Diane and I were sorry to say goodbye to
the barge that had taken us through the canals of Holland, but it was time for
the second half of our double header. We
took a cab to a hotel on the waterfront to begin our Olivia tour entitled the Amsterdam
to Switzerland Riverboat Cruise on the Rhine.
After checking in, Diane and I loaded our
suitcases with dirty laundry and began our quest to find a laundromat. We were given directions to a street a short
distance away. We were able to pull our
suitcases along the brick street until we found a laundromat. I was amazed to watch a vehicle going down that
street sucking up not only paper and cigarette butts, but everything it
encountered, including large items like cans and bottles. Our next quest was to obtain the coinage
needed to operate the laundry machines.
After visiting a couple of nearby businesses, all was accomplished, and
then it was just the waiting on the machines.
We were back at the hotel for lunch.
Afterward we joined the rest of the Olivia
pre-trip guests on a walking tour of the city's Gay District and the Homomonument. It is a memorial that commemorates all gay
men and lesbians who had been persecuted because of their sexual orientation. It brought back memories of my own
mistreatment for being a lesbian.
Homomonument
Diane and I checked our luggage full of
clean clothes at the hotel before taking our last tour of Amsterdam on our own.
We walked by some ancient structures,
St. Anthony’s Gate and the Mason’s Tower, on our way to do an audio tour of the
Rembrandt House Museum. The house had
been occupied by the well-known Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, who also had
his studio and art dealership there. A
short distance from the Museum was a monument to Spinoza, the Dutch philosopher
from a Jewish family who became known for his ideas about freedom of
expression, tolerance and freedom of religion.
We then walked on to the Dutch National Monument, the country’s most
important memorial to World War II. It
was soon time for us to meet at the hotel for the transfer to our ship, the Avalon Felicity. It was good to see many of our
friends from our previous 17 trips with Olivia.
We spent a night on the ship in port in our much more spacious cabin
than on the barge. Riverboats don’t sail
at night so we remained in Amsterdam.
Corner of Rembrandt’s studio
Dutch National Monument
The next day was a slow one. The first activity was another canal boat
ride through Amsterdam. It was our second,
so by this time the sights were familiar.
Then we reboarded our riverboat.
The last time Diane and I had seen the Rhine was from the winery we
visited with Craig in Switzerland. Now,
we were actually on the Rhine, one of the major European rivers, second only in
length to the Danube. The river is significantly
shortened from its natural course due to a number of canalization projects. It
had little left of the messy, natural appearance of the Mississippi or Missouri
rivers with which we were familiar.
As we made our way to breakfast the next
day, our boat was moving toward Cologne, Germany. Our guides each day were usually a
collaboration between Avalon and Olivia.
Each city had its highlights described to us. Most unusual in Cologne was the archeological
excavation for a Jewish Museum where they discovered ruins of a 700-year-old
synagogue and the adjacent ancient mikveh, or ritual bath. We were told a lot of history about the
imposing Catholic Cologne Cathedral where Christians began to celebrate
religious services in Roman times. And
we heard the story about how the three kings who traveled to Jesus' nativity
scene were buried here. We were taken to the big church in every town, so I
won’t report those visits every time.
Excavation for a Jewish Museum
Cologne Cathedral
Our first sight in Koblenz the next morning
was a statue that sat at the intersection of the Rhine and Mosel rivers. It was a large statue of Wilhelm I astride a
horse. He unified Germany in 1871. We toured the city highlights. I was intrigued by the 35-foot-tall History
Column. This bronze sculpture told the
history of Koblenz since Roman times through detailed scenes circling the
column in ten levels from the base of the fountain to the top. The sculpture park at the Ludwig Museum was
also fun, particularly the six-foot tall ‘Thumbs Up’ sculpture associated with
the famous thumb gesture of the Roman general Gaius Julius Cesar.
Wilhelm I
History Column
Thumbs Up
Koblenz is the northern gateway to the 40-mile-long
Rhine Gorge, the most beautiful stretch of river. It boasts more than 40 castles and fortresses
from the Middle Ages. It was a
beautifully clear day, so almost all of the Olivia guests were on the top deck
as the ship’s guide pointed out the castles.
