23 Aout 2015 / 23 Agosto 2015
Bonna serra – We are now in Turin. It is nearly midnight.
After breakfast and packing up at Vieux Platane and having breakfast we headed to Richard and Elizabeth’s for lunch (it’s eat, eat, eat, and more eat..)… and then we left Cairanne and drove toward Turin (Torino).. It would have been a beautiful drive and should have taken about 4.5 hours or so. We set out at about 2:00 and hoped to get to Turin by 7pm… but alas, there were many accidents on the road, there was traffic, it was raining… so the drive was tense, long, and tedious, but we arrived in Turin, pleasantly surprised to be at the wonderful Grand Hotel Sitea… very elegant, in the center of the city and totally equipped (when compared to the Vieux Platane in Cairanne)… all the goodies of a first class hotel.
By the way, the drive from Cairanne to Turin included more than 20 tunnels, some as long as 6 miles… it was tunnel, overpass, tunnel, overpass — over and again — and reminded us of a drive along the Italian and French coast many many years ago … We could see the Alps during most of the drive.. and were basically circling at the base. Only one mis-step on the drive that took us about 20 minutes out of the way.. The GPS is pretty damn good. And the road tolls are pretty high in both France and Italy. It was 43 Euros to go through that long tunnel and some miles beyond.. All in all, I’d say we shelled out about 70 Euros or more in road tolls! You drive the roads.. you pay for them. Sounds like a good plan to me..
Got to the hotel at around 9:30.. and very very quickly changed into warmer clothes.. it’s about 60 degrees here and rainy.. and walked about 4 blocks to a very sweet old-fashioned Torino restaurant called Smaritta.. classic Piemonte fare.. and hit the bill after so many hours in the car. Dinner — Seasonal antipasto.. which included the famous veal and tuna; steak (maybe veal) tartare, tagliatelli with a simple citron touch, veal cheeks, aubergine, and for dessert a ricotta cream with pistachio… and really good local nebbiolo wine.
Turning in now..
Tomorrow and the next day we will stroll Turin — we were last here about 25 years ago.. (and we’re already beginning to sense that we are nearing an end and so work will need attention beginning tomorrow.. always interesting to do it from afar.)
Fern
PS — note that one photo is of a toll booth in Italy. They are covered in phot murals. if you blow up the image you can see the toll collector in the window.. in the tromp’l’oiel castle-like structure image…
22 Aout 2015. August 22, 2015. The Day After the Wedding.
Bon Jour – Short and sweet today…
Slept in a bit… and then headed out to Saint Cecile — the next town from Cairanne.. where they have a Saturday market.. strolled the market and then went to a little hotel on the “main street” of St. Cecile for a great salade.. Then we had a funny adventure.. Yesterday we noticed that a light came on in the car… saying that we needed to “Rectify the tyre pressure”.. I may have mentioned this.. The message stayed on for more than 36 hours.. So we decided to bring the car to an auto shop and see what the problem is.. We were recommended to go to Motoriot Solieul.. just at the edge of Cairanne.. So off we went. Nice guy.. not a word of English.. But we showed him the screen on the dashboard and he seemed to know what was going on.. He then proceeded to take air out of the tires and said everything was OK.. but then he started the car and dashed out of the shop with it.. for a little test drive. When he came back he was talking very fast and I was lost.. And the same message was still on the screen… So we called Elizabeth to talk with him and she said that he explained that the car is now safe; everything is fine.. but there is a problem that won’t affect us. OK.. Then he tried to monkey with the dials on the screen — talking French all the while.. You could see that he was frustrated and was trying to read the manual in French, but the buttons and information on the screen were in English so he couldn’t follow the manual. OK.. We said in French that if everything was OK.. we would ignore the screen.. And off we went..
We drove about 2 kilometers and suddenly all the warnings on the screen that were yellow were now red! So we figured the problem was getting worse.. And now we were really nervous.. So we asked the hotel guy to look at the car — He could read the French and the English so that seemed perfect. Turns out that on the Mercedes after you change the pressure (it had been too high and the mechanic rightfully lowered it to the correct pressure), you need to adjust some setting on the internal computer of the car which turned out to be quite easy to do.. And now we are fine.
Did a little work and then headed up to the park in Cairanne (inside the ramparts, just below the old church) where everyone from the wedding was having an early evening picnic — pizzas on the grass with lots of salads. It was sort of funny to be sitting in this amazing setting having pizzas.. but so be it. There were also fierce games of Baton going on (heavy silver balls that you throw and try to get the closest to a marker).. .It’s a good game for big crowds since pretty much everyone including kids can do it.. obviously it requires skill to do it well.. but everyone can play. For a while Richard and Elizabeth’s dog (Gatsby) was meandering around without his leash.. but he’s old and was easy to bring back to the fore.
Then one of the guests who apparently is a big time photographer having worked for GQ and several fashion magazines and having shot the weddings of some very hip folks from big name British bands did a huge group photo against the setting sun over Cairanne and the vineyards.. What could be more perfect?
People then started to dissipate.. some driving back to Geneva, some packing to leave early tomorrow on flights to London and elsewhere… and many turning this into a big holiday — spending another week in Provence… including the bride and groom who are in the house at the wedding venue, along with some of their best friends until next weekend.
We strolled to Richard and Elizabeth’s for a glass of wine.. and then headed to the hotel.
We’ll see family again tomorrow for lunch and then we are headed to Italia for about 5 days — Turin and then Genoa.
Take care —
Fern
Le Fete et Marriage – 21 Aout 2015. August 21, 2015
Bon Soir
Just back from the wedding.. it’s about 2 am here (about 5 or 6 pm your time).. Not sleepy so thought I’d just write this up tonight. It will be long.. so feel free to pass..
Left you off last night as we headed to the 50-person eve of wedding dinner… held at a local restaurant in Cairanne… just down the hill from Richard and Elizabeth’s house… Lovely — outdoors on the patio of the restaurant.. It was great to meet everyone before the big day. Food and drink were wonderful, of course.. All local wines from the village. Meal started with salmon tartare followed by an eggplant dish followed by a choice of pork or veal (not many vegetarians floating around France) with wonderful ratatouille and potato gratin followed by a flaky apricot tart (told you they are in season and they are everywhere)…
Met Hem’s parents (she was wearing a fantastic sari) — nice people who grew up in Tanzania but had British citizenship. Families migrated to London when the Brits were forced out of Tanzania. And they’ve lived there ever since the age of 18 or so. This was only their second time on an airplane and only their second time out of England. So this was all a big event for them and I was wondering what they were thinking… The mother has two brothers (Hem’s uncles).. actually she has 9 siblings but only these two brothers came. Anyway, the “uncles” seemed to attach themselves to Mike — stating some kind of natural affinity — uncles to uncle! Kind of cute.
