Spain 2013

We vacationed again this summer in San Feliu de Guixols, Spain.  This was Mateo's first time at Cap Ducal, and he loved being there surrounded by his family (though he had to show his NYC pride of course!).

The big difference in our trip to Spain this year was we rented a car!  Our trips down the hill to the beach and to town that used to involve a 20-30 minute walk now take a mere 5 minutes.  We definitely embraced car culture in Spain.

Alexi, as always, had a fabulous time in Spain.  This year he left the baby pool behind and spent all his afternoons in the big pool playing with Mami and the big kids.  Halfway through our trip Alexi jumped into the big pool all by himself and started swimming ladder to ladder.  He also jumped into the pool 101 times in a single afternoon!  Go Alexi!

Mateo spent time poolside also.  He went into the shallow pool in his baby float and spent lots of time napping in his own personal tent.

We spent most mornings at la playa.  Both boys enjoyed playing in the sand.  Surprisingly, Mateo did not try to eat the sand as Alexi had his first summer in Spain.  Alexi enjoyed building moats with Papi.

We had so much fun taking in the sand and surf at the beach.  There were some big Atlantic ocean size waves this year!

Every year we spend an evening each week in town, walking La Rambla, having a pizza dinner at Cibu, enjoying some ice cream and hanging out with our friends Nina and Sven who have a daughter Ana who is the same age as Alexi. 

We visited the home of David's dear friend Jordi Palleres in Vic on the occasion of his birthday party.  We were warmly welcomed as family.

One of our favorite destinations in Spain this summer was Castell, a beautiful, small beach a short drive from Cap Ducal.  It was recommended to us by our friend Gloria. 

 

We went to Castell two times and spent the entire day, swimming in the Mediterranean, eating lunch at a restaurant on the beach and going for walks with Mateo.  We even got to check out some Iberian ruins.

Alexi's favorite activities in Spain as a five year old were reading (in English and Spanish!) and riding his boogie board.

Since we had the car this year we took many day trips together as a family.  We spent one day visiting Girona and La Bisbal.  In Girona we climbed the medieval wall surrounding the city and were thrilled to find that the vegan restaurant we visited back in 2010, B*12, is still around and thriving.

Our last week in Spain we took a day trip to Perpignan, France.  We were psyched to so easily cross the border without showing any passports and be in another country.















In Perpignan we had lunch at a local outdoor cafe (pizza of course!) and then toured the Palace of the Kings of Majorca.

 

Next year Alexi will be swimming laps in the big pool with Mami and Mateo will be standing on his own tossing the ball with Papi in the baby pool.  We are already looking forward to Spain 2014!!!

Portugal 2013

Our summer vacation this year first took us to Portugal, to the cities of Lisbon and Sintra.  It was Mateo's first time on an airplane and traveling internationally.  Alexi is a seasoned traveler and picked up many Portugese words on our travels.

After nearly missing our connection from London to Lisbon, and almost having to wait on line 2 hours to pick up our rental car, we made it to Portugal.  Our first stop was a place called Kidzania, a fictitious town run by children.  Alexi had a really great time there and especially enjoyed getting to do his dream job of being a firefighter and working in a grocery store as a checkout clerk.

We spent an entire day in Sintra and had a fabulous day there.  In the morning we visited Cabo da Roca, which is the westernmost point in Europe with a great view of the cliffs and Atlantic Ocean.

We toured the Moorish ruins and visited the Pena Palace in Sintra.  Alexi and Mami walked all along the walls of the Moorish ruins and climbed to the top of lookout towers for beautiful views while Mateo and Papi took things in at ground level.

We discovered a stellar vegetarian restaurant called Soul Food.  It is run by an ex-pat in the backyard of her home in Sintra.  We sat on cushions on the lawn and had an absolutely scrumptuous vegan meal.

In Lisbon we visited Calouste Gulbenkian Art Museum.  Highlights included illuminated manuscripts of the Koran and Impressionist paintings.  The concierge from our hotel joked with David that it is better to have a wife who loves to go museum hopping than who loves to go shopping!

Both children had a fabulous time in Portugal.  Mateo stayed in his very first hotel in Lisbon and Alexi got to photograph all the cool places we visited.

