Thursday, October 25, 2012
World Series 2012 - Game 2
When Buster tagged out Fielder at the plate, once again I felt that we were meant to win this World Championship. Here is a link to some photo's of that game.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
World Series 2012 in San Francisco, A.T. & T. Park
What a year it has been for our San Francisco Giants!
From shutting out the Dodgers, in 3 consecutive home games in June for the first time in the over 1,200 games these teams have played against each other to Matt Cain's perfect game, I was there through it all!
I went to the first two playoff games, which we lost to Cincinnati. We then went on vacation to Spain, Costa Brava and Barcelona. When I left I did not think that the Giants could go to Cincinnati and win 3 straight games on the road....but they did. So while I was in Barcelona at 3:00 am I am watching my MLB app listening to Kruk and Kuip...the Giants again face elimination for the 4th time. Yet we win game 5 in St Louis to bring the series back to SF. We arrived home from Spain on Saturday, October 22nd, so I was able to attend games 6 and 7 which we won. It was the first game 7 in over 50 years of SF Giants history. It is/was destiny that we swept the Detroit Tigers, when all the experts where picking them. 4 games to 0
World Series 2012 in San Francisco at AT&T Park
From shutting out the Dodgers, in 3 consecutive home games in June for the first time in the over 1,200 games these teams have played against each other to Matt Cain's perfect game, I was there through it all!
I went to the first two playoff games, which we lost to Cincinnati. We then went on vacation to Spain, Costa Brava and Barcelona. When I left I did not think that the Giants could go to Cincinnati and win 3 straight games on the road....but they did. So while I was in Barcelona at 3:00 am I am watching my MLB app listening to Kruk and Kuip...the Giants again face elimination for the 4th time. Yet we win game 5 in St Louis to bring the series back to SF. We arrived home from Spain on Saturday, October 22nd, so I was able to attend games 6 and 7 which we won. It was the first game 7 in over 50 years of SF Giants history. It is/was destiny that we swept the Detroit Tigers, when all the experts where picking them. 4 games to 0
World Series 2012 in San Francisco at AT&T Park
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Barcelona
After our arrival and check in at our Barcelona hotel we had to return our rental car. The return location was in a mall near the ocean. We returned the car had a wonderful walk along the ocean boardwalk as we headed towards our hotel. In 1992 Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympics and this help to create the city Barcelona is today. They build very modern designed building, so Barcelona is a city of the "Old Modernisme" and the NEW truly Modern buildings!
Like this Agbar Tower
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| Lights in ceiling that look like peas in a pod! |
Monday, October 15, 2012
Montserrat Monastery & the Boys Choir
After visiting the Salvador Dali museum we drove the Montserrat Monastery we wanted to see the famous Boys Choir sing without the crowds, so we made it in time to see them sing at 6:45 pm. I chose this video as it shows where Montserrat is high in the mountains and what the area around it look like, in addition to hearing the boys sing with this man.
When we got up on Tuesday, October 16th we took a walk to a small church, still part of Montserrat and took these photo's there.
So we left Montserrat mid day and drove to Barcelona, we made it to our Hotel Catalonia Cathedral very easily!
When we got up on Tuesday, October 16th we took a walk to a small church, still part of Montserrat and took these photo's there.
So we left Montserrat mid day and drove to Barcelona, we made it to our Hotel Catalonia Cathedral very easily!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Salvador Dali Museum, then to Montserrat
After a wonderful night in Mas Falgarona and an excellent breakfast we set off to spend a few hours at the Dali museum. It was amazing!
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| Salvador Dali |
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| May West - made from furniture |
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| Dali jewelry |
Check out this piece of jewelry by Dali, it's and actual moving/pumping heart made of diamonds, rubies, etc.
From Figures we drove to Montserrat
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Driving from Llfranc in Costa Brava to Figueres
Today we checked out of our El Far hotel in Llfranc to drive to Figueres. The El Far, with only 9 rooms, had a wedding today (Saturday). The wedding party is 160 people, quite large for the space, but it allowed us to see something we would have never even known it existed....an old chapel which is part of El Far. Also as part of the hotel are ruins from the Iberians, here are some photo's.
