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A Month Of Letters - Day 11
Feb. 11th, 2013 02:05 pmYesterday was an off day. Today's outgoing is a reply to a penpal introductory letter, headed for Hilden, Germany. I didn't tart up the envelope at all, so no picture. I did write the whole thing with my Pelikan Polar Lights fountain pen with Private Reserve Avocado ink. It was a very green experience.
A Month Of Letters - Day 8
Feb. 8th, 2013 01:02 pmSending out today: A postcrossing postcard to Finland, a reply to an "A Month Of Letters" letter, and a reply to a lately received holiday card and letter. Today's discovery: My scanner makes my sealing wax seals look concave instead of convex. Interesting.
A Month Of Letters - Day 6
Feb. 6th, 2013 11:38 amToday's outgoing mail includes a postcard to New Jersey for an Ugly Postcard Swap (my apologies to the artist):
And a postcrossing postcard to Hong Kong for someone who wants Picasso postcards and many stamps. I can do that!
That's the last one of my vintage $0.26 stamps.
A Month Of Letters - Day 2
Feb. 2nd, 2013 09:51 amSending a postcard for a project to save the post office in Rupert, Vermont. A collage artist, I am not; but I assembled some of the postal ephemera and stamps in my collection and got out the glue stick.
I bought a pack of postcard blanks for just such an occasion. I am disappointed that they are such thin and poor quality paper.
I bought a pack of postcard blanks for just such an occasion. I am disappointed that they are such thin and poor quality paper.
A Month Of Letters - Day 1
Feb. 1st, 2013 11:08 amI'm going to post things for my efforts for A Month Of Letters Challenge. I may not post everything; we shall see.
Today, a Postcrossing card to Australia (to an address on Batman Street - alas, I don't have any Batman cards): 
Interior, Grand Central Terminal, New York (completed 1913), Warren and Wetmore, Reid and Stern, architects.
Warren and Wetmore photograph.
I didn't finish any socks in March. I knitted one sock from toe to mid-foot in the possum yarn. then I did a second one toe to mid-foot in the possum yarn. Then I had to figure out some stuff about the pattern that I wanted to do. I opted to put a cable up the center and have the gussets fall from that (Cat Bordhi's Ridgeline sockitecture for you New Pathways fans.) So that meant that doing the arch expansions involved tracking both increases and gussets; no big deal knitting at home, but not something I want to do while on public transportation. I've done about half the arch expansion since coming back home from the vacation.
So I wound up some different purple/green yarn that I wanted to use for a plain vanilla sock, Creatively Dyed Steele yarn, lotus colorway.
Then came our trip to Barcelona. We took the Megabus from Burlington to Boston. I planned to knit on the bus. Well, the bus was packed completely full (end of spring break for some folks apparently) and the seats are pretty narrow. So I ended up not even trying to knit on the bus. I usually don't knit on the plane either. So we got to Barcelona and I hadn't knit a single stitch on the new socks.
While in Barcelona, we had a rendez-vous with our friends from Canada who are stationed in Budapest for three years, Sandy and George. Sandy is a knitting buddy of mine; we met on Ravelry, both being fans of Three Irish Girls yarn. One of the rainy days in Barcelona, we took the train to Figueres to the Dali Museum. It was a 90-minute train ride each way, and Sandy and I had our knitting. I knit a sock from toe to mid-foot
So, my sock tally for March is less than two, so I'm a little behind in my self-imposed sock club. I'll play catch up at some point.
Here's the highlights of vacation:
March 18: Boston stuff
March 19: Flying.
March 20: Barcelona arrival.
March 21: La Boqueria market
March 22: Dali Museum in Figueres
March 23: La Sagrada Famila
March 24: Casa Botlló and Picasso Museum
March 25: Sardana dancing, the Mediterranean Sea, and Flamenco at the Palau de la Música Catalana
March 26: Tourist Bus and an epic dinner at Speakeasy
March 27: Flying.
March 28: Travel adventures and home at last.
I'm going to do the travelogue the way I always do. I will blog each day separately and backdate the posts. I'll post again in real time when the last post is up and you can read about the trip in chronological order.
If you can't wait and want to see All The Pictures without captions or descriptions, you can find them here.
And this is one of my favorite things: Barcelona
So I wound up some different purple/green yarn that I wanted to use for a plain vanilla sock, Creatively Dyed Steele yarn, lotus colorway.
