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July 20, 2009
Napa Valley
Chis had to be in San Mateo for business last Thursday and Friday, so we flew out together on Wednesday with a hectic schedule of seeing friends, yoga (me), attorney-visiting (me), more yoga (me), some sightseeing (me), and wine tasting (yay!).
One of the great things about organizing a wine tasting in Napa Valley is to do it with someone who knows the area well. Enter Kevin. And partner Dawn. And Andrea and Mark. The six of us climbed into a black stretch limousine at 9am Saturday and headed up to Napa. The remarkable thing was that we left Pacifica at 8:30am, where it was barely 12c (56f for those of you on the ancient scale) and completely fogged in, to San Mateo, where it was 17c and sunny, to Napa where it was 32c and glorious. This is the Bay Area after all.
We hit four wineries, all but one of which I would recommend. In order of favourites - Rudd, Sullivan, Robert Sinsky, and in distant last - Alpha and Omega, whose wines seemed to cater to the "lobster bisque layered with capers, licorice, lavender with a beurre blanc sauce" scene. The wines were over the top with flavour. Not even complex, just too many flavours competing with each other. I half expected the wine glass to be garnished with a sprig of rosemary, a wedge of pineapple, and a pickled green bean. The atmosphere was more conducive to New York City than Napa Valley. Nevertheless, we had a marvelous time with lots of great laughs and wonderful company. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Posted by dave at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)
July 04, 2009
US-Canada Relations
Jim and Luc arrived on Canada Day to help celebrate Independence Day. So we took them sailing. An unbelievable sail in excellent winds!
Someone snapped this photo of my legs hanging over the edge of the hammock! How luxurious! I didn't have a book or anything with me. Just me, my thoughts, a gentle breeze, and the to-and-fro of the swaying hammock. Heaven!
Posted by dave at 07:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2009
Happy Birthday, Canada!
This wonderful op-ed from today's New York Times makes me weepy for home. I miss Canada and the wonderful things about our culture.
Posted by dave at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)