Thanksgiving 2023

 Every year at Thanksgiving we try to remember both the memorable and the forgettable Thanksgivings that we have had together over the past forty plus years.  Many were in foreign lands with exotic menus, others not as exotic but fun and worth remembering. The duds we have to look up in Cindy’s extensive and well documented travel journals. I have the distinct feeling that we shall both remember this one for a long time. 

We are on the Regent Splendor, a luxury cruise ship that we sailed last year and wanted to try again. We picked up the ship in Barcelona on the 20th and sailed away for two days before arriving in Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Somewhere along the line I contracted food poisoning or an intestinal virus and spent the night of the 21st and all day on the 22nd in various states that required me to stay very close to our toilet. In between violent bouts of explosions, I alternated between horrible chills and shivers and massive sweat sessions which soaked my night clothes and the bedding. Finally, on Thanksgiving morning, I was feeling much better and had the energy to stray out of the cabin into the sunlight for a cup of tea and a biscuit. I was up on the pool deck with my tea when I heard the unmistakable Dixie Land rendition of "When the Saints Come Marching In." Suddenly out onto the deck came a seven-piece marching band led by the cruise director carrying large Mickey Mouse balloons above his head. Following the marchers were crew member dressed like individual Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Floats. It was just fantastic and so unexpected because Cindy and I had failed to read about it in the daily program. I thought it was a great way to start the day and had high expectations for the rest of Thanksgiving.

I joined Cindy on deck for lunch, which for me was one piece of broccoli, a piece of cheese and a cracker, a scoop of coffee sorbet and a half glass of Champagne. I did not want to push my luck. All the food stayed where it was supposed to and I was able to walk around the deck for awhile before returning to our cabin for a nap. We both napped and then Cindy walked the deck again before getting a mani/pedi.  We dressed for dinner and since it was Thanksgiving we put on our finest. (Cruises no longer require formal wear or even jackets and ties in the evenings but we like to dress up for dinner.) We stepped out feeling hungry and looking sharp.

We went to a quiet bar, most everyone was still at dinner at 7:30, and enjoyed a lovely drink. I was able to sip most of my Champagne and felt the worst was over. We went to the main restaurant that was serving traditional Thanksgiving dinner (as well as many other dishes) and it appeared everyone on the ship had done the same. At 8:15 there were still lines of people waiting for tables so we gave the maître d' our name and went to the bar for Champagne. The server told us they were out of Champagne and it would be ten or fifteen minutes. That was a first!  Normally these places have ample supplies but we found out later that they had not anticipated so many people eating at this restaurant. Turns out everyone wanted turkey and everyone thought this was the only restaurant serving turkey. What management failed to tell everyone was that turkey was available in all five venues!  We probably wouldn't even have ordered it but we certainly would have gone to a different restaurant had we been aware of the turkey scrum.  Because so many people were waiting for tables, they sent out trays of Champagne to be enjoyed until their tables were ready, thus draining most bars of their supply of Champagne. (Don't worry, there was more in the hold of the ship, just not reality available.)

Not to be deterred we waited our turn and by 8:45 were seated at a lovely table. As we sat down I noticed that Cindy looked a bit pale. I asked how she was feeling and she said "not that great." That is like a normal person saying I’m miserable, horrible, uncomfortable, and I feel like crap. I asked if we should leave but she wanted to try to tough it out. We ordered one thing to see how it went - a beautifully presented deviled egg on smoked salmon for Cindy and chicken bouillon with Matzo ball for me. When the food came Cindy took one look and said she had to go to the bathroom and I could meet her there - and we were done for the night. I ate my soup - which was delicious - quite fast knowing that was it for the day in terms of dining. 

We made it to the room and poor Cindy went through exactly what I had the days before. All night she was up and down, either sweating bullets or shaking like a bowl of jello while everything she'd eaten that day was being expelled. By eight the next morning she felt almost human and I went up on deck to get her some hot tea and biscuits.  She seems greatly improved and is able to move about and doesn’t feel the need to be close to porcelain!!

So how was your Thanksgiving?  Cindy & Wm

PS the ship is gorgeous, our suite is large with a great balcony, the Broadway-style shows are fabulous, and the two dance bands are excellent.  We are healthy again so you can hold your pity!  

Lyon Part Two

 As I laid in bed in Lyon sweating and swatting mosquitos, I realized that travel requires two basic things: a good sense of humor and perspective. I switched from feeling sorry for myself to realizing that many of the homeless people we encountered in Lyon would think that they were in heaven to be in our position:  sheltered and with comfortable bedding, good plumbing, and ample food and wine. I got right back to sleep.

Since I had overdone it with walking the day before we decided to take the Hop On/ Hop Off bus. We walked over to the starting point and were proud that we had gotten there two minutes before eleven, when the tour was supposed to begin.  Twenty minutes later, we were still sitting there. Had I known I’d have hopped off and gone to the nearby cafe for a coffee and toilet. We finally departed and the narration began and was well done. At the second stop we got off for a coffee and toilet and walked about to see the courtyard of the Musée des Beaux Arts, which was cool and filled with mature trees, sculptures, and benches, quite tranquil, and I counted it as a museum visit. We picked up the bus again and for the next hour plus got to see a whole lot more of Lyon then we would have on foot.  Quite the lovely city!

