Oxleys' Adventures

We left Fatima and headed to Lisbon via a beautiful coastline ride and the charming town of Sintra. The coastline drive allowed us time to gaze into the Atlantic from the most western tip of Europe. We culminated the day with Mass with Father Tad and a five hour walking tour of Lisbon.

Now Lisbon on foot…

Our family has a GREAT devotion to St. Anthony of Padua, imagine our delight when we cane upon his birth place. We have been to visit his place of work and death in Padua, Italy twice…and now his life’s journey from start to finish. An immense blessing for us. It was such a simple tomb and memorial-so reflective of how he lived his life.

And then on with our city tour…

Lisbon is a beautiful old city built on 7 hills. It has many ‘secret’ passage ways and ancient elevators and funiculars to get you up and down the hills.

And now on our flight home…through JFK and then on to Detroit!! Thank you for taking the time to share in our journey. Please know I truly keep this humble blog, not in boastfulness, but in the hope that those who can not make this kind of journey but truly enjoy the cultures of the world might join in the experience with us….and ‘virtually’ experience the universal love of our shared humanity…

In closing…..my favorite pic of the trip:

I broke into years when I saw the niece of the three shepherds of the miracle of Fatima embrace and kiss Tad’s hands. She sits every day in a small alcove on a stone passageway to the second apparition if the shepherd children-praying a beautiful rosary. It was SO moving…I can’t even explain it…I felt like I was in the presence of living saints…

Thus it becomes, without question, my favorite pic of the trip….

Shalom….

….And who do we meet on the rolling walkway at the airport in Detroit….our dear Fletcher Road neighbors…Roger and Helen!! What a coincidence-but wonderful-welcome home!!

Until we meet again!!!

What an Easter Blessing…Fatima AND our son Father Tad is with us.

I can’t begin to tell you how moving this experience was for us. I personally cried three times from being overwhelmed with the goodness I was witnessing in the pilgrims and experiences of this vast shrine.

One very special moment was the meeting of the niece of one the the three shepherds that Our Blessed Mother appeared to…

I will let all the pictures speak for the experiences…

Off tomorrow to Sintra, Portugal…driving the ‘End of Europe’ and then back to Lisbon.

And may peace always be with our driver…Fernando!!! We wish you All the Best!!

Well, interestingly…we did make it to Lisbon but with many delays due to a fuel strike in Portugal. They claim if it is not resolved there will be NO gas by the end of the day tomorrow in all of Portugal. Now, there is an interesting challenge, especially for a tourist attempting to travel the rest of the journey by car-:)!!

Tad has made it here and we will see tomorrow if there is a driver WITH ENOUGH GAS to get us to Fatima-:)!!

Such a challenge for everyone here…and certainly impacts their economy as everything could shut down.

Time will tell…

Have to love these airport “backed up” queues. This is Marrakech, Morocco on our way to Lisbon, Portugal.

…beautiful airport, however!!

Lisbon…

Hopefully, tomorrow to Fatima…for the Triduum.

Lots of motorcycles traveling down the narrow passageways through the Médina and Souk of Marrakech. One has to be on the lookout every second.

Plus, we visited the gardens and estate of Jardín Majorelle….the last home of Yves Saint Laurent. It has a magnificent garden.

Here take a relaxing peak at the Jardín Majorelle…then we will move on to the very full pathways of Marrakech’s Souk and gathering squares.

A final glimpse of Moroccan life through the lens of Marrakech…

Then off to Portugal and to meet our son, Tad!!

They are making tools and this like their own ‘steel works’….

This is where they barter for skins of the animals….very interesting in the Souk…

Just a small gathering of all the ‘motorinos’…..

A Souk is the Moroccan term for villages bringing their fruits, vegetables and animals to a common market place for bartering, buying, and exchanging -:)!!

We had an amazing morning fully engaged in a local Moroccan Souk where the people from villages in the Sahara Desert bring their goods every Monday morning. This experience was one of our major highlights as we LOVE learning more about the genuine culture of the countries we visit.

…and NO we are NOT bringing the goat home-:)!!

Of course, yours truly could not miss out on the fun….

We are now staying in a ‘Riad’ in Marrakech, Morocco.

Here is an over look of their town square…more to come …

Plus, we bid a sad farewell to our Morocco guide and driver….the only way to see this country is with Said ( from Holiday Morocco Tours)….-:)!!

Amazing all that he knows …top notch….and you leave him as if you are saying good bye to family😥!!

We spent three days in the Sahara Desert….what an experience from sunset camel rides ( really dromedaries-because only one hump!)….to beautiful fires and dinners.

Here join in the adventure…

Plus..the journey across Morocco had us crossing unbelievable terrains…mountains, deserts, oasis’s….you name it!! The villages we saw along the way were never to be forgotten.

However, the greatest gift of all was Meeting Said’s Family…

Said and his brother in Holiday Morocco Tours. Google them and you will enjoy the BEST trip ever!!

Here is his family in their Morocco home where they welcomed us with the serving of the tea and homemade bread and nuts. A very close family and their love and respect show through. They were nomads in the Sahara Desert for years. Said was born in the Sahara Desert while living in a tent. So you can imagine their pride in their son being a guide and he and his brother starting their own travel company. However, the transition of living a nomadic life to living in a village was a REAL adjustment for their family.

Said’s father, mother, sister and little brother…just part of this accomplished family…

One more night in the desert and then on to Marrakech, Morocco-:)!!

