Spain and Portugal

Spain Barcelona Toledo Madrid Valencia Rioja Seville (Xmas) Islands The Balearic Islands, Ibiza, Mallorca (Majorca), and Menorca; are off the east coast of Spain, due east of Valencia (and north of Algiers). The Canary Islands, including Tenerife, are of the coast of Morocco. Good for winter stargazing. Portugal Porto Lisbon Misc Food Shopping Reference Global…

France

Paris Pantheon – Josephine Baker. Musee d’Orsay. Eiffel Tower. Trip Advisor on beating the summer crowds. Seine river tour.

House Repairs

Foundation Leaks Basements with a concrete slab foundation and a high water table will often leak along the cove joints of the horizontal slab (which is poured first) and the vertical foundation walls (due to hydrostatic pressure). Reasons for the seepage. U of Minnesota study including Approach 3: interior drainage channel above the concrete slab….

Ottoman Empire

Includes modern-day Turkey, Syria, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Crete, Cyprus, Greece, Iraq, Ethiopia, Romania, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Qatar, and Serbia. Salt Jordan Also called Al-Salt or Saltus, in west-central Jordan. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2021. Backpack Adventures CS Monitor Tripadvisor Constantinople Aka Istanbul.

Venice Italy

Tours Uniworld Milan to Istanbul, including 7-day Po River cruise (start and end in Venice) and 6-day private train Venice to Istanbul. Venice Carnival Venice Carnival in 2022 runs February 12 through March 1. The last weekend of Carnival, Fat Thursday to Shrove Tuesday, is the busiest and best time to attend. Carnivaland. Tripadvisor. Artisanal…

Yosemite

Three days in John Muir’s footsteps in Yosemite. Yosemite through three lenses at the Society of California Pioneers, 2023 February – June. Horsetail Fall firefall in February at sunset in the right conditions. Get entrance reservations in advance. Yosemite Firefall Express shuttles daytrippers into Yosemite to view the firefall without reservations (but a $100 shuttle…

Books to Read

Bios Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dot, the World’s First Female Sports Superstar by Sasha Abramsky. The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery by Robert Weintraub Dutton.

DC Sightseeing

Start at Union StationLibrary of Congress 8:30am – 4:30pm Tu – Sa https://www.loc.gov/visit/Renwick Gallery 10am – 5:30pm daily https://americanart.si.edu/visit/renwickNational Gallery of Art 10am – 5pm M – Sa 11am – 6pm Su https://www.nga.gov/visit.htmlPostal Museum 10am – 5:30pm https://postalmuseum.si.edu/visit/index.html Louisiana & D St NW; X1 bus Foggy Bottom Station, 9 stops, Constitution Ave NW & 12th…