I awoke this morning and got out of bed with great difficulty. I checked the forecast and it said a high of 97° and a low of 77°. Out of curiosity I checked the temperature for Hermosa Beach and saw the high was expected to be 77°. As they say, “There’s no place like home”
Erica took a poll asking us what would we like to do and where we would like to go today. She made a variety of suggestions. I voted for anyplace with air conditioning. We finally agreed to go to Retiro Park. This is a beautiful park with a variety of vegetation, wildlife, and water. I’ve been there a number of times and I never tire of going there. Well maybe I would make an exception on a day as hot as today. When we arrived at the park we found out that the authorities had closed the park due to safety concerns.
Disappointed that we couldn’t tour Retiro (although we did spend some time looking at it from outside the fence) we needed a back up plan. I was already exhausted but suggested we return to the water park and the group agreed. Soon after arrival I got soaked and my attitude and energy level were completely different. It was a fun time and getting cooled down was superb.
After drying off we went to visit a new friend. A magician named Augustin who we met at the Magic Live Convention in Las Vegas earlier this month. He invited us to visit him at his home magic museum. Upon entering Augustin showed us an incredible array of magic memorabilia filling every room and hallway. Even much of his ceiling was covered. After that he gave us a very impressive 25 minute magic show. He did some great sleight of hand and card tricks. It was impressive and funny.
Here we are with our new friend, Augustin Dalvi. Notice the pen sticking through Julian’s ear.
Tomorrow will be a sad day as David and Julian will be returning home. It was so great that they could join us. I suspect tomorrow will be a boring blog day because I am looking forward to spending the entire day at the pool.
As many of you know this blog started out as an email to my wonderful sister, Annette, so she could keep our mother (who was in her 90s at the time) informed of what was going on with her baby (me) while I was traveling. My incredible sister-in-law, Fayla, said “Why don’t you send the email to me because Annette doesn’t get up until ten and your mum (she’s from Australia) really wants to know what’s going on.” Then other family members wanted to know what was happening so I included them. Friends also wanted in and before I knew it I had an email going to about 30 people. At that point it became a blog and lots of others (many people I don’t even know) joined in and my travel blog was born.
At first the blog was a blast but I have to confess at times it has become a burden. Instead of chilling and enjoying a vacation I’m constantly thinking of potential blog content. Last week we went to “Magic Live” in Las Vegas. I blogged about the event last year but this year I just wanted to learn some magic (which I did) and chill with my wife. While at the convention my friend Bill, was boasting that last year he got mentioned in the blog. He seemed quite proud to the point and I felt a bit guilty about not writing about last week’s trip. Instead of writing a full blog post I can sum up the trip very briefly 1. Great magic shows and lessons (I learned a lot of new tricks), 2. Great breakfasts at Blueberry Hill, (with Bill and his son, Bill II), 3. And a stay at the Orleans hotel (a total dump where we had cold water in the shower day 1 and lukewarm days 2 and 3).
That brings us to our current trip. Patrice and I are headed to Spain to see another total eclipse of the Sun. We are accompanied by our eclipse expert (our son, David) and his youngest child, Julian. The eclipse will be fun (this will be our 3rd) but the main attraction for me is seeing our youngest child, Erica. The only child missing is our daughter, Lindsay who is busy at home taking care of her son and making our 5th grandson (due in October). Of course it would also be great to have Robyn, Robby, Owen, Charlie, and Jesse but they have other obligations.
The flight to Madrid was a success because David and Julian joined us in LA for the trip to España. The flight was very pleasant with an amazing Iberia flight crew. When breakfast was brought to us I asked if they had hot chocolate. The attendant (Christina) said no, but then said, “But I have some hot chocolate mix in my purse” I was awestruck by this kind offer but in spite of my repeatedly saying no, no, no she brought it to me anyway. It was delicious.
A scarey looking me with my hot chocholate thanks to the wonderful Iberia Airlines flight attendant, Christina.
The best part of the trip of course was seeing Erica at the airport. We had to wait over an hour for our luggage. When we last visited her in December we had to wait about 45 minutes for our luggage. The take home lesson is take carry on to Madrid or go elsewhere. As I said, Erica picked us up at the airport. Yes, she now owns a car. We will be staying in her apartment. Yes, she now owns an apartment. She is taking some vacation time from her job to be with us. Yes, she now has a permanent position at the Irish embassy. Yes, it looks like we’ve lost our daughter to España.
I am finishing up the blog and it is about 9:30 pm here. It looks like it’s mid day in LA. Tonight, sunset is 9:20 pm in Madrid.
View from Erica’s apartment
As you can see from the picture Erica has a pool. The heat is oppressive here (high today in Madrid 97° but only 77° in Hermosa Beach). We hung out by the pool and went for a brief swim. Erica impressed us by swimming the length of the pool underwater. I showed her that her old man could do the same while her young friend, Aparna, failed in her attempt. I only mentioned this because we played a game of Rummikub and Aparna wanted me to make sure to tell my followers that she kicked our butts at the game.
