Erica, Prague, and Madrid in That Order. Day #4 “More Fun in Praha” May 4, 2019

by reissmd, posted in Prague

Followers of this blog are already aware that my favorite part of trips is mingling with the locals. If they are people we already know, all the better. Last night we had a wonderful dinner with my friend Patrik (not our tour guide), his wife, Pavlina, and their sons Patrik (yes another Patrik) and Alex. First of all, in spite of the fact that in our short time here we have met 3 Patriks, I have been told it is not a common name in the Czech Republic.

I knew Patrik when he was one of the stars of the Long Beach Ice Dogs and I was one of the team doctors. If you are saying you’ve never heard of the Ice Dogs, that is the reason they no longer exist. I had not seen Patrik since about 1999 before he was married. We met the family at a local restaurant a bit off the main drag and thus devoid of tourists. We had what Patrik described as typical Czech food. In a word it was spectacular.

Left to Right: Patrik, Patrik, Alex, Patrice, Pavlina, Erica, Robert





I had Svíčková. A meat dish with bread dumplings. It was superb. My mouth is watering just thinking of the sauce.

Erica had the goulash and loved it. I thought it was a bit too spicy for me (and I like spicy)
Both Patriks and Pavlina had the duck with potato dumplings.
Patrice had “Pig Knee” that came with caramelized cabbage and pickle salad. Sounds disgusting but it was amazing.
Alex showed he was a true 14 year old and had a burger and fries.

It was a great night catching up with an old friend and meeting his family. I was aware that they did not live in the city and thought they were about 20 kilometers from town. I found out that they live about a two hour drive from the city. I was shocked learning they were coming from so far. That is like someone visiting Santa Barbara and asking if I want to meet them for dinner. They are an incredible family and it gave us one more reason to return to this lovely city.

Today we considered taking a day trip to a couple of towns that had been recommended by some friends. We were slow to get started and by the time we did it seemed like it was too late to make the trip. Instead we decided to buy tickets for one of the “Hop On, Hop Off” bus tours. I am sure you know the type. We did it in Boston on a rainy day and since today’s forecast was rain we thought it might be a good idea.

Patrice and Erica learning about the city while I stalk them.

The tour took on a little excitement when our bus was blocked by another tour bus. Honking ensued making me feel like we were visiting New York. Not to digress but Prague is a lot like most of Australia in that there is very little honking of horns (unlike New York). Back to my story, for some unknown reason the bus in front of us had stopped and was blocking our path. Our driver continued to honk with the same results (Isn’t that the definition of insanity? Continue to do the same action while expecting different results?). He started to go over the curb to get around. It made an awful sound and quite frankly scared me (I later heard from Patrice and Erica that they were also feeling a bit scared).

Our driver trying to “Hop On” the curb to get around another bus. He gave a new meaning to the name “Hop On Hop Off” tour.

After the tour we walked back to a sight that interested Erica. On the bus we passed the Church of Our Lady Victorious which Erica has heard was famous for “The Infant Jesus of Prague”. The church houses a doll of the baby Jesus and people have crafted exquisite clothes for the doll to wear. The church has a series of cases displaying previously used costumes. The church has received costumes from people all over the world.

The Baby Jesus on display in full costume,
Costume from Mexico
South Korea sent this costume for the baby Jesus.
What do you think about this outfit?
Wait a second! What is that Jewish star doing in there?

That has to be all for now, Patrice and Erica are saying they want go to dinner. We head to Spain tomorrow.

Erica, Prague, and Madrid in That Order. Day #3 “Beyond Description” May 3, 2019

by reissmd, posted in Prague

After another great breakfast we were off to explore the city of Prague (known as Praha here) once more. Patrice, Erica and I were interested in seeing the Franz Kafka Museum. Unfortunately it was a big disappointment to me. Erica and Patrice have instructed me to say they were NOT disappointed. Well in that case, they must not have been expecting much. The most interesting part to me was outside the museum and had nothing to with Kafka. Outside the museum was a statue by David Černý called “Piss”.

