Tennessee Valley Cove in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
When I’m looking for a quick escape from San Francisco, Yosemite, the Russian River, and the Napa Valley are close at
hand.
But each of these options requires significant forethought.
I wonder if will they be crowded with international tourists on a given weekend? Is
there an incoming convention or a gigantic cruise ship in port? That could lock
up available lodging and recreation.
Then, since like most San Franciscans I don’t own a car, I have to plan out the transit.
Which bus connects to which bus where?
Finally, do I have the money to truly enjoy these places?
The Tennessee Valley Trail as seen from Wolf Ridge.
My ideal solution to the getaway problem is the 76 bus. From
Van Ness and Geary the 76 bus line will take me to the Marin Headlands and The
Golden Gate National Recreation Area for the price of my daily commute to work.
A dramatic scene from the climb to Tennessee Point.
The United States Navy once based defensive operations for
the Pacific in the Headlands. The buildings are still standing, converted into
artist spaces, non-profit offices, history museums, and hostels.
The real treat for me is how much land is left untouched by
development. I can hike a dozen miles of trail before seeing so much as a
vehicle or a home.
Matt and I make our way to the Headlands on a sunny,
blustery day with the goal of hiking the Tennessee Valley.
Matt buffeted by winds at Rodeo Beach.
We start off at Rodeo Beach where a number of men with metal
detectors are scanning the strand for treasure. Notable relics are said to wash
up here.
A pair of parents with young children hikes up ahead of us
to Tennessee Point. It’s an easy, physical hike… but we’re going all the way up
the mountain.
Atop Fort Cronkhite, we explore the old ramparts and vacant magazines. We make
our way to Wolf Ridge and the Tennessee Valley Trail. We find columbines, blue flax, monkey flower, California
poppies, and white yarrow blanketing the scrubby hills.
California native plants L to R: blue flax and yellow monkey flower.
At Tennessee Valley cove, we enjoy the drama of the Pacific
Ocean tides. Iron clotted cliffs bolt rust red into the sky. I’m so distracted
by the landscape my boots get caught in the undertow and flood with seawater.
Matt, too, is blissed out with endorphins and beauty.
Yours Truly beside the Sun Window at the Love Park. The inscription reads, "Tu de este lado y yo del otro como dos remos," or "You are on one side and I am on the other like two oars." At this moment, my boyfriend Matt and I are on either end of the Atlantic Ocean! :<
Lima’s residents have a penchant for public flora…and for
public displays of affection.
Gardeners have encircled fountains and granite statues with
native ornamentals since the founding of the city.
Lovers on benches, beside the water, against the cold stone,
wiggling their toes in the grass: were more numerous than pigeons in Lima’s
parks even then.
The Moon Window at the love park. The benches in the park were inspired by Gaudi's manic mosaics at Parque Guell in Barcelona.
Kissing bodies
younger than they should have been or more married than they should have
been hid in the manicured roundabouts, screened from view by a moat of muscular
horses and grinding carriage wheels.
Today, PDA is no less ubiquitous in Lima. And urban planners
have extended the greenbelt with two well landscaped pedestrian promenades.
It is the custom when one makes a commitment to a loved one in the park to make a heart with pebbles in the sand with the couples initials scratched in the center.
Avenida Arequipa’s handholding strollers can walk all the
way from Lima Centro to the beach between lanes of frantic traffic with
impatiens at every footfall. Tourists more conspicuously walk a similar
East/West route through the desirable neighborhood of Miraflores (literally “Look,
flowers!”) to Parque Kennedy where cafés and art are in abundance.
Poet Antonio Cilloniz is credited for inspiring the
construction of El Parque del Amor, (“The Love Park”) in the early 1990s when
he made a public observation that cities only dedicated monuments to their
warriors and not their lovers.
"El Beso" by Victor Delfin. Delfin and his wife were the models. They are depicted barefooot!
Planners involved in a coastline redevelopment project,
which would be capped with the addition of the dramatic cliffside mall Larcomar
six years later, seized the moment and commissioned a sculpture from Victor
Delfin. Within months, “El Beso,” the enormous pink monument at the heart of
The Love Park was erected with Cilloniz’s quote inset at the base.
