Thailand--Flowers

Flowers in Thailand

After almost 2 years here is what I hope will be the first of many updates. This summer we went to Thailand. Amongst the beautiful things to see and do are flowers! Here are just a few pictures of some of the beautiful orchids and other plants we saw. 

Boston

Boston!

Really good cupcakes at Sweet.

Shabu-shabu

Brunch at the Island Creek Oyster Bar

A few weeks ago I was in Boston. I hadn't been there in 10 years or so. I really enjoyed the city. Didn't really do much. Just walked around and tried not to get to wet (the weather is not great in March). As always food was one of the highlights of the trip. First we stumbled upon a cupcake bakery called Sweet. The red velvet cupcake was really really good, and it inspired me to bake cupcakes when I get back to Paris. Let's see if they will be as good...

Then we had dinner in Chinatown at a hotpot restaurant. Shabu-shabu is what the japanese call it, but I think this restaurant was more Taiwanese. Of the two broths that we tried I like the spicy one (can't remember what it was).

The last morning right before I went to take a plane for Ann Arbor, Michigan, we had brunch at the Island Creek Oyster Bar. Oh it was tasty. Started with some oysters and a Bloody Mary then I had the lobster omelette while PT had the crab cake with a poached egg. Accompanying this we had a honey lemon biscuit and a blueberry muffin. What can I say it was an excellent way to end a really nice weekend.

Manchester

The oldest railroad station in the world.

Brick buildings around the city.

Street signs.

I think it was a fish market at some point.

Churches and canal boats. Some of the churches are for sale.

Lovely pub dinner: stake and ale pie!

I decided to enjoy the last few days of free time before the job starts up in October. So I spent a week in England. First in Cambridge and then in Manchester. It was the first time I went to Manchester and it's not as ugly as people say. Granted I had amazing weather. It NEVER rained and it was actually hot and sunny (as you can see from the pictures). The friend I was visiting said she had never seen weather like that.

I pretty much spent the whole time there walking around the city. I really like the architecture. Most buildings date from the industrial revolution and are big and made out of red bricks. It's possible to see older buildings such as the Manchester cathedral, but not much else dates from before the industrial revolution. The first rail road station in the world is in Manchester and it was build for the Liverpool-Manchester line, now it's part of the museum of science and industry (MOSI). I have to say that I really likes MOSI. I spent a few hours there and only say a small portion of the the site and just a few exposition.

No visit to England would be complete without a proper pub dinner: a few pints of ale and a steak and ale pie with chips! We went to the oldest pub in Manchester the Old Wellington and they know how to make pies.

Alps

Mountains and glaciars

Hiking up the wrong route!

On top of Colle du Grun

Bees nesting in an abandoned car

Too beautiful to be edible

The last part of our summer vacation was spent in the French Alps hiking and climbing. To be more exact we were in the valley of Valgaudemar in the Ecrins national park. I have to say we were really lucky because it stopped raining when we arrived and it did not rain (much) for the whole week while we were there.

Every day consisted of a different activity. We went hiking up mountains and saw lots of animals (cow, sheep, marmots, and an ibex). We looked for raspberries and made a pie with them. We went mushroom hunting. We (actually not me) found some genepì and made genepì liquor (I actually did the easy part).

I was a really nice week and I can't wait to go back!

Italy

Ivrea, Italy

Lago Sirio

Bus in Turin

Piazza San Carlo, Turin Italy

Gelateria popolare at night

Traffic signs around Turin

Via Barbaroux, Turin Italy

This year the first two weeks of August were spent travelling between Italy and France. The first stop was at my mom's house in Turin, Italy. Finally after weeks of bad weather, the sun was out and we were able to walk around the city and we found lots of traffic signs with these little men pasted onto them. It was quite cute. As always I have to go and eat ice cream at my favorite ice cream place: la gelateria popolare.

Florida

Key West early morning walk on the beach when nobody is around

First morning in Miami: the hotel pool and gardens. It was already nice and warm at 6.00 am.

Breakfast sitting at the beach in Miami.

Enjoying the sun!

On the way down to Key West we stopped in Homestead Florida: Robert is here fruit stand.

Old Ford F-100

Lush tropical vegetation in Key West.

Pelicans waiting.

Alligators!

Canoeing in 10 000 islands, Everglades City Florida

The Cà d'Zan in Sarasota

The Sunshine Skyway.

Sunset at New College.

Fireworks to celebrate the 50th anniversary of New College.

This year New College of Florida celebrated it's 50th anniversary. And what better excuse than a reunion to take a week off work (and off from the horrible weather we had here in Paris in February) to head to Florida. It's really only after I left Florida and moved to colder places that I understood how nice it is to have a break from winter and see the sun.

We landed in Miami and already on the first day there it was 27 C. Perfect weather to take a stroll on the beach and just enjoy the sun. After Miami we head to Key West. First we stopped to eat lunch in Homestead: tacos and a smoothie!

Key West was nice and quaint and with help from a friend who is a local, we avoided Duval street and the touristy areas and just had a relaxing few days.

After Key West it was time to see the Everglades and alligators, so back in the car and up we went.

Last stop of the trip was Sarasota, and the New College reunion. good few days visiting familiar places and catching up with good friends.

I have to say it was a really nice week!

Florida Food

Breakfast Smoothie on Miami Beach

Cuban Coffee

Taqueria Morelia in Homestead Florida

Key West

Oysters and Drinks in Key West

Unhealthy and semi-healthy breakfast at First Watch in Sarasota

The last trip we took was back in February, we went to Florida. We spent a week traveling around the southern part of the state, from Miami to Key West and up to Sarasota. The weather was nice and for the most part warm. Here are some pictures of food and drinks we had during the week.

Later I am going to post some pictures of the actual trip, beaches, canoeing and of course driving.