another recipe

Another Recipe for a snack or meal:
Shave a cross-section of a large eggplant, perhaps 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick
Lay a piece of prosciutto or ham into it
lay a thin slice of mozzarella ontopand rollit
Make a number of these and place into a shallow baking pan
mix ketchup and french's mustard to taste, add a bit of sweet cream
pour over top and bake
top with shredded parmesan when done and serve...ymmmmmmm

Feb 10 - Sevilla in Bauer minor

Feb 10 – Thursday … or bulls, anchovies, Alcazar and Flamenco in Sevilla
The pace slows and the sites are purely Sevilla. Mark up at 3, Kathie soon followed-what do you expect, but nothing pressing. Lazy stroll – paseo – to the bull fighting ring and museo. One toreador, two picadors, and three bandoleers fight 2 bulls (hardly fair fight) to the death. This used to be a way for men on horseback to control and kill bulls quickly for meat…they kept the cows for breeding. Once guns came into play, the admired skill of the toreador, bull killer, was being lost. Therefore, it became a sport, albeit a dangerous one. The picadors are to weaken the bull through loss of blood; the bandoleers anger him so he fights better (or perhaps those are backwards)– better sound bites. If the bull is angry enough, and the toreador kills him quickly (25 minutes) nobly with a spike through the heart between the 4th and 5th vertebra, the toreador may get 1-2 ears and the tail…one, two or three star fight. If the bull injures of kills the toreador, the bull is not only killed but also its mother. They say the bull gets his strength from his father and evil personality from the mother. Yuck. The whole thing almost made K sick to her stomach. If a horse gets gored, all the more free meat for the poor…college football similarities? Glad to have missed the spectacle. Littler fast boys head to bullfighting school to see if they have the ability to turn pro at 16. The ring took 120 years to build, same as the cathedral.
Back to the center of town with a bit of time to kill before touring Alcazar. Went into the Archives of the Indias. 40 million documents concerning every aspect and record of Spanish exploration of the Americas. Who went where, when, and what sank where. Chronicles the discovery of the new world from the Spanish perspective. Free sea versus controlled sea, were they pirates or privateers? This is where current salvage people go to try to locate sunken treasure…Spain it seemed owned the oceans and the Americas (the pope said so!), Then along came those pesky English, Dutch and French with letters of marque from their respective monarchs to disrupt the control. Took a nap in the 75 degree sunshine in the Plaza de Trunfio while waiting the guide. Our luck runs out with tours, not enough people showed so we do the Alcazar on our own.
Alcazar is 3 separate palaces with a magnificent garden. Amazing collection of rooms, fountains, courtyards, gardens, pools, water powered organs. All done with Mudejar architecture…a mix of mosaic, painted tiles, carved stone and wood, orientation of the rooms to sun and Mecca. This is still the home of the royal family when they visit Sevilla.
We are starting to settle into the Spanish pace, as indicated by a bottle of wine, 2 loaves of bread and a small siesta. We wake up just in time to go to the Flamenco Museo and its dance demonstration. 4 performers …imagine Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, Riverdance Michael Flathely, and ice skating all rolled into Carmen. The girl was beautiful and sultry; the guy was a bit scary but stomped and spun while, Mark says, touching himself provocatively, and the singer sounded like he was calling the crowd to prayer from the top of the tower while Jesse Cook strummed away. It was all done very well and lots better than the 40 Euro tourist shows! Late dinner and slow paseo back to Hotel Amadeus. We should comeback in April sometime when all the orange trees are in blossom – perhaps better than a few rotten oranges falling at your feet.

Recipe of the day
Nicoise Sevilla style salsa fresca without cilantro
½ inch chunks potato – biked but al dente
Fine chop tomatoes, onions, green red yellow pepper, hard boiled egg, carrot peel
Tuna olive oil/vinegar…that’s it!

