Paris

Leaving Warsaw,Dick and I got up at 4 am and boarded a 7:30 flight to Paris.  LOT airlines does our domestic airlines one better....they serve water but charge for coffee!!It was a two hour easy flight and we decided to wait for our latte on arrival.

Our first two nights were spent at the San Regis Hotel located in the 8th arrondissement. It is a charming 42-room hotel that was originally a home and reconverted. The staff was most welcoming and the room was just lovely.  This is like staying in a private home with all the amenities of a luxury hotel.  Our host, Sarah Georges, is part of the family that owns the hotel and she was just wonderful.  This hotel is just what you want for a personal French experience.

We dropped our bags and went for a walk to reacquaint ourselves with the area.  We were directed to Chez Andre for lunch and it was GREAT.  How bad can onion soup and oysters for me and bouillabaisse for Dick be in Paris??? So nice to be here again.

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast and headed out at 10AM...taking the Rue de Rivoli all the way down to the Opera Bastille in the Marais. This is about a 10 mile walk...and it took us 3 1/2 hours.  No trouble getting our 10,000 steps today!! We were going to a matinee performance of  Lucia di Lammermoor..so we had to be there by 2.

We passed by the Grand Palace, where there was the opening of the great Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo show, and the Petit Palace which was hosting the major art show...FIOS.  Sadly, it was the closing day of the FIOS show so we had to forgo seeing it because of the opera.  It was like the Biennele in Venice with lots of outbuildings housing art from all over.  Sorry we didn't have another day.

The walk was amazing, but close to the end my feet were really feeling it.  So glad we fell into the Cafe Paris across the street from the opera house and had a light lunch.

The opera was really fun and the staging was very original.  The soprano, Penny Yende from South Africa, has a glorious voice and looks as well. What a wonderful afternoon.

When we got out, it was POURING.  And we learned a good lesson....always take an umbrella in Paris in October.
We raced back to our lunch spot to wait out the rain with a glass of wine...but it never let up.  Our darling waiter recognized our plight, and called a "hire taxi" for us, or we would have sat there all night. And it rained all night.....

The next day we checked out of the San Regis and checked into the Plaza Athenee .  They were waiting for us, and we had a lovely welcome "home". This hotel is nothing short of amazing. It is "Grand" in the grand sense of the word. The lobby is gorgeous, and the first room that you see is the dining room where breakfast is served, and at dinner, it is the Michelin award-winning Alain Ducasse restaurant. It is truly magnificent.  The chandeliers cascade down onto silver pods, making the entire room twinkle like fairy land. What a gorgeous sight.

Our room was a junior suite facing the courtyard. It was the "quiet" view and just wonderful.  The bellman asked if we needed help unpacking and said they would gather our unpacked bags and store them so that we didn't have to look at them in the room.  That is truly a Class Act.

We only partially unpacked and headed to the Centre Pompidou for the Magritte  retrospective art exhibit.  The concierge got us advance tickets. Even with those, we waited in line about an hour before we got in.  It was AMAZING....we spent about 3 hours there, and saw many paintings we had never seen before.  The "Pipe is not a Pipe" is still one of my favorites.

After the show, we wandered a bit in the Marais, and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel.  16,000 steps today.

For our last day in Paris, we walked down the Rue St. Honore.  We covered 7 1/2 miles, and my feet were so sore I didn't  know if they would ever recover. We crossed onto the Left Bank and wandered the St. Germain-des-Pres area (two miles long). We had a coffee at Les Deux Margots (where Hemingway hung out)  across from Brasserie Lipp (where Sartre and his buddies all hung out).

We forget how wonderful, exiting and gorgeous this city is.  Everywhere you look, there is a treat for your eyes.

Our last dinner in Paris was in a typical French restaurant in the theater district called the Grand Colbert. A wonderful dinner and a perfect ending to a glorious time spent revisiting this city.

Each time since our honeymoon 32 years ago that we are lucky enough to come back to Paris, we love it more and more. And we see different things each time. I only hope that you, too, will experience the joy of a wonderful hotel...large or small....a neighborhood no matter where you stay, filled with things to experience...restaurants that are nothing short of amazing....and a city itself that is a feast for the eyes.

