TALES FROM THE RADICAL SABBATICAL
Tales from the radical sabbatical
Traveling about we have stayed in these and other venues that often fail to live up to how cool they sound. But this time all was good. We had a good walk to this country castle now serving as a very small and secluded place to bed down for the night. This is a beautiful part of Europe to see by foot.
This small city in southern Spain has Roman architecture and influence all over town. We just sat at a table and enjoyed a cheap glass of wine that came with this view, while all generations of locals were out and about enjoying the evening.
These pigs are living large! They roam free in fields of grass and acorn bearing trees, and seem to be genuinely happy creatures. The result is a super-premium ham known as Iberico, onsidered to be the best in the world. We’ve been walking among them for a few days and enjoying their company. And yes, they also make for great eating!
Before we start our big walking tour of Spain, we took a few days off in Seville. It is a wonderful city that has a great vibe and a great food and drink scene. Seville is the birthplace of Tapas cuisine and proudly carries on the tradition today.
We just dropped our backpacks meters away from the most southwestern point of mainland Europe, Cabo San Vicente/Sagres. Our 12 days of walking covered some amazing scenery and the weather was fantastic! Lots of sun, surfing and seafood make for a great vibe.
We are starting several months on the road, beginning with a walk in southern Portugal along with our good friends from Berlin. This walk is called the Rota Vicentina and it is about 225 km of beautiful scenery.
It's time to get back to moving about for a bit. After a year+ spent largely in the States we are definitely ready to get away. Amsterdam is one of our favorite cities and is a great place for plant lovers to start any journey.
Three and only three ingredients combine with intense preparation and absurd attention to detail to produce fantastic results. Just like the game it sometimes lives up to the hype - but it's always about the bread.
About 100 days ago we doused these plums with cheap vodka and secret seasonings. Fast forward and you get this beautiful nectar that tastes a lot like a tawny port. Good thing Santa is driving and thus won’t be offended when we leave him nary a drop.
Manny the hippo doing his best Heisenberg.
Zip was our friend and companion for 7 years. He was loud, opinionated, and very ornery. He was also loyal, simple minded and a good soul. We had to say goodbye due to complications that left him paralyzed a few months ago. We miss him a lot.
Growing up in Texas/Oklahoma means that okra is a dietary staple, as it should be. With all love and respect due to the ladies from Ambrose both past and present, this modern day version is hard to beat.
I’m doing a few weeks on the Camino with a dear friend from Salt Lake City and we are walking from the start of the route to the town of Burgos. We are enjoying the beautiful weather and walking and friendship...but the Broad is missing the Idiot nonetheless.
A friend with a plum tree decided to bestow some of the seasons inventory on some downtown condo dwellers he felt sorry for. Come winter they are going to make a nice way to honor the past summer. We may leave some out for Santa, but most likely we just drink it and let him fend for himself.
Or maybe not. Maybe the waste of time is working your ass off to buy a bunch of crap that does nothing but take up space while becoming basically worthless.
Summer in the Swiss Alps is definitely hard to beat. This lovely dog has made great company and hopefully we can both return to visit him next year.
Does anybody know how to set up one of these laundry drying racks? I'm in Switzerland for a few weeks solo, and the trauma of doing the laundry is enough to endure. We have used dozens of these and have never been able to stand one level. If anyone knows the trick and is willing to divulge it would be greatly appreciated!
Since we have this bike share rack outside our front door, we decided a car was one more possession we could do without. Two weeks in and we’ve only had two Uber rides. It has proven to be very liberating, and not so difficult to pull off when you live downtown.