Feb 9 - city and cathedral tour

We solved the problem of waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to get back to sleep – just stay up till 2:30!! Soccer game at a local taberna then getting lost in the Juderia kept us up. Then, a little sleep, a little internet, a little email, background reading about Sevilla and, before you know it, it’s time to go find good pastries. What’s with the surly waiters? They’re everywhere! Maybe it is Mark’s bright yellow coat and baseball cap…the ONLY person not in dark brown or black. Off to meet Alvado, our tour guide for the day. Concepcion was to be our guide (Rick Steves’ suggestion) but she is a bit indisposed- about 6lbs 4oz worth of indisposition.
Waiting for our guide we again saw the bicycles owned by the government. White in Barcelona,here they are red. For 8 euro yearly, you get a license to use the bikes for 3o minutes at a time. They have racks everywhere and everyone uses them. We also saw the pneumatic garbage shoots located all over the old town where trucks can't get to pickup trash. Interesting solution to the problem!
Walking tour of Sevilla…the same maze of narrow blind alleys and shuttered doors in the Jewish quarter and Alcazar we were lost in last night became picturesque photo ops as shops and restaurants opened and the ambience poured out. We got more of the idea of the growth of Seville from a Phoenician then Roman city, through 800 years of Moorish rule and the subsequent re-conquest by Ferdinand. After the discovery of the Americas (Columbus is a majordomo here – they even celebrate Columbus day like we do) Sevilla became the largest city in the world in the 16th century. All riches from the Americas came to Europe through Sevilla, with taxes collected right outside the cathedral – or inside if it was raining. Off to lunch with a great recommendation to eat at Casa de Romans, where they serve the best jamon iberico (acorn raised pork) in Spain – 5 “Js”. Great thin sliced prosciutto, chunks of parmesan and asiago, mushrooms steamed in olive oil and a GREAT WAITRESS! Mark must be getting better at trilling his “r”s (not arse). Back to find Alvado for a 1 hour tour of the Cathedral. It is the largest gothic cathedral in the world (by area) and they post the Guinness Book of Records to prove it. Our luck with guided tours continues – only 4 of us, the other couple from Massachusetts. Inside the cathedral walls are actually 44 other individual chapels which were privately owned in the past. Wealthy 16th century Sevillans had to own a chapel and celebrate mass every Day, even if no one attended. Good gig for the church and priests. The vied with each other to decorate their chapels. The main altar has a gold encrusted tableau depicting the life and times of Jesus – 40+artisans worked 85 years to complete it. Christopher Columbus, or at least 60%of him, is entombed here with DNA evidence to prove it (his son Hernando is also here). He spent a few hundred years traveling after his death with stops in Cuba and the Dominican Republic and left parts along the way. We were feeling really strong after our 5 Js lunch so decided to climb the minaret, cum bell tower thanks to Ferdinand. The re-conquest in Seville and elsewhere involved switching the east west orientation of the mosques to north-south, add a bell to the minaret and shazam! You have a church. The story is they built 26 churches in one day in Sevilla.
Muslims were called to prayer 5 time daily from the Giraldo tower…long hike, so this one has a series of 36 ramps so the mullah could ride a horse to the top. It made the climb a breeze for us and the view was well worth it. The climb made us really hungry for the big meal of the day. Couldn’t find any of the restaurants recommended in the books, so instead followed our noses, which has worked well in the past. Mark’s bad cold didn’t help. We went into one place with only one table left and great food, but after 10-15 minutes without even a nod from the waiter 3 feet away, we decided to take our stomachs elsewhere. Two doors down Don Carlos himself invited us into his place. A great bottle of white wine washed down plates of fried calamari and boquerones (anchovies). All went well until Kathie, famished after her long climb up the tower, ate the tails and spines of Mark’s fish (taste like thin potato chips) and washed them down with an espresso.
With Mark gagging, we trekked back to our hotel by way of the Flamenco museum, signing up for a show tomorrow night. Fell into bed to sleep off lunch and for Mark to try to shake off his cold. The bad thing about 5 pm naps is waking up at 10 and needing to go out (like the dogs). Off we go to find more nightlife, which doesn’t exist for those over 30. Can’t figure it out, by those standards we are over qualified! Mark’s fever broke sometime after midnight- God bless gelato! Now, again up at 3 a.m.. Oh well, got the blog written and typed in. Waiting for pastries and Starbucks to open.
Thanks for all the emails and comments. They do help to make our day.

Recipes!!! Oink...

We have had some good dishes here. Tapas are small plates; you can also order 1/2 "raciones" or full rations. We tend to order a number of plates and share. The best so far include:

tiny frieswith garlic aioli sauce

baby spinach, sliced apples, sliced mushroom, thick sliced parmesan, and shrimp salad with a HOT sweet mustard vinegarette dressing - blew out the sinuses and woke us up!

spirelli pasta, tomato chunks, black sliced olives, mixed greens, feta chunks, and again a sweet mustard vinagrette, not as hot as above, but same thing - very sweet

grilled pork tenderloin (not too well done so moist) with a carmelized onion, raisin, pine nut comfit, all served over chopped red potatoes which were likely grilled and then "toasted" under the broiler

3 cheese rissoto- gorgonzola, emmental and ?

red potato chunks "larded" with either thin leek/scallion greens or green peppers and then roasted till soft in the middle and crusty on the outside. Served with salty au jus sauce made with the potato liquid (to thicken it - maybe minimal cornstarch?) and a touch of whiskey

jamon iberico with the pigs raised on a pure acorn diet "5 Js" ...EVEN THE FAT WAS DELICIOUS!

We've stuck with the house red and white wines...never a disappointment yet!

Feb 7 and Feb 8 - Mark's 62nd birthday

Monday Feb 7
Today we were up early (our curse in Barcelona) in an effort to get to the Tourist information 1 hour early to assure we got the Gaudi bus tour. The orange umbrella was right in out face and we were the only participants of the tour… a big bus all to ourselves with our own tour guide. We got there an hour early and went straight to the bus – the old couple in The Amazing Race – scrambling around Placa de la Catgalunya –frogger between the millions of motorcycles and taxes. Thanks to god for the Veinte starbucks mocha. Our guide Nuria was great. The giant bus wended its way past the Passaig de Gracias and Gaudi buildings to Parc Guell. Eustebia Guell bought a mountain outside of town and commissioned Gaudi to design a housing development on the hill just north of downtown Barcelona around 1905-ish. People who were used to living in large apartment buildings couldn’t fathom a separate house so “far” from downtown. Only 3 houses were sold and 1 mile of roads built. When Guell died, his son sold it to the city as a park –couldn’t afford to keep it. Weaving elevated roads with “tree root” supports lead to large terraces surrounded by whimsical ceramic inlaid serpentine benches. The terrace overlays a market area below designed to look as if you are under the sea. – a guitarist doing his best Jesse Cook imitation – like singing in the shower. Each column supporting the terrace channels water from the terrace into cisterns that then flow out of dragons and are used to water the plants. Back onto the bus and off to Sagrada Familia basilica (it may be the cathedral once finished). Still under construction, Gaudi took over the project in its second year, apparently from the architect who designed the house our hotel was in. He ran the project from 1883 until his death by street car in 1926.
Estimates for completion range from another 8 to 30 years. 8 of 18 spires completed now. 2 of 3 facades are completed, the nativity façade and passion are complete. The glory façade is not yet complete. Checkout Wikipedia and the Dec 2010 National Geographic for details. The largest spire will be 550 feet tall, one foot shorter than Montjuic hill to in town. We rode up one of the spires in the nativity façade by elevator, walked catwalks around the top and then walked down spiral staircases in other spires. 100 years ago the stones were handcut one at a time, all the lines , supports ,angles and other supports were determined by upside down models. Gaudi would create chains which hung upside down, with weighted bags providing stress points – catenary arches. He photographed these models and then turned them right side up to figure out how to build it – or hung them over mirrors to see what they would look like. Either a genius or a madman, said his instructors at architecture school. He lived in the crypt of the church for the last 20+ years of his life We think he was both. He worked entirely by models, no drawings. Now, autocad designs the cut stones. His models were destroyed during the Civil war in the 30s and only now are being reconstructed.
We were getting hungry and tired, but one more Gaudi to see, can’t get enough of this crazy guy. Casa Mila (la Pedrera)- 6 floors, each 12000 sq. feet. Owners lived on the first floor and rented out upper floors, typical of the times. Up to the attic to experience the catenary arches first hand, then to the undulating terrace of the roof with too many chimneys to count – toad stools, serpents and monsters. Whimsical to the max. Outside (non-supporting walls were his secret), cascade off the sides of the building like melting ice cream. Every design comes from nature. Love or hate Gaudi, no one is indifferent. We like the whimsy.
Stagger back to the hotel for the requisite4 hour siesta. Then, tapas anyone??? If we must. Purchase of the camera USB cable to add pictures to this blog! Too many tapas, too little time, and off to bed. AVE train to Sevilla early in the morning

