The Cure For Everything Is Salt …
… tears, sweat, and the sea. (Dinesen)
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Travelogue: Dubrovnik, Croatia, Saturday, 3 September 2011
8 September 2011
At the Revelin Club overlooking the harbor, Peter and I split a bottle of local white wine and fish caught in the Adriatic earlier that morning. Best grilled calamari I’ve ever had in my life. At the end of our meal, the waiter brought us each a shot of plum grappa and told us of a local saying: when there’s a bottle of this grappa on the table, the devil’s in the corner. View my photos from our day in Dubrovnik …
Travelogue: Corfu, Greece, Friday, 2 September 2011
8 September 2011
We wandered through the old town until we thought it was time for lunch. We tried to get seated at 11:15 a.m. at an open-air restaurant in a private courtyard off of one of the main streets in Old Town, but the owner waved us off. So we wandered down to a nearby cafe for a couple of Coronas and snacks.
We returned to restaurant at noon, just as the owner was returning from the market with plastic bags full of fresh vegetables in each of his hands. He nodded to us, so we sat down. A younger woman, presumably his daughter, came out to take our order: feta, olives, tzakziki, and a pitcher of local red wine to start, followed by the special mixed grill.
The meal was the essence of every romantic dream I’ve had about Mediterranean food: the feta, sharp and rich and fresh, the black olives, briny, and the wine light enough that Peter and I thought we could spend the entire day drinking it. The grill was a tower of pork. lamb, beef, sausages, and chicken served on a bed of crispy fries with fresh lemon and parsley. The owner smiled and told us to take our time. Bellissimo.
Travelogue: Katakolon and Mt. Olympia, Greece, Thursday, 1 September 2011
8 September 2011
Lots of rocks, excavations, museums, tour buses (hate tour buses!), tourists, blather blather blather political and economic posturing from the tour guide (ugh). Wish I’d packed mojitos for the ride. Saw the place that the Olympic torch is lit every four years. View my pictures from the Mt. Olympia and Katakolon tour …
Travelogue: Malta, Wednesday, 31 August 2011
8 September 2011
Disraeli once commented that Malta was an island of palaces built by princes for princes. Over 400,000 people live in Malta. The culture reflects the various powers that once ruled the archipelago of Islands, and one can hear Italian, French, and Arabic in both the old and new Maltese language. We visited Vittoriosa and Valetta. In both, we saw the fortresses built by knights during the Crusades. Both cities were damaged badly during WWII, and the restorations in which the country is currently engaged are extensive. View my photos of Vittoriosa and Valetta …
Travelogue: Erice and Trapani, Sicily, 30 August 2011
8 September 2011
The town of Erice is carved out of the top of a mountain in northern Sicily. An impossibly narrow two-lane highway snakes from Trapani on the coast past groves of olive trees and grape vines and wayside towns up, up, up to Erice itself. Even though the town’s main economy is now fueled by tourism, it remains breathtakingly beautiful and charming. At the very top of Erice stands an old cliffside monastery, now converted to a boutique hotel, whose rooms overlook land and sea. From them we can see Trapani’s salt marshes and port. View my pictures of Erice and Trapani on Flickr …
Travelogue: Thursday, 25 August 2011, Barcelona
27 August 2011
Arrived in Barcelona yesterday. Really easy trip, save the uncomfortable chairs and pre-United merger lack of economy plus seating on our Continental flight. The hotel was supposed to send a driver, but none showed. After 20 minutes of waiting at the airport, we took a cab to the old part of town where the Hotel is located: San Sever 5, 34.933.040.655, www.notelneri.com.
The hotel is a gem, centrally located but tucked away on a quiet street and all but impossible to find unless you know it’s there. Done in glass, stone, and velvet, the Neri is a mix of old and new architectural elements, austere design sensibilities, and thoughtful flourishes of luxury. I stood underneath the rainforest shower head for what felt like hours.
Our plan for the day is simply to stay awake until a respectable hour for an early dinner. After a late breakfast/early lunch at the hotel, we went out to explore the old part of Barcelona. We started at the Cathedral and then made our way to the Palau de la Música Catalana, the designed by Lluis Domènech i Montaner in the early 20th century. Afterward, we strode down Las Ramblas and checked out the Mercat de la Boqueria, the covered market where we plan to go to for lunch or breakfast today or tomorrow.
Dinner last night, Taller Tapas, a place recommended by the hotel. We have a bottle-and-a-half of the crianza roija, just like Rebecca said we should. The meal was fantastic: mushrooms, spinach and chickpeas, jambon with paprika, gambas sautéed in garlic and Maldon salt, braised lamb shank, crusty bread rubbed with fresh tomato, and chicken skewers.
“Yes, hello, room 306. Would you like more vodka?” Why, indeed, we would. After four bottles from the mini-bar, we’re still not tired. We split three more drinks (and, I confess, some potato chips) brought up from the bar. Even though tipping isn’t required here in Barcelona, I feel strange not giving the hotel staff something for their trouble. We watch part of the first episode of BBC’s Zen, fall asleep around 8 p.m. and wake up at 2:30 a.m.—after an hour and two more Advil PMs, fall back to sleep until construction wakes us moments after 8 a.m.
Eight Days Away
16 August 2011
Was it already a year ago that I realized my passport had expired the day we were supposed to leave for Amsterdam?
We leave for Barcelona and a Mediterranean cruise in eight days, but I’ve been counting down the time for the last three months. I’m loading up my iPad with reading materials and collecting restaurant recommendations from well-traveled friends and making lists of everything I need to do before I completely unplug. I’ve also ordered a new lens for the journey. After spending a bunch of time researching more expensive options, I decided to get a kit lens that Ken Rockwell highly recommends on his terrific blog: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-55mm-vr.htm.
Every vacation begins and ends with new resolutions: I will enjoy every minute, I won’t think about the office, I won’t eat or drink too much, I won’t feel bad about not working out every day on the trip … I’ll keep a sense of balance, I’ll get away more often, I’ll get back to my hobbies, I’ll read more, I won’t work on the weekends. The only promise that I’m making to myself this trip is that I’m not going to have any eleventh-hour passport emergencies. Thankfully, I’m covered for the next nine years.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
9 January 2011
Le Meridien, Rendezvous, the Art of the Americas wing and lunch in the new atrium of the Museum of Fine Art, The King’s Speech, Oleana.