Paris is truly a gift to the world. How lucky we are to have her.

Poland

Our friends Tim and Alice are now living in Poland, and having just finished our river cruise in France, we decided to hop over and see their new digs. Alice works in the State Department at the American Embassy in Warsaw, and we thought it would just be a "hop" from Paris to Poland.  Actually, it wasn't a "hop"....it was more of a "long jump".  After our early morning flight from Lyon to Paris, we had to claim our luggage and get on a tram to Terminal 1 (which, if you have done this, is a LONG transfer.)  Then we had to check our bags to Krakow and head to the proper gate.  This took most of the 1 1/2 hours transfer time we had in Paris. To add insult to injury, we had a one hour layover in Warsaw to make a connection to Krakow.

KRAKOW

Krakow was our first destination in Poland since we had heard so much about this city from our kids who spent some major time there putting the hospital system on computer about 24 years ago.  Krakow was never bombed in the war because the German Major General lived here and he would never have allowed it to happen.  So the city has remained intact...and is just lovely.

We stayed in the Old Town which is the only place to stay. Our home for 3 days, the Boronowski Palace, sits right on the main square and the position affords it an amazing view of everything that is going on.  I never got tired of looking out our windows. It was like live TV...so much happening in the square.  There were throngs of people, restaurants lining the perimeter, horse carriages giving people rides, golf cart tour cars taking people around, flower stalls, and gift stalls.
We had a huge suite with lots of room to spread out...and we did. And athe views were fantastic.

At 4:30 it was beginning to get dark, so we unpacked and walked to a local restaurant called Pod Nosem, which was "yuppy and delicious".  My concept of Poland is quickly changing since I thought it would be more Third World. This city is not that way at all.  Yes, it is old but sophisticated.
Even the fashion seemed to be upscale.  Not at all what I thought.

The next day we got an early start and enjoyed a lovely breakfast.  Then we hired one of the ubiquitous golf carts to take us for a tour of the city.  Our driver/guide was Greek, and really nice.  The tour is all recorded so that you get all the history, and when we got to a stop and got off for a bit, the driver stopped the tape and restarted it when we got back in.  The tour included the Old Town, the Kazmeriez area(which was the Jewish/Christian part of town), the Ghetto and Schindler's factory.  Schindler's List took 78 days to film in Krakow..and lots of people were chosen as extras.  The people are very proud of Oscar Schindler and what he did to help save the Jews of Krakow.  We had to pass the Wawel Castle, cause we just ran out of time....next time.

The restaurant that night, Pod Baranem, was very traditional.  Dick is loving the herring and vodka!!! I think mostly the vodka, but who knows.  And at the end of the meal, they served a digestif made of Grain Alcohol...100% proof.....fruit infused with herbs and kept for 10 years!!! It was really tough..but better than the stuff in Italy. Interestingly, I had no heartburn that  night, so maybe it really does work.

The next day was going to be really long.  There were two things we wanted to see while we were in Krakow, and that would have meant giving up the city tour, which we also wanted to have.  So we pleaded with the tour company to combine the tour of the world-famous Salt Mines with a tour of Auschwitz..and they  did. 

Our driver picked us up at 10 and we went to the Salt Mines.  We climbed down 380 steps to the 1st level.  We later climbed down two more levels (and we took the elevator up).  The mine began working in the 12th Century  and became really important under Kazmeriez in the 14th C.  He was a good ruler, and there are many carvings of him in various rooms.  Actually, there have 23 different salt carved scenes down in the mines, including a huge hall where they can perform weddings.

They housed people down there, as well as horses.  It was easier to keep them down and not bring them up every day...so there are stables and dormitories. There are still salt veins running thru the walls and floors, but they are not mined any more.  Now, it is just for tourists who need to experience what this must have been like for so many people

We didn't get claustrophobic, but the lingering thought after climbing down two more levels was "How are we going to get up?".  The elevator took almost 4 minutes!!! We were really far down.