FEB 8 – Mark’s 62nd birthday
From the AVE train, after a quick taxi to the Sants train station. Amazing, quiet, 300 km per hour passage through mostly dry farmland and patches of snow in the high plains – nothing but blue sky after the fog lifted. Reclining seats, movies, multi channel entertainment with DeNiro movie and “Nine.” Yours ears pop as you go through tunnels at that speed. All these trains arrive with minutes of schedule or your money comes back to you! Hauled our bags 947 miles on cobblestone streets to our hotel – La Musica (addition to La Amadeus) is lovely. Directions we had were from the bus station … we arrived by train! We have a room on the top (4th) floor of a small house in the Barrio Santa Cruz. We wandered until 1 a.m. after a nap. The area is quite safe and we closed down the town. Did get lost in the Juderia quarter which was designed for that purpose as protection. More tomorrow.

casa batllo - Gaudi

look it up on wikipedia for more detail

dinner with Obama

la boqueria

Pictures from 5-6 of Feb

We found a camera cable, so here are a few pix. me in front of the Boquerie (market). Casa Batllo at night (a Gaudi design) At Parc Guell x2

Feb 6

Up early today to start touring the old town of Barcelona. We had a quick coffee and pastry at Starbucks as nothing else was open at 9 on Sunday morning...too many late nights on the weekend! Then we headed out for a walking tour of the Barri Gotic area. Mainly we walked around the cathedral and studied not just the gothic architecture but also that from the Renaissance and Baroque periods - all on Roman foundations 65 feet down. No earthquakes here damaged the older buildings, like in Italy, they just got torn down to make way for new. The first town wall surrounded the cathedral area, then expanded two more times. Unlike many places, the walls are all gone now. We did take an elevator down the 65 feet to walk around dyeing vats, fish meal factories and some other Roman ruins. Noon in the cathedral courtyard brought out a small orchestra and the Sardana dancers. People from the town sway, dance,and hop in large circles-putting their bags and purses in the middle to protect them from thieves...all ages take part, but it was slanted toward the aged as this was Sunday morning and the late nights kept the younger partiers in bed. Then we took a hike through the Ribera district to find the Picasso museum. He started out at age 12 learning to paint like the old european artists and then ended up painting in very childlike manners with broad black strokes and lots of color. Can't say we have ever appreciated the cubism, but now understand it more. Had our first hit on a tapas bar where they charged by the number of toothpicks on your plate! They weren't especially tasty, so need to find other places. Then we hoofed it again to catch a city bus to the top of Montjuic and the Olympia village. First built in the late 30's, the Olympics missed Barca because of their civil war. It was refurbished for the 92 Olympics. Quite a site. The plain of Barcelona is nestled between tall escarpments and mountains and the sea. Mainly flat, it abruptly rises to the heights around the city. Funiculars and cablecars carry you up, when they are working. The harbor and town streets were packed by evening with children on inline skates, strolling families and al fresca dining. Back to bed by midnite after 5-6 miles of walking and up early tomorrow for the modernistic site of the town's architecture...Gaudi and more! ALso off to buy camera cable.

Feb 4
Well, we are off. Currently sitting in the Newark airport with a 4 hour layover prior to heading out to Barcelona. The flight from SEA was moved to an earlier time so we were up at 2 a.m. The flight over the US is the first time we have ever flown cross-country where every inch was white – and rough the whole way. The massive storm certainly hit everywhere, like a clean sheet thrown over everything. I have been reading how the arctic is 20 degrees warmer than ever, and very little ice in places for the polar bears or other winter animals’ needs. The result is also that the “temperature fence” that keeps polar air circulating north of the arctic circle has failed and we down south are getting all the cold weather that belongs up there. You sure can tell! The piles of snow here at EWK are mountainous…well, we now must kill 4 hours of layover time. 12 hours until Espana!
Feb 5 (yawn)
Arrived in Barcalona early Saturday morning…only about 2 hours sleep in last 24. Brilliant red sunrise, with indigo sky above the red fading into inky black full of bright sparks in the sky. Every quarter of the sky showed a different sparkling constellation as we flew over the coast of Spain/Portugal. Orion's belt welcomed us itno town. Then we caught the quick A-1 bus into town to the Placa de Catalunya and walked 2 blocks up Rambla de Catalunya to our hotel where !joy! our room was ready and waiting for us. We dumped our baggage and started a slow ramble down the Ramblas (Arabic for “stream”) in the old town, main tourist street of the old town. The central meridian of the street was packed with bird markets (dead and live), street artists, mimes, and families out for their Sabado passeig. A stroll through the massive La Boqueria (produce market) was an intensive education in the Espana menu and left us both fearful and salivating – sometimes at the same time. We then continued down the Ramblas to the harbor and across the fanciful footbridge to stare at large boats, sailing yachts and the weekend crowds. By now our stomachs were growling and Kathie’s head was spinning from lack of sleep – a quick Beef carpacio with shaved parmesan and arugula, marinated with Spanish beer, aqua con gas, and topped off by fried baby calamari, then back to the hotel for a 6 hour nap.
At 9 p.m. it became clear we needed to venture out again to find a bar to watch FC Barcelona play Atletico de Madrid. This was not the Real Madrid vs. FCB game we expected so we did not shell out the 300 Euros for tickets but instead found a local bar to eat and drink dinner at during the game. FCB dominated, of course. Time to test Kathie’s newly learned Spanish…wine typically will help loosen the tongue but Long Island Ice Tea does a better job. Had dinner at Obama’s restaurante, with him seatedat our table-he wasn'tmuch of a conversationalist. Mark continues to try spaghetti carbonara and fails to match Kathie’s recipe…Kathie had cuatro estaciones pizza with tuna, black olives, jamon and tomatoes…yummy as usual, but a new flavor included (tuna). Pictures to follow tomorrow as we left the camera cable at home and need to buy a new one!
Midnight almost and off to bed, perchance to dream....or snore. Thanks Long Island!

