Hi

I remember the three month $200 rail pass. It has increased to over $1000 nowadays.

Air transport is generally a good option now. I generally wind up with a combination of plane, train, bus, and car rental. The roads are really good everywhere in Europe, but the toll roads cost almost as much as fuel. Everything costs less in Spain.

My wife and I have been giving serious consideration to moving to Spain. We lived in France for three years and really enjoyed it there, but the weather wasn't so nice. We both speak French and Arabic. I speak Spanish, but Eva does not.

Language can become a challenging issue to overcome when living full-time in a foreign country. Eva is very fluent in Arabic, but I'm not so much. I am pretty fluent in French, but still don't understand all the words to songs or jokes.

The United States is a great place to make money, but I find Europe a better place to live in many ways.

I want to fly to Lisbon first to see a friend and play some music with her, and then on to Spain. I am also considering taking a short side trip to Morocco, as I have never been there before. Most people there can understand the dialect of Arabic I speak, but the Moroccan dialect is very difficult for me to understand. I used to have some Moroccan friends in Paris, so I have struggled with the dialect.
There are a lot of musicians living and working in southern Europe from North Africa. I have played with some of them in Paris. Wonderful people to be around.

Billy

“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig?
“Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”