There is a small set of risers set into the park across from "El Beso," where, every year on Valentine's Day, Lima residents have a contest to see which couple can kiss the longest!
I visit The Love Park and see a mother taking photos of her
son and his new fiancée while wiping tears from her eyes. A gay couple and a
straight couple sit holding hands on opposite sides of a long mosaic bench,
each blissfully unaware of the other. Hang gliders take off from a neighboring
cliff and float overhead like love letters in the sky.
(L to R: On the balcony of the La Ronda condo with El Panecillo in the background. A five minute walk up Morales brings you to this plaza and an even more amazing view of the monument.)
I had a wonderful time staying at Liliya and Leo’s La Ronda outpost.
It is magnificently situated with a vertiginous balcony overlooking cobblestone streets with the statue of El Panecillo in the near distance.
Readers should know that this handsome, two bedroom Quito unit is available for rental. At the time of this writing, the
condo is miraculously available for the peak season (from May 18, 2012
throughout the summer.)
Frequency Hopper readers who book Liliya and Leo’s La Ronda condo can receive a $25/mo discount!
Bear and I greatly enjoyed our comfortable Queen size bed.
This may not seem like a lot of cash, but as your dollar goes further in Quito, $25 will get you to any of the nation’s borders on a bus AND pay for your snacks!
You can contact the owners and see more pics here.
There are all sorts of other money-saving reasons to use Quito as a base.
Flights to Guayaquil, where all Galapagos Islands cruises board,
are about $200 round trip if you pay cash for a local airline instead of
booking credit card style with a provider in your home country. (The savings over a flight booked directly to GYE from SFO was around $100 to $150 per person.)
The only way you can do
this is if you are on the ground in Loja or Quito.
Also, from Quito one can more readily book or build day trips to the makets of Otavalo, the natural beauty of Peguche/Lago San Pablo, the not-in-Lonely-Planet adventures of Mindo’s cloud forest, and the hot springs resort of Papallacta. Again, you MUST be paying with cash.
A table in the living room area where I set up my writing desk.
I favored Liliya and Leo's condo over a number of comparable units primarily due to it's location. I had the opportunity to stay in New Town, but the vibe isn't at all the same.
Once one is on the ground in Old Town, bakeries, fruit stands, and family run restaurants are all
about. One of the best adventures is finding your favorites.
There are numerous activities within a quick walk. It is
difficult to think of a European capital with so many cathedrals of
architectural and historic interest in such close proximity to one another.
The Changing of the Guard at the Plaza Grande is a must-see
every Monday at 11 am. I was
fortunate enough to book the first part of Holy Week and got treated to a street carnival on Palm
Sunday.
(L to R: The archway to La Ronda just West of the condo. Yours Truly with my traveling companion Iona outside the condo after Palm Sunday festivities.)
Weekend nights, one hardly needs to venture into La Mariscal
(aka “Gringolandia” in local parlance) for entertainment. Andean music, street
vendors, and artists populate Morales Street.
When one does elect to explore, the inexpensive transit
lines are all nearby. Taxi drivers always know Plaza Cummanda for fetching and
dropping off.
I had a guest for two of my four weeks here. We enjoyed
cooking meals in the clean, serviceable kitchen and posting details of our
adventures online using the secure wireless internet. It was lovely to have a
washing machine on site, also, for when we came back wet or muddy.
(L to R: The condo's lovely bath. Liliya's "welcome kit" for renters features dish and laundy soap, spare lightbulbs, paper products, and tea things.)
Liliya has a philosophical attitude about the distractions
and annoyances of Quito. I found her wisdom and experience to be a generous
bonus.
She and Leo clean the place top to bottom between tenants.
In fact, the day I left, they put every piece of fabric in plastic bags and
washed it.
I can’t wait to return to Quito for another writing retreat
and expect to use it as a weigh-station for future travel in South America.
I made lovely new friends in Greece between fits of ruin and museum hopping.
Boo’s Café – Athens, Mainland Greece
When I was a child, my parents nicknamed me, “Boo,” for my
numerous, good-natured attempts to startle and scare them.
So when I came to Athens and saw the sign for “Boo’s Café”
on the street behind my hotel, I felt it was a good omen.
