1000 Bars And Beyond

Be Still My Beating Heart

2012-01-29T17:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is me again. No follow-up to Russia, yet, but it will arrive, one day. Heading to Mexico tomorrow and didn't want you all to think I was never going to post again. I may even post from Mexico.

Just a quick post about part of my recent trip to Costa Rica with a couple of friends of mine, Jon and Ruthie.

We ended up our trip in the great little seaside town of Tamarindo. Kind of a laid-back 1970's California town.

We flew in from who knows where after checking into the state of the art airport.

Checking In

Hey, any airport with a bar is fine with me, and this one had a decent enough one.

Drinks At The Airport Bar

Just time for a quick beer to steady our nerves before boarding our luxary full-service with meals flight.

Well, The Plane Did Fly

And, just to give you a flavor of Tamarindo, this was a typical little bar with $2 beers, all day long. Now how can you beat that?

Who Needs Anything More

Jon, Ruthie, And The Mysterious Chinese Woman

You Know Who By Now

Those of you who are long-time followers of my blog will remember that I have visited Costa Rica before and that this is also my second visit to Tamarindo. A great little town. Kind of reminds me of what Puerto Vallarta was like many years ago.

Well, that is it for now. Got a 4:00 AM pickup for the flight to Puerto Vallarta, and I haven't packed yet. Going to go with just carry-on luggage this time around.

Stay tuned, I really will try to post from Mexico.

Vindication

2012-01-12T10:03:00.001-05:00

Today Mayor Bloomberg not only backed off his proposal to limit alcohol sales in New York by limiting the number and hours of liqour stores and bars, in an amazing bit or rewriting history he now claims he never proposed it in the first place. The man can't sing, but he sure can dance.

He probably read my previous post, but please, don't everyone rush to thank me at once. Just buy me a beer the next time you see me.

Bloomberg the Imperious

2012-01-12T07:57:00.000-05:00

I have disliked Mayor Bloomberg ever since he gamed the system to overthrow term limits in order to serve a third term. He is completely out of touch with ordinary New Yorkers to the point where it borders on the ludicrous. He claims he takes the subway, just like everyone else, except he gets driven to the subway stop, has aides ride with him. And he only seems to do this when cameras are around. When the city is innundated by a snow storm he doesn't think it necessary to come back from the Bahamas where he spends his weekends and the city flounders due to a dysfunctional chain of command. We have a rainstorm and he shuts down the subway system while saying it would be an effective way to get people to safety in case of a hurricane. He cracks down on drinking in Central Park during concerts while he is photographed sipping wine with his friends in the park while attending, you guessed it, concerts. Where does it end.

Well, now he is going too far. Here is a guy who only has a drink in a bar for a photo-op and probably hasn't shopped for his own liquor in years wanting to reduce the number and hours of operaton of liquor stores and bars in New York City. Oh my yes, apply rules that would in no way affect you, but would certainly affect thousands of those who live more, shall we say, normal lives. Not just those who drink, but those who work in liquor stores and bars.

Of course there is little liklihood that this proposal will actually see the light of day, but the arrogance of the man to even propose such actions is so far over-the-top as to be almosst beyond beiief.

When Bloomberg pushed for no-smoking in bars I didn't complain too much because I don't smoke. But then he again struck by raising the taxes on cigarettes and cigars to the point where a pack of cigarettes costs upwards of $14 and the tax on cigars is 75% of the wholesale price, the highest tax in the nation. And not to raise money, tax revenues have actually fallen as fewer cigarettes and cigars are sold in New York. No, it is to discourage people from smoking because Bloomberg thinks smoking is bad for you. Well, duh, we know that. But you know what else, if you are a billionaire you can afford all the cigarettes and cigars you want, whatever the price. Again, this only affects those who can least afford the tax and those who derive income from selling cigarettes and cigars.

All I can say is in a city as vibrant and as free-wheeling as New York, the last thing we need is a Mayor who wants everyone to conform to what he thinks is good for you. I thought Giuliani was bad, but compared to Bloomberg he was a libertarian. And we have to put up with Bloomberg for almost another two years, unless he is somehow able to game the system again to run for yet another term.

Oh yeah, we won't even mention how Bloomberg pushed thorugh a sweetheart deal to let Donald Trump develop and run a public golf course in the Bronx. Nothing like a public golf course with $100 green fees to serve the needs of the community. And guess what community it is serving? Not one that I belong to, that is for sure. I wonder if the clubhouse will have a bar.

Carnegie Deli Poster Child

2011-12-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

Hey, another far and few between post. I know, I know, I am a bad boy and will only get a lump of coal for Christmas. What can I say, I have no excuses. But this picture of a friend of mine, Albie, was just too precious not to post. A bunch of us were at the Carengie Deli at The Mirage in Las Vegas, and have you ever seen anyone so joyous over his sandwich? It is the Woody Allen and is half pastrami and half corned-beef.

Bliss, Pure Bliss

A Bountiful Birthday

2011-12-01T12:22:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted anything. Just call me lazy. After almost seven years it is getting harder and harder for me to get fired up. But I will endeavor to do better for those of you who are still checking out my blog.

Just another short one today, but at least there are a few pictures. My wife's family celebrates my birthday along with our Thanksgiving celebration. Hey, it is hard to get everyone together so it is convenient.

For my birthday everyone chipped in to get me the perfect gift, one that I can store at my sister-in-law's place and one that will give joy not just to me, but to the entire family.

My New Smoker

And this is a humdinger, a Napoleon Apollo. The day after Thanksgiving I did a boneless ribeye roast and a boneless leg of lamb and then on Sunday I did a couple of racks of ribs. Everything came out great.

One of my neices also baked me a red velvet birthday cake and decorated it just for me.

A Custom Cake

That is a mug of beer and a spilled can of Heineken beer decorating it. I guess she knows her Uncle Barman.

And we had plenty of cake and pie to go around, as you can see.

Enough For Everyone

We had a great time and the celebration lasted for days. Next time I fire up the smoker I will take more pictures and let you get a look at the finished products. There was just too much going on for me to think about picture taking.

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving as well and I will try to post more often, I promise. Sheesh, I still have more to post about my trip to Russia.

Bikers Everywhere

2011-11-12T18:46:00.001-05:00

Headed out to Sanibel Island on a quiet Saturday morning and returned to thousands of bikers here in downtown Fort Myers. Should be an interesting evening. I don't expect to get much sleep tonight, given that the one downside of where I am staying is that there is virtually no sound-proofing.

Nigel Tufnel Day

2011-11-11T09:04:00.001-05:00

Chilly morning here in Downtown Fort Myers but looks to be beautiful later on. Perfect for Nigel Tufnel day celebrations.

Heading To Florida

2011-11-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

Just thought I would let you all know that I am heading to Fort Myers in a few hours so don't think I have abandoned my blog again. I will try to post while I am down there and then do some catch up when I get back. I really do have to finish up posting about my trip to Russia. Boy, have I ever been slacking off.

I think Facebook is taking up too much of my time.

I Like Ike's

2011-11-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

It is true, I haven't posted for awhile. Mostly just laziness and I will get back to my more regular posting soon. I still have some catch up to do with my trip to Russia. Man, that seems like it was ages ago. And I have some stuff from my trip to Minnesota, although not too much. And a few pictures of the Atlantic Antic.

Sad news, though. After my return from Minnesota I popped into Pete's Waterfront Ale House to chat with my good friend and the world's friendliest bartender, Gaid, only to find out that he and Pete's have parted ways. I haven't seen him since, although I know a few places to look.

My regular Friday and Saturday sessions at Pete's just won't be the same.

On a bit of a more upbeat note, here is one for the amazing coincidences file. On the way back home from my trip to Minnesota, where I visited friends not only in Minneapolis but also International Falls, Virginia, and Ely, I stopped in at Ike's in the Minneapolis airport for a pre-flight libation and meal. I love this place and think it is one of the best airport restaurants I have ever been in. They have their main restaurant in downtown Minneapolis and I have eaten there as well.

Great Way To Relax Before A Plane Ride

Ike's has a retro look that tries to capture the ambience of the 50's and 60's. There is a story behind that, about a man named Ike who was never able to fulfill his dream of opening a restaurant and a son who did.

The food here is very good, although I have no idea what the Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered.

A Mystery Meal For The Mysterious One

Me, I came in for the steak, and they have a great one here at a reasonable, given the size and quality of the steak, price.

Now This Is A Piece Of Meat

Okay, and now for the coincidence part of it. I was chatting with our waitress, Karina. Somehow we started talking about where I had been in Minnesota and I mentioned International Falls, because that was where I spent most of my time. It turned out that she is from there. Now that is a small world because International Falls has a population of only a few thousand. When I told her I stayed with my friends Bruce and Donna she asked me if it was the Bruce who lived on Dove Island. When I said he was she said that her father had just gone golfing with Bruce the day before. Now that is a coincidence, is it not.

Karina, It Is A Small World, Indeed

If you ever have the opportunity to spend a little time in the Minneapolis Airport, Terminal One, you could do worse than to stop into Ike's. Even if it is only for a drink, because they have a mighty nice bar and it is a great place to have an well-made Martini or any other classic cocktail. They even have those Grassphoppers and Brandy Alexanders for an after dinner drink. Man, I used to love those back in the day.

Atlantic Antic And Adios

2011-10-02T05:25:00.002-05:00

Only a quick post this morning. We have friends stopping by and then we are meeting more at the Atlantic Antic today. Of course I will take pictures and eventually post about it (don't forget, more on Russia too, one of these days). But just when I will get around to posting is the question because early tomorrow morning I head out to Minnesota to spend some time with friends of mine in Minneapolis, Virginia, International Falls and Ely. I will try to post while I am there, but if not, look for me after I return mid-October.

I just bought Dragon Ages Origin and so far I am liking it a lot. On the other hand, I have given up Everquest and World of Warcraft. After spending years playing both, although "playing" might not be the right word, I think I finally had my fill. No more Ranger Strongbowski and no more Death Knight DeeKaa, it is hello Warrior el Dani.

Don't forget, at 2:00 PM The Black Coffee Blues Band will be playing in front of Pete's Waterfront Ale House.

Bernie Day At citiField

2011-09-29T21:58:00.002-05:00

Well, okay, it wasn't really Bernie Day, but my good friend Bernie Carpenter is an usher, although I don't think they call them that anymore, at citiFIELD and won an award for the way he makes the guests (that would be paying customers) feel welcome and at home. Considering he was the only usher so honored it really was special. And he got four tickets to give to his friends and he got to watch the game himself instead of standing on his feet making guests feel welcome and at home. He told me some of his secrets about how he goes above and beyond, but I promised not to reveal them

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I got two of the tickets and our friends Bob and Loretta got the other two. We were all supposed to meet at the big apple because I had the tickets.

The Big Apple Minus Bob And Loretta

Actually they had called earlier to say they couldn't make it so we weren't really hanging around waiting for them to show up. But we did get to the game early. Bernie said we must be in our seats by 6:30 PM so we wouldn't miss the award ceremony. And we were. Earlier than that, even. We didn't want to take any chances. But no problem, there was so much to do.

Batting Practice

Watching The Lights Come On

Preparing The Pitcher's Mound

Watering Third Base

Korean Drummers Drumming

But it was all worth it, because we did have very good seats, ones where you could actually see the whole field, unlike at Yankee Stadium.

Seats With A View

And You Could Even See The Scoreboard

But the wait was worth it, plus I had time to enjoy a Reuben Dog and a beer without fighting the crowds to get them.

And then, the moment we were all waiting for, Bernie getting his award.

Way To Go Bernie

That is him in the green shirt at the front of the line. And in case he is a bit hard to see, this should help.

A Beaming Bernie

And he should be proud. He hasn't been ushering all that long, just a couple of years, and to be singled out for recognition was quite an achievement. He also got a trip to the Yankees spring training camp in Florida as part of his award. Not bad at all.

And then, believe it or not, a game broke out.

A Swing And A Miss

And because Bernie didn't have to work, he came up and sat with us to watch the game.

Bernie And You Know Who

Well, to be honest, we didn't stay for the whole game. We left before the seventh inning stretch but I don't feel too badly about that. Our subway wasn't running for one reason or another so we ended up taking the Long Island Railroad back to Penn Station. No big deal, just a bit more of a walk to the train, but they didn't charge us. And we got home in time to see the Mets lose in extra innings. Three extra innings, in fact.

Just a reminder, this Sunday is the Atlantic Antic right here in Downtown Brooklyn. The best street fair in all of New York. I will be there and you will be able to find me in front of Pete's Waterfront Ale House from around 2:00 PM to about 4:00 PM listening to my friend Dimitri and The Black Coffee Blues Band. Great food, plenty of beer, and great music. What's not to like?

Mini Bar Trek

2011-09-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, my blogging has fallen off lately. I still have more on Russia, of course, but I will take a break and revert back to form with a few bars. One of my loyal followers says he doesn't like to hear about Mexico and Russia, he just likes the bar stuff. So here goes, but with limited pictures. I didn't have my camera but my friend Allen took a few with his iPhone.

Allen, the Yankee's fan, came up to see a few games last weekend, but he took Saturday off to hook up with me here in Brooklyn so we could go on a mini bar trek. He brought along a few fellow Yankee fans and drinkers.

The Motley Crew Minus Allen

Allen, of course, was taking the pictures. Now this picture wasn't taken in our first bar, Waterfront Ale House. We looked much better when we first started. Certainly I did.

I got to Waterfront Ale House ahead of Allen's group. They got tied up in traffic but I was still on my first beer when they arrived. Gaid, the world's friendliest bartender, was on duty and was overjoyed to see us. I was willing to spend the afternoon here but the crowd grew restless after three or four beers.

They all wanted to go to Montero's but, alas, it was closed. And this place used to open up at eight in the morning. The bartender at the Roebling Inn said it only opens up at night now. I hope that isn't a sign that they are about to go out of business. I will check it out Sunday during the Atlantic Antic. If it isn't open for that it doesn't look good.

Well, as you might have guessed, our next stop was the Roebling Inn. A very nice bar and a relative newcomer to the neighborhood. Of course I am getting so old that places that have been here for twenty years seem like relative newcomers to me. This is where Gaid usually goes to play darts after his shift is done so I bought a cider for him that he could collect when he showed up.

We passed by Floyd, Atlantic Chip Shop, and Last Exit, not because they aren't good bars, but because we did, kind of, have an agenda in mind. Brazen Head was on our agenda so we popped in there for a beer or two, I really don't remember anymore. Our ultimate, and what I thought was our next, destination was Hank's. But, on the way we passed by two8two and we decided to pop in there for a drink.

two8two

Now this is where I will get in trouble. The bartender her was very friendly and we chatted with her for quite awhile, but I forgot her name.

Our Friendly Bartender

Then we finally made our way to Hank's where we, or at least I, finished my day. Hanks was surprisingly fresh smelling and even the funky bathroom was clean. But the decor was unchanged. Because this place is so close to the new arena that is opening up to be the home of the Brooklyn Nets, and because this area of Atlantic Avenue in general is gentrifying, I worry that this place cannot last. It is a pity, because Montero's and Hank's are the only two dive bars in this stretch.

After we finished up here Allen's gang caught the subway and headed back into Manhattan where they had hotel rooms. They were going to stay over and catch the Yankee games on Sunday. Me, I caught the subway and headed home. I know, I could have walked, but the way I was walking it would have been twice as far as normal.

Well, that will have to do. Just isn't the same without more pictures. But it will be back to Russia next time. Or maybe the Mets game I am going to tonight, if something exciting happens.

Kizhi

2011-09-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

Okay, a bit overdue, but not that interesting anyway. The island stop at Kizhi where I spent my time onshore drinking beer and eating smoked fish turned out to have some interesting stuff on it, though. Oh so interesting. You don't know what you missed interesting. You would have loved it interesting. Or so I heard for most of the day, being not-so-subtly admonished for my wanton ways.

This was an old village that had been preserved and, I guess, was a fairly true representation of what peasant life must have been like in the good old days.

Parts of the island were reminiscent of northern Minnesota.

Just Like International Falls

And Not So Much

But something like this would make a nice place on Rainy Lake. Give the place a bit of a more worldly look.

Step Into My Dacha

The centerpiece of the island the large Church of the Transfiguration built entirely of wood. And that means no nails.

All Wood

There weren't too many buildings that you could actually enter. The Church of the Transfiguration is downright unsafe due to termites, wood-rot, the general ravages of age. It was built in the reign of Peter the Great, in 1714.You could enter a typical little hut and I thought this was an interesting little space-saver.

The Stove/Bed With Boot Dryer Combo

You put your bedding on top of the stove and that is where you sleep, nice and warm. And there is a little niche where you can place your boots to dry them out and make them nice and warm for the morning.And then, of course, the best thing on the island.

Why, Me, Of Course

And now you know how we spent our day. Me, chugging beer and sucking down smoked fish with total strangers while the Mysterious Chinese Woman saw some oh so, I would have loved it, I don't know what I missed interesting stuff.

Back Again

2011-09-07T14:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, time to get back to my trip to Russia. It is kind of hard for me to get motivated to blog about a trip after I get home. Oh, before I start, though, we had another family barbecue last Sunday and I smoked another big hunk of yak. Not sure what part, but it was a roast of some type. I just seasoned it with salt and pepper, a good standby for a type of meat you aren't familiar with. Then I slow smoked it until I got an internal temperature of 140 F, let it rest and sliced it up. It was a nice deep red color inside but with almost no fat. And the color was consistent throughout except for the thin smoke ring on the outside. It wasn't dry and it certainly wasn't over-cooked, but it wasn't very juicy, either. An interesting flavor. Kind of like a cross between grass-fed beef and venison. Or at least that is as close as I can come to describing it. No pictures, though. Sorry, didn't bring my camera.

Okay, as I mentioned, the day after the vodka tasting the last thing I wanted to do was to take a stroll around a little village. I probably shouldn't have chosen that night to drink the gift bottle of bubbly we got earlier in the trip, but of course that was what I did. After all the vodka it somehow seemed like a good idea.

Well, you get the idea, any stroll at all was more than I was interested in. But that was what was on our agenda today, a little stroll around an "authentic" old village on an island. But, luckily, right where the boat docked was a little bar. How convenient. And it had what I was interested in.

A Lifesaver

This little bar drew quite a crowd, mostly Russian. I think some of them were people who actually lived and/or worked on the island and there might have been a Russian tour group here as well.

A Nice Morning Crowd

It looked like a lot of the people who were drinking here had bought smoked fish somewhere and were snacking on it while they drank. The couple next to me offered me some of theirs, which I greatfully accepted.

Two Thumbs Up

These Guys Weren't Tourists

And after those guys left the birds descended to finish up the leftovers.

Flashback To The Birds

Well, I had a pleasant enough time of it and eventually the Mysterious Chinese Woman did return to tell me all about her sightseeing.

Together Again

I will share her pictures with you tomorrow, they are kind of cool. And by then I might be able to dig out our notes and remember the name of where we were.

Finally, A New Post

2011-08-26T09:59:00.000-05:00

Man, have I been lethargic lately. Nothing serious, just a major case of jet lag. And when you are retired and don't really have to live by any schedule you just start living a bit strangely. Like getting up at 2:00 A.M. and having coffee then watching something stupid on television. Thank goodness for Hulu+ and its endless supply of cheesy horror movies and other weird stuff. Of course we are in bed by around 6:00 P.M. I kind of feel like a zombie, too. Maybe all those cheesy horror movies. This week I think I am finally back to some kind of normal.

One night we had a vodka tasting aboard ship. Who could pass up something like that. Certainly not me.

In the Russian tradition of drinking, a plate of things to nibble on was available.

Nibbleables

It turns out that part of our tasting consisted of learning strange ways to drink your vodka.

Giving A Demonstration

Well, in for a dime, in for a dollar, I always say.

Drinking Like A Russian

Ah, Being Plied With Alchol

And, of course, there is more than one way to skin a cat or to drink a vodka.

Why Would Anyone Do This?

Ooh, More Alcohol

Okay, now let me get this straight, you balance the glass on the back of your hand and then you do what?

Drink It, Of Course

A Little More Vodka, Sir?

After the other, more convoluted methods of drinking, this one struck me as being positively genteel.

Like Drinking Out Of A Tea Cup

Well that was it for the drinking tricks. Now there was nothing left to do but settle back for a little nosh and a little more vodka.

A Perfect Ending

But that isn't to say Bar Man didn't pay a bit of a price the next morning.

What Time Is It?

And as a result of my vodka tasting I didn't see quite the same sights as the rest of our cruise did the next day. But that will have to wait for my next post.

Hurricane headed my way and it looks like it could be serious. I will keep you posted if anything interesting starts to happen.

A Brief, And Bloody, Break

2011-08-16T06:19:00.003-05:00

Still a lot of stuff to post about Russia, but I have been been slow to adjust to the time difference. I think I am okay now though because for the first time since returning I took my morning dump in the morning after my wake-up cup of coffee. I am a pretty regular guy and there was that incident on the bus in Moscow one afternoon. Well, an eight-hour time difference will do that to you.

But, before getting back to Russia, I thought I would share these pictures of part of a kind of aborted barbecue on Sunday. For those of you who live on the East Coast, you know what kind of a Sunday we had. It was a torrential downpour. I did manage to smoke some ribs, a boneless leg of lamb and a couple of chickens, but it wasn't fun. And until my brother-in-law Jim showed up there were only four of us. Other plans and street flooding in Manhattan depleted our ranks.

Speaking of street flooding, every time I hear anyone talk about a hurricane evacuation plan for New York City I laugh so hard my belly hurts. Maybe if we had a month's notice we could get people out, but it doesn't take much rain to shut this city down.

Anyway, by the time my brother-in-law showed up the smoker was smoked out and I had promised to fix a yak heart for him. My experience with deer hearts provided me with a backup plan, though.

I Felt Like An Aztec Priest

While, the heart of rock and roll might still be beating, but this yak heart had had it.

Be Still, My Beating Heart

Heart is really quite easy to prepare in a rustic, camping-out kind of way. You just slice it cross-ways in slices about half an inch thick, and season generously with salt and pepper.

Ready For The Pan

I prefer a cast-iron frying pan, of course. I have a whole set of them that I got for an engagement present and I use them all of the time. Best of all, one day I found a set of pyrex covers that fit most of them perfectly. They were just sitting on the street where someone had thrown them out. Buut I digress. I heated up oil in the pan I had available to me and popped them the sliced and seasoned heart right in, a small batch at a time.

Yummy, Smelled Delicious

Note, when frying or browning meat, only put small batches into the pan at a time or you will cool down the oil and end up with gray-looking meat.

The heart was quite tender and tasted like most heart tastes but with just a hint of a liver taste to it. It was really very good.

And It Goes Well With Cake

And there you have it. If I had some fish I could say I served a meal that I put my heart and sole into.

Kremlin Part Two - At Last

2011-08-10T02:05:00.000-05:00

Busy days and horrific traffic have kept me from posting the last couple of days. Yesterday, for example, what was supposed to be about a 45 minute ride back to the boat after a canal tour here in St. Petersburg took over 3 1/2 hours. We had the same problem the other day after a city bus tour. And, the ironic thing, the streets where traffic just crawls could add a lane simply by eliminating the free parking curbside. It would be like if they allowed parking on the FDR or Westside Highway.