The guests range in age from 3 weeks old (flew in from London) to late 70s or so.
After the dinner we headed back to our hotel.. which is now overrun by wedding guests — taking over all of the 5 or 6 rooms here — all young friends of Emma and/or Hem…. from Hem’s days at Bloomberg or university or Emma’s days at college or work. Funny guys.
This morning we headed to Orange (about 20 minute drive)… I had actually booked a shampoo and blow dry in a hair salon there (There isn’t any place in Cairanne, and this seemed my best shot. The women in the salon were pretty funny, but unfortunately my French is not at the level where I can have a decent conversation, so I’m not totally certain what the topics were. In any case, they did a good job.. although my coif is a bit “pouffier” than normal.. I was able to explain that I was going to a wedding and it was a special occasion. They are also pretty big on hair spray! Anyway, Mike had found refuge in a small chapel and thus was able to nap since he had no interest in sitting in the hair salon. Afterward we strolled through Orange, had a “salade” that included tomatoes stuffed with aubergine and a summer squash stuffed with couscous.. big enough to share (which we did, but which is clearly uncommon). Then off we went — back to Cairanne to get ready for the big event. Dressed and drove off in style in that Mercedes that the car rental company gave us (which feels comfy at about 95 MPH on the autostrada)… Getting kind of accustomed to such a cushy car.. what will I do when I return to my Prius and my Fit?
From here on in — choose the sections you might be interested in or skip…
Arrival to the ceremony and pre-ceremony activities
Arrived at the “donjon” as the old city hall at the top of the hill, inside the ramparts (and about 50 feet from Richard and Elizabeth’s front door) is called. It looks a little like a church, it’s small — probably only seats about 50 people (and the wedding had about 120 people — so it was more than “standing room only” — although as family we had reserved seats. The processional for the wedding in France is quite different from the US.. Here, everyone waits outside until you are summoned in… There’s a flight of stairs up to the donjon… so everyone mingled, lots of selfies and photographer snapping images.. got a sense of who was at the wedding.. and the attire which was pretty varied.. including one 8 year old who came in a pirate’s outfit (but I get the sense that he is always in costume).. big black cape and the hat.. and he had shoulder length hair.
Anyway, the mayor and the other officiant (who in this case was my sister-in-law and also the mother of the bride) wearing the official sashes of the Republique of France (red, white, blue sashes that go across the chest and back.. with the Mayor’s having gold stars and Elizabeth’s being pretty straight forward.. walk up the stairs first.. followed by bride and groom.. and then the parents of the bride and groom and then the wedding party and then all the guests.. But Emma switched it a bit.. and so she came in last and made a grand entrance.. although she had to squeeze between all the people.. I should also note that since the donjon is in the center of the vieux village (with only about 25 houses surrounding it.. ) anyone who wasn’t coming to the wedding was looking out their window to watch the whole thing. The setup is a “desk” at the front of the room with two chairs behind and two in front.. So the groom sits alone on one of the chairs after he comes inside.. The officiants are on the other side of the desk.. The groom’s back is to the audience. Then once the bride comes in, she sits next to the groom. (Until she came, it looked like Hem was facing an inquisition)
The Ceremony
With Emma and Hem seated in their chairs, the ceremony began. It’s quite official with a reading of a whole set of appropriate laws guiding marriage in France — took about 15 minutes. It was read in French and then roughly translated into English. Elizabeth (who I might have explained is an elected member of the town council — apparently a big deal… and interesting that in France property owners can be elected to certain offices even if they are not citizens — take that Donald Trump!) did the entire ceremony bilingually — very impressive and the French commented how totally proficient she is (Elizabeth is British). As the mom, she also got a bit choked up at the start which was totally sweet. There were three questions that required responses and they were said in French.. There was a lot of laughter when Hem said “yes” to the first question which asked (in French, which he doesn’t speak) if he has entered into another marriage contract.. This was all quickly corrected and the subsequent queries were all fine. Then the Mayor read some big declaration — only in French — and then it was over (kiss the bride…) And then the couple was presented with some official “gifts” from the village (which I assume all couples married in Cairanne receive) — a book on the history of the village; a booklet about the history of the donjon; and the “medal” of the city which has Cairanne’s seal on it.. And then they walked out and down.. and actually walked down the hill from the ramparts into the “lower village” (followed by most guests) to waiting buses to chauffeur everyone from the village to the wedding venue — vineyards about 3KM away.. Our car was parked close by so we drove to the venue (because we had some tasks assigned to us, including finishing getting the flowers on the dinner tables — they had been done earlier but it was windy and there was fear that they would fall over).. Oh… they throw lavender and do bubbles.. I was up close, and covered in all that lavender.. smelled good… and it was unexpected.. apparently there were little cups of it lining the steps of the donjon that you pick up as you leave.. but I didn’t know that.
The Wedding Dress
So, Emma is drop-dead gorgeous.. with long blonde hair.. about 5’11”.. and with impeccable taste. The dress — many of you have asked — mmm how to describe… a beautiful just off white sleeveless floor-length silk slip with V-neck front and low v neck back that just falls on the body.. On top of that she had a beautiful lace backwards “vest” that was also floor-length with a simple curved back part that graced the floor a bit. The lace “vest” had a silk ribbon at the waist that clipped in the back .. the lace part formed a V at the back all the way to the waist.. and then below the waist the lace part was totally open so that it fell comfortably to create a great shape.. I’d call the dress elegant, demure, and very sophisticated.. but also very very simple.. She had two gold hair clips flanking her hair that was pulled back and sort of braided into a loose long bun.. also wore gold sandals .. Oh the groom.. he wore a very sharp sort of dark greenish-blue suit with a great small polka dot tie that had just the right amount of blue and green.. Everything.. totally figured out.
