Santa Barbara weekend

We spent a lovely weekend with family in Santa Barbara a bit ago.  October is usually beautiful there and this year was no exception.  Rosie had planned all kinds of fun things for us to do, but as usual the best part for me was just being with family.  The only thing that would have made it better was having Roque and the Bordelons there too.

So here we are in no particular order:

Having fun at the pool

Hanging out at the Wrights house

Doing a little rock and tree climbing

 and playing at the beach

So many pictures...so much fun

Big Sur Tour

A few weeks ago Calvin organized a bicycle tour of the Pacific coast along Big Sur.  He has been talking about doing this ride for a long time.  He talked Vance, Jim and Jay into going with him and I had a great time following along and enjoyed spending time with Rosie and Alice.  I did get a few pictures of the bike riders, but mostly I took pictures of Alice.

Waiting for all the riders to get ready, Alice isn't quite sure who these guys are.

Day 1 start from Carmel

Day 1 waiting for the riders Rosie Alice Diana and I enjoyed shopping in the shops in Carmel and then eventually caught up with the riders for lunch. Then waited for them again at an outdoor cafe where a cold drink was really welcome.

 Day 1 after some long hot hours

 Day 1 relaxing before dinner

taking pictures of ourselves

and admiring a gorgeous sunset.

Day 2 start after a fun night of camping

Rosie and Alice and I took a beach stroll while giving the riders a head start.

The riders had a really challenging morning riding over Naciemento pass. We regrouped at the top and Rosie and Jay rode the rest of the day on Jim's tandem.

We met up again at the Mission San Antonio de Padua for a picnic lunch.

The final stretch into King City was very hot, the pool was very cool and the crew started day 3  glad to know that ride would be short because everyone had a big drive home.

More Rosie and Alice time for me.

Budapest or Buda and Pest

The last stop on our cruise was Budapest.  We stayed an extra day there and really liked the city.There are people out on the streets at all hours just enjoying life.  I'm sure there are a lot of tourists, but I got the impression that there were a lot of locals in the mix.  It is a very walkable town and we did a lot of wandering around. So here are a few of the highlights.

These represent the original Magyar tribes that established Budapest.  I loved this monument.  It is in the newly developed "Hero Square." 

 Also near the square I saw this really cool bicycle stoplight, just for the bike lane.

Budapest was recently the "Las Vegas" of the Soviet Block. Their liberal leaning allowed the first McDonalds behind the Iron curtain.

Another reminder of the Soviet era is this wonderful "Liberty" statue.

And they have preserved the bullet holes in the royal palace from WWII.

Budapest's best architecture comes from between 1890 and the start of WWI  They were looking for a distinctive Busdapest style.  I love this building.

We found a hidden gem in an empty building.  We walked inside and found this wonderful stained glass rotunda.

They have a magnificent parliament building modeled after the one in London.

You can't visit Budapest without visiting their famous bath houses.  The majority of the people seemed to be 20 somethings, but as advertised there were older men in speedos playing chess. 

Calvin however did not play chess with them.

After a long day of sight seeing there is nothing like dinner at a sidewalk cafe.  This was, I think, the best meal I had on our entire trip. Eggplant, peppers, onions mushrooms and Hungarian paprika.

I could happily go back for the food alone!