Barcelona

Hi, All!  I haven’t posted much since we returned to the U.S. after our Caminos this summer.  There’s a good reason for that.  As we hinted we might, we bought an apartment in Barcelona, sold our house in Santa Fe, and moved!  We’ve spent the last four weeks in Barcelona and will be here another two before heading to Miami for the winter.

Several people have asked why we chose Barcelona so here’s a recap on our decision-making process.  First, if you know me, you know I was born in Spain (Sevilla), speak Spanish, and love all things Spain.  Fortunately, I’ve been blessed with a husband who also, well…loves Spain.  He’s working on improving his Spanish and having great success.  He’s also deeply committed to environmental causes and acutely aware of the effects climate change might have on us in the short to mid-term.  So, while we love Madrid, we sat down, sharpened our pencils (not) and evaluated the odds for various locations in Spain.  In the end, Barcelona’s moderate climate (75^o F/24^o C today, November 12), beach location with proximity to mountains, easy access to the rest of Europe via plane and train, youthful culture, and access to satellite locations of our U.S. clubs made Barcelona the right choice for us.

That said, like many of our relocation impulses (and there have been a few), it was still a stab in the dark.  After four weeks, however, we’re calling it a smashing success!

The move itself and the apartment set-up have been seamless even though we experienced several “firsts”.  The actual move involved three different entities: one to pack us up, one to ship our goods to Spain, and one to collect our things from the port authority and deliver them to the new apartment.  Since the Panama Canal has dreadfully low water levels, the shipping company made a last-minute decision to switch the departure port from Los Angeles to Houston, which meant our container sailed directly from Houston to Barcelona with a couple of stops along the way.  No need to traverse the canal.  Then, in a stroke of luck, our goods cleared customs in less than 24 hours and were ready for delivery 10 days before we arrived!

When we finally arrived, we met the owner for a final walk-through, picked up a bank check(!) to pay the balance due on the apartment, met the realtor for coffee, and attended the closing.  It was all very exciting, but since we had only slept for four hours, we were happy to check into a hotel and grab a siesta.  The following day the furniture arrived, and we witnessed how furniture is moved into 100-year-old, state-protected historic structures.  Hint: it isn’t up the hand-painted U-shaped marble staircase, and it isn’t in the antique cage elevator complete with an exterior metal door, etched glass-panel interior double doors, wooden paneling, and wooden seat.  It has to come up the outside of the building.  It turns out that many buildings in Barcelona, ours included, have these curious metal bars jutting out from just below the roof.  Historically, these were used to haul furniture up to the apartments piece by piece.  In our case, there was too much furniture and too many obstacles on the sidewalk below (sidewalk construction and a restaurant with terrace seating).  Instead, a spiffy little cart arrived with a platform that could be raised and lowered from the ground to our 4^th floor apartment.  Everything came in through the balcony and double doors in what would become our office.  The operation took eight men and 10 hours.  I’m happy to report that the building suffered no damage, but I imagine the men were hurting at the end of the day.

Back on the topic of construction: Barcelona is undergoing several construction projects.  One block to our north a major water and tram project is underway.  Just outside our windows (see above), one road has been repaved and a bicycle lane installed, and a second road has been made pedestrian only.  All around the city huge infrastructure upgrades are in the works.  It’s all very exciting but noisy.  We’re hoping most of the work will be done soon.  I’ve heard more jackhammering here than I did in Manhattan!  The result should be a more pedestrian-friendly, greener, and quieter city.

Since moving in, we’ve been organizing the apartment and setting up our internet, utilities, and other accounts.  I won’t bore you with that, though.  After crawling out from under those, we’ve started exploring the city.

Dan and Yaz were our first official visitors. 

Dan and Yaz at SoHo House Barcelona.

In between eating, eating, and eating, we decided to take in some culture and headed over to Barcelona’s Design Museum “El Museu de Disseny”.  The museum holds three floors of aerospace and graphic design, as well as a decorative arts section and clothing design.

The graphic arts exhibit traced the arc of graphic design as it evolved following the death of Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.  Under his control, Spain languished culturally as his government frowned upon anything that might be considered avant-garde or otherwise “radical”.  Upon his death, however, artists and graphic designers began to spread their design wings impacting everything from posters to cigarette labels.  The exhibit was set up chronologically.  Unfortunately, we went through it backwards so while we saw everything, the impact was muted, and it was difficult to appreciate the breadth of the flourishing of design over the years.

The clothing exhibit paid tribute to four centuries of changes in fashion, relating the fabrics, styles, and especially the silhouettes to societal patterns.  While one generation favored the wasp waist and bountiful chests, another celebrated hips and bums.  Hats went in and out of style, as did trains, coattails, mutton sleeves, no sleeves, waistcoats, corsets, stays, and, in the roaring twenties, the lack of any structure at all.  I can safely say that Yaz and I loved this exhibit.  Dave enjoyed it, while Dan merely tolerated it.

In the decorative arts section, we unanimously agreed that the carriage stole the show.

Sadly, we missed the aerospace exhibit.  Must have been up in the air 😉.

Dinner was at The Green Spot, a super cool Scandinavian-inspired haven of zen-cool design with outstanding food and service and a damn-fine wine list.

By Week Four, we began to establish a schedule.  If you know us, you know we like to walk 5+ miles a day and figuring out how to do this is a challenge in any city.  I know that many of you are thinking “five miles, no problem”!  True, but we like the 5 to be strictly exercise with any additional walking, to museums, restaurants et cetera merely icing on the cake.

Barcelona provides several obvious walking opportunities.  The beach, with its lovely boardwalk and views, the Ciudadela Park, site of the 1888 World Expo with its surviving architectural gems, sculptures, and zoo, Tibidabo Mountain, site of a fantastic cathedral and adjacent 19^th century amusement park (I’m not kidding) with views over the entire city and Mediterranean Sea, Park Güell, Gaudi’s landscaped masterpiece, also with views, and Montjuic, site of the 1929 World Expo, complete with Museums: Catalan Art, Ethnology, Anthropology, Architecture, gorgeous gardens, and oh yeah, views.

So, what to do with this wealth of opportunity?  First, figure out how to access it on a regular basis without spending a fortune.  You see, after years of living in Europe’s touristic hinterlands, Spain has discovered out how to monetize tourists.  Here are the challenges:

• The Ciudadela Zoo, which adds a mile or two and endless entertainment to our walk, costs 21€ per person for a day pass.  Solution? Buy a year-long family membership for 80€ and go whenever you want!  Good for walking, good for the animals, good for the environment.  We visit twice a week, and I’m pretty sure the animals are starting to recognize us – especially the hungry-looking tiger.  I cannot express the joy I get from seeing the animals go through their daily routines (a Silver-back gorilla can spend 15 minutes scratching his head to find one nit – then he takes only a second to eat it), and Dave is getting over his impatience at my endless wonderment.

• Monte Tibidabo, which normal people access by taking a metro train or bus to the funicular and then making the final ascent on the funicular itself, took us several hours of walking, and even then, we had to take a taxi at the end, nonetheless clocking 12 miles that day.  Oops.  Solution: taxis and The National, a touristy venue with wine bars and restaurants in a large airy space on the Paseo de Gracia where you can sip the courage to walk the final distance home.

• Park Güell, a mere mile from our apartment, also charges access fees, which we would rather not pay on a bi-weekly basis.  Solution: Gaudir Mes, a registration with the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona (City Hall) available to locals, which gives us free access any time we want to go!!!!  It’s beautiful and peaceful – except our kids keep calling.

• Montjuic turned out to not be a problem.  We walk down pedestrian-only Calle Girona for about 5 blocks, turn right on pedestrian-only Calle Consell de Cent for another ~2 miles, and soon enter Montjuic from any one of its access points.  Bonus: we’ve discovered Veganashi, a vegan sushi joint with some of the most creative vegan sushi we’ve ever had, and it even looks (scarily) like fish!  Who knew a thin slice of banana looks just like hamachi???  It’s owned by a young Portuguese woman named Debora, with whom we’re already on cheek-to-cheek kissing terms.  On the way back we can walk through the original Barcelona neighborhoods of El Raval, El Gótico, and El Born hitting (or missing) all the classic tourist joints they encompass.

• The beach?  We actually don’t make it down there much, but if you come visit, we’ll take you!

Outdoor exercise?  Solved.

Now how about that “feeling like you’re home” issue?  We’re lucky in that our two clubs, the Yale Club and SoHo House, both have Barcelona venues.  SoHo House is down near the Barceloneta and waterfront and also has a beach club a couple of train stops south in the teeny-tiny, picturesque town of Garraf.  In Barcelona, Friday nights find us at the SoHo House bar dining on Endive Salad and Vegan Smash Burgers and chatting up the bar staff.  The Yale Club has a reciprocal relationship with the Círculo Ecuestre (half a mile from out apartment).  We tend to go there for a glass (bottle?) of Cava before heading out to dinner.  The two clubs are seriously different, with SoHo asking that members wear casual, creative attire and the Círculo Ecuestre asking guests to respect traditional business attire.  The two form nice alternatives for us.

Now, are we getting to see any art?  Duh!  Yes! 

On a recent visit to the Picasso Museum, we were fortunate to see the joint Picasso-Miró exhibit.  While Picasso was not technically from Catalunya, the community has adopted him as one of their own, and he donated a large collection of works to found a museum in his name there. Joan Miró was born in Barcelona. The two met in Paris, where Miró went to study in 1921.  A Picasso fan, Miró sought the grand master out there, and the two became friends, a friendship that would last over 50 years.

I must admit my ignorance relative to Pablo Picasso.  As a young person, I never quite understood the appeal.  His stuff was weird!  It was only after a visit to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona in the late 1990’s that I understood his mastery of classic painting and his later exploration of newer creative forms.  Only in realizing that he was a master of classical painting technique could I appreciate his later work.  In short, I’m a fan, but I can’t claim to have been an early adopter.  In fact, had I been a gallerist, I would have failed massively with recognizing his genius!  Oh well, better late than never.

Perhaps this late recognition of Picasso enabled me to appreciate Miró more quickly.  I love his quirky, colorful approach to art.  Friends might disagree, but I find his work less intellectually rigorous than Picasso’s but infinitely more whimsical and fun. 

The exhibit tracks Picasso’s influence on Miró’s work once the younger man arrived in Paris.

We have only just begun to explore Barcelona, so stay tuned for more!

Albiquiú, New Mexico

Abiquiú, New Mexico

As we prepare to leave New Mexico, we’ve decided to visit some iconic places that we have yet to see.  Abiquiú (pronounced Ab-i-cue) is one such place. 

Map of north-central New Mexico showing Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and several Indian Pueblos.

Fifty-three miles north of Santa Fe, Abiquiú is nestled in the Piedra Lumbre Valley along the Río Chama and surrounded by iconic mountains, such as Cerro Pedernal, and several stunning sandstone and gypsum rock formations in bands of beige and red.  With a population of only 150 people, you might think there isn’t a lot going on here, but you’d be wrong.

View of Cerro Pedernal.

Pueblo Indians settled New Mexico some 10,000 years ago and are still present in the State, many living on tribal lands and continuing to produce the fine crafts that their ancestors perfected centuries ago.  European settlement of New Mexico began in the 1590’s when Spaniards began building settlements here.  Relations between the Spaniards and the Pueblo Indians were naturally tense as Spanish colonists erected settlements, purchased Native slaves, mined the land, and tried to convert the Natives to Christianity.  Nonetheless, with the exception of one bloody uprising, the 11-day Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which resulted in the Spanish being temporarily driven from New Mexico, the Spanish remained in control.  Spanish settlement was again threatened in the mid-1700’s as Comanche, Apache, and Navajo warriors entered the region to conduct raids, killing settlers, taking captives, and stealing cattle and horses.  To protect the more southern settlements at Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the Spanish began to offer land grants to groups of “genízaros”, previously enslaved Native Americans.  The land grants were conditioned on the grantees’ establishing settlements to buffer Spanish settlements from the Native aggressors.

Built on the site of a 13^th-16^th century Tewa Pueblo, Abiquiú was first settled in 1742 by 24 Tewa families who had previously been driven from their ancestral New Mexico lands, likely by lengthy repeated droughts. They were accompanied by a Roman Catholic priest.  After a Comanche raid in 1747 in which 23 women and children were taken captive, the Tewa abandoned Abiquiú.  In 1754, 34 Tewa families returned, having been issued a land grant by the Spanish authorities. In the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American War, the U.S. agreed to recognize the New Mexico land grants.  However, of the 282 original land grants issued to Indian Pueblo groups, Spanish settlers, government officials, and military officers, only 22 were eventually recognized as valid.  In 1909, the U.S. Court of Private Land Claims recognized the Abiquiú land grant of 16,000 acres, thereby ensuring its survival.

Georgia O’Keeffe first visited New Mexico in 1929, when she was 42 years old.  A native of Wisconsin, she was by then living in New York City with her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, a photographer and art dealer.  Becoming enamored with New Mexico, she began spending the summer months there.  In 1934, she visited Ghost Ranch, just west of Abiquiú. 

She came for a night and ended up staying for the summer.  Some years later, she purchased a home and seven acres from Ghost Ranch’s owner, Arthur Newton Pack, a noted environmentalist from a wealthy family, and his second wife, Phoebe.  More on the Packs and Ghost Ranch later.

This is the cottage that Georgia O’Keeffe rented when she first came to Ghost Ranch.  It is available for overnight stays.

The view north and east from her Abiquiú home.

