June 2018 – Page 2 – Lover of Wine – Travel along on our adventures

June 20, 2018June 28, 2018

06-20-18 It’s Been A Year Update 2

It’s been a year since we started this adventure – Update #2:

Over the last dozen years or so we have taken a number of river cruises and had booked one on the Douro River with our friends Gloria and Jerry.

Here we are with Jerry and Gloria in Lisbon having our first glass of wine.

We met them several years ago on a tour of the UK and been able to convinced them to join us several times on various river cruises in Europe. Starting in Lisbon

Belem Tower at the entrance to the harbor in Lisbon.

and moving to Porto with the group was enjoyable. We have been to both areas previously but it was nice to be able to share it with Gloria and Jerry.

Queen Isabel was our ship for the River Cruise on the Douro.

The cruise up the river was relaxing and filled with fun times – we became part of a group of 12 or 13 passengers

Our River Cruise Group had its own private dining room – we were to load in the main lounge.

who all dined together and exchanged experiences.

Once the boat returned to Porto

Porto and the Douro River from the bridge.

we had a chance, for about 10 minutes, to connect with Janeen’s old high school friend Cherlyne

Janeen’s friend, Cherlyne, we were able to catch them for about 10 minutes in Porto! Another one of those small world situations.

and her husband David, who live in Eastern Oregon. They were with a different group and we caught them just before they went to taste Port wine!

From Portugal we flew to Stuttgart Germany. The prior December (remember this is now late September) we had ordered a Mercedes Benz for foreign delivery. It was now time to pick up our new car!

Here’s our new cars first Baby Pictures!

There really is something special about buying a new car and picking it up from the factory. After several days in Stuttgart we packed everything up and headed to Venice stopping in Igls Austria for the evening and continuing through beautiful vistas of the Alps and Northern Italy.

We stopped for a picture as we were heading through the Italian Alps on our way to Venice.

In Venice we picked up Jason and Terri from the airport as they were going to join us for several days in Venice

Venice – oh what a beautiful part of the world.

after their adventure drinking great beers as part of OctoberFest.

After Venice we really didn’t have any plans other than to head south through Italy along the Adriatic side (east) with the intent of trying to get all the way to Sicily.

Here I am with Chef Massimiliano Alajmo – Le Calandre in Rubano Italy – #29 on list of best restaurants in the World

We stopped along the way and enjoyed the sights of Silea, Padova, Barietta, Campoposto, and Torre di Palme to name just a few places we stopped. We took a tour of a

Barrels with aging Balsamic Vinegar – an interesting process very much like the sherry solera process.

Balsamic producer and learned how long it takes to really make the aged stuff – like 50 years! We toured various gardens learned about the local cultures, ate great meals and drank wonderful wines. Along the way we met any number of interesting people – both fellow travelers and locals.

While on a long trip eventually you want to have clean clothes. We learned a lot about how to do laundry on the road.

As we got further south in Italy, around Bari (just above the “heel” of the ‘boot’) we decided to turn north and head to France. Along the way we stopped at Paestum and walked some Greek Ruins,

Paestum in Italy has fantastic Greek ruins. It was great to explore and learn about the time the Greeks were here.

visited Tivoli Gardens near Rome,

The Fountain of the Owl at Tivoli Gardens

Neive in the Piedmont region

and stopped for a few days in Genoa along the Mediterranean.

We stopped for lunch in Genoa next to this beach – difficult to find but great food and the views were wonderful.

On our way to France we passed through an 8-mile long tunnel – half way through it we went from Italy to France.

Our goal in France was the Loire Valley. We found a fantastic VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) in a small village of Rochecorbon. I loved this place – out the door and about 50 yards down the road was a boulangerie where I would walk down and pick up a warm baguette and croissant for breakfast. Fantastic! During our stay we visited several

Fall colors at the entrance to the Chateau

Rigny-Ussé – a privately owned Chateauú open to the public.

Chateau’s and gardens – wonderful time.

Janeen getting her Garden Fix at Villandry.