From the beaches we drove to the Ruins of Empuires (both Greek & Roman, below are more of my photo's
http://www.spain.info/en_US/reportajes/de_grecia_a_roma_las_ruinas_de_empuries_en_la_costa_brava.html
We then drove outside of Figures to get our hotel Mas Falgarona, it was beautiful We wish we had arrived earlier in the day and spent more than one night here.
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| Costa Brave beach we took a walk on |
From the beaches we drove to the Ruins of Empuires (both Greek & Roman, below are more of my photo's
http://www.spain.info/en_US/reportajes/de_grecia_a_roma_las_ruinas_de_empuries_en_la_costa_brava.html
We then drove outside of Figures to get our hotel Mas Falgarona, it was beautiful We wish we had arrived earlier in the day and spent more than one night here.
Friday, October 12, 2012
La Bisbol d'Emporda, Girona & Pals "oh my"
We both woke up early, the sun was rising so we took some photo's, and then went back to bed until about 10:00 am....it is vacation!
After our "included" European breakfast - 3 pieces of toast, 2 pieces of bread that had been toast with oil oil and the essence of tomatoes, plus about 5 different croissants, along with OJ, cut fruit, plain yogurt and a plate with prosciutto, salami, ham, etc. coffee. At breakfast we saw that it was supposed to rain so we decided that rather then walk the Costa Brava coastal walking trail, we'd drive to La Bisbal d'Emporda, then to Girona and finish at Pals. Now I have to admit I had hoped La Bisbal d'Emporda may have had something to do with baseball......I was just dreaming....nice town known for their Ceramic....we did purchase a few small items.
From La Bisbol we drove to Girona, what a wonderful city with a old Jewish quarter along with Arab Baths, churches, it was very nice. We spent the afternoon, including lunch (which I had paella). More of my photo's
On our way back to the Hotel El Far we went by Pals, so far our favorite small medieval. I love the vending machine inside the church to purchase candles
Check out the old style "street light" it's stacked wood in a metal frame. A full day but another great day....one last image.....
After our "included" European breakfast - 3 pieces of toast, 2 pieces of bread that had been toast with oil oil and the essence of tomatoes, plus about 5 different croissants, along with OJ, cut fruit, plain yogurt and a plate with prosciutto, salami, ham, etc. coffee. At breakfast we saw that it was supposed to rain so we decided that rather then walk the Costa Brava coastal walking trail, we'd drive to La Bisbal d'Emporda, then to Girona and finish at Pals. Now I have to admit I had hoped La Bisbal d'Emporda may have had something to do with baseball......I was just dreaming....nice town known for their Ceramic....we did purchase a few small items.
On our way back to the Hotel El Far we went by Pals, so far our favorite small medieval. I love the vending machine inside the church to purchase candles
Check out the old style "street light" it's stacked wood in a metal frame. A full day but another great day....one last image.....
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Catalunya, is it part of Spain or not?
I love to travel! It's no surprise that I have worked in the travel industry for 31 years. After being unemployed for close to 10 months I now have a job working for MLT Vacations (one of my former clients) owned by Delta Airlines. Like I said I love to travel and I love my wife so much that I even agreed to arrange this trip during the Baseball playoffs.
We flew to Newark, a pretty easy 5+ hour flight. When we arrived, we were hungry. We found a restaurant that had a TV's. I asked them to put on the SF Giants game. Zito was pitching, Pagan had lead off the game with a HR. It was 5 to 2 when I had to board the flight to Barcelona (Giants won 8 -3 and tied the NLDS at 2 games each). More about the Giants and playoffs at the end.
From Newark our flight was non-stop to Barcelona, the flight was only 6 1/2 hours, it went by pretty quickly. Unfortunately the sleeping pill I took did not have he impact I had hoped for.....so upon arrive both Beth and I were extremely tired. It was difficult to make decisions at the car rental....do I keep the small car I rented or upgrade to a larger car (Peugeot)....I upgraded....do I add additional insurance in case someone is injured........I added it the additional insurance.....all just part of the travel experience! You know you are exhausted when you get in the car and you can't figure out how to put the manual drive into reverse.......so we are on our way...how do we go? I do love to drive all over the world, however not knowing where you are going can get a bit stressful, especially when you are tired and hungry.....as it turns out the directions I printed worked well and we had an uneventful drive to our Hotel El Far in town of Llfafranc, in the municipally of Palafrugell in the province of Girona in Catalunya, Spain (say that 10 times). The hotel only has 9 rooms, and they are not very fancy, but as the saying goes...location, location, location. We are 500 feet above the ocean with amazing views.
