On the road again!


Here we are, almost 3 years later to the day from the end of our last trip (and in Boulder no less); getting ready to fly to Reykjavik Iceland, the first leg of our 3-week trip to Europe. We drove up to Boulder last night, and had dinner with Lou at her fancy new restaurant, Arcana, just off 9th St. on Walnut. It’s only been open since February, and she’s a manager there. Our meal was exquisite; if you’re ever in Boulder and looking for a great meal, check it out, and ask for her!

I’m now sitting at our gate at DIA, and our flight leaves in about an hour and a half. After a 3-hour layover in NYC, we’ll fly through the night, arriving at Keflavik airport 7 am tomorrow morning. We have three days to explore in Reykjavik before flying to Edinburgh late Tuesday evening. There we’ll meet our old friends Doug & Sue from Berthoud and start our six-day bike tour together on Wednesday morning. Needless to say, we are extremely excited!!

Look for our first post from Iceland tomorrow sometime. It’s 6 hours later there, and I’ll probably post in the evening most days, so it’ll likely be best to check for new posts first thing in the morning.

Back in CO, one leg to go

I feel like we’re really dragging out this return part of our trip, but I can’t just leave you hanging, right?

Yesterday was the first day in about a month that I didn’t take any photos. Not too surprising, as our luck seems to have run out in the weather department. Sunday dawned wet and overcast in Manhattan, and we spent the morning with fresh pastries from down the street and the Sunday Times. Mal even made a frittata! It was a really sweet way to finish up our short visit to NYC.

After three weeks of almost flawless travel, on planes, trains, subways, buses and rental cars, I suppose we were due for the less-than-perfect experience. That’s certainly what we got at JFK yesterday afternoon. Our flight was scheduled for 4:30, and after myriad crew and weather delays, I think we finally took off at about 6:30. We both slept some on the flight, and we were met by Lou’s smiling face at DIA at about 9. Once back in Boulder, Meg had made us a nice dinner. We chatted for a bit, told stories from the trip, and fell into bed at about midnight.

This morning in Boulder it is gray and wet again, but as I’ve been writing, the skies have started to clear. We’re now picking up Lou to go out for breakfast. Then some errands and a visit with David in Lafayette. We hope to be on the road to Ridgway by midday, in order to make it home before dark.

One last selfie before we hit the road:

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Brooklyn

Yesterday we spent the day exploring Brooklyn with Rosy, who just so happens to be one of its biggest fans…

Mal and I took the subway out to her stop, and after getting a quick tour of her apartment (which is fabulous), we headed for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

On the way, we stopped to get Rosy a coffee, and I decided to get a fresh salt bagel with lox and garlic cream cheese. It’s been years since I’ve had a bagel like that, and it was so good!

We then spent more than an hour wandering the grounds of the BBG and snapping photos of everything from tree peonies in full bloom to a glorious bluebell meadow to some of the exotic flora in their greenhouses…

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Then we strolled through the neighborhood to a little coffee shop for tea, coffee and some fresh-baked treats. [This trip seems to be increasingly about food I’m afraid…] After that, Rose took us through the local Farmers Market, featuring an amazing spread of fruits, veggies, baked goods, local cheeses, and on and on…

Then it was back to her apartment to get out of the rain while we waited for the movie we’d picked out to see nearby. “Stories We Tell” is a unique little documentary about how a Canadian family wrestles with questions about their long dead mother’s private life. It’s the kind of movie we’d never get to see in Montrose, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

To finish off the day, we had a drink at a Park Slope dive bar (called the High Dive), followed by an amazing dinner of Bibimbap (see below) at a Korean restaurant nearby. Thanks Rosy, for giving us the quintessential Brooklyn experience!

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We fly to Denver at 4 this afternoon, and will have tonight and tomorrow morning with Louisa in Boulder before driving home in the afternoon.

Can’t believe the adventure is wrapping up. What a magnificent time we’ve had. It’s going to be tough going back to reality though. I’ll be hitting the ground running Tuesday morning!