A Very Hidden Gem In Maine

It's so easy to bypass a simple roadside stand when you're driving country roads. Even at those low speeds, you miss the subtle markers in scenery that brims with items demanding your attention. If I were walking or taking in Maine's pristine scenery from the seat of my bicycle, I would not have almost missed it the first time. But the word "PIES" displayed in bright pink chalk on a small blackboard beside a single lane road somehow stuck with me.

My friend and I were in southern Maine for several days, not far from the New Hampshire border, when, one morning we had a craving for homemade pies. Where else to find 'em than Maine? Except we couldn't find any. Then I remembered the pink "PIES" sign on some road we passed the other day. My friend was skeptical. Did it really say "pies?" And, then I wondered if the pie would even be worth trying. With thoughts of blueberry, apple, apricot and rhubarb pies twirling in our heads, we set off to look for this sign. And, curiously, after leaving our accommodation in Biddeford Pool, I spotted the sign as we zoomed by. I cried out "Pies." But we were already long past it. Was it worth making that U-turn? Yes!

Beside the sign was a small driveway and a parking lot adjacent to a self-serve farm stand that was carefully decorated and stocked with homemade everything. Freshly baked pies were each stacked atop doilies and placed in a glass case. That day it was apple and blueberry. Shelves held jellies and jams, including several with habanero peppers. Lobster meat was stored in a cooler as was pesto sauce in little tupperware-type containers. There were chocolate chip cookies, just-cut flowers and so much more.

Everything was done with great care. (Even a laughing Buddha was positioned near the entry.) Colorful post-its lined one wall, each to be used under different circumstances, including when the pies would be out of the oven. I found out that this is the owner's first year managing her farm stand. Given the quality of your goods -- we ate the entire pie in almost one sitting -- and her thoughtfulness, I'm confident her venture will be a success.

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Plenty of Culture on a Budget in Lisbon

For the budget minded, Lisbon is king. Here you can watch your pennies and do it in style, starting with staying at one of many design-focused hostels. And this week, starting today, you can gain entry to a score of venues that are usually either reserved for VIPs or are otherwise unavailable to the general public. Today starts Lisbon Week, an cultural open doors event, that allows you to enjoy history tours of rooms that are normally off limits. A biologist will lead you along the city's newest section of a peaceful greenway. And an art tour will highlight paintings, video installations and sculptures in unusual venues. You'll even be able to step into several embassies that will showcase their relationship with Portugal.

Find out about the art, architecture, history, green, music, gastronomy and other offerings during Lisbon Week in this article I just wrote for the Huffington Post.

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Lisbon's Urban Wilderness

If you had to pick an activity that would top your list of things to do in Lisbon, how high up would visiting a forest be? Would it even be on the list? Well, it should be. Lisbon is sprinkled with green spaces, including an expansive wilderness that's connected to downtown via a new pedestrian path. And, during Lisbon Week, a festival that starts on September 21st, you can take a free tour of this green way with a biologist. You can also sign up for history, art and architecture and other tours that will weave through some of the city's most unexpected venues.

I recently wrote about the Monsanto Green Corridor for National Geographic Traveler - Intelligent Travel.

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Adventures in Costa Rica

Most visitors only see the dense foliage of Braulio Carrillo National Park from the window of a tour bus that zips by. Instead, I chose to hire a private guide and explore on foot. This is the closest national park to San Jose, Costa Rica's capital. But Braulio Carrillo has few maintained trails and those that are navigable are steep, often muddy, and require a guide who'll lead you to refreshing streams and tumbling waterfalls and, most importantly, keep you at a distance from one of the most venomous snakes in the world, the fer-de-lance. (Luckily, I didn't see the latter.) But this tropical expanse is also a birdwatchers paradise, considering over 500 bird species can be found here, including the magnificent quetzal that I did spot. 

You certainly can't hike down the active Poas Volcano crater filled with teal-hued waters. But on the periphery trails wind through an otherworldly landscape of miniature bonsai-type trees and sizzling steam vents. In this crater-hugging cloud forest, one path wanders through a forest of twisted dwarf trees and leads to Laguna Botos, a lake formed from an extinct volcano where you may even see the fiery-throated hummingbird.

Puffy white masses meet the trees and the world becomes enveloped in mist. Welcome to the world of Costa Rica's cloud forests, include the most notable: the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Trails snake through a wilderness dominated by bromeliads, orchids and other epiphytes, 200 types of ferns and hundreds of butterfly species. Birdwatchers who get up very early can spy the resplendent quetzal, a bird that's noted for its iridescent green and ruby red coloration. Dozens of hummingbird species are also a major draw.

