Now For More Bugs…Cricket/Grasshopper? Nope….Chapulines. Something In-Between…

In many cultures, one of which is Mexico, insects are an important part of the culinary history. The Aztecs used insects as a large part of their diet. 500 years later, they are making a comeback, and many chefs in Mexico are incorporating them back into many of their dishes.

I personally liked the worms and found them to taste like fried pork rinds. The chapulines were seasoned with lime juice and salt and I felt were not crispy enough, hence my finding them a little tart and mushy.

So many other beautiful looking and delicious dishes to try….

Of course we had to try one of those late night taco stands and have a couple of al pastor tacos. These are tacos made from spit-grilled pork with seasonings that combine traditional Middle Eastern spices with Mexican spices.

Let me shift my focus away from my taste buds to the sights and sounds of Mexico, especially that of San Miguel de Allende.

Edmi had suggested a visit to this historic town some 3-4 hours north of Mexico City. We awoke at 5:30AM to meet our driver in hopes of staying ahead of the heaviest traffic. It worked, at least going. We did not have the same success returning, as that took nearly 5 hours because of traffic. It was still worth it.

Our breakfast upon arrival at San Miguel de Allende……

This historically beautiful town of San Miguel de Allende is located on a hill that’s worth climbing to enjoy the view….

For the sake of time and space I will just say despite the many unfortunate things we hear about Mexico, it holds historical beauty not matched by many other locations in the world.

A short list of things you should see if you get the chance to go to Mexico City:

Teotihuacan Pyramids, tour Coyoacan, Frida Kahlo’s Casa, Chapultec Park and of course the Zocalo and Palacio de Bellas Artes. This list goes on and on. My advice is to just explore….explore….explore, no matter where you are.

If you’ve come this far, thank you.

Sunshine always…….here’s a little music to take you out…..

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If you read my Singapore blog (you really should), you know I mentioned our second stop was going to be Bali in Indonesia. Once again, the thought of actually being in Bali, feet on the ground, would have seemed like some far fetched dream just a couple of years ago. Now that I’ve begun seeing the world, it was suddenly becoming a reality.

We landed in Bali late at night and were met by a representative of the villa in which we were staying. He was dressed in the native garb of Bali complete with headdress and bowed with his hands together and greeted us with namaste. This is a traditional Hindu greeting.

As we got to talking we discovered our Hindu greeter went to college in Miami. It’s just another example of realizing how small this big world actually is when we look closer.

Upon our arrival, our driver became our butler and another woman joined him. They took us to our villa after checking in at the open air lobby with soft meditative music playing. I started to have this very peaceful and ethereal feeling, something that became a constant in our entire time in Bali.

They had us sit on a bench on the patio of the villa and remove our shoes and socks. Then seemingly out of nowhere came these two bowls with warm water. Apparently it is customary to wash the feet of guests entering the villa. At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with someone I didn’t know washing and rubbing my feet, but I have to admit, it felt great and was quite relaxing.

Much like in Singapore the food in Bali was quite unique. In particular the breakfasts. These are not lands of traditional eggs, bacon, sausage and french toast type breakfasts. Eggs are involved, but often rice & noodles, chicken or shrimp could show up in various dishes to start your day.

The resort we stayed in was Awarta Nusa Dua Resort. This place has it all in a very private peaceful setting. One of the funny things that kept coming up in our searches for places to stay was that many only had an outdoor shower. I’m not exactly nature boy and tend to be a little conservative when it comes to those things. When my girlfriend Edmi would show me a possible place for us to stay, it was immediately nixed from the list if it did not have an indoor shower or bath. Fortunately, Awarta Nusa Dua had both, and oddly enough that’s what influenced my decision, as so many places looked beautiful.

For more info go to https://www.awartaresorts.com

Once again our time was relatively short in Bali, so through the suggestion of a friend, Edmi and I hired a driver for a day. It turned out to be close to a 12 hour day. Our driver, Gusti, took us into Ubud and we started with stops watching hand made woven cloth, beautiful carved wooden art work and hand crafted silver jewelry. One of the really fun stops was at a rain forest-coffee plantation complete with a giant swing over the valley. We also tried a coffee that is made from beans ingested and passed back out by an animal known as the civet. Our tour guide called this coffee Poopuchino (sounds like one of my bad jokes)!