Here are a few photos from our balcony
After checking in we took a nice 2+ hour nap, then went down to Llafranc to walk around the beach and harbor.
Our dinner was included with our "Romance Package" so we had
OK now back to my SF Giants....below is a quote from Hunter Pence prior to game 4 that Ryan Vogelsong pitched...talk about intense, emotional, passion.....one of the many reasons why I love baseball.
“get in here, everyone get in here..look into each other eyes..now! look into each others eyes, I want one more day with you, it’s the most fun, the best team I have ever been on … and no matter what happens we must not give in, we owe it to each other, play for each other, I need one more day with you guys, I need to see what Theriot will wear tomorrow, I want to play defense behind Vogelsong because he’s never been to the playoffs..play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it’s all we have left.”
So before going to bed tonight I checked my sports site and am proud to saw that 2012 is a recording breaking year for the Giants. They, once again, did something NEVER done before.....in a short 5 game series they are the first team EVER to lose the first 2 games at home and then sweep the next 3 games on the road to WIN the series.....awesome....GO Giants.....I want to go to World Series games when I get home.
We flew to Newark, a pretty easy 5+ hour flight. When we arrived, we were hungry. We found a restaurant that had a TV's. I asked them to put on the SF Giants game. Zito was pitching, Pagan had lead off the game with a HR. It was 5 to 2 when I had to board the flight to Barcelona (Giants won 8 -3 and tied the NLDS at 2 games each). More about the Giants and playoffs at the end.
From Newark our flight was non-stop to Barcelona, the flight was only 6 1/2 hours, it went by pretty quickly. Unfortunately the sleeping pill I took did not have he impact I had hoped for.....so upon arrive both Beth and I were extremely tired. It was difficult to make decisions at the car rental....do I keep the small car I rented or upgrade to a larger car (Peugeot)....I upgraded....do I add additional insurance in case someone is injured........I added it the additional insurance.....all just part of the travel experience! You know you are exhausted when you get in the car and you can't figure out how to put the manual drive into reverse.......so we are on our way...how do we go? I do love to drive all over the world, however not knowing where you are going can get a bit stressful, especially when you are tired and hungry.....as it turns out the directions I printed worked well and we had an uneventful drive to our Hotel El Far in town of Llfafranc, in the municipally of Palafrugell in the province of Girona in Catalunya, Spain (say that 10 times). The hotel only has 9 rooms, and they are not very fancy, but as the saying goes...location, location, location. We are 500 feet above the ocean with amazing views.
Here are a few photos from our balcony
After checking in we took a nice 2+ hour nap, then went down to Llafranc to walk around the beach and harbor.
Our dinner was included with our "Romance Package" so we had
OK now back to my SF Giants....below is a quote from Hunter Pence prior to game 4 that Ryan Vogelsong pitched...talk about intense, emotional, passion.....one of the many reasons why I love baseball.
“get in here, everyone get in here..look into each other eyes..now! look into each others eyes, I want one more day with you, it’s the most fun, the best team I have ever been on … and no matter what happens we must not give in, we owe it to each other, play for each other, I need one more day with you guys, I need to see what Theriot will wear tomorrow, I want to play defense behind Vogelsong because he’s never been to the playoffs..play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it’s all we have left.”
So before going to bed tonight I checked my sports site and am proud to saw that 2012 is a recording breaking year for the Giants. They, once again, did something NEVER done before.....in a short 5 game series they are the first team EVER to lose the first 2 games at home and then sweep the next 3 games on the road to WIN the series.....awesome....GO Giants.....I want to go to World Series games when I get home.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
We saw Brave with Basha at Sebastiani Theatre
On a wonderfully warm evening we decided to go into to Sonoma for some dinner and a movie.