The site benefited from guaranteed access to water, a large garden, and a single adobe wall, evidence of the home that once graced it.  Soon after acquiring the deed, Alfred Stiegllitz died, and Georgia returned to New York where she spent the next three years settling his estate.  Her friend, Maria Chabot, a rancher and patroness of Native American art, oversaw the construction of the O’Keeffe compound during those years.  The detailed, friendly, and sometimes heated correspondence between the two women was published in a book entitled “Maria Chabot – Georgia O’Keeffe: Correspondence 1941 – 1949.  One of their big disputes arose over the location of the studio structure, which included Georgia’s bedroom.  Maria prevailed and the studio was built to the north of the house with a spectacular orientation that inspired many of O’Keeffe’s later works. 

Georgia O’Keeffe’s studio at Abiquiú.

Georgia’s bedroom, right off the studio. The walls are a rich, soft gray adobe from a deposit she found when wandering the Abiquiú area.

Georgia’s living room where she would sit endless hours listening to classical music and enjoying the view of a Tamarisk tree that she planted in her garden.

The Model A Ford that Georgia tricked out to accommodate her paints and easels for plein air painting.  A notorious loner, rumor has it that she would hide underneath the car to avoid strangers.

The home and studio are open to the public and are Abiquiú’s biggest claim to fame.  More info here: https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/homes/

Ghost Ranch, where we stayed for two nights, is the other local attraction in the Piedra Lumbre Valley. 

Oddly, the only research I did prior to booking a room there was on the Ghost Ranch website so I really had no idea what we were getting into.  It’s a quirky place, currently owned by the Presbyterian Church and run as a sort of downscale dude ranch and wellness/spiritual/educational center.  To say the accommodations are rustic and the meal service low-key would be an understatement!

This restored log cabin is much nicer looking than the accommodations!

Despite that, we had a great time hiking the Box Canyon Trail, so named because it ends in a rocky dead-end, visiting the on-site anthropology and paleontology museums, and dining on simple but delicious vegetarian fare at the cafeteria that resembled a food hall at a kid’s summer camp (but not of the exclusive type).  The highlight, by far, was the docent-led history tour of Ghost Ranch. 

The Box Canyon Trail ends here.

Valley View over Abiquiú Lake, the happy result of damming the Río Chama.

Encompassing 21,000 acres, Ghost Ranch is part of a land grant made in 1766 and “homesteaded” in the 1880’s by the Archuleta brothers.  I put the word in quotation marks because the brothers were infamous cattle rustlers who had no intention of settling down there, but they liked the series of easily defended box canyons where they could stash their stolen cattle when angry owners and/or the law came looking for them. 

Cattlemen passing through were known to disappear after a night of the Archuleta’s hospitality, and the gang would be seen sporting the cattlemen’s clothes and riding their horses soon after.  At the time, the ranch became known as El Rancho de los Brujos (“Witch Ranch” or more accurately “Sorcerer’s Ranch”) due to claims that people could hear the dead cattlemen’s screams, claims of unexplained sightings, and other strange phenomena.

Eventually, one of the brothers killed the other in a dispute over buried gold.  The surviving brother kidnapped the dead man’s wife and child threatening to kill them unless they revealed the location of the gold.  Braving the cold desert night and wandering spirits of the dead, the mother and child escaped and notified the authorities.  A local posse assembled and descended on the ranch where they hung the murderer from a cottonwood tree that still stands before the ranch house.  In no time the house was renamed “Ghost House”.

Ghost House and the hanging tree.

In 1928, serial gambler LeRoy Pfaffle won the deed to the ranch in a poker game, but his wife, the conservatory-trained daughter of a well-off Boston family, having tired of her husband’s shenanigans, had the deed recorded in her name and divorced the bum.  She renamed the property “Ghost Ranch” and turned it into a dude ranch for city slickers wanting to rusticate in the western U.S.  Carol Bishop Stanley Pfaffle rented a casita to Georgia O’Keeffe upon the latter’s first visit in 1934 (image above).  In 1935, Carol sold Ghost Ranch to Arthur Newton Pack and his wife, Eleanor, nicknamed “Brownie”.

Arthur and Brownie moved to Ghost Ranch with their three children and the children’s tutor.  Evidently, the tutor’s charms proved irresistible to Brownie, and she ran away with him.  In 1936 Arthur married Phoebe Finlay, and they remained on the ranch with their two children until 1946, at which point they began to spend more time in Arizona.  In 1955, Arthur decided it was time to leave Ghost Ranch for good, and being a wealthy conservationist, he began to scout for potential grantees who would serve as good stewards of the property.  He eventually reached an agreement with the Presbyterian Church, and the Church owns the property to this day.

Ghost Ranch is home to one of the most important Triassic period (230 – 200 million years ago) fossil sites in the U.S.  In 1947, the first Coelophysis skeleton was discovered there.  Coelophysis is North America’s oldest fossil.  It is the progenitor of the Raptor family, which includes the now well-known Velociraptor.  Standing about 3 feet tall, reaching a length of 10 feet, and weighing only 40-50 pounds, Coelophysis is New Mexico’s official State Fossil.

Source: https://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Coelophysis_Animatronics_model_NHM2_eb56.jpg

We came away with a strong sense of the Piedra Lumbre’s historical, artistic, and geological value and are so happy we “fell” into it.  Perhaps the spirits were calling.

New York and Trip Home

June 23 – 24 – NYC

Arriving at JFK on Thursday, we collected our bags (one hour) and headed into Manhattan (1 ½ hours).

On Friday, I was able to catch up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen for years.  I’m trying to do more of that.  Life is short, and I don’t want to lose contact with special people.  We talked and talked and only parted when Dave reminded me that we had to catch a train to see Chris at his new apartment in Connecticut.  So off we went to spend another enjoyable evening with Chris.

The next morning, we rushed to make member’s hours at the Met.  We were anxious to see the Karl Lagerfeld exhibit. 

Lagerfeld was born in Germany in 1933; he died in 2019 after an incredible career spanning 65 years and including many of the major fashion design houses.  He worked at Balmain, Patou, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, and his own label and was a Creative Director at Fendi, Chloé, Chanel, and of course at his own house.  He was known for (among other things) his skill and focus on sketching his designs to a point where they became mini artworks of their own rather than merely graphic suggestions of a design idea. 

The stars of the exhibit were, of course, the 150 dresses mounted on mannequins custom-made for the show.  The curators set up a dialogue between seemingly opposing style trends, such as Historicist-Modernist, Romantic-Classicist, and Decorative-Minimalist.  The Historicist/Romantic/Decorative garments are based on a Serpentine line, while the Modernist/Classicist/Minimalist garments are based on a Geometric line.  In the middle of each room, a dress mounted on a pedestal represented a reconciliation of these dueling tendencies.

I took way too many pictures and yet could not capture the entirety of this fabulous exhibit.  Fashion lovers, this is for you!

The Lagerfeld persona: sunglasses, black tie, black fingerless gloves, black jacket, jewelry, fan.  All in black and white.

The first dress in the exhibit showed classic 1980’s style with flowing lines, v-tipped sleeves, and a no-nonsense collar.

The fashion world’s attitude toward animal fur has changed over the years, with many leading design firms now rejecting any use of fur.  Obviously, this coat predates such concerns.

Serpentine and Geometric lines vie for dominance in this dress.

While this outfit represents a harmonic melding of Serpentine and Geometric lines.

Geometric black and white business-inspired attire.

Romanticism in simple black lines.

More Romanticism in black.

Business on top, Romantic below. 

A dress based on 1830’s southern stye reflects pastoral symbolism.

In the same room, military imagery jousts with southern romanticism.

Historic symbolism melds with sheer-cut modernism.

Asian-influenced pastoral Romanticism.

Asian-influenced Geometric Modernism.

A modern leather jacket tops a flowing Baroque skirt.

Space Age coat.

Chanel meets Oscar de la Renta?

A simple, sparkling evening dress melds Serpentine and Geometric lines.

Dresses representing the hand-crafted tradition, with crochet work, feathers, and fur.

This amazing dress also references hand-crafted creations.

In the same room, these garments speak to machine-based creations.

Out for the evening in gold.

Gown ornamented with ceramic appliques.  This dress comes with a warning: Heavy!

Simple elegance in black and white.

Geometric Romanticism: adding ecru softens the black and white theme.

Summer floral Romanticism with netting and appliqués.

Cruella DeVille-inspired?  With a masked bunny?  Or something else?

Flemish tapestry inspiration.

Mage inspiration.

Classic Lagerfeld: coat with a puppet of…Karl Lagerfeld!

Dress with a graphic image of…Karl Lagerfeld.

Tee with a hand-drawn image of…you guessed it: Karl Lagerfeld.

Sartorial whimsy: dress with an appliqué purse.  Why bother with the real thing?

This dress has an electrical theme.

I arrived at this exhibit with low expectations.  My knowledge of Karl Lagerfeld’s work was nil.  I thought of him as “that guy with the black and white sartorial obsession, ghostly white complexion, who lost 100 pounds in the 90’s”.  I left with a profound appreciation for his genius and an awareness of the loss to the world of haute couture.

Watch a 16-minute tour of the exhibit here:

https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/a-line-of-beauty

June 24: Travel Woes Redux

So, I’m not mentioning any names, but I’d like to.  Our afternoon flight began beautifully.  Easy boarding, on-time, happy crew.  Then things started to go sideways. 

Three minutes into our taxi toward the runway, the plane stopped, and the engines idled.  The captain hopped on the PA to say that Air Traffic Control was overwhelmed and needed to hold all outgoing planes until they could clear the traffic.  Fifteen minutes later, we received clearance to taxi.  Two minutes later, we stopped again.  ATC had closed our previously cleared route, and a new one had to be prepared.  Ten minutes after that, we were on our way again.  Eureka! 

Not two minutes later, a medical emergency arose, with a man passed out in the aisle in the rear of the plane.  Two passengers, a doctor and a nurse, rushed to help him, but he remained unresponsive.  We returned to the gate.  Next thing we knew, port authority police appeared.  No medical personnel.  Sometime later, a happy-go-lucky passenger in a playful Hawaiian-themed short and shirt set bounced off the plane.  It was the patient!  He wanted to remain on board, but the captain refused, fearing a midair relapse. 

At this point, the captain informed us we had burned up too much fuel taxiing around and would need to refuel.  This part went quickly.  We received word from “no-name airline” that we would be departing in 15 minutes.  Alas, it was not to be.

Running to the front of the plane, a young flight attendant grabbed the phone and dramatically announced that the rear lavatory was a biohazard site and would have to be chemically treated “the right way…with the spray”.  A cleaner came aboard, and the flight attendant interrogated him about his methods.  He finally got fed up and told her that he would do the best he could under the circumstances, and that if she wanted to tell the passengers that it would take two hours to completely clear the “biohazard” to her standards, she could do so but in the meantime to let him do his job.  As he turned toward the rear of the plane, a passenger started to harass him.  I am not kidding.  You can’t make this stuff up!

The cleaner removed a blanket that had apparently served as a receptacle for the “biohazard”, and the area was sprayed.  Meanwhile all 150 people aboard came to use the lavatory up front.  Pretty sure that’s now a biohazard site. 

So, an hour and a half later, we are still at the gate with an unknown but hopefully cleaned biohazard situation.

We finally took off, 3 ½ hours late.  I’ve been informed that the plane was catered with only sauvignon blanc, no chardonnay.  Guess I’ll be drowning my sorrows with sparkling wine.  Signing off now…

And three hours later the drama continued when Miami International closed due to thunderstorm activity and we were diverted to Fort Myers, on Florida’s gulf coast, from which there is no flight service to Miami.  The usual chaos ensued, deboarding, angry passengers, the offer of a bus to drive us to Miami, the search for a bus driver – a sober one, at 10pm on a Saturday night.  Dave and I decided the odds weren’t good and decided to spend the night at the Luminary, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel in Fort Myers.  We figured we’d just uber the 2 ½ hours to Miami on Sunday. 

Turns out the Luminary is a happening place.  All the kids were there. We headed to the rooftop bar and tried our first “totchos” – tater tots served up like nachos.  Again, I’m not kidding.

Here’s the view from our room on Sunday morning.  Sadly, most of the boats are missing from the marina thanks to 2022’s Hurricane Ian.

And the breakfast at Ella Mae’s Diner wasn’t bad either!

Egg white omelette with spinach, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, home fries, rye toast, and Cholula sauce.

The uber home was uneventful other than for its eye-popping cost of $480 and a Miami thunderstorm, but the latter was par for the course for this trip.

This caps our 2023 epic travel adventures. I can’t begin to express the wonder and joy of the entire trip. Walking, learning, seeing, eating, drinking, and conversing with different people in different languages all came together to create a perfect vacation. Seeing the kids was icing on the cake. Perhaps the most moving moment was Dave’s revelation that “the camino provides”. Even when things seemed dire: 24 hours of heavy downpours in frigid temperatures or arriving in a town with no services only to find our hotel closed for several hours, something occurred to save the day. The joy of a warm shower, the kindness of strangers. Too many times to count, the camino provided.

Hope you all enjoyed sharing our travels and thanks for following along!

Sitges, Spain

June 10-21 – Sitges

Sitges is a cool beach town 30 minutes south of Barcelona.  Originally a fishing village, it was the birthplace of Rusiñol, a renowned Catalan painter, who brought his friends to the area (including Picasso).  The town became a gathering place for artists and art history lovers, including Charles Deering, the wealthy industrialist who invented the commercial scale and built Vizcaya, a Moorish-Spanish estate in Coconut Grove, Florida.

