WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2017

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TRAVEL THE AWARD-WINNING TRAVEL MAGAZINE

FALL 2017

AMSTERDAM’S GARDENS OF OZ

THE JOY OF TRANSATLANTIC THE AMAZING JOURNEYCRUISES FRANCE’S FORTRESS OF WONDER GERMANY’S ROMANTIC ROAD CRUISING THE “KING” RIVER IN EUROPE A WEEK IN PROVENCE

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WINE DINE &

TRAVEL

Photo by Ron James

PUBLISHERS

Ron & Mary James EXECUTIVE EDITOR /ART DIRECTOR Ron James EDITOR Mary James STAFF WRITERS Alison DaRosa Priscilla Lister John Muncie Jody Jaffe COLUMNISTS Robert Whitley Susan McBeth FEATURE WRITERS Sharon Whitley Larsen Carl Larsen Maribeth Mellin Amy Laughinghouse Judy Garrison Stacy Taylor Wibke Carter

Here’s one of Amsterdam’s most famous musicians, Reinier Sijpkens in his boat playing a concert with the church bells of the Oude Kerk.

WDT respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we ask that our readers do the same. We have adopted a policy in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable laws.

Wine Dine & Travel Magazine is a Wine Country Interactive Inc. publication @ 2017 Contact editor@winedineandtravel.com

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SIX MAJOR NEW AWARDS FOR WDT

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C BE IET 3 N ST Y O EW FE F AW AT PR U OF AR RE E D & SSI S F IN ON O R D 20 IV AL J ID 1 U OU 7 AL R P H NA O LIS TO TS S

WE’RE SERIOUS ABOUT GREAT JOURNALISM

Since our first year Wine Dine & Travel has earned dozens of awards for everything that makes a great magazine. We’ve won top awards in every key category, including editorial, design, humor, photography and columns. We’re proud of that we continue to receive these accolades year in and out from the most respected journalism organizations in the nation. That means that you know you’re reading one of the best travel publications in the industry. And that’s due to our dedicated family of world-class travel writers and photographers. We couldn’t do this without them.

SDPC EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS 2016 Travel Story Humor Feature Layout & Design Still Photography Best Column

WDT: AWARD-WINNING PRINT & DIGITAL

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Airline Greed or Opportunity Missed

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fter days of dominating the news, Hurricane Irma is taking a backseat to what will be a lengthy recovery by areas the powerful storm battered in the Caribbean and Florida. Now comes the assessment of how all of the key actors, public and corporate, did to aid the millions who faced and became victims of Irma’s might. The report card on the role that airlines played is still incomplete, but by and large, their image took another deserved beating, adding to an ongoing series of shoot-yourself-in-the-foot actions. It didn’t need to happen that way.

After thousands of complaints about ticket-price gouging in Florida, U.S. Representative Charlie Crist wrote to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao calling for an investigation of airline behavior during a crisis.

Responding to angry constituents, U.S Senators Blumenthal and Markey responded immediately, “Airlines certainly have a right to a reasonable return for services rendered and vagaries in pricing are to be expected; but airlines have no right to impose exorbitant, unfair prices on Americans simply trying to get out of harm’s way.”

The depth of airline greed was unavoidable on social media where screen shots of soaring ticket prices during evacuations shows some tickets jumping from $547 to more than $3,200.

Industry supporters suggested that it was business as usual, computer generated increases based on supply and demand.

Legal or not, the optics are terrible for an industry enduring plenty of bad press recently. Even the perception of gouging helpless victims adds to the public’s rage about arbitrary fees for everything from baggage to blankets.

On top of that are the shocking, headline-making displays of corporate greed and arrogance. Who can comprehend the callousness behind the forcible removal of a passenger so that a higher paying flyer could take his seat. Such incidents underscore bad management and staffing with untrained, overworked and underpaid personnel.

Black eyes for the airline industry during catastrophic events like Irma are avoidable. Most airlines and their crews were heroes; they capped fares, added flights and crews and went above and beyond to help some very scared and tired people. If all had reacted this way, the social media buzz would have been an entirely different story.

But for some reason for some airlines it was business supply and demand as usual, allowing computers to force evacuees to stay in harm’s way because they couldn’t afford pricy last minute tickets. Unfortunately natural disasters like this hurricane season are occurring with greater frequency and intensity.

Clearly it’s time for the airline industry to set some humanitarian standards for their role during national emergencies to help rather than pick pockets. Maybe there’s a silver lining here, maybe being a responsible corporate citizen may become fashionable again and empathy will overcome computer-generated greed.

Maybe. But we’re not holding our breath.

Ron & Mary James WINEDINEANDTRAVEL.COM

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Travel Gear WDT TESTED & APPROVED

Classy Wine Transport Here’s a wine bag we love. It’s great looking and keeps wines safe and cool. It’s from Vessel, known for their chic, high quality bags, backpacks and totes.. The sleek, modern bags are made of carbon fiber to keep your wine protected and at the perfect temperature.

We also like that it offers the perfect combination of style and cause. With each bag purchased, Vessel gives a school backpack to a child in need, helping them get the education they deserve. Since this innovative program began, Vessel customers have helped provide over 13,000 backpacks for children in need! http://vesselbags.com

Classy Wine Transport A good suitcase is essential for a savvy traverler. Travel can be extremely stressful, but this year, Samsonite is here to help with first-ever technology and design in their STRYDE Glider series luggage. We tried it and it’s a beautiful.

So what makes this luggage unique? Well, picture your current suitcase. Now picture it on its side. It’s lower to the ground, has room for a taller handle (12 different heights in fact), and it’s easy to push, pull and carry. The StrideAlign technology redefines the physics of luggage maneuverability by changing the shape of the packing compartment and widening the handle system

The STRYDE Glider comes in two colors (charcoal and blue slate) and in a medium and large sizes. ($259.99 – 19.75”H x 22 W” and $289.99 – 22” H x 24” W, respectively) Available at most luggage retailers.

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Light & Right Tripod for Travel The MeFOTO RoadTrip Air is a lightweight and compact tripod ideal for smartphones, compact cameras, action cameras, mirrorless and small DSLR cameras. Removable telescoping center column converts to a Selfie Stick with included smartphone holder and a Bluetooth remote so you can capture your unique and colorful personality.

Super Fast Setup -- Instant gratification is the name of the game with our new HyperLock leg lock System. Setting up your tripod or monopod faster than ever and its lighter, smaller and more stable than other tripods in its range.. We tested it and liked it and will use the RoadTrip on our next assignment. www.mefoto. com/products/roadtrip-air.aspx

The Ultimate SD Hiking Guide If you’re a local or a traveler who enjoys walks in the backcountry, canyons and mountains of an unparalleled region, this hiking guide will take you to the best trails and walks in San Diego County. We bought one and can’t wait to hike the new trails we discovered in the book.

Winner of The Geisel Award 2017 for book of the year from the San Diego Book Awards. Buy it at Amazon or your fa-

Our Favorite Wallet

vorite local bookseller. www.takeahikesandiego.com.

Finally, here’s a man’s wallet that makes sense. Carrying a wallet in your back pocket not only invites pickpockets, it is a real pain in the behind. This will be WDT’s go to wallet and not just for travel. Here’s a beautiful front pocket wallet that is more comfortable and more secure than anything else out there.

This savvy manufacturer noticed that a front pocket isn’t a square shape - it has a rounded, pointed shape, kind of like a shark fin -- hence the shape. The Rogue Front Pocket Wallet is now offered in a couple of dozen styles in leathers like alligator, bison and moose. $30 - $60 www.rogue-industries.com

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WINE DINE &

TRAVEL IN OUR NEXT ISSUE

LOST IN PARADISE: A STROLL ON THE “PATH OF THE GODS” TURNS INTO A HIKE FROM HELL CRUISING THE RHINE ON THE CHEAP 24 HOURS IN BEAUJOLAIS DISCOVER SLOVENIA PART 2

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Our Journalists Ron James Ron James is the "wine, food and travel guy." He is a nationally award-winning print and online journalist, graphic designer, television producer and radio personality. The native Californian's nationally syndicated wine and food columns have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. Ron is founder and co-publisher of Wine Dine & Travel Magazine. He is passionate about great wine and food and enthusiastically enjoys them every day!

Maribeth Mellin Maribeth Mellin is an award-winning journalist whose travel articles have appeared in Endless Vacation Magazine, U-T San Diego and Dallas Morning News among others. She also travels and writes for several websites including CNN Travel, Concierge.com and Zagat, and has authored travel books on Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii and California. Though known as a Mexico pro, Maribeth has written about every continent and was especially thrilled by the ice, air and penguins in Antarctica.

Priscilla Lister Priscilla Lister is a longtime journalist in her native San Diego. She has covered many subjects over the years, but travel is her favorite. Her work, including photography, has appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Alaska Airlines’ magazine and numerous other publications throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is the author of “Take a Hike: San Diego County,” a comprehensive hiking guide to 260 trails in amazing San Diego County. But when the distant road beckons, she can’t wait to pack her bags.

Robert Whitley Robert Whitley writes the syndicated “Wine Talk” column for Creators Syndicate and is publisher of the online wine magazine, Wine Review Online. Whitley frequently serves as a judge at wine competitions around the world, including Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Sunset Magazine International and the Dallas Morning News TexSom wine competitions. Robert also operates four major international wine competitions in San Diego: Critics Challenge, Winemaker Challenge, Sommelier Challenge and the San Diego International.

Jody Jaffe & John Muncie Jody and John are the co-authors of the novels, “Thief of Words,” and “Shenandoah Summer,” published by Warner Books. John was feature editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, arts editor of The Baltimore Sun and writer-editor-columnist for the travel department of The Los Angeles Times. His travel articles have been published in many major newspapers; he's a Lowell Thomas award-winner. Jody is the author of "Horse of a Different Killer,"'Chestnut Mare, Beware," and "In Colt Blood,” As a journalist at the Charlotte Observer, she was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize. Her articles have been published in many newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. They live on a farm in Lexington, Va., with eleven horses, three cats and an explosion of stink bugs.

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Mary James Mary Hellman James is an award-winning San Diego journalist and editor. After a 29-yearcareer with the San Diego Union-Tribune, she currently is a freelance garden writer and a columnist for San Diego Home-Garden/Lifestyles magazine and co-publisher and editor of this magazine.

Alison DaRosa Alison DaRosa is a six-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for travel writing, the most prestigious prize in travel journalism. She served 15 years as Travel Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune and was the award-winning editor of the San Diego News Network Travel Page. She created San Diego Essential Guide, a highly rated travel app for mobile devices. Alison writes a monthly Travel Deals column for the San Diego Union-Tribune and is a regular freelance contributor to the travel sections of the Los Angeles Times, USA Today and AOL Travel.

