Dashing and Bold Adventure

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Italy, Here We Come!

When we were in the Bahamas last October, we met some amazing people. I guess because of Hurricane Sandy, we bonded in a special way. Whatever the case may be, we connected with a delightful young couple from Milan, Italy. We invited them to come to California to stay with us! They invited us to come to Milan to stay with them!

I began thinking “Where will we go for our vacation this year? It must be special because it is a special year for us.” I turn 50, Joey turns 55, and it is our 25th wedding anniversary. What is more special than Italy?

Gianluca and Egle wrote to us and asked where our next Dashing Bold Adventure would be. I answered “Funny you should ask . . . We want to come see you!” In true Italian style they responded with enthusiasm and grace. We leave Thursday to spend 2 weeks with them in their home in Milan. We have plans for Venice, Barolo, and the Dolomites.

Veronica from Florence is coming up one weekend to sleep on the couch and go wine tasting with us. We can’t wait to see her.

So stay tuned for our next adventure.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Leaving Monterey

Monterey Coast

It’s hard to describe Monterey from a fresh perspective. I have been here so many times, it is all expected; the knarled tree trunks with branches leaning into the wind, fog swirling slowly between the buildings, the bark of sea lions, the crowds of people leaning over the docks watching the sea lions wallow (wallowing must be a word invented for sea lions on land), otters floating around on their backs with tasty treats on their tummies with seagulls trying to convince the otters to share, and everywhere is the hum of foreign languages.

The Coast Guard Jetty

When Joe finished his SCUBA class we walked down to the fisherman’s wharf and shared a sandwich. I can only take so much of the hustle-bustle of the wharf shopping district. A great alternative is The Taste Of Monterey, a nice wine tasting store at the end of the pier. It doubles as a cheap way to sit indoors overlooking the ocean. Just buy a 9-15 dollar glass of your favorite wine and settle into a leather chair in front of a 100 foot-long wall of plate-glass. Hint; you have to pay for the tasting, but if you want to buy a glass of wine they will usually let you try the wine you think you’ll order for free.

Back to the motel for Joe’s nap and more writing. The head instructor, Dick Motz, treated us to dinner at the Fish Hopper, just underneath The Taste Of Monterey. Very good food, but very expensive. I had a cup of clam chowder (clam chowder is a west coast specialty—a creamy white concoction with little chunks of clams and potatoes. On the east coast it’s red), and fish-and-chips (an American coastal favorite of fried fish with tarter sauce and crunchy french-fries). It was delicious. The wine was standard, but good.

So today Joe is back in the ocean as I write this. He is freezing cold, but pretending is doesn’t bother him. I’m toasty warm in Café La Strada, sipping a soy latte. We head back home this afternoon to our little house and cat.

Between Dives

In May we will be going to Milan to see Gianluca, Egle, and Veronica, so until then . . . ciao!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Monterey and Carmel

I was telling someone we were going to Monterey this weekend. They said they couldn’t wait for the blog. Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that! I never blog for our local trips. I think it’s because when I started writing “Dashing Bold Adventure” years ago, my readers were friends and family. Now my blog is popular in India, Russia, Italy, England, Tunisia, Canada, Mexico, Central America, United Arab Emirates, and more.

So here we are in Monterey Bay in central California. As soon as we checked into our hotel, Joe and I drove over to Carmel-By-The-Sea. First stop was our favorite wine bar, Andre’s Bouchee. I had a lovely glass of Silvestri Syrah while chatting it up with the French bartender. Next was window shopping. Joe stood on the sidewalk with all of the other husbands while I wandered through the boutiques. Two thousand dollar cowboy boots? Fifteen thousand dollar chandeliers? How about some scrumptious looking pastries? Priceless.

Joe settled into Aw Shucks for a beer while I continued to wander and snap photos. I bought a couple of souvenirs for our friends in Italy. We’ll be spending some time in their home in Milan in May (to say we’re excited would be an understatement). When I hunted Joe down, he said we have to go to Munuka’s for a glass of Spanish wine and tapas. He'd just met the chef and got his card. Okay. It was a fun little Spanish restaurant tucked away in a courtyard.

From there we followed the directions from a local to an Italian restaurant with a terrace. It took awhile, but we found it and climbed the stairwell to the crowded rooftop terrace. We sat snuggled up on a love seat and listened to the hum of conversations, and stared up at the stars. Time to go back to Monterey.

This morning I woke up alone. Joe had left at 5:30 in the morning for the Coast Guard Jetty. He and Dick had a class of four student SCUBA divers to throw in the ocean (the reason for our being here). I joined him at a more reasonable hour, 9:00. The weather is unusually warm and clear, though I see clouds coming this way. The students struggle to remain calm as they shoulder their gear over thick cold-water wetsuits. It’s too warm for working out in a 7 millimeter wetsuit while instructors critique your every move. The waves crash against the rock jetty below as they make their way down to the small beach. I’m not a cold water diver, so I’m off to Starbucks. (where I later found out they could hack my address book via public WiFi!)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Bahamas in Conclusion

A storm swept our island again on Friday night. It was almost as bad as Hurricane Sandy. In some ways it was worse. Sandy kept a solid one-direction wind that slowly built up in speed. The wind drove the waves from left to right across our horizon. This allowed the reefs to protect us somewhat. The rain and the humidity were horrible, but it kept the sand on the ground.

The second storm, not even mentioned on the weather channel, was fairly dry and extremely gusty. Wind whipped every direction in gusts close to 100 MPH. walking on the beach Friday evening was difficult, but Saturday it was treacherous. It felt like a sand storm! I had to hold the beach-walk rail to keep from being knocked down. The bay looked like a giant Jacuzzi with the jets on high. Waves came from all directions, crashing into each other creating frothy white caps. Of course Joe and a couple of other fools felt it necessary to swim in it. I sat safely up at the beach bar with a Venezuelan friend and watched while trying to pin all of our belongings down.