Okay, the cannon that was never fired. It was created in 1586 under the order of Tsar Feodor Ioannovich, the sovereign ruler of all of Russia at the time. It has a caliber of 890 mm and is, supposedly, the world's largest cannon. The cannon’s surface is decorated with cast iron figured friezes, memorial inscriptions and an equestrian image of Tsar Feodor Ioannovich. In 1835 the cannon was fixed on the carriage specially cast for it at the Berdt’s factory in St. Petersburg. Four hollow decorative cannonballs were made at the same time. Ir was never intended to be fired and was made for decorative purposes only.

Now, the bell that was never rung is a different story.

The Never Rung Bell

This bell was intended to be rung but it was not to be. The Tsar Bell was commissioned by Empress Anna, niece of Peter the Great, in 1737. At that time most of the buildings in the Moscow Kremin were made of wood and while the bell was still in its casting pit a fire broke out in the building above it. Water used to put out the fire seeped into the pit where the bell was still being cast and a huge piece, 11.5 tons, cracked off. The bell remained in the casting pit for a hundred years before it was removed and put on display next to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower where, I believe, it was intended to be hung.

The bell weighs 216 tons, is about 20 feet tall and has about the same diameter. It is approximately three times larger than the next largest bell, the tenor bell at Liverpool Cathedral.

Moscow, like Rome, is built on seven hills and the Kremlin originally was a walled city built on one of the hills with a command of the nearby river and surrounding area. It was, in essence, a fortified castle.

Views Of The Wall, A Tower, And The River Beyond

Well, that is about it for the Moscow Kremlin. Well worth the visit and gave me an entirely new perspective on just what the Kremlin is all about.

Okay, here is a Russian joke. And the mere fact that you can openly tell such a joke tells you something about how Russia has changed. What is the tallest building in Russia? It is the KGB headquarters, because from the basement you can see Siberia. And it wasn't too long ago that if you were ever hauled to that basement Siberia was probably your next stop. Or the grave.

You can sense how recently the repressive policies of a police state were eliminated. If you talk to younger people they are very open and helpful but if you approach an older person they often just turn away as if they are afraid to talk to you. A side note, the only statue or memorial to Stalin is in his home town, a relatively small village. All others have been removed.

Well, this was a bit of a short post but it will have to do for now. We are going to be heading out to catch our plane soon for the long flight home. I will be posting more about our trip after I return, though. I am going to miss having lox and sparking wine for breakfast every day.

The Kremlin

2011-08-07T00:44:00.000-05:00

We are docked in St. Petersburg and I have some time before we head out to our tour of the Hermitage. Decent internet connection, too.

Before the Kremlin, I would like to clear up a couple of misconceptions people seem to have about Russia. First, someone was telling me how it is still a socialistic country with prohibitively high tax rates. Nothing could be further from the truth, those days are long gone. The tax rate on most individual income is 13% and the corporate tax rate is 20%, lower than the corporate tax rate in the United States. The tax on dividend income is 9%.

People can own their own homes and land or apartments, farms, businesses, whatever, just like in the United States. Most children go to school within walking distance of where they live unless their parents want to send them to a school with a specialized subject matter. There is eleven years of basic education, but children don't start school until they are six or seven years old so there is no kindergarten or pre-school. Children are expected to be able to read by the time they start school and it is the parents responsibility to teach them. After your basic education there are competitive exams and those who do well get full tuition at government Universities. Those who don't do as well can attend private colleges if they can afford the tuition.

People in the medical profession are required to work half of the time in government hospitals and medical facilities but are free to work the rest of the time at private hospitals. Generally the government hospitals have the more state-of-the-art equipment and are similar to our research hospitals. This is also where doctors and nurses earn advanced professional designations. Medical care is free at the government facilities but you can chose to pay more to go to a private facility where the care is more personalized. They don't have emergency rooms, as such. If you are in need of medical attention a doctor will come to your house and, based upon the situation, either treat you there or arrange for an ambulance to take you to a hospital. These visits are free.

I just wanted to clear up a few misconceptions that we seem to have about Russia. It might not be where you would want to live, but it is not nearly as bad as people seem to make it out to be. Their worst times seem to be behind them, although life during the time of Gorbachev and Yeltsen was no bed of roses with debilitating inflation, people losing most of their savings and struggling to survive. Interestingly, when Gorbachev ran for re-election he received less than 1% of the vote and is generally reviled these days. He now spends most of his time abroad giving lectures.

Okay, on to the Kremlin. As I mentioned, the word "kremlin" means castle (or fortress) and there are many of them in Russia. The one in Moscow started out as a walled fortress and was the city of Moscow. The first written records go back to 1147 and it was a Prince Yuri who is considered to be the city's founder.

Entering The Moscow Kremlin

In addition to the old buildings there are some newer ones. The one that is the most jarringly out of place looking one is this concert hall.

This Is The Kremlin?

This hall was built during the time of Nikita Khrushchev and, for a time, cost the Kremlin it UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. I think they got it back, though. Artists from all over the world have performed here. I see that Twisted Sister is going to be performing in Moscow, but not here, because the hall is being renovated. But what a juxtaposition that would be, Twisted Sister playing the Kremlin.

Kind Of Like A Potemkin Village

Potemkin, you may remember, wrote a story about a municipality in Russia that constructed just the facades of villages so that when some Czar or another rode through he would think that he was riding through a prosperous ares. Or something like that. Anyway, that picture above is just a painting on covering over scaffolding surrounding a building that is undergoing restoration. The building does look like a smaller version of the painting, however.

And, because this was a walled city, there were many churches inside the walls.

Either Many Churches Or Many Pictures Of One Church

Where has the time gone? This will have to be a two parter because I need to leave for my tour, but first a picture of a cannon that was never fired.

Just For Show

I will tell you more about it as well as about a bell that was never rung when I post again, either later today or, more probably, tomorrow.

The Kremlin Must Wait

2011-08-06T07:53:00.001-05:00

Whew, between a vodka tasting the night before last and a beer garden near where the boat docked yesterday there wasn't much posting going on. But the gentle rocking of the boat does make for nice napping. Now we are on our way to St. Petersburg and somewhat in the middle of nowhere so the internet connection is spotty, at best. My posting about the Kremlin will have to wait until another day because uploading pictures is next to impossible.

We had a little talk about life in Russia and it was fairly interesting. No housing crash here. If you can get a mortgage at all the interest rates are around 15% and the length of the mortgage is only for three to five years. People actually save up to buy what they need. What an interesting concept. Russia also has the lowest national debt of any G20 country, 151.3 billion dollars or 6.8% of their Gross Domestic Product. The United States' is over 14 trillion, as by now just about everyone knows, and this is 98% of our GDP.

Okay, that is it for now. Time to go see a DVD of the high-lights of our trip so far. And I am sure it will be offered for sale. We never buy these, preferring our own distorted memories which are usually much better than reality. And, unlike the DVD, our memories just get better over time. In fact we are now starting to remember trips we have never been on.

Amusements and Moscow By Night

2011-08-03T06:56:00.089-05:00

We are currently cruising on a river that I believe to be the Volga going from one city with an unpronounceable name to another. I will let you know more about them in a day or so, but for now I want to almost finish up posting about Moscow. Almost because I still have to post about our visit to the Kremlin.

Right across from where our boat was moored while we were in Moscow was an amusement park for children. It was quite nice in a retro-kind of way. Lots of little rides just the right size for the wee ones who seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Step Right Up And Win A Prize

I am not sure just what this ride, if that was what it was, was. I think it might have just been some kind of a series of tunnels and passageways for children to crawl around.

Or The Setting For A Sci-Fi Movie

No Amusement Park Is Complete Without A Ferris Wheel

And A Merry-Go-Round

I remember going to the Minnesota State Fair when I was just a wee Bar Boy. I was too young to ride in the bumper cars by myself but I was allowed to ride with my older cousin. Every time he turned the wheel to ram another car his elbow hit me in the eye. Ah, yet another fond childhood memory. The bumper cars here were actually bumper swans floating in a large pool. But, of course, the objective remains the same, ram another swan.

Bumper Swans

They must like swans here because they also had a swan-themed merry-go-round.

The Dreaded Black Swan

It really was a nice little park and I am sure if I was a kid I would love to spend an afternoon here. There is a subway nearby so it would be easy to get to as well. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I were thinking about taking the subway somewhere but the weather looked threatening and rain had been predicted. The amusement park probably would have been more crowded otherwise. Plus it was still extremely hot for Moscow, so I think a lot of people preferred staying home. There was quite a downpour shortly after we got back on the boat.

Later in the evening there was a bus tour of Moscow so we could see it at night. Most cities look much better at night, or at least more interesting. Certainly that is true of New York, and Moscow was no exception.

Christopher Or Peter

I am not sure if I have the story about that statue completely right, but this is what I kind of heard. Apparently the statue was to be a gift to the United States and was supposed to depict Christopher Columbus. We, for some reason, turned it down and so the head was replaced with one of Peter The Great and now it commemorates his turning Russia into a great naval power. Of course Russia, at that time, had no access to anyplace to launch a navy, but that was a small inconvenience. They simply went to war with Sweden and captured a fort that ultimately became the location of St. Petersburg.

This is the University of Moscow. If you can qualify for admittance your education, including board and room, are completely paid for by the government. The University was built during Stalin's rule, so he wasn't all bad.

Moscow University

I was mentioning some of the newer, and quite spectacular, construction that rivals that of the new City Center in Las Vegas. You can't see the full extent of it, but this picture gives you some idea of what it is like. There will be no gambling, of course.

Moscow's City Center

We went back to Red Square and the Kremlin was all lit up, something that our guide said was unusual. And the GUM department store was all lit up as well and looked like a Christmas village.

GUM, All Lit Up

And The Kremlin

Okay, The Mysterious Chinese Woman just left for a cooking class where we are going to learn how to make a blintz or something, and I best join her if I know what is good for me. I will finish this post later and check it for typos as well. Consider this as a first-cut only.

Okay, back again. It wasn't blintzes or whatever, it was pelmeni. And what, you might ask, is pelmeni? Kind of a Russian version of tortellini. Which means they are heavy and served with sour cream and don't have a lot of flavor. Some onion and garlic and salt. The chef said you could spice them up if you made them yourselves with maybe some ginger or hot peppers but that, literally, most of the people in Russia don't even know what those are.

Our Illustrous Chef Demonstrating The Art Of Making Pelmeni

Audience Participation

I guess this would be a good time to let you know that we are having a bit of an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, better known as gastroenteritis, onboard. The Mysterious Chinese Woman has already succumbed to this, but is well on her way to recovery, as you can see.

Who Cares If They Washed Their Hands?

The little notice we got about gastroenteritis said that it is usually not serious but can have more serious implications for older people, which would include about 90% of the people on our boat. From the length of the lines at the luncheon buffets it doesn't as though too many people have been hit with it yet.

Okay, that was the short intermission, now for a few more shots of Moscow at night. And don't ask me what most of these buildings are, because I don't know.

Well, Except For The Enchanted Castle

And The Entrance To Red Square

Unknown, To Me At Least, Buildings

Moscow is quite a lively looking city at night and, again, it would be nice to see more of it. Our guide said we should all come back and visit again, but given the difficulty of getting a visa, or even getting a few extra days tacked on to the one we got for this trip, I doubt if that is likely. I hope they change their policy in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics that are to be held in Sochi, Russia.

Next up, the Moscow Kremlin. Must remember that in Russia the word "kremlin" means castle and you need to specify which one you are talking about.

The Moscow Subway

2011-08-02T05:06:00.001-05:00

Just a short post for now. I am sitting in the Panorama Lounge as our boat is going through a lock. We will be docking in Uglich in about an hour and then heading out for an afternoon walk through the town. And, of course, I will post about that when the time is right.

The Moscow subway is a thing to behold. It was largely built during Stalin's reign and his concept was the the stations should be like underground palaces. Well, maybe not quite, but certainly an improvement over the ones in New York.

The Moscow Subway Map

As you can see, it is quite an extensive system and from what I saw on our bus tour there are subway stops all over the place.

I can't tell you the names of the stations that we got on and off at, but I think they were the first two that were built.

This is the name of the station where we caught our train, but I still couldn't tell you what it was.

You Try To Pronounce It

And the subways are quite gorgeous. The one we entered was the deepest subway in the system and the escalators, which were all working, unlike in New York, were pretty impressive.

Gong Down, Mr. Tyler

There was a big free concert in the park right across the street from the subway so the station was packed with young people coming and going. And still, the floors were immaculate. Again, it must just not be in most people's DNA to throw stuff on the ground, or else the penalty for doing so is so severe you just don't want to risk it.

And No Graffiti

Now how long do you think a painting like that would last in a New York subway before it was defaced.

The other thing is that there is no advertising in either the subway stations or in the subway cars. And the subway cars, like the stations, are immaculate.

Waiting For Our Train

The station where we got off was right by Red Square, the Kremlin, and Gum and it really was like a museum with around fifty bronze statues.

Just One Of Many

The only thing remotely close to defacing the statues was a long tradition of touching the nose of the dog on two of the statues. It is considered good luck to do so, and almost everyone does.

Shiny Noses

I wish we had a few more days in Moscow because I would really love to explore the subway system a bit more and see some different neighborhoods, Maybe hit a few local bars and try a neighborhood restaurant. But, unlike the other two river cruises I was on, there was no option for an extension in Moscow. Nor in St. Petersburg. You get your visa for the duration of your river cruise and there is no leeway on either end for any additional time. A pity, because it is often the stuff you do on your own without guides that is the most interesting. And it isn't because you have to have guides with you. You could go off on your own anytime you wanted to. Oh well, what can you do. It is unlikely that I will ever have the opportunity to return.

We are about to dock so I shall have to say good-bye for now. Much more to post about Moscow so I will try to do that later today after our walking-tour. Or not, depending on how much vodka I consume.

More Moscow

2011-08-01T07:25:00.000-05:00

Ah, Moscow, what a revelation. If, like me, your image of Moscow is what you remember from the outdated pictures you often see and the widely held opinion that it is still a repressive and largely communistic country faced with perpetual shortages of consumer goods, you are wrong. It is a vibrant city that has put its past behind it and moved on with a vengeance. New construction, some of it rivaling the new City Center in Las Vegas, abounds. Oh, and all the casinos in Moscow and most other large cities have been shut. Something about them not really producing anything but draining the money from those least likely to afford it. What a novel concept. Meanwhile, in the United States we push lottery tickets and advertise them with the slogan "Just A Dollar And A Dream." And who do you see lining up to buy them? Those who can least afford them. Ah, but I am sure the proceeds go to good causes, although nobody seems to know just what those causes might be.

Anyway, I will start with the Kremlin. It is actually a walled city within a city, not too unlike the Forbidden City in Bejing. The total length of the walls that surround it are approximately 1.8 kilometers in length and within are not just government offices, but a number of churches. Who knew? And Red Square in not in the Kremlin but between it and the GUM department store. Although department store doesn't do GUM justice, it is more of a high-end mall, but better, with nice restaurants and little bars.

Entering Red Square

Through the arch you can see a church that, if it wasn't, should have been the inspiration for the castle in Disney World.

Where Are The Mouse Ears?

And here is the famous GUM "department store," right on Red Square and directly across from the Kremlin.

GUM, By Gum

If you were expecting, as I was, something like the bargain basement of Macy's, would you ever be wrong.

No Fountains In Macy's Basement

GUM is three stories of fancy shops and little restaurants on one side and a what looks like the world's largest Balducci's or Zabar's on the other. No shortages of food in Moscow these days.

A View From Above

Of course my primary interest was, what else, getting a beer.

Mission Accomplished

I thought the beer was reasonably priced, 100 rubles or a little over three dollars. And it was a large one too.

Large And Tasty

Now the Heineken was a bit more, 140 rubles, and for a smaller bottle. But nothing is too good for the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

And They Were Out Of The Russian Beer

They even had an official Apple store here.

Not Rotten To The Core

And they don't have a food court here either, just a bunch of cozy little restaurants tucked away in nooks here and there.

One Of Many

All and all it wasn't anything like I expected. But don't expect to find any bargains, everything was top end and expensive.

Gum, By Gum

Oh, and if you had any misconceptions about Russian women based upon those stereotypes of the overweight peasants in their formless dresses and babushkas, put those to rest as well.

A Couple Of Russian Beauties

The place where I took those two pictures is a spot where wedding parties traditionally go to share a toast as the newly married couple places a lock on a metal tree and then throws the key into the nearby river to assure that their marriage will remain intact as long as the lock remains, well, locked.

Trees Of Locks

It is also an area with a bunch of vendors selling over-priced and somewhat cheesy souvenirs.

We Were Warned Not To Buy

The reason we made a short stop here was because it offered a nice view of a part of the city and the large stadium where the Olympics that we boycotted were held. Ah, remember the good old days of the Cold War? Of course the Russians then boycotted our Olympics in retaliation.

A Lovely View

As you can see, this is a popular spot for tourists to stop and take pictures.

Tourists, As Far As The Eye Can See

The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought the idea of the locks and throwing the key into the river was just sooo romantic.

Oh, How Romantic

Of course she wasn't too happy when I pointed out the nearby dive shop and suggested it catered to husbands searching for their keys.

Our boat has just left Moscow and we are on our way to the next town, Uglich. I have more to post about Moscow, of course, but I will save that for latter. Now I will sit in the lounge at the front of the ship, have a glass or two or three of wine (hey, I am on the Silver Drink Package) and watch the scenery drift by.

Moscow, A Brief Tour

2011-07-31T03:39:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we took a bus tour around the city of Moscow and had more stuff pointed out than I could possibly remember. A few things stuck in my head, though. First, Mocow is either the most expensive or second most expensive city in the world to live in or visit. Second, it has almost no unemployment. And third, again, like so many cities I visit, remarkably clean compared to many of the larger cities in the United States and, especially, New York. What is it about New York that compels people to treat the streets, parks, and subways as garbage cans? I know I mention this frequently when I post about my travels but, sadly, it is one of the first thngs that always strikes me. But enough of that.

Because I had the foresight to bring rubles with me I was able to get a beer at the little store in the airport after surviving the crush of humanity getting through immigration control.

It Pays To Plan Ahead

The airport is one of several in Moscow although, technically, they are all outside of the city limits. It looks to be fairly modern and certainly no worse than JFK. It looks a lot nicer from outside and is probably newer.

Our Airport

Because it was taking so long for people to get through immigration we had about an hour to kill before everyone made it and we were able to board our bus. I picked a seat where I could keep an eye on my baggage until it was safely loaded.

Bye Bye Bags

Then it was a two hour drive pretty much through the center of Moscow to where our boat was berthed in a canal. Traffic was pretty fierce heading out of the city. Apparently a lot of people have country homes or dachas and, with the intense heat, were eager to escape the city.
But we finally arrived and settled in aboard. Nice rooms and a much larger vessel than the one we were on when we traveled from Berlin to Prague.

Our Sister Ships

We are moored on a canal where, it appears, all of the river cruise boats stay when they are here. There is a nice looking building of some sort across from the parking lot/skating rink, but it is closed for renovations.

Not Sure Of Its Function

If I find out what the building is used for I will let you know.

Looking across the canal isn't that much different than looking across the Hudson from Manhattan and seeing New Jersey.

A Familiar Sight

Well, okay, you don't see too many cruise ships on the Hudson, other than the Circle Line. Maybe one day Viking will offer river cruises in New York.

Well, our Executive Chef has just invited us to lunch and my WiFi is kicking in and out so this may be a good place to stop for now. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I opted out of today's optional tours because there is a little amusement park just s short walk away and we are going to explore that. Then tonight we have a Moscow by Night tour that should be quite interesting. And, of course, I still have a lot to post from yesterday's bus tour. I will try to get to that later this afternoon. Now off for a bit of a nosh. But in the meantime, I will let this little fellow haunt your memories.

A Russian Leprechaun

Moscow, Not On The Hudson

2011-07-30T02:32:00.001-05:00

Just a short post today. Still a bit bleary, and not from the Vodka. Left my place at 4:00 PM on Thursday for a 7:50 PM flight to London and then on to Moscow. Finally got to Moscow at about 4:00 PM (there time) on Friday. See, "there time" was a bit of a pun. Normally you would say "their time" but it was the time there, or actually here, now. I am very amusing when I am bleary. Caught our bus to the boat and that was another two hour ride, and that was after spending a couple of hours in the airport clearing immigration and customs. More on that in a minute.

Anyway, we had our dinner, listened to a short description of our trip and life aboard our boat. Then a gin and tonic and off to bed where I slept until 9:15 AM this morning. Would have slept longer except the maid woke us up. Good thing too, breakfast was over at 10:00 PM. Now the Mysterious Chinese Woman is listening to a talk on Russian souvenirs and then we have lunch and are off on an afternoon tour that runs into the evening. Busy day, but we get to go shopping at GUM, the famous huge Moscow department store. Oh, and we get to ride the subway. It is supposed to be spectacular.

I learned that "Kremlin" means "Castle" in Russian ao although when we in the United States hear the word we automatically think of the one in Moscow, in Russia there are many Kremlins and you need to specify which one you are talking about. See, this trip is already educational.

Okay, immigration and customs. In one respect, it was a piece of cake. No forms to fill out (already had my visa) and just walked through customs. The fiasco was the mob scene at the immigration booths. There were no line markings and one sign pointed to a dead end. As a result you had a mob pushing forward trying to get through. Finally the military or police (big guys dressed in riot gear) arrived on the scene to try to instill some order. They tried to get everyone to move back, but they did it from the front and you literally could not take a step back due to the crush from behind. In all my years I have never been in a mob quite like it. And there really was no need for it, that I could see, other than there was no one there initially to try to instill any order and there were no markings to indicate where lines should form. It did look like part of the immigration area, the one where the signs were pointing, was closed for renovations or something, so that probably added to, or actually caused, the whole mess.

Anyway, had the best beef stroganoff that I have ever had for dinner last night and a light breakfast of smoked salmon and Champagne for breakfast this morning, so I am now ready to face the day. I wish the coffee was a bit better, it tastes like Taster's Choice instant or something, but I have had much worse.

Buying my rubles in advance wasn't really necessary because they do have ATMs here that dispense them. But the one benefit was that I was able to buy a beer in the Moscow Airport to tide me over while waiting for our bus to depart.

Tomorrow I should have more free time as well as pictures so look for a longer post. I seem to have a pretty good internet connection on the boat, at least here in Moscow where we will be spending a few days before continuing on. Until then, well, whatever the Russian word for "adios" may be.

Vegetarians, Beware

2011-07-16T10:51:00.000-05:00

I see that I already had posted about my guinea pig dinner. Kind of thought I might have, but wasn't sure.

Fresh and organic foodies, eat your heart out. This is the Ecuadorean equivalent of our supermarkets. I know there are at least two in town, I stumbled upon them, and maybe more.

An Ecuadorean Supermarket

These places are huge multi-story affairs. The first floor seems to be devoted to produce.

The Vegetable Section

But, being a carnivore at heart, I spent most of my time in the meat section. It was a market onto itself, with what I took to be independent merchants hawking their wares.

A Carnivores Heaven

But they also had an aisle long set of booths or stands where fresh fruit and vegetable drinks were being prepared to either their or your recipe.

Bar Man Loves Blended Drinks

Sadly, no rum. These markets are alcohol free.

