Getting Ready for More Change: New York

I find myself in New York, comfortably at home at the SoHo Grand which I would highly recommend if you are heading this way.  My task, to prepare myself for just one more change in my crazy world.  My youngest daughter needed to be here for freshman orientation as she gets ready to attend NYU in the fall.  Having been accepted without having seen the campus made it somewhat manditory that we come and check things out.  The two of us arrived yesterday and spent the day getting familiar with the lay of the land.  And what a land it is!!

My hotel is on west Broadway and her dorm, Hayden Hall is about a 10 block walk.  Much takes place along that walk.   We went from Ralph Lauren and Emporio Armani to the falafel truck parked right outside Washington Square!!  Quite diverse and fantastic all at the same time.  

The hard part in all of this is more letting go.  As we walked up to check in for the 3 day program, I could sense that many kids just came on their own--meaning it might be just a bit uncool to have mom around.  So, being the kind of mom that hopefully does the right thing as often as possible, when Kylie suggested she might be alright on her own, I gave her a little wink and slowly walked away.  About two blocks away I turned around and saw my little girl looking very tiny as she got farther away from me.  And well, my heart broke.   You would think I would be use to this with all the transitions going on in my world, all the send offs and saying of good byes.  I guess it never gets easy for a mom. 

The good news is I have 3 days all to myself in NYC and plan on going back to old favorites and discovering new.  Certainly, I will pass all my discoveries along to you--like dinner last night.  The most amazing meal my daughter and I have had!!  

Books Have Souls Too!

Today, my younger daughter and I had the rare opportunity to go and enjoy an indulgent breakfast together at our favorite local pancake house.  I say rare because she was actually awake before noon on summer vacation and was antsy to get going.  So, off we went to stuff ourselves on crepes and stuffed French toast--all things one must have when someone else is doing the cooking.

On the drive, I was telling her that she needed to go through her room as I have scheduled a moving sale in two weeks in order to weed out the things that won't fit our new city lifestyle as we get ready to move.  I lamented the fact that I had to go through our library (yes, we have a TINY library where we stash all the titles that have piqued our interest over the last 12 years) and put books in boxes to sell.  "Not the books", she cried.  We all have a deep seated love of reading and novels or non-fiction can be our oxygen.  They become friends if I have really enjoyed what it had to say and many times, find myself going back to re-read a favorite and in oddly enough, find that the same book can feel very different the second time around.  For example, many years ago, I read Madame Bovary by Flaubert and was blown away by it. How can a MAN of all things, practically 2 centuries ago write about something that I was able to relate to as a woman on a very profound level.  I picked the same book off the shelf about 4 years later, anticipating that I would be so filled by it, read it again and wasn't nearly as moved by it as the first time.  My sense of self, place whatever you want to call it was different and so was Madame.  

Another book like that for me is Under The Tuscan Sun by Francis Mayes.  I read it right when it came out and felt that it was contrived and forced and how could all that really happen to her?  Then I saw the movie which I liked even less and still thought how all that could have really happened.  BUT......

I am reading her newest book, A Year in the World, and yes, I am convinced that ANYTHING can happen if you want it bad enough.  Maybe it's age or acquired wisdom, but I understand what she is saying and this book will take you everywhere you have ever dreamed of going and while you are sitting in your armchair reading it, you just might be  motivated to get up off the seat and walk out the front door.  First one to the airport......

Photo credit:  Irina Troitskaya

Passion for Wine: Gann Family Cellars

"Wine is bottled poetry"

-Robert Louis Stevenson-

The other day, I revealed one of my passions, music.  Can't be without it.  Today I reveal another truth about myself--wine, can't be without it!!  Well, it isn't with me as often as my ipod is but, come dinner time (or lunch hour if so inclined) a great glass of wine is right there with me, celebrating--well, just celebrating the fact that it's time to pour a glass.  

I have come full circle in my taste and knowledge of wine.  Starting off very young and sweet, I drank white zinfandel back in my 20's.  Everyone was so I can't be too embarrassed.  Moving into my 30's, a buttery Chardonnay was the call of the day.  It still can be on a warm day, nicely chilled.  Now in my, ahem, 40's I can't get enough of reds.  It's as if I am a kid in a candy store and can't make up my mind--do I want the Pinot or Barolo?  Old world, new world?  Such dilemmas but oh, so much fun!

Recently, thanks to very generous friends and lovers of wine themselves, I was introduced to Gann Zinfandel and can't get enough of it.  Made by a small, family owned winery in Healdsburg, California, Gann Cellars is a dream in the making.  The story of Gretchen and Michael Gann reads like soul mates coming together and asking all the "what if" questions and then making it all come true.  Their Zinfandel is pure pleasure.  I am not a wine writer but would tell you that it subtly fruit forward with blackberry and spices and is velvety smooth if that helps.  Honestly, as I write this I wish I had a glass. Have to make the big, old sad face :-((

So, you must go forth and find yourself a bottle.  If you are truly generous, which I am sure that you are, you will find someone to share this fabulous experience with.  If no one is around, you can always count on me!

