Christmas away from Denmark for First Time in 22 Years!
Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006 (Christmas Eve)--San Antonio, TX
Normally I only make entries to the blog when I am traveling. Tonight I am home. But it FEELS as if I am traveling. Why? I haven't had a Christmas in the U.S. in 22 years. Instead, I have been in Copenhagen each Christmas during those years. What I know as tradition these days is not part of my life now. What might have been tradition in the U.S. so many years ago is long gone. So I thought I would write about it even though there may be no one to read it (since people don't expect me to blog when at home).
When Arne, my life partner of 20 years, died of a stroke 2 1/2 years ago, my life changed. During my years with him, we had commuted during our vacations to maximize our time together. That meant that as a university professor with about a month of free time around Christmas each year, I traveled to Copenhagen. There, Arne, his family, and our friends introduced me to the traditions of Danish Christmas. And what tradition they have. I have never had a more atmospheric Christmas than one in Copenhagen. That's due to so many things--the fact that it is dark from 3:30 p.m. until 8:30 a.m. each day, the fact that they string lighted garlands of REAL greenery across their shopping streets, the fact that the TV stations show serials daily through December based on the myths of nisser (elves) who live in the attics of homes making toys for the Juleman (Christmas Man) to deliver at Christmas (myths that developed as farming people developed explanations for their children for why there were scratching noises in the ceiling after cold weather had arrived without using the dreaded words "mice" or "rats"), the fact that every church has a Christmas concert for the public sometime in December, the fact that there are fairly set menus and set guidelines for who is present for the THREE days they celebrate Christmas, etc.
I must admit that this has not been totally a Christmas away from Denmark. As my readers know, I stopped there for 5 days in early December. That trip allowed me to see my friends, enjoy the street decorations, see an episode or two of the Christmas serials, taste some of the traditional homemade butter cookies, see the annual display of Christmas table designs by artists at the Royal Copenhagen Shops, etc. But there is so much I missed. I didn't have gløgg (hot drink of wine, aquavit, citrus, cloves, raisins, and almonds) at all, and I especially missed having it at Hviids Vinstue, a bar that has been there since the early 1700s. I missed walking the streets of the atmospheric village of Kongens Lyngby. I missed going through Tivoli Gardens with its Christmas market, ice skating rink, and wonderful twinkling lights. And those are all things I could have done while I was there if I had just had the time.
Mostly tonight I am missing the tradition of the three days of Christmas themselves. Today, the 24th, is called Christmas Day in Denmark. All shops are closed. It's a day for preparing for the big feast. People put up their Christmas trees with the live candles on them. They cook the food that will be served--roast duck, roast pork with crispy skin, caramelized potatoes, pickled red cabbage, and brown sauce for the main meal and rice-almond pudding (with one whole almond inside which everyone hopes to get as they dip from the common bowl because it will give them good luck and result in their getting the almond table prize which is usually chocolates) with cherry sauce for dessert. Dinner will last about 3 hours. Afterwards, there will be singing of traditional Danish carols around the tree as the candles burn. Then gifts will be distributed and opened. Finally, there will be coffee, tea, beer, butter cookies, chocolates, dates, etc., around the coffee table. This night is only for immediate family members.
Tomorrow, the 25th, is called First Christmas Day. It is the day for extended families to get together. More distant relatives and even close ones who had their own celebration the night before, come for a long Christmas luncheon that lasts all afternoon. Starting around 1 p.m., the table will be set with mostly cold items--Danish meatballs, salami and other cold cuts, boiled eggs, pickled herrings of various kinds (plain, in wine sauce, in curry sauce, etc.), smoked salmon, smoked eel, various brown and white breads, butter (to seal the bread as open-faced sandwiches are made from all the items on the table), etc. Luncheon continues for about 3 hours and usually ends with a plate of cheeses and crackers. Eventually, everyone goes to the living room for a repeat of the drinks and sweets buffet.
The 26th is still a holiday in Denmark with stores closed and is called Second Christmas Day. This is a day to go beyond family and be with friends. There are no set traditions for it. It could be a repeat of the day before with friends invited. Or it could be an outing to the cinema to see the newest film that has opened.
It's the Christmas Day and First Christmas Day celebrations that I miss. But my First Christmas Day memories are not of the traditional celebration, although that's what I enjoyed last year with Arne's family. Instead, Arne and I created our own tradition. We always spent a traditional Christmas Day with Arne's step-sister's family. We would take only 1-2 gifts for us to open while we were there. Being an American, I encouraged us to have more gifts. Those we saved for First Christmas Day. We got up in the morning and Arne made a breakfast buffet for us--fried eggs, smoked herring, smoked salmon, various cheeses, various cold cuts, etc. It was a huge feast of things for making open-faced sandwiches. On our table would be a Christmas centerpiece with a candle that was homemade by Arvind, Arne's brother-in-law, and given to us the night before. We would have a long, leisurely breakfast. Then we would bring out our other presents which we usually kept hidden from each other, especially since Arne was too good at guessing what something was as soon as he touched it! We would put them in two stacks and take our photos with them while still wrapped. Then we took turns opening one gift at a time. We would try to guess what it was, then we would ohhhhh, and ahhhh as we could see it. We would read about it, try it on, hug and kiss while thanking the other. Then it was time for the other person to open his next present. That process usually lasted a couple of hours, since we often had 10-20 presents for each person. Not all were big gifts. Even a $3 package of discs for inserting in the tops of wine bottles to keep them from dripping was a greatly appreciated gift deserving of all the hoopla! Afterwards, we would place everything out and take another photo of each of us with the items we received unwrapped and on display.
Unfortunately, those days are gone. The last two years I returned to Denmark and had Christmas there without him. The first year, I returned to his sister's home to follow tradition as we always had. Last year, I spent Christmas Day with our friend Nurse Grethe and then went to Arne's sister's home for First Christmas Day. This year, I am in Texas and am not having a traditional Danish Christmas.
Tonight, I was alone at my condo. I purposely created a dinner that I thought would be nice but would be a change from the traditions with Arne. I had a ribeye steak with cooked onions on top, a baked potato, mixed vegetables, hot crusty bread with garlic in olive oil for dipping, and a nice red wine. When I finish writing here, I will have homemade eggnog and shortbread. I have a DVD of a film from Netlfix, a rental service via mail, which I will watch. It was a good meal. I enjoyed it while also remembering the wonderful Christmases Past with Arne.
