“Travels to a Different Time” : 13July2005: Coimbra, Portugal: A Large Donald Duck is Looking at Us!

Yet another great sleep waking up at 09:00 and we headed down for a buffet breakfast. Seems in Portugal breakfast is always included in the room rate.  We take our breakfast in a side room but unlike the Pousada in Viano do Castelo we don’t eat outside on a terrace. The dining area seems gloomyContinue reading ““Travels to a Different Time” : 13July2005: Coimbra, Portugal: A Large Donald Duck is Looking at Us!”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 16July1971: Othos, Karpathos, Greece: At a Village Party!

Dear Barb: You would never believe the setting. I am sitting at an outdoor café with just two tables with a fat Greek lady clothed in head to toe in black with a black scarf all around her head and neck. We were invited by a lady, Poppy, to visit her in a small villageContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 16July1971: Othos, Karpathos, Greece: At a Village Party!”

RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac

Fronsac, think Bordeaux. Think red wine. Think Merlot. Think of possible luxury at a discount price. We try a Château Castagnac from a good year in Bordeaux, 2020. It is Merlot and aged one year in French oak. The grapes were grown in a three-hectare herbicide free vineyard in clay-limestone soil near the town ofContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Château Castagnac from Fronsac”

: Travels of My Mother: 23July1971: St. Nicholas, Crete, Greece: Surly and Grasping Cretans

Dear Mother: I am sitting in an open-air café trying goat’s milk for the first and last time. It must be 90 degrees but there is a lovely breeze blowing. We arrived on the island of Crete at 3:30 p.m. yesterday after 7 hours on deck on a very rough ocean. Both Robert and IContinue reading “: Travels of My Mother: 23July1971: St. Nicholas, Crete, Greece: Surly and Grasping Cretans”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 13August1970: West Berlin, Germany: In Berlin Shocked By The Wall

We arrived in Munich after a “delightful” trip on a Yugoslav train. It originated in Athens and it was full of TURKS and GREEKS. The filth was incredible. No food or drinks and the toilets were beyond description. We left at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at 2:30 p.m. to a beautiful hotel dirty and tired.Continue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 13August1970: West Berlin, Germany: In Berlin Shocked By The Wall”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 3August1970: Bled, Yugoslavia: The Terrible Food in Yugoslavia: My Last Time in Yugoslavia!

Dear Mother, Meg and Murph: We are now in the republic of Slovenia in a fairytale town of Bled. We arrived yesterday and will remain here until August 9th when we will take the train to Munich. We will meet our friend there who has a car and we will be visiting the Black ForestContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 3August1970: Bled, Yugoslavia: The Terrible Food in Yugoslavia: My Last Time in Yugoslavia!”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 25June1971: Korcula Island, Yugoslavia

Dear Barbara and Andrew: Barb, as far as I know we will le leaving from Frankfurt to get to New York and we will be seeing Fritz in either Munich or West Berlin but I will definitely know when I get to Hvar because we are waiting to hear from Heidi. Korcula is beautiful, oldContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 25June1971: Korcula Island, Yugoslavia”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: ?February1970: Amsterdam, Holland: They Will Tear You Apart in the Red-Light District

Dear Barb: Well its caught up with me all this cold and damp weather as I awoke with a sore throat, a cough with a headache. For a change it is a beautiful sunny day. I went downstairs and had three cups of coffee and returned to the room. I have tickets to the symphonyContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: ?February1970: Amsterdam, Holland: They Will Tear You Apart in the Red-Light District”

Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 12February1971: Amsterdam, Holland: Hippies at Heineken

Dear Barb: Last night was Ex Lax night so today I stay fairly close to the hotel. They don’t serve many vegetables here. I have been eating too many starches. Although so tasty they are hard to refuse. The most incredible pastry. The boys would go wild. I have been to the symphony. The concertContinue reading “Travels to a Different Time: Travels of My Mother: 12February1971: Amsterdam, Holland: Hippies at Heineken”