Pearl Market

Click image for more photos ...

Saturday, Nov 14. 

The Market at the Pearl Brewery, San Antonio.

We had read about a wine and food festival happening in San Antonio and so order tickets on the internet for an event. It's a lunch at the Pearl Market in the former Pearl Brewery with a Mexican chef who specializes in fresh local ingredients. The market area is very new, it just opened last April, with construction still going on. It is at the north end of the Riverwalk just up the river a bit from the San Antonio Museum of Art which is located in the old Lone Star Brewery. It's a very pretty area with a small waterfalls. We got to sit in the sun and enjoy the view for 45 minutes after the lunch event as we waited for a riverboat that never came. Although two had been there during the lunch before we got down to the river.

The farmers' market itself was fairly small, perhaps the size of the Stratford Saturday market, but it was interesting. There's lots of locally grown products and we're going to have some with our lunch. We bought shelled pecans to take home for people and an $18 jar of feta in olive oil with sun-dried tomatoes which we can enjoy some night in our long stay with some fresh bread and wine.

The lunch setup for the wine tasting was a little disorganized as was the dinner service. There were tables set outside in the sun by the river for about 32 but probably there were only 24 people there. We sat at a table with two couples who were together and a single woman. Sharon from Chicago is married to a doctor, he's a bit of a know-it-all, but quite nice. They are easy to talk to and are Obama Democrats for "socialized medicine" so we all got along well. The other couple were very nice too. They were about in their late 60's or early 70's and she had had significant facelifts. Kate noted that her face was smooth from the nose up but she had a very wrinkly chin. She also wore an outfit that you could see through to her lacey bra (perhaps it's a bustier/corset). It was a Madonna style of dress, her name was Joyce and she was a little too old to be playing the Madonna card. She nevertheless became Reg's best friend — he couldn't keep his eyes off the goods!

The winemaker wasn't going to get there until 12:15 (the lunch was supposed to start at 11:30) and they decided they would pour all four wines right at the start. They started with the reds which kind of stumped us — there would have been wine pairings and this wasn't it. The wines were from the Chalk Hill Winery in Sonoma, California: there was a 2005 Estate bottled Cabernet, an 2006 Estate bottled Merlot,  a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, and a 2006 Chardonnay from the Russian River (nearby to Sonoma).

So they had poured all four wines, as well as some bottled water, and had put a bread appetizer on the table. The appetizer was a tuna tartare on a crusty bread — Kate passed on that. Then the food began arriving, and it arrived all at once! The salad had big leaves: two kinds of fresh lettuce from the market with tomatoes, cheese, and nuts. It was very nice. Then there were lightly breaded coconut shrimp from a local shrimp farm which were just okay. Then there was a beef and turnip, potato and yellow beet sort of a stew type of dish. The vegetables on the side with that were a local broccoli and cauliflower which were sort of steamed. The dessert was a bit like a coffee cake with extra fruit.

We think the winemaker would have intended that the courses be served one by one and paired with the wine. For example the Sauvignon Blanc should have been served with the salad, the Chardonnay with the shrimp and the two reds with the beef and veggies. But instead we just kind of chose to drink whatever we wanted with whatever we wanted. They were pretty generous with extra amounts of wine. The couples at our table hardly drank at all and the facelift lady left both of her reds. The fellow from the winery came to talk to us later and it turns out these were very pricey wines and deserved a better service and pairing. The whites were $20 and up and we recall that the reds were over $60 each! He really liked the Chardonnay. Reg was not so fond of it, and it turns out that's their specialty, their signature wine. It's grown in certain vineyard in the Russian River, carefully selected grapes picked by hand, and barrel aged. It is a very good wine and the style that Kate likes.

We hung around polishing off the wine dregs that sober folks had left behind. We'd fit right in with the panhandlers on Pecan, "Shay, buddy can you spare 35 cents for some Thunderbird?" And did we mention the homeless benefit concert coming up? We'll fit right in.

We were going to tour the new part of the Riverwalk but the boat never came! After waiting for a while, and enjoying the fine weather, we abandoned that idea and headed out to the Mexican Mercado so that Kate could pick up some more Mexican pottery light switch covers. When we got there, there was a show going on of young kids in Mexican outfits singing traditional music. After walking around quite a bit in the market we decided to have a drink in an outdoor café/restaurant. Coffee for Reg, the long suffering driver, and another glass of wine for Kate. The couple next to us were having fajitas which seemed to involve a huge platter of beef, tortillas, and beans. But as true Texans they didn't eat the beans ("You don't put beans in chili, you don't water good whiskey down" — Tom Russell). Panhandlers on Pecan would have asked, "Shay buddy, can you spare some beans for a down and out hungry guy? And 35cents for some Thunderbird?"

When we got back to Austin, we checked in at the Homestead long stay suites which are located on S 1st where Barton Springs crosses (very near Threadgill's South which is just across the parking lot). We're on the south side of Lake Austin (the Driskill on 6th, where we had been staying, is downtown and north of the lake). Our room here has much more space, a small kitchen, and refrigerator. It was pretty great. The bed was a bit harder than the one at the Driskill, but at least the window opens and there aren't the dumb accessories (like pillows and cowboy rolls) that only get in the way. 

We stayed long enough to check-in and drop off our bags. We then headed off to Guero's on South Congress hoping to catch the late afternoon entertainment outside "under the live oaks". They have music outside on the weekends. We had our dinner there. Kate had gulf shrimp tacos, which were excellent, and Reg had pork tamales. There are a lot of good Tex/Mex restaurants in Austin — we come to Guero's quite often.

We went home early, waddled to our room, and stayed in despite it being a Saturday night. We've had enough food, wine and adventures for one day.

Transcribed and edited during the OMIGOD! pandemic of February 2022 from notes taken at the time.