We stayed at a condo on the cliffs at the northern edge of the town.  From there, we could walk along the port and along the paseo marítimo past the original village center and beyond.  Our son, Chris, arrived the same day, and as we strolled into town, we were absolutely overwhelmed by the number of people flooding the streets.  As it turned out, we had arrived on the day of the Festival de Corpus Christi, a high holy event when artists create floral installations on the town streets.  Thousands of people come every year to view the art and celebrate this ancient tradition.

We spent subsequent days hiking, dining, and taking day trips to the SoHo House clubs in Garraf and Barcelona.

Our condo complex.

Our balcony view toward Sitges port.

Chris and me.

Flower installations for Corpus Christi.

View from our hike to the top of the Garraf Massif looking back towards the Mediterranean.

Excellent street musician wearing Guy Fawkes mask.

Looking across the beach and harbor to the Old City and the Garraf Massif.

The old market: closed now but used for parking by an opportunistic delivery van driver.

We found some great vegetarian restaurants, including Dosa Nova, run by an amiable French couple.  They also have a Barcelona location.  First up, a welcome glass of ginger cider.

Dragon Bowl: Steamed rice, guacamole, mango ceviche, roasted yams and broccoli, and sautéed kale along with some other goodies.

EarthKale Salad: Kale, lettuce, radishes, pomegranate, young celery, sautéed asparagus, onions and garlic with lime and sesame oil dressing.

Raththaran Dosa: Fermented rice and lentil crêpe, roasted cauliflower and chickpea curry with leeks, portobello mushrooms and spinach in coconut milk, and King Dhal.

Dan arrived from London for a whirlwind 36 hours.  Complicated business schedules prevented Yaz from joining us, unfortunately.  This weekend was Sitges’ annual Pride Weekend celebration.  Again, the town was jam-packed but this time with a different sort of reveler .  There was music, and partying, and fun all around.  Somehow, I had managed to bookend our visit with one of the most historic religious holidays in Spain and one of the most contemporary celebrations.  This embodies 21^st century Spain.

Dan, me, and David on our way into town.

Our Friday evening began with a couple of waterfront bars for drinks and tapas.  Eventually we landed at an Indian restaurant, which sadly, was not quite up to par.  The views and Dan were the stars of the evening.

The view from our first stop: Vívero.

This Indian spread looked great but lacked punch.

The following day, after an oceanside walk and ocean swim for Dave and Dan, we headed into Barcelona to wander its Gothic Quarter and eat at Cecconi’s, the SoHo House restaurant.  Lunch there was sublime.  Dan and I both had Quinoa Salads and Dave had a silky Mushroom Risotto.  A refreshing Verdejo accompanied the dishes perfectly.  It all ended much too soon, and Dan returned to London, while we headed back to Sitges.

Pop-up vendors selling Pride paraphernalia.

I think this is the nude beach, but you’ll have to zoom in to verify.

June 21-22 – Madrid

We spent a final, memorable night in Madrid.  Having arrived after 8pm, we headed straight to the hotel’s semi-subterranean restaurant where we found every table reserved for a contemporary Flamenco music event featuring Andalusian favorites.  We must have looked desperate because the maître d’ spoke with the event manager, and they agreed that we could take a seat at the bar.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of mushroom croquetas and grilled artichokes while listening to Flamenco guitarists and singers.  Spanish hospitality at its best!

Girona, Spain

June 7-10, Girona

Straddling the Onyar River, Girona is an inland city in Spain, about 30 minutes north of Barcelona.  A university town, it has an excellent intact historic center, with churches galore, a cathedral, ancient Arab baths, and beautiful gardens along the town walls.  It is easy to reach by high speed train from Barcelona and well worth the journey.  Oddly, the most familiar photo of Girona bears little relation to 99.9% of the city imagery.  It is also one that I find aesthetically displeasing.

Here is what the city really looks like.

The Rambla, where we had our apartment.

Old city streets.

The Cathedral.

The Cathedral plaza.

Below, gardens stretch along the city walls.

The Arab baths are stunning with separate hot, tepid, and cool rooms.

On the second day, we decided to go look at real estate near the coast.  You know, just in case.  Enterprise was fresh out of cars, but they offered their van, a victim of a recent hailstorm.  The entire body was covered with golf ball size dents.  Glad we weren’t in town when that happened!

We looked at several great houses in the towns of Pals, Begur, and Sa Tuna (Begur waterfront) but ultimately decided that the area was too small and remote for us.  Here are some images.

Carcassonne, France

Sunday, June 4 – Carcassonne

Dominique’s chardonnay recommendation was… interesting.  Unfiltered, so loaded with terroir (literally), it had a bit of effervescence and tartness.  Not one to remember.  On the other hand, the Domaine des Quatre Pierres Les Mômes red, whose winemaker’s approach she described as “intellectual”, was a winner.  A little rough around the edges, it nonetheless finished on a smooth note and lived up to its intellectual billing: super interesting but requiring a willingness to be carried away.  Reminds me of someone I know…

Today we headed up to the medieval city to enjoy the château, the ramparts, and the basilica.  Now, I have to say that I read a rather derogatory review of Carcassonne by a well-known travel blogger.  I couldn’t disagree more!  If you love history, architecture, siege-proof castles, stone and stained glass, all nestled in a glorious landscape of green-tinged mountains, you’ll love Carcassonne Cité Haute.  My pictures can’t do justice to the site so please check out Dave’s videos.  But here’s a hint:

and another…

Lunch was amazing!  I had discovered Le Cachotier (the secretive one), a restaurant offering vegetarian and vegan options alongside traditional fare.  I requested a reservation through their website, but no response.  Nonetheless, at lunch we stopped by and requested a table.  Asked whether we had a reservation, we said “non” but I mentioned that I had reached out.  Explaining that their website inquiries don’t work (!), they found us a table in an otherwise packed terrace.  We ordered a viogner (excellent), a chèvre salad of frisée, sliced beets, red and yellow drop tomatoes, camembert croquetas, and pumpkin seeds, and wait for it…a vegan cassoulet!  No kidding!  All awesome.  Now some of you will remember that I had a negative interchange with one hotelier who insisted that vegetarian cassoulet was an oxymoron.  Well, she was just wrong!  Pics below of the salad and vegetarian cassoulet.

So tasty!  And no ducks died to make it!

After our now mandatory nap, we headed back up to the medieval city to enjoy a cocktail at the Hôtel de la Cité’s Bar Bibliothèque et Terrasse.  I had a truly excellent chardonnay: a Gerard Bertrand from Limoux, lightly oaked, and Dave had a Ciutat blonde à pression.

While we did not choose to be indoors, you can see that the interior is equally compelling. 

Tonight, we’re enjoying a 2020 Languedoc wine from Chateau de Gaure, a blend of grenache, syrah, and carignane varietals.  Needless to say, we’re eating lightly.  And now, for those of you who didn’t want to ask, an image of “hiker’s bane”: the dreaded sock tan!  Which, btw, is considered a badge of honor among camino hikers.



Walk along the Canal du Midi

Saturday, June 3 – Canal du Midi: Caux-et-Sauzens to Carcassonne

Our wonderful hostess, Sandrine, concerned we wouldn’t find any food on the way to Carcassonne, prepared a fabulous picnic lunch for us: sandwiches of comté, tomato, zucchini, and cucumber drizzled with local olive oil, along with hard-boiled eggs for snacking if we feel peckish.  Made up for the head bumps Dave suffered!

Ended up snacking on this at our Carcassonne apartment.

So, it turns out that Carcassonne, in addition to being a World Heritage medieval city, is also the center of a nascent wine region.  We tried to get into the Château Caux – no luck, it was shut down.  We tried to find Château Pennautier – no luck, our internet and cell service were both dead so we didn’t dare leave the canal to wander around to find it in the hot sun.  No problem, after lunch (another salad below) we found Dominique, purveyor of fine, natural wines.  We’re dining in tonight and doing a zoom to catch up with one of our kids so bonne nuit!

The salad at Café de la Comédie on the way into Carcassonne.

Dominique was recommending wines according to our auras – we’ll see how well she did :).

Our Carcassonne apartment: excellent location, full kitchen, bedroom, loft, balcony, and views.  Not bad!

Friday, June 2 – Canal du Midi: Bram to Caux-et-Sauzens

We were so sad to leave Bram that we stopped at the boulangerie, the cave à vin (wine store), and the marché.  Well, to be honest, these were also practical decisions.  We knew we had 10+ miles in front of us, and absolutely no services and few amenities in Caux-et-Sauzens, a town of 950 people, which even the owner of the cave seemed to doubt was a good decision.

So, we had a long walk and a nice picnic with quiche from the boulangerie.  BTW, Dave has gone all Frenchman on me.  Check out the baguette in his backpack!

Among other things, I am fascinated by road signs, often asking, “What the hell does that mean?”  On the way into Caux-et-Sauzens we saw this road sign.

Seriously?  Like drivers need to be told it’s a bad idea to drive off an embankment into a canal????

Caux-et-Sauzens turned out to be super cute, and we arrived in time to grab a chardonnay before nap time!

The town’s hotspot – and only restaurant.

The church.

Town fountain.

Roman baths.

Wine press.

Another view of the main plaza.  Yes, I’m doing research…aided by a second glass of chardonnay.

Another cozy room.  Dave only bumped his head ~20-30 times :).

Thursday, June 1 – Canal du Midi: Castelnaudary to Bram

Castelnaudary is the capital of the territory of Lauragais and is the main port on the Canal du Midi.  A market town, it has all the services one would want on a walking trip along the canal.  It was also another center of the Catholic Cathar insurgency and as such suffered sieges and other punishments. 

Castelnaudary’s other claim to fame is as the home of Cassoulet, the iconic dish of white beans, pork, sausage, and duck confit.  Its name comes from the word “cassole”, the traditional clay pot in which it was cooked.  Like many regional dishes, the specific ingredients depend on availability so mutton or goose meat may serve in place of another meat, and breadcrumbs may or may not be used to make a crispy crust.  Even the type of bean is debatable, with Coco or Tarbais white beans, flageolet beans, and spring fava beans as options.  In the words of chef André Daguin, “Cassoulet is not really a recipe, it’s a way to argue among neighboring villages.”  I used to love cassoulet – it is perhaps the one meat dish I truly miss.

Breakfast was ho-hum today, the most notable thing being our dining room visitor:

Leaving early once again, we had a nice long walk, mostly sunny, quite windy.  Dirt paths were soggy after yesterday evening’s downpours.  The highlight, by far, was the lovely lunch that we had at L’île aux Oiseaux on the canal at Bram. 

Having tired of the poor vegetarian offerings at several French restaurants, before even sitting, I asked what the chef could do for vegetarians.  The options sounded intriguing so down we sat.

Ambience and wine – a seductive combination!

The salad: simple greens with shallot marmalade, garlicky croutons, cherry tomatoes, scallions, blanched radishes, toast, and a parmesan twist.  Light shallot dressing.  Mmmm.

Risotto with oyster mushrooms, baby cilantro, and parmesan.  OMG!

Legumes aux provençal with lemon and basil.  Delish.

As we were leaving, the owner lamented the lack of good vegetarian food in France.  Fortunately, he finds this ridiculous and has taken it on as a mission, hence his fabulous vegetarian offerings.

Wednesday, May 31 – Canal du Midi: Avignonet-Lauragais to Castelnaudary

Racing against thunderstorms, we left Avignonet at 9am.  They found us. Four and a half hours later, we were seated at La Dolce Vita for lunch.  Now, people who know me well will say, “What”?  Italian food is not a go-to for us.  In France, however, restaurants often close for lunch at 2pm, and it’s tough to hike 12 miles in the rain lugging backpacks quickly.  So, we sometimes find ourselves dining where chance takes us.  In this case, what a winner!  Appetizers (on the house) included spinach and egg tarts and bruschetta topped with bell peppers and romesco, and black olive tapenade.  A simple but superbly fresh tomato and lettuce salad followed.  Our main course was a lovely capellini tossed in olive oil, garlic, thyme, and oregano, with a side of freshly grated parmesan.  Simple, elegant, and wonderful!  The local chardonnay with just a hint of tartness topped off the sensory experience.

Oops, we ate the main event before we could photograph it.  It was soooo good!

Our room for the night, in a historic lock-keepers house, was conveniently located (most are located far from the canal) but had some curious decorative flourishes:

Tuesday, May 30 – Canal du Midi: Villefranche du Lauragais to Avignonet-Lauragais

Fearing rain, we headed out at 9am – too soon as we were really enjoying our conversations with Catherine and Dominique, not to mention the freshly made breakfast crêpes and homemade jams!  Nonetheless onward we trudged.  In a few hours we arrived at Port Lauragais, past our evening destination, but a lovely place to eat lunch and learn more about the Canal du Midi. 

While Dave focused on the Canal’s technological wonders, I learned about the production of the indelible blue dye that is used unsparingly on shutters, doors, and fences in the Lauragais region.  Isatis tinctoria (pastel in French and woad in English), is the biennial plant from which the dye is obtained.  Pastel plant leaves were harvested up to six times per year over the two years of the plant’s life.Taken to a pastelier mill, they were crushed, drained, dried for several months, and then molded by hand into balls.  Once dry, the balls were ground into powder and poured into a tiled vat.  Timely additions of urine and stagnant water accelerated the process.  The smelly paste was turned 2x per week with a shovel.  The resulting dark gray-blue material was bathed several times in water, turning first yellow, then green, then blue.  And voilà!  Take another look at the view from our picnic site below.  The unmistakable appears throughout the region creating a truly charming color palette.

