And Just Like That….Poof

Or should I say Puff…as in Puffin.  Today is our last day aboard Neptune, we disembark tomorrow and start the journey home.  Today, we are on the southern coastline of a Iceland near the Westman Islands-an archipelago of 15 islands volcano formed (and still forming-Happy 60th Birthday Surtsey) islands.  It has two active volcanos-Helgafell and Eldfel and only one inhabited town of Heimaey (translated “Home Island”).  The rock islands have been carved by the pounding surf so the topography and pictures are like none other in the world.  After a particularly rough night to get here, take to Bonine tablets and call me in the morning, rough, the sun came out and there were blue skies for the first time in 14 days.  Our previously wet, damp and inhospitable balcony was bathed in sunshine and was perfect for photos and coffee.  

Remember the sister Viking ship, Star that has flanked our sailing the entire time.  Well, our Captain again lost the game of rock, paper, scissor, tender, dock.  Neptune would be moored outside of the sheltered dock in Heimaey, and have to use those orange boats of death to set foot on the Islands.  It is actually only the second stop we have made that had a streets to stroll, cafes and shops to shop.  Star would live up to its name and park inside the harbor and the passengers would simply walk off their ship.  

Why is this group of rock Island of such interest.  Puffins.  Atlantic Puffins, a stout,black

Diving bird that has a distinctive orange beak during mating season…and these islands are home to one of the largest colonies of Puffins in the Atlantic Ocean.  Of course, there are other places but you better your odds in actually seeing them with orange beaks intact in these more remote inhabited regions.  We were last in Iceland in May 2019-too early for Puffin season.  It is August which is towards the end of mating season, but as the fishing is good, there are a few late arrivals and year around residents.  My hopes were high on seeing these oh so cute and photogenic birds…orange beak or dull grey black.  We had initially wanted to  sign up for a boat trip with a local farmer, fisherman that owns a farm that apparently is a favorite of these birds…his boat is limited to 3 trips a day, 25 passengers each…math word problem. 75 of the passengers that could sign up early (all done according to your cabin classification)-leaving 905 people out of luck…or 980 if you figure out that the passengers on Star called dibs.  The farm offering mysterious disappeared during our excursion window, which I thought was odd, not knowing about Star.  So, we decided that a zodiac boat around the island with a promise to see puffins, terns, albatross, gulls, possible whales and seals was a pretty good bet.  By the time our tickets were issued to our stateroom, the boat had been downgraded yet again to a “boat” more along the lines of a Caribbean boat to look at the sting ray.  Queue grumpy Karen, but I am sure the Viking home office told them that there would be puffin sightings-even if they were stuffed animals.  So,I reminded hopeful.  Let’s recap.  We did a drive by in Newfoundland-rough seas/tender issues.  We Covided by Greenland’s two stops. (I will give allow a * by Greenland, like Antarctic-drive by only).  Now, on our first sunshine, picture perfect stop…wait for it…the Captain pulled the plug on us tendering to the Island.  

We were in the know first.  The first tenders were due out at 9:00 and ours at around 1:30.  As per usual, Eddie gets out of bed late.  So, we had our coffee on the dry and sunny veranda.  We grabbed and elevator to go up to the restaurant, but ended up going down to the A Deck were the tenders are launched from.  The doors open and 4 sad, mature individually with expensive cameras and the impressive long bird lenses got on.   I guess when you get to a certain age, cars are not as important in the toy category- enter expensive camera equipment.  Do not get any ideas, Eddie…we have far too many toys.  Well, our sad faces camera buffs knew the news before the rest of the ship.  There will be no tendering to the islands today.  They were awaiting the first tender when the advanced shipboard tender team arrived back on board…bloody and bruised…and those people are around 30, and live in a ship.  Our four let us know that they saw the discussion in real time,  and the decision to sail on to Reykjavik was being made.  We all rode the elevator to the World Cafe.  Sad, as there would be no puffin sightings by the passengers on Neptune, Star wins again.  We ate on the fantail, as this is the first time you were not shrouded in misty or freezing.  About 30 minutes later, the Captain made the official announcement that we would not be stopping today…followed by the Cruise Director Brian announcing that the would have a list of substitute entertainment to fill our day highlighted by a 2:00 showing of the Weird Al Yankovik starring Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter).  Wow, now that is a come down…weird Al vs allusive mating orange beak puffins.  I went back inside to select a late morning post breakfast pastry to drown my sorrows with.  Imagine my surprise when there was a gray uprising in the inside dining area.  Was there a food fight or dish banging, not exactly, but there was loud shouting on why Star got everything first and “Not Fair”…I almost thought there would be chanting of “Puffin, Puffin, Puffin”.  One gentleman said this was his 10th Viking Journey and he was going to fill out his Guest Questionnaire with a complaint.  Oh no, the dreaded complaint.  I wonder if the cruise line will survive, perhaps you should sell your Viking stock now.  

