Author Archives: verilp

2017 Sydney and Melbourne

First full day in Melbourne, Monday, April 24

After our first breakfast in Melbourne, we walked 15 minutes from our hotel to the meeting point for “I’m Free Walking Tours” of Melbourne — in front of the State Library of Victoria.


We arrived early enough to spend a few minutes in the Library, viewing a very interesting exhibit on immigrants from Iran, called “Building a Home Away From Home.” The exhibit consisted of several photos and personal statements from Iranian immigrants living in Melbourne. Although some immigrated soon after the Iranian revolution in 1979, most did so in the past decade, according to the journalist/photographer who did the work. Below is but one of the eight to ten moving stories of these immigrants. They long for their homeland but are so appreciative of the multiculturalism and openness of the citizens of Melbourne that they are quite loyal to Australia — a message I wish the current U.S. President would understand.



The three hour walking tour took us first to the Melbourne Jail, where we learned about an Australian hero (and criminal!), Ned Kelly, the subject three movies, the most recent of which, “Ned Kelly,” was released in 2003. We saw a monument paying tribute to Australia’s being the first country to adopt an 8-hour work day. Notice “888” at the top of the statue representing eight hours of work, eight hours of play and eight hours of rest/sleep.


We passed by many shops and restaurants, of course, but Melbourne has numerous alleys, some of which display public art under a special permit. In those locations it is legal for anyone to paint over someone else’s art, but the unwrittten rule is that you have to believe you’re going to do a better job than what you are replacing. The permit makes it different from graffiti, which is very heavily fined. Here is one example of the public art on AC/DC Lane, an alley in tribute to the Australian rock band of that name established in the 70’s.


All in all, a very good day indeed!!

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2017 Sydney and Melbourne

A day (or two?) of travel to Melbourne

Crossing the international date line is a startling experience that demonstrates a certain artificial quality for measuring time. Saturday, April 22, never existed as far as we know because we left home in a taxi at 9 pm on Friday, April 21, and arrived at our hotel in Melbourne 25 hours later — at 3 pm on Sunday, April 23. Although always a long trip to Australia, our was made longer by a two-hour departure delay at the San Francisco airport.
We disembarked the aircraft in Sydney down the stairs and onto a bus that took us to the international terminal for immigration and customs before boarding our Melbourne flight.


Our hotel, the Wyndham, is in the “Legal District” near four court houses. After settling into the room (actually a tasteful one-bedroom suite), we walked a few blocks away to Hardware Street for dinner. A two block long section of the street is a small, quaint promenade with numerous restaurants. Bev and I shared the specialty, Chicken Max, at Max’s — grilled chicken breasts stuffed with feta, spinach, and pistachios — along with wine from Australia’s well-known Yarra Valley.


The adventure continues tomorrow!!

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2016 Santa Fe

Santa Fe, NM, Aug 5-9, 2016: Day 4, Aug 8

I don’t often take pictures of meals, as I know a lot of folks do. But this morning’s breakfast at the Clafoutis French Bakery and Restaurant around the corner from our timeshare in Santa Fe served our eggs, bacon, croissants, and French preserves in a most interesting way.


After breakfast we drove from Santa Fe to Tijeras via the very scenic Turquoise Trail — NM highway 14. Along the way, we took the Highway 536 turnoff toward the Sandia Peak and drove up to an elevation of 8,600 feet. There we took a short walk to a gorgeous lookout over the canyon.

 

From Tijeras we took interstate 40 into Albuquerque, and spent some time in the shops in Old Albuquerque. We had to take shelter under an overhang during one of the heaviest downpours of rain and hail either of us had ever experienced. Not to mention quite a departure from the California drought.


Tomorrow morning, it’s off to the airport for the ride home, full of memories of a great time in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Now, we look forward to two weeks in France and Barcelona next month. Until then, safe travels to all.

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2016 Santa Fe

Santa Fe, NM, Aug 5-9, 2016: Days 2-3, Aug 6-7

The evening at the Santa Fe Opera was spectacular last night. It started with a “Preview Buffet”dinner on the beautiful grounds of the opera house. The double rainbows captured in the picture below foreshadowed the pouring rain during dinner. We enjoyed conversation with two other couples — one from Dallas, TX (temporarily relocated from Orlando, FL) and the other from Colorado Springs, CO. 

Ready for dinner
Double rainbow

The Santa Fe opera house is open on both the left and right sides of the audience, as well as the back of the stage. Their production of Don Giovanni was superb in every way — the set, costuming, and music. For example, a 20-foot statue occupied the center rear of the stage throughout much of the performance but the lighting on it varied with the scenes. In the final scene, it shimmered with an ethereal, red glow, as Don Giovanni was tortured before descending into hell (below the stage) for his many misdeeds. 

View of stage from our seats

Today, we returned to the main plaza for awhile, followed by visits to Museum Hill, where several interesting museums are located. We had a great snack on the patio adjoining a wonderful plaza, set among the museums. Here is a shot of a significant statue at one end of that plaza.

On the plaza at Museum Hill

Our day neared its end in an unusual way — having dinner at a restaurant in the dark, using the flashlights on our phones to read the menu and see our food. A power outage that covered a very large area struck almost immediately after we had been seated at La Boca Restaurant, which ordinarily serves a huge array of delicious tapas. With the power outage, we were limited to salads and a cheese platter, which were quite good. We took Uber back to the timeshare instead of walking 15 minutes in the dark streets to find the happy surprise — lights were on at the timeshare. 