The places selling roasted pig were offering free samples, and once I get the taste of pork, well, there is no stopping me.

I Want My Pork And I Want It Now

I was polite about it. Everyone in Ecuador seems to be very polite. A very civil and friendly town. I asked for fried pork skin, one of my favorites. I thought I would get some in a bag. But then this mother and daughter team had other ideas.

Hmm, Not Going To Be In A Bag

What I got was a decent size plate of pork skin, chunks of pork, posale, onions, tomatoes, and potato dumplings. I shared it with the Mysterious Ones and it did for lunch.

Lunch For Three

It doesn't look like a whole lot, but that pork was so fresh and succulent that it was a sensory overload and so rich that it didn't take much to satiate you. And I think that plate was, at the most, two-and-a-half bucks.

Man, if I lived in Cuenca I would definitely be doing a lot of barbecuing. And the fresh vegetables are an inspiration as well.

You know what I didn't see much of, lamb. You see sheep all over but Ecuadoreans just raise them for their wool and for milk. They don't seem inclined to eat them.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

2011-07-13T08:49:00.007-05:00

Okay, a couple of things. I have been a bit lazy since returning from Cuenca and still need to go through and sort out my pictures to catch up on my trip. Then, on Monday, I went to a birthday party for my friend Arden. It was held at Waterfront Ale House and I have some pictures of that to post too.

But first, I wanted to post a blurb about a book my sister-in-law's husband wrote. Now you might think that would make him my brother-in-law, but you would be wrong. A brother-in-law is the brother of one's wife or husband or the husband of one's sister. Husbands of sister-in-law's don't count.

Not Really A Sponsor

The book is a Western Science Fiction tale that involves a time-traveling cowboy, Watt O'Hugh, who has seen his own death and is trying to write his autobiography before he catches up with his vision. Or something like that, I am not quite sure. It is convoluted but interesting. It is the first book of a planned triology, ao you may want to jump on board early.

If you would like to read more about it, or order it, you can check out the following link:

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/indie/steven-s-drachman/ghosts-watt-ohugh/

Additional information on the book and how to purchase it can be found by following this link:

http:///www.Watt-OHugh.com/

More about my trip to Cuenca tomorrow, I promise. Must tell you about my guinea pig dinner. Or did I already? Everything is begining to blur.

Road Trip - Part Two

2011-07-06T11:47:00.001-05:00

In case you forgot, after eating our fill of roasted piggie, we headed to:

Ingapirca

A wee bit of history to bore you with before my pictures. The original inhabitants of the area where the ruins stand were the Canari. They were defeated by the Incas, but they did not go down easily. After the Incas finally defeated them they did not eliminate them nor did they fully assimilate them. Instead the Incas and Canari lived in relative harmony, but with the Incas maintaining firm control and regarding themselves and vastly superior to the Canari. Kind of like how Yankee fans regard Mets fans. The Incas also selected wives from the Canari. I don't know if Yankee fans ever marry Mets fans, though.

The Incas were allowed to have multiple wives, but I forget just how many. The men, however, did not live with the women. I guess if you have a lot of wives this would be a wise arrangement.

Before viewing the ruins themselves we first spent some time in a museum which held artifacts found around the site and some bones as well. They made ceramic pottery and stone carvings and were also adept at fashioning implements out of copper. Without a great deal of commentary, because I don't have much information to impart, I will simply post the pictures.

\>

The last picture was of particular interest to Bar Man. It is a large jug that was used to ferment corn in order to produce their equivalent of beer. Hey, multiple wives, living with the guys and drinking beer. Sounds like a pretty good life. Now if they only had televised sports it would be darn near perfect.

The Incas worshiped the sun and the moon and the grounds of Ingapirca are laid out to represent them. That way no matter where you were in the compound, and even in the surrounding mountains, you could look down and take comfort from seeing the representations of your gods.

Just Use Your Imagination

Because this site was a ceremonial place, large feasts were held and so there were storage and cooking facilities to serve the huge crowds that would gather.

Storage Bins

All that are left are the bases, but these were more like silos and could hold quite a bit of food-stuffs and also rendered fat from animals. Although the Incas ate meat, the didn't consider freshly killed meat to be edible so they would cure it in salt. This also facilitated storing it for future use.

Although the Incas co-existed with the Canari, as I mentioned, the Incas considered themselves to be vastly superior. In fact just making direct eye-contact with an Inca was an offense punishable by death, usually by being decapitated.

The Chopping Block

When an Inca died his body would be displayed for a few days and the deceased relatives would gather and mourn. We saw the equivalent of a funeral parlor with a place for the body to be displayed, not too unlike our modern viewings or wakes.

Where The Body Was Displayed

The body was placed on the circular area of stones and the foundations behind it were the rooms where the mourners could stay.

I had mentioned how the Inca houses had doors that faced the east and a niche with a gold item to catch the sunlight and illuminate the house. You can see where this was necessary, because the houses had no windows.

A Typical House

Efrain And Me Taking A Break

You will remember that this was the second half of our tour so rests were welcome whenever we had a chance to take them.

These pictures don't really do justice to the ruins themselves, but they will give you some idea of what we saw.

You Really Need To Be Here

It really was impressive to see the quality of the stone work. After all of the hundreds of years so much of the structure is still intact and you can see how precisely the stonework all fits together.

And they had their equivalent to Mount Rushmore as well.

His Name Was Teddy

And Yes, We Were Here

The face had two primary functions. First, it warned any approaching enemies that they were about to encounter an enemy they may want to avoid. And it also served as a welcome to Incas returning or coming here for the first time.

And then it was time to return home after an fun and fact filled day. And thanks, again, Efrain for providing us with an informative and thourougly enjoyable tour. And thanks for being willing to take multiple pictures with multiple cameras all day long. If we are ever in Cuenca again we will be sure to look you up. And when you get back to Queens we will have to get together. Maybe for dim sum in Chinatown.

We are all heading home tomorrow morning so this will be my last post until after I return. I still have plenty of pictures to post so I will be doing a bit of catch up. I do want to say that our stay here in Cuenca was most enjoyable and it wouldn't surprise me at all if I come back again for a visit. If I do I will certainly stay at the the same hotel because the accommodations wre great and the people running the place were extremely friendly and helpful. In fact everyone we ran into in Cuenca was that way. People would even walk out of their way to show you where to go if you asked them for direction. The name of the hotel, in case you ever want to visit, is Casa Ordonez and if you check it out on Trip Advisor you will see almost nothing but good reviews by people who have stayed here.

And, of course, you will have to look up Efrain of Mio Tours for simply fantastic excursions with a great guy.

A Belated Happy Fourth Of July From Cuenca

2011-07-05T08:12:00.009-05:00

After over five years of the same old look I decided to change the appearance of this blog. This was partially due to my messing up the formatting of my old one. Let me know if you like this, I can always change it to something else, just not back to what it was.

Another Road Trip

2011-07-04T12:12:00.001-05:00

We took another road trip with our now friend Efrain yesterday. This one was to visit a couple of Inca ruins. A most interesting and informative little trip. And it had the added benefit of providing us with a great cardiovascular workout. Well, everyone except the Mysterious Chinese Woman, whose little piston-like legs never seem to give in.

We Climbed To The Top

Okay, we didn't start at the bottom, I will grant you that. But we still had to do a fair amount of climbing to get from where we parked the car to the top.

And Here We Are, At The Top

Here Is Our Guide, Efrain

Efrain is very knowledgeable about Inca history and it was fun to listen to him explain stuff to us while we could actually see some of what he was talking about. When we got to the top of the mountain where the ruins were he explained how it commanded a sweeping view of the surrounding landscape so enemies could be seen from afar. Then he had us just listen and you could hear dogs barking and roosters crowing in the town way below. It brought home how the Incas could not only see, but also hear, if any enemies were trying to sneak up.

The Village Down Below

Efrain showed us the ruins of a typical Inca house and explained how all of the houses had doors that faced east so the morning sun would illuminate it.

Typical Inca House

The inside of the house had mumerous niches where various ornamental ceramics were displayed and the niche immediately facing the door would hold something made of gold. That way when the sun reflected off of it the whole house (it was a small house) would be illuminated.

They Have Found There Niche

I Found Mine As Well

This next picture give you a bit of an idea of the layout of the town or settlement, but of course it is just a small part of what the actual settlement must have looked like.

A View From Above

There was a much newer simple shelter put up on top to provide some protection from the rain. And believe me, it can be sunny one minute, raining the next, and bright sun again a few minutes later. Efrain said it was a tradition for those who climbed to the top to inscribe their names on one of the wooden beams. And who are we to break tradition.

Proof That We Were Here

And Proud Of It, Too

And just so you don't think this was just a walk in the park, here is the gentle part of the path we took.

No Walk In The Park

This was just the first, and the smaller, of the two ruins we were to visit. But on the way to the next we stopped at a little roadside place for some pigskin.

No Greater Love Than To Give Up One's Skin

That is Efrain in the background chatting up the proprietress. Efrain seems to know everyone.

They had a lot of interesting things to eat here, sausages, a stew, and who knows what else.

All Kinds Of Good Stuff

We got not only the pigskin but also some succulent pieces of pork, that puffy corn like pozale and a couple of potato dumplings. It was plenty for the three of us and Efrain treated.

Fresh Off The Pig

And then it was off to our next stop, the second largest ruins in South America, second only to Machu Picchu.

Ingapirca, Here We Come

But that visit will have to wait for my next post.

Bar Man Falls Off The Wagon

2011-07-03T06:05:00.002-05:00

I Juat Couldn't Help Myself

A Road Trip

2011-07-02T09:33:00.001-05:00

The other day we took a road trip courtesy of Efrain and his Mio Tours company, and a mighty fine trip it was. We started out by heading to Parque Nacional Cajas, a national park. On the way, though, we made a stop at the place where, in 1991, a crowd of over a million people gathered to hear a young woman of 16 who claimed she had been visited by God in a dream and given a message to give to the people. There is a long story here, of course, but our guide, who was in the Ecuadorean Special Forces at the time was among those assigned to protect this young lady. Our guide said that it was a cloudy day but as she began to speak the clouds parted and she was illuminated in sunlight. She then spoke in a variety of languages, including Chinese and German, languages that she didn't know. He said he is Catholic but not a big believer in miracles or anything, but there was no denying what he saw.

Her message was simply to drink of the water that flowed from a nearby spring and to bring water back to those who were sick and they would be cured if they believed. The other part of the message was that even if you have very little, share it with those who are in need. She also claimed to have received a secret message that could only be delivered to the Pope. She did travel to the Vatican and delivered the message which remains a secret to this day.

Here Is Where The Message Was Delivered

Of course I drank of the water but I haven't noticed any results. Probably because I don't believe. Millions of people still make a pilgrimage to this site every year and they have built a small and rustic chapel where they hold services every Sunday.

By A Nearby Stream

Of course the scenery along the way to the park was quite spectacular.

Spectacular Scenery

We had to check in before entering the park. Recent changes in the government here have resulted in a lot of changes in Ecuador. Income taxes were introduced for the first time and a lot of work is being done to upgrade the roads, achools, and the infrastructure in general. I already mentioned how a University education is free to all who qualify. Plus, the new Vice-President is handicapped so a lot is being done for the handicapped and to make things accessible to them. Also, women's rights are being promoted much more than before. Needless to say these changes aren't popular with everyone and there has already been one attempted assassination.

Okay, so that all had to do with the fact that up until recently this wasn't really a National Park, but now it is and you have to check in and pay a small fee. In my case, because I am over sixty-five (I know, it is hard to believe) was fifty cents.

Us At The Lake By The Check-In

And then we drove on to the highest point in the park where you could get to by car.

Almost Top Of The World, Ma

That Was Just A Sign, Here We Are

I had to admire this fellow, he bicycled all the way up here from Cuenca.

What A Man

After taking in the sights we headed to a little restaurant where we had a delicious lunch of fried trout.

The Restaurant

After The Meal

I was going to take a picture of the trout before we ate them, they looked fantastic, but we were so hungry we dug right in. It wasn't until afterwards that I thought about taking the picture.

The trout were as fresh as could be, just caught earlier in the day, and simply prepared by frying in a pan. Just like you would do if you caught them yourself. There are a lot of trout streams here and people come up and pay big money to stay overnight and do some trout fishing.

From here we drove to the other side of Cuenca where there is a little town and a place where they still make the traditional fabrics.

Doing It The Old Fashioned Way

And, yes, even these people now have to pay taxes. There is no escape.

This was also a museum and we were given an explanation of the whole weaving process, from the spinning of the yarn to the coloring of the fabric. All natural dyes are used, made from flowers and even insects. In fact one insect produces an orange color when mixed with lime juice and then this color turns purple if you add baking soda.

The Mixing Pots

An Old Loom

Stuff On The Wall

And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman couldn't pass up a bargain.

Modeling Her New Shawl

I would tell you what she paid for it, but the I am afraid this place would be inundated by bargain hunters. Suffice it to say that it was much, much less than you would pay in the United States for one that was made by machine.

Our next stop was at a town famous for its silver jewelry. People come from all over South America to shop here. We didn't linger long because nobody, including the Mysterious Ones, was that interested in spending time in jewelry stores. We did take a stroll around the little park here and I got a nice picture of the local church.

The Church On The Square

And then it was off to the Panama hat factory, the first factory in Ecuador. Again, this place is a bit of a museum. The hats aren't made in the factory any more, they are now made in homes. Ecuadorean men earn about $265 a month and the women supplement the families income by making the hats.

When we got there several of the women were cooking up something because they were going to have a big party for the workers the next day.

Preparing For A Feast

And they were obviously going to be roasting a few pigs as well.

Umm, Succulent Looking

And, in keeping with the generous nature of the Ecuadoreans, we were invited to attend the day long party. But, to be honest, I think it was because the head woman was a bit sweet on Efrain.

We were shown around and Efrain explained the process of making the Panama hats as well as the evolution of their design, from something fairly rudimentary to the fine looking hats you now see.

Efrain Demonstrating A Hat Press

Hand Stitching The Hatbands

This factory also has the distinction of having produced the largest Panama hat in the world.

It Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records

And then we were off to the last stop of our tour, an overlook of the town of Cuenca. Of course on the last leg, because I was singing, or attempting to sing, Pink Shoe Laces, a 1959 hit, Efrain, in self defense, put on a CD of hits of that era. Everything was going fine, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Dean Martin, until Honey I Miss You by Bobby Goldsboro came on and the Mysterious Ones started weeping.

But they were cheered up by the time we got to our overlook of the town.

Another Spectacular View

And then it was back to our hotel. We had a great time and were treated to a special fruit and oatmeal drink that was unique to just one town and some sugarcane juice at another stop along the way. As I mentioned before, tomorrow we are going with Efrain again to visit some ruins.

And, yes, I did buy a Panama hat and I won't keep you waiting any longer so see how positively natty I look in it.

Eat Your Hearts Out

I bought one for Jim, my brother-in-law, as well so now we will be just like twins. Kind of like that guy and Michael Jordan in those commercials for Hanes Tee Shirts.

And now we are off on another day's adventures which, I think, include a large shopping mall and another ride on a local bus. There is a couple staying here who moved to Ecuador from Dallas, Texas and they live in a small town about four hours away by van. They came here just for shopping at this mall. I am so excited.

I Couldn't Eat The Whole Thing

2011-07-01T08:44:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post before heading out for our river walk and a visit to a museum. The Mysterious Ones are hot to trot.

I had my cuy, or Guinea pig last night and it was way to much for one person to eat. I had no choice but to order one for myself because the Mysterious Ones refused to participate. The price, $19, was twice as much as anything else on the menu, so that should have been a give-away. Later in the evening a group of five Ecuadorians came in and ordered one for the table.

My Cute Not-So-Little Cuy

The skin was nice and crispy and thinner than pork skin. The flavor was unique, I personally didn't think it tasted like pork. It wasn't gamey, though. Maybe more like squirrel than anything else that comes to mind.

I ate about half of it and took the rest back to the hotel and gave it to the night-clerk who seemed happy to get it. It really is considered a delicacy here.

And these aren't the small, cute cuddly ones we have for pets in the United States. These are much larger and feral. They attack in packs and have been known to bring down a puma. You never want to go out in the woods at night unless you are well-armed and in a group. Lately they have been invading the outskirts of town and killing dogs and small children. When the school bus drops the children of from school there is often a pack of guinea pigs just waiting.

Okay, we are back from our days outing which included a visit to a museum, some archaeological ruins, a botanical garden and a bird sanctuary of sorts for birds that were rescued from smugglers. But more of that later. And tomorrow I will post about our day-trip with Efrain of Mimo Tours. But for now I will just put up a few more pictures of our meal at Guajibamba Cuyes.

The restaurant was recommended to us both by Efrain, our tour guide, and Alberto, the hotel proprietor as the best place in Cuenca to get cuy, or Guinea pig. And it was just a short walk from our hotel which was handy because it was drizzling out. And drizzling was good. After a beautiful morning we had one hell of a thunderstorm in the afternoon.

It takes an hour to prepare the Guinea pig and it is recommended that you call ahead. Of course we didn't know that. But no matter, as soon as I ordered it the waiter immediately went back to the kitchen to get it started and then came back to take the rest of our order. We got some appetizers to start along with our drinks.

We ate the appetizers and drank our drinks and the hour passed by pleasantly enough. And then the food arrived.

All This For Three People

As you can see, that was way too much for us to eat. The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered chicken and the Mysterious Sister-In-Law ordered a steak that came with an egg on top of it. Both were quite good as were the appetizers which were little potato empanados.

A Contented Group

Like most of the world, the Ecuadoreans seem to dine latter than we gringos. The place did begin to fill up with more of a local crowd as the evening wore on, but I was able to take a few pictures of the restaurant before it filled up.

Some Pictures Of The Restaurant

That is a puma skin on the wall and you can see where its feet had been gnawed off by the feral Guinea pigs.

Hats On The Ceiling

I know, you are all waiting to see a picture of me in my new Panama hat. Be patient, it will show up soon.

Wall Decorations

You can see that they keep a few rifles handy just in case some feral Guinea pigs decide to seek revenge for the serving of their brethren.

Efrain, our guide, stopped by. He was there arranging some kind of a party for next week. We are going to go on another day-trip with him on Sunday. This time to visit some ruins. It should be a fun trip, he is an entertaining fellow. He was born and raised here but has been working in the United States up until last February when he got laid off. He is an electrician and was working on the new Freedom Tower, or whatever they call it now. His whole crew and more got laid off for 76 weeks so different people could get jobs. Not sure of the logic behind that. He decided to come over here and open up his little travel business while he waits to get called back. He is an electrician and belongs to a union and you are not allowed to seek other non-union work in the United States while you are laid off. Such is the way of the world. But more about him tomorrow.

We are about to head out for a pre-dinner walk and then dinner so, until tomorrow, adios.

A River Walk And A Bus Ride And More

2011-06-30T16:47:00.003-05:00

Some more pictures of the walk we took along the river here in Cuenca. It is the Rio Tomebamba and separates the historical part of the town where we are staying from the newer part of the city. The city has grown a lot in the past twenty years or so, from a population of about 150,000 then to around 500,000 now. And there are about 30,000 ex-pats living here as well. Trip Advisor recently rated it the number one city in the world to retire to, and I can certainly see why. Cosmopolitan and quaint at the same time, a great public transportation system, nice restaurants, friendly people, and really inexpensive. Plus, if Ecuador had a national basketball team I might be able to play center.

A River Runs Through It

A good part of the historic half of the city is quite a bit above the river so you need to walk down several flights of steps to get to the river walk.

Down, Down We Must Go

The Mysterious Ones

I saw a nice little fixer-upper that had a great view and had a room for rent as well.

Just What I Am Looking For

And, being from New York, I am always a fan of graffiti.

I will have more scenic pictures of the river for another time but how much can you take all at once?

One afternoon we decided to just hop on a public bus, of which there are many, and ride it to the end of the line. Hey, it only costs a quarter.

On The Bus

Of course it wasn't like there was anything all that exciting to see at the end of the line, pretty much just the middle of nowhere where the buses turned around.

The End Of The Line

Oh, There Was A Cow

And A Field

And then we got on the bus and headed to the other end of the line.

About To Get Back On The Bus

After we got to the other end of the line we just stayed on the bus, paid another quarter and headed on back home. Hey, for only seventy-five cents how much more fun can you have. Plus it is a good way to see some out of the way parts of the city. We might do it again on another line on Saturday. We are easily amused.

Yesterday we hired a driver and visited the Parque Nacional Cajas and three small towns I bought myself a fine Panama hat for only $35 and the Mysterious Ones bought some hand-made shawls for, coincidentally, $35 each. They bought them at a different place, though, so I don't think there was any collusion. Plus I was initially quoted a price of $50 for my hat but our guide, Efrain, talked the lady down. You will just have to wait to see a picture of me in my new hat, though. Trust me, it will be worth the wait.

This morning we went to an interesting mercado where they sold just about any food product that you could imagine. Well, not processed food, farm stuff. I am a sucker for crispy pig fat so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy some.

A Face Only A Bar Man Could Love

So I ordered a plate from these lovely lasses.

Lovely Lasses Serving Up The Pig

And Here Is What Two Bucks Buys

I thought I would just get some pork skins in a bag to go, but obviously my Spanish isn't very good. What I got was succulent pork skin, onions, pozale (a puffed up corn), some sweet potatoes mixed with lard (I think), and some chopped up tomatoes. I shared it with the Mysterious Ones and after that we didn't need lunch.

I have more pictures of the market and another craft market that we went to, but I will save those for another time. I have lots of pictures.

Tonight I am going to a restaurant that serves authentic Ecuadorean food and, by golly, I am going to have the Guinea pig. It is quite a popular dish here and I understand it tastes very similar to pork. At the craft market there was a lady selling it out of a cart.

Guinea Pig To Go

They even sell barbecue/rotisserie devices specifically for roasting the Guinea pigs.

Looks Painful

It is that contraption on the right with the wooden cone shaped things. I guess you just shove those up the Guinea pig's butt and roast away. I will try to get a better picture of the device another day.

And The Guinea Pig Traps

Okay, so I lied. Those aren't really Guinea pig traps.

Last night we finally got out to see the fireworks display and it was really something. Kind of like what you see in old Mexican movies. The whole display is set up in the middle of the festival and, of course, everyone crowds up close to see it. Then, when it is lit, all hell breaks loose and everyone runs away when the things starts to go off and fireballs begin landing everywhere. Really gets the old heart pumping because, of course, I was one of those crowding up close.

Really Exciting Fireworks

There is a big thunderstorm going on now so that is why I had the time for a fairly long post. I haven't even gotten to the tour we took yesterday. Lot's of stuff going on here.

Because it is raining and we are all kind of sitting around taking it easy before dinner, the hotel proprietor, Alberto, gave me a small glass of their local "moonshine" and a big bottle of beer to pacify me. Great guy, that Alberto.

Who Cares About The Rain

I noticed that Roberto had a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch whisky. I mentioned that it was really good and hard to find. It turns out that Roberto is a bit of a collector of whiskies. He had a bottle of Maker's Mark and I said that it was my favorite Bourbon and, as it turns out, it is his favorite as well. Will wonders never cease.

You may have morticed how neatly coiffed I was in that last picture. That is because I got a haircut this afternoon before it started raining. Two bucks and a 25 cent tip. And that included getting my beard and moustache trimmed as well as those embarrassing ear and nose hairs.