Additional information:  Gann Wine Shop

 

Fortuny Museum: Venice

In 2006, my family was fortunate enough to spend Christmas in Venice.  Not the most popular destinations for the holidays but easily one of the most magnificent.  We had the entire city practically to ourselves.  It was much colder than I had anticipated and as we stood in front of Saint Mark's with the sun streaming down, there was the slightest hint of frozen mist suspended throughout the square creating the feeling of being in our own snow globe that glittered wildly.  Certainly a memory forever.  

Earlier in the day, we split up as a family and headed off in the directions that were calling to us.  My husband and two of our daughters took a tour of La Teatro Fenice, the beautiful opera house destroyed by fire and laborously rebuilt to its original splendor.  We all had just finished reading John Berendt's, The City of Fallen Angels, which describes the events surrounding that incident and they were curious to see it for themselves.  My third daughter and I opted to take a different route and ended up at the large Gothic palazzo in Campo San Beneto that is home to the Fortuny Museum.

The interior is set up as it was when Mariano Fortuny lived and worked there.  Spanish by birth, the son of an artist, Mr. Fortuny moved to Venice when he was 18 after completing his studies as a painter.  Here his focus shifted from painting to set design and stage lighting--being influenced to do so after seeing a Wagner opera. (I like opera, but Wagner??)  Admiration for his work spread throughout Europe, taking him deeper into the design world that lead him to fabric, printed textiles and clothing.  Home decor and color photography took hold of him prior to returning to Venice to take up painting once again before his death in 1949.

My daughter and I had a beautiful afternoon visiting the home of this very talented man.  His paintings, photography and fabric design were so ahead of his time,  as was his fashion.  We had the whole place to ourselves and the docent that greeted us, toured with us and in very broken English wove a passionate story of Mr. Fortuny's life.  All in all, I would have to say it was one incredible day!!

Additional information: Fortuny Museum, Mariano Fortuny, 

Photo credit:  Musei Civici Veneziani, Massimiliano Cadamuro

Weekend Edition

I scour the internet looking for and reading great articles that either take me to far away places or speak to something that I am passionate about.  There is so much out there to take advantage of and since I write two blogs, a good portion of my online work is research.  For both The Paris Traveler and this blog, I have decided to share some of the most interesting reading and pass it on to you as you relax on Sunday with a cup of coffee and your computer screen.  Enjoy!

• Apollonia Poilâne builds on her family's legacy (iht.com)
• Spanish region limits golf development (iht.com)
• With a word, Egyptians leave it all to fate (iht.com)
• 'Brunello di Montalcino': A long-fermenting scandal in Italy (iht.com)
• Diane Athill 90 (moreintelligentlife.com)

Photo credit:  sxc.hu, misscynic

Hot Fun in the Summertime

It is here, finally.  The time of year where we move outdoors and celebrate the warmth of the sun with friends and family.  I am still a kid at heart and have to stay outside until I see the sun go down.  As a little girl, I would stay out as late as I could, playing flashlight tag or catching firer flies in glass jars and then letting them go.  Or how about lighting sparklers or those creepy "punk" things that didn't do much of anything  What were they exactly??  

My daughters lament the fact that summer doesn't feel like it did when they were little.  Not too difficult to figure out since they are either busy working their summer jobs or pounding the pavement looking for full time employment.  Things change--even how summer "feels".  The good news though is I can open a bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc with them out on the deck and enjoy their company in a much different way.  No more running after them and getting them in the tub to scrub off all the accumulated dirt from their play.  Sad in a way to have that behind us but what lies ahead is shaping up to be so much more exciting.  

I hope your summer is filled with fabulous things!!

Photo credit:  Wayne Huzzey

Passion for Music: Matthew Schoening

One of my passions that I haven't shared is music.  I love all kinds and need to have it surrounding my either in my tiny ipod headphones or as i make my way through my chores at home.  I tend towards jazz, new age, classical and lately anything that is slightly other worldly that doesn't have lyrics.  I can escape into the sound and let it take me wherever it leads.  This artist and his music that I have gratefully found does just that. 

Matthew Schoening has been a musician forever, being raised in San Francisco by parents who are both musicians themselves.  Matthew started playing cello in middle school and has set it aside and picked it up again numerous times through his 27 years bringing him to his current relationship with his musical skills.  

Solo Electric Cello is his first album released in 2007 that has him playing an electric cello while "looping, layering and arranging".  I am not a musician so can't speak to what any of that means.  But I do know when something sounds hauntingly beautiful....and his music does.  For me it feels very mystical: succeeding at being contemporary and ancient at the same time.  

Having this playing inside my head is like being transported to a far away land and is a gift I give myself when I need to get away!!

Additional information:  Listening Lounge

Photo credit:  Greg Gorman