That’s enough for tonight. I am starting to fade. Hopefully I can get a decent night’s sleep and be ready to go tomorrow. I want to have plenty of energy because we have big plans. I would tell you what those are, but the actual truth is I don’t have a clue what we are doing.
I won’t bore you with stories about breakfast except to say we went to Blueberry Hill again. It was great again. How this place gets a 3.9 rating on Yelp is beyond me.
The morning session was at times a bit mind boggling, mind blowing, and mind numbing. We heard an interview with Penn and Teller and also a lecture about under appreciated Black magicians which were very interesting. There was a very impressive mentalism performance by an act named Mind 2 Mind. I don’t think many of the men in the audience concentrated on the act after the female part of the duo walked through the audience. (see below)
The female part of the Mind 2 Mind twosome. This was the reason many of the men didn’t pay attention to the tricks and just stared at her. I of course was focused on the magic.
Patrice here. Do you believe that nonsense he just said? Ask him to name one of their tricks and see if he can name any.
Lastly and most sobering was a talk about an attempt to end piracy of magic books and tricks. Apparently the pirates not only have stolen money but have also threatened the investigator with extortion and threats of physical harm. Yikes!
The afternoon sessions were great. I learned some great tricks to do plus some others that although I can’t do were interesting to learn the secrets.
Dinner was also a show. Yes we went to Benihana. We joined Bill and his son Bill and 4 other friends from back home, John, Connie (who told us about Magic Live) and their friends Gary and Cindy. It is always a lot of fun watching and listening to the Benihana chefs and tonight was no exception.
From left to right: Bill II, Bill (Bill II’s dad), John, Connie, Cindy, Gary. Row 2: Patrice, Yours truly, and Owen.
When I asked my magic buddy, Mike, if he wanted to attend Magic Live, he scoffed at the thought of staying at such a cheap hotel as the Orleans. I have to admit that he was right in many respects. Of interest there were a couple of things that made the hotel desirable. For example the hotel doesn’t have any pressure filters in the shower so you get a real blast which I really like. Also the water temperature is extremely hot. I love a hot shower. Newer hotels tend to limit the water pressure (money saver?) and temperature (possibly to avoid injuring guests and hearing from attorneys?) so the Orleans has my vote in regards to the shower. Interestingly this morning Owen noticed that the cold water from the sink was hot. I’ve been to numerous locations where hot water is a rarity (LAX for example) but I’ve never seen any location where the cold water is hot. Well, not until today.
The closing show was one more treat to top off a great 3 days of magic. It is late and I don’t want to bore you with details of the show. Actually I need my editor to proofread my posting and she is fading fast so we need to call it a night.
Tomorrow it’s back to home. I am always happy to return home but I have to admit this trip was very special. I look forward to returning next year. Thanks go to our friends who made it a unique event. Treating us to dinners, driving us to locations, waiting in line to save us seats, gifts for our grandson, showing us the lay of the land for the convention, is too much to fathom. What a wonderful group of friends. I am really blessed.
Not a great photo but definitely a great bunch of people.
No trips planned for the near future but if we head out of town I promise you’ll be the first to know.
Another great night’s sleep. I think I need to leave my phone in the kitchen from now on.
Last night we were treated to an amazing show which included a mentalist, a juggler (not strictly a magician but still very entertaining), a physical magician, and a guy who had a nonstop supply of cards emanating from his hands. There was also an emcee who did the best trick of the night. He took a ring from an audience member. Another member of the audience helped him make it disappear and the same member of the audience helped him find it. It was located on the emcee’s toe under his sock AND BOOT! I would tell you how it’s done but I can’t because I don’t want to break the magician’s code of ethics. Also, I have no idea how he did it.
This morning we decided not to risk being killed by a cab driver for hiring them for a one mile trip and ate at the Copper Whisk located in the hotel. It was closer but clearly a step down from Blueberry Hill. But what it lacked in quantity and quality they made up in service. For example look how they arranged our service settings. See below.
As I recall he dropped the utensils on the table and said, “Here”.
We then attended the general session which showed a mentalist (Brian Curry) who was funny and impressive and a hilarious magician named Piff the Magic Dragon. His trick was funnier than it was impressive but it was definitely my favorite presentation of the session. There was a father and son duo who discussed how storytelling and magic presentations are very similar. They gave tips to performing magicians which were definitely lost on me. There was also a costume designer explaining the importance of your costume for your presentation. I think I will stick with a white coat for my performances.
The afternoon was much more enjoyable. First we saw another mentalist (Drew Backenstoss) who gave a great show and then told how everything was done. I definitely plan to utilize some of his tips. This show was especially enjoyable because I was able to be a volunteer participant. I was a bit scared because he was trying to predict the PIN of my debit card. Lucky for me he failed in that endeavor. After that we saw a close up magician (Mike Pisciotta) who also did a show and proceded to teach us how everything was done. I got a close up view because again I was picked as a volunteer. This was spectacular because we got to see a great show and learn some great magic tips. See below.
Mike Pisciotta explaining how to do his tricks.
We have one more show tonight and then it is off to dinner. This has truly been an incredible experience.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 