The Double Birthday

 This day became a life-changing one for me 45 years ago when Richard was born, and 9 years ago, his older daughter was born on the same day, so May 19 is a very big deal for all of us.  And this year, it is the first time that I am celebrating with him and Tova Elise.  It is a privilege to be here and participate in the birthday traditions they have established. 

I walked the girls to school this morning, and just as they entered the gate, two of their very good friends jumped out from behind a bush and began to sing the Swedish birthday song.  How lovely! 

I made the cake yesterday and it could use some tweaking, so I guess I will need to make another when they come to visit in a month.  Everyone should try and improve.

We played a new memory board game and did a 200 piece puzzle.  The young ladies are delightfully competitive and encouraging.  Rowan gave Tova some eye makeup for her birthday.  They are both growing up so fast.  

Their house which had the basement totally flooded last summer is almost done -- better then before with a new bathroom and reworked space downstairs.  The garden we worked on last September is doing well -- even the weeds.  The rhubarb is as big as ever -- yesterday Tova and I both hid behind it during 'hide and seek'!  The four remaining hens seem happy with the buckets of weeds I throw into their enclosure.

Life is good!

The Train saga continues

I have spent a wonderful 4 days with my friend Rhonda and her husband Robert, who tolerates (bemusedly, I am sure) our laughing, playing in the garden and shopping.  They recently moved into a house in a village just west of the Rhine River.  The house took many months to renovate and there are still a number of items that need to be finished, but it is a very welcoming, open and light space.  There is decking on two levels looking over the garden and both have been very busy creating a huge garden for fruits and vegetables (Robert) and flowers, both in the ground and pots (Rhonda).  Robert is well versed in fertilizers and plant helpers of all kinds, so the garden is amazingly lush and productive after just one year.  It is their retirement project -- well, along with organizing the golf club where they both play.  It was such a treat to visit and be welcomed into their new space.

Flying to Stockholm is not easy from anywhere it seems.  The Basel/Mulhouse airport which is about 10 minutes from Rhonda and Robert's does not have direct flights and connecting in Berlin or London or wherever was of no interest to me.  But there were direct flights out of Zurich -- 12:40.  Great, there was a train from Basel direct to the airport  at 8:37 and I could catch a train at 7:26 from Habsheim to Basel  to arrive at 7:50, giving me lots of time to head over to the other side of the station where the long distance trans connected, pick up a coffee to have with my pastry and pick out a great seat.  The train was arriving at the airport at 10:04 -- lots of time to check in, get some lunch and check out the chocolate shops.  

Everything was going well until about 9:15.  I got a text that my phone account had run out of money and needed to be topped up.  It is a Norwegian SIM and when I try to pay it, there is a two step verification involving sending a code to my Canadian SIM.  Luckily, I have figured out to turn on that SIM to get the code and then turn it off again to eliminate roaming charges.  So it would be no problem to top up my account once I reached Zurich Airport. I can handle that.

Then there was an announcement -- the train was going no further than Zurich main train station due to some police action between the city and the airport.  Yikes.  There were some suggestions about how to navigate around it, but I don't know my way around well enough, so I went to the information station and was told that Tram 10 goes to the airport.  Well, it does, but it stops every 100 m (or so it seemed) and we did not get to the airport till 11 am.  Now it was dashing to check in and drop off the luggage, then head through security and up to the gates.  It was now 11:50 and we were boarding starting   12:15.  Needed a bathroom stop.  Tried to connect to the airport wifi but there was something wrong with my boarding pass QR code.  Eventually, the nice lady at information got me a code for the wifi, I connected to MyCall in Norway, got the security code for making a payment, and topped up the phone so I could contact Jennie when I got to Sweden.  Grabbed a sandwich.  At the gate, I told the checkin people about the problem with the boarding pass (I was going to need to scan it to get on the airplane) and they immediately noticed the problem and printed a new one.  12:10.  12:20 we boarded and thankfully there was an empty seat beside me at the back.  

SJ (the Swedish train system) now does las minute tickets and there were some cheap ones, the first of which left at 15:52.  I got my suitcase at 15:40, dashed up to the central station and asked if I could still make that train.  I was directed to a ticket machine which, thankfully, was fairly easy to navigate and I did make the 15:52 which should get me to Gavle about 15:56, barring some other disaster.  

