What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{October 20, 2015} Day 4…Eurorail…goodbye Lisbon…hello Porto!

Not again with the alarm!

This morning we were up at 6am because we were going to the train station to get on the Eurorail and headed to Porto, Portugal!

At 645am, we headed towards the train, got some breakfast before we got on and settled in for the three hour ride. It was nice, great scenery, relatively smooth ride and a nap thrown in sounds great!

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porto,_Portugal. This is such a beautiful city! Right on the water, classic architecture, sculptures, town squares and home of amazing wineries and where port comes from, imagine that!

We arrived and got our bearings straight on the Metro and found our hotel, dropped our bags and went in search of lunch. PSM had this gastronomic wonder that is a popular item here, called a franceschina. It’s a combination of bread, ham, pork slice, covered in cheese and hot sauce with a fried egg/sunny side up, on top and served with French fries, omg!

I had nothing so extravagant, I had eggs with rice. We are getting better about ordering in Portuguese, it’s cool and exciting!

After lunch, we checked into the hotel then went for a walk about. We found some beautiful squares, buildings, architecture and the information office where we booked a walking tour for the morning and hopped in a cab to head down to the water for a winery tour and tasting.

The cab dropped us off and we wandered. Got our tickets for the tour, then went on a boat your of the river [no problem on this boat! ].

After the cruise we headed to the winery for the tour and tasting and yes, I tasted and no, I did not like it, but I did it. Just like the Jamison in Ireland.

After the tasting we took the cable car or tram up to the bridge so we could walk across and watch the sunset from up there. Stunning!

After the sunset we walked in search of food and finding our options limited by the fact that a lot of places were closing or only open for drinks and pastries, away we went.

In the Metro and back towards the hotel we ate at the restaurant next to the one we ate lunch at, go figure! PSM got his sardines and I had soup and salad, I’m happy.

Back to the hotel with the round bed, one blog post will be dedicated to our hotel rooms, wow. Another will be just tiles and another, the graffiti of Portugal, it’s amazing and abundant.

I hope you had a great day!

Boa noite!

{October 18, 2015} Day 2…Lisbon…ready…set…run!

First…I’m going to scream! I wrote a fabulous post which has disappeared! Argh! Here we go trying again.

Day 2 of our vacation stayed way too early, 630 am to be exact, because PSM is very supportive of my craziness participating in the Rock-n-Roll Lisbon Half Marathon. Who does two half marathons in a week? Yup, you’re truly!

The shuttles from Oriente Metro station for the Vasco de Gama bridge left between 630 and 930am. Oriente is a train station for Metro and Euro rail on one side and mall on the other side of the street.

We took the shuttle over the bridge and half way back towards the start.

We walked by a bunch is port-o-potties and stand alone urinals on the way to the start. [I don’t think I’ve seen those before].

The hard part was waiting almost an hour to start. Then it was very cool to run over the bridge and see all the people in front and behind on the bridge.

I have to admit, I didn’t run as much of the race as I did last week, time difference and flying yesterday could have something to do with it, but I’m happy with my time, 3:39:40, I only added 10 minutes to my time from last week, not too bad, huh?

The cool thing about the race was that since I did one in two countries I got a World Tour medal, go me!

After the run, back to the hotel for a cold bath, hot shower and then an unexpected nap, heaven. We were woken up by the hotel delivering a complimentary cheese, fruit and port tray, nice. We munched while we planned our next moves.

Now it was time for dinner and we were still a little early, Portuguese time, it was only about 745, 9pm is about normal. We went to the Metro and headed down to the waterfront near the docks and wandered around admiring the architecture whole looking for a place to eat.

Eventually we found Rosa de Lancastre, a medieval restaurant. They even have a contemporary medieval chef, whatever that is!

I ordered the Calde Verde, cabbage soup, considered one of the seven culinary wonders is Portugal. It was tasty and then I found…two slices of sausage, hmmm…

When in Rome…

Then PSM’s board of smoked meats arrived and I was curious, especially since he doesn’t eat that either. I had a little taste, that was enough.

