Apparently I was too preoccupied to take photos at our breakfast at Clary's Restaurant. Clary's is a local hangout for breakfast and lunch-particularly popular on weekends. You may remember it from the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We had great big breakfasts with plenty of coffee and hit the road for home with only a few gourmet cupcakes to sustain us.
4 of 6 made it to Penzey's spices in Jax-always a fun place to visit. We see that there is now another store in Winter Park.
Got home safe and sound and still full and happy.
KG
Monday, November 08, 2010
Carriage Ride
Masonic Temple
After our night at Uncle Bubba's, we were on the lookout for the big wedding. This didn't seem to be it, but I like the look of what I assume to be the father of the bride. We did see several brides in carriages and antique limos.
Our driver/guide and Robin.
Thawing after carriage ride at the local jazz tapas restaurant-the only place in town where we found She-Crab soup.
KG
Riverboat
The pack in line for riverboat. Some people got hats at the Cotton Market.
Susan's new boat.
State house-gets to wear gold becaue Savannah was once the capitol of Georgia.
Savannah skyline from downriver-note the spires of St John the Baptist.
Riverboat reflected in Hyatt windows.
Ship, tug and cranes-big port!
Bridge-very attractive.
These wood chips will be shipped to Sweden for IKEA to make into pressboard furniture. Who knew???
Our Hotel.
15 million dollar tug.
KG
Lady and Sons
Sorry-no photos. Very busy. Fried chicken, ribs, creamed corn, baby limas (with an occasional okra pod), turnip greens, black eyed peas (Cathy passed on these), hoe cakes and cheese biscuits, iced tea with mint sprigs, lemonaide, coffee.
KG
KG
Savannah Walk
Plans for Saturday were: lunch at the Lady and Sons, riverboat ride, and carriage ride. We did them all and a few other things as well. Some of us went to the Cotton Market, and some went antiqueing. Charlotte and I opted for a little walk around town before dinnah at the Lady's.
In the Colonial Cemetery.
Presbyterian Church.
Oglethorpe
John Wesley
KG
In the Colonial Cemetery.
Presbyterian Church.
Oglethorpe
John Wesley
KG
Uncle Bubbas
We are, generally speaking, happy people. Give us a sunset and a good meal and we'll be smiling and consider ourselves quite blessed.
But, this night we were to be showered. Uncle Bubbas daughter, Corrie, was to be married the next day, and the rehersal dinner was at Uncle Bubbas, so just look who showed up!
That would be our own Cathy holding hands with Paula Deen-no joke!
And Jamie consented to photos as well.
The other highlight of the night was when Cathy asked about the vegetable of the day. When the wait person told her it was black eyed peas she got that stunned deer in headlights look (I'm so sorry I missed that shot-it was priceless.) Until this night, black eyed peas were not on Cathy's vegetable possibilities. However, she has shifted her paradigms so that black eyed peas are now in her list of vegetables/legumes she does not order.
As though all of this were not enough, when we had settled into our jammies in our Hyatt rooms we heard the booming and fireworks and were treated to a lovely show over the river. Quite a good start for our weekend.
KG
Six Pack does Savannah
Early Friday morning the Six Pack gathered at Charlotte and Susan's house for the drive to Savannah. Food and Fun were the goals.
In very short time we had made our way to Callahan BBQ to sustain us for the journey. First "yum" of the weekend!
We are pretty much in agreement that the Hyatt is the place to stay in Savannah. It was so easy for us to get to the places we wanted to see and the things we wanted to do, and we got great views of the river. Who knew Savannah was the 4th largest port in the US? After watching the container ships stacked to our 3rd floor eye level, we were convinced.
After settling in at the Hyatt and taking a walk down the cotton market, we headed in the car to Tybee Island with plans to eat at Uncle Bubba's. Tybee is always charming, and the drive back gave us a lovely sunset to start our weekend.
Ft. Pulaski
Camera crossfire near Ft. Pulaski.