We had a very nice dinner in Taste of the Himalaya's. We do love India, Nepal, Burmese, etc. food.
After dinner we went into the Sebastiani theatre to see Brave.
The story was OK, Mom wants everything for her daughter. She educates, provides, directs her daughter until she is so overwhelmed by her mothers wishes for her she goes to a witch and gets a "curse" which turns her Mom into the worst possible thing.....a Bear...considering that her Dad is THE BEAR killer it's ironic.
I do feel that the Cinematography was awesome.
We had a very nice dinner in Taste of the Himalaya's. We do love India, Nepal, Burmese, etc. food.
After dinner we went into the Sebastiani theatre to see Brave.
The story was OK, Mom wants everything for her daughter. She educates, provides, directs her daughter until she is so overwhelmed by her mothers wishes for her she goes to a witch and gets a "curse" which turns her Mom into the worst possible thing.....a Bear...considering that her Dad is THE BEAR killer it's ironic.
I do feel that the Cinematography was awesome.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Kayaking on the Russian River
Beth took Thursday and Friday off so we have been able to have fun together!
Today we loaded both kayak's stacked one on top of the other, on my roof rack and started off for the Russian River. On the ride we really were not sure what we were going to do, as we were not able to find anyone who ran shuttles, in order to drop the kayak's up river to go with the flow, and meet the car down river.
The drive was about 30 miles total, off 101 @ River Road and to Guerneville. We arrived at Johnson Beach and at the boat launch we asked a man next to us how we could drop a car. He did not know but he recommended that we simply kayak upstream for some time and then come back, thus avoiding having to drop a car and that is exactly what we did.
On our journey we saw a Hawk with a 8 to 10 inch fish in it's claws fly back to the nest. A large group of young Wood Ducks and plus other Mallards. But our favorite are the Tree Swallow's. They sweep and circle over the river and when you see their blue-green back as they fly they are wonderful.
We figure we went about 3.5 miles up stream with the wind at our backs. On the trip bak it was much easier except we we going into the wind. We had a fantastic time and came home to enjoy the last of our dogs and burgers.
Today we loaded both kayak's stacked one on top of the other, on my roof rack and started off for the Russian River. On the ride we really were not sure what we were going to do, as we were not able to find anyone who ran shuttles, in order to drop the kayak's up river to go with the flow, and meet the car down river.
The drive was about 30 miles total, off 101 @ River Road and to Guerneville. We arrived at Johnson Beach and at the boat launch we asked a man next to us how we could drop a car. He did not know but he recommended that we simply kayak upstream for some time and then come back, thus avoiding having to drop a car and that is exactly what we did.
On our journey we saw a Hawk with a 8 to 10 inch fish in it's claws fly back to the nest. A large group of young Wood Ducks and plus other Mallards. But our favorite are the Tree Swallow's. They sweep and circle over the river and when you see their blue-green back as they fly they are wonderful.
We figure we went about 3.5 miles up stream with the wind at our backs. On the trip bak it was much easier except we we going into the wind. We had a fantastic time and came home to enjoy the last of our dogs and burgers.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The 4th of July - 2012 Kenwood/Sonoma & Parties
We woke up to a wonderful Sonoma day started off with our local parade. It is about 4 blocks long, west off of Highway 12. I enjoy that the parade reflects the community, we have our local newspaper, old classic cars, LOUD new Fire trucks, a 125 Years for the Kenwood Depot along with all the people.
After the parade we went to the Glen Ellen Market and ran into Joshua R. and we then saw Holly and Peter's new home, across the street from there current one. It is fantastic for them.
From seeing Holly we learned of and decided to crash 2 Sonoma parties......John and Gale's and Rick and Renee's. It was great to do but busy and we were tired when we laid down to see the fireworks.
They certainly pleased us very much, here is the last minute 40.
After the parade we went to the Glen Ellen Market and ran into Joshua R. and we then saw Holly and Peter's new home, across the street from there current one. It is fantastic for them.
From seeing Holly we learned of and decided to crash 2 Sonoma parties......John and Gale's and Rick and Renee's. It was great to do but busy and we were tired when we laid down to see the fireworks.
They certainly pleased us very much, here is the last minute 40.
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