" ... our bags are packed, we're ready to go..." la la la la

Less than 2 days. We've been watching the massive storm move through the midwest toward our one stop, Newark, on the way to Spain. Looks like they'll have time to clear the runways before we land and take off again. We're keeping our fingers crossed! We've been given the opportunity to attend a spectacular soccer game - Barcelona vs. Madrid - Saturday night at 10 pm in Barcelona. If our plane arrives, the tickets are still available, and we can fight off jet lag that first day we will be sitting in the middle of 90,000 screaming, face painted fans with smoke bombs about the time you all finish lunch...we'll be thinking of you!

Testing testing, 1...2...3...

So we will be heading to Spain for Mark's birthday inFebruary...just testing the blog site

Last days of vacation

We had a marvelous sea food dinner in Ventnor, right on the water, and fell into bed the first night on the Isle of wight. We awoke to foxes running in the yard of our thatched roof B&B, had a wonderful breakfast and then headed out to visit Osborne House. This was the huge manor house constructed by Queen Victoira's husband Albert. It's gardens and rooms were, of course, royal in scope. There was even an entire Swiss Cottage built in which the 9 children of Victoria and Albert received their extensive and massive education. They were taught all the basics in addition to the three Rs: building, hunting, cooking, gutting, gardening and everything else the commoners and royals needed to know in the early 1800s. Albert unfortunately died at age 41 not too long after it was completed. Victoria spent the last 40+ years of her life in mourning, many of them here as a recluse. To get to the island was a mere 4 hour train ride from London, sail across the Solent and landing on their private beach. We also learned that the upper class at that time had "bathing machines," a coach pulled by horses with a heating stove and toilet in which the women could descendinto the water (fully clothed) and get out again once their were done swimming. Some of "Mrs. Brown" was filmed here , with Judi Dench starring as the widowed Victoria, including the bathing machines.

From Osborne House,, we drove to and hiked through the botanical gardens down to Steephill Cove, a private beach owned by just a few families, inaccesible except by hiking or boat. Supposedly great crab sanwiches are made here, with crab fresh out of the water. We, of course, got there late and only after all the crab was eaten...unlucky!

Next to the Isle of Wight glassworks to look for Christmas ornaments, but everything was too elegant or heave to bring back and risk being broken in the flight. We spent our last time on the island hiking to St. Catherine's Oratory, the tallest spot on the island, to view where my Uncle Dix set up one of the major radio signal relay stations during WWII. He was in charge of that stuff for the Allies, all over Europe and North Africa. There was still a big white triangulation monument for measuring distances and signals.

Off the Isle to stay one last night with Suzy and Nick, Suzy's house is approximately 500 years old. It had very low beams and headers over the doors, which I kept bashing into with my already sore skull . A swim in their pool (not 500 years old, with their grandchildren Lauren and Callum thentime out for dinner with Alex, her husband Al, 5 year old Lauren and 10 month old Callum. Lovely BBQ and PIMS #1, of which I have become quite fond.Very much fun to catch up with cousins, first cousins once removed and first cousins twice removed :)
Up early the next morning to try to pack...where did all this stuff come from!! One last driveon the left without denting the car, easy with the Garmin which has become our favorite toy. Off on a short trip to Iceland, Plane left late so we missed the important goals for USA in Iceland. Longer hop to Seattle, Nate topick us up, hugs for Nate, Liesl, Cooper and the dogs and into bed. Nice to be home again, not as nice to be back at work! Mark starts his new Electronic Medical Records next week, so I don't expect to see him for awhile! Hi to all ... over and out...you may not here fromus again for weeks!

Stonehenge and Solstice festivities

We woke Sunday morning and aimed the Garmin at Avebury and Stonehenge. Avebury is a wide circle of diminshed stones. They appear to be attuned to the rise and fall of the sun and the solstices, but archaeologists still debate the true purposes of each. The entire town of Avebury lies within the extensive stone circle.
thatch covered homes and small stone and brick inns nestle next to massive rocks standing upright in the field. The village has adapted to its surround in over 4000 years.Both Avebury and Stonehenge were constructed more than 4000 years ago. After walking the ramparts encircling Avebury, we trekked on down to Stonehenge. Though crowded with people and machinery, the site was still impressive. Stonehenge was actually much smaller than I thought it would be. I envisioned a much larger area being covered by the encircled stones. But as we walked around it, where it is on a slight rise in the rolling hills, we could see how it was actually dominating the whole area. The Avon river in the distance, the path from the river on which the stones were moved, the bird songs and the wind feathering over the grass could easily have been millenia in the past. Of course, the electric lights,masses of police and porta loos for 40,000 did detract a bit from all the serenity. Stonehenge at the solstice is not where I want to be and it was aout to arrive! So we next took off for the town of Salisbury, We had a great lunch at a little shop near the Cathedral and then proceeded to walk around the medieval streets and peer inside the cathedral....then off to the Isle of Wight. Caught the ferry just in time and drove the backroads of the island to find our B&B high on a hill over looking the sea in Ventnor. It feels very mediterranean and we, in fact, have palm trees outside our window! More tomorrow.