Carl H. Larsen Carl H. Larsen is a veteran journalist based in San Diego. He now focuses on travel writing, and is summoned to pull out his notebook whenever there’s the plaintive cry of a steam locomotive nearby. In San Diego, he is a college-extension instructor who has led courses on the Titanic and the popular TV series “Downton Abbey.”

Judy & Len Garrison Judy is the editor of Georgia Connector Magazine and Peach State Publications as well as a freelance writer/photographer/traveler for national/international publications including Deep South Magazine, Interval Magazine, Simply Buckhead, US Airways Magazine, Southern Hospitality Traveler and has a bi-monthly blog in Blue Ridge Country’s online edition. Her first book, North Georgia Moonshine: A History of the Lovells and other Liquor Makers, is available at Amazon.com. She and Len own Seeing Southern,L.L.C., a documentary photography company.

Sharon Whitley Larsen Sharon Whitley Larsen’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Times Magazine, U-T San Diego, Reader’s Digest (and 19 international editions), Creators Syndicate, and several “Chicken Soup for the Soul” editions. Although she enjoys writing essays, op-ed, and people features, her favorite topic is travel (favorite destination London). She’s been lucky to attend a private evening champagne reception in Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, to dine with best-selling author Diana Gabaldon in the Scottish Highlands, and hike with a barefoot Aborigine in the Australian Outback. Exploring sites from exotic travels in the Arctic Circle to ritzy Rio, with passport in hand, she’s always ready for the next adventure!

Amy Laughinghouse London-based writer and photographer Amy Laughinghouse has attempted to overcome her fears (and sometimes basic common sense) through her adventures in 30 countries around the world. She dishes on the perks and perils of globetrotting for publications like LonelyPlanet.com, AAA Journey Magazine, Virtuoso Life, and The Dallas Morning News. Her travel tales can also be found on her website, www.amylaughinghouse.com.

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Contents

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THE JOY OF SEA DAYS

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There’s something magical that takes place when cruisers experience a transatlantic cruise. Ask veteran cruisers to name their favorite trip and chances are the answer is a repositioning cruise with lots of sea days and a handful of interesting ports.

A WEEK IN PROVENCE Before me stands an imposing green gate, behind which lies a villa which will be my home for the next few days in the lavender-laden, French Provencal village of Opio.

GARDEN’S OF OZ When my wife learned that we would be in Amsterdam in prime tulip season she told me, “We’re going to Keukenhof!” Sure I said sensing that the going part was not up for discussion. “What’s Keukenhof?”

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FORTRESS OF WONDER As I strolled the cobblestone streets of Carcassonne in southern France--Europe’s largest, double-walled, fortified medieval city, with 4 million annual visitors--I expected a knight in shining armor to gallop by on his horse any second

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THE ROMANTIC ROAD I can’t believe how hot it is. Nobody had ever mentioned to me that southern Germany, or Franconia to be precise, could feel like an Italian summer.

SPIRITS OF LOUISVILLE At a bend in the Ohio River, a few seminal moments in our country’s history are literally brought to life. One such illuminating experience even brought me to tears.

COLD ADVENTURE It was hard to tell who welcomed us most effusively: The Cheeses, the Mushrooms, the Pastas, or the Soups, but there was no mistaking the high-level energy of these magnificent Alaskan sled dogs who train daily in some of the harshest conditions on the planet.

THE MAN WHO INVENTED SCOTLAND You can’t go to Scotland without somehow being caught up in the many memorials to the great Scottish writer, Sir Walter Scott.

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A Transatlantic Friendship Cruise THE JOY OF CROSSING THE ATLANTIC ON THE SILHOUETTE

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Story & Photography by Ron James FAMOUS QUOTE “Folks who tell you they hate cruising probably haven’t cruised. Or if they have, they accidently booked a Caribbean spring-break party cruise to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.” ~ Ron James

Castle of los Tres Reyes del Morro; the iconic landmarks at the entrance of Havana Habor.

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FRIENDS, FUN & RELAXATION

Lot’s to do at sea grab a comfy chair and read a book, celebrate with a martini, listen to music like The Ray Brown Jr. Jazz ensemble, or enjoy a lecture in the main theater.

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f you’re a savvy cruiser, you know all cruises are not equal. I guarantee that my 1965 trips through the Panama Canal aboard a US Navy Liberty ship as a young enlisted man were very different experiences from my canal passage on the Celebrity Infinity four decades later. I enjoyed both but I can’t remember much about the former – and if I could I probably shouldn’t talk about it.

Now there’s no doubt that cruise experiences vary depend-

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ing on how much you can shell out for the trip. But most of today’s major cruise lines like Celebrity provide a very enjoyable baseline experience for all passengers whether they’re in a deck two inside cabin or in the Presidential Suite up where seagulls and champagne corks fly. Regardless of stateroom category I expect great food, a professional and friendly crew and a comfortable ship. I also expect plenty to do from the minute I wake to the minute I rest my head on my custom pillow chosen from the pillow menu.

Top and bottom photo by Ryan Wharton

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SHIP OF SMILES

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The crew works extra hard on TAs, but they always have a smile for their guests.

“TAs are less than flying business class, everyone has a comfortable cabin, the food is great and you frequently meet new and old friends on the crossing. And no jet lag” To me, the real difference among cruises is the itinerary. Ask veteran cruisers to name their favorite trip and chances are the answer is a repositioning cruise with lots of sea days and a handful of interesting ports. (We’ll call them Transatlantic or TAs because they are the majority of repositioning cruises.) I’ve never been on a TA that isn’t jam packed with loyal repeat cruisers with Elite, Diamond or some other customer loyalty status symbol etched on their sea passes. These folks keep coming back to TAs because they provide a unique cruising experience that can’t be duplicated on most other cruises.

Our first major cruise was on a TA on Celebrity Equinox that took us from Florida to Rome. Our fellow cruisers

looked at us with a mix of admiration and bewilderment when we told them that this was our first cruise. TAs normally are for experienced sailors who love long stretches of sea days and aren’t afraid of rough seas.

We learned to love sea days and didn’t mind a few days of rock and roll in the Atlantic. And we didn’t suffer any jet lag at all when we walked off the gangway in Rome.

We became addicted to cruising and TAs on that voyage.

We just enjoyed our 11th Celebrity TA a few months ago which proved to be just as enjoyable as our first. In fact, our cruise on the Silhouette from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam will be hard to beat.

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SEA GOING COOKING SCHOOL

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Most folks think that the main reason that veteran cruisers like TAs is because of the deals… and value is a factor. But for most of us TAs offer two key things that make them special – time and transport. Most fall/winter TA’s begin in Rome, Barcelona and Southampton in Europe and end in Fort. Lauderdale or Miami, Florida.

Spring TAs reverses the itinerary.

So many cruisers who live in Europe (especially England) use TAs as transport to and from their winter homes in Florida. We tend to use them as transport to and from Europe as part of a larger holiday itinerary. And why not? They cost less than flying business class, everyone has a comfortable cabin, the food is great and you frequently meet new and old friends on the crossing. Plus you don’t have jet lag when you arrive at your final destination.

The ship’s top chefs turn teachers in the hands on classes. In this one they made Steak Diane, crab stacked salad and finished with a delicious souffle.

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WINE EVENTS: BLIND TASTING

Perhaps the most important aspect of a TA is time, especially for those passengers who are retired. Normally a TA spans 12 to 15 days with the majority being sea days. With all that time, you’re forced to relax, to slow down in a world that doesn’t prize slowing down. That’s more than OK for TA fans – Those 6-9 sea days a golden opportunity to really get to know the ship, crew and new friends.

Having lots of disposable time on your hands in the middle of the Atlantic doesn’t mean you’ll be bored. Far from it.

This is the time when the ship’s activity and culinary teams

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shine, running programs that range from dance classes and trivia games of every stripe to wine, bourbon and beer tasting and hands-on cooking lessons. On our last crossing, we took advantage of a number of tasting events including a blind wine tasting which was fun, palate pleasing and educational.

For mental stimulation, there will be two or three popular lectures on subjects serious to silly – upcoming port, biographies of the rich and famous, history, nature and astronomy to name a few. Ship officers also share their expertise

Expect lots of wine tastings on a TA. Here we enjoyed a blind tasting trying to idenitify the grape variatal and origin. Not as easy as I expected, but we had a lot of fun.

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FRITTATA MASTER CLASS

with lectures on navigation and ecology and behind-the-scenes tours of the galley, theater and bridge.

Plus there are the ship’s amazing entertainment offerings. Music is ever present.

String quartets, jazz ensembles, solo singers and rock ‘n’ roll bands pop up in the most unexpected places from morning

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until the wee hours. That’s all capped off by 2-3 major shows in a theater that rival Broadway offerings. On the Silhouette, we were blown away with the genius of The Ray Brown Jr. Jazz quartet that turned the ship’s foyer lounge into a New York jazz club many times on the cruise. And who isn’t impressed with the house orchestra

One of the top chefs shows that creating a perfect fritata is harder than you think.

that moves from jazz to Broadway to big band without skipping a beat.

If you feel the need for exercise, you can join a dance class or burn a few calories in the gym. Or you can skip workouts and indulge yourself in the spa with a facial and a massage. You might even get enough time to read a

couple of books or enjoy the pool in you spare time. The rest of the time you’ll be eating and drinking.

Our Silhouette cruise was a foodie’s dream. Although we occasionally enjoy to the speciality restaurants, Silhouette’s standard offering in the main dining room offered an amazing variety

of expertly prepared and presented dishes. Ocean View buffet suited us just fine for lunches and kick-backed dinners – and we’re pretty picky. The food certainly compared favorably too many upscale restaurants in most major cities. Serving thousands of tasty meals everyday is truly a daily ship’s miracle.

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Silhouette’s impressive two-level banquet hall is the Grand Cuvee Dining Room, a cavernous space featuring sleek flying buttresses, and crowned with a room-filling chandelier. and a shimmering metallic ine tower shown on the right holds 1,800 bottles.

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If you get a burger craving, the Mast Grill serves up some of the best. Or at least they did, a spokesperson for Celebrity Cruises confirmed that the Mast Grill will no longer serve this hungry cruiser favorite. Instead the Top Deck Burger Bar will offer a variety of Kobe beef burgers on homemade brioche buns. Prices range from $4.95 for a four-ounce burger to $9.95 for an eight-ounce, and include fries or onion rings.

Management did say that the complimentary burgers formerly served in the Mast Grill are

You’ll find the most savvy cruisers spend a lot of time at Cafe Bacio.

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available in the ship’s Oceanview Cafe buffet. I hope they are as good.

