Derek has been a superb host in Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a biking kind of town. Reports suggest that there are between two and three bikes per person in Amsterdam. There are bike lanes and routes everywhere. There are bicycle parking lots that hold thousands of bikes. And all of the bikes have bells. Tourists or […]
We saw Jack and Janie in Montreal when Blakey and Julia were graduating from McGill some 8 years ago. Before that, I hadn’t seen Jack since we traveled after I worked at L’Hotel de la Plage in the summer of 1979. We didn’t really know what to expect, but looked forward to seeing each other. […]
It seemed strange as we were looking for lodging how booked up everything in Porto was. We now understand. This was the weekend of the Porto leg of the Rally de Portugal, an auto race that takes place on public roads and streets (blocked to the public during the races of course). The 1.85 km […]
That is correct – Nestors’ Town. Nestor’s dad is named Nestor, as is his grandfather. There seems to be a tradition of generosity in the Arequipa Nestors. The title photo is of the view of Misti out of the front door of Nestor’s house. BBQ Nestor’s dad’s parents invited us all over for a barbeque, […]
We took the semi-cama bus from Lima to Arequipa. The buses here have different levels of service, and their model is loosely based on airlines. The semi-cama is like first class. We actually went a bit higher, but are sorry we did, as we were seated one in front of the other in a single […]
Perhaps it’s because Izhcayluma is not on VRBO, Airbnb, or Booking.com, and that we found it through word of mouth, (Regina, our Swedish travel buddy). It seems like most of the people we met here found it the same way. In any event, it is a fantastic hotel/hostel, and we recommend it to all. We […]
One hears much about Vilcabamba when one is in Ecuador. It has a reputation of being a special place with extreme longevity of its inhabitants. I won’t get into this, but rather refer you to wikipedia for a full discussion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilcabamba,_Ecuador. This reputation has brought a slew of gringos here to visit and live, particularly of […]
We met Sunday night at Froggy’s. Froggy’s Fish Market is another Topangan institution. For the last bit it’s only open on weekend nights, so Sunday worked well. One would have to say that Froggy’s epitomizes Topanga casual (sheik?) It is very common these days to find restaurants and pubs that are decorated with a bunch […]
We invited Don and Toni to join us for a hike at Red Rock to be followed by a glass of wine at the Inn of the Seventh Ray. Red Rock is a somewhat hidden area in Topanga. Getting you to the trailhead involves rough fire roads (especially when driving in a Porsche Panamera), typical […]
It is not uncommon, while on the road, to think back to the great friends who are not nearby. It was a year ago that a group of us went up to Crex Meadows, near Grantsburg, Wisconsin, to see the migration of Sandhill Cranes. The Cranes feed in nearby fields, but roost during the night […]
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Merry Christmas to you two. What a great trip! Thanks for (...)