Spring 2012 took me to Barcelona and northern Spain. I loved walking endlessly around Barcelona admiring the Modernista architecture, combing the markets for great food to cook (I had an apartment), enjoying the art, history, and culture of an exciting city. The rest of my travels included the Basque country, hiking in the Pyrenees and along the north coast, and seeing the prehistoric cave paintings in Ribadesella.
Fall 2011 was time for a different adventure and my first totally solo vacation travel. I spent a thrilling month in Japan enjoying the ancient art and modern architecture, wandering through magnificent gardens, hiking in the Japanese Alps, and, of course, admiring Mt. Fuji.
Spring 2011 took me back to South Africa for the 5th time. I visited my favorite national parks and got to see a black rhino. I hiked in the mountains, kayaked on the Orange River, spent time with my good friends in Port Elizabeth, paid serious attention to trying new wines at Beaumont Winery, and made it all the way up to Kgalagadi Transnationl park on the Botswana and Namibia borders in search of black-maned lions. While no black-mane lions showed themselves, a magnificent female leopard put on quite a show and allowed us to track her for an hour.
Spring 2010 took Thom and me to the Azores, 9 islands in the Atlantic that belong to Portugal. They are spectacular with flowers blooming everywhere, looking like a vast planned garden. We rented a house on Sao Miguel where we enjoyed exploring the local markets and cooking with local ingredients. We hiked to beautiful vistas including the Sete Cicades on Sao Miguel, the lava fields of Pico (named for the volcano seen below) and the magnificent fajas of Sao Jorge.
We spent the Spring of 2009 returning to two of our favorite countries -- Argentina and Chile. This time, however, we explored the north starting with a week in the Argentina wine country of Mendoza where we tasted some new wines and became re-acquainted with some old favorites. From there it was north to the Andes of Argentina, the Atacama desert of Chile, and the pacific coast. Some highlights of the trip included exploring the Quilmes Inca ruins near Belen,Argentina; climbing the 18,463'volcano Mt. Toco in Chile; camping on the beach at Pan de Azucar, Chile and grilling a fresh-caught fish for dinner; hiking the spectacularly colored hills of Purmamarca.
In Spring 2008 we traveled from Vermont to California to London and then to Montenegro, Macedonia, and Albania with a day in Kosovo! It was beautiful, illuminating, and exciting. After a week in the small town of Perast on the bay of Kotor, we hiked in the Durmitor Massif in Montenegro, enjoyed Lake Ohrid and the surrounding mountains in Macedonia, and explored the historic cities of Kruja and Girokaster in Albania. While the food was simple, it was good but the wines of both Montenegro and Macedonia were excellent.
Fall 2007 took us back to Nepal, a trip we've wanted to make since the day we left in 2000. This time we trekked in the Everest Region, reaching an altitude of over 18,000 feet twice as we climbed Gokyo Ri for spectacular views of Mounts Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Makalu and then climbed over Renjo La Pass to the Bhotse Valley, a secluded and fantastic valley just south of the Tibet border. After a little R & R at Last Resort, near Tibet, we spent our last 5 days in Srinigar, Kashmir, where we lived on a houseboat and hiked very close to Pakistan, an experience that gave us a good sense of how daily life continues with some degree of normalcy in a war zone.
Spring 2007 gave our new dog Riley an opportunity to travel and us an opportunity to do some heavy duty dog training! After a car trip out to Denver, we rented a small camper and hiked our way around Colorado for a month. Riley got to climb snowy sand dunes, hike to Ancient Pueblo Indian ruins, hike in very deep snow at over 10,000' altitude, and generally have a great time.
Our Fall 2006 travels revolved around adding a long sought-after office to our living quarters and celebrating Joan's parents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. The four of us enjoyed a fabulous week plus in Puerto Rico eating well and gazing at sunsets over the Bahia Salinas. In early December we sneaked out for a week in Amsterdam and the Hague where we rented a houseboat, celebrated Rembrandt's 400th birthday and re-connected with trekking buddies from our Nepal trip.
Spring 2006 took us back to South Africa for the 4th time and then on to Madagascar. In Cape Town we had the opportunity to dine with Jayne Beaumont, owner of Beaumont Winery and her son, Sebastian, the wine maker. Madagascar yielded adventure and the excitement of seeing lemurs in their natural habitat.
Back in South Africa, a week in Kruger National Park resulted in a fascinating encounter with four young lions who had killed a giraffe.
As a result of our Spring 2005 trip to India some of the flavors of Kerala have worked their way onto our menu and into a Boston Globe Column by Diane Daniels, "Where They Went," published November 20, 2005. Our Fall 2005 return trip to New Zealand gave us the chance to catch up with the latest in New Zealand wines and Pacific Rim influences.
We also use travel to rejuvenate by experiencing some of the outdoor sports that we love in settings both unique and challenging. Some of our recent adventures have included:
Sea kayaking the North Island of New Zealand. We rented a small camper/van, which gave us access to some fantastic sites on the beach and brought our 17-foot two-person Folbot kayak.
One night we ate mussels we gathered on the rocks and drank a Selaks Riesling.
We hiked the Tongariro crossing, a 12-mile trek through volcanoes and craters. It was most recently seen as Mordor in "The Lord of the Rings."
A ten-day trek in Sikkim to Guicha La (16,400')at the base of the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchendzonga.
A visit to the DMZ in Korea.
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Chasing the San Rafael glacier in Argentina from a Zodiac.
A spring trip to South Africa and Tanzania where we tasted wine in Capetown...
then went and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340').
A first trip to Patagonia with our sea kayak where we kayaked down the Rio Baker in Chile to Tortel, a town on the sea with no roads...
and later hiked in the Fitzroy Mountains of Argentina.
In addition to these and other world adventures, we have explored the U.S. and Canada on nine different two-month long driving trips that have included skiing in the Rockies and the Sierras, lots and lots of hiking and exploring Anasazi sites in the Southwest, sea kayaking in Alaska and later in the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico.
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