Category: Uncategorized

December 7, 2019

Gracious. At last we are in Malaga. After a busy, snowy Thanksgiving week with our Santa Fe homies + niece Vanessa + bf Adam, we lit out for a 24 hr turnaround in New York. We checked into our favorite, the Lexington (no upgrade alas), where we promptly went to sleep for 12 hours. Next day, we met nephew Carlos for a long lunch at Parker and Quinn, then back to the hotel to grab our shit and head to JFK to catch our 10 pm departure to London.

Carlos and me posing at Grand Central Station

Weather delays out of JFK meant we missed the only London Gatwick connection to Malaga so British Airways put us up at the Gatwick Premier Inn for an actually rather enjoyable 24 hours and gave us 3 meals. The room was tiny, the food was not bad; it was a bit like a minimum security prison since there was absolutely nowhere to go and nothing to see. We mostly slept and watched British auction programs on TV.

Arrived in Malaga to find that the water heater in our rented apt exploded so the owners put us up at the Hotel Larios for a night of yet another 12 hours of sleep. Today, we are moved in, gleefully well-rested, ready for some wine-drinking people-watching. Malaga is bursting at the seams for their puente, a 4 day, Friday-Monday holiday in which dining and spending is at a fever pitch.  We really need to buy a flat here… we could use some of this tourism money.

July 2019…

We always claim to have such a good time in Puerto Vallarta, but really this time might have been the best ever. And I promise it’s not because none of you visited us there this year, it was just a coincidence that we didn’t see anyone we knew, except for a few locals. We had perfect weather, empty restaurants, and we visited some places we had not been before. Our friends’ home, Casa Faro, was a delight as always.

In Sayulita

Sayulita is a cute little former fishing village north of Vallarta. It has become a biiiig weekend getaway for locals so there’s plenty of picturesque cafes, bars, surfers, dogs. Parking is a real crap shoot on Sundays so go early.

San Sebastián is a bit farther afield but still north of Vallarta, tucked in the mountains. It’s very colonial and because of the altitude it feels like you’re in a little Alpine village. It was graduation day when we went so all the kids were dressed up in school outfits like little Von Trapps. Adorable.

Punta Mita. Well, we drove right past the busy town, again north of Vallarta, to visit one of the secluded hotels located on the Point. God only knows who paid whom what for this little heavenly corner of the bay but there’s about 5 or 6 resorts there and you can’t even drive in without passing a Checkpoint Charlie with your name on a list. We stayed a few nights at the really lovely St Regis Punta Mita (200k points for 3 nights.)

St Regis Punta Mita

May 2019…

For Hector’s birthday this year, we decided to return to London. We used to make it a point to go at least once a year because it’s Hector’s favorite city. Plus, it was an easy two or three days on the way somewhere else. It just got so expensive, our ragged American dollars go so much further just about anywhere else, but we decided to go reconnect with my nephew Pollard, wife Mush, kids Elu and Takoda (Pollard is a musician.)

Pollard and fam are just delightful, the kids are adorable, even though everyone says that. But really, yours aren’t and mine are.

Also, our passport posse Tere and Martin wanted to meet up there so we got a lot of partying under our belts. With Tere and Martin we walked all over, they are always very adventurous so we saw a lot of areas we had not seen before. Went to see a production of The Starry Messenger with Matthew Broderick and Elizabeth McGovern bored to death in it, stayed at the Marriott County Hall (5 nights 200k points), just across the Thames from Parliament. Tate Modern, Serpentine Gallery, Hampton Court, Tower of London, Highgate Cemetery, Epping Forest, tra la.

The Passport Posse at London’s self-proclaimed oldest pub, Ye Olde Mitre

December 2018…

Iberia Lounge

Well, it was a pretty easy flight JFK to Madrid. Grabbed a couple of hours in the comfortable Iberia lounge at the glorious Madrid Barajas airport, then squeezed into the little jet to Malaga. That’s only about an hour trip and voila! here we are. Suitcases from arrivals, taxi out front, and we were in our new apartment one hour after we landed. We were met by the owners, Gary and Ralph, two Brits who seem to have quite a nice business with a few properties around here. They’re on VRBO here.

San Felipe Neri

This is a new neighborhood for us and we both love it: San Felipe Neri, named, of course, for the small church right across the street. It’s a ten minute walk to heart of the city and all our favorites were awaiting us with open arms. Cafes, churches, bars, and beggars. I’m already re-acquainting my ears to Malaga Spanish. To recreate this distinctive sound, try this experiment: fill your mouth with marbles and recite your favorite poem as quickly as you can.

