Tag: travel

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day#2. “We Get to See a Celebrity Today”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

Any of you parents out there will be able understand why today was so wonderful.  Erica met us at the hotel after breakfast and then it was off to visit the Irish Embassy where she works as the Executive Assistant to the Irish Ambassador to Spain.   And if you don’t know how much I enjoyed writing that sentence or telling it to anyone who will listen then you definitely are not a parent.   When we planned this trip I asked Erica if we could meet the Ambassador and she said definitely.  I asked, how she could be so sure and her answer was “I make his schedule.  Hmmm, Friday December 5th, 11:00 AM: Meet my parents.  There, it’s done”.  If you don’t think that put me in parent ecstasy you are out of touch with reality.   

Meeting Ambassador Brian Glynn was a real treat.  As expected this career diplomat was very diplomatic and said all the things we wanted to hear about our daughter.  We also spoke about world affairs.  He had viewpoints about Ireland, Britain, and the United States that were spell-binding. In addition he gave me a chance to show him a few of my magic tricks.  I was amazed by how much time he devoted to us.  Mr. Glynn is a very impressive person who speaks 6 languages.  That reminds me of a joke you’ve probably already heard.  A person who speaks 3 languages is “trilingual”, someone who speaks 2 languages is “bilingual” and someone who speaks one language is of course an “American”.  

Irish Ambassador to Spain, Brian Glynn, yours truly (aka Proud Papa), Patrice (aka Proud Mama), and Erica (Executive Assistant to the Ambassador).

After leaving the ambassador we stopped for a quick snack.  I was feeling a bit guilty about not exercising so I decided to work out while eating.  See below.  

I guess I was lying when I vowed to never get on a bike again.

We bought our treats at a local market. Here are a couple of pictures from the market.

Poor little piggies hanging in the market.

If that isn’t enough to make you give up meat try looking at this picture.

Poor little piglets.

Then it was off to meet a celebrity.  Wait, did you think I meant Brian Glynn when I wrote about meeting a celebrity?   Absolutely not!  A very prominent and respected software engineer has been in London working on a project and is traveling through Madrid on his way home.   Yes, our son, David made it to Spain.   How lucky we are.  We met David at the airport and cautioned him to try hard to carry on his luggage and avoid the problem we had.  The 1500 steps to baggage claim is another matter but some exercise is actually a good thing.  Unfortunately David was not allowed to carry on his small bag but luckily his wait at baggage claim was a lot shorter than ours.

It was great having 2 of our 3 children with us.  We visited the Museo Arqueológico Nacional and saw some fascinating  exhibits some dating back to about 500-600 BC. 

Patrice and me with 2 of our 3 wonderful children.

That is going to have to be enough for now because we are off to dinner.

Adiós

Off To Visit the Baby, Madrid 2025 Day#1. “The Joys of Travel”

by reissmd, posted in Madrid

We got off to an early start to LAX today, thanks to our good friend Mike.  He has frequently volunteered to give us a ride to the airport and I think it is mostly because he feels guilty about kicking my butt during our weekend cribbage matches.  Today we are beginning a visit to see our daughter, Erica, who lives in Madrid. 

Today I fell victim to the risk of traveling from a warm climate to a cold one. I was very comfortable in Mike’s car but when I exited I realized that my jacket was safely resting on my bed at home.  No problem I thought, I’ll just buy a jacket at the airport.  Ha!  The only thing I found was something that might keep me warm in Northern California but certainly not in Madrid in December.  One thing that did warm me up was looking at the price ($699).  I messaged Erica letting her know we will need to stop at a men’s store soon after arrival.  She said the magic words, El Corte Inglés.  For those who’ve never been to Spain, ECI is the shoppers heaven.  They have everything.  From high end men’s and women’s clothing, sporting goods, jewelry, to groceries.  Mind you, not everything is in one place.  They have multiple stores around the city so you need to know which ECI store has what you need but as I said they have it. 