On the way back to our new hotel we were thinking of getting a sandwich at a local bakery but decided to visit the little restaurant where we had coffee every morning. As I mentioned, you can’t go wrong eating in Lyon and this hole in the wall was no exception. Cindy had her all-time favorite dish, pan-seared duck foie gras, and oh my was it exceptional. In many places it is just a very small piece of liver but here it was two large and perfectly seared pieces in a rich reduction of wine and duck fat (with an added pat of butter, no doubt). Heavenly and so very unexpected - and much better than a sandwich. 

We returned to our lovely AC-equipped room for a well-deserved nap followed by a walk along the river before heading out to dinner at about seven pm.  We went to the very popular and very old Brasserie Georges. We had tried it the night before but the lines were huge - however, this evening we were early enough to be seated almost right away. The room is cavernous and the service sublime. White shirted, black aproned waiters moved like ballet dancers serving the hundreds of tables with aplomb. The food and wine were, of course, spectacular.  We had typical plates from the region:  escargot, local ham with poached eggs, salmon tataki (well perhaps that wasn’t from the region) and cod aioli with boiled potatoes and carrots.  A lovely last meal in Lyon. On the way home we stopped at a bistro we had frequented a few times and enjoyed a cognac to toast Lyon. 

The next morning after walking for a bit of exercise and then packing our suitcases we set off in an Uber to catch our train to Nice. It was a very long car trip due to congestion from construction and general heavy traffic but we still made it with fifteen minutes to spare, enough time for Cindy to dart into a shop for a sandwich and bottle of water. Our train was an old one with no upper deck and our seats faced backward from the direction of travel so no real views to speak of. Actually it didn't matter since the windows were so dirty!  Train travel, even in first class, isn’t as much fun as we remembered. First of all they allow animals to accompany passengers and I do not approve! There is no real service as there used to be, i.e., no one coming with a cart to sell snacks, food, drink or newspapers, and the car had not been cleared of the detritus from previous passengers.  I had to gather up empty wrappers and cartons from someone's lunch and find the garbage can.  We just sat there for four hours and decided that our noble experiment proved that we’ll not do extensive train travel again. 

We arrived in Nice thirty minutes late and everyone headed for the taxi stand. It took awhile but I didn’t care, I could smell the salt water and the Mediterranean sun was strong and comforting. Two young ladies behind us were also going to the Hyatt so we let them share our cab and learned a lot about them in a short period of time. They were childhood friends celebrating their 40th birthdays together, having left their young children with the fathers back in North Carolina. They were having a great time and we were very happy for them!

Lyon, Part 1

 Lyon

Rest assured that our remaining meals in Paris were "successful" - good service and delicious food including a wonderful breast of duck at a little bistro.  But on Sunday it was time to move to Lyon, and getting here was not half the fun!  Departing Paris was a total mess. Our hotel was directly behind the Place de la République which from the day of our arrival was being prepared for some event. No one at the hotel knew exactly what the event was or when it was to take place. On Friday night we noticed that there were a lot of Irish in the bar at the hotel. Turns out they were playing Scotland in a game in Paris on Saturday night, part of the World Cup of Rugby.  Saturday the streets were filled with the Irish and Scots, most of the men in kilts, quite the scene. The hotel was jumping at five with the bar filled and event rooms hosting pregame parties before they all departed for the stadium for the big match. 

On Sunday morning I approached the front desk before my walk to order a taxi to the train station at 11am. I was told that no vehicles were able to come to the hotel for the entire day due to the security surrounding the ParaOlympics outside our door. Why weren’t we given this information before, I queried:  Gallic Shrug response.  What this meant was that all of the guests leaving for airports or trains had to schlep luggage for three blocks and try to find a taxi or Uber.  What should have been a fifteen-minute trip turned out to take more than an hour - and we were the lucky ones since we could afford the ‘dynamic pricing’ of Uber. 

We got to the train station and waited in the spartan but calm first class lounge, which offered water and quiet. Our train was packed; we were told they all are packed these days. The train was a double-decker and we hauled our bags up the narrow stairs and found our seats. First Class ain’t what it used to be. Think airline coach seats with big windows - which are shared by two rows of seats and since the folks in front of us immediately lowered the shade, so much for vistas. I had thought that First Class would be a bit more elegant. Our last first class train trip was from Malaga to Madrid just a few years ago and it had large comfortable seats, it included a four course lunch with wine and brandy, and there were lovely large windows to view the marvelous countryside. 

We arrived on schedule and after several false starts found the exit for taxis and were on our way. I had reserved a suite at our hotel, not part of a chain since I wanted a local experience. Be careful what you wish for!!  The taxi pulled up to a nondescript door where two people were trying to get in. I looked at the plaque next to the door and it indicated that this was a two-star hotel.  What?!  (France rates hotels with stars from 1 to 5; you can probably guess that we don't choose "2" at this stage of our lives.)  I was sure we were in the wrong place but alas, it was correct. We checked in with the owner who was lovely and helpful and I just thought ok, we have a suite, how bad can it be. The answer came within minutes of entering the room. I looked around and went to what I thought was a door to the sitting room only to find out it was a closet. This was not my idea of a suite!!  I looked for the AC control since the room was hot and there was none; the room and the entire hotel had no AC and it was 85 degrees outside. I panicked when I saw a plug that is used to fill the room with anti-mosquito smells, good god I had time-traveled forty years in the past!

