Lisbon Trip-- Porto and Aveiro!

And here is the next batch of Portugal pics!  Hope you're not sick of them yet (because there's still another batch coming after this...;-)  So, these photos are from Porto and Aveiro, from the middle of our ten-day anniversary trip...

Cafes along the river...

Our beautiful hotel room was right on the water! Guest House Douro was a bit of a splurge for us, but totally worth it.  We were greeted with roses and champagne and this amazing view:

Our hosts, Carmen and Joao, were stylish and vibrant and warm- they made us feel so welcome!  They had a smile-inducing array of pet names for us: kittens and loves and kids and babies and sweeties. (I told Ian I wanted to start calling everyone babies and kittens, but he didn't think I could quite pull it off the way Carmen and Joao do.)  Beret-sporting Joao made breakfasts, which were veritable towers of sculpted exotic fruit... (I need to raid Ian's camera for pics, since for some reason I didn't get any on my own camera... too busy eating mango and guayabana.)

We spent our two days in Porto wandering the various cobble-stoned neighborhoods, going from one amazing scenic outlook to another.

This town definitely had a port feel-- the smells of water and tastes of fresh fish and smattering of colorful boats.  Like Lisbon, there were many beautifully tiled buildings with intricate wrought iron balconies holding flapping laundry...

We found a craft/antique market in the street, and got some cool little gifts.

We rented out bikes one afternoon and biked along the Douro River to the Atlantic. This was something I don't remember doing when I backpacked around Europe a couple decades ago-- renting bikes-- must be a more recent phenomena.  We made bike outings several times on this trip, and loved them all.

I appreciated how these people's laundry was color-coordinated with their tiles...

The colors of Porto are this wonderful mix of rich and gritty...

Ah, sunsets...

Porto is supposed to be one of the romantic cities in Europe, and I have to say, I agree... there's something about the river and boats and bridges...

Maybe it has to do with the light... look how golden! (Nothing here is photo-shopped-- I'm too lazy or perhaps busy for that.)

We stopped for a night and day at Aveiro, a small town between  Lisbon and Porto, on the coast.  It's called "Little Venice."

The bikes here were free to use (although they were fairly beat-up.) We biked along  the canals, past these gondola-like boats.

 

Half the time on this trip, we stayed in private rooms in economical hostels, like this one-- Aveiro Rossio Hostel.  These hostels were centuries-old and gorgeous-- twelve-foot high ceilings with elegant moulding and other cool architectural details. They were usually decorated in a mix of antiques and IKEA-- a kind of funky vintage-modern scheme-- waaaay different from the crumbling and utilitarian hostels I stayed in a couple decades ago while backpacking in Europe.   (We have those same curtains from IKEA at home, hehehe.)

Here's the lobby of the hostel.  In the morning, I had a nice long conversation in French with a French guy-- it's so fun to meet people from other countries, speak in other languages-- another bonus of hostel-hopping.

Here's the beautiful old hostel where we stayed in Lisbon-- Travellers' House-- super-high ceilings, lovely moulding touches, private balcony, antique desk, IKEA beds. This place was kind of a Scandanavian-minimalist aesthetic with the white walls and linens. And the staff and other guests there were very cool and interesting to talk with, too. They made me nutella crepes for breakfast, further winning my heart...

Okay, I will only subject you to one more batch of these pictures, I promise!  Coming up next... Lisbon again-- the medieval, labyrinthine Alfama district; another bike ride along another river; romantic fado music in a hole-in-the-wall bar...

Off for a cup of tea now!

xo,
Laura

************UPDATE***********

Many readers have been asking me if Portugal will be a setting in an upcoming book!  Wellll... as you know, I don't like to divulge much about a book before it's even written (not good for my creativity), but I will say that one reason I chose Portugal for our trip was because of the coastline, castles, and mysterious gardens... all of which play parts in the two new YA manuscripts I'm currently working on.  I'm having lots of fun with it.  For me, it's so important to engage in a setting with all my senses, to really make it come alive for readers.

Anyway, thank you all for asking, and I hope you like the books that will eventually materialize from this latest travel adventure!

Half Moon Bay and Japanese Tea Gardens!

Hey guys!

 As I was walking along the bluffs of Half Moon Bay last week, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude that *this magnificence* is part of my job!  Ten years ago, as I was revising the not-yet-published manuscript of my first book, I never dreamed that my books would take me to places like this...