We then went to the monkey forest and temple grounds. Edmi had a run in with one of the monkeys that was attempting to get this dangling hand sanitizer she had from her pocketbook. Well he nearly pulled her pants down in the process. Thank goodness I was there. I got to video the whole thing. Someone was not that happy with this response, and I don’t mean the monkey.

We stopped for lunch at this quaint roadside cafe that had a back deck providing this stunning view of a large terraced rice field. One of those moments where you stop and ask yourself, where am I?

We did some shopping in the small towns along the way for some gifts to take back home, and then finished the day at this peaceful, but beautiful butterfly park.

Wrapped around that day we stopped at the InterContinental Bali Resort one late afternoon to watch the sunset at the beach and enjoy a drink with some light snacks. The grounds of this hotel will truly let you know you are in another world.

We also grabbed some time at the beach over the three days and truly spent a lot of time in our private oasis of our villa. We toured a temple garden with beautiful views and statues that tower over you like skyscrapers.

The bottom line to me about Bali is the peacefulness. Outside of going directly through the market area of towns, there is a serenity and peace that pervades everything, including yourself. If you want natural beauty with some interesting sight seeing and great food all in a peaceful surrounding, then Bali is your place.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Once again if you have any questions please pass them along in the comment section.

If you’ve come this far I thank you. Sunshine always.

The post Bali & Serenity Now appeared first on Weathering Your 50s & Beyond.

As my traveling adventures were beginning to branch out, I knew I had to get beyond Europe. My travel partner and girlfriend, Edmi was chock full of ideas. She told me about her journeys to India, Thailand and Japan. In fact it was my seeing her posts on Facebook about those trips, that inspired me to want to get together with her for lunch. I wanted to hear about her travels, hoping it would inspire me.

Well, boy did I hit the jackpot. I discovered my passion for travel as well as my passion for another person. So this is another example of how travel has changed my life for the better.

Back to the trip. We frequently watch travel shows from anywhere around the world to see what inspires or interests us as our next possible destination. For whatever reason, it seemed that videos about Singapore kept showing up and I was certainly intrigued by this beautiful city that was a classic blend of old and new. Edmi, being more traveled than I, suggested we go somewhere in Indonesia as well, considering we were going that far. Why not?! So where to?

Bali Ha’i!!!!!!! We decided on a Singapore – Bali excursion. To think this Italian kid from Ozone Park, Queens was now going on a journey to Asia, was a little heady to say the least. I had been bitten by the travel bug and now I had a partner who was bitten earlier to push me along.

The bigger challenge for me approaching this trip, how was I going to make it for 16 hours straight in this little metal tube flying through the sky? The longest flights I had taken before were about 8-9 hours, this was nearly twice as long. On top of that, I was a virgin when it came to using an airplane restroom(no, it’s not what some of you might be thinking) but I knew I wasn’t going to make it for 16 hours. This was indeed going to be a trip of many firsts for me.

Our first stop on the trip was Hong Kong International Airport. Now I can say I’ve been to China. After a short layover we were on our way to Singapore. Just another mere 2 hours or so of flying.

Upon our arrival in Singapore we made our way to a really cool boutique hotel. The Indigo Hotel properties are each unique according to their locations and surroundings.

They can be found throughout the US and the rest of the world. http://hotel indigo

The combination of beauty, modern technology and architecture along with music, made for an amazing sensory experience at the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay.

I will warn anyone going to Singapore about one thing. The heat. I was told it was very hot and humid before going. So as a meteorologist I researched and crunched the numbers. Sure it was near the Equator, I got the idea. The normal high temperatures ranged from 92-96 in late August. Yes, hot, but not anything I had certainly not encountered in any NYC summer.

Wellllllllllllllll……..let me tell you the heat and humidity combination is stifling. I think the fact that the air never seems to move makes it feel like a warm wet blanket is draped over your entire body day and night.