From there we went to Brittany – northeast France for a few days and then to Bayeux

and the Normandy Beaches plus

The Beaches of Normandy have lots of monuments. We toured several of the landing sites, a museum and the National Cemetery. A very moving experience.

a day trip to St Mont Michel

Le Mont Saint-Michel – we spent a lovely day exploring this treasure of a place.

. Then off to Paris, via Rouen, to drop of our car for shipment to the dealer in Virginia.

Next stop London! We went from Paris to London via the Chunnel

Here we are on the EuroRail train going through the Chunnel to London.

taking all of 2 ½ hours or so with average speeds of well over 160 Mph. We had another VRBO apartment this time in Covent Gardens. Over a week, we saw 3 plays,

shopped in Harrads,

Harrads Department Store – all the windows had wonderful Christmas decorations.

had a fantastic meal

The Chef and crew at Ledbury Restaurant in London. Considered the 27th best restaurant in the world.

and generally appreciated being in a country that speaks English!

A flight to Dublin

Our first pub in Dublin – Ferryman – just down from our hotel. Had a great conversation while drinking Guinness.

to got us set for a 10-day introductory bus tour with CIE Tours around Ireland.

McDaids pub in Dublin – one of the oldest in the city.

Our CIE Tour of Ireland was well worth the time and money. This was our route – duh.

After the tour we spent Thanksgiving in Kilkenny a town south of Dublin . We had not been to Ireland it was amazing. Stops in Waterford,

Waterford – Fortunately we didn’t buy anything.

County Kerry, Blarney Castle to KISS THE STONE,

Galway, Cliffs of Moher,

The Cliffs of Moher were clear but cold. Well worth the hike to get the view.

Giants Causeway,

Belfast and lots of other places. There is one thing that there are a LOT of in Ireland – Sheep. We visited a place where we were treated to a sheep guard dog demonstration – really neat.

World class sheep dog moving the sheep around. Really cool.

We did the entire tour of Guinness – well worth it and you get a pint at the end! It does taste better in Ireland!

We will be back to Ireland!

Scotland – Glasgow

WE didn’t stop in at the Tiki Bar in Glasgow

and Edinburgh and LOTS of scotch. It was Christmas Market

The Christmas Market and fun zone in Edinburgh

time and we visited several in both cities along with the historical sites of course.

Chef Mark at his restaurant Mark Greenaway in Edinburgh.

From Edinburgh we flew back to Paris and connected with Ryan and Chris in the apartment I had leased for the month.

Christmas in Paris!

Ryan, Janeen and Chris on a bridge over the Seine River in Paris

Our friend Claudia joined us and we all had a fantastic time touring,

One of several open air markets where we shopped while in Paris.

This music box store, in Paris, was filled with musical treasures.

visiting various places,

Here we are walking along the streets of Paris.

taking in the sites

Ryan and Claudia in the Paris Opera House.

and of course eating and drinking great foods and wines.

Chef Alain Passard at his restaurant, Arpège in Paris – the 12th best restaurant in the world. Our lunch was wonderful and about 12 courses!

New Years Eve was spent at a traditional French Bistro where we expected to be done in a couple of hours,

Here we are celebrating New Years Eve at a traditional French Bistro in Paris. Wonderful evening.

but were there for over 5 hours and rang in the New Year over an extravagant dessert!

OK, we have now been in Europe for four months and it is time to fly back to the States. During our time in Europe we had visited 9 countries collecting a number of stamps in our passport. We boarded our flight back to start part 3 of our yearlong adventure.

Having some bubbles on our flight home to Virginia.

June 19, 2018June 28, 2018

06-19-18 It’s Been a Year Update 1

It’s been a year. Yup, a full year since we drove away from our house in Alhambra and started our Gap Year Adventure.

Since that time we have traveled through 20 different States of the Union (California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina) and visited 9 European Countries (Portugal, Germany, Austria, Italy, San Marino, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland). While in the US we have visited with great friends and seen wonderful places and travelled over 8,000 miles before heading across the ‘Pond” to Portugal. In Europe we traveled over 5,500 km (3,417 miles) in our new car prior to dropping it off for shipment to the dealer in Virginia.

