Hi friends and family,

The next day, after one last visit to the mill, where on the way Don had to fight against sliding off the icy roads, we drove into Brussels and managed to return the van to the correct train station. Stayed overnight in Brussels. Blue sky, but quite cold. It was raining and snowing intermittently and the cobbled and stone-paved streets were slick with ice. I hydroplaned a few times, but managed not to fall, mostly by taking little mincing steps.



Brussels main square.

Went to the BOZAR (where Don and I once had a piece exhibited - Thank you, Randy, who curated us into the show) and saw a Wim Delvoye show. Liked some of his architectural pieces a lot, like the Gothic church below. The stained glass windows are images of body parts, mostly intestines, I think.



Large Gothic cathedral, modelled in vectors.

The BOZAR also had a Cranach exhibition. We didn't see the whole thing. Too religious and dreary, but there were a couple sketchy portraits which were breathtaking.

Almost embarrassed to admit that we once again took a Ryanair flight to Madrid. Don was a little annoyed to be subjected to their drill sergeant-like service, but it was a matter of saving about $500 for a 2 hour flight. Or we could have taken the train for about a thousand dollars. The snow had started as we left Brussels, Charleroi Airport. The plane was delayed as they had to de-ice the wings. (Now we hear they've run out of de-icing fluid. Hopefully, they're getting more.) A flight to Istanbul had been canceled and flights from London were pretty much at a standstill. After landing in mild Spain, we heard that many flights from Northern Europe were cancelled. We got out by the skin of our teeth, it seems.


Now we're in Spain.


Land of tapas.

We arrived at our beautiful, roomy apartment in central Madrid a bit on the late side. We were hungry and I suggested going out. "Are you kidding," said Don, "it's 11:30." I told him, "This is Spain. They eat late here." We went to a tapas bar where we could barely get in the door, it was so crowded. And plenty of people arrived after us. Fabulous food: tiny, salted padrone peppers, fried calamari rings, olives, grilled shrimp. All delish. We left around 1:00 in the morning and the place was still packed - standing room only. We forgot to bring our camera, so these pics were taken the next day.

Also the next day, we went to a great tapas bar/restaurant, Vina P, and got into a conversation with the people at the next table, who insisted we try some of their delicious fish (Merluz, or the less melodious name in English "Hake"). One of their friends, maybe their agent, took a photo of us, unfortunately with blurry results. But they turned out to be famous comedians, who have a tv show in Spain, Los Morancos. Pretty funny cross dressing skits. Their agent probably thought we would be thrilled to have our picture taken with them, but we didn't have a clue who they were until our waiter told us as we were leaving. Just seemed like nice fellows. Los Morancos are on either side of Don and me.

Don pointed out later that one of Los Morancos, the one who was spoon feeding us, had reached across the table and speared his friend's fish, not his own. Probably part of the comedy act. His friend didn't seem to mind. Check out the link below the photo.


Blurry photo of Don and Era with Los Morancos.

Here is a link to a UTube video with a skit all of us women are familiar with, the waiting line for the bathroom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWNdkZLChRY&feature=related

After dinner, a Spanish guidebook said, it is usual to go to from 1 to 3 bars for after dinner drinks. These people are party animals, extremely social. Animated conversation everywhere.



View of the Temple of Debod, given to the people of Spain in 1968 by the Egyptian government in gratitude to Spain for its assistance in saving the temples of Abu Simbel when the Aswan Dam was built.


In case you were wondering where exactly Era took her less than wise jump, Don has eagerly helped you all to picture the exact place at the back of the reconstructed Temple of Debod in a Madrid park, Parque del Oeste.

(From Don: "I still walk very fast. Era manages to keep up, even with her shorter stride. Only once she asked me to slow down. Apparently, it's good therapy. Her knee is doing better.")