That being said, I don’t want that to discourage you from going to this country. After the first day you get used to the fact that you will shower 2-3 times a day and drench through your clothing. It’s worth it. Of course everything is comfortably air conditioned indoors so you can always escape the heat.

The other eye-opening part of the Singapore experience is visiting and exploring the various religious and cultural temples and mosques. Edmi is fascinated by the beauty of the peacefulness and earthly connection that these spiritual houses can convey.

The first temple we entered was holding a very special ceremony. I remember it involved offerings of food, also smoke and fire were involved, along with some very strange sounding music to my ears. I began to feel uncomfortable. I felt like I was intruding on this special occasion for the Hindu people observing their holy day.

I was about to bail out the side door when I saw some writing on the wall in English. It said, and I’m paraphrasing, “all are welcome here. It does not matter your religious background or level of faith. This a place to feel safe and welcome and to help get in touch with your inner soul.” Wow. That stopped me in my tracks. I began to relax and get somewhat better connected to the spirit of what was happening in the ceremony, even without knowing its particulars.

Next stop…..Little India.

We couldn’t leave out Chinatown where we came across a gorgeous Buddhist temple which also had a very special ceremony underway.

The final stop on our cultural religious tour was through a really cool area with lots of trendy clubs and bars and a beautiful mosque, Little Arab town and Arab street.

Something I haven’t spoken of, and probably was near the top of my list in great things about Singapore, is the food!!! It’s created from such a multicultural background that every place we went and every meal we had was something unique.

From the simple but mouth-watering chicken and rice at one of the hawker centers, like Maxwell Road or Old Airport Road Food Center, to the many international restaurants, the food in Singapore can make your toes curl.

I should mention what a hawker center is, in case you’re not familiar. They are areas with a collection of many stalls that sell a variety of delicious but inexpensive food. They were set up as a more sanitary option to street side vendors. Everything in Singapore is extremely sanitary. A cleaner city and country you will not find as it is safe to eat everywhere. Even off the floor of their subway. I wouldn’t try that however, as no food or drinks are allowed.

However among all the interesting and wonderful things we ate, nothing, and I mean nothing, topped the chili crab at No Signboard Seafood Restaurant. This was recommended to me by my wonderful friend of travel and food knowledge, my weather and traffic buddy, Lauren Scala.

It’s messy and it’s not cheap. Depending on the crab you choose and the season, the price per crab could range from $125 to $250 US dollars. It’s still worth it! Make sure the first time you order, choose the white pepper chili crab. That’s No Signboard’s signature style.

This was not just the best dish in Singapore, it has been the best dish I’ve eaten anywhere in the world so far. I’m hoping something else comes along to knock it out of the number slot, but it’s not going to be easy.

Of course, you must also explore the downtown area and all of the beautiful tourist spots. Take a stroll along the water and stop for a picture with the Merlion fountain.

Stroll through The Fullerton Hotel, a beautiful building that was a former 1920’s post office. Of course a stop at Raffles Hotel Bar for the a Singapore Sling is a tradition. Unfortunately, we were in Singapore in August 2018 and the hotel was closed for renovation. Hence the reason for the title of this blog. “Singapore Without the Sling.”

I will close with a gallery of some other beautiful photos from our time in Singapore. We really needed more time to see several other attractions and just enjoy the food and culture further. However, we were on a schedule with limited time, so off we went to Bali. More on that in another blog.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the photos. If you have any questions about what you see here that I didn’t fully explain, feel free to leave me something in the comment section and I will do my best to get back to you.

Once again, if you’ve come this far I thank you. Until next time, sunshine always!!!

The post Singapore Without the Sling appeared first on Weathering Your 50s & Beyond.

For many years as a family of four, we would always go on vacations as a unit. When my son went to college we started to do the occasional vacation with just me, my wife & daughter. He wasn’t, and still isn’t, much of a traveler. On the other hand, my daughter Carly, is pretty much game to go anywhere.

As her 21st birthday approached I wanted to do something special travel-wise with her and my wife. Carly was going through a granola eating, earth connecting and hiking phase. None of us had been to the Rockies or the Grand Canyon, so I planned a trip taking us to Phoenix first. We would drive to the Grand Canyon. Then over to Sedona and back to Phoenix to fly to Denver and finish in Boulder, Colorado with another hike.