“Piss” by David Černý. Note Patrice and Erica seem fascinated by the work of art.

Our guide explained that the sculpture was made after the Czech people voted to join the European Union in 2004. The piece consists of two sculpted men standing in a pool shaped like the Czech Republic. By making the piece the artist was saying that the Czech people were pissing on their own country by joining the EU. I was less concerned with the artist’s message than I was with Patrice’s fascination with the piece.

I have no idea why Patrice was so interested in this art work.

From Piss (that doesn’t sound right) we headed over to see the Astronomical Clock. This structure was was constructed in 1490 by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš). It has a variety of unique qualities. At the stoke of the hour there is a skeleton that rings a bell counting out the current time. Also twelve apostles march past. A figure with a guitar, another counting his money and a third looking into a mirror all shake their heads “saying no to death”. The current astrological sign is displayed as is the number of hours until sundown. The current phase of the moon is also part of the piece. There were other things but they escape my memory. Clearly it was a fascinating sight; we weren’t alone as many others were there to observe the clock as the hour struck.

Astronomical Clock in Prague

Apparently after completion of the clock the royalty was concerned that Jan Růže might recreate this work of beauty for another region so they rewarded him by gouging his eyes out. Lovely reward system, don’t you think?

Tonight we are having dinner with friends but we don’t have anything planned yet for tomorrow.

Erica, Prague, and Madrid in That Order. Day #2 May 2, 2019 “Best Day So Far”

by reissmd, posted in Prague

Last night we had a marathon stay at the American Airlines lounge at Heathrow Airport arriving shortly after our flight landed in London at 10 AM and not leaving for Prague until shortly before closing (the American lounge closes at 7 PM but we left at 6 PM) heading over to the the British Airways lounge which is open much later (until 10 PM).

Our flight to Prague was uneventful and very quick. We were scheduled to take off at 8 PM and arrive at 11 PM but since Prague is one hour ahead of London our trip was only 2 hours instead of the expected 3.

From the Prague airport (PRG) we were greeted outside baggage claim by our Blacklane driver, Denys (pronounced Dennis), who helped us with our luggage and drove us to the hotel. I know what you are thinking, “Patrice and Robert are a couple of spoiled rich kids taking a private car to the hotel”. Actually it is quite the contrary. I was turned on to Blacklane (a German company) by my friend Jeff. This was the second time I used them (they have a convenient phone app) and they have been very competitive in regards to price but beyond comparison in regards to service. We used them in New York at JFK. The price was a little more than a taxi but the driver met us at baggage claim, helped Patrice with her luggage, we didn’t need to wait on a long line for a taxi and he drove us in a clean car to the front door of our hotel. Considering that the tip was included in the quoted price it was very a reasonable service. Unfortunately their pricing is not always competitive. For example I looked for a quote from LAX to our home (less than 6 miles) and they wanted $117 for a ride that typically costs about $30 by taxi. For $87 I will wait on a taxi line in Los Angeles.

But of course the highlight of the night was seeing Erica at our hotel. It had been 6 months since we had seen our baby (sorry, FaceTime is good but not the same). We hung out in our room for a while and prepared for our first day in Prague.

This morning we had a great breakfast at the hotel, then waited for our tour guide to arrive for our 3 hour walking tour of the city. When he didn’t arrive at the arranged time I called the tour company and was connected directly to the guide. He apologized for being late and said he would be there soon. A few minutes later Patrik introduced himself and we were on our way. We had a great day walking to a variety of sights. The weather was perfect as was our guide. Our 3 hour tour actually lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes. Patrik had a wealth of knowledge about the sights and history of the Czech Republic. I strongly recommend Patrik from Lucy tours (Lucy is the owner and Patrik’s mom). You can contact them at lucytours.com.

My girls Erica and Patrice in front of Prague Palace. Where is Lindsay?

We found a human statue in Old Town Square. I know you have seen them in various places. We have seen them in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Barcelona and Madrid (I am sure we have seen others). This guy seemed particularly good so I put a tip in his jar before taking a picture. After dropping in the tip he grabbed me and instead of me taking pictures of him, Patrice took these pictures of us.

