March 22, 2013 - San Diego, California

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 2013 found us back in San Diego for the American Academy of Neurology Meeting.  As always, it gave us the opportunity to catch up with some residency friends - Dean, Dan, and John.  Unfortunately, it was the first Academy Meeting since residency that our friends Billy and Amy were unable to attend.

Dinner at Roy's with Dean Tuesday night (3/19) was nice (AUTHOR'S NOTE: Roy's is a high end chain founded by Hawaiian chef Roy Yamaguchi.  With locations in San Francisco, San Diego, and downtown Los Angelos, it was a pretty common dinner spot for West Coast conferences - although they now have one right here in Baltimore).  I had the usual Ahi tuna.  Lisa had the halibut.  I don't remember what Dean had.  Very nice to see him again, he is an interesting guy

On the deck of a Soviet Foxtrot class sub

Wednesday (3/20), I had a class in the afternoon (that Dean was in!) on the history of neurology, about lessons we have learned about neurology from war injuries.  In the morning, Lisa and I went to the San Diego maritime museum.  The museum isn't a building, but rather a flotilla of historic ships that you can tour.  We went on the three main ones - HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th century British warship that was used in the film Master and Commander; The Star of India, which is the oldest merchant ship that still goes to sea; and the B-39, a Foxtrot class diesel-electric Soviet submarine.  The Star of India was built in 1863 and began life in the tea trade.  It was converted to a passenger ship to take emigrants to New Zealand.  Later, it was used in the lumber trade between California and Australia.  Finally, it was sold to an American company who renamed it Star of India (original name was Euterpe) and used it in the salmon trade between Alaska and San Francisco.  By far, the most interesting of ships was the Soviet submarine.  I was 18 when the Berlin wall came down, signalling the beginning of the end of the Cold War.  Never in my wildest dreams as kid could I have imagined standing on the deck of a Soviet submarine and touring the inside.  Although bigger than the USS Torsk, the WWII era sub in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, it is still cramped.  The enlisted hot bunk and an area where the officers can meet, play cards, or eat also doubles as the ship's surgery!  We got some great pics of the torpedo room and on the deck.  Amazing.

Torpedo Room

The tour was self-guided.  In the Russian sub and on the Star of India there were lots of placards explaining things.  There were also guides on the Star of India that were available for questions.  We chatted with them for a while as they were quite pleasant full of old stories of ships and local celebs.  They seemed impressed that we were at their museum, all the way from Baltimore!

After the museum, we had a lovely lunch at Anthony's Seafood Grotto, which was right next door and written up in one of the guide books as a nice place.  The dining room was stunning, with a wall of windows that looked out over San Diego Bay.  Even though we weren't seated right by the window, we could still appreciate the view well from our table.  Our server, named M and M, was one of the most delightfully pleasant people I have ever met and the service was wonderful.  The food was excellent.  Hot rolls came with a dried tomato and garlic flavoured butter.  They had some smaller plates that were perfect for lunch.  Lisa and the grilled fish taco with cole slaw as her side.  The cole slaw was very good and had a mango dressing on top.  I had the tortilla-crusted tilapia with a side of steamed vegetables, which was lovely.  Washed it down with a draught of the local Karl Strauss Red Trolley Ale.

For dinner that night (after my class), we went to an Indian restaurant in the Gaslamp District called Royal India.  Quite good.  Excellent vegetable samosa (with fantastic mint chutney) and good naan.  I had the chicken tikka white wine curry (which turned out to be similar to chicken tikka masala) and Lisa had a coconut pineapple curry, which she was able to order mild.

Yesterday (3/21) I took the the day off from the conference and we rented a car and drove to La Jolla for the day.  The weather was gorgeous and it was an easy drive, although the rental car set us back $100.  After parking the car, we walked down to the water at La Jolla cove, also called the Children's Cove.  It is an inlet protected by a man made sea wall that serves as a refuge for what were either seals or sea lions (not entirely sure, but think seals).  There must have been 50-60 sunning themselves on the beach or on the rocks as we looked down from a park bench by the side of the road above the cove.  We hung out there for a bit before moving on and, frankly, the weather was so nice and view so relaxing, I could have sat there all day...