Saturday June 19 Horses, Lions and Snakes,oh my

We had a lovely day today, riding the train into and exploring Bath (parking is horrific with 2 million visitors annually). We first took a walking tour around town with a knowledgable volunteer tour guide. We spent 2.5 hours being entertained and wore out our feet. Next we climbed the tower of the Abbey. We were in the bell chamber when it struck 4 p.m and sat behind the clock that keeps the city going ....all 12 bells ringing wildly in our ears were awesome and it was a looonggg ways up! I guess you could say I got my bell rung in more than one way! Fortunately, my headache is gone and bruises are fading. The street entertainment was wonderful, opera singers, one man computerized bands, jugglers on 8 foot unicycles with great patter, white coated statues that weren't(!) and Polish snake charmers with 18 year old huge pythons. Where the Cotswolds were idyllic and pastoral, Bath is alive. Managed to lose one camera lens cap, one camera, and Rick Steves' guidebook...found all but the book! After 15 daYS, WE CAN CONFIRM Mark is the only guy in England wearing a baseball cap and I am, apparently, the only one in our family who likes snakes. Except Mason. Mason, you like snakes, right??!! Grandad wouldn't even touch it!! All around town were decorated Lions for auction for charity...much less imaginative designs than the pigs in Seattle and fish in Oly.

The Baths by the way, though built by the Romans, have been here for much longer. They figure the hot water, about 230,000 gallons daily at 120 degrees, has been pouring out for over 100,000 years. The English dudes need to speak with the Icelandic dudes about how to use this good stuff. BAck to "The Swan" in Bradford by train and then a stiff hike up the hills to "The Castle Inn" for dinner. Off to Stonehenge and surroundings tomorrow onthe way to the Isle of Wight.

Friday June 18

Well, this was a fun day in most ways. Woke up to a great "Full English Breakfast" then went back to sleep until 10:30! Drove to Glastonbury, the supposed home and burial place of King Arthur...he was possibly a king in SE Britain in the 500s who united large groups of the population against the Saxon invasions. He is thought to be buried in Glastonbury abbey. Most of the medieval legends about him developed hundreds of years later when the English needed a local hero to rally the population in spirit to repel the French...didn't work! The French liked the legends also, adding a french queen (guinevere) and knight (Lancelot).

Enter William the Conqueror. Glastonbury Abbey is beautiful though only a few ruined walls exist and one complete building, the abbot's kitchen. All others were trashed in the mid 1500s when Henry VIII split from Rome to establish the Anglican church, and confiscated the Catholic lands to pay his debts and other costs agasinst the Pope.
Glastonbury is supposed to be the first spot on which Christianity established a foothold in England...approximately 70 years after the death of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea is said to have arrived carrying the chalice,some of Jesus' blood etc. The first church was built in what was then almost the coast due to high waters. Over time, the oceans receded and left a very marshy land with a few bumpy hills. Mark played monk to a group of tourists, making bread in a demonstration...

Mark says I earned a redcard today. My first foul was to catch cold and pass it to him. Then, today, I took a really bad spill. Hurt my knee, one shoulder, both palms and really bashed the side of my head on the street. Spent the rest of today trying to ignore a massive headache. Expect I'll be sore all over tomorrow. Where I fell, someone said "I don't know why they don't fix that, someone falls there every day!"
No litigation for negligence here, I guess! Asumption of risk (walking the cobbles) is alive and well here.

Next we climbed the hill where the Glastonbury Tor stands, 518 feet above sea level. A church has stood on this site for more than 1900 years. Then it was off to Wells and its magnificent cathedral. To be called a "city" you must have a cathedral,and this is the smallest city in England. Marvelously well preserved with buildings which are still being used for their original purposes; especially attractive was the "Vicar's Close" a street of homes in which the choir once lived.

We managed to get in a bit of the US game today and Mark is watching England Algeria as I type. Off to a pub to watch the finish, then to sleep, perchance to dream...

Thursday, June 17

Well, after a 3 mile walk, fish and chips, and just maybe that full bottle of wine it was off to hospital (we both seem to have blossomed with a traveling cold). Up sort of early, packed and off for the South Cotswold’s. Second beautiful day in a row. Slow drive on some very narrow roads to include backing up ¼ mile to let a tractor by and then having a Red Fox cross our path. No hunters following, just the fox. Lunch in a very old small wool trading town, Lacock , complete with a tithing barn, babbling stream, and a stream bed that doubled as a very long ford. Wanted to drive up it but it was for residents only. Then a fabulous lunch at King John’s Garden. Right out of a Jane Austin novel. Had the ploughman’s pie for the first time. Finely ground beef with carrots, thyme, red wine, and the ever-present onion and garlic. Kathie went for the mixed vegitables in a whole grain crumbled pastry shell topped with local melted chedder cheese. Shared our table in the garden sunshine with a delightful elderly English/Welsh couple. He was a navigator for British Air and was in Seattle to pick up one of their first Boeing 747’s in the 70’s. Walked lunch off but, unlucky, ran into an ice cream shop with mango and rhubarb flavors. “Recalculating” (that would be an in joke for those who have a Garmin) Oh well, we eat less for dinner - maybe. “Enter the roundabout and take third exit” 30 or 40 times and you arrive in Bradford on Avon. Found the Swan. A very old hotel right in the center of town and what must have been the silver district since it is across from Silver street. Rest a little and get ready for 2 days of Bath, Glastonbury, Wells, Stonehenge, oh and a full day at the pub with USA and Britain at 3 and 7:30. What are we doing here again??