This trip is certainly testing my train resolve.  Pictures will have to wait as this is on the train wifi.

Travel: the good and the bad

 Travel has always been a delight for me.  I never travelled for work, so planning a trip was always a vacation and I am all for those.

This trip was booked last September on the good hope that everything would be open and life somewhat back to what we called normal 2 years ago.  As the airlines were offering incredible deals, I treated myself to business class for the Toronto to and from Europe segments.  Going from France to Sweden is an economical 1 suitcase flight from Zurich to Stockholm direct where the suitcase was half the cost of the flight.  

So the air travel on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning was so gracious.  I spent a few hours in the premium lounge in Toronto before boarding at the front of the line.  Champagne was served before takeoff.  The meal was Arctic Char with a duck breast appetizer and Opera cake for dessert.  The seat was comfortable and I even managed to sleep for an hour.

Layover in Keflavik was only an hour, so not even worth going to the lounge there and again boarding at the front.  They served a lovely breakfast and I managed to watch a second movie.  I arrived in Frankfurt having been pampered.

Well, the summer of 2019, I had a series of train trips from Switzerland to Germany and every one was on time and easy transfers.  My cousin remarked this was unusual for German trains.  I scoffed.  Now, I apologize to him.  The 13:52 I had wanted to take was cancelled.  I got a ticket for the 14:52 which had 2 transfers -- a manageable 12 minutes between trains.  When the 14:52 arrived 10 minutes late, there were so many people to get on the train, that they said some had to get off before they could leave.  They encouraged the people going straight south to Switzerland to do so.  I went back up to the ticket people, who changed my routing to head straight for Freiburg where I would then have a 30 min. layover before getting on the train to Mullheim.  Well, that train started about 20 min. late and then there were delay issues with other trains, so I did not make the connection.  Time to go to the ticket people and get another train.  And that one finally came -- again about 20 minutes late.  I messaged Rhonda who was picking me up, so many times with changes, I'm surprised that there she was finally at just before 20:00, in the rain in a construction zone.  Negotiating 2 large suitcases is never a joy, but dragging them up and down stairs and running along platforms to try and catch a train makes it worse. 

 

I know I am in favour of public transport, and want to take surface rather than more flights, but yesterday's misadventures may have shaken my resolve somewhat.  However, it will be a train to Zurich on Tuesday morning and then another train to Gavle on Tuesday afternoon.  No prebooking!  I will get there when I get there.

Germaine and Tony

 The alternate title for this wrap-up post of our 3.5 week vacation in Ponta Delgada, could have been "What we don't want".  I have always felt that when making a decision, it is very important to realize what you don't want in order to crystalize your actions for what you do want.

The couple identified in the title are about 5 years older than me, from Burlington Ontario.  He is a retired (well to do) carpet installer, and she worked in marketing.  In December they sold their little bungalow in Burlington by Appleby Line for $1.2 million and bought a house on Sao Miguel island, on the northern coast by Fernais de Luz-- a small town close to a golf course.  Their home is a lovely looking, 4 bedroom villa on a large property with fruit trees and wonderful vista of the ocean.  That much is true, but the 'ready to live in' property that they saw, was hiding bubbling paint due to mold and so the fix/renovation started immediately after they got the house in early January.  And, it seems the trades are just as slow in the Azores as they are here.  Finish dates have been extended several times and they really have no idea when they will get the house.  So they are staying at the same hotel that Ian and I frequent, which is where we met them at breakfast when they asked where we were from -- speaking english.  Germaine was born in the Azores and so has dual citizenship.  Their only daughter will come and stay with them for a big part of the winter and during the summer they will live in a 2 bedroom annex being built at her property in Collingwood.  On the surface, it sounds idyllic.  But already they have the problems of the house renovation.  They will lease a car, as the bus goes past their gate only about twice a day.  They have opened bank accounts and are enrolled in the very generous Portuguese health care system for an incredibly reasonable amount.  They are overcoming the hurdles, but it is significantly more difficult on a number of fronts, than they imagined.

