Wasting Away in Margaritaville

Sitting on the balcony of our room simultaneously overlooking the palm decked pool and the sun setting over the Gulf, the band serenades me with sax and voice. We truly vacated all thoughts, intentions and considerations today. After a late breakfast we drove to the end of these keys, a place called Anna Maria. The book Wayne is reading is set on Longboat; much mention is made of Anna Maria. The area is densely packed with condos, cottages, shops of every variety and loads of sand. We returned for a light lunch at the bar and immediately headed for the beach where we spent 4 hours reading, drawing and finally, swimming.
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The Big Top

On this bonus leap year day, we went to Ca d'Za, the home of John Ringling. According to their website, the home is “the last of the Gilded Age mansions to be built in America, Ca' d’Zan has 56 incredible rooms filled with art and original furnishings. With its Venetian Gothic architecture, the mansion is a combination of the grandeur of Venice’s Doge’s Palace, combined with the gothic grace of Cà d’Oro, with Sarasota Bay serving as its Grand Canal." On the grounds is the Ringling Museum built by John Ringling to house his personal collection of masterpieces. It features paintings and sculptures including Rubens, van Dyck, Velázquez, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, El Greco, Gainsborough and more. We were greatly impressed by the holdings and the grounds. Most beautiful was the courtyard filled with casts of original antiquities and renaissance sculptures, including the David by Michelangelo. We ended the day on the beach with all the other sunset lovers. For more pictures visit my flicker

Beach, Stone Crabs and Art

I'm really enjoying these lazy days of sitting on the beach, reading and drawing. This guy reminded me of a beached whale. I'm reading 1Q84 by Hiruki Murakami. It's somewhat surrealistic and too complicated to explain here. In the afternoon we crossed the bridge to Sarasota's Art Center. It was small; the permanent collection was a few pieces by local artists. The majority of the work was a juried show of mixed quality. Later we explored more of the keys and found a large public beach on Anna Maria. Also on Anna Maria was Moore's Crab House which we returned to for dinner. Wayne once again tried soft shell crabs and we shared a plate of oysters. We both agreed that southern water oysters and soft shell crabs lack the succulence of seafood from the cold waters of the North Atlantic. For more pictures visit my flicker

Gulf Coast

We've crossed over the Florida Everglades, stopped by Naples for lunch and an overnight before heading north for Longboat Key, which is across the bay from Sarasota. At one point Longboat was a part of Sarasota, but incorporated when the state threatened to make public some beaches. We unintentionally booked an accessible room. Guest services accommodated us with another room on a higher floor with a balcony overlooking both the pool and the Gulf. The hotel has an island feel with wooden decking and walkways. The beach is at our feet. Overall, it is much more informal than Casa Marina on Key West. Nevertheless, it is better managed and the restaurant is superb. While we waited for our room to be prepared we returned to St. Armand's, the first key in Sarasota. According to Wikipedia, visionary circus magnate John Ringling purchased the St. Armands Key property in 1917 and planned a development which included residential lots and a shopping center laid out in a circle. As no bridge to the key had yet been built, Ringling engaged an old paddle-wheel steamboat, the "Success," to service as a work boat.
St. Armands Key features a large roundabout with a small park in the middle. This roundabout is known as St. Armands Circle. The area is largely commercial, boasting more than 130 stores and restaurants, and is particularly famous for its home-made chocolate, fudge and ice-cream shops. There are many restaurants, tobacco shops, clothing stores as well as other retail outlets in the circle. We had a nice lunch at a sidewalk eatery. So far we are much more enamored of the west coast. Everyone is more at ease and the drivers are far less aggressive. One can actually use a crosswalk without fear of being run over. For more pictures visit my flicker

Blue Moon and New Friends

Checked out of the Waldorf around 11am after attempting to retrieve our snapper for the Limas. Par for the course with this hotel, they lost our fish. We have many complaints about the management of the Casa Marina. The setting is so perfect that we would be tempted to book here again. But we will write the organization with our list of complaints. At their invitation, we stayed with Kathy and John to break up the drive to Naples. They booked dinner at the Blue Moon in Fort Lauderdale and included their friends Helene and Don Resnick. We've heard stories about them for years and were delighted to finally meet them. For more pictures visit my flicker