There’s been a very positive addition to cruise cuisine in the past few years, one I dearly hope continues. Most ship menus are created and tested in corporate kitchens and then provided to onboard chefs to replicate in the main dining room as well as specialty restaurants. This makes for consistant and tasty but sometimes repetitive dining, especially if you cruise the

CAFE BACCIO

Right: Oh what the walls could tell in The French House.

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Maybe I can put it another way... Life, Charlie Brown, is like a deck chair.”

“Like a what?”

“Have you ever been on a cruise ship? Passengers open up these canvas deck chairs so they can sit in the sun... Some people place their chairs facing the rear of the ship so they can see where they’ve been... Other people face their chairs forward...

They want to see where they’re going! On the cruise ship of life, Charlie Brown, which way is your deck chair facing?”

“I’ve never been able to get one unfolded...” ~ Charles M. Schulz

No folding deck chairs for Charlie Brown these days, but the fresh bread on the Silhouette would surely brighten his day.

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OCEANVIEW CAFE

same line frequently. Recently, cruise lines have begun giving talented chefs more leeway to offer passengers unique culinary experiences. For example, a chef will take a lucky few foodies to the market to shop for fresh ingredients and use them in a wonderful dinner accompanied by wines made for his or her fellow shoppers. In addition, buffet offerings often reflect the cruise itinerary with authentic on regional dishes. On the Silhouette, we enjoyed a Portuguese sweet purchased while we were in port in Lisbon.

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Another encouraging sign especially for adventurous diners is that cruise lines are hiring experienced restaurant chefs for top kitchen positions. This brings a fresh perspective and encourages the kind of innovative, on-trend cooking found in small fine dining restaurants. I would really like to see a speciality restaurant on future cruises that is seasonal, original and exciting, one that surprises me with new menu additions every time I board.

There’s delicious gourmet food for everyone’s palate at the Oceanview Cafe.

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If you want a few cooking tips or to get your hands dirty in the kitchen, our Silhouette TA was the cruise for you. Cooking demonstrations by talented and sometimes very funny chefs were a daily occurrence. One day, we had a blast in a hands-on cooking class to replicate a couple speciality restaurant signature dishes taught by the chefs who make them nightly. My creations didn’t look the best but they were downright tasty. At the end of the class we enjoyed a private feast accompanied by some very nice wines.

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Of course what are great food and a great itinerary without a great crew? It’s not an easy task to fill a ship with folks with the real hospitality gene. The crew works long hours and deals with people from around the world with attitudes ranging from grumpy to gracious. And yet most crew members go out of their way to make everyone happy - and they do it with a smile.

The senior chefs and food and beverage managers are ever present to make sure the offerings at the Oceanview Cafe is up to the highest standards.

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WHERE EVEYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

Front Row: Gregg Weiler, Sharon Whitley Larsen, Judy Kopen, Mary James, Savannah Wharton, Sunny, Debbi Wasserman, Gary Wasserman, Ron James.

Second Row: John Smith, Richard Jacobs, Jim Rebo, Carl Larsen, Ryan Wharton, Don Coker

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Good crews reflect the officers’ attitudes. When you see friendly senior officers frequently chatting with guests, helping with any issues and on hand as you leave or return to the ship, you can bet the crew follows suit. On the Silhouette, it didn’t to hurt to have one of the funniest guys at sea as the Captain. Captain Dimitrios Kafetzis’ daily briefings were the most popular morning entertainment on the cruise.

All of these things make for a great cruise, but what makes one unforgettable. For us, it’s our fellow passengers. Our Silhouette TA from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam was classic as we became great friends with folks who were total strangers when we came aboard.

For this trip, I had organized a shore excursion for our port stop in Lisbon via the Cruise Critic cruise boards. The tour filled up in a couple of days with seven couples from the United States and Canada. We agreed to meet at sailaway to get to know each other and collect tour fees. It was raining as Mary and I found some comfy seats in a covered area near the top-deck bar and wondered if anyone would show.

To our surprise, one couple after the other showed up.

And instead of drifting off, they stayed. Pretty soon, there was a party going on that didn’t end even after the ship docked in Amsterdam.

Sea days mean cruisers have more time to get to know their fellow passengers and every once in a while form bonds that last well beyond the cruise.

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HAPPY TRAILS

Our group connected daily at the Captains Club lounge for happy hour where the laughs and cocktails flowed. Within a few days at sea, our group expanded to include a half-dozen shipmates who shared the gang’s fun-loving attitude. Several times other curious cruises asked us how long we had known each other, only to be amazed to learn we had just met.

The shore excursion in Portugal added to our bond as we visited Lisbon and Sintra and enjoyed a world-class seafood lunch before boarding our van to return to the ship. All of the sudden several bottles of wine and plastic glasses appeared. The postexcursion party was on – and continued into Captains Club where we revelled in our shared experiences a shore.

The night before disembarking in Amsterdam we had one last gathering, hugging and laughing as we took pictures of our cruise family. We toasted until we were toasted and then toasted some more. We also said goodbye to the crew and servers who also became part of our seagoing gang. It was cheerful, tearful farewell.

That is until the next evening when most of us got together for a Captain’s Club-style happy hour at our hotel in Amsterdam. Unbeknownst to each other we had booked the same post-cruise accommodation there. For two more evenings we shared cocktails and a meal. One of our dining spots, appropriately named Happy Happy Joy Joy, was even more fun than the name suggests.

It all added up to a trip of a lifetime, made possible by lots of sea days and the Celebrity Silhouette. 1

Clockwise from top. The ship pulls in to Lisbon. Our Lisbon shore excursion group enjoy a world class seafood feast for lunch.

Our final group dinner at Happy Happy Joy Joy in Amsterdam.

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A WEEK IN PROVENCEe c n a r F f o e South

h t n i e g r iving La

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It’s time for “the big reveal.”

Before me stands an imposing green gate, behind which lies a villa which will be my home for the next few days in the lavender-laden, French Provencal village of Opio. I wonder if the house will live up to the images of the chic, airy escape I found online…or if it will prove to be an A Year in Provencestyle fixer-upper complete with a leaky roof, groaning pipes and temperamental toilets that refuse to flush without cursing, begging, and bargaining with a higher power.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY LAUGHINGHOUSE

An archway leads into the charming Provencal village of Tourettes-sur-Loup.

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As I hold my breath, the gate slides

opened an office in San Diego, California

draped terrace, and bucolic countryside

slowly aside with glacial grace, as if

last year.

beyond. I’m pleased to report that the

deliberately building suspense. If this

plumbing works with a flawless “whoosh,”

were a television show, the director would

Set amid a blooming landscape, white-

doubtless cut to a commercial break as

washed walls aglow in the sunshine, Villa

the soundtrack soared to a nail-biting

Constantins promises to be an ideally

The villa comes with its own staff, too,

crescendo.

Instagrammable idyll. In the open-plan liv-

so you can roll like “Downton Abbey’s”

ing and dining room, white leather sofas

Lord and Lady Grantham. In addition to

When at last the villa comes into view,

cluster around a fireplace and a long

a nanny, guests enjoy the services of a

I exhale in relief. The five-bedroom

farm table extends toward the gourmet

chef and a “host”--a sort of modern day

manse is even more impressive than the

kitchen. A breeze wafts in through a row

butler who has traded Carson’s bowtie

photos on the website of Scott Dunn, a

of French doors, thrown open to expose

and tailcoat for a polo shirt and khakis.

British-based luxury travel operator which

views of the heated infinity pool, vine-

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as well.

Our host is Harry Littlefield, a grinning,

French pastries, fruit, yogurt, and eggs

back and let someone else do the cook-

gregarious British lad who acts as both

cooked to order, while lunches feature

ing. But guests are welcome to get stuck

DJ and bartender. I spend many a sun-

lighter fare, like grilled meats and salads.

in if they like, accompanying the chef

drenched hour poolside, listening to his

Evening canapes and cocktails are fol-

to the local market or helping out in the

“Summer Acoustics” mix and gazing up at

lowed by multi-course candlelit dinners

kitchen—a particularly popular pastime for

the clear blue sky through “rosé” colored

where even the napkins are dressed to

children.

glasses, the cloudless canvas above inter-

impress, folded into the shape of a tuxedo

rupted only by the occasional private jet

shirt one night, a rose the next.

ferrying the glitterati to Nice or Cannes.

“Kids love the ‘pizza factory,’” explains Maciek Gorny, another Scott Dunn Villa chef.

The first and pretty much the last time

“Give them lots of ingredients and then

For bikini-straining indulgences, we rely

I attempted to prepare a real meal (i.e.

whack it in the oven for a few minutes.

on the talents of Chef Thomas Birch.

anything more challenging than toast), I

They eat much better when they have

Break“feasts” are a smorgasbord of

set the kitchen on fire, so I’m happy to kick

made the food themselves.”

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Culinary temptation is inescapable in France, and we find ample belt-loosening enticements in the villages nearby. In Pont-du-Loup, tucked into a dramatic river gorge, we nosh on crystallized, sugar-coated violet petals and handmade chocolates on a tour of Confiserie Florian candy factory.

Just downhill from our villa, at Moulin d’Opio olive oil producers, we sample varieties infused with truffles, thyme and rosemary, garlic and basil, and lemons, all made on site. There’s also an orange flavored olive oil, which guide Laetitia Agnello suggests mixing into cake batter.

“We don’t use butter in cakes,” says Agnello, whose husband’s family has been in the oil business here for seven generations. “We use olive oil for everything!”

At Tourettes-sur-Loup, a huddle of centuries-old stone houses and shops perched atop a bluff overlooking the Loup Valley, Chef Julien Bousseau offers a winetasting at Le 19 du Clovis Bar and Cave à Vins. Bousseau, who runs the Michelin-starred Bistrot Gourmand Clovis next door with his wife, Leah Van Der Mije, is as passionate about life in this small village as he is about the food and wine he serves.

“This village is still authentic—more quiet, not busy,” Bousseau says, as we savor a Cotes du Provence white wine with a plate of sardines. “We have a butcher, a bakery, and we know all the neighbors.

It’s like it was 50 years ago.”

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The Moulin d’Opio, run by the same family for seven generations, offers tours where you can learn how olive oil is produced. The factory shop sells ten different olive oils, including five flavored varieties which are used for everything from salad dressings to cake batter.

The village of Tourettes-sur-Loup rises high above the Loup Valley in Provence. Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.

After a tour of Moulin d’Opio, where visitors learn how olive oil is produced, they have an opportunity to sample the factory’s products themselves.

“We don’t use butter in cakes,” says Agnello, whose husband’s family has been in the oil business here for seven generations. “We use olive oil for everything!”