We returned to our cabin, and took our seats on the veranda with the thoughtfully provided binoculars and our iPhones and bird watched, imagining that the black winged flapping was our puffins without their colorful beaks.  Puffin, Puffin, Puffin-poof

Taking in the waters of Iceland

 As we continue our circumnavigation of Iceland-or maybe not, it all looks about the same…kinda like the islands in The Caribbean.  Tall rough glacier or volcanos carved mountains, not a lot of trees, deep narrowing fjords that cut to the interior, temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s, foggy, and not much sunshine.  The various mountains farms are dotted with sheep and black wrapped round hay bales.  Black so they can find them in the snow.  The only variation is the small town where the sea meets the rising dark mountain.  Each of the small towns have long hard to pronounce names featuring lots of vowels, similar random consonants and a couple of accent marks for good measure.  These towns have roughly 750 people residents..thinking H-E-B on Saturday.  So, when two(yes, two)Viking ships moor off your banks, the town size at least triples.  We have been shadowed by the Viking Star our entire trip.  Not sure how their trip varies from this one.  Most on Neptune are headed on to Norway after this.  We are disembarking in Reykjavik.  Whatever the case, the locals have been tasked with showing us a good time.  I guess that crazy team from Viking decided to create journey and destinations in Iceland kinda like Princess did in Alaska in the 1980’s.  Like I said before, glad to be on the front end of the creation process.

Yesterday, we went to the Voks Bath on Lake Urrioavatan (yeah, told you there were lots of vowels) which was up and over a very steep Mountain from where our ship was moored. (Yes, yet another tendered stop…which I will have to say Viking does well with their ship design). This is a combination of man made geothermal filled hots tubs from the hot springs below and two lake based infinity pools that are geothermally heated and warmer than the two land based ones.  For those with a wild streak, there is the lake itself that is a crisp 40 degrees.  While this is similar to the famed Blue Lagoon it does not have the mineral content…the guides claim the water is so pure you can drink it.  The big difference is that August brings a summer algae bloom in all four of the warmed pools.   The employees insist that it is healthy for you and your skin.  Eddie gave me one of those looks, like “Yeah, right”. Okay, You have two bus loads of older people, in swim suits, with slick algae bottom-what could go wrong?  Oh yeah, forgot to add the part about you are given a drink-beer, wine, blue raspberry or cherry slushie with vodka…by the time the soup and bread were served, their were lots of folks doing cannonballs off the decking into the lake, lots of wet iPhones.  Wonder if this will be feature on PBS Masterpiece’s Viking commercial.  Looked more like a movie scene from the 1985 movie Cocoon than 80 mature travelers from a cruise ship.  

We all survived, no broken bones, no fountain of youth like in the movie Cocoon…looks more like a nap was in order for most of us than anything else.  While the ship was here until 11:00 PM, there are only three restaurants with a total of 15 tables in town…not seeing this group staying around.  Oh yeah, in the Karma department.  The evening before our trip to the Voks Baths, our room steward thoughtfully placed two beach towels on our bed for our trip to the baths.  You see the little red phones that they all carry have extensive information about everything about you-kinda creepy if you ask me, but glad for the towels.  I reminded Eddie to pack his backpack for the trip…towel, bathing suit-check.  Jacket for tender, bus ride, and walk about-no reminder, no Karen pack…subtitle, but effective.  Eddie was just a few degrees cooler than his fellow cruisers.  Score one for Karma Karen, previously known at Covid Karen.  