This visit to Club Med resulted in some deeper friendships than usual. I think it was because of the hurricane. Instead of hanging out at the beach all day or diving, we were sort of stuck together in each other’s space. I remember after remember after our big meeting (when they told us we would be confined to our rooms), one older gentleman was really angry. He cornered the English speaking representative and starting raising his voice. He wanted to know “Why did Club Med say this would be a tropical storm? They should have told us the truth!” the rep tried to explain the vagaries of weather and how Cuba was supposed to knock it down to a tropical storm, but instead it just escalated. The man just got madder. Some older guests stepped in and instead of defending the rep or trying to convince the older guy they consoled him. A man his own age put his hand on the guys shoulder and said “Sir, it’s okay. We are going to be okay. Just stay calm.” The man looked completely deflated and even got teary-eyed. He looked around in embarrassment, but no one was making fun of him. Several of the older men surrounded him, gently reassuring him. I was in awe. I wonder if this was a little bit of PTSD peeking out.

I heard later that many of the guests snuck out of their rooms and went to each other’s rooms so they wouldn’t be alone. They played cards and the visiting guest talent, David Carver, played his guitar. Cigars and wine accompanied the storm. Some guests had preloaded movies on their laptops, so their rooms became mini home theaters. Most couples just stayed put and enjoyed the forced ‘alone time’ (I suspect their will be some babies named Sandy in July). The next day people were closer. We’d made it! Together.

I feel bad for the upper East Coast people who are going home to deal with this all over again, while we head off to sunny California.

The San Salvador Airport is amazingly small. I snapped some photos while we waited in the bar area.

The flight crew played a game involving dominoes while they waited for the plane to be made ready.

The passengers sat around in the waiting area and chatted.

By- the-way, Joe’s birthday was fabulous with a special cake and Ralph bought two bottles of champagne.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Hurricane Sandy comes to an end

Day Two, Lockdown 10/25/12;

At 10:30 we were told in 4 languages that we would be restricted to our rooms until tomorrow at 8:00 am. We are not to leave our room even in an emergency . . . we can call reception if we need anything. The deadline to be in our rooms was 1:00 pm. As we struggled against the wind to get here I felt one gust lift me! It didn’t take my feet off the ground, but it felt like gravity had changed for a moment.

The dining room was one big party. Once we heard the little sack lunch and breakfast was Oreos, apples, Nutrigrain bars, canned chicken, sardines, and bread with one thin slice of mystery meat, we all raided the lunch room. Beach bags were bulging. We made off with chocolate bread, chocolate truffles, cookies, and two bottles of pink wine (super low in alcohol and drinkable—unlike the red wine, yuck). I ate a blue-cheese hamburger, and fries, chicken nuggets, and fish. I’m so full.

Our cleaning lady was in our room when we came back. She stocked up our room with 4 bottles of water. I gave her the sardines . . . she was happy. Now we sit here watching the storm rip past our room. Thank goodness we are on the top floor.

We are next door neighbors with the top executive chef who flew in with us and will be leaving on the same flight. He travels between Club Meds to ensure continuity with food prep and delivery. He plans to sneak over tonight and drink wine while watching movies (he has a computer with 350 movies on it!).

The internet wifi availability is patchy. The stationary computers are down, but I have my own little mini laptop. So I logged on with my prepaid internet access code to send the last email. Everyone was saying there was no wifi, and wouldn’t believe me. Finally one guy went into the computer room and sat in the corner on the chair I was sitting on, and he got wifi. I went out and led all my friends to the hot spot. When I came by half an hour later there were about 10 people in a four-foot huddle emailing.

Well for now we are listening to music. We are done watching the weather channel. The PREdictions are over now J

Day Two, 5:00;

Still on lockdown. It’s been four hours. We can’t watch TV anymore . . . no great loss for us, but still. We would occasionally check to see where we were in the scheme of things.

The view from our room is amazing. An out-skirting reef which protects our bay is a wall of frothing white water. Behind it massive swells that look like mountains cross the horizon. Palm fronds are breaking free and ripping past our balcony. The coconuts tenaciously cling to the mother ship.

Joe has his selection of Christian Spanish music playing from his iPod. It feels safe in here, I just took a nice hot shower and am sipping a delicate white zin.

Well until later.

Day Two, 7:00;

Well the electricity just went out. Now we are down to dive flash lights and the little iPod speaker I bought Joe for his birthday. I’m enjoying a glass of Dan’s homemade red blend, and finishing a green apple. The cans of chicken are beginning to sound appealing J, but I think I’ll eat the dessert first!

Our neighbor didn’t make it by. Probably exhausted from the day of taking care of all of us.

Starting to get bored. It stopped raining.

Day two, 8:30pm;

Electricity is back, but still no TV. We just got a call from reception. She said the worst of the storm has passed and weather permitting they would have the restaurant open in the morning. The winds are still over 100 MPH, and it’s started raining again.

Our room is now a sauna. The air conditioner is full blast, but to no avail. All the clothes, towels and sheets are damp from the humidity.

Hopefully I’ll be able to post this tomorrow.

Until then.

Day Three, Freedom 10/26/12;

People are walking by on the top of the beach. A family just went out there with their beach towels . . . now that’s optimism! The winds are still over 50 MPH, and its overcast with a few rays of sunshine peeking through.

The good thing about Hurricane Sandy picking up speed after Cuba (instead of dissipating as predicted) is that she went over us faster than expected. This means we may be able to fly out tomorrow. We might even get sunshine before we leave. I hope so.