In Avignonet-Lauragais, Luis, a stained-glass artisan from Valencia, Spain, welcomed us to his home, studio, and guest apartment, and we settled in for the evening.

Luis.

The very large living area/dining area/bedroom.

Cool kitchen with a washing machine.  We really came to appreciate these!

Lovely terrace where we dined.

The view from the garden.  Magnifique!

After dinner Luis gave us a tour of his workshop, and we met his partner, David.  A truly delightful couple!

Monday, May 29 – Canal du Midi: Baziège to Villefranche de Lauragais

Today was our longest walk on the canal, clocking in at 14.5 miles.  Having been informed that it was un jour ferié (a holiday) to celebrate the Pentecost, we were then told that most stores would be closed, and restaurants would be impossible to get into given the holiday.  Our hosts tried to make reservations at several restaurants to no avail.  So, we did what resilient Californians do: we took our extra breakfast bread and prepared sandwiches, Roquefort and Fig Jam for me, Roquefort and Pont l’Eveque for Dave. 

The place we really wanted to get in to was L’Estanquet at the Écluse de Gardouche (the Gardouch lock).  On the walk I mentally prepared all the French phrases I could muster to somehow rescue our midday meal, given famous French finickiness.  Finally, I settled on a simple solution: I would confirm that the restaurant was “complet” (full), and if so, explain that we had sandwiches in our backpacks, and ask to buy a bottle of wine and have a picnic on their lawn.  Okay, I also wanted to use the bathroom.  The lovely waitress said, “mais oui!” and sold us a bottle of Chardonay, threw in some plastic glasses, and tried to provide a wine opener, forcing David to admit that we usually pack that before our medications :).  She also suggested that we would be more comfortable at the picnic tables a few feet beyond the lawn.  Nice lady!!!!

Happiness is a wine picnic.

The view from our picnic bench.

Arriving at Villefranche de Lauragais, we found no fortifications (I tell this story on Dave’s video), but we did find the lovely La Louisiane and our super hosts, Catherine and Dominique.

Dominique, Catherine, and Bouba, their Bouvier.

Sunday, May 28 – Canal du Midi: Ramonville-St-Agne to Baziège

Martine continued her thoughtful service today with a lovely breakfast tray:

At 10:30 we headed out suspecting it would be a grueling day.  13+ miles later, we’re sure.  Luckily, we found Donostia, a restaurant in Montgiscard about 10 miles in where we were able to spend a short while before continuing to Chateau Lamothe, our BnB.

Donostia (the Basque name for San Sebastian, Spain)

Château Lamothe

Our room at Château Lamothe

Our Curious Night at Château Lamothe:

Fred and Laurent purchased the château 14 months before our visit.  Fred, a former bartender, and Laurent, a former law professor, had been living in Switzerland but wanted to move closer to Fred’s daughter and do something new in life.  After viewing several properties, they settled on the château, purchased it, and began minor restorations, aided by friends and family.  Their intention, as far as we could tell, was to create a place where they could entertain friends, family, and guests, all the while making a decent living.

Upon arriving, we were impressed with the château’s symmetrical brick façade.  We rang at the gate, and Fred appeared, dressed in bathing trunks and flip-flops.  Greeting us enthusiastically, he showed us around the main building, the dining areas, our room, the pool, and the spa.  He explained that if I didn’t have a bathing suit, not to worry, a bra and panties would do!

At 6pm we headed to the terrace to enjoy a cocktail, having been informed dinner would be served at 7pm.  At 7:30pm, we requested something to snack on since dinner was clearly delayed.  At this point, Laurent explained that we would be dining with our two hosts, some of their friends, and other hotel guests.  The hosts and their friends had been drinking and smoking at an adjacent table for several hours by this time.  After a quick consultation with Dave, I decided to risk offending my hosts and ask to dine separately.  Laurent initially said “no”, but I explained that we were exhausted and wouldn’t be good company.  He then consulted with Fred, and an agreement was reached.  We could dine apart from the smoking, drinking, fast-talking French group.  Thank-goodness; we were not in the mood for a raucous dining experience.

Having decided on a red wine for dinner, we asked for the wine list, and were presented with:

We chose the one on the right.

At 9:30pm dinner was served.  You can imagine everyone’s condition by then.  The food, prepared by a mysterious “partner” was excellent and included a vegetarian “parmentier”.  A parmentier is simply a potato dish and is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier (1737-1813) who devoted his life to promoting potatoes, having learned of their nutritional importance during his experience as a POW in Germany.

The appetizers… yes, they burned some.

Admittedly, it doesn’t look pretty, but it was good!

Jury is out on this one, but we wish them luck!

Saturday, May 27 – Day 1 on Canal du Midi: Toulouse to Ramonville-St-Agne

Good walk today ~9 miles.  The Canal du Midi is an engineering wonder, and the French are to be admired for their foresight in building it.  The walk beginning in Toulouse is pretty urban.  Parts are pretty; parts are not.  The Toulousians use it fiercely, to walk, bike, hang-out, snort things, whatever.  A few miles in I found myself asking, “is this all there is?”  As the scenery became more bucolic, I stopped asking questions and just enjoyed the walk.

Temps have risen.  We arrived in Ramonville-St-Agne, quite hot and ready for a celebratory something.  Little appealed in this Toulousian suburb.  A stop at a wine Shop “La Cave de 1,000 Vins” put us in a better mood so we headed to our BnB.  No one answered the door.  What?  No one answered the phone.  What?  Done in, we headed to a restaurant we had seen before, but which had not spoken to us.  Again, we were humbled and surprised.

The restaurant is run by a family from Guadeloupe, a French départment, consisting of an archipelago of islands, islets, and rocks, located in the Caribbean.  It’s cuisine is unknown to us, but we were hot, tired, and hungry so we approached the barman and took a table.  Having secured our drink orders, the man proceeded to express confusion about what to serve two foreign vegetarians.  In no time, the kitchen door opened, and his wife appeared, advising that she could prepare x, y, and z.  In no time a wonderfully prepared plate arrived consisting of: salad, archand (delicately pickled carrots and cabbage), frites (which I specifically requested), plaintains (not those nasty over-fried dried ones we get in the States, but rather delicately fried, warm, tender ones), and a “tropical” sauce (I couldn’t get more out of the barman).  All wonderful, and clearly recipes handed down to the fine female chef from her mother.  Très bon!

This fortified, we returned to the BnB, to be greeted by Martine and Christian and welcomed into our sweet apartment for the evening.  When Martine offered to wash our clothes, we were sold!

Toulouse, France

Wednesday, May 24 – Conques to Toulouse

Our chemin officially over, we donned street clothes and backpacks and began the 4-hour taxi and train trip to Toulouse.  Have I mentioned that all our French rural taxi drivers drive like maniacs?  They do.

We’re staying in the 18^th century Hotel Maison Soclo, a boutique hotel on the banks of the GaronneRiver.  The look is “cozy British”.  They greeted us with minty iced tea and a pastry board:

After settling in, we headed to the Musée des Arts Précieux Paul-Dupuy.  Heir to a spice trade fortune, he started collecting art at a young age, acquiring a phenomenal clock and watch collection as well as other fun and unique items. 

17^th century apothecary from the Toulouse Jesuit College.  Also, “Celine”, sculpture of a motorcycle covered in plumes, by Maxime Leroy, 2016.

Nuremberg travel chest, c.1625, with incredibly intricate locking system designed to foil bandits.

Timepieces were considered symbols of wealth and power in Renaissance Europe.  Enjoy some images:

French Gothic Wall Clock c. 1500

Case of watches and watch cases

Skull-head ring watch. (You just know that Keith Richards covets this…)

Pocket watches with enamel work

Large planetary clock from 1773.

Dave likes mechanical things!

Having satisfied our intellectual cravings, we moved on to more sybaritic pursuits.  We enjoyed a hummus and honey plate and a mushroom, buffalo mozzarella, and pesto dip with fresh bread at Le Cinq Restaurant and Wine Bar.  Wines were by-the-glass, selected from cases with automatic pours and a fine selection of regional and international wines.

On the way home, we got caught in a sudden downpour!

Which sent us straight to Bar Gaspard at our hotel where bartender Scott put the perfect finish on the evening.  Turns out his real name is Hugo, but he took the name Scott in honor of the man who first taught him about fine wines and liqueurs. 

Thursday & Friday, May 25-26 – Toulouse

We spent the next two days walking around Toulouse.  The town is strung along the Garonne River, which, prone to flooding, now has enormous flood walls along its banks.  Walking north along the river, we arrived at the Port de l’Embouchure, where three canals meet: the Canal Latéral à la Garonne (1844), the Canal du Midi (1771), and the Canal de Brienne (1774).  The two earliest canal bridges were graced with a lovely Carrera marble bas-relief by François Lucas representing the new connection between the Aquitaine and Languedoc regions of France resulting from the canals’ construction.

The three canal bridges and the bas-relief.  It’s clear the third bridge was an afterthought.

From there we headed into town for lunch at La Gourmandine, next to Marché Victor Hugo, which I thought was going to be one of those great ironwork markets but which turned out to be disappointingly modern.  Oh well, at least lunch was great.

Grilled artichokes with sauce gribiche (an egg-based sauce seasoned with tarragon and parsley and plenty of cornichons and capers.)

Mac and Cheese.  Seriously!  Served on a bed of seasonal vegetables, the noodles were positioned upright (I’m thinking they used a mold) with a creamy bechamel sauce and cheese.  To die for!!!

And I really liked their bathroom theme.  Birds and wine – who doesn’t like that?  Way cooler than the stand-up WC in St.-Côlm d’Olt.

Dinner was at a fun vegetarian restaurant.  Not picture-worthy but darn good.

On Friday, we headed to the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation to learn about the French Resistance in WWII.  As a quick reminder, France fell to Germany in a 6-week blitzkrieg in May-June 1940.  France signed an armistice allowing Germany to occupy northern France and to set-up a puppet government, called the Vichy and headed by Field Marshall Pétain and politician Pierre Laval, in the unoccupied south.  The Vichy essentially functioned as a German copy-cat, promulgating antisemitic legislation, arresting Jews, and sending them to concentrations camps.

The French resistance movement began as a fairly disorganized ad-hoc series of attacks on the Vichy government by French communists.  As time went on, people of different political persuasions got involved and the movement became more sophisticated, developing organized systems to protect Jews (and others targeted by the Vichy), attack infrastructure, and infiltrate Vichy organizations.

This was a tough experience for me.  It began with a special exhibit of American photographer Michael Kenna’s haunting images of Nazi (plus collaborator) transit camps, concentration camps, and death camps.  The juxtaposition of his outstanding camera work with places of horror was almost too much to bear. 

The permanent collection was equally disturbing, with period objects: gas masks, German uniforms, prisoner uniforms, etc. alongside devastating histories (of 168 local children deported to the camps, only 31survived), and breath-taking stories of individual courage.  

I went with the desire to learn about the French Resistance but also to honor WWII’s victims.  I hope we never forget.

Map of concentration camps and death camps in Nazi Europe

https://musee-resistance.haute-garonne.fr/fr/index.html

So, we squeezed one more cultural visit into our Toulouse stay.  Technically it should go into tomorrow’s blog, but why be picky?  Toulouse’s former slaughterhouses (Les Abattoirs) are now a museum.  They’re running a Liliana Porter retrospective, which I originally didn’t want to see because we just saw Liliana Porter in Miami, but Dave caught me in a weak moment, and I agreed.  Wow!  So glad, I did.  Liliana is an artist with something to say, and we found her work truly compelling.  She works with photography, drawing, oil, mass produced and unique objects, and many other media,  all with the objective of creating a conversation between what’s real and not, what’s important and not, and what’s personal and what’s public.  Enjoy!

Liliana’s musings on Mahatma Ghandi

An homage to surrealist artist René Magritte

One of many comments on forced labor and endless work

A comment on man’s worldly aspirations?

She doesn’t have anything good to say about war

Conques, France

Tuesday, May 23

Good news! Our Covid-afflicted Camino friend is recovering, and we dodged it! 

Today, we played tourist.  We visited the abbey-church Église de Sainte Foy, a gem of Romanesque architecture begun in the 11^th century and finished in the 12^th.  The church is known for its austere and very tall interior, its tympanum (the recessed decoration in a pediment or arch) consisting of no less than 124 figures depicting the Last Supper and other scenes and painted in (once) brilliant tones now faded, as well as its contemporary stained-glass windows designed by Pierre Soulages.

See the tympanum here: https://www.tourisme-conques.fr/en/en-conques/the-tympanum

And the windows here: https://www.tourisme-conques.fr/en/en-conques/stained-glass-windows-of-soulages

Le Trésor d’Orfevreries is a small museum containing one of the most significant reliquaries from the Middle Ages.  Highlighting the medieval devotion to relics, pieces include portable altars, chalices, and a seated statue of Sainte Foy, which holds her stolen remains. 

The city fortifications, including watch towers and fortified gates, the many fountains, the functional communal bread ovens, the asymmetrical “Roman” bridge of pink sandstone, once common chestnut drying and storage structures, and several shops showcasing artisanal products ensured we enjoyed a lovely visit.  I bought a beautiful green leather purse from a former landscape designer who, along with her husband, left her city job to move to Conques and produce and sell high-quality leather goods.