Sipping a Greek coffee at Boo's
The atmosphere for this stony lair is surprisingly out in
the open. Each of the windows pivots to become a door on to the street. The
dark antique rosewood chairs for patrons to sit in are playfully mismatched.
High color oil paintings, beaded
mannequins, leaded glass, and other over-the-top props cover every wall.
A short walk from the hotels on Omonoia Square, (Sarri
Street between Epikourou and Kreizi) Boo’s is primarily an after-dark place.
Weekend nights are just right!
Their daytime patrons are theater district managers, art and
furniture sales people who come in for a hit of Greek coffee and a wrap and
then dash. Tourists linger over postcards and biscuits.
Boo’s doesn’t have a website and they don’t have Wi-Fi. They
aren’t even listed on Google Maps.
There are plenty of places in Athens that do have those features. My experience has shown that such serviceable locations often have less character.
So make a friend and hunt out for Boo's without your devices for a change!
Yankos Café – Adamas, Milos
On the touristy island of Milos, Yankos is easy to spot. It's on the East end of the pier.
Two huge illuminated spheres with dancing shadows spotted from a distance turn out to be pedastaled fishbowls flanking their entrance.
While that gimmick makes them hard to mistake, the basics of Yankos are top notch.
It’s a place to center oneself and get work
done. There are a half-dozen laptops open at any time many
of which belong to locals.
I am in love with the feeling of being constantly adrift at Yankos. Gauze curtains blow like sails, dial lamps loll like suns. White sofas crest against blue canvas chairs connecting you to the surf and surrounding sea.
Fried cheese. Some poor little cow had to push all that out!
I returned for meals at Yankos based on the food and
exceptional (multi-lingual!) service.
Breakfast is the big meal on Milos and there are many local specialities worth trying. I recommend
a the watermelon pie, a strudel-like pastry topped with candied
watermelon rind.
Though I am eating vegan now, I ate copious amounts of fried
cheese while I was in Greece. The wedge of locally sourced cow proteins at Yankos was the size of my head with whole tomatoes and lemon for garnish. These are generous folks.
A view from the bunkhouse of the Edible Egilsay farm.
This far north, the sun doesn’t set in summer, it moves
elliptically out to sea and hums under the horizon. The night I arrive, an enormous full moon is setting off the
inky blue.
Tingwall is where I’m to meet the Egilsay (pronounced
Eagle-see), ferry at 8 am.
I elect to walk, but fail to account for the maps
distortion. The distances north and south on the map are actually two times the
East/West distances!
Your's Truly on mainland Orkney, the gateway to Egilsay.
Running up empty roads at 7:45 am,I’m at least two miles from the pier. Luckily for me, a
local handyman named Roger, the first car I’ve seen since 3 am, picks me up as
I hitchhike. I arrive before the ferry docks.
At the other side, Alice is present to greet me.
She’s already been in the bunkhouse for a month. Already, the peas
are coming up!
Alice stands guard on the road to the Maeness farm.
For the next few days, I too will be growing food as part of the Edible Egilsay project, a permaculture farm. The farm provides food for attendees of the like-located Orkney Solstice celebration.
Alice says they are hoping to make 200 meals for festival goers from the farm's produce. We plant beet root and dig up rocks. We water everything carefully.
Harvey, the island’s pet llama, lopes around the premises,
inspecting our work.
Harvey wandering the grounds.
The Orkney Solstice Festival began when Bazil
Sansom decided the disused part of his family's farm would make an idea locale for a small summer event.
Mainland Orkney
already had history minded endeavors scheduled at Maeshowe and other Neolithic sites. The Orkney Folk Festival, while a change from typical summer festival genres, had a staid, predictable feel.
Also, with Brits saving up hundreds of pounds each year to be deafened for days on end at music industry engines like Glastonbury and Rockness, there was demand for non-corporate options.
Orkney Solstice channels the spirit of Burning Man –
filled with D.I.Y. entertainment and a homey feel. "No one pays and no one gets paid but everybody shares something."
History marks Egilsay as the location for the legend of St. Magnus. This church commemorates the spot where he was martyred.
