Yes, this trip has finally come to an end. Patrice and I were definitely ready to go home (which we safely did last night) and we both think this was one of our best trips ever. Thank you to all the people who helped make it such a success. Also many thanks to all the people who left comments on the blog. I really enjoy hearing from you and staying connected to our friends and family. Here are a series of photos that I found interesting but didn’t get a chance to send them during the trip. They are in no particular order.
Your restauarant server wants to make sure that you know that Europe is no different than the USA. See this copy of one of our dinner checks.
The most common clothing attire I saw on the trip was the NY Yankee baseball cap. I guess they didn’t hear that the Astros eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs 4-0. See below, one of many.
And if you want to buy a Yankee cap they are easy to find.
In Milan, the Galleria had lots of high-end stores. See below.
After all your shopping at the Milan Galleria, you can stop for some fine dining at this location.
We saw a few of these strange devices on the streets of Bologna. No one used them and I am not sure what they are used for.
We saw this boat with an odd name in Venice. Acqua is the Italian word for water. I think you can figure out the rest.
Chocolate Lentils? That is my idea of fiber. See below.
When you gotta go, this is the place to go if you are in the Marco Polo airport in Venice. While you are at it please pick up after yourself. See below.
In Madrid, we saw signs of the USA and Canada. First, we saw little hot dogs from Nebraska. I didn’t realize Nebraska was a hot dog Mecca. See below.
I know you can see Tim Horton’s all over Canada but it looks like they are also attacking Madrid.
Looking to connect with George Washington? Try Budapest. See below.
Budapest had this very unique piece of art in a park (see below). It is also an ecological tool since it encourages people to put their plastic bottle caps inside. See the hole on the right side.
How about a taste of NYC while you are in Budapest? See below.
Did you know that Moses was a techie? See below,
In German the word for jewelry is Schmuck. I know a lot of guys who would say anyone who spends a lot of money on jewelry can be described with the same word. See below.
If you are homesick for Venice Beach in Los Angeles, just get on a tram in Vienna.
But lastly, this is my favorite memory of the trip.
When I left you yesterday we were on our way to the opera. Patrice bought tickets to see Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi. For those of you who are not opera buffs, I’ll tell you a little about the story. It takes place in Zaragosa, Spain in the 1500s. Question: If it takes place in Spain why are they singing in Italian and supplying libretto interpretations in German and English? The story starts with a Count sentencing a gypsy woman (already not politically correct) to be burned at the stake for being a witch. While she is being burned she yells out to her daughter to avenge her death. The daughter then proceeds to kidnap one of the Count’s sons. She plans to throw the son into the flames but in her excited state throws her own son into the fire. Yes, you are reading this correctly, it is not a typo. And this is just Act I. The story gets worse but I’ll spare you those details. There was one reassuring thing that happened to me. While exiting the theater Patrice said to me, “I don’t think I am an opera person”. THANK GOD!
This morning we again started the day with wonderful service and a delicious breakfast at the Hotel de Rome (Behrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin). Patrice had read about KaDeWe. This is a megastore with every imaginable commodity. It is more like a mall than a store. They have lots of very high-end merchandise.
From the Ubahn (subway station) it just looked like a big office building, nothing all that special. See below.
As you enter you can tell this will not just be an ordinary store. Look below to see who greeted us.
The first booth we saw upon entering was Louis Vitton and they had a line of people wanting to get in. See below.
Next door was the Rolex watch store where a security guard would only allow one customer in at a time. See the prices of these watches to know why. Here is one for €37,350.
Maybe this is more your style for only €17,600
Possibly you would prefer a bargain. Try this one for only €13,750.
Personally, I would be embarrassed to wear one of these watches. I couldn’t even imagine sitting with a salesperson looking at these things. It just reaffirms my notion that some people just have too much money. If you’re one of those people, please just ignore the previous sentence.
KaDeWe also has some fun stuff. Check out these donuts.
Seeing all this food made us hungry so we went to Käfer Dachgarten (Platz der Republik 1 Reichstagsgebäude, 11011 Berlin) for “High Tea”. The surroundings were great and we really enjoyed this relaxing time and snack. The restaurant offers a prix fixe meal with your only choice being the dessert. If you look at the pictures below you will see the “food” is tiny but the dessert (on the top tier of the tray) is rather sizeable.