Speaking of Covid on ship board.  Other ships usually have a reference to it in the Daily activity sheet (either numbers or percentage of passengers).  Not on Viking, only the red phones know.  But with the number of coughs of denial, dawning of masks, room service trays, and Red Do Not Disturb signs on cabin doors, I suspect the numbers are up.  That and I have seen the ship’s Men in Black Team on our floor frequently.  The ship’s protocol for Covid (or any quarantined illness) is to completely fumigate and disinfect your cabin.  A different cleaning crew is tasked with that function.  They wear total black outfits, black masks and black utility supply carriers.  It is not subtitle…the Scarlett letter sewn on your outfit was only slightly more noticeable.  

Out and About in the Atlantic

 Okay, you TP (Trivial Pursuit, not Toilet Paper) Fans, today’s question for the Geography pie piece and the win. Named for the 19th century King of Denmark, this narrow passageway that is 60 miles long that connects the Labrador and Irminger Seas.  Give you a hint, there is only one village, Aappilattoq (no, I checked my spelling, that is the correct spelling) and Amazon does not guarantee overnight delivery.  The timer is running….no Google or wiki, please.

Just like a small child waiting for Santa, today is the day I am released from Covid jail (yes, the ankle monitor and guest account will be unlocked at 8:00 AM)…the end of my sentence is being marked by a sailing into the 60 mile stretch..which started at 3:00 AM this morning.  Yeah, I was up to check it out, like I said-looking for Santa.  At 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00…there was not much to see except dense fog.  The lonely cry of the ship’s fog horn was the only sounds as the sea was smooth as glass…yeah, pea soup foggy, glass seas..I am a real poet, I know. By 7:00 the fog is lifting, but for the fluffy pillows of fog that sink in between the rock ledged and glacier craved valleys.  Every mile of this passage has been full of new views of glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and sheered rock mountains that seem to rise from the sea…each one more breathtaking the the previous one.      Ed and I have been fortunate enough to see the natural beauty of Alaska on multiple occasions along with the fjords or Norway, and Chile.  With the more recent of our adventures to these areas, becoming more crowded with cruises ships.  Seems in a world of chaos and noise, we all crave the serene quiet, calm and sense of awe and wonder that the natural wonders bring.  This cruise along with a few other players are forging new journeys into these previously unexplored areas.  I am still undecided about whether this is a good thing or bad…glad we came early in the cycle.      

Okay, back to reality.  What are the lessons I have learned about Covid Jail on shipboard? Room service and breakfast (lunch and dinner, for that matter) in bed is great, every once in a while…but too much of a good thing does not make it better.  Especially when they struggle to pick up the various food trays…they asked us not to put it in hall, by Day 5, I was total Covid Karen and threatened them with a 90 minute time limit for in room pickup.  After 90 minutes, I put it in the hall.  Take that, just call me a rebel.  As we often slept with dirty dishes in our room (before I went Karen), I refrained from ordering any of the fish dishes.  Additionally what sounds good on a menu, does not always translate to tasty after sitting on a hot tray waiting to be delivered.  Vikings must have not had salt and pepper, but had herb gardens…the food on board lacks basic seasoning (yeah, I am sure, I have not lost my sense of taste) but is regularly dragged multiple times through a spice cabinet. Each dish is a all or nothing crap shoot.    In that same vain of thinking, if corporate offices sends you 2000 one small hole pepper shakers, do not purchase boxes of coarse ground pepper-it is a physic problem with no good answer..we took the bottom stopper off and put the pepper in a spoon to use.  Additionally, salmon regardless how prepared does not constitute a seasoning…there is lots of it everywhere.  However, if the word “wild” is before the word salmon, that is ship code for “we slept in the Atlantic last night”.  Smelly fish dish in room works for “wild”…or that 50 ft balcony at night.  Eddie is not a caregiver…after 47 years, not exactly a stop the presses moment. I guess I thought after more than 500 days on board ships (that could be an Eddie style upgrade, I guessed the number) over the last 25 years and me bringing him multi coffees in the morning (cappuccinos on some cruises lines), food from various locations when he was slow moving before a tour, doing or prepping laundry to be done on board, the lists are endless…he would have volunteered to go get me a cappuccino when he was sprung from jail two days before I was.  When I hinted, he responded that he was good for the morning with coffee.  Hmmm, guess I needed a refresher course in Eddie love language along with Covid.  As Eli’s current expression goes, Karma, baby, Karma.  I am glad we had a balcony with fresh air, be it cold and damp air, it is fresh.  I am old school, air out the cabin daily to blow out the cooties, wipe down the various surfaces with my personal supply of Clorox wipes, take out the trash, request additional towels and put the pillow out to air…my Mom would have been so proud.  Finally, thankful that my brush with Covid has not been any worse…and especially thankful that Eddie took the cure and is back to normal…much better than so many of our other adventures.  