A good part of the drive across country was reconnecting with friends and family. When we left our home our first stop was in Morro Bay to visit with our friend Claudia

Claudia – our friend in Morro Bay who joined us in Paris for Christmas and New Years.

at her B&B where we invited her to join us in Paris for Christmas – which she did! We reconnected with a friend, Myrt,

Myrt – a friend from Bethlehem PA where we lived in the mid 70’s and have not seen since then!

from when we lived in Bethlehem PA 40 years ago and she reconnected us with another friend from that time frame living in Savannah who we visited too! The drive through Northern California was beautiful visiting with friends, seeing the sights and relaxing.

Beth, who lives in Sonoma and our host for a couple of days prior to heading further north.

We tried to stay off the interstate and took the local highway as much as possible.

Gary Peter and Jaynese with us for dinner in Berkeley prior to going to a one woman show.

Sure there was roadwork and single lane situations but it was a grand drive.

My sister Georgia, my brother Richard and my other sister Marilynn – all together at the Cousins Reunion in Oregon.

Once out of California we made our way to a Cousins’ reunion – cousins and family we have not seen in years. A week on the beach with good family was wonderful. It didn’t hurt that both of our sons and their family were able to be there too.

Jason and our lovely granddaughter at the Cousins Reunion in Oregon.

Of course Oregon for us means the Willamette Valley and wine.

My family all together at DDO Winery in Oregon.

We were fortunate to have close friends at Stoller Vineyards and were able to stay in one of their cottages on the property for 2 weeks! After leaving the International Pinot Noir Celebration, held each year, we drove to Seattle to celebrate our 48^th wedding anniversary.

Janeen at the Chihuly Glass exhibit in Seattle

A visit to the Chihuly Glass Exhibit prior to dinner at RN74

Celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary at a nice restaurant in Seattle – RN74.

made the day very special. A visit to Bainbridge Island to visit with some of Janeen’s childhood friends, a tasting of great Champagne at Fat Cork

In Seattle we stopped at Fat Cork to drink some great champagne with Bryan and his wife Abby.

and off we went heading east.

We had planned to stopping a couple of times going East from Seattle but the smoke from the various forest fires in Canada and Montana made the air unpleasant, so we pushed through to Bozeman, Montana and a visit with Bonny and David.

David and Bonnie during our tour of a history museum

Bonny was matron of honor at our wedding so we have known them a VERY long time…and it was wonderful to reconnect with them and catch up. Sure we exchange Christmas cards and calls, but being in their home was wonderful.

Throughout our trip, thus far, we had not stopped at any of the various National Monuments or Parks. Well, as we were driving along, there was a sign for the Battle of the Little Big Horn

and it was just off the road! Seemed like the thing to do and we did. Our ranger guide was very knowledgeable and brought the entire battle to life with his discussion.

Sometimes the world becomes incredibly small. We made a snap decision to drive through the Sand Hills area of Wyoming. After cruising along for a couple of hours, it was time for lunch so we stopped at a Subway in Lusk, Wyoming for a sandwich. Nothing special about the place and the sandwich was as good as any other Subway provides. Just as I was about to close the car door and drive away, I noticed two people we actually know! Dale and Roxanne live in Arizona.

Roxanne and Dale – friends met on the road in the middle of no-where!

We first met them in Oregon at IPNC but they haven’t been to the event for several years. Turns out they are on vacation. Roxanne’s mother lives in Nebraska and having completed their visit, they were heading to Mount Rushmore when they too decided a break and a sub would be a good idea. What a treat to find friends literally in the middle of nowhere!

Carhenge – this is a strange place in Alliance, Nebraska. We have been to the original in Salisbury UK

Back on the road through miles and miles and miles of cornfields, we made our way to York, Nebraska where we reconnected with friends from Michigan – John and Lora.

John and Lora – we met these folks in East Lansing Michigan in the early 70’s.