After the tour of the Salt Mines, we had a quick lunch and took off for the infamous World War II concentration camps  Birkenau/Auschwitz.  Because we were early, we did Birkenau first. 

This extermination camp was built there because Auschwitz wasn't big enough to hold all the people to be killed, and it is just 2 miles down the road. It was originally planned in 1941 as a camp for Soviet POWs, but it ultimately became the largest center for the extermination of Jews.  The first two gas chambers began functioning near the camp from the first half of 1942, as part of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question".  They could kill 5,000 people in a 24 hour period and dispose of the ashes.

 Four more crematoria were added the following year.  There is nothing left of the place except for an amazing sculpture built over the crematorium with plaques from every country
that had people killed here. Expansion plans were discovered to even do more damage. In the summer of 1944, the Germans deported about 13,000 Poles here from Warsaw, where the uprising was underway. They used the rail system almost exclusively, as it was faster than trucks, and could pull from all over Europe.

Now we were ready for our tour of Auschwitz.  Altho we have been to Yad Vashem in Israel, and the  Holocaust Museums in New York and Los Angeles, nothing prepares you for the sign hanging over the entrance to Auschwitz which says" Work Will Set You Free."

The sign had been stolen a couple of years ago, but it was found before it got shipped out of Poland and put back up at the entrance to the camp.  As a result of that, security is really tight.  No one is allowed without a ticket, and ours was checked at three different places.

 The Germans originally built concentration camps from 1933 when Hitler took power.  People regarded as "Undesirables" were imprisoned there...Jews, opponents of Nazism, German homosexuals, common criminals and others.  And at the start of the war, Germany began opening camps in the countries it occupied.  Auschwitz was originally a concentration camp, and then it became the largest center for the mass extermination of Jews in the world.

 As opposed to Birkenau, Auschwitz was kept intact.  It originally was a Polish Army barracks, and over time the 20 buildings became 28, with several being designated as a camp hospital and a jail.  During its existence, (June 1940-Jan 1945), the Germans deported at least 1.3 million people there, 1.1 of them Jews.  About 900,000 Jews were murdered in the gas chambers immediately after arriving in the camp. Because it originally was to be a concentration camp some were chosen to work and others were opted for medical experiments. And then those remaining were exterminated....  130,000 pregnant women, elderly women and mothers were killed immediately, because they were of no use to the Nazi work force.  And of the 700 babies born in Auschwitz, 60 survived.  The rest were put to death, or died of starvation or illness.

Room upon room of hair, glasses, clothing, teeth...man's inhumanity towards man.  Auschwitz has been kept intact to prove to the non believers that it really did happen, and to show the believers that it will never happen again.

Each block, each building, held a different horror.  The gallows in the middle of the compound where people were hung and left there as an example...what a sight.  And the area where they conducted roll call twice a day sometimes lasted for hours.  And if you didn't make it thru roll call, you were sent to the crematorium.

I cannot begin to tell you how grateful we were that it was becoming dark, because the sounds of anguish were filling the air, and the sense of outrage was overwhelming.  Everyone in the world needs to experience this place to understand what was done to the world and the world's history for generations to come by a horrific man who no one could/would stand up to.  Generations of shame. And shame to those who choose to deny that this holocaust was a fiction.

 Never have I been so grateful to my grandfather for getting his family out of Poland before the War.

WARSAW

Today we left for Warsaw and took the speed train.  It was really lovely, and they served a beautiful breakfast at our seat.
We were very impressed.  Unfortunately, we got off at the wrong station which lead to a series of misadventures leading up to us finally arriving at our glorious hotel..Ma Maison La Regina.  This is an old building that has been modernized and our suite is overlooking a courtyard, and exquisite. 

Tim and the boys got to the hotel and we walked into the Old Town looking for a Pirogi restaurant they had been to before and enjoyed.  We finally found it, had our dinner and walked home.

 The following day we went to a beer garden restaurant and had brats and beer!!! What fun. After lunch we went to the Uprising Museum. 

In 1945 Germans killed all the Jews in the Ghetto, where they had been herded into a few years before.  The Poles uprose in anger,  and they,too, were also killed.  To add insult to injury, the Germans burned down all of the Ghetto...obliterating most of Warsaw.  Then the Russians came in and took over Poland, or what was left of it, until 1989 when Poland became independent.