Seal sunning himself at La Jolla Cove

After the seals, we walked a half-mile up Girard Avenue and back, which seemed to be the main drag in La Jolla.  It is filled with shops and cafes.  The shops are as eclectic as Boston's Newburg Street - from high end to antiques to souvenir shops.  We browsed two book stores, one before lunch and one after.  The first bookstore was called Warwick's.  It sells new books but had an interesting selection.  Lisa nearly bought a book by a local author, but decided not to.  She couldn't find any San Diego set mysteries.

For lunch, we went to Rubio's!!!!  Rubio's is a west coast chain, but it originated in San Diego.  They serve fast, fresh Mexican food (same concept as Baja Fresh, a west coast chain that has spread east) and their fish taco is amazing.  It is the standard by which I measure all fish tacos (at least all fried fish ones).  We first had them at the baseball game in San Diego the last time we came (and a couple of other times on that trip) and I had one the last time I was in San Francisco as well.  Battered and fried Alaskan cod, cabbage, white sauce, and a squeeze of lime juice...  Wonderful!  I had the two fish taco platter (with chips and black beans) and washed it down with a Stone IPA, brewed in North San Diego County.  Lisa had one fish taco and a side of chips.

After lunch, we went to the second bookstore, D.G. Wills.  Mr. Wills (D.G.) was there and was quite a character.  Although he didn't talk to us much, he chatted up a storm with a couple from Chicago.  The bookshelves extend all the way up to a high ceiling and, although I missed it, there was even a secret room.  He had a mixture of new and used books with an emphasis on antiques or collectible editions (vintage, first edition, and/or leather bound editions).  I did manage to find a bargain copy of Fulton Sheen's Life of Christ.  He had a lot of the Gryphon Editions classics of Medicine series (leather bound), but no good neurology titles in that series.

After D.G. Wills, we had a cup of tea next door at a place called Pannikin Coffee and Tea, which I gathered was one of the few remaining locations of what used to be a local chain.  The tea was quite nice.  Lisa had an English breakfast tea, I had a Ceylon tea, and we sat in glorious California sunshine on a large outdoor patio while listening to 80's music they had playing overhead.

After tea, we walked the half-mile back to the car, browsed a t-shirt shop and stopped for gelato (Lisa had strawberry and I had tiramasu - good, but we've had better), before driving back to downtown San Diego and returning the rental. All in all, a delightful day.

Last night we went to a microbrew pub called Karl Strauss Brewery in Little Italy with Dean, Dan, and John.  The food was average, but the beer was good and the camaraderie excellent - really great to see those guys!

Today I had a class in the afternoon, but we booked a whale watching tour for this morning.  Again we had beautiful weather.  A local aquarium provided guides and our guide, Stephanie, was very knowledgeable.  Apparently grey whales migrate from the Arctic to lagoons in Mexico to spawn- a 10,000+ mile migration!  The San Diego whale tours take advantage of this migration (tours run from 12/26 to 4/14) to see whales and they issue you a voucher for a return trip if there are no sightings.  The grey whale is a baleen whale but actually a bottom feeder, filtering mouthfuls of arctic sea mud with its baleen for shrimp-like arthropods.  They spend six months feeding and growing and six months in the migration, mating, and birthing, during which they fast.  They are also covered with parastic barnacles and symbiotic whale lice.  The whale lice eat dead skin and reduce the itching caused by the barnacles.

While a few passengers experienced some moton sickness once we got out of San Diego Bay and onto the open ocean, Lisa and I found it quite pleasant.  We saw sea lions in the bay as well as the Coronado Navy Base.  Lisa got some shots of the USS Midway (a retired aircraft carrier we toured on our previous trip to San Diego) and the San Diego skyline from the water.  We saw a juvenile grey whale early in the tour, but a couple of hours later we were rewarded with getting a very close look at about 5-6 grey whales together (grey whales are about 40-50 ft long and weigh about 60,000 pounds).  We also saw several pods of dolpins and a kelp forest off Point Loma.  All in all, we had a very enjoyable cruise.

