Don’t Look Back

Posted on 1 September, 2013 by Tina

I’m a person who lives in the past a lot.  By that, there are parts of the past which I remember fondly and wish that had never ended.

So I just realized yesterday that 17 years ago this weekend, Labor Day Weekend, was my move to San Francisco from L.A.  Rather, my company moved me to San Francisco, though it was my decision to come here.  Back then, I’d worked for the company for 2 years, or not quite 2 years at the time of the move, give or take a few weeks.  During that time, they had also sent me to Chicago for 3 months to help out in that office.  Since my boss (an attorney) in the L.A. office had switched to the business side, the Law Dept. in Chicago offered me a position there.  Don’t get me wrong, Chicago is a great place.  The skyline is incredible, the restaurants (Irish, Italian, Indian, Greek, etc.) are wonderful and the people are very friendly.  Plus, our offices in Chicago take up the 56th & 57th floors, which have amazing views.  My 3 months there were great, but they’d offered me the job after I’d already returned to L.A. to the comfort of my boyfriend and my Chow Chow.  In addition, I’d been in Chicago during the winter, which borders on brutal at times.  Having grown up in Kansas, snow and winter in general are not things that I miss.  Once I was back in L.A. in the sunshine eating Thai food with my boyfriend and playing with my Chow, living in Chicago was the furthest thing from my mind.  Obviously, I turned down the job offer, fully expecting to be laid off in L.A. within months.  Instead, the company later surprised me with the news that they were opening an office in San Francisco.  Anyone who was interested in transferring to San Francisco would be moved there at the company’s expense.  I’d always loved San Francisco and flew there often from L.A. to shop, eat, sightsee and party.  Even though people in L.A. that had lived both places warned me that living in San Francisco is nothing like visiting, I took no heed.  As for my boyfriend, once I told him about my plans, he simply said “Maybe it’s the best thing for you.”  That was neither what I was expecting or wanting him to say, but that solidified my decision.  My Chow ended up living very happily with a friend of mine.

My last weekend in L.A. was a commotion of packing, temporarily staying in a hotel and saying goodbye to friends.  My boyfriend stayed in the hotel with me on Saturday and Sunday, as my flight to San Francisco was on Monday.  I had a party in my hotel room, a junior suite, to bid adieu to friends  that Saturday night.  People brought food, drinks, alcohol, gifts.  It was fitting goodbye.  The boyfriend and I went back to my apartment on Sunday afternoon to pack up the last few things, then had a couple more people over to the hotel room that night simply to watch T.V. and hang out.  When I woke up with him on Monday morning, it started to hit me.  The sadness was beginning to set in.  He asked what I wanted to do for my last day in L.A.  “Go to the beach, of course!” was my answer.  We had lunch at my favorite fast food Argentinean chicken chain (Gaucho Grill), then went down to Venice Beach for the rest of the afternoon.  We’d always talked about getting tattoos together; both of us were virgins, in that respect.  It was now or never.  We decided on some tattoo shop on Venice Beach, picked out our tattoos, then decided who was going first.  I opted to go first, my reason being that, if he went first, I’d chicken out while watching him get the tattoo!  My tattoo was the Chinese symbol for Happiness, to be placed on the back of my right shoulder.  I was wishing Happiness for myself in the new life.  He got the Chinese symbol for Good Luck in the same spot!  I have a deathly fear of needles, but braced myself.  It was easier having it done on my back, as I couldn’t see the needle, but the sound of the machine starting gave me chills.  In reality, it wasn’t that bad; the outlining hurt me more than the actual filling in.  When the tattoos were done, we had a few drinks and headed off to the airport.  I was holding up ok at first.  Once I looked out at all of the airplanes, thought about how many times I’d flown in and out of LAX, and thought about how much I truly loved L.A., my friends, my Chow and my boyfriend, it was over.  I began crying hysterically and couldn’t stop.  He tried to console me, to no avail.  Eventually, he was so unnerved by my crying that he had to leave; he was on the verge of crying as well.  With that, I boarded the plane, cried all the way to SFO, cried all the way to my hotel, cried all night and thus embarked on my new life in San Francisco.