We dined at Chez Pierre et Colette, outside, facing the church.  The restaurant reminded us of Honfleur in Normandy, with its many crèperies serving galettes (savory crepes), sweet crepes, cider, and salads.

This savory crepe was filled with spinach, mushrooms, and emmenthaler cheese.

A lettuce, goat cheese, and pear salad, lightly drizzled with a honeyed vinaigrette.

Later, we walked a bit out of town to do a wine tasting with Patrick & Joel Rols of Domaine Rols, an organic producer of rosé and red wines.  They are a small producer but starting to gain an international following, and they ship all over the world.  Naturally, we bought a couple of bottles of their La Coquille, a delicious blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot! 

Patrick explains his wine-making process. He had just come in from the fields to welcome us!

The Chemin du Puy

Monday, May 22 – Day 10 on the Chemin du Puy: Golinhac to Conques

Oh no!  Another final day on a camino, with all the bittersweet feelings this entails.  Again, we find ourselves ready to be done, yet wishing we weren’t.  We spent a good part of the day talking about coming back to finish the Chemin du Puy next year or at least do another third of it.

Conques is unbelievable!  The town of 1,700 inhabitants is nestled in a narrow crevasse along the Dourdou River.  Half-timbered homes with steeply pitched slate roofs complement architectural masterpieces such as the Abbey of Conques aka the Église Sainte Foy.  The Abbey was founded by Spanish monks fleeing Saracen aggressors in 819 – this was the same year that Santiago’s bones were discovered in Compostela.  Dedicated to Sainte Foy d’Agen (a young girl martyred for her refusal to practice pagan rites), the Abbey became an important stop on the Chemin du Puy when a Conques monk infiltrated the Agen community, gaining the locals’ trust, and stealing Sainte Foy’s remains.  Conques popularity as a pilgrimage site soared, and its newfound popularity meant that a new church had to be built.  The Romanesque Église Sainte Foy was built 1045-1120.  There are several interesting anecdotes regarding the church, too many to include here, so take a moment to visit https://www.tourisme-conques.fr/en/en-conques/st-foy-abbey-church for more information.

Walking into Conques

West façade of Église Sainte Foy

Our cute home for 2 days, complete with a small kitchen, bath, and extra bed.  Like many historic conversions, the apartment is up a couple flights of narrow, winding stairs.

Hotel picnic dinner.  A DeVillar-Richardson tradition!  Locally grown, freshly cut carrots and bell peppers, miniature green asparagus, local Laguiole cheese, fresh bread, local crackers, chickpea spread, tapenade (oops this had anchovies), Dijon mustard, and wine.

Sunday, May 21 – Day 9 of the Chemin du Puy: Estaing to Golinhac

Quiet day.  Nice hike through woods, lots of up and down.  We thought we were going to see the Golinhac dam, which was finished in 1960, but all we saw were a bunch of signs warning walkers to exercise caution in case the dam burst and the waters from the dam’s lake overflowed.  Like falling rock road signs, I always wonder what exactly we are supposed to do to prepare for these potential disasters.  Doesn’t seem like there are a lot of options.

The final entry into Golinhac was super-scary looking.  Straight down on a muddy path.  I had descended about 10 feet, crab-walking sideways with full pole extension, when we heard a soft voice calling from above.  It was Denys, a French pilgrim from Nancy, Alsace.  He said he was heading into Golinhac via the road instead of the muddy path.  Gratefully, we joined him, chatting amiably about France and America, and ended up having lunch with him on an outside terrasse.  He explained that he was walking the Chemin to honor his father who was a Chemin super-fan and passed away in 2020.  Denys never walked a Chemin with his father.

At our BnB that evening we dined with people from Belgium, France, and South Korea.  Fun conversations and lots of good will.  Caminos/Chemins are good for that.  The people you meet want to commune with nature, challenge themselves physically and psychologically, and soak up some culture.  If they get to meet fellow pilgrims with similar interests along the way, so much the better.

Saturday, May 20 – Day 8 on the Chemin du Puy: Espalion to Estaing

We had a great stay in Espalion last night.  Our room was spacious and even better, had a clothes washer!  We took advantage of that as our clothes were in dire need of a good washing.  Another light dinner in the room and a good Côtes-du-Rhône Villages.  In the morning, our host’s husband prepared fresh breakfast treats. 

Sadly, our camino friend from the infamous dinner in Saugues is quite ill, suffering fever, chills, congestion, and fatigue, the typical Covid symptoms.  We’ll be thinking of him today.

The entire route from Saint-Côme-d’Olt to Estaing is a UNESCO World Heritage Route so lots to see today.  But first I’ll take a moment to decipher “Official Guide Speak”.  When the Guide says, “After passing through a cluster of houses, join a footpath through woods (0.5km)”, it really means: “See the footpath that goes straight up?  The one with rocks and dirt that even the French decided was too steep and added log terracing and wood chips?  Take that.  It’s only a 35% grade.  By the end your Achilles tendons will be stretched as far as Nijinsky’s.  If you’re a wicked fast bird with internal homing flying at 50,000 feet with the jet stream, you can fly directly and reach your destination after .5km.  If you’re a plodding human, however, you’ll walk straight up for at least 1km, and then scare yourself to death descending a similar distance through muddy bogs, roots, and slippery rocks.”  My takeaway?  Read guidebooks skeptically!

To see the great sites along the way, watch Dave’s video – I was too busy watching where I put my feet to take pictures!

Around 2:30pm we arrived at Estaing, a beautiful medieval town on the Olt/Lot River.  Our hotel was fortuitously situated across the main plaza from the 15^th century Gothic Èglise Saint Fleuret.  Exhausted from our easy stroll thought the woods we ordered (drumroll please) salads.  And look what arrived!

Layered salad: cabbage, lettuce, corn, rice, carrots, tomatoes, cornichon, and olives with bread and eggs.

Which became…yummy!

Friday, May 19 – Day 7 on the Chemin du Puy:St. Chély to Espalion

As vegetarians, we’re having a tough time in this part of France.  Fruit and vegetable offerings are limited, and cooked options are uninspired.  Last night’s dinner (pics below) included a creamy carrot velouté with heavy parsley garnish.  The main course consisted of fried lentil, spinach, and cheese “sticks” (we’ve had these twice now); cheesy roasted potatoes with more parsley; and lettuce with oil and balsamic vinegar.  Oh, and more cheese.  I wish I could say this was an aberration, but sadly it seems to be the norm.

The star of the evening is tucked into the top right corner of the second picture: a 2018 Mas Roubiol Baumes de Venise from the Côtes du Rhone.  This wine was Sexy Sadie disguised as Mary Pickford.  Light on the nose and in color, it nonetheless packed a 15% alcohol punch.  It felt perfectly balanced on the palate, which made it a perfect pairing for all that cheese.  A total winner.

Our walk today included two of the three most beautiful villages on the chemin.  We reached the first, Saint-Côlm-d’Olt, in time for lunch and hallelujah found some vegetables!  A lovely mixed leaf salad with tomatoes, apples, Roquefort, and a delicate herbed dressing went a long way to restoring our moods.  Large sides of haricot verts and fries helped.   So did the wine and beer.  While the food didn’t merit a photo session, the truly weird bathroom did.  A very nice French woman showed this shocked American how it worked.  I decided to hold out for the more traditional WC.  Pretty sure she thought I was a priss.

Saint-Côlm-d’Olt has a beautifully maintained medieval core, with delightful winding alleys, and three preserved arched entryways.

After lunch, we hustled to Espalion, where we needed to replace our lost electronic converter, but on the way we stopped at the Église Saint-Hilarian-Sainte-Foy-de Perse, an 11^th century Romanesque chapel.  Hilarian suffered an unfortunate beheading at the hands of Saracens, but legend says he calmly retrieved it from the floor, washed it, and delivered it to his mother.

The town of Espalion rose on the ruins of a Roman town constructed on the Lot (Olt in Occitanie) River. During the Middle Ages, the Knights Templar, sworn to protect Pilgrims on their way to Santiago, set up a command post here.  The Pilgrim Bridge (le Pont Vieux) was built and rebuilt many times, its current incarnation in pink sandstone likely dating from the 13^th century.  Today its use is limited to pedestrians (year-round) and cattle (during the festival of Transhumance when flower-bedecked cattle are driven through local villages recreating the historic movement of the herd to their higher-altitude summer grazing grounds).

Thursday, May 18 – Day 6 on the Chemin du Puy: Nasbinals to St. Chély d’Aubrac

Today was our final day on the Aubrac plateau.  Our guidebook mentioned only good things about the plateau, but when we arrived at the end of it, after passing high, wind-swept expanses of land and hiking over several rises known for their great snow-shoeing trails (!) we discovered a sign welcoming weary pilgrims to “the end of Hell”.  Apparently, French guardians of the Chemin felt that honesty was the best policy – at least after the “horror” of the previous eight miles.  Both quotes are their words, not mine.  I actually didn’t think it was that bad.  A two-mile rocky descent into St. Chély d’Aubrac followed, and we were blessed with some sun finally.

While we saw no chickens crossing the road, we did see a couple of these rare creatures:

European Weasel (une belette)

Wednesday, May 17 – Day 5 on the Chemin du Puy: Aumont-Aubrac to Nasbinals

Another late start and another 10 miles.  That seems to be our sweet spot.  The hike across the Aubrac plateau was magnificent, but the winds were really fierce.  The terrain began to change as we crossed vast plains with large boulders and tons of rock walls, built by ingenious farmers who needed to move the rocks anyway to utilize the land.  There were also several boggy areas that we traversed via boardwalks.  Arriving in Nasbinals, we stopped for our typical afternoon pick-me-up.  I have to say I’ve been quite impressed with the region’s white wines, and Dave has discovered Affligem blonde au pression (Affligem blonde beer on tap).  He even knows how to order it in a 300ml glass!

Nasbinals, a town of 2,500 people is one of the prettiest we’ve seen.

However, to our surprise we were booked into the most humble lodging this magnificent town had to offer!  Oh well, we enjoyed a picnic dinner in our room, slept quite comfortably in our teeny room, and had a simple breakfast the following morning.

Tuesday, May 16 – Day 4 on the Chemin du Puy: St. Alban to Aumont-Aubrac

The proprietors of the Château prepared a lovely breakfast for us (their only guests) to fuel our travels.

As we wound our way over the 10 miles from St.-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Aumont-Aubrac, the weather continued to disappoint; cold, windy, and cloudy.  Having gotten a late start, we had a late lunch and just snacked for dinner.

Monday, May 15 – Day 3 on the Chemin du Puy: Saugues to St. Alban-sur-Limagnole

The day began with a bit of bad news.  See the guy in yesterday’s post at the end of the table by me?  He tested positive for Covid today.  It turns out that he lives with someone who is currently sick with Covid AND he has symptoms.  Nonetheless, he thought it would be okay to risk the health of 10 other people by coming down to dinner rather than having it in his room.  Dave and I are not happy. Neither are the other guests, all of whom have invested a lot of time, emotion, and money into this camino. One couple has had to bail (Immuno compromised) and are flying home to the US. One selfish guy – 10 lives affected.

Other than that, the day was pretty mellow.  Twelve or more miles, lots of rolling hills, sun after 2pm.  We met the president of the American Pilgrims on the Camino: a nice guy named Tom from South Bend, Indiana.  Hopefully we’ll see him again.

Arrived in Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole at around 4:30pm.  Look what awaited us at the Château de Saint-Alban:

The château is lovely.  Originally constructed in the 1100’s, it’s been continuously renovated and expanded by several locally important families.  The current family has been in possession since the 1830’s.  It has been an inn since 1978.  Previously, there was a fantastic restaurant, which has been closed due to the age and infirmity of the owners.  We feel like we are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a treasure that will soon disappear.  Click on “see photos” once you open this page: https://www.google.com/search?q=le+chateau+de+saint+alban+sur+limagnole&oq=Le+chateau+de+saint+alban+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33i160l3j33i22i29i30l5.12724j1j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lpg=cid:CgIgAQ%3D%3D

Day 2 on the Chemin du Puy

Sunday, May 14 – (Mother’s Day in the US): Day 2 on the Chemin du Puy: St. Privat to Saugues

We walked over 12 miles today with some of the most difficult hiking I’ve ever done.  The day began with an extremely steep grade and loose rocks, rock faces, and mud everywhere.  Thank goodness for walking sticks – they really help in these situations.

We stopped for lunch in Monistrol d’Allier, a cute mountain village.  It has a deli/shop and a couple of restaurants.  We opted for the deli, where a heavily tattooed guy in lug-sole boots, offered us his freshly made cheese quiche, bread, wine, and beer.  He didn’t look like a guy who would make quiche, but he does, and it was excellent!  If I were to do this hike again, I would buy something from him to go and picnic at La Chappelle de la Madeleine on the way out of town to catch the views across the valley.

La Chappelle de la Madeleine

Having descended to bottom of a valley, we then had to climb back up and out.  Several people told us that this is the most difficult stage of the Chemin du Puy due to the crazy descents and ascents. 

In Vernet, we stopped again to escape the rain, warm up, and raise a glass.  We tapped on the door of a local establishment, where the owner, an elderly Frenchman with striking blue eyes, directed us to l’abri (shelter) behind his house.  Intrigued, we hurried there.  L’abri turned out to be a shed with plastic chairs and the lingering fragrance of gasoline from the farm equipment sharing the space.  Now we were stuck.  Neither of us could imagine backing out so we gamely tried a local rosé and a beer.  Both were fine, and I had a nice chat with the owner.  When the rain abated and the owner lit up a cigarette, we knew it was time to go.  He invited us back if we’re ever in the area again J.