KG
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Ft Lauderdale Family Visit
WS and Frances are 94 and 91 respectively. They married in their mid 30's and moved to Ft Lauderdale in the 1950's. WS worked on the farm and for Uncle Roy and Frances taught the 3rd grade. She retired to substituting and finally gave it up about 6 years ago. She is thinking of letting her license go. WS is pleased that farming doesn't require a licence.
When I say "farming" in reference to WS or Uncle Roy, I suspect I mean something more like farm management. I have no idea who does what, but some of WS's stories about his Uncle Nevil and Uncle Roy suggest that were more managers than tillers of the earth, though they may have done some of that as well.
WS remembers that Uncle Roy came to Florida in 1913 or 1914. Roy and his brother Nevil had run a packing business-packing and shipping various crops including peaches as far west as Kansas and north to New Jersey. He remembered that Nevil got a telegram from one of his customers saying that the fruit arrived damaged and couldn't be sold. So Nevil got on the next train without even packing a bag and showed up at the man's store asking for some peaches. The man bragged about just getting some very nice peaches from South Carolina to which Nevil replied, "Really. Now pay me for the damn peaches I sent you." Nevil was the businessman according to WS and Uncle Roy was more relaxed in his business practices.
So, in 1913 or 1914 Nevil and Roy were deciding whether to go north or south to continue thier business. Nevil wanted to go north, but Uncle Roy had met and married Aunt Myrtle who was from Florida (studying in Georgia when they met) and he wanted to go south. They flipped a coin at the train station and Uncle Roy won. They first went to Anthony, Florida, home to Aunt Myrtle's family and therefore my family. Eventually Uncle Roy bought a card and stationery shop in Ft Lauderdale and moved down. Since the card and stationery and office supply shop sold school supplies and textbooks, it had good traffic and Uncle Roy soon became the authorized dealership for refrigerators and small apliances. WS came to Florida before Frances to work for Uncle Roy and run the shop. He remembers radios that could run off a car battery and sold for $19.95. They sold fast-everybody wanted them.
WS and Frances have lived in Uncle Roy's last two houses. The one on 27th Ave has been torn down, but the one on 21st Court in Wilton Manor is almost exactly the same as Danny and I remember it from when Uncle Roy and Aunt Myrtle lived there. It shows a bit of age in some areas, but clearly WS and Frances love it like it is because they haven't changed a thing-not even adding AC. The fans are probably antiques as well. They sit like a small table in the middle of the seating area. The fan part is parallel to the floor and the solid top surface holds cupons and other such stuff.
Uncle Roy and Aunt Myrtle in 1959 at their old house-stucco with green awnings over arches-very South Florida.
Frances got out her notebook of obits and birth announcements and scribbled notes. Since my great grandmother's brothers moved to Ft Lauderdale and have known Uncle Roy's family for 100 years, I got information on that side of the family as well. Indeed, my grandmother's 1st cousin is about 91 and still living in the area.
I was probably 5 in this photo and we believe that this is Carlie. Maybe I was 6. Those saddle oxfords were probably school shoes.
WS identified several photos for me and talked a bit about my great grandmother's house. It was built of Florida heart pine which matures to the consistency of concrete, only denser. WS says that the house was not torn down, but moved to a barge and transported to be someone's lake house. I wonder if it is still standing.
We traveled back and forth in time gathering old stories and finding out what has become of various people. Some of the people on Uncle Roy's side were more familiar to me than my blood relatives on Aunt Myrtle and Grandmother Griffin's side There were tales of tragic suicides and of the survivors-of divorces and continued relationships with the divorced not blood relatives as well as the blood relatives. And...we were quizzed. WS is a rememberer, and Frances is a rememberer and fact collector. If she had been born a century later she would have given Helen Thomas a run for her job. I decided to "come out" at the first opportunity and that seemed to work well for me.
We spent three hours with the McJunkins not counting the walking to the car and getting offered tomatoes and peppers ritual. They are down to one car-saving $400 per year on car insurance alone. Just as well as the carport is full of all sorts of stuff. Frances has been busy in the living room with tidy up as she is expecting her older sisters to visit next week. The one who lives in South Carolina will stay with the one who lives in Coral Springs as they have equipment for old folks.
