Back in touch!

Travel and minor medical problems have prevented me from painting and sending out my blog. I've missed doing it and am glad to be back .

The painting I've uploaded is one done last month. I call it "Christmas Goose"

Will Travel for Food

Our recent trip allowed us to experience some great food, Here are a few suggestions for London and Barcelona.

We love La Genova in London, a small Italian restaurant frequented by Tony Bennett and the late Pavarotti. Fresh home made pasta with a variety of sauces, most made by the owner/chef Rinaldo Pierini. Located at 32 North Audley Street, London. You can make reservations on their web site.

We also recommend Patterson's at 4 Mill Street, Mayfair. London. You can make reservations on Open Table or on their web site also. Great contemporary cuisine.

Our favorite this time was MAZE, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant located at 10-13 Grosvenor Square, London, with access also through the Marriott hotel. This was one of the finest meals we have ever had! The menu consisted of small plates, a tasting menu. There were 20 choices each one was so flavorful and absolutely delicious. Our waiter gave us a menu to bring home and a tour of the kitchen!

In Barcelona we found two gems. For absolutely delicious fresh seafood, try Botafumeiro. It's been there since 1975. The decor is as good as the food. This was a wonderful dining experience. As we entered we walked past the "bar" all set for more than 12 diners. Our waiter told us that this is a favorite with the locals as they can chat with each other as they enjoy the fresh catch. Botafumeiro Gran de Gracia, 81. Barcelona. www botafumeiro.es

The best tapas were to be found at Paco Meralgo, our menu was in English and had too many choices, but we really enjoyed the shrimp in garlic butter, grilled asparagus, cod salad with tomato and olive oil, steamed mussels and the tomatoe bread. I could go on and on. It was wonderful! Our waiter spoke good English and also sang while he worked, Paco Meralgo Mutaner, 171 Barcelona.

In Barcelona, of course, the best time to dine is after 8:00pm hard to adapt, but we tried!

WHERE I LEFT OFF

WHERE I LEFT OFF

Blogging from a cruise ship proved to be difficult and expensive. Our journey to ports in Italy and France was wonderful. Can’t praise the cruise line, Oceania, enough they were very attentive to everyone’s needs and often met us on the dock or pier with cold towels and ice water when it was very hot. The food in the Grand dining room was varied and good. The two other restaurants, Polo Lounge (steaks) and Toscana (Italian) were fabulous

TIP: Don’t go to the Mediterranean or Europe in August! It’s hot and crowded as that is the customary month for all of Europe to take a vacation. May or September is a better choice.

We enjoyed Sorrento and the trip to Pompeii was extraordinary. Amalfi and Positano were very beautiful and we were able to get an overview of the Cinque Terre region by boat. We anchored at Portovenere and then took a small motor launch along the rocky coastline to view the “five lands”. We spent several hours ashore at the village of Monterosso al Mare. It was fascinating to watch the young men and women diving off the rocks into the beautiful blue ocean. (see photo). The following day our visit to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel in Rome was a once in a lifetime experience.

The following day I encountered a medical problem that required me to spend part of each day in the ship’s medical facility, so our trip ashore in Florence was cancelled. However, we picked right up after Florence and spent part of each day exploring. Portofino was a special favorite. As it is with everyone who visits, I am sure. The colorful houses look as though they are painted afresh every day, they are so pristine. (see photo)

Another favorite was Monte Carlo. Here we took a small “train like” bus that toured the city. We saw the Casino, the Royal Palace and spent time in the Cathedral where Princess Grace was married and is buried. There are gardens and parks every where, it is the most beautiful gorgeous place! We did not sail until 11 PM and so we had dinner on board looking down on the yacht harbor and city lights as night fell.

TIP: Shore excursions are expensive from the ship. Try going on your own and taking a taxi (maybe with another couple) you will see as much or more and it is les expensive.
Our final ports of Marseille and Palma Mallorca were interesting, but failed to compare with Portofino and Monte Carlo/Monaco, until we arrived and disembarked in Barcelona! We fell in love with Barcelona, BCN as it is affectionately called. Our three days in this city of artists, art and architecture was a highlight of our trip. The contrast between the old and new is amazing, and yet it all blends together. Gaudi and Picasso!

Now back at home and looking through hundreds of photos and so many paintings in my head and heart.

CRUISING ITALY, 2009

Life aboard the “Insignia”

We have now been sailing for 4 days, currently we are having a day at sea as we travel around the “boot” of Italy. We will anchor in Naples/Sorrento tomorrow. Today, we spent time at the pool, games and other activities had been arranged for those who wanted to do something other than read in the shade. An eight piece band played our kind of music and several guests were doing line dancing o the deck.