Brings me to 'what we don't want'.  That!  I love Ponta Delgada, but I love that it is a stressfree, carefree time for us.  No hassles of home ownership, not even having to clean up after myself.  No hassle of big meal prep -- with breakfast taken care of and many opportunities for reasonable lunches -- Ian had his favourite grilled squid again on Monday while I enjoyed my Mister Burger-- and a very easy option for supper.  Although we have now been there 8 times, there are still places we have not seen and of course, a number of things we like to repeat.  Both of us love being on the harbour -boat watching, walking, cycling,  and being so accessible to amenities -- buses (both long range and city), cafes, laundry, grocery stores, concerts.

So, though there is a romance of living on a mountain overlooking the ocean with my own lemon trees in the back yard, I am going to be staying at the hotel overlooking the harbour.  It was hard to leave yesterday.  We are thinking maybe stay longer next year -- or go earlier -- or both!

Also Ordinary Life

 Recognizing that most of my blogs are glowing accounts of what we find here, this one shows a bit of the less shiny side of life, evident here as everywhere.  There were specifically three things yesterday that brought out this realization.

The first, and the only one for which I took a picture, is roadkill of a little hedgehog.  Mostly what I have seen squashed on the pavement are rodents -- medium size and the other day there was a blond cat.  But this little guy reminded me that fast cars, though they may be small, are deadly to little creatures.  And a danger to big creatures.  I wear my high vis bright coral shirt when riding.  In fact, I bought a second shirt like it at Decathlon at the beginning of our trip.  The cars are considerate of cyclists, but being seen always improves the odds.

The second was a parade.  In a normal year, yesterday should have been the day for the children's Carnaval parade, but as mentioned previously, the big gatherings are not happening this year.  The parade I saw yesterday, was a small one.  It was in a small town on the north shore that I cycled through to reach the Observatory.  The highschool-aged young men were all dressed in camo fatigues and some were masked with gruesome zombie masks.  They were singing and also dragging along some iron pieces.  One greeted me politely, but the atmosphere of that parade was certainly not the fun-filled exhibition of the children's parade that we have seen in other years.

The third was the bellowing of a cow.  She was not just mooing for fun, this was distress and when I was riding up the mountain, I heard the sound and saw the vet truck in the field, I figured she was giving birth.  Sure enough, she was lying on the ground, tied very tightly at the head to a post and being attended to by some guys and a young lady in PPE with bloody gloves which reached past her elbows.  But beside her back legs lay a wet black lump which didn't move.  Cows are very important on this island and they all have at least two tags in their ears, so it is evident they are extremely well cared for, but tragedies still happen.

Look carefully in the middle of the picture.  You will see the usual way to graze young steers -- cow circles!

Ordinary life

Well, I guess one can't really call it ordinary life when we are so far from home, but I wanted to talk about what is normal for us here.

The apartment is lovely.  We have a spacious bedroom, full bath with bidet, well stocked little kitchen, dining table, living room area with a sofa bed couch, another small bedroom off the living area which faces the front of the building and a nice sized balcony with table and chairs.  The cleaning ladies will come every day, but we usually get cleaning only every second day.  

Breakfast comes with the room, and there is something very nice about having a lovely selection prepared by someone else.  There are always eggs -- one or two preparations, bacon and some grilled vegetable.  There is ham and a couple of different cheeses to go with the savouries, including a fresh -- pressed cottage cheese that Ian really likes.  Pancakes are also prepared daily and there are a variety of jams and nutella to accompany them.  There are 6 different sorts of breads including croissants, and the local bread cooked on a griddle, a couple of pastries, mixed fruit, and pineapple (the local stuff), yogurts, and juices.  There is a lovely machine that makes any hot drink you might like, and if that is not fancy enough, the serving girls will make you specialty coffee concoctions from their espresso machine in the back.  We have thought about getting an AirBnB style apartment, but having breakfast included just makes it feel more like a vacation. 

Our view of the harbour is spectacular and we comment about boats that come in.  Thanks to Google, all the boats are listed and so we know if it is a tanker or a container ship, how many beds are on the cruise boats, and where the schooner calls home.  The variety is everything from little outboard motorboats, to sailboats moored in the harbour, to some nice sized yachts, the whale watching boats, the tugs of various sizes and then the big container ships and cruise boats.  Often there is a military boat staying a few days before it is off again on patrol.  Time is money, so there is loading and unloading well into the night and the big ships manage to sneak out at night without waking the whole city.  