This was my second author visit to Half Moon Bay-- the first was a few years ago, during which time I fell in love with the place. I'd already been enchanted by the name, because, as you know if you've read my first two books, I really like moon-related things.



Armando Ramirez (above) invited me back this year and I was thrilled!  He's an amazing bilingual librarian who is deeply devoted to his job-- more like his calling, I'd say.  He knows everyone in town, as well as in neighboring towns, and calls them all m'hija or m'hijo. Makes me smile.



On the drive to visit El Granada elementary school (which overlooks the ocean! these kids are so lucky!), he told me all about his personal experiences with los gitanos (aka Rom, gypsies, hungaros) and el cine ambulante (traveling cinema) in rural Mexico-- a fascinating topic that I've been in the midst of researching lately. I was scribbling lots of notes...

His cool librarian colleague, Karen (above) is so much fun to hang out with, too-- here we are with the El Granada school mascot (a dolphin). The HMB community is so lucky to have these awesome, creative, committed librarians.

And here (below) is another one of my favorite HMB people-- teacher extraordinaire, Laurie McMahon, who reads my books aloud to her students every year.  I adore her students, who send me letters with insightful questions and comments about my books (and a bit of psychoanalysis of me--- they're really perceptive readers and notice all kinds of recurring images and themes...). We had an interesting, fun discussion in English and Spanish in the classroom. I also got to visit Pescadero Middle School, in a small, beautiful town down the coast a bit.

On Friday night, I did a presentation for the community, which was so interesting for me because I could chat more with the students and their families-- some of whom are from Oaxaca, where several of my books are set. So cool!

In my free moments, I walked along the succulent-covered cliffs over the beach and savored every last detail of the ocean... the sounds, the smells, the light on waves, the feel of the wind... it all makes my soul happily shiver and sigh.

I walked to the farmers' market on Saturday morning, and bought this entire fresh cherry pie for myself.  It was a smallish pie, and it was fun to just dig into it with a fork and sit on the curb in the sunshine and listen to the band play mellow, funky music.

I spent that afternoon with my good friend, Andrea, who I've known since middle school.  We walked and talked on the beach for hours among the gulls-- such a nice day!

I had a wee bit of time before my plane left on Sunday, so I spent an hour in the Japanese Tea Gardens in San Francisco.  I love gardens and tea, so it was no surprise that I loved this place.

The morning light was pretty and peaceful...

It's funny how safety-hyper (or lawsuit-scared) the U.S. is. A couple weeks earlier, in Portugal, Ian and I scampered up and down towers and castles and ramparts and tunnels and all manner of potentially dangerous-yet-cool things.  And I don't remember any signs telling us to be careful... after all, it was pretty much common sense, you know?  But back here, there are signs all over the place. Sigh.

Lovely, vibrant red temples here and there...

Pink azaleas remind me of growing up in Baltimore.  We don't seem to have azaleas here in Colorado.-- maybe they need more moisture or are less tolerant to cold? I miss them.

Such a peaceful way to begin a day of plane travel.

Thanks for swinging by!

xo,
Laura

Portugal Trip-- Magical Sintra!

 

Hello dear readers!

Here is the second installment of our anniversary trip to Portugal. The sweet little town of Sintra is less than an hour's train ride from Lisbon, and we spent days 3-5 of our trip there.  

 

Our first Sintra destination was Quinta da Regaleira.  While planning our trip, I'd read about this place, and was captivated by the words everyone used to describe it. 

 The adjectives: magical, mystical, fantastical, surreal, hidden, delightful, mysterious, whimsical... 

 The nouns: nooks, niches, grottos, secret doors, symbols, archetypes, gardens, towers, tunnels, waterfalls, labyrinths, springs, fountains, fairytales, myths, wells...

(If you've read my books, you know I eat this stuff up!)  So, based on the gushing of others, I guessed I'd love this place... and I did, oh I did! And so did Ian.  

It brings out the adventurous kid in you... wandering around these enchanted gardens and discovering secret passageways behind waterfalls, venturing down a dripping tunnel to find yourself at the bottom of a spiral-staired well. (How was it, we wondered, that we'd never heard about this place before planning our trip!?!)

