Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony

I love the ballet. I also love free stuff. So when I have an opportunity to see free ballet I am all over it.

The Washington Ballet performed The Waltz of the Cherry Blossoms for us on Saturday, their version of The Nutcracker dance. It was beautiful and worth wading through the whining children who came out for family day.

There was a litany of boring speeches after the ballet, including one by Eleanor Holmes-Norton. There was also singing of the American and Japanese anthems, a bunch of kids on violins, a Stomp-like group of Asian women, and a Japanese hip-hop dancer. They were o.k., probably not worth coming out for.

The most interesting part of the festivities was a performance by Jero (Jerome White, Jr.). He's an African American from Pittsburgh who sings Japanese blues music. It sounds a lot like James Bond theme song music. I had never heard of Japanese blues or Jero, but apparently this guy is huge in Japan. Tweens and elderly Japanese women were screaming like he was Michael Jackson in the 80s. How could I not know about this?

I made a really poor quality recording of Jero with my camera. Check it out.

Kite Festival in Washington, DC

The Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off last weekend and our first stop was the Kite Festival.

Hundreds came out despite the gloomy, misty weather. Small kites, large kites, homemade kites, state of the art kites, butterfly kites, Spiderman kites, and even this lovely rasta kite filled the sky around the national monument.

Lots of kids were running around getting dirty in the muddy grass, quite a few adults too.

Marvelous Market in Washington, DC

Marvelous is a gourmet market with several locations around town. It's a good (if overpriced) place to pick up a sandwich, pastry, or hunk of cheese.

You'll also find fresh fruit, flowers, and miscellaneous other gourmetified treats. Truth be told, I rarely go there. Although it has some good stuff, you can get better for less.

Jesus Enslaves Washington, DC

I ran into this non-commissioned piece of public art the other day near Dupont Circle.

I've been running into a lot more anti-religious messages lately. I've also discovered that DC has several Atheist groups. It seems the anti-religious people are getting vocal and political these days.

My cat was offended at being associated with Jesus though.

Second Story Books in Washington, DC

The only thing better than a bookstore is a used bookstore where I can get my fix on the cheap.

Second story combs all the estate sales and whatnot and stocks up on books. They have some lovely leatherbound books, rarities, and first editions, but mostly it's just a great selection of random stuff.

I suspect they get many of their books in the DC area so you can expect a lot of history and politics. They have a great fiction section too, lots of classics.

It is especially nice now that they redid the place. It's lost the layer of dust. It feels way more spacious and organized. And if you can't make it to DC, you can visit them online. They sell through Amazon and ebay.

I have spent many hours in this place.

Second Story Books, 2000 P Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

Spring in DC

It's Spring!

I don't know how the trees realize that Friday was the first day of spring, but somehow they knew. On Saturday, it seemed like every flowering tree had just exploded.

Yesterday was even better. It was sixty degrees and sunny. The whole city descended onto the streets and into the parks. Dupont circle was packed full of people laying on the grass, holding hands, and picnicking.

I don't think anyone should have to work the first week of spring. Can we start a petition?

Review of Heritage India

Washington, DC has its share of good Indian restaurants, but Heritage is my favorite.

The environment is casual upscale. You won't feel uncomfortable in jeans or a cocktail dress. The service is normally fairly attentive, although I must say I had a rather poor experience this past Valentines Day. They were in the weeds and it showed.

One side of the menu is dedicated to small plates and, since I love to graze, I generally stick with those. The bhel puri is like spicy puffed rice. Sounds disgusting, but it is delicious. The spicy lamb vindaloo empanadas are as spicy as promised. My favorite might be the sweet chili chicken drumettes - best bar food ever.

Also, they have a fabulously Bollywood website.

Heritage India, 1337 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC

Overzealous Security in San Pedro Sula, Honduras

We ended our Honduras adventure in San Pedro Sula. Although I was told to skip the city, we had a long journey back home and I wanted to break it up a bit.

Hotel options in town being limited, we reserved a room at the Intercontinental. It was the expected chain with overzealous service and overpriced food. I must also point out that they did not provide bathrobes, a huge oversight in my opinion.

