HONDURAS December 22, 2010: Americans in Honduras– Dia 3
Hola – Dia Tres
Well, I lied last night when I said we had a big drive ahead of us for today — We never checked our basic itinerary until we were headed for bed last night. We were planning to stay two nights in Comayagua! So we extended and set out today to “really” explore this town!
We started at the Museo de Arcologica which is in a wonderful building with great courtyards, and the collection of Lenca artifacts is supposedly one of the best.. But it’s a rather tiny collection with some pretty amateurish recreations (compared to the incredible archaeological museums in Mexico and other parts of the world). We were the only ones there.
Then we decided to stroll well beyond the center to see what typical neighborhoods and life is all about.. And boy did we do that. A few blocks past the Parque Nacional, we literally ran into one of those unbelievably bustling — body to body commercial districts, where the decibel level was like dozens of jackhammers going nonstop at the same time.. of course this was mostly vendors barking and music blaring from every stall. It was great fun. Unfortunately the goods are very low quality and nothing handmade. This area covered about 8 square blocks. In the midst of all the people walking in the streets and the stalls which covered (blocked) the sidewalks pushing shoppers and pedestrians into the streets, cars, taxis, and even buses where trying to make their way. The area wasn’t unlike many others we’ve seen in developing countries, but I think the volume of it all was greater, as was the unexpectedness of it all.
After lunch, we decided to venture further out to see what the outlying areas were like, so we drove about 1/2 mile or maybe a mile beyond the center of Comayagua into barrios and colonias that circle the town. Pretty much all self help, with varying degrees of completion; no real infrastructure; rugged self-made roads; lots of stray dogs; etc.
If we had a four-wheel drive car we would have continued on, but with a little Hyundai we were limited.
Just finished dinner at the place that was closed last night. Located in a house that was the general’s palace beginning in 1790 when Comayagua was the capitol of Honduras.. and then was passed on to other leaders and eventually in 1999 became a restaurant (and unknown to us also a disco and karaoke bar). Walked back to our hotel — cool breezes and clear skies.
For the foodies reading these notes, don’t come to Honduras for the food.. The “tipico” is pretty overcooked beef or chicken (which is much better), plantains, rice, beans, a small slice of a local cheese, and salad (which we can’t eat for fear of real stomach issues) — and tortillas. Many restaurants don’t have liquor licenses and coke is the mainstay here.. sparkling water doesn’t exist.. so agua purificado is our drink of choice, if beer is not available. Not much in the dessert arena, but there are ice cream places — many flavors, but overly sweet. I’ve had chicken twice a day, most days; but alas, we can come back to the Bay Area for great food.
Tomorrow we really leave Comayagua and head north to Tela on the northern coast and then on to Ceiba. I think there is a small ex-pat community there (not certain), so it could be very different than what we’ve experienced thus far.
Take care — Assuming I’ll find a connection, you’ll hear from me tomorrow night. By the way, if you don’t really want to read this stuff, feel free to toss. Not insulted.
Fern
HONDURAS December 21, 2010: Americans in Honduras – Dia 2
Dia Dos – Dia del cumpleanos de Michael (Miguel)
Greetings from Comayagua:
We woke up at Lago de Yojoa this morning… and after desayuno tipico (frijoles), we set out for Comayagua — about 60 miles south of where we had been staying. Driving was “interesting”… seems as if double and solid lines don’t mean much — even on curves and on hills.. Big trucks riding in oncoming lanes pass us rather aggressively… We chose to stay in the “slow” lane and trudge along, although occasionally we fought back and passed as well.. but a bit more cautiously than the Hondurans.
Along the edge of the lake there are dozens and dozens of little “fish shacks” where Lola or Ana or Maria or Delores cook the fish from the lake (each of these little stands is once again named for the woman who runs the place — which is just three or four stools at a counter).. The fish shacks butt up against one another in a line and all of the signs with the name of the place also advertise Coca Cola.
I forgot to mention (how could I possibly have forgotten) yesterday, that the urban areas are totally inundated with American fast food restaurants, which are all much larger than what we have in the states.. So, should we be longing for Wendy’s or Pizza Hut or Dunkin Donuts or even Taco Bell — no problem. As we go deeper into rural areas and away from cities, the proliferation of American culture immediately disappears.
Comayagua is a very sweet (though dusty) town — colonial in format — and recently went through (or is still going through) a renovation that is restoring much of its obvious early charm. We visited the cathedral – supposedly the best in Honduras, and the very pretty national palace.. we walked the town, and then set out to visit the restaurant that I hoped to take Mike to for his birthday tonight — Villa Real. We located it, but as luck would have it — it’s only open Thursdays through Saturdays.. so the birthday dinner is a bit of a pot shot. We’re headed to someplace called La Casita that is a bit out of the center, but recommended by the hotel guard.. Oh forgot to mention that every hotel and restaurant has an armed guard.. and in the plaza where we sat and watched Honduran daily life play out for about an hour — you’ve got the army with sub-machine guns; well-armed police somewhat distracted on their cell phones (taking personal calls I’m certain), and then armed guards for banks, etc. They all look pretty young and are quite friendly. I asked directions several times and they responded immediately, in spite of my rather rudimentary Spanish.
So, we are now back from the “birthday dinner.” La Casita was not exactly what I had expected.. but definitely a local joint. Food was pretty basic — meat, plantains, rice, and beans.. no alcohol. The place was packed with families and young couples. After dinner we went back to the town square Parque Nacional.. and searched for a place to have a drink. Had a beer and strolled back to our hotel – the Casa Grande which has a charming little courtyard; the place was pretty empty..