Tomorrow, I will attempt to recreate our First Christmas Day breakfasts. I have brown bread, white bread, smoked salmon, two kinds of salami, sliced dry ham, boiled new potatoes, chopped fresh onions, crispy fried onions, scrambled eggs, sliced beef (from a portion of my steak from tonight), etc. I've saved the gifts I have been given to be opened afterwards. Later, I will have homemade Danish butter cookies with more of the eggnog from tonight. Throughout all of this, I will put my CDs of Danish Christmas music on the player. Again, I will be alone. That's not a problem for me, however. I think I will take down the photo albums and go through them remembering the Christmases year-after-year with Arne and seeing the photos of the gifts we gave each other. Later, I have a Danish film (Kinamand) on DVD from Netflix that I will watch.
I am spending Christmas in Texas. It is not the same as I have known for years. But a little of it is. Of course, Arne will always be on my mind, and I will always wish that things could be as they used to be. Time moves on, however, and I must do so also. For those of you who see signs in events, I must tell you what happened this morning, though. As I left home to run an errand, I pulled on my black leather jacket which Arne used to wear occasionally when he was here. I felt a lump in the pocket and knew in general what I would find there. Sure enough, it was Arne's usual stash--a package of Dentyne cinnamon-flavored gum, an open package of facial tissues, several bunched up paper towels, wrappers from a granola bar and a mini-Mounds he had eaten, and his shopping list in his own handwriting for tomatoes, green peber, "Baulian" cubes, champignons in "tinn," and 2 deep plates. It was only a coincidence, but isn't it strange that it happened on Christmas Day when I was remembering times past?
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Christmas Season in Denmark/Back in Texas
Christmas Season in Denmark/Back in Texas
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen (Cont.)
Kurt and Finn came for dinner in the evening. It was nice to see them and learn about what is happening in their lives. We had a nice dinner--a first course of goat cheese on toast spread with a tomato tapenade, a main couse of roast beef with gravy and boiled new potatoes, and a dessert of fruit salad with creme fraiche.
Friday, Dec. 8, 2006--Copenhagen
I left the apartment around 10:45 a.m. to explore town. I took the train and metro to Kongens Nytorv, one of the main squares in town, to start my remembrance tour for seeing the Christmas decorations in town this year. I went through Magasin du Nord Department Store; walked down Strøget, the main shopping street; went into the Royal Copenhagen Shops to see the special exhibit of Christmas tables set up by artists this year; walked through Illum's Bolighus to see the contemporary furniture hoping to find something that I might want for my new apartment in San Antonio; and wandered through the Bohemian section of Copenhagen with its narrow streets and quaint shops. Then I walked past Tivoli Gardens on my way to Arne's sister's apartment.
Evy, Arvind and I drove to Farum to the campground where they have their trailer which serves as a summer house. I had not been there since they had moved there almost 3 years ago. They wanted me to see the changes they have made which included building a small guest house and installing a shower and toilet. Arvind and I wandered around the campground as he told me about the work he had done to help various people. Then Evy and I sat inside by the heater and visited as Arvind did some small maintenance work needed to prepare for the winter snows that will come.
Back in Copenhagen, we had dinner with their daughter and her husband. Evy made a very tasty dish that consisted of ground beef with a thick brown gravy. We poured it over mashed potatoes. Then neighbors from their summer house joined us and we all had coffee with Evy's homemade Christmas cookies.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006--Copenhagen
I had three engagements today in my effort to see as many of my friends as possible while here. I started by going to Old Grethe's at 11 a.m. She suffers from macular degeneration, so it is more and more difficult for her to cook. Therefore, I took smøreebrød (Danish open-faced sandwiches) and we had them for lunch while we visited to catch up on the happenings of the year.
I left there about 2:15 to head to Paulett's, one of my friends from WHO where Arne worked. I took the metro to Kongens Nytorv, then I walked past Nyhavn and down Bredgade, one of Copenhagen's more fashionable streets with lots of auction galeries and nice home furnishings stores, before catching a bus to continue to her apartment. We had coffee and dessert while visiting. She has moved to her present apartment since the last time I visited her, so it was nice to see how beautiful it is and how well she has furnished it.
The final stop was dinner with Jens and Robert, my friends who are coming to San Antonio as Winter Texans for two months this year beginning Jan. 28. Nurse Grethe was already there when I arrived. We all had a nice welcome drink. Then we had a wonderful dinner that started with each of us having half a lobster with garlic mayonnaise. That was followed with slices of beef served with the drippings and boiled new potatoes. For dessert, we had a chocalate tarte.
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006--Copenhagen
Today, Nurse Grethe and I took the train to the northern part of Zealand for a Christmas luncheon hosted by our friends Ejgil and Preben. There were 10 people there for the luncheon which began at 1 p.m. It was a big production with four first courses, four main courses, two desserts, and then various snacks--fruits, dried fruits, chocolates, cookies, etc. Among the first courses were two kinds of pickled herrings and two kinds of smoked salmon. The main courses included duck, glazed ham, roast beef, spinach in cream sauce, potatoes in cream sauce, tartelettes filled with chicken and asparagus, etc. Desserts included tiramisu and Preben's homemade shortbread. The luncheon lasted from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Along with all the food were servings of beer, aquavit, gin and tonic, coffee, cognac, etc.
Fortunately, a couple who attended the party gave Grethe and me a ride that was more than half way back to town. They dropped us at a major train station, and we only had to wait about 5 minutes to catch a train that would bring us back to our local station.
Monday, Dec. 11, 2006--Copenhagen to San Antonio
Well, today is finally here--the day for returning home to Texas finally arrived. My flight from CPH was not until 12:20. I left Nurse Grethe's apartment around 8:45, because I wanted to get to the airport to see if SAS would give me an Economy Flex seat on my flight to Washington Dulles Airport. Although I had called SAS and the man said he could see on the computer that I was qualified for an Economy Flex seat (further apart and more services), the man at the check-in counter and whoever he called would not agree to it. I, therefore, have decided to give up on SAS. They are the ONLY airline that will not give me seating in Economy Plus/Flex with my around-the-world tickets; all the others (United, Thai, ANA, etc.) do it automatically. And I have had the same problem with them year after year. Anyway, I had to accept the situation for today, but I will try to avoid the airline in the future.