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Children play in the cobblestone streets,

but somehow, even scavenging for

wheel toward the shop-lined streets

elderly ladies gossip on their front steps,

the little metal balls we’ve accidentally

of Valbonne, a mere three miles away.

and all ages gather in the square to

knocked into the underbrush doesn’t

But when I rev that engine up to “Turbo”

compete in petanque, a form of lawn

seem sufficient exercise to work off our

power, I reckon I know how Lance Arm-

bowling that is sacrosanct to the French.

caloric excesses. For that, we turn to

strong feels, effortlessly gobbling up the

“You can not mess with petanque,”

Jacques Bourse of Bikool, who rocks up

asphalt.

Bousseau insists with a somber shake

one morning with a fleet of e-bikes.

of the head. “There would be a war.”

Okay, so I’ll never be a contender for the Maybe it’s cheating to rely on a bicy-

Tour de France. But my Scott Dunn Tour

My friends and I attempt a few rounds

cle with an electric motor to help me

de Provence, fueled by fine wine and

of petanque on our villa’s private pitch,

conquer the steepest slopes as we

gourmet cuisine, is just my speed. 1

Top: Confiserie Florian, a Provencal candy factory founded in 1949, offers complimentary tours where you can see how their sweets are made.

Right: Rob Daley, Scott Dunn’s head chef, browses for fresh produce at the market in Opio, Provence. Guests are welcome to accompany their private chef to the market if they’re keen for a preview of their dinner.

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Top: Although every Scott Dunn Villa is manned by a private chef, guests are welcome to help out in the kitchen if they like. This seabass, stuffed with orange, lavender and fennel, was prepared by the chef at Villa Constantins with the assistance of several enthusiastic guests.

Top right: Dinners at Villa Constantins in Opio, Provence are elegant, candlelit affairs. Even the napkins look dapper.

Right: When you’re dining at a Scott Dunn Villa staffed by a private chef, always save room for dessert.

IF YOU GO

airfare directly from the US to France, as

Where to stay: Scott Dunn organizes

well as car rental, private driver, in-villa

travel to destinations around the world.

massage, or other special requests.

Moulin d’Opio olive oil factory tour and

The company’s portfolio also includes

www.scottdunn.com

tasting, Opio, www.moulin-dopio.com/

serieflorian.co.uk/guided-tours

olives/en/

catered villas in Majorca and the South of France, which all feature a private

Getting there: Villa Constantins in Opio

pool, a chef, host and nanny or activ-

is located approximately 16 miles west

ity specialist for children. Villa Con-

of Nice Cote d’Azur International Airport

stantins in Opio sleeps nine and rents

and 14 miles north of Cannes-Mandelieu

Where to eat and drink: Le 19 du Clovis

from £1100 (about $1410) per person

Airport.

Bar and Michelin-starred Bistro Gour-

Bikool e-biking, http://bikool.fr/en/

mand Clovis, Tourettes-sur-Loup, www.

per week, based on full occupancy and including flights from the UK to

What to do: Confiserie Florian tour and

France. Scott Dunn can also arrange

tasting, Le Pont du Loup, www.confi-

clovisgourmand.fr Photos Copyright Amy Laughinghouse.

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GARDENS OF OZ AMSTERDAM’S KEUKENHOF GARDENS STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY RON JAMES

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M

y wife Mary is a veteran garden writer, so when she learned that we would be in Amsterdam in prime tulip season she told me, “We’re going to Keukenhof!”

Sure I said sensing that the going part was not up for discussion.

“What’s Keukenhof?”

“Remember the last time we were in Amsterdam and our friends went to Keukenhof?” she reminded me, “It’s the world famous garden made up of millions of bulbs, mostly tulips. It lasts only a couple of months each year!”

It all came back to me. “Yes, now I remember, they were super excited – I remember also they we extremely disappointed with it.”

“That’s right, the bulbs were mostly spent when they go there, but it will be perfect when we go. It should be wonderful.”

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As usual she was right, it was, and wonderful doesn’t do it justice.

So six newly minted friends, fresh off the boat from a transatlantic cruise jumped into an Uber Van from our hotel in Amsterdam and dropped us off right in front of the Keukenhof ticket office.

We were there on a week day so it wasn’t too crowded and it only took a few minutes buy tickets. We heard from some of our friends that the weekend and holiday crowds were brutal. As with all tourist venues in Amsterdam it’s probably a good idea to buy your tickets online.

As we walked through the imposing modern entrance building we caught first glimpse of the dazzling colored gardens stretching as far as we could see – we all just stood there taking it all in, jaws fully dropped. For some inexplicable reason I felt like I was in Oz – as in Wizard of. In my mind’s eye I saw Dorothy, The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion skipping merrily down a

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yellow brick road, followed by Toto and a cast of hundreds of little people all wearing cute little Dutch outfits. Strange, I know, but that was my thinking at the time.

Shaking off my little fantasy, I follower our little group along the many winding paths bordered by tulips and other bulbs of seemingly of every color imaginable. Lakes, streams and ponds dotted the garden, each surrounded by brilliant floral displays. A full-sized working windmill was a visitor favorite with a long line of visitors waiting to go inside and explore.

Adding to the visual overload was the many art pieces integrated into the scenery – our favorite was giant sheets of mirrored steel which distorted the garden and the viewer into a colorful abstract. We were ooing and aahing at each turn, cameras ever at the ready.

Throughout the gardens were food stands hawking delicious looking Dutch made goodies, including pickled fish, waffles, little pancakes and sandwiches. Adult beverages were also available; surprisingly the prices

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were very reasonable. Most of the eateries were carts and stands which fitted the picnic feeling of the garden. There were lots of little grass areas with ample picnic tables and places to eat your goodies.

Our last stop was to a great building that featured the largest lily show in the world. The hall had row after row of cut flower

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displays, with blossoms so perfect that you couldn’t believe they were real. The flower-filled hall also sported a lily-covered wedding pavilion that served as a very popular place for ceremonies. After viewing many thousands of lilies we all were feeling a bit of sensory overload and decided to head back to Amsterdam which is just a notch down on the sensory index.

Tip: Our Uber fare worked out to less than $10 per person, less than taking the bus from the terminal at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport which we heard was crowded with long lines and waits.

The bus takes about an hour and a half, and it took less than half the time.

“ Each season Keukenhof features a stunning showcase of more than 7 million flower bulbs, planted on 79 acres of land.”

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ABOUT KEUKENHOF

Keukenhof is a Dutch name meaning kitchen garden with a history that stretches back to the 15th century when Countess Jacqueline of Bavaria, Jacoba van Beieren gathered fruit and vegetables for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Over five hundred years later in 1949, the garden was offi-

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cially established by the town’s mayor to help the European flower growers could display their hybrids.

The mayor’s little project worked out well -- Keukenhof is now the world’s largest flower garden – at least for a few months of each

year. Each season it features a stunning showcase of more than 7 million flower bulbs, planted on 79 acres of land. In addition the event holds 20 flower shows where 500 flower growers present an incredible variety of exotic cut flowers and potted plants. Although known for tulips, Keukenhof is also the home to the world’s largest lily show, during the last 10 days of the opening season.

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Tulip Trivia •

Tulip season in the Netherlands runs from the end of March until mid May, but are usually at their best mid April.

•

Tulips are a part of the lily family; there are around 150 species and over 3000 varieties.

•

Tulips are perennials and bloom for 3-7 days.

•

The name tulip is from the Persian word delband, which means turban and the tulip is now the national flower or Turkey and Afghanistan.

•

The tulip is native to central Asia and eventually made its way to Turkey. It was first cultivated in the Netherlands.

•

Tulips became a big deal in Netherlands when the first bulbs were planted by Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius in 1593.

They bloomed a year later making 1594 is considered the official date of tulips first blooming in Holland.

•

Clusius developed new exciting varieties of Tulips which led to Tulip mania which lasted from 1634 to 1637 when everyone when bonkers about the new flower. The resulting economic frenzy triggered one of the world’s first ‘speculative bubbles’. Tulips became the most expensive flower in the world, and treated as a form of currency. Tulip bulbs were selling for 10 times more than the annual income of a skilled worker. The bubble was short-lived though and the tulip economy eventually crashed.

•

Netherlands are world’s main producer of commercially sold tulips, producing as many as 3 billion bulbs annually.

•

During the Dutch famine of 1944 people often had to resort to eating tulips.

•

The bulbs are now used to make a very fine and pricey vodka mostly purchased by amused tourists, including us, in Amsterdam.

IF YOU GO We were very fortunate considering that our transatlantic cruise took us to Amsterdam during one of the prime week of the eight that Keukenhof is open to the public. The garden is open for a short time, and is well worth planning a European trip to coincide with this memorable event. The garden is open to the public from mid-March to mid-May, with the flower-viewing peak in mid-April. Keukenhof is open from 22 March until 13 May 2018.

We were there the second week of May and the bloom was still remarkable.

Website: www.keukenhof.nl/en/

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Right to left: Gary Wasserman, Savannah Wharton, Debbi Wasserman, Mary

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TOURING CARCASSONNE Europe’s Largest, Walled, Fortified Medieval City

By Sharon Whitley Larsen You never know how a pig may change

walked around on a cold, windy day: “I

the course of history! (More about that

can also sense the darker side--the inva-

in a minute.)

sions, battles, suffering, and prayers of

As I strolled the cobblestone streets of Carcassonne in southern France-

the townspeople who had begged those walls to protect them.”

-Europe’s largest, double-walled, forti-

Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site

fied medieval city, with 4 million annual

in 1997, Carcassonne--known to be a

visitors--I expected a knight in shining ar-

human settlement as far back as 600

mor to gallop by on his horse any second.

B.C.--encompasses over 2,000 years of

Perhaps to rescue a damsel in distress (or

nature, art, architecture, and history in

a tired tourist!).

its strategic Languedoc location, on a

This was my second visit here, and I’ve always been fascinated by its history.

Spread over three kilometers of ramparts atop a cliff in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, the stunning “Cite’” of Carcassonne--creatively built over the centuries to withstand invasions, with 52 towers, and gate houses and turrets--includes the 11th-13th century Viscount’s Castle, 13th-17th century Inquisition House

historic corridor between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and a gateway to the Pyrenees. The Romans were here in the 2nd century B.C. (naming it Carcaso); following that, the Visigoths, Saracens, Franks, feudal lords, Seneschals, Trencavels, and various kings of France were among those who put their mark here throughout the centuries--some peacefully, some tragically brutal.

(where heretics were punished), and the

It was in this region, for example, at the

fascinating Basilica of St. Nazaire (blessed

end of the 11th century, that the Cathars

by Pope Urban II in 1096). The large

(named from the Greek word “Katharos,”

fortress overlooks the River Aude, which

meaning “pure”), disenchanted with the

separates it from the “modern” town

Roman Catholic Church--feeling that it

below of 46,000, built in the mid-13th

was run by a greedy and corrupt clergy-

century by St. Louis (Louis IX).