Then came our trip to Barcelona. We took the Megabus from Burlington to Boston. I planned to knit on the bus. Well, the bus was packed completely full (end of spring break for some folks apparently) and the seats are pretty narrow. So I ended up not even trying to knit on the bus. I usually don't knit on the plane either. So we got to Barcelona and I hadn't knit a single stitch on the new socks.
While in Barcelona, we had a rendez-vous with our friends from Canada who are stationed in Budapest for three years, Sandy and George. Sandy is a knitting buddy of mine; we met on Ravelry, both being fans of Three Irish Girls yarn. One of the rainy days in Barcelona, we took the train to Figueres to the Dali Museum. It was a 90-minute train ride each way, and Sandy and I had our knitting. I knit a sock from toe to mid-foot
So, my sock tally for March is less than two, so I'm a little behind in my self-imposed sock club. I'll play catch up at some point.
Here's the highlights of vacation:
March 18: Boston stuff
March 19: Flying.
March 20: Barcelona arrival.
March 21: La Boqueria market
March 22: Dali Museum in Figueres
March 23: La Sagrada Famila
March 24: Casa Botlló and Picasso Museum
March 25: Sardana dancing, the Mediterranean Sea, and Flamenco at the Palau de la Música Catalana
March 26: Tourist Bus and an epic dinner at Speakeasy
March 27: Flying.
March 28: Travel adventures and home at last.
I'm going to do the travelogue the way I always do. I will blog each day separately and backdate the posts. I'll post again in real time when the last post is up and you can read about the trip in chronological order.
If you can't wait and want to see All The Pictures without captions or descriptions, you can find them here.
And this is one of my favorite things: Barcelona
I woke up at 6 AM and then dozed off and on for a while. What time is it? What day is it?
We went out for coffee and then checked out of the hotel. We had time to kill since our bus was at 3 PM. We did some shopping and got caught in the rain. We took refuge in the Crane paper store that we discovered was going out of business. So I bought some good bargains while keeping dry!
We had a lovely lunch at Atlantic Fish, which was participating in Boston's Restaurant Week. We had salads with shrimp, arctic char with Brussels sprouts, and a tasty Nutella mousse. Then back to the hotel to pick up our bags and on the T to get to the bus station. We hurried a bit, but we arrived exactly on time.
Except that there was no bus!
It turned out that they'd changed the schedule for the Megabus and had sent an email, but between being offline and then jet lagged, we didn't read the email correctly. So instead of the bus leaving at 3:30 PM, it had left at 11:00 AM. Oops. We poked around a bit at the bus station and figured out that there weren't any really good options for getting home that day. I needed to be back to work, and I figured that spending another night in Boston with hotel and restaurant costs, we'd be better off renting a car.
I made a few calls and got us a rental car. Bruce was kind of in a funk about having not read the email properly. But it all worked out. We drove home. We got to stop at the New Hampshire liquor store, which we couldn't have done on the bus. We got to sleep in our own bed. Yay!
And it was still cheaper than driving to Boston and paying for parking for the whole time while we were gone. But next time we'll read the emails better!
We went out for coffee and then checked out of the hotel. We had time to kill since our bus was at 3 PM. We did some shopping and got caught in the rain. We took refuge in the Crane paper store that we discovered was going out of business. So I bought some good bargains while keeping dry!
We had a lovely lunch at Atlantic Fish, which was participating in Boston's Restaurant Week. We had salads with shrimp, arctic char with Brussels sprouts, and a tasty Nutella mousse. Then back to the hotel to pick up our bags and on the T to get to the bus station. We hurried a bit, but we arrived exactly on time.
Except that there was no bus!
It turned out that they'd changed the schedule for the Megabus and had sent an email, but between being offline and then jet lagged, we didn't read the email correctly. So instead of the bus leaving at 3:30 PM, it had left at 11:00 AM. Oops. We poked around a bit at the bus station and figured out that there weren't any really good options for getting home that day. I needed to be back to work, and I figured that spending another night in Boston with hotel and restaurant costs, we'd be better off renting a car.
I made a few calls and got us a rental car. Bruce was kind of in a funk about having not read the email properly. But it all worked out. We drove home. We got to stop at the New Hampshire liquor store, which we couldn't have done on the bus. We got to sleep in our own bed. Yay!