Within a week, it was obvious that moving to San Francisco had been the wrong decision.  I kept telling myself that there would be an adjustment period, of course.  Well, that adjustment period must still be going on.  I can unabashedly say that my heart kind of harbors hate for San Francisco.  It’s more expensive than L.A., the weather sucks, clubs are boring, ethnic food isn’t as good and the people are so full of themselves, as well as being stupid.  That being said, there are many, many reasons for me remaining here this long, though maybe they’ll be revealed to you at a later time.  I went back to L.A. to visit my boyfriend within a month.  He sensed the difference in me right away and commented “You’re not happy any more!”

Now it’s 17 years later and the what ifs still plague me. If I’d stayed in L.A., would I have gotten a better job?  Would I have married or lived with that boyfriend?  Would I have partyed my life away?  Would I have been happier?

There are things that I like about San Francisco – taking the cable car to work every day, being able to walk everywhere, eating/drinking in North Beach (our Italian section) or on Belden Lane (the “French” alley), wandering through Chinatown, but that’s about it.  It’s not enough to make up for my losses.  I try not to look back, but it’s difficult.  San Francisco brought me my ex-husband, which made me an automatic part of the French community.  I made it my mission to know as many people as possible in North Beach.  As much as I enjoy the French and Italian communities here, I long for the beach and motorcycle rides along Muholland Drive, especially in the summer.  I miss myL.A. friends and miss having a Chow.

Nothing will ever dim my love for L.A.  In the same respect, nothing will ever make me love San Francisco.

Now my life is kind of at a standstill.  My goal is to take a giant leap that will land me in another state or city (merely as a stepping stone), but ultimately another country.  There is someone and something more for me than this.  I just have to take the initiative to make it happen.  As I wrote somewhere in this blog before, they say that if you put something down in writing, it makes it more concrete.  So I’m putting this out there to the universe and all the Gods.  Give me the strength and courage to make a new life, the one I’m dreaming about, no matter how long it takes.

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And Now For Musical Monday

Posted on 26 August, 2013 by Tina

Friday night I went to see Kermit Ruffins at Brick and Mortar.  He’s a trumpet player from New Orleans, who’s hot at the moment because he’s a regular on the HBO series “Treme.”  I had a ticket to see him in New Orleans at One Eyed Jacks, but missed his performance (long story, which I may have told you before).  The doors opened at 8:00 p.m. and the concert began at 9:00 p.m.  I was at the bar at 8:20, had one drink and was standing directly in front of the stage by 8:45.  Being vertically challenged, if I don’t scope out a good spot right at the start, I can forget seeing much of anything as the night wears on.  The first act was a group called “Fat Cat.”  The lead singer, from Louisiana, reminded me voice-wise of an old fave of mine, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.  They played all original songs – bluesy and funky.  It took me back to my days of puberty.  You know, when you’d lay in your room in a haze of pot smoke with the black light on staring fixated at your black light posters, listening to “Mandrake Root” by Deep Purple and thinking about moving to Cali.  The next group up was The Brass Mafia, who are supposedly a New Orleans brass ensemble.  They were good and funky, too, with a female trombonist.

Kermit came on around 11:30 p.m.  The stage crew had already put two buckets of ice cold beers on stage for him and his band; mostly for him.  He opened with “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” then went into several more New Orleans standards, including “Eiko, Eiko.”  His guest singer was Noya Jones, who did an outstanding version of “At Last.”  Kermit has plenty of personality.  He suggested everyone buy his CD now, while he’s hot.  He said that he may not be hot tomorrow, which is true; fame is fickle.  Around 1:00 a.m., he sold out, in my opinion, by singing “Tonight Is Gonna’ Be A Good Night,” which is NOT his style at all.  To make it worse, he invited all of the women in the audience to jump onstage and dance.  You can’t imagine how horrifying it was!  A bunch of drunken women with no rhythm, trying to grind up on Kermit and get their picture taken.  I couldn’t take it any more.  That’s when I took it upon myself to walk home.  Besides, it was far too hot and stuffy in there after four and a half hours of people bumping into me and singing loudly in my ears.  Yeah, I walked home from the Mission all by my lonesome after 1:00 a.m.  No one bothered me at all.  I got it like that!