My Barber

That is the barber's daughter with her, but it isn't me in the barber chair.

Okay, enough for now. I don't want to bore you. But believe me, I have a lot more to post about so be sure to check back.

The Mystery

2011-06-29T08:39:00.002-05:00

Just time for a quick post before we get picked up by our driver for a day-trip to a park and a few neighboring small towns.

The other day when we were taking our stroll along the river we came upon this sight.

What Does It Mean?

One person's clothes, including underwear, spread out upon the bank of the river with no one in sight. My theory was that someone decided to end it all by jumping in the river and didn't want to get their clothes wet. Given that the river is quite shallow, but fast moving and rocky, I would guess they would have been battered to death.

I am sure there is probably a more mundane explanation, but I quite prefer mine.

Just A Quickie

2011-06-28T09:43:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post before we head out on another day's adventure.

I told you how this is an old hotel that has been landmarked so nothing can be changed, not even the interior. As a result the room keys and locks look like something out of an old movie.

The Room Key

And The Lock

I have now gotten to the point where I can actually lock and unlock my door without help. Not that the lock would keep anyone out, but the do keep the door from swinging open. Given the small number of guests here and the fact that you really cannot enter or leave the hotel without the management being aware of it, the likelihood of someone breaking into your room is negligible. Good thing too, because there are no safes. Still, I feel most secure.

And, as I have said, this is a most charming hotel.

The Breakfast Nook

And Fresh Flowers Every Day

As you may know, Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador, and Cuenca is the heart of the hat making industry. One of the places we visited yesterday was a hat museum where you can also buy hats, but of course. We are going to a Panama hat factory tomorrow so I will probably wait until then to buy one, but we did try on a few.

Pretty Dapper, No

Ready For The Easter Parade

I have been going on about how inexpensive it is here, especially to eat. Yesterday we hit the jackpot at little cafe near us where the three of us had lunch for under eight bucks.

Grecia

And that price included a big beer for me.

Bar Man And His Big Beer

I had a pork sandwich as did the Mysterious Sister-In-Law who also had a Coca Cola and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had a nice looking chicken sandwich and a cup of tea.

A Nice Little Nosh

We will probably head back there today because their soups looked delicious.

I will post more later, but I just wanted you to take a look at the menu of the place we ate last night.

Can't Beat The Prices

I don't know how to rotate the pictures yet, or why Photobucket seems to have rotated it for me. But tilt your head and notice that other than the giant prawns, everything is under ten bucks. I had the filet mignon which came with a side of vegetables and boiled potatoes for a whopping $8.25. And this is a classy restaurant, as you will see when I post the pictures.

We didn't have a bottle of wine but I did have a before dinner drink and a beer with the meal. The Mysterious Ones had soft drinks but we did have after dinner tea and coffee. And the tab for the three of us, including the tip? Fifty-five dollars.

Okay, I will show you one picture of the restaurant so you don't think I am kidding about it being a classy place.

A View Of The River Was Included

And aside from a short morning shower the weather yesterday was lovely as well. Warm and sunny, just like my disposition.

And now we are off again. I will try to add to this post later tonight if I have time so check back.

As you can see, I figured out how to rotate the images. I did have to download PS Express in order to do it, though.

The Mysterious Ones wanted to hit a couple of museums this afternoon so I decided to take the opportunity to rest my weary feet and just relax. We walked over six miles yesterday and took a river walk this morning then visited a small exhibit of snakes, frogs, turtles, lizards and a spider or two. It was quite entertaining. Then we hit the cheap restaurant for lunch again.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the restaurant we ate at last night.

A Neat Little Nook

Those are pictures of Cuenca in the old days hanging on the wall behind us. This nook is just off the main restaurant and has a little bar with about half-a-dozen stools. I didn't know what to drink so I asked the bartender for something local. I got a shot of something clear that tasted a bit like vodka, but perhaps not quite as sharp. Not too bad.

As it bagan to get darker the lights in the building across the river began to come on and we continued to have a nice view throughout our most enjoyable dinner.

The Lights Across The Way

And now for the food. You might think that you wouldn't get much of a fillet mignon for only $8.25, but you would be wrong.

A Nice Hunk Of Meat

As I mentioned, the meat isn't as tender as we are used to in the United States, but then most of the world doesn't finish their cattle with corn in feed lots. Me, I prefer the somewhat chewer and tastier grass-fed beef so I wasn't in the least disappointed. And by chewy I by no means mean tough, it isn't.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for the shrimp and was quite pleased with what she got.

No Complaints

The Mysterious Sister-In-Law opted for the sea bass and she said it was okay, but not the greetest she ever had. Given that we are in the mountains, I guess it wasn't caught locally. But then I am sure the shrimp weren't local either. But, shrimp are shrimp wherever you get them.

Good, But Not Great

That is it for today, but I should have more tomorrow so be sure to check back. A few good pictures of frogs and snakes and stuff and a mystery that remains to be solved.

Where Have All The Dollars Gone?

2011-06-27T08:45:00.003-05:00

After a long and not very comfortable overnight flight to Guayaquil, an exceptionally long wait to process through immigration and customs, a short flight to Cuenca and a short taxi ride to our hotel we exited our cab and stepped into a gray, drizzly day. But I got my first pleasant surprise. I asked the cabbie how much I owed him and couldn't understand his reply but thought he said $15 so I gave him a $20. He shook his head and pointed at a five dollar bill I had. He accepted that and gave me a large silver coin and two old smaller bronze looking ones. I gave him the silver coin for a tip and he seemed happy.

Then I got to wondering, they use United States currency, what were the coins? Well, the two bronze looking ones I had were old dollar coins, the ones with the Indian lady on them. The silver one I gave him must have been a fifty-cent piece. I guess Ecuador is where all the coins we never see in the United States end up.

Oh, and the first pleasant surprise, the taxi-ride from the airport was just $2.50, including the tip. Can't beat that. You can take a taxi anywhere in town for only $1.50 and the bus is only twenty-five cents.

There were more pleasant surprises to come. The hotel staff came out and got our bags and hauled them up to our rooms and the hotel manager, Roberto, showed us around. The hotel is a lovely old place too.

Casa Ordonez

Our hotel is two stories and we were assigned two rooms on the second floor, kind of at the end of a hall and making up two sides of a cozy little sitting area.

Our Cozy Little Sitting Area

It even had a fairly large screen television, although I haven't tried it yet. I wasn't able to get the one in my room to work, but I think that is because I don't understand the controls.

All The Comforts Of Home

And the rooms themselves are quite nice. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I got the slightly larger one that has a desk and a little settee or whatever you call them. And a nice old bed with a down comforter.

Our Room

After we got settled in a bit we went around the block to a lovely restaurant for a delicious and inexpensive lunch. It cost $80 for the three of us, but that was with a $29 bottle of wine and included and unnecessarily large tip.

GODA Restaurant, The Metal Menu

I opted to have an octopus salad that was served on a half a papaya. Now normally I do not care for papaya, but the ones here are exceptionally sweet and don't have that slight smell of vomit that I associate with them.

Me And My Salad

I also had a very good fish cerviche to go with it.

The Combo Special, Bar Man style

The Mysterious Ones both opted to have the paella, and quite a dish that turned out to be.

More Than They Bargained For

For desert the Mysterious Ones had a creme bulee and I opted for a peppermint chocolate martini.

Me And My Martini

Now before you get all excited and accuse me of violated my standards regarding martinis, this was strictly an ice-cream desert served in a large martini glass. And it was quite delicious.

And again, without the wine and unnecessary tip we are talking about a bit over $40 for the three of us. Still, more than the $7 we paid for lunch for the three of us today, and that included a beer. But you will have to wait until tomorrow to check that out.

Then, after not getting much sleep on the plane and because it was still kind of gloomy we headed back to our hotel for a nap. The sound of gunshots woke us up later in the afternoon and we found out there is a week-long festival of some sort taking place at a park about two blocks away. And they weren't gunshots, just fireworks. We headed over there and took a stroll around. The rain had stopped and it was just pleasantly cool.

The festival seemed to be primarily food vendors, mostly selling sweets. There were also some people selling handicraft items, a couple of jugglers, and some comedy skits going on as well. Everyone seemed to be having a grand old time.

Pictures Of The Festival

The Mysterious Ones want to go exploring a bit so I need to quickly take a shower before we head out. We did have a nice complimentary breakfast this morning: a bowl of fruit, papaya and pear, a glass of passion fruit juice, fresh cruousiants, scrambled eggs, and most excellent coffee.

And, of course, I shall have more to post about today's adventures. So far everything except the weather has been great. But then we are up in the mountains and cool weather with frequent showers is kind of the norm here. And, because we are much nearer to the equator than at home the days are pretty much the same length all year around so it gets darker earlier here now than back in Brooklyn. The sun comes up shortly after six in the morning and goes down a bit after six at night.

This hotel has free wireless internet service, so that is nice. Also, I bought a Logitech keyboard/case combination for my iPad which has made my life much easier when it comes to posting the blogs and doing my email. I got the Zagg and it doesn't add much size or weight to the iPad. Although the keyboard is smaller than standard, I don't seem to have any problems with it.

Wetness All Around

2011-06-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

Okay, not wetness all around. Saturday when I went out to the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island wasn't actually wet, just the theme was wet. But Wednesday when I went to a Mets game was wet.

Now I am not a big Mets fan, and certainly not a Yankee fan. I still stick to my roots when it comes to baseball and root for the Twins. I do pull for the Coney Island Cyclones, though. But my friend Bernie, who works as an usher at Citi Field, won an employee of the month or of the week or some such thing award and got some free tickets. And he graciously gave the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I a couple.

Bernie, What A Nice Guy

We got there pretty early so we could look around a bit, but we ended up having a lot of time to kill because there was a rain delay. Must be me because there was a rain delay at the Coney Island Cyclones/Staten Island Yankees game I went to recently as well.

I Think There Is A Cover-Up

But Citi Field, to me at least, is a far superior ballpark compared to Yankee Stadium. It just seems much more open and customer friendly. Plus they have some pretty nice bars. And it didn't take me long to find one.

A Pretty Nice Bar

I settled in pretty good while waiting for the game, which did eventually start. And we had great seats.

A View From Our Seats

I wish I could tell you we stayed for the whole game, but we didn't. It went into extra innings with the Mets winning in thirteen. I think I was home sleeping by then. But again, thank you Bernie, we had a great time and I enjoyed seeing Citi Field.

As for the Mermaid Parade, well not so much fun. It is just getting to be too damn crowded. And they do a miserable job of managing the foot traffic. The whole parade route this year (it seems to change all the time) was like a narrow "U" that went down Surf Avenue then hooked up to the Boardwalk and ended up just about parallel to where it started. But during the parade there is no way to cross the parade route, even though there were long breaks between the groups parading. This means everyone was more or less trapped inside that narrow "U" unless you went all the way out to the begining of the parade route. It got to be downright claustrophobic.

Cha Cha's Was Packed

Ruby's Was Packed As Well

I did manage to squeeze up to the bar at Ruby's to pay $8 for a small Tanqueray and Tonic in a plastic cup.

Such A Deal

One good thing about the parade is that they don't seem to mind you being on the boardwalk with a drink in your hand.

These Kids Had The Right Idea

We stayed for about an hour and then tried to find somewhere it wasn't too packed.

A Quick Stop At Freak Bar

There wasn't anyplace to sit at Freak Bar and, of course, one of the bathrooms was out of order so there was about a 45 minute wait to use the one that was still open. We decided to hit Footprints.

These are the crowds you had to brave just to get out of the parade area.

No Pushing Or Shoving

It was pretty intense with people starting to holler at the cops to let them across and a bit of the forbidden pushing and shoving begining to take place. We did manage to escape and hit Footprints, but that place was packed as well. At least we could get into a restroom. Couldn't squeeze up to the bar, though.

We just headed on back to Downtown Brooklyn and popped into Bar Tabac for a bottle of wine and a bowl of mussels.

Ah, A Bit Of Breathing Room

I will have to say that Coney Island was looking pretty good with the new rides and a flea market going strong. It will be interesting to see what next year brings when Ruby's and Cha Cha's and the Beer Beach are scheduled to go.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday the Mysterious Chinese Woman, a Mysterious Sister-In-Law and I will be heading off to Cuenca, Ecauador. Probably no more posts for a few days, but I should be putting stuff up while I am there, so stay tuned.

The Rest Of The Story

2011-06-20T13:31:00.000-05:00

I did go to the Mermaid Parade on Saturday. Didn't spend too much time there because it was really crowded. It gets more and more crowded every year. But more on that in my next post. Let me just finish up my trip to Williamsburg here.

After we left Fatty Cues we walked along Bedford Avenue through the heart of Williamsburg. We passed a few of the newer bars before spotting Cyn.

It Would Be A Sin To Miss Cyn

This place reminds me of the soon-to-be-gone-if-it-isn't-already Mars Bar on the lower east side of Manhattan. A legendary dive bar, that one.

But The Mars Bar Has No Outdoor Seating

I had worked up a bit of a thirst during the walk over so I had a nice Tanqueray and Tonic, and it was one of the strongest I have ever had outside of Standup Frank's, a dive bar in Minneapolis. It might be closed now, though.

A Very Decent Thirst Quencher

That one thirst quencher turned into three and I wandered into a conversation that had something to do with the Mongols and their skill shooting a bow while riding at a full gallop. I am sure it was a very interesting conversation as well.

From Cyn we hit the pier at North 6th Street and caught the ferry back to the Brooklyn Bridge Park pier. We had a bit of a walk to get home and I had to take a leak and, perhaps, squeeze in one more drink. Luckily, Pete's was nearby.

Pete's, Been Here Forever

And Squeeze In A Drink, I Did

I had a Manhattan, but I don't remember what kind. I think Pete's didn't have any Maker's Mark so I ordered something different after going through the options. I am sure it was good.

A waiter wanted to take a picture of me and the Mysterious Chinese Woman together. We try to avoid these pictures because they tend to give people the wrong idea.

Cutest Couple

Then it was the long walk home. And all uphill as well. Don't make the mistake of thinking Brooklyn is flat. It isn't. Where I live, adgacent to Brooklyn Heights (it is "Heights" for a reason) we are quite above higher than waterlevel, where, obviously, we caught the ferry.

I made it though. And tomorrow I will try to get the stuff from the Mermaid Parade. But don't hold your breath. There wasn't very much, mostly just pictures of crowds.

A Boat Trip To Williamsburg

2011-06-17T13:42:00.001-05:00

They have introduced a new ferry service that makes stops at a few places in Manhattan and, more importantly to me, sercice to Willamsburg. This is great because it takes forever to get there by either bus or subway, at least from where I live. As an example, the mysterious G train with service to Williamsburg is like a mythical beast. You know it has been there because you can see its tracks, but that doesn't mean you will see the beast itself. In other words, service sucks. So the best way is to take a train into Manhattan and at 14th transfer to the L train back into Brooklyn, and one stop later you are there.

But, the ferry, which is free untlil the 24th, gets you there really quickly and very comfortably. There are stops at South 6th Street and North 6th Street in Williamsburg. The Mysterius Chinese Woman and I picked the ferry up down by the Brooklyn Bridge, right next to the River Cafe, and got off at South 6th Street.

The Pier By The Brooklyn Bridge

It is just a quick jump over to Williamsburg where we disembarked. Now a lot of Williamsburg has gone upscale in the past few years. It is now the home base of our "hipster" community. Not sure what exactly that means, but there must be money involved because prices skyrocketed and a building boom started. Then, with the economic downturn a lot of the development just kind of stopped midstream.

And The Edges Are Still A Bit Rough

I guess by rough I mean kind of light industrial and older buildings. And you can't get much lighter than this:

No Bike Repairs

And something I had never seen, a vending maching that seemed to dispense various small hardware stuff. Maybe it was stuff to repair your bike.

It Was Broken, Though

And in one of these older buildings is a small restaurant and bar that has received a bit of attention lately for it's eclectic menu.

Fatty Cue

This is just a small hole-in-the-wall with a small bar and just a handful of tables. They did have a small selection of decent beers. I had a Belgium beer, the name of which I forgot, and a bottle of Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer, most excellent.

Bar Man And His Beer

I was pulling a bit of a pout because when I tried to use my camera I found out that the battery was dead. Worse, this morning I moved the camera to a slightly smaller case (still had a little pocket for an extra battery, though) and left the charged spare battery in the other one. The case that was at home.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman was taking pictures with her new iPhone (she is now a Pocket Frogs addict) but I didn't think they would turn out that good. They did though.

Fatty Cue's Eclectic Stuff

We split a couple of small dishes. The lamb ribs and smoked catfish. The small rib pieces were really good. The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought there was too much fat, but we were in Fatty Cue's, so what did she expect. The ribs came with a strange white sauce that to me had a bit of a fish taste. The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought it went well with the ribs but I didn't care for it. Instead I used kind of a sweet Jamaican pepper sauce that they had on the table.

The smoked catfish was a surprise. It was made into something like a whitefish salad that I get at our neighborhood bagel shop. But it was red, not white, and a bit drier. Oh, and nice and smokey. It was served with a plate of dippables which included fried pork fat (my favorite), radishes (red and white) steamed ginger, green onions, roasted garlic and who knows what else. It was quite tasty. Especially with the fried pork fat.

The two plates came with two cocktails for ten bucks. I was already drinking beer so the Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for a watermelon mimosa. When she finished it the host asked if she wanted another. When she said no he told her it would only be $2 more because they were normally $8 each. The Mysterious Chinese Woman has never seen a bargain she didn't like, no matter how much it costs. But in this case it was a good deal.

Then, for no reason other than we were such good customers, although we didn't spend a lot, he gave us a couple of free deserts.

What A Thoughtful Gesture

We got a piece of rhubarb pie that was definitely homemade and a to-die-for pie they called a smore pie. I guess that way you can always say "I want s'more pie." It was somply decadent and did taste vaguely of smores. Minus that black burnt sugar crust taste that was so vital.

And, after the mighty fine meal, drink, and socializing, we headed out to continue our wandering.

Tomorrow we will be going out to Coney Island for the annual Mermaid Parade. I will try to post about the rest of our trip to Williamsburg before we head out. If not, Sunday for sure. Then plenty of mermaid picture. Both batteries are fully charged and one is even in the camera.

I'm Not Running

2011-06-08T15:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't hold office and I am not running for one so I guess it is okay for me to post this somewhat lewd photo.

You Young Ones, Look Away

Will I be on CNN tomorrow?

American Legion Dive Bars

2011-06-02T09:09:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, some of the American Legion clubs here in New York are a bit seedy looking, at least from the outside. In Minnesota they tend to be quite large and a bit more inviting.

Looks A Bit Suspect

Of course it wasn't open and there were no hours of operation posted, that I could see.

A Bit Better

Still, this one was also closed with no hours of operation anywhere to be seen. I asked the bartender at the bar across the street if she knew when it was open and she said she has never seen anyone go into the place. Well, I have a friend who hangs out at the Waterfront Ale House so I will ask him when they are open. He claims he goes in there for a beer or two.

I still remember when I was going to try to join a Foreign Legion club in Red Hook. I found the place, another dive, but it was locked up. There were a couple of guys inside though, so I knocked on the door and they asked me what I wanted. When I told them they initally said they weren't a Foreign Legion club. When I said the had a small sign posted in the window saying they were they told me I would have to come back at night to see someone about joining. I thought it best to decline the offer.

There is a nice American Legion club in Bay Ridge, but it is a bit far. Still, I might have to check it out again. I don't even know where the one I do belong to is located.

And Maifest Continues

2011-05-25T17:33:00.000-05:00

We took a little one=hour boat ride during our Maifest festivities and it was a pleasant break from all that beer drinking.

Break, What Break

At least the scenery was a bit different.

Much Nicer On The Water

Oh, Wait, I Meant This Scenery

I am not sure who owns this boat, but it looked like it might be a fun ride.

Over The Bounding Main

And then it was back to the party, which was going strong.

Hardly A Seat To Be Had

All in all we had a very fun day. It clouded up a bit in the late afternoon and a few drops of rain did manage to fall, but not enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.

Maifest In May, When Else?

2011-05-22T14:49:00.001-05:00

Yesterday started off as a nice sunny day here in New York and stayed that way until late afternoon, perfect weather for a Maifest. It was held at World Yacht, located at the edge of the Hudson River in Hell's Kitchen. We got there by taking the subway to Time's Square and then walkng down a somewhat desolate stretch of 40th Street before cutting over to an equally desolate stretch of 41st Steet.

Not Your Rich Uncle's Yacht Club

As you might imagine, this was a German themed affair and the Paulaner Brewery had a large presence. In fact, it was the only beer available. No problem, though, Bar Man likes their beers.

Obligatory Stupid Pictures

Bar Man, having no sense, had to cough up $20 bucks each for a couple of souvenir beer mugs complete with beer.

Like I Don't Have Enough Mugs Already

I Did It All For Her

I figure I can sell the mugs on Ebay in a few years and recoup my money. It is amazing the things you can sell on Ebay. Who would think anyone would bid on a Sony MD Walkman that I just put up for sale. Too bad the mugs weren't inscribed with "1st Annual," though, I am sure that would have increased their value dramatically.

In addition to the beer they also had some dynamite Brat's, both regular and chicken, with saurkraut and mustard.

Grillin' Up The Goods

Colorful, But Not Traditional

That one was just sitting on a table and looked colorful. Maybe the ketchup was for the French fries that they were also selling. Not sure why, though. Potato dumplings would have been more appropriate. Even better would have been spaetzle. Bar Man loves spaetzle, those little potato dumplings.

Nice German Dumplings

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I ate the Brats with the appropriate condiments.

Is Saurkraut A Condiment?

The little girl in the above picture was kind of looking on in awe. That was The Mysterious Chinese Woman's third one. She said she really only had two and a half because, and I admit it, I took one bite out of two of hers. Still, pretty impressive. And they were just small bites.

Of course, no German festival would be complete without a German band, although this was a pretty scrawny one.

The Scrawny German Band

Note, by scrawny I meant inferior in size, not thin and bony. They did put out plenty of music, some of it was even German. Hell, add an accordian and almost anything sounds kind of German.

And, of course, you had the traditionally costumed dancers.

No Polka's, Though

A one hour cruise was also included. Well, not really. We paid extra for it. But that will wait until tomorrow.

Nobody I know got swept up in The Rapture yesterday, but I did have to grab The Mysterious Chinese Woman's leg to keep her from floating away.

I am not a big fan of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, but based upon a friend's recommendation I bought a bottle of Captain Morgan Private Stock and am sipping it for the first time as I write this. Quite delicious. I wouldn't think of mixing it with anything because it is perfect just as it is. It has a vanilla carmel nose to it and has a bit of the same taste, especially at first. Somewhat sweet on the tongue, but the rumminess does come through. Exceptionally smooth. My new favorite, for sipping. Appleton is stll my favorite for mixing with Meyer's running pretty much running neck and neck. Captain Morgan's also makes Tattoo and Parrot Bay rum and is the second largest rum producer in the world behind Bacardi.

I Take It All Back

2011-05-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

I take back everything bad that I have ever said about the iPad. Playboy has just announced that it is putting every page of every issue online and formated specifically for the iPad. Now I can finally finish The Sergeant and the Slave Girl. The story was in the April 1957 issue and I had barely started it before my mother confiscated my magazine.