I ordered the “White Coffee Edition” See below.
Patrice ordered the “Honey Mousse Edition”. See below
In order to enter this restaurant we had to show identification and go through security because the restaurant is part of the Reichstag (parliament) which is the home of the German Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament). Just outside the restaurant, there is a dome that was not open when we toured this area earlier in the week with Daniel. We were a little early for our restaurant reservation so we tried to tour the dome prior to tea. I wanted to find out the duration of the audio guide so I asked the young man who was collecting them. To my surprise, he didn’t speak English (all the other young people we have met here speak excellent English). I was undaunted, I pulled out Google translate and showed him my question in German. I then turned on the microphone and he spoke his answer. I looked at Google translate which told me he said “F-¢k I need Sunday”. I think and hope there was an error involved. We decided to come back after High Tea. On our return I was very pleased that we got to visit this structure. The city views were fantastic and the audio guide reinforced the information we have previously been told. Check out this view of the Brandenburg gate.
Well, it is time for us to pack and check in for our flight tomorrow. My last post for the trip will be tomorrow and I am planning to send a bunch of photos that have caught my interest. Thank you so much for your comments. It has made this very special trip even more wonderful.
Our trip has almost come to an end. Some of you might be disappointed to know that you won’t be receiving daily emails about my blog posts. Others are probably saying, “Finally I can go to my email without fear”. Last night after a busy day, we looked for a relaxing place to have dinner. We decided to go to PeterPaul (Torstraße 99, 10119 Berlin). Upon arrival, I said, “Rice, party of two” and we were immediately taken to a table. We soon became aware this would not be a quiet relaxing dinner. The place was packed with customers (on a Wednesday night?) and it was loud. Patrice and I enjoyed the art on the walls and inquired about them. The person we asked was the owner, David PeterPaul. He told us the artwork was all made by his grandfather. He then brought us a book with all of his grandfather’s paintings. David was 9 when his grandfather died and he told us they were very close. It made me feel a little sentimental because of my close feelings for my 4 grandsons. Dinner was spectacular.
They gave us corn soup “on the house”. It was a very small cup but very delicious. See below
I had the chicken, sorry I started to eat before I remembered to take a picture (see below).
Patrice ordered something that we were told had sausage. I didn’t like it very much. I later read it was pig stomach. I am glad I didn’t know that prior to eating it. See below.
We also shared Curry Wurst. This is typically a snack you can buy from small shops in various neighborhoods. We were told this was an upscale version. See below.
Of course, we couldn’t pass on dessert. Our server, Schteffie, recommended Schtocolate with Schterries (aka chocolate with cherries). See below.
This morning we got ready to see what else Berlin had to offer. Our travel agent, Gwen, and her local representative, Dana, gave us a free driver today for a couple of hours to make up for the last-minute tour change due to Daniel getting Covid. Gwen and Dana have been very responsive to our needs. It is a great feeling to know someone is watching over you when you are so far from home.
Our driver was again Marcus who has been great. He first drove us to the site of John F. Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. I looked around and stared at the balcony from which JFK spoke. The final words of the speech started to resonate in my brain and I began to tear up. Luckily I took a picture of the balcony and not of myself. See below.
If you are interested in listening to the historic 9-minute speech please go to this Wikipedia link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner. The Wikipedia post also discusses the myth that instead of Kennedy proclaiming in German, “I am a Berliner” he supposedly said, “I am a jelly donut”. If he had said that I am sure JFK would have been the first to make fun of himself.
After this short stop, Marcus took us to the Jewish Museum. This was interesting but unfortunately, I don’t think we devoted enough time to it. Of course, there were some very heart-wrenching exhibits but there were some more upbeat ones as well. One of my favorites was the drawings of some famous Jews of the past.
They had Albert Einstein. See below.
The hilarious Marx brothers were Jewish. See below.
And of course this very popular Jew.
Marcus then took us back to the hotel so we could rest up for our afternoon tour with Jörg. The afternoon mostly consisted of visiting the Neues and Pergamon Museums which included seeing amazing antiquities. My pictures won’t do it justice. But I will try.
First, Babylon, which was brought to Germany in the 1930s.
Next Babylon with a King and Queen superimposed on the great city.