They did provide an interesting view of the mall next door. That is a picture of the mall roof. Those guys are (presumably) training to be mall security of some sort. They take shoplifting very seriously in Honduras. Yikes.

Thompson's Cafe on Utila, Honduras

This little, unassuming hole-in-the-wall is the best place to eat on Utila.

Hard to believe, I know. You are perhaps looking at that empty glass case thinking "where is all the food?" I'll tell you where. In my belly, that's where.

Thompson's makes awesome biscuits, Johnny Cakes they call them. But the real gold is their cinnamon rolls. They are perfect.

They are just gooey enough without seeming like you are eating dough. There is a wee bit of a crackly outside, all the better to peel off the layers. I could go on and on.

If you go to Utila and you smell cinnamon as you walk by Thompson's, make a beeline for the inside. Smile at the kitchen full of busy women, particularly the happy, tamale-shaped chef, and buy the whole tray. You won't be sorry.

East Harbour, Utila Traffic

East Harbour is a very small town and easily walkable. The roads are narrow and unpaved. Nevertheless, many residents and visitors insist on using something other than their feet.

Bicycles and motorbikes aren't too bad. The golf carts and ATVs are the worst. Occasionally, people even try to drive big trucks through.

One lovely truck driver pulled up to a house with a truckload of dirt and proceeded to dump it out on the road in front. Blocked the entire street.

All the traffic makes an otherwise chill little island seem chaotic. I personally think they should ban the cars (at least).

East Harbour, Uitla, Honduras

Officially, the town on Utila is called East Harbour, but most just refer to it as Utila.

The main area is small. You could walk from end to end in ten minutes. But there are many houses outside of the main area now and more being built every day. Its popularity is growing by leaps and bounds.

Utila has an interesting mix of people. If I were to make wild guesses from what I saw, I would say that it is about 1/3 natives, 1/3 transplanted mainlanders, and 1/3 tourists.

The native islanders are black and white and speak English with an island cadence I could listen to all day. The mainland transplants (who the natives refer to as the "Spaniards") are Spanish speaking Latinos. The tourists were from all over - U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Belgium...

Many, probably most, tourists come to dive. Quite a few end up staying on the island for months or even becoming a dive instructor themselves. There is a definite hippy, backpacker vibe.

You can find very cheap accommodations on the island. There are lots of food options and most are surprisingly good for such a small town.

The Jade Seahorse on Utila, Honduras

This is the courtyard of the funky Jade Seahorse. They have a restaurant, a popular bar called Tree Tanic, and several cabins you can rent.

The entire place is art. I hear it took about ten years to finish. There is not a corner or crevice that isn't covered with glass or shells or sculpture.

Our cabin was equally colorful. It was called the Mono Lisa. No that isn't spelled wrong. Mono means monkey in Spanish and our cabin had a Mona Lisa meets monkeys theme.

The cabins weren't posh, although they were more expensive than most placed on the island. Frankly, the beds were a little uncomfortable. But how often do you get to stay inside a work of art?

Finca el Cisne Farm Tour in Copan

The best thing about Copan may have been the tour we took of Finca El Cisne. That's Chris on Grullo. Note Chris's enormous backpack. Our first aid kit was inside and he was sure I was going to fall off the horse.

The first half of the tour was a ride through the farm. It was like a country unto itself. It had it's own store, school, villages, factory (for coffee), and significant population.

The farm grows coffee and cardamon for cash. It grows everything else you can imagine for its own consumption - corn, pineapples, bananas, plantains, lemons. The list just goes on. They even had a couple man made lakes to farm fish.

The afternoon was dedicated to a tour of the coffee factory. Chris and I have been on a coffee tour before, but the other place was much bigger. El Cisne doesn't do much roasting themselves yet. They mostly sell the beans to other roasters.

In between horseback riding and coffee touring we were treated to a sit down lunch in the hacienda, cooked by our hosts mother. The food was amazing. I even ate black bean soup (and I hate beans).

The day ended with a dip in some natural hot springs nearby. After that, Carlos (our host) drove us back to town - exhausted and happy.

Copan Ruins Museum

You enter the unique museum at Copan through a long tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, you are faced with a recreation of one of the buildings, painted to look as it would have back in its heyday.

