Hats By Katrinka

Cherry Blossom Ride

On Saturday a young friend and I set out on our bicycles to work off a few winter pounds and to go see the cherry blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial Tidal Basin. At the height of the CB Festival the blossoms, according to the news reports, were to be at peak bloom that day. We started out early before 8:30 a.m. and it was a chilly ride since the temp was just a little over 40 degrees. My biggest mistake was wearing fingerless biking gloves instead of regular leather gloves. I thought my thumbs would freeze off!

Laura noticed a protected crossover on the 14^th Street George Mason Bridge as we rode under it so we took it and that saved us a few miles.
We arrived at the Memorial with busloads of tourists only to discover that most of the blossoms were tightly shut.
So much for the beautiful display we’ve seen in years past.
Still it was a fun ride and as the sun rose higher in the sky it began to warm up. We headed home and ended our ride at Caribou Coffee in Shirlington for a warm up coffee and a snack.

By Wednesday the temperature here had climbed some 50 degrees and I had my own "cherry blossom festival" just looking out my front door
at my neighbor’s tree across the street. Gorgeous!

A Trip to Basque Country

At last I am back with pictures of my recent trip to the Basque country. I expect this trip will be the first of many Rick Steves’ tours for me.  We were a group of 20 with a wonderful guide, Francisco a/k/a Fran or “Patchy” (sounds like his nickname in the Basque language Euskara). Many in our group had taken multiple RS Tours and I now know why. We covered a lot of territory in a short week, had a wonderful time, ate and drank very well and had terrific local guides everywhere we went – not to mention our great traveling companions, access to some RS exclusives like dinner at a private dining club – off limits to other tourists – and a bonus side trip to Pamplona, our guide’s home town. Yes, that's where they run the bulls every year (and, yes, he’s run it many times).  It was the perfect mix of interesting organized activities and free time to do what we wished. 

We began our tour in Bayonne, France. After a long train ride from St. Gallen, Switzerland, my friend Starr and I arrived late the night before our tour so we spent our first morning and afternoon exploring (and shopping) on our own. We lucked into a terrific first lunch at
 Brasserie Les Arcades where we ordered Assiette Pils Pils, a Basque dish loaded with the tiniest, sweetest mussels
 I’ve ever eaten along with slices of local sausage, little tender squid, steamed potatoes (we didn’t know it included potatoes so mistakenly ordered pommes frites) in a sweet pepper sauce that was divine! With bread and wine we were off to a good start.

When our tour began we would learn that the Basque Jews were the first importers of chocolate to Europe and wonderful chocolate shops abound in Bayonne.
 Here some local children were having a lesson on the intricacies of making chocolates and I found my favorites - candied orange slices dipped in dark chocolate. Sublime!

I was seduced by these Bocage “tango” shoes even before our tour began and both of us found scarves to add to our collections. We met our group for dinner on Saturday evening.
Our fabulous guide thought it funny that I take pictures of food and wine on my trips so he posed for me.

 

 Bayonne is a pretty little city, once a shipbuilding and whaling center. It is said the bayonet was invented here. They have a great Museum of Basque Culture which we toured with a local guide.

The Basques predate the pre-Christian era and originally worshiped Mother Nature (they are now Catholic).
This painting depicts a folk dance, an inspiration for what became ballet in France. Chocolate and ballet! These Basques were becoming more interesting all the time. Jai Lai (among many other ball sports) is also a Basque invention.

In my pre-tour research I found a website for a town called La Pernia in northwest Spain. The website cited a population of 440 but didn’t relate much more  information. I asked our various guides about it but none seemed familiar with the town. Later Patchy searched his iPhone and told me that La Pernia is actually not in Basque country but in nearby Palencia. He also told me that there was a large migration of Basques to the Philippines for the fishing in days gone by. I wonder if my former husband’s people came from this part of Spain by way of the Philippines?

 

After our tour of the city and of the museum we had some free time so a group of us went for lunch along the river. I ordered a plate of tapas (Pinxtos – pronounced peenchos - in Euskara)
that was so huge I couldn’t eat it all. Thanks to our new friend Cal who treated a table full of ladies! Two lunches in a row had proven that Basque portions are large and delicious.

We were free in the afternoon but our guide had business in St. Jean-de-Luz and offered to show us the way by train. This picturesque beach town where Louis XIV was married was a fun addition to our day.

The next morning we took our bus to St. Jean Pied de Port where the Camino Santiago begins.
Here my new friend, Susie, poses with Starr and the Basque linens the area is famous for. We also found more chocolate and an intriguing spice shop (as seamen, Basques were big traders and the pilgrims on the The Way were customers).
I loved this interesting planter arrangement.

 

Susie, Starr and I were teased about our shopping proclivities but I’m always on the lookout for sewing inspirations like this pretty jacket. 

We stopped along the way to San Sebastian for lunch at a hotel that really challenged our ability to pack away food. I believe it was at least a 7 course lunch but I really lost track as the wine flowed liberally in this Rioja region.
I did snap a picture of our delicious first course, a cold sort of gazpacho with a cream and pimento base topped with local jamon (ham) and green peppers. Yum! 
I also  remember that we had two desserts and this was just one of them.

When we arrived in San Sebastian our first stop was a hilltop view and then a ride down on the 100 year old funicular. This set us down at an intriguing park with
amazing geological formations,
a Wind Comb sculpture and blow holes that gave us a thrill or two.
Here Starr is having a “Marilyn Monroe Moment.”