Our flight was wonderful.  We flew on Iberia Airlines.  The flight crew were very kind and I managed to get a little sleep. We arrived on time to Madrid.  Getting through customs was a breeze.  I went for a run in the morning but got a second work out at the Madrid airport. I’d estimate the walk from the plane to baggage claim to be about 1500 steps.  In spite of that long walk and need to go through customs we still had to wait for our luggage.  I texted Erica an update saying I think our bags might have been on a different plane because we had been waiting such a long time.  We didn’t see anything on the conveyor belt for another 25 minutes after that comment.  Total baggage wait time about 40 minutes.

After finally getting our bags we saw the sight that brought us to the country, our daughter, Erica.  She was kind enough to pick us up at the airport and was very thoughtful to turn up the heat in the car and get me to a store so I could buy a survival jacket.  Instead of ECI we wound up going to another local favorite, H & M (actually based in Sweden and not Spain). They had a variety of jackets for me to choose and I found one that cost less than the tax would have cost me for the jacket at LAX. 

How do we look? 

When I say WE I mean the jacket and me not, Erica, Patrice and me.

Sorry, I’m a little batty. I didn’t sleep much on the plane.  I need a nap.   Erica has plans for us tonight so I’ll say good night and talk to you tomorrow. 

Adios. 

Birthday Celebration Day #3 “Recovery Day: Or Californians Cannot Deal With Rain”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Yesterday was so special we were bound to have a let down today.  It started out well in that I did make it to the gym today.  Oops, I forgot we are at a fancy hotel and they don’t have a gym.  I got up early and went to the Fitness Center.  I did a short run on the treadmill and then headed back to the room.  Much to my surprise, Patrice was awake and soon we were on our way to the lounge for the breakfast we missed yesterday. 

The hotel breakfast buffet was good but not great.  I tried to eat healthy after my day of debauchery yesterday. For example, today I thought some cheese would be good.  Since the tomato and cheese (mozzarella) salad was a little devoid of cheese (see below) I decided to have a cheese danish instead.  Healthy choice, no?

Where’s the cheese?

After breakfast we whined for a while because today was much colder and it was raining.  Definitely something Californians do not enjoy.  We decided to brave the elements and take a short walk to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).  I have to confess I am not much of a modern art guy but the other museums were much further away so MOMA was my choice as well. 

First we saw this Jackson Pollock painting.  I don’t recall the name but I think it was “Painter falls and spills his supplies”.  See below.

If your mind works like this is it any surprise the artist had a drinking problem?

We also saw this sculpture.  I think it was called “Jafar from Aladdin”. 

Admit it, doesn’t it look like Jafar?

We did see one of Patrice’s favorites, Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh so the trip was worthwhile.  

Okay, okay, I liked it too!

Another art piece I enjoyed was this one with a medical theme entitled “Jewish Penicillin”.  See below

Andy Warhol’s rendition of our cure all.

Please don’t think I didn’t enjoy myself.  Actually I had a very good time.  I really enjoyed the Senior Discount we received and all the steps I racked up on my pedometer. 

After MOMA it was time to eat.  I told Patrice I wanted to head to Junior’s across the street from the hotel for a corned beef sandwich.  Followers of the blog know that I never eat Shrimp and Grits (which I love) north of the Mason Dixon line.  I have a similar rule for corned beef on Rye.  I only eat it when we come to New York.  This serves me well in that I always enjoy a good corned beef sandwich  on our trips here and my longevity is not severely compromised.   The meal was delicious but I was disappointed that they didn’t offer potato knishes. A New York deli and no knishes?

Tonight we decided to stay at the hotel for entertainment.  The reasons are simple, it is cold and raining outside and Monday is typically a dark night for Broadway so all the shows that interested us are not performing.  Instead we saw “Stranger Things: the First Shadow” at the hotel theater. This was a prequel to a show of the same name on Netflix. The people in attendance seemed to love it. I assume they were fans of the show because I didn’t get it and could hardly wait for it to end.  

We leave early tomorrow so this will be my last post of the trip.  Followers know I like to end with some interesting photos so here you go. 

Do you really need to tell people this?
Junior’s tribute to our Dodgers?
Health food truck around the corner from our hotel.

See you in December when we travel to ………………….

Ciao

Patrice here. Thank you for a very nice birthday trip.