Shortly after this incident, a much more unfortunate incident occurred. We were just finishing up a meal at a Madrid restaurant when a young woman missed her footing at the top of a very steep, long and narrow stairway and tumbled all the way down to the bottom and around the corner to the basement toilets below. We were horrified and almost paralyzed. She started moaning, so she was thankfully still alive. Also thankfully, there was a doctor eating at the restaurant who quickly came to her aid. We stopped by the restaurant two times to inquire about the young lady. The first time we were told she was taken away by ambulance, and the second time we were told that she was okay. Extremely bruised, I'm sure, but she will be fine.

Staying true to my motto of never passing a toilet by without using it, I had shortly before gone down these same steps and they had reminded me of our own former long, narrow, steep and winding stairs (which many of you have probably heard me reference "as if you are traveling down an animal's gullet"), which have now been torn out of our house and will be replaced with something much more beautiful and much safer.

Love and Happy Holidays!

Era and Don

Dear friends and family,

First, quick and clever Ms. O (I'm spilling the beans, finally, it's Deborah Oropallo) sent a photo of an alternate reality; if we had stayed home with our construction. Note: smaller portion size.









































And our friend Hung Liu sent her thanks for having a sympathetic sore knee (I recklessly jumped off a wall in Madrid).















 Love,

Era and Don

Hi friends and family,

Finally, a travel blog! We've been on the road for about a week, but it's been mostly busy schedules, work and 5 hours sleep a night, jet lag, different emergencies, so no time or energy to pound the keyboard.

We wouldn't normally choose to travel to Europe, especially Northern Europe, in the middle of winter, but the opportunity came up to meet Chuck Close in Belgium to do some weaving/filming, while at the same time we are having major work done on our house, so it wasn't too hard to convince us to go.

First stop was Palm Springs, where Deborah Oropallo is having a show, and where the gallery, Melissa Morgan, was also showing a number of Magnolia tapestries. The Palm Springs Museum of Art has a Deborah Oropallo tapestry and is pondering acquiring another major tapestry. The Museum's collectors group had a wonderful holiday dinner at the gallery. Dining at a long table, surrounded by tapestries, gave the banquet a festive, quasi-medieval feel. Don and Deborah were invited down to give a short talk. As well as Deborah, Stephen Nash was there, now director of the Palm Springs Museum, so some old friends.
















Oropallo pieces seen in foreground and on side walls; Chuck Close tapestry on the other side of banquet table. More tapestries to either side of Chuck.

Left after the feast and drove to LAX, in preparation for a 6:30 am flight to NY (which as you can imagine means getting up at 4:30 am). Short layover in NY, while we waited for our Open Skies flight to Paris. This is a relatively new all business class airline, which I was excited to take. We had just settled into the Open Skies lounge when Don checked his messages. One of our credit card companies had called; apparently one of our major credit cards had been compromised. Someone had managed to get our card information and was using it fraudulently. Fortunately, for us, they weren't too bright, as the first thing they did was buy some porn, which sent up a red flag. The credit card company had to cancel our card and FedEx another one to the Belgian mill. Fortunately, we had brought some other cards.

For those who were curious, the Open Skies flight was very nice, very comfortable, especially after we figured out how to adjust the complicated seats. Here is Don enjoying his seat. Open Skies prices are much more reasonable than a regular business class seat.

Hey, you guys,

Thanks to some of you for writing in your embarrassing dining stories, which we enjoyed so much (and which Don especially very much appreciated). I am copying a few here. The names have been deleted to protect the innocent.

Hello Don and Era,
We both enjoyed your travelogue.  Especially enjoyed the story of the unshucked shrimp!  I have a similar story of a pea being sucked into the nasal cavity accidentally, and then exiting in a sneeze and landing on the plate of the Duchess of Something or Other.  And being terribly polite, she simply ate around it.
Vicarious travel is great, and such a bargain.

Dear Era and Don,
It's great being on your travel blog. It is almost like being there. Don's shrimp faux pas is the kind of thing I usually do. But usually mine involves spilling a glass of wine (red of course) on my dinner partner (usually a woman and always her glass since I don't drink).

