It is the day before we leave for three weeks and I just printed the boarding passes for our trip to Spain tomorrow.  Our itinerary is
Sept.   6 -  10 Barcelona
Sept. 10 - 13 Madrid (Meet Melton Group on 9/11/11)
Sept. 13 - 14 Cordoba
Sept. 14 - 15 Sevilla
Sept. 15 - 16 Granada
Sept. 16 - 18 Madrid (for Shabbat)
Sept. 18 - 20 Tiberias, Israel
Sept. 20 - 22 Jerusalem
Sept. 23 - 25 Philadelphia (family wedding)
Sept. 25        Return to Rochester for another wedding
Sept. 26        Sleeeeeeeeeep!

I'm so excited to be going on this trip.  We had to postpone this trip from last May because I was still recuperating from chemotherapy and multiple surgeries.  Travel has always been a passion for Eric and me, but it feels even more important now. We will spend five days in Barcelona on our own and then will meet our Melton Group in Madrid for the seminar "Preparing for Sepharad."  In Spain we will be tracing the history of the Jews of Spain through their expulsion in 1492 and then flying to Israel to study where they settled and how the history of Sephardic Jews continues.

I will try to keep this blog going on my IPad while we are traveling. This is definitely the most electronic-dependent trip I have ever made - no books, just ebooks! All of our travel documents, confirmations, etc are electronic, which makes me a bit nervous.  I did print out one sheet of paper with all confirmation numbers for hotels and airline flights. My IPad should be burning up in my hands from use this trip.  Hopefully I can keep it and our two IPhones charged. 

Raphi, our rescue dog, is already going a little nuts.  He senses my anxiety and sees all the bags being packed and his food being loaded into the car.  He knows something is up, but I'm sure he'll be very happy at our son and daughter-in-law's house where he can act like the maniac that he is with his "cousins" Eli and Bodhi.  Thanks so much, Kathryn and David, for taking him.

Time to back up the computer and store the hard drives in a safe. Until my next chance to write...
Best,
Marcia