Outta Here

Outta Here

With the end of summer came the onslaught of fall travel.  We started with a two-week trip to Europe, which United almost scrapped for us in its infinite ability to always surprise you negatively.  I had booked and paid for two tickets from Dulles to Athens, then Venice to Dulles.  I had all kinds of receipts including notes from United telling me what videos would be on the flight and an invitation to check in online.  However, when I tried to check in they said I was not booked and suggested I call an 800 number.  After many hours on hold, yes, hours, I finally got through to someone who said I hadn’t paid for the tickets.  I tried in vain to demonstrate that I certainly had paid, but to no avail.  I called Chase, who issued the United Mileage Plus Club card, and they confirmed that I had paid and the money had been taken from my bank.  I asked them to call United, which they did in a three-way conversation but they didn’t do any better than I did.  I ended up having to pay again and then contest the double payment. What a way to run an airline.

Got to Athens without too much hassle and we were met at the airport by a driver sent by our friend Catherine, who owns a preK-12 private school near the airport. The driver took us to one of her apartments on the water in Glyfada (south of Athens) where we walked, went out for dinner, and hit the sack. The next morning it was on to her school for a day of conversations and consultations, followed by an exceptional dinner that evening with Catherine. On Sunday our driver came for us and took us to the Athens docks where we boarded the Crystal Serenity for a one-week cruise to Venice.  This had been, for us, a very last minute deal set up by our friends the Harkins.  The ship was larger then we were used to, about 1000 people, but only 800 on board so it was never crowded.

We met the Harkins and their friends Annie and Paul and got to know each other over a lovely alfresco luncheon on the pool deck.  The seven days flew by with stops in Greece, Albania, Croatia and then Venice.  The cruise is offered on an all-inclusive basis and the ship is very attractive. It has a wraparound promenade deck, which was a real blessing allowing us to get lots of miles while taking in spectacular views.  The food and wines were all topnotch and the only thing that disappointed was the dancing opportunities.  Since we mostly cruise for the sole purpose of dancing, we had hoped for more options than the nightly dance session with a sextet of Philippine entertainers who managed to play tangos, salsas, cha-chas and rock all with a foxtrot beat! There was no disco, just some karaoke, which is certainly not dance music.

We had a full day in Venice before departing the ship and it was just picture perfect. It has been more than thirty years since we lived in that area and yet it was as though we just left.  We walked through the old quiet neighborhoods, with their cafes, hanging laundry, open air markets and small mom and pop restaurants and snack bars.  We did what you are supposed to do in Venice, walk until you get lost, find a canal and follow it until you figure out where you are and then walk more. We had a great lunch of squid in its own ink pasta, a specialty of Venice, washed down with some local wine.  Pure heaven.

The next day we said goodbye to Annie and Paul who had to return to New York.  I walked up the road to Hertz where I had arranged a car and then Cindy and I, along with the Harkins, were soon heading to Bassano del Grappa, as sweet a little Italian mountain town as you’ll ever find, which we almost didn’t. For some reason I forgot to print the map for the location of our hotel. While Cindy did an excellent job of navigation to get us to the village, I had no idea where the hotel was and there were no signs. Cindy wanted to stop at a large hotel and ask, but I was convinced I could find it and I made the near-fatal error of entering the walls of the old city with its one-way narrow streets. As it turns out, it was the weekend of the festival of the chestnuts and the town was filled with tourists from all over the area and there was NO parking anywhere. We drove and drove, around and around, passing the famous bridge no fewer that four times, until we found a place to pull over and call the hotel. Their directions got us close but no cigar and as we were heading to Trento, we pulled into a gas station and called again, this time with remarkable results. We finally pulled into the parking area of the hotel and turned off the engine with hopes of never having a similar experience again.  Boy did lunch taste good!

This town has not changed in thirty years and it is still one of the most stunning places in the Veneto. Surrounded by snow-capped mountain, decorated with stunning chestnut trees whose colors were brilliant and basking in a brilliant sun, we felt transported to the middle ages, except for the motor scooters which were constantly trying to maim us.  We enjoyed three days with lots of great walks punctuated by stops for coffee, wine or food, all of which were wonderful.

One day we drove into Vicenza where we had lived twice in the early eighties. The outskirts had certainly changed a great deal but the inner core of this ancient city remained exactly as remembered. This is the city that Palladio built, and master architect that he was, he built it well.  It is a glorious place to wander and the key is to always look up since that is where some of the great treasures are to be seen. Mosaics adorning the underside of vaulted ceilings; angels taking wing atop churches; horses prancing on angled roof tops - truly a magical city.