I can’t write any more now because Patrice bought us tickets to the opera and it is time to go. I need to get dressed and find my book.
Yesterday I left you with a bit of a teaser. I wrote that Daniel had arranged a very special experience for us. I had mentioned to Gwen at Exeter Travel (GWEN@EXETERINTERNATIONAL.COM or DIRECT LINE 813-251-8509) that I work with firefighters and would be interested in visiting a fire station if possible. Isn’t this how travel plans work? You tell your agent what you want to do. They make a wonderful plan for you months in advance. Then halfway through your trip, you ask them if you can do something else. Well, Gwen and Daniel hit a home run with this one. When Daniel discussed the plans for today he mentioned that there was a fire station in one of the areas we would be visiting and we can try to see if they would be open to talking to us.
As we approached the fire station on Oderberger Strasse we saw a fire engine leaving the area which did not bode well for our visit. There was a makeshift barricade in front of the station door. No problem for Daniel; he just lifted one end and told us to come in and replaced the barricade (this is definitely my kind of guy). Daniel rang the buzzer and talked to an individual. Soon my new best friend forever, Michael, was at the door. Michael showed us around and, with Daniel interpreting, he explained about their work (over 90% of calls are medical), their station (the oldest in all of Germany), their equipment (there were 2 trucks in the station and one was out on a call), and their fitness program (sounding very similar to what we do in our office for a variety of fire departments). Michael had me try on a turn-out jacket (see below).
Do I look like a geek? No? If you don’t think so, look at the next picture.Robert doing his impression of Michael Dukakis. See below.Per Wikipedia: Many commentators blamed Dukakis’ loss on the embarrassing photograph of him in a tank taken on September 13, 1988
Michael (the firefighter, not the politician) insisted I get in the driver’s seat of one of the trucks. He joined me and all of a sudden he started to speak English to me. He pointed out a variety of items on the dashboard including a telephone. I asked if I could call my son in California and he gave me a tilted head look and then I quickly told him that I had been kidding, I really just wanted to call my daughter in California or my daughter in Spain (I don’t think my new BFF thought that was too funny). We ended the visit when Michael brought me a shirt from the office. I told him I would wear it with pride.
This was a blast. Michael made me feel like royalty.
Some people like to see museums. Some like to see natural wonders. I think those sights are great but I most enjoy interacting with people. On a vacation, nothing can be better than making a connection with a local. And yesterday I made a connection and it felt very good.
Patrice and me with my BFF, Berlin Firefighter, Michael Selig.
Later last night, we had a great dinner at Lutter & Wegner am Gendarmenmarkt (Charlottenstraße 56, 10117 Berlin). Google and Apple Maps have been great at helping me navigate throughout this trip but I had a little difficulty finding the restaurant. I thought the person who made the reservation for us had written Lufter instead of Lutter so neither app was much help. So keep that in mind if you want to find someplace it is best to know what you are looking for. For my foodies please look below.
Breaded chicken with salad was terrific.Pike with crayfish risotto. I thought we were in Berlin, not New Orleans?
That was all yesterday. Today we got some awful news. Daniel, the Wunderführer (Google says that means miracle guide but using “führer” in my blog makes me nervous) tested positive for Covid. That was horrible news for him and us. But he put us in the trustworthy hands of Jörg. With the help of Marcus, our driver, Jörg took us to Potsdam where we toured the town (lovely place) and visited the Cecilienhof Palace where Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met in July-August 1945 to discuss what should be done with Germany at the end of the war. We also toured the palace of Frederick the Great. After that, we went to a more sobering place, the site of the Wannsee Conference, which is more commonly known as the meeting to decide “The Final Solution of the Jewish Problem”, (i.e. extermination of all the Jews in Europe). It was very upsetting to think of these animals having this meeting and even more depressing when we learned that after the war some of them either served limited prison time or none at all.
