Made in Spain: The Chinese Terracotta Soldiers of Malaga and the Greco-Roman Patios of Cordoba

Any time I have posted during the past 2 years – I have done so with trepidation about revealing the cancer journey that Ron and I took. And each time I have shared a part of this story, I have received an incredible number of emails, text messages, and blog comments – from both friends and strangers. These comments really helped me see that so many people are navigating this difficult path and maybe our story can inspire, answer questions, and give hope and coping ideas.

So thank you for the amazing notes you take the time to send me. I appreciate them all.

A lot of people have asked me about whether I have seen any signs…of Ron…of the idea that Ron can see me…of the idea that some essence of Ron still exists.

And answering those questions requires that I understand our existence in a way that I definitely do not.

I’m mostly okay with not knowing. But I will tell you this story.

In 2016, Ron and I went to China – partially because I found a non-stop airfare on Delta for $750. But Ron had always wanted to see the Terracotta Army in Xi’An. After we toured the site, I lost sight of Ron in the gift shop and, in perhaps the greatest travel purchase/folly ever, Ron bought the entire Terracotta soldier you see above. (He was indignant that I did not support this purchase and proudly pointed out that it would not impact me at all, as he had paid to have it shipped right to our front door. This, of course, did not turn out well – the soldier promptly disappeared for 4 months and then it was shipped to Los Angeles with a note that we had to find a way to get it to Washington. Hundreds of dollars later, I found someone to ship it to Tukwila, up near the airport, and we drove up and loaded a coffin-sized box into the car.)

Ron named the soldier Li – and he sits outside our front door, sporting a Santa hat at Christmas. Li is my favorite evidence of Ron’s impulsive charm.

But what’s the connection between Li and my existential pondering?

When I got to Malaga the other day, I checked into the hotel and wandered off to look for some dinner. I heard distant pieces of Norah Jones singing Come Away with Me – a song Ron and I listened to every night when we first met – and I turned toward the music and there, in front of me and apropos of nothing, was the Mariposa (meaning: butterfly) hotel with a Terracotta soldier at the front door.

Sign? Coincidence? I have no idea, but I have thought a lot about it.

I’m in Cordoba now and I’ve joined a Rick Steves’ Andalusia tour. It’s fun to be with a group of people after 5 days alone….I really enjoy meeting other travelers and always find some pretty extreme travel people, no matter which company I am touring with. This is the itinerary: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain/andalucia

Cordoba is gorgeous! I love it! It’s a city of about 350,000. It’s got a large medieval area – which means tons of tiny walking alleys like this:

While we are here in the cool(ish) season – it was 83 today in early April – Cordoba is pretty much the hottest city in Spain. It’s regularly over 110 degrees in the summer. One way that people deal with heat here is in patios – interior home courtyards modeled after the Romans and Greeks.

Patios in Cordoba are a big deal. They’re beautiful bursts of colorful flowers and dripping little fountains, with benches placed in shady spots – and apparently we are a month early for the height of patio season. Here are a few I saw and a few borrowed pictures:

Cordoba is one of those cities where the views are endless. Here’s the city from afar:

The main site people come to see is the Mezquita Cathedral – which was built as a mosque in 785 and converted to a cathedral in 1236 when Cordoba was captured by Christian forces. In the 16th century, an entire Renaissance cathedral was simply built into the already-existing building and so now it looks like this.

Here’s the exterior from above:

And here’s what the inside looks like with horseshoe arches and more than 850 pillars spanning the building.

And look! An actual picture of me – because now that I’m on tour, I’ve met some fantastic new friends!

Here’s a picture that shows the new cathedral area, jammed right into the mosque. It’s a little hard to see but the new area is a nave, transept, and choir:

We move on from Cordoba in the morning and I’ll report back in a few days. I am just so happy to be out here!!