After dinner we were offered Ginji, their cherry liquor, I pulled out am the stops tonight!

On the way back to the Metro, we stopped in a little bakery and had Pastéis de Nata, Portuguese custard tarts, another thing Lisbon is known for. Y U M!!

More beautiful architecture, love the gargoyles!

I love all the tiles on the buildings and some of the them remind me of tiles in my parents house, made me smile more.

Back to the hotel to write to you and rest up, tomorrow is a new day in Portugal, I can’t wait to see what the day holds, how about you?

{October 16, 2015} Up…up…and away…

We go!

This post is coming in super early, especially by my track record, because…

PSM and I are on a plane…

We won’t land for our connecting flight until 9am local time…

I cannot believe it! We are going to…

Portugal!!! (With a wee layover in Paris, sigh)

Three glorious weeks we are going to be traveling in Europe! Can you believe it! We start in Portugal and leave from Budapest, I know, rough life we lead!

And you know I’ll be telling you everything we’re doing while we’re there, so keep checking in with my posts, like you always do! I cannot wait to share everything with you!

Have a great weekend! See you in Portugal! !

{October 15, 2015} Getting in the groove

When I write I have to be in the groove, find my mojo.

That would be why there are some days I don’t post until the wee hours of the morning! Some days it comes to me, others, its excruciating!

I can tell you it’s no different for me writing resumes, dating profiles, training documentation. You name it, whatever it is, the inspiration sometimes hits after everyone has gone to bed, up I stay!

It’s the same way when I write for work. If I have clear direction, I can run with, sometimes, but if I don’t, I have to wait for the muse or inspiration t strike and I can sit and stare at a blank screen for a long time, which is not as much fun as you may think!

Today, I was on that roll, it was awesome! It started yesterday and if the system had been working properly, I could have worked until 10 or 11pm or later, I love those times!

You’re in the zone, you know what you’re doing and what you want to do and you hit it and there’s no stopping you!

{October 14, 2015} Good service, good memories

Tonight was a pleasure.

I think I told you about the restaurant Papaya, http://papayarestaurant.biz/, the last time I was in Buffalo. It’s a great Asian Fusion restaurant and I think I went there at least 4 or 5 times the last time. The first time I went it was recommended by the manager at the Hyatt Buffalo having vegetarian options, definitely down with that!

The first time I went it was on my own and I sat at the bar and really enjoyed it, so I shared it with the team and we went a few times. When we started sitting at a table, we ended up with a fabulous server. She is funny and smart, great with suggestions when you order something, very descriptive and entertaining when talking about the menu and specials. Her husband is a chef at their sister restaurant.

She’s passionate about what she does, great to banter with. I think the last time I was there, I had her doing different things every time she came to the table, singing, dancing, something, she was a great sport about it.

When we got there tonight, I couldn’t remember her name, but I described her and they put us in her section. I asked if she remembered me and she did, where I sat and I mentioned her husband and she was touched that I remembered, she also remembered singing and dancing when she came to the table.

She was just as fabulous as I remembered! When we left I gave her a hug, she kissed me on the cheek and we left. If you get a chance to get to Papaya, make sure you ask for Chris. FABULOUS! Well worth it!

{October 12, 2015} That is one hungry cat…

Poor Peanut…

My little girl, Peanut, is hungry. I think I’ve told you that since I had Peanut fixed, she has put on some weight. Ok, let’s face it, she got fat. Now, there is nothing wrong with fat cats, figuratively and literally, but sometimes, it’s not healthy. Before I had her fixed, she was sleek, since then, she still has the same size small head and her body has expanded, poor thing.

I used to fill the food bowl when it was empty because cats normally cats only eat until they’re full and there is usually food left in the bowl. I would give them about half a pint [the small Chinese food container for reference] in the morning and between the two of them, it would be enough for a day and a half, sometimes two days. Not anymore.

