The Last Post

I leave Sunday morning, so there's still today and tomorrow to talk about, but all you're getting is today. I'm blogged out. Whatever happens Saturday, therefore, will remain a mystery.

Finally feeling almost human again, but the sniffles and the cough remains. My strength is more or less back, I think. So today we went into town and did this:

Went to the Cafe Hawelka, a place that out Red Cups the Red Cup (and I love the Red Cup, so this is no disrespect.) Old time coffeehouse atmosphere out the ass...












interior of the legendary Cafe Hawelka

Then to the Jewish Museum, where we saw the Wilhelm Reich exhibit. Reich was a respected and innovative psychoanalyst who eventually moved to Amerika where ultimately, his research materials and books and equipment were destroyed by the Feds, who then imprisoned him. He died in prison.

Reich's later work was controversial, but basically he felt like people ought to have a lot of orgasms, as often as possible, to keep them from going out of their minds. I guess J. Edgar Hoover couldn't put up with that sort of bullshit, so Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Doktor Reich.

Then a quick stop at this tiny shop where they make exquisite little open face sandwiches.

Finally we stopped off at the world famous Demel chocolatier. Unbelievably creative confectioners, and you can watch through glass walls as they prepare some of their creations---they were working on a huge marzipan pig when we passed through on our way upstairs for a hot chocolate. This was the real deal made with real quality chocolate, and not cheap: our two cups cost us about $15. A rare indulgence for your humble correspondent, who can buy a 5-liter box of the finest cheapest wine for about that price in OKC.

Then home. Then this post.

Now pizza and beer, and a good book in the living room with B.

Hope you've enjoyed the circus.

The Elixir of Love

This is the interior of the Vienna State Opera.

We were sitting approximately on the extreme upper left edge of this picture.

We saw The Elixir of Love. I've only been to two operas, both with this theme:

Beautiful girl is pursued by two guys. One guy is rich / important, but a prick. The other guy is poor but with a heart of gold, and really loves the girl.

Girl chooses:

THE PRICK.

But then she is overwhelmed by the untiring faithfulness and devotion of the poor guy, it turns her heart around, etc. She ends up with the poor guy, and is happy.

B and her parents have season tickets to the opera. They have for years. This may be coming to an end, though, so this may have been our last opera together. In October when I was here and saw my first opera, I noticed the little ritual the season ticket holders have---they say hello, some catch up on what's been happening since last time, etc.

There were ladies from B's old neighborhood sitting nearby. One came up and greeted us and said she was glad to meet me---B says her dad has been telling everyone in the neighborhood about me. At the intermission, we chatted with these ladies in the coat room---each has her favorite opera-writing guy (Wagner, Puccini, or whoever) and they debated whether past performances of this or that opera were good or great or shit.

I was really impressed with the set construction. It actually looked like the courtyard of an Italian village on a bright sunny day. The illusion was very nicely carried out.

The traveling snake-oil selling doctor was played by a Korean opera guy. I thought he had a very fine voice but B said he didn't project enough; the orchestra walked on him a bit. I also noticed some Asian guys playing Italian soldiers. This is part of the fun of it for me: Asian Italians, and a snake-oil wagon pulled by men instead of horses. You just let these things go and enjoy the show.

The two operas I've seen can't be called seamless in the plot department. This one had some holes you could slide a supertanker through---sideways. Like: The poor guy joins the army to make money to buy the elixir of love, which is really just wine the snake-oil doctor peddles. Which means he has to ship out and can't be with the woman he wants in any case. But wait! Unbeknownst to him, his rich uncle just died, leaving him a fortune...

If the guy knew he had a rich uncle, why couldn't he just borrow a few lira from him, instead of signing himself away to the army for elixir money? But as B says, in opera the plot, such as it may be, exists only to move the music along.

I was worried all day about having a coughing spasm at the opera, or fainting from weakness, or some other side effect of the flu, but everything worked out.

However, when the second act started, the lady sitting next to me had a really bad coughing spell. She couldn't stop. B finally pulled some cough drops out of her purse and slipped them to the lady. Problem solved. Vicks 44, with honey.

Got home about 11:30 and had my first wine since last week. A sure sign I'm on the mend.

Shaky Boy Ventures Forth, AM & PM

Yesterday morning, took my first walk in the cold since falling sick Sunday. Made the usual John X Memorial Walk to the Trafik for a newspaper and then to the bakery for some rolls. It's not far, just four or five blocks down and back, and a walk I treasure.

But I was short of breath by the time I got to the bakery, even though I was walking very slowly.

Bought the rolls and walked home. I think this cold weather (above freezing, but still cold enough) is tough on you when you have a cold. So I stayed home the rest of the day. B ran some errands, was gone for a couple of hours, but that was our day.

And too bad, because had I been feeling good, we were to have driven a couple of hours into Slovakia to visit her parents, who are spending three weeks at a spa. This is one of those full-service spas with the works-----massage, hot baths, herbal wraps, physical therapy, etc. It's not one of those places where rich people go to get even more pampered and spoiled, but a place designed to promote good health by getting your body back into balance with itself. The Europeans are apeshit over these spas and the health insurance pays most if not all of the cost, but they don't let you goof around...it's not a vacation but treatment, and you're expected to follow the prescribed regimen.

There's something to be said for preventative medicine. How do you prevent a cold or flu?

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About 8 last night we drove to the subway stop and picked up our friend Klausi, then drove to Fidelo for dinner. I haven't had a glass of wine since Saturday night---haven't felt like my usual favorites, I guess. And, it turns out, not last night, either...when the time came to order drinks, I had mineral water. WTF? I'm still sick; this is a sure sign.

B and I had the Parmesan Prosciutto Creme soup for a starter. B said it was as good as the time before, but to me it tasted different. Not bad, but different. I should have stopped there, or had at most another appetizer, but I was feeling a bit more alive so I ordered Chicken Roulade in a creme sauce with rice. B had a chicken salad, Klausi the lasagna.

The discussion ran the gamut from the NH primary to the Great Wall of Bureaucracy Klausi faces trying to get his manufacturing company up and running, to the differences between Prague and Vienna (everyone agreed Prague is more beautiful), to stories of what goes on behind closed doors in diplomatic encounters...B has an old friend who is high up in one of the European countries and she gets some stories once in a while.

I couldn't eat all my dinner, though the portions were light. Just couldn't fit it into the available space, I guess...and too bad, because it tasted pretty good, despite my obviously messed up taste buds.

We paid and walked the few blocks to the car. I hadn't gone a block when I started shivering---and this while wearing long underwear under my jeans, a t-shirt and thick shirt, a goose down jacket with the hood pulled up, and gloves. ONE. BLOCK. It was cold, yeah, but only about freezing, nothing Arctic.

We got to the car and I felt a bit queasy.

They dropped me off at B's and she drove Klausi back to the subway. I walked upstairs, feeling like I'd climbed Mt. Everest without oxygen. WTF?

The lesson from my two excursions, AM and PM, was: right now you can't handle the cold. Stay out of it.

Tonight we go to the opera---L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love).

I'm resting up for it, because it looks like one I'll enjoy.