Groupers, Snappers and Bonita

Today was absolutely the best! We lounged around the beach all morning. Had a light lunch of conch fritters at the SunSun. Then walked to Long Pier to find our charter boat. Billy, our captain, helped us aboard and explained where we would be going, about 7-10 miles south. The ride was fast, fun and bumpy on a center console 34' boat. Initially, we saw large schools of fish on Billy's radar. Nothing was caught and we moved about. Billy put chum in the water and tossed in small bait fish. He explained that the snapper would eventually feed up to the boat. We would see a yellow/golden flashing in the water. He baited a large rod with a 5" live fish. Bang! A catch. A fighting catch. He turned the reel over to Wayne and the struggle began. It was quiet a few minutes of struggles until a good sized bonita was hauled aboard. Not a fish we would keep to eat, though, and the search continued for dinner. We motored around a bit and settled again for a final try. Again, the large rod struck. This time Wayne was really working had and Billy was stumped as to what could be so big. Everyone was amazed and thrilled when a 70 lb. Goliath Grouper was brought in. A beautiful fish, they are protected and had to be returned. But, first, Billy had to puncture the air sac so the grouper could return to the bottom. He stabbed the stomach area, pushed on it, and one could hear the air expelling. Quite a sight. Now, I got a bite and lost it to another predator. Boy, was I upset about that! But eventually the golden school began approaching and we began to catch one yellow tail snapper after another. It brought back great memories of bass fishing with my Dad. Back at the dock, Billy cleaned the fish for us. The hotel cooked them that night and we dined on them with our toes in the sand on the beach. For more pictures visit my flicker

A Litte Art, A Lot of Sand

Today is actually March 3. I've been neglectful with this blog and will try to catch up. Nevertheless, details of the days will be lost, those little funny happenings that make a trip interesting or details about a restaurant or museum. On this day we explored another side of the Key to find the Art Center and Fort Zachary Taylor. The Art Center is one of those lively organizations that I wish for in Wareham. The center is in a former armory. When we entered there was a printmaking class in the main center room with probably 50 people participating. Hung around this room was a show by Marlene Koenig If you go to her site, take a look at the art journals. They are beautiful. The Center also provides studio space for an artist in residence and sponsored space for about 5 other artists. There is an outdoor sculpture garden, too. All in all a wonderful community effort. From here we went to Fort Zachary Taylor. The Fort was held by the Union army for the entirety of the war. Here we found all the locals on the adjacent beach. That night we took our friend Carol's advice for dinner at Kelly's Caribbean Bar and Grill. For more pictures visit my flicker

A Moveable Feast

Key West is known for its roaming roosters. We've heard them and seen a few around Duval Street. Today we returned to Blue Heaven for lunch and ate with a few of them. They are quiet beautiful. Another beautiful item at Blue Heaven was the Key Lime pie. OMG! The meringue stood a good 4 inches. And the filling was just the right tartness balanced with sweetness.
Ernest Hemingway's home is a block away from BLue Heaven. We had visited it a few years ago, but still wanted to return. Ernest didn't have roosters, but he did have cats, 44 of them. There are still 44 of them and they are all polydactyl, and mostly FAT. This visit was more interesting to me because I recently read The Paris Wife about Hemingway's first wife and A Moveable Feast.
This morning we walked through the cemetery. It is noted for quirky epithets, ie, "At Least I Now Know Where He's Sleeping" put on by an obviously cuckolded wife. My favorite and new motto read "A Perfect Woman, Nobly Planned, To Warn, To Counsel, and Command". All the graves are above ground a la New Orleans.



For more pictures Road Trip 2012 on Flickr.

