Sun in Sevilla

In a whirlwind of international travel, I spent the first three days of April in four different countries! Leaving the USA on March 31st, I flew overnight to Holland and then directly onwards to Scotland. You can read more about the Minnesota trip in previous posts.

When I arrived in Scotland, my Dad was still in hospital, having been rushed in to the acute assessment unit the previous week. At first it seemed he'd had a mini stroke, but it turned out to be pneumonia and other infections. Once on intra-venous antibiotics, he recovered very quickly. I spent the first day of April visiting him in hospital, then was glad to see him discharged and allowed to come home, only hours before I flew back to Spain on April 2nd.

Scottish friends, Gillian and Dorothy, had been enjoying some holiday in Spain, staying in my house and looking after the cats while I was gone. It was fun to spend a few days with them when I got back home again. We took a day trip to Sevilla (photos above and below), the capital of Andalucía, and it was a beautiful sunny day, just like summer. We strolled around the old town, seeing the cathedral and various other famous buildings, visiting a little shop where they produced "turron" and other typical sweets, walked through a lovely park, and strolled along the bank of the Guadalquivir river in the warmth of the sun. 

It was a lovely day, well worth the two and a half hour drive to get there (and another two and a half hours to get home again. I was glad to have a friend to share the homeward drive.) The last time I'd visited Sevilla, back in 2012, it had rained for most of the day (that's the reason for the waterproof jacket I'm wearing in the photo that you may have seen recently on my prayer card and fridge magnet) and I was disappointed that we hadn't really been able to see much of the city. This time, it was so nice to take a relaxed stroll around the famous sights and eat our picnic in the warm sunshine.

The next day, we stayed closer to home, enjoying the typical Spanish breakfast of chocolate and churros, and taking the dogs for a walk through the fields covered with spring flowers after the recent rains. My friends flew back to Scotland at the end of the week,  and this week has seen me return to ongoing spring ministry commitments, including coaching, and working on writing materials for our summer outreach in Africa. Four rainy days kept me indoors, catching up on computer work, but thankfully some dry sunny days are back with us again.