We passed the statue of Lorelei, whose legend tells of a beautiful
maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover
and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction. Further along, the ship stopped at Rudesheim,
a German winemaking town to visit Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Cabinet. It had an astounding array of contraptions,
such as a snuff box with a singing bird that could fit in the palm of your hand,
a musical chair that was activated when sat upon, a player grand piano and a
pistol with a singing automaton bird among others. After a walk through the rest of the town, we
reboarded the ship and continued through the Gorge.
Statue of Lorelei
One of the ‘Mechanical Musical Cabinets’
On our way to visit the Gutenberg Museum,
we walked through the streets of Mainz, Germany, past the city hall with the
modern sculpture in the front, Life Force, made of spirally arranged
aluminum rods. The museum is one of the
oldest museums of printing in the world and is named after Johannes Gutenberg,
the inventor of printing from movable metal type. The afternoon included an excursion to
Heidelberg.
Sculpture Life Force
Press at the Gutenberg Museum
The next morning, instead of a walking tour
we had a boat tour through the canals of Strasbourg, Germany. It is the seat of the Council of Europe and
the European Parliament. Then we did a walking tour of the Le Petit France
district with the noteworthy sights of the Gothic Cathedral, Place Kleber and
Place Gutenberg. Best of all for Diane and I was the walk through the farmers’
market. In the afternoon, we took the optional
excursion to the Alsace wine region which, of course, included wine tasting.
Canals of Strasbourg
Looking up at the Strasbourg Gothic
Cathedral
Strasbourg farmers market
The camera so they can watch the baby
storks
Diane and I went on the motor coach excursion
to the very green and lush Black Forest.
We visited the shops and, like good tourists, purchased souvenirs and ate
black forest cake with coffee. Then our
bus drove us on toward Colmar, France for one last city tour. As this was the final night onboard, the
waiters did their usual farewell performance and the captain addressed us as
well.
Black forest cake and coffee
Diane and me at a stop in the Black Forest
The next morning, we left the ship in Basel,
Switzerland and boarded a motor coach for Lucerne. The walking tour there reminded us of our
visit to the city with Craig almost ten years earlier. We reboarded our coach for the drive to Mount
Titlis where a ride to the top should have provided us great views of the Alps.
However, as our gondola went higher and
higher up the mountain, the fog became thicker and thicker, with increasing
snow. By the time we reached the top, all
we could do was sit in the restaurant drinking hot chocolate while looking out
at a blanket of white. The motor coach
took us back to Lucerne and then on to Zurich, the guide giving us an overview
of Zurich’s Old Town and Lake Zurich along the way.
Covered bridge in Lucerne
Walking to the rides up Mount Titlis
View on the way up of the snow that was
falling
Our last day was more fun. We started out by visiting a cheese factory
that had been recently modernized.
Everything was automated from the stirring vats, the pouring of the
cheese wheels, to the inventory system in the aging room. We had lunch there featuring local
dishes. For dessert, we continued on to
a chocolate factory. We donned
protective clothing, including hair nets.
We wore them while decorating a milk- or dark-chocolate bar with extras
on top to take with us when we left. Personally,
I preferred the small chocolate samples I took from a basket. Then it was back to Zurich to rest up for our
very early flight the next morning for Dusseldorf, Chicago and finally
Columbia.
Cheese factory aging room
Chocolate factory
We had covered a lot of ground in the three
weeks we were in Europe. Now back in
Columbia, we only had about two weeks to do our laundry, go through the mail
and check in with friends. Soon it was mid-May,
2014 and time to go to Alexandria, Virginia for a conference. The Center for Inquiry was having their third
annual weekend conference entitled Women In Secularism. We stayed at a hotel in Arlington on a metro
line that made it easy for us to go either into Washington, D.C. or to
Alexandria for the conference.
We spent a few days being tourists in
Washington, DC, visiting museums and Senator McCaskill’s office. On two nights, we saw two very different
plays. The first one was at Folger's
Elizabethan Theatre in D.C., co-produced by Folger’s and the Fiasco Theater. It was Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The
Two Gentlemen of Verona performed in a contemporary manner with a small
cast and set. It was the type of
treatment we had seen at Stephen’s College.