Blue Heaven

We changed rooms today. After 2 sleepless nights of mysterious banging in the walls and halls, the manager moved us. The room is less luxurious, but will be worth it to have a decent night's sleep. Most of the day was spent on the beach recuperating from our night. We had conch fritters, which were grand, for lunch. The long, sleepy day was followed by a night at Blue Heaven, a funky outdoor restaurant filled with live music, chickens under foot and the best yellow tail snapper with beurre blanc sauce. The musicians were from a group we had seen last summer at the Clark. What a serendipity.
For more pictures visit my flicker For more pictures visit my flicker

The Little White House

Harry Truman spent 175 days in Key West, some while President and some after. The house is a wonderful southern style home with verandas that wrap both 1st and second floors. Our guide was a charming 74 year old native who had met Truman when he was selling newspapers near the naval base. We walked to the house through a gated area that had really beautiful plantation style homes and smartly manicured lawns. That evening we stayed at the hotel to see the sunset and eat on the beach. The sunset was beautiful. For more pictures visit my flicker

Sun, Sand, Sunsets

We had such a wonderful relaxing day. We started out with breakfast on the patio before going to the beach. The beach is on the hotel property and easy access. We had 2 loungers set up next to a hammock and spent the afternoon reading. Later in the day we showered and drove to Duval Street. We walked the length of it to Mallory Square for the sunset. The square is large and filled with street entertainers and kiosks. There was a Disney cruise ship docked. We had a Corona and enjoyed the people. The edges of the dock were packed with people so I couldn't actually see the sun set. But applause told me it had happened. We took a slow walk to The Grand where we had reservations. I had a delicious plate of grilled snapper. Wayne had Thai chicken curry.

Key West

After a leisurely awakening, coffee, packing and good byes, we got on the road about noon headed for Key West. It was about a 5 hour drive with lunch at the Island Fish Company a place on the water that we realized once we were inside we ate at several years ago. We are at the Waldorf Casa Marina. It is a nice spa hotel sitting directly on the beach. There are 2 heated pools, dining on the beach, and a sunset bar on the beach. We stopped by the concierge and booked a reef fishing trip for the end of the week. He also gave us restaurant tips. We walked from the hotel to Duval street, then the entire length of Duval. The end near our hotel is a bit more sedate with galleries. The far end (where the daily sunset ritual occurs) was very funky with lots of live music, bars, shops and crowds. We ate pizza and drank margaritas on the second floor balcony of a restaurant near the southern end of Duval. It should be a great week with sun, relaxation and recreation. For more pictures visit my flicker

Boats, Beaches and Blue Moons

We drove down to South Beach today. Kathy and John had not been and they really enjoyed the Art Deco architecture. We had a lousy lunch with obnoxious music. But then had a nice walk on the beach. We drove past the boat show and recollected our week there a few years ago. Tonight we drove into north Fort Lauderdale for dinner at Blue Moon, a wonderful setting on the intercoastal waterway. Our table was on the water. For more pictures visit my flicker

Imagine

Kathy and I have been daily walking the 3 mile perimeter around the Aventura complexes. The path circles past a big pond with swan and ducks, by a golf course and even next to a highway. Nice diversity for a walk. After our walk today, we headed out for Festival, a shopping paradise that is a quarter-mile long with over 500 shops, restaurants, fragrance outlets, cosmetic stores, shoe stores, clothing shops, jewelry stores, home furnishing stores and gift boutiques. We first stopped in Fort Lauderdale for lunch. One of the galleries on Los Olas had a show of John Lennon's work. The work is a combination of his and pieces Yoko has addended and added color to. It was nice, lyrical work. Wayne picked up some cool Cuban shirts at Festival. After Festival we needed to shop for dinner and more mojito ingredients. It was a night of mojitos, tapas, dominos and American Idol. For more pictures visit my flicker

Mucha Gusta

Today we went to Little Havana in Miami. I wanted to see some Cuban art and eat some Cuban food. The area is not developed as a tourist area or gentrified. So, it was really authentic, but as a result there was not row after row of galleries. We only found one, which was interesting. It was a multimedia venue with dancing, music, a bar and art. The art was not anything I was interested in, though. It seemed very crude. And we couldn't find the other mosiac studio, only a vacant lot. However, it was fun being there, shopping and eating at Versailles. Very funny name for a Cuban restaurant, don't you think? John had pigs' feet and white bean soup. I had black bean soup and empanadas. Mojotas were had by all. This has become Wayne's new quest, ingredients for mojitos. We drove 50 blocks to find a little store with sugar juice. This "little" store had fruit, vegetables, a drink stand, a deli, a fried seafood counter, etc, etc, etc. We happily returned home with rum, mint and sugar juice in hand. Mixing was a community effort. For more pictures visit my flicker

Sunny and Warm

Happy Valentines Day! The condo association has a nice salt water pool which we sat by and read today. The pool was surrounded by families, but only a few people were in the pool because the air was still cool. Wayne and I went shopping at Fresh Market for dinner. We stopped to have the car washed, too.