Esther's Follies

Click image for more photos ...

Friday, Nov 13. 

Kate has her presentation today at the RHI conference, we're going to Esther's Follies tonight. It's the keynote presentation so the pressure was on. She tells us afterwards that the presentation was okay, not great, but people enjoyed the jokes and pictures. She managed to get some pictures from the Robert Earl Keen concert last night into the presentation.

There was a book signing afterwards (Kate & Ross Homel have a recent, on topic, book entitled "Raising the Bar") which was sort of fun for her. Jim, who has organized the conference, has apparently sold almost all of the 50 books he brought. Kate chatted with her new pal Jean, the manager of the 9:30 club in Washington DC, and she keeps saying that Kate is her "hero". She says Kate is her hero because when she went on the internet to find out about preventing bar room violence, Kate's name was all over the place. Kate says Jean has been trying to get her "Safer Bars" program into Washington DC. For Reg, the 9:30 club is famous for National Public Radio concerts and podcasts. Although we've never been there.

At the conference after lunch, the owners of the Continental Club on south Congress, a club on Red River, and the MoMA which is in the Warehouse area, gave a little talk on their various entertainment areas. Reg sat in on that talk. We're always looking for fresh places to explore in Austin.

After the Austin entertainment talks Kate has decided to take the afternoon off. She was pretty tired having been up quite late to see Robert Earl Keene in Gruene the night before. So we went down the street to the Iron Cactus, recommended by staff at the Driskill, for their highly rated margaritas which we enjoyed sitting outside on their rooftop patio. We also had some tortilla chips, crab cakes, and shrimp. Two young "Paris Hilton" types at a nearby table took a fancy to a table of young bucks and managed to get their cell phone number. Then they texted messages back and forth. We said to the guys that they should talk to the girls but they didn't bite. The girls talked about setting the bait and then reeling them in. It didn't work today.

Before we left the Iron Cactus, Reg went down the street to buy tickets for Esther's Follies that night. Reserved seats were sold out but, after an afternoon nap to recharge our batteries, we arrived early to the club and managed to get good seats in the front row to the one side. We have been before and really wanted to see the show again. The show was great of course, incredibly dense and fast-paced. Perhaps a little over dominated by the magician, but then again he was very funny and the magic tricks were quite good. There were some skits we have seen before but there's lots of new stuff as politics locally and nationally have changed.

At Esther's, before the show starts, we can see out through the windows on the stage to "Crazy Carl" who is outside on the sidewalk twirling a flower, balancing it on one finger, and flashing his black lace bra. Crazy Carl has an oxygen tank with him and the tubes and such under his nose so he can breathe! We're not sure if the oxygen is required or just part of his skit — he doesn't look to be a picture of health. Volunteers from the audience are dragged onto the stage and into the show. There's a couple drawn into the magic skit with the dog in a box and another fellow was drawn in as a player in a skit saying "Yes, my darling" on cue. There was a pretty girl beside Reg who was brought onto the stage and cut in half!  Kate predicted that she'd be called on. She might have been a plant.

The windows onto the street involve people passing by (e.g., Crazy Carl before the show) and is used in skits within the show. For example, they shoot the dog through the windows into the box held outdoor on the street by a reluctant audience member.

Kate had a good day at the RHI conference, she gave her key-note presentation and found some fans. We enjoyed ourselves that night at Esther's Follies. A good day all around.

Transcribed and edited during the OMIGOD! pandemic of February 2022 from notes taken at the time.

Capitol & Gruene

Click image for more photos ...

Thursday, November 12.

The maids at the Driskill have piled our pillows and the fake mink cover into a corner of our room behind the chair to give us some space. There would be a lot more space in this tiny room if they would chuck them all instead! We haven't slept very well and put it down to the big fluffy comforter which makes us too warm, so we crank up the air conditioning which makes us too cold, so we don't get much rest. We awoke early at about 6:00 a.m. Kate is not well rested having tossed, turned and fussed with the temperature all night long. Her RHI conference starts at 8:30 and we have tickets to see Robert Earl Keen that night in Gruene at the old dance hall some 40 miles south off the IH-35 before San Antonio.

Reg goes out to find some early morning coffee, milk and cereal for our breakfast. We discover later that the RHI conference has set out a splendid hot breakfast on the mezzanine level with everything one could ever ask for! Today instead we have some cold cereal from a little shop across the street. It will be nice when we move to our long stay apartment (we're only here at the Driskill for the conference). It will be bigger, with less of these silly accessories that we don't need, we'll have a small kitchen of our own and we can stock up a fridge with essentials from a proper grocery store.

We have read about a "Wine and Food" event in San Antonio on Saturday and book it over the internet (which is free at the Driskill). Our tickets for Robert Earl Keen tonight were purchased when we were still home back in Canada.

Kate heads off to her RHI conference at 8:30. It starts with a very funny presentation listed as "Austin Welcome". The guy introducing things has a bar/store on 6th Street. He welcomes conference attendees and then says, "This being Texas, there's a very special person coming to welcome us, but there are security issues." And then next thing is, there's very muscular, very big guy who comes in wearing a spandex outfit, earphone, weapons, bulletproof vest, etc. Then they start playing "Hail to the Chief" and another guy comes in pretending to be George W. Bush. He's actually one of the troupe of comedians from Esther's Follies and he's very funny. He says lots of dumb things, as would the real George W., and picks on the one guy in the audience who is from the UK, "Do you speak the language?" They then did a 15 minute video presentation on Esther's Follies which is also really funny. Especially funny with their street antics — e.g., a fake car salesman with three scantily clad women goes into the street and stops a pickup with two young guys in it and offers, "If you buy this today you can have the two studs too!"  The MC then gave a short history of Austin music venues with slides and pictures. Then a panel of Austin fellows talked about the club scene. This included the current owner of Threadgills (who was pissed off at over regulation and the condos going up in the Barton Springs/Riverside area), George W. Bush's "security guard" (he was a police officer in real life, a former bouncer and the winner of a superhero reality show contest which somehow explains the spandex outfit), and George W. himself representing Esther's Follies.

