Frappé Holidays

Me enjoying a frappe (iced coffee)

Last fall we visited friends, Mo, Nina and their 5 year old son Marco in London. While there we mentioned that we’d like to make another sailing trip with them the following summer. We’d been to Greece with them several times before.

We exchanged e-mails and schedule a holiday for the middle two weeks in July.

Mo bounced the idea off of Allan of maybe trying a large catamaran this time. We’d sailed a small one in the past so we agreed.

I had a devil of a time arranging the transportation with our travel agent. The flights we could get on points through Athens to Kos had a terrible connection. And we’d still have to pay more for the domestic flight than for a direct charter flight to Kos. There was a problem with the charter though, it only ran on Tuesday & Thursday and the boat we were renting was from Saturday to
Saturday.

After pouring over the brochures and detailing our plight to our wonder travel agent she called a few companies to see if one of them would give us a two week package and cut out the middle week while we were sailing. The first few said, ‘no’ but with persistence she found one.

I chose a large hotel with three pools that was near but not in Kos town. We had been to Kos 11 years earlier and didn’t much like the beer and beach scene. We remembered hotels and sunbed crammed cheek to jowl on the beach all amid loud blaring music. Not.Our.Scene.

Thursday July 12th

A very good neighbor drove up to the airport at 2:30 a.m. for our 5 a.m. flight.

There’s that word again ‘fanatic’. Here’s how to get a free cookie. Feel faint and nauseous so go to the bathroom. They’ll slap an oxygen mask on you and accuse you of fanatical dieting for not eating before a 5 a.m. flight. I don’t know about you but I never eat at that time. Anyway after that I needed a doctor’s release before I am allowed the board the plane home.

Oceanis Beach Resort

The Oceanic Beach Resort was beautiful. Maybe a little shabby but luxurious and quiet. Right on the Mediterranean(Aegean). I think Allan is the reincarnation of Moses. It sure felt like we wandered around for 40 years. We dine at a little open air restaurant across the road from our hotel. The power goes off from time to time. Which is no problem as the food is cooked over an open fire. After our meal the waiter- who is probably the owner/chief dish washer presents us with complimentary drinks. Al gets an Ouzo and I get banana liqueur/schnapps. I wasn’t going to drink but what the hell?

Window shopping in Kos town

Friday, July 13^th.

Breakfast is served buffet style. Nutella hazelnut/chocolate butter is served in a four quart bowl. Europeans must consume simply galloons of this stuff every morning. I wonder why you see; mud & Jello wrestling but never Nutella wrestling?

We explore all the hotels pools, the one near the beach is salt water. There is a freshwater pool in the front- Andy’s favorite. The beach is a stone’s throw away, first there is a grassy area with some large mature trees for shade. The hotel supplies some sun loungers and umbrellas on the mostly rocky beach. It’s heaven. I arranged to meet with the hotel doctor once I got back for her to issue a ‘fit to fly’ statement on my behalf. We hung out and enjoy gyros on the beach for lunch.

Later in the day we heard that our friends have arrived. We agree to meet them at their hotel in Kos city for dinner. They stayed at the newly remodeled hotel Art. It was quite stark and minimalistic. Andy has fun snorkeling in the Aegean. It’s hot.

We meet our friends and the other family that will be with us on the boat. They’re all Greek but have lived a time in London. Janni & Vasso have two adorable little girls, Christina 8- born the same week as Andy & Phedra 4) While the adults lingered over dinner the four children plot, I mean bond. I made the mistake of giving my digital camera to Christina. I thought she’d snap a picture or two but after about 10 minutes of Phedra Vogueing, I demanded it back. We ate at the hotel restaurant, H20 which offered excellent modern Greek fare. I loved the dishes the food was served on.

Mo told us the boat we had wanted to rent was never returned by the previous charterer. So the charter company had purchased another boat, the same make and size but with a slightly different configuration and that the boat should arrive sometime the next morning. We were given a discount because we would not be able to use the two front single cabins. Evidently Mo had sent Allan an e-mail detailing this but Allan had never opened it. Which is just as well, that way we never worried about it.

Saturday July 14^th

We ordered a taxi to take us and all our luggage from the hotel to the harbor in the morning. We took our time. We could stay in the hotel until noon and the boat would only arrive then. The chartering company said they would take a few hours to ready the boat for us.

It took a very long time for them to show the guys the boat and all it’s accoutrements. In the meantime Nina went to get provisions and I despaired over bringing to much, way too much, again.

Our boat- a Lagoon 440.

We got a very late start, it was very windy. Nicoli, from the chartering company maneuvered the boat out of the tight harbor, one of his colleagues collected him from the back of our boat in a dingy. I took a ginger capsule against sea sickness and gave Andy a package of kiddie Windmills cookies. Mo & Al thought it would take us about an hour to get to Pserimos but after 2.5 hours of going straight into the wind we finally arrived. The boat we had chartered was very large and it was very windy. Luckily a tire was tied to the dock as a fender. We stumbled off board and began to search for a restaurant for dinner. It was very late, the waiter took our order but it seems an eternity before any food or drink arrived. The children started falling asleep at the table. Many plates of food were left half uneaten because it wasn’t that great.

The wind howled much of the night. It was coming from the direction in which we wanted to sail.

Sunday, July 15^th

The wind was still blowing. Just about everyone told me in private that they just wanted to stay put for the day but they were afraid of telling the others. We were docked in an adorable bay, so why not stay? Andy and Al donned their snorkeling equipment and made their way to shore from the boat. When Andy came back he said, ‘This is the best vacation ever!’ Later Al and I enjoyed a frappe on shore while Andy played in the surf. It was extremely pleasant. I took several long walks during the day from our berth to the end of the beach.

Around noon I made Andy some French toast. When the other kids saw that they wanted some too. Later I had an apple with peanut butter which the other kids were also eager to try.

Some other friends of Mo & Nina had chartered a Bavaria 50 for the 11 of them. They joined us.

That night we had more time to choose a restaurant. Janni inspected the kitchens of several before deciding on one. We had the most amazing fresh white bream, fresh fried potatoes, squid, octopus, red snapper. I gave it 10 our of five stars. We cleaned every plate.

Monday, July 16^th

Sailing an 18 foot Hobie cat catamaran prepares you in no way for a 44 foot sailboat with motors. I felt like we were in a floating city.

The wind was still blowing hard but we wanted to see some more of the Dodecanese so we left. One of the local offered to help us with the lines. He let go too soon which made our boat scrape the anchor of the Bavaria 50. I tried to fend off the other boat with my feet but it was like pushing against a brick wall. There goes our damage deposit, we thought. It was a very bumpy ride. Later Al told me that the gusts were up to a force 8. Catamarans feel very different from mono-hulls. They are quite jerky sailing into the wind. I was nervous about having the four children riding on the flying bridge. You just can’t turn off being a mother. It’s hard enough managing your own child, multiply that by four and it’s impossible.

We arrived in Embrios where there are fixed moorings. But the boat was so high that we couldn’t catch one of the buoys from the boat. We lowered the dingy and Al went to take a look and figure out how to tie up the boat securely. The first attempt was not successful. The line was so long that even with no power the boat simply sailed itself over the buoy causing the taught rope to damage the boat. After some time we ended up tying the front of the boat in a “Y” shape to the buoy. The wind alternated directions so the boat would jerk from one side to the other.

We took the dingy on shore and found an amazing family restaurant. The other boat had already finished eating (the children ranged from age 1-12 so they were happy to eat earlier). That left the restaurant staff free to concentrate on us. Again the fresh seafood was amazing. They served something called whitebait. The best I can describe is that it’s like goldfish crackers made from real goldfish. Whole tiny fish are dipped in flour and then deep fried. You pop the whole thing in your mouth. Yum! We ordered schnitzel for Andy(breaded deep fried pork tenderloin) and I am happy to report that he actually ate some of it. It was good.

Here are before and after pictures of a 1.6 kg fresh white bream.

The other boat’s dingy wasn’t that great so they used ours to ferry the 11 of them back and forth. Al was going to take the last load but wasn’t too keen to come back alone so Andy and I said we’d join them/him. Well when we got close to the Bavaria 50 it’s anchor appeared to have drug and they seemed to have blown ashore. So we took everyone to our boat. In a very short time they reset their anchor and the whole party was transported back to their boat. That left Andy and me on board alone. I heard a might ‘crash’ which scared the bejesus out of me. A few minutes later Al and the rest were back so I told them about the crash. They decided that with the crazy winds we’d bumped against the buoy so they rearranged the lines so that one was shorter than the other. No other bumps were heard that night. Every star in the sky was visible. I could clearly make out the milky way.