Vizcaya

Today is Kathy's birthday. It is another chilly day. We drove south of Miami to visit Vizcaya,, a National Historic Landmark built by agricultural industrialist James Deering in 1916, featuring a Main House, ten acres of formal gardens, and a rockland hammock. Tonight we drove into Fort Lauderdale to eat at Chima, a Brazilian steakhouse, which has an extensive salad bar and all the meat you can eat brought to your table. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Hollywood East

It was a chilly day in Florida, about 65. We took a drive up to Hollywood to see where Donna Winner lives and walk along the beach boardwalk, which is really a paved way. It was a beautiful beach with one couple huddled under a blanket on it. We stopped at Brasis, an Argentinian restaurant for lunch. We stopped at Fresh Market to shop for dinner. John cooked mahi mahi and swordfish. Yum. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Steak and Shake

Another day on the highways of America, today headed to Miami to stay with Kathy and John. The drive was about 6 hours. The only eventful moment was our stop for lunch at the Steak and Shake which is reminiscent of a '50s diner. Hot dogs were the choice of the day. Kathy and John have a nice condo in a Miami area known as Aventura. They were waiting with hors d'oeuvres and drinks. A nice way to end the day. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

el Viajar

The day was spent touring and sightseeing. We walked along Avenida Menendez, named for the city founder and located along the harbor, to the Plaza de la Constitucion where the Spanish ships would unload goods. There are many memorial sculptures and monuments there as well as the original open market structure. We walked up King street to the LIghtner Museum. LIghtner was the owner/publisher of a late 1800s magazine for collectors. As a result of his publication he became very interested in collections and began to collect the collections. The museum holds an eclectic collection of victorian and art nouveau artifacts. There was a beautiful koi pond in the courtyard. Originally the building was a playground for the guests staying at the Flagler Hotel. That hotel is now Flager College. After a light lunch at Casa Maya we caught the tour train for a swing through town. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

The Oldest....

city in the USA, St Augustine. We were here 4 years ago celebrating my retirement. It's nice to be back. Earlier this morning we took a last short stroll around Charleston. We got to St. Augustine about 6pm, checked into the hotel and then walked into the historic district. We had dinner at La Pentola, a restaurant we ate in 4 years ago with great pleasure. The memory was better than the night's dinner. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

Charleston, Y'all

We got into Charleston around dinner time. We walked around the historic district which included the open city market, the French Quarter and a walk out the dock to view Fort Sumter. Charleston is a very beautiful city with old preserved colonial homes and multiple galleries, restaurants and performing venues. The Spanish moss hangs here and the weather is mild. The French Quarter homes remind me of Savannah with their courtyards, iron gates and architecture. The open market here is filled with local artisans and their wares as well as a lot of the typically imported junk. I bought a scala hat for Miami and Key West. We had dinner at The High Cotton, pure southern food and atmosphere.

















The Open City Market. For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

The Crater

Petersburg, VA is one of those small USA towns that struggle to prosper. The town takes advantage of it's history to attract tourists. Most of the stores are filled with antiques. And there are a few historical buildings preserved as museums: The Seige Museum, Center Hill Mansion, The Blanford Church/Cemetary. We also discovered the Hiram Coffee House which is where Edgar Allen Poe spent his honeymoon with his 13 year old cousin. It has been restored to the original look and now holds poetry readings, musical events and period coffee.
Hiram Haines Coffee House
For more pictures visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/minkcove/

We chose Petersburg as our first stop after Philadelphia in order to see the Civil War battles that took place during the seige. It was here that Grant came when he was unable to conquer Richmond. He realized that the key to taking Richmond was to stop the supply trains that came through Petersburg. One of the most noted battles of the War took place at Petersburg when the Union soldiers who were miners from Pennsylvania dug a tunnel under the Confederate lines and planted explosives beneath their fortifications. The explosion excavated a huge crater that the Union soldiers ran into on their way to battle the Confederates. The Union was slaughtered from above by the Confederates as they piled one upon the other in the crater. Grant eventually took the city of Petersburg, 2 days later Richmond and subsequently Lee surrendered at Appomatox.

