Fine Wines You Can Probably Afford

Down the street a ways from my house there's a Tamoil gas station. It's a normal-looking gas station... pumps, convenience store, industrial vacuum next to two car wash bays.

Step inside, though, and you have a taste of local life. The espresso bar is full of workers day in and day out. In the morning the smell flaky apricot and hazelnut and chocolate-filled pastries fills the air. And they sell good bottles of Ticino merlot for 5 Swiss francs. That's just a few bucks.

It's a gas station and I love the place.

For those of you who can't hop over to Lugano for a quick visit, here's an article from Food & Wine on fine Italian Wines you probably can afford. It's called Italy's Top 25 under $20. Enjoy!

The Perfect Percentage

What's your perfect percentage? For a fun little party game or after-dinner activity, set out chocolate from lowest to highest concentration of cocoa. You may want to start lower than we did here -- we're in Switzerland and eat our chocolate dark. The night we did this, there were three of us, two Americans and a guy from Cameroon. He said in Cameroon most people like milk chocolate, like in the US.
We liked different percentages. The 74% bar became his, 72% was my favorite and Amy liked a tiny little bit less, I think. I find 69% - 72% is my acceptable level, unless there are add-ins like good toasted hazelnuts, chopped coffee beans or cocoa nibs. Then I'm a little more flexible. Good luck finding your own perfect percentage! Have fun!

Cool stuff from Kodak Gallery

What do you get for people who have everything? Something with a picture on it!

I'm hooked on Kodak Gallery -- the prices are affordable, the quality of their products consistently high and I've even had a fantastic customer service experience.

That last point is remarkable because for me a fantastic customer service experience sounds like this, "We'd be happy to process that refund for you. It'll just take (a few minutes to a few days acceptable here) to post to your credit card account. Thank you for your business; we hope you'll be back again."

These are playing cards with a photo of my Mom breaking spontaneously into her Julie Andrews routine in Wengen, Switzerland. They're very thick, heavy cards and the photo is crystal clear -- I was pleasantly surprised when I visited her this summer and saw them for the first time. As you can imagine, I am not a frequently pleasantly surprised consumer, so when I say they're good, they're good. Of course, she loved the photo!

They were around $20, but they also double as a great souvenir! Kodak Gallery always has free shipping or 20 - 30% off specials going on, too.

Travel for Free

Lately all the sudden I'm getting offered free travel. FREE TRAVEL. This makes me so happy I could jump up and down and cry at the same time. I don't. Instead, I consider my options and choose the trips I really want to go on. Here are some of the ways this has happened, in the form of my

TOP FIVE RECENT WAYS I'VE BEEN OFFERED TRAVEL

1. volunteer for your alma mater I conduct admissions intrviews for my alma mater in the US and they've asked if I'd go for a few hours to a college fair over near Geneva, all expenses paid. You bet I will! I loooove the school, the area over on the lake and hotel rooms. I'm there.

2. volunteer to work on peoples' web sites I surf the Web a lot and ran across two brothers who need help updating their site. In exchange, they'll offer a week-long stay in a villa in Tuscany. They're Brits who live there. I didn't make that up and I'm not telling you the site til after I go.

3. request training Many companies would love for their employees to develop or hone their skills and knowledge. Many trainings are held out of town. Ask or offer to go. Even find trainings that would be useful for your department or position.

4. find work in other cities This may seem routine if you're already a business traveller, the trick then may be to keep it fun. If you work as a contractor or freelancer, nothing is keeping you in your little locale. Large corporate clients are so used to paying business travel expenses, if you're good this is not even a stretch. Make sure you're good, though, so you'll get invited back.

5. offer to help a friend Whatever you're good at, whether it's throwing parties or designing store displayes or IT support... offer to help a friend in exchange for room, board, transportation, whatever.

Oh, the places you'll go!

A day at Lavey-les-Bains

Near the famous waters of Evian, France you can probably afford three (24 Swiss francs) or four hours at Lavey-les Bains. Locals say the words lovingly, as in, "Ooooooooooooh, you're going to Lavey-les-Bains? Today? Maybe I'll drop everything and come along..." Remarkably, it wasn't crowded when my friend Amy and I were there in the middle of the day in July.

I don't normally like pools, especially where lots of people go. They kind of creep me out. Not Lavey-les-Bains. This was fine, and I mean like a fine thing, fine. There are several pools, jets in a row shooting out of the pool wall at different heights... there's a system... people walk along in a row to get the full massage effect. There are turkish baths and nordic saunas all included in the price. Massages are separate, and I didn't feel I needed one. Our muscles were loose and limp like spaghetti afterward and all we wanted to do was sleep.

a drink at the Principe Leopoldo overlooking Lake Lugano

I write this Web site because I've been working part-time 32 weeks a year on a teacher's salary and living like a Queen. Ok, not really like a Queen, but I go places and see things and meet people as if I am very, very rich. So often I think to myself, "Life is good." or "Wow! It is so beautiful here!" or "This is so good!" I just have to share. London, Mykonos, Paris, Lugano, Zurich, Boulder, the beaches of Florida, all over Italy... anyone could do this, definitely including you.

Here's a perfect example. Tonight I called my friend, Alesia, to see if she wanted to grab dinner. She said first she wanted to have a drink at the Principe Leopoldo (I think she did this because she knows I want to sing in the piano bar there. I noticed she only had water.). By the way, the top photo above is the promotional photo from the hotel; this is the shot I snapped while seated in my chair!

Now, the Principe Leopoldo is just down the street from our houses, but it is such a fine hotel that only very rich people know about it. It is beautiful. There are no words for this, really, but "luxury" and "understated elegance" come to mind.

We sat at the table just in front of that fountain (above); it's designed so it looks like it's spilling into Lake Lugano far below.

