Project: One photo a day (but not necessarily every day)

[j44ke]

back to the 1830's

[rwsaunders]

[claritycycler]

front yard succulent

[jonathanb]

The scene from Mohonk Mountain house the morning of April 11:

IMG_0904.jpg

[claritycycler]

...back to the 1830's

What's the insulation material?

[Mabouya]

What's the insulation material?

Hopefully not horsehair...

[j44ke]

What's the insulation material?

Hopefully not horsehair...

Nope. It looks old but is actually the new stuff which is (as I understand it) a fiberglass product - don't know the trade name. It is supposedly an improvement on the old yellow or pink fiberglass stuff that mice love so much, but we're mostly using it because the structure is highly irregular, making the spaces difficult to fill effectively with some of the other more rigid products. This stuff can be shoved into the nooks and crannies and tighten up the voids in the wall spaces. We shall see.

We have two other walls on this section of the house that probably need similar treatment. We'll change the porch back to a small landing and rebuild/replace the steps, then paint the front gray to match. Later we will have to do the other two sides (this is west facing - north and south need work) but those are more complicated as both sides include 2nd floor and the bad windows there as well as the usual assorted of expected surprises that keep one awake at night.

[claritycycler]

....as well as the usual assorted of expected surprises that keep one awake at night.

truer words.....

[j44ke]

[open roader]

[rwsaunders]

[rwsaunders]

[j44ke]

Okay the white is one thing but that eye!

[rwsaunders]

Getting ready to head back to reality…last stop Sevilla.

[rwsaunders]

[rwsaunders]

Back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSA…sorry Paul and John.

We didn't know what to expect when visiting Portugal and Spain for the first time and I will admit with the current state of US politics, I was a bit apprehensive about walking the streets of foreign cities as the proverbial ugly American. I even reached out to fellow Salonista Thomas for his opinion of how to remain below the radar so to speak. Quick observations and experiences not necessarily in any order.

Stunning buildings, artwork, clean streets, hills, granite paved walks and streets, bikeways, walkways, efficient transportation, trees, trees, and trees, oranges, outstanding cafes and food offerings, attention to detail and color ranging from food and drink presentation to a small shop packaging a gift for my Mother-in-Law. The museums, parks, churches, cafes…the desserts. And did I mention Fado and Flamenco, both experienced for the first time in the oft used term of a back street cafe? Powerful, goose bump raising and very emotional.

Memorable events...seeing a yellow tram full of people navigate the hill streets of Lisbon, talking for 2 hours on a train with an older couple who were from Ethiopia, lived in Italy for 30 years and emigrated to the US...talked global politics and world events and the gentleman assured me that evil people in history were always replaced by good people. Had a young Dutch couple ask my wife (not me) to take their photo in front of the Royal Palace in Madrid...they reciprocated, asked where we were from and when I asked them if they followed bike racing and Mathieu van der Poel, ended up having a beer in local cafe...her photo of us is awesome.

Experienced a nation-wide power outage while visiting Park Güell in Barcelona, which was 5 miles from our hotel, complete with State Department alerts until eventually cell phone service was lost. I figured that the end of the world was around the corner, so we navigated the back streets and eventually took a breather in a side street cafe which accepted cash only (ATM's were down) and had a beer with a plate of Iberian ham and cheese (note the beer theme), while the local residents that we sat with peppered us with questions ranging from "you walked here?" to "is my English good enough to work in the US?"…I told them to stay in paradise until the lunatic fringe wasn’t in charge which earned me two Estrellas.

And my most memorable people experience...while standing in the Madrid train station, we obviously looked confused when our train was delayed. A woman named Maria, leaned over and said not to worry...happens all the time in Spain and to stick with her and she'd make sure that we were on the correct platform and train as she was also going to Sevilla to visit her parents. We started talked about her family, husband and her travels and St. George’s Day (Day of Books and Roses), which was recently celebrated while we were in Spain, and when we boarded the train, I promised that I’d buy her a beer on the train once we settled to thank her for her kindness and we all laughed. About an hour into the ride, I bought a beer in the dining car, navigated my way to coach #3 and when the automatic door opened, there was Maria reading a book.

Greeted to my name while handing her the beer and shaking her hand, was a special moment and when we got off the train, we heard our names again and Maria insisted on walking us to the cab station. When we arrived at the cab station, she shook our hands, gave us both our first “European two cheek kiss” as I call it, and we wished each other safe travels. Safe travels indeed.