The flight to Washington Dulles was only about 1/2 full. I moved across the aisle so that I had no one sitting beside me. It was a LONG trip followed by a horrible experience at the airport. Immigration and customs at Washington Dulles are the worst I have ever experienced. The area is too small, the number of agents is too few, the re-screening of transfer passengers is in too tight of an area without enough machines. And there were no toilets from when one left the plane until after one had gone through the whole process. People were all complaining and many said they were missing their connecting flights. It took me 1 1/4 hours to complete the process. That's about twice what it takes at any other airport. And because it was so uncomfortable, it seemed as if it were even longer.
I was lucky and made my connecting flight on United to San Antonio. My seat was Economy Plus with lots of leg room, just as it should have been. I didn't even have to ask for it; they could tell by looking at their computer screen. Although there were only 2 empty seats on the entire plane, one was beside me (due to none of the other economy passengers qualifying to move up to Economy Plus, I guess). I arrived back in SA at 7:45 p.m. which was about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. It took a while for the luggage to come out, however, so it was about our scheduled arrival time when I got mine.
I brought back one of Arne's suitcases with some things I have had stored here. I also had some gifts I had been given along the way including some Christmas decorations Paulette gave me Saturday, a mobile that Nurse Grethe gave me, and an advent candle holder that Evy and Arvind gave me. Everything made it here fine. I was so surprised, since the Christmas ornaments are delicate.
It is so nice to be home. I am tired of traveling. I enjoyed South Korea and Vietnam, but I planned too much time in India. I was looking forward to leaving there about 3 weeks before I actually did. It was a short visit in Copenhagen, but I think it was just the right length of time. I didn't seen all my friends, but I don't have to see them on each visit here. I don't expect them all to entertain me when I am here, and I don't want to make the effort to entertain all of them every time I am here. Some of them are planning trips to Texas which will make it easier for me to return their hospitality, and I am encouraging others to do so since it is too difficult for me to entertain them there without a place of my own. Now, I look forward to being at home and enjoying the Christmas season here for the first time in 22 years. (I've had Christmas in Copenhagen every year during that time.)
My travels will resume in May. My friend Wes from Corpus Christi and I will go to Alaska together for 12 days, then I will have 3 weeks in Taiwan and up to 6 weeks to travel the Indonesian archipeligo. That will take me back to Bangkok no later than Aug. 1 to end Around-the-World VII. I will buy a new ticket then. I'm not sure where I will travel from there on Around-the-World VIII. But I will be updating the blog and you can read about it here if you continue to follow my travel notes.
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen (Cont.)
Kurt and Finn came for dinner in the evening. It was nice to see them and learn about what is happening in their lives. We had a nice dinner--a first course of goat cheese on toast spread with a tomato tapenade, a main couse of roast beef with gravy and boiled new potatoes, and a dessert of fruit salad with creme fraiche.
Friday, Dec. 8, 2006--Copenhagen
I left the apartment around 10:45 a.m. to explore town. I took the train and metro to Kongens Nytorv, one of the main squares in town, to start my remembrance tour for seeing the Christmas decorations in town this year. I went through Magasin du Nord Department Store; walked down Strøget, the main shopping street; went into the Royal Copenhagen Shops to see the special exhibit of Christmas tables set up by artists this year; walked through Illum's Bolighus to see the contemporary furniture hoping to find something that I might want for my new apartment in San Antonio; and wandered through the Bohemian section of Copenhagen with its narrow streets and quaint shops. Then I walked past Tivoli Gardens on my way to Arne's sister's apartment.
Evy, Arvind and I drove to Farum to the campground where they have their trailer which serves as a summer house. I had not been there since they had moved there almost 3 years ago. They wanted me to see the changes they have made which included building a small guest house and installing a shower and toilet. Arvind and I wandered around the campground as he told me about the work he had done to help various people. Then Evy and I sat inside by the heater and visited as Arvind did some small maintenance work needed to prepare for the winter snows that will come.
Back in Copenhagen, we had dinner with their daughter and her husband. Evy made a very tasty dish that consisted of ground beef with a thick brown gravy. We poured it over mashed potatoes. Then neighbors from their summer house joined us and we all had coffee with Evy's homemade Christmas cookies.
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2006--Copenhagen
I had three engagements today in my effort to see as many of my friends as possible while here. I started by going to Old Grethe's at 11 a.m. She suffers from macular degeneration, so it is more and more difficult for her to cook. Therefore, I took smøreebrød (Danish open-faced sandwiches) and we had them for lunch while we visited to catch up on the happenings of the year.
I left there about 2:15 to head to Paulett's, one of my friends from WHO where Arne worked. I took the metro to Kongens Nytorv, then I walked past Nyhavn and down Bredgade, one of Copenhagen's more fashionable streets with lots of auction galeries and nice home furnishings stores, before catching a bus to continue to her apartment. We had coffee and dessert while visiting. She has moved to her present apartment since the last time I visited her, so it was nice to see how beautiful it is and how well she has furnished it.
The final stop was dinner with Jens and Robert, my friends who are coming to San Antonio as Winter Texans for two months this year beginning Jan. 28. Nurse Grethe was already there when I arrived. We all had a nice welcome drink. Then we had a wonderful dinner that started with each of us having half a lobster with garlic mayonnaise. That was followed with slices of beef served with the drippings and boiled new potatoes. For dessert, we had a chocalate tarte.
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006--Copenhagen
Today, Nurse Grethe and I took the train to the northern part of Zealand for a Christmas luncheon hosted by our friends Ejgil and Preben. There were 10 people there for the luncheon which began at 1 p.m. It was a big production with four first courses, four main courses, two desserts, and then various snacks--fruits, dried fruits, chocolates, cookies, etc. Among the first courses were two kinds of pickled herrings and two kinds of smoked salmon. The main courses included duck, glazed ham, roast beef, spinach in cream sauce, potatoes in cream sauce, tartelettes filled with chicken and asparagus, etc. Desserts included tiramisu and Preben's homemade shortbread. The luncheon lasted from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. Along with all the food were servings of beer, aquavit, gin and tonic, coffee, cognac, etc.