WS McJunkin.
Frances McJunkin
So, it was a lovely visit and I spent the rest of the night in my hotel room at the Pelican Beach Resort, right next door to the Sun Tower, doing data entry to my ancestry.com tree. I still have quite a bit to check out in my written notes and haven't even listened to the digital recording of the visit. I did get a couple of great photos.
I was able to book a night at the Pelican Beach with a king suite oceanfront balcony for $50 more than the Sun Tower, so I splurged. The 9th floor was a bit tricky for me, but I was able to enjoy the balcony and even look down if I didn't have to depend upon the plastic rail for support. Danny and I got take out and had a lovely dinner overlooking the ocean.
Monday's trip home was largely uneventful. The usual plague of lovebugs in Osceola County and horrific downpour from I-75 to Dunnellon. I have come to look forward to the downpour after lovebug alley to get the car somewhat clean and to be able to see out the windows.
I'll be doing data entry and thinking of the next questions for WS and Frances, and the next adventure with Danny.
KG
Next Adventure-Ft Lauderdale and South Beach
You might recall that just as we were ready to leave for the summer, my brother Danny had "discovered" 90 year old near relatives (nephew and wife of Uncle Roy-Uncle Roy being the husband of our grandmother's sister). Both Uncle Roy and Aunt Myrtle are 40 years gone, but WS and Frances have stories to tell us about them and about what has happened to other family members. So, I was ready for a visit to Ft Lauderdale.
To further entice me to visit, Danny had been given a voucher for an overnight with dinner and breakfast at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach. South Beach has never even nearly been on my bucket list. I do love the beach, but posh hotels in Miami Beach don't have much appeal to me. However, a free night and meals and on the beach do have appeal, so I was soon packing my suitcase and checking out "cheap hotels ft lauderdale" for Friday and Sunday nights.
Friday night I stayed at the Sun Tower on Ft Lauderdale beach. Nice room. Nicely renovated hotel-little balcony, but not so tiny as the one Marcia and I had in Interlaken. Very nice view of the ocean and very choppy ocean. Danny and I enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at the Bombay Restaurant on US 1. I have had a taste from lamb korma since Geneva. Danny's chicken korma was as good and lighter. This restaurant brings you an assortment of condiments gratis. Some Indian restaurants I have visited offer condiments for a price.
So, full of korma we tried to get some sleep while lightening streaked and the ground shook from time to time-big storm. Just as well it came through during the night, as Saturday was clear and lovely.
We took our time with breakfast on the balcony and a trip to Starbucks. Then off to Forest Lawn Central to find the family. I had gone to this cemetery last spring when I visited Danny, but hadn't had any luck finding family. This trip we toured the mausoleum and had quite a few finds. In addition to Uncle Roy and Aunt Myrtle, we found another uncle and aunt and two of Uncle Roy's nephews that I remember as a child.
Next adventure was to Bonnet House in Ft. Lauderdale. www.bonnethouse.org/ Long story short, this was the home of a succession of Chicago multi-millionare elite eccentric artists. The first being Hugh Taylor Birch who was agoraphobic and bought the land to get away from everyone. He came down to Florida on Flagler's RR, but found too many people in Titusville-which was as far as the line ran at the time. So he took a ship which had to seek port in a storm in Ft. Lauderdale, and he bought over 300 beachfront acres. Some of his estate is a state park and a smaller portion was given to his daughter and son in law, artist and True Value Hardware heir, Fredrick Clay Bartlett. The daughter died and the second wife was former wife of the Eli Lilly heir and it just goes on like this. The house is beautiful and unusual and a trip in time. Hugh ended up moving out in his late 80's. By then he had taken to carrying a chicken under his arm. The last wife, Evelyn Fortune Bartlett lived till 1997. She died in Beverly, Mass. She made major donations of art to the Chicago Institute, and left the house to Florida Historic Preservation. The photoblog will soon have both mine and Danny's photos of this house.