USS Midway

After the cruise and before my 3 PM class, we had lunch at the Fish Market (we ahd eaten there with Dan after touring the Midway on our last trip).  We sat outside on a narrow deck overlooking the bay, which was nice, but I think Lisa thought it was too much sun.  Lisa had a lobster roll and I had very tasty teriyaki mahi mahi sliders (2) with a side of excellent homemade cole slaw.  I washed mine down with a draught of Ballast Point Pale Ale (we learned on the cruise that Ballast Point was once the center of the whaling industry).  It was quite good, but I'd give a slight edge to Anthony's Fish Grotto.

September 30, 2012 - Quebec City, Canada

The weather today has been abysmal.  The wind has been ferocious, but we are making the best of it.

Breakfast is included in our hotel and it was a nice continental - toast, cereals, hard boiled eggs, croissants and, reminiscent of our hotel in Prague, ham and cheeses.  There were also fruit salad, apples, and oranges.  Coffee was good, but no good tea selection.

Funicular connecting upper town and lower town

 

After breakfast, it was overcast, cool, and very windy, but not yet raining.  We walked over, through the lower town, to the funicular.  I can't say enough how picturesque a little city Quebec is with its old cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants, and cafes.  For $2 CAD the funicular takes you up to the upper town (there are steps too, but it is well worth the $2 to avoid them) to a wide promenade in front of Quebec City's most recognizable landmark, the Victorian Era Chateau Frontenac hotel.  The view of the St. Lawrence, dotted with cruise ships, was stunning, even with the clouds and wind.  Although I think Lisa was getting frustrated with the picture taking because her hair was blowing everywhere.  I wore a hat, but I was constantly tightening the adjustable size, afraid in would blow off!

We wanted to tour the hotel, but with steady rain in the forecast for the afternoon we decided to tour the Citadel before it started to rain.

Fortifications at the Citadel

The Citadel was built on Cap Diamant (so named for the quartz deposits that Cartier initially thought were diamonds), the highest point in Quebec City and the narrowest point in the St. Lawrence river (from which Quebec derives its name, from the Algonquin word kebec, meaning where the river narrows), making it an ideal location for a fortification.  There are some 17th century French buildings on the site, but the current fort was constructed as a British fort in 1820 - out of concerns that the U.S. might try again to invade Canada.  It has the same "star" design with corner bastions as other forts of the era, such as Baltimore's Fort McHenry.  It is still an active military base, of sorts, as it is the headquarters of the Royal Canadian 22nd Regiment (although the whole regiment is no longer barracked there), a French-Canadian regiment formed in 1914 to fight in World War I.  The motto of the regiment is the motto of the province of Quebec, "Je me souviens," or, "I remember," - specifically, for the soldiers, that they remember their fallen comrades.  A cross from Vimy, France, stands as a memorial to the regiment's first victory and the thousands that lost their lives achieving it.

View of the St. Lawrence from the Citadel

The tour of the Citadel was very good and again the views of the city, the river, and the Chateau Frontenac were spectacular.  We were also there for the firing of the cannon, which happens every day at noon, so that was pretty cool.  It replaced a ball, visible from the river, that used to rise at noon and descend at 1 PM.  Both were originally to communicate to ships docked there accurate local time to which to set clocks to subsequently be able to find longitude at sea.  Unfortunately, the only do the changing of the guard ceremony in the summer (through mid-September).  After riots in the 1830's, internal defenses were built to fall back on, in case they (British soldiers) were attacked by Quebecois!  This culminates on a long promontory overlooking the river with an absolutely stellar view!  One the two official residences (the other, I presume, is in Ottawa) of the Governor-General of Canada (the British monarch's regent in Canada as officially the reigning monarch of England is still the head of state in Canada) is also in the Citadel.  You can tour this, but we did not.

View of Chateau Frontenac and Promenade from Citadel

There are a couple of museums about the regiment in the Citadel.  One had a display about the regiment in Afghanistan.  They were the last Canadian combat unit to leave Afghanistan last year (AUTHOR'S NOTE: U.S. and Allied Forces had invaded Afghanistan in 2002 for harboring the Al Qaida terrorists that planned the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.  As of this writing, U.S. Forces still occupied Afghanistan).  A large parade area in the center of the Citadel is used for ceremonies, including remembrance of the Battle of Vimy on April 9.

