Travel organiser is not only a professional skill; also in my free time I like to organise
travel bookings and programs. In my 'who am I' intro you can read that I enjoy spending
time with nice things and good people. An important part of that are the regular dinners
and city trips with my 'chicas'; a nice group of crazy women who have been sharing a lot of fun together
for many years now.
In 2005, on the train back from Amsterdam, after another girls' day out, we were talking
about how long we have been doing this already and our first 'anniversary' came up.
As a result, our first weekend in Barcelona was born.
Because this was my favourite city back then and since I had already visited Barcelona a couple
of times, I suggested to organise this trip. 4 súper fun days followed, of which in the photo
a short impression. Click on photos to open an enlarged PowerPoint-presentation.
After this great experience we decided to add the annual weekends to our plans
and have continued them in the Netherlands to begin with. Some of the weekends I have
organised are the island of Terschelling and Zandvoort. Furthermore we have organised them
in turn and have been in South-Limburg, Scheveningen, Delft, Nijmegen, Drenthe.
During one of our dinners in 2015 I was telling the group that I often travelled
to Spain via Lisbon airport, but that I had never actually seen the city of Lisbon.
More and more chicas were listening and before I knew it, our next weekend had been confirmed
and I could start planning and organising 'Chicas to Lisboa'.
Súper fun! and I have been able to show them many beautiful parts in such a short time. Not only
Lisbon city centre, but especially also the beauty around it, like Parque das Naçőes in the east
of Lisbon, the boulevard from Estoril to Cascais and beautiful Cascais itself.
From Parque das Naçőes you can also see the amazing Ponte Vasco da Gama, a 17 kilometer long
bridge over the River Tagus, on which a highway is built that connects Lisbon with cities
like Montijo and Setúbal. When I travelled via Lisbon Airport to Spain, I used to drive
along this bridge by car or by bus; thought it would be nice to show the chicas and we
walked as close as possible to the bridge, that was amazing!
I think it was during this trip that one of the chicas started calling me 'her PA' and the name
PA Patty arose. Patty is of course an abbreviation for Patricia and this is
how my Spanish friends always call me.
In 2016 I passed my exam after a nine month study HBO Project Management.
I told the girls in whatsapp that I would very much like to drink a toast to that,
somewhere in Lisboa II or in Valencia. Of course this was a joke, however, I received
such enthusiastic responses saying 'book it, I'll join', so I organised
a weekend in Valencia. And again this
was a very successful mission, where we (without knowing up front) landed in the
middle of the annual Valencian Day, Día de la Comunitat Valenciana*. This was an
unforgettable experience! Valencia is above all: a very beautiful and relaxed city centre
(Ciutat Vella*) with marvellous buildings and cosy squares and areas;
the wonderful Túria Park (Jardí del Túria*), once a river
that surrounded the city, now a huge beautiful and well-maintained park, where you
can escape from the busy traffic for a while, walking or by bike; the incredible
beauty of the modern Ciutat de les Arts i les Cičncies*, a totally contrary
architecture that makes it seem like you're in a completely different city, however,
still feels very 'Valencian'; and last but not least ... the lovely and wide beach area
at biking distance, with its great and pleasant boulevard.
This is just a small impression, but I am in love with Valencia!
As you can see, there is always something nice to enjoy or to organise for
PA Patty ;)
* The Spanish language:
Like in Barcelona the people speak Catalonian (Catalán), next to the 'general' Castilian Spanish
(el idioma Castellano or la lengua Castallana), in Valencia they speak Valencian (el idioma Valenciano or la lengua Valenciana);
in the text above I have used the Valencian names. Except for a few minor differences, both regional languages are identical.
You can compare it with UK- and US English.
Translation of Valenciano to Castellano is as follows:
Día de la Comunitat Valenciana = Día de la Comunidad Valenciana
Ciutat Vella = Ciudad Vieja
Jardí del Túria = Jardín del Túria
Ciutat de les Arts i les Cičncies = Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
Read more about my interest in languages in
Seńorita Patty: Spanish and multilingual talent >>
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