Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

Bound in the north by the River Liffey, Temple Bar is a happening spot in Dublin. The Temple Bar is not only a pub but an entire area that comprises several fun filled, cobblestone blocks. The square is packed of some of the most happening bars & restaurants that Dublin has to offer. It is a very touristy area and is always abuzz with people, street performers and people looking for a good time. If you’re headed to Dublin you owe it to yourself to spend some time in this exciting area of the city.

In other news Randy and I are headed to Vegas on Wednesday with his mom and grandparents in an RV! We are pretty excited to head back to Sin City for some multi generational family fun!

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

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I opened my email this morning to find a nice surprise – one of my photos was published on Whygo.com! Yah!

Those of you familiar with Bootsnall already know what Whygo is all about but those that don’t – it is a Bootsnall site that produces awesome travel guides for destinations around the world. It’s a go to place where you can get travel tips/advice and ideas about where to take your next trip. If you are serious about traveling then you need to join Bootsnall.com. It has by far the best travel information. The forums are phenomenal and beat out Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree any day of the week.

They also feature a daily photo on their Whygo site to inspire your wanderlust. I submitted this photo and it was published today which is very exciting!

Here are the screen shots and below is the original image which you might recognize from my Somewhere In Time photo post a week or so ago.

Thanks WhyGo!

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me  to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

A young boy wipes away tears at the grave of a loved one on Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mx while the rest of the women in his family watch over him. I wasn’t able to find out who they were mourning but it was clear in their faces that this person was very well loved. I had the unfortunate feeling that this might have been the grave of the boy’s mother. This scene caught my eye because the boy was very emotional but he was flanked by the love of the other women in his family who watched over him in the background.

Click to see the rest of the Somewhere In Time photos.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed here and get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

Sam's in San Francisco

Cheap beer, cheap food. A great little greasy spot on the crossroads of North Beach and China Town in San Francisco. The  grill cook will get a little cranky if you are too obnoxious.

Need I say more?

Photographers Tip: If you can see the potential in a great shot but you know you need a little something extra to make it eye catching than don’t be afraid to wait around to until it pops up. The photo above would’ve been boring if the grill cook hadn’t looked into the camera.

Click o see the rest of the Somewhere In Time photos.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed here and get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me  to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

Walking around the Mexican cemeteries during El Día de los Muertos is a mind boggling experience. The cemeteries in Mexico are beautiful and lush – filled with trees and flowers. The sights, the sounds and the smells are almost overwhelming as you wander around from grave to grave watching the families tending to the loved ones eternal resting spots.  While the tone is somber at some graves for the most part it is a happy, joyous time filled with food, music and alcohol. There were quite a few bands in the graveyard but this one was one of the most dedicated and emotional that we stumbled upon. It was quite apparent as more players & singers joined the group that this person was loved deeply and missed even more.

Photographers Tip:

If you visit Day of the Dead do yourself a favor and BRING A TRIPOD. I did not think of this and ended up buying a cheap one after the first night. I like to use a lot of blur in my shots anyway but without a tripod a lot of the shots from the first night were a total wash and it was frustrating.  Although the cemeteries are very crowded and it is hard to set one up without it being tripped on you still need it to capture the excitement in the dark cemeteries. If you forget to bring one like I did there are a couple camera shops around town that you can buy one at.

To see the rest of the Somewhere In Time pictures click here.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed here and get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me  to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Somewhere In Time is a weekly post featuring a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

London’s theatre district is a frenzied, fast-paced, beautiful corner of the earth. The first day of my trip I dropped my camera on the hard cobblestone streets and broke the lens so that it no longer stayed in the camera without me holding it in place with one hand while trying to take a picture with the other hand. It was annoying at best but I still managed to walk away with some pictures that I loved. This one being one of my favorites.

To see the rest of the Somewhere In Time pictures click here.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed here and get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me  to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Like other bustling cities in Mexico, Oaxaca has several excellent markets.

We ended up in Hostel Del Mercado which was located right next to the 20 de Noviembre Market which conviently, as you might guess, is located on 20 Noviembre street.

The market is inside a very large building that doesn’t really look too different from any other building on the outside. There are a lot of street vendors all around the outside of it selling pretty much everything you could possibly need from batteries to fried crickets.

With all the street activity we actually walked right by the 20 de Noviembre market a couple times before we even discovered it.

Once inside it is a very different experience from any of the vendors on the street.

It is like stepping into another world. Smoke rises from food stalls and wafts through the market enticing the senses. The smell of baked bread and grilled meat smacks you straight in the face as you walk through the door.

It almost seems endless as you wander aimlessly through the stalls which lead seamlessly from one item to the next. Meat leads to bread which leads to flowers which leads to clothing, chocolate and everything else you can possibly imagine in between just waiting to be discovered. With Day of the Dead approaching, the smell of incense and flowers encased every crevice in the old building.

The market, which seemed to be a large local hangout, was absolutely incredible and became a staple of our trip when we wanted cheap food, trinkets or hot chocolate. I would love to go back to Oaxaca just to spend more time photographing the market. It was that beautiful.