Opening into the tunnel.

8 States and 3 Days

Breakfast in the Philadelphia Double Tree hotel with the Academy of the Arts in the background.





We got on the road about 10:30 am. It was a sunny warm day with light traffic. The entire day was spent on the road except for a stop in Occoquan, VA for lunch. Occoquan is considered a suburb of DC even though it must be about 20 miles away. It is a quaint little village filled with art galleries, restaurants and shops. Once we were in the town, I remembered that my Aunt Juanita and Uncle Carlton had brought me there a few times for dinner.

A Wikipedia history tells us:
Occoquan is derived from an Algonquian Doeg Indian word, meaning "at the end of the water". Located on the Occoquan River, Occoquan was long a site of indigenous peoples' habitation. Like the British colonists after them, they relied on the river for transportation and trade, as well as fish.
By 1765, Anglo-American colonists had established an industrial settlement at Occoquan, with grist mills and tobacco warehouses. The Merchant's Mill was the first automated grist mill in the nation. It operated for 175 years until destroyed by fire.
During the Civil War, the post office passed letters and packages between North and South. River silting reduced ship traffic to Occoquan and ended its days as a port, as did the shift in traffic to railroads.
The town has survived and thrived. Today, it is a restored artists' community, with shops, outdoor dining, ghost walks, a town boat dock and more.
We got into Petersburg about 4:30 pm. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Civil War battlefields. See more photos at Flickr

Friends, Nachos and A Loss

Another beautiful sunny day in Philly. Spent a great few hours catching up on the past 27 years with my friend Michael. Michael is a great artist who attended Bard College with me. I have not seen him since about 1989. We had a nice brunch at his house. Met his partner Joe and his daughter Iris and went to see a show Michael has at a local gallery/cafe. Later, Wayne and I attempted to go to the Philadelphia Museum. But the line for entry stretched out the door and all the way to the top of the steps. With only 2 hours until closing, we promptly left.
Wayne, Atop the PMA steps.

This evening we watched the Pats play the Giants in the Super Bowl. It was a heartbreaking loss. We had a good time in the hotel bistro eating pub food, drinking beer and cheering the team. All the patrons seemed to be Patriots' fans, which made the loss less painful. But, all in all, we wished it had been a different outcome. Tomorrow we head for Petersburg, VA. See more photos at Flickr

On the Road Again, Philadelphia

We left Massachusetts today for a 2 month tour of the south and south west. Our first stop is Philadelphia. We came into the city over the Benjamin Franklin bridge from Camden, NJ. The city skyline made quiet an impression. And we had a musical welcome.

Our Doubletree Hotel is on South Broadway, or Avenue of the Arts. The nick name is apropo. Everywhere are venues for performances. We went to the Kimmel Center to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra perform Stokowski's arrangement of Bach's second Partita Chaconne, Shostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade all conducted by Nicola Louisottoi. The Shostakovich solo was played by Nadja Salerno-Sonnerberg. She was great fun to watch. First she wore red velvet pants an early indicator that she was ready for battle. And battle she did, attacking the music with vigor and expressive body movements. A truly great performance. The Kimmel center is so beautiful. It is a space saturated with mahogany and formed with a nod to the cello.

We have a great corner room and can see up 3 avenues. The Kimmel Center is just below our room.

See more photos at Flickr

A Whale of a Tail

It was a most beautiful and warm day. The sun beat down on our necks as we sat aboard the Viking VIII, a whale watching boat. We were on the upper deck with about 100 people and just as many were below deck. We motored for about an hour out of Cape Cod Bay toward Stellwagen Bank, a national trust area. We were lucky today and saw dozens of humpback whales. Some of them came along the side of the boat. You could see the white fins very clearly. They all sprayed from their spouts and dove to show off their flutes. As the guide said, "you were all a little bit closer to heaven today." My Nikon's battery was dead so the photos were not so clear. This little movie is the best I could do. More Pics

The Dunes

We took an hour dune tour on the National Seashore that showed us the dune shacks. This was exciting to see; the sometime homes of writers and artists such as Eugene O'neil, Don Passos, Charles Hawthorn. Later, we went to the library to see the 12 scale replica of the Dorothea Rose schooner. We ended the day with drinks and oysters on the half shell at the Red Inn.

