Do you ever get that feeling that you're constantly traveling? I sure do. But travel has it's advantages. After spending a week in Reno resuscitating our dead lawn and almost dead Birch tree (lawn care and too much travel are not compatible), we headed out to Santa Fe. The Los Alamos conference on gramps' centennial went well I thought. I especially enjoyed the Saturday symposium and NM Senator Jeff Bingaman's analysis of JRO's security hearing in 1954. And writer Richard Rhodes' speech. It is a weird feeling being connected to a historical figure, and attending public events about him. But on balance I was glad I went, and learned a lot. Here is a shot of Ella and I in the NY Times. You can see Karen's mouth if you look closely. Apparently we are more photogenic than Governor Richardson and Senator Pete Domenici, as they were there too, but no photo.
And to switch things up, we went backpacking east of Truchas, NM, although I won't give exact directions so Adam Buechley won't get mad at us. We didn't go over the Windsor trail to Pecos as planned because it was closed due to fire danger. We had a great hike, and camped near the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen in New Mexico. And we summitted one of the highest peaks in NM, West Truchas peak, at about 13,066 feet.
We're flying back to Reno tomorrow, and I have to go to a one day trip to Orange County on Thursday. Still have that feeling.
We just love those plane rides! Well, not really, but we are heading out of town again in a weeks' time. This time we're heading to Santa Fe, a little trip to see the O family and to attend another Oppenheimer Centennial event. And while we're there, we're going to go on our first summer backpacking trip. Charlie has planned a 2-3 day trip from the Santa Fe ski basin to the family ranch in Pecos. I am quite looking forward to it since I've never backpacked in New Mexico!
Well, we're not quite home in Reno yet but we are back in the States in the bay area. The return flight from London was one of the most comfortable economy class trips I've experienced. We flew Air New Zealand, which, in my opinion is one of the best airlines. Their staff are friendly, the food is good and best of all, there is plenty of legroom along with a foot rest. The 11-hour flight went by quite fast. They're a hell of a lot better than Lufthansa but I won't get started on them here.
We had a few nice days in Aix-en-Provence. It's a great old Roman town with tons of cafes and restaurants - great food and fun people watching. It was also fun to walk around a town dotted with fountains, old cobblestoned streets and old buildings adorned with colorful flowers. We took a walk up the hill to where Cezanne used to paint Montagne Sainte Victoire from, we also hiked part way up that very mountain. I really like that part of France, it's got a lot of charm.
So we're back. Feels a bit weird to be back. The house is quiet, no more pre-wedding excitement and commotion, but there are many boxes of wedding gifts and our stuff scattered throughout the house. Back to life, back to reality - some lines from a song that Charlie's been humming. Neither of us have work to go back to so it feels a bit strange, and a bit worrisome. But it's going to be a busy summer, with a trip to Santa Fe, a couple of weddings, some consulting work, some backpacking and rafting trips, and preparation for the move back to the bay area for grad school.
Our European leg of the trip has been fantastic! We got to catch up with a few friends in London for a couple days, and we spent the last 5 days partying it up in Monaco at Fleur and Terry Shire's fanastic wedding. Beautiful place, great people, great food! The Irish contingency drank us under the table. We are glad we got married before them cause the wedding was hard to beat! Off to Aix-en-Provence today for a few days before heading back to London and then home. A Bientot!
Our South African travel blog will be incomplete without a posting dedicated to the food! We loved the food, so much that I bought a cookbook! I could write a novel on all the different types of food and their respective histories - hence the name 'Rainbow' Cuisine. But to save time and to save me from drooling while composing this posting, here is a link to an article that covers it all!
Authentic Cape Malay (indonesian influenced food with a touch of Dutch) food is not easy to find, but we were treated to some good home-cooking food on the safari and while we were in the Wild Coast. Boerwors (handmade sausages), Bobotie (my favourite - mince baked with a custard topping and the most yummy spices), curries, Impala Potjie (tradiational stew), etc.
Biltong (beef jerky) is Charlie's favourite. They love it so much here you can find a Biltong shop on every other corner. Bunny Chow is another. It's basically Indian curry in a half loaf of bread. It's cheap and delicious.
Then there are the yummy veggies like Butternuts, Sweet Potatoes (different from the ones we get in the States), Pepperdews (a very small red pepper that's sweet and a little hot - extremely delicious) that always accompanies the salads, meat dishes and are essentials at the Braai (bbq).
We also had some authentic Xhosa food in the Wild Coast, where the Xhosa people live, which consists of a plate with cabbage salad, beet salad or some greens supposedly made up of 13 different herbs, pap (like grits), and samp - a corn and bean type slop but very yummy. The best Xhosa meal we had (and definitely one of the best meals we had on this trip), believe or not, was from a dingy little take away place at the gas station on a side road from Coffee Bay to the highway - for R12 (less than US$2) - and that came with a generous portion of the most tasty mutton I have ever had.
Of the various traditional dishes, Cabbage salad, Beet Salad, Pap, Boerwors, Biltong, and especially the Braai - the most popular way to eat in his country, seem to be common throughout South Africa, for Blacks, Coloureds and Afrikaaners alike. They are truly the meat and potatoes kinda people.