With that, here’s Kermit:

“St. James Infirmary” – Kermit Ruffins

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The Effects of Dying Electronics

Posted on 26 August, 2013 by Tina

Last Tuesday I noticed that my beloved Android didn’t seem to be charging for very long.  My room is littered with chargers and adaptors from previous cell phones and other electronics.  I’d already “killed” several of them.  Rather than drag it out, I high tailed it down to Staples on my lunch break on Wednesday to buy a universal adaptor for the bargain price of $25.00.  Back at the office, my cell phone charged up nicely and all was right in the world again.  Lo and behold, the cell didn’t seem to be holding a charge again that night or the following morning.  Since the adaptor was brand spanking new, I came to the conclusion that – OMG – there must be something wrong with the phone.  I expected the worst – that my phone had died.  So on my lunch break on Thursday, I made a little trip to the closest Verizon branch.  My worst fears were true.  The “charger thingie” on the side of my Android was damaged and couldn’t be fixed.  Since my phone was no longer under warranty (only good for a year) and since I wasn’t due for a discounted upgrade to a new phone until next January,  I’d be forced to buy a new phone at full retail price.  I rolled my eyes and asked them what ridiculous price that would be.  They assured me that it would be possible for me to buy a phone anywhere else that was adaptable to their system.  Let’s see, my land line is no more and my current cell phone is dead.  I have no communication (phone-wise) with the outside world and didn’t have any more time to waste on my lunch break to search in person or via the internet for another phone, let alone wait for it to arrive, should it be ordered on-line.  I just wanted to get the business over and done with.  They informed me that a new phone comparable to or better than my Android would run between $400 and $575 in the full retail price range!  They couldn’t mistake my look of unhappiness.  So they asked if I’d ever considered getting a tablet.  Honestly, I’d intended to research tablets next week because I’m tired of dragging the heavy laptop on trips with me.  They promised that if I got a tablet through them, not only would they give me a discounted price on a new phone, but they’d also give me a better data plan.  My current data plan gives me 5 g’s of data for something like $50/month, which isn’t nearly enough if I want to download photos, listen to radio stations or watch YouTube.  The salesman was dead set on hard selling me an iPhone and an iPad Mini.  I’ve never been one to jump on the bandwagon and have what everyone else has; that’s so not like me.  I’ve been against an iPhone for years.  As for a tablet, a Kindle Fire was my main thought.  Said salesman told me that he’d been against an iPhone until he got one about 6 months ago; now he can’t live without it.  He said that the only thing comparable would be the new Samsung Galaxy, but he didn’t show me anything other than Apple products!  Due to my limited time, I really didn’t give a flying F*** at the moment; just needed to get a working phone immediately and get back to the office before my boss had a heart attack wondering as to my whereabouts.  I walked out of there with an iPhone 5 (which will be obsolete when the new one comes out in what – a month?!) and an iPad Mini, along with 1 extra g of data for the same price as before.  Not bad, I thought.  The iPhone was sold to me at the discounted price; I paid a deposit on the iPad Mini and the other payments will be spread out over 12 months.  Back to the office I went, feeling confused.

After lots of time messing with both of them, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m madly in love with the iPad Mini, but am not at all impressed with the stupid iPhone that everyone raves about.  There’s only one button on the iPhone, which means there isn’t a “back” button.  When you want to go back, you press the one button that takes you back to your home screen, which isn’t necessarily where I want to go.  The camera was far better on my Android.  It takes a million years for a picture taken with the camera on the iPhone to download directly to Facebook.  While my Android had all kinds of free apps and free music, Apple charges you for every move you make.  Believe me, I haven’t been able to find any truly free music.  As for my Hawaiian radio stations, most of them don’t seem to be available  on the iPhone.  The one plus is that I can finally listen to my favorite L.A. radio station, KROQ, again.  That one comes in quite clearly.  I downloaded “free” Italian lessons.  Out of about 20 lessons, only the first 4 are free, then they charge you.  The first 4 are for beginners, so I definitely don’t need those.  The truly creepy thing about the iPhone is that I linked it to my Facebook account, not quite knowing what it would do.  As I was browsing my Contacts last night, I was amazed to find that it gave me all kinds of personal information about people, based on their telephone number alone.  Certain guys from the dating website had given me only their first name and a phone number.  With the iPhone, it filled in the blanks, so to speak.  This little stalker of a phone gave me their last name, a photo (in some cases) and their Facebook profile name.  It also lists certain people as my “iPhone contacts”, which apparently means people who have certain smartphones, such as iPhones, Androids and Blackberries.