Yard Sale

Unbeknownst to us, this is the biannual Ptown yard sale and coincides with Columbus Day week end. The streets are packed with bargain hunters. The license plates tell us the hunters are from far and wide, Virginia, Quebec, Connecticut, etc. The weather has kissed us, a fabulous 80 degrees. We walked Ruby the entire length of Commercial Street and then stopped for lunch at Bubula's. We ate on the patio and she sat on the sidewalk next to our table sampling tomatoe and french fries. Tonight we dined at The Red Inn, thanks to Louis and Jerome's gift certificate. It is a beautiful setting overlooking the bay.

The Highlands

The Highlands is an area of the National Seashore. Located here is the Cape Light, which casts its light 50 miles out to sea. The house and light have been moved 50 yards back from the eroding cliffs to prevent its loss. We climbed to the top for a look at the fresnel and the Atlantic. Also in the Highlands area is the house of whaling Captain Penniman.

Cape Cod National Seashore

We headed to Wellfleet for lunch and a visit to the Cape Cod National Seashore. After a large plate of bbq (no trip of ours is complete without a tasting of the local bbq), we headed to the Fort Hill area of the park. It is a beautiful mixture of marsh, beach and dunes. We walked the trail and then veered off into the marsh for a closer look. Another beautiful day to behold.

Pilgrim Monument

We're taking on the role of true tourists this time in Ptown. We climbed the Pilgrim Monument today, a landmark I've observed for years but never visited. The climb is fairly easy; it's made of ramps rather than stairs. The inside corners are inlaid with plaques from all the Mass communities that donated money to the building (1920s). Theodore Roosevelt was present for the dedication.

Provincetown

The next 10 days find us in Provincetown, MA dog sitting for friends Louis and Jerome. Ruby, an Irish Terrier, is a wonderful dog. She's obedient and friendly. The house sits atop a hill in the west end of town overlooking Long Point from one side and Herring Cove from another. The lot is huge with a fruit orchard, garden and small hill top above the house. Today we took Ruby to Race Point on the National Seashore. The weather is unseasonable warm.

Vieux Lyon

Allow me to put in a plug for the Hilton Hotels chain. We stay in them whenever we can and use their credit cards for stay points. Because of this we are often eligible for upgrades or free nights. In Lyon we got an upgrade to an executive suite. Along with that upgrade comes a full breakfast (in the executive lounge), canapes & drinks after 6, tea & snacks all day, & free Internet. In addition the hotel has a gym, sauna, jacuzzi, Turkish bath & two restaurants. All of this for almost 1/2 the cost of other places we’ve stayed which had none of the aforementioned amenities. We have a beautiful, soothing view of the Rhone and a park, Tete d’Or.

The public transportation here is superb and easy enough for us to stumble through. Today we took the #58 bus to Place Bellecour, the largest clear square in Europe. It is situated on a peninsula formed by the convergence of the Rhone and Soane Rivers. We walked from Bellecour over the Soane to Vieux Lyon, a large Renaissance district which dates back to the Middle Ages. Here are where the silk workers, Canuts, lived and worked. This industry has disappeared because of sick French silk worms and the Suez Canal. But the concierge assures me I can still find Lyon silk at the attelier.
Rising abruptly from Vieux Lyon is the Fourviere district where the Basilica Notre-Dame of Fourviere looms over all of Lyon. We took the funicular up to see the Basilica and enjoy a panoramic view of all Lyon. The Basilica draws from both Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, but is relatively new, 1872-1896. It is very ornate with 6 huge gold mosaics covering both sides of the nave.
We ate in a traditional restaurant called a bouchon, the origin of the word is unclear (it literally means cork). We had typical local dishes of salad lyonnaise & quenelle, a dumpling made of flour and egg with pike fish and a crayfish sauce.
Tonight we took the C1 tram to the Part Dieu train station to get tickets for Dijon. We are going tomorrow for a day trip. Bon nuit.