His partners in the continuing effort to provide this space are the indefatigable Roz Corbett and
Alice Warren. Throughout the year, the raise awareness for the festival and their permaculture project with a series of fundraisers.
The duo also keeps the world abreast of their movements with a zine and a Wordpress blog.
Most of the contributors/attendees/interested parties are young people from Glasgow and Edinburg. Though "nearby" they are still a distance from Egilsay as far as the distance between Chicago to Washington D.C. It can take a full day to reach this outpost via public transit.
(clockwise from above left:) A polytunnel habitat. Reclaimed windows make a shelter for beans. The backseat of an abandoned vehicle becomes a bed for lettuce.
The bookshelf at the Edible Eglisay reflects the tenants interests. I read a pamphlet on why restaurants should be abolished
and browse several books on growing one’s own produce.
When the sun is rising, rain begins to fall.Rain and wind are near constants on
these islands.
It is a myth that there are no trees in the Orkneys, but there are mostly grasses and brush.
Where there are trees, they are low to the ground, swept back dramatically by the fierce winds. Only the cliffs and hills blunt the elements.
But the views are lovely. There is nothing quite like wandering the seaweed strewn shoreline with sandfleas nipping at your feet collecting shells in the full daylight of 4 am.
Even in May, it is very cold, so we have a coal
fire in the bunkhouse.
Alice fixes the coal fire!
The food is delicious. We take turns making meals. On the morning I'm preparing to leave, Alice makes up a huge steaming plate of wildcrafted mushrooms, potatoes and red cabbage as I write her a testimonial.
Your's Truly enjoying breakfast at Edible Egilsay.
Gardening starts every year around April 1, continues steadily until July, and then occurs periodically through the end of November.
If you are looking for a place to hide out for a while and work hard, this is an unbelievable location with a supportive, "pitch-in" crew.
And we see our Andean cock-of-the-rock. Three of them, in fact!
Birding is big business in Ecuador. In the tourist town of
Mindo alone there are three full time birding operations featuring multiple
guides with gaggles of letters behind their names.
Julia is independent and has been working in the region for
over a decade. She knows all the sweet spots: not just in the sanctuaries, but
on random hillsides and highways.
Our group sitting down after birding to relax and share impressions.
When we break for an early lunch, I’ve improved my life
list by nearly 30 species.
Your's Truly at Lago San Pablo. Pijal is the mountain in the background.
Otavalo has become known over the decades for its surreal
open markets.
Chinese knock-off products share stalls with traditional Ecuadorian crafts.
A waxy, roasted pig’s head advertises every lunch counter and dogs kick leftover
bones through the stands of local superfruits.
The market scene in Otavalo on a typical Saturday.
My hiking pal Iona and I launch our day trip from Quito’s
northernmost neighborhood, called “La y” (“the and,”) indicating it’s history
additive to Old Town Quito.
Transferring from the city’s Trolle line, we board a
provincial coach. The total round trip cost is only $7, but one pays a little
bit of that $7 every time one transfers to a new coach (six times), so it is
wise that we are carrying change in coins.
Though the travel time is advertised as two hours, the trip
north takes almost three as the coach stops for a seemingly endless array of
non-paying Otavaleño passengers and food vendors.
Once in Otavalo, it is clear the principal experience is
actually having made the pilgrimage on a Saturday.
My hiking companion, Iona, in front of Otavalo's Town Hall.
Many Otavaleños “made
good” in Quito return, wearing their native costumes and to be a part of the
community ritual.
Unlike other parts of Ecuador, where a man like me with long hair stands out, I appear to be emulating the Otavaleños on the day of my visit.
It is traditional for Otavaleño men to grow their hair long, and wear it in a pony-tail or braid it. Of all parts of the regional costume, the men's manner of wearing their hair may be the solitary pre-Columbian element.
The preservation of this tradition is so revered that Otavaleño men may keep their braids if they elect to join the military in Ecuador.
Since all the goods available in Otavalo can be purchased
conveniently at similar prices elsewhere, we spend little time at the busy market.
We decide to journey 4K southeast of town to the natural
attractions around Lago San Pablo.
Iona alongside Lago San Pablo. Volcan Imbabura in the distance.
