Monday, July 13, 2015

Lovely Seaside Charm in York Beach, Maine: Two Sisters Inn

My friend since grade school has enjoyed a lovely beach home in York Beach, Maine, for as long as I can remember. Her mom bought the house with her sister years ago, and it's a place her family uses in the summer; they rent it out for the rest of the year. 
I usually visit Two Sisters Inn every summer. It is a lovely retreat; not seaside, but at less than a half mile from Short Sands in York Beach, Maine and across the street from a full ocean view, it's a true beach house with an abundance of seaside charm. 

Here are some of the pieces that caught my eye and that give Two Sisters Inn its personality. 
I love this painting. I can feel the sun and the ocean breeze pouring through the window. 


Maine blueberries accent this sea-inspired wreath. 

Best napping couch, ever. 

There are nautical accessories in every room. 


Even in the bathroom

The mantel, over a working fireplace, is adorned with its own sea-inspired wreath.

Lighthouses are peppered throughout the house, in recognition 
of the iconic, Nubble Light, that sits less than a mile away. 

Even the cookie jar has nautical style. 

It is clear to see the sisters paid close attention to detail in decorating their summer retreat, down to the light switches. 






The back outside deck provides a great space for reading or enjoying a cup of coffee. 



Unless you prefer swinging under a mighty tree. 

Or sitting on the front deck, adorned with its own nautical and patriotic style. 



It's sad to think that her mom will be selling her share of the house in another year or so; she simply does not use it as much anymore now that my friend's dad has died. 

Nevertheless, Two Sisters Inn provided years of family fun and a quiet respite from the summertime beach mania of south coastal Maine. 


And it's a lovely place I have come to enjoy, full of memories of laughter, great food, and the best of friends. It is a lovely treat, indeed.






















Wednesday, July 8, 2015

An American in Spain: How My Life in Galicia Differs from My Life in Boston and a Link-Up



We travel to Spain every year. Village life in Galicia is a bit different than the life we have here in the Boston area, but it is lovely nonetheless.

We are blessed with family and friends who we look forward to seeing every year, and having a home base in Spain allows us to to explore areas near and far from our home base near A Coruña

Village life can be different from my life here in the States. Here are a few examples based on my own experience. Other regions may have different customs, but for me, this is what I have noticed. 

  • Spaniards don't hug. You get two kisses in greeting, one on each cheek (more like cheeks touching...no lips involved), but no hugs. Sometimes, I still make that mistake when greeting my relatives. Men, like here in the States, shake hands. 
  • There are animals everywhere. Our neighborhood is farmland that abuts the ocean. It's spectacular. Here is a piece I wrote about the road we take the to the beach. It is lovely, punctuated by small farms. There are cats that visit us every day, as do our neighbors' dogs.


  • There are no screens on the windows. Every year, on the first night in our house, I wake up like a colander, spotted with bites, until we get the new mosquito plug-ins from Carrefour's or Gadis' market. There are shutters on the windows that keep out birds and light for night time sleeping and siesta, but occasionally, mosquitoes or small flies get in. The plug-ins help. And I don't know anyone with air conditioning. 
Hogar, dulce hogar...Home, sweet home. 
  • Like most of Europe, we have bidets. You flush toilets by pushing one of two buttons on the top of the toilet. One is smaller and one is larger...you can guess why. 
  • Our refrigerator is small, as are our sinks, stove burners, and washing machine, compared to the ones we have in the States. We have a gas stove and we light the pilot every time. 

  • We line dry our clothes. I plan my laundry around the weather forecast. 
  • We go to the closest town's market for our food. We only use the supermarket, like Carrefour's or Gadis, for things we can't get at the mercado, and you pay a Euro deposit to use the cart. Twice a month, we go to the feria, a bigger outdoor market. You can read more about the Feria in Padrón here. We also get fresh fruits and veggies from our uncle and aunt. Check out their garden here. 


  • We have two cooking areas in the house. One area houses the main kitchen and the other is for grilling (and storing liquor and drying chorizo). 

  • We use gas tanks, called bombonas, for hot water and cooking, located and regulated in the kitchen, under the sink.