Then we were off to South Beach. It was a bit of a drive down I-95 and over the causeway to Miami Beach. Once we turned on Ocean Blvd, the traffic slowed to a crawl and the beat was rock or Latin. Since this gave me time to photograph from the car, I was content. Some of my photos will eventually appear on the photoblog.
The Betsy (short for the 1930's name-Betsy Ross) is tasteful and comfortable and luxurious without being pretentious. www.thebetsyhotel.com Check out the furnishings in the lobby-Chinese and contemporary and classic furniture arranged for relaxing conversation. There is a bar at one end of the lobby and the BLT steakhouse at the other end, and it all flows nicely. Valet parking is a must.
Since we were staying gratis, we got the smallest double room. Though it was small, it was so well thought out and furnished that it felt expansive. The walls were shades of white with matte finish and the furniture was white semi-gloss. There was recessed overhead overbed halogen with dimmers on the wall behind the shared bedside table, and another dimmer for the brighter overhead room light. There were crookneck lamps on the other side of the two double beds-high poster at the head and low poster at the foot. Most of the outside wall was window overlooking the park and beach. These windows had plantation shutters just like I have at the riverhouse.
The bathroom was quite small, but the gray white marble tiles slightly streaked made it look a bit bigger. The bathroom window was hexagonal with plantation shutter that looked out at the beach. The shower controls were on the end of the shower one steps in, and the two shower heads-one for rain and the other for pressure wash-were at the other end of the shower. There were 3 niches in the shower wall for toiletries and one had two rows of stuff lined up for us. We also got a little luffa pad, but only one of those.
The wall opposite the window was all mirror. The edges of this mirror were frosted and indirectly lighted behind the frosting. The middle of the mirror was a tv-remote living on the counter at the bottom of the mirror and over the sink. I myself do not consider a tv in the bathroom an asset, so I turned it off. It doesn't interfere with the function of the mirror when it is off-just blessedly disappears. Nice modern sink with novel faucet. Towells were under the sink in a nice basket. My only criticism of the hotel is that the towells could have been bigger. Conrad gave us towells that we could wrap around our abundances and be fully covered and warm.
The room had an i-pod and mp3 player, plenty of electrical outlets, wi-fi included (at nearly $400 for this room it seems like the right thing) and the flatscreen tv offered a box in which one could hdmi a computer or pretty much any other tv type gadget could be attached. I'm sure there are playstations and X boxes available.
Dinner at BLT was fabulous. We each ordered appetisers-Florida avacado and watermelon salad with hearts of palm slivers, and grouper ceveche with almond cream. Both a good way to start a meal. We were brought chicken liver pate and some pickles to start before the starters, but neither of us is big into chicken livers, so it mostly got ignored. Two big popovers were a hit. They came with soft butter and a big shaker of salt and a little card with the recipie. Danny made sure I saved it for Marcia.
We got the rib eye steak and swordfish and shared. The rib eye had the eye seperated from the rest. They were seared and popped into a 700F oven for a time dependant on how you wanted it cooked-Pittsburgh style (though I never had this when I was in Pittsburgh). They were served with a sweet onion jam between and they were coated with a cilantro and pepper coating. My mouth is watering just typing this. The swordfish was good and kept us from overdoing, but could not compare to the steak. We did order asparagus which never showed up, but we didn't miss it and only realized it hadn't appeared till the next day. I had two glasses of a nice Marlboro SB and Danny had two of an Argentine Malbec. I expected to be charged for the wine, but we weren't.
We split their Key Lime Pie, or rather, I had two bites. It was made with real key limes, but was lighter than the condensed milk version. It was served with ice cream. Danny followed dinner up with espresso.
We had a nice walk on the beach and around some of the art deco hotels before retiring for the night. Danny had a bit more nightlife than I. Though I could feel the bass from the basement in our room around midnight, it did not go on for much longer than that. This hotel appeals to our contemporaries music wise, and is surrounded by condos, so it is the more quiet end of the beach.
