October 30, 2022
Tomorrow, I leave the apartment I’ve been renting in Valencia for the past four weeks. Yes, I’m a bit sad, as this has become like home. Since I started my wandering life four months ago, this has been my most extended stay in one place.
What will I miss most? The sounds.
There is a daycare center nearby. On weekdays, I hear the children playing and laughing.
There is a church in the distance whose bells ring at off times. I find it delightful that no one has bothered to fix them.
People talking in the street. (Okay, not the 3:00 AM conversations.) Sometimes I hear the excitement in their voices.
Music from the church across the street. It is a relatively new church without a bell tower. On Sundays, Mass is offered several times a day. I love hearing the hymns.
The cars and busses on the boulevard around the corner. I think about everyone headed here and there, to work, to school, and home for lunch.
I have never felt lonely in this apartment because so much is happening around me.
What else will I miss?
Francisco (Frank), my neighborhood produce guy. He always strikes up a friendly conversation when I stop in. I went down to say goodbye to him this morning. (He opens until 2:00 on Sundays since the supermarket is closed.) He teared up a bit. I think I did, too.
The ability to walk to so many beautiful places. I have never lived centrally located in a major city. Within a twenty-minute walk, I could visit many of the significant sights in Valencia, from the city center to the Arts and Sciences area and from the train station to several parks. Aside from that, I could easily get on a bus to the beach or a metro to places further out.
I’m really not a city person. Maybe that’s why I have embraced the change.
Wandering Shannon 