Fortunately, a couple who attended the party gave Grethe and me a ride that was more than half way back to town. They dropped us at a major train station, and we only had to wait about 5 minutes to catch a train that would bring us back to our local station.
Monday, Dec. 11, 2006--Copenhagen to San Antonio
Well, today is finally here--the day for returning home to Texas finally arrived. My flight from CPH was not until 12:20. I left Nurse Grethe's apartment around 8:45, because I wanted to get to the airport to see if SAS would give me an Economy Flex seat on my flight to Washington Dulles Airport. Although I had called SAS and the man said he could see on the computer that I was qualified for an Economy Flex seat (further apart and more services), the man at the check-in counter and whoever he called would not agree to it. I, therefore, have decided to give up on SAS. They are the ONLY airline that will not give me seating in Economy Plus/Flex with my around-the-world tickets; all the others (United, Thai, ANA, etc.) do it automatically. And I have had the same problem with them year after year. Anyway, I had to accept the situation for today, but I will try to avoid the airline in the future.
The flight to Washington Dulles was only about 1/2 full. I moved across the aisle so that I had no one sitting beside me. It was a LONG trip followed by a horrible experience at the airport. Immigration and customs at Washington Dulles are the worst I have ever experienced. The area is too small, the number of agents is too few, the re-screening of transfer passengers is in too tight of an area without enough machines. And there were no toilets from when one left the plane until after one had gone through the whole process. People were all complaining and many said they were missing their connecting flights. It took me 1 1/4 hours to complete the process. That's about twice what it takes at any other airport. And because it was so uncomfortable, it seemed as if it were even longer.
I was lucky and made my connecting flight on United to San Antonio. My seat was Economy Plus with lots of leg room, just as it should have been. I didn't even have to ask for it; they could tell by looking at their computer screen. Although there were only 2 empty seats on the entire plane, one was beside me (due to none of the other economy passengers qualifying to move up to Economy Plus, I guess). I arrived back in SA at 7:45 p.m. which was about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. It took a while for the luggage to come out, however, so it was about our scheduled arrival time when I got mine.
I brought back one of Arne's suitcases with some things I have had stored here. I also had some gifts I had been given along the way including some Christmas decorations Paulette gave me Saturday, a mobile that Nurse Grethe gave me, and an advent candle holder that Evy and Arvind gave me. Everything made it here fine. I was so surprised, since the Christmas ornaments are delicate.
It is so nice to be home. I am tired of traveling. I enjoyed South Korea and Vietnam, but I planned too much time in India. I was looking forward to leaving there about 3 weeks before I actually did. It was a short visit in Copenhagen, but I think it was just the right length of time. I didn't seen all my friends, but I don't have to see them on each visit here. I don't expect them all to entertain me when I am here, and I don't want to make the effort to entertain all of them every time I am here. Some of them are planning trips to Texas which will make it easier for me to return their hospitality, and I am encouraging others to do so since it is too difficult for me to entertain them there without a place of my own. Now, I look forward to being at home and enjoying the Christmas season here for the first time in 22 years. (I've had Christmas in Copenhagen every year during that time.)
My travels will resume in May. My friend Wes from Corpus Christi and I will go to Alaska together for 12 days, then I will have 3 weeks in Taiwan and up to 6 weeks to travel the Indonesian archipeligo. That will take me back to Bangkok no later than Aug. 1 to end Around-the-World VII. I will buy a new ticket then. I'm not sure where I will travel from there on Around-the-World VIII. But I will be updating the blog and you can read about it here if you continue to follow my travel notes.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Danish Remembrances
Danish Remembrances
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)
For my final meal, I ordered a good one. I went back to the nearby Andhra-style restaurant and ordered chicken tikka masala, naan, and a fresh lime soda. The chicken was authentic. It was reddish from the seasoning, I could see the holes in the chunks to indicate that they actually had been cooked on a spit, and they were so tender. The sauce was very spicy. Delicious!!
I should have stayed longer at my hotel. I checked out about 9:30 to head to the airport. Well, I still had to pay the 50% bonus for night trips in autorickshaws, and I wasn't allowed to enter the airport terminal for two more hours after I got there. The problem is due to the fact that the airport is a small, old one. A new one is under construction far out of town and will open in a little over a year. In the meantime, they control entry to the terminal based on whether the airline has a flight soon and has started checking people in for it. It was a nice evening, and there is a covered area with concrete seats in front of the domestic terminal, so I sat there and finished reading A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis. It won the National Book Award a few years ago. It's a satire on law firms and how they operate, on people who are suing and how they get caught in the costs of it, on insurance firms and how they operate to try to keep from paying off appropriately, on contemporary Americans who lead self-centered lives, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have much interest in any of those topics. Instead of being greatly entertained like most of the critics were, I found it to be too close to the truth and unfunny. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4 and passed it on to an American traveler who was there to catch a flight, too.
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006--Bangalore to Frankfurt to Copenhagen
They let me into the terminal just after midnight (of Dec. 5). The flight still didn't leave until 3:40 a.m. So I began reading the last book I had carried with me on the trip. I was lucky that I got a seat in the terminal. An Air France flight to Paris was delayed, so there were people from two flights waiting with only enough seating for people from a little over one flight. Many people had to stand as they waited for our flight. Then both flights were boarded at the same time through adjacent doorways which made it crowded and confusing.
I was lucky on the flight. No one sat between me (on the aisle) and an Indian woman by the window. And no one sat in the seat in front of me. Two lesbians sat up there in adjacent inside seats. So there was no seat back pushed against me, and there was room for me to turn sideways during the night while trying to sleep. I did sleep off and on. It was never long at one time, because I kept waking up and turning. Every little bit helps, though.
Before I started sleeping we were served dinner. It was so nice to have good western food. We had chicken in a brown gravy with pasta and fresh steamed vegetables. There was chocolate mousse for dessert. But what was nice was that there was a roll to go with it all which tasted so good when I would sop up the brown gravy with it. An Indian man across the aisle saw me doing it and did the same with my roll, but I bet he didn't appreciate the taste as much as I did. The Indian lady beside me was going to Houston for a month for work, so we talked about the city, I suggested she should try to make a weekend trip to San Antonio and Austin, and I introduced her to Baily's Irish Cream when they served it after the meal.
