Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings

Today found me up early and hard at work learning all sorts of new things about medicine, such as ……………………. well more about that later.

I told Patrice that I wanted to relax tonight and watch the baseball playoffs on TV to which she said “Yo Mama!”    Immediately my blood began to boil. My days at Dorsey High came back instantly.   At Dorsey, people went to the hospital after saying things like that.  You can say anything you want about any topic but don’t you ever say anything about anyone’s mama.  So needless to say I was very angry and said, “What are you saying about my loving mama?”.  To which she said, “No, not yo mama, Yo-Yo Ma!  Don’t you know who he is?”  “OOOOOhhhhh, yes, sure, of course, yes, oh yea, sure, yes, of course you mean Yo-Y0 Ma, The Chinese American cellist born in Paris, France October 7, 1955.  Graduated from the Julliard School of Music and Harvard University and has enjoyed a prolific career as both a soloist performing with orchestras around the world and a recording artist. He has recorded more than 90 albums and has received 18 Grammy Awards.  That Yo-Yo Ma?” (thank you Google for saving me).

Patrice bought tickets to see and hear Yo-Yo Ma perform with the Boston Symphony. How could I deny Patrice this pleasure when she has been such a great sport and indulged me with my quest to visit all 30 MLB baseball stadiums.  So it was off to the symphony for us.  Boston’s Symphony Hall is a beautiful structure that was built in 1900. The architecture and decor are magnificent.  The building is lovely but it would have been nice if the seats were a little more comfortable.  After the orchestra played a brief overture out came the main star to a tremendous ovation.  Mr. Ma (that just doesn’t sound right) performed Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor, Opus 85 (I am sure you are all very familiar with that piece).  I enjoyed listening but it looked like the star was in incredible pain while playing.  Is it possible that he too wanted to be watching the baseball playoffs but his wife said no?

We are now back in the room talking about our day.  I did break one of my Cardinal Rules today and was duly punished.  I make it a rule to never eat a food that is typically the specialty of another type of restaurant.  For example, no steaks at a fish house, no fish at a steak house, pasta only at an Italian restaurant and of course curry only at an Indian restaurant.  Last night we had a wonderful meal at Neptune Oyster and we decided to return today because the Thursday special is Shrimp and Grits.  Our friends, Steve and Becky introduced us to that Southern delicacy in 2014 in Charleston, South Carolina.  That was on our trip from Washington D.C. to New Orleans and I had that wonderful concoction two more times during the week following my first experience.  I liked it so much and it has been so long since I got to enjoy that heavenly dish I decided to take a chance.  I won’t say tonight’s serving was bad but it just didn’t measure up to the Southern version.  I guess we just need to plan another trip south of the Mason Dixon line for some more S&G.

Enough about music and food, let’s talk about the conference, after all that is the reason we came to Boston.  So today I learned about ……………………………. oh well let’s talk about that tomorrow.

Today was day #1 of my Harvard education.  What a great day  of learning for me.  But before we talk about school let’s talk about food. I had a brief amount of time alloted for lunch (We Harvard students are so dedicated we don’t waste time eating).  Patrice kindly found a local treasure called The Met Back Bay.  We ate outside on a beautiful day here in Boston.  After ordering our food we relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of the fall foliage.  One problem is sometimes the foliage wants to get a closer look at your food.  (see below)

Our leaves came down before our food arrived.  The two people next to us weren’t as lucky.   When our food arrived our waiter quickly removed the leaves as if it was business as usual.   We were very pleased with what he left in their place.  (See below)

Eggplant and mozzarella sandwich for me and an ahi sandwich for Patrice.

After lunch it was back to WORK for me and Patrice lounged around the hotel and city. She had a nice work out in the gym and then went to the Museum of Fine Arts.  When my course ended and my intense work for the day had come to an end we headed for a special dinner.  We were told that a can’t miss restaurant was the Neptune Oyster.  This place does not take reservations.  When we arrived they estimated a wait of 60-90 minutes.  We gave them our name and phone number and decided to explore.  We had a very enjoyable walk that took us by the Boston Commons, Statehouse, City Hall and the Old Granary Burial Ground.  Old Granary is a cemetary where you can find the remains of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere and the 5 victims of the Boston Massacre. By the way, the Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770.  March 5th is also my sister’s birthday (I am NOT trying to make an association).