Heading out to Maifest on the Hudson today. Already have my tickets and beer coupons. Should be a great day. The weather is perfect and the beer should be cold. They will be crowning Miss German America and there will be music and dancers plus a one-hour beer cruise. German food as well and even a Maypole. Anticipating much fun and I will try to post about it tomorrow.

An iPad Blog

2011-05-20T12:31:00.007-05:00

Okay, my first blog using my iPad. Took me awhile to figure out how to get my pictures from my camera to Photobucket. Didn't know you needed an iPad app to do it. And typing is, for me, a bit slow. But at least I can do it. Just a short blog, though.

Been rainy here forever so decided to watch Seance on a Wet Afternoon the other afternoon. Great old movie.

To offset the gloom of the day I decided to make some cheery drinks

My Cheery Drinks

And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman is always cause for cheer.

Cheers

Okay, I did it. Very laborious, though. I certainly won't be leaving my notebook behind when I travel. At least not if I plan on blogging. Unless someone can show me how to do this more efficiently. Inserting the pictures from Photobucket is the most kludgey, but typing isn't too swift either. But, hey, I did it.

The Opener

2011-05-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

As most of you who follow my blog must know by now, I head to Minnesota for the Fishing Opener every year. In the thirty-one years that this group has been gathering I have only missed once, and that was due to a scheduling conflict where, not too surprisingly, a river cruise f rom Amsterdam to somewhere in Switzerland won out.

The Gang Reconvenes

Cubby, on the deck, was filling a pitcher with some of Bruce's homemade beer. An excellent crispy delight that he infused with ginger. Jon and Bruce are comtemplating what to drink before the beer arrived and I think Jerry is pissing in the fireplace.

Well, it was a bit smaller gang this year. One of our members is undergoing chemo for lymphoma and another was busy with, of all things, work. But we raised a toast to those who weren't able to attend and, of course, to those of us who were here.

Cheers To The Gang Who Isn't All Here

As you may imagine, just from viewing our counter, this weekend isn't really about fishing. But it wasn't just about drinking either. We had some mighty good eats as well. I brought pastrami and corned beef from Katz's Deli and others brought some delicious stuff as well.

Jon brought a venison tongue and pickled pig parts along with some venison hard sausages.

Not For The Faint Of Heart

Jerry Digging Into The Sausages

You can also see several jars of pickled peppers that Bruce brought. Bruce also brought up some delicious wine, some so-so champagne and a dynamite port, all of which he made.

Jon also brought venison liver that we had for breakfast one morning along with eggs benedict.

Breakfast Of Champions

Jon is the primary cook and he does an excellent job. Well, he could have put a bit more pastrami in the grilled Reubens.

Jon Enjoying The Fruits Of His Labor

I didn't get pictures of everything we ate. You don't suppose the abundance of alcholic beverages had anything to do with that, do you? Some of the stuff I missed included blood sausage and a white sausage, also courtesy of Jon, and a chocolate cheese cake from Cubby that was the richest cheese cake I have ever had. Pretty much like eating fudge with chocolate frosting.

I did get a shot of some venison ribs that Bruce brought up. He shot a fawn so the ribs were just perfect for grilling.

Bambi Ribs

Now before you get all upset about Bruce shooting Bambi, don't worry, he killed his mother too. No, No, I didn't mean that. And the ribs were delicious.

And don't worry, we didn't just stay inside all weekend, we also drank out on the deck.

Enjoying The Weather

Cubby couldn't stay for the entire weekend, he had to leave Sunday morning to, arrgh, go to work. But that wasn't all bad. He is part owner of a roofing company and business is booming. Another indicator that the economy is turning around. People put off repairing their roofs when times are bad and then when times get better the pent-up demand kicks in.

Bye Bye Cubby

Another sign that Cubby's business is booming, he brought up a bunch of company jackets, sweat shirts, and tee shirts for us. Of course his company just changed its name and these are the old ones. Still, it was the first time in over thirty years that we ever got anything from him. I mean Bruce was a teacher and he would sometimes bring up a pupil or two.

Sunday was another nice day, so rather than just sit inside the cabin we headed to our favorite local watering hole.

The Blue Max

The Pared Down Gang

Initially our bartender, Holly, was a bit shy about having her picture taken.

Hiding Holly

But Bar Man, silver tongued devil that I am, was finally able to persuade her to pose.

Bar Man And Holly

I guess she had to wait until she was off duty and changed out of her work clothes. That is my brother behind us. He stopped by on Sunday for a short visit. He rode his bike up from Brainerd, where he lives.

And that is it, another great get-away with the boys. Already looking forward to next year when, I hope, we will have more of our full contingent.

Rest In Peace

2011-05-17T19:33:00.000-05:00

Good-bye to one of the good guys.

Hammerin' Harmon Killebrew aka Killer

Clearing Up Some Confusion

2011-05-11T16:01:00.000-05:00

In my last post I made reference to eating mussels at Bar Tabac, no matter what Anthony Bourdain says. I did not mean to imply that Anthony Bourdain ever said anything bad about Bar Tabac. It was in reference to an opinion that he has stated regarding eating mussels in restaurants in general.

In an article titled Things To Avoid When Eating In Restaurants he said:

"I don't eat mussels in restaurants unless I know the chef, or have seen, with my own eyes, how they store and hold their mussels for service. I love mussels. But, in my experience, most cooks are less than scrupulous in their handling of them. It takes only a single bad mussel, one treacherous little guy hidden among an otherwise impeccable group... If I'm hungry for mussels, I'll pick the good-looking ones out of your order."

You can read the article by clicking on this link:

Beware The Mussels

The article is an extract from his book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures In The Culinary Underbelly.

Thank you Splunge for pointing out the possible confusion in my post.

Cinco de Mayo And Mussels

2011-05-09T11:14:00.001-05:00

As promised, the Mysterious Chinese Woman and headed to Bar Tabac to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Kind of a tradition since we got such rude service trying to celebrate it at the nearby Pacifico several years back. Bar Man has a long memory. It takes a long time for me to return to a place where I, and others, received rude service. As you may recall, on that occasion not only did the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I leave but four others didn't even bother to sit down because they were treated so rudely. That was four years ago, and I haven't been back since. Maybe one nice day I will give it another shot. In all liklihood that same guy isn't there anymore.

But I like Bar Tabac anyway. Just like a little corner of Paris in my own neighborhood.

As we were heading to Bar Tabac we passed a new place that has just opened. I hadn't been in there yet so I thought I would pop in for a pre-luncheon beer.

Two8Two

As you might have guessed, you can find Two8Two at 282 Court Street. What is it with the run of restaurants incorporating their address in their names?

Alas, all we could do was gaze in wistfully because it doesn't open until 5:00 PM.

So Close, Yet So Far

Now, if they don't want to open until five in the afternoon, that is their business. Not a particularly good idea, in my opinion. They are located in a bit of a no-man's land, across from our local jail and next to a bail bond place. They are right around the corner from the lively Smith Street and diagonally across from a fairly new boutique hotel. I would think they would try to encourage as much business as they could from people who might just be walking by. But I really think you shouldn't put your little chalkboard sign out on the sidewalk unless you are actually open for business. That is just the protocol.

I Know, It Says Open At 5pm, But Still

Bar Man has lots of rules. but this is just a minor infraction so I still pop in and see what the place is like one day soon.

No big deal, though. We just continued on our way to our primary destination.

Bar Tabac

I hadn't been here in a while so I was glad to see that nothing had changed except some of the waitstaff. I decided to have a Ricard as an apertif today instead of having it after dinner like I usually do.

Ricard And Water Over Ice, Refreshing

We started off our meal with some Salmon Brochette. Kind of like little kebabs, and quite tasty. The Salmon was done just right, nice and moist.

Lip Smacking Good, The Brochette As Well

But the real reason we come here is to get the Les Moules "Bar Tabac" Provençales. A big bowl of mussels served in a white wine and butter sauce with plenty of bread to sop up the juice and a side of really great French fries.

The Mussels From, Not Brussels, Canada

Good eating, no matter what Bourdain says.

Although I usually eat my fries with Catsup or Ketchup (both terms derived from the Chinese ke-tsiap, a pickled fish sauce) I eat them with the homemade mayonnaise when I am here. You should try it, really good.

We split a bottle of a chilled white wine and and had a mighty fine and relatively inexpensive lunceon.

Bar Tabac, just one more reason that I love my neighborhood.

A Nice Little Italian Restaurant

2011-05-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

As I already mentioned, after seeing the Black Coffee Blues Band the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed to Frankie's 457 for a little nosh.

Frankies 457

As I said before, this is kind of a small place, very friendly, and with a homey feel to it. And I don't know why they don't have an apostrophe in their name. This place is at 457 Court Street kind of in my neighborhood and they have another one in Manhattan at 17 Clinton Street and I bet you can guess what that one is called. Now pay attention, that is Clinton Street in Manhattan, not Clinton Street here in Brooklyn.

There was a short wait for a table inside and it was a bit too chilly for me to want to sit outside so I forced myself to have a beer at the bar.

Someone Has To Do It

The beer I had was an Edelstoff from the Augustiner Brewery in Munich, Germany. This brewery has a history that goes back to 1328 although, obviously, it has changed a bit since then. The Edelstoff is brewed for export only because, as you may know, the United States requires stuff to be added to beer that would violate the Bavarian "Reinheitsgebot" (Purity Law) of 1516. It always amazes me that European's manage to survive quite well drinking beers and eating foods that, by law, are not allowed in the United States. Ah, but all those preservatives and stuff have to be good for us, Right?

Anyway, the Edelstoff is a crisp and sparkly brew that is very refreshing. It is a decent 5.6% ABV and downing a six-pack of this on a hot summer day would be no problem at all. But it was a chilly spring day so I only had one.

More Of A Wine Day

I generally prefer a red wine but the Mysterious Chinese Woman likes the white. I bought a whole bottle of the red because I wanted a Chianti and, surprisingly, they didn't Chianti by the glass. They do let you take the unfinished bottle home with you, as almost every restaurant does.

We weren't overly hungry so we just ordered appetizers. An octopus salad for the Mysterious Chinese Woman and a cold cut sampler and cheese plate for me.

Just A Little Nosh

Although it was too chilly for me outside, there were some hardier souls eating out in the nice looking area.

They Were Probably Drinking Hard Stuff

They had a grill outside but I am not sure how often it gets used. I hasn't been used in awhile, that's for sure.

I Could Fix This Up

There is another indoor area that is separate from and larger than the main restaurant, but it wasn't being used today. Maybe it is for private parties or something.

Perhaps A Party Room

I did bring most of the wine home but it didn't make it through the evening. Hey, once it is open, you know it won't keep. I also took home some of the cold cuts and cheese with some bread and had that for a snack the next day.

I will have to head back to this place again in the not too distant future. There are so many good restaurants that are closer to where I live, Queen being one, that I tend to get lazy and don't wander too far. This one is worth the walk, though.

Court Street Street Fair

2011-05-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

A bit on the slow side in terms of getting my posts posted. Or maybe just a bit on the slow side. And I figured I better get something up before I go out to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a day honoring a relatively trivial victory by the Mexicans over the French in a war they eventually lost. Interestingly, almost nobody in Mexico celebrates this except for the tourists. But in the United States we use it as an excuse to slam down shots of tequila and drink Margaritas.'

Bar Man, being a bit perverse, will celebrate by going to Bar Tabac, a French bistro, and having mussels in a white wine sauce accomanied by a glass or two of a French vin blanc. Then I will come home and make a couple of Margaritas and drink them while watching The Social Network that I just got from Netflix.

You probably didn't know that today is also the National Day of Prayer here in the United States. The law formalizing its annual observance was enacted by Congress in 1952 and it is observed on the first Thursday of May. So, no, it wasn't established to compete with Cinco de Mayo, it just happens to fall on the same day this year. Kind of like how the Minnesota Fishing Opener wasn't set to compete with Mother's day, it just seems that it usually falls on the same weekend. Not this year though.

I bet more people bend their elbow today than bend their knee in prayer.

But I digress. On to the fair.

It was a nice sunny day last Sunday so people were our enjoying the weather at a number of sidewalk cafes. Well, more like sitting at tables on the sidewalk in front of bars and restaurants.

Enjoying The Sun After A Rainy Spring

Street fairs are always kind of fun even if they are a bit on the cheesy side with most of the vendors just making the rounds all spring and summer and not really having much to do with the actual fair itself. And this one was largely the same.

You Have Your Games Of Chance

Now maybe it is just me, but it sure looks like people are going out of their way to avoid these games. Especially the one featuring the plush stuffed banannas for prizes. Gosh, who wouldn't want one of those.

Some of the food vendors, though, did look like they were a step up from those trucks selling the generic Italian Sausages and stuff.

Sweets For The Sweet

And Sausages Too

I picked up a couple of spring rolls from this place that was set up in front of their little restaurant.

Spring Rolls In The Springtime

Unfortunately they weren't very good. I ate one and tossed the other.

But the day was saved when I got to:

P.J. Hanley's Tavern

This is a great place that has been around since 1874. A big outdoor eating area that, as you can see, was packed. Normally I would have popped in for a beer but it was way too crowded. Besides, I had just had one at Cody's American Bar and Grill and was sure I would have another when I got to where the Black Coffee Blues Band was playing.

Now these guys had some good grilling going on.

Pig In A Metal Blanket

Either A Lamb Or A Small Dog

Don't get excited, it was a lamb.

These Guys Had A Serious Smoker

And the stuff they were cooking was going as fast as they could get it on the table.

Slim Pickings

I had a little better luck with the sausages, there seemed to be plenty of those available.

Sizzling Good Sausages

I chatted with the guy frying up the sausages and told them they looked really good. He asked me if I wanted a taste and I said "Sure." Well, Who wouldn't?

My Taste

Now you have to admit, that was very generous of him. No need to buy one after that "taste."

Oh, and don't let me forget the thrill rides for the kiddies.

Nothing Like A Good Scream

From here I went to see the Black Coffee Blues Band, which you already know about. I will catch you up on Frankie's 457 next time. But now I am off to Bar Tabac.

Okay, I Give

2011-05-04T07:47:00.000-05:00

After fooling around with my iPad for a few days I am growing somewhat fond of it. Kind of like a new puppy who piddles on your carpet. Once you get it paper trained you get over the initial aggravation and start to bond.

I downloaded a few free apps and got a stylus that eliminates the problems of my not-all-that-fat finger tips. Figured out how to use Safari better, but still don't know why just clicking the Mail icon will only bring me to my Hotmail Inbox but not let me access, or even see, my other Hotmail folders. Maybe I am missing something.

Still not happy about that whole having to set up an account with an Apple Store to use the iPad, but what can you do. And that having to hook it up to my PC to get it to work was a bit of a pain as well. I had to install iTunes as an administrator because some of the features needed to initialize my iPad were blocked by my firewall. Not sure what that was all about.

I will be sure to let you know the first time I post a blog with photos from my iPad. I should be getting my Camera Connection Kit today. And, yes, I know, I could load photos from my PC to the iPad using iTunes, but that wouldn't make much sense. As long as I am already on my PC I might as well just use it to post.

So I will play nice from now on and all of you Apple Heads can stop getting on my case for not thinking the iPad is the best thing since sliced bread. I wonder what the best thing before sliced bread might have been.

I will post a bit about the Court Street Street Fair and Frankies 457 a bit later today.

Black Coffee Blues Band

2011-05-02T12:29:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was the Court Street Street Fair. A bit redundant sounding, but hey, I didn't come up with the name. I have a few pictures I took along the way as I headed the the far end of it (far end if you started where I did) to see my friend Dimitri and the group he plays with, the Black Coffee Blues Band. Those pictures will have to wait for another post.

Dimitri has a performance place on Court Street where they host various events to promote local talent and this is where they were performing.

Worth Paying A Visit

I didn't even know about this place until I got an email from Dimitri inviting me to watch the band. For those of you who follow my blog you know that they are a favorite of mine. I have posted pictures of them in the past, usually at the Atlantic Antic, my favorite street fair. They also play at the Waterfront Ale House, but while they used to play here in Brooklyn they now play at the Manhattan location so I don't see them all that often. Anyway, I will try to keep apprised of future events and post about them so if any or you are interested and in the neighborhood you can attend them.

Me And Dimitri (Rhymes, Doesn't It)

The Mysterious Chinese Woman had gone to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden earlier with two of her sisters and a niece. She did manage to make it back in time to catch the performance, and a beer.

A Belle, Beer And Blues, A Winning Combination

The beer was not your run of the mill stuff, either. It was Penn Kaiser Pilsner, brewed by the Pennsylvania Brewing Company. A nice session beer (4% ABV), quite refreshing. A nice malty aroma and a slight hoppy flavor with some sweeter malt to it as well.

A Good Beer Served Up By A Good Gail

Now Bar Man does like a good blues band, and these guys are really good. Better than a lot of bands that I have heard in much pricier venues. Well, this venue was actually free. They are all talented and, except for the drummer, very good vocalists as well as gifted guitar players. And for all I know the drummer can sing too.

The Black Coffee Blues Band

Popa Chubby, who usually fronts the group, wasn't there, but man, they rocked out anyway. If you want to see a video of the group with Popa Chubby playing at the Atlantic Antic, click the link below (you will also see why Popa Chubby is called Popa Chubby and not Popa Skinny).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADgjtZDchuU

The somewhat diminutive bass player is Galea, Popa Chubby's wife. Popa Chubby and Galea also form the nucleus of The Horowitz Blues Band. Popa Chubby's real name is Ted Horowitz. What, you thought his parents named him Popa Chubby. And here is a bit of irony, Popa Chubby's father owned a candy store.

The guy on the left is Big Ed Sullivan and he can really wail on that guitar.

Big Ed Doing Some Guitar Tricks

Hiding His Hand

I told him he reminded me of Eddie Van Halen who used to play with his back to the audience because he was afraid people would film him and copy his fingering. Of course Eddie is a mess, and if you don't believe me just read Sammy Hagar's autobiography Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock.

Now Dimitri you already know, he is on the far right in the group picture. The guy next to Big Ed is Doc French who usually plays with the French Cookin' Band The drummer is Don Castagno of the Debbie Davies Band. I had Doc's and Don's names wrong on my original post but Dimitri sent me an email so I could correct them. Sorry Doc and Don, I guess I just wasn't paying attention during the introductions.

The Black Coffee Blues Band does have at least one CD out and, if you search for it I think you can find at least one site where you can download it for free. I would post the link but that would be like encouraging you to steal.

After watching them perform I had worked up a bit of an appetite so the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I went out for dinner. I will post about that in a day or two but if you are in this neck of the woods you really should check out this place. It is an authentic old-time Italian restaurant with decent food and friendly service.

Frankie's 457

Not too surprising, it is at 457 Court Street.

Now I know that Fox News isn't the biggest Obama supporter, but do you think this banner that they ran was just a Freudian slip?

Makes You Kind Of Wonder

Enough With The iPad

2011-05-01T19:46:00.010-05:00

Okay, my final post on the subject of my iPad.

First, I have said many times that I am on a learning curve and some of the things I have encountered are less than intuitive, in my opinion.

Second, I don't see why I should have to load an Apple application onto my PC in order to get my iPad to work.

Third, I don't understand why I have to give out my credit card information to be able to use my iPad.

Fourth, no iPad ad that I have ever seen indicates the need to buy an additional iPad Camera Connection Kit to use any of the nifty photo apps they have and tout in their ads.

Fifth, nobody seems to contradict any of my factual comments about my experience with the iPad. Instead they seem to suggest that I am "technically challenged." I would suggest that my technical credentials are fairly impressive when it comes to mainframes and PCs, and, see my first point, I am still learning about the iPad. I am the first to admit that I have a lot to learn.

Sixth, I have said there are things about the iPad that I do like and, that as I learn more, I am liking it more.

Seventh, in my opinion Apple users, be it a Mac or an iPad or whatever, are a very defensive lot. Why? I don't know. I should write a fiction piece about an upcoming war between, not Christians and Muslims, but between PC and Apple users.

Eighth, I am gong back to writing about bars and restaurants and life in general, things that I am less likely to be attacked about.

Ninth, I think Donald Trump is a fool.

Tenth, I hate the Yankees and the Knicks (I used to love the Knicks) but I love the Jets and the Twins. I am totally indifferent about hockey but support the Chivas Mexican football (soccer to us) team.

Eleventh, I now live in Brooklyn but I grew up in Minneapolis so maybe you can understand this (except for the indifference to hockey, the love of the Jets and the support of a Mexican football team).

Twelfth, The iPad still sounds like it should be sold on a shelf next to either the Depends or the sanitary napkins.

Thirteenth, for whomever (Patrick) said I was technologically challenged, set up your own blog, get your own web address, embed a picture that when you click on it takes you to another website (mine would be fine) and then re-link me to your website. I am sure you can, but I don't think a "technologically challenged" person can. If you send me your link I will embed it in my blog.

Fourteenth, Can you buy unsanitary napkins?

Fifteenth, How long before Trump demands to see Osama's death certificate?

And that is it.

Or, maybe, not.

More iPad Woes

2011-05-01T07:53:00.007-05:00

Okay, after paying my $9.99 a month over and above the $71 a year I already pay for Rhapsody I got it working on my iPad. I can't say that it is as feature rich as the version for the PC, but given the longer battery life on the iPad and the fact that you can download music for your queue to be played later I can see where this will be useful, especially for on a plane and where there is no internet connectivity.

I bought a plastic shield to protect the iPad's screen but after reading the installation instructions I returned it. When I got to the point about leaving the iPad off for 12 to 24 hours and removing the battery I kind of gave up.

Next, I had to order a stylus. I do not have particularly large fingers but I found it almost impossible to highlight words in order to cut and paste. Invariably I ended up highlighting whole blocks of text and then when I tried to use the little dots to resize the highlighted area the whole area usually just disappeared and I had to start over again.

Got my Hotmail working, although not by using the mail icon on the iPad. When I use that it only shows me my primary inbox but there doesn't seem to be any way to access my auxiliary folders. I use Safari to access msn.com and then get to Hotmail that way.

I am getting used to Safari now, I find it works kind of like Chrome in terms of being able to access previously opened sites. There was a little icon up at the top of the screen that you touch. Took me awhile to figure that out. Chrome has tabs for your open sites but Safari doesn't seem to have that same feature. Or perhaps I just haven't discovered it yet.

Another slight problem I am having, the touch screen is somewhat heat sensitive. That is why you need a special stylus and can't just use a pen or something. Often when I am trying to touch a letter or a number on the upper part of the keyboard that fat part of my hand, right below the thumb (the one you can use for a guide as to how well-done your steaks are) brushes the lower portion of the keyboard where you switch from alpha to numeric. This usually means deleting the character that I inadvertently entered and then switching back to either alpha or numeric. I suppose I will have to use my stylus for typing now and that will slow me down a bit because I am a fairly fast touch typist.

On the other hand, with its orange cover it really does look cool. I like the map feature and that GPS thing is pretty neat as well.

I am warming up to it. I do like the long battery life and the 3G connectivity. If Adobe Photoshop and Quicken come out with applications for the iPad I could probably use it exclusively for prolonged trips. Not so much now, it is more of an auxiliary device at this point, but good for a long-weekend getaway.