I immediately started to look for another hotel but all of them were completely booked. Not sure why - conferences, rugby tournament, tourists - but all the good hotels were not available.  Cindy located one across the street from us but availability was not apparent from the websit so we thought perhaps we would give it a shot in person.  It was a small boutique hotel with four stars and AC, nice restaurant and bar. We made our pitch and they looked and looked and found a room starting two nights from then. We leaped, knowing the next two nights would be rough but we were determined not to ruin our time in Lyon. We left a deposit and returned to our original hotel to semi-unpack and then took off on foot to see the sights. We have been to Lyon at least twice, perhaps three times and nothing looked familiar so we treated it like a new city.  I walked too much the first full day, after an uncomfortable night due to the fact that they had rubber under the sheets which makes me sweat horribly. We removed the rubber sheet, turned up the fan and finally got some decent sleep. 

The next day we walked over to the old town and took a funicular up to the Basilica Notre Dame Fourvière which is an enormous structure on the highest hill of Lyon with commanding views of the entire city, the two rivers, the Saone and Rhône, and on a clear day the Alps!  We then continued walking for miles and miles, which was a good way to see lots of sites, but not so good for my back. 

The best news is that everything you hear about Lyon being a wonderful food city is understated: It is fantastic!!  We only went to little places that were quite informal but goodness the food and wine were spectacular. Walking a lot justified good meals, not that they need justification. I’ve never been to little bars and bistros where the house white was Macon Villages and the red, Crozes Hermitage!  The average person like me can be forgiven for ordering petite portions from the menu but that only means that they are slightly smaller than the huge portion of the same dish. You never walk away hungry in Lyon!

Ciao for now,  Cindy and William

Last Rose of Summer

(Forgive any repeats, can't access my blogs so I'm never sure what I sent already)

The summer just seemed to linger and linger, mostly because I didn’t do much or go anywhere. We arrived home on April 1st after a very busy winter of travel and I didn’t get on an airplane, train or bus until the last week of September. Cindy, on the other hand, was quite busy; one music camp in July, cut short by Covid, another in August and a quick trip to visit her sister in August. I have had one long and one short car trip. We went to Bristol VA to celebrate Cindy’s birthday week in early June. The City of Bristol is divided by a yellow line down main street.  One side is Virginia, the other Tennessee. We only spent money on the Virginia side since we were miffed at the Tennessee legislators and their petty racist antics. The hotel we stayed in offered free tickets to the Museum of Country Music. As you know I’m not much on museums but this trip was about Cindy so I went. I must tell you that it was one of the top five museums I’ve ever visited. Beautifully organized and so informative, especially since I know very little about Country Music.

From Bristol we drove to Asheville to visit a dear friend and to tour the Biltmore Estate. (Yes, another museum.) It was lovely to see how the robber barons lived and played. I’m thinking of running a spur of my railroad to the house so as to facilitate new construction!  We walked the downtown area of Asheville, filled with aging hippies, ageless hikers and assorted homeless, beggars, and bums, a very strange mix. Then it was on to Greensboro to visit a few of our finest friends. One staged a magnificent birthday dinner for Cindy complete with a surprise visit from a friend who Cindy had mentored when she was dean. The next day our host surprised us with a Birthday Cruise on a lovely lake near their home followed by ice cream cones and wine, what a day. 

Finally home again where Cindy - who last summer had promised to reduce the size of her gardens - commenced to INCREASE the size of her gardens. Between her tilling the soil, practicing violin, viola and piano, I usually only saw her at meals and cocktails, but my what lovely vegetables, herbs and flowers we have had all summer.

The last weekend of September found us in beautiful Montreal with Colin and Meagan for a four day celebration of Colin’s birthday. It is a lovely city, especially the old town by the river. We did two days of the Hop on/ Hop off bus which was a welcome break from our eating and drinking our way through the city. The food it uniformly excellent and the portions were, shall we say, hearty!  It was loads of fun and the time flew by. Speaking of flying, on our trip home I had an experience that was unique in all my years of travel. The twenty-something tattooed flight attendant - who had enjoyed too many meals in her short life - sat down in her jump seat twenty minutes before landing and simply fell asleep, right there in front of us. I’m talking mouth open drooling deep sleep. Only the noise of the landing gear coming down disturbed her slumber. Remarkable!

The hummingbirds, who have entertained us for most of the summer with crazy antics at the feeders, departed for warmer climes yesterday. We shall do the same tomorrow, heading for three weeks in France where we’ll ride the rails from Paris to Lyon to Nice and then Toulon before heading back to Paris and our flight home. France has been very warm and the forecast is for temperatures in the high seventies and eighties. Never thought I’d need short-sleeved shirts in France in October!  À bientôt.  Cindy and William

How to go broke on a Staycation

 Our winter travels ended on April 1st and we have been home most of the summer other than a brief five-day trip by car to celebrate Cindy’s birthday in early June. That was the last time we could afford to do anything away from home! It turns out that the things that cool and heat your home, that give you hot water for showers, that make sure your basement doesn’t flood and that make your lights and computers work - well, they simply don’t last forever!  In our case they all seemed to crap out at the same time resulting in a rapid depletion of savings. I’m told that all of our household systems really lasted longer that they should have, but that does little to soothe.  

