Category Archives: Travel

As the JFK presidency was compared to Camelot, so is our current President’s. The lore is great about King Arthur and his knights and kingdom.

Some say it began here, in Scotland.

So, friend Karen and I went to Craigmillar Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots spent some time (try to go to a castle where she didn’t spend some time, in Scotland). I proposed that there should be a placque in every castle Mary, Queen of Scots, slept in.

Anyway the hill behind the castle, taken from the rooftop (the surrounds of the rooftop as the occupants took the actual roof with them when they left) is called Arthur’s Seat.

On the other side is Holyrood Castle, the Queen’s (UK) official residence in Scotland and across the street from the modern houses of parliament. Scotland is trying to become its own government once again, and while I applaud them for it I don’t know how they’ll live. Fish and sheep and premier knitwear is not enough. Then again, I’m not a student of UK economics, just someone who loves the people and culture and lived there several months.

Even without a roof, Craigmillar is well-preserved. The south side of the hill now houses poorer folks, who probably take public transit into the city of Edinburgh each day. That’s how we got there and it was not easy. But we got there and could imagine Arthur and his knights and their horses, surrounding the area and protecting the castle.

It will take a knight to take us out of the debacle we’ve woven ourselves into. We do deserve some blame for this financial morass.

The knights of the round table are long gone, if they ever existed. I believe they existed in some form, somewhere. This would be a perfect place for them. Good dreams are useful! Cheers, Dee

Westwood View

A sliver of a view looking southeast from Wilshire Blvd. We made it to Beverly Hills for a pilgramage to Nate ‘N Al’s deli for brunch/lunch. I had a toasted sesame bagel with Nova Scotia Salmon, cream cheese, tomato, onion and capers, the works. With quality ingredients, no restaurant can really screw that up, but I was surprised that it was not on the menu.

After leaving the family, we wended south on Beverly Blvd., BeverWil, until there were too many “bev’s” in the streets to count so I meandered through neighborhoods down to Venice then back up to I-10 towards Santa Barbara. We drove Lincoln Blvd./Route 1 past Marina Del Rey but didn’t go down to the water because time was catching up with us and we had to press on to the airport for our flight home.

During the trip, I earnestly tucked into “Spain: A Culinary Road Trip” by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow (HarperCollins), companion to the PBS series. The prose is light yet informative, and the recipes interesting. When things settle down around here (or in a new city) I’d like to try a tapas party. I don’t yet know if I’m ready to find and cook an entire suckling pig (haven’t come to that recipe yet) but am sure I have the pan to roast it in.

So, I’m more than halfway through the book and the pictures are lovely. It’s an easy read and will be kept on my bookshelf and in the front of my mind as a travel destination. Happy Martin Luther King Day! Dee

We arrived on time Friday night, nothing exciting except we did drive through Beverly Hills en route to our hotel, an unintentional gaffe but at 11:00 local time the streets were not clogged with traffic and the lights were bright.

Saturday morning we headed out for breakfast and ended up with lunch instead. We wanted to see the ocean so drove towards Santa Monica, where the downtown streets were closed for a festival and traffic was crazy so drove north on Ocean Blvd. to PCH where my family lived for a while, many years ago.

In downtown Pacific Palisades we found my family’s favorite pizza joint so shared a large Dom’s pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms. Then we headed to the hotel for a while until my father and Jane, and brother arrived in Century City. Then we went off to an early dinner at Gladstones For Fish and sat along the Pacific Ocean outdoors under palm trees and enjoyed clam chowder, calamari, steamed mussels, crabcakes and other delights. As Jim’s allergic to anything that swims, he had a steak.

We got to bed early and have to be up soon to pack, check out and meet the folks for brunch at the infamous Nate ‘n Al’s deli in Beverly Hills. Hopefully I’ll get my smoked salmon fix. Then it’s off to LAX and home. Tomorrow is a holiday so we’ll recuperate from long flights and driving in LA traffic. I didn’t get to the Hearst or either Getty museum. Not enough time and it appears we’d rather talk and eat!

I’ll check in from Texas, probably tomorrow. Take care, Dee

I’m going to give you snippets of favorite travel destinations and expand upon them later. Note that these are all food-related and most of the time, when not eating, I’m viewing art. Artists – I’ll get to you later!

My favorite destination is Italy, where I marvel at the people and way of life. Olives, olive oil, balsamico, simple impeccably fresh foods and herbs, and wine, make this food special. In Tuscany make sure to have ravioli with squash and sage butter, and never forget the Bistecca alla Fiorentina made from Chianina beef dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. And gelato at Vivoli in Florence.

Remember that I went to a French cooking school and learned all the sauces and techniques. Simple and satisfying cuisines from southern France, Greece and Italy are my passion now. They are the best ingredients, fresh and perfectly cooked.

Next is Greece. The seafood and vegetables are incredible. We spent ten days traveling through the Ionian seas, and my Dad’s birthday party consisted of the meze -appetizers. Spanakopita, melizanasalata, tyroppita, keftedakia, taramosalata, risosalata, dolmades, octopus and many others.

Now we’re in the USA and today all eyes are on Buffalo with the untimely demise of a national treasure, Tim Russert. I’m a Bills girl and have been since a certain player who has since been disgraced joined the team and broke records.

Anchor Bar, hands down, for wings. Only with blue cheese and celery. No boneless wings live in Buffalo, nor does ranch or any other dressing to kill the heat of the wings. Beef on Weck, don’t know if it exists anymore but I grew up on it. Roast beef, thinly sliced with jus on a Kummelwick (salt and caroway seed) roll. And Ted’s hot dogs. Also one of my favorites is Swiss Chalet (Canada) and Chalet BBQ (US) where you can get chicken with potatoes, rolls, sauce, and what used to be a towel in a bowl with lemon to clean up with. Now it’s probably a wet-nap.

It’s been years since I lived there but there are some special things to remember. The seasons, the snow before it becomes cumbersome, and always the people. I still have folks there and miss the simple childhood times and memories of swimming in the pool, eating fresh fruit from the farm stand and grapes from Mr. C’s farm.

My thoughts are sent out tonight not to the networks or staff but to Big Russ and Mr. Russert’s family.

Respectfully, Dee