A Grand Stay on the Rio Douro





The best travel destinations make you feel instantly welcome and relaxed. The Guest House Douro is such a location near Ribeira Square along the Rio Douro in downtown Porto. More than the beautiful building, the proprietors, Hugo and Luisa Silva have the charisma, enthusiasm and energy to make each guest feel delighted to find themselves in their establishment.





Hugo and Luisa got into the hospitality business because they themselves are avid travelers. They appreciate that visitors want to get to know their city. The physical location of the inn is charming too. We found the experience of waking up to the amazing view of the river with rolling fog and morning light to be memorizing.

It is interesting that despite being in tourist guides including Trip Advisor, Rick Steves and Lonely Planet most of their business is generated by word of mouth recommendations. As Hugo noted, “ we receive guests who had a friend of a friend of a friend stay with us.”





Perhaps nothing demonstrates their approach to hospitality more than the manner in which they serve breakfast. A true work of art on a platter is the bountiful organic, local fruit tower. Luisa personality selects the fruit delicacies from the Mercado do Bolhao. Additional fruit may come from her Father’s farm in the countryside. The breakfast offering included cheese, meats and pastries. I remember the custard tarts fondly.





Perhaps one of the best amenities of the Guest House Douro is the personal service. Hugo and Luisa personally serve their guests in several ways. In addition to playing host in the breakfast room, they are available to answer questions and make reservations.

One could not ask for more informed tour guides to suggest the “perfect day” in Porto or the surrounding northern Portuguese cities. The location of the small inn is so central to Porto that one can cover most of the city on foot without issue.





We hope you will take this recommendation to visit Guest House Douro and tell Hugo we sent you!

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The Lost Art of the Roadtrip



Exploring Japan (right hand drive) from Nara to Hakone and the Alps.



Emerging above the clouds in Portugal's Douro Valley.





Horace Dediu delights us with road trip memories from Dortmund to the Baltics, Florida’s Cape Canaveral and many places in between.

We reflect on Horatio Nelson Jackson’s seminal 1903 drive across America and the changing road trip culture in our time of social distancing.



Refueling on the Autobahn



Resurrection Bay, Alaska



Horace Dediu: asymco.com twitter



Driving the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico



Horatio's Drive:

In the spring of 1903, on a whim and a fifty-dollar bet, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the United States in the new- fangled "horseless carriage." Most people doubted that the automobile had much of a future.





Chiloe Island, Chile





Prince of Wales Hotel; Waterton Alberta Canada



The Lost Art of the Road Trip is available on Apple Podcasts.



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Mobile Exploration and Learning During our "Safer at Home" era

amuz is for explorers of all ages.





Tap, swipe and explore on your iPhone (soon full screen iPad, too) or Android device.

Privacy friendly, amuz requires no login and supports 10 languages.

Enjoy































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No Room for Complacency

“I warn you, you give this vineyard a little bit of your finger and it will eat up your whole arm!”

What a delight to listen to the mother/daughter dynamic duo Xaxa and Caryl Panman describe their family history and passion for Chateau Rives-Blanques. Their enthusiasm for this gorgeous Limoux property is matched only by their humility and gratitude in finding themselves stewards of a beautiful vineyard.

Twenty years ago Caryl and her husband, Jan, purchased the property in the shadow of the Pyrenees. The vineyard is situated in the Languedoc region in the south of France.

“The vineyard found us.”

Rives Blanques now produces “some of the top Languedoc whites in the world”.

It was a pleasure to visit the stunningly beautiful property on a sunny day five years ago. Caryl said, “Every single year is different. New challenges stretch and reward you every year.” One of their most popular wines is Odyssee’ whose name reflects the the many ways the wine grower responds to the mercurial nature of the harvest and wine making process.

The Panmans are passionate about the heritage Mauzac grape. The wine starts in the vineyard with 80 year old vines and features a strong aroma of green apple and pear. While largely supplanted by Chardonnay, Carlyl has seen it as a personal mission to promote Mauzac centric wines.

Caryl proudly states that the 100 percent Mauzac sparkling wine is the oldest, invented and enjoyed by the Benedictine monks in Limoux around 1500. That predates champagne by more than a century.

The vineyard’s other wines are also highly delectable. La Trilogie is a very special limited blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. This is the wine that transports us back to the tasting room and the warm memories of the vineyard. The sparkling Blanquette de Limoux is a delightful pre-dinner selection. The mouthwatering acidity and lip zinging effervescence work together to stimulate your palate. Xaxa mentioned eating kale crisps with sparkling wine, which sounds delicious.