 

It was full of delight and whimsy and wonderment, and we happily spent the afternoon there. (It was designed over a century ago by an Italian opera set designer named Luigi, as a commission for an eccentric Brazilian coffee tycoon, and eventually, about a decade ago, became open to the public.)

It's hard to describe this place in a tangible way, but basically, it's several hilly acres of verdant gardens with footpaths throughout, leading to towers, turrets, palaces, grottos, waterfalls, secret passages... and magnificent views.

Everything is packed with mythological significance, like this well that symbolizes a journey of intiation... (We're standing at the bottom of it here.)

The gardens and paths were deliciously lush and green...

The flowers were vibrant...

See those arches by the water? Secret tunnels abound inside of them-- a kind of labyrinth hidden in there!

We had a lovely lunch on this columned terrace...

 

Wine at lunch was a nice thing about traveling, just the two of us.  So luxurious.  And the Portuguese wine we drank was called vinho verde-- I'd never had it before, but it's really good-- light and fresh and a little bubbly.  It was only 2 or 3 bucks a glass in Portugal, and here in the States, we discovered it's only 8 or 9 bucks a bottle.  (The brand we got is Casal Garcia.) We're no wine connoisseurs, but we agreed that on a summery day, this stuff is the bomb. 

 

In the US, I usually drink green tea, but in Europe I can't resist those teeny cups of espresso... which is part of the reason we went to bed well after midnight and slept till late morning.  Again, so luxurious compared to my before-dawn-wake-up schedule here in Colorado (thanks to Lil Dude's early rising...)

 

Our guesthouse was Casa do Valle, at the edge of town, surrounded by gardens and views of castles and countryside... 

 

And breakfast was served on our private balcony.  (This inn was a bit of a splurge for us, but totally worth it... and, as a side note, lodging and meals in Portugal were more economical than in the US, which made splurging easier.)

Our kindly innkeeper, Virpi, told us about this gorgeous forest walk to the castles.... We do lots of hiking in Colorado, but there's something so special about hiking in Europe, next to ancient aqueducts and crumbling walls...

You can see the medieval ramparts in the distance through the trees....

The first palace we went to was the Palacio Nacional de Sintra, colorful and extravagant, and accessed through beautiful gardens...

Breathtaking views of the countryside...

Then we went to the Castelo dos Mouros-- a picturesque ninth century Moorish castle.  We walked all along the ramparts from one tower to another, and I have to say I was glad Lil Dude wasn't with us (although he's really into knights and swords) -- there were many places where he could've plunged to his death with one wrong step-- eek!  Woulda made be a bit nervous...

Yes, it was all very romantic and perfect for an anniversary trip... ;-)

On the way back from the castles, we walked down these sweet, wisteria-draped cobbled lanes no wider than an arms' span...

You know how when you're traveling and you see a place for sale, you start day-dreaming... 

 hmmm... if we were rich... just maybe....

Well, this was *that* house on our trip... across from the guesthouse at the edge of Sintra.  It was gorgeous and a little spooky, all run-down, with broken windows and whatnot, but look at it!  So much potential, no?  Ahhh ... fun to dream...

Thanks for reading! I'm planning on two more installments of Portugal photos-- Porto and Aveiro, and more of Lisbon.  Now I must prepare for a middle school visit in south Denver tomorrow.  (I just finished a fun visit to the bilingual school Irish Elementary, here in Fort Collins-- they read Star in the Forest.  I LOVED hearing their impressions and connections-- makes my heart full!) A happy spring day to you!

xo,

Laura

************UPDATE***********

Many readers have been asking me if Portugal will be a setting in an upcoming book!  Wellll... as you know, I don't like to divulge much about a book before it's even written (not good for my creativity), but I will say that one reason I chose Portugal for our trip was because of the coastline, castles, and mysterious gardens... all of which play parts in the two new YA manuscripts I'm currently working on.  I'm having lots of fun with it.  For me, it's so important to engage in a setting with all my senses, to really make it come alive for readers.

Anyway, thank you all for asking, and I hope you like the books that will eventually materialize from this latest travel adventure!

Portugal trip-- Lisbon!

Hello!

 Ian and I are back from our 10 year anniversary trip to Portugal, feeling elated and refreshed and reinvigorated!  My mom and dad watched Lil Dude while we were away (he missed us but was mostly happy being spoiled rotten). It was a truly blissful and relaxing trip, and I don't want to wait ten years to do the next one...