The Guests
There were about 120 people including about 15 kids — they had a table for arts and crafts and games for the kids and two “tutors” to watch over the kids. And there were a few babes in arms, including a 3-week-old! and an 8 month old (where there was a lot of drama because the family is British — friends of Emma’s.. and somehow they got to the airport to board their plane and realized that in all the confusion they never got a passport for the baby.. and the airlines would not let them board — you know how terrorist those 8 month olds can be — Anyway, the father and the older child came to Cairanne on Wednesday as planned .. and the mother and baby started the process of appealing for an emergency passport which they got just in time to catch a flight for the wedding). The largest number of guest were in the 30-40 year age group..
Grooms Family
Hem’s parents are quite sweet.. a bit shy and slightly formal. His mother is beautiful and her sari was definitely elegant and fancy — bedecked with jewels. it was mostly red and white.. with layers of sheer fabrics.. In addition to his parents he had two uncles and aunts and some cousins.
Food and Festivities and Venue
The reception was held at L’Ameillaud in Cairanne (or just over the line into Raisteau).. It’s a vast working vineyard with an old — century or more — farmhouse and also a large contemporary villa that sleeps about 12 or more.. The grounds include a very large meadow, scores of sycamore trees and olive and fig trees. When we first arrived everyone was served a lemony water to cool down (weather wasn’t super-hot.. but it was warm). .. and then we proceeded into the meadow where they were serving an array of appetizers including gazpacho and local cheeses and crudité and miniature everything.. with champagne.. Eventually there were the toasts (including one by Richard).. While we were all having champagne and these incredible small plates.. the children were apparently served dinner (smart).. At about 9 pm (about three hours later).. we all walked to the dinner area.. The space (outside) was set up with two extremely long tables (place settings pre-determined) — about 50 people per table — 25 to each side.. The tables were clearly organized by age — with the 40 and under crowd at one table (with the bride and groom in the center of that table) and the hmmm over 45ers at the other table. I fell to the latter group. The place settings were sparkling… Imagine seeing a row of or a setting of 200 glasses on each table (4 glasses per person x 50 people at each table).. white linen table cloths and settings. At each place setting there was a carefully composed packet with the menu, napkin, silverware, a sprig of rosemary all tied with a simple burlap cord on which was a luggage tag sort of card with the name of the person sitting there — all calligraphy done by the bride,.. On top of this was a beautiful smooth rock (for utilitarian purposes to keep everything from blowing away).. Flowers were all wild flowers placed in all sorts of jars everyone has been saving for months.. and they were placed in the center of each table going the full length.. pretty much touching.. so maybe 250 jars of flowers?? and small tea candles everywhere…
Dinner menu: spit roasted lamb (which you could see them cooking earlier), baked new potatoes, seasonal vegetables including eggplant, tomato, etc., mesclun salad.. and bread… accompanies by local white or local red wines (or champagne).. This was followed by a wonderful cheese spread on each table (in many places) with fig jam and walnut bread.. Then we finally got up to stretch just long enough to walk to the dessert table where about 8 different amazing cakes and tarts were being served.. starting with the first slice cut by Hem and Emma.. with all sorts of very large sparklers going off everywhere..
Food was amazing.. needless to say..
Speeches and Toasts
Hem made a wonderful toast to Emma.. lots of great stories within the toast… and Hem’s business partner and best friend made a speech… more inside information about both Hem and Emma..
Finale
Finished dinner around midnight and then everyone (well really the 30-45 year old crowd– and some of the kids who stayed up — and of course Mike and I… strolled to the dance floor.. where a DJ blasted music and a bar with mojitos and several other cocktails were being served along with coffees.. We actually danced a bit (to I don’t know what music) to hold up the reputation of the over 50s… !! And at about 1:30 am we drove back to the hotel. The dancing was going strong and I was told it all ended around 4 am.
OK.. That’s the wedding..
Official stuff done..
Plan to sleep late; I have some work to do in the morning… and then we hear there is some kind of picnic tomorrow night. (Saturday)
Sorry for the length.. feel free to pass..
Au revois..
Fern
Trois. August 20, 2015. Uzes and Other Wonderful Villages
Bon soir… .
It’s about 7 pm in Cairanne.. and soon we will be headed to the “rehearsal dinner” to be held in a little restaurant at the base of the hill atop which sits the ramparts and the “donjon” where the wedding ceremony will take place tomorrow.
Today was somehow totally filled… We had our petit dejeuner at the “hotel” — and then Mike and I took off for Uzes — a wonderful village about an hour from Cairanne. I’ve been there before, and it’s been one of my favorites..
First a few words about Cairanne since several of you have asked about it..
Cairanne dates back to the 8th Century and it’s about halfway between Orange and Vaison-la-Romaine ( a little more on the latter later since I was there today as well). Cairanne is noted for its fine wines… and this is the economic driver of the town (and the region).. There are only about 800 residents of Cairanne.. and Mike’s sister-in-law is an elected member of the town council.. Because of this, she and the Mayor will jointly perform the wedding ceremony (which I hear will be done bilingually since some guests only speak French and others only speak English). The village vieux (old “city”) sits at the top of the hill surrounded by the original ramparts.. there is a church (Christianity plays a big part in the history of the town).. The town’s history is filled with lots of wars, diseases, and other unpleasant tales.. It was taken over by one of the popes in about the 14th century and it was ruled by several different families..
There is a lower village and an upper village… The lower village became the center of the town and the upper village fell into disrepair.. until about 60 years ago… The old church was rebuilt.. and the old apartments built into the ramparts were sold to private owners (Mike’s brother owns one of them.. hence the reason the wedding is here)… About 80 people (including Mike’s brother and wife) live in the upper village and the remainder live in the lower village. There are great views from the upper village.. and you can walk from the lower to the upper, but it’s a bit of a steep climb.
OK.. enough about Cairanne.
Uzes is yet another medieval village that retains its great complex of winding, narrow streets and squares.. but it seems to have become overwrought with tourists and shops which is unfortunate. I remember being here just a few years ago and it was much calmer and less commercial than today. I was even in Uzes once in winter and it was extremely cold.. but far more beautiful because it was pretty deserted and felt more like a real place.. In any case, Uzes’ history is tied to its civility and tolerance and urban life that is documented as far back as the 5th-century. Jews were apparently settled there as early as the 5th century, and they were welcomed in the town, and because of the Bishop’s position on this a complaint was made and he was forced to change his ways forcing all who would not become Christians to leave the city. After he died.. many who had been baptized returned to being Jews and were then expelled from the area. Uzes rose to become a center of textile with many of the well-known Provence cloths being woven here.
