Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: Queen of the night, monarch gems and more

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Colorful postage stamp featuring monarch butterflies, designed by Michael Parsons in 1988.

Above: Night-blooming cereus, or Queen of the Night, in the garden of La Casa de los Ladrillos

Late this past summer in Queretaro, shimmering jade-green pendants ringed with golden beads clung to patio walls of a casa particular where we stayed with a friend. Gleaming gems sheer enough to reveal the treasures growing within – golden wings emerging to flutter and feast on flowers before joining the millions migrating to nearby Michoacan.

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Postcard from Bilbao, Spain: Urban vitality conquers industrial detritus

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Above: Dancers swirl around Plaza de Santiago in Casco Viejo on a fall night.

There is no nightlife in Spain. They stay up late but they get up late. That is not nightlife. That is delaying the day.”

Ernest Hemingway

Better leave it to Ernest Hemingway to explain Spain’s nocturnal habits, for I rarely witness late nights outside our home in South Austin or apartments when we travel. That’s why it was particularly pleasurable for the Basques of Bilbao to bring the party to a plaza directly under our balcony. If they did indeed stay up late, they were polite enough to pack up the accordions and finish the celebration elsewhere.

Below represents a random unpacking of snapshots from our stay in Bilbao – a city resuscitated by the reclamation of its riverfront from its industrial past and a bold, massive investment in art.

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Postcard from Lyon, France: Where good food regarded as ‘a birthright’

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Above: Polenta and asparagus buried below a mound of fresh leafy ‘weeds’ at Les Mauvaises Herbes

Hope you’re ready to feast your eyes again because here comes part two of our restaurant experiences in the capitol of French gastronomy.

The pig in the name Le Cochon qui Boit intimidated me at first. I knew I wasn’t ready for a menu that goes all whole-hog-centric, but this is a drinking pig. That sounded more up my alley. Once inside gazing at the daily menu, I realized one even could graze all-vegetable there if desired. A red cabbage and hazelnut salad as an amuse bouche quickly confirmed the kitchen’s talents in that arena.

An endive salad was topped with ultra-thin slices of coppa ham and almonds, while tender cauliflower was paired with olives and fresh chervil. Shredded parmesan hides a serving of beet ravioli, and that shiny beige mound that appears to be a dessert is actually whipped up roasted parsnips, as good as a dessert. The rectangular dark wedge is Cochon Noir Gascon, meat of the highly prized black pig of the high Pyranees. This tender pork arrived with wedges of panisse and spinach.

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