kyrkan

Como Cathedral

Published April 3, 2019

Tempio Voltiano

Narrow back alley architecture, cobblestone, 14^th century cathedrals & church bells ringing. First day in Europe. Late morning walk, misty spring rain. All smiles.

Stomach grumble. Missed the breakfast hour. Focus shifted to window shopping & statue gazing while awaiting restaurants to re-open. Remember the same experience in Chile – 18 hours ‘til I properly synched up. Probably why Europeans are so thin.

When you do figure it out – mighty amazing eats. Simple, fresh ingredients, homemade sauces. Even cappuccino seems to steep different in Europe. Bellissimo. Thoroughly enjoy the art of food (locate a local bodega, for those of us who snack).

Day highlight: Como Cathedral.

Dinner: (local catch) Branzino, capers, homemade butter & olives. Molto bene!

Forecast sunshine Friday. Best day for Lake Como’s hop-on hop-off cruise.

Tomorrow? More Spring rain. After looking at the map (& discussing with the hotel concierge), ya know — Switzerland’s just a short 9 EURO train ticket away 😊

: Villa Olmo

: ‘Swan Lake’ Como

: Statua di Alessandro Volta

: cobblestone architecture

: Como Cathedral

: circa 1396

: Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

: WWI War Memorial

: dedicated to Alessandro Volta (inventor of the electric battery)

: fresh-catch branzino

Como Cathedral

Posted in Europe | Tagged kyrkan, museo | Leave a comment

3-0-3 Staycation

Published March 3, 2019

303 is more than Colorado’s first phone exchange.

new 3-0-3 branding

Livin’ 303 means spending portion of your day, every day outdoors. Our state is big, diverse – it’s the American West – our lifestyle, love of everything outdoors & our politics reflect that background. Whether working cattle on Colorado’s Eastern Plains or skiing the Western Slope – you’re doing it outdoors. They call our state PURPLE; independent voters now outnumber registered Democrats/Republicans combined. NO local love for a DC federalist government deciding which days our National Parks are open or closed. Outside of Denver, neighbors still help neighbors, folks still settle disputes outside of court. We’re 303. We love the high mountains/thin air, heavy spring snow, columbine blue every summer. The mountains center us, not our politics.

3-0-3 weekend. March 3^rdforecast, SNOW. Good weekend to hunker down, long-walk Ro, diner dine AND entertain guests. Stephen in from Philly; we’d continue our seasonal theatre tradition with Ash & Tom Friday night. Nunsense at Candlelight Dinner Theatre (near Loveland). Show not a fave – jokes/prat falls/dialogue ’90’s dated. ‘Sister Act’ without Whoopi Goldberg. Dinner however shined. Salmon theme (throwback to Catholic ‘fish only’ Fridays). FAMILY time treasured. Easy to get caught up in our own comings & goings. Late evening SNOW. Saturday, Sunday — Monday too ❄️

Saturday morn, geese huddled/precip sheltering. Quiet peaceful tug ’round Hecla with Ro.

Breakfast with Stephen; LOVE me some diner food. Lazy walk downtown Louisville. Plenty of parking. All the other crazies following Interstate 70 plows, it’s 3-0-3 season. In March, that’s chair lifts & skis. Fresh powder ⛷️

Sunday morning church. If you can play, you can pray.

Colorado weekend staycation. Good to be home. LOVE LOVE my Colorado life ❤️

: 3-0-3 Forecast

: Nunsense

: Nuns, not Rydell High

: dinner theatre tradition

: Stephen’s BACK!

: snuggle buddies

: Saturday morn ’round Hecla

: LOVE diner breakfast 🍴

: downtown Louisville – YUM!

: if you can play, you can pray

3-0-3 Staycation

Posted in Life | Tagged kyrkan, louisville, theatre | Leave a comment

Isla Rey Jorge

Published January 16, 2019

Happy SUNSHINY day, our last on Antarctica.

Day START? a LOVE of LIFE Antarctic dip. Just the feet – but yikes! Let’s ya know you’re ALIVE! Gotta/hafta/MUST DO. Icy, FRIGID, C-O-L-D!

Plenty o’ time for a grounds walk of both Chilean & Russian Research Stations.

Chilean Station: Chapel visit (Santa María Reina de la Paz), asked/learned ‘bout Brown Skuas (dirty-brown sea gull cousin/feed on penguin chicks/bunch during my run).

Russian Station: Eyed the Island’s beautiful Orthodox Church from afar. Some got an inside tour, some not – hurry, hurry up, wait. My circle stayed trapped at a makeshift Russian gift store (room inside a modular container). Handful of maps & bobbles, cash only – I bought a $20 lid. On vacation/no regret. Antarctica purchase.

Day Highlight: walkabout at a nearby penguin colony. Russian air boat, Russian driver. Life jacket readied. Greeted by a resident chinstrap when boarding. Bird swam up, waddled inland amongst us (as if on queue), value add/all part of the show. HA!

So much LIFE, too little TIME. Day ago I ran 30+ miles.

Legs remembered 🙂 Gracefully fell in & later back outta our rubber raft. No skillz, no moves. Up, over, THUD, REPEAT. LOL> Balance nada. Good laughs.

Boat ride – AWESOME. Penguin walkabout – AMAZING.

Gentoo Penguins: Beaks brightly colored, bigger than either Magellanic or chinstrap varieties. LOVE LOVED. Luckily, arrived day after the BIG MASSACRE. Leopard SEAL NatGeo style kill. Penguin flippers still littered the beach. Surviving adults collectively tended a nest of 7 adolescents (assume, most newly orphaned). Circle of life.

Boat return, another graceless plop on shore, hurry up & wait.

Da plane, da plane.

62 runners now FAMILY. Jokes, stories – GREAT ENERGY. ANTARCTICA LOVE PARADE continued Chilean late nite. Dinner, more laughs. Nearby bar. Some really poor life choices, whole lotta memories.

Goodbye White Continent. 2019, I was there.