WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL/SPRING 2015

WINE DINE& 

TRAVELSPRING | 2015 

CRUISING SOUTHEAST ASIA 

HOW TO BECOME A WINE ENTHUSIAST 

A WALK AROUNDLAKE LUCERNE 

POSTCARDS FROM TUSCANY 

PORTMEIRION, WALES 

Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2015 1

2 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2015

COVER PHOTO: I shot just a small segment of the amazing Ramayana mural found inside the Wat Phra Kaew 

temple within the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, is the world’s longest painting and mural. -- Ron James 

NEXT EDITION | SUMMER 2015 

HOLY LAND ADVENTURE 

HEALDSBURG HOLIDAY 

WASHINGTON STATE WINE COUNTRY 

A WEEKEND IN PALM SPRING 

ISTANBUL FOOD TOUR 

COMING IN FALL 2015 

EXPEDITION TO ASIA 

TOURING THE DMZ IN KOREA 

THE AMALFI COAST 

THE MAGIC OF TUSCANY 


CELEBRATE WITH AN EXCLAMATION POINT! 

For a party as bright, bold, and colorful as you’ve ever seen, come to Tri-Cities 

and celebrate at a multitude of vibrant festivals and events. Revel in the 

brilliant colors of our world and the bold colors of our lives. Thrill your senses 

with exceptional entertainment and world-class food and wine. We don’t do 

anything halfway. Add an exclamation point to your life’s biography. To learn 

more, visit www.VisitTRI-CITIES.com. 

www.VisitTRI-CITIES.com 


RON JAMES 

publisher/executive editor 

Ron James is the "wine, food and travel guy." He 

is a nationally award-winning print and online 

journalist, designer., television producer and radio 

personality. The native Californian's nationally 

syndicated wine and food columns have appeared 

in newspapers and magazines around 

the world. He is passionate about great wine and 

food and enthusiastically enjoys them every day! 

MARY JAMES 

publisher/editor 

Mary Hellman James is an award-winning San 

Diego journalist and editor. After a 29-year-career 

with the San Diego Union-Tribune, she 

currently is a freelance garden writer and a 

columnist for San Diego Home-Garden/Lifestyles 

magazine. Mary and her husband, Ron James, 

travel extensively. Upcoming this year is a sixweek 

visit to Asia. 

A MOVING EXPERIENCE 

W 

’ve had an exhausting series of adventures since the 

last issue. One was a planned trip to Istanbul and then 

a fabulous voyage that took us to Israel, Malta, Sicily, 

Italy, Spain, Morocco, the Canary Islands and across the 

Atlantic to Florida. The unplanned part was the fast sale of our house 

- much sooner than we expected - which set in motion a three-month 

marathon of cleaning, packing, storing, and temporary addresses until 

our new house was available. When we finally moved-in in January, the 

marathon continued as we unpacked countless boxes marked fragile and 

spruced up the new house with new flooring, furniture and fresh paint. 

It is a true miracle that this issue is a reality. 

It took us a while to figure out where to stay until our new home was 

available. But we ultimately opted for a travel adventure and rented a 

small bungalow in the uber wine country town of Healdsburg in the heart 

of Sonoma. It 

rained continuously 

for the 

first two weeks 

we were there, 

causing widespread 

flooding. 

It was amazing 

to watch 

kayakers paddle 

around the 

town’s Safeway 

parking lot. 

Even in the 

rain we enjoyed 

visiting wineries and tasting rooms, dined at world-class eateries and 

sampling some of the best wines in the world. When the sun came out, 

we explored redwood forests, stunning coastlines and charming towns 

from Calistoga to Bodega Bay. Our unexpected challenge turned into a 

charming travel adventure we’ll describe in depth in an upcoming issue. 

Meanwhile, enjoy the many adventures packed into this issue with its 

stories that cover the globe, from Asia to Palm Springs. Take a hike 

around Lake Lucerne, explore the glories of Whidbey Island, cruise exotic 

Southeast Asia and take an African safari. Wine lovers also have a treat 

with Ron’s tongue-in-cheek wine enthusiast’s guide and a primer on rose 

wine by our resident wine expert Robert Whitley. 

Our domestic moving adventure is coming to a close as we pack our bags 

for our six-week travel expedition to Asia beginning in April. It’s a welcome 

break from home improvement. 

We hope you like Ron’s above selfie he took in Halong Bay, Vietnam -- we 

wish you safe, but exciting travels. 

Ron and Mary James 


REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS 

Alison DaRosa 

Alison DaRosa is a six-time winner of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for travel writing, the most prestigious prize in 

travel journalism. She served 15 years as Travel Editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. She was the award-winning 

editor of the San Diego News Network Travel Page. She produces and edits the San Diego Essential Guide, a highly 

rated and continually updated travel app for mobile devices. Alison is a regular freelance contributor to the travel 

sections of U-T San Diego, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. 

Sharon Whitley Larsen 

Sharon Whitley Larsen’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Times Magazine, U-T 

San Diego, Reader’s Digest (and 19 international editions), Creators Syndicate, and several “Chicken Soup for the 

Soul” editions. Although she enjoys writing essays, op-ed, and people features, her favorite topic is travel (favorite 

destination London). She’s been lucky to attend a private evening champagne reception in Buckingham Palace 

to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, to dine with best-selling author Diana Gabaldon in the Scottish 

Highlands, and hike with a barefoot Aborigine in the Australian Outback. Exploring sites from exotic travels in the 

Arctic Circle to ritzy Rio, with passport in hand, she’s always ready for the next adventure! 

Carl H. Larsen 

Carl H. Larsen is a veteran journalist based in San Diego. He now focuses on travel writing, and is summoned to pull 

out his notebook whenever there’s the plaintive cry of a steam locomotive nearby. In San Diego, he is a collegeextension 

instructor who has led courses on the Titanic and the popular TV series “Downton Abbey.” 

Maribeth Mellin 

Maribeth Mellin is an award-winning journalist whose travel articles have appeared in Endless Vacation Magazine, 

U-T San Diego and Dallas Morning News among others. She also travels and writes for several websites including 

CNN Travel, Concierge.com and Zagat, and has authored travel books on Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, 

Hawaii and California. Though known as a Mexico pro, Maribeth has written about every continent and was especially 

thrilled by the ice, air and penguins in Antarctica. 

Susan McBeth 

Susan McBeth is the founder and owner of Adventures by the Book ( www.adventuresbythebook.com ) which 

brings literature to life for readers through events and travels with authors. She is the founder of the SoCal 

Author Academy, providing workshops and training to help authors better connect with readers. She is a current 

member of the One Book One San Diego committee, and a former board member with the Southern California 

Booksellers Association. 

Priscilla Lister 

Priscilla Lister is a longtime journalist in her native San Diego. She has covered a many subjects over the years, 

but travel is her favorite. Her work, including photography, has appeared in the U-T San Diego, Los Angeles Times, 

Alaska Airlines magazine and numerous other publications throughout the U.S. and Canada. She currently writes 

a weekly hiking column for the U-T, photographing every trail and its many wonders. But when the distant road 

beckons, she can’t wait to pack her bags. 

Robert Whitley 

Robert Whitley writes the syndicated “Wine Talk” column for Creators Syndicate and is publisher of the online wine 

magazine, Wine Review Online. Whitley frequently serves as a judge at wine competitions around the world, including 

Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Sunset Magazine International and the Dallas Morning News TexSom wine 

competitions. Robert also operates four major international wine competitions in San Diego: Critics Challenge, 

Winemaker Challenge, Sommelier Challenge and the San Diego International. 

Jody Jaffe & John Muncie 

Jody and John are the co-authors of the novels, “Thief of Words,” and “Shenandoah Summer,” published by Warner 

Books. John was feature editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, arts editor of The Baltimore Sun and writer-editor-columnist 

for the travel department of The Los Angeles Times. His travel articles have been published in many major newspapers; 

he's a Lowell Thomas award-winner. Jody is the author of "Horse of a Different Killer,"'Chestnut Mare, Beware," 

and "In Colt Blood,” As a journalist at the Charlotte Observer, she was on a team that won the Pulitzer Prize. Her articles 

have been published in many newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. 

They live on a farm in Lexington, Va., with eleven horses, three cats and an explosion of stink bugs. 


WINE DINE& 

PUBLISHERS 

Ron & Mary James 

Photo by Ron James 

EXECUTIVE EDITOR /LAYOUT & DESIGN 

Ron James 

EDITOR 

Mary James 

STAFF WRITERS 

Alison DaRosa 

Priscilla Lister 

John Muncie 

Jody Jaffe 

COLUMNISTS 

Amy Laughinghouse 

Robert Whitley 

Susan Mcbeth 

FEATURE WRITERS 

Sharon Whitley Larsen 

Carl Larsen 

Maribeth Mellin 

Lynn Barnett 

Tom Leech 

WINEDINEANDTRAVEL.COM 

CONTACT 

editor@winedineandtravel.com 

WDT respects the intellectual property rights of others, and we ask that our readers do the same. We have 

adopted a policy in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable laws. 

Wine Dine & Travel Magazine is a Wine Country Interactive Inc. publication @ 2015 

Traditional Hong Kong laundry owner is ecstatic to find out he’ll be featured 

in Wine Dine and Travel Magazine 


INSIDE WDT 

12 

CRUISING ASIA 101 

found that Southeast Asia is a traveler’s nirvana offering 

natural wonders like the mystical limestone islands of Halong 

12We 

Bay, timeless treasures like the storybook temples of Thailand 

and booming cities like Hong Kong and Singapore. 

A WALK ON THE “WILD SIDE” 

I arrived in Zurich and met Swiss Trails founder Ruedi 

Jaisli for my one-on-one pre-hike briefing, he did his best to 

32When 

reassure me: “This is one of the most spectacular tours you 

can do in Switzerland,” he said. “It’s a hike, not a climb. It’s 

self-guided; go at your own rhythm.” 

32 

SUNNYLANDS 

staffed by 60 servants, including an Irish butler, thisprivate 

domain in Palm Springs, including a golf course, has 

40Once 

recently been opened for all to see. 

40 



you practice diligently tasting and learning 

about new wines, you’ll find that your 

46If 

preferences in wines will evolve. It’s called 

educating your palate. A wine that makes 

you gag today may well become a favorite 

next year and vice versa. 


is no doubt one of the most unique 

villages in Britain. No one has ever lived 

50This 

here - yet there’s an admission fee to stroll 

around, and some 250,000 visit each year. 

56WHIDBEY ISLAND 

In a land of lots of scenic wonders, there is 

one I return to again and again, despite my 

sweaty palms, accelerated heart rate and 

shaky limbs. 

AUGSBURG’S FUGGEREI | PAGE 62 

Imagine paying only one dollar per year in rent! 

That’s what some 150 residents are charged 

to live at the Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany, 

the world’s oldest charitable social housing 

complex. 

TRAVEL BY THE BOOK | PAGE 67 

Susan McBeth reviews Lisa Lee’s “China Dolls” 

The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and Ruby is 

sent to an internment camp. 

IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY | PAGE 68 

If you’ve ever wondered what you might do in 

the event of an emergency, I can only tell you 

this. If you’re me (which I am), and you’re in the 

loo... 

POSTCARDS FROM TUSCANY | PAGE 77 

John and Jody continue their entertaining and 

informative “post cards” to the publisher. 

WHITLEY ON WINE | PAGE 76 

Robert makes the case for refreshing dry roses 

and then picks a winner from J Winery. 

AMONG THE CRITTERS | PAGE 78 

A half-hour into the preserve, we arrived at our 

abode, the Keekorok Lodge, for the next several 

nights. This was not exactly a tent slung across 

some post, but a first-rate lodge. 

62 

56 

78 

In a lan 

one I re 

sweaty 

shaky l 




FEATURED DESTINATIONS 

CRUISING 101 

SOUTHEAST ASIA 

Left to right: Golden statue in Bangkok. Hong Kong street scene 

in old city. Bartender churning out Singapore Slings at the Long 

Bar in Singapore. 

Many of our traveling friends shun 

Asia as a destination; they prefer 

the safer, “more refined,” climes 

of Europe -- or maybe even push 

their comfort level with a cruise 

to the Baltic. They worry about the weird food, 

tropical climate, bugs, exotic peoples and wars a 

half-century-old. 


| STORY BY RON & MARY JAMES | PHOTOS BY RON JAMES | 

And I must admit, we were also a bit anxious about 

our first visit to Southeast Asia, probably partially 

fueled to our mixed experience trying to decipher 

the formidable menus at an authentic Asian restaurants 

in the States. We were concerned with crowds, 

pollution, weird food and the reception we would get from the 

locals. 

What we found was that Southeast Asia is a traveler’s nirvana, 

offering natural wonders like the mystical limestone islands 

of Halong Bay, timeless treasures like the storybook temples 

of Thailand and energetic booming cities like Hong Kong and 

Singapore. The people we met were courteous and welcoming, 

and proud of their rich culture. We found distinctive arts and 

crafts, magical architecture and unforgettable cuisine. It all 

made for an unforgettable experience. 

Each of the countries we visited were distinctly different, although 

their were some common threads. Wars, conquests, 

colonization, migration and trade have impacted the area 

for centuries, changing boundaries and political systems and 

spreading religions and customs. Today, Southeast Asian 

countries and culture reflect thousands of years of interaction 

with empires in the Middle East, Tibet and, especially 


China. More recently, the Europeans 

and Americans made their marks in 

the major cities in the region, influencing 

architecture, fashion and social 

trends. 

In some countries like Vietnam and 

Cambodia, cruise tourism is a relatively 

new phenomenon, and it shows in 

the primitive cruise port facilities and 

transportation systems. But tourism 

is vital to these growing economies 

and new hotels, roads and other infrastructure 

are being developed at a rapid 

pace. On the other hand, cities like 

Singapore and Hong Kong have long 

been international tourist destinations 

which is reflected in world-class 

port facilities, sophisticated public 

transportation systems, upscale accommodations 

and fine dining. 