Now let’s get to the data, shall we?  After messing with my new Apple products for a couple of days, it already used up more than half of my data.  I’d originally had unlimited data on my other phone.  After being forced to upgrade/get a new phone, the unlimited data goes away.  I never really knew how much data was being eaten up by checking E-mails, listening to the radio, checking the weather, etc., etc.  Since it doesn’t seem feasible to me in the long run, I put in a little call to Verizon this afternoon, loaded with a bevy of questions.  Did I lose all of my unlimited data on my phone?  Yes.  Do you still offer any monthly plan with unlimited data?  No.  Am I using data when I’m using ANYTHING on my phone?  Yes, with the exception of actual phone calls and texting.  How much do I have left to pay on my iPad Mini?  (Let’s just say, a lot.)  How much would it cost me to break the contract?  There’s a termination fee for my MiFi/Jetpack of $165.  What if I wanted to go in with my roommates on their internet connection (which is UNLIMITED, by the way), is it possible for me to get rid of the data for my tablet and laptop, but keep the absolute minimum for my iPhone?  Why yes!  He also told me that he could get me a plan with 700 minutes of talking time (I virtually never talk on my phone or even answer when anyone calls), unlimited texting (my texting has gone way down with 2 certain people now out of my life), 10 g’s of data for my laptop and 10 g’s of data for my tablet at the bargain price of $362.90/month!  Are you freaking SERIOUS?!?!  Let’s see, taxes went up at the beginning of the year, which made me have to redo my deductions from my paycheck.  My rent is going up in September and my data plan seems to have jumped off at 2 or 3 times what I was paying before.  I explained that all to the Verizon person, who said that he completely understood.  As an offset, he said that he could give me 2 more g’s of data on my current plan for an additional $10.  That’s better than nothing, so I told him to go ahead with it.  I thanked him for his time, then promised to call him back and harass him/change up everything again by the end of the week.  In the meantime, I’m waiting for my one roommate, the one who has the internet connection in the apartment, to answer my text.  Once he tells me what my third of the monthly internet payment will be, I intend to kiss Verizon goodbye before the end of the month, as far as my tablet and laptop are concerned.

These phone companies are making a killing, but I refuse to play the game the way they want me to.  However, that iPad Mini is a keeper.  I want to marry it!

At the end of the month, I’m going to call Verizon and ask them if I can downgrade – to a rotary phone!

Categories: Android, Apple products, cell phone, data plan, Electronics, iPad Mini, iPhone 5, laptop, tablet, Verizon | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Adios, Santa Fe

Posted on 20 August, 2013 by Tina

Monday dawned bright and early in Santa Fe.  Well, maybe it wasn’t so much early.  I usually wake up between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. during the week in San Francisco, so it was already 8:00 a.m. in Santa Fe, due to the one hour time difference.  Bright still applies, though, if only because there was a skylight in my bedroom directly over part of the bed.  My first matter of the day was to shower, then figure out how to pack all of my purchases in my two carry-on bags.  Failing that, I’d have to start an all-out search for an inexpensive duffle bag to pack the overflow into.  I squeezed as much as I could into my two bags, but knew that it wouldn’t all fit.  Not that I bought all THAT much stuff, but…  I’d worn a leather jacket and boots when leaving San Francisco.  That’s because it’s always cold at SFO and because I’d been worried that it might get chilly the night I was at the Opera.  There was NO WAY I’d be wearing the same clothing on the return flight to SFO.  So, yeah, the boots and bulky leather jacket were taking up 1/3 of the available space!  My one bulky purchase was a reversible Incan poncho fashioned from alpaca with a beautiful blue-green design on it.  Alpaca is lightweight, but surprisingly warm.  The price was right, too, thus I couldn’t pass it up.  Those three items were the cause of my packing distress.

I made it out of the casita around 9:45 a.m.  I was downtown in the Historical Plaza area by 10:00 a.m.  Heavenly Boutique was just opening.  I’d already been in there twice, once to see if she had ladies’ underthings (she did, but not what I was looking for) and another time to buy some high end jeans that she had on sale.  The owner, Kim, is a sweetheart – friendly and as helpful as possible.  I asked if she had any suggestions as to where I might find an inexpensive duffle bag in the Plaza area.  Her first suggestion was the Five and Dime Store; neither of us could recall if we’d seen duffle bags in there, though.  She also informed me that there’s a Ross store at the Sanbusco Center (or was it DeVargas?), which was walking distance from my casita.  Then she even went in her back room to see if she had one that she could give to me!  She didn’t, but that extra effort makes all the difference.  In the meantime, her little dog, Romeo, was running around and keeping me entertained.  He’s a lover, that’s for sure!