I loved every place we went on this trip but if I had to choose just one place to return to I think it would be San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque). It is a gorgeous city on La Concha Bay off the Bay of Biscay with a picturesque Old Town, great shopping, beautiful 19^th century buildings (Napolean’s troops burned it down so the really old buildings are mostly gone), a beautiful beach and surfing. We’d just missed George Clooney and Tommy Lee Jones who’d been there the week before for the International Film Festival. Drat! 

Our first night in San Sebastian we went for a tour of several bars for pinxtos. Patchy introduced us to a local young wine known as Txakoli (pronounced chahkolee) poured theatrically from a height into tumblers to aerate it. Txakoli goes very well indeed with the vast array of pinxtos.  Apparently the Basques downsized from whales to cod (still very popular here) to sardines and finally to anchovies. What a great way to eat, cruising from one bar to the next, having a glass and a snack, visiting with friends, and then moving on to another bar with another specialty of the house. Delicious!

We had a walking tour of San Sebastian the next day with Augustin, another great local guide.

We walked to the old seaport, through the old town and by beautiful buildings sponsored by the Infanta Maria Cristina who came to San Sebastian to bathe on doctor’s orders for her exzema. It became a royal hangout for good reason. I loved watching the surfers in wetsuits on bicycles with their surfboards tucked under their arm. We had to be very careful in the bicycle lanes.

I’d asked Fran where would be a good place to buy a Basque beret (La autentica boina vasca) and he asked if I wanted the real thing rather than the tourist berets sold everywhere. Of course! He told me he knew just the place in San Sebastian. Then he went above and beyond my request, visiting the shop and researching all the types and qualities they had on offer and even told me their top price. So I purchased their top quality beret made by a family company in the Village of Tolosa who celebrated their 150 year anniversary in 2008. I asked Fran if the Basques invented the beret but he said no. They only adopted it. Of course, it is traditionally a man’s hat but that didn’t stop me. Starr also found a cute cloche which suited her in the same shop.

Our last evening in San Sebastian we were treated to dinner in a private dining club. These clubs were originally “men only” but now accept a few women who are nevertheless not allowed in the kitchen. We had a delicious meal and broke all RS tour records on our wine consumption. 
Here is our host and chef!

Off to walk the Camino Santiago we stopped for a photo op in the Pyrenees. Since we were so near Patchy decided to show us his hometown of Pamplona and tell us about the running of the bulls.
He couldn’t resist trying on my beret and I do think it suits him better than me. Despite all the drama did you know that most injuries are caused – not by the bulls – but by youngsters in flip flops cutting up their feet in the crowds of champagne drinking (and littering) bystanders? Fran told us he ran the bulls from age 17 until he turned 30 when his daughter was born. Not being the macho type, I would avoid Pamplona when that packed with tourists.

 
While in Pamplona we stopped off for a coffee/bathroom break at one of the many bars where Hemingway drank and wrote and I spotted this pilgrim by her fantastic walking stick! She was just embarking on The Way and turned out to be from Baltimore. When Tina heard I was from Arlington, Virginia she asked me to carry back an extra jacket mistakenly packed in her backpack. I agreed and hope to connect with her after her pilgrimage to hear how her adventure went.
We also saw a redwood tree in Pamplona, a gift from the United States (Is that how Germany and Switzerland got the ones we saw there?). It had been struck by lightening and was deemed a loss by all the tree experts but a homeopath advised one last ditch effort that proved to save the tree so it is still thriving.

We would see another tree in Guernica but first we would spend a day walking the Camino Santiago, for centuries a religious pilgrimage but now a quest by many who simply want to walk with some meditative time or lose some weight.
The whole Camino takes over a month to walk and several of our clients advised me to see the Emilio Estevez film, The Way, before I took this trip. I enjoyed it and watched the film twice. I also enjoyed El Camino Santiago and may go back someday.

We stopped for lunch along The Way at a little family vineyard. This family winery in the Navarra region has been in business since the 12^th century. We were served their delicious red wine along with an outstanding lunch made from what grows on their property.

 

We encountered this Ermita de Santa Maria de Eunate along The Way where, it turns out, our tour guide was married! He said there is a tradition that anyone who is married here stays married (or is thwarted before the wedding happens).  Whatever the mythology, it is a beautiful gothic structure in seemingly the middle of nowhere but there are many respites along way for pilgrims on the Camino Santiago.

We encountered many churches in our week-long trek. Ever wonder where all that gold the Spaniards were after was going?

We ended our walk on the Camino by crossing over this Roman bridge and then it was back to San Sebastian for the night.

The next morning we were on our way to Guernica but stopped at this little fishing town of Getaria, home of Juan-Sebastian de Elcano. Remember that bit in geography class about Magellan being the first to circumnavigate the globe? Well, the truth is he didn’t make the whole trip but died in the Philippines. It was the Basque sailor Juan-Sebastian del Elcano, a hell-raiser who was apparently taken out of the brig because he was the only one who could sail the ship home. Eight of the original crew made it back thanks to him.

 

It was late morning and I was hungry (again!) so instead of coffee I indulged in another pinxto - and the most delicious of my trip
– fresh anchovies on a sweet pimento with a sprinkle of fresh garlic on bread (sigh).  As if I needed a reason to come back, Patchy made a point on the bus that Getaria was also the hometown of Cristobal Balenciaga, a fabulous couture designer of the 40s and 50s. There is a museum dedicated to him in Getaria (alas, not on our tour!) with a whole section devoted to hats!