-formed their own version of Christian-

The popular tourist site of walled Carcassonne “is a fairy-tale setting,” observed Jan Percival Lipscomb of San Diego, Calif.

“It’s like Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland, except for real.”

But, acknowledged Lipscomb, as she

ity. They believed there had been two creations, one good, the other evil, and they considered themselves to be the “good Christians,” the true church of God. The Cathars, who were vegetarian, had a single prayer, The Lord’s Prayer, and were baptized, but did not partake in Night scene of Carcassonee..

Copyright Paul Palau.

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“I expected a knight in shining armor to gallop by on his horse any second. Perhaps to rescue a damsel in distress (or a tired tourist!)”

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Visitors hike up to Europe’s Largest, Walled, Fortified Medieval City. Opposite: Streets are fillid with shops and cafes.

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Holy Communion or use the cross as their

it’s hard to believe that in the early 19th

symbol. They were led by bishops called

century it was almost torn down.

parfaits. By the early 13th century the Cathars were viewed as dangerous heretics, and in 1209 Pope Innocent III decreed that all be killed. The bloody Albigensian Crusade, led by Simon de Montfort, turned this area into a killing ground. In 1247, the Cite’ came under the rule of the king, when Louis IX founded the newer city across the river below. The outer ramparts, constructed during his reign, were continued under his son, Philip III; Carcassonne became so strongly fortified that it even stopped Edward, the Black Prince, in 1355.

Today, as visitors wander through the peaceful, charming walled city--which is still inhabited by some 100 townsfolk, mostly craftsmen and shopkeepers (selling local food items, wines, candies, crafts)--

Or that a pig once reportedly “saved” it!

It was in the late 8th century during the five-year siege when Charlemagne was determined to starve the residents of Carcassonne, driving out the Moors and Saracens. After nearly the entire garrison had died of hunger, legend has it that Lady Carcas, the wife of the Saracen King Balaak, made some dummies, which she arranged all along the ramparts to make it look as if they were still fortified. She then heroically shot arrows at the enemy below--and had the only pig left devour all the remaining grain. When it was stuffed, she tossed it over, and when it hit the ground its belly ripped open, exposing the undigested grain. Upon seeing that, Charlemagne gave up, thinking that the residents were doing quite well and could

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not be beat. He decided to lift the siege

interesting a subject of study, and a more

and turned to leave. Lady Carcas, thrilled

picturesque situation.”

at defeating him by such a clever ruse, sounded the trumpets to call him back.

But he didn’t hear them. His esquire, who

And today this unique, historic, fortified city remains a testament to his vision. 1

did, reportedly said to him: “Sire, Carcas te sonne (Carcas is calling you).” This is supposedly how the town got its name!

Today, in front of the drawbridge, is a statue of Lady Carcas. (But perhaps there should be one of the poor pig!)

Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, which ended Carcassonne’s reign as a strategic area, the city went downhill. By the beginning of the 18th century houses-and hovels--were built between the walls, with residents using materials they tore down from the fortification.

“That was the beginning of the destruction of Carcassonne,” said my tour guide as I strolled around on a chilly, rainy day.

Eventually the walled city was condemned for demolition. But in 1850 it was saved by the passion and perseverance of historian and archeaologist Jean-Pierre CrosMayrevieille and Inspector General of

Instead of flying or driving here from Paris, I took the train (including the high-speed TGV, via Nimes and Montpellier); it’s about a 5-hour ride: www.raileurope.com You must sample the region’s Cassoulet--a hearty stew of duck, goose, or pork with sausage and white beans (and the Confit au Canard); I dined at the excellent restaurant Comte Roger.

The 5-star Hotel de la Cite’--built within the walled city on the site of the former 13th-century Bishop’s palace--opened in 1909. www. hoteldelacite.com I stayed just outside the walled city at the family-owned Le Domaine d’ Auriac, a historic, romantic 24-room, 5-star chateau with two restaurants featuring local cuisine. www. domaine-d-auriac.com

Historical Monuments, Prosper Merimee,

Best months to visit: May, June, Sept., Oct.

who pleaded with the French government

(nice weather, fewer crowds). And for the

to preserve the historic fortress.

popular Festival de Carcassonne in July: www.

After a massive undertaking, it was

festivaldecarcassonne.fr/en/festival

subsequently restored by renowned 19th

For more information (click on English ver-

century French Gothic architect and writer

sions):

Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, who once said of Carcassonne, “I doubt that

www.carcassonne-tourisme.com

there exists anywhere in Europe as com-

www.carcassonne.culture.fr

plete and formidable a system of defense

www.franceguide.com

of the 6th, 12th and 13th centuries, as

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IF YOU GO:

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Photos courtesy of Carcassonne To

“ By the beginning of the 18th century houses--and hovels--were built between the walls, with residents using materials they tore down from the fortification.”

ourisme Vistior’s peer down through the battlements.

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Timeless Treasures Exploring Germany’s Romantic Road Story and photos by Wibke Carter

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I can’t believe how hot it is.

Nobody had ever mentioned to me that southern Germany, or Franconia to be precise, could feel like an Italian summer. But with temperatures of 80 Fahrenheit, vineyards sprawling up and down the hills around the region’s capital Würzburg, and locals enjoying white wine and Aperol Spritz outdoors on the Old Main Bridge, I could be forgiven for thinking I’m in more southern pastures.

Earlier that afternoon, I had arrived at the northern gateway of the Romantic

Before setting off on my road trip, I de-

Road, Germany’s oldest and most fa-

tour to the small town of Iphofen, with

mous touring route. Würzburg is a bus-

24 wineries a hub of Franconian wine

tling university city which was restored

production, to meet Andy Wiegand.

to its former glory after nearly 90% were

Only in his late 20s, he belongs to a

destroyed in WWII. High on a hill sits the

new generation of winemakers. “We’re

impressive Marienberg Fortress, while

questioning some of the old methods,

the Residence Palace, a UNESCO World

trying to find a new, better way of win-

Heritage Site, is one of Europe’s most

emaking,” he says while showing me

renowned Baroque castles. Inside, I

around his vineyard. This includes hand

marvel at Balthasar Neumann’s famous

harvesting, organic pest control, spon-

staircase and the ceiling fresco by Gio-

taneous fermentation and a focus on a

vanni Battista Tiepolo. Spanning over

few, but high-quality grapes. A strategy

an impressive 59 by 98 feet it is one of

that seems to work with his Silvaner

the largest ever painted. It’s a perfect

wines winning numerous accolades.

Regional Germand wines. Opposite: Rothenburg ob der Tauber town centerBelow: Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas store in the town.

“Rotling wine, a local specialty, and something I had never tasted before, quickly emerges as my favorite. ”

summer evening as I mingle outdoors with the locals on communal benches

Next day, my rental car effortlessly

at the Bürgerspital Weinstuben.

switches gears between open road and city driving as I follow the brown and

Over glasses of delicious local wine and

white signs for the Romantic Road and

traditional fare, new acquaintances are

travel through traditional villages and

quickly found. Rotling wine, a local spe-

small towns like Tauberbischofsheim

cialty, and something I had never tasted

and Lauda-Königshofen. Out of the

before, quickly emerges as my favorite.

blue, an orange light flashes at me in

Looking like a very dark, nearly crimson

Bad Mergentheim - a speed camera.

rosé, it’s a wine which has been made

The display confirms the speed at 39

by mixing red and white grapes.

mph, I’m definitely going too fast in a 30 mph inner town zone.

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber- city walls panorama

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The drive on the country roads and along

Part of this century-old custom is that

payment of the ransom. The most spec-

the open fields with poppies, corn flowers,

one village tries to steal the maypole

tacular theft occurred back in 2004 when

and wheat waving like an ocean in the

from the neighbors. If they succeed,

cunning thieves stole the maypole from

wind, is exhilarating. The sun bathes the

the safe return of the maypole is up

the top of the Zugspitze, Germany’s high-

landscape in a kaleidoscope of green,

for negotiation with ransoms involving

est mountain (9,718 ft) using a helicopter.

blue and yellow, dotted with white houses,

copious quantities of beer and food.

black barns, and orange roof tiles. Many

Maypole stealing is governed by a

My next stop is Rothenburg ob der Tauber,

villages proudly display their maypole, a

pretty strict code of conduct: sawing or

arguably Germany’s best-preserved medi-

tall wooden pole traditionally erected to

damaging the maypole in any way is

eval town. It may be small but its reputa-

celebrate the end of winter.

absolutely frowned upon as is a non-

tion is huge, especially in Japan and the

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US. Wandering past half-timbered houses,

For dinner, I head to the Restaurant Hotel

fountains, secluded squares and tucked-

Schranne, a 17th-century building with a

away corners of the old quarter, I can’t

typical beer garden in the back. “We only

help but wonder if time stood still here.

have another few days of white aspara-

“Rothenburg is so well preserved because

gus season left” hints the owner, Markus

it simply ran out of money after the Thirty

Meinold. Franconia is one of the main

Year War and no new buildings like those

regions of white asparagus production

in other towns were erected” explains the

and as promised, the slightly sweet tast-

night watchman, Hans Georg Baumgartner,

ing spargel with a spiced bratwurst and

on his tour.

creamy sauce hollandaise is a delight-

Vintage bus displayed in front of the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas store .

Opposite: Bird’s eye view of Rothenburg ob der Tauber town center

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ful taste explosion. Before I depart the following morning, I drop into the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Village, the largest, open all year round Christmas store in Europe for some serious shopping for decorations.

Leaving Rothenburg via the Tauber River Valley and the Topplerschlösschen, a small castle resembling an oversized bird house, the picturesque town of Dinkelsbühl is the last stop.

Despite being lesser known than its northern cousin, the town nevertheless trumps with intact fortifications, the Gothic Minster of St. George and slightly fewer visitors. I stroll between the proud pastel-hued patrician houses and enchanting semi-timbered houses, reminding of Dinkelsbühl’s status as a former Imperial Town. The untouched beauty of the city takes me by surprise and the one hour I had planned for my visit is really not enough.

The Romantic Road tries to lure me into keep driving all the way to the end – to Füssen with the famed Neuschwanstein Castle, alas I have a plane to catch.

I vow to complete the rest of the road another time (and keep the foot off the gas). 1 IF YOU GO Learn more about the Romantic Road at www.romanticroadgermany.com and www.bavaria.by Images are copyright of the author

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Clockwise: Würzburg people relaxing on Old Main Bridge after work, Dinkelsbühl - old houses with cafe out front, Dinkelsbühl - Patrician houses, Würzburg Residence backside with formal gardens, Iphofen - vineyards

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SPIRITS OF LOUISVILLE & EXPERIENCING A KENTUCKY HUG

The beautiful Lobby Bar in Louisville’s historic Brown Hotel. Opposite: Bourbon Experience: four different bourbons, four different chocolates.

