Susy and Steve Return from Espana!

Steve and I have just returned from our fabulous trip to Spain and since I am less jet-lagged than yesterday, I wanted to let you know some highlights. I want to thank Anita for taking us to the airport on April 25th and picking us up on May 7th. We loved Salamanca, with its beautiful golden stone old buildings everywhere and giant plazas to wander through. We stayed at a convent that was transformed into a very nice hotel. The highlight was renting a car and finding Mancera de Abajo, Nana and Nano's tiny sleepy village, behind Peneranda Brocomonte, itself a small town. We have photos of meeting the cousins, the famous plaza, where Nana flirted with Nano (or many of us would not be here today!) and the river where she washed the family laundry. We were invited to eat a meal in a cousin's home, and I got tears, they cook just like Nana did! They handed us a bag with two boxes of cookies which only later I opened to discover they were montecados (AKA Nana's cookies, bollos, chokers). The heavy rain matched my tears as we drove away, and I felt compelled to call Auntie Marian, who cried to. It felt like the rain was Nana and Mom approving of our adventure.

Love,
Vicenta