And it was still cheaper than driving to Boston and paying for parking for the whole time while we were gone. But next time we'll read the emails better!
Barcelona Vacation, Day 10: Flying
Mar. 27th, 2012 04:40 pmWe had some public transit adventures getting to the airport. We got on the same bus that we'd taken from the airport and when we got on and were moving, we realized that there were two buses, one for each terminal. We figured, "Oh, well. We have a 50/50 chance of getting to the right one." We didn't go to the right one. So then we had to walk a pretty far distance to get to the bus that went from one terminal to another. Whew! Glad we allowed a lot of time.
Then we got to the right terminal and there was a huge group of people clogging up the one line for check-in for the cheap seats. Luckily we were the second ones back from it all, but it was an exercise in patience waiting. I can only imagine how antsy and irate folks were who ended up being 50 people back in the line. But we made it through everything in plenty of time.
We flew to Munich first. The views out the window of the alps were gorgeous. I wonder if we flew over Mont Blanc. Then it was on to Boston and gaining six hours back. It seemed like a very long flight and I was ready to be done about two hours before it was over. I did finish the third book of the Hunger Games. I also watched the Tin Tin movie, slept, listened to opera, played some games. There was wi-fi, but it was very expensive, so I didn't pay for it.
Back in Boston we again took public transportation to the Hotel Commonwealth. Dinner was at Island Creek Oyster House, which is attached to the hotel, so it was easy to be jet lagged and still get some good dinner. We were so very tired, having been up for twenty-two hours. I took a quick bubble bath to ease my aching muscles and then crashed into the big comfortable bed.
Then we got to the right terminal and there was a huge group of people clogging up the one line for check-in for the cheap seats. Luckily we were the second ones back from it all, but it was an exercise in patience waiting. I can only imagine how antsy and irate folks were who ended up being 50 people back in the line. But we made it through everything in plenty of time.
We flew to Munich first. The views out the window of the alps were gorgeous. I wonder if we flew over Mont Blanc. Then it was on to Boston and gaining six hours back. It seemed like a very long flight and I was ready to be done about two hours before it was over. I did finish the third book of the Hunger Games. I also watched the Tin Tin movie, slept, listened to opera, played some games. There was wi-fi, but it was very expensive, so I didn't pay for it.
Back in Boston we again took public transportation to the Hotel Commonwealth. Dinner was at Island Creek Oyster House, which is attached to the hotel, so it was easy to be jet lagged and still get some good dinner. We were so very tired, having been up for twenty-two hours. I took a quick bubble bath to ease my aching muscles and then crashed into the big comfortable bed.
For our last day in Barcelona, we decided to do one of the tourist bus tours so we could see a larger overview of the city and at least view the outside of some things we weren't going to have a chance to see in depth. We started the morning touring the northwestern route. The line was pretty long for it all since the marathon the day before had disrupted the tourist buses for much of the day. The couple behind us were Russian I think; they didn't speak much English. She was knitting something and so I pantomimed that I was a knitter and then showed her the socks I was wearing. She pointed at them and then at me. I nodded and made knitting motions and pointed at my socks again. She told her husband, I guess, that I had knitted my socks and then they both laughed. So I guess men don't knit in their part of the world.
We tookteh bus past La Sagrada Familia and got a different view of it. I love this picture that I got there. Check out how the bird looks eerily like an angel!
We saw lots of interesting architectural details on many buildings. It was very cold up on top with the wind. There was a convent where it was the local custom to bring the nuns eggs so that it wouldn't rain on one's wedding. And there were other reasons why one took them eggs as well. We made so many jokes about it that we just laughed and laughed and laughed.
We made a pit stop back at our hotel and then walked down to the Plaça Réal for lunch. We found a little spot, La Crema Canela with a wonderful prix fixe menu (9.95 euros): a glass of wine; Catalan spinach cake with Romesco sauce; sausages with samfaina sauce (caramelized onions in a tomato reduction with eggplants, zucchini, and peppers);
and for dessert, B had a huge dish of chocolate ice cream and I had a toffee cake with crème anglais.
In the afternoon we dressed a bit more warmly and got on the bus for the second route, seeing the Plaça d'Espanya,
and views of the city from Montjuïc,
the Olympic stadium, the waterfront, and back up into the Gothic quarter. We got in a bit more shopping before returning to our hotel to pack our bags in preparation for our departure the next day.