It’s this blend of old and new that 

makes Southeast Asia such a facinating 

place to visit. 

We decided the best way to explore 

Southeast Asia the first time was to 

take a cruise on the Celebrity Millennium, 

which combined the comforts 

and security of a first class ship with a 


Young women makes an offering in a Vietnamese 

temple. Right top: The Celebrity Constellation 

docked in Vietnam. 

broad sampling of ports and experiences. 

The region is a growing market for 

cruise companies and they offer their 

customers a wide range of itineraries 

to fit different budgets and travel interests. 

Almost every cruise line has two or 

more ships active in this exotic part of 

the world with most cruises originating 

in Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong. 

Given the number of cruise ships plying 

Southeast Asian waters, cruisers can 

choose from a wide variety of itineraries 

with ports-of-call in Vietnam, Thailand, 

Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, 

Singapore and Hong Kong. 


Picking the best time to cruise in Southeast 

Asia is complicated because of the 

diversity of weather conditions. Vietnam, 

for example, has more than 2,000 

miles of coastline, with varying weather 

patterns north to south. In coastal areas, 

a sweater and long pants may be 

needed to ward off the chill on cool 

nights, while a few kilometers inland, 

temperatures are considerably 

warmer. Ports close to the equator, 

on the other hand, are always 

steamy, with occasional afternoon 

showers. 

16 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2015 

Cruise lines, for the most part, 

avoid the hottest, most humid and 

rainy months by scheduling most 

Southeast Asia cruises November 

through March. Not surprisingly, 

these months also attract the most 

tourists from inside and outside the 

region, resulting in large crowds at 

popular attractions. Holidays, like 

Tet in late January or early February, 

can be days long and noisy. Prices 

spike, public transport is jammed and 

shops may be closed. 

Each port destination we experienced 

offered distinctly unique experiences 

and adventures for almost every taste 

and interest. We visited five unique destinations, 

Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand 

and Singapore on our cruise. 

Bangkok, Thailand 

Eclectic Bangkok offers travelers 

a mix of modern skyscrapers, 

lux Royal Palaces, ancient 

temples and giant gilt Buddhas. 

Highlights include Chinatown, 

Bangkok’s two century-old commercial 

center where you can 

wander through the giant flower 

and wholesale marketplace. 

Travel via a tuk-tuk, a 3-wheeled 

motorized taxi, to Wat Po, or the 

Temple of the Reclining Buddha, 

the oldest temple in Bangkok, to 

find Thailand’s largest reclining 

Buddha, 150 feet long, 49 feet 

tall, aglow in gold plate. Another 

Buddha well worth visiting is 

the solid gold, 10-foot tall statue 

at the lavishly decorated Wat 

Traimit Temple. Great restau-

“Each port destination we experienced offered 

distinctly unique experiences and adventures 

for almost every taste and interest. “ 

Clockwise from opposite: Exotic architecture is everywhere 

in Bangkok. The reclining Buddhas is massive 

and very golden. Tree roots surround the face of an 

ancient Buddha. The face of the reclining Buddha. A 

group from the cruise ship pose in front of the golden 

doors in the presidential palace. 


Striking rock formations provides dramatic settings for the 

tourist junks in Halong Bay. Bottom: Mary James in one of the 

many exotic caves located in the islands in Halong Bay. Right top: 

Little girl play on one of the homes in the floating village. Right 

bottom: Groups of visitors are taken for tours of the floating 

village in Halong Bay.. 

rants abound, where you can sample 

refreshing Thai classics including 

fresh seafood, tangy soups and savory 

and sweet curries. Shopping is 

delightful at the new riverfront Asiatique 

with its mix of small vendors, 

antique shops, restaurants and street 

entertainers. 

Halong Bay, Vietnam 

The highlight of many cruisers to 

Southeast Asia is sailing through 

magical Halong Bay. Located on Vietnam’s 

northeast coast, Halong Bay 

is home to nearly 2,000 limestone 

islands that rise hundreds of feet 

high above emerald-green water. 

Their exotic shapes, often shrouded 

in mist, are a UNESCO World Heritage 

site. Half-day and full-day junk 

cruises are fine, but if your ship is in 

port for two days, an overnight luxury 

junk cruise is an unforgettably 

immersive experience. 



Hanoi, Vietnam 

Hanoi is a hectic collage of sights, 

sounds and smells. Masses of motorbikes 

roar down roadways, and bike and 

car horns are constantly honking. Women 

wearing traditional conical straw 

hats carry poles with baskets on each 

end, small shops overflow with colorful 

embroidery and signs literally cover 

buildings. The most visited attractions 

are Vietnam War-related including the 

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the Ho 

Chi Minh Museum. Hanoi’s crazy, hectic 

Old Quarter is a must-do stop for souvenir 

shopping and to view the market 

scene. 

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, is a vibrant, 

chaotic and culturally diverse city and 

the gateway to the Mekong Delta region. 

Visitors usually begin tours here at the 

historic Rex Hotel where most of the 

city’s sights are within walking distance. 

Among the most popular are the Museum 

of Ho Chi Minh City, the Presidential 

Palace, and the War Remnants Museum, 

sure to bring back bad memories 

for baby boomers. The huge Ben Thanh 

Market is packed with tourists and in- 


The people in Saigon are extremely friendly 

to American as shown in the two top 

photos. Right: The streets buzz with motorcycles 

and scooters. Right bottom: Mary 

James enjoying a bicyclette rickshaw ride 

through the bustling streets of Saigon. 

spired hawkers with row after row 

of stalls that sell familiar and exotic 

foods, and tourist items like lacquer 

ware, paintings, porcelain, jewelry and 

wood carvings, as well as clothing, and 

knock-off designer bags and watches. 



The streets of Saigon are alive in a kind of 

chaotic and colorful dance of motocycles, 

shoppers, store keepers and food vendors. 


Hoi An, Vietnam 

Just outside of the city of Hue is Hoi An, 

a charming village with a picturesque 

patchwork of cobblestone streets and alleys 

lined with historic buildings, filled 

with quality souvenirs and lovely restaurants 

offering authentic Vietnamese cuisine 

and its chocolaty coffee. Many of the 

restaurants offer cooking classes. Basically 

untouched during the Vietnam War, 

the village is a 45-minute drive from Da 

Nang and 2 hours from the port at Chan 

May. While Hue and Da Nang are interesting, 

Ho An is the shore excursion to 

take at this port. The Last Great Food 

Tour of Hoi An, was undoubtedly the 

most enjoyable food tour we’ve experienced. 

www.tasteofhoian.com. 


Clockwise from top left: Madam Khanh “The Bánh Mì Queen” 

shows off her famous cart. Ron James and his new friend, Neville, 

the food tour operator of “The Original Food Tour of Hoi An, The 

entrance to the Chinese temple in Hoi An. Colorful boats and 

shop line the riverside in Hoi An. The Chinese bridge in Hoi An. 


Hong Kong, China 

Hong Kong is the world’s most vertical 

city where Chinese traditions meet 

modern international capitalism. It is 

famous for banking, custom-made suits 

and luxury-brand shopping. On a quick 

tour of the city, it seems there are Gucci, 

Prada and Chanel boutiques around 

every corner. There also are countless 

stores selling aquatic and land animal 

and plant parts for the table and medicine 

chest. More commerce thrives in 

the huge industrial port where rows of 

containers stretch as far as the eye can 

see. Highlights are shopping, a meal of 

dim sum in a café packed with hungry 

locals, touring on HOHO buses, crossing 

the bay to Kowloon on the historic 

Star Ferry, riding the world’s longest escalator 

through bustling neighborhoods, 

and taking the tram to the top of Victoria 

Peak for spectacular city views. 


Hong Kong fish monger enjoys a little 

snack in his small shop. Top and opposite 

left: Scenes of Hong Kong street life. 


Singapore. 

Singapore is a model, modern city. The island is clean with 

modern roads and public transport; and drivers, unlike in 

some Asian cities, obey traffic laws. Like Hong Kong it is a metropolis 

of high-rises and skyscrapers, only with green parks 

everywhere, including on top of buildings. This city also cares 

about its history, evidenced by the many one, and two-story 

districts and buildings scattered 

throughout the urban center. A great variety of restaurants, 

food courts and shops suit almost every taste and pocketbook, 

many housed in or adjacent air-conditioned shopping malls. 

The almost nightly laser show viewable around the city for 

free is not to be missed, along with Chinatown and the nearby 

Arab neighborhood. 


The amazing man-made trees in Singapore’s vast city garden. 

Bottom: the air-conditioned botanical gardens. Opposite top: 

Visitors and locals wait for the nightly sound and light show at 

the Marina Bay Sands hotel complex. Opposite lower rt. to left: 

Outdoor dining along the rivers and bays are a way of life. One of 

many food shops in the shopping centers. Sarah Hellman plays 

with the misters. 


Clockwise from top: Food stand displays their tempting dishes 

in Saigon. Vietnamese girl kindly offers a flower in the temple. 

Watch salesman offers the typical salute of Southeast Asia. Star 

server pours wine to guests on the Celebrity Constellation. Pho 

and a beer in Saigon. Two fisherman in a Vietnamese round boat. 


CRUISE TIPS 

Political and civil strife afflicts countries this region 

on an ongoing basis. Check with the U.S. 

State Department for warnings for visitors. (www. 

travel.state.gov/) Cruise lines are well aware of 

these situations and for the safety of passengers, 

may bypass or change ports-of-call as needed. 

One unavoidable issue on large-ship cruises to 

Southeast Asia is the long distance between the 

port and destination city and attractions. For example, 

it can take over three hours to travel from 

the cruise port to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. 

Some cruises mitigate this inconvenience by docking 

for two or more days in a port, allowing passengers 

to remain overnight in the destination 

cities. When this isn’t possible, make the best of 

the extra travel by savoring the journey, especially 

if it’s in the company of an informative guide. Remember 

to look out the window! The countryside 

reveals much about a nation, its people and their 

culture. Your observations in transit can be just as 

exciting and revealing as walking city streets. 

Bathroom facilities vary greatly even in large cities, 

at tourist stops and along major roadways. 

Sometimes only “squat” toilets are available. Be 

prepared for this possibility by timing bathroom 

breaks when you’re near major hotels or tourist 

friendly restaurants. Sometimes, handicap 

facilities will have Western-style toilets. Travel 

with sani wipes in case toilet issue isn’t provided. 

Above all, keep hands clean to prevent the spread 

of bacteria and viruses. 

Pickpockets roam the markets and more crowded 

streets in many Asian cities, but violent crime 

against tourists is unusual. Traffic, though, can be 

daunting to pedestrians. Crossing streets filled 

with speeding motorbikes and tuk-tuks is not for 

the faint of heart. Drivers are aware of pedestrian 

traffic and adjust their driving accordingly. Stay 

close together, and step out when the traffic is 

minimal. Walk at a slow, steady pace while watching 

the oncoming traffic that hopefully will flow 

around you. Follow locals as they cross to get the 

hang of it. 

The vast majority of Asians are very courteous and 

friendly and they expect similar behavior from 

visitors. Being publicly angry, arrogant and loud is 

much frowned upon and will not help solve problems 

or get a better price. Be cautious, respectful 

and friendly and you will have a great time in this 

wonderful part of the world. 



A WALK ON THE “WILD” SIDE 

MY SIX-DAY LAKE LUCERNE CIRCLE HIKE IN SWITZERLAND

| STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALISON DAROSA | 

“When I got lost, as I knew I would, could I surmount the Swiss/German language 

barrier to ask for help getting back on track? Would somebody send out 

a search party if I failed to show up at the night’s hotel?” 

Like so many who read the 

bestseller or have seen the 

movie, “Wild,” I imagined myself 

in Cheryl Strayed’s boots. 

I envisioned hiking alone in 

exquisite wilderness, savoring 

silence, solitude. I saw myself conquering 

the ups and downs of a renowned trail 

all on my own. 

However, the “Wild” I envisioned was 

uniquely my own. It didn’t include 

Strayed’s horribly blistered feet or “Monster,” 

her impossibly heavy and overstuffed 

backpack. It didn’t include sleeping in a 

tent – especially one I had to carry and set 

up myself. And forget freeze-dried food. 

What I wanted was “Wild” for wusses. 

I decided that a weeklong solo hike would 

be “Wild” enough for me. I’d do it in Switzerland, 

a hikers’ Mecca. 

I signed up for a solo hike with SwissTrails, 

a company that arranges hiking and biking 

trips throughout the country. I asked for 

what the Swiss call “soft” hiking on a relatively 

flat route. We agreed I’d do the 6-day 

Lake Lucerne Circle Hike. The company 

arranges nightly lodging and transfers luggage 

each day. 

When I received my itinerary, I was excited 

– and more than a bit intimidated. 

Could I really do this alone? Hike 10-plus 

miles a day, with daily elevation gains of 

up to 4,500 feet? In addition to hiking, my 

itinerary had me taking trains, boats, cable 

cars and buses. 

Swiss hiking trails wander through bucolic 

lakeside villages such as Bauen. 

When I arrived in Zurich and met Swiss 

Trails founder Ruedi Jaisli for my one-onone 

pre-hike briefing, he did his best to 

reassure me: “This is one of the most spectacular 

tours you can do in Switzerland,” he 

said. “It’s a hike, not a climb. It’s self-guided; 

go at your own rhythm.” 



Trails, always well marked, meander across 

lush rolling farmland. The Chapel Bridge, 

right, is covered wooden footbridge across 

the Reuss River in Lucerne.

“Easy is a relative term,” he shrugged when I asked 

about the steep elevation gains and drops. So, finally 

I understood: Hiking 4,000 feet up, then 4,000 

feet down meant my route was “relatively” flat. 

As Jaisli reminded me to place my luggage in the 

hotel lobby by 9 each morning and to carry that 

night’s hotel voucher in my daypack each day, I 

scanned the trail maps he provided. The print was 

microscopic. 