Five and Dime answered my prayers.  They had several duffle bags, the cheapest being $14.95.  Who knows?  Maybe I could have found one even cheaper at Ross, but I didn’t feel like doing even more walking when this one would do the trick.  My thoughts were to stuff the leather jacket, boots and whatever else might fit into the duffle bag and check it.  That way, I could carry the lighter stuff, including using my poncho as a blanket on the flight.

After all that “hard” work, my stomach told me it was time to get my grub on.  I went to Del Charro Saloon for the third time.  It’s a casual bar/restaurant, nothing on the menu is over $10, the food was good and service was good.  On the first visit, I had their $6 red chile burger (ground beef seasoned with red chile sauce served on a bun with lettuce, onion and tomato).  Every day they offer a $6 special.  The second time I went for the classic Frito pie (crispy Fritos topped with beef chili, jack/cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo) at $7.  That afternoon I was ready to attempt the stuffed green chile cheeseburger (ground beef seasoned with chipotle BBQ sauce, stuffed with smoked bacon, gorgonzola and green chile; also served on a bun with lettuce, onion and tomato).  Rather than fries, I had the potato salad, a tasty and unique version.  I LOVED that burger, though, even more than the red chile one.  On my next visit to Santa Fe, Del Charro will be a regular stop of mine.

I made a last run by the Native American Indian vendors that sit under the portal of the Palace of the Governors on a daily basis, selling their wares spread out on blankets.  It used to be that their prices were better than the ones in the stores, but not so much these days.  When a pair of earrings goes for $130 and a bracelet goes for $240, it makes me glad that I’d purchased even more beautiful pieces from them at half the price (or less) on my previous two visits.

I browsed other stores around the Plaza.  You could tell that Santa Fe was beginning to wear off on me because I actually considered buying a rawhide hat and some cowboy boots!  They make some beautiful boots for women these days.  Unfortunately, every pair that I looked at was in the $429-$550 range!  The rawhide hats were more affordable at $45-$65, but I refrained from both.  Another item that was catching my eye was the Native American Indian coats made of Pendleton blankets.  The vendors on the street were selling them for $350; in the stores they cost up to $475!!!

My last purchases were a couple of blinged out (as in studded with crystals) leather belts adorned with crosses at at store called Simply Southwest.  Not only am I obsessed with crosses (hence, that ginormous Polynesian-style cross tattoo on my inner right arm), but those belts were discounted by 50%.  After driving the saleswoman crazy by trying on belt after belt and changing my mind numerous times, I finally settled on two of them.  Nah, seriously, the saleswoman was extremely patient with me; she could tell I was a serious shopper!

Back at the casita, everything made it into my now THREE bags somehow.  I washed my lone glass in the kitchen, then called the casita owner to let him know that I’d still been unable to put the key back in the lock box.  He assured me that it didn’t matter, as he still had another key.  About half an hour before my shuttle arrived, there was a knock on the door.  The casita owner introduced himself.  I was surprised that he was much younger than I’d expected.  He wanted to make a quick run through to check for damages.  That way, if there weren’t any, he could hand my damage deposit check back to me personally, rather than mailing it.  He gave me the check, showed me how to put the key back in the lock box (it wasn’t easy for him, either!) and told me to feel free to give him a call if I needed anything else or if there was a problem with the shuttle.

The shuttle was on time, I slept during the hour ride to Albuquerque, the flight was delayed by about thirty minutes and we arrived about 15 minutes later than scheduled.  BTW, that alpaca made the perfect blankie!

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Santa Fe was a great little jaunt.  I enjoyed myself, relaxed, loved my casita, bought beautiful things and ate spicy food.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Categories: Food/Restaurants, Holidays/Special Events, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Back in Cold, Gray San Francisco

Posted on 19 August, 2013 by Tina

I’ll keep thoughts of Santa Fe for awhile longer, though, especially with some more Ottmar Liebert for Musical Monday!