From the museum, we went to a reception at the public library that Alice organized.  The American Embassy has put an American Center into the library, where people can go and get American movies, and magazines, and experience all things American.  We met the Ambassador and visited with him for a bit.  It was a lovely event.

Did I mention the rain?  It had been raining here for 3 days  and I was really not having a good time.  So far it wasn't too bad...BUT tomorrow we were going to Sokolov (where my father was born) and it is a 3 hour drive in each direction, so I wanted it to stop!!!

Well, we didn't get to Sokolov.  Our hotel told us that the roads would be bad, and since there really isn't a city left there it, would be a drive to somewhere, and then a drive back...all in the rain.  I know my father would have understood, but it was hard to be this close and not be able to do it. 

Instead, we took a driver and toured Warsaw, seeing the Ghetto wall, the museums and all the other major places. We only got out of the car at the Ghetto wall and what was left of the synagogue. Afterwards, we met Tim and got a tour of the American Embassy.  I have never been in an embassy before. It was very exciting, but the embassy itself was housed in a very 1960's building of ugly Russian architecture.

We had our last traditional Polish meal at Frita in Old Town (which was near our hotel, so we got umbrellas and walked).

As I said earlier, my thoughts of Poland differed than the reality.  I was really impressed.  The country has a lot to offer, and had the weather cooperated a bit more, it would have been a lot more fun.  Next time!!!

river cruising in France

Dick and I have never taken a river cruise.  As you know, we love cruising....ocean cruising being our only experience.  So after checking around, we decided to embark on a Uniworld adventure sailing on the Rhone and Saone rivers doing Burgundy and Provence.

Since the ship sailed out of Avignon....we decided to get there a few days early.  We flew from LA to Paris non stop...and then in the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, we caught the speed train to Avignon.

It is a very easy thing to do...albeit better had we had less luggage.  But it was an easy walk from our gate to gather our bags, and then an easy walk to the train station, which is right in the basement of Terminal 2.

We had lovely first class seats  and they served breakfast. And in 3 hours, we were in Avignon!!  We were met at the train  and whisked off to the La Mirande Hotel...which is nothing short of amazing.  The hotel runs a very famous cooking school, and we would have taken advantage of a class had we had the time.  As it was, we needed all the time in Avignon itself. An extra day would have lent itself well, so next time.

 Avignon is located on the left bank of the Rhone River, and was once the Papal residence. Our room had a spectacular view of the Palace of the Popes, and Virtuoso gave us entry tickets, so off we went for a 3 hour tour.

In the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309-1377, during which 7 popes, all French, resided in Avignon. Great strife occurred between warring factions in the Church and each Pope who lived there enlarged the ediface for protection.
Eventually, in 1417, things were resolved and the town remained in the hands of the Popes until they were reunited with France after the French revolution.  They then moved to Rome, forever.

 Clement VI was the most famous of all the Popes, and he built the "new palace". There are paintings in the original colors in many of the interior rooms. Remarkable when you think how old this Palace is.

After the tour, we wandered thru the town itself, exploring the jaggedy streets and walkways.  What fun. We wandered into Les Halles, which had the most gorgeous food stalls I have ever seen.  All the vegetables looked polished and almost fake. The candy was amazing...and the oysters were beyond.
So we opted to have lunch right there at the oyster bar. The French eat their oysters with vineger...no red sauce..no horsh radish..so I wasn't enjoying them as much as I wanted to..but they were still wonderful and so very fresh.

After lunch, we walked around some more, bought some fabulous candy, and headed back to the  wonderful La Mirande to chill before dinner.

 The next day we continued our wandering in the old town. Another two days, and we would be locals.  And at 2PM, we went to board the ship.

 What a difference in the process of embarkation.  Our taxi pulled along side the SS Catherine where porters came to collect our luggage and escort us onto the ship.  They never even asked for our tickets....just took our picture, gave us some champagne, and took us to our verandah cabin!!!  Our luggage followed us, and we began to unpack before we started to explore our home for the next week.