Tuesday July 17^th

We had a lazy morning and then made our way to Lakki on Leros. It was hot. It was windy. Al found a restaurant that served frappe with…Bailey’s! The harbor had hot showers and we refilled the boat with water. That night we took taxis to another part of the island-Milos where we ate by a windmill. The Castro at the top of the island was beautifully lit.

Wednesday July 18^th

I guess I'm not nearly as fat as I thought.

I tried to take one last shower in the morning but the drain was blocked making the whole enterprise unpleasant. It was so hot that a one piece bathing suit was almost too much clothing. I insisted on finding a full English breakfast for myself. You know how cranky I can be if I don’t get my eggs in the morning. We walked around awhile in the heat first to find a place and by the time I got there all I could mutter was, ‘Eggs! Bring me eggs!’ Well they did but first I got some yummy apricot juice.

Finally the conditions were perfect for sailing a catamaran. You want flat water and a steady strong, but not too strong breeze.

Me at the helm. It drove like a Buick.

We anchored for a short time in the middle of nowhere. We were by two tiny islands. Later we moved the boat to a cove that we had to ourselves. The Bavaria came too. They invited us to a BBQ onshore. Once it got dark the stars were unbelievably bright against a velvety black sky.

Vasily and his catch.

Vasily (from the other boat) was a spear fisherman. He crawled out of the water around dusk with quite a haul. They made a fire and were prepared with grids to hold the sausages & rib eyes. Earlier they’d prepared baked potatoes. Plenty of wine and beer flowed. There was dancing. Someone had brought an I-Pod with a docking station. We’d contributed a salad and some bread. It was indescribably wonderful.

Andy (& honestly me too) were conking out so I asked Al to take us to the boat. He was to return with the makings for Gin & tonics. I put some ice in a Tupperware container and sent him back ashore.

Thursday July 19^th

In the morning Janni & Mo took some of the children for a walk. Andy and Al went snorkeling. After that we motored to Pendeli, another harbor on Leros.

Al swam with the three older children to shore. I took a nap. Janni went to pick up Al and the kids with the dingy.

A little before dusk I noticed that everything turned a wonderful golden color. I tried to take as many pictures as possible to capture this magic light.

Dinner at Pendeli.

The children played Anne Marie Kokook (Stop light/Go lilght) and the other children on the beach joined in. We ended up at a café for ice cream and Al tried a frozen frappe. It was a hit. Think iced coffee made in a slushy machine.

Friday July 20^th

I had strange dreams. We motored to Vathi, a last stop before returning to Kos harbor. On the way we saw one dolphin lazily porpoising in and out of the water. Vathi is very close to Kos, there are day trips that go there. It’s quite scenic tucked into a picturesque gorge. We moored stern to and I took a walk to explore the hamlet. One restaurant had a little stream full of fish. Andy snapped pictures of cats while Al & I enjoyed a snack.

Andy jumping off the front of the boat in Vathi.

Later I saw our little waitress swimming in the harbor. You can’t call it a beach it’s more like a concrete swimming pool that opens out into the water. Vasso had chosen the restaurant and the lady had already started making our meat & squid balls.

Again we’d stumbled upon some amazing home cooking. I doubt if Allan and I could eat so well without some native Greek speakers along. Our normal meal was served family style and consisted of; Greek salad- we encountered ones with hard bread at the bottom to soak up the yummy olive oil/vinegar dressing, tzatsiki, white bait, white wine, fresh fish, fresh potatoes, squid, octopus balls. With watermelon for dessert.

During the sail back Andy came to tell me that Marco was eating paper. When I went to look in the cabin Phedra had dismantled all her markers- a budding mechanical engineer? Marco had cut up his drawing and the pieces were scattered everywhere. I asked him if he was a good boy or a bad boy. He said, ‘good.’ I asked him then why he did bad things. He was mute. I asked him then what he thought would happen when his parents saw the mess he made. He said they’d be mad at him. I asked him then what he could do to prevent that. He on his own initiative cleaned up the paper.

Pretty, pretty.

We’d timed our arrival in Kos to not be too early so we enjoyed a stunning sunset on our last night. Before entering the harbor we radioed the chartering company asking for a pilot to come bring the boat in. It was a tight squeeze on the way out and we didn’t feel like risking any more damage. We kept thinking that it was going to be expensive, that we were sure to lose our damage deposit.

Nicoli came out in a dingy and climbed on board via one of the swim platforms on the back of a hull and easily put our boat in it’s berth.

We’d had a large late lunch in Vathi so we just went to bed.

Saturday July 21^st

I woke very early and went for a walk. I saw two really big boats one red and one blue. The blue one had a dog basket on the dock for people to put their shoe in. The red boat looked like a really cool racer.

The other family had to leave really early to catch a catamaran to Rhodes. They were going to stay a little bit longer over there.

I packed at my leisure and then we went back to our hotel. It turned out the chartering company was very generous to us and charged us only a miniscule sum for all the damage. Mo, Nina & Marco joined us at our hotel as their flight was later in the day.

We could not get Marcos out of the pool. I thought it was pretty funny. But I don’t think his dad did. He reminded me of Andy. Andy loves water. Anything to do with water. Fish, whales, dolphins, swimming, snorkeling, sailing. He loves to be wet. In fact I say if there is water, Andy will be wet.

We enjoyed a very lazy day and dreamt of the next time. Maybe the Southern Ionians. Nina said she didn’t need to bring any normal shoes nor as much make up. I’d vow that I really only needed 3 bikinis-tops! I was glad though that the only make up I’d brought or needed was; blush, bronzer & lip gloss. The only excitement that day was that I had the task of digging three sea urchin spines out of the side of Allan’s foot. I think he thought I enjoyed poking him with the needle. I didn’t. They’re not like normal splinters in that they have a barb at the end of them. So the only remedy is to dig them completely out.

During the holiday Al and I had dreamt up every vacation we’d ever like to take. I think Andy would like Maui with the whale watching. Al said you can watch whales in the Azores too. Of course some day we want to go skiing again with our friends in Colorado. We’ve always meant to return to the Schober mountains in the summer. And Andy would like to visit the Harry Potter Theme park they are building in Orlando. We'd all like to drive down the Florida keys.

We bid goodbye to our friends then later took the bus into Kos town. Andy ate his fill of McDonald’s chicken nuggets. Then we went to an intriguing restaurant that Allan had seen advertised. There was no one sitting at the tables out front so we hesitated. But then I said, ‘Sometimes you just have to take risks.’ And went in. The reason no one was sitting in the front was because everyone was in the exquisite back garden. We shared a mixed grill. I didn't finish my complimentary ouzo, we'd had wine- in the cutest decorated terra cotta pitcher with dinner and then lazily made our way back to the bus stop after Allan had stopped for an ice cream.

Sunday July 22^nd

Sometime during the night Allan took ill. That morning I took Allan some breakfast up to the room. Then in the late morning I took a very long walk on the beach. Soon it became very wild. There was a nature preserve. I’d only gone four bus stops but it took me over an hour. I was trying to find a hotel that l’d seen from the bus- Kipriotis Village. I was just curious to see how it compared to our hotel. I gave up before I found it and went back to the room. Al still wasn’t feeling well so after I got back Andy and I snuck into the hotel next door- The Grec Hotel. It was rather newer, and the pool was more modern, clear and extremely noisy. I savored my lunch from the poolside cafeteria while Andy enjoyed the pool. Later in the afternoon the two of us went to the beach where Andy played with the boogie board Marco had left behind. That night the only thing that appealed to Allan was pizza so we went into town. He had a romantica pizza so I felt obligated to order the erotica pasta.

Monday July 23^rd

We’d set two alarm clocks because my doctor’s appointment was at nine. That meant I would have to catch the bus. So far the busses had been fairy regular but you never know. I gave the driver the usual €1 and he handed me back 50 cents. Early bird discount? I’ll never know. I pushed the button before my stop but he didn’t stop so angrily I made my way to the front and finally he stopped two stops later.

Basically the exam consisted of her asking if I had problems with low blood pressure and I answered, ‘yes.’ She wanted to do a few blood tests just to be sure so then I was directed to the lab. The drew my blood quickly and efficiently and said the results would be ready later that day. I sent Al a text message that said since I was already in town that I was going to check out a flip-flop store I’d seen earlier. It was hot. Really hot. So first I had a granita (slushy) and then I bought two pairs of sandals. Do I look like Gisele Bundchen now? After all I’m wearing the same shoes as her.