Now, you wouldn't want to pay for dinner there, perhaps, but anyone can afford the glass of prosecco and bottle of water we had. It even comes with free bar snacks! The view and ambience alone were worth what we paid -- 25 Swiss francs, about $20 US, including the far too large tip I left because it was the only coin I had. Plus, I was feeling flush.

We headed down the hill to the BP gas station, one of Lugano's best kept secrets, for dinner.

Next week's tips and tricks: 5 ways to get free travel

Cheeseburger in Paradise

In 1978 Jimmy Buffett's Son of a Son of a sailor album featured a song called Cheeseburger in Paradise. He says it's about a place in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands... I've heard it's about a great place I've been on Cabbage Key, Florida. No matter. The point is this: all up and down the Florida coast there are still these little untouched, old, wooden-shack burger joints. You can drive your boat up to most of them and get some of the best fried fish sandwhiches or made-to-order burgers you've ever had. You may have to fight off the seagulls, but if you sing the song loudly enough between bites you shouldn't have too much of a problem.

My Mom and Dad, Stefan and I made an afternoon of it recently, lunching at the New Pass Grill... and then visiting the Mote Marine Aquarium. You know how cops always know the best local places to eat? A group in uniform pulled their boat up to the dock while we were there.



This guy hung around nearby for a while then got up the nerve to walk right through all the picnic tables to pick through the garbage can. He was gettin' himself a little Cheeseburger in Paradise,too!

Mote isn't fancy like Sea World -- it's the real thing. Adults - $15, Children 4 - 12 - $10 Stefan got beautiful photos:


The two dolphins were rescued after they'd beached themselves -- separately, not together. One was younger and wanting to play soooooooo badly. She finally gave up on getting him to play and swam across the pool and brought back right in front of all the visitors a hula hoop. Then she swam around knocking it up in the air and hitting it on every fin she had. She was having a grand time.

For a fine, cheap day in Sarasota spend the morning at Mote, lunch on Cheeseburgers in Paradise at the New Pass Grill then head back out onto the water or the beach!

On the subject of radio...

Should you find yourself in Boulder, Colorado another Fine Thing You Can Probably Afford is a taping of the radio show, ETown. ETown is an old-style variety show, featuring some of today's best musical artists alongside recipient's of the weekly E-Chievement awards, honoring listener-nominated people who are making a difference in communities coast-to-coast and worldwide.

Show tapings are only $15 and offer two hours of uplifting entertainment in downtown Boulder's historic art deco Boulder Theater. Here's a schedule of upcoming events, including some shows taped in other venues around the U.S.

Great Radio Shows

Story Corps is a great idea. It's a set of mobile recording studios that travel around the country recording the stories of people from all walks of life. There's also a StoryBooth in Grand Central Station in New York City. Stories of love, inspiration, hardship, grief, gratitude -- it's all there. Sometimes they're funny, sometimes tragic, always moving and motivational. It's the best oral history project I've ever seen.

Based on a 1950s radio show, NPR's This I Believe features essays from all sorts of people. They write about their most precious values and philosophies. Anybody can send in an essay; they're just a few miutes long.

I receive the weekly podcasts for This I Believe and StoryCorps automatically and for free. You can hear this week's recordings and lots of past readings by clicking on the links (the names of the programs) above.

Listening to them always makes me think, "What story would I tell in a StoryCorps booth? What do I believe?" How about you? What stories would you tell? What do you believe?

Add this to the 10 Best List

I got this book, The 10 Best of Everything, for my fabulous German beau, Stefan, for his birthday. We're on a quest, he and I, to see just how good life can get. I thought this would be a superb guide, and it is. I recommend it. Reading this book I realize I should clarify what I mean by "Fine Things" here on this blog.

Some things that qualify as fine are downright stuffy and snobby. Some are overrated and expensive. For me, that ruins the experience. So some of my "Fine Things" may be snubbed by other connoisseurs as déclassé. So be it. I have lived in some of the most beautiful places in the world, grew up with parents who loved fine hotels and food and wine and took me to the best. But they are also great fun and down to earth and hardworking folks who appreciate sales and good values, so this list will not feature things that are fine because they are out of reach. We went to the Broadmoor but we also camped on the beach. Wild boar drank our water one night; another morning we woke with waves lapping into the tent. They're different kinds of fun.

To that end, there are a few things I'd add to the Top Ten lists in this lovely little guidebook to the best of the best. If you find yourself in the general vicinity of any of these places, I highly recommend them:

Destination and Speciality Restaurants: The Bubble Room Captiva, Florida
This place is bubble gum pink and chock full of Americana, from toy trains running through the dining room to the juke box tunes to millions of pieces of memorabilia. There are paint-by-number sets, Coca Cola ads and Christmas decorations that must be seen to be believed. Servers wear Scouting uniforms. The food is good, too. It's been years since I've visited, but I still think about the Bubble Bread.

Ice Cream: I firmly believe that Il Doge gelato in Campo Santa Margherita, Venice, Italy is much better than the world-famous Vivoli in Florence. I've tried them both numerous times over two decades just to make sure.

Also, it's just wrong to put a chain (Cold Stone Creamery) in the book for mix-ins in the ice cream when one guy invented the concept and perfected it in Massachusetts. Instead the authors should have included Herrell's Ice Cream, Northhampton, Massachusetts. When I lived in the Pioneer Valley there I loved the Chocolate Pudding ice cream with all sorts of things (especially Oreos, M&Ms get too hard when cold, in my opinion) mixed in on the cold marble slab. Yum.

I'll think of more of the best of the best as I read, I'm sure. I'll make a category here for them: Add this to the 10 best.

Happy connoisseuring! What are the best affordable things you know of?