didsomeonesaygo

[didsomeonesaygo]

Whiskawine

Finally got to use the gift certificate that P got when he left the mouse house - Victorian Mansion, here we come! We went up to SLO Thursday night and had dinner at Kate's with the fam. Then in the morning, P&J went for dodos, we dropped J at school, and then we were off!

Had some time to kill before check-in, so we had lunch in Solvang (The Red Viking, meh), got a florentine and a pistachio bar at one of about 100 Danish bakeries in town, and then made our way to Ostrich Land USA. This was our second visit (you really only need one, but I'm a sucker for animal attractions), so we kind of knew the drill. P's fave was the diabeetus ground squirrel.

Finally headed for Los Alamos, which is about 20 mins from Buellton and approximately 3 blocks long. All of the hotel guests had arrived early, so while we waited, we got a sneak peek at the available-soon Castaway Suite, aka boat-in-the-backyard. Got checked into the Gypsy suite, which is delightfully tacky, but we think they could have themed even harder.

Had an awesome dinner at Pico - did our usual lots of sides and one main, plus a bottle of wine and an ice cream flight, mmm. Got a good tip from our server on the local dive bar, The Depot, and it did not disappoint! (I was almost disappointed when I saw that they have a website, but... they don't.) The advertised live music didn't happen, but the juke was eclectic, and the pool was free!

After a lovely breakfast that appeared in the hotbox embedded in our suite wall (!), we went out to meet the bus for our wine tour, along with Mary & Billy from Hanford, who were also staying at the hotel. Tom scooped us up, then swung through Solvang to pick up Winnie & Samvir from SD, and we were off to our first stop at the Brander Vineyard. We got lucky in that everyone on the tour was cool - we all got along well, and birthday girl Mary and P talked travel a lot. Got some nice meyer lemon olive oil at Rancho Olivos (met dogs Shadow & Hero), then hit Brickbarn, where we sat outside and had lunch. I think everyone's favorite was our last stop at Bella Cavalli, a winery / equestrian center where there's no tasting room - owner host Jeff just pours wine in the yard, and you can roam around the grounds and meet the horses. (dogs: LB - Little Brother and puppy Daisy. horses: too many to name, but they were all sweet and verrry well cared-for.) We also learned from Jeff that European wines have a much lower alcohol content, which may explain our mysteriously missing hangovers in Italy. We bought one bottle at each stop til we got to Jeff's, where we got 3. (Unclear whether the wine is that great or we were just drunk by that point.)

Los Alamos has about 4 restaurants - 5 if you count the coffee place (which does not keep coffee place hours). So we went to the highly-recommended Full of Life Flatbread, which seems to have no end of off-menu items (iykyk), and flatbread that fell a bit flat with us (sorry). The brownie was excellent, though!

Then round 2 at the Depot (1 of 2 bars - the other one was full with weddings all weekend), where we got whipped at pool by Billy & Mary. It's good for P to get knocked down a peg once in a while. 😂

Had another nice hotbox breakfast, then checked out Atlas Obscura for anything interesting in the area. Of 4 items, we had already visited one and slept in another, so we drove out to the former Neverland Ranch. Unfortunately, it has been sold, and from the road, nothing remains to indicate that it once housed the King of Pop and his menagerie.

Continued on San Marcos pass, and made our way home!

[didsomeonesaygo]

Buffalove

3 am lobby call, only the flight was delayed, which meant rebooking our connection and rushing through ORD to make the new one, all on about 4 hours of sleep. Finally made it through to Buffalo and got picked up by Ralfael, who dropped us at the hotel and gave us the scoop for show day. Had dinner at the Thai place near the hotel, then the girls had choreo practice.

Next morning, Jess, Scott and I went for breakfast, and then we had a 2pm lobby call for our lift to the Riviera Theater in North Tonawanda. It will be 100 years old next year, and one of its main features is an antique Wurlitzer pipe organ - the pipes run all along the back wall of the stage, and it is SO cool.

Explored the area along the Erie River - crazy cantilevered drawbridge - and then... Showtime!

This was Angel's last LASM performance, so it was bittersweet, but it was an awesome venue, and we had a not huge, but super engaged, crowd.

