These Boots Were Made For Flying

Or shall I say, walking onto a plane destined to Europe?

Yep, this Texan will wander overseas for a fantastic adventure - a 17 day trip to Italy and Portugal.  One of my partners-in-Wine-Tasting-crimes and I wrote a fantastic grant for/to Fund For Teachers, a wonderful non-profit organization that encourages teachers to plan their own professional development.  Well, Jamie and I decided that our classes would benefit by us being smarter about the world - and Italy in particular since it's the birthplace of the Renaissance, home to the Catholic Church (a very influential political game-player for a long time), and ancient Rome.  For 14 days, we'll tour Milan, Venice, Verona, Bologna, Florence, and Rome to collect examples of media, tour art museums and ancient structures, churches, take photos of European city life, etc. and share our spoils with our classes next year.  PLUS we over-budgeted our airfare by a couple of hundred dollars and we'll be using that money to extend our trip - we have a layover in Lisbon so we're staying there a few days to do the same thing.  Now we'll have examples from TWO European countries to compare to America. 

So, needless to say, I'm excited.  I've been to Europe before - twice to London, twice to Paris, and once to Rome, but this is a most-expense paid trip to do what I love - learning about cultures and history.   

Here's our list of definites:

Milan: random tour of city ("The Last Supper" is already sold out)

Venice: gondola tour, St. Mark's Basilica, maybe the Murano glass museum

Verona: Romeo and Juliet tour (hey, we're English teachers)

Bologna: Nothing definite, just exploring the small town

Florence: Uffizi, Accademia, Duomo, various palace gardens (day trip to Pisa)

Rome: Vatican, Coliseum, Forum, Gallerie Borghese, the palazzos, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon.

Anyone else have any recommendations?

Happy travels, and I leave you with a picture of the Texas state flower: the bluebonnet. 

 

Galveston and More Wine

I'm not a wino, but I thoroughly enjoy wine festivals because I enjoy learning about wine (like I had to learn about coffee when I was a Starbucks manager).   I don't have the time to become a wine expert, but I like to learn what I like and what I don't.

So, my girls and I went to another wine fest - the Galveston Wine and Food Festival.  For $45, we gained entry, a wine glass, and endless supply of wine tastings from wine around the world and food tastings from Galveston restaurants.  Jen B. had gone before, thus encouraging our adventure, and I have to admit I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

We arrived a little before 2pm - although if I could go back into time I would've arrived much earlier.  Although the general admission was 2pm, 70 degrees is a glorious opportunity to spend in Galveston.  The Strand (once dubbed the Wall Street of the Southwest) is alive with old-fashioned/original street design, fun stores, beautiful buildings, an ice-cream parlor and several restaurants.  Home to Dickens on the Strand in December (where I met Lucinda Dickens Hawksley and enjoyed seeing all kids of people dressed in Victorian garb sipping mulled cider and delicately munching on meat pies while listening to bedecked carolers), the summer fills the Strand with a beach-y air.  Just a couple of blocks from the cruise terminal and various piers, the Strand is a delectable place to stroll on a lazy Saturday.

Anyway, we got there early and were let in (the VIPs got entry earlier, for an additional $50).   Although the area was rather small - held at Saengarfest Park - it was very pleasant.  A live band performing popular music entertained the people milling around, and tents shielded people and consumables from the bright sun.  We waltzed in, had out ticket scanned, and were handed souvenir wine glasses with attached plates for the food.  For three hours we floated from tent to tent, table to table, trying wines from all over the world and food from all over Galveston.  My favorite foods were mini-martini glasses with ceviche from Yago's, as well as this wonderful pasta laced with a lovely balsamic vinaigrette, and a pistachio-crusted lamb chop.  The rest of the food was fantastic also - empanadas, friend oysters, brie, plantains, chocolate, etc.  The food was chosen well, for they paired nicely with the varieties of wine offered.   My favorite was a prosseco acquired early in the hours, and then I found several chardonnays and merlots that I enjoyed as well.  The only wine I did not care for was a local pinot noir (the flavor did not mesh well with my taste buds).

Afterwards, we moseyed down the Strand, where several merchants set up stands/tents.  Mostly filled with over-priced crafts the Texas Olive Oil company was there, and I purchased a bottle of fig balsamic vinegar (which I can't wait to try with an insalada al caprese).  We then strolled two blocks over to Pier 22.  The wind whipped our hair and sea water filled the air.  The ship Elissa was docked, and getting ready for a wedding - what a place to have it!.  After about 3 minutes of strolling, we headed back to our cars and left Galveston.   We didn't get to the beach, but after a horrendous rainstorm this week, the water was extremely brown from the sediments getting stirred.  I'll go back later this summer.

Happy wandering everyone!

Butterflies and Berries

Today my partner-in-crime (PIC) and I wandered around the city of Houston, a relatively local wandering.  The Museum of Natural Science was having an exhibit on the Civil War, and since PIC is a Civil War buff and I'm a history-in-general afficionado, we wandered over to the area to check it out.  I packed us a picnic lunch and off we went.

While in line to acquire our tickets, we decided to add on the Cockerell Butterfly Exhibit tickets - we both love butterflies - and also walked out with a membership to the museum.  I love museums and a membership not only supports the museum, but gives us inside tips, free entry year-round to the normal exhibit halls, and discounts to the special exhibits.  It's a win-win deal.