After touring the Citadel, we walked back toward Chateau Frontenac and found a lovely little place for lunch on Rue Saint-Louis called Restaurant Le Cavour.  They had Quebec beers from the Unibroue brewery - I had the Matilde, a red been which I had also had at dinner last night, and Lisa had their white beer.  Both were very good.  For lunch, Lisa had a cheese crepe in white sauce and I had the filet of sole lunch special which, in addition to the fish (which was tasty), included a delicious carrot soup and a small amount of carrots, mashed potatoes, wonderful stewed zucchini, and tea.

We finished lunch around 2.30 PM and by then it was starting to rain (and it has rained continuously since then).  We decided to save Chateau Frontenac for tomorrow because we paid for a pass to the Museum of Civilization when we went to the Museum of New France yesterday and it closed at 5 PM, wasn't open on Monday (tomorrow) and, although it is right across the street from our hotel, we probably wouldn't have time Tuesday morning before going to the airport.

The Museum of Civilization, like the Museum of New France, is visually stunning and engaging.  The emphasis is on Native American culture and the land and people of Quebec, but there is also a Japanese exhibit, an extra admission Samurai exhibit (which we did not see), and even a Nigerian art exhibit.  The Native American exhibit was very interesting and featured some wonderful artifacts and reproductions- including a 30-foot birch bark canoe!  The exhibit on the land and people of Quebec was visually the most spectacular.  As you walk from display to display, the display on the floor is the St. Lawrence and you are flanked on both sides by illuminated curtains depicting scenery of the landscape.  In the middle of each section is a round table with a video screen in the center and picture scenes around the edges with text information in both French and English.  No real museum pieces in this section on the land, but visually engaging displays.

After the museum, we chilled at the hotel for a while before finally deciding on a plan for dinner - which got nixed!  After much deliberation, we found a place that sounded good, was casual, had great reviews on Yelp and Travel Advisor, but most importantly was only 100 m from the hotel - a short walk in the nasty weather.  But, alas, it was closed.  Whether it was closed on Sundays or only open for lunch, I don't really know, but I think the former because some of the reviews sound like people went in the evening. 

Anyway, from there it was a short walk to the bistro next to the Asian place where he had dinner the night before (tasty, but not exactly what I would call Thai curry...  Had the same beer as I had at lunch today.  However the owner's daughter was running the place last night and she was delightful.  Came and chatted with us for a while and made us feel right at home!), which I had thought was the Belgian bistro we saw on the way to the hotel from the airport, but it was not.  It was called Bistro Brigante and was essentially a gastro pub.  Reminded me some of The Three Muses in New Orleans, although it had traditional table service (rather than order at the bar) and no live music.  It wasn't very crowded, so it was small, quiet and cozy, and really quite romantic - in fact there was a young French speaking couple there on a date.  The menu was eclectic with appetizers ranging from nachos to a real Greek salad and a local cheese plate.  We shared a cheese plate to start and, other than the blue cheese which neither of us like, it was quite good.  Then we both had the salmon, which was wonderful.  Topped with capers and olives and served on rice with some zucchini on the side.  There was some sauce on it, but not much, and the fish was delightful.  Lisa had another Cheval Blanc and I had the pilsner from a Quebec brewery called Innobrou, which was excellent - arguably the best beer I have had on the trip so far.  We did really well for meals today despite picking places at random!

May 18, 2012 - London, England

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following journal entry was taken from a very impromptu trip to London in May 2012.  We decided to go only about six weeks prior to our departure.  Lisa's friend, April, was traveling to take a class for her job.  When her coworker who was supposed to go as well left the company and she thought she would be traveling alone, she asked Lisa if she would come with her.  I encouraged Lisa to go, expressed my jealousy, and the we decide to both go!  As it turns out, they hired a replacement for April's coworker, named Dan, and he took the course as well so ultimately April wouldn't have had to travel alone...  We had also hoped to see our Irish friend, Gemma, on this trip, who had moved from Maryland to Cambridge, England.

