Gracias Tones for these wonderful pictures!!!
If you’d like to check out Sayulita, go for it!
And while you’re at it, visit Puerta Vallarta. We’re heading there in just a bit. The guys want to eat at Gaby’s Restaurant too! Plan is to watch a movie on the white wall opposite the restaurant. In the neighborhood? Come join us!
+Sj out
jumped shipped on Tuesday and hopped on an eclectic mix of busses—some with a/c, some without, some big, some small—and ventured forth to Puerta Vallarta.
What fun!
First, we walked along the boardwalk looking for a restaurant that Marisela remembered being good, i.e. “authentic” and not too, too touristy and expensive. We didn’t find the one she was thinking of, but we did get a good walking workout! Just what these two amigas needed.
When our mouths were beginning to get so parched that the spittle didn’t spit but stayed, we stopped at a farmacia for some agua. “Know of any good authentic Mexican restaurants that are a good price?” Marisela asked in her flawless Spanish. No was the sales clerks reply. “Nada. Todos son turistico.”
Okay den. On we went. Higher and higher away from the ocean and deeper and deeper into residential land. Just about when we hit a road dead-end (but not for pedestrians, we could have meandered further along the coastline), we saw a good looking local couple with a bambino of about 3-years. Ditto. Same question from Marisela. But this time we got a, “Si!” The nice looking young Mexican man recommended one back by the Cathedral.
Se acepta comúnmente que Puerto Vallarta fue fundado en 1851 por don Guadalupe Sánchez quien llegó a este lugar con su familia el 12 de diciembre, procedente de Cihuatlán, Jalisco.
Got it?
We said Gracias and headed on our way back down hill and back into turisto land. Perfecto, we both thought. We needed some more exercise.
Again, our mouths dried up. But this time we stopped for paletas. Strawberry fruit bar for me (REAL juice and fruit, delicioso!!!) and lime for Marisela. Yum! We had to quickly lick them, bite them, ingest them in whatever way was possible before the dripped onto the sidewalk or our hand. Again, yum! Just enough liquid and fructose to carry us on our way to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Cathedral.
Hmm, we didn’t see a restaurant fitting this guy’s description. Onward. But before Marisela left me in the dust with her professional sailor walk which magically appears once she hits shore, I eyed some quaint buildings up the hill. Hola, amiga! Let’s try going UP! Good idea, girlfriend, she replied. So up we went . . . until we found Gaby’s. : ))))) That was da spot!
Yahoo!!!!
“SI!” Tony and I replied when Kevin and Marisela invited us to join them on their return trip to Kauai aboard their one-of-a-kind, original (can you say MAGNIFIQUE?!!) boat KALEWA — designed and built by Kevin.
Invitations like these don’t come every day!
From where to where? you ask.
Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to Nawiliwili, Kauai.
When?
Now.
But how can you make a post when you’re underway?
We’re not yet. There are a few details to take care of. Parts needed for this and that. And, most importantly, cousins to visit with!!!
I’ve been speaking a sloppy mix of French, Spanish, and German. BUT I made a promise to Flavio, Marisela’s cousin who’s a Biology teacher and gynecologist, that I’ll know Spanish by the next time we meet up. Yup, that’s my goal!!! Hablar con mia en espanol next time you see me. I most likely will make a mess of my reply, but I’ll give it my ALL, that’s for darn tooting!
Kay den, without further ado, below are pictures that fablisio Tony Baloney has taken so far . . .
It’s been interesting re-posting these pictures. Every shot transported me right back to California — to the highway, a path, a campfire, my tent. Each memory brought a great appreciation to have been able to spend a month with an amazing group of people.
That must have taken a lot of time, Sj! you say.
Yes, it did, but I managed to do a little here a little there, and before I knew it, they were all back up. : )
Why not just form a compilation and bag re-posting them all?
Because.
Because I didn’t want to.
Because I loved ALL the pictures I took, the people I met, the experiences we shared.This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For me. For everyone. Not being deaf, I was honored to be included.
Did I learn ASL? Some. Not as much as I would have liked. It’s hard! And takes time. Ideally, I’d like another immersion with some structured instruction too. But that will come along when the time is right. Meanwhile, I’d simply like to say THANK YOU to all the walkers, volunteers, friends who made donations and supported me along the way. THANK YOU!
And for a last little tasty treat, I send you FLOWERS! Flowers all shot on day four of the Walk for ASL.
Enjoy!
: )))))
Then it was time to get serious!
With our armor on (in the form of head gear), we set forth to Krefeld . . .
After our strenuous search in the Krefeld archives . . .
ends up our ancestors left the year BEFORE the archives were started! LOL What the heck, we had fun poking around anyway!
. . . we buckled down to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday!!! Yahoo! Happy Birthday Mom!
And . . . Happy Mother’s Day Mom as well as all you other Mom’s out there!