When I got lost, as I knew I would, 

could I surmount the Swiss/German 

language barrier to ask for 

help getting back on track? Would 

somebody send out a search party 

if I failed to show up at the night’s 

hotel? 

“From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., you can call 

the help line,” Jaisli said. “We’re 

here seven days a week. 

“And don’t worry about the weather,” 

he continued. “They’re predicting 

rain, but in Switzerland 

it’s always better than it’s forecast. 

Besides, bad weather also has its 

charm. Just go, go, go.” 

I decided to hire a guide – just for the first day. 

A guiding light 

Jaisli recommended Rene Welti, a Swiss-born hiking 

maestro who was raised in the San Francisco 

Bay Area and lived most of his life in the U.S. In 

2010 he moved to Lucerne and two years later 

started ECHO Trails, leading guided hikes in the 

area. Lonely Planet named him their local outdoor 

expert. 

Welti agreed to meet me early the next morning 

near the Lucerne dock where we hopped a ferry to 

my kick-off point. Our day together encompassed 

so much more than hiking. It’s true that Swiss 

trails are well marked – but Welti taught me how to 

read the marks. I learned that squat yellow rhombuses 

were my friend: They lead to generally easy, 

flat trails. When a red-on-white stripe is added to 

the mix, I’m headed for a “mountain trail,” a greater 

challenge – steeper, narrower, often uneven. I 

learned to avoid blue-on-white signposts that lead 

to what the Swiss call “Alpine routes” – trails that 

might have been mapped for mountain goats. 

When we stopped for a mid-morning snack at a 

mountain chalet, Welti taught me how to game 

my itinerary – how to customize my hikes with 

alternate routes using public transport (including 

boats, aerial trams and even a cogwheel railway). 

It gave me confidence knowing I could take my 

time on the trail – be distracted by village bakers, 

mountainside cheesemakers, drop-dead gorgeous 

scenery – and still easily make it to my destination 

before dark, or in time to shower on the afternoon 

I’d booked a massage. 

Before our day was over, Welti had me lead the way 

on the trail – and after steering us wrong twice, I 

began to get things right. Could I have managed 

the week without his expertise? Probably. But it 

wouldn’t have been so easy – or half the fun. 

Lingering images 

When I reflect on my week on 

the Circle Trail, a whirlwind of 

sensory images fills my mind. 

I see a narrow, worn track that 

undulates across lush rolling 

farmlands, meanders across 

trickling mountain streams 

and beside the crystal waters 

of Lake Lucerne. I inhale the 

scent of cut grass, rotting wood, 

sodden peat, the perfume of 

towering pines that appeared 

like ghosts on fog-shrouded 

Mount Rigi. I hear the clang of 

cowbells – a sound that came 

to mean security for me; it meant civilization was 

nearby. But mostly I hear the silence, interrupted 

only by the crunch of my own boots on the trail. 

My hours of solitude were a unique gift. Being 

alone allowed my mind’s eye to see in ways I otherwise 

wouldn’t have. In open meadows, I saw 

myself as a child on a wide porch swing, snuggled 

beside my beloved aunt; I heard the birds that once 

twittered in her garden. Along sunny ridges, I felt 

the warm embrace and unconditional love of my 

long-gone grandmother. I could see both shaking 

their heads, warning of the dangers of hiking alone. 

Then I saw their smiles. They shared my joy as I nestled 

into now as if I were climbing into their soft 

inviting laps. 

Step by step 

My days started with breakfast, which was included 

at each hotel along my route. I gathered my 

lunches on the trail. 

In Seelisburg, I stopped at Aschwanden Kaserie, 

where I watched the cheese-making process begin 

a few hours after cows had been milked. The way 

Californians taste wine, I learned to taste cheeses – 

sampling a half-dozen varieties to pick my favorite: 

Klewa, from the mountain where I’d hiked the day 

before. “It’s a distinct taste because the cows there 

graze on flowers that are different,” explained 

cheesemaker Urs Aschwanden. 

To simplify matters, I booked dinner reservations 

at each of the hotels where I stayed. At Hotel Stern- 


Clockwise from top: Hikers often overnight in 

Brunnen, a small resort town on Lake Lucerne. 

Cheesemaker Urs Aschwanden offers samples at 

his family owned dairy farm in Seelisberg. The 

trail wanders through a forest near Rutli, said 

to be the site where Switzerland was founded in 

1291. Stop for a cheese break at Rigi-Alpkase, a 

family operation on the slope of Mount Rigi. 

en in Fluelen, where my postage-stampsize 

room had a twin bed and a parking 

meter, the chef helped me master the 

hotel’s wifi – and explained that he used 

his grandmother’s recipe to prepare my 

traditional German meal. At City Hotel 

in Brunnen, where I landed a spacious 

room with a deep bathtub, I was trailsore 

and sorely tempted to skip dinner. 

I’d have missed a scrumptious platter of 

lake perch sautéed in almond butter. My 

dessert was a long soak in that delicious 

tub. 

Day 4 was dedicated to Mount Rigi – at 

almost 6,000 feet elevation. But instead 

of hiking up an 8-mile trail, I hopped a 

cogwheel train from Arth Goldau to Rigi 

Kulm, the mountain’s peak. This was 

the first mountain railway in Europe, 

transporting riders since the 1870s to 

the panoramic view up top. I rode with 

an Indian family; we had a common passion: 

Swiss chocolate. 

Atop Rigi Kulm, we disembarked into a 

cloud. Fog was so thick I could see only 

a few feet of trail in front of me. Snow 

was expected. I zipped my jacket, put on 

woolen gloves and set out on a 5-mile 

up-and-down hike to Rigi Kaltbad – 

where I had a hot date. 

Wild and wonderful 

By mid-afternoon, I was sinking into 

the warm healing waters of Rigi Kaltbad. 

The mineral springs here have drawn 

visitors for six centuries – and as fans 

around the world attest, the place is reason 

enough to visit Switzerland. 

The spa is housed in a sleek, contemporary 

temple designed by Swiss architect 

Mario Botta. Bathers luxuriate in an indoor/outdoor 

pool equipped with an extravaganza 

of feel-good massaging jets 

that make magic from head to toe. Like 

a child at an amusement park, I played 

at every station – leaning in to intensify 

the pressure of jets on my calves, mov- 


ing away when I’d had enough. Outdoors, 

where steam merged with fog, I lingered 

on jetted underwater lounge platforms, 

delighting in the sensation of every single 

bubble. I was the last person to leave 

when the spa closed at 7. 

In zoned-out bliss, I dined on Raclette at 

Hotel Alpina that night. It seemed oddly 

fitting that the melted cheese bubbled 

on my plate. 

The next morning, fog remained thicker 

than the previous night’s Raclette. I deposited 

my bag in the lobby for pickup, 

then headed back upstairs and fell into 

bed. I ignored the clock and settled into 

sleep soothed by the sound of not-sodistant 

cowbells. 

Playing hooky meant I missed a second 

chance to see the view from Rigi Kulm 

– but by taking the cable car to the lakeside 

town of Weggis, I got to walk in the 

footsteps of Mark Twain who once lived 

there. 

For me, it was a perfectly “Wild” day. 

IF YOU GO Hiking in Switzerland 

SwissTrails’ 5-night self-guided Lake 

Lucerne Circle Trail hike, with lodging 

in standard hotels, daily breakfasts and 

daily luggage transfers, starts at about 

$850 per person. E-mail Ruedi.jaisli@ 

swisstrails.ch. Learn more at www.swisstrails.ch. 

ECHO-Trails founder Rene Welti offers a 

5-night Lake Lucerne Circle hike – with 

a guide on day one. Rates start at about 

$1,650, including lodging in standard 

hotels, daily breakfasts and daily luggage 

transfers, a 2-hour walking tour 

of Lucerne, plus a mobile phone with 

pre-loaded emergency numbers and 10 

minutes of free time. E-mail echotrails@ 

gmail.com. Learn more at www.echotrails.com. 

Get a Swiss Pass for unlimited travel 

by rail, road and waterway throughout 

Switzerland. Prices start at about $416 

for an 8-day pass. Learn more at www. 

swisstravelsystem.com. 

Learn more about travel throughout 

Switzerland at www.myswitzerland. 

com. 




SUNNYLANDS 

A PALM SPRINGS REFUGE FOR THE RICH AND FAMOUS 

| STORY BY CARL H. LARSEN | 

you’re 

down, you 

find out 

who your 

“When 

real friends 

are,” a disgraced Richard Nixon wrote 

in the guest book at Sunnylands, the 

spectacular enclave Walter and Leonore 

(Lee) Annenberg built out of the 

desert in Rancho Mirage. His message 

of gratitude was written on Sept. 8, 

1974, a month after he had resigned 

the presidency -- and on the day he was 

pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford. 


The 25,000 square foot Mid-Century Modern 

residence was designed by the late Los Angeles 

architect A. Quincy Jones. 

Lasting friendships and generous hospitality 

is what the Annenbergs were all 

about, as well as an unparalleled legacy 

of philanthropy. 

The wealthy couple used their Mayan-influenced 

home as the centerpiece of 

an opulent lifestyle more attuned to a 

British earl and countess in the tradition 

of “Downton Abbey” than that of 

a successful American publisher and his 

charming and equally astute wife, who 

served as chief of protocol for the U.S. 

State Department. 

Once staffed by 60 servants, including 

an Irish butler, their private domain, including 

a golf course, has recently been 

opened for all to see. It now joins the 

San Simeon estate of William Randolph 

Hearst as being two of California’s bestknown 

homes that are open to the public. 

Like Hearst, Annenberg was a newspaper 

publisher, and was the creator 

of TV Guide and Seventeen magazines. 

As a Philadelphia TV station owner, he 

promoted a young man named Dick 

Clark, who gave the world “American 

Bandstand.” 

But don’t take the Hearst-Annenberg 

analogy too far. There are no ketchup 

bottles to be found on the dining room 

tables at Sunnylands as there are at San 

Simeon. As a hostess, Leonore Annenberg 

was unmatched. Instead of one formal 

banquet table, she typically seated 

her dinner guests around several small, 

more intimate tables. 

With a golf course just out the door, and 

a home designed for entertaining, Sunnylands 

was a place where the high and 

mighty could kick back far away from 


The west windows of Sunnylands Center present a magnificent 

vista of the 10,000-foot-plus San Jacinto Mountains looming above 

palo verde trees. Landscape architect James Burnett used Vincent 

van Gogh’s Olive Trees of 1889 as inspiration for this masterpiece 

view of the Center’s unique gardens. 

the eyes of the probing media or gawkers. 

“There’s no other place like it, anywhere,” 

said Nancy Reagan of Sunnylands. 

Indeed, no single residence in the United 

States – except the White House -- is 

so steeped in the history of the late 20th 

century. The Annenbergs entertained 

seven U.S. presidents, Britain’s Queen 

Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Margaret 

Thatcher, Monaco’s Princess Grace 


Left: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit Walter and 

Leonore Annenberg at Sunnylands, February 1983. 

and an A-list of celebrities and sports heroes. 

Frequent guests for dinner or golf included 

neighbors Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, who 

was married to Barbara Marx (his last wife) 

in 1976 in the home’s huge atrium in front of 

the fireplace. 

Annenberg biographer Christopher Ogden 

described the house in its heyday: “The large 

double doors are open. Either Lee or Walter 

usually waits to greet guests near the large 

pots of cymbidium orchids grown on the estate 

and which line the entrance hall. Inside, 

first-time visitors tend to stare wide-eyed at 

the 6,500 square foot living room with its 

pale pink marble floors and soft green sofas 

…. and walls of cinder-brown lava rock, backdrop 

for their collection of Impressionist and 

post-Impressionist paintings. In the vaulted 

center of the room, light pours in from a 

raised cupola on the dark green bronze of Rodin’s 

'Eve.' Nearly six feet tall, the sculpture 

stands by a reflecting pool surrounded by 

hundreds of bromeliad plants.” 

Cast in 1881, the Rodin is still there in all 


Sunnylands offers visitors 1.25 miles of walking paths that meander 

through more than 53,000 individual plants and 50 arid-landcape species. 


its glory, but the heart of the Annenbergs’ 

art collection--some $1 billion worth, including 

works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet and 

Cezanne--was donated in 1991 to the Metropolitan 

Museum of Art in New York City. Digital 

reproductions of the paintings now hang 

where the originals once were placed. 

A $61.5 million structural renovation of the 

home and new construction that includes a 

visitors’ center and nine-acre garden designed 

by the firm of landscape architect James Burnett 

of Solana Beach, Calif., has shaped the 

estate toward a new vision set by the Annenbergs 

before their deaths. 

Now called the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, 

the 200-acre compound has become a 

global center for high-level conferences focused 

on promoting peace. The couple's vision 

has held true and the estate continues to be 

popular as a sort of West Coast Camp David. 

President Obama has visited Sunnylands four 

times, staying overnight on two of those occasions, 

during meetings with President Xi of 

China and with King Abdullah II of Jordan. 

Arriving at the new Sunnylands Center and 

Gardens, visitors learn of power politics 

played far from the halls of Washington, D.C. 

It was at the estate where Nixon crafted his 

last State of the Union Address and where 

President George H. W. Bush hosted a state 

dinner for the Prime Minister of Japan. President 

Ronald Reagan, a frequent visitor, exchanged 

televised New Year’s greetings in 

1986 from the home with Soviet Premier 

Mikhail Gorbachev. 

There remains a superb collection of fine and 

decorative arts to see as well as the Midcentury 

Modern architecture of the late A. Quincy 

Jones, the Los Angeles architect hired by the 

Annenbergs to create their desert oasis. Completed 

in 1966, the 25,000 square foot house 

is furnished in what is called a Hollywood Regency 

style, imagined by the team of William 

Haines and Ted Graber. 

One of the most interesting stops on a tour of 

the home is the Room of Memories, filled with 

personal mementoes. Here, there’s a portrait 

of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale 

and a portrait of Walter Annenberg, dressed 

in a choir robe, by Andrew Wyeth. There’s a 

framed, handwritten personal letter from 

Queen Elizabeth II to Walter Annenberg, who 

served as U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. 