First just a simple picture.
Then turning around my hat and covering my eyes.
Not sure what was doing now but I could see that Patrice was enjoying it.
I made my getaway when I could.

More planned for tomorrow. I need some sleep now. My Fitbit is reading 19,293 steps. Maybe I will walk up and down the hall a few times to hit the 20K mark. Steps aside, spending my day with Erica made this the best day so far.

Erica, Prague, and Madrid in That Order. Day #1 April 30 -May 1, 2019 “Where’s My Baby?”

by reissmd, posted in Prague

I recently started reading former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright’s book entitled “Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948”. In it, she writes, “Some people pursue enlightenment by sitting quietly and probing their inner consciousness; I make plane reservations.” Madame Secretary, you must have been thinking of me when you wrote that.

Today (April 30, 2019) we left for Prague, not to research Secretary Albright’s roots but rather to visit our daughter, Erica. As you might know she lives and works in Madrid, Spain. When we discussed a visit she suggested we meet in Prague, so we are on our way.

Due to some incredible incompetence by our travel agent (that would be me) we don’t arrive into Prague until 11:00 pm. People have asked what I am most interested in seeing in Prague and without hesitation I answer, “Erica!”. This reminds me of our trip to Cuba in 2011. Erica was studying in Cuba from August 15 – December 15, 2011 so we planned a trip to go visit. In 2011 you needed an approved reason to visit Cuba. We found a “Medical Fact Finding Tour” scheduled to leave the end of October and signed up.

Unfortunately on September 17, 2011, a date I refer to as “My personal 911” I fell off my bicycle and fractured my right hip. When seen in the emergency room by the surgeon my first question was, “Will I be able to travel to Cuba by the end of October”. He said if that was what I wanted, I would be able to do so. So six weeks after suffering a life-changing right hip fracture I was off to Cuba.

Traveling to Cuba while being on crutches and instructed to be non-weight bearing on my injured hip was quite a challenge. The “tour” was of course a joke. Many of our fellow travelers were very upset because our visit was not very informative about the Cuban health care system. They wanted to protest to the travel company and came to me for my input. I told them that once I saw Erica the trip was a success. I am sure Prague has many things of interest to offer us but to be very blunt, once we see Erica, the trip will be a success.

Seeing my girl in Cuba. It was worth the trip.
A little metal wasn’t going to keep me from seeing my baby.

Right now, I am writing to you from the American Airlines lounge at Heathrow Airport in London. We have been here since 10 AM local time and don’t leave until 8:00 PM (thanks to travel agent Robert). Unfortunately I didn’t get much sleep on the flight here. I should have known we were in for a difficult time when I saw these two signs.

Rows 1-14 enter door C. I suppose 15 & 16 need to go to the next door..
Guess again. Not sure what happens to those chaps in 15 and 16.

When we made our reservations I wanted to be assured that my seat would recline flat so I could get some sleep. It did recline flat but the seats are staggered in such a way that the person in front of me had to climb over my legs to get out of her location. That passenger must have had a bladder problem because every time I was about to doze off she climbed over me and stirred me awake. It was not a fun flight and I am exhausted. By 11 PM Prague time (2 PM LA time) and a mere 23 hours after leaving LA I will be at our destination and probably it will be another hour later that I will find a bed. Don’t feel sorry for me; I will be seeing Erica soon and I will be very happy.

New York City Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day #4 “I Hate This Hotel, I Need Some Horse” 3/26/19

by reissmd, posted in New York City, Uncategorized

Alright, maybe hate is too strong of a word but this place (Westin at Grand Central) is leaving me less than impressed. Typically at Marriott Hotels (Westin is now part of Marriott) they kill you with kindness. I remember being at the JW Marriott in Austin thinking that I had died and gone to heaven. Patrice had all sorts of places she wanted to visit and I didn’t want to leave the hotel. This place has been bad from the beginning. The front desk person was rude at check-in. We asked if we could get a room with a view. The clerk said we could have a view of the Chrysler building. That sounded great. This is what we got.

