CAN WE TALK? When I started this blog, I told myself that After Orange County was going to be a positive place in the blogosphere. I have run across blogs written by whiny, complainy types and vowed that my blog would never become an outlet for negativity. After all, nobody likes negativity. But hey, I […]
Hi Y’all! You may remember in a previous post I told you I thought it was better to be a soccer mom than a ski racer mom. Well, having just returned from 5 glorious days in Lake Tahoe, where my husband and I watched our son, Austin, compete in the California State Championship Ski Races, […]
Look what I got in the mail today! It is a postcard outlining the Commencement Weekend festivities at Duke University. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since my son, Taylor, went off to attend Duke. Now, in a few shorts months, he will be a college graduate. On the […]
“HOLY TOLEDO” – A VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO, SPAIN “Holy Toledo” isn’t just an expression! The historic walled city in central Spain known as Toledo is positively packed with religious sites. The city is often compared to Jerusalem and its historical landscape has been called biblical. That is because this very unique and richly diverse […]
Just up the street from Botin lies another of Madrid’s famous restaurants, Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas. http://www.lascuevasdeluiscandelas.com/ Las Cuevas means “the caves” in Spanish and this restaurant is actually housed in caves located under the Arco de Cuchilleros. In the early 1800’s these caves were a hideout for a famous bandit known as Luis Candelas. The legend of Luis Candelas lived on when in 1949 the caves were purchased by a famous Spanish Bullfighter named Felix Colomo Diez and turned into the restaurant it is today. I have vivid memories of enjoying delicious meals here too when I was a young girl visiting Madrid with my dad. At that time the bullfighter himself greeted the guests and meeting him left a lasting impression in my memories of Spain. I remember the walls of the restaurant being decorated with bullfighting paraphernalia which was impressive to a wide eyed 11 year old. I returned here many times on subsequent visits to Spain but did not have time for a visit on this trip.
CHOCOLATERIA SAN GINES – CHURROS & CHOCOLATE IN MADRID, SPAIN As a first generation American of Spanish descent, I have visited Spain many, many times over the course of my lifetime. My father was raised in Spain and although he no longer lives there, Spain will always be his home. At the age of 11 […]
Day Two in Madrid, Spain So, as it turns out, we flew 5,829 miles to see our son Taylor in Madrid, only to discover that he would be leaving the next day to embark on his own Iberian Odyssey, without us! A last minute trip had been planned to the north of Spain with one […]
Hola! Please join us on our Iberian Odyssey – First stop Madrid, Spain. This is my son Taylor. You know, the one who goes to school 2,483 miles away at Duke University in North Carolina. That doesn’t look like his dorm room at Duke you say? Well, you’d be right. Because for the summer of […]
After Orange County is a publication dedicated to living life in the slow lane. I escaped The OC for life at a higher elevation. Leaving suburbia behind, I now live in the beautiful mountain resort of Lake Arrowhead. Join me at 5,000 feet above and beyond as I cook, garden, renovate, entertain, travel and live life After Orange County.