 

Guernica was bombed in 1937 by Hitler with Franco’s collusion as a practice run for Nazi bombing techniques later used on London. Apparently, they thought it would all be kept very quiet but the newspapers got wind of it and Picasso painted his famous anti-war painting Guernica as a result. The painting, for many years at MOMA in the U.S. while Franco still reigned, is now located in Madrid but we saw a full size replica done in tiles on a public wall in Guernica. Very moving!

 Another great local guide took us through the Assembly House where members from the various Basque regions meet regarding important issues. In the old days, before telephone and telegraph, members had 20 days from the time that bonfires were lit from hilltops and the ram’s horn was blown, to get to where members met under an oak tree. The original tree has since died but they have maintained an oak tree as a symbolic part of the Assembly and we saw the young replacement.

Our guide brought a ram’s horn and demonstrated the technique for making the rousing noise. Several of us took turns trying to get the thing to toot like a horn. And guess who had the most success?  Somehow, I figured what the thing needed was an old fashioned “raspberry” into the horn and I made a joyful noise – not once but twice. Perhaps I should take up the trumpet, after all.  Not!!

We then toured the Assembly House…

 
… and an eerie bomb shelter. 

Then on to Bilbao.
Our first view of the largest city on our tour, was from this hilltop with a thumbprint art piece setting the tone. Once settled into our hotel we walked around the old town section, past the cathedral and on to 

Victor Montes for more pintxos and a Txakoli.

 

On our way back to our hotel we strolled down this Calle. I found a similar street when I was in Barcelona 5 or 6 years ago. Only one hat shop there now.

Friday morning we headed out early for a walk to the Guggenheim.  
I was looking forward to seeing this museum for the amazing Frank Gehry structure but was skeptical about the art, since I’m not normally a huge fan of modern art. I was to be very surprised. 

The first but only disappointment to my mind was that “Puppy” in front of the museum was undergoing a twice yearly changing of the plantings that coat this giant West Highland Terrier sculpture, a tribute to “sentimentalism.” It takes two days to change out the plants and wouldn’t you know that’s when we were there. Oh well, plenty more to see.

This stunning building is covered in sheets of titanium and glass. Bilbao, once a steel and shipbuilding industrial city, dreamed up and reinvented itself around this museum when those industries moved elsewhere. It is an astounding accomplishment. 
The building is evocative of the ships once built here and the fishing that drove the shipbuilding trades. Everywhere you look the building seems to change inside and out and it is beautiful.
We were guided on a tour of the permanent collection which, much to my surprise, I liked very much. Outside there are sculptures,
one incorporating a nearby bridge, another a giant spider called “Mother” which these school children were very involved with.
The girls were hugging her legs and the little boys were trying to push her over. Hourly there is a mist happening as an artistic installation and at night there are fire fountains (which we did not see during the day). We had free time in the afternoon and opted to have lunch in their excellent cafe.
We especially enjoyed the Sangria!

Inside I was most taken with the Richard Serra installation named La materia del tiempo. We walked the first piece, called “the snake” which was mesmerizing like walking a maze. I went back after lunch to walk the six other mazes in the group and consider this my “Wow Moment” of the tour. We were not permitted to take pictures of the artwork due to copyright issues so you’ll just have to go and see for yourself.

 

Too soon we had our last dinner celebration with the group (Where did the week go?!?)
and it was sad to say good-bye to our traveling companions. Hopefully, some of us will meet again on other tours and a few of us are already planning reunions.

Some of us weren’t flying out until Sunday so we had a little more time to explore. Susie and I found a street full of “mercerie” shops on Calle Arte. Starr, you should have seen them all!  Susie and I also headed back to the large department store where I’d seen a jacket I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I bought it and we prowled the aisles to check out other goodies including a Carolina Herrera boutique which felt like a chapel! I had no more room in my suitcase and can’t afford CH anyway but it was fun to see.

Our intrepid guide had mentioned that “the best flamenco dancer in Spain” was performing at the theater across from our hotel. Carlene, Susie and I managed to snag tickets to see Sara Baras on our last night in Bilbao. It was an amazing end to our wonderful tour.

Salut!

K Q:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter in Virginia

A friend in Switzerland sent me pictures of Easter in St. Gallen (where I used to live) with snow on the blooming trees. I wanted to share a little of beautiful Virginia on Easter weekend.

Yesterday we took another stroll in Green Springs Garden on Braddock Road to see what was blooming and I am now lusting after some new perrenials for my little patch of Garden Heaven.

This is a fragrant deciduous azalea I've never seen before. It's called Coleman's Early Yellow and what a gorgeous color it is. I spotted it across a wide lawn and had to go check it out. What a treat to find it fragrant as well. I've already located a source to order one. All I have to do is find the perfect spot for it.

 Green Spring has a series of "garden rooms" and I fell for this one featuring a tiny pool with a delightfully fragrant
 Korean Spice Viburnum overhanging the pool. How sweet that there was a bench under the tree where one could sit and breathe in the fragrance.

 Here is a close up of the flower which becomes berries later in the season. It's on my BUY list!

Well, there was much more but I am learning a new computer - an iMac - and it's like blogging in a foreign language. Please be patient with me.

K Q;-)

 

Sunny California and a December Holiday

I’m just back from checking another item off my "bucket list." Last week I flew out to California to spend a week with my dear friend, Marj, who has been living and working in costuming for 20 years in the movie and television industry. Marj has worked on many of your favorite films and she hired me for my first two jobs as a theatrical milliner - for City Opera and for Theatre Virginia - which led to my two year gig at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. We go waaaaaaaaaay back and have seen too little of each other tho’ we have always managed to stay in touch (and NOT on Facebook!).

