Category Archives: Uncategorized

Happy New Year! We are currently going through the tedium of shuttering up before we head out on the annual bucket list trip. It really does feel like it’s end of a year in August and a new beginning. Every August I find myself making resolutions for October and regretting those not resolved while cheeringContinue reading “Happy LB New Year: Feliz Año Nuevo!”

As I’ve said before, our visitors inspire us to take time off from chores and explore. We have been wanting to go to San Miguel for years, and so very glad our friend Tricia arranged a stay at her friends really amazing zero lot home (calling it an apartment does not do it justice). GivenContinue reading “San Miguel de Allende: At last and worth the wait!”

It’s April again and still finding new stuff most every day but also delighting in the rhythm of life. I say that because I just found 3 pairs of cardinals in one of our orange trees as i sipped my coffee. This year we decided to go to Carnaval in La Paz. Besides the factContinue reading “The Magic of the Desert:”

Brant and I love that we live in a place that is fun to visit. Even if we get to be boring company there is always a beautiful beach out there. That said we had terrific holidays with family and friends. So what do you do when the last group leaves for the airport? YouContinue reading “Oaxaca: A special opportunity to see a special place”

Time for another Christmas Card Blog that sadly won’t be set to music as Brant did for so many years, but it does instantly become part of our running blog aka our digital photo album. Some traditions change… I went back and reviewed my old Christmas entries in an effort to not be too repetitive.Continue reading “The (Belated) Christmas Blog: ….Traditions and resolutions…both worth keeping!”

I questioned the wisdom of visiting too many cities on this trip…Brooklyn, Porto, Lisbon, Lyon, Nice, Sete, Bordeaux and Paris, but I have to say in retrospect each was truly separate and distinct. Honestly I think the people were very similar in all the cities…for me it’s the architecture, geography and food that varies. IContinue reading “From Bordeaux to Paris: All is good but Starting to miss a good margarita!”

Time to leave Oppede as we had a week or so to get to Paris and catch a flight home. We had a hard time with decision making as there were just too many options but decided to fo to Sete in part because a friend wanted to meet us there for lunch. The otherContinue reading “Leaving Provence: Now for the rest of the story!”

I do this blog to create memories of our travels and so that we can remind us of what we did and how we felt about each place. I try to avoid the extraneous details and of course try to gloss over any tedium. I think this trip has created the longest list of “goContinue reading “The Provence I imagined….but we needed a few more days to seize here!”

Hated to leave the gorges but many more towns to see. Next up is a town in Northern Provence. The drive was easy except for my constant desire to stop and see things. In regards to food nearly all has been very good to excellent. The timing of meals can be tricky though. Lunch isContinue reading “Reilhananette to Oppede: we really need to change Siri to a French accent but then we wouldn’t understand her”

I had researched a dozen places I wanted to visit on the way to Moustiers, each requiring about a one hour drive. So we picked one, which was questionable to me as it seemed a bit touristy and we hate to be associated with what we are, but we went there and it was wonderful.Continue reading “The Gorges du Vernon: A camera really can’t capture it, I think I need the newest IPhone.”

We really wanted to have a car in France but we also wanted to check out the rail system and avoid backtracking with the car. Also it’s just so relaxing to be on a train…most of the time. So we boarded a train from Lyon to Grenoble where we changed to a smaller rain headedContinue reading “Leaving Lyon for Nice: More than a nice Nice time!”

Another easy flight into Lyon and a taxi ride to another donkey path and stairs. The taxi cost more than doubled between here and Lisbon so we did a bit more walking. All of this was forgotten when Fran swung around the corner (very unexpectedly) with her beautiful smile, (Fran stayed with us as anContinue reading “Lyon: Streetwalkers, Sick Workers and Silk Workers—-and LOL”

I really loved Lisbon. It had a great energy about it. And just a great variety. It also had a few less steps than Porto. And the Uber drivers were funny and informative. The driver bringing us in convinced us to go to Madeira Islands where he is from. He also gave us a greatContinue reading “Lisbon to Lyon: It has Moxie!”

So glad we got a good breakfast in Obidos because the day unfolded a bit differently than expected—-as frequently occurs with travel. Thanks to Alvaro we found a beautiful spot on the coast for a quick hike then hit the road for Sintra. We had already circumnavigated one castle and we had advance tickets toContinue reading “Sintra from Obidos: Been there and done that!”

Great roads in Portugal, but I can say that because Brant is driving. We had a hard time sorting out our stops on the way to Lisbon but opted against Coimbra (the former Capital) downtown as we felt we had enough city and downtowns are no fun to drive in. But we did make aContinue reading “To Obidos: Romans, surfers and a prisoner”

An easy flight next to to a young “portanite”who took my phone and amended and added to our list of stops. He seemed to have enjoyed climbing the bridge. And he definitely enjoyed eating! A cab driver dropped us off at the top of what he called a donkey path to our lodging . TheContinue reading “Porto: A unique city”

I am a bit reluctant to write this blog because I have a hard time not being honest. This is an extraordinarily beautiful really sort of magical place but I hate to encourage more tourism that might spoil it. We arrived after a great visit with Maris and Gabe filled with food, music, drink andContinue reading “From Brooklyn to the Azores: Trust the young people to show you a good time!”

People always ask what we do here in the summer. How do we cope with the heat, what is left to do? It’s a good question. We wondered too but we have kind of established a bit of a rhythm which seems pleasant though still a bit odd. This year we worked on lots ofContinue reading “A few summertimes pics…..”

I love Cabo Pulmo! (A big marine preserve). When we first went there about 20 years ago it was just a handful of homes and some beautiful wind sculpted beaches. There was one restaurant with a lot of stray cats and a dirt road often disappearing off a cliff or into the ocean. So niceContinue reading ““Honey, why are we so tired?””