James’s. Another wall displays framed, signed 

Christmas cards to the Annenbergs from the 

late Queen Mother. 

Walter Annenberg's wealth and devotion to 

philanthropy was legendary. Upon becoming 

ambassador to the United Kingdom, he took 

it upon himself to pay for the renovation of 

the antiquated Winfield House, the mansion 

in Regent's Park that is the U.S. ambassador's 

official residence in London. 

Among the visitors entertained by the Annenbergs 

at Sunnylands were Queen Elizabeth 

II and Prince Philip. One of the photos 

taken during the royal visit is rather interesting. 

Pictured with the Annenbergs at the front 

door, the queen is holding an umbrella, on 

what must have been a rare rain-threatened 

day in the normally sun-filled desert. 

Now that the public can view the estate, it’s 

easy to see how Sunnylands left a succession 

of kings, queens, presidents and celebrities 

impressed, as was Britain’s Prince Charles. 

When he visited in 1974, he asked the couple: 

“You left all this to go to England?” 

If You Go 

If you wish to tour the historic house and grounds, plan 

well ahead. Be certain to check first with the Web site for 

opening hours, which can change. Tours of the grounds 

and residence are available for a fee and tickets are limited. 

The estate is closed July and August and can be closed 

to visitors during conferences and other events. 

The 15-acre Sunnylands Center & Gardens is free to visitors 

during opening hours. On exhibit are gifts the Annenbergs 

received over their lifetimes from family, presidents and 

first ladies, celebrities and business leaders. The center 

also features an interactive computer bank with information 

about the estate, its distinguished visitors, the Annenberg 

art collection and the home's architecture. There 

is an introductory video, a café and a shop. 

Web site: www.sunnylands.org 

Location: 37977 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage, Calif. 

photos: © The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands 


Mary James at diiner in Palm Springs enyoying a 

nice bottle of cab with the photographer. 



| BY RON JAMES | 

America is the top dog in the pantheon 

of countries that quaff a lot of wine – 

Americans drink over 890 million gallons 

a year which works out to about 2.8 gallons 

per persons of drinking age. America 

doesn’t fare quite as well in the per 

capita wine consumption category; well 

below thirstier countries like Slovenia, 

Croatia and Macedonia whose citizens 

drink over 11 gallons each in a year. Surprisingly, 

the most serious wine enthusiasts 

reside in the city state in Rome, in 

a place called the Vatican – they drink a 

whopping 20 gallons! Holy Bacchus, it 

must be thirsty work being celibate. 

As wine loving as some countries are, 

there are a few unfortunate countries 

that haven’t joined in the fun. Afghanistan 

brings up the rear with the average 

person drinking zero wine anytime. But 

that’s understandable considering most 

are Muslim. Fifth from the bottom is India 

which is no surprise to this traveler. If 

you’ve ever had the misfortune of tasting 

the combination of very expensive, and 

extremely bad wines that are available 

there, you’ll understand why many Indians 

who do drink alcoholic beverages 

seem to be boycotting the grape – can’t 

afford it, can’t stand it. Their beer, on the 

other hand, is quite alright. 

Even in the wine-loving regions of the 

world, including America, there are 

those reluctant to join the ranks of wine 

lovers for reasons other than religion or 

incarceration. Some prefer other methods 

of taking the edge off of daily life – 

others (not in the Vatican) don’t drink or 

have fun -- and many may be put off by 

the perceived voodoo and pretentiousness 

surrounding the sport. The latter 

group may be intimidated by French 

labels or can’t pronounce pinot noir or 

Sangiovese or can’t spell sommelier or 

even know what one does. (Continued) 


Clockwise from top: Happy vendors pour 

their wares to even happier tasters at the 

San Diego Wine & Food Festival. Right: 

Tasters belly up to the bar at Miner Winery 

in Napa. Ron and Mary James enjoy a glass 

of bubbly at Iron Horse Winery in Sonoma . 

Bottom: A private tasting in Healdsburg. 

If you’re in that category, don’t fret — almost any upright 

and relatively cogent adult has the potential to become a 

decent wine enthusiast. It’s not that hard, like anything 

else in life it takes a little dedication and practice, practice, 

practice. 

So how do you begin your path to wine enthusiasm you ask? 

Here’s a few things that may help make your wine education 

a de-vine one. 

Be comfortable liking the wines that taste good to you. 

You are the expert when it comes to wines you enjoy, and 

that’s the way it should be. Everyone’s palate is different and 

evolving. A wine that tastes good to you is a right wine for you 

at that period in your wine journey. Even if the wine smarty 

next to you gags on it and spits out. And its OK to gag on the 

wine smarty’s favorite over-the-top, acid-bomb New Zealand 

sauvignon blanc that exudes aromas of cat pee or his fancy 

French Bordeaux that tastes like the floor of a barnyard. 

If you practice diligently tasting and learning about new 

wines, you’ll find that your preferences in wines will evolve. 

It’s called educating your palate. A wine that makes you gag 

today may well become a favorite next year and vice versa. 

You and your palate have moved on. It’s like when you were a 

kid and hated asparagus or Brussels sprouts. As you grew up 

and became more experienced with foods, you began to love 

asparagus. Although Brussels sprouts still suck. 

As you taste and learn about new wines, you will discover the 

distinctive flavors and characteristics of different varietals 

(kinds of grapes). And you’ll find that the characteristics of 

wine made from the same varietals may differ from country 

to country, vineyard to vineyard and wine maker to wine maker. 

You’ll experience wines that have complex layers of flavors 


and other characteristics. And you’ll find that wines are alive 

and change with age — for better or worse. 

So how do you get started? 

There are a number of ways to educate your palate, and the 

great thing is that they’re all fun! For the most part wine tasting 

isn’t a solo sport. However, there are times when a fine 

glass of wine and a bit of reflective time with yourself can be 

quite satisfying. That said, a great deal of enjoyment in educating 

your palate is doing 

so with family, friends or perhaps 

strangers who want to be 

friends. 

Start your education by reading 

about wine just as you’re 

doing right now — the fact 

that you made it this far is a 

good sign. The Internet is a 

good place to start. There are 

more wine blogs and sites on 

the Internet than anyone can 

imagine. A Google search for 

wine information produced 

807,000,000 results. 

There are many online wine 

affinity groups that provide a 

network of like-minded folk 

and a wealth of information. 

For a good start go to the 

website of our wine columnist 

Robert Whitley. He has a ton 

of wine reviews and columns, 

as well as several links to other 

great wine sites: www.whitleyonwine.com. 

Reading is great, but nothing 

beats the real thing. So head 

down to one of those wine bars 

we talked about. Find one that 

makes you feel comfortable. 

Tell the server or bartender that 

you’re kind of new to the game 

and want to learn about wines. 

If they are pros, they’ll take 

the time to help you get started. 

Ask them for wines that are 

true examples of the varietals 

or blends and pick their brain 

about the characteristics. 

Many wine bars offer flights of 

wine. Flights are usually small 

glasses of four to eight wines 

grouped for one reason or another. 

They could be wines of 

the same year, brand, varietal, color or family. Wine-tasting 

notes are usually provided for each wine. This gives you opportunity 

to compare the characteristics of several wines sideby-side. 

Try tasting each wine before reading the tasting notes, to see 

if you can discern flavors, viscosity, color, acidity and how 

your palate reacts to them. Then read the notes to see if you 

agree with them, and try each wine again to try to find the 

characteristics mentioned in the tasting notes. 

Many wine bars, wine retailers, 

and restaurants frequently 

have wine education and tasting 

events. This is not only a wonderful 

way to learn about wines, but 

away to make new wine enthusiast 

friends as well. Most of these 

establishments have mailing and 

e-mail lists that will keep you upto-date 

about upcoming events. 

Perhaps one of the most fun 

ways to learn about wines is to go 

to wine and food events featuring 

dozens, if not thousands, of 

wines to taste. There are obvious 

hazards to these kinds of events, 

so spitting and dumping is encouraged. 

Wear a hat and have 

plenty of sunscreen if its outdoors. 

Have a designated driver if 

you just can’t spit. And perhaps 

most important, do not bid on 

silent auctions after you’ve been 

educating your palate for four 

hours. 

These tips should get you started 

and once you do, you’ll realize 

there’s a lot more to learn. That’s 

the great thing about being a 

wine lover — it’s a fascinating, 

life-long learning process — and 

you get the benefits of a nice 

buzz now and then. So remember, 

don’t ever worry or feel embarrassed 

about the wines you 

like. Your palate’s opinion of 

your favorite wines is as valid as 

anyone’s — including wine blow 

hards and snobs. So, If that wine 

snob next to you smirks and 

rolls his eyes next time you order 

your favorite, tell him to stick his 

barnyard-tinged Bordeaux where 

the sun don’t shine. It’s OK to do 

that — you’re a wine enthusiast. 


AN ARCHITECT’S LIFE STORY 


| STORY BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN | 


“... the perfect place to fulfill his boyhood dream - to build a 

utopia, an ideal village on a romantic coastal site...” 


This is no doubt one of the most 

unique villages in Britain. No one 

has ever lived here - yet there’s an 

admission fee to stroll around, and 

some 250,000 visit each year. And it’s 

definitely worth it! 

When Frank Lloyd Wright toured here 

in 1956, he turned to Amabel Williams-Ellis, 

the wife of the visionary 

who had designed this charming and 

whimsical place. Not one to hand out 

compliments, the egotistical Wright exclaimed 

to her, “Why, I do believe you 

married an architect!” 

And Wright, by then a world-renowned 

building designer, knew what he was 

talking about: Comprised of colorful 

and fun buildings, statues, fountains 

and 70 acres of gorgeous gardens and 

forest in a unique, seaside setting in 

north Wales, Portmeirion was designed 

by the creative architect Clough Williams-Ellis 

(1883-1978). He purchased 

the property - described by him as “a 

neglected wilderness” - in 1925 for less 

than 5,000 pounds. He then spent the 

next 15 years working on it, then - after 

more than 10 years of disruption due to 

World War II - fine-tuned details in the 

second phase from 1954-1976. The last 

building, the Tollgate, was built during 

his 93rd year. 

Believing it to be the perfect place to fulfill 

his boyhood dream - to build a utopia, 

an ideal village on a romantic coastal 

site - he changed the name from Aber 

Ia, meaning glacial estuary in Welsh, to 

Portmeirion: Port because of its coastal 

location, and meirion, which is Welsh 

for merioneth, the county. 

Williams-Ellis and his family (he had 

two daughters--and a son who was 

killed during World War II) lived nearby 

in Plas Brondanw, an estate he inherited. 

Much of it was destroyed by 

fire in 1951, causing him to lose many 

valuable architectural papers and family 

documents. Fortunately some had 

been copied by a historian, and several 

major architectural drawings were safe 

in London, but the loss was devastating. 

The house was rebuilt in two years and 

that’s where he died in 1978, a month 

shy of his 95th birthday. 

Popular Portmeirion pottery, decorated 

with flora and fruits, launched in 1960 

by Williams-Ellis’ artist daughter Susan 

Williams-Ellis, continues to be sold 

worldwide. 


One of the first things Williams-Ellis 

did in Portmeirion was to restore 

and expand an old beach house, built 

around 1850, converting it into the 14- 

room Hotel Portmeirion, which officially 

opened in 1926. After a fire destroyed 

it in 1981, it was reopened in 1988. Famous 

guests have included George Bernard 

Shaw and H.G. Wells. The Prince of 

Wales (Edward VIII, later known as the 

Duke of Windsor), stayed in The Peacock 

Suite when he visited Wales for his 

investiture in 1936. 

Other notable visitors to the town 

have included Noel Coward, who wrote 

“Blithe Spirit” during six days in 1941; 

Ernest Hemingway, Beatles’ manager 

Brian Epstein (a regular guest) and 

George Harrison, who celebrated his 

50th birthday here. 

For his Portmeirion project, Williams-Ellis, 

an environmentalist who 

was knighted in 1971 in recognition 

for his contributions to architecture 

and the environment, salvaged some 

buildings from demolition sites. He described 

the village as “a home for fallen 

buildings” and an “architectural mongrel.” 

It is a mixture of styles, including 

Italianate, arts and crafts, and Georgian. 

His motto was, “Cherish the past, adorn 

the present, construct for the future.” 

(c) Tim Richmond Photography 

And the creative genius, the preacher’s 

kid who had attended Cambridge, 

seemed a bit eccentric in his endeavor 

to salvage old architectural items. 

For example, in 1965, when he decided 

to tear down an unsightly, 35-yearold 

tennis court and build in its place a 

central piazza, he could not remember 

where, 30 years earlier, he had stored 

the large Ionic columns that he wanted 

to use in the design. Eventually his 

tenant farmer located them under a pile 

of manure, and they were dug up and 

used. But reportedly for several months, 

no one got very close to admire them 

due to the awful aroma! 

WALES 

Portmeirion 

Then there’s the Angel cottage - one 

of the first built, in 1926 - so-named 

because Williams-Ellis had an angel 

Top: The quayside at dawn. Right: Map of Wales 

and site of Portmeirion. Opposite top: Arial view of 

Portmeirion. Opposite bottom: Williams-Ellis pictured 

on the cover of his book, “Around the World in 

Ninety Years.” 



The lush gardens of Portmeirion piazza. 

carving that he wanted to utilize. And 

the crown atop the town hall is an upside-down 

copper cauldron, used for 

boiling pigs! 

There’s even a dog 

cemetery on the 

property, established 

by the eccentric 

Mrs. Adelaide 

Haig, who 

resided from 1870 

until 1917 in the 

mansion that later 

became the Hotel 

Portmeirion. Said 

to prefer dogs instead of human friends, 

she would take in strays and read sermons 

to her cherished canine creatures 

in the elegant Mirror Room. (Rumor has 

it that one cat is buried in the cemetery, 

snuck in during the dead of night.) 