Birthday Celebration Day #2 “Life Can’t Get Better Than This!”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

I started off today with great plans; let Patrice sleep in while I went to workout.  Well, things didn’t quite go as planned but at least I did let her sleep in.  

After Patrice awoke we headed to the lounge where breakfast is included with our room tab.  We got a relatively early start leaving our room at 7:00 AM Los Angeles time but upon arriving at the lounge were told that breakfast ends at 9:30 AM eastern time.   They did supply us with some yogurt but that wasn’t adequate.  I thought we should see if the gelato place from last night had a more reasonable waiting line this morning. Upon arrival we found no one on line or inside the store.  We were greeted by Uriel who offered us samples from a wonderful selection at “Anita’s Gelato” (1561 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10028).  

Turns out Anita is an Israeli woman who has stores all over the world.  In addition to 4 in Manhattan there are stores in Spain, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel and other countries.  They even have a store in Los Angeles.   I found out the only store in Los Angeles is in Tarzana. Yes, Spain, UK, Australia, and Tarzana?

Uriel and his co-worker Loïc. Patrice thought she said she spelled her name Loïz. She is Israeli. I Googled it and the only name I found was Loïc, a French male name. The only Israeli name close to that would be Lior. Whatever her name, both she and Uriel were very nice. As was the gelato.

After leaving the gelato place we learned how the NYPD is able to respond to emergencies when confronted by bumper to bumper cars. 

I edited out some people from this photo. Can you see that part of one is still there?

We then saw the ultimate picture of harmony. Check out this gorgeous child.

I of course asked mom and dad if I could take a picture and put it on my blog. I told them that no one looks at my blog so they are safe.

Motivated by the baby in the picture we went to our room for a brief rest (Hey, missing out on breakfast and eating gelato requires some recovery time) and then headed over to see the musical that encouraged us to make this trip, “& Juliet”. We saw the show in Los Angeles and loved it in spite of having horrible seats.   We bought our tickets for tonight’s performance quite a while back. Tickets were available in the 4th row and front row.  We chose the front row seats and realized they were half the price of the 4th row seats because during one of the musical numbers your view is obstructed by a prop.  That was unfortunate but for the remainder of the show you are in musical heaven.  The show was every bit as spectacular as it was in LA. 

Patrice and me at our front row seats hoping the cast will come back and do the show again.

Following the show we went back to the hotel to pick up an umbrella (yes, it started to drizzle) and then we were off to dinner.  Tonight we dined at Milos (125 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019).  This place was recommended by one of my patients.  He told me it’s a bit pricey but he loves it. He goes there every time he is in New York.  I have to admit, it was spectacular, but was very pricey.  

We started by sharing a Lobster Salad. This was amazing.
Patrice had the halibut. Very moist and delicious.
I had the pasta primavera. It wasn’t on the menu but was offered to me when I asked what kinds of vegetarian options they had. That really impressed me (as did the taste of the dish).
We shared the grilled vegetables. Have you ever seen a more lovely display of veggies?
For dessert we had Walnut Cake.
And how can you go to a Greek restaurant without having Baklava?
To help us celebrate Patrice’s birthday they gave us a small fruit platter. I love the candle holder (see above).

As I said the food was expensive but I can be thankful that neither of us are drinkers.  See below.

People really spend this much for wine? I think that is the definition of a drinking problem.

We are back in the room now and ready to call it a night. Until tomorrow.

Ciao

Birthday Celebration Day #1 “Don’t You Just Love to Fly?”

by reissmd, posted in New York City

Patrice and I headed to New York today in order to  celebrate her ??? birthday.  Her actual birthday was yesterday.  So if you forgot to call or message her forget it, it’s too late, and you are on her no fly zone list.  Don’t worry she got congratulatory messages from her credit card company and insurance agent.  

As a special birthday gift we both get rewarded by flying when  the government has been shut down resulting in TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers working without pay.    

We had a pleasant ride to LAX.  Our taxi arrived on time and we seemed to have a great driver.  Apparently there is an app that he uses that critiques his driving.  A couple of times we heard this mysterious voice announce, “Rolling stop detected”.  Wow, glad I don’t have one of those in my car.  I can just imagine what it might be telling me: “You might want to drive a little slower” or “Is your turning signal broken?”. 

