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reno, nv ; moving west but first another stop

November 7, 2010

we are finally moving west towards our final destination. reno is our last stopover seeing mary’s friends and catching up on years long past. we were told the reno train station was in the middle of town and blocked traffic but we found that to not be true now. but there is a sense of frontier town still here. reno isn’t too big a city although it like every other american city it’s got it’s share of sprawl .

reno amtrak station

tracks

the amtrak tracks have been renovated with a project called ‘retrac’ and a display put in the old station of artifacts dug up during construction which shows shards of pottery, nails, pictures of fire cisterns adding to the wild west feel of the town. i enjoy perusing the displays waiting for our ride.

reno train station display

but now it’s all about gambling and we know how well that’s going with all this disposable income everyone has thanks to the republican austerity years. thinking about the money spent on this election as a big waste, makes me sick. i guess if i owned a tv station i’d feel different  but i don’t.

train station window

i wonder where the balance to life has gone? we all seem to have fallen into fear, afraid our house, job, wife or even dog will turn on us and we will not be loved and cared for. i never thought i’d see these days here in this country, i blame the suits. they are the cause of all this turmoil and greed slowly strangling our society of the dreams we had in the 60’s & 70’s. i can only remember and not fully live them.

we are picked up at train station and whisked off to roses house where we drop our bags and head off to lake tahoe. nice to see the snow dusted mountains behind the city as we head up to the summit. mary and rose chat and i enjoy the scenery. crossing the summit we come to an overview of lake tahoe

lake tahoe

pretty cool but a bit chilly. then mary sees the size of the pine cones on the trees

pine tree

and thinks they’ll be cool to give to the ‘girls’ (grandchildren) so i go down the cliff and get one for mary. we then pick up two more for the ‘girls’ on the beach.

pine cones

there is a high class restaurant, meaning expensive  place right on the beach with a gas fire pit and chairs which comes in handy warding off the autumn chilly. mary catches up on years past and my mind wanders looking out at the lake. we missed seeing any aspens in color in colorado by months  but here are a couple, not really spectacular but nice anyways

aspen

aspens lake tahoe

and finally the dock.

dock at lake tahoe

now the expensive wine safe and sound deep in our bellies we head back to our lodgings at roses house.all in all a very nice two day visit with people i’ve never met before, which has not always been comfortable for me, meeting new people. but as i age i seem to be more comfortable around strangers. life has a way of adding small changes helping us along. so in a couple of days we will continue our journey out to the coast getting closer to our final destination. we drop our pines cones at the post office lighting our load to continue our last leg of this adventure. another short train trip then overnight in a motel before finally catching our thruway bus to willits ca.

Posted in art, nevada, Photography, travel, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Granby to Reno

November 5, 2010

Getting ready to move on to our next destination Reno, NV we wait at the Amtrak station for our two-hour delayed train. It seems there is always something happening to trains. The first delay we had was a two-hour delay from Chicago to Granby; we got stuck behind a freight train that had engine trouble. Seems freight has the right of way, that’s capitalism for you.

This happen again leaving Granby.

Granby waiting room

We were pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Amtrak in our inn informing us of a problem. Amtrak has a good web site and phone system keeping travelers up to date on schedules, their 1 800 USA Rail or status on the web. Very cool.

Good by Granby hello Reno.

train arriving

hopping a ride to reno

But soon enough our train came along and we were on our way to meeting mary’s friends in Reno. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, as they were part of mary’s camping and work group where people who worked together camped out on weekends at some country park.

We’ve been told the next leg through Utah would be one of the best scenic parts of the trip and it was pretty cool.

byers cynByers cyn

Byers cyn

It was nice for me to come along and meet all these different people in mary’s life, after all I was an important part of mary’s life now. This great American adventure had a purpose as we were on our way to be married in Mendocino, ca by mary’s best friend from collage.

My friends are scattered all across America and none along this route. We had originally planed to drive across America in our newly restored 1970 Mercury XR 7 convertible but that had been delayed by numerous events and delays. The car will be on the road soon but the time and weather just didn’t permit doing the trek at this time.

and this way we get to see a part of this great country without being exausted all the time. so we traveled through utah in a different mind set.

Ducks in Colorado river

canyon wall

Utah

Colorado river Utah

Mary had decided we’d get married on our anniversary; one so I might have a better time remembering when it was and two; it would be more romantic that way. I had no objections to what ever she wanted. That is a big part of our life being able to allow the other person to get what they want. Mary’s good at that and I am learning how to allow that to happen. This relationship is not all about me and that’s a good thing.

