As was the case in 2020, this has not been the “typical traveling year” we were used to. But at least it hasn’t caught us off guard, and hey, while the first part was very homely, the last few months of this strange 2021 have been quite eventful… so we can’t complain.
Also, in terms of health we have been quite lucky and in these times that is like winning the lottery.
But let's not give away any spoilers, here is the traditional annual review of our 2021 (we've been doing this since 2014). Bye bye 2021, this is how you were for us:
January
If 2020 set the bar for the year terribilis quite high, 2021 started with a very strange attack on the Capitol – bison men included – that made us all feel like we were in a Black Mirror episode once again… This season is taking too long :-p
We did start the year in good company though: Rober's family came down to Vera and we spent some wonderful days with Rob's nieces, sisters, brothers-in-law and parents. Lots of food, dice and laughter. That's the way to go.
And while Madrid was transformed into the kingdom of Frozen (thanks to Filomena ), Vera Playa seemed to live an eternal warm autumn (luckily we have a terrace to enjoy the sunshine even in the middle of confinement). And delicious coffee, Rober gave himself a coffee maker and became the best barista in the neighborhood .
For me, January 2021 became the month in which I read the most in my life. If my notes are correct, I read these 8 books: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Jumping Man, Pride and Prejudice, Americanah, The Lady of War, Anna Karenina, One Love and The Ridiculous Idea of Never Seeing You Again. Therefore, we can say that the monthly obsession was reading (it would soon be displaced by another haha, that's me).
February
The month of my birthday , although in 2021 we were not able to fulfill the tradition of traveling. In 2020 we were in Japan, carefree, and we were able to celebrate it calmly without knowing what was going to happen to us. As we all remember bitterly, in 2021 there was no possible escape, and we had to live it in Vera Playa (there was homemade lasagna, so not so bad).
In February, the reading obsession continued , but it wouldn't be the only one: Domestika and Alicia Aradilla's Patreon started filling my hours. Seriously, if you follow us on Instagram, you'll surely remember how REAL the obsession was. But the courses are so cute and Alicia is SO PRO. Drawing helped me a lot to get through the bad times and between paintings, blog, readings and series, the month went by pretty quickly.
Also Claudia and Jairo still lived across the street and every week they would come over for a beer/meal or a visit (oh, those Parcheesi and dice games).
March
March, well, more of the same. What are we going to tell you that you haven't already experienced: home, work, supermarket, sofa, terrace, fridge, bed. It's not the Bermuda Triangle but the result is something similar: time has disappeared between those geographical points.
Life, you owe us a decent March.
April
Same same but different: at least we were able to leave Vera Playa and visit Mojacar and Cabo de Gata with Claudia and Jairo, best neighbours in the world, and get out a bit more. This month also saw the flow of thousands of pages of books, watercolour prints, episodes of series and blog articles.
May
In May we saw our dear Felipe again when he came down to Vera <3, we celebrated his arrival with a pad-thai day with Claudia and Jairo (we've seen them more than our families this year XD). And we spent a few days remembering trips and planning mountain climbs that never took place ahem, but it's always a pleasure to be with him.
And May was also the month in which we made a little getaway that felt like a historic expedition. Look what Covid did: a trip to Cazorla, Úbeda and Baeza had adventurous and epic overtones. I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing...
June
Oh, June was a pretty stressful month at work, so let’s forget about it and focus on the good things: we went on another trip, this time to celebrate Rober’s birthday, in Bilbao … Which means that we ate a lot! And when we got back we worked a lot again, so the month was pretty monotonous and repetitive… Of course, we invested part of the work hours in preparing for the big trip in July…
July
We went to the Canary Islands with my parents! Tenerife and Lanzarote with them and Fuerteventura just the two of us. We hadn't seen them since the trip to the south of Italy the previous year, so it was really cool and what great settings for the reunion: from Teide to Los Gigantes, from Anaga to Médano... And then Lanzarote, with those landscapes that take your breath away and the magic of Manrique (my mother is crazy about plants and almost ended up living in the Cactus Garden but oh well...).
August
In August we went up to Sigüenza, Rober's town, where we met up with... Claudia and Jairo! Haha, really... we've seen you a lot this year XD And after spending a few quiet days, we went with Rober's parents to Sanabria and Galicia (it's becoming a tradition to celebrate a birthday with a seafood feast in O Grove). Hey, I'm realizing that 2021 hasn't gone too badly for us either, eh 😉
September
Time to go back to Vera, but not for long, because at the end of the month we went to Mérida , where Rober was able to fulfill one of his dreams: to see Robe play in the Roman Theatre of the city. And it was amazing. We also didn't know Mérida and we took the opportunity to visit Trujillo as well (both amazing!).
Before leaving for Madrid , where we were going to start a new family adventure, we had a visit from our dear Soufi : how strange to see you in Vera haha, but what a great time we had… as always. Our dear intern, who never worked haha but who is always there 😉
October
And here, my friends, the travel fun begins. October was a great month: we traveled to Turkey with half of Rober's family, there were 8 of us in total, so you can imagine the fun. Also, our guide was almost like a Turkish grandfather to us (oh, Nesim, we love you) and together with him we finally got to know one of the countries we were most looking forward to visiting.
From Istanbul to Cappadocia, from Pammukale to Ephesus… a great trip. We missed the beach part but we will be back!
November
Without returning home, we joined another destination with which we had a debt to settle: Uzbekistan . Before Covid turned the world upside down (at that time I was in South Korea and Rober in Myanmar) our plans were to meet in Seoul and, after touring the country, fly to the great jewel of the Silk Road. But we already know what happened and unfortunately we had to cancel the trip.
So finally being able to visit Uzbekistan was a bit like closing a circle (it's still open, actually), but you know what I mean: it was like collecting a travel debt. And what a trip it was. The country of madrassas, caravanserais and white Chevrolets, hehe, fascinated us.
December
And December was another great month for travelling, and it still is: I am writing these lines from the table at my parents' house, yes, we are in Italy, but we started the month on another continent. Let's take it one step at a time: we returned to Egypt, where we visited Cairo again and enjoyed a cruise on the Nile, and we took advantage of this "second time" to also visit the Red Sea and the White Desert (and we also flew in a balloon in Luxor!).
The new variant was spreading across Europe, and we were forced to change the plan a bit. We arrived in Vienna (in lockdown) to head straight to Budapest, where we spent 10 great days, thanks especially to our friends Jordi, Esther and Claudia! Haha yes, always her, but this time without Jairo (we have more friends, mind you, but the idiots ignore us). Days of laughter, bad pubs, cruises, hot springs, Christmas lights and aimless walks. It's always a pleasure to return to Budapest, really.
We left Budapest behind, crossed half of Austria (all covered in snow, how beautiful!) and arrived in Udine a few days ago. And we had a great Christmas present: on the 22nd we won the lottery! But the good one, the one full of emotions: Mara was born, our third niece *_* I can't wait to meet her!
And as I write this post, with my father's snoring as a soundtrack, and a lasagna baking in the oven, I wouldn't say that 2021 was our great year, but it wasn't that bad either, ehhhh.
Hopefully 2022 will be the year when we no longer talk about variants with Greek letters (nor Latin or any other type, please), and we can once again be completely happy. In the meantime, we can only wish you a happy end to 2021 and a new year full of health and travel . And without so many reels on Instagram, pleaseeeeee.
