We traveled to Spain, France, and Italy to purchase items.
The journey begins in Spain.
We spent several days enjoying architecture, cathedrals, and food in between purchasing items.
Barcelona has a beautiful cityscape, and the Gothic Quarter is especially fun to walk around.
The alleys around churches and cathedrals were often lined with shops in the past, and the wisdom and traces of medieval people can be found carved into the walls. I paraded around many times during my stay, keeping a close eye on it.
Not only tapas, but also Basque cheesecake and churros are carefully tasted.
Don't forget to enjoy the Catalan winter delicacy, calçots.
Neither apron nor gloves came out, so I received it all sticky.
And then to France.
The buying process in France was a whirlwind.
Since he was shopping on the go and moving from one hotel to another every day, he quickly gave up on going out to eat and instead filled his stomach with salads from the supermarket and retort rice porridge brought from Japan.
For me, it seems like I can't do anything without a change of pace, whether it's food or sightseeing.
I decided to save my last change of pace for Italy, so I spent my entire stay in France moving, purchasing, packing, and shipping.
After I finished shopping at the market in the morning, I went straight to the hotel to pick up my luggage and then moved on to the next town, so inevitably my luggage kept increasing and becoming heavier.
However, there are many hills and stairs in the town, and there are no elevators at the station, so I have to walk up the stairs with a red face every time.
I came up the stairs with my face all red and swollen, so in the end, my husband, who couldn't see anymore, took over the stairs while carrying two heavy suitcases.
Ah, how grateful I am ….
However, even my husband had a hard time going up the stairs with a cardboard box under his arm, a heavy backpack on his back, and two suitcases.
Then, out of nowhere, a man came up with me, carrying a suitcase. When he arrived at the platform, he quickly walked away as if nothing had happened.
Me, Merci! It was so quick that I couldn't even hear the voice in time.
Scenes like this are often seen in Europe.
If someone with a stroller or wheelchair has trouble navigating stairs or steps, a stranger will immediately pick them up or carry them. And it wasn't just one person, but many people who reached out to help.
And then he just walks away.
I'm sure it comes naturally to me to help people when they are in trouble.
In a good way, it feels like strangers are closer together.
Every time I go abroad, I am reminded that I really want to be kind to people like this.
Also, when I was walking in Rome.
In front of me was an elderly couple and an old woman in a wheelchair. The couple was walking with a cane, probably the old woman's, holding it by their side and swinging it back and forth. Even in Japan, you sometimes see people carrying umbrellas like that. That's always dangerous, what would you do if it stung you in the eye? Even though I think about it, I end up not being able to pay attention to it.
I was in exactly the same situation at this time, and I was quite nervous as I was walking behind her. Then, a woman who was walking behind me called out to me as she passed the couple.
"Chao! That's a very nice cane. But the way you hold it is a little dangerous, so wouldn't it be better to hold it vertically like this? The weather is nice today too. Have a wonderful day!"
Like? I don't speak Italian, so I don't know what he was actually saying, but that's what he said.
It was very light and there was no unpleasantness at all, as it was smiling and making small talk, paying attention to the vehicle as it dashed past me.
Wow! I was shocked. I want to imitate it, but I feel like it would require a lot of courage and sense. That crisp feeling. I wonder if it's a national trait. I felt it was very nice.
This is off-topic, but I was so hectic that I don't remember much of my time in France, but in the last two days I was busy packing, and after purchasing delicious seafood and steak. I was able to go eat.
That was the only good memory I had in France, or rather, it was soothing.
For the second half of the trip, we left France, returned to Spain, and then took a plane to Italy.
There was also information that there would be a strike in Italy, but fortunately we were able to spend most of our time in southern Italy without any impact from the strike.
However, in February , southern Italy is in the middle of the off-season.
The town I was staying in was a remote place far from the state capital, and there were no tourists at this time of year, and I couldn't even see the townspeople during the day, so I wondered if it was a ghost town. I was so worried.
Naturally, all the restaurants were closed, and I was shocked and depressed, as I had been looking forward to eating in southern Italy.
However, I can't stay depressed.
We changed our minds and started visiting flea markets, antique shops, and even towns a little further away the next day, gradually collecting things that we were attracted to.
It's a rural town, so we can't really communicate in English, but the people in southern Italy ( especially the elderly ) were kinder than we expected, and even though we couldn't understand them, they explained things to us with gestures, and sometimes even used our iPhones . He grabbed me and talked to me using Google Translate, and sometimes even drove me to my destination in his own car. I often received help in many ways.
Another time I stopped by an antique shop in a village.
The knowledgeable husband, who must have lived in the world of antiques for many years, has a young son following him around.
When the husband was explaining things to us, his son was also humming along with him.
I couldn't help but smile, thinking that this son would probably succeed his husband in decades to come.
I would like to continue to learn many things from this powerful and knowledgeable owner, and finding an antique shop that I would like to visit for many years was one of the great rewards of my trip to southern Italy.
After staying for about a week, I packed up the items I had purchased, shipped them, and left southern Italy .
The Adriatic Sea was something I had always wanted to visit during my stay, but was unable to due to poor transportation links around the hotel.
I was able to stop by for a little while at the end.
What a truly beautiful color. I guess it's deep blue, but it's just beautiful.
As I looked out the train window at the gorgeous olive trees and the beautiful Adriatic Sea, I couldn't help but wish I could visit again (preferably when the restaurants are open ...and preferably for leisurely sightseeing ... ).
This European purchase involved a lot of traveling, and European railways are often difficult to navigate, making it quite difficult to travel while carrying heavy luggage.
Also, this time I mainly traveled by train and bus rather than by car, so I had to be light footed as usual and it was difficult to visit the flea markets in the many villages and towns. Although we don't have a lot in terms of quantity, I think we were able to carefully select things that resonated with our sensibilities, things that were interesting, and things that we didn't want to part with, and were able to purchase items that made sense to us.
I think about it every time, but it's hard and often physically demanding, but it's still fun! It was a European purchase.
Ci vediamo!