There is also another market which was I saw in the 1,000 Things To Do Before You Die book right before we left San Diego – the Abastos Market. We walked several city blocks to get to this market because it was described as “magical” by the author. With all the beautiful sites in Oaxaca worth talking about I figured this market must be amazing since it was the only listing for the entire city. It was not.

It was congested, busy and loud. While it was without a doubt much larger than the Noviembre market it was also gross. It was so dirty that you felt that need to wash your hands immediately. Everything was covered in grime, dust and grease. I would only return if there was something I absolutely needed and could not find anywhere else. They had everything – from garden hoses to goats – but it lacked the charm of typical markets that you would expect in Mexico. In fact, I will most likely not look anything up in that book again due to the horrid inaccuracy of that listing. Other people we met agreed that it was disappointing, dirty and disgusting.

With the easy location and in-your-face charm the 20 de Noviembre market is by far the winner and a must see on any visit to Oaxaca.

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

This post is a bit late in the coming but in September Randy arranged for an interview with Ziggy Marley.  I was lucky enough to get photo rights to the concert and was able to photograph him for the first couple songs.  The minute he walked out on stage it was obvious that he was related to the great Bob Marley.  With his high cheekbones and long dreads, he looked just like him!

Last year, Ziggy Marley’s performance at the Del Mar Racetrack drew jeers from some concertgoers over the open use of marijuana at his show by audience members. This year Marley, 40, was back, but before embarking on his three Labor Day weekend performances, which kicked off with the “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” show on Sept. 4, the four-time Grammy winner spoke to Randy about his new children’s album, “Family Time,” marijuana use at his shows and growing up Marley.

Other than having to adjust to Ziggy’s thick Jamaican accent, Randy said the interview went off without a hitch and that the reggae artist was an attentive and interesting interviewee.

Unfortunately, Ziggy has some rules about photos of himself and so I am only allowed to show this one picture of him publicly. It’s the picture his PR people chose and the one that was printed in the newspaper. It’s a real shame because I have some other excellent photos of him that I am really proud of and I would love to post them here, but I guess those will be my private photos for the rest of eternity…. sigh.

However, I can post as many pictures as I want of Nikka Costa, who was the opening act for Ziggy so I have quite a few of those below.

Without much ado here is the interview:

RK: You are playing two shows in San Diego this weekend, the first is in support of your “Family Time” album at The New Children’s Museum and the second is for your adult audience at the Del Mar Racetrack. If I was going to both shows what could I expect as far as a differences goes?

Ziggy: For the kid’s show, it will be more for my fans of “Family Time.” And for the other show, I’m doing a lot from my other albums. The kids show is a lot lighter feel for me.

RK: Your 3-year-old daughter, Judah, sang on the “Family Time” album. Does she perform with you live at the children shows?

Ziggy: Yeah, she loves to do that. She comes out and everything.

RK: Throughout your nearly three-decade career you have done a lot of children’s projects. Where did the inspiration come from to make a musical album that children and parents can enjoy together?

Ziggy: If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to speak to children because they have open minds. I tried to make music that’s very good music and not think, “Oh this is kid’s music so I have to sing it like this or I have to do it like this.”

RK: As the oldest child of music legend Bob Marley, what artists do you remember hanging out at your house as a child?

Ziggy: The Wailers — Peter Tosh, Bunny — the Jackson 5 came down when they came to Jamaica; a lot of the good Jamaican artists at that time.

RK: What influence did those artists have on you as a child?

Ziggy: As a kid, I really didn’t think much about that. It wasn’t a big deal for me at that time; they were just friends and guys hanging out playing soccer, playing music.

RK: Now that you are a father of five are there any family traditions that you carried over from your childhood?

Ziggy: The family tradition we had as children was like how to be good people. We didn’t have anything like dinner or family night; we didn’t have that type of thing. Our family tradition lies in who we are as people, music was a big part of that. Our tradition of helping others was something we grew up with as a family, seeing our parents and grandparents being helpful to the community. So that type stuff is the traditions we try to teach our children.

RK: As a musician, what other types of music would you like to explore?

Ziggy: African music. I like music that is spiritual. Whatever music I feel that does something to my spirit is what I want to explore more; something that makes me closer to the universe … music that makes you irie.

RK: As a songwriter do you work better in the morning or in the evening?

Ziggy: The morning. I dig it when the sun is rising.

RK: If you had an opportunity to talk to the people who spoke out about the marijuana use last year at your concert in Del Mar, what would you say?

Ziggy: I’m standing up for nature now. It’s injustice to this plant, which has so much use for the human race. And when I talk about this plant, I’m just not talking about smoking or even the medicinal thing; I’m talking about the industrial potential of what this plant could mean for America and for the world. So I would say there is an injustice, a discrimination against this plant. That’s what I would say. Don’t demonize nature, use nature to benefit our mankind. God put all different types of plants on the face of the earth for us to use, so don’t demonize and criminalize the cannabis plant, use it to benefit mankind, you know. Look at in the bigger terms of society, not just oh some guy is smoking pot, because it’s bigger than that.