Not going to hold my breath for Adobe working nicely with Apple though. Click on the picture below to check out a link to one take on why Apple doesn't support Adobe Flash:

Can't we all just get along?

Now, to Apple's credit, I find their customer service people to be very helpful and extremely polite.

And, based upon the number and content of comments I get on my posts about the iPad, I will have to say that Apple users are much more passionate than PC users. I certainly hope that e-Harmony and those other match-making services have at least one question that asks whether you are a PC or an Apple user.

Happier Subject - A Street Fair

2011-04-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, starting at about noon, there is a street fair on Court Street here in Brooklyn. It runs from Union to 9th Street and should be a lot of fun. My friend Dmitri, kind of a Severus Snape look-alike, will be playing with The Black Coffee Blues Band from 2:30 PM until 6:00 PM at 498 Court Street which, I think, is between Luguer and Nelson streets. They will be playing at an indoor gallery space so if you don't see them from the street, look inside.

Dmitri

Snape

The Mysterious Chinese Woman is going to the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in the morning, but she may be joining me later in the afternoon so be there or be, well, somewhere else.

Death Eaters beware.

Cognitive Dissonance

2011-04-30T11:52:00.003-05:00

I am starting to think that the reason everyone raves about the iPad so much is that after spending all the time and money to acquire one they can't admit they may have made a mistake.

Easy to use, I don't think so. And here is just one example. I downloaded a free e-book from guttenberg.org, no problem. But to access and read it you need to download a free app, iBooks. Okay, again, no problem. But then no icon shows up. You need to reboot to get the icon. And then the icon doesn't appear on the main page of icons, even though there is plenty of room, but on a "hidden" page. After scrolling to the "hidden" page you can then drag it to the main page. Now really, would you say that is intuitive?

Also, to use Hotmail (I know, using a Microsoft application on an Apple product) I went to Safari and then went to msn.com and accessed Hotmail from there. I can't simply use the Mail feature on the iPad because it only shows me my main mail box, but none of my other folders. Okay, so now I am fine with getting to Hotmail. But originally when I went to Safari you could get a panel of icons that worked like a user guide. Now I have no idea how to get that to reappear.

No USB port is also a pain, although I knew there wouldn't be one going in. But now I don't know how to get pictures from my camera to the iPad without first loading them to my main PC (I did finally manage to get iTunes completely loading by doing the install in Administrator mode) and then either doing an iTunes sync or uploading them to Photobucket and accessing them from there.

Tried to download Rhapsody, which I really like, but it needs Adobe Flash Player. When I try to download and install that on my iPad I get this message:

"Thanks for trying to access Flash Player. Unfortunately it is not available for your device because of restrictions that Apple has put in place. Click here for a wide array of the latest smartphones and tablets that do support Adobe's Flash Player."

I can see where the iPad isn't meant to replace your PC or Mac or whatever, simply augment it.

I realize that I am still on a steep learning curve here, so hopefully things will get better. Kind of disconcerting, though, when you go on Google and see how much stuff there is on work-arounds for what should be trivial stuff (getting an icon to show up after downloading an application, for example). Microsoft would be ripped to shreds by Apple users if their applications or operating systems were half as buggy. Just my humble opinion, of course.

On the other hand, with its orange cover that I bought it goes nicely with my Kindle, which has a purple cover.

Okay, last post kvetching about my iPad. For now at least. I am sure there will be more on this subject as time goes by. Maybe, as I become more familiar with it, my comments may become more favorable. Or someone will be getting a slightly used iPad for a Christmas present next year.

Yay!! Found the iPad version of Rhapsody. Only problem is that it seems not to recognize my current membership, Unlimited Access, really isn't that unlimited. It covers PCs, such as my HP Notebook and my Dell laptop and, of course, my HP TouchSmart. What doesn't it cover? You guessed it, "portable devices," which include the iPad. So although I can load and use Rhapsody on my iPad, it will cost me an additional
$9.99 a month to do so, My current subscription only costs me $71.88 a year.

A Head Scratcher

2011-04-29T15:26:00.008-05:00

I just bought a new iPad2. This is my first experience with an Apple product other than an iPod and I am a bit perplexed. The first thing you are asked to do before you can use it is plug it into a Mac or PC or something that already has iTunes installed. So if this was your first and only PC or Apple product what do you have to do, go find someone who will let you plug into their PC or Apple product? That just seems silly.

I can't think of another product that I have ever purchased that requires something like this. Most products, including every PC that I have ever purchased, are usable right out of the box.

On top of that you need to set up an Apple Store account which requires you to enter your credit card information. Apple sure operates differently than any other product I have ever purchased.

Okay, then it gets worse. After getting my applications to show up on my iPad and thinking everything was working okay I get a message saying that there is an update available and then the update started. That kicked my iPad back to the screen where it asks you to connect to iTunes. Then I get a message saying that the update can't be applied and now here I sit again, back at the same screen I got when I first turned the thing on. Haven't figured out what to do now, but so far this has been nothing but a frustrating experience.

Why do I even need to have ITunes, an application I never use, installed on my PC just to get a newly purchased iPad to work. But you do, this is right from the User Manual:

To use iPad, you need:

A Mac or a PC with a USB 2.0 port and one of the following operating systems:
- Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or later
- Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3
or later

iTunes 10.2 or later, available at www.itunes.com/download
An Apple ID
Broadband Internet access

Finally called Tech Support and got a friendly person on the other end after a fairly short wait. Explained my problem and, essentially, he sent me an email detailing the steps I needed to take. First step was to uninstall iTunes and related programs. This I did. Then it said to reinstall iTunes which, when I tried to do it still gave me error messages related to being unable to install the software for communicating with iPods and mobile phones. I guess this means iPads as well.

Next step, trying to install iTunes on my HP Notebook to see if that works. It should be noted that the only reason I am installing iTunes on my HP Notebook is to be able to use my iPad. I have been happily using it without iTunes for over a year now. Again, think of the irony. I have to install software I will never use other than to be able to use my new iPad. And I have to give my credit card information to the Apple Store even though I have no intention of ever buying anything from them.

Okay, just successfully downloaded and installed the iTunes software and now I have updates to install.

Time spent trying to get my iPad to work so far, well over three hours. Time it spent me to get my HP TouchSmart and my HP Notebook to work after taking them out of the box and plugging them in, ten minutes.

Plugged in my iPad and got a message on my HP Notebook that iTunes has discovered an iPad in recovery mode. I must restore the iPad before it can be used with iTunes. Thankfully I have been emailed the instructions for doing this. Looks like nine steps and probably another hour. Right now it is downloading a software update that has been saying 25 minutes remaining for about the last 15 minutes. I think I am going to go read the New York Times on my new Kindle that worked immediately upon turning it on for the first time.

I am sure that after I get this thing working, assuming that I do, I will really like it and find some humor in this whole installation thing. Right now, not so much.

I will keep you posted so stay tuned.

Yay!!! Finally it works. Or at least it seems to work. I haven't put it through its paces yet but that will have to wait until tomorrow. Now I just want to go to bed. I know some of you will think I was naive, but I swear, from watching all of the commercials I thought I could just take the iPad out of the box, turn it on, type in my wireless password and away I would go. Who knew.

As best as I can figure out, my problem was that iTunes, as it was installed on my HP TouchSmart, was missing some crucial pieces. Namely, the software for communicating with iPods and mobile phones. And, for some reason, after trying twice, these components could not be installed. Therefore I had to do a clean install on my HP Notebook. Once that was done and I did the restore on the iPad everything looks good.

I am hoping there will be no further updates to this saga.

A Reunion Of Sorts

2011-04-29T12:30:00.000-05:00

Kind of late with this post, but better late than never, I guess.

Last Saturday I hooked up with my brother-in-law Jim. He had just returned from Rio where he was working on the movie Fast Five. Well, kind of working on the movie. He does lighting and did the lighting for the interviews with the cast. Pretty cool, though. Anyway, he looks after our place when the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I are in Mexico so I treated to him to a meal for his troubles. Cheap labor, if you ask me.

We started out at, no surprise here, the Waterfront Ale House.

Shameless Plug, I Know

Actually, I have to take a picture of their beer menu because it changes all the time and then I forget what I ordered. Maybe I should resurrect the practice of taking notes on recipe cards.

Jim had a Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball, probably because he liked the name, and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had an Avery's Joe's Pilsner.

Notice The Family Resemblance?

I Opted For The Ramstein Dark Wheat

The official name of the beer is Ramstein Winter Wheat Eisbock and it is brewed by the Highpoint Brewing Company right across the river in New Jersey. Well, New Jersey is right across the river, kind of. The beer is a potent 11.5% ABV but doesn't taste that strong and goes down way too smooth. Has a nice nutty taste to it and I liked it enough to have two. Jim had one as well when he finished his Hairy Eyeball.

Now normally I would just stay at the Waterfront Ale House if I wanted barbecue, or at least barbecued ribs, but Jim wanted to try out a place in Manhattan.

Hill Country

A different type of place, but the barbecue was authentic. It is quite big and really packed up while we were there. You get your menu and order your drinks from the waitress and then go up to the counter and order your food and bring it back to the table.

Checking Out The Menu

They have a big enclosed area where they do their barbecuing and they use wood so everything has that authentic flavor. And not just ribs.

A Big Guy And A Big Brisket, Or Maybe Ribs

Everything Cut To Order

Once we all figured out what we wanted, brisket, ribs, chicken and a couple of sides, we sent the Mysterious Chinese Woman up to collect our food.

Placing Our Order

And Proudly Delivering Them

Lots Of Good Stuff

We got sides of baked beans and collard greens. Hey, that rhymes. And nothing goes with barbecue better than, well, better than Margaritas.

Good Ones Too

And Then We Dug In

Notice how I smile for the camera while Jim just looks retarded?

I have to say that the food here is damn good. If I was just going for the ribs I would stick with the Waterfront Ale House (but then I am biased) but for an overall genuine in the city barbecue fix this place would be hard to beat. Would definitely come back again, especially if I was already in Manhattan.

Might Be Fun At Night Too

And there you have it, a happy reunion, good beer, good food, and good Margaritas.

When You Gotta Go You Gotta Go

2011-04-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

Like much in New York, things don't always worked as advertised. A big deal was made about putting public toilets around the city. All kinds of arguments about whether they should be pay toilets, handicap accessible, manned or unmanned, you name it. Kind of funny because there used to be public toilets all over the place. But the ones in the subway stations have all been closed or converted to news stands, and most of the public bathrooms in the parks are closed. Even the public bathrooms in newer places are often closed for one reason or another. Puerto Vallarta in Mexico seems to have more accessible public bathrooms than New York City. Granted, you are expected to pay a few pesos to use them, but so what.

Well, the new public toilets in New York are pay toilets as well. But, as you might expect, they don't always work.

The Instructions Seem Clear Enough

Just Put In Your Quarter

Try To Open The Door

Then Do What You Need To Do

Hey, for all I know, this is how they are supposed to work.

And speaking of how things don't always work as planned, I thought this was kind of typical of trying to navigate the subway.

You Really Can't Get There From Here

Ah, life in the big city. There really isn't anything like it.

Brooklyn Barbecue

2011-04-19T08:45:00.000-05:00

Got a bit of a hunger for barbecued ribs last Saturday and, to me, that means heading to Waterfront Ale House.

Now These Are Ribs

And if you don't like just the sauce that they use, you can always soup it up with the other condiments they have available.

Pick Your Poison

If you want to clear out your sinuses, I strongly recommend the Strong Irish Mustard. It reminded me of McSorley's homemade mustard, another sinus clearer.

Good To The Bone

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I split a single rack and still had plenty to take home for dinner the next day. And even then there were two ribs left that I ate cold for a snack on Monday. Now that is value.

My beers for the day were Sam's Serious Maibock, which I recently posted about, and a 21st Amendment Bitter American, a very nice beer with enough flavor to stand up to the ribs. I have written about this one before as well. I highly recommend both of these.

A Meandering Post

2011-04-16T08:49:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I headed out to Coney Island to attend a reception at the Aquarium to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit. Man, talk about a dreary day to visit.

Still Not Summer

Several establishments, including Cha Cha's and Ruby's have been given another year to live, but I guess they are only open on the weekends until later in the year.

Closed For Business

I think Coney Island, or at least the Cyclone roller-coaster is supposed to open today, but the place still looks pretty run-down and seedy.

Not Ready For Prime Time

Before the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I went to the reception we popped into Footprints Cafe for a bite to eat. We would have settled for a hot dog at Ruby's if it had been open. Instead we had the Calypso Shrimp and Goat Curry. Both very good. Footprints Cafe is still one of my favorite Caribbean restaurants in the city.

The other day I took a stroll down to the new Brooklyn Bridge Park that is supposed to extend all the way from the Brooklyn Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. You may remember that part of the park near Atlantic Avenue opened last summer. It doesn't look like much progress has been made since then.

What A Waste Of Prime Real Estate

Of course part of the delay has to do with the portion of the park that will be supported by private enterprises located within the park. Now I am all for this. In fact I think that New York City could make a fortune by allowing a private golf course and housing in Central Park.

I had to laugh about the latest screw-up. This was released with great fanfare not too long ago:

Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) today released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a food concessionaire on Pier 6 to lease, fit out, operate and maintain a high quality full-service restaurant. The restaurant concession includes a 2,000 sq. ft. indoor restaurant, an adjacent outdoor terrace and a rooftop seating area.

Now the restaurant was actually supposed to open this fall. Of course they only got one response so they canned that idea and are, instead, going to have a hot dog stand and a couple of other small vendors selling soft drinks and ice cream. Food carts, in other words. Not quite the same as a "high quality full-service restaurant" with "an adjacent outdoor terrace and a rooftop seating area." But then that seems to be the way this whole park development thing is going. Lot's of big ideas and grandiose plans, and then nothing actually happens. I still don't think they have any public restrooms in the portion of the park by Atlantic Avenue that is open.

As I walked along Atlantic Avenue I also spotted a few new bars that have opened up recently, none of which I have been to yet.

Roebling Inn

I am just going to assume that you all know that John A. Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge but, unfortunately, died before it was completed.

Colonie

Soyta (I Think)

I like to pop into The Atlantic Chip Shop for a British beverage once in awhile, and to watch the occasional football (soccer to us) game.

The Atlantic Chip Shop

It looks like they are going to be televising the upcoming Royal Wedding, but I probably won't be dropping in to watch that.

No Thanks

Spent part of this morning watching Ribs Paradise on the Travel Channel so the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I got our drool going and are planning on heading to Waterfront Ale House this afternoon to get a rack of their award winning ribs to split. And, maybe, have a beer or two as well.

Back To My Local Watering Hole

2011-04-09T11:28:00.001-05:00

I haven't really gotten out and about all that much since my return form Mexico. Been a bit on the lazy side. But on Friday I did return to the Waterfront Ale House. For some reason I had a hankering for one of their hamburgers.

But, First Things First

I started out with a Southampton Bier de Mars. This is a local beer brewed on Long Island by Southampton Publick (not sure why they need that "k" on the end) House. It was quite good, with just a touch of sourness. Kind of a hard apple cider finish to it, but not a sweet cider. It doesn't have much of a head and is kind of a pale orange in color. I believe this style of beer uses an ale, or top-fermenting, yeast but then is lagered (aged in cool conditions). Very tasty, although I don't think I would quaff them all day. It is a respectable 6.5% ABV, although I have seen reviews saying it is as low as 6.2% ABV and as high as 7% ABV. A bit unusual to find such a spread.

Bar Man Is From Bier de Mars

I ordered an old standby, a Yuengling Lager, for the Mysterious Chinese Woman. I have been trying to get her to remember what she likes and order for herself, but she prefers to rely on my judgement. Sometimes that works, sometimes not so well.

But Yuengling Is Just Fine

Gaid agreed to pose for an updated photo so I don't have to keep digging into the archives.

Some Things, And Some People, Just Never Change

There was a table with a some kids sitting up front by the window and it was obviously one of the kids birthday. I suggested to Gaid that he bring over a cupcake and sing Happy Birthday. Bet you can imagine how that suggestion was received.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I decided to have a bit of a nosh in addition to the free popcorn so we ordered a hamburger and an order of Jamaican chicken wings to split. I had a 21st Amendment American Bitter to go with it. I guess they sell this beer primarily in cans because even the draft handle had an empty can on it. In fact it looked like it was just a can stuck on an old draft handle. Somehow Sam must have gotten a keg of the stuff. It wasn't bad, kind of like a beefed up Budweiser. And with an ABV of only 4.4% it is definitely a beer you could drink all day long. Especially on a hot summer day. In fact a case of cans in a cooler of ice sounds pretty darn refreshing.

Our Hamburger

The Mysterious Chinese Woman With Her Half

The hamburgers were, as always, quite delicious. Sometimes I will go for the bacon/cheeseburger or even the hamburger with just blue cheese, but the plain ones have to be good or nothing put on top will fix it. They also come with a large serving of very good fries.

And, We Also Had The Jamaican Chicken Wings

These too were very good. A nice, slow building heat and very flavorful. The heat was so slow building that after your first bite you think "This isn't very hot at all." A couple minutes later and you are thankful that you have a beer handy.

I was going to call it a day but then I saw that their Bar Special, only $4.50 if you drink it at the bar, was Magic Hat Howl. I am a big fan of Magic Hat and their #9 is one of my go-to favorites. I had never had the Howl before so wasn't sure what I would get. I thought maybe something yellow, like the moon, or something. I didn't expect a dark stout.

What The Howl Is This?

Actually, it wasn't a bad beer with which to end the day. And Magic Hat claims it is a black lager, not a stout. Not sure exactly where one draws that line. This beer has a nice coffee and cream colored head with a decidedly blacker, dark coffee colored rest of it. And the taste has a bitter coffee flavor as well, with maybe a hint of chocolate lurking in the background. Not a bad beer at all and with a relatively benign 4.6% ABV you can down of few of these. Maybe half a case of the American Bitter and half a case of Howl in a cooler of ice would be a good idea.

Ah, I was in a mellow mood and could have gazed all night at one of my favorite sights.

So Beautiful

But toddle off we did. Me to take a nap and the Mysterious Chinese Woman to watch some sad love-story about two Chinese peasants on the eve of the communist revolution. She woke me when it was over so I could catch the Knicks/Nets game. Knicks just killed them. Next season the Nets are moving here to Brooklyn, not far from where I live. I will probably go to a game or two and they will be the first games I have gone to since giving up my Knicks season tickets during the Thomas/Starbury era.

Dust Buster At McSorley's

2011-04-07T07:58:00.000-05:00

Oh no, a bit of history has bit the dust. Who would have ever thunk it?

McSorley's - The Oldest Pub In New York

That was an old photo from July of 2009 when my friends Bernie and Bob and I hit a few bars one day.

Way back when I was just a little Bar Boy I had read about McSorley's and the dust festooned turkey wishbones that hung above the bar. There is a story behind them, of course, but each wishbone represents someone from the neighborhood who did not make it back from World War I, or The Great War, as it was known then. Before going of to war the soldiers would get a free turkey dinner at McSorley's. The wishbones were hung above the bar and saved to be reclaimed when the soldiers returned. The unclaimed ones remained.

Kind Of A Poignant Reminder Of Lives Lost

It was rumored that hair-spray was used to keep the dust in place and to satisfy the health inspectors. But, in an era when you have to wear gloves to make a pizza (unless you are in the new Papa John's Pizza commercial), can't serve fresh mozzarella or make your own dried sausage or do a million other things that have been done for generations with no harmful effects, the dust, of course, had to go.

It Just Ain't The Same

On Sunday morning, Matthew Maher, the propriertor, carefully took down the wishbones and removed the dust and then replaced the ones that did not crumble. He then put the dust in a jar and took it home with him.

Oh yes, the Health Department made him get rid of Minnie the cat as well. No cats allowed, no matter how big the mouse problem becomes without one. I am sure hundreds of lives are saved every year by not allowing bars to have a cat.

Capucine's, An Old Favorite

2011-04-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

Surely anyone who has followed my blogs for any length of time realizes that Capucine's in Manhattan, near to where I once lived, is one of my favorite restaurants in all of New York City. As much, if not more, for the friendly staff as for the good Italian family-cooking style food.. I don't get there as often as I used to, back when I went at least once a week and often times more than that. And even less now that two friends of mine who made up a regular group that ate their a couple of times a year have passed away. Times do have a way of changing.

But, sometimes when I head to Manhattan on other business I do like to visit again. And I had to head into Manhattan last Saturday to pick up a gift for my niece Susie who is turning 10 on Sunday. She likes fishing so I decided to buy her a starter-kit rod and reel as a gift. And Capitol Fishing Tackle Co. in Manhattan is a good place to shop.

Ugly Is Like Ugly Does

I kind of told the clerk what I was looking for and he pointed me to kind of a nifty package with a Shakespeare Ugly Stick and an enclosed reel that should be hard to tangle up. Plus an assortment of largely useless but brightly colored jigs and stuff. She did end up liking it, and we even went to a river where she spent about an hour futilely casting.

We (the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I, not me and my niece) decided to walk to Capucine's, but about the time I got to the Empire State Building, which houses a Heartland Brewery on the first floor, I had somehow worked up a thirst. So I decided to stop in for a brew.

Hard To Just Pass On By

I may have been the first customer to ever have had a beer in a Heartland Brewery. When they opened their first location in Union Square I was waiting outside early (I worked right across the park from where the were) and the manager saw me and let me in before they actually opened and let me buy a beer. Or maybe he bought me one, I really don't remember. That was back when they made their beer on the premises, making it a real brewpub. They haven't done that for a long time, ever since they opened up their third location. Now they have seven locations. The beer is still quite good though, at least for the most part.

I started out with an Indiana Pale Ale which was a lot hoppier than I remember it. I suspect they have gone with the trend of most makers of IPAs or IPA style beers and jacked up the hops. A bit too bitter, in my opinion.

A Decent, But Bitter Indiana Pale Ale

I ordered the Cornhusker Lager for the Mysterious Chinese Woman and it was every bit as good as I remembered it. Maybe even better. Or maybe just in contrast to the Indiana Pale Ale. It tasted really smooth and a pleasant hint of malt. Really a good beer.

The Winner With Her Cornhusker Lager

They had a seasonal that sounded interesting, Orange Thyme Ale. The tasting notes said:

Made with fresh thyme and a unique, "orangey" hop, this ale has a soft malt and citrus background, with a big floral, spicy nose and mellow finish.

Sadly, it didn't really live up to my expectations. In fact I found it to be quite flavorless. Certainly not any hint, either taste or smell, of thyme and nothing at all crisp and "orangey." But, again, maybe the Indiana Pale Ale fried my palate.

After downing a couple of beers we decided to just cab it to Capucine's where we could settle in for a nice cocktail and an early dinner. I was going to have just white wine but as soon as I stepped into the place they wanted to know if it was Martini time. And Bar Man is weak so of course I said "Of course!"

Me And My Martini

I did order a bottle of wine as well, and the Mysterious Chinese Woman set to work on that.

Well, Someone Has To Drink It

To be fair, I drank my share of it as well. But I did only have one Martini (Sapphire, up, with a lemon twist). Probably more damage was done after dinner. We both ordered fish in a lemon/butter sauce. The snapper for the Mysterious Chinese Woman and sole for me. Both excellent.

I decided to have a double espresso with Strega for my "desert." The Mysterious Chinese Woman got talked into having a tiramisu, and it was served to her in style.

