Martha's Vineyard

Our fall foliage trip this year took us to Martha's Vineyard. We were very excited to visit the location where President Obama vacations with his family.


In order to reach Martha's Vineyard, we had to take a ferry from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven. We had absolutely beautiful weather for this trip, and Alexi loved riding the ferry.


We stayed at the only campground on Martha's Vineyard, and it was our second time ever camping with Alexi. David poses with our new family tent, and we brought our folding bikes, Alexi's trailer and balance bike to do lots of bike riding on our trip.


One of our greatest discoveries on Martha's Vineyard was a place called Back Door Donuts. The line forms in the early evening at the 'back' of a bakery for some out-of-this-world donuts. David and Alexi enjoyed these donuts for breakfast our first morning in Martha's Vineyard.


We spent the entire weekend on our bikes. On Saturday we biked around the island to three lighthouses, and on Sunday we biked around the state forest loop. That's Alexi in the bike trailer.


We biked to both the West Chop and East Chop Lighthouses.



After a morning of bike riding, we headed to Flying Horses, on the National Register of Historic Places. It is America's Oldest Carousel, and since infancy Alexi has always loved riding carousels.


They look identical, though they are two different lighthouses. The first, with Alexi posed in front, is the East Chop Lighthouse, and the second is the Edgartown Lighthouse (with Alexi and Sharon taking in the view from the top).


The bluest Sound and sky - it was unseasonably warm Columbus Day Weekend. Alexi and Sharon posed in front of Gay Head Lighthouse and then gazed to the sea.



The beautiful white Gay Head Cliffs, a registered natural landmark. Alexi enters the foreground with the cliff and Gay Head Lighthouse in the background.



We had a very early ferry to catch back to the mainland, so we stopped off at the Black Dog when they opened for breakfast on our last day in Martha's Vineyard. What a fabulous fall foliage trip - we may return next year!

Bilbao 2011

Bilbao is a fabulous city in the Basque region of Spain. We visited toward the end of our summer Spain trip. David's paternal relatives are from the Basque region, so we were excited to visit.


The main attraction in Bilbao is the phenomenal Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry. It is an absolutely beautiful building that is designed to look like a ship that has run aground in the estuary. Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa has transformed the city into a huge tourist destination. Outside the museum is "Puppy" designed by Jeff Koons, affectionately called 'El Poop'.


Showing 'El Poop' (39' tall) to scale: Alexi is standing by the bar in the center of 'El Poop'.



We spent half a day touring the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. After checking out the temporary exhibit "The Luminous Interval" we went on a guided tour (in Spanish) of the Museum. David's favorite work was "Cavemanman" by Thomas Hirschhorn, Sharon's favorite work was "The Matter of Time" by Richard Serra and Alexi's favorite, as always, was the audio guide.



Views from outside the Guggenheim: "Maman" (mother spider) by Louise Bourgeois and the titanium museum, itself a work of art.



We left the chilly weather and rain behind us in San Feliu: it was sunny and warm our entire time in Bilbao. Everything in Bilbao is artsy, including the cool subway entrances.


Alexi is ready for a day of touring, standing by one of his favorite things: an elevator. First stop: Cathedral of Santiago (the oldest church in Bilbao).



We visited and photographed the beautiful Cloister inside the Cathedral.



One of the most fun parts of the trip was climbing the 213 steps of the Calzadas de Mallona. Alexi and mami enjoyed counting each step up to the Begoña Basilica.



The beautiful view from the steps. Bilbao is such a child and stroller friendly city; while Alexi and mami climbed the steps, David was able to push the stroller along the path adjacent to the steps.




We walked along Zubizuri Bridge. Build by Santiago Calatrava, it used to be paved in glass, though frightened peds must have led to a giant rug being placed over the glass. Alexi enjoyed being a spider like Maman outside the Guggenheim Museum.



Outstanding vegetarian gem: Garibolo. The ONLY vegetarian restaurant that was open during our weekend visit to Bilbao had delicious and amazing vegetarian and vegan food on the menu.



Vegan meatballs for David and stuffed peppers in a delicious cream sauce for Sharon.



The best part of the meal at Garibolo was vegan dessert!



We rode the Artxanda Cable Car to see Bilbao, and the Guggenheim Museum, from above.



Traveling up half a mile in the cable car led to these beautiful views of the city surrounded by mountains.



Posing in front of the gorgeous aerial view of Bilbao on our last day.



Where's Alexi? While mami and papi were busy taking photographs, Alexi was hanging out at the playground. We got to see Bilbao in two days, and thoroughly enjoyed our self-guided walking tours, vegetarian meals, beautiful bridge walking and the stunning Guggenheim Bilbao.


Ciao Bilbao! You will live on in our memories and our photographs.