Lago San Pablo is unusual for a number of reasons.
First, there is a algae-like mold in the marshes surrounding
the lake that is unique to the area. It was created when lava flow from Volcan Imbabura
blocked the lake’s natural drainways.
Second, the lake is home to the Andean climbing catfish.
The
fish use their tail and mouth to climb rocks. The fish likely migrated by land down from the
higher elevations to Lago San Pablo using these unique skills!
Third, the cane from the lake provides raw materials for the
local artisian speciality: mat weaving.
When we visit, two older women are actively harvesting the
cane to take home and braid.
We make our way around the lake and spot several different
paths relevant for hiking off into adventure.
The locals people are very friendly and quick with a kind word or helpful information. They are also enjoying their Saturday. Three brothers spend a considerable amount of time on logistics before we watch them attempt to ride the a bicycle all at the same time.
Ultimately, the back road to Peguche is the one we stumble up.
Two views of the Peguche falls.
One woman is standing on the banks using the water from the falls to help plait her daughter's hair.
On the path running along the falls, I spot a kind of mountain rhubarb with numerous red hairs and chuquiragua flowers.
Local flora includes relatives of raspberry and allium as well as eucalyptus and chiquiragua.
Many people expect this region to have a tropical, jungle
climate, but Otavalo and environs are semi-arid. Pampas grass, agave, and
eucalyptus grow here.
Our options for crossing to the business end of the falls are a large felled tree or a rickety suspension bridge with missing slats. We wisely take the bridge.
The sign for this bridge discouraged visitors from jumping while walking across, apparently the cause of some missing wood slats.
The Peguche artisan village is meant to showcase local weaving,
but it is essentially another point-of-sale for
inexpensively made semi-authentic souvenirs.
Painted rocks and placards at this structure explain the native ritual of Yamor, an annual cleansing in the falls.
While it is likely that many of the flutes and seed jewelry
was created locally, I examine a charango which seemed typical of the
available items. The instrument is strung with monofilament to perform as a
child’s toy and spraypainted with a stencil of Spongebob Squarepants.
Iona makes a purchase: roasted plantain and corn-on-the-cob from an open fire.
Yours Truly and a reconstructed, pre-Columbian stone circle.
An oddity I enjoy in the village area is an unmarked, unexplained
pre-Columbian ruin.
From information gathered online, I understand that the most of the cobblestones on the ground are original, but that the walls and alcoves have
been almost entirely reconstructed.
Hopefully, the same interests that reconstructed the stone
circle will see to it that some kind of signage or marking can be established
to give tourists a greater appreciation of its significance.
When I land in a new town, the first things I look for are a great cafe and a great used bookstore.
Here are two of my picks to take the guesswork out of cafe hopping on your next visit to Nashville or Knoxville.
Visiting the Ryman Auditorium in Tennessee was a dream come true.
Frothy Monkey - Nashville
A pleasant bike ride from downtown, the Frothy Monkey is the
go-to hangout for Belmont University students and organic food connoisseurs
from the nearby Hillsboro and Melrose neighborhoods.
I chanced there when I was couch surfing around the block,
near Dolly Parton’s motor coach livery.
I achieved total brain freeze from the strong iced coffee
and achieved total aesthetic piety from their locally sourced salads.
My songwriter hosts were giddy to receive a bag of FM’s espresso roast as a parting gift.
Yours Truly preparing for another day of scaring the natives.
Best feature: a variety of micro-areas within the two adjoined ranch-style structures allows for sunny, shady, booth, and bistro style table hopping.
The wow-inducing environment includes reclaimed windows and doors for wall paneling, exposed brick bearing walls, and an inverted bay window façade.
They don’t even have to try.
This is probably the reason their “coming-soon” website is so
laughably bad. On the home page, the designer takes name credit for its non-existent proprietary content with a
copyright date that has been auto-updating since 2010.
Is that an angel in my cup or is Knoxville just glad to see me?
Over several visits, I had the satisfying hummus plate. When I got stuck in my work on the Great American Novel, the painted ceiling, inspired by Van Gogh’s “Stary Night, ” kick-started my daydreaming again.