When I feel sad, it must be time to eat. We are off. See you
After arrival yesterday we didn’t have much time to rest because we had to meet our Berlin guide, Daniel. The guides on this trip have all been incredible and Daniel might be on the top of the heap. He is fluent in German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. I asked for the tour to be done in Portuguese to add some variety to the trip but Patrice insisted on English. Daniel knows everything. He keeps insisting he doesn’t but he does. This man talked to us about everything. At one point we were talking about Dirk Nowiski (“He played for the Dallas Mavericks”) and next, we asked about the ages of Puccini and Verdi he said, “I think Verdi was about a generation older”. I looked it up and yes indeed Verdi was born in 1813 and Puccini in 1858 (okay maybe that is a trace more than a generation but clearly a lot better than I could do (“Uh, I think they were born sometime between 1500 and 1900, but I am not sure”). Anyway, how many people do you know who can talk about Dirk Nowitski AND Giuseppe Verdi? Point proven? The man knows everything. And, he is incredibly nice, as all of our guides have been,
Yesterday afternoon was a very sobering experience and nothing I feel comfortable making jokes about. The millions of people who died during WWII at the hands of the Nazis is not something I would ever try to make light of. There are a variety of memorials around the city in honor of the Jews who died under Hitler’s direction. We also saw a modest but very lovely memorial in honor of the Sinti and Romani people who died at the hands of the Nazis. We were also told that gays were also the targets of these murderers.
Sinti and Romani memorial.
We learned a lot about life in East Berlin (where our hotel is located) under Russian rule prior to the removal of the wall. We visited the Brandenburg Gate which I am embarrassed to tell you I learned was in the East sector of Berlin (I always thought it was in the West).
The Brandenburg Gate in the previous East Berlin sector.
I also learned (not sure how I could have not realized this before) that the wall was not just a relatively linear structure near the famous Checkpoint Charlie but rather completely circled the city of West Berlin. How could I be so dumb? Of course it had to encircle the city otherwise what would be the point? We learned that during the era of the Berlin wall (1961-1989) about 500,000 Germans fled the East. We finished our tour at Checkpoint Charlie. This was a huge disappointment. It was sort of a carnival atmosphere with all sorts of cheesy souvenir stands and a re-creation of Checkpoint Charlie (the original was removed on June 22, 1990). I found the area rather disturbing when you think of the many people who died trying to escape East Berlin.
Today we again toured a number of places where parts of the wall still stand. One area (“the Painted Wall”) has a large portion of the wall that has been painted by a variety of artists. There is some very beautiful artwork along this portion of the wall including this painting re-creating the photograph of the kiss between Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker on October 7, 1979.
The painting entitled “My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love” by Dmitri Vrubel.
Here is the original photo upon which the painting is based.
Leonid Brezhnev kissing Erich Honecker October 7, 1979.
Personally, I like this version better.
The Real Kiss.
At the suggestion of our daughter, Erica, we ate a Döner Kebab. We were told this is an authentic Turkish cuisine that was first made in Germany (did I really say that?). It was as good as it looks or maybe even better (see below).
Döner Kebab
After a lovely day of touring, we returned to our hotel to rest. Before I got into bed I saw this on the nightstand and said to myself, “Yes, you are in Germany”.
All my cables were neatly coiled with fasteners.
Anyone who knows me, knows there is no way I did this. I don’t even own fasteners.
I have one more adventure I want to share but it has to wait until tomorrow. It is too special to just be an add-on at the end of the blog so I will leave it until tomorrow. Thank you so much to Daniel for making it happen.
We are off to dinner but I need to get back to the hotel soon. I need to find something to stump Daniel. He couldn’t know everything! Could he?
We needed to get up early today because Erica had a 7:00 AM flight to Madrid and we were scheduled to leave at 9:15 AM for Berlin. The hotel staff offered to prepare some food for Erica to take with her since she was leaving the hotel at 5:00 AM. Patrice opted to sleep and she asked me to bring her something from the buffet. Luckily the buffet started at 6:30 AM (not 7 AM as I had previously been told). When I entered at 6:33 AM the entire dining room was empty. I ordered some eggs and grabbed some fruit from the buffet and of course, a Sacher Torte. Twenty minutes later (and after being asked no fewer than 5 times if there was anything else I would like) I headed back to the room with some nourishment for my bride (and the dining room was still empty).
At 7:00 AM we reluctantly left the hotel (we loved the Sacher Hotel and its staff) and headed for the airport. Harry was our driver and he had returned from the airport after taking Erica at 5 AM. Harry apparently agrees with our guide Peter that red lights are just a suggestion (just kidding he was a great driver) and got us safely to the Vienna airport.