Today trivia answer is Prince Christian Sound.  To think, I did not even have that as a must see location on my bucket list.  Silly old, Covid Karen.  

Greenland

 Well, we are sitting on top of the world, so to speak, moored off the coast of Greenland, surrounded by rocky moss covered islands, with a smattering of icebergs thrown in for effect.  

There is a joke that Greenland should have been called Iceland and Iceland should have been called Greenland….yup, no joke.  Greenland is not Green…with winter temps in the -90’s nothing grows outside, the moss probably is it.  This is the world’s  largest island, actually part of Denmark-those Viking roots are deep-with not a whole lot else going on….for like last 1,000 years.    Doubtful there will be a vote to become an independent country.  Our two stops here are tendered stops, with nothing more than a walking tour with your Viking provided speaker/hearing set up.  Boy, these folks have nailed their target market research.  Free tours with two hearing assisted microphones/headphones in every cabin.  

Eddie is a free man.  The medical center called at 8:00 AM to tell him his covid quarantine was complete, and they had removed the restrictions from his account and he was free to move about the ship, or off the ship if we were in port. They reminded him not to allow me to leave the room…like I am going to make a break for it…to Greenland.    While Eddie is not the type of click his heels, but he has not been in the cabin very much today.  In fact, he was more than happy to take the laundry to the launderette to do the last 4 days worth of clothes…he tried to ignore my first hand tutorial of the system, rolling his eyes like I was micromanaging him.  Nope, he came back and asked for a refresher on how to operate the dryers….he apparently did not have his hearing aides in, as most things came back wet and needed to be hung to dry…but I am not going to complain.  The laundry is done and I sat in bed reading my trashy novel and eating Swiss chocolate from the mini bar that is replenished twice a day.  Covid jail is not as bad as advertised…particularly when Eddie gets out 2 days before me.  

NoCovid NoMore

 Say it isn’t so, after three years of careful living and doing all the best practices of the day (and you had to keep up) we have finally to quote my sister, Kathy, lost our Covid virginity…right here on a cruise ship, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  When we boarded on Monday, Eddie (who we all know picks up any germ just like a Hoover Vacuum) mentioned that his sinuses were giving him fits.  Let us back up for just a moment.  We all know about the trice surgical solution to Eddie’s eye issues.  On Friday, before Saturday blast off, he ran down to the medical center to have the suture loop removed fearing it might come out while we were cruising.  They took some of the other pieces out as his lower lid had an infection.  The waiting room was full..we have had plenty of time to figure this was the smoking Covid cootie gun.  Fast forward to Monday night.  Eddie complained of a headache before bed and has a nagging tickle cough that kept us both awake.  Tuesday and Wednesday, I gave him Sudafed.  During the night, the light bulb went on…Thursday morning would be a Covid test for Eddie-we come prepared-4 test kits.  Why not keep it a secret and just give everyone on board Covid…after all we are on Viking Neptune.  Neptune has been in the news of late due to 50% of the people on board suffering from Norovirus…sharing is caring.  Well, Eddie would be one of those “high risk” individuals and if he was to take the antiviral, Paxlovid or the European equivalent, the window was 72 hours after the symptoms appear.  and we also know Eddie has never met a medication he was not willing to try.  You guessed it, the boy has it.  No fever, but I was called to the medical center to test.  Yup, Did not even have to wait the full 10 minutes for the red line of Covid to appear.  The very fit Norwegian Doctor listened to Eddie’s chest which was clear and said he would benefit greatly from the $800 antiviral meds.  He looked at me and said I would be fine without.  Wow, he said and saw everything he needed to know about or respective medical histories in the 90 second…$130.00 office visit.    Of course, there was a ridiculous charge for the tests, bottle plain cough syrup and Sudafed…all of which we had…kinda of like going to the dentist and getting dental floss and toothbrushes.  

