Last week, I was getting a much needed pedicure (side note: I’m a pedicure whore, having no loyalties to one place over the other and will stop at any clean-looking place whether it’s located in strip mall or a spa) and just as my feet hit the water, in walked a father and his (very) young son. You’re a guy ... Read More »
A blog about food and wine… and controversy? Why not? If you can’t discuss controversial themes while sharing a glass of wine and some appetizers, well then will you just talk about the weather? Who has the right to keep information confidential? Edward Snowden – love him or hate him? While you might expect me, a hopeless leftie college professor ... Read More »
La crisis. In Spain, the crisis needs no modifier – it’s not the economic crisis, it’s not the housing crisis, it’s not the unemployment crisis, it is simply the crisis. It is all of those and more. But in true Spanish fashion, at the same time, it is none of those. Spain, like many of its EU neighbors, is trying to emerge from worldwide ... Read More »
What are your all time favorite cities? Boston and DC on the east coast rate highest for me. San Fran knocked my socks off out west. But Madrid… Madrid holds a special place in my heart. De Madrid al cielo! From Madrid to heaven! That was the marketing slogan in place the first time I went to live in Madrid. ... Read More »
On May 4th, my grandmother passed away. It does blunt the edge of my sadness a bit to realize (and be grateful) that she was a strong, vital presence in my life for over 30 years. She was not a vague idea of “grandmother,” but someone I knew and loved and respected. As happens after a death, there are details ... Read More »
Ha! I am not the meanest person on the planet! Taking advantage of a minor lull/lessening in this rain that seems miserably stuck overhead, I snuck out for a quick run this morning. And good thing I did run, and not just take the dog for a walk. The dog only goes to the end of the road, but the ... Read More »
There are many roads to Santiago, and there are many reasons for walking there. Equally, there are many circumstances for how we all, as individuals, choose to walk the Camino. Today we arrived in Santiago, around 1:45 pm. We ran into people we knew in the plaza in front of the Cathedral, and snapped photos happily away, in a dry ... Read More »
Confession: I did not have the opportunity today to try my new niceness with our friends from Minnesota. I did, however, learn to ask more questions, as those same friends do often. Today’s lessons: 1. The horizontally trellised grape is called catalán rojo, and it makes a white wine, unless it is left to ferment, in which case it makes a rosé. ... Read More »
Our requisite “buenos días” as we pass locals on our Camino landed us in quite a conversation this morning. We were in Arcade, seven kilometers into our 18 kilometer day. She was headed uphill, maybe 80 years old, with a cane for support. She was well below five feet tall, spritely for one with a cane, with lively eyes. She stopped ... Read More »
…would love Tui, our starting point on the Camino Portugués. Locals here go up and down mountains hills with amazing speed, and seemingly without breaking a sweat. It is hard to complain about 200 stairs going up when an 80 year old woman is carrying three bags of groceries up them ahead of you. Tui, where the cathedral was first ... Read More »
Sauced In New York Sometimes the food is in the sauce, sometimes we are