She has brought so much joy into my life and the idea of letting go, laying back and allowing her to have her way has brought me such joy, that had I been I charge I might have muddled with things and screwed things up. Allowing is a pretty good way of being. As I said it’s not all about me.
as night falls on our window it starts to rain

sunset in utah

rain drops on window

Reno is a strange town. We were told the train station was in the middle of town and the train actually blocked traffic but that wasn’t the case as they have renovated the train tracks and put up an exhibit in the station showing artifacts from wild west Reno, old bottles, shards of pottery and lots of pictures.

We were there during the election and one of the biggest fears is that Sharon Engels might be elected as a senator and it was really too close an election. Her message seemed to be electing someone ignorant of government role in our society and made it smaller, a popular position in this election, some have won office on that same platform. I wonder what has happen to  ‘an informed elect’ that is the basis of our democracy. Oh well.

The only thing to see in Reno for me is Lake Tahoe. Rose took us for a drive up there and a glass of wine lakeside. A lovely sunny afternoon and I can see why people say it’s a jewel of the west.  The rest of Reno evolves around the casinos and gambling. But mary’s friends are nice and we enjoy our couple of days of visiting, meeting the grown young women who were children when last seen. Life moves on. As we do, continuing along the tracks to Martinez, Ca our last train station, now switching to a bus up California way to Willits, ca gateway to the redwoods.  Then being picked up and driven to Mendocino our final destination for our marriage.

That is the point of this whole trip. To be married by mary’s best friend who couldn’t come to what is now referred to as our ‘intent’ ceremony where we spoke our vows to love and cherish each other, done at the house in New Jersey in front of friends and family.

but more on reno lake tahoe later………….

Posted in Photography, travel, Uncategorized, Utah, weddings | Leave a Comment »

sunrise and frost

November 4, 2010

i wasn’t prepared to find fog rolling in over the lake and the car covered in frost as we woke up for the sunrise. the question is always do i just sit here and enjoy the moment or do i grab my camera and start snapping away. but i thought this moment i wanted to share so i woke mary and began a very long day. she started taking pics out our rooms window while  i had to run down and start the car and turn on the heater then run back upstairs gather my camera . defrosting the windshield took awhile, but we got out of town in time to capture a couple of images before everything changed.

foggy grand lake, co

then looking south towards shadow lake

shadow lake,co

 

and then it’s all gone and coffee & hunger sets in, where to get a good cup of coffee and  plan our day. we decide to go back into the park for another encounter with wildlife after a cup of coffee and a microwaved sausage and biscuit off we go to the park. this early morning we found the ground covered with frost as our car had been but no wildlife. we drove up a dirt hunters road where we had seen elk the day before and stoped to explore the area. oh well maybe we got a couple of christmas cards out of the effort.

frosty field

frost covered pine cones

then back to town and on to adams falls which feeds the grand lake. whoo hoo i though a powerful ice covered falls. it was easy enough to find and park at and the trail was too deep in snow but had been traveled well before us. what we didn’t know wa we were headed up to the top of adams falls and not the bottom. it really isn’t much to see, just another snow & ice covered rocky mountain stream but after the effort of walking up the mountain why not take some pictures. after all i had carried my tripod and telephoto lens along so what the heck.

 

adams falls, co

snow covered rocks

 

we both got some nice pictures of snow capped rocks and ice. shooting snow & ice isn’t easy as exposures can be tricky. but moving along the ridge line as other couples came alone we found ourselves moving back towards our car. hey what happened to the falls, we were hoping to see the bottom of the falls and not the parking lot. so we drove along the lake front until we ran into private property signs stopping us.

when on thinks of seeing a waterfall, at least i do, i think of seeing where the water falls i.e. the bottom like pictures of nigara falls. but sine there doesn’t seem to any dramatic pics of falls and lake what else to do? we there are hot sulphur springs close by so why not try there? off we go. when we get there what we find are a resort of sorts actually hot tubs of sulphur water  and not very appealing to us. one long family in a exposed tub just didn’t feel like something we’d like to join. mary asked about something more natural but got a very vague answer about being up the road etc. oh well

we spent the rest of the day looking for gifts to bring back for the girls  who are much easier than my son. they love everything at least for awhile. then diner at our hotel grand lake inn which we  find is being sold by the owner to a nice couple from lubbock texas whom we have a talk about how we find accommodations on our travels. what is important to us i and how we search for things.

traveling is exhausting especially one such as this hauling bags on and off trains moving into different hotels trains and cars is a lot of work and it’s not over yet. so crawling into bed and snuggling comes early for us. being up for the sunrise isn’t usually my time of day since i’ve always worked nights. but another sunrise another day.

sunrise, grand lake, co

sunrise , grand lake , co

sunrise, grand lake, co

sunrise looking at shadow lake, co

well now we move on to reno, nv to visit marys friends, i’ve never been there so we’ll see what it’s like.

