Happy St. Patrick's Day

Wishes and blessings for a joyful St. Patrick's Day!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know...

...The Four Tops or the Temptations? What's your favorite group? Favorite song?

I know this is the upbeat blog, but it's tough these days. I look at the front page of the New York Times and am close to tears with the array of news presented. War, rumors of war, flood, quake and disaster...

So for this night I am going back to the '60s. I know I can't retreat there permanently, but I've been listening to some of my favorite music. I'm not brushing away my concerns and real life needs now, but I think we all can use a few minutes of fun. 

Markets of the World...Madeira

Madeira sits as a small, perfect jewel in the Atlantic Ocean, 350 miles north of Africa and 600 miles from Europe. I was enchanted by the view of the ocean, the lush vegetation and the beauty of the island. It is a region of Portugal. Whenever I heard the word "madeira" in the past I had thought of wine, generally featured in a Regency novel.

A street in Funchal, the main city of Madeira

I was delighted to find a supermarket and literally ran inside to take some pictures...

It was bright and well stocked and had most of the products I might find in my grocery on Broadway, even though we were in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There was also a big book section, clothes and housewares.

I made a find that particularly delighted me. Growing wild throughout the island was this sweet flower...

 ...the Bermuda Buttercup!

Markets of the World...Barcelona

I love to look at markets when I travel. Some are fascinating for the luxury items --Paris -- and some for the exotic and unfamiliar items -- Macao. But all of them give a great picture of how people live throughout the world. In Barcelona we found the Mercat Santa Caterina and had a delightful visit.

Everything looked delicious...

Or very interesting...

I'm not sure that I'm ready for an emu or ostrich omelet. 

I would like to shop for groceries here on a regular basis. I was so enchanted -- actually with all of Barcelona --   that the idea of renting an apartment for a few weeks has become a regular thought. Wouldn't that be fun?

It's Always Breakfast Time Somewhere...Barcelona

This perfect little cafe was the scene of our first breakfast on the trip. We landed in Barcelona, checked into our hotel and as the room wasn't ready -- it was 9:00 am Barcelona time and 3:00 am New York time -- we looked for a bank to get Euros and then coffee. We achieved our mini-checklist and were fortified by big cups of cafe con leche and delicious pastry. A successful and yummy beginning to our trip.

My heart and thoughts have been with those affected by the earthquake in Japan. My friend's husband did a very interesting interview with ABC local news in New York. Jim is a geologist at Columbia and explained the scientific issue very clearly for those of us who aren't scientists. I tried to post the link, but wasn't successful. If you have a minute it's worth checking the ABC Channel 7 website.

Great to be awake and blogging. I'm looking forward to catching up in Blogworld. Have a great weekend!    

Home, Sweet, Home

I'm still a little jet lagged, but easing into being back in New York. It was a wonderful trip. Sunshine and warm weather -- with one exception -- and relaxation, laughter and good times. Loni and I were terrific traveling companions and did well with the usual little inconveniences of travel. There were two disappointments. We didn't get to our two stops in Morocco and there was almost no time for shopping. The latter is pretty unusual for touring and came as a big surprise. I had a number of gifts I wanted to buy while I was away and it's so much more fun to shop while on a trip than at home fighting the crowds at Macy's or in a mall.

I particularly enjoyed our two days in Barcelona and wished I had at least two more days, if not another week there. We had beautiful sunny weather and liked seeing the architecture and museums very much.

 All of Barcelona, from the steps of the Art Museum 

The area at the Harbor

The Cathedral of Barcelona

These are just a few of the places we visited. I'm glad I got to Barcelona and am eager -- already! -- for a return visit. 

As always, thanks for stopping by and hope it's early spring where you are.   

Greetings from Beautiful Madeira

We are in the lovely island of Madeira. Sunny and bright and gorgeous flowers. Wish you all could be here.