  • The baker comes to the house every day. The bread we buy is round and hearty; it's delicious. They have longer baguette style breads as well, but in my opinion, it does not come close to the deliciousness of the pan Gallego. We don't eat toast. We eat bread with every meal. The baker, by the way, can also bring you a cheese and a newspaper, and maybe even an empanada, if you ask the day before. 



Bread with the famous pimentos de Padrón.

Galician Empanadas

  • We use the metric system...kilometers, liters, and kilos...oh my!
  • We don't have wifi at the house yet, since we're not there full time, but more and more businesses have it and will share their wifi codes, if it's not public already. 
  • People grow food, not lawns. Space is used to grow kale, potatoes, onions... whatever you want. There may be courtyards and small grassy areas for entertaining, but everyone, (around us anyway) grows food. Everyone around us also has hens for eggs. Some have chickens and rabbits for meat. And some have pigs or milking cows. 
  • Produce is half the price that it is here. You buy food in kilograms or kilos (2.2 pounds). Fuel is our biggest expense. Tolls can be pricy too, but there are roads where there are none. For example, you can drive all the way from Madrid to parts of Galicia (about 5-6 hours) toll free, but then the road from home to the mall, for example, in A Coruña, may cost close to $5 US. 
  • We are on 24-hour military time. 


Just past midnight. 
  • We recharge our minutes on old unlocked phones and we have Spanish numbers. It's like a pay-as-you-go service until we're there full time. 
  • It's all Spanish (and Gallego), all the time, except for conversation between my husband and me. It can be overwhelming. I am learning every day, and my Spanish is much better when I am there, but language fatigue is real. 


  • Going out to eat is not expensive. Menus of the day include a bottle of wine, a liter of water, two full courses, dessert, and coffee for about $12-$14 US. A beer or glass of wine is about $2 and comes with a tapa. A cafe con leche is about $1.20 and probably will come with a cookie or pastry.
Cafe con leche
  • Most cars are manual shift cars with diesel engines and the gas station attendant pumps your fuel, which is sold by the liter. 
  • There are not many traffic lights where we are, but there are traffic circles, or roundabouts, at all of the intersections, and there are speed bumps that can take out your undercarriage, if you're not careful.
  • Eggs and unopened milk are not refrigerated. And we don't buy eggs from the store; everyone we know has hens, so our eggs are fresh.
  • Peanut butter is hard to find. Nuts, in general, are expensive because they are imported. 
  • You can buy an entire leg of ham (ex. jamon serrano) at the supermarket. 
  • When we are traveling, dinner in Spain does not happen before 9:00 (21:00) and many businesses still close for siesta, reopening around 5 (17:00) in the afternoon. 
  • There is always time to stop for a coffee. 
  • You're almost always a stone's throw from a Roman ruin or a castle...a history lover's paradise.
  • Seafood rules this region. Gallegos love their pulpo (octopus) and sardines.
Grilling up sardines with Tio. 
  • Public transportation (buses and trains) can get us from the village to anywhere in Europe. 
  • We are 3 kilometers (1.87 miles) from the beach, so we go to the beach just about every day to walk and visit our beachfront bar for a coffee or a drink and tapa.  And the sunsets (around 21:45-22:00) are spectacular every night. 



I love my time in Spain. While the rain in Spain certainly does fall in green Galicia, the summer time sees better weather, with more sun than rain. My life has a slower pace. There is always time to talk, as Robert Frost says in his 1920 poem, A Time to Talk. Everything still gets done in time, but there is always a time to talk. This requires letting go of the idea of a quick errand or trip to the bank, but in the long run, it's about building and maintaining relationships. 


From my experience, the Spaniards work hard, but they work to live, not live to work. It's hard to explain cultural differences without sounding critical of your own; however, it took seeing how others live elsewhere to know how much I want for my own friends and family here in the States. I want them to work less hours and live with more freedom to do what makes them happy. I want people to make a living wage where they receive access to health care and vacation time to spend as they wish. 

Isn't that all anyone wants? 


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Saturday, July 4, 2015

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day, America! 

No one does the 4th of July like Boston! Cheers!



The Pops and "Stars and Stripes Forever"


I'm still visiting in Florida this 4th of July. What are your plans for the 4th?