That’s it for Day Two. Tomorrow we have a really long drive to Tela — we backtrack north to the lake and then head northeast to the northern coast. By the way, for the weather watchers, evenings are totally delightful — probably about 63 and breezy; daytime it’s been in the high 70s so far.
Buenas Noches –
Fern
HONDURAS December 20, 2010: Americans in Honduras – Dia 1
Hola —
We arrived a bit exhausted, following two very intense and travel-packed weeks (which ended about 52 weeks that were pretty busy, in and of themselves). Anyway, our flight (on TACA – The Central American Airline) left SFO a little after midnight (on schedule — although for the life of me I cannot possibly understand why they only have red-eyes to Central America). We had been upgraded to business class, although there wasn’t any food until morning. I think they hope everyone sleeps the whole way. The flight was fine and we arrived on time in Salvador around 8 a.m. this morning (Monday).. and easily changed planes to arrive in San Pedro Sula at about 10 am. Immigration and security was a piece of cake.
Then the fun began.
Without signs for the rental cars.. we sort of meandered for a while, and decided to exchange dollars to Lempiras (19 to the dollar, so we now have very fat wallets)… We saw a bank (no cambios at the airport)… and went to the end of the line. Everyone else was depositing money; we were the only ones trying to exchange dollars. Mike had Travelers Checks (which all the guidebooks advise) and of course this “bank” didn’t take them. I had cash, so I was fine.
Then we started the search for the auto rental… and were directed to a hallway behind some doors, where the image for the day was one of those red circles with the slash through it (Don’t) … telling us that no knives and no guns were allowed in the airport. That made me happy and secure (at least it didn’t have the hand grenade that we saw in Cambodia’s airport.)
The car rental woman was sweet.. she sat behind a desk in a little cubicle that was about the size of a half of a single bed. It took what seemed like an eternity, but finally the paperwork was complete … and then she took off to fetch the car (she’s a little one-woman operation)… We went to get some bottled water and then waited for her to appear with the car. Now we have a little Hyundai.. that looks like it’s been around the world and back again — dented, scratched, trim missing… but I think that’s good, because we’ll just fit in and not look so much like tourists!
Getting out of San Pedro Sula was tricky.. lots of traffic; many accidents; difficult to see signals; kids on horses very close to the road… but once we got out of the “urban zone”, driving was a lot easier and we headed without incident to Lago de Yojoa — a really large lake in the center of the country that supplies a lot of the water to the country. It’s at about 2,000 feet altitude. En route, we were famished and decided to stop at a little roadside “cafe”.. (there are little grocery stores – pulperias – about every half kilometer– sometimes much closer than that.. they are all called Pulperia + a woman’s name… like Pulperia Maria… or Pulperia Ana… Often right next door is a little four seater place to eat with — you guessed it — Ana or Maria doing the cooking. We safely ate chicken and avoided the salad.. we also passed on (but kept looking longingly at) the salsa.. since the Travel Doctor in Oakland said over and again, not to eat salsa on the roadside.. It was day one, so we thought we should be good.
Got to the Lake around 2:00 pm… and settled in.. We’re in a little posada with about 6 rooms. They first offered us the “suite” — not sure if there are any other guests.. which was large enough to house a family of about 8.. they are clearly very proud of the suite, but we opted for the upstairs room so we could have a “view” of the lake.. actually more like the wetlands of the lake.
Eventually we crashed for a 2 hour nap.. and then had dinner.. fish – naturally, and quite good.. but nothing really on the side.. salad again, which we declined.. and then French fries… But the fish was clearly fresh (probably fished a few minutes before dinner – tilapia).. and that’s it for me..
Buenas Noche.. Mas manana.
We may go out on our little “deck” to see if we can view the eclipse.
Fern
By the way, Honduran Spanish is very fast, so I feel like I’m at about the five-year-old child level of conversation.
UK Fall 2010: Worst Travel Day in my Life
First the good stuff…
Maastricht was delightful; even sunny. It’s a totally charming and genuine medieval city… cut with a river and development on both sides… It’s got an interesting history, is an educational center.. and is a totally walkable town with bridges criss crossing…some old, some new…some for cars, some only for bikes and/or pedestrians.. And the town was buzzing.. I was exhausted after lots of walking and decided to eat at the hotel (a rarity for me)… What a surprise… A fantastic restaurant… with each dish not only a work of art but a total gastronomic wonder..
OK.. now for the worst day.. Got up early to walk to the train station in Maastricht which was just about 4 blocks away.. thought I could stop en route to get some tea and something for breakfast.. But nothing was open until 8 since it was Saturday (and I suppose the Dutch sleep in)… so I meandered to the train station.. It was now 8 am.. My train was at 9:04… I checked out the board.. There was a train at 8:04… 4 whole minutes.. so I ran and caught it.. short hop to Liege where I had to change for the Brussels train and then the Eurostar to London..
Arrived in Liege at about 8:35; the ticket I had was for the 10:09 train, but again I looked at the board and there were three trains leaving before 10:09, so I went into an office and they said I should take the earlier train — it would be better for my next transfer. They said to take the 9 am train from Platform 3… That was a piece of cake. Got to the platform.. train arrived (on time as always).. and I boarded, took a seat. It was to be another short run .. Once the train left the station the porter came by to collect tickets, and informed me I was on the wrong train.. destination was ok.. but I was on a “fancier,” faster train.. and needed to pay an additional 19 Euros (about $24) beyond my original ticket which was not cheap… I questioned this, but his English was weak.. and so just ponied up… Then I realized my ticket was for a “local” train; this was a luxurious express train.. headed to Paris (after stopping in Brussels..) So I had a very short (35 minute), rather pricey, luxurious ride.