The folks at our hotel recommended dinner our last night be at a place called Speakeasy. We wanted something different from the usual tapas fare and to go a bit fancier. This place was rather incredible. The front is a bar called Dry Martini. When you go in, you walk to the back of the bar and there's a door, obviously to the kitchen. On it, in very small letters, it says "restaurant". We'd been instructed to go directly through that door and keep going. One must walk through the kitchen and through another door, opening on large room decorated to look like the storage room for the bar. On one side were industrial shelves lined with liquor bottles all lit from the back. Along another wall was a large wine cellar.
Check out their website here, and check out this video. The place was super-cool.
So the whole theme of the place was cocktails paired with food. They had three different tasting menus. We opted for the middle one.
And this photo from the menu shows the starters with the cocktails:
The cocktails were smaller sized, but after a full-sized aperitif cocktail and then seven smaller ones, we were feeling no pain! The one on the far left was an anchovy on top of date paste on a piece of baguette. The cocktail was a vodka martini frappe (think of a martini slush). That was one of our favorites. The other favorite was the tuna roll with the wasabi martini slush (third from the left). Some things were pretty different: The "Sharon Stone" was some sort of thick chocolate concoction. The suckling pig was excellent.
When we arrived for our 9:30 reservation there was only one other table seated. I thought since it was a Monday night, it was slow. Then by 10:15, the place was packed full of people. We finally left at 12:45 AM Tuesday morning and when we made our way out, we had to press through the crowds of people in the Dry Martini bar in the front. It is a very popular place.
We refer to this as our Epic Meal, and it was one of the most memorable and different experiences of our dining lives!
We tookteh bus past La Sagrada Familia and got a different view of it. I love this picture that I got there. Check out how the bird looks eerily like an angel!
We saw lots of interesting architectural details on many buildings. It was very cold up on top with the wind. There was a convent where it was the local custom to bring the nuns eggs so that it wouldn't rain on one's wedding. And there were other reasons why one took them eggs as well. We made so many jokes about it that we just laughed and laughed and laughed.
We made a pit stop back at our hotel and then walked down to the Plaça Réal for lunch. We found a little spot, La Crema Canela with a wonderful prix fixe menu (9.95 euros): a glass of wine; Catalan spinach cake with Romesco sauce; sausages with samfaina sauce (caramelized onions in a tomato reduction with eggplants, zucchini, and peppers);
and for dessert, B had a huge dish of chocolate ice cream and I had a toffee cake with crème anglais.
In the afternoon we dressed a bit more warmly and got on the bus for the second route, seeing the Plaça d'Espanya,
and views of the city from Montjuïc,
the Olympic stadium, the waterfront, and back up into the Gothic quarter. We got in a bit more shopping before returning to our hotel to pack our bags in preparation for our departure the next day.
The folks at our hotel recommended dinner our last night be at a place called Speakeasy. We wanted something different from the usual tapas fare and to go a bit fancier. This place was rather incredible. The front is a bar called Dry Martini. When you go in, you walk to the back of the bar and there's a door, obviously to the kitchen. On it, in very small letters, it says "restaurant". We'd been instructed to go directly through that door and keep going. One must walk through the kitchen and through another door, opening on large room decorated to look like the storage room for the bar. On one side were industrial shelves lined with liquor bottles all lit from the back. Along another wall was a large wine cellar.
Check out their website here, and check out this video. The place was super-cool.
So the whole theme of the place was cocktails paired with food. They had three different tasting menus. We opted for the middle one.
And this photo from the menu shows the starters with the cocktails:
The cocktails were smaller sized, but after a full-sized aperitif cocktail and then seven smaller ones, we were feeling no pain! The one on the far left was an anchovy on top of date paste on a piece of baguette. The cocktail was a vodka martini frappe (think of a martini slush). That was one of our favorites. The other favorite was the tuna roll with the wasabi martini slush (third from the left). Some things were pretty different: The "Sharon Stone" was some sort of thick chocolate concoction. The suckling pig was excellent.
When we arrived for our 9:30 reservation there was only one other table seated. I thought since it was a Monday night, it was slow. Then by 10:15, the place was packed full of people. We finally left at 12:45 AM Tuesday morning and when we made our way out, we had to press through the crowds of people in the Dry Martini bar in the front. It is a very popular place.
We refer to this as our Epic Meal, and it was one of the most memorable and different experiences of our dining lives!