Personalized Service, With A Smile

And the Mysterious Chinese Woman did love her desert.

You Could Feed A Small Family

Of course while she was enjoying her desert I had a second double espresso and another Strega. And, for some reason, I thought adding Sambuca to my espressos would be a good idea. At any rate, we ended up cabbing home from Capucine's, for obvious reasons.

All in all, that was one expensive birthday present I ended up buying.

Back Home Again

2011-04-02T10:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, I know, I have been back in Brooklyn for almost a week now, but I don't really consider myself to be back home until I have popped into Waterfront Ale House. I could have gone earlier in the week, but I like to wait until Gaid, the world's friendliest bartender, is on duty. I hear that Waterfront Ale House actually considered changing their "Happy Hour" sign to "Angry Hour" when he is on duty. I guess that wouldn't be inappropriate for a bar that boasts of warm beer, lousy food and an ugly owner.

World's Friendliest Bartender (archived)

First thing I had to do was peruse the day's offerings.

Plenty To Chose From

I chose the Bluepoint Hoptical Illusion but then spotted the Brooklyn Main Engine so I thought I would try that and give the Hoptical Illusion to the Mysterious Chinese Woman. But Gaid couldn't find the Main Engine and said they didn't have it. So I switched to the Kulmbacher Eissbock, a dark and hearty beer, not for the faint of heart.

A Chewy Beer

The Mysterious Chinese Woman enjoyed her Hoptical Illusion. I was afraid it would be too hoppy for her, but I think it was a welcome change from drinking nothing but Corona, Pacifico and Tecate for four weeks. My most flavorful beer was a Dos Equis, and most bars don't seem to carry it. Not that I don't like Mexican beers, because I do. But I also like variety in my beers, and that isn't something you find too much of. I will make and exception for Minerva, a Mexican micro brewery that puts out a line of craft-beers which are almost impossible to find in bars and restaurants. There is a beer store near where I stay in Puerto Vallarta, and they stock it. It is a bit pricey and the alcohol content tends to be higher as well. But I digress.

Quite Delish, Said The Dish

Gaid was a bit harried because there was a table of non-regulars who were ordering all kinds of bizarre drinks. Some of them with Ginger Beer and one that nobody seemed to know how to make so it became a two-man collaboration. When Gaid finally finished making it and, believe me, it wasn't easy to watch, I said that it looked so good I wanted one too. You can imagine Gaid's response. Suffice it to say that I didn't get one (whatever it was).

With my help Gaid managed to find the spigot for the Main Engine so I ordered one of those. The handle looked like a train engine, so it was kind of hard to spot. Brooklyn Brewery should put out Caboose, that way the handle would be red and much easier to find.

Me And My Main Engine

The Main Engine was, in my opinion, just so-so. And it tasted a bit watery, but that might because it was chasing my chewy beer.

Now Jim, the cook, also aware of Gaid's command of cocktails, suggested that I order a double Negroni. But that would have been easy. And Gaid does have a good command of standard cocktails, just not ones that involve a great deal of muddling and ginger beer.

Anyway, the Mysterious Chinese Woman said something to about a Negroni sounding good. Then we reminisced about a time when I ended up getting everyone at a Greenwich Village bar drinking a Negroni. Now that was a fun afternoon.

But the Mysterious Chinese Woman said she couldn't drink a Negroni on an empty stomach. So she ordered a bowl of French Onion Soup. And the soup here is delicious.

Tastes As Good As It Looks

Then, when she was finished eating, she said she didn't want a Negroni because she would be too drunk to walk home. The Mysterious Chinese Woman isn't much of a drinker. Somehow I decided we would have a Negroni after we got home. So I made us up a batch.

A Classic Cocktail In A Classic Shaker

Just one-third gin (I used Blue Saphire) one-third Campari and one-third sweet Vermouth (I used Noilly Pratt). Then you just shake vigorously with a lot of ice and strain into the appropriate glasses.

Came Out Perfectly

Mario Batali once said that the Negroni was the best cocktail in the world. That got me to thinking, if I could only drink one type of cocktal for the rest of my life (God forbid) which one would it be. Certainly a Negroni would be up there. I don't drink them very often but always wonder why because I do like them. But a really well made Margarita would probably be my cocktail of choice. I wonder if Gaid could make me one.

I try to explain to my friends in Puerto Vallarta how, in some ways, where I live in Brooklyn is very similar. Of course Downtown Brooklyn doesn't have the beaches (got to take a subway and go to Coney Island for that) or, for now at least, the warm weather and sunshine. But according to Conde Nast we are one of the top fifteen places in the world to visit. And the article urged travelers to check out the trendy bars, restaurants, galleries and shops. I would also strongly recommend that they check out some of the non-trendy bars as well. OH NO, maybe Waterfront Ale House is now trendy? That would help explain the rash of requests for strange cocktails, some of which I had never heard of. The only thing that I can think to make with Ginger Beer is a Dark and Stormy, which is just Ginger Beer and Rum. Montero's Bar & Grill certainly isn't trendy.

No Accounting For It

2011-04-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

Ah, what a change. From bright and colorful Puerto Vallarta to dull and gray Brooklyn. I did manage to find a little bit of color as I headed to the subway for my annual visit to my accountant.

One Bright Spot

My visits to the accountant are pretty painless. I just bring him my folder of tax-related documents and then go home and wait for my completed taxes to be messengered to me. Of course the real pain occurs a few weeks later when I get the bill for these wonderful services. One of my foolish pleasures, though, having someone else take care of my taxes for me. I think of it as a mini-vacation, and it costs just about as much.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I decided to stop into the Oyster Bar Restaurant in Grand Central on our way home. I hadn't eaten there in ages, and it is a real New York classic.

The Oyster Bar Restaurant

We got there a bit before its 5:00 PM opening so we popped into the adjacent Saloon for a before dinner beer. I had an excellent draft Chimay and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had a Brooklyn Brewery Lager. I noticed a couple of guys sitting next to me at the bar eating oysters and drinking Martinis. One was wearing a Yankees cap so I asked them if they were at the game. Well, obviously, they weren't at the game, they were sitting next to me at the bar. But they had been at the game. I liked the looks of their Martinis, just the right size, not the overly large ones you usually get, with a bit extra in a glass on the side. This comes into play later.

Okay, not much later. After finishing up our beers and waiting for the Mysterious Chinese Woman to stop belching (she said I made her drink too fast) we headed into the dining room. Now, she wasn't really belching, I just put that in for comic effect. She complains when I make up stories about her, like her hollering BINGO when she didn't have a card. I tried to tell her that the Mysterious Chinese Woman in my blog isn't really her, just a character loosely based upon her. That got me nowhere.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman, What A Character

With thoughts of Martinis running through my brain I realized that I hadn't had a Gibson in ages. I figured if anyplace could make them the Oyster Bar Restaurant would be the place. And I was right.

Not A Martini, But A Gibson

It must be hard for most bars to keep those little onions in stock. Probably not much call for them. Kind of reminds me of buying hazelnuts for a bar so they could put them into my Rusty Nails. That didn't work out very well, but that is another story. And probably one you have already heard.

Now if you are at the Oyster Bar Restaurant you would really be remiss if you didn't order oysters. They have several different kinds and they are, like the fish they serve, absolutely fresh. And delicious. I ordered half a dozen raw oysters, two each of three different kinds, and wolfed them down before I even took a picture.

Just The Empty Shells

They serve them with a couple of house sauces, but I prefer mine with just horseradish and a dash of Tabasco sauce or, better yet, a dash or two of Cholula Hot Sauce. And they provided both. The Mystereious Chinese Woman had fried oysters for her appetizer and there weren't even any shells.

For dinner I had the pan-fried lemon sole.

A Simple Preparation

They adhere to the less-is-more style of cooking here. Nothing at all fancy and no added flavors. The fish is the dish, lightly browned and served with lightly roasted vegetables. Quite delicious.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered shad that came with its own roe. We had gone to a shad festival one time but never actually ate any so she wanted to try it. I was surprised by how dark the meat was. For some reason it was served with bacon. My mother used to cook liver with bacon, the theory being that the smell of the bacon disguised the smell of the liver. I hope that wasn't the thinking here.

Bacon And Shad, Goes Together Like...?

Actually, she said it was very good. I never did taste it though, but why would she lie to me.

If you ever are in Manhattan you really should visit Grand Central. It is especially nice now that it has been all fixed up, and there are a number of good drinking spots in there. A couple of them on the balconies at either end of the main hall. There is a Michael Jordan's Steak House there too and it is quite good. And by all means check out the Oyster Bar Restaurant. It is very classy and like stepping back in time. Well, except for the prices.

We caught the subway home and I still had a hankering for another old-style cocktail. I had just gotten an email from Esquire with a few classic recipes. One was for a Manhattan that they claimed was close to the original, half Rye whiskey and half sweet vermouth with no cherry. I think they may have gotten the Rye part wrong because they suggested something like a Wild Turkey Rye whiskey. The original Manhattans were made with Canadian whiskey that they call rye. Oh well, I went the non-traditional route and used my go-to Bourbon, Maker's Mark and mixed it half and half with Vya sweet vermouth. Well shaken and served straight up it was a perfect nightcap. So perfect that I had three. But they were small.

Really Our Last Dinner

2011-03-30T10:42:00.001-05:00

Okay, this really was our last dinner in Puerto Vallarta.

BUT..., before I get to that, I have to share what I now consider to be the most scurrilous ripoff I have ever heard of, charging extra for ice in your drink. Yep, you heard it right. The Darby in, where else, Manhattan charges you an extra two dollars if you order your drink on-the-rocks. So that means your $13 Grey Goose Vodka will cost you $15 if you want it with ice. When asked about this the bartender hemmed and hawed a bit and then said it was because you got a bigger pour when you ordered your drinks on-the-rocks. Excuse me, since when, exactly, did that start to happen. Rest assured that you will not be seeing Bar Man in The Darby anytime soon. Although I do have an urge to go in and order a Grey Goose straight up then add ice that I have brought with me.

Okay, on to more pleasant thoughts, although adding my own ice was kind of a pleasant thought. Our last dinner in Puerto Vallarta and we went to No Way Jose! with Bill and Marcie. You may recall that the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I were there once for cocktails when we were barred from the Mexican Bingo game going on downstairs. I think our reputation as being Mexican Bingo sharps had preceded us. That and the Mysterious Chinese Woman jumping up and shouting "BINGO" when she didn't even have a card. We also had our Valentine's Day dinner here, but that wasn't nearly as eventful.

No Way Jose!

Now the Mysterious Chinese Woman is always accusing me of taking pictures that make her drink look much bigger than it really does. But really, she is the one who orders them so big you need two hands to hold it.

Does This Picture Make My Drink Look Big?

Now Bar Man knows how to order more photogenic drinks.

Smaller, But More Potent

And our friends Bill and Marcie just stuck with wine.

So Sophisticated

We got the upstairs seating area which, on as lovely a night as it was, was where you wanted to be. Of course we had to stare at this sign all night.

The View From Our Table

Now this wouldn't have been so bad when everyone assumed it was a pepper. When I suggested it looked like an erect penis wearing a very small reservoir-tipped condom the view suddenly got much worse. But funnier.

I started out with a wild mushroom appetizer. What the hell, you only live once so you might as well go while writhing around on the floor in agony. No! No! I knew they would be perfectly fine. All of the produce and stuff in Mexico is so flavorful and good. I have already mentioned the eggs many times and the same is true for chicken, beef and especially fish. A gourmet's paradise.

A Delicious Wild Mushroom Appetizer

For the main course I ordered ribs in pineapple sauce, a big mistake.

Bar Man Drops The Ball

Now I don't want to suggest that my meal was bad, it wasn't. What it was was out of context. I can't remember exactly how the menu described this dish, but I thought it would be more, well, more Mexican. Instead this tasted like something I would expect to get in a Chinese restaurant or, perhaps, in a Tiki Lounge. Probably not at Frank's Tiki Lounge in Las Vegas, though. So it was good, not great, but good, but just not what I really expected or wanted. More my fault than anything.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman got the Chicken in a Mole Sauce and it was delicious. It was what I should have gotten.

The Real Deal

Those colorful sprinkly thinks you see all over the food are roasted sesame seeds. They mush have gotten a good deal on them or they are somehow trying to make them their signature, somehow. It was just funny that they seemed to be on everything. But so what, I like toasted sesame seeds. I even like those middle-eastern crunchy sesame seed candy bars they have. But I digress.

The chicken was done to just the right amount of tenderness and the mole sauce was one of the best I have ever had. As good as what I had at the Botanical Gardens, but different. This one was much spicier, and by that I mean more picante, I guess mole sauces are like hot sauces. I may have several favorites but they are different enough so they don't really compete. Did that make sense?

Okay, so what. On to the next dish, and I am not really sure what it was.

The Magical Mystical Meal

I think Bill and Marcie split this and, I think, it was some kind of chicken in some kind of a grey looking sauce that nobody could really identify, shrimp and vegetables. Needless to say, Bill was not overly impressed by the sauce, but he said the chicken and the shrimp were good. I may even have seen him eat a vegetable, but that would be improbable. Marcie seemed to enjoy even the brown sauce. Well, at least she tried it.

It was another great dinner and, if it is still around next year, I will go back and get one of their mole dishes. I hope it will be back, but that location seems to be bad luck. Several restaurants located there have gone belly-up. But No Way Jose! always seems to have a good crowd and two new condos just opened up a few block away so that may give them a bigger customer base.

We passed on the deserts but some of us couldn't pass up an ice-cream cone on the way home.

My Last Desert In Puerto Vallarta, This Year

And that was my last night in Puerto Vallarta.

Hey, do you think you could make money selling ice-cubes in The Darby for, oh, say a buck a glassful?

Another Goodbye Dinner

2011-03-28T18:28:00.000-05:00

Nothing like stretching out your goodbyes. In fact the night after this we had yet another farewell party with a few more friends. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

We went to a really lovely restaurant, El Palomar de los Gonzalez, up above the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta. I should have taken a picture of it from the outside but was too distracted by our cabbie telling us that if we wanted to go to a titty bar we wouldn't have to pay the cab fare. That if we spent twenty-five dollars each the titty bar would reimburse us. I suspect that we got this offer because it was the three hombres who rode in the car together. Lord knows what offer the women got from their driver.

The restaurant offers great views of the city and the bay beyond. This time of year you don't get a really good view of the sunset, but you do get to see the lights come on and the city begins to twinkle after sunset.

A View Of The City And The Bay

The restaurant itself has been around since 1987 and is inside of what looks to have been a very posh old-style villa. Very elegant.

And Elegant Customers As Well

We started out with cocktails, of course. A stiff margarita on the rocks for me. Usually I like them straight up, but in Mexico it is generally too warm to get them that way unless you are in someplace with air-conditioning. And we most certainly were not.

Sharon and Paul started out with a Cesare salad for two made table-side.

The Show Alone Is Worth It

The mussels here in Puerto Vallarta are really big and juicy so I opted to share the mussels with a cheese sauce with the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

Mussels And Cheese

Actually, it was more like mussels with melted cheese on top, and plenty of it. I thought the mussels could have used a bit more flavor because the dish was a bit bland for my liking. But that is just me. The mussels were tender and the cheese was a type that I like.

For the main course both Paul and I got the grilled rib-eyes, and they were delicious. Done medium-rare, just like we asked for and simply prepared, just grilled with a minimum of seasoning.

Paul Thought Mine Was Bigger

They were both plenty big. I only managed to eat half of mine and then ate the second half cold for breakfast the next day. Even cold it was still juicy and tender.

I am not sure what Rico ordered, it looks kind of like a chicken burrito.

A Big Chicken Burrito

It Was Beef Fajitas For Sandy

The Mysterious Chinese Woman opted for the Minoneta Shrimp, a tasty looking dish of shrimp with a chipotle sauce topped with melted cheese and bacon. Now that is a meal that will stick to your ribs.

Rib Sticking Good

I think Sharon just had a bowl of tortilla soup and I didn't get a picture of it. It was a pretty good-sized bowl, though and tortilla soup is very good.

We hombres consoled ourselves from having to decline the cabbie's generous offer by ordering after-dinner Palomar Coffee. It has Brandy and Kahlua, but not topless, it is topped with ice-cream. But we did get a bit of a show because it is prepared at the table.

Our Table-Side Entertainment

You Wouldn't Want This In Your Lap

The coffee was great and it was another delicious meal with a bunch of friends. This is the first time that I have ever been to El Palomar, but I will sure make a point of going again next year. I have to thank my friends Ira and Linda for prodding me to go here, it is one of their favorite restaurants.

Shutting Down Shop, For Now

2011-03-26T17:37:00.000-05:00

Today is our last full day here in lovely Puerto Vallarta. The Mysterious Chinese Woman is busy packing everything away and I am busy staying out of the way. We will have one last supper here tonight with our friends Bill and Marcie and then head home tomorrow. I always hate to leave, but once I am back home in Brooklyn I quickly adapt and am happy to be there as well.

You can tell that over the years Puerto Vallarta has become much more prosperous. Even the dogs are well dressed these days.

Putting On The Dog

The other night I finally got to a place that I have been wanting to go to for years. Just one of those places that, for some reason or another, you never get around to. It isn't that far from where we stay, but a bit more of a walk then most places and back from the bay. But it has always looked so nice.

Casa Naranjo

It has always gotten good reviews from people who have eaten there but never seems very busy. It is only open for dinner so, usually, when I walk by the place it is closed. I am glad we did get there, though, because the food was excellent and the service was as well.

Of course we started out with a pre-dinner libation.

White Wine For The Lady

A Margarita For Bar Man

While we were enjoying our drinks we were presented with a little "Chef's Present" to nibble on.

The Present From The Chef

These were little bits of, I believe, mahi mahi, with a crispy crust. The Mysterious Chinese Woman thought they looked like shark fins and that the tomato looked like one of their victims. I think she was trying to put me off my feed so she could have an extra one. Not that it worked, of course.

I ordered mussels in a chipotle sauce for an appetizer and they were okay. A bit too chewy in my opinion, but the sauce was good.

Chew On This For Awhile

We got a complimentary bread basket and that was certainly a big hit, at least with the Mysterious Chinese Woman.

She Claims To Be Well Breaded

For the main course I ordered the lamb chops and I thought they were excellent. Nice and tender and done just the way I asked for, a bit pink in the middle.

Quite Delicious Lamb Chops

The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered the duck. She said she thought the duck at River Cafe was better, but she said that this was also quite good. I had a taste and thought it was really very good. And, again, it was prepared just the way she asked for it, just a bit pink inside. Nothing worse, in my opinion, than stuff that is overcooked.

A Very Tasty Duck

I finished off my dinner with an Irish coffee that was better than what you get in most Irish bars in New York. The whipped cream that topped it off was, dare I say, simply scrumptious.

Now This Really Hit The Spot

The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered a chocolate, pastry, fruit crepe type of dessert that was also really good.

And She Shared

All and all it was a very good dining experience. We got there shortly after it opened at 6:00 PM and were the only people there for quite awhile. As we were eating another party of four showed up, but that was it. Maybe they get more business latter in the evening. I certainly hope so because it really was a very good restaurant and I sure would like to see it succeed. It has been around for a number of years, though, so hopefully it will be here again next year.

I am closing down shop now, so although I have more Puerto Vallarta stuff to post, I won't be getting to it until Monday at the earliest. But be sure to check back then.

Another Goodbye

2011-03-25T10:18:00.001-05:00

A few of us got together at Adelitas, a restaurant and bar a bit out of the Puerto Vallarta downtown area.

Las Adelitas

This time it was Bill and Marcie, me and the Mysterious Chinese Woman joining Tom and Bella for dinner. Although none of us were actually leaving right away, it was unlikely that we would be seeing Tom and Bella again before we departed. They have a place of their own here and don't stay in our compound. And they will be heading for Wisconsin in a couple of weeks.

The Las Adelitas here just opened recently but they have had a restaurant in Guadalajara since 1987. Adelita was a legendary woman who participated in the Mexican Revolution in 1910. La Adelita did really exist, although some have suggested she was a he whose real name was Altagracia Martínez and was nicknamed Adelita by Pancho Villa. Today the term "Adelita" is used to refer to all the female soldiers who participated in the Revolution.

Real Las Adelitas

And once again, kids, you can thank Bar Man for providing you with a little factoid that is sure to impress you parents, who probably are too busy to read my blog.

As you can imagine, the decor of Las Adelitas has a Pancho Villa and Revolution them to it.

Comin' At You

There was a nice little outdoor courtyard in the back, although we opted to sit in the more enclosed area.

The Courtyard

They have a nice bar and quite an impressive selection of beers. Mostly Mexican, of course, but some which I had never heard of before.

I Chose A Victoria

There menu was heavy on grilled food, skirt steaks, ribs, chicken and fish, but they also had a dynamite lamb stew.

The Grilling Area

Before ordering, though, we had to have our drinks. The Mysterious Chinese Woman was pleased to see they had a menu just for her.

A List For Lushes

After ordering a Minerva beer, the strongest and most expensive beer on the Lush List (a whopping 45 pesos and 6.1%) she settled for the lamb stew.

The Stewed With Her Stew, And Bella Looking On

Oh, I am being much to harsh. The Mysterious Chinese Woman conducted herself with great dignity, for the most part. And, if I had not already had Minerva (the beer) before I might have ordered it as well. It is one of the few, if not the only, micro-brewery beers here in Mexico.

Marcie and Bill shared a mixed grill plate that had both ribs and chicken and it was still almost two much for them.

Marcie And Bill

Is it just me, or does Marcie always look like she is up to something?

And Let Us Not Forget Tom

I had the ribs and they came with a large piece of garlic bread, corn on the cob, coleslaw and beans. A mighty hearty meal.

Lip-Smacking Good

And I learned the difference between huevos and huesos.

A Bowl For My Huesos

Not Eggs, But Bones

Actually, huesos can also refer to more than just bones, depending upon the context, but in this case the context was pretty clear.

And so we had a wonderful meal and bid goodbye to Tom and Bella until next year. But no huggy pictures this time around, so you can relax.

Starting To Say Goodbye

2011-03-24T16:50:00.000-05:00

Ah, it is starting to get to be that time when our friends down here begin returning home. And it won't be long before we follow them. Well, we won't be following them to their home, that would be kinky, but we will be returning home ourselves.

The first to head back were Allison and Steve, so I threw them a little farewell party and made a special drink, just for them.

My Goodbye Steve And Allison Special

I tried to capture the essence of Puerto Vallarta's sun and sea in a glass. Plus I also got rid of some leftover Banana Daiquiri (to which I added a lot of the healthy blue food coloring), orange juice and Champagne. But it did end up looking kind of cool, and didn't taste half-bad, either.

Pretty Good, If I Do Say So

Some of the usual suspects showed up to say their goodbyes, including, of course, Steve and Allison.

Those Who Were About To Depart

Marcie And Bill

Marcie couldn't stay too long though, she had some kind of a church social that she had to attend. I think it was sponsored by The Ladies Of The Pew. But don't quote me on that.

Valerie

Sharon

Paul

Just a small, intimate gathering that, as the actual hour of departure drew nigh, deteriorated into disgusting displays of affection that we will all try to wipe from our collective consciousness.