Got to Brussels to find all sorts of signs with warnings about the Eurostar.. Went into the Euorstar office.. There had been a fire in the tunnel.. Thought about heading to the Brussels airport to get a flight to London.. but tickets were $400 one way (and I already had a paid for ticket on the train)… so I waited it out… Train was about 90 minutes late (I assumed fire was minor).. Once I got on and headed to London, the train stopped for a while before entering the tunnel in Calais.. so all in all we were about 2 hours late getting to London… Fortunately I was in First Class and was fed (a not too shoddy meal).. so I was fine.
But…
Got off the train.. with everyone running to catch connections because of the delays.. and just as I got on the escalator realized I left my trench coat on my seat.. couldn’t go back to the train (security) so they told me to head to the Eurostar Customer Relations office.. The irony is that I didn’t take my trench coat from home.. didn’t think I’d need it in May in London and Paris.. and it was too heavy to carry… so I opted for a rain poncho.. but then it was so cold in Paris I caved in and bought a new French trench coat.. and now there it was .. — my new French trench coat sitting on the train..
After 20 minutes they found the coat and sent it to “Dispatch”.. a half mile walk… So I trudged wheeling my luggage to Dispatch to collect the coat.. But.. suddenly my luggage seemed very very heavy and difficult to pull.. I trudged on for a while.. then finally stopped to see if something was obstructing the wheels…
Aha.. one rubber wheel covering had cracked along the circumference and was making things uneven and tight.. but I just proceeded to pull.. then the half of the wheel covering just fell off.. and it actually moved better.. but a bit shakily as it was no longer balanced..
Got to the Dispatch, picked up my coat and decided to take a taxi.. which was about another half mile on cobblestone streets (not kind to my wheelie)…
Arrived at the hotel (in the East End, close to Lara and to Mike’s niece with whom I’d be having dinner tonight).. And both of them had raved about this new hotel called Town Hall Hotel.. a recently renovated project.. taking an old town hall and turning it into a first class hotel (in a rather seedy neighborhood)…
OK.. got here.. they did a nice renovation job..
My room (which I didn’t accept after about an hour of trying to “settle in”)… was large — obviously very very new — but it was located about a half level below the street.. strange for a hotel room.. sort of like a basement apartment. The room was quite chic.. with very high ceilings (from the original building)… But then it became obvious that to have any natural light, I would have to keep the curtains open and it was like being on stage for anyone walking by… Also in this very modern design.. the wall separating the bath from the bedroom area was glass.. so if you kept the curtains open and used the bathroom, walker-bys really had a show..
So, I decided to change rooms.. Initially they refused, saying they were booked, but when I said I was leaving and not paying they miraculously found a room.. on the ground floor.. a step up from the half level below ground.
OK.. same floor plan.. with same situation, but being on ground floor was a bit better.. Then I settled in before heading to meet everyone for dinner.. and found all the flaws with the room (I wouldn’t be making such a fuss, but this place is being billed as the latest and greatest, and it’s pretty clear they chose chic over anything else)… And lots of details that will be difficult to maintain in a hotel room…
No full length mirror.. Mirror in bathroom which goes wall to wall. starts at about 4 feet up, so all I can see is my neck up… No electricity in the bathroom area near the high mirror, so you can’t really use the hair dryer….
OK.. I’ve vented.. had fun drinks and dinner with Lara, Elliot (boyfriend) and Emma (Mike’s niece) .. and later joined by Emma’s flatmate, a nice guy who’s a graduate student at London School of Economics. Got back to my room at about 1:30 am — closed all the curtains.. and zonked out.
Headed to the Columbia Road flower market now.. and some “dunch” with Emma. Then I’m packing and doing some office-related work; finished grading all the papers and filed course grades for class..
Pray for the ash to go in another direction — Airports in Ireland and Scotland are already closed… So far Heathrow is open.. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Fern
PS — Really ready to get home. Mike is now on his big hike down the Grand Canyon. Spoke with him this morning as he was leaving.
FRANCE Summer 2010: Day 6 – Rozier to Marseilles (and the Milau Viaduct). September 17, 2010
Rozier to Marseilles — Bon Soir – It’s close to midnight here in Marseilles.
Started out in Rozier (me doing some work that I owed to the office; Mike taking a hike —more like a stroll?) along the Rive Tarn with Richard and Elizabeth for about an hour or so. Frankly, I didn’t mind working for a few hours in the very pleasant lobby/bar area of the Grand Hotel de la Muse in Le Rozier — overlooking the river Tarn and with great views of the gorge.
We parted ways with Mike’s brother around 1 pm — They headed back to Cairanne on the “motorway” and we headed to Avignon and on to Marseilles.. (We’ve now been in France for a grand total of 74 hours and by morning, we’ll be gone — It’s really a very short trip. Good thing we’ve been to France many times before, or I’d be very depressed about leaving so quickly.)
Mike and I decided to take a detour to drive over the spectacular Viaduct du Milau — the tallest bridge in the world and only about 5 years old. The approach is pretty amazing (and for us totally inconvenient, as we needed to drive about 20 minutes or maybe more, just to approach the bridge — climbing and climbing. It was great to see the bridge up close, but I have to say that I don’t exactly understand the purpose of this connector.. seems to take you from “nowhere” to “nowhere”.. although the region appears to think it’s a great economic stimulator. Perhaps Obama should take note. (Like the viaduct, WPA projects were often gems of construction.)
Anyway, we headed from the bridge to Avignon (somehow deciding to bypass Milau which is the big leather center of France — where one can buy amazing gloves and other good stuff… We thought about stopping off, but had a sense prices were probably pretty high and I have a habit of losing gloves.) We arrived in Avignon at about 3 pm (with Mike and I sharing the driving, as I think we are both in a no man’s land time zone and lacking any body clock).
