We're off!

Leaving behind grandchildren, and children, not to mention a couple of mothers, we are off for 8 weeks in Spain, Portugal and the southwest of France. Our trip could be described as a wine and food odyssey, sampling the tastes of Barcelona, the Douro Valley and Porto, San Sebastian, the Rioja, Bordeaux and culminating in the south of Spain and the sherry of Jerez. Or it could be described as an architectural exploration, Gaudi and the Modernists, magnificent cathedrals, like that in Santiago de Compostella, the locks and canals of the rivers Tarn and Garonne, Bastide towns and Cromagnon caves in the Lot/ Dordogne, and the exciting blend of Moorish, Christian and Jewish buildings in the south of Spain.  Sounds like fun!