December 2018…

Mao

We made a quick stop in New York on the way to Malaga. It’s a great way to see the nephews, hit a museum and catch a cheaper flight to Spain out of NY rather than Albuquerque. We stayed two nights at the Lexington Hotel (Lexington & 48^th, 40k Marriott points or $250 per night), great location, just a couple blocks from Grand Central Station.  Hotel was bursting at the seams but we got a corner room, meaning two views from the 21^st floor, East River on one side and the classier hotel on the other side.

Jorge had work commitments but we saw Carlos Ramirez for an afternoon and evening, in between his final projects and whatever college students get up to these days. He is looking very happy and we encouraged him to move to California after he gets out of Columbia next year.

Hector and I went to a really extensive, really crowded Warhol show at the Whitney Museum. The three floors of Warhol were jam-packed with selfie-takers but the top floors also had some impressive art, yet it was pretty empty up there.

Me, Hector, Carlos, Saks Fifth Ave

We walked around freezing our asses off on the High Line until Carlos met us. We 3 had some wine and pasta at Serafina, then Ubered up to Fifth Ave to see the holiday lights and the crowd control. It was also Santacon that day so we saw lots of drunk Santas stumbling around and a few having fist fights.

Santacon

Hopped on our Iberia flight ($700 rt each premium economy!) dreaming of Malaga all the way.

May 2017…

In May, our niece Vanessa graduated from Morehead State in Kentucky. It was sort of out of the way, even more out of the way than the usual visit to Kentucky. Not positive we were actually in Appalachia, but it certainly had that hillbilly je ne sais quoi about it. Vanessa and her friends were fun, and it was sweet to see the families all excited about their kids graduating.

Many photos were taken. Many nerves were worked.

Before the shutter clicks

April 2017…

In April I met Hector in NYC (SW Air into LaGuardia. What a pit.) after his sales meeting in New Rochelle. I got there one night early and fed Carlos Ramirez, our starving Columbia student, something other than pizza. We stayed at the Essex House on Central Park South (45k Marriott points per night), a hotel I always wanted to visit, even from 35+ years ago when I was first in NYC. It’s a classic brownstone high rise, elegant lobby, tiny elevators and minute rooms with suspicious smells and clangy noises all night. However, we did get a view of Central Park, albeit from an angle.

Looking toward upper west side

We also met Jorge, another Ramirez nephew, for dinner at Beauty and Essex, Lower East Side. Jorge knows all the hipster places. Since it was Easter, we stumbled into the Fifth Ave Easter Parade around the corner, with the hat freaks, as well as the regular ones, and did miles of walking in the park, since we were so close.

Carlos And Hector

Me at the Park

We also went with Carlos to MOMA. I did my usual wander around the Upper West Side, where I once lived for two minutes in 1981. I hope these damn kids stay in New York, it’s a great excuse to visit. Back to La Guardia, sigh, and home.

Jan 2017…

In January I attached myself to one of Hector’s work trips to hang out in San Francisco a few days. We have come here many times over the years, especially when we lived in San Diego, and it never gets old. I’m such a square, I could visit Fisherman’s Wharf EVERY TIME! Unbelievable, because it’s nothing but tourist shit.  I love walking through Chinatown and North Beach! Ever since I first read Tales of the City as an innocent twink, I’ve been hooked on San Francisco. Castro, meh.

Chinatown mural

As a show of sophistication, we also visited SF Museum of Modern Art, where we were treated to a fantastic exhibit of Diane Arbus photographs.

Diane Arbus photos

We used to always rent a car and drive up through Sausalito and Muir Woods, another treat, but this time we just stayed in the city, at the Courtyard on Post Street (70,000 points for 2 nights) from where we could just skid down the hill in the rain to Union Square.

Dec 2016…

We try to leave the country at Christmas as much as we can. Neither of us have family holiday expectations so it’s a pleasure to escape some of the American Christmas Race, with Thanksgiving as the starter pistol, and finishing in a bloated heap on New Year’s Day.

There’s almost none of that in Vallarta, so we had the pleasure of staying at Casa Faro while Paco and Franck were home in Paris. This was first time we’d been during full-on high season and it’s a very different place than when we normally go. If you thought it was gay in June, well, in December it’s Palm Springs and Mykonos and Ibiza all rolled into one squirming, six-packed, oiled-up white party.

La Noche Bar

Our friends Kent and Bob joined us for a week and we proceeded to drag them to every seedy bar we could get into. Our local beach club, Mantamar, was reservation-only, but we snuck in with the help our regular waiters.

The weather was perfect, we snorkeled and beached and stayed out late but honestly, I prefer the off-season, when we can get into our restaurants and the cab drivers treat us like the VIPs we think we are…

Snorkeling at los Arcos