trip to New York, where we spent a few days helping out Uncle David (hi Uncle David!). I even snuck in a visit to my friend Rachael (hi Rachael) in Queens, where we grew up. Then, we headed to my brother’s place in Chicago for their birthday month, which includes my brother, sister-in-law and niece. Who doesn’t love birthday fun?

July has just been a whirlwind of birthdays, friends and family and lots of restaurants. I did manage to sneak in a little Dead Person Bingo at the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago the other day.

Yes, I know it’s August. We’ll get to that soon. Sorry we’ve been so lazy about posting, but we’re back!