My first full day in LA Marj took me to Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens to view the gardens and art collection. The Santa Anna winds had hit S. California at 100 mph a few days before my arrival so the gardens were in a bit of disarray still there was much to see. We were particularly intrigued by the Green and Green "arts and crafts period" furniture. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed in the museum. I also managed to do a bit of Christmas shopping in their marvelous Gift Shop.

Monday Marj treated me to a trip to Western Costumes in North Hollywood where she introduced me to many of her colleagues and we pawed for hours through gorgeous clothing of all eras. This is a rental house, not a museum, so we were allowed to touch and take pictures. 
 Loved this 40s era felt hat tho’ my picture doesn’t do it justice. 
 Here is a nifty ribbon treatment for a brim edge.
I loved this little straw and silk taffeta number. Marj introdumed meto meet Harry Rotz, their wonderful in-house milliner. 
 This is an antique bonnet he restored. We also poked around in the library and "star collection" where I spotted this jacket 
 worn by Marilyn Monroe in Niagra, (I REALLY wanted to try this on!) this dress 
 from Gone With the Wind, Robert Redford’s 
 long johns and this costume 
 worn by Rudolf Valentino in one of his "sheik" films. He was really tiny! 
 What fun seeing all these beautiful details!

After our costume outing we strolled around Pasadena checking out the shops. I couldn’t resist these fabulous 
 crazy pumps on sale at a store called Koi. I was the envy of the young ladies at work when I wore them in this week. We also found a great children’s toy store and a used book shop where I found more holiday bargains. So I wasn’t totally ignoring the Christmas shopping scene.

Tuesday we hit the road for my "bucket list" desire to drive up the coast on CA Rt. 1. We took the 101 as far as Pismo Beach where we stopped for a late lunch at Ventana Grill. Since we’d missed the lunch rush (and it is December) we were seated right next to the window overlooking 
 the Pacific. Gorgeous! We watched the cormorants and pelicans as we ate delicious Mahi Mahi sandwiches served with a grilled leek and potato wedges. Delicious!

After a little trouble finding our way we connected with our route north on CA 1 and enjoyed the view ending our drive that day at Cambria. After our late lunch we weren’t very hungry for dinner and it was already dark so we opted to check out a few of the shops where I snagged a few more Christmas gifts before heading back to our very nice Sandpiper Inn on the beach. We even had a fireplace in our room. In the morning I woke up early (on east coast time) so went for a walk to take some pictures. I love these 
 California cypress trees 
 and red hot poker. So peaceful!

Our highlight for this day in Cambria was a tour of the Hearst Castle. We started with an interesting iMax film about the building of the castle then took a guided tour and poked around the gardens on our own. 
 What a magnificent sight on a magnificent site overlooking the Pacific. We also enjoyed seeing zebras grazing in the fields, left over from the private zoo days of the 30s and 40s. 
 I think my favorite part was this Neptune Pool. 
 Or perhaps the indoor (under the tennis courts) Roman Pool lit from above with sunlight through glass bricks above. This amazing place was designed by a woman architect, Julia Morgan, in close collaboration with William Randolph Hearst who changed his mind many, many times about what he wanted. Ms. Morgan designed over 700 projects in her long career and I think Hearst’s project was in the early 500s.

We hit the road again and headed up through Big Sur toward Carmel and Monterey. We skipped the first restaurant we saw along Rt. 1 thinking we’d see many more along the way, a mistake. Instead we saw gorgeous scenery, the blue Pacific on our left and the desert hillsides on the right with ever changing colors around every curve. One vista would be shades of silver, grey and white stone then around the curve a hillside full of succulent ice plants in shades of orange, wine, green and red. Beautiful! Of course, this time of year we had to deal with a fair amount of road repair work and landslide prevention. It was worth it. We had no deadlines pressing and the traffic was light. 
 Finally, just south of Carmel we spotted this Gallery and coffee bar where we stopped for another after 2 pm lunch on the deck while we watched the Monarch butterflies migrating through the area. I’ve ever seen so many butterflies in one place!

Once on the road again we realized we were almost to our destination. We took a detour off 1 to drive through Carmel (quaint and rich!) down to the beach where we took a brief walk in the sand and Marj shot this picture
with the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course (owned by Clint Eastwood) in the background. Then we headed into Monterey for a relaxing evening with what was left of the Sancerre we’d bought in Cambria.

 In the morning we celebrated two days without dinner with an extravagant breakfast by the window overlooking Monterey Bay, seals and cormorants. We ate 
 Huevos Rancheros made with peppers, avocado, Dungeness crab and the tenderest tiny shrimp I think I’ve ever eaten on a crispy tortilla. Delicious!

Then we were off to the aquarium 
 where we spent several hours watching the 
 sea otters feed and the octopus explore the window where I swear he was as busy watching us as we were watching him. He was a gorgeous orange but we were told he changes colors according to his mood. My favorite exhibit was the seahorses and in particular this amazing 
 Sea Dragon which blends exquisitely into the kelp it lives in. How can they be real?!? 
 We must do more to preserve our oceans for these amazing creatures.