So, we have been in Viking’s Covid Jail in our Cabin.  Meals come regularly at our command.    The medical center indicated we were the only one that had presented with Covid.  There are probably others that had decided to do the don’t ask don’t tell.  I could go on about how it is our responsibility to both the crew and our fellow passengers to be honest and quarantine.  But I have travelled with a sick Eddie far to many times while he has something far worse than Covid…or at least sounded that way.  His cough (family members know what I am talking about, it gets in your spine and makes you cringe) would have had the folks in red jump suits (medical team) on us.  Instead of a Scarlet “C” Letter, they have a ship wide red line in your account and everything is on a computer system and all crew members have a red Viking handset.  If you attempt to charge anything or buy anything, I imagine the security team will take you back to your cabin and lock you in from the outside. Totally surprised they don’t tag you.   So, we are on Day 3 for me, but Day 5 for Eddie.  No further testing, and they are unlocking his account.  He is free to get out of jail.  You might ask what did we miss, not much.  We made the foggy stop in Halifax.  There was a day at sea, then a tendered stop in Newfoundland which was cancelled the morning of as the fog and waves were to great to even attempt boarding…remember everyone is over 50.  I did not mention, but while getting back on the ship in Halifax, a fellow female passenger was leaving in a wheelchair, right leg bandaged, with a steward dragging all of her luggage.  She was headed back to Dallas from Halifax, with a leg broken in 3 places.  So, Covid Jail, I take it.  Her appearance makes me thankful for just having Covid…no whining.  

You all know how Eddie rolls on cruises, a suite, usually with two rooms.  Being this is a smaller ship, and much larger price tag than BC, we opted for a Penthouse Veranda which mean we have 227 sq ft of inside space…another 50 on the balcony-which is always wet, so not a bonus in my mind.  The only thing our PV category gets you is the day you can sign up for their expensive excursions and when you can  book reservations for the speciality restaurants.  6 weeks ago, there was an Explorer’s suite, that fit Eddie’s criteria, but I choked at the price and passed.  If I knew we would have been in Covid jail, oh well.  The excursions that we cancelled due to Covid (to include a 7.5 hour bus/RIB boat to the Ice Lagoon in rubber suits and back, along with a Geothermal bath) will just about cover the cost of our medical care on board.  

The fog has lifted, Greenland Stop 1 is tomorrow.  The temperature is a crisp 50 degrees right now.  As we are old school, we have opened our balcony door and aired out our shoe box, be it a Ilse Jacobsen shoe box, with a Nordic blanket.  Eddie gets the desk, sofa and chair area and I get the bed.  If we are really frisky, we swap.  I am in charge of bathroom passes.  Since Eddie has a get out of jail card, free, he gets to do the laundry.  This should be interesting, or at least entertaining.  

As a footnote, Eddie on Day 5 with the Paxlovid is a 7 with 10 being great. Day 3 I am a 4.5, however, in terms of other things, this is like a head cold.  We will be fine.  