The center of Avignon, within and around the medieval city walls, was abuzz with activity… weddings (several for Roma couples) — apparently wedding photos get taken in the square — dancing, music, skateboarders, break dancers, jugglers, tourists, diners, and several stages set up for performances which seemed to go on every hour on the hour. We got some crepes on the square and strolled for a few hours and then headed to Marseille.
Once in Marseilles, we dashed off to the famous Boulabaisse restaurant (L’Epuisette).. It was difficult to find — It’s literally sitting on top of the sea.. Getting there is totally off the grid.. Got lost a few times, but we made it! The final road just dead ends at the Mediterranean and is just about wide enough for a mini-cooper. We had the famous boulliabaisse which was good, but pricey.. and a bit boring.
They do it very different from any boulliabaisse I’ve had in the past.
First you get the broth.. with croutons and an assortment of condiments (an aioli, a mustard, some shredded cheese)… You eat the broth with the garnished croutons… And then they bring a huge plate of about 6 different fish which they then pour more broth on… And off you go. We were the only Americans in the place, indeed the only non-French. So it was fish, fish, and more fish.
Leaving the restaurant was an experience — Mike had to find a way to turn the car around.. He thought he had a plan, which sort of worked. He found an area where with only about 15 times of going back and forth and turning mere inches (and avoiding falling into the Mediterranean in the dark — actually he found a place to turn that was between two building so he only had to worry about falling into the sea after the turning part… ) he would be facing the other direction. One little problem – there was a little 12″ concrete “wall” and on the final turn as he straightened the car out we heard that awful sound of car hitting something hard and solid.
Yup… he scraped the little wall. Car damage unknown since it was too dark to see but when we got back to the hotel we could see it a bit and feel the dent(s). Mmmmm… a big bang ending to 3 days in France.
So, I’m signing off now — we leave in the morning for London to see Mike’s niece, Emma. Should be fun. She’s 25.
Maybe a note from London if there’s time. We’re staying in East London– quite a ways from the London most see. The area is supposedly “up and coming” but I’ve stayed there several times before and it won’t be “up” for about another decade! But it’s a “real” neighborhood with a lot of diversity, good small ethnic restaurants, and close to Mike’s niece.
Actually, we’re also staying here because when I was in London in May I stayed at a new hotel that came highly recommended (a renovated town hall converted into a hotel) and the service was so terrible (and design decisions rather poor) that I complained in a letter upon my return. The management apologized and offered me two free nights to show that the hotel could do a better job. Frankly, I’m not expecting much but it’s free and we were only staying for two nights, so it seemed like a deal (especially given London prices which make New York and San Francisco look like real steals).
Ciao.
Fern
FRANCE Summer 2010: Days 4 and 5: Albi to Le Rozier
Bon Soir –
Woke up in Albi and after breakfast set out to explore the town — which is totally charming.. visited the Toulousse Lautrec Museum which is in a spectacular building– the old Palais de la Berbie, an erstwhile residence of archbishops — totally renovated into wonderful gallery spaces with soaring heights… then visited the Cathedral and walked around the town — many walking streets, lots of shops (but I was under control).. stopped for some presse; and then we all headed out to drive to Rozier, our next stop.
The drive to Rozier was gorgeous – first through farm lands and then a series of hair pin turns as we wound our way up to higher elevations, passing hamlets and medieval villages and winding our way across and over the Tarn River a few times. About 20 minutes before reaching Rozier, we came upon the famous Norman Foster bridge — the tallest in the world (frighteningly high — not sure I’d really want to drive on it)– an amazingly beautiful piece of engineering and also beautiful in its elegance and scale. Stopped for a while to marvel.. and then drove on to Rozier which is at the gorges of the river.
We are staying at the Grand Hotel de la Muse right at the gorge. By the time we four assembled it was time for drinks and dinner. The hotel restaurant is a four star deal. Drinks were served with appetizer “shooters” and the meal included baby piglet, squid carpaccio, foie gras, and desserts that could easily be sculptures. About three or four (lost count) different wines complemented the meal. We closed the place down — once again the last patrons of the restaurant..
It’s about 10 am now. I’m settled into the lobby sitting area about to work on two projects (Network and Fresno)… while the others take a stroll along the river. It’s damp and chilly, so frankly I’m just fine catching up on work. We’ll leave here in the early afternoon and head back to Marseilles where we catch a flight to London tomorrow.
This part of France is really special; Mike is now contemplating a house exchange for next year’s vacation. It would be novel for us — staying in one place for two weeks! We’ll see. Richard and Elizabeth seem to think that the French (and the Swiss, many of whom have houses in the south of France) would like to swap to get our Phoenix house in the winter ?? We assumed he was thinking of the California house. Mmmmmmm….
Ok.. signing off — need to get to work.
Fern
FRANCE Summer 2010: Days 1, 2, and 3
Hi all –
Here I sit in Albi France in the little St. Antoine Hotel off a teeny teeny street in this charming French Languedoc town… Who would ever know what it took to get here.. mmmmm…. shall we say the worst 48 hours of travel in history?.. and all for just 5 days of visiting.
We left San Francisco at 6am (taxi to SFO).. and boarded our flight to Dulles en route to Marseilles via London. The first flight was mostly uneventful, save for the fact that it was 100% booked.. and there were 96 people wait listed for upgrades into first class. I was number 3 and it looked good until about 8 minutes before takeoff when one first class paid passenger arrived, booting me back into coach.