We have not seen these guys since we left Michigan in 1973! Sure Christmas cards exchanged most years kept us in touch but meeting up with them again after all these years was fantastic. It was like we had seen each other only yesterday. Great visit. From Nebraska, through a lot more cornfields, we got to Macomb, Illinois and Janeen’s dad.

Janeen and her dad during our visit in August.

We stayed a couple of weeks visiting and getting everything together for our next hop to Virginia – stopping at Fallingwaters (Frank Lloyd Wright)

Fallingwater – I could live here but the maintenance cost would not be fun to pay!

which was specular and our final stop – Springfield, VA and our son Jason, his wife Terri and most importantly our granddaughter Katie Beth.

Janeen and our little miss on the Potomac River on my birthday.

Our friends Jessie and Phil from Pasadena made it to the East Coast and more particularly to be with us for my birthday!

Terri, Janeen, Jessie, Phil and David at his (David’s) 70th birthday celebration in Alexandria during our pub crawl to start the day.

It was really a treat to have them with us for several days prior to our taking flight to Europe

Two weeks after arrival in Virginia, we boarded a plane

Here we are settling in for our flight to Lisbon.

and flew to Portugal; the beginning of our planned 4 months in Europe. Look for Update #2

June 14, 2018

06-12-18 Home Brewing

Former President Jimmy Carter may have a somewhat mixed record, with a Nobel Peace Prize on the one hand and a lost 1980 reelection bid on the other. However, it is thanks to Jimmy Carter that there is craft brewing – and more importantly home brewing! In 1978 Carter signed into law the ability for home brewers making less then 50 gallons for personal use to make beer legally and without the need to pay any taxes! Prior to that time home brewing was hidden behind closed doors and illegal.

Since that time, craft brewers have exploded resulting in hundreds if not thousands of small producers starting in their garage and turning it into a real business (yes, at that point they have to start paying taxes). Jason, our eldest son, has been home brewing for several years and we have tasted the results often. (He has no intention of turning this into a business.)

While we were visiting recently Jason decided to make a batch of what he calls G’Nu Castle Brown Ale, a “clone” of New Castle Brown Ale.

Following the spirit of the original New Castle, this brew requires two separate fermentation tanks (buckets). One batch is prepared to an Original Gravity (O.G.) of 1.050, while the second is prepared to 1.035 OG.

Gravity is a measurement of the wert’s density, and in home brewing is a measure how much malt (sugar) is dissolved into the water.

Everything has to be cleaned – this is the brew kettle.

The first step, fill the brew kettle with purified water – 10 gallons

Distilled water has a Specific Gravity (S.G.) of 1.000. The first batch, which is denser and has a higher Gravity, will end up with a higher Alcohol by Volume (abv). The second batch will have a lower abv because it has less malt to convert to alcohol.

The fence is keep little people away from the burner – adding grains to the wort steeper

Steeping – Pouring the boiled water onto the grains for conversion.

Checking the temp – need to be at 154 degrees for an hour.

The unique qualities of these two batches help give this New Castle clone it’s distinctive taste. The higher Gravity means the yeast converts the malt faster (more food to eat, so it eats faster) and the product has a “fruitier” flavor to its alcohol. The lower Gravity batch converts slower and will end up with a more “malty” flavor. These two batches are combined after fermentation into a single batch, and mixed thoroughly.

Pre-crushed 2-row pale malted grain – the first (and biggest) ingredient

Hop Pellets – Added at intervals for flavor (30 minutes before end of boiling) and for bittering (15 min before end of boil)

After about two weeks, the two batches are each transferred to a new (sanitized) fermentation tank. This accomplishes two objectives; first the “debris” that has settled on the bottom of the primary fermentation tank (which is called “trub”) is unwanted and gives poor flavor and clarity to final beer, the second is the transfer re-originates the beer and reinvigorates the yeast to convert more malt to alcohol. During this transfer an additional Gravity reading is taken.

Sparging – taking the first few gallons and pouring it over the grains to wash the malt and maximize malt conversion from the grains.

