I am just back from a wonderful trip to the south of Portugal where the sun is shining, the water is turquoise blue, and the birds are happily singing and soaring through clear skies.

Of course, wherever I go, I enjoy sampling the local food and wines, and both are truly excellent. In this area of Portugal,the Algarve region, seafood and fish is plentiful.

This was not a vacation, although, I felt very much embraced by a vacation state of mind. The purpose of my trip was to attend and emcee an annual gathering of individuals from all over the world interested in deep personal development, finding ways to creatively collaborate with others in business, and move forth in a troubled world with tools and ideas to shift the entrenched paradigms of companies and commerce.  We met with people from the fields of hospitality, healing modalities, finance, entrepreneurship, media, and from charitable organizations with incredible and important missions.

This all took place at the stunning Pine Cliffs Resort in Albufeira, Portugal.

A lemon aficionado, I was so happy to see gorgeous robust lemons filling the numerous lemon trees, and I was also delighted to see the many cats and kittens that live on the property, contentedly roaming through the stunning resort. I learned that they live there because Pine Cliffs has established a cat sanctuary on the property.

So there I was, surrounded by magnificent multi-colored cliffs, copious pine trees, a sparking sea, lemon trees, cats, and incredibly warm and friendly people for a week. Along with the outstanding speakers and workshops offered at the HEALING SUMMIT 2019 (organized and produced by Healing Hotels of the World), it was a pretty awesome 7 days.

You can hear more about this experience on my weekly radio show, “Bagels and Broadway with Valerie Smaldone”, Saturday morning from 9-10 on WNYM Radio. The podcast posts following airing of the show
http://bit.ly/2QBGk4w

Next week, back to the theatre with more shows to write about, as we prepare for Tony Awards, 2019.