I revived myself with a frappe with a scoop of ice cream in it and then took the bus to the hotel I was curious about (Kipriotis Village). It was big. Very big. You would need a bike just to get around the complex. The beach didn’t compare to our hotel’s though. I downed a sour cherry juice then took the bus the rest of the way back. Curiously this time the driver charged me €1.10.

Al still wasn’t feeling well, and Andy wasn’t hungry (he’d had some ice cream and a croissant) so I ate in one of the hotel restaurants. I’d seen tuna & spaghetti on the menu earlier and was curious. It was okay. I would have left out the tomatoes though.

Andy riding Shamu.

Andy had been an absolute jewel so we asked him what he’d like as a souvenir of the trip. He wanted an inflatable killer whale. So we walked across the road to a mini mart and bought him one. The nice man at the store even offered to blow it up for us!

Once my lab results were ready I went and collected them. I had an appointment Wednesday morning to go over them with the doctor. At which time she would issue my fit to fly letter. After examining the various boats and possibilities we booked a day trip to Bodrum, Turkey for the next day.

Andy had a crepe then we took the taxi to Nestorias, a restaurant we had visited and really liked on our previous trip. Andy was quite impressed with the 8 octopi drying in a case out front. You walk past the kitchen because the tables are on the grass in the back overlooking the water. Inside the kitchen I spied fresh seafood. Al and I enjoyed a lazy dinner while Andy fell asleep across two chairs. It was an interminable wait at the bus stop so Al finally flagged down a taxi.

How does that song go again, 'don't sleep in the subway, darling...'

Tuesday July 24th

Andy eating windmill cookies to stave off seasickness on the 40 minute boatride to Turkey.

Andy was very sleepy but we had a boat to catch. The bus finally came and took us into Kos town to meet the Maria Star. It was hot. We went a little ways and then were made to get off the boat to clear immigration. It was awful. My dear husband waited in line while Andy and I tried to find a patch of shade. I think our boat captain pulled a few strings because after awhile we were shuffled ahead of a bunch of other people. The immigration guy studied our American passports and then asked Allan where the heck were our exit stamps? We were sent to another window where the guy would have preferred to see our Dutch residents cards. I hadn’t brought them because advertised on the front of Maria Star it said ‘all you need is a passport!’ I’d left all my non-essentials including my Dutch resident's card back at the hotel. Al and the guy agreed on something I never understood and we were allowed to go to Turkey. I suspect Americans and their dollars are pretty much welcome there.

Right off the boat I saw a white leather bag to die for. I got the guy down from €150 to €80 but since it was the first thing I’d seen I said ‘later’ and walked away. We washed our feet at the mosque to cool off then made our way to the open bazaar. I found Andy a warm up suit and a polo shirt. We bought some pretty bowls and Andy some Pokemon cards. After that we took a taxi to a modern shopping center which had a gold center. It was huge. I spent some time dickering over a ring and some earrings but they really didn’t have what I wanted so we left empty handed.

Time was getting short and it was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really really hot. The first place Al picked to eat I just couldn’t sit there in the heat so we persevered on. Finally we ended up somewhere, where I ate something and then we tried to find that darn white bag. The first shop didn’t seem quite right, Andy said it was the wrong shop and led up to the right one. Thank goodness he was along- his memory blows both his parents’ away. So we found the shop and the bag and persuaded the guy’s brother to sell it to us for €80 (can you imagine the talk around the dinner table that night, 'you let her have it for what!?' and then we headed back to the boat.

The trip back seemed shorter, it was still incredibly hot. Then back at Kos town Andy and I had crepes (his plain, mine was white Nutella with strawberries- yes it was orgasmic). All Al wanted was ice cream from the bakery by the Art hotel. So that’s what we did then headed back. I would have liked ice cream too but the crepe was really filling.

Wednesday July 25^th

In front of Paradise Beach.

We’d decided to rent a large ATV to explore the island. I had to get to the doctor at 9:30 but of course they didn’t have the ATV, we got a dune buggy instead. And again I was late to the doctor. I was shocked to learn that I was anemic but the doctor still issued my release with the orders for me to drink at least three liters of water today before my flight the next day. Then we were off. It was hot. Did I say it was hot? It was really, really hot. I was curious about the other side of Kos town so we sped off to Tigaki. It’s rather amazing that just a little ways aways things are wild and quiet. In Tigaki the people we nice, we had a frappe. We did a drive by of Marmari then stopped next in Mastichari. Both are remote and charming. Andy had some ice cream and we stopped at a wonderful grocery store. I wish I’d noted the name of the hotel outside Marmari (I think) but alas I didn’t.

Why do the Greeks hate

toilet seats? And say

'neh', when they mean 'yes?'

Next we crossed the island. It was rather like being in a world sized hair dryer, it was that hot. At Kefalos I hit upon the idea of getting my shirt wet. That helped for about 5-10 minutes until it dried. Then we swam for a little bit at Kardemena. Every little burg has it’s own personality. We never found a better beach than the one by our hotel. Although looking down on the Club Med beach we could see that it was very long and sandy, but still no mature trees. I can’t remember where but I had a terrible lunch of supposed bifteki- it was two bunless bugers. I guess it wasn’t served with bread because there was so much breadcrumbs in the patty. Andy tried to use a shower on the beach but the mean man said it was only for his restaurant! Somewhere I had a virgin pina colada. Andy didn’t like his strawberry slushy- no matter how much we watered it down it still was incredibly syrupy.

Allan was surprised that Zia, in the middle of the island was full of tourists. It was beautifully wooded. The smell of the cedar trees permeating the feverish air.

Allan explored some 300 bc ruins while Andy and I waited outside.

Our day ended at the Empros thermen (hot springs). After the last bus stop past our hotel you just keep going. First you come to a snack bar and then you just keep going. We parked our dune buggy and the bottom and then kept walking. Eventually we saw a ring of big stones in the sea. By it up the hill a little bit was the best restaurant. They had fresh fish but what I really wanted was spaghetti carbonara, which they had and was very very good. Andy swam a bit in the sea. I dipped a toe in the hot springs.

I had no trouble on the flight home. They showed the film ‘Wild Hogs’ which I thought was really stupid. Especially the scene where they're skinny dipping and the other family comes in and freaks out over the nudity.

It’s been three days and most of the laundry is done.

It’s so hard to believe that there are places in the world that are basically spontaneously combusting from the dry heat while here in Holland it’s its usual gray, rainy wet self.

Andy's school picture. He looks eerily like my second grade picture:

Dutch Apple taart

Make a pate sucree

2 ¼ cups flour

¾ cup butter

1 t baking powder

1 T vanilla extract

¼ C sugar

¾ egg beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F

Add the baking powder to the flour. Rub the butter through the flour. Add the vanilla extract & egg. If necessary add a few T of cold water to form a dough. Set aside.

Make the filling:

Peel & slice 6 apples (sweet/sour). Add the juice and zest of 1/2 lemon. Add 2 T cinnamon, ¼ C sugar (white, or brown or mixture of both) and ¼ cup raisins.

Butter a cake pan (+/- 8-9 inch round). Pat ¾ of the dough into the bottom of the pan, Make a rim with the dough (cover the sides). Put the apple mixture in the dough, pat it down. Drop small bits of the remaining dough on top. Brush the dough on top with the remaining beaten egg.

Bake for about one hour.

Variations, add 3 ounces of nuts.

Skiing in Canada 2007



Friday February 23, 2007

Who is Mountain Madness? We were to be asked that several times over the next two weeks. I guess the best answer is- a bunch of people who like to ski together. For two years we’d been dreaming of a ski trip to Canada. Our group of 9 gathered very early at the airport.

First we flew to Calgary. Andy took a Dramamine and fell asleep after watching a Star Wars DVD on my laptop.

Multiple crying babies made the flight unpleasant for the others. But I had my nose buried so deep in a good book (The Girls ( The Story Of Conjoined Twins ) by Lori Lansens) that I didn’t notice. In the book, set in Canada the girls travel to visit distant relatives in Slovakia. Their cousin gets Canada confused with the United States. He said, “they’re right by each other, they must be the same!” The girls replied, ‘Ít’s rather like Slovakia and Czechia.’ Canada and the states are like that. Close but with striking differences.

I finished my book with still a few hours of the looong flight left to go. 10 hours on a train or 10 hours on a plane to get to your ski vacation, what’s the difference? Not much.

Kindly women volunteers in cowboy hats greeted us. Cool. At the Calgary airport we collected two Dodge grand caravans. We had a two hour drive uneventful drive to Banff. As soon as we left Calgary we could see the big beautiful blue outlines of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.

It seems that I was to find out that everybody in Canada is immediately your best friend.

