Recently in Travel Category

Last month's visit to Pennsylvania was the first in quite some time that we were not going for Christmas or Thanksgiving. We had never seen Todd and Diane's pool uncovered, let alone had a chance for a swim. So we took full advantage this time. The Saturday of the wedding, in particular, saw record setting temperatures.

Josie took a few tries to get herself comfortable with the pool. She enjoys the water enough and is not overly sensitive to getting her face wet. But sometimes she wants to run (Hey! Walk!) around the pool's edge and just toss the toys in. But we did get her in and she enjoys being motored around the pool. Here I am bending the "no photos of Jen in her bathing suit" rule. Most of her image goes unseen underwater, so that's my loophole.

Barely home from our Mashpee vacation, we spun around and headed to Pennsylvania for a wedding this past Saturday. The ceremony was held in the Mathew Ryan Legislative Office Building, a wing of the state capital in Harrisburg. This was a lovely setting for Angie and Chad's wedding. Not one of the high heeled bridal party stumbled on the lobby's huge stair case.

Here is an after-wedding photo I got, taking advantage of the pro wedding photographers doing their thing. Left to right is Jeff, Chad's dad, Angie, Chad, and Sue, Jeff's wife/my cousin.

Congratulations to Chad and Angie!

We were on vacation last week in Mashpee on Cape Cod. We were near South Cape Beach where this photo was taken. The day we visited, there was some sea weed washing up which deterred a lot of people. But the weather was spectacular and the ocean temperature was quite nice.

We packed quite a lot into the Saturday to Saturday week. We saw the Cotuit Kettleers win a game against one of their Cape League rivals. One name there got our attention: Mike Yastrzemski, Yaz' grandson, is playing for Cotuit. We didn't get a real good look at the actual play of the game as we were chasing Josie around. After the game, a bunch of kids swarmed the field, Josie ran the bases, touching them all, three times.

The prior entry from Woods Hole was a mid-week excursion to the aquarium there.

Karen and I went away for an overnight in the Berkshires this weekend. Our destination was Picasso Looks at Degas at the Clark Art Institute. Bob and Sheila joined us on the visit. The banner behind mentions the Juan Muñoz exhibit. That exhibit was in another building and the weather and age conspired to limit us to the main attraction.

The exhibit is pretty darn good, although I wondered how far they stretched the theme. If you have hundreds of paintings and sculptures from two artists, can't you always find some that look suspiciously alike? Of course, Picasso's quote about copying and stealing makes such doubts hard to maintain. If you like Picasso or Degas or both, be sure to pay a visit.

On Sunday we headed back after a visit first to Mass MOCA. Lots of good stuff to see there too. We especially like the Material World: Sculpture to Environment and Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective.

Jen arranged reservations to the maple sugaring and pancake breakfast at Drumlin Farm this Saturday. Conditions were not at all ideal. Jen came down with a stomach bug that kept her at home. And the rain-filled weather forecast proved accurate. Still, Jordi, Josie, Karen, and I walked the grounds to see the animals: a couple of foxes (see the red fox below), a rabbit, a few mice, a horse, sheep, goats, a chicken, and a trio of cows.

The chill air makes the eventual late pancake breakfast all that more appreciated. And we weren't alone. Lots of folks of all ages came out for this event and all seemed in good, if damp, spirits.

Vacation

The weather today arrived as promised: sunny and breezy. I got out for a walk and headed into town. There was a crowd around the green watching the Minute Men get ready for Patriots' Day. This is much more civilized than getting up at 6AM. But the outcome was the same: the Redcoats were spooked by some musket fire and fired in turn on the Minute Men.

Company business took me to Spain in December. We flew first in to Bilbao for a tour of the Guggenheim, Bilbao. It is a spectacular Frank Gehrey building, and so far as I know, does not leak. Which is fortuitous as it was raining off and on during our time there.

It was a busy week of work, but we had site seeing time built in. I came back with 100+ pictures, which makes me a piker among some of my colleagues. Piebee will have to settle for just one snapshot (of me, no less). Slide shows with the requisite droning narration can be had upon request.

Here are links to the sites seen in Barcelona:

• We stayed at the Hotel Arts Barcelona.


• Lunch was at The Oven


• A tapas reception at Casa Batlló was superb, and the surroundings candy for the eyes.


• We toured Gaudí's masterwork, Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia.


• Dinner on Thursday was at Cororníu vineyards.


• And while Gaudí's work is amazing, more to my taste was the Museu Picasso.