Category Archives: a little drama

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Vienna and Prague

The first day of a European trip means jet lag, and this was no exception. We landed around 8:30 and couldn’t check into our apartment until 3:00, so we dropped our bags at Bounce (now that we understand to look for a little hole in the wall) and set out.

Our first stop was the Albertina, an art museum that also houses a branch of Demel, “Home of the finest cakes, chocolates and sweets in the heart of Vienna.” Here we are enjoying a little pastry and coffee in the best Viennese tradition.

Thus fortified, we wandered through the art gallery, currently displaying “From Monet to Picasso.” Among the Impressionists, Expressionists and Cubists was this colorful Picasso,

an idyllic image that on closer inspection reveals a congested composition that reflects the tensions between Picasso and his beloved. Me, I liked the strong lines and constricted patterns. Quilt inspiration?

Since we had the time, we walked to St. Stephen’s Cathedral with its famous tiled roof that I remembered from my visit with Kit thirty-some years ago.

Inside we admired the intricate carvings on the pulpit

and enjoyed the self-portrait by one of the carvers.

Our jet lag was catching up with us, so we slowly made our way to the Operngasse, where our apartment awaited us. But stop! Eva, the apartment owner, said we could not get in until 3:30, so we sat outside on some very uncomfortable wooden benches until she should appear. Well, at least an hour and a half went by, so around 5:00 Alison texted her again. Soon enough a young man popped up (he is one of the apartment owners, I think) and said that Eva had sent a text a while ago saying that the apartment was ready! We had missed it entirely, and I blame it all on jet lag.

He showed us how everything worked – coffee maker, keys, wifi, etc. – and left us to our own devices. We were really beat but needed some food so we stopped by Billa, the local grocery chain, to pick up a few necessities (coffee pods, wine, yogurt, etc.). We then wandered along one of the streets in search of food and found a wonderful pub-like restaurant, where a delicious bowl of goulash and crusty bread (and wine) restored us.

(Thanks to other diners for these images, I was too hungry to take pictures!)

And so our first day ended happily.

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Posted on October 2, 2025 in a little drama, art, churches, much depends on dinner, soup

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Many photos of Stonehenge

For all my interest in stones, menhirs, and other prehistoric sites, I had never been to Stonehenge. Time to fix that!

Our flat in Salisbury is just five minutes away from the train station, where the Stonehenge bus leaves on the hour. We hopped on and gazed upon the green landscape for the half-hour trip to the site. It is very well staged to allow everyone to visit without too many long lines: a shuttle to the site, a walk up a gentle hill, and there it was!

Who am I to “review” Stonehenge? But I will boldly give it five stars, if not more. It looked smaller than I had expected, but it was still quietly remarkable. The stones have been there for centuries, and they have nothing to prove! The sky was huge, with enormous clouds and lots of sunshine, the perfect backdrop.

We walked slowly around the site, noting the Heel stone (below) and the Slaughter stone,

and marveling at the fallen stones. Back in the visitor center, a well-designed exhibit led us through the history of the site and harkened us back to the Salisbury Museum, which has extensive materials from 18th and 19th century archaeologists.

Little did we know that the very next day, climate change protestors would show up and throw orange powder all over the stones.

I understand their concern, but I think they are simply annoying everyone. Nevertheless, the day after that, thousands of people congregated peacefully for the Solstice celebration, and all was well.

Dinner tonight was not at the local pub as we had hoped, because it is a “wet pub,” meaning that they don’t serve food. Who knew? Luckily, the Bishops Mill down the road was surprisingly good, especially their chips. A good finale to a great day out.

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Posted on June 24, 2024 in a little drama, dinner, England, Neolithic

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Our old stomping grounds

Yes, we’re back in England! We splurged on a BA flight in business class, and it was so worth it. We both slept fairly well, were able to stretch out, and, almost as good, enjoyed eating on real plates and drinking out of real glasses. We took the Heathrow Express to Paddington, got the train to Bath, and arrived at our lovely little flat with no trouble. Well, except for fumbling with the key box, but luckily a pair of young women passing by helped to figure it out. (This need for help may be a recurring theme, get ready!)