We were all extremely tired so decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. I was relieved. The thought of wandering around trying to agree on a restaurant with such a large group was rather dismaying. My concern would turn out to be unfounded. I really wanted a steak but I didn’t want a big one. I was relieved with the waiter said the steaks were 7 oz. That’s about how much I make for Allan and me but smaller than I expected. I ordered the rib eye, which hit the spot.

We found ourselves translating things to our Dutch friends. What a change of places! Normally it is the other way around. It was nice to give back.

Despite being extremely tired my sleep was fretful. I woke repeatedly and didn’t seem to ever sleep deeply. I got up at last after a bad dream in which multiple relatives had broken legs. And I had a recurring nightmare where my gym gets rid of all of it’s free weights.

Saturday February 24th , Norquay (Banff)

The first area was right outside Banff. Norquay is smallish but was perfect to start our holiday. As the day wore on it warmed up and turned the snow to slush. I remarked to Al that it was like trying to ski through chewing gum. I finished early and enjoyed listening to the singer in the lodge. I especially liked his rendition of “The Gales of November”.

That night I tried an elk burger. It was good but I swear it was a piece of garlicky lamb. Andy fell asleep before his food came. He’s really too big to carry anymore but somehow we managed to drunk walk him back to the hotel room.

Next to the restaurant I spied a Lulu Lemon store. Lulu Lemon makes yoga clothes that I’ve been lusting after for years. It’s a Canadian chain. As tired as I was there was no way I was going to pass up what could be my one and only opportunity to shop at Lulu Lemon. It was Saturday. The shop was already closed by the time I managed to get back there.

Sunday February 25^th, Sunshine Village, Banff

The three of us, Al, Andy & I would go up in a quad chair so frequently a ‘single’ would ride up with us. Remember everyone is instantly your best friend in Canada. Anyway, inevitably we’d strike up a conversation with the single. I’d usually drill them on the resort as to familiarize myself with it.

My shins hurt. I hoped it wouldn’t last the whole trip.

We had lunch on the mountain in an inflatable igloo. Sunshine Village is in a national park so while it certainly can accommodate a great many skiers it can’t get permission to build any more permanent structures to house additional eating establishments.

There was a run called “wildfire” that I really liked. Wouldn’t that be just about the coolest job in the world- naming ski runs?

At the end of the day I tried a white hot chocolate. Al saw a brick sized Rice Krispie treat on someone else’s table. He asked me to see if they were selling them there. He wanted the Mountain Madness team to try them. I did and they did.

Bound and determined to visit the Lulu Lemon shop, I was let off there immediately after skiing. Extremely funky, skuzzy and with wild hair I took an armful of clothes into the changing room.

There was a cute boy on the floor refolding stacks of jazz pants. I asked him a few questions about the merchandise but he scurried away like a frightened wild animal. I guess he was just for decoration.

I scored the cutest outfit- black reversible boot cut pants with a pink floral stripe around the hips. And a matching top that was on sale, probably because you needed a PhD to put it on. There are so many wrong permutations of how you can put your head and arms through the straps that crossed the back. I skipped happily back to the hotel. Al bought some chocolate fudge for the Mountain Madness people to try.

I enjoyed an Epson salt bath to sooth my weary legs which were beginning to hate me.

That night we dined in five star splendor at the Saltlik. I sat next to Bart whose job it was to pick up the tab. [We rotated putting expenses on all our credit cards so that the burden wouldn’t be too great on any one of us. A final reckoning would be made at the end]. Anyway, Bart finally leaned over and asked me just HOW MANY people would be serving us tonight?

So we counted.

1. The coat check girl.
2. The greeter/seater.
3. Shane, our official waiter.
4. Someone to fill our water glasses.
5. Yet another (or was it more?) to bring the piping hot plates of delicious food.
6. There was someone to bring the bread & starters.

And while I was the only one I could not resist ordering the berry crumble for dessert. It was with great difficulty I refrained from licking the last drops from the bottom of the individual caste iron frying pan it was served in. And then there was coffee that was so good you could taste the beans.

Allan and I had somehow become the ringleaders ordering all these various serving persons about. So I asked him, ‘Would you dare be so picky and demanding at home?’ He said, ‘No.’ In no time we had tapped into our inner spoilt prima donnas that had been there since conception. We even sent Andy’s French fries back because they had too much pepper.

Andy fell asleep at the restaurant, again.

Monday February 26, Lake Louise Banff

Today was the third ski area within driving distance of Banff. We’d packed the cars with all our stuff in the morning so that directly after skiing we could drive to Golden, the next stop on our itinerary.

The snow was groomed. It was like skiing on corrugated ice, which was fine for me. Since I’d learned to ski on an artificial surface I had learned how to really dig my edges in.

We charted our way down to lunch via run #34. It looked easy enough. We encountered a sign that read, ‘Marginal Conditions. Not recommended.’ Well, if it was really bad they would have closed it off entirely, right? I felt invincible so I sped on ahead of the others.

Stupidly.

We hit a slope of ice. I thought, ‘Fine. I’ll just side slip like I’ve been taught to do when I get somewhere I don’t think I can handle.’

Andy zipped down ahead out of sight so I released Al to go find him. The other guys were coaching us more unskilled skiers down. Ollie assured me that I could make I turn so I tried…and failed.

I sat down on my skis [never, ever do this on ice]. In a moment I saw the trees rushing at me.

But everything I thought to do at the speed I was traveling at seemed even more dangerous than the situation I was already in.

I thought, ‘I must dig in my edges.’ So with my hand I tilted the back of my ski into the icy slope. It slowed me down somewhat. What slowed me down even more was Bart putting his foot out and stopping me completely.

Thank you, Bart.

The adrenaline surge was incredible. I wanted to go! I was unhurt, shaken but not scarred so I skied the rest of the way much more aggressively than I had been.

When we sat down for lunch I realized that I’d scooped up gobs of ice and my back was full of the stuff- like when a baby has diarrhea out the top of the back of their diaper.

We’d scored some cushy comfy seats for lunch. After some tasty combine-your-own-pasta, I decided that I’d had enough excitement for one day and didn’t ski anymore that afternoon.

But I didn’t say this until another woman in our group said she’d decided not to ski that afternoon either. We weren’t very happy with the inferior equipment we’d rented at Lake Louise.

The approach to Golden did not look promising. But Golden tries harder, because it has too.

Everyone enjoyed the hotel hot tub. Andy loved the small indoor pool. I went to find the extra pillows that are stashed inevitably away in every hotel room but when I went to put them on the bed I saw that each bed already had 6 (!!!) pillows.

I looked in the city restaurant guide and noted that the Golden Grizzly- just across the street had won an award. Al and I loved the informal honky-tonk atmosphere. I ordered salmon.

In our search for restaurants we’d come upon The Timbermill. Al and I noted the booths and the Bob Evans ambiance and told the others that it would be a good choice for breakfast. It was. The nine of us taxed the single waitress, but she was game. I finally managed to enjoy my favorite breakfast of eggs and oatmeal. I don’t know, the day just doesn’t seem to go right for me if it doesn’t begin with eggs.

We rented our skis from a multi-purpose shop. There was a coffee corner, a side for climbing gear and another side for skiing stuff.

It didn’t take me long to realize that the toaster oven on the floor of the skiing side was for warming ski boots as part of the custom fittings they offered.

Several times on our trip we’d been asked if we’d been to Kicking Horse yet. It seemed to be many people’s favorite. This ratcheted up our expectations at bit.

We bought one day lift tickets- not sure that the snow would be good enough here or that the area was big enough to hold our interest for the 3 days we were planning to stay in Golden.

It was cold on the first ride to the top. We skied down to a café called the ‘Yurt.’ I looked over at Andy and saw that he was crying. ‘Had we burned him out on skiing?’ I thought. No. His gloves had gotten wet and we hadn’t noticed. So I have him my mittens and dry liners and I switched to my gloves.

I loved the run down to the Yurt called ‘Dutch Treat’ where it was a gentle slope through the trees. I was glad that my shins had stopped hurting.

In the Yurt you could see people who had been skiing off piste. Their avalanche transmitters were visible once they took off their ski jackets.

Several things struck me. First, everybody could ski. In Michigan and Austria where I’ve skied before I am constantly being run into by some kid being taught by it’s parents. Another thing was that the music being piped onto the slopes was really really nice.

Kicking Horse is arranged a bit like a woven basket. Some runs are the upright reeds and there’s a long gently run that is like the running reed that crosses the uprights.

I wanted to take a lesson but they weren’t really set up for an individual one like I wanted.

Since I learned to ski on what amounts to astro turf, moguls (bumps) , powder and such all mystify me.