Because of the time zones, our flight was over 8 hours, yet it still arrived in Frankfurt by 8:00 a.m. We were served breakfast around 6:30, and I wolfed it down, too--poached eggs with a tomato mixture, potatoes, yogurt, vanilla pudding, and roll with cream cheese, butter, and jam.
I only had 1 1/4 hours before my flight to Copenhagen, so it was nice to go through immigration and customs, find my gate, and board my flight within just a few minutes. We even got to Copenhagen early because of a tailwind. I took the train and metro and was at the apartment of my friends Jens and Robert about noon. They served us sandwhiches--one with smoked salmon and one with ham. Then Robert and I went to his bank and arranged for the transfer of funds to cover their costs when they visit as Winter Texans in San Antonio in February and March of next year.
I brought my things to Nurse Grethe's apartment around 4 p.m. She was already home. Her place was very Christmasy with deorations out, music playing, etc. She told me all about her recent 12-day trip to Japan, then she made dinner for us--pickled herrings in honey mustard sauce on brown bread; Danish meatballs, boiled new potatoes, and salad; and rice-almond pudding. It all tasted so good to me. I had been starving for traditional Danish food.
I made a couple of phone calls to talk to Torben and Erik, because I was told earlier in the day that they were going out of town for the weekend and I wouldn't be able to talk to them if I didn't connect with them soon. I was tired soon after that and went to bed about 9 p.m., but it was so nice to be back here and to be able to drink the water straight from the tap!!!
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen
I was up at 5:30 this morning. I had a bit of trouble sleeping due to the right side of my nose being stuffy. But that was late enough that I had a good 8 1/2 hours of sleep and have done fine the rest of the day. I just got on the computer and started taking care of checking accounts, sending e-mails, etc.
Grethe had left two Danish pastries for me, and I ate one of them just after getting up. Then I ate the other one about 3 hours later. Finally, at noon, I ate a meatball and some potatoes on brown bread with mayonaise. I seem to be hungry all the time!!!
The day has been one of remembrances for me. I needed to go shopping for some things for dinner tonight, so I went to the supermarket in the apartment building where Arne and I lived. It's easier to be here now that 2 1/2 years have passed since his death. Still, it hurts to be in the old building. I wasn't in the supermarket long. Images of watching Arne stand around the meat counters checking out the possibilities of what we might have for dinner came to me. Then, there were memories of him all over the place.
I left and went to a nearby small shop to buy what I needed. From there, I crossed the street and went to Arne's gravesite in the cemetary. Of course, being anywhere like that just reminds me of how much I miss him and how my life has changed since he died.
I returned to Nurse Grethe's, because I have to start the preparations for dinner. Grethe has planned it all, but she left instructions for when to put the meat on the stove to start cooking. And I need to help by putting away the computer and setting the table. Kurt and Finn are coming for dinner. Grethe likes them a lot, so I'm sure we will have a lively evening.
Spending Update for India and Whole Trip: Now that I am in Denmark and am returning to Texas on Monday, I will stop maintaining records of my costs. Here is the final summary for this trip of the expenses. Through Dec. 6, I have traveled 67 days in India and spent $836.40 for an average of $12.48 per day. Since leaving Texas on Aug. 18, I have traveled a total of 111 days and spent a total of $1937.32 for an average of $17.45 per day.
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)
For my final meal, I ordered a good one. I went back to the nearby Andhra-style restaurant and ordered chicken tikka masala, naan, and a fresh lime soda. The chicken was authentic. It was reddish from the seasoning, I could see the holes in the chunks to indicate that they actually had been cooked on a spit, and they were so tender. The sauce was very spicy. Delicious!!
I should have stayed longer at my hotel. I checked out about 9:30 to head to the airport. Well, I still had to pay the 50% bonus for night trips in autorickshaws, and I wasn't allowed to enter the airport terminal for two more hours after I got there. The problem is due to the fact that the airport is a small, old one. A new one is under construction far out of town and will open in a little over a year. In the meantime, they control entry to the terminal based on whether the airline has a flight soon and has started checking people in for it. It was a nice evening, and there is a covered area with concrete seats in front of the domestic terminal, so I sat there and finished reading A Frolic of His Own by William Gaddis. It won the National Book Award a few years ago. It's a satire on law firms and how they operate, on people who are suing and how they get caught in the costs of it, on insurance firms and how they operate to try to keep from paying off appropriately, on contemporary Americans who lead self-centered lives, etc. Unfortunately, I don't have much interest in any of those topics. Instead of being greatly entertained like most of the critics were, I found it to be too close to the truth and unfunny. I gave the book 2 1/2 stars out of 4 and passed it on to an American traveler who was there to catch a flight, too.
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006--Bangalore to Frankfurt to Copenhagen
They let me into the terminal just after midnight (of Dec. 5). The flight still didn't leave until 3:40 a.m. So I began reading the last book I had carried with me on the trip. I was lucky that I got a seat in the terminal. An Air France flight to Paris was delayed, so there were people from two flights waiting with only enough seating for people from a little over one flight. Many people had to stand as they waited for our flight. Then both flights were boarded at the same time through adjacent doorways which made it crowded and confusing.
I was lucky on the flight. No one sat between me (on the aisle) and an Indian woman by the window. And no one sat in the seat in front of me. Two lesbians sat up there in adjacent inside seats. So there was no seat back pushed against me, and there was room for me to turn sideways during the night while trying to sleep. I did sleep off and on. It was never long at one time, because I kept waking up and turning. Every little bit helps, though.
Before I started sleeping we were served dinner. It was so nice to have good western food. We had chicken in a brown gravy with pasta and fresh steamed vegetables. There was chocolate mousse for dessert. But what was nice was that there was a roll to go with it all which tasted so good when I would sop up the brown gravy with it. An Indian man across the aisle saw me doing it and did the same with my roll, but I bet he didn't appreciate the taste as much as I did. The Indian lady beside me was going to Houston for a month for work, so we talked about the city, I suggested she should try to make a weekend trip to San Antonio and Austin, and I introduced her to Baily's Irish Cream when they served it after the meal.