The second play was at the Signature Theatre
in Arlington, a version of The ThreePenny Opera that even Kurt Weill and
Bertolt Brecht who wrote it in 1928, or the main character, Mack the Knife,
might have found difficult to follow. One
reviewer described it as being like a futuristic dystopia. Diane and I agreed with the reviewer but still
enjoyed the music. Unfortunately, at the conclusion of the play, the staff at the
front of the theatre left so quickly that no one was there to help telephone a
cab for our return trip to our hotel. The
rest of the patrons had disappeared, the theatre was on a street which had
almost no pedestrian or vehicular traffic, and it took a long, scary time
before we could find someone to help us return to our hotel. No, we didn’t have a cell phone.
We really enjoyed the conference. There were several panels and featured
speakers. Women spoke about the
difficulty of leaving their religion because of the rejection by their families
and other church members. These women came
from a variety of religions, including Muslim, Jewish, Protestant and
Catholic. Women who were commentators on
radio, TV or the internet described how they were targeted by trolls and the
toll it took on their lives. They also
talked about the support they received from other women and how meaningful that
was.
We couldn’t understand or follow the talk
by Barbara Ehrenreich, of Nickel and Dimed fame. She talked about her book Living With a
Wild God: A Nonbeliever’s Search for the Truth About Everything in which
she describes the mystical experiences she began having as a young girl. We agreed with the talk, “Why Secularism
is Necessary for Women’s Freedom.”
This was the first conference I attended where all the speakers were
women, and what a powerful and diverse group of women they were. I had been a member of the Center for Inquiry
for a number of years and was approached by a black lesbian who worked for the organization
in Buffalo, NY. We shared lunches with
her and took her with us on a boat ride on the Potomac River.
Returning home, it was soon early June and time
for the Chair Sponsor’s Event where we welcomed our medical student violinist
from Arkansas. This started the six
weeks of the Hot Summer Night Symphony Orchestra series. It no sooner ended than there was the week of
The Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF) featuring the musical group
Alarm Will Sound.
We were sad to hear that Libby Gill, a
salon member with Diane, and a woman who had helped me secure some work with a
local bank, was leaving Columbia. Her son
in California wanted her living closer to him as she was having health
problems. Diane sold her 15-year-old car
to our housekeeper and bought Libby’s somewhat newer car. It was also a Toyota and had been well
maintained.
In August, instead of driving to the East
Coast, we flew to Newark and took the train to Princeton to start our family
visits with a stay at my sister Earlene’s home.
After we had lunch at a restaurant in a shopping center, we bought
groceries at a nearby store. The plan
was for Diane to cook dinner our first night so we could relax at the house
while catching up on our lives. We
picked up items for breakfast during our stay and for the evening’s dinner of
grilled salmon. When Diane started to cook,
she discovered that the grill hadn’t been cleaned in some time, probably long
before Earlene’s husband Vince (who did all the cooking) died four years earlier. Diane cleaned it to her satisfaction and
cooked a wonderful dinner.
We were up early the next morning to take
the train to NYC (New York City), where we went to the New York Historical
Society. We first saw a movie about the
role of blacks (both free and enslaved) in building NYC. Earlene’s docent friend took us to a private
floor where they had a big collection of Tiffany lamps. We had lunch at their
restaurant (Caffe Storico).
We then took the subway to get to Studio 54
where Diane and I enjoyed the play Cabaret starring Alan Cumming and
Michelle Williams. It was very sexy and
my sister had chosen seats that gave us a great view. The audience sat at tables in front of the
stage as part of a set made to resemble a Berlin cabaret, so we felt we should
have a bottle of (too sweet) German Riesling Kabinett. At one point Alan Cumming walked through the
audience and we made eye contact. The
moment was over too fast for me to give him a wink. After the play was over, Earlene met us in
the lobby and we walked to the Museum of Art and Design. We took the elevator to the top floor and had
cocktails and dinner at Robert (the restaurant) with great views of Central
Park, all the way from Columbus Circle to Harlem. Then it was a mad rush back to Penn Station
for the train ride back to Princeton.
