Post by Grubb. The last time we enjoyed an extensive visit with Marc and Judi was when we were in Oaxaca during the Christmas holidays in 2018. That was when Marc, bent on introducing Ella to the world of mescal, gave us the rambling go-for-the-worm dark doorway bar tour that prepared us for joining the…
Author: Grubb
Boardwalk, lobster, and cranberries
Post by Grubb. Barry and Deidre took us on marsh walk along a narrow pier that looked above sinuous water carved reedy patches where crabs burrowed into the mud. Stepping on the donor-inscribed wooden slats towards the lookout at the end of the pier, I started to feel like I was in the opening sequence…
My favorite car dealer
Post by Grubb. Kurt Vonnegut—who else? In the late o 1950s when Kurt was living in Barnstable, he sold Saabs out of a stone garage. Fortunately, for those of us who are fans, the business never really took off. Cape Cod is known for its summer stock venues (Provincetown Playhouse the most renowned), and Dennis’s…
Rhubarb
Post by Grubb. For every trip we take, there’s a search for some edible delight we have a hard time finding in Albuquerque. On venturing out to the Yankee heartland, I was bent on sampling some rhubarb pie. To my taste, it’s the prince of pies. Luckily, in Centerville, a village of Barnstable, there’s a…
A wet day for Hyannisports
Post by Grubb. One of the thought adventures I have when I travel is to compare the landscape of my imagination with the actual terrain I encounter. It usually turns out that reality downsizes the take-away from I’ve read or seen in photographs. Years ago, our visit to the Texas Book Depository in Dallas gave…
What Hurricane?
Post by Grubb. With clear skies and a faint, almost nonexistent breeze, we headed toward Sandy Neck Beach trudging on a trail of pure sinking sand that cut through sea coast marshland. Signs on either side of the path warned us not to stray. The advice was taken seeing that the poison ivy had taken…
Cape Fear
Post by Grubb. After leaving the open landscape of the New Mexican high desert, the drive from Providence, Rhode Island to Barnstable, Massachusetts was like tunneling through a relentless forest. From the brown to the green, the distant to the near, it was a fugitive environment where one could easily disappear. I wondered, what’s hidden…
Up to Uppsala
Post by Grubb. Once we checked into the last hotel we’ll be staying at before flying home (tomorrow), we took a train to Uppsala. Known for its way-old university (Linnaeus taught there), Uppsala is commuter friendly to Stockholm the way Santa Fe is to Albuquerque. Our main intention was to enjoy another sunny day in Sweden. Take…
Grubb’s Favorites, the short list
Favorite theater Not this one… But this one where a video of Strindberg’s “Miss Julie” plays on a small stage designed by Davy and Kristin McGuire. Favorite furniture design Favorite ad Favorite statue Favorite cornice Favorite not-so-quiet place to read
National Day picnic
Post by Grubb. We started out relatively late this morning so as to meld in with holiday crowds and sort of get swept away by their flow, the idea being that the flow would lead to the show, the National Day celebration of Sweden becoming Sweden sans Denmark, Norway, or Germany. When we popped up from…
Dark break into the Middle Ages
Post by Grubb Back in Gamla Stan after leaving Skansen, I had to duck into the Medieval Museum. (Ella opted for sunshine; she was done with museums.) But, hey, it was National Day and there was free admission. While children played in the fountain outside, I got to slip through the dimly lighted Medieval Stockholm exhibits like…
Wild Strawberries
Post by Grubb We were out at the Bergius Botanic Gardens in Brunnsviken yesterday afternoon when I paid homage to Bergman’s final shot in “Wild Strawberries”.
Nordiska
Post by Grubb. This morning we took a bus to the large Nordiska Museet on the island of Djurgården in central Stockholm. The Museet deals with the cultural history of Sweden since the 16th century. First, the long hallway devoted to fashion, then a short hallway length tribute to Strindberg, followed by display cases of cuisine…
The library of dizzy delights
Post by Grubb Imagine Bruegel’s “The Tower of Babel” as if it were a library with books stacked by Borges and you get what it feels like when you enter the Stockholm Public Library. Designed by Gunnar Asplund, the circular structure around the rotunda of the reading room was finished in 1928. Browsing titles three…
Yesterday’s scream
Post by Grubb. First, at the Moderna Museet. There was in Monica Sjöō’s “The Great Cosmic Mother” exhibit of her work, her own twist on Munch. Then, in the Museum for the Performing Arts, Ella’s version. Outside, Ella was calmed down by a quick lilac embrace.