Day #1: Sunday AND Monday, a Travel Day + Madrid
May 26, 2025
Let’s get this party started.
Sunrise over the farm fields on our way to the airport:
The day started yesterday (it’s still going.. as of this writing, it’s Monday evening, 6:00pm on the 26th, in Madrid.) Let’s see, we got up at 5:00am Sunday in California, and as of this moment, it’s 9:00am in California on Monday… that would be 28 hours. No sleep yet. A bit weary. Going to go to bed early and hopefully wake tomorrow morning with the roosters, raring to go, on Europe time. We’ll see.
So I get to report on all day Sunday and all day Monday.. given a 9 hour time shift.
A bit of detail for the travel log:
Uber picked us up at 6 ish. We flew to Dulles (4.75 hours), then flew to Madrid (7.25 hours), with some airport time in there. Landed at 8:00am got through passport check and grabbed a taxi quickly, and we were to our hotel by 9:00am Madrid time. Bottom line: Walked out of door in Davis, and walked into the hotel in Madrid: 18 hours. Changed clothes and brushed my teeth in a lobby bathroom, checked our bags and headed out about 9:30. Wuhoo, Spain on a gorgeous May morning!
On Spanish soil:
Just a bit before 8:00 am…
The Hotel Europa is on the Plaza Puerta del Sol.. central as can be.
We looked around the Puerta del Sol, then headed southish to the famed Plaza Mayor. We were in search of a cafe or tea spot and found a LOVELY place: The Teaspots.. on Calle de Postas, a block from the Plaza Mayor. Ordered and sat down around 10:00 and sat for a solid hour.. tea, iced latte, puzzles, email, texts.. shady, cool on a warm day. Heaven.
We then returned to Plaza Mayor to get a better look (read about its history and saw the 10 gates…
Outside the gates.. some bendy buildings (or is it an illusion?):
… then to the Mercado de San Miguel (fantastic)…
… then to the Plaza de la Villa (cool!)
There were numerous groups of folks, including some school kiddos:
and finally to the Plaza de la Armeria where the Palacio Real de Madrid. Lotsa folks, great view, mid 80s.
So enjoy the vibe of a Monday morning in Madrid.. before the crowds ramp up.. places haven’t all opened yet, it’s fresh and so .. European.
I like this woman.. getting her shop ready.. scraping gunk off her gate, in her heels:
This is the bear under the Strawberry tree.. unclear on its significance, but it’s a landmark in the Puerto del Sol plaza..
Returned to the Hotel Europa at 12:30 and our room was ready. Our bags were already up there and we were escorted up. Great room with a view of the Puerto del Sol (paid extra for a room overlooking the plaza). Room is nice, balcony is nice. Air con, waters, plenty of wall outlets to charge (had a lot to figure out there). Check this out.. so sweet:
Chilled for a bit over an hour, then took off for a late lunch. I’d made a reservation at El Social, a place to the northeast of Hotel Europa.
A short walk and more nice streetscapes:
And El Social..
…a sweet, lovely service, chill, charming and we picked well on most of our dishes. Olive tapenade with crackers: fantastic, red wine fantastic, tomato tartar FANTASTIC. We ordered Moroccan spring rolls .. just fine, nothing fabulous, but well done, and a flank steak with stubby fries and a chimichuri sauce. Steak was tough. Still.. enjoyed the walk, the neighborhood, the restaurant, service and most of the food. A couple food and wine shots:
Slow stroll back.. as we are dog tired and so so full… more fabulous streetscapes, but the sky caught my eye..
Walked back to hotel, enjoying the Madrid vibe. We are exhausted.
And… we left again… out on a hunt for dessert. Seems that more and more people come out the cooler the evening gets, and, true to Spanish culture, restaurants stay open til way late.. so it’s busy out there! A couple more shots of architectural beauty…
Our first choice had closed (from the looks of it very recently), so Plan B was this place that specializes in cookies and cheesecakes.
We had both a cookie and a cheesecake.. the cookie won. It was a peanut butter cookie infused with actual peanut butter. It was truly the most different peanut butter cookie I’ve ever eaten. I liked it. Inspired to have Jim try it at home. It’s the one third from right.
A nice bookstore I dropped in/out of on the way back our hotel.
This is the front of the Hotel Europa.. the side that borders the plaza. Our window is fourth floor, third from left, open shutters. We’re home now, the shutters are still open wide and it’s pleasant as all get out.. but it might get too noisy to sleep. We shall see.
Pre-Travel Musings
May 24, 2025
I’d say I’m good at this…. and for the most part I am, and, coupled with Jim, who pulls his weight and then some, we do a great job of travel prep. At least travel the way we do it. We’ve developed something of a travel style and we’re both in synch with it… so we know what needs to be done. I’m sure that’s true of all traveling couples. You just have a way.