We were ready for a slow day. After breakfast at Earlene’s, we went to the
Princeton Art Museum where docent Earlene showed us some of her favorite
pictures. We especially liked an exhibit
of paintings by a woman artist, Lee Bontecou, whose work we had never seen
before. She liked eyes. That afternoon we visited Grounds for
Sculpture (near Hamilton township), had lunch and viewed exhibits indoors and
out. We especially enjoyed the Seward
Johnson exhibits. He liked to depict
lifelike humans. Our dinner at the Shanghai Park Restaurant was not notable.
The next day was another busy trip into NYC
to see the J. P. Morgan Library & Museum.
Both the library and the office were very opulent with marble
everywhere. There was a special exhibit
entitled Marks of Genius, Treasures from the Bodleian Library (in Oxford). It featured works such as early manuscripts
of Euclid's Elements, Gregory I's Regular Pastoralis (the oldest book written
in English), an Arabic manuscript book of constellations, a unique papyri of
Sappho's poems, the copyright deposit copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, a
thirteenth-century manuscript of the Magna Carta, the definitive account of
Aztec civilization, the manuscript of Handel's Messiah, J.R.R. Tolkien's
drawings for The Hobbit and Mary Shelley's manuscript draft of
Frankenstein. The Morgan Library also
has three copies of the world-renowned Gutenberg Bible. Diane and I had both been reading The
Alienist by Caleb Carr which takes place in NYC during the late 1800’s and
had a scene in J. P. Morgan’s office, so it was interesting to actually be
there. We had lunch at the Morgan Café
where we were served by a flaming gay waiter from Tennessee.
Earlene sitting in the J. P. Morgan Library
We then walked to the bus stop and rode to
pier 83 on the Hudson River where we boarded the Circle Line boat for a two-and-a
half-hour cruise around Manhattan Island.
The weather was perfect and there were great views, so Diane took lots
of pictures. To make it to the Princeton
train in time, we took a taxi to Penn Station.
We ate dinner at Diane’s favorite Princeton restaurant, the Blue Point
Grill. It was an hour wait, so we sat
and drank the bottle of wine we brought with us as the restaurant didn’t sell
wine. Diane walked down the street to
purchase another bottle that we had with dinner at our outdoor table on the
side street (quieter) while an overhead heater kept us warm. We all enjoyed the wine.
Tourists on boat
New York City skyline
Statue of Liberty
Early Saturday morning, Earlene took us to
the Hertz rental at the Hyatt. We were
pleasantly surprised that the car was a Camry with GPS (which we named
Cindy). We drove to Springfield, NJ to
visit Diane’s niece Tracy, her husband Tim and son Jack (3 years old). Jack was a very busy boy, running around in
circles, throwing balls (one which Aunt Diane even caught) and drawing. We could see he was ambidextrous at both
throwing and drawing. We drove to
Westfield and had lunch at Mojave. It
was the first time I had fettuccine with chipotle sauce. It was good.
The West Orange, NJ cousins were not available so we returned to
Princeton early and all decided to go see the movie The Trip to Italy. Afterward we enjoyed a change of diet at a
nearby Moroccan restaurant, Sahara.
Tim, Tracy and Jack
Sunday was the appointed day for the family
get-together at my nephew Craig’s house.
It was also the day my niece Joyce and her family were arriving to spend
the night at Earlene’s with dogs and three children in tow, so Diane and I
booked a room at a local hotel. I spent
the morning helping Earlene with various chores, either related to electronics
or her trip reservations, while Diane did laundry. We all went to Craig and Mary Ann’s house,
watching the kids swim and play a lawn game called SPUD (whatever that is) with
a soccer ball. We were amazed at how much the children had grown. Craig’s oldest, Andrew, was 10 and the twins,
Annie and Adam, were 7. Joyce and
Chris’s oldest, Jack, was 12, Pierce was 10 and Josie was 7. Denise and Jamie’s oldest child, Genevieve was
17 and a freshman at Cornell. Her
younger siblings were Abigail (14), and William Finesilver Crystal (10). We had grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and
chicken, along with raw vegetables and dip and grilled broccoli.
