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Once Upon a Dream with The (not so young) Rascals

The Young Rascals or  later known as The Rascals were a group which was part of the soundtrack of our teenage years for those of us who grew up in the 60’s.  Remember Good Lovin, A Girl Like You, Beautiful Morning, Been Lonely Too Long?  I’m sure you know where you were when you heard those songs.

Well, Steven Van Zandt, yes Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, had an idea about getting one of his favorite bands back together and you know if he is involved in something musically it’s probably going to be good.   He succeeded and put together a show that played Port Chester, NY and then went to Broadway.  This week they brought the show to the Opera House for a five night stand and of course we had to go.
Continue reading “Once Upon a Dream with The (not so young) Rascals”

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A Trip Down Memory Lane….

It’s been a few weeks since I’ ve written about my comings and goings.

Over Memorial Day weekend, we made the trip north to the home of my youth, Burlington, VT.  As we drove north the temperature kept dropping and by the time we reached Burlington, it was 41 degrees.  Imagine that – on Memorial Day weekend.  And that’s not the kicker!  It actually snowed at the higher elevations and as we drove back to Boston the peaks of Mt. Mansfield and Camel’s Hump were white! Continue reading “A Trip Down Memory Lane….”

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Beekeeping 101

Roy’s got a new hobby.  He just graduated from bee school and he’s now an official junior beekeeper!

Yup, right here in the burbs, 2 hives.  This morning he picked up 20,000 bees and now they’re flying around the hives acclimating to their new surroundings.  Hopefully they’ll like their home and we’ll be able to give away some yummy honey.

So now there are three queen bees at my house, two in the hives and me!  Roy’s a lucky man!!

I’ll be keeping you up to date on how the bees are doing.  Here are a couple of pictures from day one in our backyard!

 

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bees buzzing around their new home
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Beekeeper Roy
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Boston Strong…

The scene of the bombings have been cleared, and people are streaming back to Boylston Street.  We wanted to see the memorial in person so we took the T to Copley Square last night.

On the street are satellite trucks from every major network set up to report and in the Square is the memorial.  It’s bigger than I thought it would be.  It’s quite moving and emotional.  It was crowded.   People of all creeds and colors, some crying softly, maybe saying a silent prayer, taking pictures and looking at what’s become a tribute to those killed and wounded.  There are letters, notes from all over the world, baseball hats, running shoes, candles, flowers, origami hanging from trees, stuffed animals.

If you can’t go to Copley Square, here’s a sampling of what it looks like.

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Fun in Cartagena

So, what else did we do and see in Cartagena?

It’s so hot and humid, unless you don’t care, days have to be spent on the water.  Our first day we took a 45 minute boat tour to a private island where we relaxed in sun loungers, walked a beautiful beach, had a big buffet with local specialties and fish just caught  and bought countless necklaces from the relentless but harmless, colorful vendors, one whom called me “Boston” and who I promised I’d buy something from but bought from his buddy instead.  Well, that didn’t fly so I had to buy a couple more necklaces to make everyone happy! Continue reading “Fun in Cartagena”

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On to Cartagena

Our trip has gone without a hitch.  Until now.  With Bogota behind us we go to the airport to check in for our flight to Cartagena.  What?  Our flight was cancelled?  “But we tried to call you and email you”  No they didn’t.  And guess what?  Every flight to Cartagena is booked solid until 6P.  It’s now 10A.  There goes our day in Cartagena.  Well, not quite.  An agent for Copa Airlines is able to find us two seats on an Avianca flight just two hours later than originally scheduled.  And, not just two seats but two first class seats, on them!  Very nice.  Two happy customers! Continue reading “On to Cartagena”

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Andres Carne des Res

Well, we barely stopped for a minute in Bogota.  Every restaurant we ate at was excellent (except for one).   But, the piece de resistance was yet to happen.

Andres Carne de Res – we heard about it, we read about it and wondered if it was worth the hype.  Should we really go?  We almost thought no, but Edgar, our guide in Bogota told us we had to experience it and experience it we did! Continue reading “Andres Carne des Res”

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Bogota — The Mercado

We love markets and I’m not talking Whole Foods.  Markets are the heartbeat of a city.  So one day, we hopped into one of the little yellow taxis and went to Plaza de Mercado de Paloquemao.  It’s big, really big! By the time we got there at about 10:30, the market had been open for hours and the lunch stalls were busy preparing for lunch.  The flower market which opens at 4AM was just about ready to close but we were able to see  some of those roses!

Colombia is home to 25 varieties of mangoes, avocados the size of your head, dozens of different varieties of potatoes, fruits I’ve never heard of, fish I’ve never seen, the second largest producer of roses, and don’t forget the coffee!!

Our eyes were popping out of our heads there was so much to look at.  I was really bummed that I had just had breakfast because I wanted to eat at one of the food stalls.  And, I have to tell you, there was no smell, like the kind of smell you get from the fish department at Stop and Shop – none of that.  Everything fresh and clean!

Here’s a sampling of a busy market:

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What else did we love about Bogota?  Stay tuned and see you at the bar….