After a trip to Sainsbury’s to stock up on essentials, we had a wee supper and soon were in bed.

Today was cool and cloudy with peeks of sun, perfect walking weather. We had a leisurely morning before setting off for Bath Abbey and a lovely tour of a building that’s seen plenty of history over the past few centuries. It’s famous for this fan vaulting, quite stunning.

Our guide touched on the most important dates, which helped to set the stage for everything from the founding of the abbey pre-1000 A.D., to the dissolution of the monasteries (thanks, C.J. Sansom, for your novels about same), to the WWII damage to the stained glass. I had not known that they called the German bombings in this part of the world the “Baedeker bombings,” because the Germans wanted to target the most popular religious and tourist sites. This stained glass window honors the damaged windows that were restored in 1951.

The guide was pleased to show us an American flag on display (with only 48 stars) that marked the English thanks to the Americans for our part in the war, along with plaques that commemorated several American friends of England. Among these was one honoring a Mr. Bingham, whose history as a businessman, entrepeneur and senator is almost forgotten these days. Binghamton, NY, for example, was named for him. But I digress.

After a quick visit to the loo (twinned with Zambia!), we stopped by the gift shop and then wandered over to Sally Lunn’s, the oldest restaurant in town (as in, 15th century, or so they say). Narrow, twisting stairs up to the second floor led to a cozy room filled with tourists like us. The salmon and cream cheese and the Welsh rarebit were both delicious, and not heavy at all. A nice treat.

Then off to Topping’s bookstore (we’ve been to the one in Ely before) for another treat. Of course, most of the books I longed to buy were too big to fit into the suitcase, but I did find a small book about flat lands in England that I am looking forward to reading over the next weeks.

Then a visit to the post office to turn in old money for new, in my case an old 20 pound note for a new one, but still featuring the queen rather than Charles. The young man at the post office was quite helpful.

Home for a nap and a nip of wine, and then off to the Green Street Brasserie for a pub dinner. And so to bed.

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Posted on June 19, 2024 in a little drama, churches, England, not really

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Musee de l’Orangerie and farewell

Our last day in Paris started at l’Orangerie, famous for its Monet waterlilies, and during our visit featuring a Matisse exhibit that we had missed when it came to the US.

The colors, the shapes, the patterns – just take a look. They could inspire a quilt!

Plus a few other gems. Renoir:

Derain:

Among many other masters.

We took a quick wander through the waterlilies and debouched onto the Place de la Concorde.

On the way home, we wandered through the streets in our neighborhood. Apparently this area is a magnet for fashion!

I’m not quite sure where you would wear these clothes, but on the other hand, I’m not a Parisian.

Our last little dinner was takeout from the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, the elevator had stopped working on Saturday and still was not fixed. We were worried about hauling our suitcases downstairs, especially since the handrails were lying on the floor, or even worse, attached at only one end, while the stairs were not only steep but winding.

Fortunately, by chance we ran into American neighbors renting the apartment below, and they were also concerned, especially the mother (who was about our age). But their party included a strapping young man who took our bags down to the sidewalk as though it were nothing. And then the cab we had booked sent a message that they weren’t available after all. Eek! But a further call to another company was a success and we made it to the plane with time to spare. Not a great ending to the trip, but it all worked in the end (and we spotted our neighbors on the flight – they live in northern Virginia, of course!).

To end on a happier note, enjoy this bouquet of tulips!

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Posted on August 18, 2023 in a little drama, art, Paris, tulips, yellow

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Museum hopping and “social activities”

Today started out with a walk to Notre Dame Cathedral. Of course, we couldn’t go in, since it is still very heavily under renovation, but the display outside was well worth it.

It’s an astonishing feat of project management, to say the least: organizing stone masons, conservators, carpenters, even aerial workers who rappel up and down as they work on saving and restoring the stones, gargoyles, carvings, organ and other myriad pieces of the cathedral. Truly a magnificent effort that they aim to finish in 2024. We’ll see.

We walked along the Seine, with another view of Notre Dame swathed in scaffolding,

stopping at the memorial to those deported from Vichy France to the camps. Most of it is underground, and it’s quite moving.