Checking in for the flight and airport security went well and we then relaxed until told to board. Interestingly the Austrians/Germans are worse than the Spaniards when it comes to lining up before a flight. Look at this line long before any boarding announcements were made.
Only a small portion of the people lined up for the flight long before any announcement regarding boarding.
Take off was smooth and I got one last view of the Danube.
Our last view of the Danube from our flight from Vienna.
Shortly into the flight, there was a fair amount of turbulence. I was sweating, shaking, and my heart was racing, but I knew my job was to comfort my wife. So I looked over and saw Patrice and the female passenger next to her.
Patrice and the woman next to her were obviously not perturbed by the turbulence.
Okay, okay, I’m a big baby. I admit it.
The flight smoothed out and I started to read my book when suddenly a cup of water was shoved into my hand. What happened to “Would you like something to drink sir?” No in Dueschtland it’s “Here, drink!” Next, they came around with chocolates and I got two because Patrice was still sleeping (please don’t tell her). I was starting to wash down the chocolate with some water when the flight attendant came by and said “Cup!” I didn’t dare say I wasn’t finished (see above about me being a baby).
I thought I saw an old friend shortly before we landed in Berlin. I thought I was seeing the Danube but only one minor problem, the Danube doesn’t flow anywhere near Berlin. I was looking at the Spree River.
Spree River outside of Berlin.
We were met at the airport by Marcus (“I spell Marcus with a C most Germans spell it with a K, my son is Oscar with a C, not a K like most Germans”). Marcus will be our driver while we are in Berlin. He is very knowledgeable, speaks excellent English, and had a spot for both of us to charge our phones. Marcus pointed out all sorts of interesting sights on our way from the airport to the hotel. He even looked at the road occasionally. Just kidding, he is an excellent driver.
By the way, I have given up. For years I have been correcting people about the pronunciation of my surname. People frequently say “Rice”, but we pronounce it Reiss which rhymes with Peace. When people protested about my pronunciation I tell them to go argue with my grandfather. They try to explain to me that in German it’s pronounced RICE similar to Weiss. I tell them if the Germans won the war we would pronounce it as Rice but they didn’t. In reality, if the Germans had won the war I wouldn’t be here so end of story. Well, they have finally won. I’ve given up. For the remainder of this trip, I will pronounce it as Rice. You ask why, well the reason is simple. Every time we enter a hotel or restaurant and tell them we have a reservation for Reiss (as in Peace) they say “So sorry I don’t see a reservation under that name”. Then I say Rice and immediately they say “Ah yes, here we are”. Last night at dinner in Vienna I didn’t hesitate and said, “We have a reservation for Rice” and the hostess smiled and immediately said, “Come with me please”. Erica asked, “How would the you of 2 weeks ago reacted to seeing a video of that interaction?” She is right, but for now, I have given up. Next week I can return to my family’s pronunciation.
Enough for now. We are off to meet our Berlin guide, Daniel for a 4-hour walking tour. Then we will have dinner: “Rice party of 2”
I am so sorry if it has been difficult to make a comment on the blog. According to my daughter, Erica, all you need to do is reply to the email that sends the post. No need to go to the blog site and add your email address. I love those comments so please keep them coming.
We started today with another great breakfast and I have to admit the Sacher Torte has definitely grown on me and I like it very much. So much so that I am disappointed that our flight tomorrow is so early that we might miss breakfast.
We had a fantastic day with Peter touring the Hofburg Palace complex which included the Sisi museum. The museum is dedicated to Elisabeth the Emperess of Austria, Queen of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian equivalent to Lady Di. Elisabeth was quite the beauty and a bit vain. We were told that she refused to allow any photos to be taken of her after the age of 30.
The security camera at the Elisabeth museum. Notice the 3 suspicious characters in the right lower corner.
We also toured the Military Museum and Belvedere Palace. The Belvedere Palace had an incredible array of artwork including “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt.
“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt.
During the day we took a lunch break at Cafe Central (Herrengasse 14, 1010 Wien). Our guide, Peter, joined us for lunch at which time he discussed the history of Vienna prior to, during, and after WW II. It was fascinating to hear what he had to say. I was essentially speechless (Patrice here: Yes, Robert hardly said a word and you know what a rare event that is).
Robert, Erica, Patrice, and Peter at Cafe Central.