Today, off-the-beaten-path Portmeirion 

- which appears to be a magical Mediterranean 

village - is a popular tourist attraction 

and site of numerous weddings, 

including those of celebrities. The estate 

is owned by the Ymddiriedolaeth Clough 

Williams-Ellis Foundation, a registered 

charity. 

And many of the uniquely designed, pastel-colored 

buildings, built or relocated 

here during the mid- and late 1920s, 

include the Italianate style (Bell Tower, 

Watch House, Government House) and 

the arts and crafts (Angel, Neptune, Toll 

House), as well as Georgian (Gate House, 

Bridge House, Belvedere, Chantry Row, 

Unicorn, Round House, Telford’s Tower), 

built or moved here during the 1950s 

and 1960s. Some have been converted to 

self-catering cottages, ideal for vacationing 

families. 

There’s also the 11-room Castell Deudraeth, 

which Williams-Ellis bought from 

a relative in 1931, where we stayed, 

a 10-minute stroll from the village. 

Opened in May 2001, it was originally 

an 18th century cottage, later enlarged 

into a 19th century mansion. Its history 

includes housing a prep school and 

apartments. Awarded by several major 

travel magazines as one of Britain’s most 

unique hotels, it’s named for the original 

the place.” 

Castell Deudraeth 

built nearby circa 

1175 by Gruffydd 

ap Cynan ab Owain 

Gwynedd, king of 

North Wales. It was 

razed circa 1869 

by Sir William Fothergill 

Cook, “lest 

the ruins should 

become known and 

attract visitors to 

Several popular films and British television 

shows have been filmed in Portmeirion, 

among them the series “Cold Feet” 

-- and “The Prisoner,” which has retained 

a cult following. Some 12 million viewers 

tuned in each episode, putting this 

village on the map. 

We drove here by rental car, and the day 

we visited it rained. But, with the cheerful 

pastel buildings (including shops and 

restaurants) reflected in the wet pavement, 

and with visitors strolling along 

the cobblestone paths holding opened, 

colorful umbrellas, it gave it even more 

of a charming, magical feel. 

IF YOU GO 

For information: www.portmeirion-village.com 

The Clough Williams-Ellis estate Plas Brondanw: 

www.brondanw.org 

VisitWales: www.visitwales.com 

www.americas.visitwales.com 

Photos (c) Tim Richmond Photography 

VisitBritain: www.visitbritain.com 

BritRail: www.britrail.com 

Photos from WIKI Commons, Tim Richmond Photography, 

and Portmeirion Ltd 


| STORY & PHOTOS BY PRISCILLA LISTER | 

NATURAL WONDERS AND CULINARY 

In a land of lots of scenic wonders, 

there is one I return to again and 

again, despite my sweaty palms, accelerated 

heart rate and shaky limbs. 

It’s the Deception Pass Bridge, a national 

historic landmark at the northern end of 

Washington’s Puget Sound that is a truly 

breathtaking span. 

I force myself to walk across this 1935 

bridge on its narrow 3-foot-wide outer-edge 

walkways, secured only inches 

away from the 20,000 cars that travel 

across this engineering achievement every 

day. Standing some 180 feet above the 

swirling waters below, the experience is 

both scary and spectacular. 

The bridge lies within the most visited 

state park in Washington, Deception Pass 

State Park, where old-growth forests of 

cedar, fir, hemlock, spruce, alder and maple 

trees stand tall along miles of brightblue 

shoreline, complete with sandy and 

rocky beaches. There are some 38 miles of 

hiking trails in this park that invite exploration 

of gorgeous spots like North Beach, 

Goose Rock and Cranberry Lake. 

Those swirling waters of Deception Pass 

really roil, since it is the second-largest 

connection of the entire Puget Sound to 

the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific 

Ocean to the west, the largest being Admiralty 

Inlet. 


STARS ALIGN ON WHIDBEY ISLAND 

The charming town of Langley boasts 

several really fine restaurants, making it a 

favorite weekend getaway for Seattleites. 

Opposite: The view from the top of Mount 

Erie where views of the island-dotted 

Puget Sound are literally panoramic. 


Those two marine passages lie at the 

northern and southern ends, respectively, 

of Whidbey Island, the largest 

island in Washington and one of my 

longtime favorite destinations. 

Whidbey Island has long been a favorite 

escape for Seattleites, who live less than 

an hour’s drive south and a 20-minute 

ferry ride away. They catch the Mukilteo 

to Clinton ferry, which leaves every 

half-hour, bringing them to another 

world that’s quieter, quirky and quintessentially 

Northwest. 

Whidbey Island today is home to countless 

artists, actors and musicians as well 

as farmers and vintners and outdoor 

explorers. Its towns and villages offer 

small, walkable, historic main streets 

filled with galleries, distinctive shops 

and farm-to-table restaurants. Its inns 

and B&Bs are tranquil, inviting and romantic. 

I always find its slower pace remarkably 

calming, wrapping me in the 

green and blue glory of a Pacific Northwest 

forested island. 

My most recent foray on Whidbey started 

this time in Port Townsend, where 

I had visited longtime friends. Port 

Townsend sits on the northeast corner 

of the Olympic Peninsula on that Admiralty 

Inlet. It is a splendidly preserved 

Victorian seaport, whose historic brick 

buildings from the late 1800s hail from 

its thriving maritime past when it was 

planning to be “the New York of the 

West,” until the railroad changed plans 

and bypassed it. 

Today, Port Townsend is an artists’ community, 

too, so galleries, special shops 

and sophisticated restaurants have taken 

over those beautiful brick buildings 

on Main Street. 

I’ve always thought the Washington 

State Ferry System offers one of the 

best cruising bargains anywhere in one 

of the most beautiful bodies of water in 

the world. You may not be able to afford 

a yacht, but you can ply those Puget 

Sound waters on the extensive ferry 

system that connects Seattle to several 

islands as well as the mainland to the 

San Juan Islands and all these other 

points in between. 

I caught the ferry from Port Townsend 

to Keystone/Coupeville on Whidbey Island, 

a mere 35-minute crossing for just 

about $10 with your car. 

I drove straight to Coupeville, another 


charming 19th-century seaport village 

that sits in the middle of Ebey’s Landing 

National Historic Reserve, established 

in 1978 “to preserve and protect a rural 

community which provides an unbroken 

historic record from the 19th century exploration 

and settlement in Puget Sound 

to the present time,” says the National 

Park Service. This 17,400-acre preserve 

features miles of hiking trails to forests, 

prairies, lagoons and beaches. It’s also a 

bird watchers paradise, a biker’s destination 

and even a favorite of scuba divers. 

You can tour some of Ebey’s Landing’s 17 

working farms or just sample their harvests 

at the Coupeville Farmers Market, 

now in its 35th year making it one of the 

longest running markets in one of the 

oldest towns in Washington, held every 

Saturday from April to mid-October. 

I stopped by the wonderful Island County 

Historical Society & Museum in Coupeville 

to learn about the Native Americans, 

including the Snohomish, Suquamish, 

Swinomish and Lower Skagit tribes; the 

sea captains of the 1800s; the pioneer 

settlers including Colonel Isaac Neff 

Ebey who settled here in 1851; and the 

long military history that’s integral to 

Whidbey Island still today -- its Naval Air 

Station in Oak Harbor is the premier naval 

aviation installation in all the Pacific 

Northwest. 

I indulged in the splendid homemade 

bread for a huge sandwich at Knead & 

Feed bakery/cafe, right on Coupeville’s 

Front Street. This is a locals’ hangout, 

and when I was settling my bill, a woman 

engaged me in friendly conversation. 

I told her I was headed to Deception Pass. 

“You must go to Mount Erie,” she advised 

me. “It’s just beyond Deception Pass on 

Fidalgo Island, and the views from the 

top are just amazing.” 

She told me exactly how to get 

there, and I was mighty glad she directed 

me to that awesome place. I hiked a lower 

trail first through thick forests of fragrant 

cedars and spruces and hemlocks, 

some of which were literally oozing pools 

of sticky sap onto the trail. 

Then I simply drove to the top of Mount 

Erie, the highest point on Fidalgo Island 

which connects Whidbey Island to the 

mainland via Deception Pass. The views 

from this lookout are vast, spreading 

across the Puget Sound and several of 

its smaller islands. On very clear days, 

you can see Mount Baker 43 miles to the 

Top: The views from the 1935 Deception Pass Bridge, a historic landmark 

at the northern end of Whidbey Island. Opposite top: Knead & Feed is a 

locals’ favorite on the waterfront in Coupeville for oversized sandwiches on 

homemade bread. Opposite bottom: A trail through the woods on Mount 

Erie, the highest point on Fidalgo Island, which lies immediately north of 

Whidbey Island and connects Whidbey to the mainland. 



northeast and even Mount Rainier, 117 

miles southeast. 

I settled in Langley, one of the loveliest 

small seafront villages on the Puget 

Sound, where one-of-a-kind shops and 

galleries encourage a leisurely stroll 

in search of gifts, clothing, antiques, 

books and even homemade chocolates, 

cupcakes and ice creams. 

I wouldn’t miss Useless Bay Coffee Company 

to mingle with the locals. Cafe 

Langley and Prima Bistro, both on First 

Street, are much-loved restaurants that 

feature Pacific Northwest cuisine. Village 

Pizzeria makes a fine East-Coast 

crisp Neopolitan pie. 

But if you’re really a foodie, then make 

a reservation for Chef Matt Costello’s 

six-course tasting menus -- weekends 

only -- that feature seasonal, local ingredients. 

Costello used to head Seattle 

chef Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge and 

Palace Kitchen and now cooks at the 

Inn at Langley’s restaurant, which has 

received an “extraordinary” rating from 

Zagat guides every year since 2004 after 

Costello arrived. 

owner, Paul Schell, who was mayor of Seattle 

when I lived there many years ago. 

“I voted for you,” I told him honestly. He 

was clearly delighted and came up to 

me later to confirm, “You really recognized 

me? It’s been a long time.” 

“Yes,” I told him. “You haven’t changed a 

bit,” I grinned. 

Just like that awesome Deception Pass. 

IF YOU GO: 

For more information about Whidbey 

Island, including how to get there, 

where to stay, where to eat and what 

to do, go to http://www.whidbeycamanoislands.com/, 

the main visitors 

web site for both Whidbey and Camano 

islands. 

Washington State Ferry System, www. 

wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/. 

The Inn at Langley, www.innatlangley. 

com. 

I retired to my cozy cedar-decked, waterfront 

room with huge jetted tub and 

complementary DVD movies at that 

award-winning Inn at Langley. Over the 

sumptuous continental breakfast the 

next morning, I recognized the inn’s 

Ebey’s Landing National Historical 

Reserve, www.nps.gov/ebla/. 

Deception Pass State Park, www.parks. 

wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=deception%20pass&subject=all. 

Top: The views from on top of Mt. Erie on Fidalgo 

Island, immediately across the Deception Pass 

Bridge from Whidbey Island, are truly jaw-droppingly 

beautiful. 


Augsburg's Fuggerei 

TOURING THE WORLD'S OLDEST SOCIAL HOUSING COMPLEX STILL IN USE 

| STORY BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN | 

magine paying only one dollar per 

Iyear in rent! 

That's what some 150 residents are 

charged to live at the Fuggerei in Augsburg, 

Germany, the world's oldest charitable 

social housing complex. It was 

established in 1520 by visionary Jakob 

Fugger “The Rich” as low-income 

housing for needy Roman Catholics 

who were required to be upstanding 

citizens--and Augsburg residents for at 

least two years. Nearly 500 years ago 

they were charged one Rhenish gulden, 

today converted to .88 euro cents, or 

about $1! The rent has stayed the same 

over five centuries! 

And Fuggerei residents can live here (in 

this city of 260,000) indefinitely—with 

no rent increase! 

One of the city’s most popular tourist 

destinations, the charming, carmel-colored 

Fuggerei is a living museum, 

managed by the Fugger Family Council 

trust. Some 200,000 annual visitors 

(who—with the exception of school 

children--each pay 4 euros, more than 

four times the annual rent!) tour the 

bucolic grounds of this interesting, historic, 

walled complex. 

The Fuggerei, built between 1514 and 

1523, originally had 52 cottages with 

106 apartments—“a city within a city.” 

At one time it also had a school. Today 

the complex has been expanded to 67 

two-story buildings with 140 apartments, 

each with private entrances, 

ranging from 500 to 700 square feet, 

with a modest sitting room, bedroom, 

kitchen,and bathroom. The downstairs 


units have gardens, the upstairs have attics. The Fuggerei was 

expanded in 1880, then again in 1938. During World War II— 

on the night of February 25-26, 1944--it was heavily damaged; 

200 residents escaped into the underground bunker (today a 

museum) that had been built the 

year before. The attractive garden 

complex was rebuilt in the 

original style, completed in 1955. 

In early years residents were 

poor families of day laborers and 

candlemakers or other artisans. 

Today many are elderly widows. 

Two furnished, vacant flats are 

open for viewing. One at 13 Mittlere 

Gasse shows how it looked 

circa 16th century—and a museum 

in one room displays historic 

photos, films, and artifacts. The 

other flat at Ochsengasse 51 is 

contemporary, with a television 

in the living room running a documentary 

film about the Fugger 

family (in German). 

“All the flats allow for the privacy 

of the families or individuals 

who live here,” pointed out my 

guide, Kristen Gast. “It is not a 

'poor' house with less than adequate 

facilities. This is why I believe 

it can still function as it was 

conceived almost 500 years ago.” 

Portrait of Jakob Fugger by Albrecht Dürer, 1518 Bottom: Illustration 

of Augsburg in 1493. 