That morning, while Kate is at her conference, Reg explores Congress Street and the State Capitol. Congress runs into the grounds of the capitol at 11th; the grounds are bounded on the north side by 15th. Our hotel is on 6th and only a couple of blocks to the east of Congress. On Reg's way up Congress he passes the Stephen F Austin Hotel at 7th where we had stayed on our last visit. There another panhandler engages him in conversation. Reg is obviously a tourist and the panhandler wants to show him the sites — he thinks Reg ought to go to the Catholic Cathedral at 10th and Brazos. "It's very beautiful, a wonderful Cathedral", he says. But Reg says, "Thanks very much but no, thanks". He doesn't need or want a guide. He tips him some silver coins to get him to go away and he is willing to go but asks if Reg might give him a $1 bill as well. "Sure, here you go!" Alms for the poor.

But Reg does follow up on the suggestion. The St Mary Catholic Cathedral is open and being cleaned by a Hispanic woman. They have a Sunday mass in Spanish, another in Latin, and several in English. It's a nice church, but it's not a cathedral like we've seen in other cites (e.g., the Washington National Cathedral is huge by comparison — so, not everything is bigger in Texas). Speaking of Hispanic ladies, Reg bumped into one in the men's washroom off the lobby at the Driskill (where the urinals have black beach pebbles to match the granite countertops). That was a little awkward. We see lots of Hispanic and other people of color serving as maids, in kitchens, etc. and especially see them waiting for the Metro bus system. There are no "street cars" or subways for public transit in Austin; you need a car to get around and, if you're poor, you take the bus. There is a recent "Capitol Metro" train from the north end of the city but it's only just started and it's only a single line.

At the Capitol Visitor Center, Reg is told that you can tour the legislature building on your own or take a guided tour. He takes a guided tour at 10:00 conducted by a nice lady whose accent sounds like she's from the Caribbean islands. He doubts that she's a native Texan but you never know. On the tour you get a quick lesson on Texas history, especially the battles around the Alamo and the fight for independence from Mexico. There's a big painting of Davy Crockett (who died in the siege of the Alamo) and the surrender of Santa Anna (the Mexican General) to Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto in the lobby. There are marble statues of Stephen F. Austin (he of the hotel at Congress & 7th fame) and Sam Houston (he of "You don't want to go to Houston. No, not never!" fame). The capitol has an impressive dome (yes it's higher than the dome of the capitol in Washington — some things are bigger in Texas) with a "Six Flags of Texas" mural set in stone in the floor below. The six flags which have flown here are Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the US flag, and unfortunately the Confederacy. There are portraits of all of the governors under the dome. It ends with Ann Richards (1991-95) and George W. Bush (1995-2000). Reg guesses the current governor, Rick Perry, has been there a while since George W. is now the president. 

The legislature is a bicameral house with a Senate on one end and a House of Representatives on the other end. Reg learns that the house only sits every two years on the odd numbered years! The governor can call a session, but if the governor does, it must last for at least 90 days. This is a very odd hold over from the pioneer days when travel would have been a burden. 

There are lots of interesting statues on the grounds of the Capitol including the "Ten Commandments" — isn't there a separation of church and state? There's also a "Confederate Soldiers Monument" which, frankly, is more than a little offensive. It's a Jim Crow Era monument (1903) that celebrates "[the] CONFEDERATE DEAD [who] DIED FOR STATES RIGHTS GUARANTEED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION". Of course the "States Rights" they're talking about is called slavery. This revisionist history should be taken down.

Reg returns down Congress looking for a drug store and acetaminophen for Kate and a camera store for a new battery. On Congress at 5th Reg visited the Mexic-Arte Museum/Gallery where they had a big "Day of the Dead" exhibit. The Day of the Dead is actually several days around Halloween where the dead are honored in Mexico. There are altars to the dead, known as "altares de muertos" or "ofrendas", that are set up for celebrations on November 1 and 2. The idea is to honor the dead and show them they have not been forgotten, something like remembrance service we have at the Walter's Falls cemetery. Some of the altars in this exhibit are to family members, others are to issues like all the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the missing women in Juarez, etc. The lady at the gallery, when asked, suggests that Reg should go to Precision Cameras at 38th and Lamar. She asks, "You have a car?" It's well beyond a leisurely walk.

For lunch Reg grabs a quesadilla and beer on 6th and meets Kate at 1:00 in their room on the off chance that she might skip out for a swim. But she's enjoying the conference and decides to stay. We arrange to meet again at the 3:00 break on the balcony where Reg has been reading. He's reading a book called "The Children" which we found on the street in Miami back in January. It's an historical account of the civil rights movement focusing on a group of young people ("the children" of the title) who are university students and started the lunch counter protests in Nashville around 1960. They went on to become "freedom riders" who went into the deep south to help with voter registration and voting. It's a moving story which brings him to tears by times. Especially when contrasted with the Confederacy statues on the Capitol grounds. There's still a long way to go.

Reg takes the car up to Precision Cameras as recommended by the lady at the Mexic-Arte Gallery. He could have spent hours there. It's a great camera store with an impressive used collection. Reg's battery for the Canon Rebel is replaced for $70 (they aren't cheap). But he could have bought a used Nikon F circa 1965 for only $130. That's a collectible camera he lusts for but he doesn't need to collect any more film cameras. Digital is the way now.