Wednesday (May 16) we met with April and Dan at 8.30 AM for breakfast.  They had found an inexpensive breakfast place not far from the hotel, near the Tottenham Court Road Underground Station (where Lisa and I had gotten off to go to the hotel, but which is actually not as close to the hotel as the Goodge Street Station, which I affectionately refer to as, "The Gooch.") called Garfunkel's.  It's a chain and I have seen several around London.  We had a very nice Eastern European waiter and April and Dan both had coffee while Lisa and I had tea (Twinings English Breakfast).  I splurged and had the English breakfast - a piece of bacon, a wonderful sausage, one egg, a small hash brown, grilled tomato, and grilled mushroom.  Left the mushroom, of course, but the rest was very tasty.  Lisa had toast and sausage, April bacon and eggs, and Dan porridge.  After breakfast, I asked April and Dan where the Starbuck's they mentioned was so that we could use the WiFi (AUTHOR'S NOTE: This would be our last trip overseas without an international data plan!).  Dan recalled one back up by the Goodge Street Underground Station, but unfortunately he forgot about the one just around the corner from Garfunkel's on Oxford Street!  Anyway, we walked all the way back up to the other one and I sent an email to my Mom and to Lisa's Dad to let them know we had arrived safely.  I also sent a message to Gemma, our friend in Cambridge, to coordinate meeting with her, which, sadly, was not to happen.

Wednesday morning, we went and saw the Churchill War Rooms.  Can't believe we have never done this before. What an amazing piece of history - the underground bunker near #10 and Parliament where Churchill and the British government ran the war.  Many of the rooms, such as the the main conference room and the telephone dispatch room have been left just as they were, including the date in the dispatch room still saying August 16 [1945], the day after the Japanese surrendered (V-J Day) and the last day anyone worked there.  In one of the map rooms, the original map still hangs with graffiti picture of Hitler drawn in the Atlantic Ocean.  The audio tour pointed out the scrambler phones and a device that Churchill and the others referred to as a, "klop," which was a hole-punch that made a, "klop," sound when used.  Churchill insisted that documents be hole punched and then fastened with a ring or tied as he disliked both paper clips and staples.  There were signs admonishing no whistling or other unnecessary noises as Mr. Churchill hated extraneous noises, especially whistling (I am sure he would have really been annoyed by cell phones ringing...).  He was indefatigable, working 8 AM to 3 AM workdays throughout the war.

Half-way through the tour, there is wonderful Churchill museum which exhibits the entirety of his life.  There are interactive poll questions, followed by supplemental information to see if you changed your mind. There is also a huge interactive timeline in which you can look up and read about specific dates in his life.  They have a number of Churchill effects, including one of the zipper suits he wore, the flag that draped his coffin (he lived to be 90), the revolver he carried during his daring escape from South Africa during the Boer War, and facsimiles of some of his paintings of Chartwell (his home) - Churchill painted!  I also didn't realize he had backed Edward VIII in the abdication crisis.

As fantastic as the Churchill museum is, it really is a bit much in combination with the war rooms, which themselves take a while to tour and are a lot to see.  There really is a lot of information down there and it is hard to take in all of it in a reasonable period of time.  Nonetheless, it was well worth the attempt.

By the time we finished the tour, it was nearly 2 and we were famished.  We had lunch at a pub just across from Parliament called St. Stephen's Tavern.  Nice place.  I had a Thai-style chicken green curry, which was reasonably good, and Lisa and fish and chips, which she thought was OK.  However, her Pearwood pear cider was lovely and my seasonal ale was pretty good.

Lisa and I and the London Eye

After lunch, we crossed the river and to the London Eye.  We had done this on our first trip to London nine years ago, but Lisa is rather obsessed with it 😁.  It is pretty cool.  Large capsules that hold 25 people with space to walk around rotate ever so slowly so that you hardly notice the movement around a large Ferris wheel and afford wonderful views of London.  We took some nice pictures from there.  In the visitor's center, where we bought tickets, there was free WiFi so I checked email, which included a message from Lisa's Auntie Peg (who lives in Greenwich) saying to meet here at Trafalgar Square Thursday (yesterday, but tomorrow as I was reading the message) in front of the National Gallery at 11 AM.