 

 

Posted in Grand Lake, Great american train adventure, Photography, rocky mountain national park, travel, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

across the great plains beyond denver

November 2, 2010

not much to see as we zoom across the sea of farmland as the sun sets. sometime at night we change engineers & conductors at Creston IA and get behind a slow moving freight train, who develops engine trouble setting us back 2 hours in the night. we back into denver across the flat river passed mile high stadium into the non descript station. we can see the snow covered rockies in the distant and feel like we are finally making some progress.

the rockies

our train conductor is great giving us a running description of what we are passing. the parks dept supplies a person during the summer who does this but it ends at labor day. i told one conductor that maybe they should have a recording to describe what we are passing through, who knows.

mountain stream

one of the first things we see is gross dam 3 different views the last one from the back but lovely. built by a man named gross from germany.

gross dam

we travel through tunnels and exit to another grand view, you have to wonder about the people who built this railroad what they must have gone through . here is the yellow school house that was built for the children of the workers but never used because it too cold there.

yellow school house

it’s difficult to photograph from the train because of reflection in the windows as we twist and turn around the mountains. but granby co was our destination for the day, an unmaned station and i wondered what we would find. i had to call the rental car people from frazer

fraizer, co

the stop before ours. here we are

granby train station

it's halloween every where

we load our bags and  hop in our little rental car  heading to Grand lake and rocky mountain national park, another leg of our exploration.

shadow mountain lake

shadow mountain lake

we decide to head to rocky mountain national park instead of grand lake because we are 2 hours late and the hotel will be there and we are loosing daylight.

snow capped mountain

the road is closed driving through the park, it closes in september because fo the exposed winds and snow at higher elevations, this i didn’t know and was disappointed. we could only go for 10 miles limiting out enjoyment but we made the most of our time. i was the wild game spotter and driver, we came upon a meadow with some grazing elk. i took out my 70-200 with a 1.5 extension and showed mary what she couldn’t see with the naked eye.

grazing elk

we really couldn’t get close to the herd but we tried exploring. i saw a cute red fox that mary took pictures of but because it was on her side of the car. we did pull into parking spots the tried to explore the trails

mary on the trail

being silly writing hearts in the snow

snow writing

but we did come upon a lone grazing cow

young cow

elk cow

who drew a crowd along the road as people stopped to take pictures. she seemed a bit curious about us but not enough to stop eating

elk cow

but after she left to join the herd there wasn’t much we say other than snow covered fields. soon the sun crossed the mountains and we headed to grand lake.

welcome grand lake

so we leave you here as we unpack our bags and darkness settles around us and we lay on the bed in exhaustion.

Posted in Co, travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

great american train adventure continues to chicago

November 1, 2010

The lake shore limited dropped us at lovely Union station Chicago.

 

art deco sign

 

 

 

union station chicago

For a major city train station, union station is clean and quiet. The main waiting room is detached from the train waiting rooms, which are in a newer annex across and under the street under a newer building along the Chicago river.

I was struck how calm the station was even though there were many people wandering around. Union stations main waiting room was practically empty except for the tourist photographers,

Union station waiting room

not like crowded penn station in new york which probably has 8 police at any given time hanging around the waiting room. We didn’t see one police person in the entire station and yet it wasn’t a homeless hangout. Did we miss something?

Using our limited time in the city we wandered around a few blocks also fitting in lunch along with picture taking. Chicago is a mix of the old and new on maybe a more human level than new york. What we saw beyond the new buildings were the unique items at least to us. Yes it was cool and windy but the day before they had hurricane winds which was the talk of the lunch crowd around us.

boats chicago river

 

Sightseeing boats cruising and tied along the Chicago river. counterweight bridges on major streets that still work, how cool is that?

bridge tower

just in case

 

 

We did see an interesting building approaching Chicago with a statue on top. The Chicago Board of Trade

chicago board of trade

who the statue was on top of building we’ve no idea nor any pictures. But following our quest to the building we found the Chicago loop-elevated subway.

loop tracks

chicago loop elevated train

the old with the new, see somethings can co-exist quite nicely. things don’t have to be torn down to make way for the new.

