Cover Photo: Ellen posing in front of a “Trabi” or Trabant, an East German vehicle. Ellen’s Thoughts: Who Knew! Not at all what I expected! Then I am not sure what I expected.We went on a walking tour and the guide was fantastic! He was 28 years old, doing graduate school in Sociology after deciding […]
Food
Strasbourg
We trained from Avignon to Strasbourg through beautiful farms, vineyards, forests, and villages. The iconic red poppies are blooming all over the place. Our lodging was only about a long three blocks away, so we walked. It was an apartment/hotel, meaning that rooms were efficiencies. In this case, very efficient, as our second bed had […]
Avignon
It’s been a while, (37 years at least), since I’ve been to Avignon. All I really remembered was that I liked it, and that there were signs on the ramparts that pointed to where the different types of wine are produced. We decided we needed a layover day to catch up on emails, posts, bookings, planning, […]
Lyon
We saw Jack and Janie in Montreal when Blakey and Julia were graduating from McGill some 8 years ago. Before that, I hadn’t seen Jack since we traveled after I worked at L’Hotel de la Plage in the summer of 1979. We didn’t really know what to expect, but looked forward to seeing each other. […]
Porto
It seemed strange as we were looking for lodging how booked up everything in Porto was. We now understand. This was the weekend of the Porto leg of the Rally de Portugal, an auto race that takes place on public roads and streets (blocked to the public during the races of course). The 1.85 km […]
Granada
I have never been happier than traveling with my wife and Nancy, the new addition to our team. (Actually, Nancy told me to say that, but it isn’t that bad. Really) Granada is a pretty great town. Within a few hours, we were considering how it would be to spend a few months here next […]
Olon
Olon is the place on the beach that we like the most. It is walkable from the house, although 3-4 miles on the beach. It is a sea of tranquility, particularly as the closest town to the north of Mantanita. There are a bunch of tiendas (small stores) located throughout, many small hostels and hotels, […]
Froggy’s
We met Sunday night at Froggy’s. Froggy’s Fish Market is another Topangan institution. For the last bit it’s only open on weekend nights, so Sunday worked well. One would have to say that Froggy’s epitomizes Topanga casual (sheik?) It is very common these days to find restaurants and pubs that are decorated with a bunch […]
Santa Cruz Environs
Blakey was a great tour guide, exploring Santa Cruz and its surrounding area with us. We drove up to UC Santa Cruz. I didn’t get photos, but the place seemed like a ski resort without snow. The buildings didn’t look anything like any college I’ve ever seen. It is located on top of a mountain, […]
Sunshower Farm
We pulled into Sunshower Farm in Soquel, (not to be confused with SoCal), on Thursday afternoon. Amy was there to greet us, Blakey came an hour later. Sunshower Farm is a property that Ellen’s brother Tim and his then wife Sue bought and built about 25 years ago. Molly, their daughter was born and raised […]