When we got back to the hotel I took an Epson salt bath. I wondered how in the world would I make it to 8 o’clock for dinner?

Andy fell asleep during dinner. We were seated on a wall bench so we just made a nest of our jackets and let him crash there.

Wednesday, February 28th, -Kicking Horse, the 2^nd day

On the way we stopped at the grocery to get Andy something to eat. He had been falling asleep before we could get any dinner into him.

We had breakfast once we got to the resort. I was very relieved to find that they did have eggs on the menu. It was a white out outside which boded well for the rest of the day. New snow would be fun. Andy had appropriated my mittens the day before so I just had to put up with my cold hands.

We enjoyed lunch at the top of the mountain. But the visibility wasn’t that great.

The guys had mapped an easy route down for me and another less adventurous skier in our group. The men and one other lady wanted to try some ridge/bowl skiing. I was tired, cold and didn’t want to do that.

Everything was fine until we came to a run called ‘Show Off.’ I thought I’d skied on everything for the last 4 days so I could handle this too.

Half the slope was ice the other half was bumps! After I got going – I was unsuccessfully trying to get into a rhythm- I knew I could be of absolutely no help in getting the other person down so I just tried to save myself. Once again I lost confidence on a turn and went flying- or skidding. One of my skis popped off immediately.

When I finally slid to a stop, I tried to assess the situation. Not easy to do with so much adrenaline coursing through my veins. I wasn’t hurt.

One ski off and one ski on, my poles & one ski 50 feet up the mountain on an icy slope, I decided to crawl back up to my other ski. It was very slippery, sweaty going. The other lady, Suzanne, tried to slide my ski down to me but the sprung binding preventing that from happening.

The resort wasn’t very crowded but eventually someone came by and brought me my ski and poles. He also helped me back up on my feet. 5 days of skiing in a row had made me very tired.

We met up with the rest of our group. I followed the others to a bumpy slope which I grumpily made my way down.

We swung by McDonald’s on the way back so that Andy could have something surefire to eat.

At dinner we went to a very nice restaurant where I was served by the world’s worst waitress named Cheryl. My food came about 45 minutes after everybody elses. I didn’t want the complimentary drink or dessert she offered as an apology so I let someone else in the group have my free dessert.

Thursday, March 1 Golden-Kicking Horse, 3^rd day

Enjoying eggs and oatmeal for breakfast in the hotel in the morning started me off on the right foot like it always does.

There was new snow!

Al and I got to take off – just the two off us. Andy was happy to hang out with the other dare devils.

Falling in the powder was fun. It slows you down but you don’t care when you lose it because it’s like landing in a big pile of feathers.

The bumps we’d done the day before were much more enjoyable after a good night’s sleep. The thing is is that the surface has little relationship to what is underneath. So your feet are constantly registering the surprise of hard earth falling out from below you.

For lunch I took the tuna steak out of it’s bun and crumbled it up over my Caesar salad. That and a bottle of fruit juice made the perfect lunch.

That night we dined in Golden’s best kept secret. It was odd little steak house hidden in another hotel.

Friday March 2, Transfer day

We stopped at Revelstoke for coffee. Revelstoke is a very promising resort. Right now they are in the planning stage. The others took a gander at the plans and said they want to come back in 5-10 years. Right now the village is lined with upscale coffee houses. We enjoyed and I found some magic cookie bars for the others to try.

We made our way through Roger’s pass stopping at ‘Home’ restaurant in Sorrento overlooking Shuswap lake.

There was no snow on the ground as we approached Kamloops. But as we ascended up to the resort of Sun Peaks things began to look more promising. When we were only about 20 minutes away from our destination there appeared to be enough of a base for skiing.

We didn’t start off for dinner until late. Andy didn’t want to go. I think he’d been car sick at some point but I was too out of it to really know. I didn’t really feel up to a late dinner either. So all three of us stayed in the room. Al insisted that I eat something so when prodded I blurted out the first thing that came into my head which was spaghetti and meatballs. He gamely went out and found me some and brought it back to the room. It was very good.

Saturday- March 3^rd, Day 1 Kamloops-Sun Peaks

Breakfast was not included with the room. We all had the continental buffet. I looked longingly a the scrambled eggs on the hot breakfast buffet but could not bring myself to pay the additional CDN$8.50 for them. I helped myself to another toasted bagel with peanut butter to insure that I got enough protein in.

Sun Peaks is spread over 3 mountains. The connections are so well thought out that you don’t even notice. It’s like it’s all one big area.

I think that when I’m tired that I ski better.

Everything went smoothly. I didn’t force turns. The 1.5 inches of new snow helped. The scenery at ‘The Top of the World’ was unbelievably beautiful. Everything looked so perfect, like a fakey movie set.

I enjoyed a salad with brie over trout for lunch. Suzanne treated us to chocolate covered marshmallows for her birthday. We were unable to get reservations for dinner until 9:30 so I got carry out fish and chips.

Sunday March 4^th, Day 2 Kamloops-Sun Peaks

I took the next morning off from skiing. Andy and I and Suzanne and her sister was planning to take a dog sled tour in the afternoon.

You hear about how much these dogs like to pull but you just don’t get it until you see it. They are really quite small. I found their diet of meat, fat and a little rice interesting.

The scenery was extraordinarily gorgeous. After helping hitch up the dogs, Andy and I rode in the box while Josette (who ran the tours) mushed. We sped through pine trees heavily frosted with new snow.

That night we didn’t take any chances and ate in the hotel steak house. I had the most amazingly wonderful rib eye with an enormous baked potato. Kylie- our Australian waitress said she’d never seen anything so big. I thought but didn’t say, ‘poor thing.’

Monday, March 5th– transfer day to Whistler

It took me about 45 minutes to pack for the three of us. It was snowing when we left. I offered Andy a Dramamine but he refused on the grounds that he didn’t like the taste. I’d already popped it out of it’s blister pack so I took it myself. I fell asleep. And had creepy/trippy dreams about Kachinka dolls and evil curses.

For lunch I ordered a buffalo burger. I do believe it had not long ago been intimately acquainted with a freezer and then a microwave.

We found that making a dinner reservation for 9 at a decent hour was impossible. We ended up at a sports bar [Earl’s] with a bunch of high tables pushed together all hodge-podge & willy-nilly. I lost count of the number of big screen TV’s. The ubiquitous curling was on.

Bart told me that at home no one would believe that he’d gotten his black eye in a flight. He’d fallen the last day Sun Peaks and blackened his eye. But in Whistler no one believed that he hadn’t gotten his black eye in a fight!

Tuesday March 6^th, Whistler/Blackcomb, day 1

My day started right! I had eggs for breakfast. It was pretty warm at the bottom. We took the gondola up to Blackcomb. We skied some nice blue runs including one called Jersey Cream. After a hamburger lunch we rode up and up until we were on a T-bar which went up as far as possible. We shouldered our skies and walked up even higher! I felt so hard core. Even though I was huffing and puffing way behind the others. Eventually someone helped me carry my skis. It was windy but not cold, odd. At last we reached the summit and traversed a ridge to reach the top of a blue run.

Once at the bottom of the bowl I looked up and thought, ‘I did it!’

The rest of the way was slushy-mushy.

I sat in the hot tub while Andy swam in the open air pool. I went out and bought him a crepe just in case he didn’t make it dinner.

That night we dined at Rik’s. It was a bit too pretentious for my taste. I ordered cognac for after dinner.

I keep wondering what that smell is- I’m afraid it’s me.

Wednesday, March 7 – day 2 Whister/Blackcomb

It was really warm. So warm that it was raining down in the village. But we were reassured that there was +/- 9cm of new snow at the top.

Allan said that skiing in that warm, wet heavy snow was like trying to ski through Plaster of Paris.

Not only was there new snow at the top but it was still snowing. Eventually a lift we wanted to take up higher started running.

It was a miserable white out. I asked a boarder sitting next to me on the lift the quickest way back to the lodge.

Only by following the backs of Thomas’ skis could I make my way down the hill. Both my goggles and glasses kept steaming up from the strange weather.

Andy and I quit. We’d skied enough over the last 2 weeks. We took the gondola down and turned in our rental skis. I spotted a Nanaimo bar at the crepery when getting Andy another. It was something I’d been meaning to try. It was like a straight shot of sugar to my brain.

The hot tub had a view of the mountains. I watched the weather roll in from the hot tub. Way cool.

Andy had been picking up pennies that he’d find on the ground. Oh! To be 7 again and think you’re rich because you have a pocketful of money that jingles!

Thursday March 8, transfer day Vancouver

It was a pretty drive to Vancouver. British Columbia is very green and wet. We’d expected harshly cold weather when skiing but that never materialized.