But it was time to catch the zephyr a super liner train. Cool right?

Zephyr

Well the super part of the train means they can get more people on because it has a double deck of compartments. Which meant to us that the top bunk has less headroom, so low that mary couldn’t sit up in bed and had to roll into it, which was different than the lake shore.

The zephyr has a lounge car with strange seats. I remember as a kid seeing ads for lounge chairs that swivel along with glass windows but these are plastic/metal and designed for little people.

Zephyr lounge car

Train travel in America is so different than other parts of the world. We’ve traveled by train in italy and japan. In italy we did a sleeper while japan was the bullet train. Somewhere a decision was made to let train travel fall by the wayside to the more glamorous air travel. What we find is that the older population enjoys train travel, who really likes airports? The new bus terminals of travel.

Train travel lets one relax and enjoy the scenery, which is impressive. I’ve driven across the country 3 or 4 times and moving at 60 mph I’ve never had the chance to just enjoy the beauty of the country. Sometimes I found myself not taking pictures out the train windows, just enjoying seeing what passed before me. Very relaxing.

Farm

Next stop Amtrak station Granby Colorado, to the town of grand lake, gateway to rocky mountain national park.

 

Posted in Chicago, Great american train adventure, photography contests, travel, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

the great american train adventure

October 29, 2010

mary and i are on our way across america by train. it’s something neither ne of us has done before, we traveled in Italy and Japan via train  bit nothing like this. i was raised around steam locomotives, seeing them roll out of the factories and every summer i’d see them chugging up towards whitehall ny when we were on our way to vermont.

so i looked forward to this trip. i’ve experienced train travel along the northeast corridor going to washington dc and new york and it wasn’t much fun, except the meto liner, but that began an dended in either city. amtrak just hasn’t kept up with the rest of the world and i don’t know why? flying isn’t much fun more like a modern day bus terminal. but amtrak has let it’s rolling stock deteriorate terribly. but that’s not the point of this story, just an after fact.

train travel can be cramped as is ours because we are on the bottom of the sleeper food chain, better than coach and free microwaved meals but each line has different coaches. we first begin with the north shore limited, from nyc to chicago.

mary relaxing

we stat by going north along the hudson river

autumn trees

a house whizzes by

late in the afternoon 3:45pm which i guess is better in the summer

sunset along the hudson

trees, houses, bridges whiz by unknown place as we are unknown people passing through early evening

bridge across hudson

to albany where we meet up with one coming from boston and they hook up to us, mary sits in the lounge car, a misnomer if ever there was one.

lounge

then on to buffalo alone  lake erie shore and into chicago union station. but we have to learn to live in our snug cell down stainless steel hallways

train corridor

top bunk

but what i see from my place

feet

but we survive as do everyone else on the train as we walk the long long walk into union station, but more on that later

jene

Posted in travel, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

italy, our first travels

October 18, 2010

after meeting mary and getting to know each other, sharing our wishes, fears and dreams she proposed we go to europe, italy as i remember. i had always wanted to travel the world without being in a uniform but never put it together. why do we always wait? how do we know what time we have left here?

we set a date and she cashed in some of her frequent flyer miles and got the tickets. we were all set.

in the meantime the Rolling Stones and Martin Scorsese had contracted the Beacon theater where i had just left for early retirement for a concert and movie Shine A Light and everyone i worked with said come back it’s going to be a big one, meaning everyone should made a lot of money. ‘But i am going to italy with mary’ i replied.

it did make me think about my work life, how i’d given up almost all my holidays and weekends to work. family events revolved around my work schedule. but not any more i had worked since i was 14 years old and it was time to stop and smell the flowers with Mary.

i’ve not regretted that decision one bit.

the other day i was looking for some tree images to enter into a contest and turned on a HD i seldom view with some of the italy images which i’ll share a couple here.

