In five short days, Jacob, Ellery and I saw a wonderful slice of Portugal from our base in the city of Porto. This photo of Mercado Ferreira Borges set the stage. This iron-and-glass building is painted a bright red. It houses craft shops, restaurants and a nightclub. This collection of photos features the colorful sights we saw. The São Bento train station displays tile artwork that tells a history of Portugal between the two major rivers, the Douro and the Minho. ...
Semana Santa (Easter Week) coincided with my visit to Portugal to see Jacob and Ellery. On Palm Sunday, we decided to visit the city of Braga. Braga is the religious center of Portugal and celebrates with elaborate processions through the cobblestone streets. We arrived in Braga at the end of a 1-hour train ride from Porto. After a strong coffee at Nórdica Café, we waited in the square for the first procession. ...
It’s been a relaxing winter break. One day Audrey and I took Ollie for a walk in a small redwood canyon called Thornewood Preserve, which is two miles from our house. I liked it so much I decided to come back the next day with my camera. I brought a tripod along, so that I could take long exposure shots and make the water look smooth and glassy. It’s quite dark in the forest and the winter sun was very low. It’s quite hard to photograph a redwood forest, but these seemed to capture the spirit. ...
We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on a Friday evening, rented a car, and hit the road for “The One and Only” resort, a little over an hour to the north. After a slow start through traffic, we were happy to reach an expressway and make fast progress towards our destination. But when we got to our exit, we learned we had been on a toll road. A toll was due. It was payable only in Pesos, in cash. And we had not yet gone to an ATM! ...
Nashville is a great city for music. And this visit, I found the right spot on the right night. I was in town for a conference sponsored by the Gates Foundation and they treated us to dinner at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Afterwards a group of colleagues sought out some live music. We discovered The Listening Room Cafe and were in luck because it was singer-songwriter night. Four writers who create music for country stars took the stage together: The Warren Brother, JT Harding, and Marv Green. They each sat on stage on a stool with a guitar. In sequence, they shared stories and songs. In one story, the Warren Brothers wrote a song with 14-year-old Taylor Swift in their office. Then nothing happened. Twenty years later, Taylor’s agent told them to be “waiting at your phone at 9:37 am tomorrow.” When she called, they learned she was finally recording their song. Dryly, one of the said, “so I told my daughter, we can pay for you to go to college after all.” ...