Post-show, we hit the bar near the hotel for (unfortunately) 50% off martinis. We got cute.

The next day our flight wasn't until 6pm, so Ralfael drove us to Niagara Falls! I always think of falls as coming down a big hill, but this is more like they go into a sudden hole? The rapids and mist off the falls made for a nice soundtrack and super curly hair for a couple of us. 😂

And finally, after delays and gate changes and lots of miles inside the airports, we made it home!

[didsomeonesaygo]

Oh, HI, oh!

RYG got to play Fairfield, OH's Groovin' on the Green concert series. Had a crazy early flight from LAX, so we landed in time to explore the neighborhood around our hotel in Hamilton. Had dinner at Fretboard Public House, then hit Pinball Garage, where Jared did what Jared does.

Dick, Jan, and Tina drove in from Mich, so we all went for breakfast the next morning at Toast & Berry. (The band laughs because I have peeps everywhere we go 😂 )

Then, show time! It poured down rain for about an hour beforehand, but they assured us things would dry out, and they did! Had a super fun show, and it was great having fam in the crowd!

Ended the night at the Pour House, where we learned that even though Danny doesn't eat sweets, he has Lips Like Sugar.

Next stop, Buffalo!

[didsomeonesaygo]

A Rainey night in Santa Cruz

P and I crashed K&J's Santa Cruz vacation with the Raineys! The boys hit the boardwalk while K and I chilled at the house. Then found excellent NorCal burritos at Taqueria Santa Cruz.

We stayed at the Rio Sands in Aptos (quieter, cheaper, rad)

At the Marine Institute, I realized that I might have missed my calling.

And, after begging for years, I FINALLY got to go to the Mystery Spot. P says it's all optical illusion, but it made me carsick. We looked up the mystery afterward on Wikipedia; my lips are sealed.

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Retro reprise

DDE and RYG did a double-header at Retro Junkie - Dan joined us again, plus Alessandra & Erik, Fawn & Michael, and Flea & her friend from Sac came! I schooled the band on burritos at Tacos Walnut Creek.

[didsomeonesaygo]

Yachts in the delta

Had 3 FY shows for Memorial Day weekend - Sun City (Lincoln) and and Rossmoor Walnut Creek, which was pretty epic - over 1300 people there! But I found my happy place at El Campanil theater in Antioch. 96 years old, definitely haunted, and vaudeville era signatures in the dressing rooms. Heaven.

I took Bart to meet P in Berkeley on my night off 😻, so we got to see Scott, Katie, and Fran, and even Pickle made a rare appearance! (What a brave boy!)

[didsomeonesaygo]

House of Mouse

K&J came down for the long-awaited Disneyland trip! J liked Legoland better - thank goodness it was free. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJe4KaSvYUYzLjirkdalMWGrvW9oT_ONx6A_uo0/

[didsomeonesaygo]

Movin' to Mich

Hahaha, not us, god no - I can't hang with snow. But P's parents finally moved back from Florida, so we went to suprise them and help out. Despite it turning out to be a pretty eventful weekend, I somehow mostly have pix of the animals.

Tootsie is very sweet, but she is definitely judging you.

[didsomeonesaygo]

It's Spring Break, Mang!

Ranj and I had coinciding time off, so we hit Palm Springs! Had a great AirBnB close to downtown, and got facials and massages at Miracle Springs, where you get what you pay for. 😂

Also found a great happy hour at had a big time hitting alllll of the spots with Bobby.

[didsomeonesaygo]

Growin' the fam

Went up to Paso for Jake & Kennedy's shower, and finally got to meet Barbara! The old ladies hit it off, and did a scary good Statler & Waldorf impression.

[didsomeonesaygo]

I can't how tech

DDE played Fantasy Springs in Indio and had a great crowd. Here is a compilation of me trying to prove it.

[didsomeonesaygo]

We ballin'

Evan came for spring break to visit friends in Anaheim, so Tina came out for the last few days. We basketballed! I only slept a little bit, and woke up in time for a really exciting finish with a Lakers win!

[didsomeonesaygo]

Hape 80!