Ninty minutes after we left our name at the Neptune Oyster they called and said it was our turn.  We hurried back to the place only to wait another 15 minutes before we were seated.  The wait was well worth it.  The place is known for its oysters (hence the name). They gave us a choice of about 20 different presentations for raw oysters.  We decided to get the oysters but we wimped out and got them fried. (See below)

The oysters were great and we had a great dinner.  But wait, Neptune Oyster is also known for their Lobster Roll.  We couldn’t possible have a Lobster Roll after sharing these oysters, could we?  (See below)

The lobster rolls were fantastic.  I am totally stuffed as I write this but remembering the rolls is making my mouth water.

Enough about food, let’s talk about all I learned today.   There was…….

Give me a day, I will think of something.

Many years ago while waiting for my car to be washed I wandered in to the attached convenience store.  In it, I found a red t-shirt with HARVARD written out in big block letters.  Upon closer inspection I saw in tiny print above HARVARD the wording, “I never went to”.   The shirt seemed perfect for me.

I am very pleased with the education I got at USC but I would be lying if I didn’t admit that somewhere deep inside my brain there is that desire to say that I attended an Ivy, with Harvard of course being the ultimate of that group.  Well tomorrow my time will have come.  The next three days I will be a Harvard student and get all the up to date information that the Harvard medical school faculty has to offer.  I might not get a Harvard diploma but I will get a certificate with the name of that illustrious institution.

You might be saying to yourself why travel all that way when everything you need to know is at your fingertips on the World Wide Web.  That comes to the real reason for the trip, my intense desire to blog.  I’ve always been envious of people who have real passion in their lives.  You know the types, the guy with all the fancy tools in his garage and makes amazing furniture.  Or the person who is always on the golf course (although I agree with Mark Twain in that golf seems like a good walk ruined).  Then there are the collectors:  stamps, coins, rare books, you name it, there is someone passionate about collecting stuff. Even my young son has developed a hobby of tinkering with electronics.  It makes me very envious.

Well my time has come and it is this blog.  I love writing about our travels and really enjoy all the comments people post and positive feedback I hear about our adventures.  The blog has become my passion.  As we travel I am constantly thinking of what to write and what to show.  So we are off to Boston to have some fun and possibly even learn some medicine.

Bye for now,

Robert Reiss, Harvard pseudograd, Class of October 19-21, 2016

Like many other baseball fans I have decided to try to attend games in all 30 Major League Baseball parks.  So far I have made it to 8 and tonight we made it to #9.   You might be saying how did I get Patrice to agree to this folly.   Well let me tell you this, Patrice is very excited about this little adventure.  Just look at her about 5 minutes before we left for the game.

We are staying at the Marriott Marquis in San Diego which is just a short walk to the stadium.   The hotel is fantastic.  Nice large room with a great view of the bay.  This morning we took a trolley tour of the town with a stop at the marina to visit the Maritime Museum.  This was a small price for me to pay to get Patrice on board to pursue my baseball passion.

The Padres play in Petco Park.  We were told that each season there is one game in which fans are allowed to bring their pets.  I was very grateful that tonight was not that game.   The park is beautiful with lots of excellent choices for food.  This was a much nicer atmosphere than Dodger stadium.  Many fans walked to the park (including us) and many others arrived by train.  Also I didn’t see one beach ball and there wasn’t a mass exodus of fans leaving the ballpark after the 7th inning.

The game was exciting with lots of scoring.  Patrice and I took in every minute.

Tonight was a lot of fun and we are looking forward to seeing the remaining 21 MLB ballparks.  Suggestions would be welcomed on how I should convince Patrice that we would enjoy taking trips to Cincinnati, Minneapolis and Detroit.

So sorry if you think it is obnoxious for me to post from the airplane but I just love playing with technology.  Try to remember that I am old enough to remember party lines (it was a telephone thing), black and white TV, rotary dial phones, etc., etc., etc.  So if I like to indulge myself a bit please cut me some slack.

The wedding was wonderful as I previously posted and today is get-away day.  Of course we couldn’t leave town without one more taste of the “City That Never Sleeps”.  This morning we headed uptown to have breakfast at the Barney Greengrass delicatessen.  This is one of those city icons that serves quality, but overpriced, food in an overcrowded sitting area as the waiters yell at the customers almost as much as they yell at each other.  When we arrived there was a 20 minute wait for a table but we got lucky to find 2 seats at the counter (which only seats 4).  It was obvious we were seated next to some locals so I asked for their recommendations.  After we decided on sharing the Sturgeon Sandwich and Eggs and Onions with Nova Scotia Salmon our conversation progressed and it turns out that the guy attended USC.  Imagine that, 2,500 miles from home and I find a New Yorker (yes a native) who went to USC.  After breakfast it was time to head for JFK.