Colosseum cross

this is one of the first thing we see as we enter The Colosseum. it’s surrounded by people but i managed to get this shot off. this is really a pretty powerful place when one thinks about what happened here. who wandered these hallways and how long this place has withstood time

colosseum walls with sky

through all the earthquakes, bombings and bullet holes, but it has a dark history

the colosseum wall with cloud

who walked here through these hallways, were are the lions now, oh detroit.

catacombs

The Colosseum Catacombs

access is limited where one can go, but i understand they’ve open up more areas than when we were there.

catacombs

the colosseum catacombs

but i was looking for trees and the only thing growing here was grass

the colosseum window

The Colosseum window

so i began to wander around  looking for my usual………. this being more to my liking a stand of pine trees.

colosseum window with pine trees

Colosseum window with pine trees

and of course here’s my honey smiling across the table at me during lunch. i wonder what she was thinking?

mary youtt

and silly me, yes i still have that shirt.

me

these images were taken with my canon 20d which has traveled with me and now remains as a back up camera to my 5d mll.

we did find some flowers later on the isle of  Ischia in Sant’ Angelo italy, but my honey is still brighter

yellow orchid

yellow orchid

i wanted to write about some new flash triggers but so far haven’t really tested them completely but so far i am really impressed.

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Posted in art, Photography, travel, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Panama City, panama, los diablos rojos reflections

September 23, 2010

today it’s been two weeks since i returned from panama city, where did the time go? here it is thursday and two nights ago i just finally burned the cards to dvds and today i researched the los diablos rojos. now if your looking to put yourself to sleep on siesta i suggest you research the web for information. now the world wide web is an excellent source of information  which can be overwhelming.

then as usual being alone in front of a computer screen with no other distractions, like walking a doggie, there comes pangs of hunger as the sun passes my window leaving me in a darkened room.oh i recognize that feeling gnawing at me…. hunger. so i make dinner and not do what i had on my days agenda for today. which is to write my blog.

look at that dusty book shelf it needs cleaning so on my way to make my salad i give it a wipe and notice another shelf, well they must all be dusty. yes you guessed it, i’ve got pretty clean shelves and nothing entered on the blog. now i’ve had dinner and the chocolate truffles in the fridge are talking to me, eat me.

but slowly, very slowly i am moving forward with errant fingers and keystrokes. i know what i need………. music so i look thought the cds and i don’t have any real spanish music but i do have some tapes. well anything to help me concentrate on the task at hand so i pick Los Flamers su  historica muscal and some Tito Puente. i know not panamian at all but desperate times call for desperate measures.

now that the truffles are sort of drowned out for a time…. altho i can hear them during pauses in the music. i now have the proper setting to remember panama city although i am missing the smell of diesel fumes, i’d rather have chocolate myself but i won’t get up again and get distracted.

so i land at Tocumen International via Continental Airlines at 9:38pm and go to turista desk to ask about the cost of a taxi into the city $28.00 bucks. gone up since four years ago by $12.00 an dreading my lonely planet book. hotel marabella which nobody understands so i pull out the brochure i got the last time there, wisened traveler i am and off we go, but first a stop by the turista polica to see where i am from. Nueva York and off we go in my white turista taxi. regular taxis are yellow now , wonder where they got that idea from? but traveling through the night as lights pass by and dark shapes in the background wizz us towards Plaza Concordia and the marabella, which isn’t on the plaza but a seedy street behind. we found this hotel from a travel agent who recommended it us as an inexpensive alternate panama city hotel when we stayed in bocas de toro four years ago at the la veranda.

calle 55, panama city panama

no this isn’t where i stayed but around the corner. on the right side of picture is where i ate a few meals. arriving that late at night i was hungry so i knew about the place and headed there to get something to tide me over until morning. mixed fruit salad, pineapple, banana, papaya….. how i’d forgotten what fresh fruit tasted like.$2.66

manolo's

where the elite meet. but i really couldn’t wait being so excited  until i when down to the plaza concordia to see los diablos rojos. after all that’s why i spent money i couldn’t really afford but then again i couldn’t pass up an invitation like this. how many times are we asked to dance before the offers stop?

los diablos rojos panama city panama

los diablos rojos panama city panama

there she is…….my grey whale…….. only different…… waiting for passengers . now i could go to bed a get some sleep so i could begin this great adventure. as i laid my head down on my pillow i already missed mary but it would only be a week away from her, but a week can be a long time, we had scheduled our vow ceremony nine days later from my return and so much more left to do. was this crazy….maybe but so life can be at times.

the next morning before picking up the hertz car, good idea to be here early sunday morning at Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Church of our Lady of Mount Caramel) as the people arrived for mass, i didn’t think it was right to go inside and take pictures then. i wandered around getting the lay of the land

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Church of our Lady of Mount Caramel)

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Church of our Lady of Mount Caramel)

This  church  is the only Gothic architectural style building in the country. This structure was built by the congregation of the Carmelites which have been in Panama since 1940.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Church of our Lady of Mount Caramel)

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Church of our Lady of Mount Caramel)

but here is my quest, at least my first attempt to tell a story about these creatures and my associations with them.

los diablos rojos, panama city, panama

los diablos rojos, panama city, panama

but my distractions are many, did i mention chocolate truffles? oh and the mercury  xr7 comes out of the body shop tomorrow so i can put it back together, i guess in my spare time.

