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Romantic trip to Spain or not? Author and columnist Tom Blake provides dating information and advice for widowers, widows, divorced men, divorced
women, middle-aged singles boomer singles and senior singles who are dating again and hope to meet a mate.
Romantic trip to Spain or not?
© 2004 by Tom Blake
To Spain -- or not?
By TOM BLAKE
For The Register's South County Weekly Newspapers
Each year, my partner Greta and I try to plan a vacation together. We feel getting away is good for our relationship, rekindles the flame and gives us time to
focus only on each other while away from day-to-day demands of working full-time jobs.
Most of our trips are stateside. Often we drive to Sonoma County to see my mom. Last summer we toured Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. We've visited Maine
and Michigan. But when we can, we travel internationally.
To go abroad takes planning. Last July, we made airplane reservations to go to Spain during Greta's April spring break from teaching this year.
Our plan was to fly to Madrid and hop a train from Madrid's Atocha station to go to the Costa del Sol for a week. While there, we planned to take the premier
train to Barcelona and back. And then, we'd return by train to Madrid for two nights. A month ago, we finalized all of the reservations.
We paid for and had our Rail Europe train tickets and hotel reservations in our possession.
And as the countdown to departure day approached -- April 2 -- our excitement started to build. Greta said it was going to be a romantic trip and I liked the
sound of that.
And then three weeks ago, the environment in Spain changed. Ten terrorists' bombs ripped through three train stations, including Atocha in Madrid. Our first
reaction: It's too dangerous to go. We didn't want to be zipping around Spain on high-speed trains wondering if a backpack filled with compacted dynamite was hidden in the
luggage compartment. We asked Rail Europe to refund our money and canceled our hotel accommodations. But for some reason, I didn't cancel our airplane reservations.
We agonized over our decision. We knew there were more important things in life to worry about, but we were disappointed. We asked friends, family and acquaintances for their opinions: Should we rethink our
decision and go to Spain as originally planned?
Our biggest concern, of course, was safety. Would we be OK over there?
My second concern was how my 93-year-old mom would feel if we went. I didn't want her to be a nervous wreck.
The military men in our families -- a Navy man and a Marine -- said go for it, Spain will be more secure than ever. Similar sentiments were echoed by my friend
Tom Oliver, the former CEO of Six Continents Hotels, the largest chain in the world.
But others told us to forget Spain and to go somewhere else like Aruba, Mexico or Hawaii. A few days in Palm Springs was suggested. Crystal, one of my
deli employees, pleaded that we not go.
We're asking for readers' opinions.
If you were in our shoes, what would you do? Would you be on a plane to Madrid a week from Friday?
E-mail: TPBlake@aol.com if you'd care to confuse us even further. In next week's column, we'll share what readers
said and reveal our decision.
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