Celebrated Mere's 80th at Luna Red, and allll the fam came - Jen's first stair step!

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A week after Italy, we had our first RYG gig since 2019 at Retro Junkie in Walnut Creek. My personal highlight: Dan joined us for “Just Give Me a Reason.” He of course killed it, and I somehow managed not to cry. Lots of Bay Area peeps came - Scott & Katie, Kelly & Peter, Peter, Gina, Stephanie & Andy, Jeanne, Ethan, Kenny & Kathleen, Brady & Stephanie. I hardly got to talk to anyone, but it was fun knowing they were out there in the crowd.

P and I stayed at the Hotel Shattuck, where we had a great corner room where I had the epiphany that I could just GET a mounted makeup mirror for my bathroom. (Life changing, truly.)

[didsomeonesaygo]

Arrivederci, Milano!

For our last day, we had planned to take it easy since we had an early flight home, but looking back at the pix, we did a lot of stuff! I'm actually writing this months later - we always seem to miss the final blog post because once we get home, life comes rushing back in. So this will be light on narration, but heavy on pix. :)

We started out by going back to Il Duomo - on our previous tour, we discovered that you can go up on the roof??? And like, walk around up there??? (Most of the big cathedrals seem to have tiered access - you can see almost everything - if you're willing to pay. Not for nothin' that the Catholics have cash.) It was awesome, and really kind of astonishing that they let you do it. The exterior is basically in a constant state of cleaning and restoration, so there was scaffolding in some areas, and we couldn't believe how bright white it is under the gunk - it must have been pretty blinding when it was first being built.

Then we took the metro to Isola, in search of the street art P had read about. Unsurprisingly, their metro is great and easy to navigate, but it took us a bit to find the art. A few of the places on our map were either wrong or seemingly painted over - there was just nothing there - but we finally found a street near a metro stop with lots of cool stuff. Also, a street cat, finally!

We wandered around a bit and decided to head for a striped building in the distance that looked like it must be... something. And lo, it turned out to be the Cimitero Monumentale Milano - dead people! It is huge, and we only scratched the surface exploring it - we didn't even go inside the buildings.

Took the metro back to the hotel, packed up, had quick dinner at La Piadineira - we decided it's the Chipotle of piadine, but it was pretty good, then one final gelato and picked up postcards. This image basically sums up my culinary adventures in Italy.

Early am flight through Munich (I've now technically set foot in Germany) and Toronto, where I left a bunch of stuff in my seat console, mahr. (The FindMy app is really interesting - I can still see my airpods in the terminal, but AirCanada says they never found anything.)

It was a great trip, and we can't wait to go back - maybe start in Rome and go south this time? A presto, Italia! 🇮🇹

[didsomeonesaygo]

The last suppers

Today was a whirlwind of Milan's tourist attractions! We started at Castello Sforzesco, which was built in the late 14th century and today houses multiple museums in addition to a few rooms that still have original frescoes and patterns on the walls. The collection includes religious art (of course), plus medieval armor and musical instruments. Mary was of course in residence, but we swear we also saw Lord Farquaad.

Then we met up for a tour with Andrea that started at the opera house, Teatro alla Scala, where we were lucky enough to spy on a rehearsal!

Then we walked to Il Duomo di Milano, where Andrea showed us a pinprick of light in the ceiling that shines through at noon and lands on a zodiac symbol on the ground - the light moves depending on the time of the year. The Catholics didn't used to hate scientists so much, and there are many places where religion merges with math or pagan traditions without anyone batting an eye.

Then we all piled onto a bus to cross town to see The Last Supper. You can see why it was so groundbreaking for the time - it really does look like they are set into a nook in the wall. It's not like most frescoes - DaVinci used an experimental technique and painted on dry plaster instead of wet; combined with the damp environment and proximity to the kitchen, it started fading within a few decades, and has been in a state of conservation/restoration since the 1700s.

Leaving, we saw the tiniest car ever and then caught a cab to dinner. We were a little early, so we stopped for a glass of wine at Bicerin. Finally, to our last supper at Joia, the first Michelin starred vegetarian restaurant in Europe. It was much fancier than we are, but the food was excellent, and we had a great time giggling as each course arrived.