Story & Photography by Priscilla Lister

A

t a bend in the Ohio River, a

was a series of rapids dropping 26 feet

the first European settlement here on the

few seminal moments in our

over 2.5 miles.

Ohio’s Corn Island, when this entire area

country’s history are literally

was still part of Virginia. Clark is credited Boats navigating this river would have

with defeating British forces in the North-

to stop and unload their cargo to carry it

west Territories during the Revolutionary

One such illuminating experience even

across land. The boats would then “shoot

War, and is also considered the founder

brought me to tears.

the falls,” meaning they would attempt to

of Louisville that lies at this bend in the

brought to life.

thread through the rapids. Some made it;

Ohio. The city was named after King Louis

Back in the late 1700s, when rivers were

many did not. Settlers stayed and Louis-

XVI of France, whose soldiers were aiding

the new nation’s highways, the 981-mile-

ville, Kentucky, was born.

Americans in the Revolutionary War.

In 1778, George Rogers Clark established

Also here on the river in 1803, Clark’s

long Ohio had one serious obstruction at this spot: the Falls of the Ohio, which then

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brother, William, organized with Meriwether

This attraction really is an experience. A

MORE FOSSILS THAN ANYWHERE

Lewis the duo’s famed expedition across

movie, created by Louisville’s own Solid

ELSE

America.

Light, is projected on a large wall as you wander through the facility. It depicts

Across the Ohio in Clarksville, Indiana, at

A bit earlier, around 1783, Evan Williams,

Williams and the town’s leaders confer-

the Falls of the Ohio State Park and Na-

then dock master here at the burgeoning

ring about the dock master position and

tional Wildlife Conservation Area (www.

town, became the first licensed distiller of

the importance of its fees to the town.

fallsoftheohio.org), history goes back

corn whiskey, which soon became bour-

As we continued through the building,

even further — 390 million years or so.

bon, the true American of all spirits that still

we walked past a recreation of what Then, this area of the Ohio

helps to define Kentucky.

River was “a shallow ocean,” And during the Civil War,

said Dale Brown, interpretive

this bend in the Ohio was

naturalist at the park. This

a beacon of freedom along

marvelous day-use park’s

the Underground Railroad;

exhibits even attempt to

the river’s southern neigh-

bring that history to life.

bor, Kentucky, was a slave holder, while its northern

Reopened in 2016 after ex-

neighbor, Indiana, was a

tensive renovation, the state

free state.

park’s exhibits are wonderful.

We walked through a time

All of these historic events

tunnel that took us to a De-

are commemorated and

vonian sea hundreds of mil-

recreated in what is today Louisville/Jefferson County, the metropolitan area that includes both the Louisville region (www.gotolouisville.com) and its neighbors immediately across the Ohio in Southern Indiana (www.gosoin.com).

I met some dear friends here this summer to eat and drink our way across this bourbon-spiked region while immersing ourselves in tales of yore that were truly transporting.

BOURBON’S BEGINNINGS We started with bourbon.

The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (www.evanwilliamsbourbonexperience. com) celebrates that early dock master’s legacy. On Louisville’s historic Whiskey Row, this artisanal distillery was the first to open on Main Street since the late 1800s in November 2013.

lions of years ago. Life-sized Main Street would have looked like here in the 1800s along with a 1960s-era tasting room. In a “secret” speakeasy bar behind a vault-like door, we experienced a tasting of Evan Williams’ various bourbons paired with chocolates — a

sea creatures of that ancient era waved above us. Then we see Native American artifacts from the local Shawnee, including a recreation of a bark-thatched “wegiwa” home and we listen to a conversation in the Shawnee language. We

heavenly match.

watch a film of the story of Lewis and

“It’s a Kentucky hug,” Andy Embry, our

of the Ohio and continued all the way to

tour guide, told us about bourbon. “That

the Pacific Ocean.

warming feeling.” He taught us the tricks of tasting bourbon — which was named

Clark’s journey that began near the Falls

The most amazing thing about the Falls

America’s only native spirit in 1964.

of the Ohio park is that today the largest

“Always nose it first,” Embry said. “Use

world are found here on its limestone

a tulip-shaped glass. Part your lips.

river banks. “There are 270 varieties of

Take a deep whiff and smell what it will

fossil animals here — more than any-

taste like. Take a small sip to cover your

where else on earth,” said Brown.

tongue, and then roll it across each taste bud. If you just throw it back, you will bypass all your buds.”

exposed Devonian-era fossil beds in the

EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE It was in nearby New Albany, Indiana, where the tears started flowing.

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In this charming, historically preserved town that was once a center for steamboat production and the largest city in Indiana in the mid-19th century, we found the Carnegie Center for Art & History (www.carnegiecenter.org).

One of its permanent exhibits is “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage: Men and Women of the Underground Railroad.” Perusing actual newspaper accounts — which were horrifying — and artifacts, including enormous iron shackles that once bound slaves, as well as photographs of the real people in this story, we entered a small room to interact with a 90-minute film. The video could be viewed in short segments or watched in its entirety.

This multi-media presentation uses actors to bring to life real people “whose selfless acts of courage helped fugitive slaves find hope and freedom.” We follow Jacob, a slave, who walked for three years from here to reach Canada.

“At the heart of the exhibit are the actual New Albany residents — black and white, young and old, rich and poor — who were able to accomplish so much in the face of such great risk.”

We learned that it was a misconception that once escapees crossed the Ohio into Indiana, they were free. “It’s not true,” Sally Newkirk, Carnegie director, told us. “It was still very dangerous for them. Even free (blacks) could be kidnapped and taken across the river to Louisville to be sold — in three hours, they’d be gone.”

BEACON TO FREEDOM New Albany’s Second Presbyterian Church, also called the Second Baptist Church and the Town Clock Church Top: Downtown New Albany. Its revitalization began about five years ago, followed by neighboring Jeffersonville’s.

Below: Part of the exhibit about the Underground Railroad at the Carnegie Center in New Albany.

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(www.townclockchurch.org), was built around 1850. Its members were very

“If you could make it to Salem, Indiana, your chances of freedom were exponentially better.” opposed to slavery, said Jerry Finn of the Horseshoe Foundation, a private foundation that is helping to restore this historic church.

Its steeple was that beacon to freedom in the 1850s. In 1852, the church was integrated, which allowed its secret role in the Underground Railroad to go unnoticed by neighbors who were used to seeing black people enter. “This church was a primary oasis in hostile territory,” said Finn.

Members of the congregation at that time were town fathers and railroad executives. When New Albany installed gas lines in 1852, tunnels were constructed, including one from this church to a hotel across the street operated by a church member.

“Unless you were a member of this congregation, you were probably proslavery at that time,” said Finn. But the church’s members helped many slaves escape from here. “If you could make it to Salem, Indiana, your chances of freedom were exponentially better.”

This church was designated a National Park Service Network to Freedom site in 2017.

Also in New Albany, we toured the Culbertson Mansion, a 25-room, 20,000-square-foot Second-Empirestyle home built in 1867 to William Culbertson, a self-made railroad and utility investor who started as a dry-goods

The Culbertson Mansion, a 25-room, 20,000-square-foot Second-Empire-style home built in 1867

clerk. When he died in 1892, he was the richest man in Indiana. His home is especially notable for the original and

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gorgeous hand-painted designs on the

wealth made from bourbon, horses and

walls and ceilings.

tobacco,” said Domine. “Drinking, smoking and gambling made this city.”

In nearby Jeffersonville, which sits immediately across the river from Louisville

He added that it’s “the most exuberant

via a half-mile-long pedestrian and cyclist

neighborhood architecturally — every

bridge that spans the Ohio, we marveled at

home is different,” he said. Also affordable

the city’s remarkable public art initiatives,

still — he said “$500,000 will get you a

including several imaginative bike racks

mansion in good shape.”

downtown.

This historic neighborhood connects to And we cracked up at the amusing

Louisville’s Central Park, one of 18 city

husband-and-wife act at Schimpff’s Con-

parks and several parkways designed

fectionary (www.schimpffs.com), founded

by Frederick Law Olmsted, famed for his

in 1891, where Jill and Warren Schimpff, he

design of New York’s Central Park.

the fourth generation, demonstrate their candy-making skills.

We drove through the lovely Cave Hill Cemetery (www.cavehillcemetery.com),

Warren holds a Ph.D. in environmental

where you’ll find the graves of George

chemistry and spent his career at Clare-

Rogers Clark as well as Harland David

mont Colleges in California. His wife, Jill,

Sanders (Colonel Sanders of Kentucky

has a master’s in education. Retiring, they

Fried Chicken fame), and Louisville native

bought the business in 1990 to keep it

Muhammed Ali.

in the family and moved back to run it in 2000. “We couldn’t see a family business

FOODIES FIND FULFILLMENT

die and hoped it would help revitalize downtown Jeffersonville,” Warren told us

In Louisville, we stayed at the historic

while making the shop’s signature cinna-

Brown Hotel (www.brownhotel.com) where

mon red hot drops.

we immediately ordered a classic Manhattan in its truly gorgeous Old World lobby

HIDDEN GEM

bar. This is the place that invented the Hot Brown in 1926, Louisville’s signature

Back in Louisville, we walked the streets

open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon

of Old Louisville with David Domine of

and tomatoes, all smothered in a cheesy

Louisville Historic Tours (www.louisvillehis-

Mornay sauce.

torictours.com).

We dined at the hotel our first night in its “Old Louisville is a real hidden gem,” he

beautiful English Grill, one of Louisville’s

told us. Indeed, it is the largest preservation

most enduring romantic restaurants,

district in the country featuring Victorian

featuring a contemporary American menu

homes and buildings, and the third-largest

with Kentucky touches and an extensive

historical preservation district overall.

wine list. Its shrimp and grits features fried-green tomatoes along with Finch-

“In the 1960s and ‘70s, you wouldn’t want

ville Farms ham and lemon thyme brown

to walk around here at night, But by 1975,

butter; its cocoa-crusted Berkshire pork

preservation took off and revitalization

chop sports a bourbon blueberry coffee

began,” Domine said.

sauce. And of course, you can get a very upscale Hot Brown here, too. Cocktail: Old-

“Half of these homes were built from the

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Fashioned.

“...Divali, when people light candles and lamps honoring the powers of good and light over evil and darkness...”

Brunch at Finn’s Southern Kitchen in Louisville’s Germantown neighborhood was another winner. Housed in an Art Deco building next to an old cotton mill, Finn’s prepares locally sourced ingredients in southern-inspired dishes. Of special note are its homemade biscuits — a true tradition in these parts — as well as cheesy grits. Biscuits and gravy (a classic sausage-loaded creamy version or a newer tomato version) and Southern-

Top: Touring Old Louisville with David Domine’s Louisville Historic Tours.