Palace of Westminster as viewed from London Eye

 After the London Eye, we made our way back to the hotel to meet April and Dan before going to dinner.

April 23, 2012 - New Orleans, Louisiana

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was in New Orleans in April 2012 for the American Academy of Neurology Meeting.  Lisa was to join me midweek and my friend Dan from residency had just moved there about a year previously.  The sight-seeing in this journal entry is minimal, but I felt it captured the feel of New Orleans well.

This morning I am at Mother's (featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive In and Dives) for breakfast on my second full day in New Orleans (NOLA) during my first visit in 8 years and my first since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city 7 years ago.

I arrived two nights ago and and after checking into my hotel, I went right to Bourbon Street.  I was looking for Sea Port Cafe and Bar as on my three previous trips to NOLA (college spring break in 1993, interview for residency at Tulane in 1996, and vacation with Lisa in 2004) my first dinner has been jambalaya there.  Alas, it has closed.  Later when I realized where it was, I tried the, "new" place at that location and had a sampling of red beans and rice (yummy) and a Tin Roof Amber Ale - brewed in Baton Rouge and absolutely wonderful.  But, I ended up having dinner (Red dish and a disappointingly small side of jambalaya) at The Old Coffee Pot restaurant in the Quarter on St. Peters' near Pat O'Brien's.  Nothing special, but the mint julep was good.

Bourbon Street was as crazy as ever.  Music was blaring from many of the clubs and, of course, there was a preponderance of Gentlemen's clubs.  Hustler now has a big presence of Bourbon street...  Lots of the old haunts are still there - Maison Bourbon, Pat O'Brien's, Court of the Two Sisters, and, of course, Preservation Hall.  All sorts of craziness - a man half passed out on the street, surrounded by police, a group of about 8 women doing the Electric Slide in the middle of the street (the song was blaring from the bar they were in front of).  I was older than most of the revelers and felt slightly out of place, but I couldn't not have gone, if only to remember previous trips, and there were people of all ages there, including couples old enough to be grandparents, just taking in all the sights.

I passed a bar on St. Peters, just off Bourbon and next to Pat O'Brien's, called The Dungeon.  It brought back a hazy memory going there with my college roommates on our Spring Break trip senior year (I later found out my friend Justin from residency was also in New Orleans for Spring Break in the spring of 1993 - maybe I spilled beer on him and don't even know...).

I had wanted to go to Preservation Hall that night (Lisa will not want to go after she comes down in a couple of days) but it didn't open until 9.30 PM (which was 10.30 to me, having just arrived from the East Coast), when it usually opens at 8 PM, because of a private event.  So, I decided to call it an early night.

Yesterday I had a morning class on neuro-ophthalmology, where I ran into Justin and made plans to join him and initially Dan, but Dan had to bail, for dinner.  After class, I went to the French Quarter and had lunch at the Acme Oyster Company.  Seafood gumbo was a little disappointing (tiny shrimp) but the grilled oysters were fanstastic: char-grilled with some cheese on top.  Add a little Tobasco and it is a beautiful thing.  Washed it down with an Abita amber ale - another quality local beer, this one brewed just outside of NOLA.

Acme was an interesting place.  There was quite a line to get in, but because I was alone, I was taken early.  I sat at the bar next to a woman from Ohio and her friend.  I was waited on by a wonderfully amiable gentleman who made good conversation but almost never looked up from the oysters he was continously shucking.  He never budged from standing in front of me and the Ohioan woman.  I swear, I never saw him write anything down when I ordered (he just kept shucking), there didn't seem to be any electronic ordering system, he never moved, and I didn't catch him relaying my order to anyone verbally and yet, somehow, my correct order promptly arrived!

After lunch, I walked down to Jackson Square.  Popped in to St. Louis Cathedral, lit a candle, and said a prayer.  I remember when I first visited St. Louis 19 years ago, I thought it was the most beautiful church I had ever seen.  While, having been to cathedrals in Europe (including St. Peter's in the Vatican), I can no longer say that, it is still pretty impressive.  It was glorious sunny afternoon and my plan was to plant myself on a bench under one of the big trees in the square and finish reading the cases for my Grievance Committee meeting tomorrow, but even under the tree the glare was too much for the back-lit screen of my Kindle Fire....  So, I had to cut the glorious afternoon short and go back to the hotel.