One fun fact we learned today was that as part of the post-WWII peace accord the Austrians were required to put up memorials to each of the allied countries. Peter took us by the Russian memorial. He further told us that the person that owns the property adjacent to the memorial was understandably upset about the Russian military action in Ukraine. Notice the colors he painted the adjoining fence.
The private property with its new coat of paint resembling the Ukrainian flag.
Peter was with us for about 7 hours today (we were only scheduled for 6) and then we had to bid him farewell. I told him that each tour guide seems to be better than the previous so lucky for him we only have Berlin left on our tour so he will definitely be one of our top 2 favorites. Not only was he a vast source of information, but he was also very humorous. Today he really got me chuckling when we were waiting at a red light and he started to cross the street saying, “The red light is just a suggestion”.
You might remember from yesterday that I planned to return to Jungmann & Neffe to be measured for my tailor-made suit for a mere $5,000. But darn, wouldn’t you know they are closed on Sunday. I guess we will just have to return and get it next time.
Can you see how disappointed I was that I lost my opportunity to buy a $5,000 suit?
Enough for tonight. After all, we need to head out for dinner.
Today was our first full day in Vienna. Breakfast at the hotel is included so Erica and I went down to have a light meal. Patrice waited in the room, the reason for that will soon become apparent. When we arrived at the dining room we were greeted by Helmut who said “Let me introduce you to the buffet”. How could we turn down such a wonderful offer? The delights were plentiful including an old friend from yesterday.
Yes, the Sacher Torte was available.
Since I panned the Sacher Torte yesterday I felt that I had to give it another opportunity to impress me and it did much better today. Possibly yesterday’s was just from a bad batch because I enjoyed it much more today. But I had to keep myself under control because today we had planned one of our favorite activities……… yes, a FOOD TOUR!
Patrice and I have gone on food tours in New Orleans, Boston, London, Memphis, Denver, and other cities. Well, today we signed up for a Vienna food tour at the recommendation of Gwen from Exeter International and we were not disappointed. Tomas led us around the city and we had a great time. We learned a lot about Vienna, other regions of Austria, and of course food. We had 6 stops and all were lots of fun and tasty. My personal favorite was the sausage stand.
My favorite part is that you can see Erica’s reflection in the glass
Our excellent Food Tour Guide, Tomas, returned us safely to our hotel where we were able to take a short rest before heading out on a city tour.
Our afternoon tour of the city was led by Peter. At first glance, you might have some concerns because Peter is just a tad younger than me. As it turned out he had the stamina of a 20-year-old. I don’t think he sat down once and the only time he stopped was when I started complaining about my back hurting. He gave us a brief review of his personal history. Peter started out as a lawyer but quickly realized he didn’t like it. He was an owner of an art gallery and after about 20 years decided to sell it and become a financial advisor. Unfortunately, his timing wasn’t good because this was in 2008 when the global economy was very sluggish. So then he decided to be a tour guide telling us that as an attorney and financial advisor no one believed what he said but as a tour guide everyone believes everything he says. He also told us how tourists will ask where they can find the kangaroos confusing Austria with Australia.
Tourists looking for kangaroos in Vienna can go here.
After hearing this I knew immediately that we had the right person as our guide.
Our first stop was right around the corner at Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe (Wilhelm Jungmann & Nephew), a men’s clothing store that has been in business since 1836. Peter said the store sells tailor-made suits that sell for about $5,000. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time for me to get measured for a suit so we will go back tomorrow afternoon.
Window at Wilhelm Jungmann & Neffe with a reflection of the cathedral
We next visited St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is truly a beautiful sight. I explained that although I am intrigued by the elegance and history of the cathedral, not being Catholic, makes the place a little less important to me. Peter shared that he is Catholic but has only been in church twice. Once when he was Baptized and the next when he got married. This just further affirmed that he is my kind of guy.
We also saw some residential buildings that were built in the 1800s. It is so amazing to think that these structures have been around so long. We ended the tour at the royal crypt. When I first heard we were going there I was very displeased. But not wanting to be a party pooper I just went along without voicing my objections. I am so glad we went. The coffins were ornate but even more interesting were Peter’s stories about the history of the various kings and other royalty buried there.
How is this for a simple tombstone?