Arrived in London with about two hours three hours until the flight to Marseilles (via Frankfurt). There was an earlier flight but since we had a “non-flexible” fare with Lufthansa, we could not make the change.. So we sat in the Red Carpet Club until departure time.. but the flight got delayed and delayed and delayed.. for about 4 hours, which meant we would miss the connecting flight to Marseilles (there aren’t any direct flights to Marseilles, except from Paris).. So we arrived in Frankfurt and then had to wait 4 hours for the next flight to Marseilles. By then, we were way too tired (and it was midnight) to drive to Cairanne to stay at Mike’s brother’s house. The roads are windy and small and not much signage so we opted to stay in Marseilles and meet up with them this morning (Thursday).. By now we had been traveling for more than 40 hours and had not really gotten anywhere.
So, next crisis.. all the hotels in Marseilles were booked, because of all the flight delays. So we headed toward Nimes where we had decided we’d meet up with Mike’s brother and sister in law instead of going to Cairanne (since the plan had always been to spend a night in Cairanne (where we’ve been several times before) and then take a two day trip together to Rozier and Albi a bit west of them and to the south.. .. We had to drive all the way to Arles to find a hotel room (at 1 am)..
We thought we’d head to the Arles Palace Hotel which was just a bit off the main road, rather than venture into town at 1 am… We arrived at the Palace but could not see any lights on in the hotel and it looked rather seedy. So we noticed that there was a sign for the ETAP hotel down the road and it said it had four stars.. Sounded good. By the time we got to the next sign the hotel had only three stars, and at the door to the hotel it was down to two stars.. Oh Well..
Checked in by 1:30 am and fell asleep.
Woke up too late for hotel breakfast, so we went into the town to check it out. Very cute.. big claim to fame is that Van Gogh lived there for a few years and was very prolific during that period. But we were really too late for breakfast in the shops also (10:15am) so we just got some croissants and stopped for liquid refreshments.. and then headed to Nimes where we would meet up with Richard and Elizabeth… at a cafe across from the Colisseum in Nimes.
Had to rely a lot on GPS on the iPhone to find our way, and despite a lot of construction and closed streets, we got to the destination… But “the cafe across from the Colliseum??” there are about 100 cafes surrounding the place. Eventually found them and ordered lunch.. A few minutes went by and lo and behold a childhood friend of Mike’s appeared at our table.. He was in Germany visiting his college son who is studying abroad.. He had contacted Richard about visiting, heard we were in town and decided to surprise Mike at “the cafe across from the Colliseum…” It was indeed a surprise.
Got on our way at about 3pm to drive to Albi (home of Toulousse Lautrec)..
We did fine until getting to the center of Albi.. We are staying in a small hotel, and there was no easy way to find it.. Despite GPS, maps, and verbal directions. But find it, we did… and we found Richard and Elizabeth too.. We are traveling in two cars because after Roziers, we head back to Marseilles to get to London for two days.. and they head to Cairanne and it’s easier to go the most direct route.
Settled in at the Saint Antoine Hotel.. and then headed to the town square for a wonderful, typically French meal.. with duck as the centerpiece, as it is a special dish here in this region… and of course lots of wine.
Back to the hotel now.. and headed to bed.. Tomorrow we’ll explore Albi and then drive to Roziers.
Au Revoir –
Fern
Friday, 14 Mai, 2010
Bonjours/ Guten Tag/ Goedendag –
Well, this will be short and encompass my four days in Paris and today in Maastricht, Netherlands; I’m off to London tomorrow and back at the office on Monday.. Short, intense, not exotic.
Arrived in Paris on Monday (about 4.5 hours late due to the volcanic ash which is apparently still migrating around the continent) having been up about 26 hours; worked on project on the plane and didn’t really sleep… Got to my hotel in the 7th Arrondisement at about 10 am but couldn’t get into my room until 2 pm, so I decided to walk to Lara’s apartment (god-daughter) which was just a few blocks away.. to shower and change..
Lara’s apartment is about 280 sq ft, is on the top floor (5th floor dormers) of a spectacular building that borders on a huge park that surrounds the Eiffel Tower. It’s an amazing location. Apparently the building is owned by a family with two married children who each have an apartment on the fourth floor (I am imagining that their apartments are about 2,800 sq ft or maybe more.. Then the family (parents) have the entire third floor — probably about 5,600 sq ft.. maybe more.. with ceilings of about 20′; a family friend has the entire second floor; a “concierge” has an apartment on part of the first floor; there’s a big lobby.. and on Lara’s floor there are a series of very small apartments that are used by all the au peres for the children … So Lara is really the only “outsider”.. Her unit has been renovated so it’s rather sweet.
Anyway, we walked the neighborhood — it was raining and freezing cold. In all the five days I was there, it never got about 50 degrees and it rained daily.. at some times really pouring.. and windy. So weather certainly wasn’t helpful.
At about 2:30 I checked into the hotel, and then Lara and I took off to stroll (in the rain) some neighborhoods; Lara had a doctor’s appointment so I tagged along and strolled Saint Germaine while she was seeing the doctor (who it turns out is “doctor to the stars” with lots of very very famous patients — all hush hush).. we then walked back to the 7th through the Marais, over to some exhibit Lara had heard about — in a building purchased by a Harvard science professor who is interested in science and art (hope his science is better than the art he thinks is tied to science)… He also has a little shop next door where he’s been selling products that somehow come out of the collaboration of art and science; the best was some kind of asthma like inhaler that gave you a dose of chocolate, without the calories.. you actually breathe it in… I was going to get a bunch as gifts but the shop was closed by the time we finished seeing the exhibit (mostly because the very cute “guide” at the museum felt the need to really explain the gallery to Lara.. At about 9:30 had dinner in a small neighborhood restaurant near her apartment.. it was described as a little neighborhood jaunt.. I’d give it about 4+ stars (Les Anges), and certainly not describe it that way. I eventually hit the sack at about 1 a.m.