In Vancouver we stayed at a cool/funky hotel in the heart of downtown.

Al took me walking so we could shop but I just didn’t have the energy. I tried a pick-me-up coffee and a scone at Tim Horton’s but all I wanted to do was take Andy back to the hotel swimming pool.

My heart just wasn’t into checking my e-mail either. The pool was charmingly set inside a conservatory. In one corner was a postage stamp size gym and in another corner were some yoga sticky mats.

By the time for dinner rolled around it was raining so we headed for the nearest restaurant “Milestones.”

They had a separate seasonal menu that cleverly combined ingredients. I was hoping I could pull it up on the internet later at home for inspiration. But alas it’s not there. I had a Cajun seafood dish. The shrimp were amazing!

Aaron was the last waiter we got to push around. I ordered cornbread muffins for everybody to try.

I slept poorly with all the city sounds.

Friday March 9

I woke early and put on my new Lulu Lemon yoga clothes. I went around the various workout rooms turning off TVs. Who wants the doom and gloom of the news with their morning exercise? Not.Me.

There was a scale in the ladies changing room. Of course I was shocked.

Our flight wasn’t until late afternoon so we drove to Lynn canyon where there’s a suspension bridge. Hiking in the cool rainforest Andy turned to me and said, “This place is nice, Canada.” After a roundabout quest in the rain we finally found Casa de Gelato.

This place had 200+ flavors of ice cream- some of them rather odd, like, pear & blue cheese or balsamic vinegar. The staff was eager for the 9 of us to try them all. What fun!

We blew the last of our CDN$ at the airport on diet A&W root beer, some English language magazines and a stuffed deer’s head for Andy’s room.

It took me a week to lose the seven pounds of bloat I accumulated on the trip. And nine days to get over the nine hour time difference. It was a trip of a lifetime. I wasn't entirely pleased with my skiing ability so I've signed up for a fifth (!) year of skiing lessons on the artificial slope.

Book Reviews

Hyperion-Dan Simmons

I picked this book up awhile ago when I was trying to find a science fiction choice for our book club. After 50 pages or so I laid it down when distracted by some other shiny inviting book and didn’t restart it until all my easy reading fodder had been consumed.

I have no idea how I did that. I’d stopped just short of it getting exciting. I am so in awe of Dan Simmons. I must confess that in some modern books I do think, ‘gosh, even I could craft a better story or finer prose that this!’ But not with Dan Simmons. Again and again with this book I marvel and the structure, references and sheer imagination. Of course in my ignorance it could be that the concepts aren’t exactly original.

Here are a couple quotes on being called to art:

“From my earliest sense of self, I knew that I would be—should be—a poet. It was not as if I had a choice; more like the dying beauty all about breathed its last breath in my and commanded that I be doomed to play with words the rest of my days, as if in expiation for our race’s thoughtless slaughter of its crib world. So what the hell; I became a poet.”

“Belief in one’s identity as a poet or writer prior to the acid test of publication is as naïve and harmless as the youthful belief in one’s immortality…and the inevitable disillusionment is just as painful.”

“...no book or poem is every finished, merely abandoned.”

Didn’t John Lennon say that life is what happens when you are making other plans? I do believe motherhood consists of all the small things, the routine meals, the baths, the repeated simple stories read ad nauseam at bedtime. All the little silly questions volleyed when being ferried back and forth to school.

Sarai had treasured every stage of Rachel’s childhood, enjoying the day-to-day normalcy of things; a normalcy which she quietly accepted as the best of life. She had always felt that the essence of human experience lay not primarily in the peak experiences, the wedding day and triumphs which stood out in the memory like dates circled in red on old calendars, but, rather, in the unself-conscious flow of little things—the weekend afternoon with each member of the family engaged in his or her own pursuit, their crossings and connections casual, dialogues imminently forgettable, but the sum of such hours creating a synergy with was important and eternal.

Working and stay at home moms were sparring on Oprah and one lady said, ‘Anyone can give a hug or read a story.’ Maybe she believes that, but I don’t.

The Third Chimpanzee-Jared Diamond

I picked this book up on a lark when I was in an airport. It didn’t really capture my attention at first. I found myself constantly in contention with the idea in evolution that everything has to have a ‘why’. The reasoning is--I believe--that every trait of man or animal (or plant) has to earn it’s keep by contributing. Don’t know if I buy that argument.

My opinion of vegetarianism is that it’s a sad fact of life that man is a carnivore and everybody should just get over it already.

Somewhere along the scale from bacteria to humans, we have to decide where killing becomes murder, and eating becomes cannibalism. Most people draw those lines between humans and all other species. However, quite a few people are vegetarians, unwilling to eat any animal (yet willing to eat plants). And an increasingly vocal minority, belonging to the animal-rights movement, object to medical experiments on animals—or at least on certain animals. That movement is especially exercised about research on cats and dogs and primates, less concerned about mice, and generally silent about insects and bacteria.

Isn’t this guy a hoot? He points a finger at the hypocrites who just aren’t thinking things through. They’re acting on their emotions, not reason.

Diamond goes through some convoluted arguments to support his views. He tries to justify the Great Leap in biological terms. I can’t still believe that it could have happened without divine intervention. Also he goes on and on about how human DNA is only 1.6% different than chimpanzee BUT didn’t Sapolosky make it clear that genes react to environment and you can’t separate them?

I really liked his holistic approach to history. Many disciplines focus on what they know. Only someone educated in an interdisciplinary way could fuse various ideas to come up with multi-approach explanations of why things happened the way they did.

His ascertain that aging was from multiple causes and that looking for the ONE root of entropy was a wild goose chase made a lot of sense to me. Again, here is an evil perpetrated in the pretext of simplification.

When trying to uncover the purpose of art in evolution Diamond wrote;

“Animals with leisure time can channel it into more lavish signals to outdo the next guy….Those behaviors may then come to serve other purposes such as…channeling neurotic energy(a problem for us…).”

Definitely an entertaining read.

I am going to lump all my book reviews for the year in this one place just for convenience.

Weekend in London
Friday morning I was all in a rush to get Andy to school so that I could get everything ready for a long weekend in London. Allan was already there for work so all we had to do was hop on a plane and meet him.

After dropping Andy off at his class I waited outside another classroom because I wanted to talk to someone. As I was standing there waiting for her it felt like one boot heel was shorter than the other. Thinking that the heel sole had come off I looked down. That wasn’t the problem. I had on one black boot with a round toe and a stacked heel and one brown boot with a wedge heel and a pointy toe. What a great beginning of the day! Rather than trying to hide it I pointed it out to everyone standing around and gave a little smile and shrug.

Fueled with three cups of coffee I rushed around to the gym, showered and did some housework. I looked up at the clock and it was already time to pick Andy up! But I couldn’t find my car keys. Go figure. I always keep an extra set in my bag so I just used those.

There was a Chinese group in front of me checking in. Evidently the Chinese have no idea how to wait in line. The flight was pretty uneventful until the landing. As we approached London City airport a storm front was rolling in. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a white knuckle landing before. A lady behind us would scream, ‘Oh!’ Every time we’d hit one of those little stomach lurking air pockets. When leaving the airport I slung my handbag over my shoulder and it fell to the floor. The strap had broken. Oh goodie! I get to go shopping for a new one!

It poured rain as Andy and I made out way to the Shell building outside Waterloo station. I kept calling Allan on my mobile but I didn’t see hide nor hair of the distinctive yellow scallop shell logo. Finally Al just came and we walked to the hotel. The walk would have been stunning if it hadn’t been raining so hard or if we were properly dressed for wet weather.

We made a brief stop and then turned around to catch a taxi to our friend’s house. They have a little boy so Andy had a friend to play with. We caught up over pizza and some very nice red wine. The boys hit it off immediately.

We stayed over night with our friends. In the morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of bagels with cream cheese, washed down with gallons of lovely hot tea.

Saturday found us at the London Dungeon. Andy adores Halloween and all things ghoulish. I wonder what the plague victims would think of their misery being turned into a tourist attraction? The first exhibits were cheesy/funny but the end is a bit of a downer with gory details of Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. The actors at each station really liked to pick on some mouthy boys standing in the front. Thank goodness our little jewel was not among them.

I burnt my tongue on some ‘white’ (with milk) tea and then…

We walked to the giant Ferris wheel (the “Eye”) built to celebrate the turn of the century. The lines were very long but Andy insisted. Everything seemed mind boggling expensive. So while Al & Andy waited patiently I went to look for an ATM. I found one but the software ‘hung’ and kept my card. I called the phone number on the machine with my mobile and the lady said it would time out after 5-20 minutes and I’d get my card back. Let me tell you that was a tense wait!