I booked all the flights and hotels and was getting excited about this family trip out West. Unfortunately as timing had it, my wife’s illness was starting to become symptomatic. She definitely wasn’t going to be able to handle climbing or hiking around the Grand Canyon.

I was ready to pull the plug on the whole trip and try to plan something special for my daughter closer to home. However, my wife, being the unselfish woman she was, insisted we still go. I got the old “don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine.” So with some trepidation and heaviness in my heart, off I went with just my daughter.

The rest of this blog is going to be more visual than story telling. Carly and I have since gone on some other journeys just the two of us. This first trip for her 21st was challenging under the circumstances. The things we saw together however started to heal some wounds and began a more mature phase of a father & daughter relationship.

Subsequent trips after this one were post the passing of my wife and her mom. As you can imagine this brings on a whole new dimension to the relationship once again. There was a lot of pain on both sides. Misunderstanding, hurt, anger. I battled myself trying to be both a father and a mother and always felt like I was letting her down.

So what does this have to do with travel Chris? Well, once again, like my prior posts about the trip to Italy with my friend Joe that put meaning back into my life, the travels with Carly began the healing process for both of us, singularly and together.

Travel is the great neutralizer. You are in a foreign place and are disarmed and less secure. You have to rely on your true self more and can’t hide behind the walls and comforts of home. When conversation gets real, it’s harder to run away. Where can you go? You don’t know this place.

That being said, the rest is quite personal and will stay there. What I do want to share is the joy of traveling with your children when they are adults. Do it if you can. It’s so enlightening to speak with and experience these new things with young adults that you’ve helped create. You learn more about them as they are pushed and challenged in your travels. Seeing different parts of the world we live in with your loved ones is a priceless experience. The bond you can create in those memories will last a lifetime that hopefully they share with their children.

As always, if you’ve come this far…..thank you for reading along. Sunshine always!!

The post Dad & Daughter Travel appeared first on Weathering Your 50s & Beyond.

As we continued our journey across southeast Italy we stopped to see a friend in the unique town of Taranto. As Joe was driving, I would ask where our next stop was going to take us. I kept saying “where? Toronto?” Joe came back with “yes. Taranto.” What? Toronto? Yes Taranto! I’ll spare you how long this went on in my head.

Anyway, Taranto is a huge commercial and military port with a population of 200,000. The city was colonized around 700 BC by the ancient Greeks as a Spartan Colony. It has a unique blend of architecture as well as some of the most beautiful beaches in Italy.

The next stop brought probably the most unusual and unexpected type of architecture I witnessed on this trip. The town of Alberobello in Italy’s Apulia region. It contains the greatest concentration of the very unique looking homes called trulli. What’s a trullo you ask?

The morning and afternoon in Alberobello were picture perfect. In fact, on the rooftop, where I took this last picture, I was greeted by a regular viewer and fan of Today In New York. Thousands of miles away from home it’s always heartwarming to run into a fan of the show.

Our next location, where we were going to stay overnight, was another example of the unique individual towns that pepper southern Italy. Often you feel as if you’re in a country other than Italy, as the towns varying culture plays out before you.

It was time to explore Matera. Matera is a city built on a very rocky region of Basilicata. The area we stayed in is known as Sassi. This is a location of caves used as dwellings carved into the mountains. They were evacuated in 1952 as they became unlivable. Just an incredible sight to see.

We stayed in one of the converted cave dwellings which was now a cool boutique B&B.

So long Matera! You were a feast for the senses. On to the next stop, Vietri sul Mare!

Vietri sul Mare sits just west of Salerno and is know for its beautiful ceramics.

Of course we needed one more taste of the sea……

With bellies full and over 900 miles of driving through Italy we head back toward Rome our departing city, but no. We are not done yet. One more overnight stop in the town of Castel Gandolfo.

This little town is one of the most scenic you will find. Little nooks and crannies make you feel like you’re walking through art work or a scene in an old beautiful foreign film. The population is less than 9000 and its located just 16 miles southeast of Rome. This town hosts the Pope for his summer retreats.

