September 2017 – Page 2 – Lover of Wine – Travel along on our adventures

September 15, 2017April 11, 2019

9-14-17 Museum and Castle day

After a full breakfast, we packed up and headed out for the day. From our hotel, we crossed the street and immediately went through Edward VII park stopping along the way for a couple of pictures.

Here we are at the Edward VII – across from our hotel.

Edward VII park lovely spot across from our hotel.

Broad walkways on either side of the Park.

Lady with Baby in the park across from out hotel.

After our walk by the park, we headed to the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. Founded upon his death, the museum houses the collection of ancient and more modern art collected during his lifetime. It took a while to work out all the legal issues but eventual the building was created and the collection put on display. It seems Gulbenkian spent a lot of time in the far-east – born in Turkey but raised in Portugal and France – his collection seems to be vast. Organized by time period starting with Greco-Roman art and moves through classical antiquity towards more modern times.

One of dozens of wonderful carpets on display.

Wall ceramic from the late 13th century – Moorish.

Various things caught our eye. The entire collection is well displayed and informative. After exploring the various displays we hit the cafeteria for a nice lunch.

Lovers of the Centaurs by Rubens in 1635.

Triptych with scenes from the life of Virgin Mary made out of Ivory around 1300. About 12 inches tall.

A pair of Lions – Female protection a cub on the left and the mail protecting the “world” on the right.

Deep plate from Turkey late 16th Century.

Chimney revetment from about 1550 made from tile

Bust of Bacchus 18th Century. The expression makes you think he just had a sour wine.

Would not have been easy to storm this place.

After lunch we took Uber to the Castle Saint George.

A loving couple in Lisbon visiting the St. George Castle.

Built in the mid-11^th century, during the Moorish period, the castle is situated on the most inaccessible area at the top of the hill – and we were glad the Uber driver could get us close to the entrance rather than have to hike up.

The views of the city are wonderful – lots of red tile roofs, different color buildings and a view of the river is well worth the effort to get there. Of course we had to climb up to get to the ramparts and walk along the upper walls.

Jerry and Gloria on their way up the wall to the Rampart walk

Here we are walking along the rampart walkway.

On the way back down to get another ride, we say this pastry shop with wonderful tile work on face of the building. No idea of the products sold are any good but the outside looked lovely. This is really a typical situation with lots of tile on the outside of buildings sometimes telling a story or just decoration.

This pastry shop had interesting tile work on the face of the building.

All in all a nice couple of sites for the day.

September 14, 2017April 11, 2019

9-13-17 Lisbon first day

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic is located in southwestern Europe whose territory is located in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula and islands in the Atlantic North. There are two major cities – Lisbon in the south and Porto in the north.

So, we are now in Lisbon – arrived yesterday after an overnight flight from Dulles airport and when we arrived, we were met by the UniWorld rep who got us into a cab and sent us on our way.to check into our hotel, InterContentental, as part of our River Cruise with UniWorld. We spend 4 days here in Lisbon and then go to Porto and board a riverboat, Queen Isabel, for a trip up the Douro River. However, once we got settled into our room, our travelling friends (who are on the cruise with us) Gloria and Jerry called and we all went out for a shopping trip.

The first stop was a snack and a bottle of Rosé just up the street from the hotel at a little wine shop with an outdoor seating area. A serving of ham, cheese and crackers helped to tide us over for our upcoming walk around the shopping area of the city.

Gloria had it her mission to buy a new leather purse specifically made in Portugal. Along the way we saw a lot of interesting people, places and shops.

Did you know that there is an interesting lift in Lisbon seemingly patterned after a famous tower in Paris? Well the Santa Justa lifet or Carmo Lift is an elevator in the Old Town. It takes you to an observation tower overlooking the city.

Of course we stopped for a

beer along the way, looked for shoes, watched street artists and had dinner.

It had been a very long day so we called it a night and heading to our beds for a long sleep.

September 10, 2017April 11, 2019

9-10-17 Last days in the USA!

The last two weeks have flown by! Here we are getting ready for our next leap in the adventure – this time to Europe! Over the last 2 weeks, we have had a wonderful time visiting with family,

Our granddaughter helping with the eggs for breakfast.

eating way to much and had the joy of our friends Jessie and Phil from Pasadena come to DC to help me turn the page on the next decade spending all of my birthday with us as we did a pub crawl

Me, Janeen, Terri, Jessie and Phil at Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria

through old town Alexandria, a boat ride on the Potomac

Phil helping Little Miss with her coloring before we leave for the boat.

Another Life Ring Picture – making about 45 we have done around the world.

If you don’t know what this is, take a history class.

to Georgetown for a wonderful dinner at an Italian Restaurant (Filomena’s).

Family and friends make for a wonderful celebration.

Tuesday we head to the airport for our flight to Lisbon Portugal and the start of the next leg in our journey – 4 months in Europe. So, continue to follow along – provide comments as you feel the urge – and we will try and entertain you with comments, photos (not all of food) and highlights as we discover new parts of the World we all live in.

Little Miss with the T-P my mother made for Jason – so many years ago.

September 6, 2017April 11, 2019

9-5-17 The White House

It doesn’t matter if you voted for the current occupant a tour of the White House isn’t about politics it is about HISTORY. This past Tuesday Jason arranged a tour time, then was able joined us for the “self-guided” wander through the 8 of 10 rooms on the first floor.

The White House is the oldest public building in the District of Columbia, and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is the most famous address in the United States. Every president except George Washington has conducted the government of the nation here but it wasn’t until T. Roosevelt was this building officially became known as The White House. In the early 1900’s, the Presidential offices, the West Wing and Oval Office replaced the glass conservatory enjoyed by 19^th century Presidents families. The East Room, largest of White House spaces, includes the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. The painting was saved from fire, during the war of 1812, by Dolly Madison who smiles at him through a corridor of the Red Room.

Janeen chose the Grant China in the corridor as a favorite

Our walking tour was through several of the more well know rooms (on the first floor) including the Vermeil Room, the China Room, the Diplomatic Reception Room, State Dining room and the East Room. It was interesting to note the roll up the edge of the carpet to allow the visitors to walk through the rooms but not on the carpet. On display were a number of artifacts, portraits and lovely furniture.

The East Room – location of may press conferences and bill signings

Most rooms had a Secret Service person who could explain the features of the room and what kinds of events the room has had. Janeen chose the Grant China in the corridor as a favorite, but the China room and the Visitor Center display much more glassware and china purchased for the standing Presidents.

All in all an interesting tour and really glad we made time in our schedule to visit this place.

I loved this – Maintenance happens all the time!

After bidding Jason goodbye, so he could go back to work, we walked back towards the metro stopping at Old Ebbitt Grill for lunch.

Old Ebbitt Grill is a historic bar and restaurant and is Washington’s oldest bar and restaurant. It opened as an unnamed restaurant in the Ebbitt House Hotel. The Hotel distinguished itself as the first hotel in Washington to remain open all summer instead of closing when Congress adjourned.

Since 1970, because of its popularity Old Ebbitt Grill has been frequented by numerous politicians, some known for scandals and maneuvering.

Known for its oysters and seafood it was a wonderful spot to stop and have a bit and a bottle of wine.

After our lunch we continued on to the Metro for our ride back to Springfield.