“Santa Fe” – Ottmar Liebert

With that, here are a few more parting shots:

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Categories: Holidays/Special Events, Music, Photos, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The End Is Near

Posted on 18 August, 2013 by Tina

Today was the second (and final) day of Indian Market.  Now the flurry of Indian Market will end and 50,000 or more people will leave town, but there are still myriad opportunities to spend money on very unique Native American Indian products on any given day!

I maintained slightly better today than yesterday.  My main purchase was a waiter’s knife (i.e. wine opener) inlaid with aventurine and jet from Cutlery of Santa Fe.  I bought one from them several years ago, but no one is allowed to use it other than me!  The prices have gone up (which is to be expected), but it doesn’t bother me much since I collect wine openers.  Weird, huh?

I admit to looking at some concho belts of both sterling silver and nickel.  They were half off at some store on the Plaza, but the nickel ones still ran around $300 to $400.  The cheapest sterling silver one was $750 at half off!  That means, it will have to wait for another time, if at all!

I tried to take a few more meaningful photos than yesterday, but still don’t feel as if my photos on this trip captured the real essence of Santa Fe.  That just means I’ll have to return again!

On the other hand, I managed to finish ALL of my 3 meals today.  Breakfast was New Mexico breakfast tacos at Casa Chimayo.  They served 3 breakfast tacos (scrambled eggs, cilantro and what have you with salsa fresca).  It was the perfect amount for me and only cost $6.  The waiter told me that he left Cuahtemoc, Mexico years ago, lived in Chicago awhile, lived in Albuquerque, too, but finally settled in Santa Fe, which he loves.  My lunch was frito pie at  Del Charro Saloon.  For $7 I got a huge plate of ground beef, chili beans, lettuce and tomato over Fritos.  Somehow I managed to eat it all.  For a change of pace, I had a dinner reservation at Tanti Luce for some Italian food.  I ordered the pappardelle bolognese ($19) with a glass of Cotes du Rhone ($9).  While it was good, it certainly wasn’t up to the caliber of either Ideale or E Tutto Qua in San Francisco!  Even so, I enjoyed sitting on the terrace, until it began to sprinkle.  At that point, a gentleman from another table dashed over and set up my umbrella for me.  I took my time at dinner looking at the full (or almost full) moon and savoring my glass of wine.  The restaurant is very sweet.  There’s plenty of room inside, a huge terrace outside, hidden alcoves and a nice courtyard with a fountain.  It would be the perfect romantic spot for a couple.

My walk back to the casita was more leisurely and less scary than Friday night, perhaps because it was earlier and I’d been drinking!  The breeze rustled the trees along the riverbed and the shadows lengthened along the pathway.  Far off I could hear the strains of Santana’s “Samba Pa Ti,” combined with the smell of BBQ (carne asada, perhaps?).  Although it isn’t cold, I had a mad desire to soak in the tub drinking a glass of wine with the candelabra lit, then light the fireplace with the scents of pinon and sage.  Alas, I have no wine and no one to share that fireplace with.  Maybe next time…

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Categories: Food/Restaurants, Holidays/Special Events, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Few Pictures of My Casita

Posted on 18 August, 2013 by Tina

As stated above, here are a few pictures of my little casita’s very Santa Fe style.

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A Teaser For Now

Posted on 17 August, 2013 by Tina

The morning started off interestingly yesterday.  I arrived at the casita, found some keys in the garden area and went in.  Strangely, it didn’t look like the photos he’d posted, but I quickly changed, left my things and ran off to explore Santa Fe.  When I returned about 4 hours later, the front gate was locked.  I had to go around to the OTHER side of the building, where I discovered a different door with a lock box.  I’d neglected to bring the code to the lock box (long story about packing in a rush) and couldn’t bring the attachment up on my E-mail on my Android.  Thus, I called the owner, who gave me the code to get in.  When I walked in, I realized that I’d been in the WRONG casita earlier!  This one looked like the photos.  I freaked out, wondering if someone was already in the other casita and had gone through my stuff.  I ran over there, but it looked like no one had been there.  I transferred my stuff to the right casita, relocked the door and put the keys back where I’d found them.  In reality, this casita is nicer, anyway.  There are vigas ceilings in every room, a skylight in the bedroom, nice tiles in the kitchen and bathroom, as well as ceiling fans in the bedroom and living room.