Peter delivered us to our hotel for a brief rest then it was off to dinner to be followed by a Mozart concert. As hard as this is to believe, the line for the Sacher Torte was even longer today.
I signed off last night as Patrice and I were about to go to the spa for massages. We had a couples massage, Sonia took care of Patrice and Olga treated me. This was true magic and when Olga said we are done, I said “Can you start over?” I slept like a baby last night.
This morning we got up early to get ready for our train ride to Vienna where we were to meet up with Erica for the weekend. As always the Aria Hotel supplied a wonderful breakfast. At breakfast, we were greeted by an employee who we had not met before, He was not native-born in Hungary but rather from Trinidad and Tobago. He didn’t get here by taking the wrong bus but actually previously worked for Celebrity cruises. When I asked what got him to stay he replied “I met my son’s mother”. Ah yes, another man who followed his….heart. He has now been in Hungary for over 2 years and when I asked if he speaks Hungarian he replied: “That’s a work in progress but I get by thanks to Google Translate”. Our new friend brought us something new for breakfast. Question of the day: can you identify this delight?
No, these are not Eggs Benedict.
After breakfast, our wonderful driver, Attila, drove us to the train station, took our bags, found our train, found our seats, put one of our bags in the overhead compartment (no way I could have done that), and bid us a bon voyage to Vienna. I emailed our travel agent to let her know it would be impossible for the next hotel, guide, and driver to equal the experience we had in Budapest.
Thanks to Attila our luggage was in the overhead compartment and Patrice had room to sleep.
The train was due to leave at 9:40. And just as our Budapest guide, Julia, predicted, it left exactly at 9:40. A bit later one of the attendants came by to check our tickets. Of course, they were conveniently stored on the AXUS app (thank you, Gwen). I wondered what they would do with us if we didn’t have tickets or if we were on the wrong train. Luckily I didn’t need to find out.
Patrice, my sleeper extraordinaire (see above picture), wanted to get some rest but couldn’t figure out how to get the seat to recline. She saw these buttons.
These buttons seem to allow reclining of the seats.
But couldn’t get them to work. Patrice flagged down one of the porters and asked “Do these work?”. The gentleman smiled and said “Oh, no, no, no”, while looking at her with an expression that read “She must be a silly American, lol”.
The train ride was incredible. We arrived at each stop within a minute of the scheduled arrival time and reached Vienna on time. We saw our driver (notice I didn’t say we were greeted by our driver) who took Patrice’s bag (but not mine like Attila did in Budapest and Federica did in Venice) and then turned and walked towards the exit. At my age, and with a full backpack and suitcase, I don’t move as quickly as I once did. The driver walked without once looking back to see if I was following him. Lucky for me, Patrice was able to keep up with him otherwise I might have been dropped and possibly I would have decided to turn around and go back to Budapest and search out my new BFF, Attila. This driver was no Attila but he did get us to the hotel safely so I have no real complaints.
The Sacher hotel in Vienna is very elegant. They have an array of photos of celebrities who have stayed here. It is not a high-tech marvel like the Aria in Budapest but it still is very nice. The staff has been falling over themselves to make us happy.
After putting our luggage in the room, we got a quick bite at the Sacher Cafe. The cafe was full of customers. We had a light lunch but we had to treat ourselves to the famous Sacher Torte. I’d never heard of it but from what I’ve learned it seems like I’m the only one who didn’t know about their specialty. Unfortunately, we were not impressed. It looked appetizing but the taste was nothing special. After lunch, we headed to the Albertina museum which is literally steps from our hotel. On our way over we saw a line of people waiting to get into the cafe. I stopped to ask why they were waiting and yes, it was for the torte.
People waiting outside on a very cold day just so they could eat the Sacher Torte. I felt guilty for not warning them that it wasn’t worth the wait.Here it is a chocolate cake with an apricot layer. It is not as good as it looks.
Enough about overrated chocolate desserts and back to the Albertina museum. It was fantastic. Currently, they have a special exhibit of Jean-Michel Basquiat. I must share my artistic ignorance but I had never heard of this master who died at the age of 27. The exhibit was superb and taught me a lot about this man who was an artistic genius and a thinker way ahead of his time. We also saw some works by a number of other artists including Pablo Picasso. Did you know that at 80 years old Picasso married a woman 45 years his junior? Here is a portrait he painted of his young wife.
