Today’s Throwback Thursday is to me as a baby and my wonderful abuela, my grandmother Nieves. I was actually named after her as my real first name is Caridad de las Nieves. When I became a citizen I had to change that since I couldn’t have a compound first name and so I became just Caridad, or Cari as my family and Latin friends call me. My grandmother was an amazing woman. When my mom and dad had to leave us behind in Cuba, my maternal grandparents had to care for my sister and me and they did so for nearly two years until my parents could arrange for us to enter the U.S. My grandparents lived with us and it was a wonderful experience to have their many years of knowledge to learn from and also, a very different kind of life since they came from a small aldea in Spain. I was lucky to have my abuela in my life for as long as I did.
Action, Adventure, and Aztec Demons
I was lucky to visit Mexico many times while I working as an attorney! We had some fabulous Mexican clients who became good friends and I loved learning about their culture and exploring Mexico City, Guadalajara and Tequila. I wanted to honor them by creating stories featuring what I had learned during those adventures and that’s how Aztec Gold and The Fifth Kingdom were born. Aztec Gold is an exciting Indiana-Jones-style action-adventure romance about a missing archeologist and the lover traveling into the jungle to find and save him from an Aztec demon. As for The Fifth Kingdom, I’ll be re-releasing that novel in a month or so and I know you will also love that story about the search for a mystical object that can be used by terrorists to destroy the world! If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can download Aztec Gold for free at https://amzn.to/3OYslaj.
A lovely trip to Strasbourg and the Alsace Wine Region
The Adventure Continues
The past two Travel Tuesdays I’ve shared photos of our time in Frankfurt and traveling along the Rhine Gorge. Today’s visit is to Strasbourg and the Alsace Wine Region, the next stops on our adventure.
Arrival in Strasbourg
We woke Strasbourg and a beautiful morning. This fascinating city has a heavy German influence due to the several transitions between being French and German after numerous wars or invasions over the centuries. Strasbourg, a city listed on the Unesco World Heritage, boasts a history that goes back to Roman times.
Exploring the City
We strolled around the many lovely streets and the Petite France district, which had a unique charm with its half-timbered homes and abundant flowers. Our walk concluded at an amazing and immense cathedral, but we weren’t able to explore its interior. Following this walk around the city, we returned to our boat for a delicious lunch.
The Alsace Wine Region
Relaxed and ready to go again, we went on our next journey to the beautiful Alsace Wine Region, visiting the towns of Ottrot and Obernai. Ottrot, a quaint village, is home to the Fritz-Schmitt Winery. Antoine, the owner’s son, led us through a wine tasting where we sampled several white wines that are typical of the region, as well as a cabernet. While we did the tasting, we had a delightful conversation with some women from the St. Louis area. One of the charms of the river cruise is the opportunity to meet and mingle with new people since there are only about 150 cruisers on the boat.
A Visit to Obernai
Following the wine tasting, we traveled to the nearby city of Obernai. This beautiful town captivated us with its charm. We decided to break away from the organized tour to soak in the local atmosphere. We stopped at a local café, where we enjoyed some beer and coffee, and explored various small shops. The cobblestoned streets led us to tasty finds such as nougat, cookies, and chocolates. We even encountered a shop dedicated entirely to cheeses and sausages! However, we had to leave this charming town and head back to meet the bus for the return trip to the boat.
Onward to Our Next Adventure
Back on the boat, we took the opportunity to unwind and rest as we cruised to our next destination: Basel, Switzerland! More about our journey in Basel next week!
Thank you to Canva Magic Write for assistance with this blog post.
Do you love vampires or shifters?
Do you love vampires or shifters? I have to confess that I’ve written way more vampire romances than shifter stories, but I really do love shifters as well. Especially werecats like jaguars (Crazy for the Cat) or cougars (Night of the Cougar). There is something elemental about big cats like that and what it would be like to have such powerful animals controlled by a human mind. How about you? Do you love vampires, shifters, or like me, both?
Dance in the Rain
It’s been raining for a week on the Jersey Shore. I can’t ever remember it raining that much in a long time. Actually, we’ve had several summers and falls where the rain seemed to have missed us regularly. My little rain gauges were full yesterday before we had record rain! The rain made it impossible to take my daily walks so I decided to take advantage to do a little cleaning, a little packing (I’m headed off to Korea next week for some book research), a little reading, and assembling some raised beds that I want to use to make my garden look a little neater. Of course I realized that I had to also make the raised beds a bit more portable so I had to order some fabric pots to hold the soil. As soon as they arrive, and hopefully the rains will be gone by then, I’ll move around some of the perennials and get going on that organization. September and early October are a great time to divide perennials and also plant your spring flowering bulbs. What if it’s raining? I’ll just have to dance in the rain while I wait for a rainbow! P.S. – If you love books on the Jersey Shore, check out the At the Shore contemporary romance series at https://amzn.to/3LJFL7A.
Excited to be a Rising Creator
I’m so excited to see that Facebook recently gave me a Rising Creator Badge. I am so glad that you are enjoying the posts that I’m sharing with you! Thank you so so much for the friendship and support that has made that possible. Hoping you all have a fabulous Friday! We’re suffering through yet another waterlogged day. Honestly, I don’t know how people in Seattle or London deal with all the rainy weather.
Loving the Fall Changes
It’s funny how nature seemed to have flipped a switch this past Saturday. We went from sunny, crystalline blue, warm summer days to four days of rain, gale force winds thanks to Ophelia, and a chill. Wow! Luckily I was able to get to the landscape center to get some pumpkins before fall arrived. I dug out some of my fall decorations also and today’s Throwback Thursday is some photos I took yesterday before the rain comes again! How about you? Do you decorate for the seasons or holidays? I used to only do it for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas, but now I change up decorations a lot more often since I have the time.