1970 mercury xr7 cougar convertible

1970 mercury xr7 cougar convertible

our own diablos rojo. well i’ll say good night now, i’ve got a date with a truffle,

jene

Posted in Canon cameras, Diablos rojos, Los Diablos rojos, mercury cougars, panama, Panama city, Photography, travel, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

The Breezes Panama, not my kind of place, but the Los Diablos Rojos

September 11, 2010

i was invited down by a friend who said they were considering in looking to maybe buy a place in panama. my first reaction was then why are you going here? JP said come on down ,we’ll have some fun enjoy ourselves as this place is an all inclusive vacation spa. i had to think about it for a few days.

Panama yes there is something i want to do down there i thought. something i hadn’t really had a chance to do my last trip and one doesn’t get offers like this all the time. all i had to do is pay my way down and everything else would be taken care of. so after much consideration i booked my flight.

i was to rent a hertz car in panama city and drive the 2 hours or so down to playa santa clara, playa meaning beach of, but the breeze isn’t actually in santa clara just a little before it. driving in panama city is interesting especially when the GPS goes blank and i’ve never driven there before. but that’s another story.

breeze hotel & spa

spanish speaking armed guards at entrance, reservaction? well because i am a cute american i did get to the hotel even though the guard and i never understood each other, this isn’t esalen just a hotel spa in panama. i didn’t look like a desperado on the outside.

well i’ve been to these types of places before but then i was working a venue like a fashion show that would but the place out for the week or so but i’d never book something like this for myself. i am too much of an individualist to fit in with this type, yes they are a type and i won’t say anything more about them. it’s i have different values and tastes than people who go to these places do.

lovely place,constantly painted  brand new opened october 2009.

breezes back & pool

breezes back & pool

hotel along with a condo tower and smaller residences

condo tower

golf course where one can play a round alone being the olny one on the course, lots of wadding pools for the kiddies and this one fairly large pool for the adults but no olympic size pool although they do have an ocean behind me but panama is a growing country and sewage disposal is a new term to the infrastructure, why else would they have a big ocean right at their doorstep.  shit and plastic are growing problems everywhere especially here.

breeze drainage stream

not sure where sewer treatment plant is but this is a drainage for streets and glof course. as someone said on trip advisor after walking the ocean front at low tide and seeing the debris in the sand they had second thoughts about swimming there again. but this may not be the case here, i really don’t know. this drainage does drain right into the swimming beach.

view from the room

breeze pools day

breeze pools nite

lovely to look at but no night swimming or hanky panky. rooms are nicely decorated with flat screen tvs but  have paper thin walls which i don’t understand because concrete is the building material of choice in panama. this is a family resort with canadians, colombians, costa ricans and panamanians in attendance.

guests

Breeze does have a hertz office but they only speak spanish. driving in panama is pretty easy so renting a car and exploring can be fun.

wine and liquor flow freely but since i only taste wine my experience is limited but i found the wine rough. the dinning room is large

dinning room breeze

something quirky about the banquettes being close to 9″ lower than the chairs at the tables, convient for just pushing food from your plate into ones mouth. but if your short and you companion is tall you’ll  be looking up their nostril all evening. the coffee is good panamian coffee, the kind starbucks wish they made instead of the burnt beans they use in their shops. the food is mediocre i call is middle class swill. plenty of it though and many were going back for their favs.

i did get jp up to el valle to the artisan flea market, we all bought some stuff, i a nice fiber bowl which goes into my collection of bowls. but i was itching to get on with our adventure once on the road.

unfortunately things happened by beyond my control and the very next day we began the unplanned portion of the trip. i did get my chances to take some final pictures of panamain Los Diablos Rojos that roam the streets of panama city  acting like buses. but the night is old and my body is tired so i’ll leave that leg of the trip for another post.

these and the people who work on then are my subjects

panamaian diabloes rojos

panamaian los diabloes rojos

so with this i’ll say good night

jene

Posted in Diablos rojos, panama, travel | 7 Comments »

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