Homeless and alone (or 12 hours in Europe)

So bear with me for some backstory.

Jennifer and I sold our house at the end of February. The purchasers asked for an extended settlement at the end of May. Our plan was to, then, spend time trying out various suburbs in Sydney before buying. But once we’d made that decision we realized we could be anywhere so we booked two months in Europe immediately following settlement – well, technically, one month for Jennifer and two for me who doesn’t have work commitments.

Then we bought an apartment – so much for trying out places. But having already booked the holiday, we arranged to settle on it when we were both back in Sydney in August. So for two months we would be homeless.

Which brings us up to leaving Sydney on Friday morning.

We flew to Shanghai where, upon getting internet in the lounge, we were informed that Jennifer’s mother, Jean, had been hospitalized. After a quick flurry of calls and emails we boarded the next flight – the 13-hour flight to Madrid.

Arriving in Madrid it became immediately obvious Jean was probably, but not certainly, quite seriously ill. So we cancelled our train to Seville and caught a taxi to Jennifer’s brother Bob’s house. There followed more phone calls and emails and much dithering as we tried to decide on a course of action in circumstances where the doctors could not give us a clear answer.

The end result is that Jennifer is, with Bob, jumping back on a plane at 10 this evening. Yes that’s right she will have 12 hours in Europe. Highlight was a very nice lunch in Bob and Ana’s sunlit back yard. Otherwise there’s little good to be said of the situation.

I am travelling on to Seville solo. If we’d been clearer on what’s happening with Jean I’d probably have returned to. But it really is uncertain so…

So now Jennifer is on a plane and I’m sitting, not so homeless but definitely solo, in our Seville apartment.