Sailing the Viking Homeland Route with Viking

 I have told you all why we are sailing— in search of cooler weather with a side order on No on duty for Karen-cooking, cleaning, washing, errand running or even making the bed-but Eddie usually makes the bed, first in last out…short straw on that household chore.  Now, the how and when.  My research into cruising is not especially scientific, I usually use a search engine on United Cruises…yeah, that United.  They have “partnered” with a large travel agency that gives you a multiplier of dollars spent and  stateroom category usually 7-12x in you guessed it, United mileage if you use their Chase Mileage card. Yeah, mileage is like green stamps from when we were kids.  It takes a lot to buy anything these days, too.    Thank goodness we don’t have to lick them and put them in a book.  Eddie flew enough back in the day that he is Gold for life, which means we usually can get home from our far flung destinations on mileage.  I enter the month and year, and our preferred cruises lines.  We tend to sleep around with the various majors, with a river cruises thrown in for good measure.  I see what they are offering.  We are purely destination driven in cruise speak.  …and how much they want for a upper category room or suite.  You know the Captain, his butt powdering needs a certain category to make him feel at home.  I know the range per night we are willing to spend….there has been a definite cruiseflation…everyone has figure out the same thing…cruising is the easiest way to see the world without repacking a suitcase.  So, my target number has gone up considerably since BC (Before Covid).  This cruise was no different.  Both Viking and HAL (Holland America Lines-aka Carnival for old folks) offered similar itineraries-US port departure, head north along Canadian coast across to Greenland and around Iceland.  HAL comes back to Boston-35 days. Viking Ocean terminates in Reykjavik, Iceland in 14 days.  Not wanting to miss Hurricane season in Houston and the chance to put a blue tarp on our roof or muck water out of our house, we decided to try Viking.  Viking is new to the Ocean cruising business, and has actually only been in the river cruise business for 25 years…they currently have 60 long boats or river cruisers, 12 ocean vessels, and 2 expeditions ships for more shallow bodies of waters like the Great Lakes.  It was marketing genius to place sponsorship ads with PBS Masterpiece-they know their target market.  The business model fascinates me…the debt load of this Norwegian gentlemen must be enormous.  The ships are all new (no refurbs).  Small…like 950 passengers…in a world of large, tall, noisy mine is bigger than yours ships.  There are no casinos, minimum number of bars and meager entertainment staffs, no art sales, cooking demonstrations or the like.  No staff driven games or hijinks.  Plenty (like 5-6 times a day) enrichment lectures by very knowledgeable professionals that could put anyone to sleep.  So, as a passenger you are expected to entertain yourself-read, spa, lay out in the sun or swim, work out in the gym…but you are on your own. The food and service is outstanding…the staff all smile and appear to be happy.  They are not harried or overwhelmed with they number of people they are asked to serve.  Pleasant change for sure.  The deco-danish modern, well, duh.  Kinda like a cruise ship mated with an IKEA store.  Blonde wood, low back seating (Eddie hates that) thoughtful designed staterooms and bathrooms.  Lots of closets and drawers and surface area and a bathroom shower large enough that you don’t have to stand in the toilet to get clean-looking at you, Princess…or a bathtub too high to get in and out of without steps.  A woman must have designed this space.  

So, who signs up for this cerebral cruise….old people.  There are no children allowed on Viking Ocean cruises.  I guess their definition put any one under 45 (maybe even 50) are classified as children.  There are probably only 10% younger than me.  In fact, Eddie looks a little young-but you know, fat don’t crack, so he has a less weathered and wrinkled appearance…and after 3 eye surgeries, he looks positively youthful…except for the chronic tearing part (yes, still)…  We figure most folks to be 75-85 years old….basically all Quails, possibly a few second marriages but not trophy wives.   Did not see the rule that scooters and walkers would not be permitted on board…there are none (or they have hidden them)…walking poles or a subtle cane are permitted.of course there should be an onboard shop for medical braces, because 33% of folks have some sort of appliance or brace.    There are a lot of mobility challenged folks limping, hobbling, shuffling, knuckle dragging…never mind the part about mouth breathers and hearing aides….basically, at Day 3 we are still looking for our tribe. It appears that most groups on board did not just organically happen, more of a BYOP-bring your own posse.  Everyone else sticks to their quail mate. 

