free date

i think perhaps i'm finally beginning to resurface. the jet lag hit me hard this time, and even though i've been going to bed at a reasonable hour all week, by 9pm i am absolutely exhausted.

yesterday tashi went with her 4th grade class on a whale watching trip to virginia beach. they spent the night at a cottage belonging to one of the class parents, and will return early this evening. it was strange to come home to an empty nest. so dan and i went on a date.



we decided to make a picnic of pesto ravioli, cypriot salad, and red wine, and go in search of sunset. we didn't really have enough time to make it to the blue ridge, so we thought carter's mountain would be good. but the road was closed. so we went searching around the monticello ashlawn-highland area for a good spot. can anyone tell me some good spots in or around charlottesville for catching sunset?

we found ourselves driving down a rough dirt road that ended with a gate. we could see the sun sinking behind he hill, and there was a lovely expanse of farmland before us. we knew that perhaps we were on private property, but decided to go for it, as the sun had about 20 minutes left. sure enough, once i'd laid down our blanket and food, the grounds keeper came driving over. when he saw we were just enjoying the view and having a nice picnic, he had no problem with us at all.



as soon as the sun set all the birds started getting busy, and there were lovely twittering scampering sounds all around. we enjoyed the peaceful moment, then backed out of the dirt road before night fell.

we followed our picnic with a glass of koumandaria at home. koumandaria is an old world cypriot wine originally made in the monasteries. it is sweet, but has a bit of a fiery edge.

i almost had my koumandaria taken away from me in the amsterdam airport. it was a duty free item purchased in cyprus. it was in a sealed bag and all, but apparently the u.s. has a rule that you can only by duty free from the final country you are in before flying to the u.s. i begged and pleaded and said i'd take sips out of it to show them it wasn't explosive. finally the security supervisor agreed i could take it.



afterwards we took a pleasant walk downtown, gazing into windows, people watching and catching the marvelous conclusion of john doyle's set, piped out of the gravity lounge.

it was a fine evening, without having spent a dime.