Barcelona: FOOD
First a note: We have not EATEN at all of these places, some we couldn’t get in, some we just loved the look of the place, some had no gluten-free options. We could spend YEARS in Barcelona and not eat at all the great places. We do the best we can – thank goodness we are walking so much! We have been quite lucky (and diligent) in finding a LOT of celiac friendly restaurants. The EU makes it a priority…
Barcelona: Out and About
Rather than try to compile a diary of “what we did every day”, which would not be all that interesting to most folks, I’m going to lump types of photos/experiences with a little info. I hope it will be a fun reminder of why the Basha and I love Barcelona so much. Places We have spent a LOT of time (mostly wandering or lost) in the neighborhood of el Born. It tends to be a maze of small streets and…
On the road again 🎵
It feels like it has been a REALLY long time since the Basha and I have been off on a travel adventure just for fun. The pandemic really put the brakes on travel for (what felt like) a gabillion years! Here we are in late 2022, and we are off to Spain for a while. The start of the trip will be in Barcelona with my mama (heretofore known as “Madame”). Basha and I have been to Barcelona before, however…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 2: Architecture & More Art
The Orozco murals were AMAZING, however those were not all we had to feast our eyes on. More art: MUSA at the University of Guadalajara. A small but lovely museum. We really liked the art of Hector Navarro – and he was there talking with military cadets – we got to meet him!!! Architecture and beautiful things around Guadalajara Day trip to Tlaquepaque (say it out loud – it is FUN to say) We had an AMAZING time in Guadalajara.…
Tourist Adventures in Guadalajara – pt. 1: Jose Clemente Orozco
I’ve been gone. Things have been happening. One was a trip to Guadalajara. This is Basha’s & my first adventure in Mexico outside of our new “home town”. Flights are inexpensive and easy. Our time in GDL was split between playing TOURIST with friends and shopping for FURNITURE at the International Furniture Expo. You can guess which was more fun! We stayed at a lovely little hotel in the historical centro called Hotel Mendoza. Our room looked out over a…
Some days don’t go to plan…
We bought the house in October. We started renovating in November. This has been far more stressful than I’d expected. The house is large, but we have been squeezed down into a small amount of space because multiple renovation jobs are going on at one time. We knew the palapa/roof construction was going to be disruptive. The palapa and pergola are DONE!!! The counter/bar is in, the stairs from ground to roof are done. YAY. We are paused on the…
Construction begins – Week 1
We’d only had the keys for the house for 2 weeks when the first load of construction materials arrived. Our FIRST priority with the new place – making the roof accessible, and having a comfortable place to hang out and watch the sun go down over the water. That is going to involve a lot of demolition and construction. This is going to be fun, right? 😉 Watching construction has always fascinated me. The calculus of what happens when, how…
Backfilling: October 21st
The last (nearly) three weeks have been a combination of spectacular highs – excitement, joy, disbelief – combined with exhaustion, chaos, and endless decisions. A potent cocktail!! In addition, we are STILL waiting for internet service at the new place – so all internet needs require a trip back to the rental house. Thank goodness we have the place until the end of the year!!! So… we closed on the house on October 21st. It was a thrilling and draining…
SJC and the BEST News
In all the hubbub about the house, we’ve realized that (1) it is a BIG house, and (2) it is only PARTIALLY furnished! Since nearly all of our worldly belongings were sold last year when we realized that we were Accidental Mexpats – that means that we have very little to bring into the house – and, LOL, for now it is all still “up North”. How do we solve this problem? We’ve looked around at furniture and appliance stores…
Hurricane Olaf – a big blow-hard
Olaf is the second hurricane to reach “worrisome” status for us. The first was Nora – who veered towards the mainland at the last moment, and left Baja with some rain and not much else. Olaf was considered a non-event, until the last moment when it intensified to a category 2 hurricane and made landfall near Todos Santos – north of Cabo San Lucas, on the Pacific side. In preparation for Nora, we battened down the proverbial hatches. We got…