Sister Kathy has quite a network of cruise friends and professionals.  She asked for a “first impression” on Day One as she was eating with her cruise booking gal that lives in the PNW.  Turns out we made the better choice on Viking over HAL.  The HAL out of Boston has had numerous problems and apparently is sending this pal lots on reports!  

We are currently preparing to get off the ship in Halifax…and take a tall ship tour of the harbor,  Did I mention that the storm that slammed the eastern seaboard and left 1 million in the dark has followed us up to Nova Scotia.  So, we have dawned our rain gear.  Not sure we will see much as the fog-you got it, thick as pea soup.  We will be shuffling off for now.  

 🎶”Start spreading the news…we are leaving today (really,  we left on Saturday, and it is now Tuesday, I am a little behind)…we want to be apart of it…New York, New York.” 🎶 We all know what that means, I am spending my downtime (Eddie’s nap time) writing about our travels and sharing, wait for it, Eddie stories.  This time, we are in search of double digit (not our current all too familiar triple digits) temperatures that are 60’s and below.  It gets harder every year to find a place in earth not touched by global warming.  We will start our trip in old New York, up to Nova Scotia through the St Lawrence sea way, across the Atlantic, popping in to Greenland (completing our Travel bucket list of all continents*), and finally, circumnavigating Iceland.  (*Antarctic was more of a drive-by, but we decided to count it, we are getting older so we want to cross the finish line of several things.

So, as I am behind, I will recap our 40 hours in New York.  First, the traffic.  I promise to never complain about Houston traffic…inside, outside or on the various loops.  I do not know how people here do it.  The congestion cars, buses, black Suburban limos, Uber/Lyft, yellow cabs, the tolls, the uncontrolled/uncontrollable e-bikes (that is a whole post all on its own), pedestrians…Houston can stay #4.  I could/would not drive in #1 New York, I value my sanity and life too much.  Walking is enough of an adrenaline rush for me.  

This is not our first time in NY by any means, but the first time since preCovid.  Yes, just like all major metropolitan areas, the ghost of Covid lurks in the vacant shop windows and the lack of lit office space in the early morning hours that whispers life is not the same.  Arriving on Saturday the streets were full of families, couples, Japanese tour groups (welcome back, we missed your yen)  and a wild assortment of characters…whether they are local or imported, they are looking for their tribes of likeminded people.  The people watching is some of the best in the world.   We arrived at our hotel the Intercontinental Barclay- part of the IHG group-read Holiday Inn. Whether the Holiday Inn corporate philosophy or the effects on large city hotels post Covid without business travelers, the Barclay looks a little less special and a little more common…down to the dingy thin towels in the bathroom…than it once did when we would come close to Christmas for a meeting with one of Eddie’s groups.  

We dropped our 4 (yes, four, ridiculous amount of overpacking and just in case crap) pieces of luggage in the hotel room, and headed out on foot.  Now remember, we have walked two different airport terminals this morning, never mind the multi trips I made around the house before we departed.    My watch is already asking me if I want to change my fitness goals, and reminding me to stand on the plane or in the taxi.  So, we are off.  We had theatre tickets for 8:00 to see Moulin Rouge the Musical.  Dinner reservations at Becco’s Italian for 5:00.  When I looked at the map…walking and subway, as we are right next door to the Grand Central station, I thought we could do this, looks like a little more than a mile, yeah, we are good.  Over the years from this hotel, I have learned to navigate the NY subway system extremely well along with the avenues and streets.  The Grand Central station has been restored over the years and is eye candy for centuries old architecture geeks (guilty).  We passed on cabs..yellow or pedi (addition since our 2018 visit) and Uber.  We walked, and walked.  Yes, it is 20 degrees cooler than home, but the humidity feels like home and the throngs of people seems to take whatever slight breeze there is out of the equation.  Another thing that I want to do when I come back in the afterlife is to have the scaffolding business that is here in the city.  Despite empty office buildings and store front, new office buildings are going up along with renovation of old ones all around Midtown Manhattan, all are required to have scaffolding…  Our foot travels took up us past the Roosevelt Hotel.  Eddie stayed there in the 1990’s, it was a expensive flea bag.  As I remember the story it was $300 a night and his room was so small that he had to open the closet door when in bed to have a place for his feet to rest…we can all assume there is an Eddie upgrade with that story.   Anyway, if you believe the News (pick your favorite flavor, I think there is agreement on this fact) this old hotel has been used to house the thousand of immigrants from Abbott’s bus-a-migrant program.  Yup, right here on E45th at Vanderbilt…convenient but kinda of a pricy neighborhood.  Our walk by begs the question, why are they 200 motor bikes-more Vespar than Harley- parked in front?  Is this why Mayor Eric Adams can’t afford the problem as they all receive a Midtown Manhattan hotel room and motor bike when they get off the bus from Texas?  Good Grief, hospitality has it limits, and I am from the Deep South.  