The building sits below an opening in the roof. Around the building are two stories of covered passageways. The walls are covered in reliefs and sculptures from the ruins.

The actual stella recovered from the ruins are also in the museum. The ones outside are mostly recreations.

This place has to win the prize for the least stuffy museum ever.

Copan Ruins in Honduras

The Maya really knew how to pick their spots. Copan was cradled in the mountains, surrounded by trees. Hawks glided overhead.

It didn't have the massive pyramids of Chichen Itza or the monkeys of Tikal. It wasn't as large as Palenque or Teotihuacan.

It was a bit more like Uxmal in that it had a quiet ascetic. I imagine the vibe when it was populated to have been pretty much what it is now in Copan Ruinas town - chill.

On its own, I'm not sure where this city falls in my list of favorite ruins, but combined with Copan Ruinas town it shoots up pretty high.

Review of Don Udos Restaurant

Hidden back on a dusty side street a bit away from the center of Copan, Honduras is Don Udos Restaurant and Hotel.

It came highly recommended, but I was a little skeptical that we were going to get gourmet food in a tiny Honduras town.

The restaurant is set up in the requisite hotel courtyard. It is dim and candlelit. Only one other table had people when we arrived.

The adorable and friendly hostess/waitress showed us to our seats, very close to an adobe oven and communal table they have near the kitchen.

After getting warmed up on Don Udos special rum, vodka, and oj drink, we ordered. First course was a tortilla soup filled with avocado chunks and tortilla strips. It was lighter than many tortilla soups, probably a seafood base rather than meat. The breadsticks were soft, tasty, and accompanied by herbed butter.

For an entree, Chris had a perfectly cooked steak covered in a coffee and rum sauce. My camarones (shrimp) piri piri were also cooked to perfection in a vat of butter, garlic, wine, and some special magic that made it sweet and spicy at the same time. Even the vegetables were cooked perfectly. I ate cooked carrots and I normally hate cooked carrots.

Although we were both completely full, we finished off the meal with some vanilla ice cream topped with kahlua, strawberries, sprinkles, and some crunchy granola-like substance.

Truly a perfect meal.

Copan Ruinas Town in Honduras

I was not expecting to like Copan Ruinas town as much as I did, but I could have stayed there for a few months.

First, unlike Tikal or Palenque where the town is a bit removed from the ruins, Copan ruins butt right up against the town. It's a 10 minute walk from the center.

The surrounding mountains are impossibly green. The climate (still being rainy season while we were there) was relatively cool.

There are people wandering around everywhere - mostly locals with a generous helping of tourists. There are quite a few horses and other critters wandering around too.

The buildings are low key, typical, Latin American, cement and stucco. But they are in better condition than most towns, their colorful paint jobs fresh. The streets are multi-colored cobblestone. The tile work around town was beautiful and often trippy, like the tiles were made out of sculpey by a hippy artist.

Although the town is tiny, they had a surprising array of restaurants. A couple of them were truly excellent. I'll have to do an entire post on our dinner at Don Udo's.

Most people only run through Copan for one or two nights. That's a mistake. If you are planning to go, stay longer. You won't regret it.

Casa Jaguar in Copan, Honduras

The Casa de Cafe didn't have any rooms available when we were going to be in Copan. Howard, the twenty year Honduran resident and New Jersey expat owner, offered us the Casa Jaguar for the same price.

Casa Jaguar turned out to be a two bedroom house about four short blocks from the center of Copan. It had two bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and front porch - hammock included.

There was a never-ending six pack of the local Honduran brew (Salva Vida or "life saver"). There was also a huge bag of delectable local coffee.

I wanted to move in.

From Eighty to Zero Overnight

This was the scene that met me when I left for work this morning. It was cold and felt like zero with the wind chill. The ground was frozen solid.

By the time I walked down to work, my feet were blocks of ice, despite the fact that I was wearing boots, wool socks, and wool tights.

It was just brutal.

On the other hand...



This was me on Sunday morning.

Chris and I are getting ready to board the ferry from Utila to La Ceiba and start the long march back from Honduras.

Note the tank top. The low temperature on Utila that day was 70 degrees. On Saturday I was laying in a bikini, drinking a lovely chilled beverage on a Caribbean beach.

Cruel, cruel world.