Wed June 16.

Today was the “get lost in the Cotswolds” day where we took every strange turn and lane we could find. We wound our way through many a small village or town-I guess they differ, but I am not sure of the definitions. We first went to Winchcombe where we visited the gardens and gounds of Sudeley Castle. This was one of Henry VIII’s homes and where he first bedded Anne Bolyn (in the garden?) and cast his eyes on her cousin Katharine Howard (I am her namesake as a direct descendant of her brother); strange the two cousins were the ones he beheaded…I’ve always felt a bit strange about being the namesake of someone who got her head cut off! We then trekked through the two Guitings, both Temple Guiting and Guiting Power where we had lunch at The Hollow Bottom, which is owned by the man whose horses have won many of the last major steeplechases in England, Scotland and Wales. The place is papered with many incredible pictures of horses clearing massive jumps. Then we drove through numerous other small villages and narrow lanes to visit all types of places and get a real feel for the place. Back to the B&B to freshen up before dinner and a quick hike to and through the Slaughters…the hike was lovely and the meal there marvelous...basic fish and chips but,oh my, they do know how to make that here! Cheerio till tomorrow when we move to the Bath region.

Tuesday the 15th…

We woke early this morning to a full English breakfast (burp again) and many plans. We drove to see Wyke Ryssington, which was so small we couldn’t find anything but the church, and took a stroll around Stow on Wold. Stow was on the side of a steep hill and, though lovely, was still a bit full of touristy traps. Then we set out for an equestrian center where we hired 2 horses and 2 guides (what, did we look that bad?) for a walk through Lower and Upper Slaughter. There are public footpaths and bridal paths everywhere. The English love their walks…if they tell you it’s a few minutes up the road, take 10-15 at least. After 2 hours on horseback we, amazingly, weren’t that stiff or sore. Of course, we never got a canter…unlucky! Upper and Lower Slaughter were so lovely, with their warm golden houses and small stream and fords, and artists hard at work. After riding, we went on an extended driving tour throughout the northern portion of the villages, trying to avoid the bigger well known towns. First, we hit Chipping Camden, one of the first of the towns when coming from the north. Lovely thatched roof homes (many mansions) and a wide “High” street, as usual. More thatch here as the slate was unavailable unless transported from afar. It survived the decline of the wool era because of its devotion to the arts and crafts of each time it lived through. Therefore, the wealthy kept homes here. On the main plaza, a curving High Street, is a covered stone market hall from 1627. In all the old towns, “High street” was big and broad as it was where the markets were held weekly and the merchants needed (still need) room to park their wagons, tents and wares. The other streets barely fit a car, and certainly not buses! On to Broadway and the Broadway tower. The tower was built on a hill overlooking the town in 1799 as a “folly” for the duke’s wife. It was a beacon to signal between two far flung properties they owned. The town itself is a “show town” with wide greens between the sides of the “broad way” through which sheep were once driven. Lots of antiques, fine jewelry and fun stores, not Subway sandwich type of place. We then took the long way back to Bourton on the water through Stanway and Stanton, getting stuck in little “two way” (HA!) streets and backing our way out of private drives.

Nuvi … our Garmin sat nav system has been an absolute necessity and help while we’ve been here. While in Sicily, it was a reason for cursing and was subject to being forcefully ejected from the car at regular intervals. Here, we love, it, we worship it, and would kill in its defense. Whenever we want to find a town, we plug in the town’s name and #1 High Street (there’s always a High St.) and it leads us straight to where the action is. We find “Daniel” to be much more pleasant than “Emily” in giving directions. Mark insists he is accurate more often…hmmm.

Monday the 14th…

After waking from a luxurious sleep and experiencing a wonderful breakfast at Fishmore Hall in Ludlow, we spent some time in Ludlow town. A wonderful old town center with a great old castle, where they were showing Othello in the castle grounds that night, and an OLD church with wool merchants buried in the aisles from the 1200s. Had lunch at “deGrey’s” bakery. De Grey is the titular French branch of the family with our ancestor leading a branch of the army who came over in the Norman invasion with William the conqueror. Guess they settled near here? Will need to look that up when we come home. Next, we drove east to Warwick Castle. This wonderful castle is a mix of Disneyland (without the rides) and a historical tour. Built in approximately 1080, after the Norman invasion, it was added to and remodeled over the years. The Earl of Warwick through history played a large role in protecting whatever King or Queen he felt was appropriate. By the Victorian era, though, the Earldom had descended into frivolity and sex, lots of sex…this was apparently fostered by the Prince of Wales. One portion of the tour was devoted to wax statues in various rooms with bits of gossip displayed as if in a note from the Daisy the Duchess, married to the Earl; it was all bed hopping and leaves you wondering about from where the Kings of England really descended! There was a princess tower for the young ladies touring (some got to sleep in the special bed for a prince to awaken), a catapult for the young men to wind and launch, and many other educational displays and interactions for kids.
The English, on this very small island, are very in to sustainability and the 4 “rs”: Reduce, recycle, reuse, and the fourth, which I can’t remember but has to do with minimizing packaging. This educational push for history and sustainability is everywhere we have visited. At Warwick Castle, it was incorporated into almost every display.
Next, we headed to Stratford Upon Avon. What a ticky tacky mess. Shakespeare’s birth home is in the middle of a large pedestrian mall surrounded by gift shops, junky jewelry, Subway and McDonald’s…not even worth a quick drive by but if we hadn’t tried, we would have thought we missed something. The books say Anne Hathaway’s cottage (his wife) is worth a visit, slightly out of town, but we bailed out on Stratford…
Next stop, the lovely little Cotswold towns. Think hobbits and you get the picture. The Cotswolds are, in this area, small valleys with lovely gentle round topped hills. They remind me of the Tualitan Valley in Oregon but flatter. On the tops of hills are often watch towers or other structures dating from Norman times, often updated. The villages with narrow winding paths/roads are nestled in the valleys or the sides of the hills, surrounded by pastures full of horses and sheep. Between the villages and around each pasture are miles of “dry walls,” built from stacking slate flat along the bottom and then upright on the top. Each village here, though slightly different, is constructed from golden, buttery yellow limestone or brick with each home or building topped with old moss covered slate shingles or a reed roof. Both last about 500 years and many were built and roofed in the 1600s. The term “Cotswolds” seems to come from one of two places…beds in the woods or stacks of wool from the sheep. The initial wealth of the area certainly came from sheep and their wool. When cotton and the industrial revolution hit, the area died, which is why it sat for centuries relatively unchanged and therefore preserved. We next drove south to our Cranbourne Hall B&B in Bourton on the Water and had a marvelous pub dinner before falling into bed. Bourton on the Water is a lovely town with well groomed greens next to the Windrush “river” which ambles gently and musically through town and has 3-4 lovely stone bridges over it. A well tended town. The owner of our B&B says it has had a “checkered past,” having been a home, ENT medical clinic, Catholic sisters’ living quarters, etc. It and four others nearby owned by “Sue” are being sold as she is purchasing and remodeling a 17 room mansion in the Lake District, to open next summer, she hopes. She has 8 serious buyers so real estate sales are okay for B&Bs in the Cotswolds.