I'll spare you the fiscal details but we could have gone on three two-week Atlantic crossings in a large suite on all-inclusive cruise lines for what our Staycation has cost this summer. Replacing AC units, furnaces, heat pumps, hot water heaters, sump pumps, electrical outlets, whole house humidifiers and hot water re-circulators requires vast sums of money and on top of that you have the installation costs of plumbers and electricians which now seem to me to be astronomically high. (There is a reason more neurosurgeons are becoming plumbers.) I purchased my first home in 1974 for less than I did for repairs and replacements this summer.  C'est la vie, as the French people say. 

Our summer here in West Virginia has been, I’m sure, similar to yours wherever you live. Too much heat, too little rain, too many bugs and too few humming birds. The good news is that I’ve not had to mow the lawn very often; the bad news is that I really don’t have a lawn anymore, just this brown crunchy stuff where green used to live. Because things are so dry, when we do have a strong thunderstorm the winds break off huge limbs of tinder-dry trees, littering streets, sidewalks and yards. We patiently await the locusts!

This weekend began the ten-day celebration of our fortieth wedding anniversary and we kicked it off in grand style. All of the kids and most of the grandkids were here for a long weekend of Champagne, BBQ, salads, cakes and pies and beer, wine and chips galore. It was non-stop laughter, toasts and stories, punctuated by a few rounds of trivia, scratch-off lottery cards, wine tastings, cocktail lessons and photo album viewing. We had a ball and the house seems so empty and QUIET right now, but we’ll get used to it I’m sure.

Cindy leaves for one of her music camps in a week, an event she looks forward to since it affords her the opportunity to play lots of music with lots of professional coaching. We are hoping that we get our car back in time for her to take it to camp so she doesn’t have to depend on the rental. What’s that you say, you didn’t know about our car crapping out?  Surely a relatively new car with only 30K miles shouldn’t be giving you trouble!  Guess again!

Two weeks ago while coming back from shopping the "Check Engine" light came on. I took it to an auto parts store where a technician did a computer check and said the number two cylinder was misfiring and we might need new points or plugs.  This of course meant nothing to me, so I brought it to our usual car maintenance shop.  After a few hours they gave me a call and explained that fluid had been leaking into the cracked cylinder. I didn’t know what that meant either and only asked when it would be fixed. He then told me that I needed a new engine. Now I REALLY didn’t understand; how could a 2018 car with 30K miles need a new engine? "Ford Fatigue," he explained, which I came to understand meant that this model was subject to this problem. 

I checked our warranty on the car and found that it had expired last week. Did you know a new engine costs $10,000 to replace? I searched and found our Extended Warranty (my mother always told me to get extended warranties on expensive purchases) so I called the Ford dealership where we purchased the car. I am still waiting to hear from them! I took the car to another Ford place where we had purchased our work truck and they checked the extended warranty and said everything was covered and kept the car. They have had it for ten days and promise it will be ready in time for Cindy’s camp. Aren’t you glad you asked?!  Ciao for now, Cindy and William

Home At Last

 April 2, 2023

We are home and ever so happy to be off the road. We have been on the go since the 8th of November with only a few days here at home between three major trips.  My idea to travel so much was to avoid winter since I hate snow and ice. Well the weather here in Charles Town was as mild as you could hope for and there was no snow and no ice, in fact the neighbors are taking up a fund to send us away next winter since it seems when we are gone the weather is grand!

On the 5th of March we flew to Miami and overnighted at the Intercontinental near the Miami Cruise Terminal. I chose a room that gave us access to the Club Lounge knowing that we would be arriving late and would want to go to the lounge for some snacks and drinks. We arrived at 20:15 only to be told that the lounge closed at 19:00!  We are too used to Interconti’s in Europe which keep their lounges open from 10 in the morning until very late at night. We were therefore condemned to dining at their restaurant, which turned out to be a very expensive error. The service was non-existent since all the wait people were focused on one large group of - as our waiter said - "VIP guests." The food was terrible and the prices were outrageous. All in all not a good Miami experience. 

The next day was ever so much better with a nice breakfast in the lounge and a pleasant ride to the terminal. We were set to board the Celebrity Summit and had selected a Celebrity Suite which came with a host of perks, not the least of which was the opportunity to pull up to the Retreat check-in desk. We have been on a lot of cruises but we have never had an experience like this. There was a concierge waiting at the curb who checked our names and escorted us into the terminal where we took a private elevator to a private lounge where all the formalities were taken care of in a friendly, relaxed and professional manner.  No lines! From there we were escorted onto the ship by Connie, our ship board concierge.

We were really surprised at the excellent quality of the cabin and the restaurant. The Luminae Restaurant is just for Suite Guests and we didn’t have a bad meal in ten days. Colin, Meagan, Valley and Kent joined us on the second five-day cruise and we rocked the boat!  It was so grand to have some time away from everything with the kids. Our first stop was Key West and Colin took us on a memory lane tour since he had been stationed there in the Coast Guard. Our tour ended at his favorite restaurant and we had some of the best conch fritters ever, not to mention some mighty tasty rum drinks and local beers. 

The ship carries 2300 passengers and 2200 of them were under the age of 25!  I had forgotten all about Spring Break which seems to run from the first of Feb to the end of May (or almost that long). Never knew so many college and high school kids had so much disposable income! I’ve seen people wearing more clothes at a nudist colony. I’m told that thong bathing suits, (how can they call them suits?) are "in" but to me it looked more like lots of tanned hams walking around the pool. Again, for the most part we were able to avoid the mobs but I’ll never again take a short cruise during Spring Break.  The good part was that almost everyone got off the ship in Cozumel so we had it all to ourselves for one day. 

