Where in the World?

I attended the Newport Flower Show today. It is held at the Rosecliff Mansion on Bellevue Ave. This is my second year to go to the show and I’m a big fan now.

The botanical specimens combined with the creative art of plant/flower arranging bring surprises and creates huge excitement in the crowds that attend.

I love rich, saturated colors which is what I’m drawn to photograph when I go to this show. To the left is a shot of Rosecliff Mansion. Most of the flower specimens are around and inside the building. Taking your time to leisurely tour the grounds makes for an enjoyable day.

On the other side of the mansion from the photo above is the Atlantic Ocean. The day was hot and humid with very little wind to relieve us from the stifling heat. On the grounds between the mansion and the ocean were numerous vendors selling all kinds of crafts, clothes, plants, food and etc. I love to see the variety of creative expression that abounds in these types of venues.

The yellow flowers to the right were spectacular. They were like have the color of the sun in a flower. I’m always amazed at the level of color intensity that some flowers possess. It makes me appreciate the diversity and beauty of nature that much more.

I took a number of photographs while touring the many displays. Here is a link to 14 of my favorites including larger versions of the two on this post.

Newport has a plethora of events, attractions and fun things to do all year around, but around this time of year there are so many events to attend, that it is hard to fit them all in.

If you love flowers and plants, I suggest planning your visit to Newport, RI during the weekend that this show is happening. You’ll want to come back again and again.

Michael

Erica and started off the day with a 10 mile bicycle ride around Ocean Drive in Newport, RI. It was a perfect morning for a ride; sunny, deep blue skies, early enough so there wasn’t much traffic and a cool, salty breeze off the ocean. As we approached Brenton Point Park, we could see that many people were already launching kites to take advantage of the strong winds. We particularly enjoyed two enormous (automobile size) rainbow colored kites.

After returning home, we made a beeline to Sweet Berry Farms to pick strawberries. We picked two large containers of the ripest ones we could find. Erica took some of the largest and best to make a wonderful fresh strawberry pie. Strawberries are my favorite fruit. Being able to pick them fresh off the plant and then consume them was a huge treat for me.

Lunch consisted of three slices of a freshly made, thin crust pepperoni pizza. For dessert we savored two homemade ice creams; coffee and ginger. Both flavors were exquisite. The coffee ice cream had a rich full bodied coffee taste while the ginger ice cream had large chunks of candied ginger.

The only drawback was that the sugar made both of us sleepy so we took an afternoon nap to recuperate.

The point of this story is to get out and do anything fun. Don’t sit around. Go explore. Do something different. Discover new things.

Have a great day!

Michael

After a lazy morning, fueled with eggs, turkey andouille sausage and coffee we headed out on our bikes for a 15.3 mile tour from Truro to Provincetown and then through the dunes in the Cape Code National Seashore. The temperature was a nice balance between not too hot and not too cool. A steady cool breeze blew continually and helped to keep us from getting overheated.

According to historical records, the Pilgrims actually first landed somewhere on the beach between Truro and Provincetown and not where Plymouth Rock is located. I didn’t know this. It’s funny how facts get distorted in their re-telling over the years.

We headed first to Provincetown for an iced coffee and then we took a short detour out to McMillan Pier and watched the boats for a little while. Following the road through town took us to Herring Cove. From there it was about three miles through the sand dune trails to Race Point Beach where we relaxed for a bit on the sand and had some lunch.

I love to bike ride, especially downhill, but it was a struggle as I’m not in shape as much as i would like, but, I was able to push through it.

After the beach, we had about a six mile ride back to the house in Truro. It wasn’t quite as intense as the dune trails as it was mostly roads. Thank goodness!

The evening consisted of playing cards and eating a lot. Hard to beat that, especially when you are winning almost every hand.

Overall, it was a fantastic day.

Michael

Yesterday I was in Warsaw, Poland. Today I’m on Cape Code between Truro, Ma and Provincetown, MA on the beach. It’s a slight change of pace. Well, more than slight.

Erica and I are spending the weekend here with friends. The place we are staying at is right on the beach. So after a short walk you are face to face with Cape Code Bay. To northwest lies Boston, but it is too far away to see from here.

I’m glad to be out here this weekend as it is an excellent contrast to the fast paced week that I’ve had. The air here is crisp and I love the smell of the ocean. I’m already starting to unwind.

Taking periodic breaks is very important for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. I’m learning to make time for these periods of re-charging. Life is supposed to be fun not stressful.

The sunset was quite beautiful today with very saturated colors and some nice clouds. I found it very relaxing. It’s a great way to start the weekend.

I have three other sunset photos in a larger format here. The third photo is a special image where the clouds are radiating out from a central point. Very unusual and inspiring.

Michael

After a long day of trouble shooting problems at work, several of us took a long walk to a great Polish restaurant in Warsaw called Folk Gospoda. They served a variety of traditional Polish dishes containing lots of new flavors and textures.

The starters were two types of pirogies; one Russian and the other filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms. One of the other guys also tried some red borscht or beet soup. I’m not a big fan of beets but the soup was quite tasty. Frankly, I was surprised.

My main dish was called Peasant Sausage which was a smoky grilled kielbasa with an onion/mustard paste on the side. I believe it was the best sausage I’ve ever had which is a bold statement for me. Horseradish sauce supplemented the other flavors and added some spice to the meal.