Last night at the Opera was great.  The Santa Fe Opera is outdoors in a very modern building.  Rather than having super titles posted above the stage, every seat has a little screen in front of them.  You press once for English titles and twice for Spanish titles.  I saw “La Traviata,” which is the opera that I’d already seen in Venice.  Although I didn’t care for the set of the first two acts, it was a very clever little production.  Plus, the man sitting next to me was quite nice; his son works for the Opera.  When he left, he tried to say something to me in Italian.  I told him (in Italian) that I speak a little Italian.  Then he tried to say something to me in French.  So I told him (in French) that I speak a little French, even better than my Italian!

Here are a few photos taken yesterday.  I’m about to dash off to breakfast, shopping and more photo taking.  Enjoy!

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Musical Monday Makes Up For It

Posted on 12 August, 2013 by Tina

Due to my disappointment the other night, I’ll allow Harry to make it up to me with this video.  This still has me fiending for New Orleans.  I long to be there again on a sultry summer night in a crowded bar listening to some phenomenal live music while the scent of magnolias lingers in the air.

“On the Street Where You Live” – Harry Connick, Jr.

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I Have A Dream

Posted on 11 August, 2013 by Tina

Bucket list.  When did you first hear that term and what does it refer to?  Apparently, the term refers to a number of things one hopes to accomplish before they “kick the bucket.”  My first memory of hearing it must have been about ten years ago.

I’ve never compiled an official bucket list, but I did/do have a number of things on my “to do wish list,” so to speak.  Here’s my list thus far, with the things I’ve already accomplished at the beginning and the things I still dream about following those.

  1. Ride in a gondola in Venice (accomplished)
  2. Have a bellini at Harry’s Bar in Venice (accomplished)
  3. Drink hot chocolate at Cafe Florian in Venice (accomplished)
  4. See the bonfires lit along the levees of the Mississippi River to guide Pape Noel to the bayou on Christmas Eve (accomplished)
  5. Dance zydeco at the Rock N Bowl in New Orleans (accomplished)
  6. Attend the Bal du Pompiers on Bastille Day, or the night before, in Paris (accomplished)
  7. See the Hundred Fountains at the Villa d’Este in Tivoli (accomplished)
  8. Put my hand inside La Bocca della Verita in Rome (accomplished)
  9. Ride an elephant (accomplished)
  10. See a Muay Thai match in Thailand (accomplished)
  11. Go to Mont St. Michel (accomplished)
  12. Be kissed on a beautiful summer night on the tip of the Ile Saint Louis in the area that’s so green with trees and flowers (still hoping)
  13. Go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras (maybe soon)
  14. Go to Venice for Carnevale (yet to be done)
  15. See the swim of the Chincoteague ponies (yet to be seen)
  16. Walk the Great Wall of China (yet to be done)
  17. See tango on the streets of Buenos Aires (yet to be seen)
  18. Float on a barge down the Nile River in Egypt (yet to be done)
  19. Toss a coin into Trevi Fountain (yet to be done, believe it or not)
  20. See Machu Picchu (yet to be seen)
  21. Go to the Wailing Wall (yet to be done)
  22. Samba with a handsome man in Rio de Janeiro (yet to be done)
  23. Watch the sunrise from the Taj Mahal in Agra (yet to be done)

Looking at the numbers, they’re not so bad.  I’ve accomplished less than half, but have 12 yet to work on.  Of course, I’ll be adding to the list, too, as my knowledge about certain places increases.

The first 3, in Venice, were all accomplished on the same day!  I’ve been to Venice maybe 5 times in all; those things were always on my list.  On my final day of my most recent trip there, I set out to do ALL of them!  I went to Cafe Florian for the hot chocolate first.  Although it cost about 15E, the salon was elegant, the service was impeccable and the hot chocolate was probably the best I’ve ever had.  The gondola ride cost approximately 80E for up to 4 people in a single gondola.  Since I was in Venice alone, I rode in the gondola alone.  I didn’t want to ride with a tourist group or a family, so I had a romantic time floating in the back canals of Venice all by my lonesome!  My gondolier didn’t speak a word of English, but was giving me some of the history of Casanova and other famous Venetians.  He didn’t exactly serenade me, but he DID whistle!  I regretted not going to Harry’s Bar earlier in my trip.  It was, by far, the liveliest bar in Venice, aside from (possibly) the Hard Rock Cafe.  The bellini cost 12E or 15E or thereabouts and was average, in my opinion.  However, the bartender was exceedingly nice.  When I was leaving, he helped me put my coat on, walked outside with me, complimented my boots and chatted me up a bit.