The menu tells you nothing about the food, so we flipped a coin and ordered The Zenith. Here's what we remember:

An almond that you plant in a tiny pot of mousse with "dirt" on the top and some kind of fruit jelly in the bottom. It came with a little paper with the definition of the word sow (v). When they cleared the plates, they asked if we wanted to keep the paper, so it seemed like we should.

Three tiny spoons of different sauces that you used to eat a foam.

A sweet potato(?) fritter or similar

A really rich risotto with tiny shreds of fried artichoke on top and a swipe of beet puree around the plate (honestly, we were full after that)

A hunk of ginger marinated carrot cut on the bias and standing on end

Turnip, onion, mushrooms with really finely sliced pickled artichoke heart

A dot of lemon sorbet on top of something blue (?) that we can't remember. This was to "freshen the palate," and the way he described what it would do was exactly what it did.

Three tiny chocolate things with dots of ice cream

Another dessert we can't remember - perhaps it will come to us in a dream.

It looked not that far to walk back to the hotel, but the map had us cutting through a park that was closed, so it took longer than we thought. But we ended up back at the Galleria and there were only a few people waiting to stomp the bull's balls (for luck), so we got a good stomp in.

It was a very long day, and by that time, our balls were stomped. Off to bed.

[didsomeonesaygo]

You can't go home again, but you can get close

Went on another post office quest, which ended up harder than we expected - the first one had a lot of people waiting, so we went to another one that looked close, but was... not really. (Pro tip: you take a number when you get there, and then sit down. Nobody will tell you this. I did get to use Italian, tho!)

Stumbled across the church/musesum housing Juliet's tomb, which is empty since she is a fictional character. (Many of the tombs here are supposedly so-and-so, but it was a long time ago, and... stuff happens. So going to see a definitely empty sarcophagus is not a big stretch.) Anyway, it was closed, so we did not get to see where Juliet, who never existed, is not buried. (I should note here that while R&J came from Shakespeare's imagination, the story is based on an actual family feud between the Montecchi and Capuleti, who are referenced in literature dating long before Will got hold of the story.)

Noon train to Milan - I stayed awake! And was rewarded with a view of what we assume was another marble mountain!

Arrived about 1:30 - Milano Centrale feels a bit like Grand Central, but then we stepped outside. Throughout our trip, all of the Italians we talked to were like "Milan? Meh, ok." Yes, it's "just a city," but we love a city, and this feels just like OUR city. We had been commenting on Italy's influence on San Francisco for the whole trip, but Milan is like Market Street and the Financial District, only in Italian - we instantly felt at home.

The hotel is really close to Il Duomo, but that's on tomorrow's tour, so we headed for the Basilica de Santo Stefano Maggiore, which has been the site of a church since 417 AD. But the real highlight here is Il Ossario - the Room of Bones. While building the cathedral and surrounding buildings, several graves had to be, ahem, relocated. So rather than desecrating the bones (what do you do with the Body of Christ if you're not a Catholic?), they built a room to house them. It is eerily beautiful, and beautifully eerie.

Had some time before our dinner reservation, so stopped for wine at Bravo Bistrot, where wine came with pizza and salami and potato chips (which are somehow a thing here? We've seen them all over the place - cool, but they are just... chips.)

Dinner was at Risoelatte, which is named for the rice and milk dish that was popular in Milan before risotto became the big thing. (Note: risotto/risoelatte is pretty much always going to be cooked with beef broth; I had a really good polenta with griddled cheese. P went for it on the risotto, and it was really good and really rich - beef broth will do that.) The restaurant is super cute, decorated like a 60's kitchen, and our server was adorable ("I learn my English") and made me feel better about my Italian. My date was cute too.

Wound our way to the L.O.V.E. (Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità) statue, which is either a big middle finger to the fascist salute or a big middle finger to financial institutions, but either way, it's a big middle finger. We tried to get a perspective shot showing it as P's hand, but it's such a big middle finger that even he is too small.

We'd had rice pudding at dinner, so skipped gelato - though we haven't seen it nearly as much here as in the other towns. We're guessing it's more a tourist thing. I don't care - I will still eat it every time.