An hour later we arrived in Saugues.  Our BnB is owned by a couple who completed two caminos and found them so life-changing that they decided to open a BnB and give back to the camino community.  Pascal is a phenomenal host and Evelyne an incredible chef.  They prepared a family meal complete with vegetarian options.  After explaining to our fellow diners that we produce video and blogs about our travels but often forget to photograph the plates, they promised to remind us as each course arrived at the table.  Guess what?  We only managed to photograph the cheese course and the dessert!  Arriving with fanfare, delicious aromas, and beautiful presentation, the food took precedence, and everyone forgot to remind us.  Missing from the photos are a hearty soup of puréed spring vegetables, the vegetarian entrée, an asparagus ravioli with bechamel and mozzarella browned to perfection, and the non-vegetarian entrée, sautéed pork medallions with vegetables served over white rice.

Local cheeses: a contal, a triple-cream, and a blue Créme caramel

Saturday, May 13 – Day 1 on the Chemin du Puy: Le-Puy-en-Velay

Dave woke me up at 6:20 AM so we could attend the Pilgrim Mass at the Cathedral of Le Puy.  Even though our hotel was located way up high in the village, we still had to climb to the Cathedral.  Begun in the 11^th century on prior church ruins, the Cathedral has been consistently enlarged and improved.  Several styles of architecture are represented, yet they achieve a harmonious whole.  The service was lovely, and we stayed afterward for a special Pilgrim Benediction.  I prayed for the strength to finish today’s walk in below 50° temps, pouring rain, and wind.  I also prayed for patience when dealing with my pilgrimage partner 🙂 . 

Then an amazing thing happened, the priest advised us that, having come into the Cathedral via the normal entry, we would be exiting via the special Pilgrim exit.  At this several enormous brass grates located along the main aisle began to slide apart and then open, and a stone staircase leading directly from the pews where we sat to the Cathedral’s front steps was revealed.  I have to say it was pretty awe-inspiring. 

We didn’t head out onto the camino immediately, though.  Instead, we headed back to our hotel, where we discovered that the owner’s family and several guests were Spaniards whose families had escaped to France and Belgium during the Spanish Civil War.  Needless to say, we bonded over our Spanish heritage.

After this fun “what we have in common” moment, we packed up our belongings and headed out.  Attired with thermal leggings and shirts, sweaters, hiking socks, rain pants, hooded jackets, hats, and waterproof hiking boots, we strapped on our backpacks and headed out into the rain.  It was not a good look but definitely effective.  Here I am smelling spring lilacs:

The weather deteriorated throughout the day, becoming colder, rainier, and windier.  Alongside cow fields, we climbed through persistent puddles and pulsating rivulets turned rivers.  On farm roads and trails, we sometimes could not avoid toxic looking accumulations of orange water (turns out this is due to the color of the basalt-filled earth around here.)  The first relief arrived in the form of lunch in a small town of 950 people.  Some enterprising couple had set up a respectable restaurant, Auberge du Grand Chemin (no ala carte – menu only).

Dave started with a cheese tart accompanied by a soft slaw of fresh spring vegetables lightly spiced.  Nice and creamy, the tart melted in your mouth.  Since I was cold, I ordered a fragrant vegetable bouillon laden with carrots and butternut squash and enlivened with green lentils, the local specialty.  Abundant fresh bread sat nearby.  For our main course we both had vegetable curry.  A cheese plate followed.  There were three dessert options, and we both opted for the freshly baked pastries, loaded with Chantilly crème and salted caramel ribbons.  22 € each not including wine J.

Thus fortified, we again headed out.  The rest of the day was a slog, and we arrived at our hotel sopping wet and tired.  Fortunately, the place had a shoe drying closet and a clothes dryer (rain is evidently more typical than the locals let on.)  After dinner in the hotel we tucked ourselves into bed, hoping that tomorrow we’ll have better weather.

Córdoba to Montpellier to Le Puy en Velay

Tuesday, May 9 – Córdoba

Today, after returning to Granada to retrieve our luggage, we grabbed a quick lunch at a café on one of Córdoba’s many parks.  The image below, in addition to our usual soup and salad, included a Cordobés specialty: eggplant marinated in beer then lightly battered and fried and topped with a honey reduction.  Delicious but very sweet.  We ended up saving them for dessert.

In the afternoon, we visited the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba (la Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba).  Tradition holds that the original structure was a Catholic church, and recent excavations support that hypothesis.  In 785, construction on the Great Mosque began, when Muslims controlled the region they called al-Andalus.  The Mezquita’s best-known architectural elements are the gorgeous polychromatic double arches that support the ceiling.  The mosque was enlarged several times under Muslim rule and converted into a cathedral in 1236.  Oddly (and fortuitously) the structure was neither demolished nor greatly modified, with subsequent alterations limited to adding Renaissance and other Western European structures and styles.  The result is a stunning fusion of colors, styles, and religious imagery.  Dave took several pictures of the Mezquita and will upload them to the Córdoba video, but in the meantime a visit to the Wikipedia site is worthwhile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque%E2%80%93Cathedral_of_C%C3%B3rdoba

On the way home we popped into a few of the patios in the historic center, including the one at hotel Balcón de Córdoba, where we enjoyed verdejo and olives.

Wednesday, May 10 – Córdoba to Madrid

On the way to the train station, we caught sight of this street sign and plaque with the “traditional” Salmorejo recipe.  There are, of course, as many variations of salmorejo as there are of gazpacho. 

Thursday, May 11- Madrid to Montpellier, France

5:30 am wake-up to make our Spanish AVE high-speed train to Barcelona.  In Barcelona we got on a French TGV high-speed.  The internet on the TGV stank, which did nothing for Dave’s mood.  Fortunately, the scenery, with the Med to our right and the majestic Pyrenees to our left, was gorgeous and distracting!

We arrived in time to explore Montpellier a bit, visit a fromagerie, and imbibe a liquid medicinal treatment .

Friday, May 12 – Montpellier to Le-Puy-en-Velay

Multiple trains to Le Puy en Velay.  Our hotel: La Demeure du Lac, a 14^th century estate currently owned by the Los Santos family, Spanish ex-pats who fled Spain’s Civil War in 1939.

Front door to tower stairs

Chambre Mauresque                                      

Spanish ex-pats still gather here, including a family of 3 (now) Belgian women and Proprietor Pierre Los Santos.

Arrived in time to run down to La Cave Marcon for beer and wine.  Super fun place.  Check out the stools.

Tomorrow, we start the Chemin du Puy!

Camino Mozárabe

Monday, May 1: Camino Mozárabe begins – Granada to Atarfe

We had planned to head out early to begin our camino, but we were advised that some of the prettiest walking is on the way into Granada from the east rather than along the way out.  We’ve decided to extend our time in Granada and stroll by the river and surrounding neighborhoods.  You’ll have to check out the video to walk along with us, but I’ll continue to load historical, cultural and food content (if compelling) here.

We made it to Atarfe, our destination for the evening.  Atarfe is small, only 18,000 people, so I didn’t have high expectations for meals.  I had forgotten we are in the garden of Spain!  When the owner heard we were vegetarians, he whipped up an incredible salad of green leaf lettuce, arugula, avocado, beets, carrots, banana slices (I took these out), almonds, and walnuts, topped with a wheel of Spanish goat cheese and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Overly enthusiastic?  Yes!  Thoughtful and delicious?  You bet!  Just what hungry pilgrims needed.

Tuesday, May 2- Day 2 on the Camino Mozárabe: Atarfe to Moclín

This was a tough day.  Fourteen miles (Dave’s new iPhone says almost 18).  Most of it spent on two-lane asphalt roads, sometimes with cars whizzing by at 60-80 mph.  I think we avoided disaster because 90-95% of Spanish drivers move over to give pedestrians room and peace of mind.  The middle part was pleasant, dirt paths, olive groves, distant views, mild ascents and descents.

We were making good time until we left the town of Olivares.  Despite being forewarned (see the elevation view below – red line on the left) we were unprepared for the steepness of the climb, its length, and the complete lack of shade or rest areas.  The entire hike took seven hours, the last two miles took 1 ¾ hours, and then we had a steep ascent on the aptly named Street of Bitterness to reach our BnB.

When I began to experience heat stroke symptoms, Dave donned his hero cape and relieved me of my backpack.  I honestly don’t think I would have made it otherwise.  Takeaway?  I cannot in good faith recommend this hike to anyone but the most fit, stalwart, and sun-tolerant people.

Above the village looms the Castillo de Moclín, worth a visit if you feel you can climb even further.  We did not!  Built in the mid-13th century to defend the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, its Arabic name is Aka Hins Al-Muqlin means “fortress of the two pupils”.  Continuously besieged during the Iberian-Moorish cohabitation of Spain, it fell to Catholic Kings in 1486. 

Ibiza in Moclín

Then everything changed.  Arriving at our lodging, Casa Higueras, we were warmly greeted by our hosts, Ian and Andrew.   In 2016, they chucked their England abode and purchased and renovated a historic home on a gracious double lot in Moclín, with outstanding views of the Sierra Nevada and the valleys and olive groves below, and turned it into an exclusive BnB, where they also reside.  The house is a gem, with whitewashed walls and beams, touches of Ibiza blue in the furniture and other details, modern baths, and comfortable, elegant bedding. 

They had prepared lunch for us on the terrace, and it blew us away!

Ian and Andrew split chef responsibilities, with Ian preparing the cooked plates, and Andrew preparing the fresh salads.  On the left above, a salad of fresh Granada tomatoes, with a hint of sugar and cinnamon, topped with almonds, and garnished with oregano.  In the center, a fluffy yet creamy quiche of zucchini and asparagus and a delicate layer of parmesan on top, perfectly browned.  To the right, a salad of petite hearts of romaine, with a yogurt, garlic, and mint dressing, garnished with chives and cashews.  Mind you, all this was prepared just for us!

Next time, we’ll skip the hike and come straight to Casa Higueras to spend at least three nights!

Wednesday, May 3 – Day 3 on the Camino Mozárabe: Moclín to Alcalá la Real

Fabulous breakfast at Casa Higueras, and Ian and Andrew even packed us some leftover quiche to take along on our journey.  Thank goodness because none of the cafés listed in the guidebook were open!  The guide was published in 2022, but the data would have been gathered prior to that. Covid must have caused many closures because the information is just wrong.

Distances were off, too, and today was another exhausting 16-18 miler (Dave’s iphone 14 and my iphone 10 differ).  Happy to say that we landed at a wonderful BnB, hosted by Angela, in Alcalá la Reál.  This one even has a pool!

Breakfast at Casa Higueras in Moclín

The Rothko Room at Atelier 88                          

Dave: happy but freezing in the saltwater pool

The terrace areas at Atelier 88

Thursday, May 4 – Day 4 on the Camino Mozárabe: Alcalá la Real to Baena

Lovely chat with Angela as we enjoyed a country breakfast of toasted french bread, eggs, fresh tomatoes, Manchego, and olive oil.  Angela and her husband moved here five years ago and are enjoying the ex-pat turned BnB-owner life.  They’ve made a big effort to become integrated into the local community and find that much more appealing than embracing an ex-pat community.

Today we walked to Baena.  Along the way we briefly met two German pilgrims, Sabine and Susanna.  In Baena, we stayed at Jazmines Mozárabes, a two-suite home in the casco histórico owned by a French Professor.  We did some grocery shopping and had our dinner on the covered patio.

Okay, here’s the skinny: we’re passing though olive groves, olive groves, olive groves.  It’s getting hard to add any commentary, both on Dave’s video and my blog!  So, let’s do a deep dive on olive oil production together!

The Olive Oil Production Process

Turns out Spain is the #1 producer of olives in the world, followed by Italy and Greece.  Olive trees produce three products: the olive itself, the oil pressed from the fruit, and the wood used for sculpture and furniture.

The olive tree is an evergreen.  It grows 10-40 feet tall and is shaped like an oak tree.  The abundant leaves are silvery green, spear shaped, and leathery.  The early May trees boast clusters of small white flowers, and many of their branches are shorn.  Turns out seedlings grow best when grafted onto existing trees, and that’s why successful trees suffer disfiguring amputations.  Trees must mature 15-20 years before producing world-class olives.  The trees continue producing for about 80 years.

If you visit Spain, you will see early-harvest green table olives presented with your apertif.  They are delicious: fresh and a little tart.  You will also see more mature olives in canned products.  Caveat: all olives need to be processed – they are not edible off the tree!

The olives are harvested from the trees by shaking the trunks or branches. A machine extends large calipers, grabbing the trunk and then shaking it.  Some artisanal growers eschew the mechanical help and actually beat the branches with sticks.  The olives must not touch the ground as this accelerates the maturation process, so nets are placed around the trees (like Christmas tree skirts) to collect the olives before they touch the ground.

At the production plant, air is blown over the olives to clear them of leaves, twigs and dust, again limiting contact between the olives and anything that might accelerate the maturation process. The olives are then macerated into a paste resembling green tapenade. The paste goes into a centrifuge to separate out the oil, water, and pulp/skins/seeds.