Boarding was uneventful as was the flight.   Unfortunately the ride from JFK to our hotel was less than ideal.  A crash on the highway slowed our voyage.   But it wasn’t a total loss because we learned some interesting phrases from our cab driver.  At one point I checked Google maps and it said we were 1.1 miles from the hotel but the estimated arrival was 24 minutes. 

Don’t these people know it is my wife’s birthday and we need to get to the city?

After checking in at the hotel we got a quick bite to eat and then tried to get tickets to a Broadway show.  With travel being so unpredictable we didn’t want to buy tickets in advance, in case our flight got canceled. So we tried to get rush tickets at a variety of shows. We failed at 3 locations and finally were successful at getting the last 2 tickets for the show “Chess”.  We heard a lukewarm review from one of Patrice’s friends but we thought what the heck, what else do we have to do?  The show is a fictitious story about a chess match between an American and a Russian that supposedly happened in 1979.  All I can say is that we won’t be asking Patrice’s friend for show recommendations.  We loved the show even though we got the last 2 seats and had to sit on opposite sides of the theater (Patrice here, that was the best part).  

The set of “Chess” before the show began.

After the show we decided to stop by for some late night gelato at a store next to the hotel.  We arrived there at about 11:15 pm and saw about 50 people on line.  We decided that we didn’t need gelato that much and came back to the room so I could write the blog. 

People on line for gelato at 11:15 pm.

Great first day of our birthday celebration.  More fun planned for tomorrow.

Ciao

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day 14 “Wrap Up Photos”

by reissmd, posted in Denmark, Norway, Sweden

Loyal followers of this blog know that my last post of a trip has a series of signs and sights that I have found interesting. This trip is no exception.

This was at our hotel in Stockholm. Apparently Swedes don’t know how to wash their hands.
Tyres = Tires. Otherwise I don’t think this requires any explanation.
I was told WC stands for Water Closet. I guess they have a lot of bottled water here and need to keep it in a locked storage area.
A Stockholm walkway cautioning adults to hold their child’s hand when close to the highway. I definitely agree with this one.
I will never live in a city where double doorways are needed because of the weather.

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has been a huge help in writing the blog this time. I have used Chat GPT on occasion with great results. For example it taught me how to type those funky letters like ü, æ, and ø. Thank you Chat GPT. It also made our lives easier in other ways, for example we were at the SAS lounge at the Copenhagen Airport waiting for our flight to Stockholm. We weren’t sure exactly where we needed to go, how to get there, and how long it would take. I got this reply:

Gate B10 at Copenhagen Airport is located in Concourse B, which is part of the Schengen area. The SAS Lounge is situated in Terminal 3, near Gate C10, also within the Schengen area. The walk between the SAS Lounge and Gate B10 typically takes about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your walking pace. Both locations are airside, so you won’t need to pass through additional security or passport control when moving between them. Amazing, no?

Did I need to come to Scandinavia to get a Route 66 sign?
Going to Toftaholm was a challenge.

Google Translate was a huge help. See below.

Not sure if I already showed you this painting from the restaurant in the Grand Hotel in Olso. If I did, it deserves a second look because the service there was represented by this scene. They definitely were working as if that is where their heads were located.
This is something I thought was very cool. Notice the big numbers next to the store name. Those are the store hours. This store is open 9-21 (2100 meaning 9 pm) and 1800 (6 pm) on Sundays.

And finally, we saw a variety of types of restaurants, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, and we even saw a Scottish restaurant. See below.

And lastly, for Eric.

See you next trip.

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #13 “Adjø (goodbye) to Scandinavia”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway

Today was our last full day in Norway.  Tomorrow I will finish up as usual with a collection of photos that speak for themselves (but of course, I will speak for them).  Today we started with another massive buffet.  That has been the recurrent theme of this trip.  Small rooms but massive buffets.  