(including those with furry children ;-)
***Footnote: I feel compelled to write of the Sinti and Roma people. They were gypsies who tracked down and killed by the National Socialist Party (or Nazi Party). There’s a detailed site in German which discusses the small bronze figure, “Ehra oder Kind mit Ball,” by Otto Pankok which was completed in 1955 to represent the Sinti and Roma; it’s located on the Rhine promenade in the old city near the Film museum.
+Sj out
After a couple of days wandering around in Nuremberg, it was time to head to our ancestors’ old stomping grounds near Düsseldorf: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
We had the good fortune of arranging a home exchange in Düsseldorf’s hip MediaHarbor district (oder MedienHafen). Mom was a good sport about the apartment with a view being a walk-up.
First stop? The pad for a round of cards!
In honor of Mother’s Day 2014, I decided to post these three entries called “The Mother Chronicles.” From my preceding post, you can learn the why and what fors.
Looking back on this now, I realize (even more : ) how darn lucky we were to be able to take this trip together. That we had the time, the funds, the place to stay, the health, the gumption . . . I could go on and on (but I won’t : ).
Danke, mahalo, merci, grazie, gracias, aw kohn . . . suffices for now.So without further ado, here are shots from the first part of our trip together (after a brief visit to my sister’s for Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh) in Nürnberg, Germany — home of the infamous Weihnachtsmarkt, as well as many other things . . .
Enjoy!
Part of the impetus of this trip was to explore the tiny town of Krefeld, Germany with my Mother.
Why Krefeld?
In 1684, Paul Kuster, an ancestor on my maternal grandfather’s side, left that area of Germany (near the Rhine river) for the “free world.” One of thirteen families, the Kusters were part of the original emigrants to Pennsylviana, best known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Why Pennsylvania Dutch and not Pennsylvania German? Not sure. I googled it and found a site with a l o n g explanation of all the why and what-fores. All I DO know is that my grandfather fought for the United States in World War I and did not want to be associated with Germans at all!
How would he feel about his youngest granddaughter becoming enamored with the German language? No idea. He died when I was 6-months old.
My hostess during this final phase of my solo-trip found me through homeexchange.com. She wanted to visit Kauai and accessed the site through her girlfriend in Freiburg who was a member (and who btw has this lovely family you’ll see in the pix below : ).
“Krefeld?” my new friend thought, “Who wants to visit Krefeld????”
Incredulous that someone wanted to visit this tiny town near the border of the Netherlands, she contacted me anyway. One thing led to another, and in December 2011, my mother, husband, and I found ourselves in her COOL apartment in the Median district of Düsseldorf.
If you want to experience the Mother Chronicles, visit: the next couple of posts. : )))
So . . . at the end of my solo-trip, I found myself staying with and getting to know this incredible woman who I met through exchanging homes!!! A woman who shared her apartment in Düsseldorf, just minutes away from our ancestors‘ old stomping grounds, making it possible for my Mom to have an 80th birthday celebration full of dreams fulfilled. Lucky us!
Thanks Christiane for your generosity and hospitality!!!
Sj with her Mother making dreams come true. : )
After devoting MOST of my time to increasing my German vocabulary, I found I needed a girlfriend fix. Women, you know what I mean. Nothing like girl-girl time to laugh, eat, and just plain enjoy each other’s company.
Thanks so much Glenn for sharing your home and hearth!!!Without further ado, fav photos from this part of my trip:
It was 1943, and in the words of Henry, the then almost 16-year old boy, “I just made it.”
A Quaker group was helping children (up to 15-years old) escape Eastern Europe. Once they arrived in the United States; it was up to other organizations to take over. Luckily for Henry, he was introduced to Joachim Prinz, an infamous rabbi who had stood up to the Nazis in Berlin. Now living in New Jersey, Rabbi Prinz introduced young Henry to the Michael Stavitsky family. Soon Henry was living with the Stavitskys and continuing his education.
Fast forward to February 2012. Henry, now in his 80s and a Professor of Physics at NYC, invited this lucky traveler for a visit to his home outside Geneva. One of the scientists working on the ISOLDE project, Henry periodically spends time at CERN.
How in the heck did this Southern-born and Southern-Baptist-raised woman receive this invitation?
Marriage. Purely a connection by marriage. I just happened to marry one of Michael & Evie Stavitsky’s two grandsons.In 1986, Henry generously flew to Tennessee for our wedding. Towing a heavy flaming-orange Le Creuset cooking pot, he and his wife Norma gave us one of our all-time favorite wedding gifts. (We’ve used it almost EVERY day of our over 20-year marriage!)
Though I saw Henry only once after our wedding, we maintained contact. Being a good Southern gal, as well as a proper Kappa Kappa Gamma, I made sure to include our distant aunt and uncle in our annual holiday missives. Good thing! Because this trip to CERN and my visit with Henry will remain one of my absolute solo-travel HIGHLIGHTS!
Thanks Henry for your generosity, good company, and yummy-yummy meals!