Because of the time zones, our flight was over 8 hours, yet it still arrived in Frankfurt by 8:00 a.m. We were served breakfast around 6:30, and I wolfed it down, too--poached eggs with a tomato mixture, potatoes, yogurt, vanilla pudding, and roll with cream cheese, butter, and jam.
I only had 1 1/4 hours before my flight to Copenhagen, so it was nice to go through immigration and customs, find my gate, and board my flight within just a few minutes. We even got to Copenhagen early because of a tailwind. I took the train and metro and was at the apartment of my friends Jens and Robert about noon. They served us sandwhiches--one with smoked salmon and one with ham. Then Robert and I went to his bank and arranged for the transfer of funds to cover their costs when they visit as Winter Texans in San Antonio in February and March of next year.
I brought my things to Nurse Grethe's apartment around 4 p.m. She was already home. Her place was very Christmasy with deorations out, music playing, etc. She told me all about her recent 12-day trip to Japan, then she made dinner for us--pickled herrings in honey mustard sauce on brown bread; Danish meatballs, boiled new potatoes, and salad; and rice-almond pudding. It all tasted so good to me. I had been starving for traditional Danish food.
I made a couple of phone calls to talk to Torben and Erik, because I was told earlier in the day that they were going out of town for the weekend and I wouldn't be able to talk to them if I didn't connect with them soon. I was tired soon after that and went to bed about 9 p.m., but it was so nice to be back here and to be able to drink the water straight from the tap!!!
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006--Copenhagen
I was up at 5:30 this morning. I had a bit of trouble sleeping due to the right side of my nose being stuffy. But that was late enough that I had a good 8 1/2 hours of sleep and have done fine the rest of the day. I just got on the computer and started taking care of checking accounts, sending e-mails, etc.
Grethe had left two Danish pastries for me, and I ate one of them just after getting up. Then I ate the other one about 3 hours later. Finally, at noon, I ate a meatball and some potatoes on brown bread with mayonaise. I seem to be hungry all the time!!!
The day has been one of remembrances for me. I needed to go shopping for some things for dinner tonight, so I went to the supermarket in the apartment building where Arne and I lived. It's easier to be here now that 2 1/2 years have passed since his death. Still, it hurts to be in the old building. I wasn't in the supermarket long. Images of watching Arne stand around the meat counters checking out the possibilities of what we might have for dinner came to me. Then, there were memories of him all over the place.
I left and went to a nearby small shop to buy what I needed. From there, I crossed the street and went to Arne's gravesite in the cemetary. Of course, being anywhere like that just reminds me of how much I miss him and how my life has changed since he died.
I returned to Nurse Grethe's, because I have to start the preparations for dinner. Grethe has planned it all, but she left instructions for when to put the meat on the stove to start cooking. And I need to help by putting away the computer and setting the table. Kurt and Finn are coming for dinner. Grethe likes them a lot, so I'm sure we will have a lively evening.
Spending Update for India and Whole Trip: Now that I am in Denmark and am returning to Texas on Monday, I will stop maintaining records of my costs. Here is the final summary for this trip of the expenses. Through Dec. 6, I have traveled 67 days in India and spent $836.40 for an average of $12.48 per day. Since leaving Texas on Aug. 18, I have traveled a total of 111 days and spent a total of $1937.32 for an average of $17.45 per day.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Last Day in India
Last Day in India
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)
I ate at a nearby restaurant in the evening. They specialize in chicken and had lots of choices on their menu. I ordered Punjabi chicken with gravy and got steamed rice to go with it. The chicken was boneless and in a rich golden sauce which was spicy with both green and dried red chile peppers. I gulped it down.
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006--Bangalore
I got a haircut this morning. I have been needing one. The last one I got was in Vietnam about 10 weeks ago or more. But when I had asked in other cities, I had been quoted a high price as a foreigner. I knew that a haircut should be 20-25 rupees from my time at the school last year and from asking people on the streets. Today, the guy asked for 25 rupees, so I sat down quickly. As usual with any haircut I get, I had to clean it up some when I got back to my room, but it was essentially a good haircut for about 60 cents.
I walked to the Botanical Gardens from the barber shop. I looked for a restaurant along the way but never saw anywhere that appealed to me. I hoped there would be one inside the gardens once I arrived there, but there wasn't. I was happy, however, to see that the admission price was the same for everyone. I bought my 7 rupee ticket and entered. It's a very nice, large garden area that is very popular as a Sunday destination. Like everyone else, I spent part of my time wandering the gardens and part of my time sitting in the shade. There is a big lake, a Japanese garden, a glass house (only a glass roof, since the weather here is so nice that a hothouse isn't needed for plants), etc. There are fountains, statues, formal gardens, open fields, etc. It was a pleasant place to wander. But it was also a nice place to relax. I took my book I'm reading with me and sat on a bench that allowed me to read while also glancing up occasionally to watch the parade of people wandering through the park.
On the way back to my hotel, I passed the summer palace of Sultan Tippu (with a foreigner's entrance 20 times that of the local's), Bangalore Fort (closed), and the City Market (a hive of activity spilling out into narrow streets for several blocks going away from it). I didn't eat until I got back into my neighborhood at 4:30, so it became my only meal of the day. I returned to the chicken place where I ate the night before. Almost everyone there was having the chicken biriyani, so I had it, too.
The cyber cafe was closed, so I couldn't get on the Internet. Instead, I returned to my hotel at 5:15 and stayed in for the rest of the day.
Monday, Dec. 4, 2006--Bangalore
I had to use earplugs for most of the night due to loud talking and a TV playing in a nearby room. Normally, I can put my earplugs in to go to sleep and take them out an hour or so later when the hotel is quiet. I'm sure the noise last night continued until 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning! I took the plugs out at least 3 times only to find there was still noise.
I went to Cubbon Park this morning to read. On the way, I went by the Queen's Palace--the parliament building for the Karnataka. They have built a new building beside it in the same style, so i got a photo showing the two. I also went by the High Court building, a colonial red-brick building across the street and on the edge of the park. The park is halfway between my hotel and downtown. So after relaxing and reading for a while, I walked to town and ate lunch at KFC. I had their spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a Coke. It was good--better than either of the chicken sandwiches at McDonald's here. I was still a little hungry, so I went to an ice cream place nearby and had a hot fudge sundae. It was good, too.