Today Uzes — with a population of about 8,000, still has traces of its walls.. and a chapel built in the 1600s to house the remains of the dukes who presided over the area…
We stopped in a little out-of-the-way bar in Uzes and had a simple brandade quiche with salad and melon.. Huge portions.. Mike and I shared.. And then we headed back to Cairanne to pick up the bride to take her to Vaison for a mani/pedi… She and lots of her friends and bridesmaids and spouses and boyfriends and groomsmen and spouses are all staying at a wonderful huge house in the vineyard just out of Cairanne where the wedding dinner will take place tomorrow… So we got to see everyone and to get the behind-the-scenes look at the pre-wedding activities. Everyone was busy dealing with flowers, and seating arrangements, and the wine, and final set up of the dance floor and the tent where the toast will be made.. very busy… None of them really drive and even fewer have cars with them since many of the guests are coming from London (where Em and Hem live and where they both went to university)… so we offered to drive Emma to Vaison.
Mike decided to nap in the town square (oh.. sorry.. to read or do some work… ??) while I kept Emma company. Very big decisions needed to be made.. like what color polish to use on toenails.. My expert advice was truly invaluable.. (actually not).. We then meandered through the town to find Mike who was enjoying an apricot ice cream cone.
Drove back to Cairanne to get ready for tonight’s dinner.. More later.
A few fun things..
The iPhone GPS has been our life-saver. Even though we’ve been here many times, it’s so easy to get lost… But the voice on the iPhone pronounces all French words as if speaking with a Brooklyn phonetic accent.. Example .. she pronounces “Marseilles” as “Mar-Sales” and “Nimes” (Neem) .. as “En-i-mess”.. and “Cairanne” as “Karen” so it’s been fun driving.
The whole wedding would be lost if not for texting and iPhone… Emma has every detail photographed and logged in.. While at the pedicure, I saw a picture of the shoes so that we could figure out the best color polish. And she is constantly dealing with texting taxi drivers to pick up friends and drop them off.. because the friends from London cannot communicate in French to the drivers. It’s a riot to watch it all unfold..
That’s it.. Gotta get dressed for the dinner.. Will describe that tomorrow.
Fern
Le Jour Une et Deux – Provence. August 18-19, 2015
August 19, 2015; 7:30 pm in Cairanne, France (10:30 am in Oakland California). From SFO to Paris to Avignon and on to Cairanne.
Bon Soir..
As most of you know, we headed to France on Monday afternoon (August 17) because Mike’s niece (his brother’s younger daughter) is getting married on Friday evening….
We left Oakland earlier than usual, by BART to SFO — given the 4.0 earthquake early that morning (which woke everyone up I’m sure) — because we were a little worried there might still be lingering delays. Anyway, other than an unusually bumpy flight over the Atlantic and inoperative reading lights at our seats (Business Class no less!) all was good. Arrived slightly earlier than expected in Paris/CDG …. spent about an hour in the lounge, and then headed to the intra terminal train to get to Terminal 2 where we would catch the train (TGV) directly from the Airport to Avignon. How civil! Train (TGV – their Amtrak) literally stops at the airport where there is a full train station from which you can go everywhere…
Three hours to Avignon… great views through vineyards.. Mike fell asleep soon after we got on the train and he was blissfully happy. Good idea to catch some zzzs since the flight was about 11 hours and we both had been working 14 hour days… and weekends, so the departure wasn’t particularly “restful”..
Arrived at the Avignon Train Station — and literally walked out the door to the car rental place, but then encountered the rather typical French countryside “speed” (or lack thereof). Took about 30 minutes to process the car rental (even though it was completely reserved and all the paperwork seemed to already have been done and in the little folder. Anyway, we walked to the car and it was huge! So we went back to remind them that we requested a small car… but alas, no more cars until the next day (today).. so we drove off with the giant Skoda.. black… meandering around Avignon to get to the hotel in the old medieval section of town where streets can barely take a little Fiat..
But we did it. Got to Le Cloitre — an old monastery that trained Jesuit priests — converted to a wonderful hotel some years ago.. I’ve stayed at that hotel about four times, but still got a little lost trying to find the parking lot which requires entry from a different street. Settled in, showered and went off to a wonderful dinner in a little square (more like a triangle) just a few blocks from the hotel. — L’Agape.
I had actually read about the restaurant in the NYTimes about a week ago — in an article about Avignon. The restaurant was great.. In typical fashion, there are about 8 tiny restaurants huddled on this little street and they all share that triangle to be able to have tables outdoors. It had been pretty hot when we arrived in the afternoon.. maybe 85 or 90, but it really cooled down at night and eventually we moved indoors to finish our meal (the typically slow French meal.. that even though it’s a casual place takes two hours.. with lots of waiting (digesting) in between courses. For the foodies.. It was a prix fixe meal with three courses.. there were two choices for each course.. so Mike had one and I had the other, so we actually had everything on the menu.. Started with some kind of pork and mushroom thing which was fantastic, with the pork wrapped in what I think was a paper thin slice of eggplant, but I could be wrong; a great seafood tartar accompanied by thinly sliced fruits, some mustard and a mild wasabi; followed by duck with apricots and veggies and a fresh water fish that was served with peaches and a citron sauce. Desserts were obscenely delicious. Strolled back to the hotel and zonked.
Woke up this morning in Avignon (the wedding is in Cairanne — about 35 miles north and slightly west), and strolled toward Avignon’s version of Les Halles… which is much nicer than the mess that Paris made of their Les Halles. The building covers an entire block and inside are amazing stalls of foods, spices, breads, cakes, etc. Along the way we stopped for a simple French breakfast, except that neither of us drink coffee. Then we strolled around Avignon — agreeing to meet up around 2 pm for a simple lunch before the drive to Cairanne (and to exchange the car for a smaller one — which could happen at 3 pm).. Given that we’ve both been to Avignon many times, we didn’t need to visit any of the monuments or museums or churches.. so we each strolled our own paths. I’ve decided that Avignon is a really wonderful small city.. situated well and hmmmm maybe I could see myself here (but probably I’d get bored fast).. prices for real estate are really cheap compared to the Bay Area.. about $300K Euros for a nice two bedroom place.. Met up for lunch — great curried chicken salad with apricots (clearly they are in season here) — served in a large drinking glass — and surrounded by couscous, more apricots, tomatoes, lentils, and a great green salad with a lot of mache. OK.. finished lunch.. and headed back to the car rental to get our new, supposedly smaller car — which is about 6″ smaller than the huge car. This time it’s a Mercedes!! We tried to explain about the size, but finally just gave up and headed out.