And the man who conceived this 

successful compound was Augsburg native Jakob Fugger 

(known as “Jakob Fugger the Rich”), born into a wealthy weaving-merchant 

Roman Catholic family on March 6, 1459, the 

10th of eleven children. An astute, savvy businessman, Fugger 

(with two of his brothers and nephews) expanded the family 

fortunes by investing in silver and copper mining, banking, 

the lucrative international spice trade, real estate, weaving 

mills. The former theology student, a controversial wheeler-dealer 

(who was criticized by Martin Luther) became one 

of the wealthiest financiers in history, rubbing shoulders with 

powerful politicians, royalty, and even the pope. 

Fugger was financier to the Papal See, 

minted coins for the Vatican, helped 

bankroll the Swiss Guards, was the 

chief financial backer of the Hapsburg 

family, made loans to the Medicis from 

Florence, and had a special relationship 

with Maximilian I, the Holy Roman 

Emperor. His “most dramatic act was 

the financing of the election of the Emperor 

Charles V,” notes the book “Jacob 

Fugger the Rich” by Jacob Strieder. 

He “was one of the links between the 

Italian Renaissance and the Protestant 

Reformation.” 

Clemens Sender, a Benedictine monk 

and chronicler, wrote about the energetic, 

entrepreneur Fugger: “The pope 

greeted him like a dear son. The Cardinals 

stood up in his presence—and 

even the non-Christians admired him 

greatly.” 

Music composer Wolfgang Amadeus 

Mozart's great-grandfather, Franz, a 

master builder, resided at number 14 

Mittlere Gasse, upstairs, for 13 years, 

until his death in 1694; a plaque commemorates 

this. Number 13 downstairs 

houses the Fuggerei Museum. 

One of the more infamous residents was Dorothea Braun, who 

lived at Ochsengasse 52, the upper level. The first victim of 

early 17th-century witch-hunting in Augsburg, she was accused 

of sorcery by her daughter, 11, and, at age 48, was beheaded 

and burned. 


Above: Damenhof in the Fuggerei: The Damenhof is the most important of the 

artistic courtyards in the Fugger houses. It is currently used as a restaurant. 


On the crisp weekday that I strolled 

around—after drizzly rain--noting the 

beautiful fountains and the well-kept 

gardens, there were few visitors and it 

was eerily quiet. An elderly lady, wearing 

a head scarf that framed her heavily-lined 

face—testament to a long, 

weary life--leaned out of a ground floor 

apartment window, eying me with curiosity. 

On the grounds is also a small shop and 

beer garden—and the green-shuttered 

apartments boast unique iron bell pulls 

in different shapes—a holdover from 

earlier days when there wasn't good 

lighting and residents had to feel them 

to be sure they were at the right flat! 

Fugger's investments dwindled over the 

next century (although today his descendants 

still own real estate, including 

several castles and businesses)—but 

the charitable trust that he set up in 

1520 still is doing well enough to keep 

the Fuggerei afloat, helping out low-income 

renters who became impoverished 

through no fault of their own. 

There are seven gates at the walled Fuggerei—yet 

only one has a doorbell and 

a night watchman. And, as in medieval 

times, the gates are locked at night—until 

5 a.m. 

“At 10 p.m. all the gates are closed, just 

like in 1523,” notes guide Gast. “If Fuggerei 

residents need to come in after 10 

p.m., they must ring the bell and the 

gate is opened by a doorman. It costs 

.50 euro cents. Or if they come in after 

midnight it costs 1 euro—more than the 

yearly rent of .88 euro cents! This regulation 

was probably enforced in order to 

protect the residents' security as well as 

preventing carousing.” 

Jakob Fugger's motto, written on the 

church in the Fuggerei, was 'Carpe diem' 

or 'use the time.' He wanted to encourage 

discipline. Just as they still enforce 

this detail in Jakob Fugger's endowment 

letter, all of his other conditions 

and wishes are followed as well. For me, 

the Fuggerei is Jakob Fugger the Rich's 

greatest legacy.” 

A bronze bust of Fugger, cast in 2007, is 

in the small Fuggerei park near the bunker—a 

relaxing place to sit on a bench 

and people-watch. 

Fugger didn't marry until 1498, nearly 

age 40; his wife, Sibylla Arzt, was 18 and 

the couple, wed 26 years and thought to 

be unhappy (money doesn't give you everything), 

remained childless. Toward 

the end of his life (he died in December 

1525 at age 66; his widow quickly 

remarried), Fugger contemplated what 

would happen upon his death and, fearing 

purgatory, was concerned for his 

soul. Hence he came up with the idea of 

having the Fuggerei residents pray daily 

not only for his soul, but for the souls of 

his family as well, to ensure that they all 

would get inside the Pearly Gates. 

So, to this day, besides paying for utilities, 

such as heat—and volunteering in 

the gardens, as the night watchman or 

gatekeeper--the residents are also required 

to say three daily prayers for the 

souls of the Fuggers' dynasty and descendants: 

the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, 

and the Apostles' Creed. 

“Sometimes I forget to pray,” one longtime 

elderly resident confessed to the 

Wall Street Journal. “But some days I 

pray extra if there's nothing good on 

television.” 

WHEN YOU GO 

The Fuggerei: www.fugger.de/en/ 

home.html 

Augsburg information: www.augsburg-tourismus.de/home-english. 

html 

Germany Tourism information: www. 

germany.travel 

Historic Highlights of Germany: 

www.historicgermany.com 

German Rail Pass: www.raileurope. 

com 

Photos and images Licensed under Public Domain via 

Wikimedia Commons. 



Susan McBeth’s 

TRAVEL BY THE BOOK 

“China Dolls” by Lisa See 

The promise of instant, unimaginable wealth 

lured hundreds of thousands of Forty-Niners 

to California in the mid-nineteenth century. 

While most arrived in covered wagons, crossing 

plains and hills, mountains 

and deserts, many also 

traveled by ship across perilous 

and unforgiving seas 

in search of what Chinese 

immigrants called the “Gold 

Mountain.” A few lucky 

souls did indeed strike it 

rich, but for most, disappointment 

and despair were 

the only payoff earned in 

“them thar hills.” 

And what of those Chinese 

immigrants and their Gold 

Mountain? Perhaps you 

should turn to New York 

Times bestselling author 

Lisa See, whose great-great 

grandfather was integral in 

the founding of Chinatown 

Los Angeles, and who has 

branded herself as an authoritative 

storyteller of the 

Chinese immigrant with her 

deeply-layered characters 

who reward readers with a 

rich historicity of fiction. 

In her most recent novel, China Dolls (Random House, 

2014), written in alternating first-person voices by 

three friends--traditional Helen who comes from a 

successful merchant family in San Francisco, dreamer 

Grace who escaped from an abusive home in the Midwest, 

and fierce Ruby, who is actually Japanese but 

posing as Chinese--See recreates the Chinese immigrant 

world of 1938 San Francisco. 

Initially bonded over their common stigma as outsiders, 

and exacerbated by the physical attributes that 

do not allow them to hide their heritage in a biased 

land, the girls vow to remain steadfast and loyal. They 

join the “Chop Suey Circuit,” becoming entertainers 

in forbidden nightclubs in an effort to not only fulfill 

their dreams, but also to keep hidden secrets they have 

learned to bury in a world of distrust. 

By portraying the girls as the serious artists they consider 

themselves to be in a debauched environment 

that does not hesitate to take 

advantage of their wont for success, 

See successfully renders an authentic 

historical narrative of 

pre-WWII “Orientals.” The narrative 

is peppered with ancillary 

characters, both historical and 

fictive, who strengthen that 

rendering, including the briefest 

of appearances by Ronald 

Reagan and Errol Flynn. 

When the Japanese attack Pearl 

Harbor, the fear and paranoia 

it generates invades their inner 

circle, as Ruby is sent to 

an internment camp, and rumors 

and innuendos abound 

as to who may have betrayed 

her. This is where See is at her 

best, weaving the intricacies of 

strained friendships, unraveling 

secrets, and impending war 

that generate a strong undercurrent 

of suspicion. Are the 

girls truly friends, or have they merely been using each 

other to pursue their own respective ambitions? 

Yet for all their tribulations, the remuneration these 

early Chinese immigrants bequeathed is a veritable 

cornucopia of Chinese food and culture, perhaps not 

the Gold Mountain they originally sought out, but a 

treasure indeed. So if you are planning a trip along the 

Left Coast, stop and enjoy the multi-sensorial explosion 

of food, culture, history, art, architecture, and 

shopping that is now Chinatown Los Angeles and Chinatown 

San Francisco. And take a moment to bow in 

gratitude to the China Dolls whose sacrifices, challenges, 

and determination helped make it all possible. 

~By Susan McBeth 


AMY LAUGHINGHOUSE 

IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY 

Ever Wondered How You Would React in an Airline Emergency? Now I Know 

There are a few things 

that you really, REAL- 

LY hope you will never 

experience on an airplane—and 

recently, 

one of them happened 

to me. 

I’m not talking about the usual 

colicky infant (at 

least one guaranteed 

on every 

flight, or your 

money back), nor 

the chatty, closetalking 

seat mate 

whose entire diet, 

from the time he 

was first able to 

digest solid food, 

has consisted 

solely of raw onions 

and threeday 

old fish. I’m 

not even referring 

to the inconsiderate 

oaf who 

reclines his seat 

so far into your 

lap that you’re 

forced to eat your 

dinner off a tray 

on his forehead. 

No. This was one 

of the biggies, 

one of those lifeflashing-beforeyour-eyes 

moments that makes 

you wish you had put down that 

copy of OK! magazine, wrenched 

the ear phones blasting LMFAO’s 

“Sorry for Party Rocking” from your 

waxy canals, and listened to the 

safety announcements featuring 

cartoon characters demonstrating 

the technological complexities 

and mind-boggling intricacies of 

the aircraft, such as how a seat belt 

is not only fastened, but…whoa, 

duuuuuude!…unfastened. (One 

can only imagine that if Charles 

“Survival of the Fittest” Darwin 

had been called upon to compose 

those scripts, they would be considerably 

more concise). 

In short (or rather, in long-winded, 

round-the-houses-on-a-rusty-bicycle-with-a-slowly-deflating-tire 

essence), the oxygen masks deployed…about 

three hours into 

a trans-Atlantic flight to London, 

over the dark, fathomless depths 

of the ocean. 

Now, if you’ve ever wondered 

what you might do in the event 

of an emergency, I can only tell 

you this. If you’re me (which I 

am), and you’re in the loo (which 

I was), you freeze with your hands 

under the tap as the words “Don’t 

Panic” flash in big friendly letters 

through your mind. 

At least, that was one of the 

thoughts bumbling around my 

brain like the Three Stooges in 

bumper cars. The others, in roughly 

chronological order, were: 

1. “Well, the plane 

doesn’t seem to 

be plummeting. 

That’s a bonus.” 

2. “Um…did I do 

that?” 

You see, I’m not 

exactly known for 

good toilet karma. 

I have, on more 

than one occasion, 

accidentally pulled 

the red emergency 

cord in various 

public and hotel 

bathrooms, when 

I actually meant 

to flush the toilet 

or turn off the 

light. (To date, this 

has never resulted 

in the arrival of 

the fire brigade… 

or anyone else, 

for that matter… 

which is both a 

huge relief and 

also vaguely worrying). 

Furthermore, when confronted 

with those high-tech Japanese 

toilets, the kind that look like La- 

Z-Boy recliners replete with seat 

warmers, spray nozzles and more 

buttons, bells and whistles than 

it ever took to operate the space 

shuttle, I’m generally reduced to 

tears. Give me a nice leafy bush 

or an oversized Solo cup over Robo-Loo 

any day. 

Friday’s Friendly Funny by Dave Blazek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at blog. 

friendlyplanet.com. - See more at: http://blog.friendlyplanet.com/ 


3. “Huh. There are two oxygen 

masks in the bathroom.” 

That’s right, my friends. If you’d 

opted to join the Mile High club 

with an airborne buddy, this 

transatlantic flight ensured your 

needs would be catered for “in the 

unlikely event of a change in cabin 

pressure.” Unless, of course, you 

got greedy and decided to make it 

a threesome. 

(Don’t expect to always 

get so lucky in 

the loo, however, as 

the FAA has reportedly 

removed all 

oxygen masks from 

toilets on US flights 

to prevent anyone 

from tampering 

with them. So whatever 

you do in there, 

you better make it a 

quickie). 

With those considerations 

out of the 

way, the realization 

that perhaps I 

should actually put 

on a mask myself finally 

leapfrogged to 

the forefront of my 

cortex. 

Just as I was reaching 

for it, a voice 

boomed over the 

tannoy. It was 

the captain himself, 

sounding decidedly 

abashed. 

“Er….sorry folks. I pushed the 

wrong button.” Yep. Apparently, 

he meant to provide oxygen for 

one passenger but inadvertently 

released them all. 

At this point, I emerged from the 

loo and stepped into a scene out 

of Airplane. Bemused passengers 

were standing around in the aisles, 

snapping pictures of oxygen 

masks that dangled like jellyfish 

from the overhead compartments. 

(I, for one, was certainly not going 

to pass up this epic opportunity 

for a new Facebook profile photo). 

Amy’s new profile picture 

Please ensure your own mask is 

securely fastened before taking 

photos of other people in their 

masks. 

But the oxygen-dispensing feedbags 

weren’t the only things the 

captain accidentally deployed. He 

also set off a chain reaction of general 

camaraderie. Strangers who 

wouldn’t look one another in the 

eye before were now smiling and 

chatting, laughing nervously in 

the way that you do when you’ve 

bonded over being scared witless 

at 30,000 feet. 

It certainly put all my petty concerns 

into perspective. 

Sure, the masks hung like used IV 

drips for the rest of the flight, but 

at least we knew they were there if 

we needed them. 

And yes, the in-flight entertainment 

system went dark for about 

an hour just as some of the films 

were reaching their climax. 

But when, moments 

before, you 

faced down what 

might, in the mildest 

of terms, be 

described as a real 

cheek-clencher, 

the last ten minutes 

of Maleficent 

isn’t the happy 

ending that concerns 

you most. 