Afterwards he's back down to Waterloo Records on 6th and Lamar where there's no parking spaces as they are sealing the parking lot. Waterloo Records is a music collector's dream. He'll try to go back another day. Perhaps to see James McMurtry who is playing in the store next Thursday at 5:00. James seems to be playing every Wednesday at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) at the Continental club on South Congress but it's not likely that we'll ever be up that late. We see he's playing at Threadgill's South at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday next, our last night, perhaps we'll see him then.

After the conference Kate and Reg head off for Gruene and the show at the Dance Hall. We leave at 4:30 and head south on the IH35. Kate had mentioned to a colleague that we were off to see Robert Earl Keen and he started to describe the "Old Gristmill" restaurant — "We know, that's where we're headed for dinner." Gruene and the Old Gristmill are well marked along the IH-35; we have no maps but it's no big deal to find our way.

We eat outside at the Gristmill. Most of the tables are in fact outside. We are served by a pleasant and attractive young woman from Fort Worth. We have been there (there's the huge Billy Bob's bar and music hall in Fort Worth). Reg has some barbeque baby back ribs and has been assured that no real babies have died for this (c.f., the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes"). They're slow cooked, very smoky, sweet and fall off the bone tender. Kate has some huge fresh Gulf shrimp, lightly battered, and we share a lovely Becker Chardonnay from nearby Fredericksburg.  It's oaked and aged "sur lie". It's quite a good wine which we sample several times during our Texas stay.

We queue up to enter the dancehall at 7:00 hoping to get good seats. Kate waits sitting on the curb by the entry while Reg stands in line in the queue. Kate is still nursing a twisted ankle which she injured on our Algarve trip in October. There are several uniformed police and security types but it's not a big deal. It's going to be a big crowd and some security will be required. With all of this security, especially the police, that might explain why we never saw or smell any dope being smoked. We understand Texas has very strict drug laws. Underage drinking, sure that's ok. But dope smoking fiends? No way!

Inside the dancehall there's a bench around the edge of the room but it's standing room only for those who haven't cornered a bench. And those who have grabbed a bench won't able to see much of the show given all the folks who will be standing in front of them. All of the long tables for sitting and chatting have been removed. It promises to be a "full house". The hall has a capacity of 800 and tonight they will probably be over that! They are packing them in.

Kate and Reg do find a spot to sit in the pool table side room near the front to the left of the women's washroom and the stage. A couple of young men, they're in their 40s, are playing pool at the table where we are and we're often in their way. But we have a friendly chat with them and get to know them pretty well. Later they even buy us a glass of wine! This ain't no Fernie bar but you can get Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio as well as Lonestar and Shiner beer! Of the two men, the younger one has just turned 40. The older one is his brother who is visiting from Grand Rapids Michigan. He had changed flights especially so he could see this Robert Earl Keen concert. Later Kate befriends a couple who have come all the way from Galveston (that's on the Gulf Coast just south of Houston, some 225 miles away to the east). That's quite the distance and they have done that on a motorcycle!

The opening act is Buster Jiggs who starts around 8:00. It's a young woman playing acoustic guitar with a band, her husband is the drummer. She looks a bit like Kathleen Edwards and is quite good. We are very impressed by them and they are quite honored to be opening for Robert Earl Keen. The sound system is very good but cannot compete with folks who natter away with one another. If they're not interested in who is performing why don't they go outside to talk? Well, they probably don't want to lose their spot.

There are men's room facilities outside — some "Johnny on the Spot" portables for this event. We noted that perhaps only one in ten or so wash their hands at the stations provided. The old men's room behind the stage, not much better facilities, is being used tonight as the "Green Room" for the performers.

In the packed house there are some young college aged kids. Some folks are very old and gray. It's quite a mix with lots of hats, boots, and fancy cowboy shirts. Reg has his fancy shirt that was especially made for Fred Eaglesmith. He had won it on a draw at the summer picnic. But it's cool out tonight so a jacket hides much of the flash. He wore his cowboy boots. We fit right in.

We bought Robert Earl keen's new album "Desert Rose", some T's, a bumper sticker, and by mistake, a koozie. We learn that a "koozie" is a beer bottle cover/insulator. Fortunately the merch table takes credit cards.

Robert Earl Keen came on about 9:30 or 10:00 and played until 11:00 when we headed home.

The house was crowded, standing room only, extremely full, with no good views. Kate sat and kneeled on the pool table. She did get up to go to the women's washroom and then ended up at the front of the stage when they sang "Corpus Christi Bay". We told our motorcycle friends from Galveston that this was our favorite song, so we were thrilled when he played it. The gal from Galveston, who was the Robert Earl Keen fan of the two, said her favorite song was "Mariano" (from his 1989 "West Textures" album). Unfortunately he didn't play that song:

The man outside he works for me, his name is Mariano

He cuts and trims the grass for me he makes the flowers bloom

He says that he comes from a place not far from Guanajuato

That's two days on a bus from here, a lifetime from this room.

People sing along to all the tunes but especially to "Merry Christmas From The Family" and "The Road Goes On Forever (And The Party Never Ends)". They would all sing along holding up their beer bottles and joining in loudly. It was a great show. Robert Earl Keen is still a young man with a bit of a smirk, some gray hair and a bit of a beard. He did an encore of about three tunes and seemed to really enjoy the show with the enthusiastic crowd of fans.

It was hard to get any pictures with the crowd but Reg was able to get behind the speaker tower at the women's washroom and got some good photos. This standing room only at Gruene Hall is not our idea of fun. We could hang around for an autograph but Kate needs to be ready for tomorrow when she's the keynote speaker. She decides to work in some pictures of the event into her PowerPoint presentation for the next day.

We slept pretty well tonight but awake the next morning with a bit of a hangover and the feeling that we've spent the previous evening chain smoking. They smoke cigarettes and cigars in Gruene Hall. And, although it's open to the elements, it does cling to you.

Transcribed and edited during the OMIGOD! pandemic of February 2022 from notes taken at the time.

