Saturday, September 25, 2010

Earthquake: M 5.4 - Central Alaska

Magnitude: 5.4
Location: Central Alaska

Time: Sat, Sep 25, 2010 4:06:00 AM AKDT
GMT: Sat, Sep 25, 2010 12:06:00 GMT

Latitude: 62° 51' 54" N (62.8651°)
Longitude: 149° 30' 30" W (-149.5085°)
Depth: 52.5 mi

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=M%205.4%20-%20Central%20Alaska@62.865101,-149.508499&z=6

More Information: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ak10086847.php

Data provided by US Geological Survey.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Fall in Anchorage

Back home to a beautiful Fall here in Alaska. Pleasantly surprised to see that there is no snow in the mountains yet!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Homeward bound

This is a photo of the display on the back of the seats on the British Airways flight from London to Seattle. 9.5 hours is a loooong flight.

Long travel day

Today we had breakfast in Spain, lunch in London, and dinner in Seattle. Heathrow airport had a great, although expensive spicy noodle dish.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Madrid Architecture

Almost time to say good-bye to Madrid. The last few evenings here the weather has been perfect for our evening walk.

Rehearsal Rooms

David gave us a tour of his work building. He is a professional singer in the National Choir of Spain.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

National choir and orchestra of Spain

Unfortunately tonights performance was sold out, but we were able to attend the rehearsal performance. Tough to make him out in this photo, but our friend David is part of the choir.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Gran Via

The apartment we rented for our week in Madrid is just one block off this main thoroughfare, called Grand Via - and a five minute walk to the bustling square of Puerta del Sol.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Dining alfresco

Out for a walk to find dinner on a very pleasant night, as this morning's rain decreased the temperature a bit. Today is the first day we have worn long pants.

Churros Con Chocolate

We couldn't come to Madrid without stopping at the best and one of the oldest Chocolaterias in Spain.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Warning!

We close today with a Spanish translation lesson... For those of you not versed in the Spanish language, the little yellow warning label found on this Sandwich press in the Toledo train station says, "Warning, do not make a Panini out of your own hand." LOL

Plaza in Santa Cruz Museum

The patio of the museum has many carved stone fragments from the Roman and Visigothic cultures.

15th & 16th Century Tapestries

In the Museum de Santa Cruz there were some enormous ancient tapestries on display. How about having a room in your home big enough for this monster?

Through the streets of Toledo...

There are some extremely narrow streets in Toledo. We have been in some questionable situations with a car in Spain before, but you wouldn't want to get caught down this street with more than a pedal bike.

Catedral Santa Maria de Toledo

Roger pictured with a perspective of the main Cathedral in Toledo.

Don Quixote & Sancho Panza

These popular keepsakes are decorated with gold from Toledo and handcrafted by locals artists.

Artisan at work...

Finally got to see how this gold is applied. We have one of these plates at home that Kirt purchased in the late 1980's. (See next post for example of what we have at home)

Cheers Mate!

Having a bit of fun after a delicious lunch in Toledo!

Good Eats

Tacos de solomillo al roquefort, translated to English is: steak bits and potatoes in a blue cheese cream sauce. This is probably one of the most delicious meals we've had in Spain.

El entierro del SeƱor de Orgaz

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz is a painting by El Greco, a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. Widely considered among his finest works, it illustrates a popular local legend of his time that claims that two Saints descended from heaven to bury the Count by their own hands. It was impressive to see this in person in the town of Toledo where we spent the day.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Browsing

Browsing the open air market at Mercado San Miguel for some very fresh appetizers!

Mercado de San Miguel

Tonight our friend David took us the open air market where there was a myriad of delicious tapas y bebidas (appetizers and drinks).

Parking in Madrid

This photo isn't about the car, but the spaces between the cars. MadrileƱos are champion parallel parkers. It may take a couple of bumps, but this white car will manage to squeeze out.

Puerta del Sol

A very familiar and favorite place in Madrid. Last time we were here, it was very crowded with Holiday shoppers (Dec 2008).

Spain - High speed train (Ave) from Barcelona to Madrid

Ave

On the fast train (Ave) to Madrid.

Train to Madrid

We took the high speed train from Barcelona to Madrid. Top speed was 186 mph.

Flat mate

Not in our apartment, but these little fellows seemed to be all over the white walls of Sitges. This one greeted us in the hallway outside our apartment in Sitges.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Maricel Palace

These intricate sculptures abound on this palace constructed in 1910 by a North-American Millionaire, Charles Deering. The building is now used for congresses, meetings, international conventions, official acts, civil weddings, and other events.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Catalunya Day!

Turns out that today is Catalunya Day. There are many flags adorning the buildings and people celebrating the holiday in the streets. Another beautiful day of sun and 80 degrees.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Current Location

We are having some appetizers and a drink outside at a small street side cafe before heading down the street for something more substantial.

Roger - Beach

Roger heading out for a swim early in the morning. Later in the day you could hardly see the sand for bodies laying on the beach.

Kirt - Beach

Spent a good part of the day today at the beach (in the shade of course)... Beautiful day!!

View from our roof

This is the view from the roof-top terrance that is part of the apartment that we are renting in Sitges.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Our Evening Walk - Kirt

Beautiful evening for a walk along the beach!

Our Evening Walk - Roger

Beautiful evening for a walk along the beach!

Sitges with beaches

During the last part of our walk this morning, we ended up at this excellent lookout to show you the town of Sitges along with a couple of it's beaches. We really love this town!

Sitges Church

A close up of the entrance to the big church in Sitges. A beautiful bride had just walked into the church with her hubby to get married. Very cool to see this today!

Typical Street

Roger by a typical Spanish street here in Sitges, Spain.

Breakfast

Breakfast out this morning at a local place called Granja Elsa. This was the place we stopped at the first night. Turns out we picked a good one because it is becoming one of our favorite local hang outs. If we owned a local watering hole someday, it would be very similar to this one! Maybe I'll ask her if she wants to sell it?? :)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Great day at the beach!


We had a great day at the beach (Playa de Rodona) today. While we weren't swimming, we spent alot of time under an umbrella, but the weather was perfect!

From the balcony

An interesting tree that is just off the balcony of our apartment. There seems to be flowers and vines growing in the tree for built-in adornment. And as you can see, beautiful weather here is abundant. I think Sitges might be my our new favorite place in Spain.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Playing while we are away...

We have some great friends looking after Riley while we are away. He is no doubt being spoiled and very well cared for. They just sent us this picture of him happily eating his breakfast.

One of the Beaches in Sitges

Went exploring the different beaches here in Sitges today. There are about 5 along the edge of this small town. The winter population of the town is about 5000, but the summer population is 50,000.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

In search of tapas

Tonight we are looking for a good local restaurant, attempting to avoid the tourist spots.

Ah, a great Spanish dinner!


...and at the appropriate Spanish dinner hour (11:00pm). We were happy to arrive in Sitges after a very long travel day. After dropping our stuff in the apartment that we rented, a dinner of authentic Spanish tapas was the FIRST thing on the agenda!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Made it to Spain!

After a very long journey that included aprox 24 hours of flights & airports, we have arrived in Sitges, Spain. We are resolving a few technical difficulties today and then should be able to start posting photos. --K&R