Weekend in Toledo, Spain, February 17-20, 2012

On Friday afternoon, I met Pat at Sants Estacio, in downtown. Barcelona to take the AVE high-speed train to Madrid then on to Toledo, arriving in the early evening. Being on the AVE is similar to traveling by plane, complete with reclining seats and tray tables, a movie overhead and attendants serving refreshments and "merienda" (afternoon tea). We flew through the countryside at a mere 290-300 kph!

In Toledo, we stayed at the quaint Hostal Casa de Cisneros, across from the Cathedral. It was built on the site of an 11th century Islamic palace, parts of which can be seen through plexiglass in the lobby. The current building dates from the 16th century, with stone and wood-beamed rooms. Ours was the last available and probably the tiniest!

The Cathedral opposite our hotel:




Narrow old streets in the walled city:













View of the River Tajo from a park in the old town:




The Jewish Quarter of Toledo:









Inside the Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca:












The Franciscan Monastery and Church of San Juan de Los Reyes, founded by Isabel and Fernando to demonstrate the supremacy of the Catholic faith in Spain:



Known for it's two-storey cloister...check out the prolific orange tree!
















One of the ancient city gates from inside the wall...





And outside...




Joining two buildings, reminiscent of Venice or Florence:





Any relation to my NB friends, Kathy and Norm? We saw this family name quite a lot in Toldeo.



We enjoyed lunch at Kumera then continued our walking tour.
From the tallest point in the city, this is the view from the towers of the Iglesias de Los Jesuítas, an 18th century church:











And inside this same Church:











One more city gate:










Saturday night dinner was at the restaurant La Abadia, set in a former 16th century palace.

Hasta luego...

Location:Castilla-La Mancha Region

Day trip to Roses February 12, 2012

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday just after my return from Canada so we decided to drive up the Costa Brava to the village of Roses, where the former famous "best restaurant in the world", El Bulli, was located. From the top of the hill on the way to see this landmark, we had the most beautiful views over the Med and towards the snow-capped Pyrenees. Further along the peninsula is the village of Cadaques, where Salvatore Dali had a home and did many of his famous paintings. His house was featured in an earlier blog after we visited it with Steph and Lou in January 2010.

















Our lunch at a restaurant in Roses was definitely not up to El Bulli standards, but we had an enjoyable outing all the same!

More later...

Location:Catalunya, Spain

Elliott's christening February 5, 2012

Rev. Karen Chalk, who assisted in marrying Jen and Ben in 2008, baptized Elliott on Sunday, February 5th. The whole family was in attendance, except for Ben's brother, Luke, who is working at Oxford University. Uncle Lou and Grandpa Pat arrived at the last minute as a surprise! Elliott wore an antique family christening gown that was in the Seamone family.




Jen, Ben and Elliott:



Godparents Aunt Steph and Uncle Lou:




Proud maternal grandparents Pat and Kathie:





And equally proud paternal grandparents Laura Lee and Gary:





And all the grandparents together:




Godparents Thomas and Rhonda, Steph and Lou, Ben, Jen and Elliott:




Ben, Jen and Elliott:




Back home in NDG, Jen laid out a spread for the afternoon open house:









Sadly Uncle Lou had to fly back to Denver right after Church, Aunty Sissy left just after lunch and Grandpa Pat returned to Spain in mid-afternoon.





Gilbert entertained his dad, Thomas, Grandma Laura Lee and Elliott with stories of pirates on the Seven Seas! ARGHHH!



More later...

Location:St. Mark's Church, Dorval, Quebec

Winter 2012 in Canada

The boys left Jen and I at The Bluffs for a few days to shut the place down. It was during this time that Elliott found his thumb, just like Auntie Sissy!








In mid-January, on a bitterly cold and windy but very clear day, we left for Montreal, spending the night in Levis, complete with fire alarm in the hotel just as we were about go to bed! It was a picture-perfect drive as we headed north and the snow was heavier on the trees in Northern NB and into Quebec. We did stop briefly to take some pictures of an ice-fishing village in Sainte Anne de la Parade-you might think this is a permanent fixture, but this is all built on the river emptying out into the St. Lawrence!








We drove to Ottawa on Beth's birthday to visit her, Sil and Madison (nearly two years old). She was quite taken with "Baby Eh-yiot"!




In the afternoon we went to see Auntie Elinor for tea in her downtown apartment:




Ben took the "official" 4 month old pictures of Elliott when we got back to Montreal-here is a sample:





Posing on his Texas quilt made by our dear friend, Joan, in McKinney:












Aunty Sissy came from Denver at the end of January to visit before Elliott's christening. We had a busy week, including a celebration of Christmas in January!




More later...

Location:Sypher Cove, NB and Montreal, QC

New Year's weekend 2011

On December 30th, we drove to Bathurst to attend the wedding of Sarah and Dan. It ended up being a fun weekend reunion of old friends who all roomed near each other at UNB in Tibbits Hall back in the 70's!

Sarah and her Dad, Norm:



The happy couple after the ceremony:




We stayed over New Year's Eve so we could bring in 2012 with all the old gang around our new raclette maker in a house on Youghall Beach. What a success that was! Along with the required cheese, we also grilled veggies, chicken, pork tenderloin, steak and shrimp. Add in a salad and some wine, and we were all set for a really fun evening!

Pat, Chris, Sandy, Bill and Steve:



Steve, Norm, Kathy and Pat:




Bill showing his skills as The Master Griller:




The only tricky part was driving back to our hotel in the freezing rain...by morning, though, the worst was over and we got back to The Lake by mid-afternoon.

Happy New Year to you all...now that it is early May and I'm finally catching up on this long overdue blog! My apologies to all my loyal fans for the absence! As Chris (above) will tell you, "Life is meant to be lived, not blogged!" so please check back again as I attempt to fill in the gaps! Needless to say, it's been a busy year so far!

Hasta luego...

Location:Bathurst NB

More Christmas 2011 at The Lake pics...

We finally got snow on Christmas Night, although not a lot of it. It made for some pretty typically Canadian scenes, however:

Looking towards Grand Lake:







The driveway...before it was plowed!




The front yard, looking towards the neighbours' new garage:






Our newest (incomplete) addition to the property: boat and tractor storage!





Elliott's first ride in his new sled...he screamed all the way from the front door to the roadside! Maybe he will like it better next year!




The birthday boy on December 27th:





And for dessert, his favourite cheesecake:





More later...

Location:Sypher Cove, N.B.

Christmas 2011 at the Lake

We spent our second Christmas at Grand Lake with Ben, Jen and Baby Elliott who turned three months old...look who we found under the tree, Santa?!










We had yet another green Christmas this year, but Santa didn't know that when he decided to bring Elliott a sled! He was able to go for a ride in it on Boxing Day, just before leaving to go see his Nova Scotia family.


All the excitement proved to be just a little too much for the wee man...he slept through most of Christmas Day!









In the afternoon we drove into Fredericton to visit Ann in the hospital:





Christmas Dinner back at The Bluffs:





And to all a good night...

Location:Sypher Cove, New Brunswick