Maybe next time, 

when someone 

leans their chair 

back into my birth 

canal, I’ll take a 

kinder view. Maybe, 

just maybe, I’ll 

even give them a 

head massage. Or 

at least I won’t 

knee their seat 

back with quite 

the same vengeance. 

You can find Amy at WWW.AM- 

YLAUGHINGHOUSE.COM and on 

Twitter @A_LAUGHINGHOUSE. 


POSTCARDS FROM JOHN & JODY 

| JODY JAFFE & JOHN MUNCIE | 

Postcards from 

Tuscany 

This is the second in a series of “postcards” 

sent to WDT Magazine publisher, Ron James, 

from veteran journalists and friends Jody 

Jaffe and John Muncie as they travel the 

globe. We hope you find them as informative 

and enjoyable as he does. 

Dear Ron, 

Who would have thought karaoke would 

be the highlight — so far — of our trip 

to Tuscany? 

Yes, the food’s been fabulous, this is Italy 

after all. And the countryside puts 

even the best postcards to shame with 

those voluptuous green hills punctuated 

by giant green exclamation marks 

of the Mediterranean cypresses. But it 

was a kitschy songfest, led by an exuberant 

young Italian man, we remember 

most vividly as we write you our first 

postcard from Italy. 

We were in the stone-walled basement 

of an old olive and grain mill for 

a very large communal Easter weekend 

meal (there were nearly 70 of us). 

Since this is Italy, where the unofficial 

motto is “Mangiare,” we’re not talking 

a simple Easter ham with some marshmallow-topped 

sweet potatoes. This meal started with roast 

chicken then continued with sausage, rabbit, pork ribs, lamb, 

pasta, potatoes, risotto, pizza and a cheese platter, plus all the 

Chianti you could drink. 

And because this is Italy there was still more to come: a sweet 

pizza-like dessert confection with pine nuts. That’s when the 

karaoke started. Beginning with — because this is Italy -- “Volare.” 

By the time the after-dinner aperitifs appeared, the song 

list turned to classic rock-and-roll and at the first four notes of 

“Twist and Shout” we were up on our feet dancing. It was after 

midnight when we finally staggered back to our villa. 

We’re staying at Montestigliano, a tiny village in central Tuscany 

about 10 miles southwest of Siena. In its heyday of the 

1700s, Montestigliano supported more than 60 families. Today 

the surrounding countryside and remaining buildings are 

owned by the Donati family who, since the 1950s, have slowly 

turned it into a combination farm and destination B&B. 

Most of the Easter dinner dancers were guests at the six farm 

houses that the Donati’s have remodeled into villas. Our villa 

is “Pipestrelli” -- the Italian word for “bats,” because that’s 

what filled the place when they resuscitated the 200-year-old 

farmhouse a few years back. 

Like so many Tuscan villages, Montestigliano sits atop a hillside. 

Surrounding it like a long, flowing skirt are fields of wheat 


This is the villa called “Pipestrelli” that we stayed at in 

the village/estate of Montestigliano. Opposite: This the 

Tuscan countryside as seen from the hilltop village/estate 

of Montestigliano. 

and sunflowers, olive orchards and country lanes lined with 

those dark, spiraling cypress trees. 

Once when they were installing new gas lines at the Montestigliano, 

workers dug into several Etruscan tombs. Pipestrelli 

has Wi-Fi and a heated pool, but when we wake up each 

morning the view from our second-story window is little 

changed from Etruscan days. In the distance is a landscape 

lost in time. Hills, fields, villages, farm buildings built of 

stone and topped by roofs of terra-cotta tile. Close your eyes 

and imagine an elegantly rustic villa where Cary Grant might 

have romanced Audrey Hepburn -- and that’s Pipestrelli. 

Love, 

J & J 

Dear Ron, 

Yesterday was olive day at Montestigliano. First we got a tour 

of the grove just down slope from our hamlet of B&B farmhouses. 

It was a bright, cool spring morning; the ground was 

freshly green and sprinkled with pink, white and blue wildflowers. 

Co-owner Massimo Donati, who runs the farm operations, 

gave us a mini-lecture on the art of olive husbandry. 

Massimo spoke Italian while his sister, Luisa, translated. 

People no longer pick olives, according to Massimo, they use 

electric-powered gizmos that shake the olives off the trees. 

The harvest is in October and November; the key is an olive 

that’s not too green, not too black. No more than three days 

from shaking to the mill or the resulting olive oil can’t be 

considered “extra virgin.” 

There are some 2,000 trees in the Montestigliano groves, 

which produce about 2,000 liters of olive oil each harvest. In 

1985 Tuscany was hit by a monster freeze that destroyed or 

damaged many of the trees. Massimo managed to save some 

and salvage others by cutting them back severely, allowing 

the roots to regenerate new growth. He walked over to one of 

his gnarled old-timers and patted a trunk with his old-timer 

hands. “This one’s more than 100 years old,” he said. 

After the grove tour, came an olive oil tasting. Nine of us 

staying at Pipestrelli sat at a table in the mill’s upper floor. 

We each had four oil-filled shot glasses, slices of green apples, 

bottles of “frizzanti” water, and a scorecard. 

Massimo explained the drill: Drink a shot of olive oil, take 

note of its virtues or vices on the scorecard, then eat a pal- 


Olive production demonstration at Montestigliano. Below 

One of the “Cinta Senese” pigs on our pig outing. Opposite: 

View outside the city walls of Siena. 

ate-clearing slice of apple, take a swig of soda water and go 

on to the next shot. Over on a side table stood four olive oil 

bottles in anonymous paper bags. 

By the end, everybody agreed: olive oil “B” was best. It was 

spicier, richer, more olivey. We also agreed that “A” was good, 

“D” so-so, and “C” was ewwwwww. Then came the moment of 

truth. Massimo lifted bottle “B” out of its paper bag. “Ecco!” 

It was the oil from Montestigliano! We give Massimo (and 

ourselves) a round of applause. 

Dear Ron, 

Yesterday olives, today pigs. But to paraphrase E.B. White, not 

just any pigs. These are fancy pigs with ancient bloodlines. 

We visited a 1,100-acre organic farm just a few miles from 

Montestigliano. The farm, owned by an American family, the 

Cinellis, is trying to be self-sustaining and organic. Interns 

After the tasting, we were ushered to Montestigliano’s piazza-like 

stone courtyard where a long table dotted with 

bottles of 2013 Chianti and Montestigliano olive oil was set 

against the commanding countryside of Tuscany. It doesn’t 

get much better than sitting under the warm Italian sun 

eating artichokes, leeks, zucchini, pasta, pizza, pecorino 

fresco, fava beans, and an assortment of cheeses. And of 

course, since this was Italy, dessert. 

“What we have learned so far. . .” said Dave Sartwell, a fellow 

Villa Pipestrelli guest. He paused and his wife, Mary Gayle, 

finished, “Is to eat small amounts because you know more 

is coming.” 

Love, 

J&J 


come from all over the world to work here and learn the arts 

of making wine, honey, olive oil, and raising cows, chickens 

and, most important, pigs. 

The farm specializes in a “heritage” pig called the Cinta Senese, 

a cross between local wild boar and domesticated pigs 

from Asia. They look like they’ve been painted for the Venetian 

Carnavale. They’re all black with a collar of white around 

their shoulders and front legs. We were told they date back to 

Roman times. Perhaps. But we know for sure they date back 

to at least the 1200s because we saw one in the background of 

a 13th century painting in Siena. 

The farm itself has a heritage; one of its buildings is a stone 

tower from the 11th century. The Cinta Senses live an organic, 

free-range life in pastures divided by electric fence so they can 

be rotated to preserve the land. 

Of course this visit involved a meal. A big meal at a nearby 

trattoria which began with a tasting of the Cinelli pork products. 

We tried prosciutto, capocolo, salami, soppressata, rigatino, 

lardo, and something called “rosamarina” a delicious 

concotion of lard and rosemary. The tasting was followed by 

impruneta (a kind of stew), bean soup, and quiche they call 

“sformato.” Then we had lunch. 

At lunch, one of Luisa Donati’s friends, Nicoletta Amicieia, 

confirmed what we’d already suspected, “In Italy life revolves 

around food,” she said. “In the morning my boyfriend wakes 

up and organizes dinner for that night. My mother starts organizing 

Sunday lunch on Friday. Everything’s based on food.” 

Love, 

J&J 

Dear Ron, 

Yesterday we visited Siena. The whole town -- founded sometime 

in the BC’s -- is a UNESCO world heritage site. It has 

a huge cathedral (begun in the 12th century), a serious art 

museum and reknown frescos. But its real claim to fame? A 

horse race. 

Right in the center of Siena is the Piazza del Campo, an open 

square ringed by medieval buildings that looks like a movie 

set. It’s around this square — the size of a couple of football 

fields — that the horses gallop madly, with bareback jockeys 

atop, crashing into walls and other riders as the crowd 

goes wild. It’s called the “Palio,” so named after the holy grail 

banner that’s at stake (along with the millions of Euros in 

side-betting). It is a twice-a-year nationally televised race that 

the Siennese seem to take as seriously as going to war. 

We’d heard about the Palio, which has been run since the 

mid-1600s. But we had no idea about the “Contrades,” the 

17 neighborhood-clubs behind the race. There's no Olympic 

Committee overseeing the Palio, just 400 years of neighborhood 

rivalry between these Contrades. Think Seabiscuit 

meets The Godfather. Each year the Palio is a chess match of 

skullduggery. There are payoffs (gasp!), collusion (horrors!), 

fights (no!). Everybody knows it. Everybody loves it. (Except 

one half of this writing duo, the horse nut who thinks it’s cruel 

because horses can wipe out and crash against the stone 

walls.) 

We learned all this during a tour of the Contrade Bruco 

headquarters. (Each Contrade has a mascot; Bruco means 

Caterpiller.) Behind an unassuming door facing a narrow 

medieval street, we were ushered into a multi-story hideaway 

complete with sleek new Palio museum – featuring racing 

banners the Caterpillers have won over the centuries -- a hidden 

backyard for everything from cook-outs to weddings, and 

a chapel where the Caterpiller’s horse is brought to be blessed 

before the race. “The Palio is life,” our host tells us. 

Afterwards, we strolled the cobbled streets. It wasn’t racing 

season, but the city was vibrating -- crowded with shoppers 

and students from the University of Siena. We checked out 

boot shops and galleries; looked for bargains in belts and 

purses. It was enough to work up an appetite. 

Five o’clock? Must be time for gelato. 

Love 

J&J 


Dear Ron, 

Tomorrow we leave this land where eating is an art. And we’re taking 

some pieces of Italy with us. We’ve wrapped and rewrapped 

our bottles of Montestigliano olive oil so we can remember that 

resplendent day in the Tuscan olive grove. They will be buried 

deep in our luggage, near the bottles of 18-year-old Modena balsamic 

vinegar, so sweet you could drink it as an aperitif, and we 

did. The wedges of Parmesan cheese, we’re taking on board with 

us. We’ve checked with customs about bringing all this back to 

the United States. Aged cheese is OK; soft cheese is not. And it’s 

not a problem if the bottles are checked through in luggage. 

But we couldn’t leave without telling you about the single best 

bite of our trip. After 10 days of eating our way through Italy -- 

sampling a delicious waist-expanding amount of food from the 

country’s farms and restaurants -- this is a very high bar. Kind of 

like picking the best picture at the Louvre. 

So here goes. Here is our Mona Lisa of eating in Italy: fresh pasta 

with the simplest of tomato sauces. And the truth is, the pasta 

would have won even if there had been no sauce. We have eaten 

in some of America’s best Italian restaurants and nowhere have 

we tasted a pasta as delicate as what Lina Mazzanti made for us 

at the Palazzo Donati, a 17th century stone mansion on the main 

square of Mercatello sul Metauro. 

The Plazzo is the Donati’s ancestral home on their mother’s side. 

We caravanned here to the Le Marche region from Montestigliano 

to get a more complete taste of Italy. Luisa Donati holds one-week 

tours at the Palazzo that often start with a bowl of Lina’s pasta. 

Lina, a tiny woman with powerful forearms, has been cooking for 

the Donati family for the past 40 years and is well known for her 

pasta prowess. According to Luisa, she beat the renowned chef 

Jamie Oliver in a pasta cook-off when he came to Le Marche a 

couple of years ago. 

The key to Lina's ethereal pasta is in the rolling and the rolling 

and the rolling. And then more rolling of the dough. We watched 

Lina wield a rolling pin half her height back and forth over the 

yellow dough for more than 20 minutes, periodically hanging 

the ever-thinning pasta over the pin to see if she’d achieved the 

necessary translucency. Finally when she was satisfied, she rolled 

the dough into a long tube and cut it in slices which would later 

unfurl into fettucine. We wish we could have taken some of that 

home. Or Lina. (We asked her, but she said she had a family to 

feed.) 

Our final meal in Le Marche featured almost-as-good pasta and 

about a hundred other courses cooked by the Accademia del Padlot. 

This is a fancy title for a jovial group of nine local guys who 

get together to cook, eat, drink wine and sing. On our last night 

they took over the Donati kitchen and created a monumental 

feast that made all the other monumental feasts seem miserly. 

This time “Volare” was replaced by the Accademia’s boisterous 

and wine-infused chef-singers, who serenaded Louisa’s guests 

with songs and jokes. By evening’s end most of us were tipsy, and 

all of us were full. Once again. 

Love, 

J&J 

Lina Mazzanti making 

pasta at the Plazzo Donati. 


TRAVEL TIPS 

JET-ETIQUETTE 

Etiquette Expert and Former Flight Attendant Shares Tips On How To Handle The Most Annoying Airline Passengers 

With spring and summer just around the corner, many of us will be traveling by plane to reach our destinations. 

But what happens when the stressful state of air travel leaves some people too frazzled to 

mind their manners? Jacqueline Whitmore, an internationally-recognized etiquette expert, author 

and founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach, who is also a former flight attendant, offers these 

tips on how to deal with some of the most annoying airline passengers. 

