This is an excerpt from a live-streaming series we used to do on Facebook. This particular episode is about a delicious dessert Linda discovered in Patagonia called Dulce de Leche. I always thought this episode got less attention than it deserved so here it is on the blog for you to enjoy. It's clear to me that Linda had a delightful time finding out about the wonders of Dulce de Leche. I hope you'll try some of that amazing concoction. Enjoy!

I've become fascinated (some would say obsessed) with patterns lately. So, it was no surprise to anyone in our party that I was taking pictures of the carpeting in the miles and miles of passageways aboard the Pride of America on our Hawaiian cruise. There were colorful fish streaming all over the ship in interesting shades of green and blue. They seemed swimming in a murky bed of kelp, unaware of the tramp of passengers above. Then I noticed this red fellow. The Sesame Street song my kids used to sing came to mind: One of these fishies is not like the other ... I was curious about the wayward little fellow and I found out why he's swimming upstream, as it were. Turns out all his cousins are headed to the bow and he's headed to the stern. Norwegian does that on all its ships to help passengers to orient themselves in passageways that all look similar. In a feeble attempt at humor I nicknamed him Sammy (for salmon?) (groan).

I'm an unreformed bibliophile (and likely to remain so). It was the last day of our four-day visit to Havana, and we had decided to go the Almacenes San Jose before Diego (our driver) was to take us to the airport. San Jose is a colorful artisans market hard by Havana Harbor and a stone's throw from the 17th century Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula, one of the oldest buildings in Havana (not to be missed). We had visited the Museum of the Revolution earlier in the morning, and Diego had parked nearby to give us the opportunity to stroll the plazas one last time before our departure. That's when we came upon Plaza de Armas and an open-air book sale in full swing. Of course, we had to stop. The affable fellow in the photo is Julio Cesar, who seemed to be the only purveyor of antique leather-bound books. Most of the offerings were old magazines and pamphlets left over from the revolution. praising Fidel and attesting to his great wisdom. Julio's offerings were mostl...

I came upon this scene in Aruba, but it’s a universal phenomenon. The women shop and the men look for a place to sit. This would be a good entry for a funny parody account on Instagram called “Shopping With Their Ladies: The Miserable Men of Instagram.” A couple of years ago, a mall in Shanghai introduced “husband rest cabins”, spaces with comfortable leather chairs and video games where husbands could relax while their wives shop to their heart’s content. It wasn’t quite so fancy in Aruba.

The young lady was set up in the shade under the sea grapes on Seven-Mile Beach out from Georgetown, Grand Cayman. She had a nice, friendly smile and she'd braid your hair if you wanted her to. Niki did, and she went for the canerows, a traditional African style my very un-African wife decided she wanted because, well, she'd never had her hair done that way and we were on vacation, so why not? It didn't take very long, 20 minutes or so, and it didn't cost very much, $10, maybe $15, and it was fun. I thought the results were spectacular. Niki liked the "do" so much, she continued to wear it that way for awhile after we got back home.

Our guide led us down a narrow street in Cartegena where we encountered a man sitting on the pavement painting local scenes on little rectangle mirrors. He promised to demonstrate his technique by finishing a mirror in "two minutes, uh, maybe 20 seconds." He worked rapidly and a steady hand, working mostly with his fingers but adding a few fine brush strokes near the end. Everyone seemed mesmerized. I don't think anyone was timing him. When he finished he drew applause from the tour group. The guide translated the deal for him: one mirror for $7, or two for $10. The bargain hunters in our group knew a deal when they saw one. I don't think anyone bought just one mirror. Ours grace the wall in the foyer, a reminder of our trip to Colombia. I wondered if our guide gets a cut, or if the painter is his brother-in-law.