There is one part I’m not so good at: I have a fanatical sense of thoroughness, coupled with a lifelong procrastination habit. That’s a bit of a deadly combination. (And I must be tired because I’ve now used the word couple three times in six sentences.
That means that everything will get done — and I do mean everything — but my packing will run right up to the wee hours of travel eve and create undue stress when, honestly, I did not want to have any of that.
We have a detailed itinerary the includes where we’re going each day, the overnight accommodations (addresses phone numbers, confirmation numbers), the restaurants (in major cities) we’re eating in, the length of drives, the plane & train tickets, some sight info, travel insurance info, etc. We have all the apps we need along the way (Pura Aventura, the company that set up our hiking trip in the Pyrenees has a very very cool app that includes all kinds of trip detail, and another app that has all the trails and detailed info on each of those trails), we have all our documents, our electrical converters, our chargers, devices of all kinds.. so we’re solid there.
I can also say that our house is ready. Our people know their jobs. The ones requiring payment are paid. The calendar is clear, the mail is stopped, Jim’s clients are all notified and chill, the yard is clean and tidy, the refrigerator is clean, food is culled, trash and recyclables are gone, dishes are washed, laundry’s all done, appointments are set for return, Peter’s got our itinerary, and the return to-do list is written.
I still have to finish my packing (it’s 5pm on Saturday…. T-minus about 13 hours). That is no surprise.. as I said above. The only thing I forgot to do was lose the 20 pounds I gained following our return from Europe last September. (The weight was due to my being utter sedentary as a result of the Dolomite hiking knee injuries.. then the holidays. My weight soared from Sept to December. I was supposed to lose it all between Jan and now.. but ..don’t ask me why that didn’t happen… I’m as mystified as the next guy.)
Anyway.. this is the state of my packing: an empty suitcase surrounded by some clothes that, thus far, have made the cut. Outside this frame and on the living room couch, sit piles of hiking clothes and gear, more maybe-clothes, and a whole bathroom scene I’ll never show in photos.
So.. hopping to it. I can sleep somewhere during our 13 hours of fly time.
Kyanite
May 23, 2025
Kyanite is a typically blue aluminosilicate mineral found in aluminium rich metamorphic pegmatites and sedimentary rock. So says Wikipedia. It said a lot more but .. well .. a geologist I ain’t and my appreciation for the rest of the explanation was limited.
But I do love kyanite. I did not know this until I bought a necklace at Whole Earth a couple weekends ago. I’d say it brings out the blue in my eyes. 🙂
This was made by an artist who has a studio up in Truckee. Her name is Krista Tranquilla. Check out her work. She is lovely and her other jewelry is wonderful.. all about the mountains. I bought a pair of earrings as well that are silver discs the size of dimes that have, as their design, the cross section of a cut redwood tree (or any tree, probably, but let’s say redwood).
Jewelry smack dab in the center of my wheelhouse.
A Full Complement
May 22, 2025
Finally, after over a year (this go-round), Jim’s back to a full set of choppers. Poor guy’s been through implant hell. It started many many years ago (I want to say 10?) with a cool plan to address his top front teeth that involved implants, bridges and I can’t really articulate the whole scheme, but Howard the dentist was the mastermind and it all seemed like a good bet. Then sorta one by one, the implementation fell apart and it just seems that for years on end, Jim’s been dealing with one failure after another, solutions spread out over time in a piecemeal fashion. Then a final solution to the mess was devised and Jim was at a new beginning of the end phase of the drama… so everyone thought. This resulted in a 3 tooth gap in the dead center of his smile, filled in, gratefully, by a flipper, but hooboy was that a big hassle. And then, after the requisite time had transpired and the final step had arrived, the oral surgeon fellow detected a problem and it was back to the beginning again. The last beginning, that is. I’m sure my explanation is missing a few details and a few steps, and I’m surely misstating a thing or two, but suffice to say, it’s been a slog.
Jim’s been a trooper, I must say.
At the ripe old age of 72 + one month (man.. we’re getting old), Jim’s teeth (and tooth facsimiles) are all solidly in place, fully functional and presentable to the world. Some things take longer than others.
After this photo, he took off to get a haircut. My guy’s all ready for a 3-week + European vacation, starting in three days!
Me Me Me Meme
May 21, 2025
Feels like a meme posting day.
First, we have last week’s benign insta post from James Comey… remember him?… he was the head of the FBI which was overseeing an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, so trump fired him b/c he didn’t want anyone to undermine his, gag, victory.
Even though the 86-47 thing’s been around for a while (remember 86-45 and 86-47?), Comey’s post caused quite the [faux] stir. So. much. outrage! Especially from the trump man who’s been waiting forever to find a hook, anything, to get James Comey. His hatred runs deep (which is ironic, given that Comey’s bungling of the Hillary email hoax was a significant reason trump won in 2016).