Arriving Austin

Click image for more photos ....

Wednesday, Nov. 11

The RHI (Responsible Hospitality Institute) is meeting in Austin, Kate is an invited speaker and that's a perfect opportunity for us to spend some time in one of our favorite destinations. Our nephew Ken kindly house sits for us to take care of our plants and critters while we escape to warmer climes for a short working vacation.

Our flight from London to Detroit left at 6:28 a.m. We bumped into Kate's colleague Sam at the airport. She was on her way to the UK via Toronto for one of Martin Plant's meetings. The flight was fine but we arrived at DTW (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport) at 7:25 and the customs guys don't come on until 7:30. Then we had to wait to deplane because the elevator didn't work. But we finally disembarked at about 7:50 and a very nice young woman was the custom officer. When we told her they occasionally had ice storms in Austin (there had recently been a really nasty storm in eastern Ontario and Quebec), she said her sister lived in Austin and complained if it even rained. We're hoping for warm weather and no ice storms so we can try swimming in Barton Springs. A bit of rain? Well we can take that. At least you don't have to shovel it.

Reg discovered that his camera has quit at the Detroit airport. He fussed about trying both batteries, taking off the vertical grip, etc. but it just wouldn't go. This is very odd as everything was fully charged before leaving. The stewardess was impressed by Reg's fancy camera and asked as we boarded if he wanted to take her picture. "Sorry, it's dead!" When we got to Austin the batteries were put in the charger at the Driskill so there are no pictures of this early part of the trip.

Our flight from Detroit to Austin: It's a long walk through the Detroit airport to make our connection but everything went on time. The flight attendants were very nice but, as on all other flights, there was someone sitting in our seat! Why does this happen? This isn't a Grey-Hound Bus, seats are assigned and clearly numbered. The guy across from us quickly drank about four beers, this was 9 a.m., and flirted with the flight attendants. We suspect he charmed no one. A woman across the aisle said her flight to Detroit, like us she was making a connection here, was delayed — while sitting on the runway, her pilot had come on the intercom and said, "We were scheduled to leave at 5:30, but the tower doesn't open until 6:00!"

At the Austin airport we had extra special treatment at the National Car Rental. At the counter they said, "Oh, you're Emerald club. You can go right on up and pick your car." They did not say, "Oh, you're Emerald club you can go and pick up any car." We did have a selection of cars to choose from but it was limited. Kate wanted to pick a "gangsta" car but we settled for a white Nissan Ultima. It's a small car by Texas standards but more than big enough for us and more than adequate for our adventures.

On our way into the city (the Austin Airport is to the southwest of the city), we stopped at the Magnolia Café on South Congress for a bit of lunch. Kate had blackened gulf shrimp in a black bean quesadilla while Reg had Huevos Rancheros (a breakfast plate) and a Shiner beer to wash it down. It's good food and busy, as always. We overheard another tourist who had just discovered the place and obviously loved it. He had been there yesterday for lunch, and then dinner, and was back today for breakfast! A local was telling him that it's open 24 hours a day and there are two other versions (we've been to two of the three). There are other restaurants one might try, there's no need to move into the Magnolia! 

The staff at the Magnolia are busy, efficient, tattooed, young (college aged) and very friendly. They are all sort of the "starving artist" type, or perhaps in Austin they're starving musicians. We like the place and the food. Our meal, even with the drinks, was only $20; it was a heck of a deal!

We checked into the Driskill Hotel on 6th St (the entertainment district, aka Pecan) and Brazos (just off Congress, not too far from the capitol) which will be the RHI conference hotel. It's a lovely old historic hotel, rated 4 star, with lots of wood and leaded glass. This is our second visit to this hotel — we had stayed here with Jack, Doreta and Cindy several years ago. We have a tiny room in the old historic part of the hotel but it's very well appointed: there's the fake mink blanket, a cowboy blanket roll, widescreen TV, far too many pillows for sleeping, far too many telephones for such a tiny room, and even an umbrella (sic!) in case it rains (or perhaps it's a sunshade for the hot summer days?). There is a "new" tall tower in the hotel where we know the rooms are much larger. Ours seems tiny and crowded with too many useless accessories that we don't want or need. But we are checked in quickly and in the process Kate meets a colleague of hers (Bob Reynolds) who was glad to see her again. He phones our room to ask if Kate wants to go on a training session. But we decline — the "Sacred Waters of Barton Springs" beckon us.

At this time of year entry to the Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park is free. This seems to be the case from November through to March. Only the very determined swim beyond the dog days of summer as the pool, it's really a dammed catchment area on an existing creek bed, is quite cool. It's spring fed with the water always about 68°F; on a warm summer day it might make it up to 71°F. There is a unique Barton Springs Salamander with odd external gills that lives in one of the springs. The main spring feeds the swimming area, a smaller spring is fenced off for the salamanders (we've never seen them but are assured they are there).

It is a clear bright day with temperatures around 80°F so there are quite a few swimmers and sunbathers at the pool. It is chilly to get in but not too far off the water temperature that we had recently experienced on the Algarve (Portugal) back in October. We both swim without our wetsuits and Reg is able to do a reasonable breaststroke. He has an odd shoulder injury that has been treated with physiotherapy and exercise. His arm and shoulder are getting better and he's better swimming now. It's a bit chilly though. Reg recalls his childhood swimming in the spring fed pond at Walter's Falls where it was often "fine once you got in".

There's the usual folks doing lengths back and forth in the pool and a few folks on air mattresses enjoying the sun. It's not terribly busy, there's about a dozen in the water and another dozen enjoying the sun. There was a senior fellow sun tanning in a string bathing suit. The suit included just the basket for his man parts, some string around the waist and up his arse to hold it together and not much more. Not a terribly great sight! We understand that there's topless sun bathing here but only this geezer in the string bikini today. We have been here on other visits where there are topless women.