For the latter half of our meal, a live band playing traditional folk music from the region ignited our sense of being immersed in the true Polish culture.

Good friends, great food, new flavors, good music and a long walk back to the hotel all combined to give us a very pleasant evening. These are some of my favorite things to do while traveling.

Michael

After a very nice Greek dinner tonight, one of the local residents and co-workers in Warsaw gave us a grand tour of the city including the Old Town area. It was a fascinating blend of history and good stories.

If you look at photographs of Warsaw from 1944 or 1945 you will see a bombed out pile of rubble. Approximately 85% of the city buildings were destroyed by Hitler’s army. The current old town was rebuilt over a couple of decades to look as close as possible to the original area. They really did an extraordinary restoration job.

After the Soviet Union left in the later part of the last century, the city and country has grown by leaps and bounds. It was fascinating to hear stories from my friend about standing in a line for hours just to get a few eggs. Life changed dramatically for the people here after communism retreated.

I like the Polish people with their sense of humor and ability to say exactly what needs to be said. They don’t hold back and you don’t need to read between the lines. I enjoy that. It’s quite refreshing.

I hope to come back and do some more exploring here. There is a lot to discover. You just need to get out and look.

Michael

I’m back in Warsaw, Poland for four days to help with the roll out of a major new tool within the company I currently work for. It was quite a surprise as I didn’t expect to be back here so soon.

But, I’m fairly adaptable with changing plans. That’s one good thing I’ve learned in my position over the last few years. Change is not as fear inducing as it used to be. I’m not saying I don’t have problems with change still, but it is far less than seven years ago.

One new of way thinking for me is to view change as a new adventure. Since I like adventures now in my life, change seems to be a natural part of that new way of thinking. Adventures (i.e. changes) are good as they keep you on your toes, both in your thinking and adaptation skills.

The flight was good in one respect. I was in business class. But two things took some patience and adaptability. The plane was quite bumpy for 90% of the trip from Newark to Warsaw. I’m much better at handling that but after seven hours I was starting to feel woozy.

Secondly, to add to the already woozy feeling was the bad odor emanating from the guy next to me. It was quite overwhelming. All seats were filled so I had nowhere to go. So, I had to adapt and quickly. For large periods of time, I kept my pillow over my face. The rest of the time, I tried to keep my head turned to the right. My technique worked most of the time.

Phew! I was very grateful for landing; more so than usual. It took me a couple of hours to get my stomach settled down.

Here’s to less smelly travel.

Michael

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world. An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. – G.K. Chesterton

I arrived with a little under two hours until my flight to Houston, TX (via Chicago) was leaving. It was a good plan. The first delay came from the ticket agent. The flight was an hour late, but I would still make my connection. The second delay was uncharacteristically long lines for scanning baggage. No worries. I still had plenty of time.

Around the time of my departure to Chicago, the gate agent announced the third delay. The plan was not going to arrive for another 1 1/2 hours, which meant I would miss my connection to Houston.

So, I got in line where a man promptly walked in front of three of us to get to the head of the line. I didn’t give it much thought, but a guy behind was livid. He approached the guy and told him that he had jumped in the front of the line. The man couldn’t and didn’t care less. So much for the slight distraction.

The gate agent promptly booked me on another airline to get me to Houston tonight. Fantastic! I go down to the new gate and airline to see my fourth delay. This plan was running about 30 minutes late. But, I still have time to make my new connection through Newark to Houston. No problem.

Within about 20 or 30 minutes the fifth delay occurred. My new plane would be late and the Newark connection would be missed. Am I mad at this point? No. I found after flying tens of thousands of miles that getting angry doesn’t help at all.

So, I go back to my initial airline and they rebook me to Chicago for the night but I will not get to Houston until Friday morning.

The agents were really nice and I believe that is because I was nice. They can’t be blamed for weather or mechanical failures, but some people do and that’s too bad.

It’s all just part of the adventure which is my life. I’m reading, writing this blog, people watching and just chilling out. Nothing wrong with that. It’s been a busy week.

Michael

Erica stayed local this weekend. We decided to take a long walk on the famous Cliff Walk in Newport, RI. The total length is about 3 1/2 miles one way. We didn’t walk the entire length, but we did go about 2/3 of the way.

Yesterday was mostly rain, fog and wind. Today, the fog lifted by noon and the rest of the day was windy and partly cloudy; a simply stunning day.

It was a leisurely walk as I was doing some geocaching along the way. Erica turned out to have a knack with the geocaching game. She found a difficult one that I couldn’t find.

I enjoy looking at the mansions along the way. These places are huge and represent a different time and place. I really like the stonework on a lot of them.

Today was a great day for surfers. We watched them for quite some time. The waves were around 6 feet high and were rolling into the coast in groups of three.

I love watching the ocean waves. I find it mesmerizing and relaxing at the same time. So, it was a thoroughly enjoyable walk combined with the ocean, waves, blue sky, huge cumulus clouds, stone mansions and some great company.

I feel really rested from this weekend. It was fun to just do very little and like I mentioned yesterday, make time to play. We tend to get too tied up in the world around us and forget to take time for ourselves.

Michael