We were home for four days before heading to La Jolla for our time share which we shared with a dear friend and his fiancé. We each had a studio and would meet mostly for meals, which were lots of fun and good times as well as great food.  We again marveled at the prices of everything in La Jolla, gas is still $5 a gallon, but you really can’t beat the views and the long lovely walks each morning and afternoon. 

So we are home at least until the first of June when we’ll take a car trip somewhere for Cindy’s birthday. Already mowed the lawn and loved it!  Good to be in my kitchen and cooking again, and waking up in our own bed seems like a luxury, which we cherish.  Ciao for now,  Cindy and William

Narbonne and Beyond part two

 Narbonne and Beyond, Part Two

There are two kinds of museums - good ones, which are rare - and the rest!  I say this with full confidence of decades of visiting them and always hoping that the most recent will be the last. However, I was enthralled with a museum here in Narbonne called Narbo Via. It is a new building situated on the canal and a twenty minute walk from our apartment. The fact that it is winter meant that we were basically the only people in the museum and that made it even more special. The new exhibit features two fifteen-minute 270-degree animations on two different but related topics. The first features the early days of commerce in Narbonne with such realistic animations and sound effects that you really did believe you were in Narbonne two thousand years ago. Everything was so authentic right down to the rigging of the sailing ships that came up the channel from the Mediterranean to the thriving city of Narbonne. The other exhibit was a day in the life of Narbonne at the height of its Roman glory, again flawless in its presentation and I was just mesmerized.  The rest of the museum had lots of old stones, carvings, pillars and posts, but artfully arranged as you can see from the link above. 

We, being the Dumbees, decided to go to another museum called the Donjon without really understanding what it was. It was, quite simply put, a torture chamber! One hundred and sixty-two narrow stairs built out of limestone in a spiral column that was the most horrific experience  I’ve had in a long time. I swear the walls got more and more narrow as you got higher and higher and the end result was a blah empty room with two small windows that afforded no view due to the wire mesh to keep out pigeons. Oh how I so wanted to be a pigeon so I could fly out of there. For hours my thighs ached, last night I was out of bed twice with Charley horses and even today I’m sore. Oh, did I mention that we actually paid for this experience! (Incidentally,  Cindy wasn’t bothered by the stairs at all but then again she is twenty years younger!)

Speaking of claustrophobia, we went to another museum, the Horreum, that featured underground storage units used by the Romans for all manner of things. It was dark, damp, cold, deep underground and poorly lighted, what’s not to enjoy? Very interesting but a video would have been just as lovely for me.  Yes, we paid for that also.  (Cindy thought it was very interesting and wants you to know that Horreum is Latin for warehouse.)

The food and wine have been spectacular. We are in the middle of some of the most famous wine areas in Southern France, nothing like Bordeaux or Burgundy, but the Languedoc has some really good solid wines at reasonable prices. Those of you who enjoy French wines will no doubt have heard of and perhaps enjoyed some of the wines from the region listed here.  Seafood is the king here due to the proximity to the sea, and a quick walk around Les Halles will prove my point. There are two places that feature horse meat, three places that feature other meats and six stalls dedicated to seafood. This morning I saw a squid whose body was the size of a football. 

Yesterday for lunch we splurged and went to perhaps the best restaurant in town, Gaia, and it was just delightful and well worth the eighty euro tab, which included two glasses of blanquette - a local sparking wine - and one glass of red and two of white, as well as the best bread in all of France. The best dish was Cindy's starter which she is calling "bacon soup" and was actually a very creamy rich broth with chopped chives and little bits of smoked pork with a crispy delicious slice of bacon as a garnish and a poached egg floating in the creaminess.  Everything on the menu was very creative and innovative - impressive to say the least.

On Monday we took a drive to the coast of the Med to have lunch with the folks who own the apartment. We have become friends and enjoy our time together. On the way we stopped at several spots to view the flamingos, which are really quite amazing. There are lots of marshy areas with large shallow ponds that are used to harvest salt and which provide perfect breeding and feeding locations for these magnificent birds. The birds here are larger than their cousins in the states and the Caribbean, some as large as eight pounds, and when they fly you can really see the vidid red and black of their enormous wing span. 

We depart tomorrow for Barcelona where we’ll spend the night before our flights to Lisbon and Washington on Friday. Won’t get home until eleven pm or so but whatever the hour it will be a delightful homecoming. We have had an intense three weeks, all with perfect weather, fine food and wine, and interesting adventures.  A bientôt,  Cindy and William

Narbonne and Beyond, part one

 We returned to Narbonne (after a few days here last fall) for several reasons, not the least of which is their fabulous covered market Les Halles. I have spent more time there than I have in all the three hundred museums Cindy has dragged me to, but I digress! Narbonne is steeped in history, beauty and charm - and yet no one seems to know anything about it and it is really not a tourist city, which is great for a variety of reasons.  First - and foremost for Cindy - no one speaks English so it is imperative that we speak only French, which is so hard to do in tourist locations like Paris, Nice and Lyon. Every day Cindy’s skills improved and she became more confident, especially when she would receive either positive feedback - or better yet, no feedback - which meant they perhaps thought she was French. 