The oil is then run through cellulose filters to remove any remaining impurities.  Finally, it is professionally graded by scent and flavor.  The testers use opaque glasses to hide the color of the olive oil, which is considered irrelevant to quality, but that nonetheless influences even the most objective testers.  Smelling the oil first from chest, then chin, then nose level, and finally tasting it, the testers grade it as extra virgin (perfect), virgin (some flavor “mistakes”), and “lamp oil” (yuck). 

We’ll learn about this grading and tasting process at our olive oil tasting in Córdoba.

Friday, May 5 – Day 5 on the Camino Mozárabe: Baena to Alcaudete

The entrance to the town of Alcaudete is quite pretty, passing first by a park with a delightful fountain, and then through a property formerly owned by a convent and recently donated to the town, which is investing significant sums to install a large public park.  Plans call for several fountains, lots of green space, a children’s park, community gardens, and a bandstand.  Should be nice!

We had lunch at a little outdoor café called El Kiosko, and as usual, the staff was happy to satisfy our vegetarian cravings.  We had fresh salads and mushroom risotto.  As we finished our lunch, Sabine and Susanna wandered in, hot, tired, and hungry, only to be informed that the kitchen had closed.  We bought them a couple of drinks, wheedled the waiter into conjuring up some tapas, and shared some of our own snack stash, all of which made them quite happy.  They told us they had met another German pilgrim named Peter.  So, there were at least three other pilgrims on the route with us.  So different from the Camino Francés!

We stayed at Casa del Peregrino – Torre de la Muralla.  This is a 5-story, sensitively renovated tower in the ancient town wall, about 15 feet square.  I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The street and front door

The entry hall including the original well

A niche off the metal spiral staircase          

The principal bedroom, with hand-embroidered coverlet, header, pillows, and drapes.

The 4^th floor living room, kitchenette, and spiral staircase, complete with a gate to prevent you from falling down the stairs after too much wine!

The 5^th floor roof terrace and view.  This place was so cool!!!!

Saturday, May 6 – Day 6 on the Camino Mozárabe: Alcaudete to Castro del Río

More olive groves.  No shade.  None.  Walked with Sabine and Susanna for a while.  We will not see them after today because they are skipping the next stop and walking directly to Córdoba, 24 miles away.  On the way into town, we met Peter, the other German pilgrim, who is also going direct to Córdoba.  German hikers are incredible! Anyway, Peter has walked the Vía Podiense/Chemin de Puy, which we will begin soon, and says it’s his favorite camino.

Sunday, May 7 – Day 7 on the Camino Mozárabe: Castro del Río to Santa Cruz

Endless olive groves, little shade, and no services.  And the heat is beginning to build.  Apparently, Andalucía is about to suffer its second heat wave of the year.  In May!!!  April was the hottest April on record.

Santa Cruz is a town whose population has plummeted over the past decade or two.  The only industry is olive production, and young people who don’t want cultivate olives are leaving in droves.  The population is currently 700 people.  With nothing to see (and no guilt over not even trying to see anything), we had a long lunch, a nap, and an even longer dinner.  Once again, the cooks prepared savory vegetables: a menestra (sautéed vegetables) for lunch and a parrillada (grilled vegetables) for dinner.  We’ve also been enjoying salmorejo whenever we can.  I think I’m beginning to smell like garlic maybe?????

Monday, May 8 – Day 8 on the Camino Mozárabe: Santa Cruz to Córdoba

Our last day on the Camino Mozárabe!  We walked 13-15 miles to Córdoba (we still haven’t figured out the mileage issue) passing Espejo, a gem of a town.  We actually hoped to bypass it since it is completely vertical – straight up into town and straight down on the way out – but the camino runs right through it so up and down we trudged.

The landscape has changed somewhat with almond groves, sunflower fields, malt fields, and wild fennel and artichoke replacing the olive groves.  This was a welcome change. 

We arrived in Córdoba tired, dirty, and sore yet triumphant.  We’ve done another camino!  Despite our disreputable state, we treated ourselves to salmorejo, beer, and verdejo in an elegant indoor patio.  We felt bad for our fellow diners and hoped our road dust and sweaty condition didn’t cause anyone to rush out. 

Next, off to the hotel to wash up, hit the pool (the temps had reached 95° F), and then head out for an olive oil tasting.  Bliss.

Mari Carmen, Antonio, and Antonio, Jr.

Granada – April 30

Sunday, April 30 – Granada

An uneventful 2-hour drive to Granada.  Dropped off the car and got a cab.  Oh no!  We realized Dave had left his hat in the car.  Twenty minutes later, we had retrieved the hat and arrived near the luggage storage site in Granada.  “Near” because, inexplicably, it is in the pedestrian-only center.  Our driver brought us as close as possible so we didn’t have to drag the luggage too far.  Oops, again, we arrived early so the all-remote system didn’t recognize our PIN.  Buzzing the remote manager, we obtained early access.  Oops #3, we needed to reserve a second unit because all of our careful measuring at home did not survive the metric translation!  Finally free of our luggage, we hopped in a cab and headed to our hotel, the magnificent Parador de Granada.  As we begin our camino, I’m ceding the photo-taking to David but couldn’t resist lunch pics.

The chef describes his cuisine as reflecting the various cultures that passed through the Nasrid Kingdom (the Arab dynasty that ruled Granada, Jaén, Almería, Málaga, and Valencia for over two centuries) with a special emphasis on Arab culinary contributions.

We dined on the terrace overlooking the gardens of the Generalife: spectacular!

The amuse-bouche: gazpacho.    

The appetizer: hummus of local black beans, garnished with endive and edible flora; and guacamole garnished with radicchio and a cilantro flower.  Served with regañas (literally “scoldings”), but in this context crackers.

My entrée: Asparagus casserole with a delicately truffled egg.  Delicious!

Dave’s entrée: Beet Salad with ginger, mint, and Yogurt remoulade, garnished with mint.

Marbella – April 24 to 29

Monday, April 24 – Marbella

Today we drove the three hours from Cádiz to Marbella so not a lot to report other than some general observations.

First, driving in Europe is dumb.  We only did it because there is no train service and only infrequent bus service between Cádiz and Marbella.  Between picking up the car (rarely convenient to your lodging), dropping off the car when you’re tired, hitting the grocery store, and longing to stretch your legs, driving just doesn’t appeal.  Luckily, we only have one or two more drives this trip.

Second, Marbella has grown!  We spent a month here in 1999 when it had 105,000 residents.  Now it has 145,000.  Automobile traffic is intense, and the Paseo Marítimo (boardwalk) is busy with pedestrian/bike/scooter traffic.  That said, the Paseo is the place to exercise, and we had an enjoyable walk.  It extends from Marbella Center to Puerto Banús, a distance of 4.2 miles. 

Third, the Mediterranean Sea is beautiful here: clean and clear.  Sadly, the surrounding skies are not.  We’re not sure why.  Our weather apps tell us the air quality is fine, so perhaps we are seeing dust, a result of the drought that has plagued Spain and North Africa for years. 

Tuesday, April 25

A quiet day.  Marbella isn’t exactly known for its cultural amenities.  It’s more beautiful people, beautiful views, and beautiful geography…oh, and tourists.  We walked the Paseo toward the Casco Viejo (historic center), and things got progressively more touristy compared to our Golden Mile location.  Think street vendors selling knockoffs, running when the police show up, and restaurants with pictures of their food offerings rather than menus.

We expect more of the same all week.  The cultural sites worth visiting are mostly open on weekends, so we’ll visit those on Saturday.

Wednesday, April 26 – Marbella

Had a good, long walk to Puerto Banús and back.  Puerto Banús is Marbella’s port and luxe shopping area about 3.5 miles west of our apartment, easily accessible via the Paseo Marítimo.  Gentle but steady sea winds have cleared out some of the air pollution often visible over Africa, so we could see a hint of land across the Med.

After checking out the jetties, piers, and boats, we headed into town walking along shops that attract an international clientele: Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, Hermes, Louis Vuitton – you get the idea.  Over 100 luxury shops.  Dressed in hiking clothes and sweaty, we felt zero temptation to pop into any of them.  Lunch, however appealed.

El Sol Lounge is a cool little place with marina views and an island vibe.  Knowing we had a long walk back to Marbella, we ordered a bottle of cava to build courage.  Then we had our first gazpacho of the trip.  Beautifully presented, the famous soup held a garnish of watercress and a miniature pansy.  The soup was silky smooth, with finely chopped vegetables resting inside.  Next up were lightly fried vegetables gyozas.  Our entrée was vegetable curry served with jasmine rice…nice!

Thursday, April 27 – Marbella

Today we ventured into Marbella’s charming historic center.  The center is lovely, with whitewashed buildings, colorful mosaics, wrought-iron balconies, and lots and lots of flora: bougainvillea, hibiscus, jasmine, oleander, and palm and orange trees.  The flowering plants pop against the pristinely white buildings.

Winding streets, most too narrow for cars, take surprising turns and open suddenly into breathtaking plazas.  After wandering about for an hour or so, we headed back to the main plaza, Plaza de los Naranjos, for lunch.  I got lucky, with lots of eye candy around:

Friday, April 28 – Marbella

We were so excited today to be able to see two dear friends that we have not seen since before Covid.  We met Gil and Peta Supervielle on a cruise to South America many moons ago.  They live on the Costa del Sol, and we always take the opportunity to visit them here, meet up in Madrid, and even rendezvous in Miami. 

Next up, a visit to the Museo Ralli.  This is a small museum, recently built, and is one of several museums founded by Harry Recaneti, who donated his personal art collection to seed the museum collections.  In addition to Marbella, there are locations in Punta del Este, Uruguay; Santiago, Chile; and Caesarea, Israel.  The focus is Contemporary European and Latin American Art. 

Salvador Dalí

Joan Miró                               

Carlos Carmona

Mario Aguirre                                                   

Norah Borjes

Juarez Machado

Well, how do you top off a lovely visit with friends and a world-class small museum experience?  Drinks on the beach!  The Puente Romano and Marbella Club are two renowned names in Marbella luxury hotels.  We stopped in at the Puente Romano to listen to mellow DJ tunes and try out their beer and wine selections.

Saturday, April 29 – Marbella

Our last full day in Marbella – sad.  We had three important things to accomplish: another cultural visit, a farewell lunch, and rearranging the contents of our suitcases and backpacks to prepare for one night at the Parador de Granada (elegant!) and eight nights on the Camino (decidedly not elegant!)

We walked back to Puerto Banús to visit the Villa Romana de Río Verde.  This is a stunning Roman excavation consisting of the mosaic flooring, column bases, and a bit of wall from a 1^st -2^nd century country villa.  Discovered in 1960, it was fortunately preserved and protected just before Puerto Banús was developed. 

The rendering above shows the general layout.  The entrance is foreground left.  It connects to a mosaic path that circles an interior courtyard.  The two successfully excavated rooms are background right.

The entrance mosaics have been enhanced to highlight the archeologists’ best thoughts as to their colors.  The smudge in the above photo shows the condition of the Medusa-themed mosaic before any intervention.  Below is a rendering of the Medusa design.

Below you can see how someone cemented over the tiles in some misbegotten modernization.

Below we have a rendering of the southernmost rooms.  Obviously, the furniture is not of the period!  Below that is a photo of the excavations.

The designs had a fun culinary theme, and interpreters believe they represented the meal preparation process, at the end of which, the happy homeowners could remove their sandals (in front of and to the left of the doorway), recline upon their sofas, and dine in peace.

Cádiz– April 21 to 23

Friday, April 21 – Cádiz

After a leisurely morning, we headed to the train station, Atocha, to board a train to Cádiz.

The scenery in Cádiz, couldn’t be more different than Madrid.  Located on the southwest coast of Spain, it is directly south of Sevilla and southeast of Portugal, on the Atlantic Ocean.  From high mesa and dry heat, we have come to the coast with its dramatic views and onshore breezes.

We are staying in the Parador de Cádiz.  The paradores are Spain’s state-run hotels.  Normally, they’re in historic buildings, such as abbeys and convents, rehabilitated as luxury hotels.  When a historic site isn’t available, a new parador is built.  This occurred in Cádiz, where waterfront property was historically owned by the military, which prevented commercial development.

Later, walking from our oceanfront hotel we headed northeast along the botanic garden, Parque Genovés, with its diverse plantings, lovely cafés, and spectacular ocean views.  At the end of the park we discovered a world-class wine shop, Magerit, and bought some “provisions” for our stay.  We’ll be back! https://www.vinosmagerit.com/

Saturday, April 22 – Cádiz

Today was a “get-oriented” day.  We returned to the ocean walk, this time heading into the Old Town (Casco Viejo) to meet Anna, our private tour guide.  We visited all the emblematic spots in Cádiz: the ancient town walls, the site of the ancient mosque ruins, the Cathedral, the ruins of the second largest Roman theater outside of Rome, the historic plazas, the lively market, the Malecón (stone pier), Caleta Beach, the neighborhoods of La Viña – the old fisherman’s quarter, where women painted their homes in pastel colors so returning fishermen could easily identify their own homes, Barrio del Mentidero, and Barrio del Pópulo – the oldest part of the city, and some incredible, giant ficus trees.

Lunch was at Puerta del Edén, an excellent Moroccan restaurant appropriately sited near the former Moorish center.  The Ensalada del Edén was a tangy mix of arugula, radicchio, red onion, beets, tomatoes, and halloumi cheese with pecans and a honey vinaigrette.  Next up was a delicious dish of assorted vegetables, brown basmati rice, and cashews. 

