Saturday, June 4, 2016

Back in (now) sunny Vancouver

Lot's has happened since we spoke.  I flew to Washington, meeting Peter at the airport.  (As old as \i get, and as much as I travel, it still makes me feel sophisticated to do that.)  We Ubered it (speaking of feeling sophisticated) to the hotel (Carlisle, a Kapinski hotel near Dupont Circle, highly recommend it) and got settled in before setting out for dinner at Mai Tai, a local Thai place.





Peter is the Tai food expert,. and he gave it a thumbs up.  \me, the non-expert, did too, for decor, service, and food.

Well, Washington is a museum city, so we got started the next day with the Philips Collection, which bills itself as America's first modern art museum.








I so much love going to museums with Peter.  Between his degree in Art History and his encyclopedic knowledge of gossip, it's like having my own private tour.

We got back to the hotel (the museum as actually quite close) in time for a nap and dinner (The Rigsby, the hotel's restaurant, actually quite decent) and then off to the opera, the reason for the trip.  I had forgotten what an ugly space Kennedy Center really is, but no matter, the opera - Das Rhinegold, first of the Wagner Ring Cycle operas - was fabulous.  I could quibble over some of the sincers - the Alberecht was particularly weak - but (for a change) I liked the production (A San Francisco production I had seen before, tweaked) and, well, the music is glorious.

Tuesday started with a quick coffee and roll at the Pan Quotidian, after which my old law school chum picked me up from the hotel for a mini-40-year reunion.



Funny thing about people you haven't seen for a while.  You always picture them young!!  But he is still young at heart, and a lot happier in his own skin than I remember him being.  Paul lives in Alexandria now, and we cruised around there before landing at his local favourite, Southside 815, for a late lunch (as planned.  That night was the performance of Walkure, a long opera with a 6 o'clock curtain, so no time for dinner.  Anyway, we talked and talked, had a great time catching up, and both agreed that we couldn't let another 40 years go by without seeing each other again!!!

Again, a great performance that Wednesday night (Ninna Stemme was brilliant as Brunhilde, and the Walkure arrived on stage by parachute!!!!), and as it was the second night, we knew just where to go for an Uber pick up for a quick ride home.

One is always a bit wired after these operas, so we stopped at the hotel bar for a nightcap to decompress.  Not worth mentioning, really, except that there were a number of opera goers (from around the globe), and we were loud and excited, and attracted the interest of some (already sloshed - it was, of course, midnight) who wanted to know what would bring us from all over the globe for - opera.  We tried to come up with an appropriate analogy, and tried to liken our passion to the Deadheads following The Grateful Dead around.  We soon figured out (we were not drunk) from the blank stares that these people had no idea who The Grateful Dead were!  Talk about feeling old!

Thursday was a day off from an opera performance, but Peter and I did attend a seminar on the Ring.




....attended by singers (above were our Donner, Hundig and Frika), directors, and various other Wagner afficiados.  The Ring is one of those things in life that rewards study, so we all (we crazy people) try to pick up what we can, about the music, prior productions, history, you name it).  This one was particularly enjoyable.

Since we actually had time for a leisurely dinner, we went to The Bombay Room.






I know, I know, why am I eating Indian food when in less than a week, I will be back in the home of Indian food?  Well, I was craving it, and, frankly, this was nicer than the Indian food we get in Vancouver.  Once again, two thumbs up.

Friday, we had time for the Hirshhorn Museum and the National Gallery (really, not enough time for a fraction of the things one could do here....), before the usual pre-opera nap and Sigfried.  (This is Peter's favourite, as it is the most "human" of the operas (more real people, less god involvement.  I can't pick a favourite - they are all wonderful to me, for different reasons).

Saturday was an opera-free day, and we took the opportunity to wander around D.C. (albeit in the rain - it has been more or less raining all week).....

First the farmer's market....




.......followed by a walk through Dupont Circle, Georgetown, and beyond...










Above is, believe it or not, the place where I lived while I was going to law school!!!!  Still there, after lo these 40 years, albeit now a retirement home (fitting I guess!)

We followed it up with dinner at I Ricci, Italian, of course, and quite lovely (ions better than the Italian in Houston a few weeks prior!)


And, all too soon, we come to Sunday, and the grand finale, Gotterdammerung (also known as Twilight of the Gods, or, as I refer to it, the end of the world as we know it).


(Above, Fasolt and Fafner, the giants who built Valhalla in Rhinegold, wandering about the lobby creating photo ops)

 It is a five hour extravaganza of glorious music, after which the world is destroyed by fire, and, in a happy ending (of sorts), we all get to start over, and, hopefully, do it better next time.....

As it was a matinee (leaving plenty of time for curtain calls and bravos, of which there were many), we even had time for dinner (at a local steak chain, whose name escapes me but you would recognize if you heard it)...



.....and so ended a wonderful week.  Monday morning, reasonably early, we headed for the airport for the trek home.  It was reasonably painless - I am usually TSA pre-screened these days, thank god, and on the Vancouver side, Nexus helps me avoid the lines around Customs and Immigration.  So, even having checked luggage (something I hadn't done for - literally - decades, but had to do as the trip from Palm Springs included some clothing items I couldn't live without, not to mention outfits for four operas...), I was home in Vancouver in good time....


....and back to work Tuesday, in the rain.,..,..

But it was good to see everyone, and join the traditional Pho lunch.....



Deidre had even arranged a Girls Night Out dinner at a new (to me) Chinese restaurant called The Gingeree...




Well, the food was okay (although not great), but the company was wonderful!

So, back to work, and back to walking as well....









For those of you who don't recognize it, below is a dogwood, our provincial tree.....






(Yes, I know there are three of them, but I am a sucker for a rabbit sniffing a daisy.....)

And yes, back to the bridge routine as well, sushi and bridge with the boys on Thursday night, and bridge with friend Alex (who I played with in the desert and who also lives in this neck of the woods) twice a week at the Vancouver Bridge Club (a new but very convenient venue for me).  Friend Robin will be added to the mix next week, when she gets back from Europe.

And back to the theater scene as well, with dinner at Bravo Cucina on the north shore and theater - The Merry Widow.   (great fun!!)

And now you are up to date.....