The cabins are small....but after getting over the shock of the size, we realized that everything fit.  The sitting area is our balcony..and the windows slide down to make the it open air. The decor was lovely....befitting a French ship in Provence.

We needed to attend the "life boat" drill in the main lounge, where the captain spoke to us.  The word is:  Just jump off if there is a problem and swim to the shore.  OR run to the top deck and wait it out.  Whatever you do, however, when going thru the locks, DO NOT put your hands outside the ship, as you can touch the locks, that's how close you are when you go thru.

After our drill, we went back to our cabin, unpacked, and had a lovely dinner in the dining room.  Breakfast and lunch are served buffet style, but dinner is served white glove.  Dress tonight was casual...tomorrow is the GALA (which means a jacket, but not necessarily a tie).

ARLES

Our first stop was Arles, where we just got off the ship and started walking into town.  What a difference between river cruising and ocean cruising.  No buses...no long transfers...at least not here.  We opted for the walking tour..so we put on our voiceboxes and earphones, and were able to follow the guide all around.

Arles is associated with Van Gogh, who lived here from
1888 -1890. When he de-eared himself, he was taken to a hospital here, which is now a museum. The town was originally a Greek settlement, and became a Roman colony in 46BC.  Because of her strategic point on the river, Arles was the administrative center for the entire country.  The town boasts an arena which held as many as 20,000 spectators who came to watch the gladiators wrestle each other or animals.
The structure was later filled in with as many as 200 houses and two chapels.  Quite a large space!

After our tour, we wandered into the city itself and had a fun lunch in the town square.  We even bought berets and pretended to be French!

After lunch, we had a private tour of an olive farm.  This was an extra charge (the morning tour was free).  There were about 20 of us who went, and we saw the process from tree to bottle.

Tours on river cruises are easy to sign up for...you just go to the main desk  that morning and say "Is there still room?". And there most always is. Like the cruising....very easy.

The gala dinner event was that evening and was very low key.  The sommelier, Laurencia, saw that Dick enjoyed the Chauteauneuf de Pape wine which was served one evening..so she made sure it was available to him for dinner the rest of the trip.

AVIGNON RE-DUX

Back in Avignon.  The tours are taking everyone to everywhere we had been, so we decided just to walk around like the locals..which we are really now becoming.  We were going to have lunch again at Les Halles (bringing our own red sauce), but the chef said we had to come back to the ship for a "Surprise lunch". We did, and they had oysters!!! It was lovely, because we now had red sauce and we ate ourselves silly(or at least, I did).

That afternoon we went on the Chateauneuf de Pape tour (which made Dick very happy). The region is known primarily for their red wines, but we had an opportunity to sample a white CNP...which I never knew they made.  Very little comes to the US.  It was not great...but good.

On the way back we went by the Pont d'Avignon which was partly washed away by a flood in 1668.  Only 4 of the 22 arches remain, but it is fantastic looking. All the school children sing the nursery rhyme "Sur le Pont d"Avignon......

We sail tonight to Viviers

VIVIERS

This is a very quiet city.  At the top of a very high hill sits a cathedral with a huge organ.  They were playing the organ today just for us.  We opted just to walk around the base of the hill.   We found the local cemetery and said prayers for the people we have lost.  Too many.

We headed back to the ship, had another lovely lunch  and took a nap.  That's the nice thing about river cruising....each place doesn't require a major outing.  A small one is just perfect. And if you don't get off, sometimes you aren't missing much.

TOURNON-TAIN

These two towns sit facing each other on the Rhone  with records dating back to the Middle Ages. Both are renowned for their world famous wines.  AND truffles, which we cannot take home BUT, chocolate abounds. The Vairhona chocolate factory in Tain is a renowned supplier to the most famous chefs and pastry chefs in the world. We bought lots of chocolate!!!  Everyone did.  Everyone will be in major sugar shock tonight.

We went to a Rhone wine tasting in the afternoon, and it was not great.  We are really spoiled.  BUT the land and landscapes are nothing short of spectacular.