Anyway, I’ve loved all the variations on the 86-47 theme. I particularly like this one:
Come summer, I’ll be spelling out my own variation with our garden’s cherry tomatoes.. look for that.
In the meantime, a couple more memes on the day:
These are the actual words delivered in the Oval Office this morning by our ridiculous, conspiracy-happy pres who ambushed the President from South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa with a whole weird media presentation on the killing of white farmers in his country.. a gross misrepresentation of what’s really happening in that country.
And finally, yet another sweet little Pooh and Piglet conversation…
You Are Berry Beautiful
May 20, 2025
From the garden.
Befores and Afters
May 19, 2025
These befores are going to be embarrassing.
Let’s just say it’s been a messy spring (as Springs usually are around here, if I’m being honest) and the yard got away from me. I really didn’t think it had gotten as bad as it had.. and then I walked around the backyard a few days ago. Early spring had been a total delight with lots of bulbs and so many colorful blooms. And then, seemingly overnight, WHAM… an aggressive, unauthorized explosion of weeds and overgrowth. Mary’s been MIA more than her usual, we had lots of spring rain and more warm days than I think we usually get this early in the year. The result: well…. the befores I’m about to post.
After completing my loop around the backyard, a mix of hangdog and appalled, I called Ruben in desperation. He came over that afternoon. (Seriously, what a guy.) He seemed genuinely sad for our yard, a yard he planted from scratch just 4 years ago! Literally bare ground front and back. In 2021 he laid paths, created lovely rock accents, built a cool raised platform around Peter’s sycamore, formed boulder walls, built raised gardening beds, and planted hundreds (at least dozens) of trees, shrubs, and flowers (per our landscape designer’s expensive plans). He laid the whole irrigation system, built two fences (and to those added grid accents for climbing roses), stained the entire universe of wood structures on our property), and tons of other things I’m not listing here. In short: he created a masterpiece that we were really pleased with and proud of. Mary’s been maintaining it ever since — and I really respect and appreciate her hard work and skills — but she’s a hard one to schedule (something she disclosed at the outset) and things can get away from her. As I said, when Ruben looked at it, he was really bummed.
He’d brought with him Omar, one of his best laborers. He said that he’d be willing to give up Omar for a day (Ruben’s super busy) to work in our yard. He said Omar could whip our yard into shape, given one long day (and $300). He said, “Omar will be here on Monday morning at 6:00. Please have cash.”
Today was the day. Omar showed up at the promised 6am and got to work. He left — absolutely beat — at 6pm. It’s astonishing how much one person can get done in 12 hours! I love Omar.
So, here we go:
Front yard walkway:
Front yard boulder wall and terrace:
Back yard citrus orchard (I call it). A Meyer lemon and a tangerine.
Back most path, behind the play structure (now garden shed and observation tower and to the left and not visible in this pic). Hammock’s ready to be uncovered and set up for the summer, now that the rains are over.
Rounding the corner and heading back to the deck…
Taken from deck looking north.. the old bridge, herb garden, mound to the left and patio in this shot.
Omar filled the compost bin and then filled 6 large canvas tarps. He may have hauled off in his car others that I didn’t tally… maybe these are just the ones he didn’t have room for.. not sure. But this is a good day’s work!
I just can’t tell you how de-stressing it is to see the weeds gone and the yard’s features visible again (which they WERE just a month or two ago!!)
Rose Psychedelica
May 18, 2025
A nice post-brunch walk on a gently warm (if windy) Sunday morning turned up this gem of a rose…
The Power of a Little White Square
May 17, 2025
I was today years old when I figured out how to polish my silver jewelry.
I mean, not really, but for all practical purposes, yes, it’s true. I knew sliver jewelry would tarnish. I knew tarnished silver could come clean. I’ve used one of these little silver cleaning square things before.. but I’ve never really purposefully sat down to clean all my tarnished jewelry. Does that make sense? I didn’t do that today, either. But did realize that it could be done. I cleaned — half-assedly — a few pieces… note the two necklaces and four pair of earrings above. But, I have bags and bags of unworn silver that I’ve bought over decades, that turned black and I just gave up on. Today’s tiny foray into silver jewelry cleaning showed me it could be done! I’ll do some research and find a more effective way of doing it.. and then, wow.. my jewelry wardrobe will expand significantly.
Ripe and Ready?
May 16, 2025
Adventures in onions. Yanked these out of the ground.. but were they ready to be picked? Are they even scallions, or would they have become something else if left in the ground longer? Their stalks were like drumsticks, but they softened up after a bit of sauteing (imagine an accent mark over the e). I am lost when it comes to knowing when to pick anything that grows underground (onions of all stripes, garlic, carrots).
On the other hand, strawberries are easy: pick before the squirrels eat them.
And those flowers! Also from the garden, picked by Jim for Mother’s Day last week.
Life of Wry 