Not what I had in mind.

The next day at the hotel breakfast I asked the waiter for a mocha and was told “We only have coffee”. On my way out I asked if they had hot chocolate and when I was told that they did I asked if I could get half of a hot chocolate and half of a coffee and essentially make my own mocha? The waiter said I could but the next day when I asked for it he looked at me as if I was crazy, “You want what?”. When I explained I wanted a mocha he said, “Then I will give you a mocha”. But yesterday you told me you only have coffee. “That was yesterday, this is today”. Not the way I like to be treated.

Today we spent the whole day discussing the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation research grant proposals. Patrice and I are “stakeholders” who review the research proposals and give our opinion from a patient’s (or patient’s caregiver, in our case) point of view. Each proposal is rated prior to the meeting starting. The ones with the lowest ratings are not discussed at the meeting. Patrice and I were each assigned 6 proposals to review. All 6 of hers were discussed, only one of mine made the grade. Obviously we know whose opinion they value around here. One of the scientists came up to Patrice after the meeting and told her that she was the best reviewer. Her presentations were succinct and to the point. Then the scientist glanced at me and said, “Have a nice flight home”.

Tonight we had dinner with an old friend from Iceland. John and his fiancé, LaRae, were dining at the same restaurant in Reykjavik as Patrice and I when we met. They are from the States and live in New York. When we met in Iceland we spoke about all the wonders of Icelandic cuisine, specifically gander, whale, shark and horse. The next night at dinner Patrice and I had a window seat and saw them walking by. We got their attention, and encouraged them to join us. We had just ordered horse and wanted them to have the experience with us. Once you share horse together you are friends for life.

After dinner we saw Keri Russell and Adam Driver in “Burn This”. After seeing “Network” two nights ago we were anxious to see another play. I loved “Network”, wish I could say the same about “Burn This”. Adam Driver was very good but I found the jokes very trite. Lot’s of cheap jokes about gays for one thing. That gets very old very quickly.

Tomorrow we head for home. Next trip will be in a month when we visit Erica in Spain. Yippee!!!!!

New York City Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day #3 “Lobster” 3/25/19

by reissmd, posted in New York City

I have not adjusted to Eastern time yet and not sure if I am on Pacific or still on Australian time. Whatever time zone I am on doesn’t matter since my usual pattern continues, not getting enough sleep while Patrice sleeps like she is an Olympian sleeper.

Last night we were looking for a place for dinner and Patrice said let’s go to someplace close to the hotel. That sounded good but then she said “How about “Palm Too”, it is very close?”. The last time I remember eating at The Palm in Beverly Hills it was in 1979 to celebrate finally selling my 1974 Fiat. The car was a wreck and I was happy to unload it. As I recall the dinner pretty much wiped out most (if not all) of the money I got from the sale of the car. I asked if the Palm Too was related to the The Palm in Beverly Hills and when I was informed that it was I started to get severe pains in my back pocket where my wallet is stored. I remembered that I still need to convince this woman to travel to Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee for baseball so I quickly said, “Sounds great!”.

When we went to the Palm in Beverly Hills we saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar. We saw him again at Palm Too but this time it was just a picture on the wall. No other celebrity sightings except for these guys.

Two orders of 4 pound lobsters.

The menu was great but there was one item that was like a light burning into our retinas and that was of course the lobsters. We had a choice of either 3 or 4 lbs. Patrice opted for the 3 pounder but our waiter said that they only had 4 or 5 lbs to offer us tonight. We both chose the 4 pounders and neither of us were disappointed. We had Brussels sprouts to add something green to the table and were not at all impressed by those guys. I am happy to report that Patrice and I have replaced our search for the perfect bread pudding with a search for the perfect Brussels sprouts. We have declared Masa the winner in the bread pudding search and so far the leaders in the Brussels sprouts derby are Zane’s, The Standing Room, and Tin Roof (the first two are in Hermosa Beach and the later is in Manhattan Beach). The Palm Too had excellent lobster but their BS (Brussels Sprouts) needs some work.