The Betsy delivered the NY times Sunday to our room in a lovely bag and provided us with a petite dejunier adequate to the task.
Next entry on the family visit.
KG
To further entice me to visit, Danny had been given a voucher for an overnight with dinner and breakfast at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach. South Beach has never even nearly been on my bucket list. I do love the beach, but posh hotels in Miami Beach don't have much appeal to me. However, a free night and meals and on the beach do have appeal, so I was soon packing my suitcase and checking out "cheap hotels ft lauderdale" for Friday and Sunday nights.
Friday night I stayed at the Sun Tower on Ft Lauderdale beach. Nice room. Nicely renovated hotel-little balcony, but not so tiny as the one Marcia and I had in Interlaken. Very nice view of the ocean and very choppy ocean. Danny and I enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at the Bombay Restaurant on US 1. I have had a taste from lamb korma since Geneva. Danny's chicken korma was as good and lighter. This restaurant brings you an assortment of condiments gratis. Some Indian restaurants I have visited offer condiments for a price.
So, full of korma we tried to get some sleep while lightening streaked and the ground shook from time to time-big storm. Just as well it came through during the night, as Saturday was clear and lovely.
We took our time with breakfast on the balcony and a trip to Starbucks. Then off to Forest Lawn Central to find the family. I had gone to this cemetery last spring when I visited Danny, but hadn't had any luck finding family. This trip we toured the mausoleum and had quite a few finds. In addition to Uncle Roy and Aunt Myrtle, we found another uncle and aunt and two of Uncle Roy's nephews that I remember as a child.
Next adventure was to Bonnet House in Ft. Lauderdale. www.bonnethouse.org/ Long story short, this was the home of a succession of Chicago multi-millionare elite eccentric artists. The first being Hugh Taylor Birch who was agoraphobic and bought the land to get away from everyone. He came down to Florida on Flagler's RR, but found too many people in Titusville-which was as far as the line ran at the time. So he took a ship which had to seek port in a storm in Ft. Lauderdale, and he bought over 300 beachfront acres. Some of his estate is a state park and a smaller portion was given to his daughter and son in law, artist and True Value Hardware heir, Fredrick Clay Bartlett. The daughter died and the second wife was former wife of the Eli Lilly heir and it just goes on like this. The house is beautiful and unusual and a trip in time. Hugh ended up moving out in his late 80's. By then he had taken to carrying a chicken under his arm. The last wife, Evelyn Fortune Bartlett lived till 1997. She died in Beverly, Mass. She made major donations of art to the Chicago Institute, and left the house to Florida Historic Preservation. The photoblog will soon have both mine and Danny's photos of this house.
Then we were off to South Beach. It was a bit of a drive down I-95 and over the causeway to Miami Beach. Once we turned on Ocean Blvd, the traffic slowed to a crawl and the beat was rock or Latin. Since this gave me time to photograph from the car, I was content. Some of my photos will eventually appear on the photoblog.
The Betsy (short for the 1930's name-Betsy Ross) is tasteful and comfortable and luxurious without being pretentious. www.thebetsyhotel.com Check out the furnishings in the lobby-Chinese and contemporary and classic furniture arranged for relaxing conversation. There is a bar at one end of the lobby and the BLT steakhouse at the other end, and it all flows nicely. Valet parking is a must.
Since we were staying gratis, we got the smallest double room. Though it was small, it was so well thought out and furnished that it felt expansive. The walls were shades of white with matte finish and the furniture was white semi-gloss. There was recessed overhead overbed halogen with dimmers on the wall behind the shared bedside table, and another dimmer for the brighter overhead room light. There were crookneck lamps on the other side of the two double beds-high poster at the head and low poster at the foot. Most of the outside wall was window overlooking the park and beach. These windows had plantation shutters just like I have at the riverhouse.