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2016 Santa Fe

Santa Fe, NM, Aug 5-9, 2016: Day 1 – Aug 5

After a three hour delay at the San Francisco airport, Bev and I flew to Albuquerque and drove to Santa Fe last night. Today, following breakfast at a restaurant on the plaza, we browsed the kiosks in the plaza where many artists were selling their works having rented the space from Girls Inc., a non-profit group that has held the arts festival every year for several decades. Parts of Santa Fe are so walkable that we then toured the Loretta Chapel, built in the late 19th century. It features a spiral staircase that makes two complete 360 degree turns with no visible means of support except its base and its attachment to the choir loft. Built with square wooden pegs and no glue or nails. The banisters were a later addition.

Tonight, we have tickets to the Santa Fe Opera to see Don Giovanni in that gorgeous venue. 

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2016 North Coast California

North Coast of California, June 10-14, 2016

Bev and I recently vacationed a few days on the North Coast. We checked in at the Lighthouse Point Resort just outside Point Arena on Friday, June 10, using a timeshare exchange. Our unit was a stand-alone cabin with living area, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, and bathroom. It was not luxurious, but quite comfortable. Here is the view from our front porch (but our only picture of the place doesn’t do it justice).

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The highlight on Saturday was a visit to the Gualala Arts Center, where we saw an exhibit of local art by Scott Chieffo. We were particularly intrigued with “Seal’s Eye View No. 1” Point Arena Stornetta Public Lands, a screen replica of which can be viewed here. Most or all the original works in the exhibit were printed on dye-infused aluminum, a process that produces a frame-less print of stunning detail.

We also spent a lot of time enjoying the patio outside the Center, with its gardens and sculpture.

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On Sunday, we met a friend of Bev’s at her “second” home in Sea Ranch for lunch and a two hour hike on some of the countless trails between her house and the coast. Here are two of the scenes along the way.

On Monday, we had lunch with another friend of Bev’s who lives in Fort Bragg, followed by a great visit with her at her home. Afterwards, we spent some time in and out of the shops in Mendocino, followed by a marvelous dinner at Cafe Beaujolais. The restaurant reminded each of us of separate experiences there many years ago. The only problem with dinner was that the image of the hour’s drive back to Point Arena along a very winding road interfered with the driver’s enjoyment of wine.

On Tuesday, we made a serendipitous connection during breakfast with a guide, Margaret Lindgren, who operates “Unbeaten Path Tours.” The highlight of the entire trip was the two hour Stornetta Lands Tour. Margaret was a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, highly communicative guide. Not only did she describe much of the current geology and geological history of the recently designated National Monument, but also she showed us a nest that two falcons had built a couple months earlier. Three chicks were in the nest and the parents were placing fresh meat on the ledge outside the nest in order to encourage their independence in eating and learning to fly. What a sight (through binoculars, of course). Margaret and a colleague had discovered them preparing for and building the nest earlier. Click here for more information about her tours. We recommend her very highly.

Tuesday evening we returned to the bustling freeways to make our way home on the Peninsula, having reminded ourselves how fortunate we are to live in such a gorgeous location.

 

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2014 Santa Fe, 2017 Great Smoky Mountains

Santa Fe, August 3-6, 2014

Bev and I arrived in Santa Fe on Sunday evening, August 3. After an early dinner/late lunch at La Boca Restaurant — which we highly recommend for its tapas and great wines — we walked the plaza. Here is the statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Santa Fe, outside the Cathedral bearing his name at the end of San Francisco Street.
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And here is the cathedral itself.
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On Monday, we enjoyed visiting the Georgia O’Keefe Museum, where the largest collection of her art is located. One example:
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Afterwards, we drove to Canyon Road to see some of the many art galleries. This sculpture outside one of the galleries is called, “Pooped.”
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Following a light lunch and facing the threat of heavy rain, we drove to the Capitol Building, where we saw many art works in the Governor’s office and hallways, the rotunda, and the gallery for one of the legislative houses. Here’s the rotunda:
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In the early evening, we boarded a shuttle for the opera and enjoyed a delectable buffet dinner and marvelous preview talk. The speaker was a former opera singer and the wife of the conductor for the evening’s performance of Don Pasquale. Here are two shots of the beautiful venue, taken before we settled down for a marvelous performance of Don Pasquale. Heavy thunderstorms seemed to miss us, thankfully.
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Tuesday morning, we enjoyed Huevos Rancheros, NM style, at Tia Sophia’s on San Francisco St. The weather was great, so we drove to Taos Pueblo, about a two hours’ drive north. The last hour provided gorgeous views of the surrounding hills, while dark clouds hovered over distant mountains. After a short talk by Yellow Feather about the pueblo history and current life, we saw ruins of the original Catholic church, several shops, ate some fried bread, and took pictures.
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On Wednesday — time’s up. We packed for the drive back to Albuquerque and the flight home. The photo sequence ends with a selfie on the plane.
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2014 Cabo San Lucas

Family Reunion in Cabo San Lucas June 14-21, 2014

Ten of our family flew from San Francisco to Cabo and four from Chicago to Cabo on Saturday, June 14, 2014. We checked into our three condo units at Villa La Estancia on Medano Beach. Here is the view from my balcony.

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We spent Sunday, the first full day, at the pool or exploring individually before coming together in the evening for a Special Father’s Day dinner prepared in the condo by a private chef.

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