I tried to buy gifts to take to Denmark as dinner party house gifts, but I ran into trouble. I had already decided what I wanted--specialty products from a particular shop. But when I went to the shop, they didn't have enough of my first item on the list. I prepared a list of everything I wanted and asked if they could have it all tomorrow. He told me that he could do it. I hope so, or I will have to leave the country without what I intended to take with me. Anyway, I am to check there again tomorrow at 6:00 o'clock and pick up the items (IF he has been able to get them for me).
Ate an early dinner at a fast-food place. Had a spicy fried rice with vegetables done in a Chinese style.
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore
Today is my last day in India. My flight to Franfurt where I will connect to a flight to Copenhagen leaves tonight early tomorrow morning (late tonight). I paid for my hotel room for the night and will stay there until about 11:00 p.m., I guess. Then I will head to the airport via an autorickshaw.
Last night, I washed my pants, underwear, and socks I had worn. All my other pants, underwear, and socks were clean. The shirt I had worn yesterday and two others I have worn recently are getting old and are rather faded, so I plan to just leave them in the room. The boys who do the hotel cleaning will be happy to have them, I think.
I have packed everything except my toothbrush and the gift items I hope to pick up tonight. I have no plans for the day, however. I will eat lunch and then spend the afternoon at the hotel, I think. I hope I can take a nap. It would help with the fact that I will sleep little tonight. I'm looking forward to being in Copenhagen tomorrow and seeing everyone there.
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore (Cont.)
I ate at a nearby restaurant in the evening. They specialize in chicken and had lots of choices on their menu. I ordered Punjabi chicken with gravy and got steamed rice to go with it. The chicken was boneless and in a rich golden sauce which was spicy with both green and dried red chile peppers. I gulped it down.
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006--Bangalore
I got a haircut this morning. I have been needing one. The last one I got was in Vietnam about 10 weeks ago or more. But when I had asked in other cities, I had been quoted a high price as a foreigner. I knew that a haircut should be 20-25 rupees from my time at the school last year and from asking people on the streets. Today, the guy asked for 25 rupees, so I sat down quickly. As usual with any haircut I get, I had to clean it up some when I got back to my room, but it was essentially a good haircut for about 60 cents.
I walked to the Botanical Gardens from the barber shop. I looked for a restaurant along the way but never saw anywhere that appealed to me. I hoped there would be one inside the gardens once I arrived there, but there wasn't. I was happy, however, to see that the admission price was the same for everyone. I bought my 7 rupee ticket and entered. It's a very nice, large garden area that is very popular as a Sunday destination. Like everyone else, I spent part of my time wandering the gardens and part of my time sitting in the shade. There is a big lake, a Japanese garden, a glass house (only a glass roof, since the weather here is so nice that a hothouse isn't needed for plants), etc. There are fountains, statues, formal gardens, open fields, etc. It was a pleasant place to wander. But it was also a nice place to relax. I took my book I'm reading with me and sat on a bench that allowed me to read while also glancing up occasionally to watch the parade of people wandering through the park.
On the way back to my hotel, I passed the summer palace of Sultan Tippu (with a foreigner's entrance 20 times that of the local's), Bangalore Fort (closed), and the City Market (a hive of activity spilling out into narrow streets for several blocks going away from it). I didn't eat until I got back into my neighborhood at 4:30, so it became my only meal of the day. I returned to the chicken place where I ate the night before. Almost everyone there was having the chicken biriyani, so I had it, too.
The cyber cafe was closed, so I couldn't get on the Internet. Instead, I returned to my hotel at 5:15 and stayed in for the rest of the day.
Monday, Dec. 4, 2006--Bangalore
I had to use earplugs for most of the night due to loud talking and a TV playing in a nearby room. Normally, I can put my earplugs in to go to sleep and take them out an hour or so later when the hotel is quiet. I'm sure the noise last night continued until 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning! I took the plugs out at least 3 times only to find there was still noise.
I went to Cubbon Park this morning to read. On the way, I went by the Queen's Palace--the parliament building for the Karnataka. They have built a new building beside it in the same style, so i got a photo showing the two. I also went by the High Court building, a colonial red-brick building across the street and on the edge of the park. The park is halfway between my hotel and downtown. So after relaxing and reading for a while, I walked to town and ate lunch at KFC. I had their spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a Coke. It was good--better than either of the chicken sandwiches at McDonald's here. I was still a little hungry, so I went to an ice cream place nearby and had a hot fudge sundae. It was good, too.
I tried to buy gifts to take to Denmark as dinner party house gifts, but I ran into trouble. I had already decided what I wanted--specialty products from a particular shop. But when I went to the shop, they didn't have enough of my first item on the list. I prepared a list of everything I wanted and asked if they could have it all tomorrow. He told me that he could do it. I hope so, or I will have to leave the country without what I intended to take with me. Anyway, I am to check there again tomorrow at 6:00 o'clock and pick up the items (IF he has been able to get them for me).
Ate an early dinner at a fast-food place. Had a spicy fried rice with vegetables done in a Chinese style.
Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006--Bangalore
Today is my last day in India. My flight to Franfurt where I will connect to a flight to Copenhagen leaves tonight early tomorrow morning (late tonight). I paid for my hotel room for the night and will stay there until about 11:00 p.m., I guess. Then I will head to the airport via an autorickshaw.
Last night, I washed my pants, underwear, and socks I had worn. All my other pants, underwear, and socks were clean. The shirt I had worn yesterday and two others I have worn recently are getting old and are rather faded, so I plan to just leave them in the room. The boys who do the hotel cleaning will be happy to have them, I think.
I have packed everything except my toothbrush and the gift items I hope to pick up tonight. I have no plans for the day, however. I will eat lunch and then spend the afternoon at the hotel, I think. I hope I can take a nap. It would help with the fact that I will sleep little tonight. I'm looking forward to being in Copenhagen tomorrow and seeing everyone there.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Sunny, Nice Days
Sunny, Nice Days
Friday, Dec. 1, 2006--Bangalore
Met Shabbir, an architect I've been communicating with, at a nearby restaurant at 11:00. We had a late breakfast and visited. We ate the set dosa which was three small, soft unsweet pancakes served with a green coconut chutney and with the usual spicy vegetable curry that is eaten in South India. We followed that with a cup of milk tea. He's a Muslim, so he had to leave at 1:00 for the main Friday prayer session in the afternoon. We had fun visiting, however, and he said he would try to call back on Sunday and maybe meet me again.