The hotel is on the main waterfront road and so gets a fair amount of traffic, but the soundproofing is good, and the bedroom is towards the back of the building.  The promenade along the harbour is about 3.5 km without interruption.  There are further walk/cycle paths to the east of the city, but they come after short breaks where one is forced onto the road or sidewalk.  Since we were here last, the section in Lagoa has been completed and it takes you close to the shore among the big black basalt rocks.  A dune style grass is being planted in clumps in order to help hold the path against erosion by wind and waves.  I walk about 5 km each morning before breakfast, as I get up much earlier than Ian.  Being beside the water is a lovely start to the day, though I have not braved the 16 degree water and gone swimming with the people that venture in each morning about 100 m from our hotel.  I came here to escape the cold.

As with most restaurants, masks are mandatory at breakfast when you serve yourself.  And masks are necessary any time you go into a building.  Outside, about 30% of the people are wearing them.  Other than that, there are not really any more COVID effects visible on a daily basis.  I found out today that the Carnaval activities are cancelled again this year -- no parade for the kids, no big masked ball on Saturday night, and no water fight next Tuesday.  So large gatherings are still not happening, but everyday activities are almost back to normal.  

And so we occupy our days with walks and visiting museums and gardens, shopping and cooking a simple soup for supper.  The cheese on the islands is fabulous and so with a pastry for midday snack, soup and bread and cheese for supper work very well.  Wine is abundant and priced from about 2 euros to 10 a bottle and easily accessible as it is sold in the grocery store.  We have a small satellite store of one of the big supermarkets just 2 doors from the hotel.  

I have been cycling.  I got my legs and seat used to riding again with trips along the coast to Lagoa -- about 10 km one way and mostly flat.  But going west or going north involves climbing and the low gears get a serious workout.  I don't ride on the main expressway, but do go on the secondary highways.  There are good shoulders on the roads, and not very much traffic compared to riding at home.  I got a waterbottle cage on my bike this year and so it is outfitted with just about everything I have at home.  Don't have a computer, but this isn't about going far.  

In the evenings I stitch on my delphinium tapestry where I now only have the background to finish.  We watch TV.  Netflix and Disney+ both work here.  It is quite relaxing and very low stress.  I think it is wonderful that we have found a place where both of us are comfortable and can amuse ourselves.  Sure beats February in Hamilton.

Making the best of a mistake

 So today we decided to take a bus tour to Sete Cidades -- that area at the north west of this island where there are two volcanic lakes -- one green and one blue.  We were waiting at the bus stop at 10:40 and no bus came.  It turned out that I had messed up with where to catch the bus and we missed the one we wanted.  So it was check out to see what else there was to do today, it being a nice day.

I called the cave tour people and got in for 2:30.  I cycled up there and arrived at 2.  This time, yes, they had my reservation.  I waited till 2:30 and the tour began with an American family of 4 children and 2 British tourists.  Despite the others on the tour, it was marvelous!  For the past two years I have wanted to do the long tour where one actually crawls around in the lava tubes, but two years ago there were never enough people who signed up for a long tour, and right now, with the pandemic, they are not doing any long tours.  That will have to wait till the next time.  Today's adventure was a taste leaving me wanting more.  

I have never been in a lava tube before.  The other caves that I have visited have been limestone caves where the stalactites and stalagmites grow with time due to mineral deposits.  In the lava tube, there are no mineral deposits, so the formations do not change over time.  Parts of the walls are 'glazed' due to hot lava melting the existing rock creating a smooth shiny surface.  Where the lava cooled more slowly, the rock is the familiar black basalt that one finds all over the island.  In some spots, there are vent holes to the upper lava tube where the pressure below was too great.  

On the surface, there is no evidence of the extensive tunnel system underground.  Cows graze over it, but the farms in that area are forbidden to use heavy machinery so as not to further damage the tunnels which experienced cracking when the highway was built.  

The young man who led our tour was knowledgeable and, I was told, does the long tour.  Let's hope that after the pandemic, that will start again and I can join!