On Tuesday, I woke up early (actually didn’t sleep too much as I was burning the candle at both ends, trying to work on office stuff during California’s day time hours and then living a life in Paris during the European day hours)… and headed for the cafe next door to the hotel and then walked to the Musee Quai Branly where I eventually caught up with Lara who was trying to prepare for a meeting with her adviser.. the Branly is a really interesting museum with a strange mix between the exterior and interior.. I think it’s a really good building and the exhibits inside are quite spectacular — anthropology… Frankly, it was good to just be somewhere that was warm and dry. From the Branly — and in the rain — we hiked around town some more, eventually hopping a taxi when the rain got to be too much; had tea at Place de Voges and then walked to dinner which was at Temps au Temps — one of those totally fantastic tiny French restaurants that have gone beyond the classics to be innovative and super special. Mike and I ate there soon after it opened about two years ago and it hasn’t changed.. about 8 table for two.. daily changing menu on the blackboard on the wall; tiny staff.. and everything perfect. I think we finished dinner at about midnight and took the metro back to the hotel and her apartment.
On Wednesday, I worked most of the morning.. and then headed out, eventually catching up with Lara mid afternoon at the Centre Pompidou which has a big show called Dreamland — about fantasy type developments including Coney Island (which the translation says is “outside of NY”), and Disneyland, and Dubai, and Las Vegas among others… So we got to Pompidou and the ticket guy (who also seemed to want to strike up an intense conversation with Lara) said the we only had about 30 minutes before closing and that the show was really large and it wouldn’t be worthwhile to buy tickets.. Lara proceeded to explain that the person she was with (me) hates museums and thinks they are very elitist so we’d probably get through in the 30 minutes. He seemed to like this conversation and proceeded to tell us how Centre Pompidou is doing a renovation to add yet another restaurant and to expand the store, while cutting back on shows and gallery space.. so he thinks it’s becoming a shopping center… we all chatted and laughed (good think no one else was on line to get a ticket).. so we agreed and decided to get a glass of wine and then head.. where else.. but to eat dinner! We went to Restaurant 404 (the famous cous cous restaurant). Food was great — best Moroccan food this side of Fes and Marrakesh..
On Thursday, my last day in Paris, I went to the cheese shop, and the boulangerie, and the market, and brought breakfast to Lara’s place so that we could settle in to discuss her dissertation (my main reason for going to Paris), and a schedule to ensure completion. Turns out it was “Ascension Day” so a lot of shops were closed, but I managed to find the goodies. After about four or five hours we headed out again, eventually winding up back at the Pompidou by about 3:00.. Waited on line for tickets (this time the place was packed).. and you guessed it.. when our turn came to go to the ticket window.. there amid the 7 or 8 ticket windows was our friend (or Lara’s friend)… and he laughed.. and gave us free tickets. Eventually we meandered to dinner — a fairly new place that has been written up all over Paris because the young chef is not French and he’s emerged as a big star chef very quickly – complete with Michelin star… It’s not possible to get a reservation, but they said on the phone to come around 9:30 and wait at the bar.. which we did.. and at about 10:15 we got in.. WOW! It was one of the best meals I’ve had.. It’s a pris fix.. about 5 courses (small) and it’s a different meal every night. The place is small, maybe 15 tables literally on top of one another…
As we stood by the bar nursing some wine, Lara noticed that there was a group of about 8 people.. and she recognized them as a rock band — LCD SoundSystem… Turns out the other night another rock group — Sonic Youth — ate there as well. So, I’ll tell you that these rockers have excellent taste in food. Oh – the restaurant’s name is Chateaubriand. When you eat there you are literally sharing your table with strangers because there is no space between tables. We sat next to and became fast friends with a couple (probably in their fifties) — both journalists in Paris (working with AP).. she does “French life”.. he’s a sports reporter. We talked the entire dinner; good politics; and in fact ended with complementary champagne to celebrate his birthday.. and we closed the place down at about 1 am… after which I headed back to pack to be able to get to the train station by around 9 am to take the train to Maastricht, which is where I am now.
OK.. way too long. Won’t do that again.
Hope all is well. It’s even colder here than it was in Paris. Tomorrow I’m taking Eurostar to London for just about 36 hours and then I’m home.
Best — Fern
MEXICO February 20, 2010: El Ultimo Dia en Mexico
Escribo en el aeropuerto de Mexico — en la sala de espera
20 de Febrero, 2010
Hola —
OK….
Peter (friend who lives in Mexico City) came to the Casita (del Patio Verde) at about 5, and the three of us took a taxi for about an hour and a half.. meandering (mostly on city streets, because the “freeway” was totally bumper to bumper) from the southern part of Mexico City where Coyoacan is, through Condessa and El Centro, and further north. Eventually we started to climb very narrow, winding streets with lots of activity.. commercial, social, etc. going on all around us. We were in Molina and then Nacaulpan, where Peter had lived some years ago (in a rented room). The larger neighborhood is called Benito Juarez and it is outside of the DF (District Federal, which is actually Mexico City, home to about 22 million people). Benito Juarez is in the area that circles the city.. and is home to another 5 or maybe 10 million people. Pretty much, everyone just refers to all of it as Mexico City, but in terms of governance and other social and political infrastructure, it’s its own locale.