We swam, well Kate swam quite a bit, Reg only a little, for about an hour and we packed it in when her hands were cold. She has gloves and a wet/body suit for the cold water but she doesn't like them for doing lengths. She says that for snorkeling they are fine but for doing lengths (or laps) they constrain your arms too much. A rather large cormorant (that's a bird) joined the swimmers. He didn't seem to mind the people and would take long dives under the water searching for fish. Kate had a cold shower in the change room after her swim as the single warm shower, which is solar heated, was monopolized by others. Reg met a man from Sandusky, Ohio (just across Lake Erie from us) in the change room and they both remarked on the beautiful weather.

On our way back to the Driskill we stopped at the Whole Foods Market on Lamar at 6th to buy some wine for Reg and some mix and vodka for Kate. There's not much luck for Kate as grocery stores cannot sell hard liquor — just beer and wine. Texas has "liquor stores". 

We headed up Lavaca towards the university to find a liquor store we used to visit just north of UT. On the way we found a "Twin Liquors" (they're a chain of liquor stores) where we met Kate's needs and discover that they have a far better wine selection. The Whole Foods Market had some great deals on imported stuff — like two Chilean Pinot Noir for only $12 but only a small selection of California Zinfandel. Reg likes to believe that the "local" wine in the US is the California Zinfandel. California Cabernet Sauvignon is very nice as well, but often too pricey, even here in the USA. Since then we've had some Texas wines — a lovely "Becker" chardonnay from Fredericksburg. We talked about taking a wine tour (a conducted tour that is) with Alison when she comes to visit later. There are perhaps 50 wineries in the "Hill Country" around Austin and San Antonio that we might explore.

Back at the Driskill in the late afternoon Kate is tuckering out. She didn't sleep well and needs to get to bed early tonight. There's a conference schmoozer event planned down the street tonight at Maggie Mae's on 6th but we decline. Instead we have a drink together at the hotel porch on 6th street. It's quite noisy as 6th is a busy oneway street. It's closed off to traffic at night on the weekends. Sixth is also known as Pecan Street and is one of several entertainment areas in Austin. We later discover that the hotel has two open balconies — there's another one above the porch/restaurant on 6th and it's a nice place to catch the sun. Both these discoveries are on the mezzanine level where Kate has her meetings. Kate needs a rest so Reg heads out to explore and take a few snaps with his freshly charged battery.

He walks down 6th Street past Esther's Follies almost to the interstate IH35. There's an interesting Cajun restaurant on Waller Creek. The small creek, which flows south to Town Lake, seems to be a mini San Antonio Riverwalk without the restaurants, people, boats and water. We read later that there's a big project underway to divert the river, especially important for when there are heavy rains and flash floods, and make it into a scenic walkway with a better bike path. Reg thinks exploring the creek and the lakeside would be fun. Town Lake is a dammed portion of the Colorado River with interesting bike paths around it. Lake Austin and Travis Lake are up river from here.

Reg wanders north up Red River St. which runs off of Pecan at Esther's Follies. This is another entertainment district that runs parallel to the IH-35 and at right angles to Pecan street. At one bar an obviously punk act were gathering with their chums. These were more the "glam punk" than real punk. At Stubb's people were already queued around the corner to see Regina Spektor — a young woman who was recommended in some of the papers. From the one side Stubb's looks like an old timey limestone bar. But from the other side it seems to be more of an open yard with an outdoor stage, barbecue shack, and so on. It occupies much of a city block. We saw the Drop Kick Murphy's there one time.

It's here, near Stubb's, where Reg's camera fails again with a dead battery. He thinks it's one of the two batteries, a cheap off brand, that is now toast and causing problems. He's convinced it needs to be replaced. On his return path, he meet a few street people; there are a lot of poor souls living on the street in Austin. There seems to be a Sally Ann type of place around 7th and Red River. A couple of these homeless fellows ask him if he's working — he explains that he's just a tourist with a dead camera.

Reg picked up some pizza slices along 6th and returned to share them with Kate. Along the way a panhandler approaches and asks, "Excuse me sir, you wouldn't have a pizza would you?" Clever fellow, "Why yes, I do have a pizza!" We give to the panhandlers when we can. There's quite a rag-tag assortment of the homeless, cripples, missing limbs, etc. panhandling on Pecan and throughout the downtown area. Some are veterans, the casualties of the "War on Terror" we suppose. We share the pizza in our room. The California Zinfandel we had with it is a disappointment; we ought to have spent more or bought the Chilean Pinot Noir.

We are to bed early today around 8:00! Kate is tired and has a busy few days at the conference ahead of her. Reg (the lucky bastard) can putter around at will! There are benefits to carrying Kate's luggage.

Transcribed and edited during the OMIGOD! pandemic of February 2022 from notes taken at the time.

Portugal

Click image for more photos ...

Lately we've had different friends ask us about travel to Portugal. The photo album is from an October 2009 trip to the Algarve (we stayed in Albufeira which we really like) with a side trip to Estoril (on the coast near Lisbon). The weather was warm as was the ocean. We've been before at New Years and another time in March. The weather then is much cooler but ... there's no snow to shovel!

See also, in this blog, June, 1995 (Lisbon/Porto), March, 1999 (Algarve), and January, 2006 (Algarve & Estoril)

Copenhagen

Click image for more photos ...

Kate's annual KBS conference was in Copenhagen, Denmark this year. I had been to Copenhagen with Kate one winter several years ago -- I can attest that it's a much nicer city to visit in the summer when the sun is out!