 

We spent ten days in Portugal, traveling up and down the Atlantic coast by train-- three days in Lisbon, two in Sintra, two in Porto, one in Aveiro, then two more in Lisbon again. (I'll focus on Lisbon in this post.)

So, I chose Portugal because I wanted a place where Ian and I had never been before-- I wanted us to explore it together, and have that magical sense of shared discovery.  (That's how our honeymoon trip to Morocco felt ten years ago, too.)



I also wanted to be near lots of water, since I miss it terribly, being land-locked in dry Colorado.  We stayed in places on large rivers and canals leading to the Atlantic-- it definitely satisfied my water cravings!



I also wanted a place where I didn't speak the language.  Portuguese has lots in common with Spanish and French, so I could get by... but it was good for me to be in that humbling position where I have to struggle to communicate.  (Hmmm, maybe most people wouldn't like that feeling, but for some reason I find it exciting and mentally stimulating... I really, really love languages, and I think Portuguese is especially beautiful.)



 The first couple days in Lisbon, we lazily recovered from jetlag, and just wandered the streets, ate good food (goat/sheep cheeses, olives, cured meats, fresh baked bread, fresh fish) drank good (delightfully cheap) wine (vinho verde is my new favorite.)  We loved the streetcars going up and down steep, cobbled roads... loved catching glimpses of water from lookout points...

 

The buildings were old and gorgeous and many were covered with tile (azulejos) or painted pretty pastel pinks and yellows and blues... As always, I wonder why most house colors in the US are so darn boring (which is why ours is mango-colored, post-renovation, and why I refuse to live anywhere with a HOA. Thankfully, our funky little neighborhood in Ft Collins embraces COLOR. ;-)


 

Such sweet little balconies...



 View after stunning view...


 

 I'd packed some cute sandals, including a kind of wooden, platformy pair, but they stayed in the suitcase the entire trip.  Every day we walked for miles up and down steep cobbled roads and sidewalks, so I was forced to wear my practical pink tennies (and actually wore some holes in them by the end of the trip...)

 

Portugal was everything we'd hoped it would be and more... and it was delightfully off the beaten American tourist track. We met lots of European travelers at hostels there, which was fun-- I got to practice my French a bit. A cool thing about Lisbon (and Porto, which you'll hear about in a future post) is that although they're beautiful, ancient cities with fascinating history, they're not as giant and overwhelming as some other European capitals I've spent time in.  We didn't need to use the metro or buses at all... it was manageable on foot and bike, so we could really get a feel for the different neighborhoods. 

 

In my next posts, I'll tell you about the other places we went, post-jet-lag.... stay tuned for castles and fantastical gardens and forest romps and bike adventures! Thanks for swinging by!

xo
Laura

************UPDATE***********

Many readers have been asking me if Portugal will be a setting in an upcoming book!  Wellll... as you know, I don't like to divulge much about a book before it's even written (not good for my creativity), but I will say that one reason I chose Portugal for our trip was because of the coastline, castles, and mysterious gardens... all of which play parts in the two new YA manuscripts I'm currently working on.  I'm having lots of fun with it.  For me, it's so important to engage in a setting with all my senses, to really make it come alive for readers.

Anyway, thank you all for asking, and I hope you like the books that will eventually materialize from this latest travel adventure!

Creativity and Risk...

 

Hey guys,

 I've been trying to post pics of the adorable baby goose who found her way, briefly, into our lives... but blogger isn't letting me upload the photos. Argh! I'll save those pics for another time.

So, I just thought I'd let you know I finished the next draft of my book-in-progress!  It was pretty much a complete rewrite-- I was able to salvage a few things here and there from the first draft.

I'm venturing out of my comfort zone with this book-- it's contemporary fantasy, which makes it different from my previous books (mostly realistic fiction with a touch of magical realism).  I've also experimented with point of view-- it's narrated in close third person, shifting among three different people. (All my other books are first person with only one or two narrators.)  And there are many other things that make it more intricate than any of my other books... complexities of plot and character and setting....  I could go on and on.  Let's just say that the story is ambitious and I'm trying to let it be as BIG as it wants to be. :-)

I've had conversations with my wise creator friend Les Sunde* about my insecurities during the process of writing this book.  I tell him I'm having lots of fun writing it, but sometimes I worry I won't be able to pull it off-- that I won't be able to make the reality of the book match the beautiful, intricate, epic vision I have for it.  And he tells me that I need to take this risk.  If I keep doing versions of the same creative thing over and over, staying in the familiar comfort zone, then my soul won't feel happy and soaring.