We had dinner in the Leopard Lounge tonight, which was a set menu and very wonderful.  Nice to be eating in another location...and the wines were fun.

LYON

Well, eventually some rain must fall....and it is in Lyon.
We docked next to the Viking, and we had to walk up to our top deck and then down and across the Viking to get off.
Buses met us and took us into the Old Town of Lyon.  We headed to the indoor market, which was more formal than Les Halles in Avignon.  We decided to wander thru the Old Town of Lyon ourselves instead of taking the tour, and it was lots of fun.   We had lunch in a typical Lyonnaise restaurant and it was delicious.  We then found our bus and headed back to the ship.

At night we boarded open air buses and took a tour of the city which was all lit up.  Not quite as wonderful as Prague..but what a different feeling seeing everything from a different perspective. We went to the top where the Cathedral was, and had a 180 view that was unreal.  And the rain stopped!!!

MACON

We docked in Macon and left immediately for Beaune and the Burgundy area.  There was a flea market going on in town, and it was so fun. Forgot what that was like.   Cheese, veggies, wine, of course, nougat, and clothes.  Dick went to find Le Cep, where we stayed on our honeymoon, and Jill and I shopped til we couldn't anymore. We had to find an extra suitcase for Jill and all her CANDY...but we finally did, and that will make her return trip a bit easier.

This was our last night on our glorious river trip.  Wending your way up/down a river is really a lot of fun, and very relaxing.  It is special in that there is no stress..and that is the best part.

I cannot speak too highly of Uniworld, our ship and our crew.  The service was impeccable, as was the food .  Everything was First Class and everyone we spoke to felt the same way.  There were people onboard who were taking their 5th Uniworld trip.  That speaks for itself.

I hope we can do this again soon...and if the Rhone River is the one to which all are measured, the others will have a hard time.  Hopefully I will be able to compare.

Kudos to Sebastien, Sharon, Tihomir, Frederic, Hajni,  Martin 
and of course, Laurencia.  They made everything exceptional.

Riding the rails to Sante Fe

Our grandson, Jacob, graduated high school this year and wanted a train trip for his present. He is fascinated by trains, metro trains, subways... you get the picture. So he flew to LA, spent a few days here “riding the rails” on our fairly new system, and then Jacob, Dick and I set off on our adventure.

AMTRAK

We reserved two connecting sleepers on the Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Lamy, New Mexico. We boarded on a Sunday night at 6:10PM.  There is a lovely waiting room in Union Station for people in the sleeper cars. We even got to board early.  Each of us had a living room that converted into a sleeping car with a private bath/shower combination.  Jacob got the best of the deal because there was only one of him.  Dick and I had a bet who would get the top bunk of the bed in our sleeper.

The steward came around at 6:30 and asked us what time we wanted dinner. We chose 7 pm. At the appointed time we headed to the dining car and were seated at a table for four. A lovely single woman joined us She was taking the train to Chicago and transferring to St. Louis.  It was fun talking to someone who traveled by train a lot. For dinner we all had a choice of either fish, chicken or steak. They offered wine and beer and a nice desert.  Was it the best meal I have ever had?  No, but it was the only one around, so we all ate it.

After dinner we walked to the club car It was was filled with young kids who didn’t have a sleeper, so we went  back to our staterooms, played cards and read.

Soon, another steward came in and made up our beds.  The couch converted into a lower bed, and something came out of the ceiling for an upper berth for Dick and me..  We took our showers, climbed into bed and laughed a lot!! Then Dick came down into my bunk…and we fell asleep.

I slept really well, as the rocking of the train was hypnotic for me.  Dick was cramped and hated the rocking, so the experience was lacking for him.

In the morning the steward came by and asked what time we wanted breakfast.  We had time to shower and get dressed, and headed to the dining car.  Had omelettes and croissants…cereal and yogurt.  Nice breakfast.

We studied the scenery until lunch (they kept us eating so that we didn’t concentrate on the hours spent.)  Lunch was lunch….and then we arrived in Lamy (about one half hour from Santa Fe.

Part of the train ticket included a transfer by van to our hotel in Santa Fe…which for us was the Inn and Spa at Loretto.

