Monday, September 21, 2009

The Real Beauty of Paris



Need I say more?



















































Sunday, September 20, 2009

Ahhh Paris

Everyone waxes poetic about Paris, so I'll spare you my monologue on the beauty of the buildings, the gardens, the boulevards, the clouds.  I will, however, post some iconic (and not so iconic) images of one of my favorite cities.






























































Saturday, September 19, 2009

Gastronomic Tour of Spain

Sausage with white beans, more tapas than I can count, seafood, doners, patatas bravas (oh the garlic), palmera de chocolate, horchata, lots and lots of sangria….oh yes, the foodies have done Spain.  Over the past 8 days we have been to Seville, Granada, and Barcelona, eating our way through Andalusia and Catalunya.  We tried sangria cava (white sangria made with the champagne-like cava wine and orange juice), I tasted anchovies and sea snails, we had more ham and pork products than any two people should in a lifetime, much less a week, and gallons of fresh fruit juices like mango, coconut, papaya, and cactus pear from La Boqueria.  If only we’d had a kitchen…oh the cooking we would have done!

Then, as if that wasn't the epitome of gluttony, we boarded a cruise ship that took us through France, Italy, and back to Spain.  Our tour ended in Palma de Majorca, with a swim in the Mediterranean, and a stroll down the boardwalk.  Beautiful by day and night, this was a lovely last port.  Onward to Paris for more eating...
























Friday, September 18, 2009

First Journey to Africa




Finally, another continent and another stamp in my passport.  Today we stopped for a morning in Tunisia.  We were able to join with a couple from our dinner table to take a taxi.  Maximizing our time on such a short tour, we managed to squeeze in visits to Carthage to see the ancient Phoenician city and Roman ruins as well as the Mediterranean village of Sidi Bou Said.  Even at 9:30AM it was 38°C – hot here in the desert!  Tunis is a fascinating combination of ancient and modern, east and west, Muslim and Christian, French and Arabic.  Some of you may know and remember that when I first considered teaching overseas, Tunis was one of the schools at the top of my list.  I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit.  Though our time in port was minimal, we saw a lot.  And after 5 ports and a whirlwind 17 days of traveling, we were happy to have a little time to enjoy our ship. 














































































Ciao, Ciao Italy




Our final Italian port was Palermo. Several people had told me they didn’t like the capitol of Sicily, but I loved Messina and Taormina the two times I’ve gone, so my expectations were a bit mixed. We were both pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed Palermo. Danny really liked the architecture; I enjoyed the vibe of the city. I’m always happy when I’m in the Mediterranean, and something about Sicily speaks to me. They say Paris is the city of love, and you all know I find Baden Baden to be a town of great romance, but it’s here in Italy that love abounds. Even the grafitti says so! We spent many hours pounding the pavement and were rewarded for our efforts with a great lunch at a family run trattoria. After indulging in antipasti, pasta, pizza, and copious pastries, we headed over to Monreale to see the church and the sprawling view of Palermo from the mountain top. This was a great final port in Italiy, leaving us both wanting to return to the island again soon. Our journey is almost complete, tomorrow we have a brief stop in Tunis and then back to Spain and finally onward to Paris.