So, I'm taking the risk, and I have to say, I'm enjoying it, a LOT... but I am a little afraid of getting feedback on this latest draft--- seeing how short this falls from my vision, seeing how much work I'll need to do, how many more revisions.

But, despite my fears, I'm doing what I need to do, and loving the process, and taking the risk, and that's what creating is all about...

If you went to my Adventures in Novel-Writing workshop at the Pike's Peak Writers' Conference a couple weeks ago, this kind of self-pep-talk might sound familiar... (See, this here is evidence of my own self-pep-talking.)

Exciting things are happening in my life now... *travel*-related things... you will be hearing more about them pretty soon. And speaking of travel, I've been doing local travel around Colorado for author visits and conferences and workshops this spring, meeting so many amazing writers of all ages. A few days ago, I was at Indian Peaks Elementary in Longmont where I did a presentation about Star in the Forest and What the Moon Saw, and followed it up with a bilingual Spanish writing workshop.  I LOVED hearing the kids' character sketches in Spanish-- such a treat.

May you have the courage 
to take risks 
in your own creative endeavors!

xo,

Laura   

P.S.  You can read more creativity quotes on my Pinterest board here. :-)
P.P.S. * You can read more wisdom from my friend Les in this article I wrote about him here.

Chicago trip!

Hey guys,

It's a delightfully snowy day here, and a day off from school for Lil Dude.  Since he's currently occupied playing spy with his lil buddy, I thought I'd steal a minute and do a post.  Here are some pics from my recent trip to Chicago for Litworks, a teen book festival organized by some cool librarians-- one from the public library and one from the high school.

Loads of talent and fun...

Back row: Jennette Gonzales (librarian), awesome authors Brent Crawford and Matt de la Pena

Front row: me, and more awesome authors-- Mark Crilley, Alex Flinn, Jennifer Bradbury, and Penny Blubaugh (author *and* librarian)

My wonderful teen helper, Franny, who has written novels herself!

 

My other teen helper, Jessica, super sweet and organized...

(Audrey was my other fabulous teen helper, but alas, we didn't get a photo together.)

Note of interest: I discovered that most of the other authors featured had had either their books turned into a major motion picture (Alex-- Beastly, and Matt-- Ball Don't Lie), *or* had been in a major motion picture (Matt) *or* on a major TV network show (Brent-- Law and Order, Sex and the City, Jennifer-- Jeopardy winner).  Pretty cool, no?  (Meanwhile, the closest I am to TV-movie-land is trying to get a hold of MacGyver, aka Richard Dean Anderson, to give him a copy of The Queen of Water. Still! Sigh.)

I wish I'd scheduled in an extra day to see Chicago, a city I've only been to once before and really liked. The trip flew by way too fast...

  

I have a bunch of travel coming up, some for school visits, some pleasure, some a mix.... and one of the destinations is across the Atlantic.

Oh, so excited! You'll be seeing the photos and hearing more about that sometime soon. There shall be cliffs and castles and white-tipped waves and trolleys... see if you can guess!

In case you're curious about what's in the works, book-wise, I'm chugging away on my novel, maybe a month or so away from completing this revision.  Then, it'll go to my writers' group and mom, then another revision, then to my agent.  It's pretty intricate as far as plot and character, and it's branching out into some new (fantastical!) territory for me.  I'm actually really enjoying the process, even though it feels like a two steps forward, one step back kind of journey at times. But I can see it all coming together, and man oh man, does that feel delicious.  (As in, *chocolate* delicious... CHOCOLATE, you might remember, is the working title of this manuscript.)

Speaking of novel-writing journeys, I'm doing a workshop on the topic at Pikes Peak Writers Conference this weekend, down in Colorado Springs.  I'm also doing my Creating Dazzling Worlds workshop... plus I get to see old friends, and see Libba Bray do a keynote-- I've heard she's fantastically funny.  Perhaps I'll see you there?

Okay, now I'm thinking about chocolate... I'll go make some hot cocoa for the boys and me now.

Happy day to you!

xo,
Laura