We went first into the Civil War exhibit, and we came out with the same opinion: Although it was interesting, we didn't particularly care for the layout.  The focus on the exhibit was documentation acquired by the National Archives, from letters to slave records, from political affidavits to picture.  The first part (about 80%) was facsimiles of documents mixed in with the occasional original.  We both would have like to see more originals than merely pictures of them.  The second part (the 20%) was filled with relics, which were quite fascinating: clothing, weapons, buttons, tintypes, mess kits, etc.  Perhaps my favorite things to look at were the sketches made by soldiers during the war.  Some were extremely talented with pen/ink and pencils, and were filled with raw honesty.  That, and learning that Jefferson Davis' wife was about 25 years younger than he was and at 58, he had a one year-old, a three year-old, and a six year-old.  I just assumed his wife was older and their kids were older.  Somehow a bit of humanity was added into him (not that he was a monster, but he was a farmer-turned-politician).

Afterwards, we went to the Butterfly Hall, which is always a delight.  While the hissing cockroaches and spiders creep me out a bit, entering the glass-enclosed butterfly habitat is like wandering into a child's idea of a fantasy.  Beautiful butterflies dart everywhere, splashing their color across the sky.  They delicately flutter to and fro, landing on plants, landing on people, constantly moving around.  As a budding nature photographer, I was in heaven and took several good photos.  One cannot help but clasp one's hands in delight as a butterfly flits by, followed by one, two, three, four more.

Before leaving the museum area, we stopped to eat a picnic lunch at Hermann Park.  I filled our basket with simple goodies: bread, cheese, apples, and sausage (how European of us).  As we walked around the park, I thought about writing a code of conduct for a park.  An example would be: Rule 1 - No Smoking.  Enjoy the clean air instead.  Rule 2 - Don't play loud music, for not everyone shares your taste.  Rule 3 - If you let your children run around, please make sure they have the decency to keep their volumes at an appropriate level so as not to disturb others.  I think people forget about common decency when at a "public" park, believing that they are free to do what they wish.  That is true, but don't forget that you're not alone.

Enough rambling.  We ended the day in the Nassau Bay/Clear Lake area.   I was ready to go home, but PIC loves to pick wild blackberries, and he wanted to go to his patch.  So we did.  This place shall remain a secret so that it won't get picked through every year.  I wanted to just take photographs, but the picking of blackberries is addictive.  I had to find more!  :-)   Tonight, we shall have blackberry shortcake.

I don't have to wait until next week - tomorrow I shall wander again.  My family and I are going to partake in the Texas tradition of taking family photographs amidst the bluebonnet fields near Brenham/Austin.  I'm a native Texan, yet have actually never done that, so I'm looking forward to it.

Happy wandering!\\

Texas Wine and Sunshine

My first "official" wandering was at the Old Town Spring Wine Festival, just a 30 minute drive north of Houston, Texas.  I enjoy a glass of nice wine, and love to taste local vintages, so I gathered up a group of taste-testers to join me.

This was our first jaunt to this wine fest, although I went to Old Town Spring when I was a child.  I remembered quaint stores, Christmas lights twinkling in the trees, and carolers.  I was interested to see how I would view the area as an adult (with wine added to the mix!).  I am pleased to report that Old Town Spring still maintains the essence of quaintness and serenity a couple of blocks away from the bustling I-45.  The streets were blocked to traffic, allowing people to walk in the streets without fear of getting plowed down.  The Wine Fest highlighted the square; booths of wine dotted various streets instead of being focused in one spot.  We were forced to walked throughout the entire area to find all the wineries, but we had no complaints.  We popped into various specialty stores: a bead store, an Italian market, a corset shop, an Asian antique store, etc.  They all welcomed us with our wine and treated us warmly.  We also tasted typical fair food: fried oreos, curly fries, and fried Reese's peanut butter cups.  Although technically they did not mix with wine, we had to try them.

The wine selection itself was a nice sample of wineries around Texas, although noticeably absent was a representative from Messina Hopf, one of my favorites.  Still, we sampled Clear Creek Wineries, Bernhardt Wineries, and many others that I can't remember (and I accidentally threw out my map... sorry!).  Bernhardt was the first I tried - a lovely cabernet - and it turned out to be my favorite (although the mead there was intriguing).  One trend I did see, and didn't quite enjoy, were the flavored wines - peach wine, chocolate cherry wine, lime wine.  I'm not a snob, but I like the flavors of natural wine without added flavors.  My friends enjoyed the flavored wine, but I'm good with a nice chianti or cabernet.

Still, the sun beating down on our backs and the mix of people casually milling about gave the afternoon an overall peaceful feeling.

Grade: A.  A jolly good time!

Today, I wandered to a local park with my camera - I'm trying to learn more about photography.  Here's a random pansy that I played with and edited.

This weekend: Wandering to a local museum, where history comes alive!

Happy wandering everyone!

All aboard!

I love to travel and have adventures. This is the inaugural post of my wanderings. Here I will give reviews, descriptions, history, details, and a bit of my sparkling personality of my adventures. I might even post photos.

Next post: Sipping Wine and Feeling Sunshine

Happy wanderings!