A visit to Manuel Antonio National Park offers a cross-training adventure, where you could choose a different activity every day for a week. Among the options:

 

• horseback ride through the rainforest-coated interior.

• white water raft on the Sevengre River with its Class II and III rapids

• scuba dive where you're likely to spot giant manta rays and white tip reef sharks.

• ocean kayak along the coastline rimmed with white sand beaches or through the nearby mangrove forests around Damas Island where sloths, howler monkeys and anteaters can be seen

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Brooklyn's Collection of Wooden Houses

Wooden houses and present-day New York City don't sound like a natural fit. By 1900, you couldn't build wooden houses in Brooklyn that had just become part of Manhattan where wooden houses were outlawed because of their propensity to catch fire. No wonder, considering, with no electricity at that time, families were roaming around their houses with lighted candles.

So imagine my surprise when, on a walking tour with the Wooden House Project, I learned that 50% of the houses in Brooklyn are made of wood.  The Project's founder, Elizabeth Finkelstein and Chelcey Berryhill, one of the contributors to the Project that delights in everything about wooden houses, led our small group through the streets of Brooklyn's South Slope one recent sweltering day, pointing out these reminders of the past that are often concealed by none other than vinyl siding.

Many of us had the erroneous notion that these wooden dwellings were once old farm houses. In fact, they were Brooklyn's early row houses in this neighborhood where most everyone worked in the Ansonia Clock Factory, the major employer dating from 1879, and the stimulus for the neighborhood's development.

Webster Place – it's a row of 1867 houses with simple porches. This block is what most of the streets once looked like.

The gingerbread detailing, with spindles and portico columns are not original, but they are of that time.

Dating from 1863 , this house is located in the Historic District. From this house, the original owners would have views of the Ansonia, which was set on rocky land with immense embankments.

The mansard roof on this dormered house was popular in the 1860s. It was popular in the 1860s then fell out of favor only to return again in the 20th century.

Aside from these treasures, we also learned that a lovely yellow house on 11th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues was moved to this spot between 1886 and 1898. On 12th street between 6th and 7th Avenues, a carpenter owned the early cottage row house, circa late 1850s, that's snuggled between two brick brownstones. Since there were few architects at that time, houses like this one were built using pattern books illustrating what was  trendy. 

 

But for all the love we hold for wooden houses, they wouldn't still be around today, at least not in the good condition they are in, if it weren't for the aluminum or vinyl siding we find on many, like the row of six houses, all clad in different siding on 15th street between 6th and 7th Avenues. This is an inexpensive way to protect the wooden facade. And protection is what they need because once these houses are all gone, that's it. Because they're outlawed, you'll never find another wood house in New York City. Enjoy 'em while they last.

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An Eco-Centered Resort in Nicaragua

A few people leisurely swam in the infinity pool, looking out to the serene bay where a fishing boat was anchored. Others sat in lounge chairs, sipping watermelon coolers. No one seemed to give a care in the world to the sloth lounging in the mangrove tree nearby, something he did every afternoon. Or the tiny lizard taking in the rays atop the pool's stone steps.

Ah, life is good at Morgan's Rock, an all-inclusive eco-resort where, of course, the guests catered to but, more interestingly, the native creatures and natural environment are given their due respect.

 I recently wrote about Morgan's Rock for National Geographic Traveler - Intelligent Travel.

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Gear Review: Synergy Organic Clothing For Savvy Travelers

I couldn't seem to escape the sweltering temperatures this summer. Whether racing around Manhattan or Williamsburg, Brooklyn from one meeting to the next, checking out a newly developed waterfront in Lisbon, bicycling in Madrid, waiting for hours to catch a long-distance train in Budapest, or exploring galleries Bratislava, I found that the weather over the past four weeks made it difficult to dress comfortably but professionally.

Luckily I traveled with two new dresses by Synergy Organic Clothing.
The Peacock Flutter and the Hummingbird Meadow, both made mostly of (95%) organic cotton and a little (5%) Lycra, packed well in my tiny carry-on, hardly wrinkled, washed easily and dried quickly and, most importantly, felt oh, so comfortable in the sticky climes I was frequenting. They were light, airy and just plain fun.

In addition, both went from days of strolling urban scapes, attending business meetings, and even pedaling along the path paralleling the Rio Manzanares in Madrid to nights sipping a crisp Vinho Verde wine in a chic Lisbon bar, or  having dinner in a rooftop restaurant in Manhattan.

Both dresses capture a creative vibe (they are bedecked with hand-sewn appliques carrying a nature-based theme) and are part of the company's sustainability ethic: they are manufactured in Nepal with the factories subscribing to fair-trade business practices, and relying on low-impact dyes.