Dear Era,
You may remember the story of my waitressing days: when holding a tray overhead to clear some passing diners, I inadvertently allowed a full plate of enchiladas to slip off the tray behind me, landing on the unsuspecting head of a businessman who was in the middle of a business lunch. It proceeded to slither down the back and front of his gray suit. His fellow diners got a good laugh out of it and thankfully he had a sense of humor also. I was mortified.

Thank goodness for good humor,

Era and Don

Hi all,

Rather annoying, but my fully formed last email disappeared before I could send it out. So this is a rewrite.

On our last day in Stockholm (we were only in Stockholm for 4 nights), we took a ferry ride on a beautiful day which took us through a couple locks and into both Lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. Stockholm is built across 14 islands.

Took these photos of an area with new and ecological housing; they are deriving much of their power from methane extracted from their sewage. The combination of older boats and new housing seemed peculiarly Swedish to me. In fact, we saw mostly older boats on our little excursion.





Our recorded tour guide told us that Stockholm's archipelago is made up of 30,000 islands. We found that a little hard to swallow, so I googled it and it does appear to be correct (from the sacredearth-travel web site):

Yet, one would almost not believe that Stockholm is actually facing the Baltic - it is exceedingly well protected from the tidings of the sea by the plethora of large and small islands that are scattered all around it ... Estimates run from 24,000 - 30,000, but nobody is quite sure. Some are mere rocks poking out above the water; others are fully fledged islands, with villages and all. Others used to be islands, once upon a time, but over the years have become peninsulas - for Sweden has a unique geological feature - unlike other landmasses, which are disappearing under the rising oceans, Sweden continues to lift itself out of the waters of the Baltic Sea - at a rate of about 1 cm per hundred years. This is due to the fact that the glaciers which covered Sweden during the last ice age have all melted away, relieving the land of an enormous weight pressure and allowing it to slowly rise, centimetre by centimetre.


That oddly angled red and black building towards the right is the Vasa Museum, which houses the reassembled, highly decorated ship fished out of the waters after sinking 300 years ago.


 Lewis told me when he first came to Stockholm, it reminded him of Paris. I couldn't see it, but this scene does look a bit French to me.

We were not looking forward to the long trip home (which did involve Ryanair), but it turned out to be pretty tolerable. We stayed overnight at Connect Hotel across the street from Skavsta Airport (early morning Ryanair flight). A bit like staying in an Ikea showroom, but actually very well-designed and comfortable. Also super reasonable, especially for Sweden.


Connect Hotel has many lounges and public areas, probably because the hotel rooms are so small. It is very well thought out.


Don't know if you can see this from the photo, but the shower doors swing flat against the tile walls. When you want to take a shower, you pull them out and they interlock easily. Very important to us: the beds are very comfortable. The Diplomat in Stockholm quite possibly has the most comfortable mattress we have ever experienced, but Connect Hotel comes in second place for the trip. Our bed at home beats it out.

Survived the control freaks at Ryanair and arrived in Germany, again staying near the airport because of an early morning flight. The hotel in Kelsterbach was comfortable, but nothing remarkable. We took a walk through the small town and ended up hiking along the River Main.


River Main, looking towards Frankfurt.


No weight loss occurring here. Early dinner at Zum Schutzenhof, which has possibly been a restaurant since 1611. At least the building has been around since 1611. My German is nonexistent, so couldn't quite tell what the story is. The walls are festooned with antlers and deer heads. Here, we are eating a chicken cordon bleu with frites, washed down with German beer, heavy, straight-forward and pretty darn good. We did have a salad beforehand with some very well prepared sauerkraut.

Lovely comfortable flight to NY on Singapore. Economy, but we did pay for extra leg room (well worth it). Long layover at JFK (about 5 hours), and then a minor misery of a flight home on Virgin America, where we were squeezed into the back of the plane - the result of last-minute schedule changes on our part.