After several hours of sea gazing we headed down 101 through the Central Valley farm and wine country. This is Steinbeck territory. We talked about rereading his novels as we drove past vineyard after vineyard decked out in gorgeous fall colors. 
 Our goal was Solvang, a little Danish town in Central California. We arrived in town after dark, checked into our hotel and went looking for a Danish dinner. We struck out the first place we looked into. It was Chinese! Sorry, not what we were looking for. Scouting around in the dark the next restaurant looked promising, natural home-cooked foods. We were hungry so we decided to try it. We ate lamb shanks with okra and tomatoes with rice and a terrible chardonnay. I think the guy who ran the place was Middle Eastern and probably doesn’t drink. Oh well, the dinner was good and we did have aebelskivers for dessert which I know are Danish (tho’ I don’t think the Danish eat them for dessert). After dinner we wandered over to Taste of the Valley, a little wine bar, where we were served by a young lady named Mayapple (a favorite plant of my childhood). When we asked for a glass of "something local" she recommended a William James Santa Barbara Chardonnay made by a friend of hers, a self taught woman vintner. It was very good! 
 We had a couple of glasses and bought a bottle to carry home with us as well.

The next morning we opted out of the hotel’s "continental breakfast" and crossed the street to Mortensen’s Bakery where we sampled apple, 
 raspberry and blueberry Danish pastries with coffee. They were all delicious but Marj and I agreed that the raspberry "won." I bought butter cookies to take back to my office. After breakfast it was still early so we drove a mile or so to see 
 Santa Inez (Saint Agnes) Mission which has remained in constant use since its founding in the 19^th century along the Camino Real. 
 We did the self-guided tour and 
 enjoyed the garden 
 then headed back to Solvang where the shops were opening.

Walking around we noticed there were a number of empty restaurants and shops. The recession has hit this little tourist town hard. There were many open shops where everything was 50% off. As one of the shopkeepers told us, "The party is over!" She’s probably right. I did my best to keep their economy going.

We finally found our Danish meal for lunch at the Red Viking where I ordered a Danish beer and we each had a Danish meatball sandwich, a huge pork meatball sliced and served on a piece of dense, thin pumpernickel bread, topped with a mound of pickled red cabbage and thin sliced sweet pickles with a slice of beet thrown in for good measure.
It was served with a delicious mound of potato salad with just a touch of mustard. Yes, I’m still taking pictures of food! It was delicious and filling - no dinner again tonight! While lunching we spotted a Royal Copenhagen shop across the street so we checked it out. My mother used to collect their Christmas plates as did Marj’s aunt. We browsed and tried to decide what to buy when Connie, the shop owner, told us hers was the oldest shop in Solvang but was closing at the end of the year. She will remain open on-line but can no loner afford to keep the shop open. 
We each bought a couple of plates out of nostalgia and love for 
 these lovely blue plates.

After Solvang we headed back to L.A. and back to Marj’s lovely home and garden, a haven for cats and hummingbirds and even a bold opossum.
 
She did all the xeriscaping herself
and it is a tribute to her design talent. Of all the places we stayed this was the best!

On Friday Marj took me on an excursion to 
 Watts to see these crazy towers built by an Italian immigrant, Sabato Rodia, who ditched his wife and kids to "build his dream." 
 They reminded me just a bit of a rustic version of Gaudi’s towers in Barcelona. Weird and kind of wonderful in this sketchy area of town.

Saturday, the last day of my visit, we drove over to 
 Olvera Street to buy a few Mexican Christmas ornaments. I also wanted another taste of that wonderful tortilla soup I remembered having the last time I visited Marj. 
 The soup was not so good as I remembered - no mango this time and the stock was not as rich. Perhaps my memory was embellished or the restaurant is under new management. 
 The street was still entertaining with lots of kitschy ornaments and 
 I was charmed by the little girl dancers in the park.

What a GREAT vacation! Thank you, Marj, for your delightful company and for putting together the perfect itinerary. By now I was missing my Poco Loco and it was time to go home and get real about Christmas preparations. We will travel again together, I hope.

Happy Holidays to All!

K

　

Thanksgiving in New York

I spent a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend in New York City as a guest of my friends Jerry and Don in their new apartment in "lower Harlem." Honored to be their first houseguest, I arrived in typical wintery NYC weather - chilly and rainy in the 40s on the Vamoose bus, a terrific bargain and a pleasant trip. The next day the weather turned balmy and sunny. Couldn’t have ordered better.

 
Jerry made preparations for our Thanksgiving feast with several additional guests coming late Thursday afternoon. 
 Don polished the silver and set the table. 
 Then we went for a walk to whet our appetites. 
 It was a great meal in lovely company and I hope yours was as congenial too.

Friday we joined another friend, Lynn, to see War Horse at Lincoln Center. That was an amazing and emotional production and probably one of the best pieces of theater I’ve ever seen. Of course, no pictures allowed but perhaps you can find some on the web. The lifesize puppet horses by a South African company and operated by three puppeteers each, were astoundingly alive.

On Saturday Don had snagged us free tickets for a "Foods of the Lower East Side" tour sponsored by the Tenement Museum. This was great fun with little tastes all along the way and we discovered a number of places even us die hard New Yorkers never knew about - like the Essex Street Market in existence since 1940 and 
 Economy Candy, a "penny candy" store. One of the highlights was this 
 Panade bakery where just to demonstrate the ethnic mix of the Lower East Side we sampled 
 puff pastries stuffed with green tea cream (not my favorite). We also had bits of 1/4 sour pickles from the last kosher pickle stand in the area (closed because it was Saturday - but our guide had thought ahead), pretzels w/mustard, and my personal favorite 
 dumplings from Angela’s Dumplings which has a Zagat rating and rave reviews plastered all over the storefront. 
 Sprinkled among the old tenement buildings and shops were some lovely old synagogues
.

