READS: Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

Yesterday, June 24, 2011 was the 100th anniversary of  Hiram Bingham's rediscovery of Machu Picchu.  I stumbled across this book while browsing through the tables at a large chain bookstore and made a note to download it to my Nook.   I did not realize at the time that I would be reading the book through the anniversary.


It is a great read, at once both travelogue and history lesson and Mark Adams recounts his desire to retrace Bingham's 1911 route, but having not camped in years and even that was in the back yard.  I have to imagine that I would be pretty much in the same (unfit) shape if I took off on an adventure like this.  It is the kind of thing I dream of.


Bingham may have been the model on which Indiana Jones was built, he was a Yale professor, not an archaeologist.   Today he would be considered a thief and a grave robber, although the concept of stealing artifacts from "savage, uncivilized" people was not yet a crime.


For all his errors, Bingham did bring Machu Picchu back to the rest of the world.  After all, it as never really lost, the Peruvians knew where it was, some people were even living there when Bingham arrived.


National Geographic had it's first issue that covered only one story when Bingham's story ran complete with many, many photos he had taken along his travels.


See stunning 1911 versus current photos


If you like travel, history and a guy who can laugh at himself - read this book.

EATS: Francesco Vini, Florence, Italy

Loved this place I found completely by accident when I was in Florence.
http://www.francescovini.com/

I was wandered around Santa Croce and literally stumbled on this restaurant that stated that they offered typical Tuscan dishes and were located in one of the oldest buildings in Florence, over some very interesting ruins of a roman amphitheater.

Since my first night in Florence was my birthday i opted for a safe order of prosciutto with melon followed by ravioli in a butter sage sauce.  The melon was out of this world and the most spectacular shade of deep orange.  Light and tender, the ravioli was melt in your mouth good.

My last night there I joined a couple I had met the second night (yes I ate all three nights in the same place - you would too) and we ordered the steak Florentine.  The couple was from Houston, good American steak country and they were totally impressed with the meal, so much so that they actually said out loud that the steak was better than Texas. 

Oh, so the middle night I opted for papparadelle with wild boar ragu - yum, yum, yum.  The carnivore in me had a fabulous time in Florence for sure.

Wine, oh yes, the wine was wonderful and the staff was very helpful in helping choose a local wine that complimented the meal.

You don't have to eat there everyday like I did, but next time you are in Florence I highly recommend it.

EATS: Oklahoma: Ted's Cafe Escondido

Mexican:
I ate at both Oklahoma City and Broken Arrow locations.  Fresh made flour tortillas, yummy selection and then there is a Atomic Salsa - I won't be doing that again, but if you are brave (and can handle habeneros).
The Oklahoma City location was recommended by the hotel, and I was excited at finding Ted's again when i got to Broken Arrow.  Some of the best Tex-mex I have had (and i have had a lot).
http://www.tedscafe.com/

READS: "A Singular Woman" - Author: Janny Scott

Frequently listed as "a white woman from Kansas" or "an anthropologist" and often more a footnote than a person, President Obama's mother Stanley Ann Dunham was a facinating woman.  Whether you agree with her parenting techniques or not, her child IS the President.

See NPRs take on it:
http://www.npr.org/2011/05/03/135840068/the-singular-woman-who-raised-barack-obama