So we're home, back at Magnolia, and recovering, not too rapidly, from jet lag.

Love,

Era and Don

Hi all,

Random pics, drawing to a close:


This bronze statue is heated and not far from our hotel. It's a public service; we figured it has probably saved people's lives. It is friggin cold. I am wearing about 5 layers, just about everything I brought with any warmth value. Shown huddling around the warm bronze lady are: Don (who doesn't look very cold; he has a Norte Euro sort of heritage), Lewis deSoto, Squeak Carnwath and Era (all artists showing in The Missing Peace).


Lewis enjoying his food (swallowing a hot dog). Judy, Chandra and Era are enjoying it as well.

We spent an hour or so at a high-end coffee shop watching the Stockholmers go by. As Chandra said, it looked like a fashion runway. It seemed they were all tall, slim and good-looking, stylishly dressed.


Most of our friends left, and Don and I were "alone" in Stockholm. We did have drinks with Filippo di Sambuy and his wife, Patrizia - heard a little about the art world in Italy. We told him about The Missing Peace in Romania. Wanted to visit Galleri Astley, recommended to us by our friend Abby, but it was some distance away and we would have to stay overnight. Nervous about missing the plane.


So now we have to entertain each other. Here is Don eating flat bread and looking excited to see me; wouldn't you say? The Diplomat has a great breakfast buffet.

Email from Darlene; she and Ron were in Mumbai already. So strange that they could be in Sweden with us one minute and India the next. She said that the man standing next to me at The Nobel Museum is named Olov, the Museum's director (see first Stockholm email) and the singer she thinks is Kesang.


Shopping alone, almost, at the covered market, up the street from our hotel. Sometimes this market is so crowded that it is difficult to push your way through the aisles.


Checking out the bakery. They had the most delicious cardamon croissants. Don't ask about my outfit; I'm just trying to keep warm.

We walked out of our hotel and were greeted with the sound of fife and drum. Who can resist a marching band and soldiers strutting their stuff? especially in these outfits.



We followed them all the way to the Royal Palace. As Don says, a much more satisfactory way of generating patriotism than some others (like starting a war).

One more to come.

Love,

Era and Don

Hi everyone,

I should add that one reason spirits were so high at The Nobel Museum was that all that week the Nobel Committee had been announcing the winners of the various Nobel prize winners for 2010, one a day. The day of the opening the Nobel Committee in Oslo announced the winner of the Peace Prize, Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese human rights activist, now imprisoned in China and serving a term of 11 years. Liu Xiaobo has been an activist in China since at least Tiananmen Square; he seems to have always been nonviolent and seems to be a very courageous, moral and well-deserving person, really a hero. So wonderful that he and the dissident human rights movement in China have been given this recognition.

I saw an interview with Geir Lundestad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. When asked, he stated that the Chinese government did try to pressure the Nobel Committee to choose a different winner other than Liu Xiaobo. He also said that they are an independent committee and it would be wrong of China to try to punish the Norwegian government for the Committee's choice. He stated that China is now a world power and can be expected to be under increasing scrutiny, as is the US, and that this is only right. He also said that they are very proud of their record of Peace Prize winners. I should say so; with good reason.

We went back to Gamla Stan (Stockholm's old town) to get a better, more complete picture of the Nobel Museum. It's a beautiful building, and we just didn't feel right about having only a small section of it to show you. Don ended up taking a panorama of 3 sides of the small square. The red banner hanging in the front is advertising The Missing Peace. The image is from Spanish artist Salustiano's piece in the show.


A group of us stayed at The Diplomat Hotel in Stockholm, very posh but snug rooms, especially after our roomy apartments in Florence. When we took a tour by ferry the recorded tour guide called the street The Diplomat is on the most posh address in Stockholm. I doubt that, but it is a great location, central and on the water.


The Diplomat is the one with the orange awnings.


I love their elevator.