Best of 2012

Best of 2012 List:

Sharon's Novels

(1) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
(2) Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler
(3) Native Son by Richard Wright
(4) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
(5) Sophie's Choice by William Styron

David's Novels (all by Chuck Palahniuk)

(1) Fight Club
(2) Invisible Monsters
(3) Haunted
(4) Choke

Best Public Reading: Dante's Inferno at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Our Favorite Movie Rentals

(1) 2 Days in New York
(2) Vertigo
(3) The Way (El Camino)
(4) Farinelli
(5) Midnight in Paris
(6) The Wave
(7) The Skin I Live In
(8) We Bought a Zoo
(9) Carnage
(10) The Breakfast Club


Best Opera of the Year

The Ring Cycle by the Metropolitan Opera Company:

Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung

Four operas, some lasting seven hours plus, with the incredible music by Wagner.  The fantastic technological set design did not at all distract from the music and storytelling (as some reviewers claimed); this is definitely an opera everyone must see once in a lifetime.

Best Art Exhibits/Gallery Shows/Public Art

(1) The Value of Water @ Cathedral of St. John the Divine
(2) New Photographers - Yuji Obata's time capture photographs of snowflakes in Japan @ Danziger
(3)The Game of Kings: Medieval Ivory Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis @ The Cloisters
(4) Cloud City by Tomas Saraceno on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
(5) Discovering Columbus by Tatzu Nishi @ Columbus Circle
(6) Passing Glances by Peter Bulow @ Fort Tryon Park
(7) Jacco Olivier @ Madison Square Park
(8) Pet Sounds @ Madison Square Park
(9) Helio Oiticica "Penetrables" @ Galerie LeLong
(10) Buckyball by Leo Villareal @ Madison Square Park 

Best Broadway: The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Best Off Broadway Shows: Gatz (6 hour marathon play that included the entire reading of The Great Gatsby) and Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (an electro-pop musical based on the novel War and Peace set in a Russian nightclub - absolutely stunning and phenomenal)

Best Family Show: The Christmas Spectacular at Rockefeller Center

Best Parade - Sharon marching with Manhattan College in the St. Patrick's Day Parade

Best TV Series: Breaking Bad (currently watching on DVD)

Best Sporting Events: Yankee Game (Cap Night in June) and Brooklyn Nets vs. New York Knicks (Knicks win with 3 pointer by J. Kidd with seconds left)! at new Barclays Center (David went with his brother Daniel in December)

Sporting Milestone: David runs his first NYC Half Marathon!

Best Science Experience - Inwood Stargazing (saw conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, Mars and Saturn rising!)

Best Travel Destinations

(1) San Feliu
(2) London
(3) Catskills
(4) Woodstock


Best Vegan Experience: Four Course Vegan

Best Ice Cream: L'Arte del Gelato 

Best Vegan Ice Cream: Lula's Sweet Apothecary

Best Shakespeare: Richard III at the Globe Theatre in London

Best View of NYC: Tree Lighting @ Rockefeller Center


Top 5 Reasons to Love New York City:

(1)VEGAN Capital - 4 Course Vegan (before they moved to Cali), Fabulous Vegan Restaurants (Peacefood Cafe, Quintessence and Caravan of Dreams) and even a Valentine's Vegan Pop-Up in Williamsburg {made it easy for David to be a 6 day a week and Sharon a 3 day a week vegan}
(2) Washington Heights and Inwood Community: Little Seed CSA, Harvest Festival, Easter Egg Scramble, PSK Soccer, NatureMania and Fort Tryon Bulb Planting
(3) Zoos and Wildlife Conservation Centers (Alexi and Sharon visited all 5 this year: Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queen's Zoo and Staten Island Zoo)
(4) Cycling - biking Alexi to school in the Weehoo, bike commuting to work, Blessing of the Bicycles, family rides along the Palisades, the Hudson River Greenway, and around Central Park, NYC Century and Alexi learning to ride his own bike with pedals (no training wheels!)
(5) Subway Musicians

Catskills and Woodstock

This year our annual fall foliage trip took us to the Catskills.  We were excited to visit a place not far outside NYC where David's father had worked during the summers many years ago.  We camped in the Catskills, and braved lots of rain as well as the temperatures dropping to 35 degrees each night!

We enjoyed driving around and checking out the local sites.  We saw several covered bridges - the one pictured we were able to drive through, though another one appeared functional according to Google directions though was actually a dead end.  Alexi is very interested in firetrucks and firefighters this year (he dressed up as a fireman for Halloween), so he loved seeing this old school fire engine.











After taking the scenic route recommended by Google, we arrived in Woodstock.  We were thrilled to visit this legendary town, where the 1960's are still very much alive and David spent some weekends as a child visiting his cousin Dorinda at their Woodstock home.










The public art in Woodstock is AWESOME!  Check out Sharon and Alexi (or is it batman?!) framed and Alexi riding a bike.

Rock and roll music is still synonymous with Woodstock.  Alexi found many guitars in which to rock out (his second favorite instrument, after the piano).  We made the most of our time in Woodstock and the Catskills, and look forward to wherever our fall foliage trip takes us next year.