Children in the pool
Afterward, Diane and I checked into the
Doubletree. We went to a wine shop for a
bottle of red wine and dined in our room where I had two Doubletree chocolate
cookies while Diane had the cheese and apple brought from home along with our
travel supply of pistachios. The next
morning, we checked out of the Doubletree and drove across New Jersey through
the rural landscape on state and county roads to Rumson, NJ in order to visit
cousin Bonnie, her husband Richard and daughter Kelly (23). Her younger sister, Stacy (21), lived in
Manhattan and couldn’t make it. Barbara,
the wife of Diane’s deceased cousin Glenn and their tall son, Matthew (6’8”)
who was in the Coast Guard dropped by.
Cousin Dick was seriously ill at home, so he and his wife didn’t
come. We had a nice brunch with many
side dishes along with a spiral ham from Burger’s in California, MO which Diane
had sent them earlier. We drove back to
Princeton and settled in for another night at Earlene’s.
Richard, Kelly, Bonnie and Barbara
The next day was the start of a get-away
for Diane and me. We left for a stay at Hyde
Park, NY with a stop along the way for a tour of West Point. It is the nation’s first military academy. Its purpose is to prepare young men and women
to become officers in the U.S. Army. We walked the grounds and visited the
chapel and cemetery. We got a sense of
its history when we spotted the grave of George Custer (of Custer's Last Stand fame) who, with all in
his command, died in 1876 at the battle of Little BigHorn in Montana.
West Point Chapel organ
Custer’s grave stone
View of the Hudson River from West Point
In Hyde Park, we had a nice, 2nd floor room
at the Journey Inn B&B. We were so
full of good food that the only thing we wanted for dinner was a pizza. At Antonella’s, we ordered a small size pizza
that turned out to be six huge slices.
We had mushrooms (that we could hardly find), but lots of big white
onion and thin pieces of sausage. We
made it through four slices along with a carafe of wine and saved the rest.
We focused on FDR the next day with a tour
of his mother Sarah's home and his library and museum. After a lunch of the two slices of pizza from
the night before, we took a tour of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA),
including coffee and apple pie at the Apple Pie Bakery Café and dinner at
Ristorante Caterina de' Medici. For
Antipasti, I had Insalata di Mare, a seafood salad with grapefruit and
mint. The seafood included mussel,
shrimp, squid and octopus, all very fresh.
Diane had Salumi Misti e Giardiniera, assorted cured meats with house-made
pickled vegetables. Next came the Primi
Piatti course. We both had Risotto
Zucchini e Zafferano, risotto with summer squash, zucchini flower and
saffron. The zucchini blossom had been
fried and laid out on top to resemble butterfly wings. It was a big plate and we were already
full. But, on to the Secondi Piatti
course. I had Branzino in Guazzetto, Mediterranean
sea bass, tomato broth and swiss chard.
Diane had Pesce Spada e Caponata alla Siciliana and grilled swordfish
with Sicilian eggplant relish. Only
Diane had the next course, Contorni e Insalate of Bietole all’Aglio, swiss
chard, garlic and olive oil. Only I had
dessert, Sformatino al Cioccolato, warm chocolate cake with strawberry sauce,
yum, yum.
The seafood salad
Statue of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt
We spent the morning doing a tour of other
Roosevelt historic places, starting with a shuttle ride to Top Cottage. This was built as a get-away place for FDR
and was handicapped accessible. The way
it was portrayed in the movie Hyde Park on the Hudson was pure
fantasy. The tour guide was a retired
local high school history teacher who had lived in the area a long time and
really read a lot of biographies of the persons involved. Diane had some nice discussions with
him. The shuttle next took us to Val-Kill. Originally it was a workshop where some women
(lesbians) who were friends with Eleanor before she married FDR set up a
furniture making business and trained locals in carpentry. This was during the depression. After FDR died, the workshop was converted
into Eleanor's home. You could see how
she lived a simple life. I also noticed
that there were no religious symbols around.