RK: Your prediction for the 2010 World Cup?

Ziggy: We’re just happy it’s in Africa.

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed here and get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

A michelada in the making.

It didn’t take long—two sips, maybe—to fall in love with the sultry spice of the Mexican Michelada.

A concoction of hot sauce, tomato juice, lime and beer served over ice with a salted rim, the Michelada offers up a refreshing, mixed beer drink for any occasion.

Considered to be Mexico’s bloody Mary, the Michelada, at least for us, brings so much more to the table in terms of taste and refreshment due to the carbonation from the beer.  The name – “mi chela helada”  loosely translates to “my cold, light beer”.  True to it’s name, it tastes great, is less filling and is a taste unlike any other. It’s a unique flavor- smoky, robust and refreshing all at the same time.

Falling under the category cerveza preparda—a mixed beer drink involving hot sauces and/or juices—the Michelada is said to have originated in the 1940s, when combining beer with spices/salsa and tomato juice became popular in Mexico.

The Michelada, however, is not something you’re going to want to drink all day.

While the first gave us chills, the feisty taste of the second round got old real fast. Have you ever brought a seasonal ale (read: pumpkin) to a party and realized after two or so that you need to start stealing someone else’s beer from the fridge because you just can’t stand the pumpkin taste any longer? The Michelada is the same way. It’s not something you want to get plastered with at a party but it’s a refreshing, unique way to drink a beer at a café or a picnic. It’s a drink we became quite familiar with during our time in Oaxaca.

Can’t make it to Mexico this week? Make your own!

Below is a recipe for the Michelada from the Wall Street Journal:

Michelada

12 oz beer, preferably a blond Mexican beer or a darker one like Negra Modelo

1 oz fresh lime juice

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

2 dashes Mexican hot sauce (e.g., Cholula)

Mix ingredients over ice in a salt-rimmed highball or pint glass and stir. Avoid watering down the beer with small cubes that melt quickly or too much ice.

While it sounds a bit strange on paper, the Michelada does taste fantastic and is something worth seeking out on your next trip to Mexico.

Beth sipping a Michelada.

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I love to share. Thanks!

Lately I’ve been wondering if it is possible to have a full time job while gear shopping. Luckily for me I’m self employed so I don’t have to worry about it but it seems I have spent countless hours over the past 2 weeks gear shopping. Mainly I’ve been purchasing the big items at REI simply because they have such a fantastic return policy. I’ve returned many things and never had a problem – they even let you return used gear at any point in your lifetime. It’s pretty nice, I can try things out and if they don’t work I can return it and get something new. They had a big sale last week which led to countless hours wandering around the store checking out new backpacks, sleeping bags & shoes.

I have a couple items I’ll be posting reviews on but for now I wanted to focus on one awesome little item that has literally stolen my travel heart.

I picked this little gem up at Bed, Bath & Beyond which is another store I highly recommend for travel items, esp. toiletries. They have a killer travel size toiletry section and you can get anything there! I was totally in awe when I discovered all the trial sized items.

It seems I am always on the search for a good travel toothbrush. Now that we’re living the nomadic life it is more important than ever. I’m either on the boat, camping or staying at a friends. I’m on the road and so are my teeth so I need a toothbrush that can take the heat. I’ve tried them all:

- The tiny toothbrushes that comes apart into 2 pieces and you click them together to form one long toothbrush. Not bad but how much does it suck when you are brushing your teeth and it comes apart and the part w/ the brush on it falls into the sink? Sucks pretty bad, especially when it’s not your own home sink.

- The regular toothbrush with the little cover that you snap onto the brush. Inevitably it always comes apart in my luggage and then I have a toothbrush with strange yarns all over it. Not good.

- The mini toothbrush which isn’t bad but it never feels big enough to really clean my teeth. Feels like it is made more for a child.

- The only thing that worked well was the large tube that you put the entire toothbrush in. The only downside? It’s gigantic and takes up so much space. I don’t know about you but I just don’t want to commit that much space for my toothbrush. Plus it always gets kinda nasty inside it from what I guess, is toothbrush sweat.

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Then I walked down the aisle at BB&B and a ray of light seem to guide me to this vision of a perfect travel toothbrush made by Butler!

Check it out:

It starts small.

Then it unfolds out of itself.

Until you get a full sized toothbrush!

It snaps in place (closed & open) so it is always secure and it is so easy to carry around and air out if need be.

I love this toothbrush! I think it is my favorite piece of gear right now. And get this -

You can get 2 of them for .99 cents at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Under a buck for 2 of them! That’s a fantastic deal. I ended up buying 4 and then later on I spent a while trying to figure out what is wrong with me that I would need 4 toothbrushes at one time.

I think I was just a little over excited. But now I have stocking stuffers for the family trip to Italy.

This belongs in your travel bag so go get one (or 4) !

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