Distant Reflections: A tale of love, life and loss from Ukraine

By Valerie Pybus

Perfect for a lazy day read.
Valerie’s passion for travel and writing come together in a collection of travel stories with a difference.
Far from being ‘just another travel book’, readers are transported with detailed sights, flavours, smells and indulgences that shape a complete and transformational immersion into faraway lands.
Distant Reflections is your own personal transport system.
Take in the customs and history of Spain, Portugal and Morocco and enjoy new cultures and little-known poetry from many regions.
Travelling is an aspiration for many, but for some it is unavailable. Valerie has been there and brought back the dramas, the mysteries, and the sheer delights to share with you.
Why hesitate? Begin today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DoctorZed Publishing
• Release date: Jan 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9780987321732

Valerie Pybus

Valerie Pybus, Dip. ACJ Australian College of Journalism, Professional Children’s Writer’s is a Past President of both The Society of Women Writers NSW Inc. and Fellowship of Australian Writers Manly & Peninsular Regional. She is the author of Pause a Moment, A Score and More and The Clamour of Silence. Valerie continues to give hundreds of presentations enthusiastically sharing her sense of humour, her love of life and inspiring her audiences.

Book preview

Moment)

Chapter 1.

Spain

Madrid Avila Coimbra

‘Hola’ to Spain.

Every new destination floods the body with adrenalin akin to waiting in the wings to make one’s entrance and Spain was no exception. I looked eagerly out of the plane window to catch the first glimpses of Madrid Barajas Airport.

I don’t know what I expected, perhaps handsome caballero’s strumming guitars to greet passengers; but found the regular bustling airport scenes. I thought I had been clever and booked an extra day to see the city before the tour actually started. However, I arrived on a Saturday night and had to be content with a leisurely walk outside the hotel to look at the shops. I try not to eat in the hotels; they are usually pricey and one rarely meets local inhabitants. The street was definitely not in one of the fashionable areas. Most shops were closed and the few that were open at that time sold clothes on a par with any suburban chain store in Australia.

I wandered into a small snack bar and the owner and I immediately clicked. Salvatore had recognized my Australian accent and told me about the restaurant he had run in Sydney before he had married his Spanish senorita and started a new life in Spain.

Later that evening I met most of the people I would be sharing the tour bus with for the next three weeks. A very mixed bunch from all over the world; they included Australian, American, Dutch, Scottish, English amongst others. A very large proportion of a successful holiday is the people who travel with you and these were no exception. One gentleman from New Zealand lost his suitcase somewhere in transit, luckily he was a seasoned traveller and had the immediate necessities in his hand luggage. His bags arrived before we did at the next destination, which was rather a mystery as I thought we were travelling quite speedily. I have always thought the measure of a person is how they deal with such inconveniences and this proved to be accurate as he laughed it off, whilst other travellers delighted in finding fault with menu’s etc. So life on a tour bus is much the same as anywhere else.

We met our tour guide that evening, a charming young man. I suspect these tour guides are very under-rated as they have the onerous job of jollying along a mixed bag of people of all ages and nationalities, with patience and good humour. They are responsible for resolving most problems, from finding dentists, medical help, hairdressers, to sorting money out and tactfully dealing with the odd passenger. We had one such passenger who we thought did not shower from the beginning of the tour to the end. We rotated daily to different seats, which saved arguments. There was one coveted seat right up at the front near the driver, which enabled one to take photographs with little or no obstruction. As no-one wanted to share a seat with the ‘unwashed one’ He was invited to spend the entire journey in the special seat.

Our guide was up well before us and one of his tasks was to help the driver load the luggage into the under-bus compartment. As there were more than 45 people on the tour and the bags got heavier as we progressed it was a very muscle building exercise. At the next hotel everything had to be unloaded. Most of us tried to help; the suitcases were stacked on the footpath and we would select our own and trundled them to our rooms.

I spoke to our guide and it seems it takes 4 to 6 years to be qualified, including a two year course at university. Guides need the ability to speak at least four languages fluently, apart from their own; English being mandatory. They also had a huge knowledge of the geographical, historical and diverse cultures of the countries we were travelling through. It was practice that when we entered some countries such as Morocco a national guide joined us and our guide would rest.

The first day was a quick trip around the city of Madrid, the Spanish Capital situated at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula and founded by the Moors in the 9th century. It is situated 2,180 feet above sea level and the Spaniards say it’s the nearest thing to heaven. There was certainly a cooling breeze which we felt on our stops, hard to know when one is travelling in an air-conditioned coach.

We had a full panoramic drive by way of the Avenida Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Parliament Square and a picture stop outside the Royal Palace set in a kaleidoscope of gardens some of which are open to the public. A quick extra trip takes one to Toledo above the Tagus; the first of the walled cities we were to visit. For you art buffs this was the city made famous in El Greco’s painting and today the area is like a great open-air museum of Spanish history and art. It was a perfect introduction to the beautiful architecture we were to see in the forthcoming weeks. Visits to these interesting places necessarily had to be fleeting as we were to travel in a circle west to Portugal before swinging south to