Mounted swordsman preparing for the weekly Changing of the Guard.
The first thing I notice hiking around hilly Old Town Quito is that everyone has a dog.
Most are big dogs. Most will not be attending obedience
school.
The dogs in Old Town bark all day and all night at car
alarms, ambulances, and, of course, the barking of other dogs.
The neighborhood of La Ronda was home to poets and other artists during the Modern period.
These dogs are generally working as guardians. They are well fed and attended. The social function of companion animals is just different for
Quiteños than what U.S. citizens are used to.
The second thing I notice is lots of police.
There are two or three uniformed officers at every plaza or major intersection.
Another surprising fixture downtown: men wandering about selling coca leaf tea.
You cannot find matte de coca tea at the two chain grocery stores in Old Town, but it is entirely legal to purchase and enjoy throughout South America.
It is touted as a cure for altitude sickness. Quito is 2850 meters above sea level.
To put that into perspective, Denver, in my home state of Colorado, is 1609 meters above sea level!
A statue of the Virgin Mary watches over Old Town from El Panecillo.
Things commonly found in abundance in Spanish Colonial
capitols are exceptionally well preserved and functional in Quito's Old Town.
The architectural influence is deep: Stone churches, elaborately carved wooden doors, red tile roofs.
One of Old Town's many churches (San Augustin) which mix local and Spanish elements.
Nearly every available archway or shelter is occupied by a "tienda" or little store. Baked goods, produce, yarns, and durable items are all
sold in different tiendas.
There are scads of endearing lunch places, typically run by families. They are affordable, and filled with locals.
I don’t know how
the Quiteños decide!
Yours Truly in Plaza Grande for the Changing of the Guard
The big event weekly in Old Town is The Changing of the
Guard on Monday mornings at 11 am.
Unlike similar ceremonies in other world capitols, the
President of Ecuador is regularly present for the event, waving from the long
balcony at the top of the Presidential Palace.
In addition to swordsmen on horseback and pikemen, a
marching band plays the national anthem and a choir of schoolboys sings along.
Mainland Orkney is so far flung a part of Scotland that most Scots don't ever visit.
My journey began with a six hour bus ride from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, a wealthy oil town with buildings made of glittering granite.
The public gardens in Aberdeen include an enormous granite statue of Robert the Bruce.
From there, I caught a ferry to mainland Orkney. The crossing takes about 8 hours.
There are quite a few Neolithic sites on Orkney. One can spend a couple hundred dollars just trying to navigate the island and visit them all.
Two of the most impressive, however, are absolutely no cost at all to visit and are open 24 hours a day.
The Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar are among the oldest manmade things on earth.
They are stone henge monuments. That's the proper name for any stone circle. And they are Neolithic ruins, which means they predate the familiar stone henge monument that the world knows simply as Stonehenge.
It was not sunny for my visit. Thanks Wikipedia!
Though The Standing Stones were once part of a complete circle, only 12 remain.
The most significant stone, the Odin Stone, was used by locals to solemnize love relationships as recently as 1810 until the landowner, bothered by a steady stream of trespassers, broke it down.
Though there is no record of what the Vikings, who built the circles, used the henges for, the thwarted local courtship tradition may point to one purpose.
At the time of my visit, it was late May and there was almost 24 hr sun.
Still I figured there would be some photographic drama to dawn at the Standing Stones.
The only drama was high wind and a downpour of rain, however!
The Standing Stones are located on the southern part of an
isthmus, a strip of land between two lakes. In the middle of the strip, a
single stone stands alone. This is known as the Watch Stone.
I'm 6'5", so you can get a feel for the height of the Watch Stone.
Just like it's partners in either ring, the Watch Stone is spotted with lichens and moss in red, green, grey, and yellow tufts like tiny dried up fireworks.
You can walk right up to these monuments. Touch them. Hug them. There are no guards.
To the north is the Ring of Brodgnar, a complete stone
circle, surrounded by a peat bog.
Wikipedia photo of the ring of Brodgar. I tried to touch them all!
The sulphurous bog might have made torches burn brighter. The smell would certainly have overwhelmed the senses.
The ancient Vikings might not have understood basic chemistry, but
they certainly understood theatrics.