We had plenty of time so we made out way over to Waterloo station where Andy devoured and entire McMenu. Notice I didn’t say a Happy Meal. He ate an entire adult meal which didn’t leave much for mom & dad to pick at.

It was a beautiful clear day and the people watching was terrific! I saw staggeringly attractive people and fantastically unattractive people. I thought, ‘thank goodness the skinny jean fad is NOT catching on.’ Finally, at dusk we boarded our capsule to get a bird’s eye view of London. For about half an hour we were transported in a transparent ‘bean’ up where we could see much of the city.

We stopped at St. Martin in the Field for an afternoon tea. When I got to the counter I forgot the word ‘scone’ and asked for one of those biscuity things. How embarrassing. I had my heart set on afternoon tea but the meal looked wonderful, especially the dessert of apple crumble with custard. Maybe later.

The Lion King started at 7:30. You know I didn’t have any fear of heights in the Eye but the steep seating in the theater was a bit daunting.

The music was wonderful and the animal costumes were so creative and unusual. There was a lady narrator with an incredibly big voice. Andy started to fade after the intermission but the colorful costumes and African music kept him engaged until the end.

The next morning we found an old haunt from some of our previous trips- The Stockpot where we ate an inexpensive and filling breakfast. There were a bunch of men behind us who kept ordering heaping plates of food. When we got up to leave I saw that they were street workers. I guess it’s okay. They’ll definitely work it off!

Our friends said Andy could join their son in Sunday morning soccer practice. As it was a sunny and clear morning we all enjoyed getting out in the park for a bit. Church bells were pealing as the boys started their warm up. The adults made their way over to the café for some coffee and tea.

After practice we found a local restaurant for brunch. I couldn’t pass up the apple strudel with custard. Then we rode the bus to Hamley’s toy store. I think Hamley’s on a Sunday not too long before Christmas is a bit like banging your head against a wall. It feels really good when you stop. It was very crowded but they boys did get to point out some things they wouldn’t mind Santa bringing them.

We parted from our friends after a stroll down Carnaby street. Al took us to the airport. I couldn’t bring myself to pay £3.20 for a magazine. Everything went smoothly until we were back in Holland. Andy did ask if he could got to soccer practice in London every weekend. They were working on the train lines between the airport and where we live so we had to take a detour train to get home. Not fun when you have baggage and a sleepy/tired child.

The first thing I did was tuck my zombie child into bed, then I unloaded the car and tried to wind down myself.

More pictures

It was inevitable.

Last week Andy' school had a special session on road safety. The police came to school and explained the rules. And they had some fun.

Phantoms in the Brain

by

V.S. Ramachandran MD, PHD & Sandra Blakeslee

book review.

I found this book fascinating. Ramachandran is a neurologist who studies people with damaged brains to discover how healthy brains work.

Much of this book is taken up with the persistence of body image. He writes mostly of it in terms of phantom limbs but also with stroke victims who lose the use of something on one side of their body.

It appears that our brains are constantly trying to make things, stories and ourselves ‘whole’. And it’s not above using subterfuge for this. Freud names the following devices:

Denial, Repression, Reaction formation, Rationalization, Humor, Projection

These can be useful ways for our brains to value wholeness over the truth.

The book talks about patients with damage to the right parietal lobe which results in neglect of the left side.

Neglect stories are very popular with medical students. Oliver Sacks tells the strange tale of a woman who, like many left hemineglect patients, ate food only from the right side of her plate. But she knew what was up and realized that if she wanted all her dinner, she had to shift her head, so as to see the food on the left. But given her general indifference to the left and reluctance even to look to the left she adopted a comically ingenious solution. She rolled her wheelchair in a huge circle to the right, traveling 340 degrees or so until finally her eyes would fall on the uneaten food. That consumed, she’d make another rotation, to eat the remaining half of the food on her plate, and so on, round and round, until it was gone. It never occurred to her that she could just turn left—for her—the left simply didn’t exist.

Ramachandran mentions a way to strip one of ones delusions, albeit sometimes only temporarily.

There are people who deny that they are paralyzed. Ramachandran wondered if the truth about their disability was buried somewhere in their brains.

The experiments we discussed earlier suggest that a denial patient is not just trying to save face; the denial is anchored deep in her psyche. But doe this imply that the information about her paralysis is locked away somewhere—repressed? Or does it imply that the information doesn’t exist anywhere in her brain? The latter view seems unlikely. If the knowledge doesn’t exist, why does the patient say things like “I tied my shoelaces with both my hands” or “I can’t wait to get back to two-fisted beer drinking”? And why evasive remarks like “I’m not ambidextrous”? Comments like these imply that “somebody” in there knows she is paralyzed, but that the information is not available to the conscious mind. If so, is there some way to access that forbidden knowledge?

To find out we took advantage of an ingenious experiment preformed in 1987 by an Italian neurologist, Eduardo Bisiach, on a patient with neglect and denial. Bisiach took a syringe filled with ice-cold water and irrigated the patient’s left ear canal—a procedure that tests vestibular nerve function. Within a few seconds the patient’s eyes started to move vigorously in a process called nystagmus. The cold water sets up a convection current in the ear canals, thereby fooling the brain into thinking the head is moving and into making involuntary correctional eye movements that we call nystagmus. When Bisiach then asked the denial patient whether she could use her arms, she calmly replied that she had no use of her left arm! Amazingly, the cold water irrigation of the left ear had brought about a complete (though temporary) remission from the anosognosia.**

I also started wondering about anorexia nervosa. These patients have disturbances in appetite but are also delusional about their body image—claiming actually to “see” that they are fat when looking into a mirror, even though they are grotesquely thin. Is the disorder of appetite (linked to feeding and satiety centers in the hypothalamus) primarily, or does the body image distortion cause the appetite problem?

We know that certain parts of the limbic system such as the insular cortex are connected to the hypothalamic “appetite” centers and also to parts of the parietal lobes concerned with body image. Is it conceivable that how much you eat over a long period of time, your intellectual beliefs about whether you are too fat or thin, your perception of your body image and your appetite are all more closely linked in your brain that you realize—so that a distortion of one of the these systems can lead to a pervasive disturbance in the others as well?

People have become increasingly inpatient with Western medicine’s sterility and lack of compassion, and this would explain the current resurgence of “alternative medicine”. But unfortunately, even though the remedies touted by new Age gurus have a ring of plausibility, they are rarely subjected to rigorous tests. We have no idea which ones (if any) work and which ones do not, although even the hardened skeptic would agree that there is probably something interesting going on. If we are to make any headway, we need to test these claims carefully and explore the brain mechanisms that underlie such effects. …Until we have clear answers, to these questions, Western medicine and alternative medicine will always remain parallel enterprises with no point of contact between them.

So with all this evidence starting them in the face, why do practitioners of Western medicine continue to ignore the many striking examples of direct links between mind and body?

To understand why, it helps to have a feel for how scientific knowledge progresses. Most of the day-to-day progress of science depends on simply adding another brick to the great edifice—a rather humdrum activity that the late historian Thomas Kuhn called “normal science”. This corpus of knowledge, incorporated a number of widely accepted beliefs, is, in each instance, called a “paradigm.” Year after year new observations come along and are assimilated into an existing standard model. Most scientists are bricklayers, not architects; they are happy simply adding another stone to the cathedral.

Ironically, after extensive training in Western medicine and more than fifteen years of research on neurological patients and visual illusions, I have come to realize that there is much truth to the view—that the notion of a single unified self “inhabiting” the brain may indeed be an illusion. …(as has long been emphasized by Eastern mystical traditions like Hinduism and Zen Buddhism). Once you realize that far from being a spectator, you are in fact part of the eternal ebb and flow of events in the cosmos, this realization is very liberating.

** anosognosia-the inability to perceive that one side of one’s own body is paralyzed

Summer vacation.

DH came home early after damaging the boat. Nothing serious. But that meant he was around for the first week of summer vacation. DS (dear son) spent the first week of the holiday in sailing camp with his two friends. It was hot! hot! hot! So they were allowed to swim after sailing lessons. We are very proud!

End of school year go cart race:

Every year, Andy's school ends the year with a go cart race. Andy and his friend Jesse decide to bulld a rocket ship for the theme, transportation (movement?) Here is Jesse and Andy posing before the race. Notice the pony keg on the back of the 'rocket ship':


Just Andy. Notice the quick and dirty spaceman costume made from tin foil:

The race is on! It is timed. They are wearing skiing helmets covered with more...tin foil!


Oh no! Andy steers them into a bail of hay! Jesse is the power pushing the vehicle:

Thursday 20^th July, 2006.