We then met the group for a bus/walking tour of the city.  One thing I have learned from this trip is that I don’t like to be led around by a guide hearing tons of facts about a city.  I prefer to explore by myself (with Patrice of course) and meet locals rather than hear about things that happened 1000 years ago.  Sorry if I sound like a heathen but that is who I am. 

We are in Bergen, which as I mentioned yesterday, is the 2nd most populated city in Norway.  We found out today that it is a sister city with Seattle.  You might know that Seattle averages about 37 inches of rain per year.  Well its Norwegian sister averages 89 inches.  I wonder if they know about Sitka, Alaska which receives 100 inches of rain per year?  My Los Angeles friend, Linda, tells me she loves rain.  I think relocation to one of these 3 cities would be in her best interest. 

We were on our own for lunch and the afternoon.  Patrice and I only ate a snack for lunch (bringing our average lunch calorie count for the trip down to about 1800). We then walked the city and decided on going to the Kode museum.  It was a worthwhile stop so I would recommend it.

At night, we met the entire group for a farewell dinner.  This has been a really good group of travel buddies.  It is hard to imagine that you would get 24 people together and not one of them would be a jerk making the trip less enjoyable.  Patrice pointed out there was one jerk on the trip and she had to room with him. 

Tonight we toured a local farm with the group and saw some interesting animals.  Have you ever seen a Fjord Horse?  See below.

Fjord horse mommy and her 4 week old son.

I was not looking forward to this dinner since I thought the main attraction was the farm and the dinner would not be very good.  I was wrong.  I would say this was the best meal of the trip. 

A lovely trout for dinner.
Wait, what’s this? The trout was just a starter? This is veal for your main course. I decided just to have one bite but it was AMAZING and I ate the whole thing.
A swan for dessert? No, sorbet with meringue and whipped cream with raspberry sauce. I’m not a big whipped cream or meringue guy but the sorbet was yummy.

I always have mixed emotions about an end of a trip. I love traveling but it will be good to be home. I always like to learn things on our trips. I definitely learned something on this trip. See below.

I NEED A HAIRCUT!

I will send you my photo post from the airport or possibly from the plane. 

Adios, oops, I mean adjø

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #12 “Bergen”

by reissmd, posted in Bergen, Norway, Norway, Uncategorized

Our trip is almost over.  We left the fjords this morning and the beautiful scenario that every way we turned looked like a picture used in a jigsaw puzzle.  Yes, beauty that you would think only existed in someone’s imagination. If you think this is just my imagination, come to Norway, experience the fjords, and see for yourself.  Here is one last fjord for the road.

Fjord with a salmon farm.

There has been some downtime during the trip during which I have read my book group selection for the month. It is a non-fiction tale about about Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the Diesel engine.  At first glance it might sound like a boring story.  In reality it’s quite interesting and what’s more, it is very pertinent to the trip. 

Diesel was a peer of Alfred Nobel from Nobel prize fame.  As you might recall we visited Stockholm where the majority of the prizes are awarded and Oslo where the peace prize is given. This tidbit was a footnote in the book and was very illuminating: 

[When Ludwig Nobel (Alfred’s brother) died in April 1888, French newspapers incorrectly reported the death of Alfred, who was in fact alive and well. Alfred then read his own obituary, which was a scathing critique of his life and work. The obituary named Alfred a “merchant of death” and declared that his invention, dynamite, “killed more people faster than ever before.” Alfred was so disturbed at this potential posthumous reputation that he later changed his last will and testament to bequeath his entire fortune to a new foundation that would award a series of prizes to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”]

I’m sure this was horrifying for Nobel but I’ve often mused that funerals are a waste because the one person who would really enjoy hearing what was being said is dead and can’t enjoy it.  That’s why I’m planning to have my funeral long before I die.  

We left the Fjord country and headed to our last stop, Bergen (of course not before stopping for bathroom breaks which just happened to be in gift shops). Bergen is Norway’s second largest city, with a population of about 292,000 with about 20,000 of those people being students at the University of Bergen.

We arrived late and only had a chance to use the funicular to see a panoramic view of the city.

A view from the top.

I also was excited to to see someone with a nose bigger than mine. See below.

Handsome chap, isn’t he?

In addition we saw one of my favorite travel sights. See below.