So as I relax here on our flight home thoughts and questions float through my mind about the Big Apple.  For example why do they ask people not to stand but keep moving.

So this had me confused but then I saw this:

One thing we learned quickly is that the subway is much better than the taxicabs.  Here is a picture taken from a street near our hotel.

Five minutes later here was the view from the same spot.

The other thing I don’t understand is how anyone can afford a car in this town.  Our hotel charges $90 per day for car parking (yes $90, not a misprint).    Of course you can find some cheaper places to park like this.

And hopefully you don’t need your car in a hurry because this is where they are keeping it.

One other question, why does Sephora cosmetics needs these guys?

I asked a New Yorker why Sephora would need police with assault rifles protecting the store.  He said possibly because it is an Israeli company.  That made a lot sense except Sephora is from France.

Just a couple of more questions.

And finally, I still don’t have the answer that I previous asked: Why do people keep putting chewing gum in urinals (saw it twice on this trip)?  But it is good to see that I am not the only person who is upset by this activity (see below).

Today was the big day.   Gary’s son, Kevin, was to be married to Jenya.  To the best of my recollection I’ve never met Kevin and I know for sure this is the first time meeting Jenya.  Gary is a good friend and after all who needs an excuse to go to New York.

Prior the the wedding we planned to get an early start and head downtown to the One World Observatory. At about 11:30 we finally got our act together.  The attraction was not cheap ($37 for adults $35 for seniors) but the long line to get in played to our advantage.  It gave Patrice time to get tickets on Tripadvisor and save us $5 each.  Not a huge savings but if we had done this in advance we would have not needed to wait on the long line.

Although overpriced the Observatory was definitely enjoyable.  There were a variety of videos and visual effects leading up to the big moment at the viewing deck.  At the top you get a 360 degree view of New York City (you can see also New Jersey).

Next it was off to the wedding.  The ceremony was in a park located very close to the United Nations.  It was a lovely venue.  They had a cellist and violinist playing.  The brother and sister of the groom officiated at the wedding and friends read a tribute and poetry.  Then the bride and groom read their vows to each other.  Like I said I hardly know the two but I was teary eyed.

In addition to the guests the wedding was also observed by the park’s pigeons.  Unfortunately these were not the type of pigeons who hang out on the park grounds looking for food scraps.  No these were the type of pigeons that hang out in the trees and deposit their feces below.  They managed to hit at least 6 of the  wedding guests including Patrice (her phone and dress) and me (major attack on my right arm).

We then were bussed to the reception at a nearby restaurant.  Upon arrival we received our table assignments.  Patrice and I had separate cards because the groom had written personal notes to each of us on the cards.  I saw his father read his card and it brought the relatively stoic Gary to tears.  This is one special kid.  We had a great time at their wedding and wish them many happy years to come.  I had planned to write some sarcastic wedding and marriage comments today but this wedding was much too special for me to do that.

So sorry that I didn’t post last night.  We had a very busy day and didn’t get to bed until 1:30 am, about 10:30 pm Los Angeles time.  For those of you who know us well, you are aware that is almost 2 hours past our bedtime (We are couple of “wild and crazy guys”).

Yesterday we headed to the Neue Gallery which houses “Woman in Gold” by Gustav Klimt.  If you have seen the film of the same name you know the story of this painting.  It was stolen by the Nazis from its owner and finally reclaimed, after a long legal struggle, by the owner’s heirs in 2005.  After an amazing breakfast at the museum’s Café Sabarsky) we went to see the painting.  Unfortunately visitors are not allowed to take photos of the masterpiece but you know I am not one for following rules and got my shot (see below).

After the Neue Gallery we headed downtown to the One World Observatory.  We arrived via subway and our arrival station was a sight in itself.  They call it the Oculus or the Westfield World Trade Center Mall (see below).  Here is a link since  my picture [https://www.westfield.com/westfieldworldtradecenter] does not do it justice.

A short walk later we made it to the observatory and found out that for $37 (yikes!) we could get a ride to the top.   Not a problem, the line is short (see below).

