Andalucia, Spain

Tales of Andalucia

October 2015

 Andalucia has been on my travel to-do list, but wider-ranging tours I’ve seen had not enough time there. Then I found a British-based company (www.tourandelucia.co.uk) focused on the region: staying in a centrally located hotel w/ small van tours radiating out to different cities each day. Sounded just perfect. 

And if we put together our own group of 6-8 we’d have our own tour plus a nice discount. So we put together our Grupo de Siete: my brother Doug (unfortunately, sister-in-law Ann couldn’t join us  ̶  we’ll miss her), their friend Una from a previous trip to Iceland (where we also traveled in March, and small world experience: Una’s a high-school friend of one of my colleagues!), Marjorie’s cousin Jim & wife Susan, & Susan’s sister Ann. I’ve acted as “Principle Guest” in arranging details and payments (& calculating exchange rates between British pounds & dollars) with Gary Montagu, aka Gary the Tour Guy, who has been very responsive to our wishes. AAA agent Donna helped arrange our flights.
One regret: I’ll be missing my 50^th (!!!) high school reunion  ̶  it was thoughtlessly moved from Sept. to early October after we’d made arrangements for this trip. But Marjorie made it to hers in August, and we’ve had some interesting activities leading up to the trip. M had her most successful sales at the big 64^th Annual Schenectady Stockade Art Show a couple of weeks ago  ̶  and we’re partly dug out from the artistic disorder at home. Last weekend we returned to the historic Stockade for the annual “walkabout” to tour some of the old homes & gardens. 

And Sunday (9/27) we saw the rare “super blood moon” eclipse; i.e., during a full moon when its orbit is closest to the earth, last seen in 1982 (full disclosure: left photo is mine, right is from the internet). This makes for a trifecta of heavenly events, combining with clear skies for peak Northern Lights in Iceland in March & for July 4^th fireworks viewing from the East River in NYC.

Schenectady Stockade

Schenectady Stockade

September 2015

 

          The Stockade area of Schenectady, along the Mohawk River, has been continuously inhabited for over 300 years, beginning with Dutch settlers. It was the site of the Schenectady Massacre of 1690 by a raiding party of French & Indians. The area contains some 40 pre-revolutionary houses, some dating back to the 17thC. Named as New York State’s 1^st Historic District, the National Park Service has described the Stockade as “the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country.” Marjorie & I have participated in two annual events: the Stockade Villagers’ Outdoor Art Show and the Walkabout. The former attracts artists from thruout the northeast, spread along several streets in the district radiating from a central circle. The latter opens up a number of the houses for tours. Most of the photos here are from the 64^th Annual Art Show and subsequent 55^th Annual Walkabout in 2015.