Now, I feed them in the morning and then the next morning and so on. When I get in in the afternoons, I give them a few treats and they enjoy that.

Now, since I only feed them once a day, sometimes, the bowl is empty at the end of the day and today is one of those days. The food bowl is empty and Peanut is pacing around the bowl hoping something magically appears, she was even pulling back the mat under the food, probably hoping to find a morsel, poor little bit.

Hopefully some time with professionals will help, I’ll keep you posted.

Meow.

{October 11, 2015} Bittersweet

Today was bittersweet, there were good memories and sad moments.

Today the family was together, me, GES, ACS, dad, La La, MGD and EJS. Like I said the family was together, the only one missing was PSM. We are all at the house out on Long Island and the reason we were there was to clear out what we wanted and identify what would be shipped because my dad sold the summer house.

When I was about 10 and GES was about 6, our parents were looking for a summer house and while we were at camp day bought one. We were with them looking at the houses that they were interested in, my favorite had a hammock in the middle of the house but that’s not the house they bought, darn it. The house they bought was nice, it was a ranch, with 3 bedrooms, a back porch and the original owners had enclosed the garage and build up the flooring so that it was one big family room.

The house is about a block and a half from the marina and about a 10 minute drive to the beach. We could bicycle to the library and the grocery store and the beach. What could be better? Not much.

We spent our summers, a few of them in summer camp and then at the summer house and other years just at the summer house, it was awesome, our days consisted of biking to the beach biking to the library biking to the beach. I know it sounds rough but we muddled through.

This house was fabulous, I remember the year my mom and dad made renovations and took the back porch, which was separate, opened it up, connected it to the kitchen, there were skylights a great open space and they even added a deck off some of the bedrooms added sliding doors that open onto the back deck.

One of the coolest things about the house, is that from the outside, it looks like almost any other house, very unassuming but when you opened the front door and walked in it was an oasis.

It had a nice big backyard, and outdoor shower that we built which was the best ever because you had sides on it to keep you covered and you had an open ceiling so you could shower under the sky it was amazing especially after going to the beach then you didn’t have to track stand in the house. Ingenious.

The house was furnished from the Salvation Army and yard sales and things that came from the other house and it was fabulous. It was warm and cozy and open and breezy and perfect. Before the renovation GES and I shared the back bedroom and mom and dad had the front room. After the renovation they installed a bathroom in the larger back bedroom so now the house had two bathrooms, hallelujah.

There were so many weekends during the summer that we had friends come and stay, either families and friends from school or home. We had a little 14 foot motorboat that my parents bought at a yard sale, to start out, it was the only thing I could drive without a license at 11 years old, and as we got older dad bought bigger boat, which are a lot of fun.

When we would go to the beach we would either bicycle, drive the car, or the boat, there were a few beaches that you could only get to by boat, which was fabulous. There are even some restaurants that we could go to just by boat.

It was a fabulous place, a great refuge, a place to refuel, recharge and rejuvenate. Summers on the beach we’re amazing, I remember moving to Atlanta and being landlocked, it was a little disconcerting. When I was in college, I worked in Westhampton Beach common for all the rich folks. It was quite the experience.

After college I move to Georgia but I still came back every year for a few days or a week especially for my dad’s birthday. As the years went on it got tougher and tougher to come out, and admittedly I haven’t been able to come out over the last few years due to work and that was disappointing. Sorry daddy.

As time went on, dad also started going out to the house a little less because he was on the road going somewhere traveling visiting just being fabulous. And so as time marches on things change and it was time to sell the house. So that brings us to where we are today, clearing out items picking things that we want smiling and laughing at memories being nostalgia . even a little teary eyed.

But, our memories live on, and one great thing is that all the items that I took today, are going to furnish my new apartment in Boston. So for that thank you very much daddy it is most appreciated.

Smiles all around, fabulous.

{October 10, 2015} 13.1 miles, nailed it!