SANTA FE

The Inn has been redone and is just lovely.  The position, right behind the Church at Loretto, was wonderful, as you are about one block off the main square. Our rooms were spacious and each had a balcony with great views and a fireplace.

We walked around town to reacquaint ourselves with the city, since we hadn’t been there in a couple of years.  Not too much had changed, however, for which we were very happy.

We ate at two old standbys…the Coyote Cafe and the Santa Cafe…and one “newbie”... Sazon.  All were fantastic and true southwestern food at its finest.

We toured Jacob all over the city, from the Palace of the Governors to the park to the galleries on Canyon Road to the Indian jewelers selling their wares all around the park.  Santa Fe is a wonderful city to just wander…and we all enjoyed what it had to offer.

On Monday night, we took Jacob out for a real treat.
Sante Fe hosts a renowned opera company that features open air operas in the summer. That evening we saw a stellar performance of  Don Giovanni.  It was a perfect night and the outdoor venue is remarkable.  At the end of this opera, the protagonist is claimed by the devil and descends into Hell.  At the precise moment of his descent and as if by cue, the skies opened and there was a huge thunderclap followed by a lightening bolt! What a dramatic bit of theater, carried out by Mother Nature herself. Then the rains came. We made a mad dash to our waiting car, got back to the hotel and collapsed.

The next morning we rented a car and drove to Los Alamos to tour the museum where the atom bomb was made. The museum was incredibly complete. Interestingly enough, the local people had no idea what was going on there while all the scientists were madly racing the clock. Neither did the people working in the plant.  The entire project was so very secret that the workers only knew their specific tasks…not what the ultimate project was.  Now that is a real SECRET.

It was a great excursion, but like all such things our time was up and we drove back to Santa Fe for our last night before flying home to LA.

Jacob had a wonderful time as did we.…but one night on the train was enough for us!!!!

Seabourn cruise to Myanmar

 Our friends from London, Jackie and Barry Reuben, were celebrating their 50th anniversary by taking a Seabourn cruise to Myanmar. Since we hadn’t seen them for a while, and since we had never been to Myanmar, we decided to join them for a part of the cruise. 

 SINGAPORE

We flew to Singapore, and stayed in one of our favorite hotels in the world...the Ritz Carlton Millenia Square. I cannot say enough about this glorious place...except the Club floor chef is so good that one night we stayed in for dinner and ate a Singaporean specialty...laksa!!! With all the amazing restaurants in Singapore, that is saying a lot that we ate in the hotel in the club room!! 

We had a day to ourselves before they arrived, and we just touched base with all of our favorites....Little India, Arab Street and Orchard Road...and of course, the Raffles Hotel.
Jackie and Barry arrived that night and it was so wonderful to catch up. It was as if no time had gone by and it had been years.

KUALA LUMPUR

On Valentine’s Day, we boarded the Seabourn Sojourn (the sister ship to the Quest) and set sail for Kuala Lumpur. We have been to KL many times but never went to the Batu Caves. You have to climb 272 steps that scale a steep face of the limestone, and Jackie and I wanted to see the Hindu shrine inside, so up we went. Now I know why I never did this before. My legs felt like jelly and hurt for 3 days!!! BUT we did it and have the pictures to prove it. 

We took a city tour that included Independence Square, the Cathedral of St. Mary and the KL tower. We have been up there before, and J&B decided we take a pass...so we went back to the ship. It was a lovely day. 

PENANG 

We set sail for Penang where none of us had been to before. Our sightseeing took us to one of the largest and most popular Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia . We did not walk to the top since our legs were still wobbly, but we did walk all around it.
We went to Penang Hill and took the funicular train dating back to 1923 to the top . The view of the city was spectacular.
Our guide took us to search for authentic and delicious street food. I felt like Anthony Bourdain walking down this street...heading to taste 3 different kinds of noodles....Wanton, Hokkien and Fried Rice (Char Kuew Toew). The last was the best for me.

Then we went to try the Penang Laksa...which we had the first night in Singapore. It is a fish- based spicy rice noodle soup..getting its flavor from prawn paste. 