We walked up through SoHo after our tour which was packed with holiday shoppers and tourists. 
 We spotted this lovely old building which was the Singer Sewing Machine headquarters years ago. 
 It’s still a lovely building. 

 Another item of interest for me was this men’s hat shop that appears to have something for every gentleman who wants a topper. I also liked this cool looking bar
.

Sunday I was on my own and walked over to the Bard Graduate Center on W. 86^th Street to see the Stephen Jones exhibit "Hats an Anthology." No pictures allowed, I’m afraid, but I did buy the book. This exhibit was held at the V&A in London a couple of years ago and I was thrilled to see it come so close to home. It’s many hats are spread across three floors of this brownstone building off Central Park West and I will go back in the Spring with my Houston Hat Net buddies. (I just couldn’t WAIT!) Then I walked down Amsterdam to find my favorite old dumpling place in my old neighborhood, The Cottage on Amsterdam at 77^th. I am pleased to report their Szechuan Dumplings in Peanut Sauce are still delicious and cheap. After lunch I headed down to the TKTS booth where I got half price tickets to see Kim Catrall and Paul Gross in Noel Coward’s Private Lives, another delightful theater experience.

On the way home we had a minor mishap, a flat tire, which delayed us just long enough for us to hit Washington, DC during Monday Rush Hour. The pain was eased by the coupon Vamoose sent each one of us for a free ride. All in all a great weekend! Thank you, Jerry and Don!

　

Groupon Tagalong

Our friend Carrie found a deal on a limo and got us organized for a Virginia winery tour on Saturday. It was loads of fun! There are over 200 wineries in Virginia these days and the wines are getting better all the time. We hit only two of them Saturday but that was enough for plenty of hilarity.

 Imagine our surprise (and glee!) when our limo showed up - a Hummer! I’ve always thought these vehicles are ridiculous except for military use and this variation is certainly the most hilarious of all. 
 It was comfortable ride tho’ and driver Steve took good care of us. We enjoyed mimosas, champagne and snacks while Steve took care of the driving.

Our first stop was Tarara Winery located on the Potomac within sight of Sugarloaf Mountain. Carrie had planned ahead and had coupons for all of us for a free tasting and discounts on anything we bought. 
 My favorite here was a 2009 Cabernet Franc which will accompany our Thanksgiving celebration. 
 Kathy is testing the quality of the Riedel glasses.

 Head ‘em up and move ‘em out! We’d spent so much time admiring the art, the wines and the glasses that we realized we only had time for one more winery. No problem!

 Last stop was La Grange Winery located in a 19^th century Virginia house.
Tastemaster Kathy led us through a lengthy list of tastings. It seems that Viognier and Cabernet Franc are the best of the Virginia wines we tried. Nevertheless, I was inspired to buy a bottle of Snort, it’s like a Port but since it’s not made in Portugal they had to come up with another moniker. Think I’ll save this for an after-dinner treat for my next dinner party. Wonder if it will taste as good as I remember? One does lose some discretion by the end of a tasting day.

Happy Thanksgiving, All !!!

K Q:-)

Mame Millinery

I was away in Sicily in July when Providence Players held auditions for Mame so I was out of competition for a role. However, with 40 cast members and multiple decades of time involved I figured I could be of some use by assisting with the millinery. So that has been amusing me these past few weeks. Mostly, I make adjustments in hats from the PP costume collection so they will work in various scenes but where nothing we have will do I invent.

There is a funny scene at Peckerwood Plantation where the belles need hats but their faces must not be shaded by large brims in the way of stage lighting. I’ve had this problem before so worked up some sheer hats that would look belle-like but let the lights shine through the brims to the actresses’ faces.
Here is one I made for Sally Cato of sheer netting.

There are several more in this scene but I forgot to snap pictures before letting them out of my hands.

One of my favorite projects was transforming a thrift store Betmar hat into a 20s cloche to match a white fox fur boa one of the extras is wearing in another scene. Wish I’d thought to take a "before" picture of the white felt boater I found in the PP boxes.  
Anyway, here is a photo I cut out of the Washington Post some years ago for inspiration. This is the wife of a 20's football coach...I don’t know who...but I loved the cloche.

 
 Here’s how our white felt hat ended up after I’d had a turn at the steamer with one of my head blocks.  
The bow was salvaged from the original boater and replaced on the cloche for a little extra drama.

This week we have dress rehearsals so I will try to snap a few more pictures as we progress.

K Q:-)

Sailing Sicily

OK - Not my best photo but it does express the exasperation of sitting on the tarmac at DCA for three hours, then exiting the plane (there’s a law about that now) leaving one’s carry-on luggage aboard, only to have to return and retrieve it within the hour when all flights are canceled due to thunderstorms in DC and Philadelphia. Reschedule the flight? Sure! Two days later. I was feeling gypped out of 2 days of my Sicily sailing trip. (More about that later.) On Sunday my purchased Fellini-esque hat did get lots of compliments from airport personnel and when I finally did arrive in Rome I got a "Complimenti! Bello capello!" from the cutest Italian customs agent (more on him later too). Starr spotted me on the dock (after a €40 taxi ride to catch up with them in Terrasina) all the way across the harbor. Mission accomplished! Sicily was scorching hot and so was this polyester hat so that was the last I wore this one.