This morning, I participated in my 4th half marathon [it could be my 5th, but I’m not sure!]!

Wow, did I really just do that this morning? Yes, yes I did! I ended up getting a room near the train station that would take all of us to the start this morning. I got up about 5:30, out the door by 6am, down in the subway by 6:15am. Then I ran into FCD and two of her sisters and a niece.

FCD and I went to high school together and we’ve stayed in touch here and there, through Facebook and saw each other two years ago at our friend, CGS’ son’s bar mitzvah and we’ll see each other again at her daughter’s bat mitzvah in January!

She is the one who talked me into participating, reaching out because she knows I do a few runs here and there and thought I might be interested. You bet! This is my second Rock-n-Roll Marathon series half marathon. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about the half marathon in Las Vegas, same promoters. This happened to be the inaugural Brooklyn half marathon, how cool is that!

We got to the start and had to go through metal detectors, well not in that order. Made it to the corral and waited and waited, the run started about 30 minutes late, the police were delaying things a bit. We finally got started about 7:30am and we were off. We stuck together for a while, then her sisters and niece moved ahead and eventually we were all running solo.

I have to tell you, the first 6 miles were not that bad, it was after about 8, I was kid of done, but not quitting!

There was music along the route, not enough we decided, but it was fun. There were water and Gatorade stations every few miles, which helped keep us hydrated. I did not go to the medical tent because I didn’t!

I actually made pretty good time, considering I haven’t trained for this like I should have and was planning to. 3.29.22, that’s what my watch said and it was actually 13.54 miles, so considering that…

I took my beer ticket into the beer garden and as I was walking back to my friends, I admired a woman’s rose bouquet and after they allowed me to sniff the roses. I offered him my beer, as I had feeling the others would not want more than one.

After the run, we went back to the hotels, the other girls went to their cars and headed home. I took a very cold bath, then a nice hot shower and eventually back to dad’s house where everyone was waiting.

I am a little sore, not horribly, and I think that is due to working out with CG, my personal trainer and some of the physical therapy, which she also puts into our workouts. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow.

Check out my swag, I’m pretty happy.

Ready for the next one!

{October 9, 2015} Carbo loaded…check!

First…my sincerest apologies! I got back to Boston and the hotel and fell asleep mid blog. I can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I’ll do my best!

Second…tonight I carbo-loaded, with gluten free pasta!

I’m in NYC to participate in the Brooklyn Half Marathon tomorrow morning and what do you do before a race of a longer length, you eat pasta baby!

So, dad, La la and I went to Bruno’s Italian restaurant for dinner. I wasn’t sure if they would have gluten free pasta and since I gave up wheat and don’t feel any differently, I thought what the hey, but they had gluten free, it was pretty good.

So, now I’m settled in at the hotel, belly full, clothes ready for tomorrow, snuggled in the bed, electronics charging, alarm set, writing to you.

I’ll keep you posted tomorrow on my progress.

Good night!

{October 7, 2015} I ordered straight off the menu!

What? No changes? Nope!

JJ, say it ain’t so! We didn’t even know that was possible! Yes, yes it is, imagine that!

Tonight we went to the Black Rice Bar/Sun Restaurant, a place we went to the last time I was here, it was fabulous! Black rice, or the forbidden rice and so worth it!

We all started with the black rice salad, yum! Everyone else had shrimp on theirs, I didn’t. It was perfect as is.

Next, I had pumpkin stew…vegetarian, and when I asked, not spicy, but I know me, skeptical, but guys…it came in a pumpkin! And…not spicy!!

I also ordered one tomago, egg cake, on black rice, yum!

There was no way I could finish the soup after that giant salad, so I asked for it to-go. I joked and said “maybe he’ll give me the pumpkin”. (The service was terrible, I wouldn’t have put it past him) and guess what!

Lunch tomorrow!

Bottom line…I ordered straight off the menu, no changes! Go me! And it was fabulous!

http://www.suncuisines.com/

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