Across the Seine we found an elegant little cafe, almost deserted at 11 a.m., where we had expensive orange juice, tea and a croissant. We strolled by the bouquinistes and on to Shakespeare & Company, the English language bookstore founded by Sylvia Beach in 1919, frequented by every writer you’ve ever heard of. It’s now so popular that they actually limit the number of people who can be inside at the same time.

We browsed about and came back with little souvenirs, including this Jerome K Jerome that I’ve never read!

And they offered to stamp the book, too, which was ridiculous but makes a great souvenir:

We stopped by Ste Chappelle to check out the lines (still long) and realized that the Conciergerie, where Marie Antoinette was jailed, was right next door with immediate entry, so we went on in. They are using technology to show you what the building would have looked like back then, so as you move your tablet around, you see fires flickering, view the uncomfortable beds, and hear people walking by. Not entirely successful, but interesting. It turns out Marie was there for only a few months, while thousands of other people spent more time there, so they sort of downplay her presence. But look at this striking Gothic ceiling!

Dinner tonight was back in the Montorgueil neighborhood, with its rows of restaurants, food stores and wine shops. We had another good dinner – mine was salmon and green beans, which does not in any way convey how delicious it was.

BUT after dinner, we came home to sounds of breaking glass, police sirens, trash burning in the streets, and other signs that the people are not happy about the change in retirement age from 62 to 64 (which seems ridiculously generous to many Americans but has enraged the French). We had seen lines of police cars with flashing blue lights as we came home from the museum, but it was not until after dinner that we heard the sounds of breaking glass, the sirens going up and down, and saw the trash smoldering in the street.

Luckily we are on a narrow street with shops on the bottom floors and apartments above, so we can feel safe above the fray. Several waves of protestors (though only scattered groups of three or four) came through for about an hour, with a few neighbors hauling trash cans inside and admonishing them. As of now, 9:00, things on our street seem to have quieted down, though there are still random sounds of breaking glass and motorcycles revving their engines. We still feel very safe in our apartment on the third floor and hope that things will quiet down for good soon!

Here’s a short video of the “social action” at this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5NdwP7G95rhWX48T7

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Posted on June 13, 2023 in a little drama, Paris

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Back to the Rijks

Today was another trip to the Rijks, which a person could visit every day for a year without growing tired (see also The National Gallery London, the National Gallery DC, the British Museum, the Met, the Prado, etc. etc.). We had a little easier time finding our way this time and enjoyed this monument to frites with mayonnaise.

We made a very quick visit to the Vermeer one more time, slipping by the pictures we could easily see in DC and NYC. This photo shows how crowded the galleries could get,

but they have timed it so well that you had to wait only moments before finding yourself right in front of these marvelous, glowing paintings.

We had booked a private tour of highlights, which was well done by our guide Fedor, who moved quickly, answered our questions, and obviously enjoyed showing off the museum. He told us that if you looked at each object for only 10 seconds, it would take you some huge amount of time which I’ve now forgotten to see it all! But he did well by the Averkamp, pointing out the numerous details of daily life;

the self-portrait of Rembrandt as a wild young man;

and the Cuypers art history library which of course, being librarians, we had to see. (Imagine running up and down the circular stairs every day!)

He ended with the Van Gogh, which in Dutch is of course so very throaty that I didn’t know what he was talking about until we got to the painting, and he reminded us that the man had eyes of two different colors.

Lunch was again at the cafe, where I loved my pumpkin dal with coconut (of which this is one of a zillion recipes you can find online).

We exited through the gift shop and trammed our way home.

Dinner was to have been uneventful, BUT as I hurried towards the restaurant (our old fave from a few nights ago) I tripped on a stone and fell flat down on my hands and knees!! OMG!! Two very nice young men not only helped me up but also procured ice for my wounds. I hobbled into the restaurant, bloodied but unbowed, and enjoyed delicious sea bass and wine and frites to make me feel better.

Alison and I were both in shock but enjoyed our dinner and walked home without incident. Damn you, foot drop!!

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Posted on April 16, 2023 in a little drama, Amsterdam, art, soup