We hope you enjoy listening to Caryl and Xaxa discuss pairings and learn more about the Rives-Blanques wines in this podcast.

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Digital Experiences in 2020: "Focus needs to shift to alternative ways of showcasing products outside the store"





Strategy Analytics:
The pandemic will have long-term impacts on what consumers want to purchase as well as how they purchase them. In addition to the inevitable increased use of delivery services for grocery and food, alternative shopping experiences such as Amazon Go’s contactless shopping experience - where consumers do not have to proceed through a checkout experience - will also see a boost in popularity. For consumer electronics, where some devices such as smartphones are typically sold more on ‘in-hand’ experience, this pandemic presents a more challenging situation as consumers’ are less inclined to handle in-store displays.




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Books That Take You Away

We are sympathetic to book store distractions.

A recent (crowded) walk through what some consider the world's most beautiful book store - Porto's Livraria Lello - adds to the allure.





Perhaps a few of these titles might be of interest during our "Safer at Home" time.

The Places in Between by Rory Stewart (Afghanistan)

The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of my Year in Iraq by Rory Stewart (Iraq)

Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (England)

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (Italy)

My Year in Provence by Peter Mayle (France)

Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik (France)

My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud’Homme (France)

My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Nigeria)

Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (South Africa)

The Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (South Africa)

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (Japan)

The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar (Libya)

The Quiet American by Graham Greene ( Vietnam)

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Eva M. Martin (Translator) ( Hungary )

Last Boat of Shanghai by Helen Zia (China)

The Food of Sichuan by Fuschia Dunlop (China)

The Anarchy by William Dalrymple ( India )

Homegoing: A Novel by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)

Florence Under Siege: Surviving Plague in an Early Modern City by John Henderson ( Florence )

Under Red Skies: Three Generations of Life, Loss and Hope in China by Karoline Kan (China)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (Japan)

Convenience Store Woman: A Novel by Sayaka Murata Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator) (Japan)

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (Ireland)

Drive your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)

Stillwell and the American Experience in China by Barbara Tuchman





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Making Friends in Suzhou

Located 100 km northwest of Shanghai, Suzhou is a very popular Chinese tourist destination. Boat tours are offered along the picturesque canals. Some writers have compared it to Venice. Red lanterns hang from shops and bridges. The city offers no shortage of shopping and dining options.

The biggest tourist draw is the Suzhou Museum.

We arrived with enough time in Suzhou to see the city museum, enjoy a meal and take a stroll along the canals. Much to our chagrin we learned that only a few weeks earlier an advance ticket policy went into place. There were no available slots to tour the I. M. Pei designed building and gardens.

As consolation, we sought lunch. We discovered a place named “Jane’s Kitchen” not far away with solid Yelp reviews. “Jane” is a family name which we took as an encouraging sign.

We were delighted with the food.

What was most exceptional was the hospitality of the family who owned and operated the business. When they asked where we were from and what we planned to do, we mentioned our original intention of seeing the Suzhou Museum. Jane immediately suggested that after they ate their family meal and closed the restaurant, she would take us on a walk to a local education museum.

Jane and her 5 year son guided us down a few back alleys until we reached the Education Museum, which was housed in a lovely former mansion. The architecture alone was fascinating. The museum was not on a map and without her local knowledge we would have missed the experience. How cool to see education and achievement promoted from a historic perspective.

Jane’s English facilitated an engaging conversation about running a business and balancing being a mom. She works six days a week and her inlaws deliver and pick up her son from school every day. Mom guilt is not evidently universal. We giggled when I noted that all the esteemed scholars who made contributions to the Chinese education system were men. Our daughter, an experienced babysitter, bonded with her son as they attempted to shoot each other with webs a la Spider-Man. Hollywood blockbusters are universal as well.

We travel to broaden our perspective.

We purchased a world map puzzle that day which was centered on Asia. It was a good reminder that we all harbor our own ethnocentrism. The unexpected itinerary was a timely reminder to let go of preconceived notions about a country or culture. Asia is so populous it is easy to view the crowd and miss the personal connections.

I think of Jane with fondness and hope she and family are well.

It is worth stating the obvious during the global Coronavirus 19 pandemic that the Chinese people do not deserve to be vilified about transmission of a deadly virus.

Thanks to Jane and her family for showing us such warm generosity and human kindness.



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