The final stop on our long journey led us back toward Rome. We had an early flight and I got to capture this peaceful sight out the window of my hotel room.

For those of you who have followed along I hope you enjoyed the journey. There is much more to say and show, but I wanted to give you a taste of the adventure in an easy to digest manner. I will share other fun and challenging adventures I’ve already taken and hope to share new ones as well.

To repeat myself, this trip put my heart and my soul back into the real living world. It allowed me to feel everything again. Yes, even some pain. However, at least feeling numb went away.

I’ll leave you with this last photo.

Found this on small cobblestone street. I like to believe it fell from the wings of a certain angel. Telling me everything will be OK, and it’s time to move on and enjoy the gift of life.

Thanks again for following. There’s much more on my mind to share and I hope you join me. Please feel free to leave feedback of what you liked or didn’t, and what you want to see more of from me.

Until next time…..sunshine always!!!

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As I move along onto the next leg of our journey across Italy I do want to point out, if not already known, this is a trip that took place nearly two years ago. It was the first significant step in taking my derailed life and putting it back on track.

So off we go to the southeast coast of Italy…….come along.

After a stop in Joe’s mothers town and a visit to an ailing Aunt, we hit the road again with Polignano a Mare our next stop. This is a beautiful town on Italy’s Adriatic south coast. The contrasting cliffs against the aquatic dance of colors of the sea makes for some incredible scenery. Here are just a few pictures to gaze upon.

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  Yes….. palm trees!!

The other aspect of this town was the quality of food for the price. Every piece of fish you ate tasted as if it was just kissed by the sea. Fruits and vegetables still carried the scent from their vines or their branches to your plate. We had a delicious lunch and a bottle of wine for the price of two Frappuccinco’s at Starbucks. 

The sign may say Typical Food, but there was nothing typical about it, other than it was amazingly fresh and Italian!

I could post an album of pictures from this town and one is more beautiful than the next.

We also enjoyed a dinner one evening in a restaurant that’s built into a cave. It’s called Grotta Palazzese, part of the hotel by the same name. This place doesn’t serve typical Italian food. It’s menu is based on Apulian cuisine with again nothing but the freshest ingredients.  This is a unique place to dine and for this one you will have to shell out a bit more to experience it, but in my opinion it’s worth it. 

Some contemplation time…….

While staying in Polignano a Mare Joe planned to visit an old friend in the town of Conversano.  So off we went for another drive to meet Joe’s friend and his family. Seems at one time, they all lived in Queens in an apartment above Joe’s family’s home. 

As we pulled into this town, once again the feeling of being in some foreign film overcomes me. I  feel like I should be speaking with an accent, wearing a trench coat, and smoking a cigarette. All of which I don’t have or do. 

Somewhere in between visiting a museum, the home of Joe’s friends children and a smellicious bakery, we enjoyed another awesome dinner in a very cool restaurant hidden in a small alley in Conversano.

I still remember listening to this man tell stories and watching his eyes light up. He spoke only Italian and while I didn’t understand much of what he was saying I did somehow understand his stories by watching his face and his eyes and feeling his passion. I remember him looking at me several times and some how we communicated without doing it verbally.

At first I thought maybe again it was the wine making me think this was the case. However, when the night came to a close and it came to saying goodbye he grabbed me and gave me the warmest hug that let me know it was a pleasure that we got the chance to meet.

It was another step in my soul coming back to life. I could REALLY feel things again.

I will leave it there……boy this trip was long. I have stops in Matera, Alberobello, Taranto, Vietri Sul Mare and Castel Gandolfo still to share.

If you’ve come this far…..thank you. More to come. Sunshine always!!

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As time went on and I had to program music for a few hours a day, it became a great challenge to get creative. Joe and I grew up in the New Wave and punk era, but you can exhaust those sounds after a couple of hours. I love the Ramones, Clash and Sex Pistols, but it did start to seem out of place from the countryside scenery that surrounded us. I started coming up with triple plays(3 songs from the same artist) or songs whose’ title had a person’s name, even songs about weather. He would often challenge me to find some obscure artist and I got him every time. By the last couple of days I was playing the latest hits in Italy and began to use that to better my knowledge of the language. Of course I would have to sing my order for a “small pistachio gelato please!”