Today Patrice suggested we go for a walk. We heard that the Vessel at Hudson Yards was worth a visit. After 16,000 steps we are back at the hotel. The structure is made of 154 interconnected flights of stairs and almost 2,500 stairs. It just opened days ago (March 15, 2019) and you need to get a timed entrance ticket which is free. I am glad they stagger entrance to the structure because having crowds up there would be scary. The views of the city are great. You also get a great view of the Hudson River but I hate to be a negative kind of guy, but who wants to look at it. It is not a very pretty sight from this direction.

The Vessel as viewed near to the entrance.
Patrice and I on the Vessel. Much too close a photo for me. I need a selfie stick. Do they make one that extends about 10 yards?
We stole this idea from a couple of guys from Massachusetts. For a guy like me who is frightened of heights this was a major sacrifice for the enjoyment of my followers.

After the Vessel we headed to the adjacent Hudson Yards mall. This is very upscale, with stores like Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Kate Spade, Tiffany’s, Neiman Marcus, et al. They have some beautiful artwork including this wall piece where you were encouraged to move the sequins to create your own art.

The picture of our art was a blurry. So we stole someone else’s artwork.

The mall also had some upscale ice cream. We loved Van Leeuwen and found out they had a number of outlets in our area of the country.

Good thing we walked 16,000 steps today. After this “lunch” we will need another 30,000 steps to break even.

Today would have been the 103rd birthday of my loving mother, Irene Reiss. Without her, this blog wouldn’t exist. Gone but never forgotten. Today and every day is dedicated to her. xoxoxo

New York City Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day #2 “I’m Mad As Hell And I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore” 3/24/19

by reissmd, posted in New York City

No, No, No! I know what you are thinking but that isn’t the case. Patrice didn’t get sick of me and tell me to leave. No, we saw an excellent play today. But before I get to that let me tell you about last night when we saw, “The Ferryman”. This was a play that lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes. Need I say more? There was a very cute baby in it. Yes, a real live baby in a Broadway play. He/she was so cute. The actor was playing a baby (classic type casting) and just had to be carried around the stage by an actress playing his/her care-giver. It was very cute, just looking around at the audience in amazement. He/she did not have a speaking part, all it had to do was look gorgeous which it did with ease. There was also a live goose and at least one if not two rabbits. The baby and the animals were by far my favorite parts of the play.

Today was much different. Today we saw “Network” starring Bryan Cranston. You might not be old enough to remember the film starring Peter Finch, William Holden and Faye Dunaway and the classic line from the movie, “I’m mad as Hell and not going to take it any anymore”. It was character Howard Beale who uttered those famous words not my wife. That isn’t to say that she hasn’t thought about it at times (who could blame her?). This production was superb but during the first hour I thought, “This is good but I already saw the movie so why did I have to pay all this money to see it again?” Then it started to get very interesting. They used some very creative staging with the use of video to pull off some fascinating visuals. Also some of the audience was onstage. I didn’t even realize they were part of the audience until after the show ended. There was one part of the play where Bryan Cranston came off the stage and sat between two audience members (yes between them on the arm rest) and talked to them making them part of the performance. We had to watch on the stage large television monitor to see what was happening. When the cameraperson zoomed out we could see ourselves onstage. It was a very interesting effect.

“Network” stage prior to start of the performance. The cast was doing yoga.

It was Patrice’s idea for us to see “Network”. I was very lukewarm about the idea. I liked the movie but I saw no point in seeing the play. I knew (and liked) the play’s message of television and corporations running our lives. Certainly the message is still pertinent today, maybe even more so, with the advent of the internet and social media. I really have to thank Patrice for pushing us to go. It reminds me of the time she wanted us to go to an off Broadway musical that really seemed dumb to me. It was about one of the founding fathers. As I recall it was called “Hamilton”. I heard it went on to Broadway and did well.