At this point the Gravity was approximately 1.035 for the first batch and 1.018, which is about half of the fermentation that is expected. The yeast will continue to convert malt to alcohol for the next few weeks.

Grains ready for more steeping – Steeping container isn’t large enough for the batch we made, so we had to steep in two rounds.

Adding more water to the grain – a second run through.

Preparing Wert for boil – After collecting the wert from steeping, it is returned to the brew kettle to boil for one hour.

Steeping – Second round of wert is steeping

Once no further malt conversion is occurring, which can be judged by taking several Gravity readings over several days until there is no change in the reading (or just letting it sit for a long time and then arbitrarily deciding “it’s done!”), it’s time to prep for bottling.

Final gravity readings are taken (1.021 for batch 1, and 1.008 for batch 2) it’s time to combine the batches and add bottling sugar. The bottling sugar is a relatively small amount of sugar that re-vitalizes the yeast and causes them to convert just a little more alcohol. The by-product of this is carbonation; which gives the beer that nice mouth feel. Because the beer has been sealed behind a bottle-cap, the CO2 has no place to escape to and becomes “dissolved” in the beer until the bottle is opened.

Irish Moss – A single table spoon of Irish Moss is added 15 minutes before the end of boil. This works as a “magnet” to bulk the unwanted organic material together for easier filtering.

Terminating boil – After boiling for an hour, the wert is removed from the brew kettle for cooling to aprox. 65 degrees.

Cooling – A copper coil with cool water running though it, is submerged into the wert to quickly chill.

Used grain – Perfect for brewers bread (lethal for dogs)

Fermentation begins – After pitching the yeast, an airlock is attached to the lid to allow off-gasses to escape but keep unwanted bacteria out of the bucket. From this moment on, the wert is now beer.

Using a special bottling wand, which only allows the beer to flow from the bottling bucket when it’s depressed inside the each bottle (which have all been very well cleaned and sanitized), the beer is transferred from a bucket where everything has been re-mixed into the bottles.

Mixing batches – Mixing the two batches together then adding bottling sugars

Here’s the brew on it’s way to the bottling line.

Filling the bottles – gravity sycphon attached to a bottling wand, ensure each bottle is full with a small gap to keep the bottle from exploding during bottle fermentation

Sealing the bottles – Placing caps on the newly filled bottles and “folding” down the edge to seal it in place.

After bottling, the beer is left to sit for two to three weeks, during which time the yeast converts the small amount of sugar into both alcohol and carbonation.

This batch turned out very well, with an estimated final abv of 4.5%, and a flavor that is very much like New Castle. We used a little too much sugar for bottling, so it’s a little over-carbonated, which is why we had one bottle explode during bottle fermentation.

Because this is a home brew, the yeast remains “alive” because there’s no pasteurization process to kill off the yeast. So, as the beer continues to rest the flavor may change subtly over the ensuing weeks and months.

Farnum St. Brewing – G’Nu Castle Brown Ale

This adds a new element to home brewing as you could have something that’s pretty terrible after the first two weeks, but is actually really great after two months!

June 7, 2018

05-27-18 Asheville, NC Arboretum, Blue Ridge Parkway and Dinner in town

We arrived in Asheville to visit our friends Gloria and Jerry and had a lovely evening. The following day, being nice and sunny, we headed out to

The North Carolina Arboretum. This place, about 434 acres in size, includes a lovely arboretum, botanical gardens and a lot of walking paths to explore.

Although the idea for the arboretum stretches back to landscape architect in 1898, the actual place was not developed until quite recently – 1986 – so it is new and filled with lovely plants. While the place is still under development, there are a variety of hiking and bicycling trails along with several mature gardens. Our goal for the day was to get to the bonsai collection.

Inside the main building was a travelling exhibit, Making Scents: The art and passion of Fragrance. While we have seen similar examples of fragrance displays, including a museum in Paris, it was neat to see someone Janeen knows from the Huntington Library and Gardens in CA as part of the exhibit! Tom Carruth