No surprise that a 35-year-old woman who marries an 80-year-old would look like this.
Time for Erica’s flight to arrive from Madrid, so don’t forget to tell me the name of the breakfast item if you can.
Last night, Wednesday morning for you, I spent some time back in Los Angeles via zoom. As many of you know I am in the process of changing jobs. In January, I will start working at UCLA’s clinic in Palos Verdes. Yes, the boy who went 4 years to USC undergrad and 4 years to USC medical school will be working for UCLA. As part of the hiring process, UCLA requires new hires to attend 11 four-hour onboarding sessions (4 in person and 7 via zoom). Why so many you ask? The obvious reason is people from USC are slow learners. For example, Patrice (a UCLA graduate x 3) has been trying to teach me the traditional Bruin cheer known as the “8-clap” but I still get confused somewhere between clap 3-4. When she asks me to sing the fight song I instinctively start singing “Fight On for Old SC”. I’m trying my best but it’s a work in progress.
One thing I’d like to say is that the UCLA people have been incredibly nice to me.
At the first onboarding session, I met a number of staff physicians who reached out to me and gave me their cell phone numbers telling me to call if I had any problems. I also met Robbie from Ambulatory Community Outreach, who personally brought me around to meet some people to help me solve some issues I was having. A few weeks later I met Jac (who also works at Ambulatory Community Outreach) at a 5K run. She was already aware of my hire and had some great suggestions on ways to make my transition smoother. Robbie and Jac found out that I will be receiving the inaugural Impact Award from the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and did something that really warmed my heart. They arranged for UCLA to take out a full-page ad in the program for the Foundation Gala on November 3rd. As I said, the Foundation will be giving me its first Impact Award for my work. This will become an annual award given at the gala to people whose efforts have had a major impact on the foundation. I’m very proud to be receiving the first of these prestigious awards. UCLA’s support in this regard has been very humbling. If any of you are interested in attending the event please go to this link https://one.bidpal.net/gutsglory2022/welcome. If you would like to participate in the silent auction here is the link to that: https://one.bidpal.net/gutsglory2022/browse/all
It was fun logging on to the onboarding session because I quickly said, “Hello from Budapest, Hungary” which understandably got some surprise comments. I am sure they appreciate me taking time out of my vacation to join the session when the spa is begging me to come down for a massage.
Thank you for all those responses to the musical instrument question. Many people said it was a dulcimer which is almost right. It is a Hungarian instrument called the Cimbalom. It is in the dulcimer family but there are some subtleties that make it different. I won’t bore you with the specifics (Patrice here, what he is really saying is that he has no idea about any of the differences).
We had a great tour today. Julia (our guide) and Attila (our driver) took us to Szentendre which is about 15 miles (oops, I mean about 24 Km) north of Budapest. This is a quaint little artist community where we went to the restaurant, Aranysárkány Vendéglő (“Golden Dragon Inn” located at Szentendre, Alkotmány u. 1/a, 2000) to learn how to cook some traditional Hungarian dishes. This was an amazing experience. The owner/chef (Attila like our driver) taught us how to make 3 Hungarian dishes. We made “tojás leves” (egg soup), “paprikás csirke” (paprika chicken), and for dessert “túró gombóc” (cottage cheese dumpling). It was a blast. In addition to Attila, we were helped by his assistant, Monica, and Attila’s son, Attila. After getting things going we took a walk around the town with Julia then returned to enjoy the lunch we helped make. While we were eating Attila’s father (the founder of the restaurant) whose name is also Attila came by to have lunch. Trust me not every male in Hungary is named Attila.
Check out this 46-second video of “me making the soup”. If you wait until the end you will notice one of the Attila’s turning my wrist to add the egg to the broth (clearly I was a huge help).
The egg soup was unbelievable.Paprika chicken. We made 9 pieces but were only served 5! What’s the deal?Cottage Cheese Dumpling. Sounds awful but tastes amazing.
After lunch, Julia and Attila (the driver, not the chef, or the son, or the grandpa) gave us a driving tour of Budapest ending up at our hotel just in time for some real magic. Sorry, that will have to wait until tomorrow. Let me just give this teaser, it has been the highlight of the trip.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 