Oh yes, another bird on a statue’s head.

After returning from the furnicular we found an excellent Spanish restaurant for dinner and then on to home.

Tomorrow is our last full day of the trip. Until then adjø (goodbye).

Skol! Our Trip to Scandinavia Day #11 “W.T.F. Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords”

by reissmd, posted in Norway, Uncategorized

Travel can sometimes make me confused.  Yesterday I said TGIF but it was only Thursday.  Well today was (is) Friday and we had a another great day of looking at the fjords.  We had an early start, lots of great food, and transportation to lots of great sights.  In other words we are on a Tauck tour.

Our coach driver (by that I mean our bus driver, not someone who is telling our driver what to do) did a great job transporting us from location to location.   Our coach is large and comfy, but the roads are at times a bit narrow. 

This is a two lane highway. Luckily traffic coming the opposite direction was light and drivers were very considerate (in other words they weren’t from Los Angeles or New York).

Our first stop was Dalsnibba where supposedly the view is breathtaking unfortunately for us, all we could see were clouds and snow flakes. 

Except for the coach, is there much you can see?

But then we had a series of stops where we saw lovely waterfalls.

Patrice posing with me in ‎⁨Oppstryn⁩, ⁨Norway⁩.
Together in front of a fjord. ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
In front of a run off from another waterfall. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩
And another. Also in ‎⁨Geirangerfjord⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Finally Patrice had enough and told me to go take the picture by myself. I asked our guide if Tauck would give me a substitute for me to use in my picture. I was told, they would send a young thing to pose with me instead. YES, I LOVE YOU TAUCK.

Tauck, that was not exactly what I had in mind. With travel buddy, Matt, in ‎⁨Hellesylt⁩, ⁨Norway⁩

Back in the hotel now and getting ready for a lecture on the history of Norway (just the first 10,000 years) followed by…….. DINNER!

Talk to you soon. But since this was entitled Waterfalls, Trolls, and Fjords, I feel obligated to give you at least one Troll (other than me). See below.

See you tomorrow as our trip rapidly nears its end.

Skol! Our Trip To Scandinavia Day #10 “TGIF: Thank God It’s Fjord-day”

by reissmd, posted in Loen, Norway, Norway

Today was totally devoted to experiencing the fjords of Norway. As I mentioned before this was one of the main reasons I wanted to take this trip.  I hate to say this but in spite of today providing some beautiful sights I have to say I was a bit disappointed.  

My vision was that I was going to see mountains of ice extending from a water base all the way to the heavens. I was thinking about what we had seen in Alaska and Patagonia and that this would be similar or hopefully even more spectacular.  Today reminded me of when we saw geysers in the Atacama desert in Chile.  The guides prepared us to see spectacular geysers but instead we saw things that guides at Yellowstone or Patagonia wouldn’t even bother to point out.  

The day started out with me being cold on a ferry. Do I look happy?

Cold and alone.

That being said it was still an enjoyable day. It warmed up after the morning and we didn’t have any rain. I even had to take off my jacket because it was warm. And we got to hang out with 22 new friends who are all wonderful travel partners.

Warmer and happier in front of one of the glaciers and fjord.

Heading to one location we met with a delay. Traffic was blocked by some locals crossing the highway.

Line of cars waiting for goats to clear the highway.
A close-up of our new travel buddies.

But more fjords were to follow.

In the coach passing by a lovely fjord.

Our next fjord/glacier was a bit more spectacular (see below).

Nice view of a glacier.
Same glacier but close-up view to better see the snow and ice.

We also had the opportunity to see two Norwegian movie stars.  I only got their first names.  They were obviously special since numerous people were among their entourage.  Here is a photo of Sven and Ingrid.

Such gorgeous movie stars. Her English was amazing. His needs a lot of work.

We then returned to the hotel to be greeted by another massive dinner buffet. Good thing my pants were loose fitting when we left Los Angeles. They feel just right now but I predict they will be snug by the time we get home.

I did another magic trick tonight asking one of our travel mates, Jayme, to assist me and it worked like a charm. They are a great magic audience.

See you tomorrow.