We started to get on line and were told the the line actually begins outside (see below).

Since we were running short of time we decided to leave this for another day.

Our night was a blast.  We met up with my friend Gary and his girlfriend, Sharon, and two of Gary’s friends, Gary (that made it easy) and Rose.  We had a lovely dinner at Avra Estiatorio followed by seeing the Broadway show “Waitress”.  This was originally a movie (which I thought was awful) but it worked much better as a musical.  After the show we hung out with “The Garys” and their mates at our hotel until very late and then it was off to bed.

That’s enough for now.  I better get going or today’s post will be just that I wrote a blog post.

A few months ago my friend Gary was visiting us when he casually asked, “Would you like to go to my son’s wedding?  It’s in New York.”  My reply……. “Hell yes!”.  What excuse do I need to go to the Big Apple ………….None!   Moments later (much to Gary’s surprise) I already made reservations at our favorite New York hotel, the Marriott Marquis at Times Square.  I just love playing with their elevator buttons (more about that in a later post).

Today is our day of departure and I am incredibly excited.  No, it isn’t the fact that we got upgraded and are enjoying a wonderful breakfast at the American Airlines lounge.  No it isn’t the thought that soon we will be pampered at the Marriott Marquis.  No it isn’t that we will be enjoying Broadway and going to a couple of shows.  No it isn’t the thought of eating a corned beef on rye sandwich that is sooooooo much better in NYC than anything you can find in Los Angeles (I wouldn’t dare mention Hermosa Beach in the same sentence as a corned beef sandwich).  No it isn’t that we will be seeing Gary’s son enter into holy matrimony (more about that later too).

So what is the cause of all my excitement?

I am about to place a 149 point word down in my Words With Friends game with my friend Joe.  Life just doesn’t get any better.

Posted from 35,000 feet over Wichita, Kansas.  I just love technology.

Patrice, Lindsay and I were very excited about our trip to England and Ireland due to begin June 27th.  You might recall that I mentioned this trip in one of my posts.  Some have asked what happened?  What happened was that I took a different kind of a trip.  A trip I didn’t want to take.

In mid May, while we were on BBQ/National Park tour, my big brother Stephen started to have some difficulty with his vision and with walking.  He was also on a trip and soon after returning home, he went for an evaluation.  After numerous tests it was determined he had Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.  This is a very rare illness (300 cases per year in the United States) and is invariably fatal without any known treatment.  I saw Stephen on June 25th and we hugged and cried.  On June 26th he was in a near comatose state.  I told him that I would come see him as soon as I got back from my trip.  We left the next day and although it was fun being with Patrice and Lindsay my thoughts were constantly back home with Stephen and the family.

On July 7th I was notified that Stephen had died.  I made the necessary plans to return home and insisted that Patrice stay with Lindsay to finish the last few days of our trip.

The doctors said this was a one in a million case.  Stephen had a disease that occurs to only one in every million people.  

As a medical student I’d heard of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease but of course I’d never seen it.  I did know that no treatment existed and it was invariably fatal.

Sunday (June 26, 2016) we will be going for a walk.  This isn’t a major trip in regards to travel but it is very important for our entire family.  Most of you on this blog know that two of our children have suffered from Crohn’s disease since they were 11 years old.

Crohn’s is an inflammatory disease of the intestines.  Presenting symptoms include cramping abdominal pain, diarrhea, poor growth and a myriad of non intestinal problems. Seeing David and Erica deal with this illness has been heartbreaking for Patrice and me.  Both of them are doing well now due to medications that were not available when David was diagnosed in 1994.  The development of these medications were in a large part due to research funded by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).

Seeing our children deal with Crohn’s disease has made us committed to raise money to fund the further research needed to find the cure.  Tomorrow we walk.  The CCFA Take Steps Walk will be at Tongva Park 1615 Ocean Ave Santa Monica, CA 90401.  Check in is at 10:00 AM and the walk begins at 11:00 AM.  Parking is free (look at the Walk page for information about where you can park for free).

Many of you on the blog mailing list are already aware of the walk and I thank you for your contributions.  If you would like to make a donation please go to my page.  The link is http://online.ccfa.org/goto/DrRobertReiss2016.

Hope to see you at the Walk tomorrow.  More important hope to see your money on my page today (I will get an email and thank you personally when I get notified).

Robert