Batman

Forgot to mention the incident at the lodge in llyn gwynant. The directions say "If you open this window, shut the curtain to keep bats out" ...but it was hot in Suzy and Nick's room. A shriek, a thump and doors flying open with all in their sleeping attire, or lack thereof...who do you call (Remembering, Cell phones don't work here)? The Welsh fusilliers? The local shepherd? No, Batnick! Crawling on hands and knees in his pyjamas with an hawaiian macademia nut can (the poor nuts having been sacrificed) He saves the day, errr, night! Captured, and crying as Suzy says, the poor mini-beast was released. Fortunately, no rabies here!

No man, beast or rodent was harmed in the preparation of this post

Dinner at Fishmore Hall

Got to Ludlow in the pouring rain and decided to eat at the B&B rather than venture out in the storm...very good choice. We shared the following:

1. Seared Scallops layered individually with a very thin slice of cauliflower marinated in olive oil and chips of crisp bacon, served over a cauliflower puree and drizzled with a caramelized sweet onion juice....yumm

2. mackeral stuffed with baby leeks, surrounded by thin slices of marinated cucumber and small red onions, with small cubes of apple jello and cream hazlenut sauce.

3. Very small lamb tendeloins wrapped in bits of bacon and steamed crisp zucchini served atop chopped basil and pine nuts, drizzled with green pepper sauce and a small side of pureed sweet potato Also 3 very small marinated anchovies tucked into the zucchini spiral.

4. 2 types of pork tenderloin, one with a bacon wrap and maple syrup,one just plain, but dressed with pureed carrots and thyme sprinkles, and carmelized onions...

5. Gin and tonic granita to cleanse the palate

6. 6 different types of cheese: Ragstone goat cheese, St. Eadburgha (almost a brie), Livarot, Cider ripened Celtic Promise and a marvelous Celtic Blue...with fig and almond cake, quince jelly and warm fruit and nut bread.

7. Last but not least, a triumverate of green apple desserts: Warm green apples souffle with crumbbles on top, green apple custard in a thin cup made of sugared vanilla crisp, a light green apple sorbet with a thin sliced apple crisp.

The wine, of course, was comparable....off to bed, burp!

Sunday, departing Wales

We tried to visit a sheep dog exhibition on our way out of Wales. It was, unfortunately, closed down and had become an ATV mountain adventure...no puppies! Instead, we visited Llangollen and took a nice walk along a canal to see waterfalls and eat lunch, then drove on to Ironbridge Gorge. The Gorge is an amazing place. It is where, around the time of the Revolutionary War, the English perfected the means to make cast iron. They built a massive bridge out of iron, spanning a river at the bottom of a very steep canyon. There are ten museums in the area, all focusing on the cast iron, industrial revolution or other Victorian times (including a complete Victorian village like Williamsburg). Lovely working class village well preserved for the tourists and people living there. On to Ludlow where we are staying in for dinner tonight at our lovely manor house B&B

Harlech Castle

Mark and I decided to climb Snowdon again on Saturday, by another route. Every parking place within 3 miles of the trailheads we aimed for was taken...Sunny day brought everyone out! Instead, we drove SW to Harlech Castle, this pristine perfect little castle and town on a big bluff overlooking the sea. It was, 800 years ago, right on the sea. The wind and tides, however, have changed and it is now set back from the shore with big dunes separating the towers from their supply line. It has withstood at least 5 sieges over the centuries, more than any other castle in the iron ring. We had lunch at a small "sweet shop", drinking Pims with veges and fruit in it. Then we returned to Beddgelert to watch the US/England match, being the only americans in the joint. If there had been any Welsh there, we might have had some co-supporters. Unfortunately, the majority of the guests at the pub were English tourists...unlucky. One said "Both teams were rubbish!" We thought the tie was a win; the English probably didn't agree! Pictures above are Beddgelert (arched bridge), lunch at and castle by the sea.

Snowdon

Today, Nick and Mark decided to hike up Snowdon...about 1900 meters. I, with a sore foot. and Suzy, with a sore knee, took the train and met them up the top. We rode in the fog, they hiked in the sun till the last 500 feet. Then it is icecream for us and a rest with a good beer for them. Lovely views once the fog cleared. I have also included a picture of our cottage on the lake!