We got up a bit later because of "spring forward" and ate breakfast. Then we walked over to the cathedral to watch the sardana dances. Every Sunday at noon, the locals dance this traditional dance in the courtyard outside the cathedral. (They do it at some other times as well.) They gather in circles, put their bags and other belongings in the center of the circle while they dance. It is a slow swaying dance with some footwork. I loved the tradition of it all. Our experience was rather surreal because there was also a marathon in town that day, and the course went right by the courtyard where the dancing was happening.
We ended up dashing through the marathon course a couple of times. It was fun watching people, young and old, try to time their crossing so as not to interrupt the runners. It probably wasn't fun running trying to dodge the pedestrians!
We saw many wonderful gargoyles:
We explored all around the cathedral neighborhood. We walked along the old Roman Wall and then walked way up into the Eixample neighborhood through quiet residential streets. Everything outside of the tourist areas was closed for Sunday with the exception of a very few neighborhood cafés.
Here's another famous Gaudí building, Casa Milà, which we did not tour:
We had a late lunch at Qu Qu: white wine, a flauta (a sandwich on a long thin baguette) with ham and another one with dried sausage, a salad of marinated tuna on sliced tomatoes. Then we walked all the way down La Rambla to the Mediterranean.
We saw the famous statue of Christopher Columbus:
And then we walked out onto La Rambla de Mar, a pedestrian pier out into the Mediterranean, Barcelona harbor.
I still haven't touched the Mediterranean yet. Next trip!
We had tickets that night for a Flamenco concert at the Palau de la Musica. The concert started at 9:30 PM. (They do things differently there!) So we went and had a cocktail before (which was quite an experience - we picked a very expensive place that had one of the "world's best bartenders" - they had a book on the bar to prove it - who was talking with a woman at the bar about how he had been traveling with U2 in South America as their personal bartender).
Inside the Palau de la Musica was gorgeous. It's the only naturally lighted concert hall in Europe. Of course it was dark when we were there, but the skylight is breathtaking:
As is the stage:
The Flamenco was astonishing. It was very traditional in the Catalan style, more focused on showmanship and fast feet than costumes.
After the concert, we went for a late tapas dinner at La Taberna del Cobre: house red wine; padrones; an amazing dish of sausages, lentils, and shaved foie gras; some tasty meatballs; and the ubiquitous tomato bread. By the time we left, all the little gelato and pastry shops were closed, so no repeat of the previous night's dessert.
We ended up dashing through the marathon course a couple of times. It was fun watching people, young and old, try to time their crossing so as not to interrupt the runners. It probably wasn't fun running trying to dodge the pedestrians!
We saw many wonderful gargoyles:
We explored all around the cathedral neighborhood. We walked along the old Roman Wall and then walked way up into the Eixample neighborhood through quiet residential streets. Everything outside of the tourist areas was closed for Sunday with the exception of a very few neighborhood cafés.
Here's another famous Gaudí building, Casa Milà, which we did not tour:
We had a late lunch at Qu Qu: white wine, a flauta (a sandwich on a long thin baguette) with ham and another one with dried sausage, a salad of marinated tuna on sliced tomatoes. Then we walked all the way down La Rambla to the Mediterranean.
We saw the famous statue of Christopher Columbus:
And then we walked out onto La Rambla de Mar, a pedestrian pier out into the Mediterranean, Barcelona harbor.
I still haven't touched the Mediterranean yet. Next trip!
We had tickets that night for a Flamenco concert at the Palau de la Musica. The concert started at 9:30 PM. (They do things differently there!) So we went and had a cocktail before (which was quite an experience - we picked a very expensive place that had one of the "world's best bartenders" - they had a book on the bar to prove it - who was talking with a woman at the bar about how he had been traveling with U2 in South America as their personal bartender).
Inside the Palau de la Musica was gorgeous. It's the only naturally lighted concert hall in Europe. Of course it was dark when we were there, but the skylight is breathtaking:
As is the stage:
The Flamenco was astonishing. It was very traditional in the Catalan style, more focused on showmanship and fast feet than costumes.
After the concert, we went for a late tapas dinner at La Taberna del Cobre: house red wine; padrones; an amazing dish of sausages, lentils, and shaved foie gras; some tasty meatballs; and the ubiquitous tomato bread. By the time we left, all the little gelato and pastry shops were closed, so no repeat of the previous night's dessert.