Left: Louisville’s Central Park was designed by the very same Frederick Law Olmsted.

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fried chicken with biscuits and hot pepper jam were devoured.

One afternoon we hopped aboard a small bus with Mark Clark and Mint Julep Tours (www.mintjuleptours.com) for a “progressive, spirited food tour for a Taste of Bluegrass.” We hit three places in different neighborhoods, tasting craft cocktails at every stop since we weren’t driving.

“Harvest (www.harvestlouisville.com) is an open, airy atmosphere; Le Moo is woody and cozy, while the Silver Dollar is one of our great bourbon bars,” Clark said. “Louisville is a great food town.”

“Our goal at Harvest is to be the premier farm-to-table restaurant in Louisville,” owner Patrick Kuhl told us. Portraits of its farmers are on the walls and some 80 percent of its provisions come from within a 100-mile radius. Cocktail: Pickled Peach Serrano Bourbon.

The Silver Dollar (www.whiskybythedrink.com), located in an old firehouse, has been named one of the 10 best whiskey bars in the country by GQ. It’s been called Louisville’s most genuine honky tonk and its bourbon cocktails are the bomb.

Cocktail: Mint Julep.

Le Moo (www.lemoorestaurant.com) features a ranch-like atmosphere with cozy wooden booths that feature curtains just made for closing. This is a serious steak house, where you are offered a choice of steak knives. You may want to opt for the 10-oz. Miyazaki, Japan’s grade-A-5 wagyu for $248. But seafood lovers and others will find plenty on this long menu to make them very happy, too. Cocktail: Bluegrass Breeze.

In the darkest atmosphere of all, we sipped on superb crafted cocktails at Mr. Lee’s (www.mrleeslounge.com), a newish upscale “speakeasy” in Germantown that invites cozy conversations. When you want to reorder, you just pull a little chain on the wall above your table. Cocktail: House-Smoked Old-Fashioned with Buffalo Trace.

On a Sunday night at the Red Herring (www.redherringlou. com), one of Louisville’s newest restaurants, we sipped and snacked while loving the live Bluegrass music by Steve

Center: The Silver Dollar Bar’s signature cocktail is the Mint Julep. Opposite: The Silver Dollar’s Mint Julep, icy cold in a silver cup.

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“ The Silver Dollar has b 10 best whiskey bars in been called Louisville’s m tonk and its bourbon co

been named one of the the country by GQ. It’s most genuine honky ocktails are the bomb. ”

Cooley and Friends. There’s a list of 100 cocktails here, so we took our time.

In the Highlands, one of Louisville’s tonier neighborhoods, we found Gralehaus (http://gralehaus.com) for breakfast.

This eclectic cafe with its charming outside patio features the “family meal” for $6, offering scrumptious cheesy, creamy grits topped with a sunny-side-up egg drizzled with hot sauce and showered with chives.

Near Central Park for lunch, we sought out Buck’s (www. buckslou.com), consistently named one of Louisville’s most romantic

restaurants

since 1992.

Mismatched

old-time chi-

na, white flowers

everywhere,

and a conti-

nental menu

called to us.

Its longtime

house specialty

of Crispy Fish

with Hot Sweet

Chili Sauce,

served over

jasmine rice,

was snappy.

In NuLu, a hip

neighborhood

near downtown Louisville, we sought Decca (www.deccarestaurant.com), a locals’ favorite in a renovated 1870s building that offers a contemporary spin on classic dishes. I raved about my homemade cavatelli with sweet corn, ricotta salata, Aleppo peppers and basil. My friends were equally excited by their wild shrimp with caramelized eggplant and Spanish chorizo and the crispy Texas redfish with couscous and peanuts. Cocktail: Brown Derby.

Over in Southern Indiana, we stayed at the Sheraton

Riverside in Jeffersonville (www.starwoodhotels.com), very near that walking bridge. We found three restaurants in SoIN (Southern Indiana’s nickname) that were as buzz-worthy as those in Louisville’s fine food scene.

Dinner at the Portage House (www.eatportagehouse.com) was a stand-out. Set in an old restored riverfront home, the atmosphere and view were delightful. Chef Paul Skules changes the menu every few weeks, procuring 80 percent of

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his ingredients from local farms. “I’m friends with Damaris Phillips (of Food Network fame). When Bobby Flay came here for the Kentucky Derby, she brought him here. He was so nice; he ate everything,” Skules told us.

Cocktail: Hop-Washed Whiskey.

Skules’ roasted cauliflower with lemon caper vinaigrette and chili flakes was perfectly executed. And while some chose the whole roasted trout or even the double cheeseburger, I loved the shiitake mushroom Alfredo pasta.

There’s even a grilled cheese with Indiana goat cheese, tallegio and a fried egg.

At the Red Yeti and Restaurant & Brewpub (www.gosoin.com/listings), we indulged in masterful fried green tomatoes on creamy macaroni and cheese, pulled-pork tacos and giant brisket sandwiches. We couldn’t resist the vanilla bourbon cheesecake.

And at New Albany’s Brooklyn and the Butcher (www.brooklynandthebutcher.com), named best new restaurant in the Louisville area by Louisville magazine, we found ourselves inside a historic 1871 building that has become a modern steakhouse featuring small plates. Small plates of shrimp and grits, shrimp on squid ink fettuccine, ricotta gnocchi or four-cheese lasagna hold court here with steaks of your choice served in several styles, including Oscar (lump crab, asparagus and bernaise) or Brooklyn (bacon, gorgonzola and roasted garlic). Cocktail: The Butcher.

Toasting our sojourn, we marveled at the lively history we found in a very contemporary setting. 1 Shrimp and Grits at The Red Yeti in Jeffersonville

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Iditarod cold adventrue Story by Susan McBeth Photos by Michael McBeth

I

t was hard to tell who welcomed us most effusively: The Cheeses, the Mushrooms, the Pastas, or the Soups, but there was no mistaking the high-level energy of these

magnificent Alaskan sled dogs who train daily in some of the harshest conditions on the planet.

We had just arrived at Salty Dog Kennel only minutes outside of Denali National Park in the midst of winter when the awareness of our arrival perpetuated a raucous round of yipping from twenty-nine of Debbie and Mark Moderow’s accomplished furry racers.

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Cheddar opposite and the team anxious to go

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An intimate group of six travelers had just set foot into a world

would be doing in Anchorage instead, I quickly learned that

very different from the Southern California lifestyle to which

what she would be doing in April was the same thing she did

we were accustomed, and that was precisely the point. I had

year-round: running her dogs.

billed the trip as an Iditarod Adventure by the Book™, a unique offering by the company I founded in 2011 to bring literature to

Like her four-footed friends, Debbie is compact, intelligent,

life in multi-sensorial ways. And over the next week, we would

strong, high-energy, and charismatic. Her husband, Mark, a

definitely test our senses.

successful communications attorney, possesses a beguiling sense of humor, along with an astounding knowledge

After a visit to San Diego only a year earlier, author and ac-

of Alaskan history and culture. Between the two, along with

complished Iditarod veteran Debbie Moderow (Fast Into the

assistance from seasonal dog handlers, they manage a com-

Night, 2016) couldn’t quite believe I was serving her lemonade

plex lifestyle that logistically would be a challenge for even a

by the swimming pool in April. When I inquired as to what she

compulsive organizer like me.

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Debbie and Mark, both Iditarod veterans, each travel four hours (one way) weekly between Anchorage, where they work and have community and family commitments, and Denali, where their dogs live and train with the handlers. So what compels them, as well as the dozens of other racers each year, to live in temperatures that would drop to fifty degrees below zero during our visit? To answer that, we would have to meet the dogs.

I quickly bonded with the „house“ dog who would accompany us on the drive, sweet Cheddar, one of the Cheese Dogs, so named to enable the kennel staff to quickly recall the year of their litter. All Cheese Dogs, like Gouda, who receives daily anti-seizure medication and who, we would quickly learn, receives the same abundant amount of love the Moderows shower on all their dogs, were born in the same year, while Triscuit and Ritz were from another litter, etc.

Our itinerary included four nights at Salty Dog Kennel to meet the dogs and learn more about their daily lives and training, followed by four nights in Anchorage, where we were to celebrate the start of the Iditarod on the first Saturday in March, when it has started every year since 1973. But I was most curious about the daily life of the dogs and their owners who choose this way of life.

With the assistance of the Moderow’s former lead handler, Joe Meyer, who now organizes custom Alaskan tours as his primary occupation, together with seasonal handlers Josh and Val, we were plunged into a world unknown to most of the rest of the world. To get to the kennel, we drove over frozen roads along one of the most breathtaking scenic drives in the world, past quaint towns like Palmer and Talkeetna, making a stop at Willow, the official starting point for the Iditarod in years when there is abundant snow.

Top: Mike and Debbie Moderow with Truffle.

Left: Debbie and Susan McBeth with sled and dogs at camp.:

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As it turns out, in an unusual twist of irony, there was plenty of snow in Anchorage for the race start this year, but not enough snow in the mountain passes, so the starting point for the race had been moved to Fairbanks, which is becoming a more common occurrence due to climate change, another of the Moderows’ activist fields of interest.

While we playfully jumped up and down on the lake (after all, it’s not often that San Diegans encounter a frozen lake), Joe explained how the dog teams start the race in three-minute intervals, so mushers, dogs, and the vast deployment of Iditarod volunteers must prepare for the brutal reality of waiting hours with dozens of other racers before they even begin the race.

As we drove past the Chugach Mountains, which intersected with the Talkeetnas, the peaks intensified in grandeur, until finally we arrived at the Alaska range, magnificent in its snow and fog covered glory. I will never forget my first view of Mt. Denali, 20,320 feet of cragged majesty, contrasting sharply with the emerald green pine trees, the crystalline snow and the magnificent azure sky.

The peak that day was shrouded in clouds translucent as a negligee, offering merely a thin veil, yet providing a heartpounding illusion of the mystery and allure that lies beyond.

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The quiet was so profound that we were virtually unaware of the temperature ... at least for a brief moment until we realized our nostrils were unable to flare while breathing and our watering eyes froze shut in between blinks.

Upon arrival at the kennel, it quickly became apparent how much work is involved in caring for over two dozen high-energy dogs. But the thing about the Moderows, and perhaps all sled dog owners, is that they don’t view it as work. Their periodic unloading of a literal ton of high caloric specialty dog chow was accomplished with the same non-chalance we use in unloading our own groceries.

Because it is difficult in winter for the dogs to lap enough water before it freezes, the dog chow is soaked with warm water until it becomes quite repulsive to look at, but contains the nutrients and water they need to hydrate in the extreme cold. The dogs each have their own eating style. Some gobble up food as quickly as it is placed before them, like ravaged teenagers. Some are finicky and bury the food under snow to protect it from marauding ravens until they are ready to nibble a bit here and there, frozen solid as it becomes.