By this time we were pretty done, but one more stop got us to a local spot for the local dishes, Mee Goreng, Among Balik and Pasembur. I loved them all...but my cohorts took a pass.
To end the day, we went to see the Jetty homes on stilts that overlook the ocean, the Street of Harmony, and the exterior of Fort Cornwallis. It was a long day...but we have two days at sea now to relax. 

SEA DAYS

Sea days are wonderful, If you get into the rhythm of relaxing. Some people find it hard to do and are looking for the next port adventure. The people who enjoy sitting at the pool and reading and vegging out really love sea days. We sailed thru the Straits of Malacca which is the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, linking India, China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. 1/4 of the world’s traded goods, including oil, go thru the Straits, mainly from the Persian Gulf to Asia. 

The next day, we were in the Andaman Sea...the body of water southeast of the Bay of Bengal,,south of Myanmar and west of Thailand. It is part of the Indian Ocean. 

MYANMAR
 

We headed into Myanmar (the old Burma whose capitol is Yangon...the old Rangoon. It has a population of 5 million people. Because of its occupation by the British, it has the largest concentration of colonial building in Southeast Asia. Very wonderful. Today it is predominately Burmese and still the commercial center of the country. Burma got its independence in 1948 but had a military coup in 1962 which resulted in its isolationist Socialist regime. In 2007 Yangon had riots against the military government.. Today, the people are hoping their new president will bring Myanmar up to the new century standards. 

That night we went to a dinner performance of traditional Burmese dance. It was touristy (but as I always say...”We are tourists”). And the dancers were lovely. 

The next day we left the ship early for an overnight to Bagan...the archeological city with pagodas, temples ,stupas,and monasteries built on the banks of the Irrawaddy River.. It is the cultural and artistic capital of Mandalay and now a World Heritage City. 

WOW...that is all you can say when you see this vast deserted city of ruined temples and pagodas. Everywhere you look, there is something amazing to see. Bagan was the capital of the Burmese kingdom during the era of its maximum power and influence. It was devastated by Kublai Khan’s Mongol army in 1287. It was never rebuilt and you see it as it was originally designed.

The city spreads out over 15 miles and there are more than 2200 buildings which were constructed between the 11th and 13th centuries and are still standing. History says that there were originally at least 13,000!!! Your eyes cannot believe that some twinkle from gold while others look as if they are sculpted out of clay. So well worth the difficulty of getting there and back. What a treat!

SEA DAY AND ISLANDS
 
We left Myanmar, had another sea day, and then went to three lovely islands...Phuket, Langkawi and Lumut. Beautiful beaches and gorgeous resorts. A swimmer’s/diver’s paradise. Now I know why everyone loves this part of the world.....for its water and beaches. It is truly wonderful.

MALACCA
 
We ended our cruise in Malacca, the birthplaceof Malaysia. It's strategic position led to an economic boom, great enough for nations to fight for ruling rights.The Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese all formed Malacca, an interesting blend. It is now independent and a lovely place to end our sojourn. 

HONG KONG

After saying good-bye to Jackie and Barry (we Poor Buggers only cruised for 2 weeks... they had two more to go) we flew to Hong Kong and spent 3 glorious days at another amazing Ritz Carlton Hotel. It is a fantastic property..built on the 102 to118 floors of the International Commerce Center overlooking Victoria Harbor with a beautiful pool on top and a remarkable Club Floor. This is truly a glorious five star property in every way.

Remarkably, the train stops at the Center where there is an airport check-in. You can check your bags for your air flight home, get on the train, and never see your bags again until you arrive at your final destination. What a way to fly home!!! 

The RC has a Tesla limousine that takes you into town (about an 8 minute ride to the Peninsula) and is almost always available. What an exciting way to transverse Hong Kong’s Kowloon area. 

Hong Kong is truly a magical place...so sophisticated and exciting. It is a perfect blend of sights, sites, art, history,food and, of course, shopping . Everywhere you look, something is happening and there is electricity in the air. It is undoubtedly one of the most fantastic cities in the world. We are thrilled each time we are lucky enough to be there.