When I say there are no tourists, I mean no real international tourists. On the weekends we observed lots of French tourists from other regions, and some from nearby Spain. The city is physically beautiful, laid out in classic dimensions with lots of tree-lined walking areas and the Canal de la Robine bisecting the entire city.  This was the first Roman outpost in what is now France, then called Gaul, established in 118 BC. There are ample bits of evidence of their long time here, including remnants of the road, Via Domitia, which ran from Rome to Narbonne and beyond. 

Cindy found a lovely apartment for our two-week visit and we fell into a comfortable pattern of daily activity quite quickly. Our day would start with runs along the canal, walks for me, and we would meet at a cafe/bar for coffee. A quick visit to a bakery for croissants, bread and treats and then home for either tea or coffee before dressing for the day ahead. Almost every day we went to a museum, church, Cathedral, historic landmark or some other cultural not-to-miss whatever. The weather was fantastic and we were able to eat outside for lunch or dinner almost every day. If we had lunch out, I would cook dinner and if we ate lunch in we would dine out; either way, I was a regular at the market and had so much fun shopping for whatever looked super fresh or different from what I usually prepare. 

One day we decided to go and visit Beziers and oh my goodness what a great idea that was. It is a hilltop town and from ten miles away you could see the cathedral seated at the highest point of the town. Again, a town not for tourists and we know this from the complete lack of signage as to how to get to the top of the village. Once we found the right road, after several comic attempts, we parked near Les Halles, a good sign! Exiting the parking garage on foot we were in a grand plaza surrounded by restaurants which circled Les Halles which lured me in like a culinary siren! It was built on the same model as "my" Les Halles in Narbonne, but really was a disappointment since there were lots of vacant stalls and what was there wasn’t as vibrant or as fresh as my Les Halles. 

We headed to the tourist office, which is strange in a town with few tourists, and got all the maps and suggestions for visits and were on our way to yet more museums, cathedrals, churches and monuments to people we didn’t know, but who seemed to be quite clever, as in designing the entire canal system of the Midi. What they did have that caught our imagination were lots of building with painted trompe l'oeil, scenes of great amusement and clever plays on light. Cindy took lots of pictures but I'm not sure I can get them in this blog.

We finally had enough culture and enough walking, although we thought it was a most beautiful  city, and headed back to Les Halles for lunch before heading home. We found a lovely seafood stall that served food in a small section with tables and chairs and enjoyed a light meal of fresh mussels and tuna. Heading out of town we wanted to stop and see the Fonseranes Locks, which is a modern-day miracle of engineering and yet completed a few hundred year ago! In our youth when we lived in Germany we once rented a canal boat and traversed the Canal Alsace for a week, going through lots of locks, so we had a real interest in these. These locks simply left me speechless! What a marvel of creativity blended with commercial necessity. So happy we made time for this, which in my mind was the best “museum” we visited.

More later, Cindy and Wm

Lisbon and Beyond

 Our return to Charles Town went well arriving at the house at 10:30pm! We normally like to unpack and unwind before bed but we were exhausted and simply left everything for the morning. 

We had seven days before our next flight and lots of catching up to do. When you are gone for seven weeks, little things add up. Cindy began the process of laundry while I began to sort though seven weeks of mail.  Needless to say, we were quite busy for the next several days. We had brought too much luggage on our trip to Southern California but that was because we were carrying a portable piano, violin, ukulele, music stand, several iPads and assorted electrical cables. We were more of a traveling sideshow than tourists. We vowed never to bring so much stuff on another trip so we took care when packing for this trip.  We only carried one suitcase that fit in the overhead and one carry-on, thus avoiding checked luggage. Big mistake!

I figured I could survive a sixteen day trip without my pocket knife, chef’s knife and frying pan, all things that would have gone into a checked bag. I kept thinking if I really needed them I could buy them and give them away or leave them in the apartment. I felt a bit smug when I placed my bag on the TSA belt knowing I had nothing to fear and would be speeding towards our plane in no time. Imagine my surprise when my bag was routed on the side track and I was asked if they could open it. I was perplexed; what could be so dangerous looking? My offer to assist was greeted with a "please step away after you unlock the bag". I want you all to feel much, much safer knowing that TSA is on the job and found the offending item with only a twelve minute search. The item that provoked such concern?  My old faithful harmonica!  Now granted I could most likely force someone to commit suicide if they were to listen to me for any length of time, but I don’t think a harmonica by itself could do much harm. 

Our flight on TAP (Portugal Air) was very comfortable. Since it departed at 10:30 pm it did not take us very long to fall asleep and we enjoyed 4 hours of sleep before landing at 11:00 am. Again, we felt smug knowing we would be the first out of the plane and be able to rush through immigration while others waited for their luggage. It was not to be. We were assigned a bus gate and while we were the first to exit the plane we had to lug our luggage down the steep stairs to the big bus where, after an interminable twenty minutes, finally started the drive to the terminal. We were the last off the bus and had to wait for forty minutes to clear immigration.  As we made our way to our waiting taxi, we saw a few of our fellow passengers who had already collected their luggage and were ahead of us at the exit!