The trip was over too soon and United did its very best to make sure that we had other things to consider than pleasant memories. The flight from Venice to Frankfurt on Lufthansa was full but pleasant and short, with grand vistas of the Alps. The flight from Frankfurt to Dulles was truly one of the worst I’ve taken. A full 777-200 due to a canceled flight earlier in the day made for very little room, despite our being in what is called premium economy.  On United this means three more inches of leg space, period.  The toilets never were cleaned or serviced and the flight attendants must have been part-time magicians since they all knew how to disappear. As we waited an hour for our luggage I was able to plan all kinds of ways never ever to fly coach international and never to fly with United again, well at least until Thursday when we fly to San Diego!!

Ciao, Cindy and Wm

Omnipresence

On the Concept of Omnipresence

As a child there was a one-year period when I knew what I would be doing almost every Sunday at three in the afternoon.  My sister and I would be seated on the floor in front of the tiny little black and white TV watching Victory at Sea.  This was a 26-episode history of WWII, mostly from the naval perspective, and my father, seated behind us, provided non-stop commentary.  I was seven when this show started and by the time it ended I came to a sudden realization:  My father was omnipresent!  There was no other explanation.  During one scene my father would get all excited and say, “look kids, that’s my ship,” so we looked and I would notice that the captions said June 1943 Saipan.  Then during another scene he would say, “look kids, that’s me on the deck” and the caption was June 1943 Casablanca. And so it would go, episode after episode. It was so terribly exciting to know that my dad could be in so many places at the same time, singlehandedly winning the war for the USA. (If you have never heard the sound track for Victory at Sea, you should seek it out.  The music is by Richard Rogers and Robert Russell Bennett and it is fantastic. Here is a clip; if you look carefully you’ll see my dad in several locations.)

My next brush with omnipresence involved not my father, but OUR FATHER. In order to get married in the Catholic Church, my father - a devout non-believer - had to promise that all of the children would be raised Catholic until their confirmation, at which time we could decide for ourselves.  So at about age twelve or so, my sister and I were condemned to sit in catechism classes every Saturday morning in preparation for our confirmation.  I really don’t remember much of these classes, but I was amazed that I could confirm that omnipresence was a real possibility since I had been a having a few doubts about my dad’s abilities.

My latest confrontation with omnipresence was in 2012 when it happened to me in Turkey.  Cindy and I were enjoying a warm break from a harsh Moscow winter as we wandered around the bazaars and bars of Antalya. Having spent our entire wad of Turkish lira, I found a nice ATM, well protected from prying eyes, and as Cindy stood guard I took our enough money to get us through the weekend.  You can imagine my surprise when I got an email from my bank telling me that I had just purchased two televisions, two DVDs and assorted other electronics at the Best Buy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania!  Omnipresence, it must be a genetic thing!

Best wishes, William

Summer's End

To paraphrase Garrison Keillor, it was a quiet summer here in the valley and I’m delighted that fall is hard upon us.  I spent 121 days without stepping into a commercial aircraft.  That is an all time record since 1975.  I just had nowhere to go and no desire to go anywhere.  The summers here in Charles Town are usually quite lovely but this one had a six-week period of really intense heat, at least intense for West Virginia, and the gardens needed a lot of TLC.

Since Cindy fully retired last spring she has thrown herself into two major fields of endeavor: music and gardening.  She had a lovely vegetable garden with mostly carrots, tomatoes and one asparagus.  There were several patches of herbs that provided lots of flavor to my dinners. And there were the flowers, flowers everywhere, pots, plots, climbing, hanging and some that just seemed to wander all over the place.  The colors were intense and the bees and butterflies were particularly impressed this year.

My outside jobs tended to focus on constantly massaging the lawns, watering flowers and vegetables - mostly from our three rain barrels - and trimming trees and bushes.  I used to be an avid gardener but lost the lust when I realized that I could purchase good stuff for less than it costs to grow it.

Cindy’s passion for music has soared.  She had a one week music camp in Seattle that was just what she needed to jump start her playing and teaching.  She has two students; she is in the local orchestra, plays in several trios and quartets and practices a minimum of three times a day.  It is a joy to see her so happy with her passion for music.  I’m trying to learn the guitar; it is humbling to know that I’m really not very good at something!

Being home for so long did allow me to do a lot of cooking and I’ve been branching out into different cuisines and techniques.  At Cindy’s suggestion we have rainbow meals, which means foods of lots of colors.  Our fresh vegetable intake has therefore expanded and a supplement of fish or chicken adds some variety.  While this may sound very healthy, which I’m sure it is, I temper it with wine and Fritos so as to keep my caloric intake up.

We have become counters.  We each have pedometers that allow us to make sure we walk, in my case – and walk/run for Cindy - at least seven miles a day. That is our minimum and for the most part we hit it six out of seven days a week.

As I read this over it sounds so boring, which is why I haven’t been writing much. However, the time seemed to fly by and we were never really bored.  I wonder if that is what aging is all about?

Best to all and more to come of a non-boring nature.  Cindy and Wm