Our only funny adventure was at the toll both on the road to Cairanne. The car has some kind of electronic emergency brake and it somehow went on when we stopped at the automatic pay machine exiting the toll road (with cars behind us).. and we didn’t know how to unlock the brake.. As we drove out of the car rental, Mike had said that he didn’t unlock the emergency brake.. it didn’t seem to be on.. which was true.. But as we were driving he said he couldn’t figure out where the emergency brake was.. I tried to read the manual, but my French is not very good.. I figured out how to say “emergency brake” in French (with the help of the iPhone Translator) and found the pages that explained.. but no picture.. and all I could understand was that there was a “red P” somewhere… anyway, we saw a P on the monitor but it wasn’t red, so we drove on.. When the electronic brake locked.. the P on the dashboard turned red! But we had no idea how to turn it off..
OK.. we figured it out.. Now we know how to turn the red P off, but not how to turn it on so we cannot use the emergency brake … hopefully we won’t park in any precarious locations.
Anyway, we got to Cairanne.. We are staying at a place called Le Vieux Platane..
We’ve stayed in Cairanne many times.. and I think we’ve tried every decent B&B and small inn in the region.. and none are very good… and so we’ve never stayed anywhere twice. So.. Le Vieux Platane — is just outside of Cairanne.. or maybe it is inside the town limits but outside the medieval wall… It’s down a long country road.. a house with about 5 rooms that are the “hotel” and the area that is occupied by the innkeeper family… a swimming pool (which we didn’t know about and don’t have bathing suits)… The couple who own and run the place are fairly young.. with a 20-month old child and a dog named Geisha. The guy is tattooed everywhere and the wife is pregnant. They seem sweet but Mike was a bit put off by all the tattoos, the dreadlocks, the Dali-esque moustache, and what Mike called his Charles Manson gauntness… I figure it goes with the age.
We settled in to our room which is heavily decorated in red and black.. and has lots of “things” everywhere. And then we headed out for dinner.. with Mike’s family.. the bride, her sister, her parents (Mike’s brother and sister-in-law).. to Coteaux et Fourchettes.. just down the road.. Dinner was quite wonderful.. starting with the amuse buche.. a tomato foam on top of a very fine pate; followed by a ceviche salad; followed by either a wonderful trout or pigeon.. (Mike had one and I had the other and we split so we had both); followed by what the French call tiramisu.. but it’s really mostly cream with a small amount of chocolate cake with sorbet on top…
Drove back to our little place.. and now I’m calling it a day.
Fern
Last Day in Sydney. July 22, 2015
Well Mates…
It was a “tickety-boo” day! (which I gather means “fine” or “just great”)… I love that term.. tickety-boo… You just might start hearing me say that..
Anyway, today was the last day of the conference and I was a busy girl…
The morning talks were quite good — first by Kwong Lee Dow (former Chancellor at University of Melbourne) and then Geoff Scott of University of Western Sydney who is currently what they call a National Senior Teaching Fellow… looking into what higher education should do to shape what he refers to as a “work-ready plus” agenda.. Geoff was a very powerful speaker.. emphasizing the difference between capability and competence. and addressing his findings from interviews with more than 1800 education leaders from around the world.. His interests deal with having universities educate not only workers but political leaders and the people who will create the new sources of income and solutions to the key social, cultural, economic, and environmental challenges of the future.
Following “tea” (which they serve in between everything), it was time for my “roundtable” about my concepts for The Action Lab at UWT… About 60 people crammed into a fairly small room to hear about this idea. I presented for about 25 minutes and then ran a discussion with two activities that looked at the strengths and risks of this concept from the mindset of university and also community.. It was a good discussion.. And it was very well received, with several folks suggesting I return to help their universities think this through for them. Interesting, since I’m not really sure how much traction this concept has at UWT.
Then there was a panel of about 10 university folks, community, students, etc. who each were given 5 minutes to tell the story of one of their engagement examples. Then lunch… which they do pretty well. This was followed by another set of roundtables.. I went to one given by an art faculty member who has done some very interesting projects in the public arena.. mostly temporary ventures with students that have engaged locals .. She was very high spirited, funny, and engaging.. Brought me back to my roots as an artist thinking about ways to engage viewers and turn them into participants.
Then afternoon tea..
And the final wrap-up session.. panel of 5 (with me being one of those 5) to do a debrief on the three days.. a bit of self-congratulatory comments, but also some food for thought. I brought the perspective from across the ocean!
Bid my farewell to my new friends… came back to the hotel to pack.. and just got back from dinner at a place near The Rocks (The Rocks is a historic section of the city where the original buildings were made mostly of local sandstone. Apparently as early as the late 18th century, the area was known as being a slum.. frequented by sailors and women of the night! It was also an area known to house prisoners and their families and their descendants.. Then in the 19th century the area was the home of a local gang called Rocks Push…. By the 20th century, the old buildings of the region fell into decay.. and then the bubonic plague broke out.. and the government set out to demolish the buildings and rebuild them.. All of the buildings and wharves (The Rocks is right on the water) were inspected and many were actually demolished. More would have been demolished but the plans came to a dead stop with the outbreak of WWI… Later many buildings were demolished to build the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.. and plans started again to demolish the remaining buildings.. but then WWII broke out and that stopped the development plans… Finally, in the 1960s the powers that be stopped and looked at the plans… .and it was decided that there should be a redevelopment plan… and create high density housing.. But then local residents organized to oppose those plans because they felt that rents would increase and the low income residents would be forced out.. They requested a “green ban”…a strike for environmental purposes… Eventually, a “people’s plan” was created but then there were protests about using non-union labor for construction (actually prisoners).. and demonstrations erupted.. And the area was ultimately transformed into a commercial area..
So today, the Rocks is pretty gentrified.. lots of boutiques, the Museum of Contemporary Art, restaurants… etc… but apparently still a lot of urban poverty and there is a government move to sell off public housing units to private owners in an effort to “improve” the area…
Anyway, I went to the Rocks and ate at a place called Sailors Thai which has a big communal table on the street level (no view)… and below is a very fancy Thai restaurant with great views since the building is on a slope and goes to the waterfront. Food good..
Now.. I’m closing off.. finishing packing and headed to bed.. Tomorrow (for me Thursday) morning, I head to the airport.. I leave on a noon flight (Thursday) and arrive at SFO at 8 am.. I like this whole idea of gaining more time..