What we learned about Cádiz:

• Settled 3,000 years ago by Phoenician traders from present-day Lebanon.  It was originally two islands, later made one with landfill and connected to the mainland.
• The location is of enormous strategic value, controlling the access to the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar.
• After the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians subdued the Iberian people and General Hannibal marched troops from Cádiz north through the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain), over the Pyrenees and Alps, ultimately attacking the Romans in present-day Italy (Second Punic War c.218-202 BC).
• In 206 BC the Romans struck back, invading Iberia.  Andalucía became one of Rome’s richest and best-organized colonies.  Aqueducts, amphitheaters, and theaters were built.  But as Rome’s star declined in subsequent centuries, so did Cádiz.
• The Byzantines conquered in it in 522 AD, the Visigoths in 620 AD, and the Moors in 711 AD.  The Iberians (nascent Spain) began the reconquest of Spain from the Moors here in 1243.
• King Alfonso X established the Royal Shipyards of the Crown of Castile here.  While Christopher Columbus sailed from inland Sevilla for his first journey west to the New World, shifting sands in the Guadalquivir River caused subsequent journeys to launch from Cádiz.  On the negative side, the importation of slaves further enriched the city.
• After the Anglo-Dutch sacking of the city in 1596, the current fortifications were built, which prevented further sackings for two centuries.  Then came Napoleon.
• While the Napoleonic Wars involved primarily French and English armies and navies,  wealthy, strategically-located Cádiz was caught in the cross-hairs.  When Spain wrested its independence from France, Cádiz recovered thousands of canons from sunken French warships and many as bollards to protect Cádiz’s structures from sloppy horse and cart drivers.  These acquired additional importance when the automobile was introduced!

• Finally, a linguistic point likely only interesting to nerds like me.  In Spain, residents of a town are normally known by some very close modification of the town’s name: Madrileños for Madrid, Sevillanos for Sevilla, Barceloneses for Barcelona.  Curiously, people from Cádiz are called Gaditanos (or Gaditanas).  I’ve always wondered about this.  Turns out the term dates from the Roman name for the settlement: Gades.  Okay, history lesson over!

Sunday, April 23

Today we strolled (if you know Dave you know the term “strolling” is a euphemism) our neighborhood taking in sights such as the Falla Theater, named for one of Spain’s most famous composers.  We soon arrived at the Cádiz Museum, which is primarily an archeological museum.  Upon entering, I was tickled to see a display about Cervante’s “El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha”, which included a copy of the text’s first pages.  I recalled with glee how Cervantes entraps the reader from the beginning claiming to tell the tale of a man from La Mancha, whose exact origins the author “respectfully refuses to disclose”.  I just reread the book so reading those words was like getting a second bite at the apple.  A super charming escape from 21^st century woes.  My friend, Bill, recently asked which English translation to read, and I sent him this review from the NYTimes: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/12/22/knights-gambit

Beyond that, the museum’s most important treasures include the twin Phoenician sarcophagi of a woman and a man, whose discovery inspired the museum’s creation.  The male sarcophagus was discovered in 1887, the female in 1980.  They date from the fifth century BC.  Note the detail on the female sarcophagus, which is 70 years older than the male’s.  She got way more of the sculptor’s attention!

NYC & Madrid – April 15 to 20

Saturday, April 15 – Travel Woes

We arrived at Miami International early for a 5pm flight to Newark feeling lucky to have clear skies after four days of downpours so severe that the Fort Lauderdale Airport, 20 miles away from our apartment, closed. Seven hours later, we weren’t so happy.

Weather in Newark had delayed the incoming plane. No biggie. After finally boarding, we sat on the tarmac for three hours after Newark imposed a full ground stop. Then the crew timed out so we returned to the gate. We sat in the boarding area for an hour while United tried to figure out what to do. Finally, we were told to collect our baggage and return the next morning.

Not an auspicious start to a three-month European vacation.

Sunday, April 16 – Miami to NYC

I’d been looking forward to seeing friends in New York that I hadn’t seen in several years. We had plans to see our son, newly installed in an apartment in Connecticut. We were also squeezing in a visit with Dave’s sister. Cancelled everything…

Sunday’s flight was delayed 45 minutes. For some reason the airport refused to cater the two planes that couldn’t fly to Newark the night before. Last night’s leftover snacks and drinks would have to suffice. Fortunately, the onboard stash included snack boxes. We selected the Tapas snack box. Perfectly acceptable, but not what one expects in first class.

We arrived in Newark early, but troubles started anew. Our luggage arrived 90 minutes later. It took over an hour to get into Manhattan. Our limo driver blamed it on rush hour…on a Sunday…at 3:30pm. All told, almost 30 hours to fly from Miami to Manhattan.

We finally arrived at the Yale Club, our Manhattan home-away-from-home. It’s a wonderful place and great location: Vanderbilt Avenue midtown, across the street from Grand Central Terminal. Dave needed exercise; I needed to clean up. That accomplished, we both needed comfort food. What does that mean to us? Mexican food!

Rosa Mexicano used to be a NY institution. Over the years, it expanded across the U.S. The food got pricier and deteriorated in quality. Then Covid came. The owners closed remote locations and got back to basics. They opened a new location at 52nd and 2nd, and we decided to give it a go. It was phenomenal. The salsa rocked: fresh, piquant, and smoky. The Roasted Mushroom Huarache was a sublime combination of shiitake, oyster, and trumpet mushrooms cooked with spinach and a delicate mole sauce, served over an oval corn tortilla in the shape of the eponymous Mexican sandal. My order was less ambitious: Chopped Salad: romaine, corn, beans, roasted jalapeños, cilantro, and crunchy tortilla strips. We shared a bottle of Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay.

Wandering home, we stopped at Cipriani Dolci in Grand Central for a nightcap. Dave asked to try the Italian chardonnay – too sweet. We then tried two cabernets and a cab/merlot/sangiovese blend. Not one tasted compelling.

Undecided, I perused the bar display, and my heart jumped. “Was that a Patrón XO”? The bartender had to go look. Apparently, few people drink XO at Italian restaurants. We switched tack and ordered two XOs over ice. A bargain at $17 each.

For those not familiar with it, XO is a tasty liqueur made with Patrón Silver tequila, coffee, and vanilla. If you like an espresso martini, you’ll flip for XO. Unfortunately, Patrón stopped production last year. We thought we’d never have it again, which saddened me as it’s my favorite liqueur. Inspired, we pulled out our iphones to see if any liquor stores still have it in stock. We bought every single bottle we could find. We now have a stash to last through Armageddon.

Monday, April 17 – NYC to Madrid

A perfect day. Workout at the Yale Club gym, great machines, not full, an hour with my audiobook. Hot shower back in the room. Heaven.

My friend, Deb, came over. We haven’t seen each other in years. It was so great to catch up! Two hours flew by, and I realized we’d be late to our lunch reservation at SoHo House. Luckily, they held our table, and I enjoyed a glass of rosé and Sunchoke Soup. Dave had Roasted Cauliflower with curried rice, lentils, and cilantro, washed down with a Montauk IPA. We shared the Roasted Rosemary Parmesan Potatoes.

An hour later we were in the American Airlines Flagship lounge enjoying a glass of Piper Heidsick and a Session Stonewall Inn IPA. Oh, and a cheese plate, bien sûr!

The AA flight was flawless and fast. 6 hours in the air. The service was excellent. We started with a glass (or two) of chardonnay, followed by a lovely cheese plate. The salad of mixed lettuces, red bell peppers, and pomegranate seeds was light and fresh. Our entrée was a delicate rollotini filled with soft, herbed cheese, sitting on a bed of basil-tinged, fresh tomato sauce. I rarely eat dessert, but who can resist vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge and caramel?

Then a lie-flat bed and night-night.

Tuesday, April 18 – Madrid

We landed in Madrid an hour early. Fortunately, our gracious apartment host rushed to meet us so we didn’t have to wait, wandering around Madrid, or worse, sitting in one place with all of our luggage. We hopped into bed immediately.

Refreshed, we headed out. We ate at a casual Vietnamese restaurant, sharing My Xao Chay, a dish of crunchy wheat noodles with mushrooms, carrots, green beans, and tofu in a light peanut sauce, and Ca-Ri Chay, a yellow curry with market vegetables served with jasmine rice. We walked it all off in Madrid’s Retiro park.

On the way home, we stopped at a supermarket to pick up wine and cava, cheese, crackers, coffee, milk, and other essentials. By 8pm we were on our private roof terrace with a cheese board and cava. Bliss.

Wednesday, April 19 – Madrid

The day after arriving in Europe is always the toughest for me. I don’t sleep well the night of arrival, often waking up at around 2am local time and, after tossing and turning for an hour or so, finally get up and read or work for a couple of hours. Last night and today were no different. After finally getting some sleep, I awoke at almost 9am, groggy and ready for coffee.

At 11:45 we were on our way back to El Retiro to take our “morning constitutional”. The day couldn’t have been nicer, sunny, a slight breeze, 70° F. Lunch on our terrace consisted of a spinach salad with mixed cherry tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, and crisped onions, lightly dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

At 4pm we hopped in an Uber to go visit the Royal Palace. The guided tour is a must. Some interesting facts on the Palace:

• Construction began 1735 and ended 1755.
• At 1,450,000 sq. ft. and 3,418 rooms, it is the largest royal palace in Europe. (2x the size of Versailles and 1,100 more rooms. To be fair, more of Versailles has been preserved and is open to the public. But given the current crisis in France caused by the extension of the state-guaranteed retirement age, I have to ask, “Could the French have avoided the extension if so much public money wasn’t going to Versailles???)
• Artists represented include Caravaggio, Juan de Flandes, Francisco de Goya, Velázquez, Giovanni Battista Tiépolo, Corrado Giaquinto, and Antón Raphael Mengs.
• The most impressive pieces include:

o Two Tiépolo ceiling frescos, the largest of which was painted when the artist was 68 years old, lying on his back some 30+ feet in the air and working quickly before the plaster dried. The result is stunning.

o The largest collection of 16th century Flemish tapestries in the world. Some former king, recognizing their importance, designated them as part of the Spanish national heritage and required future kings not only to ensure their conservation but also to enlarge the collection.

o Five Stradivarius string instruments, including four of the eleven instruments, unique in the world, where the artist carved designs into the ribs (sides) of the instrument and inlaid them with Chinese ink. These pieces are even more beautiful than your “standard” Stradivarius.

• The Armory is also outstanding.

At 5:30 we headed over to the Templo de Debod, a gift from the Egyptians to the Spanish government, which I was really excited to show Dave as it is normally a place of serene contemplation among towering trees and a zen-like temple and reflecting pool. Alas, the temple is undergoing renovation, the pools empty, and the site awash with construction vehicles. Aargh! On the other hand, a new traffic recirculation project has been completed rendering the Plaza de España much more tranquil and pedestrian friendly.

Passing through the Plaza de España we reached our next destination: Vega Àlamo. Vega is a 5vegetarian hotspot in Madrid’s right now. We booked a table on the terrace (which in Spain entitles you to pay a 10% surcharge). Arriving early by Spanish standards, we ordered a rosado (rosé) and a Cibeles Imperial IPA. Instead of waiting for the drinks and the goodies that usually accompany them, Dave jumped the gun and ordered Mushroom Croquetas (a Spanish standard) with a kimchi crema (not so standard). Turned out to be a great call!

The Grilled Artichokes with balsamic vinegar, crispy “bacon” and Chinese scallions were equally awesome:

As was the Risotto Verde with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, pesto Genovese, asparagus, and Parmesan Petits Fours:

A great day in Madrid.

Thursday, April 20 – Madrid

Our usual morning: coffee and a walk in the park. Another sunny day, brisk in the morning and heading to 80° F.

Lunch was in the garden at Arzábal, the restaurant at the Reina Sofía museum. The ambiance, presentation, and service were excellent. The amuse bouche, a demi-tasse of Salmorejo, a tomato soup similar to gazpacho but made with bread, was outstanding. As a first course we shared traditional Patatas Bravas, cubes of potatoes, lightly fried, and served with a spicy sauce. They, too, were wonderful. The main courses, a plate of White Asparagus with Aioli and Grilled Artichoke Hearts with a Hollandaise-y sauce were okay. When restaurants don’t specialize in vegetarian cuisine, their vegetarian options are often just so-so.

At the Thyssen-Bournemiza Museum we saw the Lucian Freud exhibit. Lucian was Sigmund Freud’s grandson, but his painting stands on its own merits. The exhibit was a survey of his work from earliest days to last works. Mostly self-portraits and portraits, his subject matter didn’t really change, but as he matured, his style did. In his youth, he was very precise in his rendering and colorings. As he aged, he started to use broader brush strokes and a stronger color palette. The resulting work was both more nuanced and more complex. While his work is not really to my taste, I could certainly appreciate his talent, and I enjoyed his later pieces, such as the self-portrait with his children below.

We also caught the exhibit called “In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930. This exhibit covered the modernist and futurist styles during the period when Ukraine was trying to establish its own existence while being contested by neighboring powers. The painters of the period tried to use painting to create a recognizable national style. The earliest works clearly depicted Ukrainian patterns, palettes, and imagery. As the artists explored modernism and the avant-garde, they came up with their own style: cubo-futurism. Throughout this period, they retained the exuberant color palettes of earlier periods. In the 20’s artists became in involved in theater design.

When it became clear that Stalin’s Russia would dominate the country’s future, the paintings became more muted and somber. Artists were executed and many of their works destroyed. Social Realism, reflecting the class consciousness that became the only acceptable lens through which to practice art in the Soviet Union, dominated.