On the Road

My last week went something like this: Drive. Drink coffee. Work. Work. See old friends. Drive. Meet new friends. Breathe. Drink coffee. Drive. Drive some more. Pet cat(s). Work. Walk around Miami's campus. Take pictures. Take more pictures. Drive. Breathe. Thank you to all my clients who have been SO patient with me this last week. I've been in Oxford and Cincinnati working my full-time job in the office and shooting a wedding with Amanda. As fun as it was to be down south (ha), it's nice to be home, have time to edit, and lead a normal life again. :) And coming up soon ... a loooong weekend!

Some pictures from life on the road:

Madeira Island: Part 2

One of the best things about traveling, but also one of the things I'm not very good at, is meeting local people. I appreciate hearing about the city/country from an insider, but I'm not the type of person that will strike up a conversation with a stranger. Luckily, my dad is. About halfway into our trip, we happened across this little market/cafe in.the.middle.of.nowhere. Really, I don't think we could find it again if we tried. Once inside, we noticed Major League Baseball pennants lining the wall. Remember, we were in Portugal where, we assumed, MLB wasn't popular.

We found the Cleveland Indians pennant, and my dad pointed and told the store owner, "We're from here."

You would have thought that guy had won the lottery.

"Omar Vizquel," was the first thing he said.

A little bit of conversation later and we learned that he was from Venezuela and had come to Madeira to give his family a better life. But he still loved his baseball, and Omar, who was born in Venezuela, was one of his favorites.

While we ate, the store owner (we never learned his name) candidly talked to my dad about baseball ... and his eyes were lit up the whole time. We learned that he played baseball in Venezuela and rooted for the San Francisco Giants after Vizquel left the Indians.

Later, as we drove away from the cafe, we looked over to see the owner and his family waving a San Francisco Giants jersey out the door. We honked, waved and drove away knowing that we would remember that coincidental meeting for the rest of our lives. I like to think that the store owner will, too.

We took cable cars to a garden at the top of the island.

Our hotel pool.

The local drink ... Poncha. Restaurants give this stuff out like it's water.

Natural swimming pools. It was a little too chilly for swimming, but my dad wanted to try. :)

There's the cafe owned by the baseball-loving Venezuelan.

As we were driving in the countryside, a ton of goats ran across the road. Naturally, we followed them into the woods to see where they were going.

You get olives and this pita bread-like garlic bread at every meal.

Madeira Island: Part 1

A couple days before our Madeira trip, I got nervous about the travel. We had so many layovers, we were flying overnight and were going to be exhausted before we even got there, and ... we were flying standby. STANDBY! So many things needed to go right for us to make it to Madeira on our schedule. If you haven't flown standby before, you should know that it can be really, really great ... or really, really bad. Nathan's dad is a pilot for Delta and we've used his perks quite a few times (thanks, Tim!) to get where we wanted to go at a fraction of the cost. Sooo great, right?? Not if you get stuck in Atlanta and opt to DRIVE back to Cincinnati because it will be faster than waiting to get on a plane.

Basically, you get a "seat request" and if the plane isn't full, you get on! And the best part is that if first class isn't full, you get the seats. I had never gotten that lucky but this trip? My luck changed!

Oh yes, Nathan and I nabbed first-class seats on our overnight flight. As soon as we found out we were sitting in front of that blue curtain, we tried to act cool. Like we sat in first class all the time. Like I knew exactly what to do with that hot towel they gave me when I sat down. Like I knew exactly how to pick my three-course meal (seriously...) without even looking at the menu.

But then we discovered the chairs. Ohhh baby, those CHAIRS. They recline to sleeping position. They have a foot stool. They come with a down pillow and comforter. I can guarantee that as soon as our fellow passengers took one look at us playing with the chairs, they knew we weren't regular first-class riders.

And, if for some reason THAT didn't tip them off, I'm sure the fact that I snapped 23 pictures of my chair ... my hot towel ... my complimentary wine ... my leg room ... did me in. :)

There's that leg room!

We stayed at the Golden Residence, not too far from my brother's apartment and right on the water!

I can't believe I'm showing you that fish picture (I'm sorry). Very ugly, but scabbard fish is a huge part of Madeira's cuisine and they were selling it at the market. Photo op, right?

And, of course, the reason we were in Madeira in the first place ... my little brother (back there with the ball. Hey, I'm not a sports photographer. :))

The perks of being a professional basketball player. ;) In case you can't read those neon letters on the side of the car, they say "BE BOP." So funny!

Best.dessert.ever. Profiteroles!

This pretty much sums up my relationship with these guys. Love them both. :) (P.S. Do I look 2 feet tall next to Barry? Please tell me I don't.)

That's a real, live swan! It was posing for us.

My whole family was lucky enough to go on the trip together.

My sweet grandma. And some Madeira wine and pop (soda?) on the right. Along with scabbard fish, Madeira is very well known for its wine.

101 in 1001: Visit Barry in Madeira.

I remember my dad calling to tell me that Barry had signed a contract to play professional basketball in Europe. "He's going to Madeira Island," my dad said. "It's like Europe's Hawaii."

I hadn't ever heard of the Portuguese Island, but it sounded pretty amazing to me. Temperatures between 65 and 80 all year long? Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean? Quaint towns and rolling hills? Yep, that's paradise.

Now, having visited Madeira, I know why I had never heard of the island: It's not at all an American vacation hotspot. There were lots of British English-speaking tourists, but we didn't run into another American the whole time we were there (minus the couple Americans on Barry's basketball team). To me, there's something liberating about that. Knowing you're visiting an area where you're in the minority. Seeing a truly foreign place out of wide eyes. It does something for your soul and your mind...

Lots more pictures will hit the blog later this week and next, but for now I hope you enjoy this sneak peek of the island from our hotel in Funchal (Madeira's capital). This was right at sunset. Gorgeous.