I’ll be at the office in the afternoon (since it will be my second Thursday).. and tomorrow night I’m headed to the opening of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
Take care.. Thanks for reading.
Fern
Next to last day — Day 5 — no kangaroos! July 21, 2015
Hi All —
Much less to report today as it was a full conference day. I presented my “research” paper and it seemed to be received well. Following my presentation, I was approached by a Kenyan conference go-er to do a webinar for Kenyans (?) and two people from different Australian universities seemed interested in hosting me to come and do a more in-depth presentation and help them think through some engagement issues, and the French Canadian (public health post-doc in Quebec City) queried about how we could work together. Several people wanted to know what my firm was doing with Tacoma communities (?) and why I don’t just move my office to Tacoma.
Anyway, it’s an interesting group and it appears that every one of the 40 universities in Australia (Yup, that’s it.. they have just 40 universities across the entire country. I believe we have 5,000 colleges and universities in the US.) has some mechanism within their university (generally a vice chancellor or a deputy vice chancellor) who oversees and promotes “engagement”.. That said, it’s a lot of “service learning” and I don’t think it’s a fully integrated activity. The conference participants are varied with about 50% being faculty academics and about 50% being either administrators or what they call “Professional Staff and Managers”… Regardless, it seems to be a big topic over here and they are all trying to figure out how to do it well.
While most of the participants are Aussies… there are a few from the US (Tufts, Depaul, etc.) and a few Canadians, some New Zealanders, some Kenyans.. and perhaps others that I have not yet met..
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I do my Roundtable presentation and discussion and I’m hoping that will be lively.. we shall see. And also tomorrow at the very end of the conference, I’m on the final wrap up panel… which is to engage the entire participant group. Then I pack, have dinner and leave the next morning (Thursday for me… but really Wednesday afternoon for all of you)..
So, let’s see.. what have I not told you..
- The Australians seem to shorten lots of words and terms. Today people were talking about “pracks”… took a while for me to decipher but they mean “practicums” or practice (like practice teaching/student teaching).
- Last night I had a late dinner at Garfish, which is very close to the hotel… which is how I chose it. It was surprisingly good.. I had some oysters which were sitting in Japanese ponzu sauce with seaweed.. and some were sitting in soy and ginger.. I also had wonderful roasted scallops that came with morcilla crumbs and apple puree and mushrooms; I sat outside which was warmer than inside (no heat in Sydney) because of the heaters outside.. The outside area had a canopy, but about halfway into the meal, it started to pour.. I had to move my table about three times.. but all good.. and then I decided to take a taxi back to avoid walking in the rain
- The conference is in a little area called Kiribilli and it’s taking place at a somewhat posh Kiribilli Club.. Great food and fairly good conference arrangements.. and nice not to be in a typical university setting or conference center setting.
- I haven’t gotten to (and it is unlikely that I will get to — given that tomorrow is packed and I have double responsibilities at the conference –) the zoo.. So I haven’t seen any kangaroos!
Oh — the Australians (or at least those at this conference) are very careful to open their presentations with an “acknowledgement” which they quickly explain is different from a “welcome”.. This acknowledges and recognizes the unique position of Aboriginal people in Australian culture and history and shows respect. They make note of the particular groups of aboriginal people in that particular area of the land where the conference is taking place.. There is also a “welcome to country”… that is what they call it and it is done by an elder or someone with Aboriginal roots. Incorporating welcoming and acknowledgement as protocols into meetings and events is supposed to recognize Aborigines and Torres Strait Island people as the First Australians.. and it is intended to promote awareness of the past and a connection to the place… But like all things, this is somewhat controversial I hear — I’m guessing because this does not solve the practical problems of indigenous peoples… and doesn’t deal with the disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.. and the fact that there is a connection between being dispossessed and disadvantaged..
One of the presentations involving the School of Education at one of the universities addressed some of the intense discrimination toward Indigenous peoples here.. Pretty staggering.
Just returned from the Conference dinner. Quite nice, really good food for these kind of events.. Held at the Kiribilli Club, with great views of the harbor. Have become very conversational with a faculty member at University of Christchurch in New Zealand.. Totally random conversation — and turns out she did her PhD in Oulu Finland! So you know how near and dear Finland is to me and how many times I’ve been there… and here in Australia to meet someone from NZ who went to school in Finland.. and not just Finland but Oulu.. which is pretty far north… And we had a long conversation about travel and discovered that we both love Shanghai.. which is sort of funny since she comes from such an unpopulated city and country.. .and is able to really love Shanghai which I refer to as “NYC on steroids!”
I learned at the dinner table, that Australian universities have all but done away with liberal arts majors… nearly everyone is in a program that leads to a career of some sort.. Interesting. And tuition (though a lot less than US) is based on your major.. So law or medicine costs more than education… or social work. And while NZ’s government which they describe as neo-liberal and like the US ? has socialized medicine which is a throwback to the days when they had a more socialist government.. Australians pay for their medical care in a similar way to the US, but the cost is staggeringly less than what we pay for private insurance. No one knows too much about air bnbs– but they say they are coming quickly to Australia and NZ.. I also heard a lot about the Catholic universities and schools which apparently get a lot of government funding due to the power they hold… but it’s resented. And the “engagement” of the Catholic universities is heavily focused on bringing services to East Timor and to African countries.
At the dinner, they awarded the White Ribbon organization (focuses on domestic violence against women) with a check. Apparently the organization (Engage Australia) donates the funds they would have provided to a keynote speaker to a nonprofit each year.. Very nice..
Walked back to the hotel through this little alley and path.. and I’m back in my room and ready to crash.. I think it is about 5 am your time on Tuesday.. you haven’t even started your Tuesday yet.. about 10 pm my time on Tuesday.. I’ve already lived through Tuesday; totally amazing.
Best — See you in less than 48 hours
Fern
July 20, 2015. Sydney, Australia
Hi Mates –
It’s now end of day on Monday (first day of conference is over); I speak tomorrow and again on Wednesday.. and then I’m headed back to the states.