Our next stop would be Joe’s fathers home town of Quaglietta. To say it’s a small town might be an understatement. Let’s say on any given rushhour morning there are probably more people in two cars of the A train in NYC. As of 2011 the population was 443. I’m sure everyone knew everyone and their business in this town. As we rolled in, we stopped at one of Joe’s Aunts home, who of course was cooking up a storm at 11AM in the morning.

After a couple of espressos and biscotti it was off to explore. Joe wanted us to take a hike up to the castle to see what it was like. After meeting with the curator of the town and its beautiful quaint church we were told the castle was gated and locked, and we probably weren’t going to get the key.

Well I’m not sure if you’ve already gotten the gist of my friend Joe’s personality. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer so easily.

We strolled into the center of the town. After showing me the street he would play in as a child visiting Italy in the summers, we came across the town benches. I have to tell you this was like a scene out of movie. I’ll let the next couple of pictures paint the story.

To this day I’m not really sure what Joe said or did but somehow, some way, someone came up with the keys to let us up into the castle. When Joe said the words ” we’re going in” I can’t explain it, but it was as if I was going to get a tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. I was 10 years old again, hanging with a buddy and sneaking into something and someplace where I wasn’t supposed to be. At my age that conjures up memories of childhood and innocence that had long been put to bed, but now were awakened. What were we going to see? How far could we climb up into it? Would we discover some secret? Some treasure? OK Chris, get a grip.

It really couldn’t have been a more perfect day. It was warm and sunny, but ideal temperature and humidity for a climb (yes, I’m still a weather guy). The castle was certainly left unattended for awhile, but a project to refurbish it and turn it into a tourist experience had begun in spots. The funds coming mainly from Italians in the US were running low, so things had slowed. As we climbed we came across many little rooms that were often in piles of old rubble. Some had old fresco paintings on the walls, which was amazing just trying to imagine who did this and when, and what the world was like when it was done.

Needless to say this experience was something that was a huge step in helping me realize there was so much more life to live and experience. Through friendship and love I was allowing myself to feel good things again. I started my healing process in earnest at this point. I had much more to do in life and it was ok for me to feel this way.

I’m going to leave it here for now. If you’ve gotten this far there is a little more to come on this journey. I thank you for following along. Sunshine always.

The post Two Guys & a Car in Italy (Part 3) appeared first on Weathering Your 50s & Beyond.

I find Rome to really be one of the most romantic cities in the world at night. Something about that yellow incandescent lighting that makes everything feel like you’re in a painting or a movie and you get to move about within it. Maybe I drank too much wine in the evenings in Rome.

We only had two nights in Rome, and on one of them Joe decided to head into the Jewish Quarters, or Jewish Ghetto neighborhood. I had not been there on my first visit to Rome, but figured why not.

It turned out to be this very cool almost eclectic atmosphere of restaurants, bars and clubs. Needless to say we were not exactly the youngsters amidst the throngs of people that kept growing as we went deeper into the night.

The tip about this area is that the restaurant prices are less expensive than the touristy parts of Rome. That includes the cost of the wine as well. Worth a few hours of an evening if you’re ever in Rome.

From Rome it was off to Maiori a beautiful town along the Amalfi coast. In the province of Salerno it holds the longest stretch of beach along the Amalfi coast.

Visually the Amalfi coast is one of my favorite places on the planet. Its’ geography of mountains pushed up against a beautiful ocean tapering down to the narrow coastal beaches is what catches my eyes. That, and the beautiful and often brightly colored homes that dapple the hillside.

A great way to work your way up along the Amalfi coast is by water taxi. You can hop on and hop off at different points depending on the ticket you purchase. We stopped at Positano and the town of Amalfi, as well as Minori, the smaller town to Maiori which was where our hotel was based. You could also take the boat to the Isle of Capri, which is another gem along the coast.

Finally, before we leave the coast and head inland, I would be remiss to not mention another great town we spent time in one afternoon, Ravello. Now this place is a painting in real life. Places don’t come more picturesque. Mine will not do it justice, but here are a few. Plus the food and wine here are mouth watering.