After a simple lunch at a local diner (eggs over easy, home fries, bacon
and toast), we went back to our B&B and walked across the street to the
Vanderbilt Mansion overlooking the Hudson.
It was described as an example of a gilded-age country place. It was built as a “country cottage” by the
youngest son (6th generation) of the Vanderbilt clan. After seeing the J. P. Morgan residence in
NYC, we were underwhelmed.
That night we were back at the CIA for
dinner at The French Bocuse Restaurant.
There were fewer courses here.
For the appetizer (Mise en Bouche), we ordered what another guest at our
B&B had highly recommended, Butter-Poached Lobster (Homard Pochée au
Beurre), Sweet Corn Purée, Smoked Butter, Chanterelles with a Chorizo-infused
Broth. There were two big claws, one
with a joint. Very good and a meal in
itself. For our Entrée (Les Plats
Principaux), I had Roasted and Braised Rabbit Variation (Lapin Rôti et Braisé),
Loin and Mustard Braised Leg, Egg Noodles, Tarragon, Peas and Baby
Carrots. Diane had Breast of Long Island
Duck (Suprême de Canard), Hazelnut Purée, Rainbow Swiss Chard and Gold Beets
with a Balsamic Cherry Infusion. For
dessert, I had Modernist Lemon Bar (Gâteau Crème Fraîche et Crème Citron),
Crème Fraîche Cake, Lemon Curd, Coconut Ice Cream and Tamarind Sauce. Diane had French Cheeses, Nuts and Sourdough Bread
with Dried Fruit.
It was time to visit Diane’s family, so we
drove to East Stroudsburg, PA. We stopped
for lunch at the excellent Stroudsburg Besecker’s diner (bowl of
bean/ham/barley soup) and spent the afternoon with Diane’s sister Sue and her
husband Joe at the house they shared with their daughter Kelly and her husband
Steve and their two children. After
work, niece Kelly returned home along with her youngest, Carter (3), who was in
pre-school where she worked. At 4
o'clock, we all went down the street to meet the school bus and Aubrey (6), who
had just started school this year. Diane
and I checked into the motel and returned to take Sue and Joe out for their
40th anniversary dinner. The next day,
Diane and Sue had time together without me, driving to Chadds Ford and visiting
the Brandywine River Museum of Art where they viewed many Wyeth paintings. They joined a tour of Andrew Wyeth’s studio
and the Kuerner farm. I took a break
from the family, stayed at the motel and went to the Thai Orchid restaurant for
a lunch of eggplant in garlic with tofu.
When Sue and Diane returned, they picked me up and we all went to nephew
Joe and his wife Angie's house, arriving at the same time as the (ugh!) pizza
delivery. We saw their two sons, Joe,
Jr. (8) and Josh (6).
To return the rental car, we needed to go
back to Princeton. On the way, we stopped
by Chao-Min's (my research assistant at the University of Missouri in Columbia
in the late 1970s) new apartment in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. She had recently sold her house. She gave us a wedding present of a lovely
lunch at a truly all Chinese restaurant, Golden City, on the Bethlehem Pike in
Colmar. The only English we heard was
when we talked to Chao-Min. We all started
with hot and sour soup, which even I liked, although in the past I had found it
too spicy hot. Then she ordered three
dishes: lobster with wide noodles, beef and Chinese broccoli and eggplant with
garlic sauce. Afterward we had dessert
of a fruit plate and a plate with a moon cake and almond cookies. Stuffed yet again, we took the left-overs and
drove to Princeton, unloaded the car at Earlene's, turned it in at Hertz and
went to the grocery store to buy additions to go with the left-overs from our
Chinese lunch for dinner at Earlene’s.
We bought lots of shrimp and asparagus to go with the noodles.
On our last day, Earlene took us out to
breakfast at PJ’s Pancake House and then to catch the train at Princeton
Junction for the Newark airport and our flights home. Three to four pounds heavier (including the
contribution of dinner in Chicago at Wolfgang Puck’s consisting of bacon
wrapped meatloaf topped with small fried onion rings and mashed potatoes), we
were in our Columbia bed shortly after 10 p.m.