For the foodies — last night’s dinner at Chiswick was quite wonderful; started with a “basil honey martini”… vodka with honey and basil and unsweetened apple juice — quite yummy and didn’t quite realize how strong it was until I was done with it. First, Chiswick is located inside a house in a very upscale “tony” neighborhood called Woollahara.. which means meeting place, but I was told today that the Sydneysiders (as they are called) say it translates to “can’t afford to live there!!” .. anyway, the setting is wonderful set back from the street with large frontage and a big dining room that is mostly glass. I imagine that in the summer it’s great to dine here both in their outside area and when the light streams into the dining room. But it’s winter now, so it was dark outside. Nonetheless you get the sense of the outdoors .. It’s a bustling place; totally packed on a Sunday night with upscale Sydneysiders. Definitely not a tourist destination as it’s too deep into a residential neighborhood.
So, following my martini I had two appetizers which I turned into a meal — the pumpkin arancinis with gremolata which were really good and filling, followed by a really wonderful steak tartare with gaufrette potatoes (homemade chips) and horseradish.. I was a really happy camper.
I took a taxi back since it’s complicated to get to Woollahara by train and requires a lot of walking at night… and as usual I’m totally fascinated with taxi drivers (must be my NY upbringing)… If I had the time I’d do a book interviewing taxi drivers around the world in big cities.. They are a totally unstudied underclass (and as you might expect, I’m totally anti-Uber — but that’s another story — and Uber isn’t here in Sydney .. at least not yet.. so I don’t have to keep explaining why I don’t use Uber like I have to do in the Bay Area)… So this taxi driver was Czech — from Cseky Krumlov– and given that I’ve been to the Czech Republic many times, we engaged in a pretty interesting conversation. He left in 1962 and has never really been back, although his son (30) recently moved to Prague. Turns out that he is Jewish and fled to Israel and lived there for many years before coming to Sydney. He had some interesting stories and perspectives. Earlier yesterday I had a taxi driver from Jordan who was trained as an engineer, but in French, and said that it was too difficult for him to pass the exams in English here in Australia. I don’t think I’ve had a single taxi driver yet who was Australian by birth..
Anyway, the conference started at about 11. The first pre-conference session was weak in my estimation, but I think the goal was to get everyone up to speed on the topic, to do some networking, etc. After lunch there was a welcome by an aborigine and then the keynote was given by a professor form Merrimack college in Massachusetts. He was quite good and will speak again in the morning. Seems like he and his university are doing some interesting things.. that I agree with and many of the same things I will raise in my talk(s) tomorrow and Wednesday. Following the afternoon session, there was a reception. I wound up talking to an interesting woman who is on the faculty at University of Woollongong (?) who filled me in a bit on Australian politics, university issues, role of the Catholic Church (which is growing in importance and holds a lot of power — such that the parochial schools now get a lot of funding from the state for their schools — somewhat overshadowing public fund for public schools; the prime minister (who everyone seems to hate and who is quite conservative); the racist history of Australia; changing neighborhoods and class issues in Sydney; and more… I also had an interesting conversation with a woman who is doing a lot of interesting public health work in rural areas with “first peoples;” — turns out she is a nun and we had a good conversation about her dying breed and how her center at the university is funded.
Walked back to the hotel through some short cut that goes through alleys and hidden stairs that I discovered this morning when I walked to the conference location (Kiribilli Club)..
Not much more to report; I’m headed to dinner to a place nearby called Garfish. Not sure how good it will be, but I had hors d’hoerves at the reception and I’m not that hungry.. but not full enough to miss dinner.
Will report on Garfish tomorrow. I still need to review my talk for tomorrow.. which is still a bit rough. Think I’ll do that in the morning (nothing like waiting until the bitter end to feel the pressure and rev it up!).. By the way, I’m keeping a list of interesting phrases that these people here who speak English (Aussie style) say… Today, my favorite was “being in someone else’s moccasins”.. and be sure to take your “brolly” for the rain (umbrella).
Best —
Fern
PS — For those who asked something about attire at the Sydney Opera House… People going to the chamber music/symphony performance were pretty casual.. but those going into the opera were totally dolled up.. long gowns and the whole bit. Glad I chose the chamber music venue.
Day Three? July 19 2015
It’s sort of Day Three…
G’Day Mates!
Well finally a clear day, bright blue skies; chilly, but fine.
But despite the good weather, I was pretty disciplined and stayed in the room following breakfast to finish talks and try to cut them down so that I don’t go overtime.. Eventually left at about 1 pm. Sydney is truly a beautiful city with water everywhere — and it’s really nice when it’s not 40 degrees and raining.
There are demonstrations occurring all over Australia. A group called “Reclaim Australia” which seems like a combination Tea Party and Skinhead group has been demonstrating to keep Australia as it’s been — for “Australians”. The protests are heavily anti-Muslim. Another group formed that is promoting diversity and calling for anti-racism. I was quite tempted to go to the demonstration to walk with the anti-racist counter group which was intending to disrupt the Reclaim demonstration.. but it started at 10 am and I was committed to work on my paper. So, I’m only following it on TV.. Several arrests and some train routes were re-routed. Once I actually set out and was on the train I could see lines of police at several train stations. The hatred seemed quite strong and there is a candidate (female) running for Parliament who has been speaking at these rallies. She has formed a “Fed Up” tour of the country.. Some of the Reclaim Australia group were apparently wearing ancient Greek army costumes. The counter protest group waved banners that said “Stand With Multiculturalism Against Racism” and “No Racism, no Islamophobia.” The Reclaim group is saying they are against the Islamization of Australia.
So, I headed to the train.. becoming quite a pro at the system which seems efficient, clean, but not cheap. Took the train to St James station which the train agent said was closest to the Botanical Gardens, where I planned to stroll and have lunch… when I emerged from the station, I set my iPhone GPS.. and started my walk. Several people have stopped me in these past two days asking me for directions, so I suppose I look like I know where I am going. It’s strange since so much of my travels are in countries which do not speak English.. it’s kind of cool to be able to fit in so easily. Anyway, as I walked and walked.. I passed several other train stations and couldn’t figure out why the station guy didn’t tell me to get off at those stations.. I figured by now that the GPS was not getting me to the right place.. I tried asking people, but no one seemed to know how to get anywhere. So I continued my walk — about 4 miles.. And lo and behold, the GPS took me to the Chinese Garden.. not the Botanical Gardens. I checked out the Chinese Garden and then grabbed a taxi – determined to have my nice lunch at the Botanical gardens. Lunch ended at 3 I knew and it was now about 2:15. I got there at 2:30 with the taxi.. and headed through the gardens to the restaurant.. only to be confronted with a sign that they were having a private event.. I dashed to the café as by now I was pretty starved. They were out of almost everything except some kind of roast beef sandwich.. which I ordered. When it arrived it was like eating very thinly sliced leather. Needless to say the only good news was that it wasn’t very expensive. Didn’t eat it.