Castles

Portmerion

PORTMERION
Thursday we headed out of the foggy cold and down to the coast to visit a small village called Portmerion. An architect, Clough Williams-Ellis, was looking for a home for “old abandoned buildings.” He started with an old manor house, which he turned into a fancy hotel to support his endeavor. Then he started creating an Italianate village from old temples and buildings he collected from around the world. All painted in bright colors with hidey holes, luscious plants, and hiking trails throughout the area. It is very much a fantasy world…some buildings look marvelous in a perspective and then when you get next to them you realize they are half scale or something like a playhouse. Some have rooms to let behind them, even if the bed doesn’t quite fit! A rich eccentric’s dream!
Then we hopped into the car and trekked up into the mountains for a few miles and a view of the lake just south of our cottage. Throughout Great Britain and Wales, for hundreds of years, there are footpaths that connect every town and village. These are public right-of-ways even now and everyone has a thing about hiking daily, it appears. They pass through large otherwise private tracts of valuable land and million dollar homes may have strangers passing by their dining room window. There is no way to limit the use of these paths since they have been open to the public for centuries. They also pass through villages, over hills and mountains, and ford streams. Our intent has been to hike daily on this trip, and it seems we will succeed with it!

North Wales

NORTH WALES
We arrived at Manchester airport just before noon, jumped into the rental car and headed toward north Wales. We drove along a typical motorway for a while and then dropped off the north coast highway and descended into the narrow valleys of the Wales mountains. Picture a lot of green cauliflower (just do it, don’t argue) placed onto a plate with a few other pieces of cauliflower on top. Those are the round hills draped in different colors of green. We are driving down the valleys in between the heads (mountains), next to tumbling shallow streams and periodic small waterfalls. Once in a while we drive over an old roman type bridge…steep peak in the middle, single lane, with no way to see if another car is coming at you. Pretty soon we pass through Betws-y-coed and head up the hill to a mountain pass and then drop down a narrow winding road till we come to a placid lake in a simple valley, slightly rippled by wind. The gatehouse lodge we are renting is 0.3 mile along the lake. Cousin Suzy and her husband Nick are ready to go and we are off on a hike around the lake before dinner; appetites are stimulated. The next two days we spent hiking castle walls, visiting Gelert’s grave (see Wikipedia!), and riding steam trains through the valleys. First we went to Bodnant Gardens, a private estate where every kind of flora (and some fauna) awaited our camera. I can’t wait to try to grow the brilliant blue poppies and some other interesting things. Lots of gorgeous Rhododendrun here; they are considered weeds by the locals and they try to pull them out whenever possible. They fill the gentle mountainsides with cascading waterfalls of purple and pink blooms. Then we moved onto castles. Edward I, King of England, had some trouble controlling the Welsh and he tried to solve the problem by building a number of castles encircling the North Wales area, each one with water access and many with a walled town surrounding them. The “Iron Ring” of castles were each a days march from the next. The castles each protected a walled town which was settled by English citizens, providing the King of England with troops. The first we visited, Conwy Castle, was built in 1283 and is Fairly well preserved. Located at the mouth of a river, it was well situated for protection of the town its walls encircled. The short narrow streets are lined with very old well preserved building and the town enjoyed some prosperity in the past from trading, and now from tourism.
Next we drove by Beaumaris castle; it is quite beautiful and controls one end of the Menai straights between Anglesey (an island) and mainland Wales. It is only one level tall, but was surrounded by a moat which added to its protection and its picturesque quality for tourists. The town is a lovely English conclave with timbered buildings and a lovely marsh area and open straits beyond, now with sailboats.
The next day brought us to Caernarfon castle, where the title “Prince of Wales” is bestowed on the heir to the English throne. Edward I, after conquering Wales in the 1270s, promised his son, who would become King after him, would be welsh to the bone, born there and speaking only welsh. Prince Charles was invested with the title at this site. This castle stands at the other end of the Menai straits and is the strongest in the Iron Links. The structure itself is honeycombed with tunnels, stairways, murder holes and tall towers overlook everything. Edward I tried to tie it to the Arthurian legend to make it invincible with round table celebrations. Ultimately he succeeded, but the Welsh dragon still flies over its ramparts.
Finally, we rode a steam train through the hills from Caernarfon to Beddgelert, passing sheep, hill and dale (yes, those words mean something), sheep, slate and copper mines, sheep and more sheep. By the way, there are lots of sheep here; they have really long tails and look like weird dogs when they run away from you. They have more brains, though, than silly cows and get off the road as soon as possible. Off to the house for dinner, wine, wine and more wine. This IS vacation!

dregs of Iceland

Sunday we decided to lay low and just visit around town. We got a late start (up real late the night before) and started with about a 3 mile walk to “Perlan,” the pearl. This is a dome built atop 6 large hot water tanks on a hill overlooking downtown. The dome has four floors with an observation deck and restaurant. In one of the tanks is the Saga Museum in which the history of the saga era in Iceland is told. Each of the figures in the museum is literally molded on a citizen of Reykjavik, so you may see the actual person walking around town. They tried to get descendants of the historical figure to model for the figure…interesting. Then we walked another 3 miles or so to watch The Volcano Show which is presented by an individual filmographer who has been filming volcanoes in Iceland for over 40 years. The film showed islands forming offshore, villages being buried in ash, spectacular “fissure” volcanoes that shot volcano fountains hundreds of feet in the air over 10-15 kilometer lines…impressive. After a short nap, we headed out to dinner at the “Fish Company” where I had what must be the best salmon dish I’ve ever tasted. The salmon was crusted in crushed cashews and smothered in a miso sauce with anise seed, salvia, and ginger. Then it was baked, but probably in a pan of water as it was still very moist. Then it was served over steamed shitake mushrooms and bok choy leaves. Surrounding it on the plate were small samplings of three variations of corn: pureed steamed corn, corn Salsa, and popcorn. There was also mango sorbet with a scattering of crushed cashews on top. A marvelous presentation and fantastic taste! Off to bed and an early plane to Manchester in the morning.