That’s it for Part II. Cheers, as we start our journey from the Mediterranean coast to the Adriatic coast. Found some surprises along the way and more on why this trip made me want to live life to its fullest in my next blog.

Again…….if you got this far…..thanks and sunshine always!!!

The post Two Guys & a Car in Italy(Part2) appeared first on Weathering Your 50s & Beyond.

You know when you agree to something the first time you hear it, but then wonder what the hell was I thinking?  I had one of those moments almost two years ago with a great friend.  I was still dealing with a lot of darkness from my wife’s passing and a ton, I mean a ton of other emotional baggage that came with it. 

I often felt trapped and as if I couldn’t breathe. Some not so great thoughts came into my head the first few months after the loss. I may or may not talk about those down the road, we shall see.  But this blog is the story of what turned it around for me.  What gave me purpose and appreciation of and for life again. 

I will preface this blog with the fact that it’s going to be in several parts as we traversed from the Mediterranean side of Italy to the Adriatic. With many stops in between coasts, we travelled nearly 1000 miles in 9 days by car 

A quick bit of background about my friend Joe. He met my wife in college in 1981 as they were both majoring in accounting. They quickly became friends and by the Fall of 1984, my wife and I were their best man and maid of honor in their wedding. 

Over the years we remained close, as we both had a son and daughter and grew to become like family. Joe, as well as his amazing better half Maria, are the type of people who will give you the shirt off their backs, no questions, if you were in need.

It was nearly a year or so after I had lost my wife, and I would periodically get together with Joe & Maria for dinner at their place in Hamilton Square, NJ. Joe knew I was having a rough time and suggested a guys road trip. I thought, ok, maybe he wants to head upstate for a bit into the mountains to chill.

Silly me. This is Joe I’m talking about here. He wants to go on a 9 day excursion through Italy from the Mediterranean coast to the Adriatic. Stopping in smaller more unique and less touristy type towns. Little did I know what was ahead of me.

I’m hoping this blog provides you a few things. The obvious, to show you the beauty of my native homeland and that it inspires you to visit some of the less popular places. Those that really allow you to absorb the culture and flavor the different regions of Italy have to offer.

Secondly, the value of friendship. Being there for another human being when they are hurting and are in need.

Last, but not least, the power of travel and changing your environment periodically, to both help us appreciate where we are, but also to help us reset for the lives we are returning to.

I quickly discovered there was zero chance of me getting a job as a TV weather person in Italy.

OK. Back to the journey. Rome first stop.

See you for part 2, which really begins the journey. Hope you stop by. Sunshine Always!!!

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First the devastation from Hurricane Maria, in which the island certainly is not close to fully recovered. Secondly the fiasco in their government from nearly top to bottom.

This post however is just about Puerto Rico. The island, the people, the culture, food and it’s natural beauty. I’m not going to get into politics here but I do want to say, on this my fourth visit since Maria, the overall mood of the people seems less tense and a bit more spirited and confident that they are coming back strong.

As I approach my two year anniversary with my beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend I have obviously become more aware of the trials and tribulations of this commonwealth. More importantly what I’ve become increasingly aware of is the amazing beauty and culture Puerto Rico has to offer.

During my first couple of trips I spent much of the time in San Juan and old San Juan with some day trips to Fajardo and some other local towns in and around San Juan.

This go around my girl friend promised to take me to see much more of the island. To me, in no deference to the city, but San Juan seemed like a tired tourist town stuck in the 70’s or 80’s. The one thing that did stand out was the amazing and innovative food scene that was being spawned. Food often as good as or better than anything in most NYC restaurants and usually at a much lower price.

However, once again I deviate from the purpose of this blog. From raw and tropical to beautiful mountains and spectacular quiet beaches. So many coastal towns with their own special appeal.

I often feel that pictures speak louder than words so I hope you take the time to enjoy this little photo album I’ve put together with notes of interest as I hope to shine a light on Puerto Rico………Without the Politics!

Day at the beaches of Rincon. Sun,sand,sea and sea urchins. Grab a cold local beer, Medalla, if you can.

Some final pictures just depicting the unique beauty of Puerto Rico……

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