What I love about these two dresses is that they embrace what I'm looking for: I gravitate to clothing companies that are sustainable but I also don't want to look like I'm about to hike the Appalachian Trail. The items should be simple without neglecting a sense of informal elegance, and, as a bonus, also have a creative side. (I am a writer, inventor and designer, after all, so wearing staid clothing isn't my thing at all. But nor do I want something that is over the top bohemian.)

These two dresses wore so well, I might order a few more.

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My Travel First-Aid Kit Organizer That Can Save Your Trip

 What's the biggest thing that can ruin a trip? An illness or injury probably tops the list. Consider these scenarios:

● A woman travels with her husband to rural China. In the middle of the night, she awakens with major discomfort indicating a vaginal infection. A remedy was no where to be found for days. (Clearly, she didn't carry Monistat or the equivalent in her first-aid kit.) Imagine how this messed up this couple's travels.

● A family goes mountain biking in Idaho and one of the kids falls, knocking out a tooth. If the tooth is properly preserved in the correct solution -- found with the product Save-A-Tooth -- it could be reimplanted. The family only had water bottles and a standard first-aid kit. Result: the tooth dies!

● A man is hiking in Italy's Dolomite mountains when he falls on a sharp rock, lacerating his leg. Doesn't sound like such a big deal, right? Just a few band-aids should be fine. This man was taking anti-clotting medications. He didn't carry a special gauze pad that enhances blood clotting. The result: unexpected blood loss.

● A woman is camping in a national forest in northern Florida. Sitting near the camp fire, she gets some debris in her eye. She tries sprinkling some water in her eye, to no avail. It becomes so irritating over a period of hours that she's forced to drive to the emergency room. If only she carried a saline eye wash and some lubricating eye drops. 

The solution to all these scenarios and more: Doc-in-a-Bag™  

I was just interviewed by the online magazine, The Cultureist, on this product that I just developed. Find out how it can save your next trip, whether you're traveling domestically or to a far-flung locale.

You can buy Doc-in-a-Bag™ here. And also from Amazon. 

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Easyjet vs. Ryanair - Which Airline Do I Prefer?

Sure, we all want a good deal. But money-saving experiences shouldn't be accompanied by unpleasantness. My recent European journey where I relied on the budget airlines easyjet and Ryanair (for flights to and from Lisbon, Madrid and Budapest) was a lesson in contrasts. Read on to find out which airline came out on top.

If you're not carrying an EU passport, despite your online boarding pass, you can't proceed directly to security unless you have your boarding pass stamped after showing your passport to Ryanair personnel. This resulted in up to an hour of wasted time. In some airports there's a dedicated line for this and in other airports you have to get in a line (or a disorganized crowd) of people who are also checking luggage -- which I'm not.  Once the Ryanair counter opened, it was a stampede.

Carry-on luggage can't weigh more than 22 pounds and it has to fit into what I consider a small metal template measuring 21.6" x 15.7" x 7.8". (I saw many a savvy traveler trying to stuff their already-slim bag into this sizer at the gate.) This wasn't a problem for me with my ultra petite backpack. (Just remember that with both Ryanair and easyjet, a purse or laptop bag counts as your one piece of luggage.)

Since there's no assigned seating, chaos reigns once you get on board, with passengers saving multiple seats -- it's like going to a movie in Manhattan the night a blockbuster opens -- and the rest rushing to get either the desired window or aisle. On one flight, this left five children in a family separated from each other and from their parents. The flight attendants finally took pity and relocated them together just as we were about to taxi down the runway.

The flight attendants, who didn't seem like a happy bunch, didn't budge to help anyone around me place their slim bags in the overhead bin. In fact, they looked like they had all run out of anti-depressants a month ago.

The interior of the plane is garishly blanketed with ads. It's like you're flying a billboard.

Don't expect any seat pocket to place your book or other items you'd like to have easy access to.


After checking in online and printing my boarding pass, I went directly to the gate at the airport. (I had no luggage to check and easyjet doesn't have any of this boarding pass stamping nonsense.)

easyjet doesn't dictate the weight limit for carry-ons. It also subscribes to the more standard dimensions for cabin luggage, which is 22" x 17.7" x 9.8". And they just announced their guaranteed cabin bag dimensions (19.7" x 15.7" x 7.9") which means if the overhead bin fills up and the flight attendants have to start remove bags that will have to be checked, yours won't be one of 'em.

easyjet has seat pockets with their informative magazine and the interior is not all about ads.

The flight attendants were ultra pleasant, going out of their way to help passengers with bags and other matters.

The bottom line: I hope to never fly Ryanair again, unless I'm desperate. (And maybe not even then.)

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