We arrived at our hotel in Estoril and were told our room would be ready at 3pm, so we stored our luggage and headed to the beach, a fifteen-minute walk down the hill. The weather was perfect, bright sun, cool breeze and glorious surf pounding on the rocks.  There is a long promenade and we began to walk and walk and shake off the effect of being stored in a tube for too long. We stopped at a cafe and had coffee and a local pasty, Pastel da Nada, which is custard in a flaky tart and simply delicious. We walked a bit more in the other direction and ended up returning to our coffee cafe where we split an omelette and some Vinho Verde, a low alcohol white wine that is slightly effervescent. I was looking at the prices of the wines and noted that they were about the same as California, which surprised me until I realized I was looking at the full bottle prince not the per glass price!! In Portugal a glass of ice cold wine was only about three dollars compared to twelve to fourteen in California, and it was much better! I immediately was over jet lag just knowing we were in for some great fun and great food and wine for the next three days.

Our long-time friends moved from Italy to Portugal last year and drove to Estoril to spend time with us. It was a marvelous adventure in culinary curiosity. The weather stayed perfect and we dined outside for each meal - almost always some variation of seafood and vegetables - except for one day when it rained and we drove to Sintra to see the wet sights while negotiating the wet streets and bobbing umbrellas. 

All too soon we had to be on our way to France and after a lovely farewell lunch we parted with promises to make sure we don’t wait so long to meet up again. Our driver was on time and we arrived in plenty of time to CHECK OUR LUGGAGE!  Once again we had a bus gate so we were truly happy to have checked our bags.  The flight to Barcelona was fast and comfortable and on time. Our luggage came quickly and we got our rental car and headed for France.

More on France later, best to all, Cindy and Wm  

Borrego and Beyond

 14 Feb 2023

February 2023

We left you, dear readers, on the curb as we departed for an overnight in Borrego Springs. We were remiss in not visiting this place while we lived in San Diego so we thought we go there while we were back in the area and had a car. 

It is a pleasant two hour drive, mostly back roads that are quite lovely now that we have had all the rain.  We passed several Indian Casinos, a few open air fruit markets and then headed uphill for about four thousand feet where there was nothing but open fields and cattle grazing. At about 4,500 ft we started our descent into the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest in California and about the size of Rhode Island, 650,000 square miles! As we drove down the narrow, twisting road Cindy provided color commentary since the only color I could see was the whites of my knuckles as I kept both eyes on the road. It is truly an inspiring view with lots of color from lots of layers of different soils, all eroded over time by what must have been a lovely wide river. Our first stop was the Interpretive Center run by the park service. A lovely spot with friendly guides and lots of trails, paths and information, not to mention the best and cheapest bottled spring water we had on the trip.  After an hour of walking, reading signs about the plants that we were looking at, and admiring the open vistas, we hopped in the car to scout out the rest of the area.  The park is famous for the annual "desert bloom" which usually occurs in mid-February or March.  We were a few weeks early but this year the verbena was already blooming and it was really pretty the way it covered the ground around the sculptures.  

We had been told that we had to see the hundred or so sculptures that dotted the desert within the town of Borrego Springs. As we were looking for them a dust storm kicked in - reminding us of Bahrain, which always makes us glad to be elsewhere.  We finally came upon the ‘animals’ that were sculpted out of metal and I must say they have to be seen to be believed.  These will wow you and it was so worth the effort. We spent an hour or so driving slowly in the car looking at these things and each time we would say that one is the best, but really, the best is the dragon going under the road!!  Quite wild!

We headed to our hotel for the night hoping to get a late lunch and a well deserved nap. After a quick check-in, we dropped our bags and headed for the resort restaurant where we were the only two folks there. No one seemed rushed since they are open from 7am to 10pm without a break so we ordered salads and wine. As we sat there looking out at the golf course, a large dog came trotting onto the course. We soon realized that it was a coyote, which brightened our day (being so close to nature). No sooner had he pranced out of sight but two more appeared and leisurely ambled in front of us wondering why we were having lunch so late. Ah, this is my idea of observing wildlife, cold wine in one hand, Cindy’s hand in my other and plate glass separating us from the wildebeests.

We took a long walk after our nap and by then the winds had died down so we had an undisturbed view forever without dust.  Really quite the spot, horseshoed in by three mountain ranges with a large dead lake at the open end.  After an hour of walking it started to get dark - and it gets dark quickly - so we wended our way across the golf course to the bar and had cocktails before being escorted to our very same table as that afternoon. Again, we were the only ones dining so we took it nice and easy and had a great time, even without wildlife sightings. 

By the time we were done it was dark, very, very, very dark. Borrego Springs is recognized by whatever organization does such things as an International Dark Sky Park. We walked out to the darkest spot on the grounds and there were stars everywhere from the edge of the desert to the edge of space.  I have been in the middle of oceans and saw lots of stars but nothing like this. Thank god there were no mosquitos or they would have filled my mouth! Cindy pointed out constellations that city boys never saw before and as I followed her commentary, there were shooting stars distracting my attention.  It was all quite marvelous and such a unique experience for us. 

