I’m traveling again, which is why the posts are slim. Internet access is sporadic where I’ve been, and I’m using this as my excuse to make a true effort to unplug. Yeaah. Right.

I flew via Madrid to Alicante Spain and then took a taxi to Altea to meet a friend from San Francisco for a little girl time and relaxation. On Friday night, we had a very late dinner at a small place called “El Perro Negro” downtown. A French man who spoke excellent English served us Italian lasagna, even though the kitchen had closed. Afterward, my friend Kelly and I jumped into a German taxi for a quick ride through the ciudad antigua (old part of the city).

At its highest point, the view of the harbor is great, and a quaint city square branches off into narrow, well lighted streets full of quaint shops and cafes. In the city square, the blue cupolas of the cathedral blend with the night sky. Some of the streets in Altea aren’t wide enough for cars – and others just so.

As we careened through the narrow streets of the village, I was more than mildly entertained by the fact that our brand new cab sported a very nice GPS system, which was doing an admirable job of plotting the maze of streets in front of us. Old meets new, local meets global. What a trip.