started the day with a breakfast (except me, who is still a little unsettled) and another stroll thru this amazing restoration/renovation. (In hindsight I had the best beverage of the entire trip. Although the waitress couldn't speak english, she observed my discomfort and brought out some camomille tea. Either I was getting over the distress or this was an amaing drink...I felt much better within an hour of drinking it...I'm keeping a couple bags of the stuff in my backpack for all future trips.) Lynn continued to point out sights and suggest villages for stops that had significance. Each castle or palace had some story including Juana or one of her kin/queen parents. We by passed Valladolid, although rich in history, it is well developed and would involve hassling with traffic. Our time was better spent ... read more

We got up early for a breakfast in the courtyard of our hotel. We strolled the town taking in the vitality of this city...historic buildings and variety of urban housing. I love the variety of glass enclosed balconies in both old and newly constructed apartments. I don't think we have seen any single family houses. Finally, we walked down to pick up the rental car for our start of the drive along the Camino de Santiago; the pilgrimage walk across Spain to the Cahedral at Santiago de Santiago. If you are interested check out the following website: http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/ As we began our drive there were the constant reminders we were participating in a journey that is over a thousand years old. The Camino de Santiago is frequently crossing the roadway and evident in every village with ... read more

We got up early and headed to a Barcelo resort, at Montelimar, for a day at the beach. It does not get much better than this! All inclusive day and night. We had the beach to ourselves and the weather was perfect, so we walked a good distance then headed to lunch. Found a delightful table overlooking the beach and stuffed ourselves at the buffet and drinking various fruit juices (might have been a few beers too). Then off to the hammock. As the sun began to set we grabbed a couple of chairs and sat in friendly conversation, listening to the waves crashing and watched as the sun disappeared...it's really amazing how fast it sets. I set my camera to video and planned to attach the video to this blog for you to share the ... read more

Up bright and early for a drive to the beach town of San Juan del Sur. On our way we stopped at an old family friend of Maria's parents that runs a finca of sugar cane and plantain. It was interesting to hear the process of making sugar from the sugar cane. Much of the sugar cane is hauled to the processing plants using oxen drawn wagons. The cane is cut to small pieces then pressed to get the sweet juice out. The husk is then burned to produce the heat to process the sugar and molasses for cattle. Interesting to note even in a remote part of Nicaragua they have stopped the practice of burning old tires in the facility to reduce pollution. The farmhouse was in a state of remodeling as they have stripped ... read more

Spring break 2008 and we are off to Nicaragua; leaving our beautiful Atlanta spring behind. So far we have been fortunate to be getting a more normal amount of rain and the plants are rewarding us. And sure enough it's rainy and fog as we take off No matter how many time i fly, I still enjoy popping above the clouds. We had a uneventful 3+ hour flight to Managua. Tried to get a picture of the volcano as we approached, but on wrong side of plane and then a cloud concealed the view. The inactive volcano and lake are adjacent to Managua. On the way to lunch, our "tour guides" took us through the area of the 1972 earthquake, which pretty much wiped out the town. Very little has been rebuilt except for small businesses ... read more