Andy had decided to enter his school’s annual year end go cart race with a friend named Jesse. Luckily, that friend had a toy tractor to use as a cart. With the help of Jesse’s father the boys decided to build a rocket for the theme of transportation.

Andy and Jesse colored some cardboard to attach to the sides of their vehicle. Jesse’s father fashioned a ‘rocket’ out of two old buckets that he found at the dump. He tied two pony kegs on the back as ‘oxygen’ tanks. Jesse’s mother covered two t-shirt with aluminum foil. I covered two skiing helmets with foil.

About +/- 70 vehicles lined up the afternoon of the race. There was a preponderance of KLM planes. There were lots of Boings and one piper cub. It was an unseasonably hot day. The school had arranged to have ice cream distributed about every 45 minutes to cool the kids off. And some of the older kids were armed with plant misters to spray the crowd.

I felt itchy and antsy at the start. Where was Mary rose Hullman? Who was gonna say, ‘gentlemen start your engines?’ I’m a hopeless Hoosier.

Andy and Jesse lined up at the start line. They were number two. The carts didn’t race against each other- just the clock. Jesse pushed while Andy steered- right into one of the bales of hay lining the track!

We loaned the foil covered helmets to some other boy. Their cart was also a rocket and they wanted to dress the part as much as possible.

A break was held between the running of the older and younger kids. A dance troop performed. One little girl in the front was truly amazing, she didn’t seem to be aware of how hot it was.

Once all the little kids were done I noticed that the older student’s carts were much sleeker. I think they were build for speed. Not so with the younger group. There was a bride and groom cart. And a fairy cart. Actually there were lots of fairy carts. One fairy cart threw handfuls of rose petals as she navigated the turns. Not fast but certainly with style.

Like I said a there were many, many KLM planes. This allowed the child to wear their dad’s pilot cap and coat. Alarmingly many of the ‘aircraft’ fell apart shortly after crossing the start line.

Also among the field was a quite impressive array of carts done up as boats. One had sails made from obsolete sailing charts, very clever recycling.

Jesse and Andy didn’t have the fasted time, they were second which earned them an honorable mention.

Lunch at Luden'sMy mission if I chose to accept it was to spend one of my €25 gift certificates for a lunch at Luden’s restaurant & Brasserie in Utrecht. I was up for the challenge after getting a good report from my thyroid doctor earlier that same morning.

First of all there is no secret. No French Paradox. No convoluted reason French (or European for that matter) women don’t get fat. They simply eat non-retarded portions of real food. Myself, I ever despair of mastering moderation.

The special salad for the day was smoked salmon with a lemon crème fraiche. I ordered that with a glass of Bourgogne Pinot Noir.

I settled in with my generous glass of red wine and one of the complimentary magazines. This wine in a round full-bodies red. Rich and smooth. You could get delightfully lost in the complicated flavor of this wine like you could get lost in the stax at the library. (gonna send that one in to the Bulwer-Lytton competition).

My salad came and it was the usual high Luden quality. I was a bit puzzled by the cashew nuts. I’m thinking walnuts might have been better. But you’ve got to let a chef experiment sometimes, no? It seemed to be goat cheese day I noticed. Everyone else in the brasserie appeared to have ordered either a goat cheese salad or a sandwich.

I polished off most of the yummy dark bread with the real salted butter and then ordered a cognac with a cappuccino. Too late I realized I still had enough on my gift certificate to order the luxury cognac. Anyway the one I got was excellent. I love the way cognac coats your tongue with fire. Like a roaring aromatic wood fire. Turkish brandy is like a gas fire. French cognac is like the heat of passion, desire, eureka! and serendipity. (more Bulwer-Lytton fodder). I enjoyed it.

With the change from the meal I bought a berry smoothie to have on the train home.

Thanks for the gift certificate. The good news is that I still have another one!

It was a dark and stormy afternoon...

for Andy's last and 3rd and last 7th birthday party. The first had been on the day with mom & dad, the second on a weekend with the neighbors. This one was with seven of his friends from school.

The invitations were designed (by me with a line drawn castle on the front) & redesigned by Andy with a scary ghost on the front, signed sealed and delivered. Delivered by hand, by me, by bike on a very pretty day.

I quizzed some other mom’s about the castle tour Andy wanted for his party. Allan did some digging and found out the details.

One of the other moms’ took up a collection so they could buy a group gift. Toys are expensive here so that way he could get one nice big toy instead of lots of little not-so-nice toys.

Allan wanted me to buy a cake so that there wouldn’t be any last minute hassle.

True to my nature I procrastinated until the last minute. Somehow I managed to find the most expensive bakery around. There was no time to comparison shop so I just bit my lip and paid the bill. The cake would sport an obscene amount of marzipan, a castle and a ghost.

Thank god for hidden pictures at Highlights.com. I printed off ten for the boys to work on as they arrived.

Allan led the boys in a game of dodge ball while I got the cake and candles (actually sparklers) ready. Let’s back up here. Earlier that same morning Allan had taken Andy out to buy A dodge ball. I had struck out earlier at the local toy store. When I asked for a special dodge ball I got ‘that look’. The look I get a lot. The look I should be used to getting after being an expat for so many years. Someone described it as being looked at like live lizards are crawling out of your mouth. Or like you have two heads. So the boys set out to buy a (1, one) ball. A few hours later they returned with two balls, a swimming pool, ladder & cover for the pool and some candy to add to the goodie bags. (You don’t want to know how much this party cost!).

The timing was perfect. The first of the seven sparklers on the cake spluttered out as we finished singing. The boys downed their cake, went to the bathroom and then loaded up in the cars. After liberating one boy who had locked himself in the upstairs bathroom, Allan almost sped off without one boy who had lingered a little too long in the toilet.

Two boys asked to ride shotgun. Which is illegal by the way until you’re twelve, or 135 centimeters tall or weigh at least 35 kilos.

It was a short drive but I still got, “are we there yet?” I believe the finer points of football were debated in the back seat during the trip.

I made a wrong turn trying to find a parking spot. Which made us late. A half hour late for the tour. Which was one hour not a half hour. Which made us an hour late to the restaurant. Allan took the little boys on the tour while I went to warn the restaurant that we would be late.

I noticed the same blisters on one little boy’s legs that Andy had. They had played together on Monday. Hmm.

Note: the previous Friday I was in line behind a man at the local amusement park waiting to buy ice cream. The man had bought the large group of children their chosen frozen treat when a lady came up and reamed him a new one. It turns out (unbeknownst to the poor man) that the group was an official birthday party which includes (read: cheapest) ice cream. The lady would not let up. The children stood around expressionless eating their already opened popsicles. I don’t know about you but I just don’t think it’s worth going ballistic over €5.

Pancakes for 8, make that 10.

Only one boy spilled his drink.

For about five minutes it was very pleasant to sit there with 8 seven year olds. My son has nice friends. While we waited I doled out the not yet completes Hidden Pictures to finish. Left to their own devises little boys will pour a substantial amount of powdered sugar on a pancake.

One fell on the way out and scraped his knee. He collapsed on the cobblestones working the slight injury for all it was worth. Allan actually PICKED HIM UP and carried the fifty pound fakir to the ice cream shop. Great lesson there. Goldbricking will get you your chocolate ice cream first! Must remember that.

Allan had a look like a deer caught in the headlights when I told him that he would have to take half of the little boys home. My car was very quiet as the boys still worked on their Hidden Pictures.

Once home Andy set up his Hot Wheels V drop. Which I will admit is quite cool. Allan invited The Best Neighbors In The World over to finish the cake. Which was an agreeable way to end the day. With a little help from Google we decided that Andy’s blisters were very much poison ivy like. So I treated him with a baking soda bath and some anti-histamine cream.

(you are welcome to leave a comment. If you post as anonymous just put your name in the text)

Swim Diploma "B"

Andy earned his "B" swim diploma. The pool where he takes his lessons is 38 years old and will be torn down this summer. For the last few years a new replacement pool has been being built next door. He will being lessons for his "C" diploma there next fall.

In order to earn a "B" diploma, he had to;

With clothes on:

Jump in the pool, tread water for 30 seconds, swim 25 meters crawl, swim underneath a float, turn then swim 25 meters back stroke and climb out of the pool.

In just his swim trunks:

Dive head first into the water, swim 6 meters underwater, swim through an underwater hole, swim 75 meters crawl, sink 3 times feet first to the bottom and then swim 75 meters back stroke.

Dead man's float, float on his back, swim 10 meters breast stroke, and swim 10 meters on his back.

30 seconds treading water with arms & legs, 30 seconds treading water with just the legs