We spent a week there and I did a lot of tromping about in the old city center on the west shore of the main channel -- hiking the Stroget from the Radus (City Hall) Square to King's New Square (Kongens Nytorv) at the head of the New Harbor (Nyhavn) and then beyond to the royal area Ameliehaven, Churchill Park, the old fortification at Kastellet, and on to the iconic Little Mermaid. There was a lot to see. In this entry I'll try to cover some of the things I found most interesting that are represented in the photo album (click on the image for the album). As I look back on the visit and search through Google maps I see there were a lot of places that I ought to have explored but didn't get to.

The picture at left is the Gefion Fountain (Gefionspringvandet) near the Kastellet (old fort) and the Little Mermaid (Den Lille Havfrue) on the water front. Copenhagen is a spectacular city for public works of art like this fountain and has lots of well tended green spaces. There's a lot of beautiful old buildings from the Art Nouveax/Beaux Artes era that have survived and are lovingly tended. And, as a royal city (currently Margrethe II of Denmark Since 1972), there are these grand palaces, residences and churches built over the centuries. There are some modern Brutalism buildings along the waterfront, e.g. the Royal Library or "Black Diamond", but it's the old city I enjoyed. As the capital city, and a country with a royal family, there's much to see.

If you look at a map of Denmark you'll see this land mass that juts north from Germany and a cluster of islands in the straits between Denmark and Sweden. Copenhagen is to the very far east built at the mouth of a largeish channel that separates the bigger island Zealand from a smaller island Amager. Amager has the airport and the long bridge across to Malmo in Sweden.

It's a city on the water in a cluster of islands with canals, big and small, linking them together. The Nyhavn (or New Harbor in English) is perhaps the most popular. But there's a canal loop around the Christianborg Slot (castle) and lots more through the Christianshavn area across the main canal. The airport, where we arrived from London Heathrow, is on the big island to the south and east of the city center. It's near the very long bridge over the Baltic strait to Malmo in Sweden.

We flew in from Heathrow after a brief visit with family/friends in Woking. Landing at the Copenhagen Airport we rode the train/transit into the city to the main station and walked the few blocks to the modern Norlandia Mercur (our hotel). We were given a tiny room with two single beds (it must have been the conference rater) but upgraded to a better room. The hotel is Danish modern in design but convenient to the Copenhagen University (Københavns Universitet) where Kate had her meetings.

The nearby Botanical Gardens has interesting grounds and a fabulous glassed Greenhouse (Botanisk Have - Palmehuset) to explore. On the grounds of this garden there's water to explore and a ton of classic statuary.

Towards the water the Kastellet (fort or citadell) is an old moated fort with earthworks berms/ramparts. Apparently it's one of the best preserved fortresses in Northern Europe. It is constructed in the form of a pentagon with bastions at its corners and a moat around the outside. Inside there's green space, a wind mill, barracks and active soldiers marching about. But mostly it's a tourist draw. These days this kind of fort is no match for current technologies.

At the north east corner of the Kastellet is the Little Mermaid and of course you can't visit Copenhagen without stopping around to see her. It's an bronze mermaid sculpture (installed here in 1913), by Edvard Eriksen, of a character from H.C. Andersen's fairytale. In recent years it has been vandalized a number of times. Anarchists I guess.

Anyways the Little Mermaid is usually quite busy with lots of tourists. It's not a big statue, lifesize really, and the view to the north is pretty industrial.

Rosenborg Slot

Rosenborg Castle (Slot) was another project of Christian IV built in the early 1600's as a summer home but expanded soon after to become a favorite royal residence for the king and his successors -- it's now a well preserved museum showcasing a renaissance collection of artwork, decorations and gaudy furniture. There's also the crown jewels and a barracks for soldiers guarding things. There are some very young soldiers (I assume summer employees) who dress up in period uniforms with bear skin hats (cf. England) for a changing of the guard.

The King's Garden (Kongens Have) is the large well manicured public green space around the castle (and outside the fortification and moat). On a sunny day this is a popular spot to people watch.

Nyhavn Canal Tour

We did a canal tour from Nyhavn with some friends. The New Harbor (Nyhavn) is a popular destination with lots of restaurants and bars. A real people place. We stayed very near here on our first winter visit. With the warm summny weather on this visit we caught a large open air tour boat and puttered around the canals. 

On the main channel we got to see some of the Danish Navy -- they have ships and Denmark is a choke point for access to the Baltic sea. The Royal Yacht was at anchor. We motored by the gardens of Ameliehaven just north of Nyhavn for nice views of the fountain, the Royal Residences (Amelienborg) and the Marble Church beyond. Directly across is the modern Opera House on the east bank -- a bit of Brutalism architecture. Further north we see the Little Mermaid and the crowds clambering around her.

On the Christiana (east) side of the main channel there are lots of warehouses from the turn of the last century. Current ship traffic is further afield now (with container ships, etc.) so these old warehouses are now repurposed as condominiums, galleries and more. There's an area along the canals to rival Nyhavn for restaurants and bars.

We saw some kids swimming and jumping into the water of the canals. I've been in the Baltic before in July; it was cold then, I imagine it's cold now!

South of Nyhavn there's the canal loop (we passed clockwise) in around Christiansborg Slot in the old city. With views starting with the modern Royal Library on the main channel, the many bridges to the island (Marble Bridge being the entrance I crossed later to the castle), the Thorvaldsen Museum, Spires of the Castle and the nearby Børsen, equestrian statues of Bishop Absalon and Frederick VII. There's lots to see.

While it isn't Venice, the canals of Copenhagen are impressive as is the well maintained historical city.

Freetown, Christiania

While I spent most of my time in the old city on the west side of the main channel there were a couple of times we were on the other easterly side. Once when we took a canal tour and again on Tuesday night for dinner with friends. Kate rode her bike over while I took the metro with our friends (we all returned on the metro). One of the KBS locals had recommended we try out "Restaurant Spiseloppen" in an area they call "Freetown".

