Travels in the 2nd half

Framed Tourists on The Highline One of the things that I really love about living in New York City is that there is always something to do or see. If you are in the city, and you have some time to pass, there are many ways spend that time. I discovered three small museums in the Chelsea/Mid-town south neighborhood that are each a great way to spend an hour or two. The Center For Book Arts   Most people pickup a book without giving any thought to how it is produced. Why was a particular font chosen? How was the cover designed? What role does the printer play in making the book? The Center for Book Arts is a great place to explore those questions, and others, about typography, book binding, and printing. Type Trays The Center “promotes active exploration of both contemporary and traditional artistic practices related to the book as an art object.”(www.centerforbookarts.org) It offers exhibits that explore the interaction between writing and designing books. On ...

In Santa Cruz Some people can head to a resort and just sit on the beach for a week. They are happy to enjoy the sun and sand. But they learn nothing about the country they visit. That is not how I or The Amazing Ms. D travel. So, during our visit to Costa Rica, we hired a driver to give us a private tour of some of the local towns in Guanacaste Provence. We wanted to have a chance to explore a little of the lives of Costa Ricans, or as they call themselves, Ticos.   Our guide picked us up on a Saturday morning, and we headed for our first stop, the city of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz if the second largest city in Guanacaste. It has a population of around 25,000 people. The city reminded me of many towns in Central America and the Caribbean that have roots in the Spanish colonial era. Its narrow streets are lined with low buildings, with awnings and balconies that provide shade for the people walking below. We parked near the Bernabela Ramos Park, one of the town’s main squ...

  The Amazin’ Ms. D and I traveled to Costa Rica for a restful beach vacation. Truthfully, Sitting on a beach for a whole is more vegetating than I usually can stand, so I decided to look for a tour to take. Now, I am not a person that does “adventure travel”, but there was a tour that interested me, the Diamante Eco Adventure Park. The Diamante Park was built about 5 years ago near the town of Matapalo. It sits on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was a two hour drive from our hotel in Tamarindo, and the Hotel Tamarindo Diriá offered a trip there on its own bus. They sold two different tours. The “Adventure” tour, which included a choice of zip-line or horse-back riding, including a very long “superman” zip-line.  Another choice is the “Cultural” tour which includes a demonstration of the history of sugar, coffee, and chocolate in Costa Rica. Both tours offer the opportunity to visit the Diamante Animal Sanctuary and include aa buffet lunch. I chose the ...