The Hundred Fountains and La Bocca della Verita came from watching old black and white movies with my grandma.  La Bocca della Verita was from “Roman Holiday,” of course!  Who can forget that moment between Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck when he puts his hand in La Bocca della Verita and pretends that it’s been bitten off, much to her horror?  I can’t remember which movie I saw The Hundred Fountains in; it was a scene at the start of one of those old movies.  What’s funny is that I never knew what it was called and didn’t know where in Italy it was until probably 15 years ago.  I was in a book store leafing through a book on Italy when I saw a photo of the Hundred Fountains.  I was thoroughly excited and immediately looked to see where it was located.  On one of my trips to Rome, I’d mentioned to my friend there, Gian Maria, that I’d always wanted to see the Hundred Fountains since I was a child.  He informed me that Tivoli wasn’t far from Rome and that he’d be happy to take me there one afternoon.  We drove there and saw both Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa on a very warm September (?) day.  Villa d’Este was beautiful; everything I’d always hoped it would be and more.  Hadrian’s Villa was interesting, too, but it didn’t thrill me the way that Villa d’Este did.

Mont St. Michel is much like the Hundred Fountains.  I saw a photo of it somewhere and vowed to go there, no matter where it was!  On my very first trip to France, back in 1991, a friend and I drove from Paris to Normandy and stayed a few nights.  We were equally  impressed with Mont St. Michel, an 11th century abbey on an island community that’s linked to the mainland by a narrow causeway.  There are warnings (sirens, was it?) at high tide to remind people to move their cars if they’re not parked ON the island, as the ocean surrounds the island then.  For some reason, Normandy is famous for omelettes, too, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Maybe it’s because of the butter and camembert that comes from that region!

Riding elephants happened twice.  The first time was in Bali with my then-boyfriend.  We’d planned to go to the Elephant Safari Park, but HE was the one who was more excited about riding the elephant!  Ours got a little testy and ran off to the side of the road to grab some leaves or something when she got hungry.  It was exciting in that I nearly took a nose dive off of her when she unexpectedly dashed off the road!  In Thailand, near Phuket, I rode an elephant again.  On the way down the trail, the mahout rode with me.  Yet on the way back, he got off the elephant and said that it was fine for me to ride alone for the return.  He instructed me to scoot off of the seat and onto the elephant’s neck, which was rather difficult to do in a slim fitting dress!  I loved it, though, and felt like Mowgli in Jungle Book!

Most people don’t know this, but I get all amped up about boxing, Muay Thai, MMA and any other type of martial arts.  When I was in Phuket, I “booked” a Muay Thai match.  When the van came to pick me up, the driver was surprised to see me sitting in the lobby waiting for him.  When I got in the van, all of the passengers were men.  They said “You’re not going to see Muay Thai by yourself, are you?”  “Yes.”  Then they asked “But you’re not sitting in the front row, are you?”  “Of course!”  I was in the front row with all of them, mostly Australians and Germans.  I was screaming, yelling, taking pictures and making videos – in short, having the time of my life.  We were close enough to feel the sweat and the blood of the fighters when they got hit.  I even had a picture taken with one of the fighters afterwards.  Then two of the Aussie guys and I headed out for drinks.  It was a great night.

The things I managed to accomplish only make me more excited to see what’s ahead and how soon I can make those come to fruition!

Wearing the Gondolier's Hat

Wearing the Gondolier’s Hat

 

In One of the Salons of Cafe Florian

In One of the Salons of Cafe Florian

The Hot Chocolate Itself

The Hot Chocolate Itself

Riding an Elephant in Thailand

Riding an Elephant in Thailand

With the Muay Thai Fighter

With the Muay Thai Fighter

Fountains at Villa d'Este

Fountains at Villa d’Este

Bonfires of Gramercy, St. James Parrish on Christmas Eve

Bonfires of Gramercy, St. James Parrish on Christmas Eve

 

 

 

 

 

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