Soane River from Pont Bonaparte

2 Comments

1. kathrynlima | February 22, 2011 at 3:37 pm | Reply

   So what made those French silk worms sick? Too much brie and wine?

2. Christy | February 22, 2011 at 8:39 pm | Reply

   I don’t know. I’m just very sorry the aren’t healty and working there little tails off all over Lyon. The host in the lounge tonight said we could find some weavers working in the traditional manner in the old silk district.

Bordeaux

Today we got to test our umbrellas. But despite the rain it was 57 and not too terribly uncomfortable. After coffee at a cafe where the owner was playing 60’s English rock and dancing his way around the tables, we sauntered to the Musee des Beaux Arts. This is a small museum. But there are significant pieces and artists. It is nice sometimes to be in a small collection and concentrate more on each piece. Julia and Carolyn, thought of you 2 when I saw Matisse’s from 1898, small little landscapes & still lifes. Two Delacroix, Greece On the Ruins of Missolonghi and The Lion Hunt.

Walking around today reminded me of the Gustave Caillebotte Street in Paris in the Rain. A pictoral round up of Bordeaux. 

2 Comments

1. carolynberlin | February 20, 2011 at 9:20 am | Reply

   Ooh, ooh, ooh, little Matisses!

2. Christy | February 20, 2011 at 9:56 pm | Reply

   Yes. So small they could easily slip in a bag and go home with one. But, alas! The were under glass.

Danke Schoen, Wien

Today we took the tram to Belvedere Palace, home to Prince Eugene, conquerer of the Ottomans. He got really rich with his military deeds and built this lavish crib. Because he had no heirs, the state got the property and established Austria’s first great public art gallery. It is located high in the city and offers sweeping views of the formal gardens and the Vienna skyline. The collection holds a healthy sampling of Austrian Secession works, prime among them are the works of Gustav Klimt. Promenently displayed a la The Mona Lisa is The Kiss. It is much larger and squarer than I envisioned it. But it is a hypnotic piece that fluctuates between flat, patterned shapes and modulated, interlocking forms, between flat, frontal space and deep, expressive space. Also in the room was Judith I. There were a few unfinished pieces that were fun to analyze and guess at Klimt’s approach to composition and application. Others works of note for me were: Makart, 5 Senses and Oscar Kokoshka, Muller, Egon Schiele, Oppenheimer

We went to lunch in another coffee house. These places are fabulous. I decided to have a sausage before leaving Vienna. And then chose a desert from a showcase of deserts. Yummy. Did I mention that all the waiters are men and wear white shirts with bow ties.
Our 5 days here were not adequate to do the city justice. We never saw the Lippenzer Stallions. Performances are only on Saturdays. All that was available was exercise times. Also, I would be interested in seeing the contribution Vienna made to Art Deco. There were at least 2 major museums we didn’t have time for, The Leopold and The Albertina.
If any of you come to Vienna, i would highly recommend our hotel, The Rathaus Wein and Design. They have been so very accomodating including doing our laundry today for 10 euro. Tonight we are staying in and watching The Third Man In closing, pictures

Hello Prague

We had a most pleasant 5 hour train ride from Vienna to Prague. Spain Renfe still rules, though, as the most accommodating of trains. We thought things were looking up when a porter came by and asked us what we would like to drink. We said coffee; he handed it over and said 5.50 euros, please. Surprise!

We are back in a Hilton. Our room had fruit, wine and condiments waiting for us. The lounge had sandwiches, drinks and an array of desserts. Ahhhhh. It is located on the edge of Old Town, the heart of the city. Many of the streets are pedestrian only. The old town area leads onto the 600 year old Charles Bridge, which spans the Vltava River. On the other side of the river is the Prague Castle which we intend to visit tomorrow. The area is a bit filled with tourists, but just enough to make it cheery, not as over whelming as Venice. Brochures were offered everywhere for numerable nightly music performances from classical to jazz in churches and halls. We may change our focus from the visual to the auditory. There is a large public square with temporary grilling concessions and music. With this brief orientation we feel there is a lot to enjoy.