The area is built on the hills that surround Mexico City. (If not for the poverty and the construction and the general conditions, it could easily be an Italian hill town — sort of!) Forty years ago it was all trees and farming, and now it is wall to wall housing – most of it built by the residents, initially as small one room houses for families too poor to afford Mexico City but who relied on Mexico City for employment and goods. These self-help houses (begun with limited available materials and using the skills of the family and neighbors) have grown over the years to three- and four-story houses — mostly with adhoc “design,” fantastic decisions about the color of some of the houses, and all the amenities of any other community: sidewalks (albeit with almost no room to walk, because of the outcropping of shops, especially at night when the town comes to life with dozens of taco stands and vendors on every single street), shopping, water lines, sewers, electricity, etc. (which were not in place at the beginning). Bus lines, taxis, and the home grown van systems enable people to come and go freely, and there is an ever increasing ownership of automobiles in the area (creating all sorts of new jobs to repair cars locally, which is a thriving “on-the-street” enterprise).
The neighborhood climbs and climbs the hillside with stairs leading every which way to get to streets that sometimes go nowhere and sometimes open up to a whole other neighborhood.
This has been very interesting for us since we had visited this area when these houses (if you could call them houses at that time) were first being built — in the late 1970s. At that time, there were dirt roads and a few walking paths, no public transit, jerry-rigged electrical systems (well they are sort of still jerry-rigged, but official now), etc. It was clear then that this neighborhood and others on the other side of the city would become established given the huge population growth.. Basically they were squatter settlements, but not any more.
We walked a while (as Peter reconnected with people he knew when he rented a room in the area).. and then settled onto a bench at one of the hundreds of street-side taco stands and had fantastic (and huge) beef tacos with all the trimmings. We all wanted beers, but the stand didn’t sell them.. But no problema .. The guy sent his son (about 5 years old, maybe 6) down the street to get us beers.. Later, when we paid, the kid had to go back to find out the price and then return again to pay the little grocer from whom he had bought the beers. It was a great lesson in local economics, as obviously the taco guy had credit with the beer guy. Anyway, together we consumed 4 huge tacos and 3 beers for the grand total of 70 pesos ($5)!!
We walked around and eventually arrived at the hair salon run by Adrian/other name hard to understand.. (Adrian is male, but lives her life as a woman). The salon was about 250 sq ft including a bathroom which was behind a curtain (no privacy). Adrian has shoulder length blond (bleached) curls. “She” was extremely friendly to us as well as to all the customers and when I explained my work (in Spanish) — saying something about the fact that I was both a professor (which was easy to say and to understand) and that I had a company that worked “con organizaciones que ayudan los communidades pobres y nosotros trabajamos sobre comunicados y problemas social que afectan los colonias…” (or something like that) she said (in Spanish) that she, too, helped people with social problems.” I agreed that hair dressers are generally very involved with personal and social problems impacting their clients.
Cutting hair is a bit different here in Nacaulpan, as there don’t seem to be “licenses.” I did notice that the same comb was used over and over again without any disinfectant .. (Ah, I am so American.. worried about such details.. )
We had beers with Adrian (sorry I don’t know the name she likes to be called) and joked around about the neighborhood and different people who frequent the shop. (Her family built — or started to build — their house 35 years ago when she was 4 years old. She remembers what it was like at the time and said her parents (with whom she lives) have old photos (which Mike is dying to see)… So Mike will be back to visit when he’s in Mexico again in two weeks (sin/without Fern).. While we chatted, Adrian cut hair.. about four young Mexican guys, and then Peter. She was trying out some new styles — very short on the sides and back and very punky on the top. They all seemed pleased. Peter just got a very close crop cut, no punk — he’s the coordinator of the foreign language department at the universidad, so I think he felt short and close was a good solution. Hair cuts and styling cost 20 pesos (about $1.50).. She wanted to do my hair, but I chose to pass. Apparently the guys who were getting their hair cut belong to a particular gang in the neighborhood, but it sounded like a club and a turf definition.. All of them had jobs (limited education, so mostly delivery jobs and construction). One had lived in Florida for a few years and did odd jobs — everything from McDonalds to house painting. He returned to the colonia because work dried up in Florida with the economy. His English was weak but he understood a lot.
It was very difficult to have any kind of conversation (although they were all talking up a storm the entire time) because of the street noise. (You have to understand that the shop edges directly on the street with about 5′ of sidewalk and trucks and buses and cars are all driving by in two directions on the most narrow street you can imagine.. and the vehicles are not exactly Priuses… so add to all of this, honking horns and screeching breaks and radios and passersby talking .. and there is no door to the shop.. just a garage door that opens when she’s there.. so you are literally on the street.. And then inside the shop there is music playing (loudly).. So, given the sound / noise situation and my weak Spanish, I can’t really say I know everything that was discussed… I do know that Adrian lives with her parents (her father does not approve of her lifestyle, but her mother is very supportive); she’s got about six or seven siblings; several live in the US and the others live close by. One works with computers. She’s been doing hair for 15 years and likes it mostly because of the interaction with the customers who are all regulars by now.
I gathered that some of the gang guys were gay, because when I asked Peter why they come to her for their hair, he said that she was good but also she was gay-friendly.
In any case, Adrian hopes we’ll return (perhaps for a new “do” for me) and it would be fun to visit in the daytime and stay into evening in the neighborhood to see the real life of the place..
We left at about 9 (actually when things were just beginning to liven up on the streets.. so we felt un-cool) and walked to the “sitio” where you can get an “official taxi”.. The taxi dropped Peter off in the Centro so he could party.. and we headed back to Coyoacan. Naturally the taxi driver from that great distance did not know his way around Coyoacan, but by now we are pretty good with directions and were able to help navigate to the Casita.