The bathroom was quite small, but the gray white marble tiles slightly streaked made it look a bit bigger. The bathroom window was hexagonal with plantation shutter that looked out at the beach. The shower controls were on the end of the shower one steps in, and the two shower heads-one for rain and the other for pressure wash-were at the other end of the shower. There were 3 niches in the shower wall for toiletries and one had two rows of stuff lined up for us. We also got a little luffa pad, but only one of those.
The wall opposite the window was all mirror. The edges of this mirror were frosted and indirectly lighted behind the frosting. The middle of the mirror was a tv-remote living on the counter at the bottom of the mirror and over the sink. I myself do not consider a tv in the bathroom an asset, so I turned it off. It doesn't interfere with the function of the mirror when it is off-just blessedly disappears. Nice modern sink with novel faucet. Towells were under the sink in a nice basket. My only criticism of the hotel is that the towells could have been bigger. Conrad gave us towells that we could wrap around our abundances and be fully covered and warm.
The room had an i-pod and mp3 player, plenty of electrical outlets, wi-fi included (at nearly $400 for this room it seems like the right thing) and the flatscreen tv offered a box in which one could hdmi a computer or pretty much any other tv type gadget could be attached. I'm sure there are playstations and X boxes available.
Dinner at BLT was fabulous. We each ordered appetisers-Florida avacado and watermelon salad with hearts of palm slivers, and grouper ceveche with almond cream. Both a good way to start a meal. We were brought chicken liver pate and some pickles to start before the starters, but neither of us is big into chicken livers, so it mostly got ignored. Two big popovers were a hit. They came with soft butter and a big shaker of salt and a little card with the recipie. Danny made sure I saved it for Marcia.
We got the rib eye steak and swordfish and shared. The rib eye had the eye seperated from the rest. They were seared and popped into a 700F oven for a time dependant on how you wanted it cooked-Pittsburgh style (though I never had this when I was in Pittsburgh). They were served with a sweet onion jam between and they were coated with a cilantro and pepper coating. My mouth is watering just typing this. The swordfish was good and kept us from overdoing, but could not compare to the steak. We did order asparagus which never showed up, but we didn't miss it and only realized it hadn't appeared till the next day. I had two glasses of a nice Marlboro SB and Danny had two of an Argentine Malbec. I expected to be charged for the wine, but we weren't.
We split their Key Lime Pie, or rather, I had two bites. It was made with real key limes, but was lighter than the condensed milk version. It was served with ice cream. Danny followed dinner up with espresso.
We had a nice walk on the beach and around some of the art deco hotels before retiring for the night. Danny had a bit more nightlife than I. Though I could feel the bass from the basement in our room around midnight, it did not go on for much longer than that. This hotel appeals to our contemporaries music wise, and is surrounded by condos, so it is the more quiet end of the beach.
The Betsy delivered the NY times Sunday to our room in a lovely bag and provided us with a petite dejunier adequate to the task.
Next entry on the family visit.
KG
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Happy Reunion
We were up at 6:00 London time and off by 9:00. Everything went according to plan, and 22 hours after rising, we crawled into our own lovely bed after a trip through our own lovely shower. Everything hurt, but we were glad to be home.
Stella's smiling face and full body excitement are such a treat to come home to. She went back and forth between the two of us and her little hint of a tail was just a twitching. She slept by my side of the bed all night, and followed Marcia to the kitchen for their early morning routine. When I got up and raised the bedroom shades and sat in my Empress of China chair to meditate on the river, her little face poked around the corner of the bay window from the outside porch and she cocked her head with the "Whacha doin"?" look. Cannot be resisted. Even with everything hurting and our heads pounding Stella can raise the endorphin level with just her being.
So, today will be devoted to recoup. We do not do 22 hours with ease and grace. Even business class seats on an 8 hour flight begin to feel smaller and smaller. Things fall and cannot be retireved without major effort and rearrangement. 4 movies and an HBO comedy routine by Wanda Sykes certainly helped, and the food was decent. However, we were glad to see Atlanta.