I also need Patrice on these trip to read signs for me. On our way to meet our friends, Bert and Carol for breakfast we saw a bus that I didn’t understand. I said, “Patrice, look at that bus, it says Big Bust Ours.com” . I was confused and thought it might be some club of women with a certain type of anatomy. She set me straight, “No, Robert, it says Big Bus Tours.com”

Oh.

New York City Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation Day #1 “Changes, Changes, Changes” 3/23/19

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Today we are leaving for New York to once again participate as “Stakeholders” for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. We will review proposals for research grants and help the Foundation decide which studies to fund. There will be two scientists (who actually understand the proposals) making the decisions. We will be there to give a patient or caregiver point of view. I am not sure how important our input is but I do know that I love hearing what the scientists have to say. Last year I learned a lot and even at my age that is quite thrilling. The foundation invited us again and so we decided to come back.

As you probably know, New York is a marvelous city with loads of opportunities to have fun. We love going to Broadway to see a show or play. Of course there are spectacular restaurants, just too numerous to count. We also love the museums and other special venues.

The Big Apple is a lot different than Australia we where vacationed the first two weeks of this month. For example I was thinking about our arrival in the “City that Never Sleeps” and remember what I have dubbed “The New York Second”. That is a unit of time that I define as how long it takes from the moment the traffic light turns green until the guy behind you starts to honk. When I thought about our trip to Australia I realized (or as the Australians would write “realised”) that I did not hear one person honk their horn. Yes, two weeks without one horn honk. I asked Patrice to confirm and she too was at a loss to remember such an event.

But the biggest news today is that I have upgraded my subscription to WordPress and you shouldn’t see any more ads on my posts. Also I have access to their online help so I am going to try to make things look niftier. Please be patient with me while I experiment.

If anyone at home is feeling the least bit envious of our flying to NYC, be comforted by the thought that I am currently in a petrified state of mind. This plane is bouncing around as if it is in a washing machine. I am afraid to ask the staff if this is a Boeing airplane, the reason being is that I already know the answer.

I am going to stop and post now just in case Flight 307 doesn’t touch down safely in NYC. Even if we do land safely it will take me some time to get my colon out of my throat (the risk you take when you put your seat belt on as tight as I have it). That brings up another thought I have had. What good does a seat belt do when you are crashing from 35,000 feet? So let me sign off now and tell all my friends and family, I loved you dearly. Please don’t fret over my loss

One last thing, Ernie, you still owe me 20 bucks and my son knows where you live.

AUSTRALIA DAY SIXTEEN 3/18/19 “Home Sweet Home, Faster Than a Speeding Bullet”

by reissmd, posted in Australia, Uncategorized

This was a very interesting trip. As you might recall on our way to the land down under we lost a day. Yes, March 3, 2019 was eliminated from our existence. Well on our way home we will accomplish a feat that even my favorite superhero, Superman, would be hard pressed to duplicate. If all goes as planned we will leave Sydney on Monday at 11:15 AM and arrive in Los Angeles,on Monday at 7:00 AM. Yes we will arrive more than 4 hours before we leave. Okay, Man of Steel, let’s see you top that.

There were some other things that I thought a bit curious during our trip that I don’t think I previously mentioned. If there is a duplication please forgive me, my editor is doing some rather unimportant activities while I write. She has been sleeping, packing, and making sure we have our tickets and passports.

LAX Bradley Terminal collecting water bottles. Gratefully the Aussies are not this nutty and we got to take our water from one hot city to another.
I asked our guide what in the world is Parrot Pake? It sounds horrific.
He said it is Carrot Cake.
Do you think Mr. Trump would like this sign?
7/11 Stores seem to be everywhere in Australia.

Starbucks are all over too, but oddly are frequently empty.
Kobe Bryant in Melbourne.
I guess “No Junk Mail” is not a valid request.
EMU not EMOO
Koalas: They just eat leaves and sleep most of the day. What a wonderful life.
$5 to touch a python? They must be kidding, they’d have to pay me a lot more than that.
A bit far to travel for a Brooklyn T-shirt.
But not too far to come for a haircut.
You just have to love Australians, look they combine Burgers and Concrete.
And they love us Yanks. They even warn us when we cross the street.
Time to head for the plane. So that is all for this trip. G’day mate.

