Okay so . . . My trip to Spain and Portugal was a whole year ago.
Holy crap. Where did the time go? I'm pretty sure the pandemic has altered time.
A year ago, the epidemic of 2019-nCoV had been declared a public health emergency of international concern but had not yet been declared a pandemic. The virus wasn't yet named SARS-CoV-2. The world hadn't shut down and we were still traveling.
Some of my lab mates and I went to Barcelona, Spain to attend the conference Viruses2020, an international conference with virologists from all over the world. It's funny to think about it in retrospect because we were there with some of the most experienced Coronavirus researchers in the world. This was the point where we knew almost nothing about this virus. We knew it wasn't as fatal as SARS but we didn't know how fast it would travel, rumours were flying and pangolins were being blamed for starting the outbreak.
When we were planning this trip, I came up with the idea for my parents to fly over to Europe and meet up with me in Barcelona so then we could travel around together. We hadn't been on a trip together for quite awhile and I thought it was about time we did. My goodness I'm glad we did this. This was the last time I saw my parents and really got to spend time with them. (They did come to NL for a very quick visit in August but it was only for a few days as my Nannie's health was failing and they needed to get back to my beloved NB.)
So, Mum and Dad flew to Switzerland for a few days before they flew over to Barcelona to meet up with yours truly. (They felt like they needed to "make up" for time in Switzerland since I have spent a decent amount of time there.) From Barcelona we took the train to Valencia and then we flew to Lisbon, Portugal (which I think was my favourite part).
Father Wallace had all the historical facts to tell us for places we went, we took tons of pictures, took a lot of steps, ate many delicious meals and I had gelato every day (it was so lovely and warm - well warm compared to February in Canada).
I figured the one year anniversary of this trip was the perfect time to finally post this - and I enjoyed daydreaming about traveling again once we're vaccinated and get SARS-CoV-2 under control. Also there may have been a bit of drool while reminiscing about citrus-curd eclairs, salmon-stuffed ravioli, ham from pigs only fed acorns, gigantic muscles in tomato sauce, Sangria, and many many Portuguese custard tarts.
Barcelona, Spain
Baby's first international conference:
The Conference Fam:
Reunited at last!
Valencia, Spain
Please note Father Wallace's shirt that says "PhDad"which I left in our hotel room for him the day they arrived in Barcelona and he immediately put on.
My first friend, the person I aspire to be like and the person who I miss the most during COVID:
Look at how cute my parents are!!!
Lisbon, Portugal
I really am looking forward to my next trip. Whenever that might be . . .
But the very first place I'll be going? New Brunswick to hug my family and not let go for a very long time.
At the top of my list after NB are visiting Portugal again, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Albania and Slovenia. But honestly, I would settle (and be ecstatically happy) for just having an Atlantic Bubble again.
Where do you want to go when the pandemic is over? Tell me! I want to go down a traveling Pinterest rabbit hole.
I hope you enjoyed looking through some pretty pictures and taking a walk down memory lane with me. Personally, it brought up many wonderful memories and made me miss my Mum . . . so I'm going to go give her a call . . .
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Wear your mask over your nose. Wash your hands. Demand justice. Fight misinformation. And take some time for you.
Sending you all the far away virtual hugs.
H.