We made it through customs fine, and then had about four and a half hours to wait till our commuter flight left for Gainesville. The Delta lounge was available to us, so we rested ourselves with more roomy seats and some free snacks and wine. I'm sure they don't put couches in these lounges for a reason. I'm thinking maybe the reason might be that they would soon look like European train staions with hippie children sprawled all over the floors and sidewalks outside. Marcia suggested cots. I think the cots would only work if we brought our tempurpedic bed rolls, and actually what we really wanted-desperately wanted-was our own shower and bed.
So, we have had a good sleep, nice showers and lovely breakfast including the coffee we love best. The headaches are easing and I am hoping the joints follow suit. The sun is shining. House, yard and river are beautiful. All is right with the world and in a day or so I will begin thinking about our next trip.
KG
Stella's smiling face and full body excitement are such a treat to come home to. She went back and forth between the two of us and her little hint of a tail was just a twitching. She slept by my side of the bed all night, and followed Marcia to the kitchen for their early morning routine. When I got up and raised the bedroom shades and sat in my Empress of China chair to meditate on the river, her little face poked around the corner of the bay window from the outside porch and she cocked her head with the "Whacha doin"?" look. Cannot be resisted. Even with everything hurting and our heads pounding Stella can raise the endorphin level with just her being.
So, today will be devoted to recoup. We do not do 22 hours with ease and grace. Even business class seats on an 8 hour flight begin to feel smaller and smaller. Things fall and cannot be retireved without major effort and rearrangement. 4 movies and an HBO comedy routine by Wanda Sykes certainly helped, and the food was decent. However, we were glad to see Atlanta.
We made it through customs fine, and then had about four and a half hours to wait till our commuter flight left for Gainesville. The Delta lounge was available to us, so we rested ourselves with more roomy seats and some free snacks and wine. I'm sure they don't put couches in these lounges for a reason. I'm thinking maybe the reason might be that they would soon look like European train staions with hippie children sprawled all over the floors and sidewalks outside. Marcia suggested cots. I think the cots would only work if we brought our tempurpedic bed rolls, and actually what we really wanted-desperately wanted-was our own shower and bed.
So, we have had a good sleep, nice showers and lovely breakfast including the coffee we love best. The headaches are easing and I am hoping the joints follow suit. The sun is shining. House, yard and river are beautiful. All is right with the world and in a day or so I will begin thinking about our next trip.
KG
Monday, August 30, 2010
Penultimate Night
Check out time is 10 tomorrow. We will have a day and night at Gatwick and then take to the skies Wednesday morning.
We have pretty much cleaned out the little fridge and the suitcases are mostly packed.
The photos are mostly edited. One more batch-Versailles-and they are done. Bizillions of them. They won't get posted till we are at home, and once we get home we might sleep awhile. Still, all done but the posting.
I did a bit of a walkabout today. V&A photo exhibit was disappointing, so I hoofed it to Hyde Park. Diana Memorial was great fun, and the Italian fountain was restful. Also had a cuppa and sweet at the tennis and bowls.
When I was ready to head home the closest underground was Lancaster Gate, so I gave it a try to get to Notting Hill for a transfer to the District or Circle line to Earl's Court. Folly. So, rather than risk the walk from Queensway to Bayswater, I decided to go east to Holborn in order to go west to Earl's Court on the Picadilly line. Long ride but got the job done and a bit of rest for my feet. The Underground is always such theater. More eye contact than NYC subway.
I'm always sad to leave Europe, particularly when it is still hot at home, but it is time to go. Temps are cool here, I am at the end of my meds, and the shower here at Think is driving me crazy. It was clearly designed by a bald headed man for a bald headed man. There is but one place to put things and that is the soap dish. Even the tiny bar of soap and the tiny shampoo are challenged to cohabit. In Zurich I bought a lovely shower thingie with two suction cups to hold shower stuff. Pretty fru fru colors, but quite functional and has been serving me well. However, this shower is lined with those little glass tiles, so only 5mm suction cups perfectly spaced would work. Besides that, I have to line the floor of the shower with paper towell every day as there is nothing to keep me from slipping around. At least they fixed the shower head holder. It has been quite the juggle in there.