Dinner was typical New York family Italian, lots of people packed shoulder to shoulder in small butt chairs (think ice cream parlor sized) at even smaller tables.  Pasta portions are reasonably priced and large…with all the usual suspects for secondi if you wanted a hearty entree.  Cocktails or house wine were $14…which if you know NYC is a deal.  So, with full bellies we attempted to wander the Times Square area..forget it…7:00 was prime time for everything.  

We gave up and joined the queue in front of the Al Hirschfeld theatre to see Moulin Rouge, the Musical. Yes, there was a movie starring Nicole Kidman..but the basis of all of this is the turn of the 1900’s cabaret of the same name in Paris that is general considered where the can-can started.  Cabaret dancers that were oftentimes prostitutes….the plot line of both movie and musical speaks to those facts…bawdiness and all.    So, image our surprises at the number of elementary school kids with their parents seeing the show.  Great music, great dancing, high energy and lots of follow up questions by people of a certain age…like under 12.  User tip, if this is one of the options at the TKTS booths, check wiki before purchasing.  Or, maybe we are just getting that old.  Yikes!  Great show! Remember these old theaters are not known for elbow or leg room, and we had walked 9.5 miles on the day to that point…not a usual thing in Pickle world, Texas edition.  So, the 1.5 miles home were slow going, we  had stiffened up a tad.  We rolled into bed around 12:00 EST.  Even at CST, well past our published bed time of 9:30.  

Sunday was a slow morning.  We went to an on trend late brunch in a near by cafe, we did not pick up a copy of The NY Times, we used our pads and read the Chronicle..with some of the same stories, I am sure.  Remember our last out of Texas trip, we saw friends from our past…well, this trip is no different.  We arranged to meet one of Eddie’s college chums (and a groomsman in our wedding) for dinner.  We have seen Mike more frequently than most of our old friends, and Eddie does a better job of keeping up with the 5-6 of them….even though they had a betting pool on how long our marriage would last…we had only known each other a sum total of 6 weeks when we got married after a blind date.    At 47 years and counting,  Eddie won the bet.  Score one for Team Quail/Pickle.  (Remember those Desert quail that are mated for life)   Mike always reminds us of the bet…We went to dinner at our favorite place, The River Cafe, in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn bridge.  We have been coming for at least 27 of their 30 years in business.  Well, since the last time we were here, Brooklyn (specifically DUMBO-Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) has become a big thing.  Brooklyn has become the new hip area to live and be…never mind it cost $22.50 each way to go over the bridge.  Renovation of old warehouses, green spaces, parks, open markets and tall (50+ story) apartment and condo complexes….and the River Cafe with great views is now hard to get into, Michelin Starred restaurant with a cast of 100’s to serve you.  Was it worth the 90 day out reservation, guaranteed by a credit card, 4 phones reminding us to be there promptly at 7? Along with the dress code?  Nope, the Italian place last night was much better.  $40 a glass for a house red wine…seriously.  We share several hours of laughter and views from their Gramercy Park apartment..mere blocks from the Union  Square riot over a PlayStation give away 9 days before….no, we do not have attending a riot in a major city on our bucket list.  I got a huge hug from Mike and he whispered that he was glad that we (meaning Eddie and I) are growing old together, and he has someone to take care of him.  Yeah, Mike knows our Eddie pretty well.  

Until I write again,