Baby it’s cold outside.  Just not in Southern Spain.  Temperatures will be in the high 60s during the day and 50s at night.  Sunny, too.  Here at home it is cold and dark.  It occurs to me there are reasons people romanticize the Mediterranean.  

We start our trip touring New York City for a couple of days.  Mom arrives tomorrow afternoon.  I talk a lot about N.Y.C., usually in comparison to other places I visit, but never discuss touristy things in my own city.  This phenomenon — of ignoring what is in your backyard — surely speaks to some fundamental deficiency of human behavior.  I am probably not the person to delve too deeply into that since I spend so much time on a plane leaving my backyard, known as The Island of Manhattan. 

Below I’ve included our itinerary.  It’s ambitious.  I make these elaborate plans but only stick to them if convenient.  I just enjoy making plans.  While the internet may be rotting our brains, helping spread racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia, helping crazy people meet each other to reinforce their brand of crazy that may or may not lead to undermining our Democratic institutions, it is a golden age for travel planning.  Sometimes, I just plan trips because I cannot sleep.  I cannot sleep because how can you sleep comfortably with so many crazy people plotting things? 

The camera gear has arrived.  The tickets are booked.  The plans are set.  Away we go.

Thank you for coming along.