We arrived in the afternoon before the opening and went to dinner with Gary and Squeak. Gary and Squeak had been in Stockholm for almost a week. They took us to a seafood place which had been recommended to them by Stockholmers (actually, collectors of Squeak) and which Squeak and Gary had tried and liked. It had been open for only 3 weeks. The owner was very friendly and spent quite a bit of time with each table, making pleasantries and telling us about the specials. We had some green oysters, which were a rare delicacy, with a price tag to match, and some more normal oysters. All delicious. Squeak and I had monk fish, Gary had duck, and Don has mussels and frites. Don and I always split everything. We had a very nice dinner, catching up on what everyone was up to, and S & G's recommendations of what we should do and see in Stockholm.


As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed the owner having a sumptuous feast at a table alone. He had crab, lobster, a huge pile of shrimp, and a large crouton with what looked like a paté spread with slivers of roasted red peppers set on the table alongside his plate. He urged us all to try one of his shrimp, and they did look delicious, but we were all too full, with the exception of Don, who accepted a shrimp held up at arm's length from the seated proprietor - and popped it in his mouth. Don didn't have his glasses on and hadn't realized that the shrimp still had their shells. So he had the dual problem of a mouth full of shells, which he was doing his best to masticate, and a shrimp head which he was holding in his hand. Much to my horror, he carefully and delicately dropped the severed shrimp head onto the restauranteur's crouton; not right on top, to the side, but unfortunately touching it. I gasped "Don!" but quickly turned my back as I started laughing, fairly hysterically and almost silently. I couldn't stop. Realizing his faux pas, Don delicately removed the severed head from the crouton and - squinting the proprietor's plate into focus - found the actual pile of shrimp shells which the proprietor had mounded on the same plate he was eating from. A conversation ensued and Don kept eyeing the door, thinking he could slip out and extricate the masticated shell unobserved, but due to the length of the exit conversation (something about Squeak's lost hat) Don was forced to swallow the rich calcium purée, choking it down, slowly, in six swallows. Mr. Bean could not have done it better... Don later explained that he thought he was dropping his shrimp head onto a pile of discarded shrimp shells off the plate piled on the table, not the delicious-looking crouton. He didn't realize anything was wrong until he noticed me bouncing up and down with suppressed laughter.

Fortunately, the restauranteur was a casual type; wearing a cowboy hat and boots (so I guess he wasn't totally averse to Americans, at least not up to this point). Don said after the man's intial wide-eyed shock, he made a quick recovery and didn't appear very put out. In Don's defense, he wasn't wearing his glasses, the large crouton was on the table, not on the restauranteur's overloaded plate, and it did have those little slices of red pepper on it. This episode gave me the giggles for days afterward, whenever I thought of it. Don initially begged me not to put this into the travel blog, but later relented as it lost its sting and he began to see the humor of it.


Don standing in front of a schooner which has been converted into a youth hostel. He and his brother, Roger, stayed there when Don was 15. As he relates, David Tunick, now a famous old masters graphics dealer, slept on the upper bunk.



The Vasa Museum, a reconstructed highly ornate ship from the 17th century. The pride of Sweden. It took its maiden voyage out of the harbor, and after several minutes, in full view of the admiring crowd, tipped over and sank. It turned out it was too top-heavy. It was buried in the cold Swedish waters for over 300 years, discovered in the '60's, if I recall correctly. It's an ongoing project of fishing out all the pieces, cleaning and preserving them and fitting them together.


An exhibit of Chinese terra cotta warriors was showing at the Stockholm Asian Museum. The exhibit was presented very dramatically in caves under the Museum. The caves had been used for military purposes during WWII, and this was the first time they had been used for a major exhibition. It did give one some small sense of how it might have felt to uncover these sculptures from their tomb beneath the earth. It must have been just awesome.

We saw a video which accompanied the exhibition which said that the Qin Dynasty, the people who were more or less responsible for unifying China, and who gave their name to China, were at war for 500 years. Let's hope generations to come won't be able to say this about us, the American experiment.

Much love,

Era and Don