Showing posts with label Other Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Other Travel. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Where the West Was Won.....Ricardo Breceda - Sculptor, Designer, Very Cool Dude


On our way to Anza Borrego Desert State Park the other day...


it was hard to miss these guys.  Perched on outcroppings and eventually....


MASSED - like a movie director's slightly deranged dream


on the long and winding road into the State Park.


The Paradis family and friends were not the ONLY people


to find this crowd AMAZING, STUNNING, BEGUILING


and MAJORLY ARTISTIC.


All springing exuberantly from the minds and hands of a single man.


It was a reminder to us that you have to get off road.  Regularly.


Because it's not always on the major routes and roadways......that the race in life is won.

Sometimes you have to follow your own lead - as Mr. Breceda demonstrates, to arrive in Paradise.

Ricardo Breceda 

Check out his web page and that amazing, happy smile.  The guy has it totally figured out!












Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Wonderful Riches of Oz - And I Do Mean, Australia!


Some highlights for you all......


I'm still recovering.  Soaking it all in.  Remembering.  Regretting.


How little time I had to wander Melbourne's pretty little neighborhoods.


The meals I missed in cozy, authentique, gemutlich bars.


I'm still marvelling over the exuberant creativity.


And wishing I could experience more of the artistic energy.


 I'm still gobsmacked by the creatures and the features.......


The plethora of neighborhoods with history and charm.


The best of the new world and the delights of some older ones......


The food of uniformly high standard, and freshness.


The mix of the exotic and the mundane.


A cheeky insouciance.



And did I mention the food!!!?????  O.M.G.!


Did you know that OZ would look like this?  I did not.  Oh the wonder, the wonder......!
(Peoples got it allllll going on!!!!)







Thursday, November 24, 2016

Two Travelling Birds - I Want to Be Them When I Grow Up


How do you make romance last a little bit longer


and love a lot larger?


Find something that you and your special one can both be passionate about


 AND GO DO IT!


together.


Like these two do.


Discovering TOGETHER.


Indulging in some kind of play - 


like this large-scale kind that is called travel.....


Is, according to science, a wonderful way


to prolong your own life and that of your loved ones.


Engaging in new explorations - (and what's old, as if it's the first time you've ever seen it)


is a healthy, happy way to be in the world.  If only we ALL could ALWAYS be

TWO TRAVELLING BIRDS


minus the carbon footprint, of course!


How was your Thanksgiving?












Friday, September 30, 2016

San Sebastian Saturday


It started with a wedding in the Parte Vieja (in the old town)


Weddings are hard to resist, aren't they?  The guys pretend to admire the car.  We ladies want to see the dress(es). But mostly......


  We just seem happy to share in the hopefulness of the day and someone else's good fortune.


San Sebastian is a beautiful city.  Unspoiled, shall I say.


Where many generations of families still live close all together.


And enjoy each other.


In fact, there were two weddings.  This group was waiting for the wedding party to emerge


from an other church.  But the Paradis family did not wait with them.  Because.....


it was getting close to pintxo time.


It's possible to get a good deal of window shopping in while you're scoping out the best


prospective pintxo options.


And bringing yourself up to date with the events that celebrate San Sebastian's


designation as a "Cultural Capital of Europe 2016" (shared with Warsaw).


With pintxos come long lines, and crowds (and for bread too - some in San Sebastian actually eat at home!)


It's a hectic way to live - queuing up and crowding into small spaces


or hustling and serving mobs.....especially when your specialty (battered fried shrimp)


makes people so happy.


Everyone seemed to be in the bars.  And not on their bikes.


The beach was quiet because rain was in the forecast.  San Sebastian can be a fairly rainy place.


When the deluge came, the Paradis family raced into Zara (just like last year in Barcelona when the torrents came funny, that!  "The rain in Spain......." is not just a song, we're learning but - a real thing!) 


It was either Zara, or pintxos.


And post-rain, we wanted to see more of San Sebastian before we succumbed to pintxo charms.


So it was back to window shopping.  Though


many shops close for lunch and for the siesta that follows...it seemed.


Making a hole-in-the-wall automated pharmacy a handy convenience.


Eventually, the famille Paradis began to feel that famished and fragmented sensation that only


 PINTXOS COULD FIX!  But I'll have to give you those details later.


Yeah.  Prolonging the suspense.  I promise.  The pintxos will be worth the wait.