Elizabeth was anxious to hear how my plan to do only carry-on luggage would work out. (Three flights and the last one an Alitalia so why risk lost luggage?) I managed just fine (stuffing my oversized purse into my Longchamp tote for entering the plane) and still I had twice as much clothing as I needed. As usual, I must do more work on paring down. Note to self: avoid spandex when traveling in Italy in July.

Here was the most predominant view of the trip.
Deliciously chilly (but not freezing) blue Mediterranean water. We stopped every so often just to swim and cool off.

Here’s what one wears to avoid sunburn - along with SPF 50 sunscreen (I did cheat and have Starr bring the SPF 50 since I couldn’t carry on that much liquid). I made this caftan back in the early 70s and it has served me well on many a beach. I re-sewed all the seams to avoid possibly rotten thread and was the only one onboard to manage avoiding sunburn. I really did not wear this all day every day.

Our youngest sailor, Ryan, was an indispensable member of the crew. The trip was his high school graduation gift from Grandpa. Here he’s taking a well deserved break.

We stopped Monday afternoon at Levanzo, one of the Egadi islands that were once a part of Sicily but are now off the NE coast. Areas of Levanzo are protected so next morning, after Ryan retrieved my towel which had blown off the line and sunk to the bottom and after Ryan disentangled our prop from the tie-up rope we’d tangled in, we moved the cat and joined a
boat tour to Grotta del Genovese to see the Paleolithic and Neolithic period cave drawings there.

Once docked we hiked about half way up a steep hill.

Here we went in small groups into this cave to see the drawings.
Unfortunately, no pictures allowed but perhaps you can enlarge this picture from the poster outside the cave. The Paleolithic drawings (15,000 years old?) of deer and other animals were beautiful and were scratched into the volcanic stone with stones. The Neolithic drawings (only about 8,000 years old) were finger painted onto the walls with a combination of animal fat and charcoal. The human figures were rather symbolic but the animal drawings were quite naturalistic and beautifully drawn - porpoises, fish, deer, goats and bison. Amazing!

Note to self: perhaps white, though cool, was not the best choice for cave crawling. Now my white Keds sport red Sicilian dust as a souvenir. The hats were perfect cover though and easy to pack.

After another day of sailing we docked at Favignano where we discovered the motor on our dinghy was caput!
How were we going to get into town for dinner?

No problem. We flagged down a semi-toothless, heavily tatooed guy named Claudio who was buzzing around the harbor in his large dinghy looking for just this sort of gig. He not only took us into town but met us again after dinner to get us back to our cat.

Favignano was once the center of tuna fishing in this area and there’s a large old tuna processing plant there which I think is no longer in use. Large factory fishing boats offshore now prevent the largest fish from coming this close to land.

We joked about hiking up to this old fortress but it was too hot and too late and we were too hungry.

We settled on Ristorante Pizzeria da Franco as Ryan and Pepper were not in the mood for fish. (Wish I’d snapped a picture of the waiter in the red jeans with his name hand embroidered on his belt!)
The food was good but the service was awful. We had to ask three times for our wine - unusual for Italy. I ate Linguini alla Norma (eggplant) which was delicious but
Starr "won" with her lobster dish. Afterward, we stopped on the way back to our ship for gelato. I had "Fragola" (strawberry) which was delicioso!

Next morning we set sail again. Here is our captain, Holger, at the helm in heaven!

Ryan had his heart set on diving so we set out for a diving area. We had hoped to get to a place where there’s a battleground (now underwater) between the Romans and Carthaginians - 1^st Punic War - but the area had been closed off to divers for the time being. Where we ended up sported only a few fish and some sea grass. Disappointing for our divers! We motored back to Favignano as some of us had our hearts set on pesce!

We dined this night at Trattoria Pescador, just around the corner from the pizzeria of the night before.

I ordered a shrimp and pesto pasta for a starter. It was quite good but I was envying Carol’s linguini con vongole. We asked about the fish of the day and they brought out a just-caught Branzino (bass) which we immediately settled on.
We were not disappointed. It was the sweetest fish I may ever have eaten!
For dessert our Ryan tried out his first limoncello and Starr ordered Scroppinos for the rest of us. Oh! I paid the price for that the next morning!

One of my favorite things on this trip was the early morning grocery shopping. Starr and I set out the next morning to get some fresh fruit and replenish our wine supply. Don’t you just love these miniature trucks? The peaches were divine! It was hard not to take one of everything.

Off we set for our final stopover in Castellammare del Golfo with a long day of sailing ahead of us.
This Moorish castle sits right at the edge of the water. Not so interesting as some others I have seen but we didn’t get inside.

In between sailing the catamaran Holger made us spaghetti with sausage meat sauce (for Ryan) for dinner and it was great. Starr added zucchini cooked with onions which made it even better. Holger is wearing a custom apron, a gift from Noel and Carol.

In the morning after coffee we walked up the hill and past the

Moorish Castello then up
the steps and into town for groceries again.

Along the way we met Sandi (a New Yorker) with her husband, Felice, from Naples and their two dogs, one of whom looked just like Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Sandi and Felice own a house here. We exchanged cards and invitations to visit. After a quick look at the
local church we were back at the Cat by 10 a.m. for another long day on fairly rough water. Poor Carol!

We docked just outside of Palermo (I’d had enough sun for awhile!).

We walked into town for one last dinner together and I finally had my Linguini con Vongole. We packed up and disembarked in the morning and went our separate ways. Pepper, Ryan and I checked into the Hotel Mercure in Palermo then walked around and found a place to have a cappuccino.
At last Ryan got his cannoli. After lunch and some souvenir shopping Pepper and I found ourselves in the international restaurant block in Palermo.
This is the Philippine restaurant!

