for the wee one...

in honor of the wee one's love of trams:

Son of a gun, we'll have big fun...

We decided to venture out on a swamp tour... very, very cool. Of course, would have been easier had I remembered to wear sunblock.

Did I mention the really, really, really bad sunburn. really bad. Poor R looks like a lobster with funny lines. Apparently, one should wear sunblock when one ventures out on the bayou. Who knew? (okay. maybe i'm an idiot.)

On the upside, we met an alligator. He really liked marshmellows. Big fan.

the big easy

So, R and I headed down to New Orleans for a few days... (a bit of a celebration). We fell in love with New Orleans last year, and couldn't wait to go back. So much fun, so much good food, so little time.

Had a lovely meal at Bombay Club, famed for their list of 100 martinis. Best dirty martini ever. The food wasn't too bad, either. The waiter, however, had this British accent that was completley fake. For the record, I called upstate New York, although R didn't believe it until I tricked the waiter into forgetting his faux accent. (hah! i am good!)

The waiter also kept referring to me as "the lady". As in, "Does the lady like her martini?" "Would the lady like a piece of bread?" "How is the lady's meal?" Now, he knew that R was also a girl, but he didn't refer to her as "the lady". And, he didn't address the questions to R, but to me. I've never been spoken to in the third person. Very bizarre. Very. But, the lady did enjoy the martini and the meal. The bread pudding was not so impressive...

The next night, we wandered into the New Orleans Vineyard and had a fantastic meal. Out of this world good. In fact, the bread pudding was so good that we went back again Friday night for dessert.

tile painting

One of the historical arts of Portugal is tile painting. We stumbled across a fantastic tile painting store, Azulejos de Azeitao, in this tiny little village. Loved their van...













This woman was wonderful. She gave us a tour of the facility and we learned how they made the tile. Hasn't changed for a few hundred years from what I could tell. Except the kiln plugs in now...









We bought enough tiles that we had to ship them home... And, we ordered a few special order tiles. Fed Ex should be arriving any day now.

Setubal

Pronounced "Shoo bal". City is not that winning by day, but a great view at night...





Until you zoom in...

Roman temple

There are ruins of a Roman temple in Evora - they turned the temple into a slaughterhouse and built walls around the columns. Interesting preservation technique, but the temple is in amazing condition.

little lambs eat...

my neck itches!

cork trees...

Every seven years, they strip the bark off of the trees. As you drive through the fields, you see numbers on each tree. I assume the numbers correspond to the year the bark was stripped...

Very cool.

lost on a farm...

We went in search of some pre-historic ruins, and ended up lost on dirt roads on a huge farm... Let's just say that the Ford mini-van was not designed to share road space with the cows.





Mom would like the world to know that she was driving and I was navigating. I maintain that had we continued on the dirt road through the cow field, we would have found the highway. In about 20 km. Yeppers.

vineyards...

Wandered through the countryside on our was to Evora. Saw tons of vineyards, cows, rolling fields. Scenery like you wouldn't believe.

Fell in love with the vineyards. Considered returning with one or two plants...

more Knights Templar

Almourol Castle was a Knights Templar stronghold, although it never saw military action. Located on a small island in the middle of the Tagus River.

Convento de Cristo

The Convent of the Order of Christ was previously a castle of the Knights Templar of Tomar. Built in the 1100s, the castle became the headquarters of the Knights Templar in Portugal. Once the Knights Templar were suppressed in 1312, and the King of Portugal allowed the Order to reconvene as the Order of Christ, under the rule of the Portugese throne.

The grounds were fantastic. You could see the vineyards, where they grew crops, and kept their animals.

I've been in a ton of castles, but never one that was in such great shape - or maintained the integrity of the original design.

The inside was incredible - although the maps and signage were typical of Portugal. (really unhelpful) All in all, one of the more incredible sights in Portugal.

Palácio Nacional da Pena

Expanded and rebulit in the 1800s, Pena Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site... Amazingly detailed and ornate carvings and decoration. The castle was built on the site of a monastery - and an appearance of the Virgin Mary. She apparently had a thing for Portugal. Must have been the wine...

There were some fantastic gargoyles. Kinda cute, actually. Wee G decided that he wanted to be a gargoyle when he grows up...

Peniche and a lackluster market

So, the guidebook had lovely things to say about this monthly market in Peniche, a small town that used to be an island. After discovering that the market was pretty much a flea market selling underwear and shoes, we wandered around town and explored the coast.

Really, really beautiful. You can see where the water receded in the 15th century and allowed access from the mainland.

We drove along the dirt coast road - there are some beautiful views and trails leading down to the water. Of course, I couldn't get near any of them - Mom had a panic attack every time I got close to the edge. There was whimpering...

And apparently some concern about lemmings jumping.

The bonus of the day was the "Auto-Road" - gotta love it. Limited access pay roads with a speed limit of 120 km/h. Of course, if you were silly enough to go 120, you were in serious danger of being road kill. 145 to 150 seemed to be acceptable, but I was still passed like I was standing still...

We met Papa (the penguin on the left). The aquarium has bands on their wings and a chart so that you can identify the penguins. It was very cool.

We also made friends with the otters - they are so cute. So very cute. Apparently, we caught them in the middle of either dinner or a pedicure. Not sure which.

After the aquarium, we had an adventure drive down into downtown. Driving in Portugal is never dull.

A very interesting afternoon exploring St. Jorge's castle and downtown. Fabulous dinner before the longest drive home. Let's just say that D isn't the best navigator when drunk. Amusing, however. Very amusing.

fishes and sharks and divers, oh my!

We headed into Lisbon for the day... First stop was the Aquarium.

Wee G loved it. He made special friends with Vasco the Diver. There were live divers in the tank, cleaning the rocks and feeding the fish. I think Wee G wants to be a scuba diver when he grows up.

Welcome to Portugal

Mom and I met K&D and the wee G in Colares, Portugal. We rented a villa for a week. There were birds of paradise growing outside the front door.

Quite lovely, although the villa itself was decorated in glass and white plastic. Although, K felt right at home. Apparently, New Jersey in the eighties and Portugal today have a great deal in common.

ode to Poland

Cabbage with my eggs.
Cabbage in my kebab.
Cabbage in my Caesar salad.
Cabbage as my salad.
Red cabbage, white cabbage.
Cabbage!

Pickles in my kebab.
Pickles with my smoked salmon.
Pickles and cabbage as my salad??

Sesame seeds on my pretzels?

Vodka! Vodka! Vodka!
No Kahlua, no cream.
Vodka! Vodka! Vodka!

christmas, part deux

We had a lot of luggage. Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone who knows us. Five bags, to be exact. That was fine. Not that Air Canada was particularly happy to see us, but they let us on the plane. The problem was that five bags weren't enough. So we shipped two boxes - Christmas presents, people, not ball gowns. And the USPS had a bit of a problem talking to the Japanese Postal Service. So the first box didn't arrive until after new year's. No fear, though. The christmas pjs came. And it just meant two chances to trash the house.