This morning we headed to the Bazaar Sabado at Plaza San Jacinto in San Angel and meandered through the myriad stalls which had the usual broad array of high quality and low quality goods. It was fun; we bought a few trinkets and stuff, and Mike fell in love with an incredibly fantastic line drawing (pen and ink) with unbelievable detail that was about 40″ by 40″.. He’s made arrangements to see it again when he’s back .. and I think it’s going to find a home in our house. It is quite amazing because of the drawing skill, the embedded stories, and the grand scale of the piece in proportion to the line elements. While it’s not cheap,
I’m certain framing it will be twice the price of the piece. What a statement!
We hurried back to Coyoacan to finish packing.. and now we are officially en route to Oakland, via a three hour stop at the Phoenix Airport.
Adios.
Fern
MEXICO February 19, 2010: Los Dias Cinco y Seis en La Ciudad de Mexico
Escribo 19 de Febrero
Hola Amigos —
This will cover both el Jueves y el Viernes.
My classes are going well and now they are over (terminado). I’ve learned a lot about Maria Luisa in the past two days. The conversations have been fluid and difficult .. and slow, but it is more enjoyable than what I did in Guatemala when there was so much concentration on grammar. That said, I think I can make myself understood on some fairly complex social and political issues, but my grammar is quite atrocious, so there must be a happy medium somewhere.
Anyway, Maria es muy religiosa and she believes more in prayer than in science. So she has a lot of trouble understanding how anyone can deal with illness or other infirmities without a strong belief in god. I explained that I trusted science and evidence, and she said that it was important to pray so that god would tell the doctors what to do! She also wanted to discuss Adam and Eve, but I think she was a bit put off when I made some comment about the “powerful apple.” In any case, we have had some very good discussions and I think she became aware of my politics, just as I did of hers. While she says shes has friends – both male and female – who are homosexuals, she is totally opposed to same sex marriage and is actually not all too pleased to know that she has homosexual friends because it appears to her to be “not normal.” We had a very brief conversation about homosexual priests and she believes that this exists in the church (to her dismay.)
Maria is also very curious about the fact that I am Jewish (or at least by the fact that I am neither Protestant nor Catholic).. Lots of questions and difficult to explain that I’m not an overly engaged Jew.
She’s very obsessed with the fact that the great majority (98% according to Maria) of married men are not faithful. When I asked about women she said 60%.
In any case, Maria was patient and curious so the conversation moved along.. albeit slowly because of my low level Spanish abilities.
It poured again yesterday and was very cold (unusual weather for Mexico City), and we had a few more power outages. Today it is beautiful — sunny, blue skies, low pollution, etc.
Following class, I have been (unfortunately) coming directly back to do work, so my extra curricular activities are minimal… Last night Mike and I had dinner with two of the Mexican faculty and it was a good and stimulating conversation. They are both quite enjoyable. Eduardo is the chair of the Architecture Department and Andrea has been on the faculty at UAM for many years. Her husband is a scientist and is now head of a major department at the Gates Foundation in Seattle. She commutes every other weekend to Seattle and stays for about 4 days. He is the head of a special project that is dealing with the eradication of some diseases that are found in Central and South America. It’s a pretty demanding position and he travels around the world quite a bit. She did her graduate work at MIT so she’s very fluent in English. Eduardo is a real character — studied in London so his English is good too. Apparently he translated for Mike when Mike gave his lecture to the university a few weeks ago.
We ate in the San Angel neighborhood at a local fonda and we closed the place down.. lots of drinking.. And we began the meal with a dish of assorted pre-historic specialties (that’s how it was referred to on the menu)… consisting of fried worms (guisillas), ant eggs (escamole – which we had tried a few nights ago) and grasshoppers… They were all delicious.. You put them into a tortilla with some guacamole or salsa.. roll ’em and eat.. ) Believe me, I was a little skeptical, but they were all really really tasty .. I probably would have eliminated the worms because even though they were fried, the shapes remained.. Eating the ant eggs was like having caviar.. and they are mixed with other finely chopped ingredients and herbs. The grasshoppers were like a powder, so they mixed easily with the guacamole…
Oh, forgot to mention that we finally talked with the other guest here at the casita — Andrew Fierberg — a filmmaker from NY (producer) whose actually produced more than 20 films and has won several awards. He did “The Secretary” and a version of Hamlet that had Ethan Hawke in the cast. He’s here to consult on a film (fictional story) that will be released in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence — the story involves a house and the memories of the house over 200 years. It’s written by a well known Mexican novelist who is a friend of Andrew’s.. Anyway, lots of strange interconnections — turns out Andrew’s wife commutes to Cambridge, MA where she is a professor at Harvard at the Carpenter Center and the GSD, so we know many people in common.
Not much else to report, except that the commercials on television are quite hilarious.. Anybody interested in having me bring back “Slim Ice”.. Apparently you rub it on and lose lots of weight and decrease your clothing size by about 2 sizes… I’ll be marketing it in the US next week.
OK.. Back to work for me.. Maybe one last report tomorrow from the airport. We plan to get to the Saturday market in San Angel as soon as it starts at about 10 (a very special mercado we are told, that only takes place on Saturdays) and hope we can see enough of it before we taxi back to the hotel by noon so that we can leave for the airport at 12:30.. it’s a bit tight what with the unbelievable traffic and unpredictability of the taxis.
Tonight we are headed to a very poor community north of the city that began as a self-help barrio about 40 years ago and is now quite established with a strong social and physical infrastructure — complete with bars and shops and other amenities.. Peter, our American (soon to be Mexican) friend is taking us there as he once lived there and has friends there. Our visit will include going to some kind of Mexican transvestite bar.. We’ll let you know how that pans out.
Best to all.
Hasta Luego… probably mas informacion que desean.. Sorry.
Fern
P.S. — OK, I promise to update you on tonight’s escapade.
