Bavaria in the State of Washington
2 hours north of Seattle, Washington is the German Bavarian town of Leavenworth. I felt like I was back in Southern Germany with the ornate details on the buildings and interior German designs. Colorful paintings just like in Bavaria are ever present on the chalet buildings and blooming flower boxes reminded me of the alps. ...
Female Chefs Expertly Work Their Craft
I don’t know what I was impressed with more, eating at Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant or meeting co-owner Terryl Garve. Terryl started Cafe 222 downtown in 1992 and you might remember the billboards with her wearing a pumpkin waffle as a hat. She’s been a trend setter with food and restaurants even when San Diego...
Lions, Tigers and Ranch Dressing
Near Alpine off hwy 79 is Lions Tigers and Bears sanctuary for exotic animals and big cats. My grand niece (she wants to be a vet) and I spent the morning on a walking tour seeing Meatball the rescued bear, Cherry Bomb the grizzly and Maverick the tiger. There are lots of rescued animals on...
Pancakes and Donuts Bring Fond Memories
Many years ago, my good friend Nancy Ryan (Nancy Knox back then) introduced me to the Swedish pancakes with lingonberry butter, German pancakes and cheese blintzes at The Pancake House in El Cajon. Over the years, we’d meet for breakfast to eat the pancakes and catch up with each other lives. We even brought our...
Learning how to Pack Smarter From an Expert
I am a terrible packer and when I found out about the Pack Like A Pro seminar at Index Urban in Hillcrest, I signed up. You might remember this luggage store as John’s 5th Ave, a locally owned and family run store for 60 years. The seminar was taught by Briggs and Riley luggage company...
Three weeks of splendid travels ends with a fish dinner
Our last night in Lisbon and we decided to have dinner at the highly acclaimed Leao D ‘Ouro. The restaurant is a historic restaurant since 1842 and located in the bustling shopping area of Baixa. On the way, I asked our uber driver if the meat was good there since I had eaten plenty of...
Lunch and wine in Lisbon-a distinctly authentic meal
After our walking tour around Lisbon, my tour guide Pat Madeira and I needed a traditional lunch and headed to neighborhood restaurant, Esquina Da Bica. We ordered a trio of croquettes (meat, veal and cuttlefish), fish fritters, rice with tomatoes and tempura green beans. Plus good Portuguese wine. Pat pointed out the filling mixture for...
Dried Cod and Cherry Liqueur-Lisbon Style
Continuing on my walk through central Lisbon, my tour guide took me to a dried cod shop. Cod is big in Portugal and some claim it’s the national dish. I was told there’s 1001 recipes for using dried cod but everyone’s mother has a secret recipe which makes it 1002 recipes! Owner of the shop,...
Colorful Lisbon Inside and Outside
I spent the day traveling around Lisbon, Portugal using the Metro and my tour guide, Pat, (lisbonwithpats.com) told me you can tour the metro stations all day and see colorful tiles and art work. She was right, each step and turn had different tiles in shapes and colors which added to the beauty of this...
Welcome to Lisbon!
Hello Lisbon, Portugal. This 1.5 mile suspension bridge looks like the Golden Gate Bridge, right? If it weren’t’ for the famous Christ the King monument on the hill, I’d think I was in San Francisco. We arranged a half day tour with Simply Transfer and Tour and Andre picked us up at the Lisbon cruise...
Pineapples and tea grown in the Azores; and creamy cheeses are worth the visit.
A while back, I had the pleasure of meeting a dignitary from The Azores, Portugal. When I told him I had a cruise stopping there, he immediately wrote down the products produced on the islands. Pineapples, a tea plantation and wines from Sao Miguel island. Ponta Delgada is the main city on the island and...
Horta, the Azores
Horta, Portugal, on the island of Faial, Portugal. It’s the volcanic islands of the Azores, 900 miles from the coast of Portugal. No shortage of cheese or wines here along with other local products to sustain the island. They say you haven’t visited Horta until you’ve been to Peter Cafe Sport. It’s a 100...