Also looking forward to our bed, but you know that already.
So, tomorrow night at Conrad's place where the showers are lovely and so are the linens, and then a hard airline seat for a long time. At least we are not flying to Aukland or Sidney.
KG
We have pretty much cleaned out the little fridge and the suitcases are mostly packed.
The photos are mostly edited. One more batch-Versailles-and they are done. Bizillions of them. They won't get posted till we are at home, and once we get home we might sleep awhile. Still, all done but the posting.
I did a bit of a walkabout today. V&A photo exhibit was disappointing, so I hoofed it to Hyde Park. Diana Memorial was great fun, and the Italian fountain was restful. Also had a cuppa and sweet at the tennis and bowls.
When I was ready to head home the closest underground was Lancaster Gate, so I gave it a try to get to Notting Hill for a transfer to the District or Circle line to Earl's Court. Folly. So, rather than risk the walk from Queensway to Bayswater, I decided to go east to Holborn in order to go west to Earl's Court on the Picadilly line. Long ride but got the job done and a bit of rest for my feet. The Underground is always such theater. More eye contact than NYC subway.
I'm always sad to leave Europe, particularly when it is still hot at home, but it is time to go. Temps are cool here, I am at the end of my meds, and the shower here at Think is driving me crazy. It was clearly designed by a bald headed man for a bald headed man. There is but one place to put things and that is the soap dish. Even the tiny bar of soap and the tiny shampoo are challenged to cohabit. In Zurich I bought a lovely shower thingie with two suction cups to hold shower stuff. Pretty fru fru colors, but quite functional and has been serving me well. However, this shower is lined with those little glass tiles, so only 5mm suction cups perfectly spaced would work. Besides that, I have to line the floor of the shower with paper towell every day as there is nothing to keep me from slipping around. At least they fixed the shower head holder. It has been quite the juggle in there.
Also looking forward to our bed, but you know that already.
So, tomorrow night at Conrad's place where the showers are lovely and so are the linens, and then a hard airline seat for a long time. At least we are not flying to Aukland or Sidney.
KG
Friday, August 27, 2010
Back at Abeno and the BM
Abeno is there and doing the same pancakes. We did our usual early arrival to secure a table and were glad to see Helene and baby Alexander show up. 
There is no love like baby love. I remember that last year I took photo after photo of the pancake making process. This year I was pretty baby focused. Me and Helene and maybe even Marcia, though she would have little choice for companionship otherwise. After pancake making and eating with cooing and baby games, we thought he would sleep. I remembered to take photos as Helene was documenting baby's first Japanese Restaurant. We decided to order dessert-I was thinking Helene might get to have a meal course without having to tend to baby. However, Alexander was on to our plan and by the time Helene had had two bites of her green tea ice cream, he was ready to roll again. A little walk ourside entertained him a bit, and I was able to entertain him while she finished her ice cream. Seemed like time for Alexander to get back into the carrier and have a ride on the train. I'm sure he was fast asleep in no time.
Marcia and I were off to the British Museum. I decided to go to Asia, and all was well with the Buddhas.
We are back in the land of English speaking again, so I can evesdrop on conversations much of the time. My favorite at the BM was these two boys. They spotted these two cheap bamboo chairs in the Jade exhibit. Here is the conversation:
Boy 1: Ah, bamboo chairs. Probably worth one million and one pounds.
Boy 2: Priceless!
I loved it! Boy satire. What is the value of art? Eyes of the perciever.
My last visit place was to Chinese woodblock prints from the first one known to the present. No photos allowed. Early ones were religious education (as are most of the sculpted images). Middle ones were from Chinese novels and then from the revolution. Today's prints are really special. One that I really loved used that whispy tree thing that one often sees in Chinese art on high tension power lines. The ancient landscape of the river gorges with high tension power lines like willows. Worth more than 1 million one kuai at least.
We came home to Tesco and got dinner-micro Indian for me.
Back to photo editing.
KG
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