Oh — the botanical gardens are famous for something called a flying fox.. but it’s really a bat and it’s native to Australia. There are also red flying foxes and black flying foxes.. I didn’t see any, and I’m glad.. I looked them up on the Internet and they look pretty creepy…
Strolled the gardens and then headed to Chinatown (which was back where the Chinese Garden was)… pretty much like other Chinatowns.. and I walked through Paddy’s Markets.. sort of a giant flea market with about a thousand little stalls — all selling cheap imported clothes and giftware and every imaginable item you might never need.. There is also a small section for fresh fruit, vegetables and seafood. I could have bought a green wig, post cards, sunglasses, watches, rip-off jeans and watches, trinkets, masks, costumes, or a fancy dress. I passed on all of it.
From there I walked about two miles down a few major streets back into the central area and eventually headed back to the hotel… where I am sitting and writing this note. Not that easy to get back by train (which I did) since several stations were closed due to the demonstrations — had to keep changing trains .. but made it. I decided that after all of this, I’m treating myself to a nice dinner at a place called Chiswick… and taking a taxi.
Will report on my dinner in tomorrow’s note.
I’m off now..
Cheers –
Fern
Day Two? in Sydney. July 18, 2015
Hi Mates (They actually say that!… as well as things like “no worries”)
It’s Saturday night and I just returned from the Sydney Opera House where I heard Chinese superstar Yuja Wang plays Brahms’s Piano Concerto No.2 in her Australian debut! The full concert included the Australian Symphony’s chamber group and Dvorak’s 8th Symphony. I think every person of Asian descent who lives anywhere near Sydney was in the audience — young and old! Anyway, she deserves to be called a superstar, and makes it all seem effortless. She’s also quite beautiful and “glided” on stage in a backless white sequined gown that showed off her great figure and had a bit of “train” (I think that’s what you call it when the dress sweeps the floor in the back).
The Opera House is pretty amazing — well beyond its totally iconic position in the harbor and viewed from numerous vantage points. It has 6 distinct performance halls. I was in the concert hall which seats about 3,000. — Turandot was being performed in the one of the other halls.. All told, the Opera House venues seat about 6,000 people. The project, the result of a competition, was 10 years late and fifteen hundred (1,500) times over budget. But so it goes!
I decided to take a ferry to the Opera House.. seemed like a good idea. But the walk to the ferry from the hotel is about 25 minutes and it was about 45 degrees. So I took a taxi to the ferry and then arrived by boat which was fun and gave a great series of views of the Opera House along the way. Once you emerge from the ferry at Circular Quay the walk is only about 4 minutes.. .and then you take an escalator to the lower level which is packed with upscale restaurants (the famed Bennelong Restaurant is on an upper level — I didn’t venture there because the prix fixe menu is $175 without any wine. So I decided to eat at the Opera Bar — food was good and atmosphere good with great water views if you chose an outdoor table! I ate inside since all the outside tables that had heaters were taken.
Anyway, I shared a high table with a couple who live about four hours south of Sydney — both are poets. Imagine the chances of that. We quickly got into some interesting conversations. They seemed to have decided I must be a lefty since they quickly discussed politics; US issues; the terrible conservative government in Australia which they think is copying some of the bad decisions of the US; problems with energy; concerns about California’s drought; etc. It was a lively meal. They were headed to the opera, so we parted at the door. The venue is huge..
OK.. so the rest of my day.
Ventured out right after breakfast (by the way, marmite and vegemite are everywhere) to Paddington Market which only happens on Saturdays. It wasn’t raining although it was cold. Took the train to Central and then decided to take a taxi to the location because it looked like rain was coming soon and figured I’d get there faster by car. (Taxis are not cheap; nothing is cheap here!) Anyway, Paddington Market is interesting.. about 150 stalls outside of a church and school. All of the products sold are made by local artists and crafts people — from bread and chocolates to clothing and housewares. Strolled around and then started to walk back to the train (25 minutes) — stopping by an interesting old reservoir that looks like a Roman aqueduct — converted into an inner-city park and a few other sites (and shops)… walking through the Darlington neighborhood. Oh this neighborhood has very interesting houses with wrought iron porches on first and second floors… a bit New Orleans-esque… in fact a lot New Orleans-esque… and the houses are row houses in groups of about 5 and situated on narrow alley size streets. It’s clear that they went into disrepair at some point and now are being renovated with serious efforts to rehab according to original plans, so they are fantastic.
Eventually stopped at a very sweet little wine bar/café where I had the “whipped botarga pretzel” — sort of a taramasalata made with fish roe — and served with a house made soft pretzel. Topped it off with a nice glass of white wine.. And used the restaurant to charge my phone which was woefully dead. Once that task was accomplished I headed back on foot to the station, but then decided to go see Aurora Place — a tower that includes residential, commercial, and offices — designed by Renzo Piano. About 30 minutes into my walk it started to drizzle and so I hopped into another taxi.. Anyway, it was really raining by the time I got to Aurora Place.. so I just did a quick run around the building..
Then it was back to the hotel to get serious about preparing my talk… I also had some work to do for a project that is currently at a printer in LA… answered some questions to keep the job progressing on time…
And that’s about it… except that Sydney (and I suppose all of Australia) is certainly not diverse in our sense of the term. It’s also a pretty youthful city. Healthcare is excellent and free I’m told. And some taxi driver data from my very large sample of about 6 — immigrants from Lebanon and Iran. The Iranian taxi driver I had escaped about 27 years ago. He’s Bahai and says there’s a sizable (20,000) number of people of the Bahai faith here in Sydney. Many taxi drivers are Muslim and tonight was a Muslim holiday so there weren’t as many taxis on the road as usual (which is why I had to walk about 3/4 mile from the Opera House and then wait about 20 minutes to get a taxi to take me back to the hotel).
OK.. not quite as exciting and interesting as Tibet and Kathmandu and other travels… so toss if too boring.
Tomorrow I’m spending all morning in my room finishing my talk(s).. and if I’m successful then I’m heading to the Botanical Gardens and the zoo! and maybe a ferry to a northern suburb. Doubt I’ll have anywhere near that much time.. so just finishing the talks and getting out for air (and hoping it’s a bit warmer) will be great. My last day before the conference.. and then immediately back to CA.
Best –
Fern