AUSTRALIA DAY FIFTEEN 3/17/19 “Robert’s Last Day”

by reissmd, posted in Australia, Uncategorized

No, I didn’t die last night but I did still feel awful starting out the day. They say that you shouldn’t let the weather determine how you feel but I felt awful and it was pouring in Sydney. Today was our last day in the city and I wasn’t going to let the rain dampen my spirits (sorry for the pun). But I will admit traveling is very exhausting and I will welcome a return home. I need to get back to work so I can get some rest.

Last night we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Fratelli Paradiso (12-16 Challis Ave, Potts Point NSW 2011). We met my sister-in-law, Fayla’s cousin Samena, her husband, Sam, and Samena’s 97 year old mother, Zara, for dinner. It was a delightful evening even though I felt awful. They are a wonderful couple and we also had dinner with them (and four of Fayla’s friends) when we were in Melbourne. After dinner we took a short ride to their apartment which overlooks the Botanical Gardens. You can also see the Sydney Harbor and the Opera House from the rooftop.

Today we took a walk with most of our group in spite of it raining very heavily. We saw a few sights but I wasn’t very interested because I didn’t feel well. Our guide then announced that, true to his word, he would escort us over the Sydney Harbor bridge. I couldn’t help but think what had to be thinking, “I will escort any of you across the bridge if you are stupid enough to want to do so, in this pouring rain”. Of course he is much too nice to say that (but nothing can stop him from thinking it). I, of course, my hands at my side. Only a few people lifted their hands but much to my disappointment Patrice was one of them so I said I would go as well. The guide looked at me and gave me a look that seemed to say, I thought you were a smart guy. Mob mentality seemed to rule and I think everyone decided to “give it a go” (Did I really say that? I think I might have been here too long).

So, it was off to the bridge we went. Luckily we took the train to the opposite side of the bay and only had to cross one direction. When we got onto the bridge it was raining very heavily. I got soaked. For some reason my previous fatigue had lifted and the virus was no longer an issue. It was just the rain and wind that were the problems. One of the beautiful things about walking across the bridge is to see the Opera House from a unique vantage point. This is what it looked like today.

Actually this is better than it looked to the naked eye.

After this trek many of our warriors went back to the hotel. Patrice and I went on to the Opera House and exchanged our 2:45 pm tickets for the 1:00 pm show. This was Patrice’s idea and turned out to be a stroke of genius. Not only did we not have to wait around for an extra couple of hours, we got much better seats (in the 4th row). As you might recall from yesterday we were going to see a kids concert with the orchestra playing Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. Prior to the concert they had a kids area where a musician demonstrated a variety of brass instruments and taught the children some interesting information. The concert was superb. In addition to the music they had a mime who pantomimed the concert. It was great being in this very special venue.

After the concert we headed back to the hotel to dry off. Tonight we have our farewell dinner with the group. I must admit being as ornery as I am I usually find at least one or two people in a group to dislike but this travel party has proven me wrong. Everyone has been very considerate of each others time and no one has been exceptionally obnoxious (except for me, of course). Our tour guide, Darrin, has been exceptional. He is very knowledgeable but even more important he makes sure every traveler’s needs are met and he is very flexible regarding the agenda. If something comes up that interests the group we are on our way.

There have been things on the trip that have not been to my liking, for example the flies in Uluru and Alice Springs (actually all of Alice Springs) but overall this has been an excellent experience and I look forward to returning to Australia. But next on our agenda is New York. So if you are sick of hearing from me now, just wait, next Saturday I will be messaging you again.

I hope you continue to subscribe and comment on my blog but if you don’t I can only say what I have learned from so many Aussies, “No worries, mate”.

OAT Australia March 3-18, 2019 group.