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Houn's Journal: February 2014
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Friday, February 28, 2014. FAMILY (Travel Buffs, Sit This One Out). Last weekend we took a trip up to S.F. so that Mom could spend some more time with her newest great-grandchild (if she was visiting my brother’s progeny, she could be seeing her great-great-great-grandchildren! 160; She brought up these bunny ears as an early Easter prop. Isla here is 10 weeks old and has everybody wrapped around her finger. . 160; That’s Bill holding Isla, and Lynne to Loni’s right. To the rear of the center, thereR...
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Houn's Journal: COR’-do-ba
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Tuesday, April 14, 2015. All these years I thought it was Cor-DO’-ba. Now you know. Today we were off for Seville, by way of Cordoba and its famed Mezquita mosque-cathedral. More on that hyphenation later. We had our usual buffet breakfast at the hotel and boarded the bus to loosely follow the path described in. 160; Plenty of classic old windmills along the way, but I never saw a one of them turning. Guess they are just static displays these days. It can only begin to prepare you for the forest of ...
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Houn's Journal: September 2014
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Sunday, September 28, 2014. THTHTHAT’S ALL, FOLKS! September 25-27, 2014. Our final morning in Ireland. What better way to finish than with breakfast, of course, at our Windsor Lodge B&B. Chuck and I beat the girls down to the nice, bright dining room. Perhaps the best “pub” food we’d had. I had slow-roasted pork belly (carnitas, anyone? With mash and red cabbage. Succulent! Loni had a steak/ale/mushroom pie served with cabbage, veggies, and six. Interior, with model. Looking over the river. Not only are...
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Houn's Journal: THE LOOOOONGEST DAY
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Saturday, April 11, 2015. This trip is a big step for me, as I was very sick lung-wise in January, and slowly recovered in February. By March I was feeling fairly good, and my allergy doc prescribed some new stuff in an off-label use (okaayyyy . . .) that actually seemed to work at clearing my breathing. . So I quickly dreamed up this venture, made the reso’s, and got ready to go with less than a month before departure. But, how would I fare in an airplane environment? Three hours to kill between fligh...
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Houn's Journal: AFOOT IN VALENCIA
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Saturday, April 18, 2015. The futuristic buildings are only about 15 years old, but Valencia is loaded with traditional architecture as well. We did a “bright and early” walking tour of the city center with a local guide. In the morning light, even the train station looks classy. St Catherine’s Tower (left) and City Hall. The tower was added to the Gothic church in 1783 and is sort of a centerpiece of old Valencia. Built in the 15th century as a place to manufacture and market silk goods, the exchange...
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Houn's Journal: August 2014
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Sunday, August 31, 2014. THE DA VINCI CODE. So, who hasn’t either seen or read The Da Vinci Code? If ever there was a guilty pleasure, this is it. So we just had to head on over to one of the key settings of the movie, Rosalyn Chapel. Most of the castles/ruins that we’ve seen have had dungeons of one sort or another. This one’s was particularly vile. It looks better in the right light. Exterior view of Bothwell from the entry road. Links to this post. Saturday, August 30, 2014. One of the fun things abou...
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Houn's Journal: HOLY TOLEDO!
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Monday, April 13, 2015. The phrase is apt. Toledo has long been considered the spiritual center of Spain, both for the Moors and the Catholics. We got on our bus and motored south from Madrid about an hour. Toledo is perched on a rocky mound, surrounded on three sides by the Rio Tajo. It’s a spectacular setting. The exterior is unremarkable, to my eye, a gothic façade inspired by Chartres and others. OK, so what was Tome trying to illuminate? El Espolio (Christ Being Stripped of His Raiment). More in...
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Houn's Journal: SEVILLE: DOIN’ THE STOMP
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Wednesday, April 15, 2015. SEVILLE: DOIN’ THE STOMP. The day did not start well. Had trouble sleeping last night, so I took an Ambien about 1:30. It worked too well. Neither of us awoke until 9:30 this morning. That wouldn’t be so bad at home, but here we missed breakfast and had a 9:45 bus departure time. Who’s that speedy comic character? 160; The Flash? 160; Well, he had nothing on us. From zero to bus in 14:59! The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones wa...
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Houn's Journal: THE DEVIL WEARS PRADO
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Sunday, April 12, 2015. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADO. On arrival, we were confronted with very long lines waiting to buy tickets. We debated whether to bag the whole deal, but spoke with an attendant who assured us that that l-o-o-o-n-g line would be at the tellers’ windows in only 17 minutes. Those are those three dark entrances behind Loni, above. This pic was shot. 160; Dunno. I liked Goya’s famous. Third of May, 1808,. But I was really revolted by several renditions of Saturn Devouring One Of His Sons.
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Houn's Journal: CUTEST GRANBABY EVER
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Sunday, April 19, 2015. OK, I’m just going to throw in this interlude. Here’s Isla, the cutest grandbaby ever! Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). IPADs seem not to properly display the blog. They cut off the right side of many photos. View on computer or phone. View my complete profile. FARO (not the card game). GO SOUTH, YOUNG MAN. CORK, OCTOPI, AND OLD PLACES. A TALE OF THREE CITIES. THE 39 (000) STEPS. THE END OF THE TOUR. FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE . . . SUBLIME! A FORD IN OUR FUTURE? Maui: April, 2011.