The area seemed to be populated by hippy squatters who had taken over abandoned warehouses and military barracks. There was a lot of artful graffiti on buildings and quite a bit of scrawled tagging. We found an outdoor "bar" (I rather suspect nothing was licenced) and had a drink together.

We found our restaurant, which seemed to be located on the top floor of a 3 story warehouse but couldn't find an entrance. After searching around a bit we found a buzzer button that you needed to press to get the attention of those in the restaurant so they'd let you in -- a "blind pig" or underground "speakeasy" kind of place. We did get in to find a very nice restaurant and had a good meal.

The whole experience was quite odd. How can this be?

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

On Wednesday Kate and I took our rented bikes on the train from Copenhagen Central Station (Københavns Hovedbanegård) north of the city to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. It's about an hour north of the city and then a short bike ride (you could walk it as well). The museum is in a park like setting overlooking the narrow channel to Sweden on the other side. There's an original Victorian era building and an extensive modern structure with a cafe, gift shop and galleries. We especially liked wandering the gardens to explore and find the sculptures. We had some lunch at the cafe, a glorius sunny day, and bumped into several of Kate's KBS friends. One of our Australian friends rode his bike out here from the city.

It's an interesting gallery with an impressive collection. Well worth a visit. Mind you, if you don't like modern art, you won't like this.

There's an interesting story on our return from the museum. We were waiting for our train when we noticed some young girls (perhaps 15 or so) who were waiting for a north bound train on the other side of the tracks. They were swigging away at a bottle of sparkling wine and they noticed me taking their picture (Kate does alcohol research so this seemed to me to be an interesting observation on Danish drinking habits). They took affront to this and started yelling at us in Danish -- Kate warned me not to take pictures of them because this might happen. Of course we don't understand Danish and can't really respond. Just about then another friend arrives and collectively they decide they're going to come across the tracks and have it out with us. So off they go, mad as wet hens, and cross under the tracks to our platform just as our train arrives. We made it safely on board just as they came beating at the doors closing. That was an interesting observation about Danish drinking habits!

Strøget

The whole of the old city is pedestrian friendly but nothing more so than the long pedestrian shopping mall Strøget street which stretches from the King's New Square (Kongens Nytorv) to the east at the head of Nyhavn (Københavns Havn), wandering westward for over a kilometer to the City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen). Along the way there are lots of shops (of course) but when you look up a bit you get to see all the well preserved buildings. Two scenic stops along the way are the Stork Fountain (Storkespringvandet) and the Caritas fountain by Statius Otto (Caritasbrønden af Statius Otto). Both are contained in large paved squares and are popular spots to people watch. The fountains themselves are impressive works of art.

On our first Saturday I was wandering Strøget and came upon a Carnival Parade that lasted forever! There were bands with drums but the exciting part was all these scantily clad young women dressed up in elaborate gear for the parade. You might have thought it was Mardi Gras in Rio where it not for all the pasty skinned bodies who hadn't seen much sun in a long time. I took a ton of pictures running my camera battery down in the process.

At the Stork Fountain a block south you'll find the canal around the Christiansborg Slot. At the corner of Gammel Strand there's an impressive bronze equestrian statue of Bishop Absalon -- look across to Christianborg Slot and there's another similar equestrian statue of Frederik VII. But for me, the more interesting statue, is the humble Fisher Woman carved in stone.

City Hall Square

City Hall Square at the far west end of Strøget is another destination and I visited often. There's the nearby Tivoli Gardens but I never ventured there -- I gather it's yet another amusement park with roller coaster rides and the like. The City Hall is an impressive brick building with a clock tower dominating the sky line. I did a tour of the building led up the tower by a young guide who wanted to run through it as quickly as possible. It was hard to keep up. But inside the City Hall there are some interesting things to see. There are some carved stone details worth exploring.

In the active City Hall Square there are some impressive works of art. There's the two bronze Hornblowers on a tall tower, bronze dragons protecting the city hall and more bronze in the Dragon's Leap Fountain. To the one side is a statue of Hans Christian Anderson -- it's near Hans Christian Anderson Blvd! There was a Salvador Dali bronze of several amphora with weird creatures on board as well.

On the city hall there's yet another statue of Bishop Absalon -- this one is gilted.

The City Hall Square is an active transit point on the city underground metro. It's surrounded by shops and lots of signage. To the north east side is the Scandic Palace Hotel with its impressive tall tower.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Of the many galleries and museums I visited I was most impressed by the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It's an art museum with an incredible collection of 19th century French and Danish works. The lobby when you enter is a peaceful green space under a high domed roof with a modern beautifully bizarre sculpture centerpiece in white marble of a young woman with a ton of young children attempting to suckle.

Rodin's Burghers of Calais is an impressive weathered piece (it must have been outside at some time). I've seen other copies but especially liked that this version that had been left to weather and streak.

There's also a large collection of ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek artifacts.

A City for Biking

Copenhagen is a bicycle town. It's flat and there are busy bike lanes -- people use bikes as a major form of transportation. There are some free bikes you can use but we found them few and far between (people, when they find one, tend to lock them up so they can use them when they come back). We ended up renting bikes from a nearby hotel, we ought to have rented them for the entire time. I might have seen more of the city.

Summary

In closing, Copenhagen is certainly an interesting city to visit. It's very well preserved with a ton of history -- it's the capital city and the home of a long standing royal family. There's lots of green space, water, and public art to enjoy. 

I'd return again if an opportunity arose. Mind you, from my limited experience the weather is nice in the summer but cool and dreary in the winter.

Edmonton

Click image for more photos ..

Kate's work to us to Edmonton for a short visit.

We spent some time playing at the West Edmonton Mall -- that's the swim area with giant water slides in the picture to the left.

I spent some time tramping around the city and touring the parliament buildings.

It was my first visit to the city.