After meeting and feeding the dogs, we were escorted to our accommodations, mine with my husband in a dry cabin

Dog’s looking forward to getting to work.

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only fifty yards from the main house. Dry cabins are apparently

sometimes running back to check on her, stepping all over her

common in extreme weather where pipes freeze and burst

skis. The affection was clearly mutual.

with regularity. So one might wonder what happens at 3:00am when you wake up having to tinkle? Every dry cabin has its

Incomprehensible for this San Diegan to grasp, the Moderows

own arrangements. In our case, I had the choice of opening

and their dogs prefer cold temperatures. In fact, if the tempera-

the door and baring it all right there,in forty below zero tem-

ture is “warm“ (by their standards, anything above 45 degrees)

peratures, or donning all my gear and walking fifty yards to the

the dogs get too hot while running, and will actually bury their

main house.

face in the snow to cool down. Ideal running temperature is anywhere from 15 below to 15 above.

The choice was made easy for me once I peered outside to assess the

On another day, after donning

situation, for I was instantly treated

what felt like ten pounds of thermal

to a stunning heavenly display of

underwear, wool socks, bib overalls,

green and red swirls reminiscent of a

puffy coats with wolverine-lined

VanGogh paining. I quickly donned my

hoods, and specialized boots, our

winter gear, ran to the main house to

group learned how to harness the

do my business, and then stood out-

dogs, which is quite a challenge

side for as long as I could bear the cold

when these high-energy dogs get

for what would be a nightly Northern

really ramped up for a run. But that

Lights display during our stay.

was nothing compared to actually hitching the team of dogs to the sled.

So what does one do in a sled dog

I was simultaneously amused by the

kennel when not training for the

eight dogs who were barking and

Iditarod? The dogs still need to be

yipping, biting at their harnesses and

run regularly to keep them warm, fit,

tangling themselves, and in awe of

and happy, and to stay in the habit of

the trainers who calmly worked to

running effectively as a team, so the

hitch the team despite these chal-

handlers manipulate 29 velcroed name

lenges.

tags on a little board, a simple system designed to coordinate the dogs’ running schedule which ensures they each get a

I was already in awe of these bold adventurers when they

solid run in two to five times a week.

decided on another day to host a special outing for our group, a “picnic at the lake,“ whatever that could possibly mean at 40

And for dogs like Gouda, who experiences seizures, Debbie’s

degrees below zero. One might wonder what Alaskans con-

care does not end when they are no longer able to join the

sider cold weather. We found out earlier that morning when

main racing team. “A bit goofy,“ from his medication Debbie

the thermometer reached 50 below zero. At that temperature,

explains, Gouda still emanates charm from his quirky little face

even locals consider it dangerous to go outside. Flexibility is

that appears to grimace from a lip perpetually caught in his

mandatory in this harsh climate, and the Moderows excel at

teeth.

this, too. Our morning outing was delayed and, instead, Mark treated our group to an impromptu presentation about ex-

The Moderows regularly take their dogs out to play. One day,

treme weather gear and the evolution of snow shoes.

Debbie outfitted Gouda with four booties, which are designed more to keep the ice from collecting in the pads of his feet

When it warmed up to a safer 40 below, Mark ventured ahead

rather than to protect from the cold, and he joined us on a

via snowmobile to „set up camp,“ while we packed picnic

cross country ski outing around their property. As the humans

lunches of cold sandwiches, brownies, beer ( it’s true beer is a

enjoyed the crisp air and black spruce trees, which grow tall

great thirst quencher, even in the cold), and hot tea.. The Mode-

and spindly because they can’t establish deep, solid roots to

rows had concocted an elaborate schedule that allowed each

support a thick tree in the permafrost, Gouda blazed ahead,

of our adventurers to each try a little dog mushing on the way

stopping periodically to ensure Debbie was in pursuit, and

to camp, which consisted of a tent erected atop a frozen lake,

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complete with a wood-burning stove inside, an aluminize layer

ated silence that brought tears to my eyes, that I understood

of bubble wrap on the bottom to reflect the heat, with a heavy

why the Moderows would choose this lifestyle. We each forge

tarp on top of that, and mats on top of the tarp. The stove

our own path, beautiful in its uniqueness. For me, I will happily

was set on the snow, separated by a layer of black spruce

return to my temperate San Diego, but with a newfound awe

branches, which protects the snow from melting underneath

and profound respect for the Iditarod lifestyle and those who

in a mushy mess.

choose it. 1

When it was my turn to ride the sled, it quickly became ap-

IF YOU GO

parent why the Moderows love it so. The feeling of racing in a pristine environment, where the only sounds are the dogs

Visit Anchorage Information: www.anchorage.net/winter/

panting and the wind rushing past as we ran thru the snow,

events/iditarod-sled-dog-race/

was other-worldly. I can only imagine it must be like flying, and I was truly soaring.

To learn more about custom Alaskan adventures, contact Joe Meyer of Traverse Alaska at www.traversealaska.com.

It was at this moment, as I watched these magnificent dogs, tails and ears down, pulling with a practiced unison through

To learn more about Adventures by the Book, contact Susan

snowy terrain, up and down hills, and through an unadulter-

McBeth at www.adventuresbythebook.com.

Team 38 on the trail cheered on by bundled-up fans. Opposite: Mark serves up some cold beer.

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WALTER SCOTT

THE MAN WHO INVENTED SCOTLAND

By Carl H. Larsen

Y

ou can’t go to Scotland

tangled web we weave...when

without somehow being

first we practice to deceive.”

caught up in the many

memorials to the great Scottish

After producing a substantial

writer, Sir Walter Scott.

body of poetry, “Waverley” was his first novel. Along

In Edinburgh, thousands of

with its sequels and other of

commuters and travelers each day see quotations from

Scott’s novels, he is credited with launching the genre of

his writings along the corridors of the city’s Waverley train

historical fiction. Published anonymously and its author-

station, named for his runaway best-seller of 1814.

ship an open secret, Scott did not acknowledge the wildly successful “Waverley” was his work until 1827, 13 years

You may know of some of the aphorisms credited to this

after its publication.

world-acclaimed author. “Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell.” “Oh, what a

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A major tourist draw, just outside the station, is the “fan-

Portrait of Walter Scott and his dogs by Raeburn. Opposite: Vintage poster of early Ivanhoe movie based on the popular novels by Walter Scott.

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tastic Gothic space-rocket” memorial to Scott on the city’s

Highlands as an unspoiled area of natural beauty, putting

busy Princes Street. Completed in 1846, 14 years after the

aside legends of clannish in-fighting and violence. His por-

writer’s death, the monument soars to 200 feet, forming a

trayals of the highlands helped spawn an influx of tourists

protective cover over Scott’s statue and that of his dog, Maida.

from Industrial Age cities that continues today. He helped maintain the Scottish banknote as currency that remains in

Meanwhile, Scotland’s other great city -- Glasgow -- features a

use today and he helped ensure the preservation of the Scots

soaring monument to Scott in the city center. Glaswegians are

language.

quick to point out that their tribute to Scott came years before

His finest moment, perhaps, was in 1822, when Scott was

that in Edinburgh, his hometown.

delegated with organizing the visit of King George VI to Edinburgh. To accolades, the king presented himself while attired

So, who was this writer who is so widely venerated that his

in a native tartan kilt, further sealing our notions of Scottish-

desk this year was acclaimed as one of the top 25 objects

ness. The fact that Queen Victoria, influenced by Scott’s

that have shaped Scottish history?

romantic writings, moved the British royal household each year to Scotland’s Balmoral Castle also helped.

Scott’s novels became the “fulcrum” that formed Scotland’s identity: “The fact that we still have a national identity of any

A little more than an hour by train from Edinburgh’s Waverley

kind is down to Scott,” said Scottish author Stuart Kelly.

Station, the story of this towering author -- who commanded

Much of how the world views Scotland today can be traced

a worldwide audience -- unfolds at his self-made estate Ab-

to Scott’s writings of the early 18th century. His works include

botsford, a bucolic manor along the River Tweed in Scot-

the Waverley series, “Rob Roy,” “Kenilworth,” “The Heart of

land’s Borders region. A hero of the Romantic period, Scott’s

Mid-Lothian.” “Ivanhoe,” another of his best sellers, was his

literature paled during the rise of Realism, but has found new

first novel to be set outside Scotland.

validity among critics. For a time, some of his works, such as “Ivanhoe,” were recast as children’s literature.

It was Scott who virtually invented the idea of the Scottish

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Each year, about 70,000 literary pilgrims make the trip to

Abbotsford House, located in the Scottish Borders, the home of the writer Sir Walter Scott. Photo WikiMedia Commons

see Abbotsford, and to stroll amid its 120 acres of woods and

An exhibition details how the once-wealthy author nearly lost

meadows along the scenic, rippling river that Scott could hear

it all to heavy debts caused by the bankruptcy of his pub-

as he lay dying in 1832 on a bed set up in the dining room.

lisher. But he worked his way out debt by writing more and selling copyrights. (“My own right hand shall pay the debt.”).

The castle-like home itself is eclectic, a “palace of his imagination,” said Jayne Billam of the Abbotsford Trust.

And what a good thing that was.

Indeed, the house, built in several stages, would “suit none but

“Walter Scott dramatized and changed history,” wrote author

an antiquary” such as himself, Scott said. There was no grand

Christopher Harvie.

plan guiding the design of the stone residence.

Without him, we’d need a new image of Scotland. 1 Outside, there are several formal gardens that make visitors feel as if they are in an ancient place. Inside, Scott and his wife Charlotte lived among a collection of armor and curiosities that include relics from the battlefields of Culloden and Waterloo, a “scold’s bridle” used to prevent women from speaking and an assortment of early firearms. His famous desk sits in the middle of his first-floor study, and a 9,000-volume library is just as Scott left it. On a typical day writing, Scott would spend 18 hours at his desk, turning out 8,000 words.

IF YOU GO Abbotsford Estate: An hour south of Edinburgh by frequent train service from Waverley Station. Take the train to either Tweedbank or Galashiels. Book a taxi or inquire about the direct “Border Weaver” bus service to the estate. Otherwise, it’s a 20-minute walk from Tweedbank station. There’s a restaurant and gift shop selling many of Scott’s books, gardens laid out by Scott and hiking trails. The home’s Hope Scott Wing offers luxury overnight accommodation. The estate is closed Dec. 1 to March 1; an admission fee is charged. www. scottsabbotsford.com

Visitors wanting the full experience can stay in the luxurious Hope Scott Wing of the residence.

VisitScotland: For information on lodging, events and accommodations. www.visitscotland.com

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