After a shower and a rest and before our last dinner in Sicily I took a walk and shot some pictures of things to explore next time.

the Opera House

the Puppet Theatre

the Chiesa di S. Ignazio all’ Olivella

a museum

and this alley of tiny restaurants looked interesting!

I was up at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday for a long day flying home. Left Palermo at 8:20 a.m. for Rome whose airport is attractive with lots of shopping but awfully disorganized! When going through passport control again I had the same agent I’d seen coming in who lavished praise on my (different) hat. Can’t say that I understood it all but he seemed quite complimentary. Isn’t that really why old gals like me go to Italy? Complimenti!!

I arrived home in Virginia at 6:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. Palermo time). Home sweet home! We ladies had had plenty of boat time (I read two books) and did not find the various crises "adventures" as did the guys. Carol was sick and miserable through most of the trip and Starr is not enamored of boats at all. I had fun visiting with dear friends and making new ones but I was no longer feeling gypped out of two sailing days. We are already plotting a return to Sicily for a landlubber’s tour (not in July) to see the Greek ruins and mosaics that we missed on this trip. I heard that just after we left Mt. Etna erupted too.

Arrivaderci Sicilia! Ciao, i miei amici!!

K Q:-)

Getting ready to cruise

Oh my! Two months since I last posted. What have I been up to? Well, of course it’s gardening season. I’ve been pulling weeds (a/k/a violets)  
in my backyard flower beds. I wondered why gardener friends rolled their eyes when I said I love these little wildflowers that bloom first in the Spring. Then I blinked and noticed that the leaves had all grown a foot tall and they were crowding out my perennials. I devoted two whole weekends to digging them out and still got only about 75% of them. The good news is there’s more room now for my  
new lilac which I bought Mothers Day weekend and a variety of other perennials like lavender and salvia and new annuals like moon vine and coleus. My heirloom tomatoes are thriving in pots so far. Also, I actually got to eat quite a few of my Alpine strawberries as the neighbor’s mulberry tree was producing berries at the same time and I think the birds didn’t notice my tiny strawberries. Yum!!!

Once it got too hot to garden I got busy in my Studio thinking about my trip to Italy. I’ll need several
large brimmed hats as we will be staying on a 16.66 meter catamaran. I spotted a knit dress I liked in a catalog (but which couldn’t be delivered until too late) so I decided to try out that knit stitch on my BabyLock and whipped up
this svelte maxi in one weekend to wear with one of the new hats (of course). Spotted this
inexpensive lace jacket at Macy’s in the teen department (prom wear?) and thought it was perfect cover up for a cooler evening. It reminds me of all that St. Gallen lace in Switzerland.

I switch planes twice on my way to Palermo so I’ve decided to experiment. I’m traveling with only a tiny carry-on bag and a large purse so I don’t risk losing luggage along the way. Don’t want to hold up the ship waiting for baggage to be found. I’m traveling with black, white and brown basic pieces with lots of accessories to keep it interesting. The large brim hats roll up. I think the carry-on weight limit in Europe is only 25 lbs. so Will let you know how this works. Fortunately, my pal Starr is bringing the spf-50 sunscreen. 3 oz. would just not be enough for a week in sunny Sicily!

K Q;-)

A Beautiful Smithsonian Day

After kicking up my heels on Saturday night with my sister Gina and friends at the Washington Metropolitan Accordian Society’s Italian Night in Vienna, on Sunday I met my friends Suzee and Nancy at the Smithsonian Craft Fair where three hat designers were showing this year along with other inspiring artists. As usual it was a feast of ideas but I was too busy running around and looking to take pictures this year. Nancy bought a beautiful hat from Ignatius and I do wish I’d snapped a picture of her in her elegant new chapeau. For you Kate Bishop fans out there Kate confirmed that this was her last Smithsonian show. She is retiring so there may be a spot for a newcomer next year. I am pleased to say that all the hat booths seemed to be doing a bustling business.

 
 I didn’t buy a hat this year but did buy this pair of earrings. These were intriguing and are my little step toward the Goth side, I suppose. Guess what they’re made of? Like my recent denim hats they can be categorized as "green" art and are composed of pieces of old bicycle innertubes! This artist’s work was featured on the front cover of Vogue Italia! I think the earrings are great fun and they will go with the  
Fellini-esque black and white wide brim hat I bought at TJ Maxx on Saturday (yes it actually fits my big head and it was only $15.00). No wonder it’s tough to make our nut selling hats these days. Won’t these work well on my Sicily sail in July tho’?

 
 After the Craft Show we walked down to the Natural History Museum to view the Hyperbolic Crochet Reef Project. This was the last week for the exhibit (and the Orchid Show) and I am so glad we made it over there.  
The reefs were an eyeful and so creative, using everything from art yarns to old zippers, cassette tapes, plastic zip ties, crocheted wire, pop tops and you name it. This project was a collaborative effort by hundreds of fiber artists around the world and the exhibit closes here on April 24. The Project is touring the world to raise awareness of what pollution and global warming are doing to the world’s coral reefs.

 
 Two pieces from Latvia (this is for you, Katia!) with over 500 women and children contributing to the workmanship on these two pieces.

 
 White parts represent dead reef areas. Notice any recycled bits?

Don’t miss this show if it comes to your neighborhood.

K Q;-)