The next day after a nice long walk we headed up the hill and back toward Oceanside but this time via Julian. Julian is a little ‘western’ village at about 4,000 feet noted for its apples and of course, apple pies. The town is nothing more than a mile of old time shops on either side of the road, each one promising you the very best, most authentic apple pie along with all manner of bric-a-brac and clothing and home decor depicting apples. We of course stopped to compare the pie offerings and settled on "Mom's Pies" where Cindy had a slice of blueberry and I chose mixed berry, both delicious!  We then purchased a sphere of goodness that was a traditional crust surrounding cooked apples - who knew a pie could look like a large softball?  Heading home with the aroma of a fresh apple pie in the car, we marveled at how diverse the geography is in this part of SoCal.  Within two hours we went from ocean to mountains, to skiing areas, to desert. Of course, once back in civilization we had to contend with lots of traffic, but the short trip had been well worth the effort and we were ever so pleased to have had the experience. 

We packed up and departed California four days later and had a blessed seven days at home getting ready for the next adventure in Portugal and France.  More on that later..  Best to all, Cindy and William

Arts Food and Culture

 January 2023

In the six weeks that we have been here, we have visited two museums, walked by another, visited the Mission San Luis Rey, listened to a band play half a song at the Sunset Market and endured numerous buskers playing under bridges - where we could not linger lest we get a contact high - and more singers on the Oceanside Pier.  We took pictures of the cottage that was featured in the first Top Gun, as well as a picture of me on Tom Cruise's motorcycle. The cottage was moved from Miramar and now houses a shop that makes really good fried fruit mini-pies. Okay, that covers Arts and Culture, now onto food.

But first, an hour’s diversion that combined culture and food. Cindy booked a tour at the Carlsbad Aqua-culture Farm.

(See it has culture in the title). https://carlsbadaquafarmersmarket.com/  

Oh what fun. They took a group of a dozen people and walked us through the entire process of growing oysters and mussels in their fifty foot lagoon, which is fed directly by the Pacific Ocean across the street.  It is a lovely tour led by a marine biologist who really knew her stuff. They can grow an oyster in only about five months and mussels in about eight. They sell all the mussels to Whole Foods and the oysters are all sold locally to folks who drop by to pick up a few dozen. After all the science we were escorted to a boardwalk overlooking the lagoon where barrels had been set up with napkins, plates of lemon wedges, hot sauces, gloves and a couple of shucking knives. Our guide gave us a quick lesson in how to open an oyster and then placed a dozen oysters on each barrel for two. Because of all the rain, these oysters came from Washington State; we were told it would take two weeks for the oysters to cleanse themselves once the rains stopped. The runoff from the rains contains lots of bad things from farm fields and sometimes from sewers, but the oysters can recover well. We had a swell time opening oysters and sliding them down our gullets.  We have had lots more oysters during our visit since many places have a happy hour where you can get oysters for a buck and a half, cheap nowadays. 

We discovered that there are really two areas in Oceanside where you can find a variety of restaurants at a variety of prices. There is the Marina which has seven restaurants and a coffee shop and is a ten minute walk from us, and there is downtown with dozens of restaurants that is a fifteen minute walk. Downtown prices are about 10% to 15% higher than the Marina but of course you have lots more choices. We have mostly eaten at the Marina and usually at the same two restaurants.  Highlights have been Ahi wonton tacos, which is a silly name for a marvelous appetizer consisting of deep fried wontons topped with bits of really fresh Ahi and drizzled with a slightly spicy wasabi sauce with shreds of fresh ginger. Where the taco comes in is something we never figured out. The same restaurant also has really good shredded chicken lettuce cups with sweet Thai chili sauce. You can sit outside and admire all the big boats in the harbor that never seem to be used, but then again it is January and the weather has been awful until just recently.

My favorite meal has been at the Lighthouse restaurant, the closest to the apartment. They have a Sand Dab dinner that is one of the best I’ve ever had. Sand Dabs are delicate white fish in the flounder family and they are lightly dipped in an egg bath, dusted with flour and quickly pan fried in butter. Served with grilled vegetables and wasabi potatoes, it is the most marvelous meal that I have had on the trip.  Cindy has enjoyed a delightful favorite, calamari taco, which is a real taco with grilled calami topped with shredded Napa cabbage and lemony sauce. Neither of us are fond of California wines and being in California our wine choices have been limited but we can usually find a nice New Zealand or Italian wine to savor with our meals.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention one of the best places we have visited. It is Osteria Romantica in La Jolla Shores, a quick ten minute ride from our timeshare where we stayed our first two weeks out here. We were there twice and we didn’t have a bad mouthful. It was the best pesto outside of Genoa, really that good. They have a pappardelle with lamb that makes you want to eat it at lunch and go back for it at dinner.  They also offer pan-seared baby artichokes served with the stem and covered with a butter, garlic and lemon sauce, crazy delicious crispy baby calamari, a spectacular duck salad, not to mention their home made bread and tiramisu for dessert and a great Italian wine served by the carafe. Worth a detour from where ever!

Our kitchen here in Oceanside is more than serviceable which has been a blessing with all the bad weather we had at first. I’ve roasted chickens, seared salmon, flipped omelettes and tossed lots of salads. We have a car so we try to do a week’s shopping at a time which so far has worked out well, enabling us to ignore the foul weather and stay warm and dry with good food and wine.

We have one more week here before heading home. We’ll drive to Borrego Springs in the desert about two hours from here. The place is famous for the "Desert Abloom,"  which is normally in mid Feb but with all the rain there are lots of blooms out now. We’ll spend the night and hope for clear skies for stargazing and perhaps a shot at seeing the Green Comet, which  I’m calling a cultural event!!

Best to all,  Cindy and Wm

Carlsbad Aquafarm