The Armrest Hogger: If the person next to you 

commandeers your armrest, simply inch 

your way in by placing just your elbow next 

to theirs. This should leave plenty of space 

for your greedy neighbor’s elbow. Armrest 

rules: When you have three seats next to 

each other, the person in the middle seat 

gets to claim the armrests. 

The Chatterbox: If your neighbor strikes up 

a conversation, be polite and exchange a 

few pleasantries. Then say something like, 

“It was nice speaking with you, but if you 

don’t mind, I have to get some work done 

(or some much-needed rest).” Closing your 

eyes generally does the trick. Note: Always 

travel with earphones and eyeshades. 

The Space Invader: If this person invades your 

personal space with his newspaper or carry-on 

bag, say something like, “It seems that 

these planes are getting smaller and smaller. 

Would you mind moving your arm (or bag) 

over just a touch?” 

The Seat Recliner: If someone reclines too far 

while you’re trying to eat, work on your laptop, or watch a movie, you have two options. 1. You can recline your 

seat for more space or 2. Say something like, “Would you mind pulling your seat forward a little bit.” The person in 

front of you most likely doesn’t know she’s inconveniencing you. Note: When you recline your seat, always glance 

back and make sure the person behind you isn’t using his tray table to eat or work. 

The Snorer: It’s best to always travel with a good pair of noise-cancelling earphones. Otherwise, you can ask the 

flight attendant if you can relocate to another seat. 

The Sleeper: If you need to use the lavatory but your aisle seatmate is sleeping, gently tap him on his shoulder and 

say, “Excuse me.” No other explanation is necessary. Never attempt to crawl over him. 

The Unruly Child: Never discipline someone else’s child. Your best bet is to move to another seat, if available, or alert 

a flight attendant. Never try to intervene yourself. 

The Seat Kicker: If a child is kicking the back of your seat, simply turn around and glance at the child and the parent. 

The parent will oftentimes get the hint and ask the child to stop. If this doesn’t work, kindly speak up and ask the 

child to stop kicking your seat. 

The Surly Flight Attendant: It’s best not to challenge a flight attendant unless you want to be thrown off the plane. If 

you encounter a rude flight attendant, jot down his name, your flight number, and email a letter to the company 

as soon as possible. Better yet, share your grievance on Twitter for faster results. 

www.EtiquetteExpert.com 

www.JacquelineWhitmore.com 

A guy tweeted a complaint about a "rude" gate agent 

before boarding his Southwest Airlines flight, and was 

asked to disembark for being "a safety threat." Here, 

Adam Sandler stars in that famous airplane scene in 

Anger Management. 


WHITLEY ON WINE 

| ROBERT WHITLEY | 

DRINKING PINK 

It was a warm summer day in the south of France. The entire 

village of Grasse, it seemed, had turned out for lunch this 

Monday afternoon on the terrace at La Bastide Saint Antoine, 

where the Michelin-starred chef Jacques Chibois oversees the 

kitchen. 

Everything about the day was impeccable. The sunlight, the 

fresh air, the glint of the Mediterranean 

in the distance all served 

as the perfect backdrop to Chibois’ 

legendary cuisine. 

And on every table, under every 

umbrella, there was a bottle of 

pink wine. Chilled, crisp, refreshing, 

dry rose wine from Provence. 

The parade of pink wine was nearly 

unanimous except for the occasional 

bottle of Champagne. 

The message from the huddled 

masses was not lost on this foreign 

visitor. When you are hot and 

parched, with a mighty thirst and 

a craving for an adult beverage, 

there are worse ways to idle away 

a summer afternoon than sipping 

on a well-made dry rose wine as 

you gaze in the direction of the sea. 

I’ve been hooked on dry rose ever 

since, but until recently my rose 

thirst has been quenched for the 

most part by wines produced in 

France, Spain and Italy. Domestic 

production of rose has generally 

trended toward sweeter wines, 

particularly white Zinfandel. 

White Zin, as it is known, was important 

to the wine industry in 

the 1980s because it saved many 

old Zinfandel vineyards from extinction. 

Zinfandel, the bold red 

wine many believe is native to 

California, had fallen out of favor 

at the time, but the invention and 

instant popularity of “white Zin” 

kept many of the old Zinfandel 

vineyards in production. 

That was a good thing, and now 

old-fashioned red Zinfandel is 

once again a consumer favorite, 

with a nod toward “white Zin” for keeping the vineyards alive. 

White Zin, on the other hand, created a backlash against 

rose because of its significantly high levels of residual sugar. 

Emerging wine consumers, especially those new to the pleasures 

of the grape, assumed – wrongly – that all rose wine was 

sweet. 

Sensing the public mood, many 

domestic wine producers either ignored 

rose altogether or made it in 

such limited quantities that good, 

dry domestic rose similar to rose 

made in France, Spain and Italy was 

difficult to find. 

I am happy to report that domestic 

producers are becoming bolder in 

their embrace of rose, and as an example 

I commend to you the beautiful 

J Vineyards 2013 Vin Gris, made 

from Pinot Noir grapes, that was 

published last week in the WRO Reviews 

section. 

I confess I had a moment of nostalgia 

as I took a sip. It was suddenly 

a sunny summer day in the south 

of France, rubbing elbows with the 

townfolk of Grasse as they idled 

away a lazy summer day. 

J Vineyards 2013 Vin Gris, Russian 

River Valley ($20) – My sense 

is that demand for rosé wine is up 

significantly, although I haven't seen 

any statistics to support that view. 

What I do know is that more domestic 

producers are making a rosé 

and making it better than ever. This 

rosé from J is made from Pinot Noir 

grapes using the saignee method 

of bleeding the Pinot Noir fermentation 

tanks early on, before too 

much contact between the juice and 

the skins, which can impart bitter 

tannins. The J Vin Gris is fresh and 

clean, with mouth-watering acidity 

and beautiful aromas of strawberry 

and tart cherry. And it has arrived 

just in time for those warm Indian 

Summer afternoons. 92 points 


Wine, Dine & Travel 

with Authors 

Connect with authors and their books on an intimate basis 

through unique, interesting & adventurous travels & events 

Join Us On Our Next Great Adventure. 

www.AdventuresBytheBook.com 

“Adventure Under the Tuscan Sun” 

with authors Frances Mayes & Dario Castagno 


AMONG THE CRITTERS 

| STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM LEECH & LESLIE JOHNSON-LEECH | 

Occasionally, as you’re taking a leisurely drive, 

you’ll see a mother elephant strolling across the 

road in front of you, accompanied by her recently-arrived 

tyke. Or might you look over as you’re 

enjoying your lunch out on the deck to see a warthog 

nosing its way 

among the shrubs only 20 feet 

away. Or, you’re sipping a brew 

on the terrace watching hippos 

splash around. This isn’t the San 

Diego Safari Park we’re talking 

about – this is the real thing -- the 

Masai Mara Game Preserve located 

below the equator at the huge 

Great Rift Valley in Keny. 

We recently headed to Kenya on 

the Eastern side of Africa off of 

the Indian Ocean, for a journey 

organized by Gate 1 Tours called 

the Affordable (that descriptive adjective lured us in) Safari. 

After a long couple flights on British Airways via London, we 

arrived at the capital city, Nairobi where we took a quick flight 

for a week’s stay in Mombasa before we began our safari. 

Heading to our hotel we soon were made aware this was a very 

different world from San Diego or Chicago. The roadway over 

to our hotel was hectic, with lots of shops off to the roadside, 

trucks galore, and intriguing styles of wardrobe and activities. 

The resort hotel, Royal Reserve, was first-rate, located on 

the beach north of the main Mombasa 

community. As Kenya has some 

definite security issues, the hotel had 

a guarded front entrance gate, staffed 

with multiple security guards, with 

guns. This was the same entry style at 

several other hotels and major structures, 

such as a mall. 

Leaving the hotel on our own for a 

stroll down the street for a coffee, 

lunch or shopping was not permitted, 

so our explorations were done with a 

security driver and vehicle. When we 

did engage in activities with locals, we 

found them to be uniformly friendly, courteous, and conversational. 

(The Brits had Kenya as part of its empire so many 

people spoke decent English.) 

We took an overnight safari to the nearby Sarova Salt Lick 

Game Preserve. The ground floor of our hotel was about ten 


feet above the ground, above a large watering hole where we 

watched hundreds of water buffaloes, monkeys drink and 

splash around. 

After a short flight back to Nairobi 

(aboard Kenya Airways which 

impressed us with their hospitable 

style), we headed to our meeting 

place at the upscale Jacaranda 

Hotel. We were greeted by the 

Gate 1 host, Marcie, who took 

care of the check-in requirements. 

The next morning, she gathered 

our tour group of nine together 

to orient us about our upcoming 

days out in the bush, where those 

wild critters called home. 

Waiting for us at the hotel entrance 

were our two hands-on tour drivers (ours was Daniel), 

ready to load us into their special vans. These were typical 

modern vans, with one difference: the roofs rose when we out 

on safari so we could stand up and shoot lots of pictures while 

protected from being gobbled up for a lion’s lunch. 

So off we headed out through the Nairobi city world, onto a 

road as busy as we’ve ever seen, with multi-trucks parked in 

groups and rolling in both directions along the highway. We 

were told the reason so many trucks were on the road is that 

the ancient railroad from Mombasa, 

and across Kenya, was among the slowest 

to be found. Hauling cargo across 

Kenya was much faster by trucks.. 

Finally we got away from all that hassle 

and onto the road heading out into the 

Great Rift Valley. Many modest villages 

were just off the roads, and locals were 

hustling herds of goats and cows. Not 

a lot of big markets (Costcos or Starbucks) 

but people were making life 

work in their own manner. Finally we 

arrived at the Masai Mara. This is the 

Kenya extension of the Serengeti and a 

game preserve of massive size as we realized 

when very soon we were driving past herds of gazelles, 

occasional giraffes, and frequent troops (true) of monkeys 

playing beside the road. 

A half-hour into the preserve, we arrived at our abode, the 

Keekorok Lodge, for the next several nights. This was not exactly 

a tent slung across some post, but a first-rate lodge with 


all the usual resort attributes. A large dining room and bar, 

individual air-conditioned guest rooms, and well-trimmed 

strolling grounds (though with strict rules about where and 

when you might stroll on your own) betrayed 

the movies’ roughing it in the bush 

style. 

After a pleasant dinner, comfortable sleep 

and breakfast, it was time for our first safari. 

We loaded into our vans, with cameras at 

the ready, and our driver Daniel headed us 

out to locate some wildlife for us to see, admire, 

and photograph. We had been alerted 

to bring along cameras with high-telephoto 

lenses. My past experiences with 35 mm 

cameras was with long lenses, but today=s 

digital cameras can come with 18-20 times 

telephoto power at about the size of an IPhone, 

at a cost of about $100. 

Very soon we saw the wildlife, most of 

which ignored us as they just went about 

their regular lives. They’re used to seeing a couple dozen tourist 

vans driving by and stopping to peruse them, so might as 

well just do what comes with outdoors living. And, yes, there 

was that pack of a dozen elephants lounging beside and crossing 

the road. Click...click. Look at those ostriches trotting by 


right over there. Monkeys were ample, in groups or solo. It 

took awhile but yes that was a family of cheetahs with mama 

tending to junior. Click...click. 

Sometimes it took a bit of driving to spot 

a set (tower, pride, cackle) of animals, and 

the various drivers were in frequent radio 

communication alerting each other as to 

where a particular bunch was to be seen. 

Sometimes a dozen vans would be gathered 

in the vicinity of a couple lions lounging 

twenty feet off the road, or a set of gazelles 

prancing in the field. Always cameras were 

busy. Over the next several days, these van 

trips headed out twice a day, early morning 

and late afternoons when the wildlife 

would be more active. 

By now we were learning a few useful Kenyan 

Swahili phrases. Often spouted by us 

and locals was “Hakuna matata” meaning 

no “problem.” We were greeted with 

“Karibu” (welcome), and we picked up that always-important 

phrase “Asante sama” or “thank you.” When we had seen 

enough and were ready to move on, we would say “Sawa sawa” 

to the driver. (These are phonetic spellings, and may not hold 

up in language class.)

We were often reminded about the need 

for care, not from banditos but from 

critters such as the occasional elephant 

or hippo checking out our hotel, maybe 

for goodies, such as human visitors. We 

were warned to keep our room doors 

locked to keep local monkeys from slipping 

inside our rooms (maybe to take a 

shower?). 

One entertaining stroll was out on a 

boardwalk to the Hippo Bar. Now this 

was a major change from the typical 

resort remote bar. Here we could order 

up a cold brew or a glass of wine and 

watch about 30 hippos as they flopped, 

splashed and cavorted in a pond about 

50 feet away. 

One troubling aspect of our journey was 

the long drives, roughly five tedious 

hours, getting out to and back from the 

on-site safari lodges. Long sections of 

the drives were dusty and bouncy, plus 

we joined lots of traffic once back onto 

a highway. One option you might look 

into, for an added cost, would be to fly 

out to and from the safari lodges. An airstrip 

was only a few miles from our lodge, 

and we saw several small aircraft ferreting 

tourists in and out. 

All in all, our Kenya safari was a memorable 

experience, a journey we recommend 

adding to your personal bucket lists. 

Author bios. Tom Leech is author of several 

books, including On the Road in ‘68: 

a year of turmoil, a journey of friendship, 

and, with Jack Farnan, Outdoors San 

Diego: Hiking, Biking & Camping. Leslie 

Johnson-Leech teaches fitness for 

seniors, Tai Chi and history of musical 

theater and film. 




INCREDIBLE INDIA 

FOR THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME 

I would totally recommend Sabu 

and his Icon India tour company. We 

had the experience of a lifetime. ~ 

Ron James, publisher WDT. 


ICON 

INDIA 

GO BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION 

CONTACT: SABU RAM 

www.iconindiatours.com 

+91 855 984 54 40 

www.iconindiatours.com

WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL/SPRING 2015

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