And while we are here…David and Will were celebrating their birthdays in Palo Alto…3 and 1🎉❤️🎉❤️!!

Some quick pics before we pack up to head into the Sahara Desert for three days….

Today we visited the ancient remains of Volubilis, Morocco!!

Plus some night time pics as Bud and I headed for dinner into the Médina of Fes-:)!!

Here take a look at our day…as we would love to share it with you and the beautiful 4 hour car ride to get to the remains of Volubilis!!

First stop …check out these ‘souvenirs’ in Menkes, Morocco.

In a few days they will be hosting the largest agricultural festival in the world with over 70 nations attending. The products, foods and animals from over 70 countries is amazing….they tell us!!

Check out the ‘souvenirs’ first…

On the journey…

Meknes…

The ancient remains…

More adventures …and our very near and dear driver…

Off to the Sahara Desert tomorrow…a nine hour drive…

We have truly stepped into a far different culture than we have ever experienced.

Our day’s exploration began with our driver and our amazing guide, that we quickly nicknamed “The Mayor”-:)!! He knew everyone in this cultural Mecca!!

He is our first step out the door…

Our guide, to the left of Bud, is Abdelmajid Domnati and to Bud’s right is our driver who will be with us as our driver for eight days. He was born as a nomad in the Sahara Desert and that is where we will ultimately be traveling…to his native area.

The tour through these streets is a maze which can’t even be adequately described.

First, before we look at the area…here are some pics of the Moroccan home where we are staying. They refer to this type of ‘bed and breakfast’ as a riad. It was a truly beautiful home and there about ten of us staying here.

Then we started our tour through this unbelievably interesting Old City…

First thing we spotted was the door where the Rolling Stone’s stayed…plus their favorite gathering bar…

Then back to our walk through the backstreets..Yes, this is how close the buildings are….

This was amazing a baker …baking food for the locals down in an oven off a side street….

The legend of Hercules Cave…. The legend of Hercules Cave…

Our day ended with just about the goriest thing I have yet to witness…below our window in the streets was a great celebration. We thought that it was for the National Holiday. Here they were actually slaying a cow -RIGHT IN THE STREET-to present it to the family of a young woman to be married…😳😳😳!!

Very gorey…..do not look further unless you have a good stomach…

The opportunity to experience different cultures and traditions is so unbelievably interesting. This experience sure gives new meaning to the old tradition of presenting a dowry…

So, our day did end with a beautiful walk along their new harbor…a peaceful ending to a fascinating day…with a wild billy goat just watching on…

PS…. Hey gals…as I entered the woman’s restroom this sign appeared on each stall..

Any clue-:)???

I still have no idea😳😳😳!!!

It was an amazing day today and one I pray we will next forget.

We actually were on the continents of Europe and Africa; visited Spain, England and Morocco; saw the Mediterranean Sea AND Atlantic Ocean and toured the Rock of Gibraltar…whew!!!

Ohhh my gosh…I wish you all could have been with us….

We started the day in a beautiful Spanish city called Ronda…it is divided by a huge ravine.

Hope you can get the feel for it…

We never EVER thought we would see the Rock of Gibraltar again. We had passed by it on our freighter trip in 2012 and now we were blessed to be touring this most unusual piece of Great Britain which is really connected to Spain-:)!!

We were even greeted by one of the native monkeys who decided to perch right on our car…

It was amazing to stand on top of ‘The Rock’ and look at the Mediterranean Sea on one side and the Atlantic on the other.

The drive up the Rock is breathtaking -as you might be able to tell from this last picture…

You jump out admire the amazing views and then catch up with your driver to keep seeing more…no pull offs and VERY narrow roads-:)!!!

Plus…you drive over the Gibraltar International airstrip to get to the Rock…

Just a few more pics from the day. We ended the day in Northern Africa…specifically, Tangier’s, Morocco. We are staying in the home of a local Morocco family. Our driver for the week was born as a nomad in the Sahara Desert.

Stay tuned…lol!!!

Here was our first glimpse of Africa as we crossed by ferry from Spain to Morocco.

A few more pics…

Ohhhh….and in Ronda, Spain It was the first bull fight ring…ever!! Hemingway and Orson Welles used to hang out here…both were friends with the premier bull fighter if Spain!!

Today we took our final train in Spain ( there have been ten -:)!!

PLEASE KNOW I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO POST ANYTHING FOR THE NEXT NINE DAYS.…as we are headed into Morocco, Fez, Marrakech and the Sahara Desert. Not sure I will be able to use social media-:(!!

Time will tell…

Today’s city of Malaga is right on the Mediterranean….they have developed a beautiful port for the cruise ships to enter. Of course, Bud was ‘eyeing’ the freighters…

This is the birthplace of Picasso AND the Hollywood Star, Antonio Banderas. We saw where Antonia lives now and he returns every year to participate in the Holy Week pageant here which is an amazing parade through the city which they are already setting up for.

Bud and I had our picture taken with ‘Picasso’ right in front of the home where he was born and lived until he was 10…

Some more spots…at Christmas time and for many celebrations they actually drape this main plaza area…

Let’s just skip right to the views from the terrace bar overlooking the city at dusk tonight-:)!!

Tomorrow we tour some additional cities but we are especially excited about our tour of the ‘Rock of Gibraltar’…

Then not sure when I will be able to post more…Off to Northern Africa by ferry-:)!!