I took the bus to the airport, since I was having trouble getting Lufthansa. There city office was not where it was supposed to have been. And I had tried about 6 phone numbers that didn't work. I wanted to get a seat assignment for my flight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning before all the aisle seats were taken. At the airport, I found there is a charge just to go into the terminal. I went to the manager's office to try to see how to reach them. He gave me two more numbers. Neither of them were correct either, but one was to their cargo office, and they gave me two more numbers! One of those numbers did not answer. The other answered and told me they could only sell tickets. I had to keep calling the first number until someone answered. Finally, I got through and got a seat. Unfortunately, it is fairly far back in the plane, but it is an aisle seat.
The route to the airport was fairly interesting, and it was only about 10 km (6 miles) from my hotel. So I decided to walk back. It went past military installations, malls, parks, etc. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the hotel. It would have been a bit quicker, but I took a turn when I was almost back that took me out of the way a bit.
For dinner, I went to an Andhra-style restaurant. That means the food was cooked with recipes from the state of Andhra Pradesh where Hyderabad is. They are known for their spicy foods and particularly for their biriyanis. I ordered the mutton biriyani and got the full size (3 pieces of mutton) instead of the smaller plate with only 2 pieces. It came with a spicy gravy to put over the rice and with a small bowl of yogurt-onion salad. The meat was very tender and tasty. It was so nice to have something other than chicken for a change. I washed it all down with a fresh lime soda.
Indians use the word "bucks" as slang for rupees just as we use it for dollars in the U.S. They probably adopted it from its use in U.S. movies. My mutton biriyani was 55 bucks here (which converts to just over 1 buck in the U.S.).
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore
I stayed in the room and read almost all the morning. Finally, about 11:30, I went out. I first walked to the YMCA nearby because my guidebook had said they had a nice cafe there. But they didn't. I guess it closed sometime after the guidebook was printed or there is another YMCA elsewhere. Anyway, from there, I decided to walk to town and try to find the Subway Sandwich Shop near Commercial Road. I did find it and had a chicken tikka sandwhich. It was so nice to have all the fresh vegetables. The chicken was very tasty, too. And they made the sandwich spicy for me. It was about $3 U.S. for a 6 inch sub, a bag of chips, and a medium Coke.
That area of town was too crowded. The streets are narrow, yet traffic is not stricted. Cars and people filled the roadway and made me uncomfortable. I headed back toward the hotel walking through Cubbon Park, a really nice, but park that has lots of trails and wooded areas.
When I got back to the hotel, my room still wasn't cleaned. After using the toilet, I left to come here to the cyber cafe. It's now about 4:00 p.m., so I will be heading back to the hotel to rest until time to go to dinner tonight.
Friday, Dec. 1, 2006--Bangalore
Met Shabbir, an architect I've been communicating with, at a nearby restaurant at 11:00. We had a late breakfast and visited. We ate the set dosa which was three small, soft unsweet pancakes served with a green coconut chutney and with the usual spicy vegetable curry that is eaten in South India. We followed that with a cup of milk tea. He's a Muslim, so he had to leave at 1:00 for the main Friday prayer session in the afternoon. We had fun visiting, however, and he said he would try to call back on Sunday and maybe meet me again.
I took the bus to the airport, since I was having trouble getting Lufthansa. There city office was not where it was supposed to have been. And I had tried about 6 phone numbers that didn't work. I wanted to get a seat assignment for my flight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning before all the aisle seats were taken. At the airport, I found there is a charge just to go into the terminal. I went to the manager's office to try to see how to reach them. He gave me two more numbers. Neither of them were correct either, but one was to their cargo office, and they gave me two more numbers! One of those numbers did not answer. The other answered and told me they could only sell tickets. I had to keep calling the first number until someone answered. Finally, I got through and got a seat. Unfortunately, it is fairly far back in the plane, but it is an aisle seat.
The route to the airport was fairly interesting, and it was only about 10 km (6 miles) from my hotel. So I decided to walk back. It went past military installations, malls, parks, etc. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get back to the hotel. It would have been a bit quicker, but I took a turn when I was almost back that took me out of the way a bit.
For dinner, I went to an Andhra-style restaurant. That means the food was cooked with recipes from the state of Andhra Pradesh where Hyderabad is. They are known for their spicy foods and particularly for their biriyanis. I ordered the mutton biriyani and got the full size (3 pieces of mutton) instead of the smaller plate with only 2 pieces. It came with a spicy gravy to put over the rice and with a small bowl of yogurt-onion salad. The meat was very tender and tasty. It was so nice to have something other than chicken for a change. I washed it all down with a fresh lime soda.
Indians use the word "bucks" as slang for rupees just as we use it for dollars in the U.S. They probably adopted it from its use in U.S. movies. My mutton biriyani was 55 bucks here (which converts to just over 1 buck in the U.S.).
Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006--Bangalore
I stayed in the room and read almost all the morning. Finally, about 11:30, I went out. I first walked to the YMCA nearby because my guidebook had said they had a nice cafe there. But they didn't. I guess it closed sometime after the guidebook was printed or there is another YMCA elsewhere. Anyway, from there, I decided to walk to town and try to find the Subway Sandwich Shop near Commercial Road. I did find it and had a chicken tikka sandwhich. It was so nice to have all the fresh vegetables. The chicken was very tasty, too. And they made the sandwich spicy for me. It was about $3 U.S. for a 6 inch sub, a bag of chips, and a medium Coke.
That area of town was too crowded. The streets are narrow, yet traffic is not stricted. Cars and people filled the roadway and made me uncomfortable. I headed back toward the hotel walking through Cubbon Park, a really nice, but park that has lots of trails and wooded areas.
When I got back to the hotel, my room still wasn't cleaned. After using the toilet, I left to come here to the cyber cafe. It's now about 4:00 p.m., so I will be heading back to the hotel to rest until time to go to dinner tonight.
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