In the meantime we enjoy being aboard this ship with its great crew. Our ship is smaller than all of the cruise lines we have come across in the last few days. It’s crew of 400+ and less than 700 passengers means excellent service. They are extremely attentive and we could not ask for better service. The food is great, and we have 4 options for dining.
That’s the good news, the bad news is that we are eating everything they offer! Chef Jacques Pepin has created several great menu choices.

So far have visited Dobrovnik, Croatia and Corfu, Greece. Both were interesting, our tours took us into Dubrovnik old town. We walked the streets and enjoyed the day, but it was very crowded and hot and we were pleased to get back to the ship for a shower and dinner.

The following day we were in Corfu, we toured the old city, some of which survived the bombings in WWII. We were a part of group with a bus and tour guide. We also visited an old Benedictine Monastery and enjoyed some wonderful views.

Now we are through the Straits of Messina heading for Naples, we should anchor at 8 am tomorrow morning. It was fascinating to see the pilot boat come along side of our ship and balance on the side of his boat until he was grabbed by some of our crew and taken on board. He exited the same by about 10 minutes ago, while all of us up on the decks cheered.

We are scheduled on a tour to Pompeii tomorrow at 9 AM that will last about 4 hours and then we hope to have some time to look around in Sorrento.

More later…..

Leaving London

Our last day was spent out of the city at Hampton Court Palace, once the home of Henry VIII. We arrived to see a reenactment of Henry’s wedding to his last wife, Katherine Parr. The tour includes visits to the kitchens, where actual cooking was ongoing. The weather was great, and we reluctantly left to get back to the city for dinner. This was at “MAZE” a Gordon Ramsey restaurant adjacent to the Marriott Hotel at Grosvenor Square. It was some of the best food we have ever experienced, very small plates but each with intense flavor. The place was hard to get into, so we opted to sit at the bar. Our waiter/bar tender was delightful and gave us a tour of the kitchen and gave us a copy of the menu to take home. No, Gordon Ramsey was not there!

The next morning we were up early to catch our plane to Venice. We flew BMI which is like our SWA but without the organization. Took us almost an hour to check in!

We arrive in Venice a half hour early and were taken by bus to the pier where we embarked for our 14 day cruise, on Oceania Lines “Insignia”.

Venice never disappoints, we spent the next day visiting St. Marks Square and the Rialto Bridge area. This time of the year is not the best time to visit, there were 4 cruise ships docked. Ours was the smallest only 650 passengers, and a crew of 396. The other ships were huge probably with 2000 passengers each, all of us visited the same places so it was very crowded, but we took lots of pictures and did a little shopping. We were glad that we had visited Venice in 2005 in May rather than late July. But, no matter when you go, please go because it is unlike anything else in the world.

We sailed from Venice at 5 pm and headed off in the Adriatic Sea. Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Email is difficult and expensive so can’t write everyday.

More later on…..Joyce

Ancient History

We spent yesterday at two famous historical sites in London. First stop was on Horseguards and the Churchill Museum. It was terrific and we spent a interesting time looking and listening to all the exhibits. The Museum includes the rooms used in World War II for cabinet meetings when Churchill was Prime Minister. They lived down in these basement rooms day and night
to avoid the bombings.

Leaving there we headed for Parliament Square and lunch at a pub "Westminster Arms". The square is familiar to us all with the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben on one side, and Government offices on another, and of course Westminster Abbey. We toured the Abbey with an audio tour narrated by Jeremy Irons! Great voice to walk around with! We were lucky enough to get into a small prayer service which they have every hour; it was in a cordoned off area next to the tomb of Edward the Confessor.

Nearby was Poets Corner where the tomb of Chaucer is across from the grave of D.H. Lawrence. It is a spectacular building part of which dates back to Benedictine monks in c960 and was the place of William the Conqueror's coronation in 1066. The actual date of the church as it is was 1245. Loved it all as I am a history nut!

I thought of how well my pen and ink and watercolor artists' friends would and could record all these sights!

We exited back in Parliament Square to a heavy rain storm and were soaked by the time we got on the Tube back to our hotel.

Dinner was at The Ivy and delicious restaurant in the West End. It is a bustling place with some great English food and drink! Enjoyed our dinner and dessert - "Sticky Toffee" pudding. More later.......

The Cotswolds

We started off early to travel out of London to the south west. My second cousin lives in the small town of Nailsworth. Again, we were impressed with the British transportation system. We started off in the Tube, we were going out but thousands of people were coming into the city early in the morning. The escalators go underground 4 or 5 stories and sometimes more! Caught the Tube to Paddington rail station and then took a train to Nailsworth. About 95 minutes later we were met at the station by Muriel and Harold. They took us to see their new home, an apartment rather than their old house which had large gardens. Their new flat is lovely with huge windows overlook the beautiful green countryside. Lunch was at an old house restaurant near Tetbury. Their was also time for some shopping! At 5:00pm were were headed back into London. A wonderful day, and no rain! Dinner tonight at our hotel.