You Younger Readers Should Leave The Room Now

I think Allison wanted to take the Mysterious Chinese Woman home with her.

I Will Just Put Her In The Overhead Bin

When the Mysterious Chinese Woman refused to be parted from her beloved Bar Man, Allison was almost inconsolable.

Almost, But Not Quite

And then, they were off and the party (at least this party) was over. But there is always next-year, and we will always have Puerto Vallarta.

Another Egg Party

2011-03-23T16:05:00.002-05:00

If it isn't one thing, it is another. And if it isn't one party, it is another. This time. to celebrate the Spring Solstice and the Worm Moon we decided to have an egg party.

Wait, a Worm Moon? What is that, you might ask. It is the first full moon in March and is called the Worm Moon because that is when worm casts (that would be worm potty) begin to show up because the ground is starting to warm up. And the early bird catches the worm and birds lay eggs so it just makes sense to have an Egg Party.

First of all we had to go shopping for supplies. This mostly meant Champagne for Mimosas and eggs. A piece of advice, do not take Marcie shopping with you. She is easily distracted.

Eggs, Marcie, Eggs

For those of you who are new to this blog, our egg parties are an annual affair down here in Puerto Vallarta, at least since Sandy taught us how to throw them. Throw the parties, not the eggs.

That Is Sandy In The Middle

You start out by chopping up a bunch of stuff that people might want to put in their omelette, stuff like onions, peppers, mushrooms, whatever. You can also fry up some Italian sausages and chorizo. And, of course you also want to have plenty of Champagne and orange juice. Oh, yes, and grated cheese. Must not forget the grated cheese.

Valerie, Our Cheese Grater

Then you put everything out on a table where people can have easy access.

Help Yourself

It is also a good idea to have stuff to go with your eggs, and little baked potatoes are always a good side dish.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman Made These

And, if you have good friends, like we do, everyone brings something to share.

Good And Healthy Stuff

Just Good Stuff

Marcie loves to bake and made the brownies. She is also my back-up documentarian (although I am not sure if that is really a word).

I Think That I Shall Never See, A Sight As Lovely As A Brownie

Then the fun part. You put two eggs into a heavy-duty Ziploc bag along with any other ingredients that your little heart desires (and are available) and smush them all together.

Feels Just Like, Well, Nevermind

And Everyone Gets Into The Act

A Discussion Of Technique

After everything is smushed together you put you bag into a pot of boiling water and let it just sit there for thirteen minutes. Then you pull it out (the bag) and plop it onto a plate and:

Viola, An Omelette

Actually, that was Shirley and Valerie with the Omelette. Viola couldn't make it.

And that is how you throw an egg party. Plenty of eggs, plenty of Champagne and orange juice, and most importantly, plenty of friends.

The Most Important Ingredient

Of course after a few too many Mimosas strange things begin to happen.

Marge Decided To Read Her Imaginary Newspaper

Paul And Sharon Decided They Liked Firemen

And Allison, Well, She Just Stayed Allison

Just another egg party here in beautiful Puerto Vallarta. But really, you can have them anywhere, and they really are a lot of fun. Just make sure you have an imaginary newspaper or two laying around.

St. Patrick's Day - Part Two

2011-03-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

And now for the rest of the day, or at least that part fit for sharing with the general public, especially impressionable children.

The Scene Of The Crime

Although Marge and Wayne bowed out of the this part of the festivities, their replacements were more than happy to take their place.

Bella And Tom

By now you should pretty much know the names of all the major players so I won't continue to identify everyone except when appropriate, like now.

Sandy And Rico Waiting At The Bar

And I am sure you recognize Allison peeking out from behind. Allison has never met a flashbulb she didn't like. You younger readers may have to google "flashbulb" to know what I am talking about.

And here we are, commandeering all of the free tables to accommodate our party.

Whiskey For The Horses And Beer For My Men

Note Sharon's fan. This is always how it starts with her.

Oh, sure, there were defections. Sandy and Rico continued to hold down their coveted position at the corner of the bar and somehow lured Sharon over to join them

Real Bar Flies

And where Sharon and her fan goes, Paul soon follows. If you recall pictures from previous St. Patrick's Day gatherings you probably know why Paul keeps a close eye on Sharon. Particularly when you are at a bar that is on the second floor.

Paul And Rico, The Fan Belongs To Sharon

Paul always gets a bit nervous when Sharon breaks out her fans. The rest of us just get excited.

Bella and Tom arrived without tattoos so Marcie leaped into action to change that.

First, A Consultation

There, Something Dignified

Meanwhile, Sandy and Rico continued to protect their little corner of the world.

Ours, All Ours

And Paul managed to get the fans away from Sharon, much to everyone's dismay.

Later, Honey, When We Are Alone

In addition to the drinks, more Guinness for me, Murphy's Irish Pub also provided both live music and excellent grub.

Live Music

Excellent Grub

I am not sure what all they had to eat but I had roast beef, cabbage, and an excellent stew. I think I missed the French fries, though.

Marcie Didn't Miss Them, Though

How good was the food? Well it was good enough to lure Sandy and Rico away from the bar, and that is good food indeed.

Now, This Is Some Stew

I was pleased to see that, Murphy's, obviously, an Irish Pub, supported my favorite football team. And the second most popular football team in the world.

Go Chivas

Being such a friendly group we soon added new members to the fold. And, once again, after carefully writing down their names I managed to lose them. However, I did give them my blog address, so maybe if they see this they can send them to me and I can update the information.

The Unknown Friends

I finished up this part of the day by drinking my fourth Guinness Stout and sipping a Herraduro Reposado.

What A Way To Go

From here we ended up, well, let's just say there was a Rocky marathon, coffee drinks, Lemon-Drop Martinis and anti-acid tablets thrown into the mix before the day was over.

I can only hope that next year's events come close to this year's.

St. Patrick's Day - Part One

2011-03-18T13:14:00.000-05:00

As anticipated, St. Patrick's day was a long, drawn-out affair. Not in a bad way, of course. I was up bright and early doing my prep-work. This was the making and tasting, and tasting, and tasting of my world famous Green Death Margaritas.

Busy Hands Are The Devil's Workshop

It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. And the results were most gratifying.

A Freezer Full Of Happiness

Shortly after completing my Margarita mixing the decorating committee, that would be Marcie, showed up.

Green Is So In This Year, Dahling

The Mysterious Chinese Woman was here to lend a helping hand, and that was a good thing. All my tasting had caught up with me so I assumed a supervisory role.

A Little Higher, Please

We decorated the sliding glass doors with hopes that it would keep the pigeons from flying into them. It seemed to work, for the pigeons, at least.

Dumber Than Your Average Pigeon

There is no occassion for which Marcie is not prepared, and St. Patrick's Day is no exception.

All Of The Trimmings

And What would St. Patrick's day be without at least one drinking game?

But Does It Have To Be A Jig?

The Mysterious Chinese Woman was discussing her many birthdays (that is many each year). I certainly don't mean to imply that she, well, you know. Anyway, she was discussing them with our friends Valerie and Dave, and she mentioned that a traditional birthday dish is a poached chicken with both the head and feet still attached. They thought she should celebrate one more birthday while they were here so the bought her the requisite chicken.

And An Irish One At That

Dave left a few days ago to head to, of all places, Alaska. He had to put on a trade show or something. Not too surprisingly Valerie decided to stay in sunny Puerto Vallarta and attend the St. Patrick's Day festivities.

A Wise Valerie

Soon my friends Sandy and Rico showed up. They are from Minnesota, from whence I originated. In the past they have spent a week here in my place but this year they are down for two weeks and got their own digs.

Sandy

Rico

They were followed by the always fashionable Marge.

Blouse Must Match The Drink

And Marge's husband, the orifice challenged Wayne.

An Opening Is An Opening

Wayne is an architect but I have the vague feeling a house designed by him might be a bit, shall we say, challenging? The kitchen stove would probably be in the bathroom.

Close on the heels of Wayne and Marge were Allison and Steve.

And Now The Party Can Begin

Sharon and Paul were next to arrive. They were a bit late because Sharon said that Paul's grooming was taking longer than usual.

The Well-Groomed Paul, Not A Single Visible Nose Hair

And The Always Well-Groomed Sharon

That is Bill, Marcie's husband, just behind Sharon. He is pouting because he doesn't like anything Green so he wasn't drinking the Margarita's.

And last, but not least, Jim and Carol arrived. Marcie had been waiting to pounce on Jim's head because she had saved a special tattoo for him.

First, A Little Prep-Work

Now, This Won't Hurt A Bit

And Let Us Not Forget Carol

Steve also had a nice palette for Marcie's artwork.

Big Foreheads Are In This Year

And, of course, the inevitable rivalry.

Mine Is Bigger Than Yours

The Margaritas were going down just fine, but they only do so much damage. What you really need are Jello shots.

Okay, Plenty For Everyone, Even The Kids

And the Jello shots went down pretty good as well.

Does This Look Dignified?

Who Cares?

And there wasn't any canned fruit or tiny marsh-mellows in the Jello shots either. After a few of them, though, you did need to hold each other up.

Ooh, How Many Did You Have?

Bar Man Provides Sturdy Support

After drinking almost all of the Margaritas and downing all of the Jello shots it was time for most of us to head to stage two. Marge and Wayne had to depart, though. Marge was flying back to Chicago for a few days to see her granddaughter in a school play. She said she had the lead in Fiddler In The Roof. Nobody will ever replace Zero Mostel in my opinion. Wayne was staying here in Puerto Vallarta, but he had to go to the airport with Marge.

Anyway, our next stage was Murphy's Irish Pub where we continued our festivities.

Murphy's Irish Pub On The Malecon

Needless to say there will be more to post about that part of the day, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I think I found two friends in the fridge who need my attention.

Make New Friends But Drink The Old

And that, as they say, is all for now.

That Day Again

2011-03-17T08:48:00.000-05:00

I awoke this morning with heart palpitations and an impending sense of doom. Luckily there was an existential reason for my condition: Today is St. Patrick's Day, a day that seldom ends well for Bar Man. I have already pre-built the guts of my green Margaritas, substituting Racillia (Mexican Moonshine) for Tequila and throwing in a bit of old Mescal in which the worm had dissolved. Hey, got to get your protein. Nothing is too good for my guests. My friend Marcie is coming over early this morning with her green Jello shots and to help decorate my place for our pre-pub crawl party. I think the current plans are to head to Murphy's Irish Pub for their Guinness stew for lunch and then, well, then who knows what?

But I get ahead of myself. I thought I would post about a relatively more civil event before this day gets totally out of hand (in about two hours, by my reckoning).

We had another deck party a couple of days ago and, once again, I made my famous, but increasingly frustrating, Deviled Eggs.

I Hate These Eggs

Nothing I do can center the yolks, and believe me, I know all of the tricks. Why doesn't Ron Popeil offer an "Egg-Centering Centrifuge? I would buy one. After all, I have bought his "Scramble An Egg In The Shell" device and his "Make Square Hard Boiled Eggs" machine. The "Automatic Egg Peeler" will probably be next. I also have his "Automatic Pasta And Sausage Maker," but that is another sad story altogether.

I did manage to make about two dozen Deviled Eggs out of eighteen eggs. That comes out to a totally unacceptable rejection rate of one out of three due to herniated yolks. I put the excess filling on crackers though, so it wasn't a total loss.

The Finished Product

The Mysterious Chinese Woman made a delicious chili and there was all kinds of wonderful food to be shared.

A Mighty Fine Spread, Indeed

We had everything from ribs to jalapeño poppers. And desserts aplenty. I didn't get a picture of Marie's Chocolate Overkill, but it was dynamite. Marcie is also bringing poppyseed muffins for our party this morning. I figure it will give us an excuse if we fail our drug tests later in the day.

Everyone was supposed to bring a little something to share with the others, but I am not sure if Bill intended to share.

He Looks Pretty Well Settled In

But the rest of the crew had no problem heading for the buffet table.

Step Right Up And Dig Right In

Here were a few of the usual suspects gathered around. Bill did share and, to be fair, not all of the wine was his.

Some Of The Usual Suspects

As usual, a great time was had by all. Well, except for those who chose not to attend and actually tried to get some sleep while the party was still going on. I think even the nearby Blue Chairs, notorious for their loud music, called in a complaint.

Okay, I am off to prepare myself for today's events. Just how, I am not sure. Maybe drink a pint of olive oil or something. There should be pictures tomorrow unless I lose my camera or, more likely, lose my focus. I have long ago lost my way.

Long Pants Day

2011-03-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

Yesterday our friends Carol and Dave donned their long pants (Dave, at least) and headed home. They said they had a great time, and why wouldn't they? Everyone who comes here does. And, like everyone else who ever comes here, left reluctantly.

So Long, It's Time To Go

The day before they left we did manage to get our fish-on-a-stick from the fish lady. Carol and Dave had been wanting to try one and even though the tsunami delayed us, the fish lady had three of them for us on Saturday.

Three Little Fishies

Our friends Rico and Sandy showed up on Saturday. They usually stay with us but because they are going to be here for two weeks they thought it would be best to rent a place of their own in our building. They got quite a welcome, although not one they particularly wanted.

It's A Welcome Poopie

Someone had left the window open a crack and two pigeons managed to get in and then couldn't get out. You would be surprised how much two pigeons can poop in two days. They did manage to get someone to clean it all up for them, so all ended up okay.

Rico and Sandy were also a bit frazzled because their flight was delayed. And why was it delayed? One of the pilots flying deadhead (apparently he would be the one flying back) had forgotten his passport and had to go home to get it. Isn't modern travel a delight?

What with new people arriving and old people leaving there was only one thing to do, throw a bit of a party.

A Pasta Party

The New Arrivals, Sandy And Rico

And Those About To Depart, Carol And Dave

Marcie and Bill also joined in the party and Marcie baked a really delicious apple pie for desert. Marcie is our resident baker and can always be counted on to bring something. She is best known for her chocolate cakes and brownies.

A Pie To Die For

Our Baker, Looking Pleased With Herself

Actually, I am not sure if she is looking pleased with herself or just had a few glasses of wine too many.

Bill And Carol Loading Up Their Plates

You could tell Dave is an old pro when it comes to eating pasta. He was the only one sporting a bid.

Looking Good, Dave

Doesn't take much of an excuse for a party around here, and it was a nice send-off for Carol and Dave and a nice welcome for Rico and Sandy.

Tsunami Update

2011-03-12T10:56:00.000-05:00

As many of you probably know, the tsunami seemed to miss Puerto Vallarta entirely. Still, that didn't stop a bunch of us from grabbing our money and passports and heading to higher ground for brunch and cocktails. Hey, better safe than sorry.

We decided to go to Lindo Mar for our brunch because they do serve a nice one. On weekends they have a great Mexican buffet, but they have nice breakfasts and lunches off the regular menu as well.

Lindo Mar

The entrance to Lindo Mar is right off Highway 200 which, for the longest time, I mistakenly thought was part of the Pan-American Highway system. It does go to Acapulco, though. But the entrance is about seven floors above the restaurant. Oh well, we were safe for awhile.

Our Good Luck Greeters

We did have a good view of the ocean so we figured we could just run like hell if we saw something coming.

Holler If You See A Big Wave

They tsunami, if it was going to hit, was forecast for 12:30 PM and the maximum height wave was reduced from 3 meters to 1 meter so we had plenty of time to eat and weren't too worried. The authorities did close down the beaches, though, and a helicopter flew by periodically to make sure the closures were being enforced. Still, some people just didn't seem to get the message.

Our Early Warning System

I guess that if you put your beach chairs right in the water you aren't technically on the beach.

And Here Is Our Happy Group

After our lovely breakfast it was still only about 11:30 AM so we decided to head next door to El Set, a bar on higher ground, to wait out the event.

The Nearby El Set

It didn't take us too long to settle in and start doing some serious drinking.

Preparing For The Worst

Bill was taking the picture and my head is kind of blocking out Steve.

Here Is Steve With Dave And Allison

Bill is still missing, but he usually makes a funny face when you try to take his picture anyway, so forget him.

You are probably familiar with most of the people in my photos by now, but Dave and Carol are new to the group. The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I met them on our cruise from Berlin to Prague last year so if they look vaguely familiar, that is why. We hit it off really well (We bonded over the Silver Drink Plan) and invited them to join us down here in Puerto Vallarta Happily for everyone they accepted.

Carol And Dave

You will be seeing more of them in posts when I start backtracking a bit, but I thought I should jump ahead to keep you posted on the tsunami thing.

And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman gets a bit petulant if I don't include at least one picture of here, preferably with a drink.

Are You Happy Now?

Around 1:00 PM we figured the worst was over and headed on home. There were still beach warnings until 6:00 PM and there weren't any beach chairs or umbrellas out and just a few vendors plying their trade. We were planning on having some whole red snappers on a stick for a late lunch, but such was not to be. The fish lady was still preparing small pieces of mahi mahi and shrimp on sticks so the vendors could have something to sell, but wasn't prepared to commit the time to doing a whole fish in case a quick "run away" was necessary.

Today is a beautiful day, sunny and warm like usual, and the fish lady said she would have the fish for us this afternoon. My friends Rico and Sandy are due to arrive shortly so I am about to start preparing my traditional WFMs (Welcome Frozen Margaritas) for them. Carol and Dave are leaving tomorrow so they will be getting their PFLPDMs (Preparing For Long Pants Day Margaritas).

Now, I certainly don't intend this post to make light of the terrible situation in Japan, an earthquake, a tsunami and nuclear meltdowns. Really, can Godzilla be far behind? But there isn't much one can do from here except wish them the best as they recover from a truly horrific disaster. Our thoughts go out to them.

Tsunami Waring

2011-03-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

We've got a tsunami warning here in Puerto Vallarta, as does just about everyplace on the west coast of North America. I think it is supposed to hit a bit past noon. We are going to do the only sensible thing, go out for a late lunch and breakfast at a place a bit up the mountain. I will post more later but for now we are busy gathering up our money, passports, getting ready to head out,

And Saying Goodbyes To Loved Ones

I don't think it will be too bad here, the fish ladies are setting up out on the beach and we are planning on having fish-on-a-stick later this afternoon. A tsunami warning has been issued, though, and three meter waves are a possibility.

Stay tuned for an update on what happened.

A New Bar In Town

2011-03-10T13:57:00.001-05:00

Falling behind in my blogging, I know. Just too much stuff going on. But before I get started on a new bar in town, let me at least give you a quick glimpse of our leftover pool-deck party.

Pretty Much The Stuff Leftover From Boca

Oh, it was supplemented by other leftovers that had accumulated in the backs of people's refrigerators, so we did have plenty.

Checking It All Out

Sharon kind of looked it over too, but she wasn't sure about eating anything that had been cooked on the beach and then hauled back to town on a bus.

I Think, No, I Definitely Will Pass

Bill appears to actually be eating something that is green. Knowing how he feels about vegetables I am guessing that this must be an old meat taco or something.

Green, But Good

Okay, enough about leftovers. I think I posted a picture of a new Irish bar here in turn, Murphy's Irish Pub. Bill, Marcie, the Mysterious Chinese Woman and I decided to check it out. It is a bit of a walk, but Puerto Vallarta is a nice town to walk around in. Except for the high curbs, cobblestone streets, cracked sidewalks and various wires strategically place to garrote the unwary.

When we got there it wasn't open yet so we ended up going next door to have a beer or two while we waited.

A Combo Bar

Actually, it is a cafe with a name I couldn't quite make out. Something like El Bife Cafe which I hope does not mean what it would sound like, The Biffy Cafe. The bar was called Black And Red and featured beer, drinks and shots. It looked like it could get rocking at night because it did have a little stage for live music.

C'mon Up, The Beer's Fine

We had the place pretty much to ourselves so we parked ourselves by the window where we could overlook the native population.

Native What? I Don't Know

A Brew, A Lovely View, And You

There was going to be some kind of festival or something on the malecon later in the evening so they had the main drag through town blocked off and, as you can imagine, this resulted in quite a traffic jam.

But, Strangely, No Horn Blowing

A traffic jam like this in New York would have resulted in a cacophonous outburst of horns. I never have understood that. Like the guys at the front of the jam are just sitting there waiting for someone to blow their horn before they move? I think not.

We finished up our beers and then headed on down to our primary destination.

The First Step Is A Doozie

Murphy's Irish Pub is another upstairs bar so again with the long climb.

You Do Work Up A Thirst

Murphy's Irish Pub has only been open a short time. Seventeen days, I believe the bartender said, and they were still putting the finishing touches on the place. It is kind of a family affair and the bartender's father or the bartender's husband's father was here helping set the place up.

It is a nice looking bar and I certainly wish them well. This is the first place that I have ever been able to get a Guinness Stout here in Puerto Vallarta. Granted, they didn't have it on draft, but they did have it.

Getting Stout Here In Mexico With Lauren

I have a feeling this is where our crew may be going for St. Patrick's day now that Sweeny's is no more, so I will back fill it then.

And Another Table With A View

To avoid the rush I picked up my St. Patrick's day shirt early. Or, at least, the shirt I will be wearing on St. Patrick's day.

All Ready For The Big Day

As we headed on home I asked a couple of friendly looking policemen what the event was that was causing the traffic jam. They laughingly slapped me around a bit, cuffed me and then threw me in the back of their pickup truck.

Just A Couple Of Friendly Guys

Well, they really were friendly, but they did put the cuffs on me for a photo opportunity.

We are just about to head out to Pipi again with a somewhat different cast of characters, and I still have a backlog of photos to post from some of our other adventures, so be sure to stay tuned.

We Love A Parade

2011-03-08T09:32:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, last Saturday was Puerto Vallarta's answer to the various Mardi Gras and Carnival parades that are traditionally held just before Lent. Now I am sure almost everyone knows that Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, so called because it is the last day to whoop it up before Lent. But did you know that Carnival comes from the Latin carnevale or carnelevale which actually means "the putting away of meat"? That's right, from the Latin caro or carnis which means flesh and levare which means to take away.

So kids, when your mother tells you that you shouldn't be wasting your time reading this trashy blog, just tell her how much you learn from reading it. And really, how many kids your age know that a perfect Manhattan has both sweet and dry Vermouth in it and when they say it should be made with rye whiskey they are really talking about Canadian whiskey that is called rye in Canada. Hey, that kind of information is worthy of show-and-tell. Particularly if you can get the ingredients into your classroom.

As you can imagine the streets and bars lining the parade route here were pretty well packed up. A bunch of us did spot an empty, albeit small, bar that looked unoccupied at Bistro Balsamar. The restaurant was full, but the small bar tucked away in one corner was unoccupied. Only two seats really provided a good view of the parade, but by planting our butts in them we could commandeer the whole corner and squeeze people in.

Just Me In My Corner, With Marge Right Behind

More Of Our Crew, Behind Marge Are Wayne And Paul

Valerie And Dave Added To The Mix

Sharon And The Mysterious Chinese Woman

It took us awhile to get our first round of drinks, but that was understandable. The place was packed and everyone was settling in for dinner. Once the dinner serving stopped we had no trouble getting service and having our drinks replenished.

And now, without further ado, or commentary, I present you the parade. Or at least the parts of it that I was able to photograph.

If you are wondering why the parade seems to be running in two directions, it is because it took a bit of a loopy route and then returned down the same street again. Hey, a twofer.

New friends came to visit, Dave and Carol, so stay tuned for more exciting (well, exciting for us old retired folks) stuff.