Cathedral of St. Louis, Jackson Square

 After finishing the cases, I went to the 5.30 PM mass at St. Patrick's Church, which was just a couple of blocks from the my hotel.  Built in the 1850's, it is NOLA's second oldest Catholic Church and another beautiful building.  Really old school - the altar is still built into the apse and the priest said the liturgy of the Eucharist with his back to the congregation!  They also have an old school pulpit and apparently the 9.30 AM mass on Sunday is a Latin mass!

After mass, I went to dinner with Justin and colleague of his from U. of Wisconsin (were Justin is now faculty) named Marcus.  Nice guy, but very quiet and I felt like Justin and I dominated the conversation, which ranged from medicine to politics, to comparative theology!  I had forgotten what a keen mind Justin has!  We ate at a Cuban restaurant on Esplanade, just outside the French Quarter, called Mojito's.  The mojitos were quite good.  The food was good too, not quite as good as Cuba de Ayer back home (or quite as authentic, a lot of New Orleans influence on the menu), but still very good.  We ate several tapas of different things.  I remember the calamari (not fried!), black paella, pork sliders, and short ribs being particularly good.  But, the atmosphere was awesome.  We sat outside on a patio.  The weather was picture perfect.  Inside, a Latin band played while other patrons salsa danced.  Nice little place (Justin had just found it on Urban Spoon).

After dinner, we met up at Pat O'Brien's with another friend of Justin's named Simon.  Simon was a former resident at University of Wisconsin and was now working in Colorado.  Great guy and a lot of fun to hang out with.  Simon is an electromyographer, like me (Justin is a stroke specialist) and although behind me in training, was nearly my age as he got a business degree initially and then went back to med school later.  As it turns out, he is from Towson (Maryland) originally and graduated from Calvert Hall in 1990!  So, he knew my med school friend Ed and graduated high school with my college friend and med school roommate, Bimal (Ed graduated from the Hall in 1989).  Small world, eh?  Another nice guy I met there was a Brazilian named Daniel - big baseball fan, although unfortunately a Yankees fan...

Although I only had one Hurricane at Pat O's (where we sat in the courtyard in front of the fountain/fire), that someone else paid for, we lingered at dinner and hung out for quite a while at Pat O's , so it was nearly 2 AM by the time I got back to the hotel.  Haven't done that in a while!  Made getting up this morning rough and I am really tired!  When Daniel and I left the group to go home, Justin, Marcus, and Simon were going out somewhere else!

Today after breakfast I have an all-day stroke CME course.  At Mother's I had a crawfish etouffee omelet, which was really good (although I could only eat 2/3 of it).  The grits that came with it, however, were amazing.  If I ever eat breakfast there again, I would probably just have the grits and toast!  I would like to come back later in the week with Lisa for lunch to get po'boys.  They are apparently known for their ham (Lisa's favourite) and turkey.

May 8, 2011 - Rome, Italy

Lisa and I arrived in Rome today for vacation.  Flew from BWI, connecting in Philadelphia, which was actually cheaper than booking the flight out of Philly...

Landed in Rome about 8.30 AM local time.  Got to the hotel around 10.15-10.30.  Had to leave our bags as the room was not ready yet, but when we got back in the afternoon they had already taken our bags up.

Our hotel, Hotel San Carlo, is nice.  The room is not as small as we are used to in Europe.  There is a room with a king size bed and another smaller room with a single bed, as well as the bathroom.  Staff have been very courteous and speak English.

In general, we have not run into a language barrier.  We were in touristy areas all day and everyone seemed to speak English and we were given English menus.  I'll be curious to see if things are are any different when we go to Florence later in the week.

We've only been here about 13 hours, but so far, I love Rome.  It has all the vibe and hum of a big city like London or New York, but there is a certain quaintness too with narrow cobblestone streets at bizarre angles that meander here and there, like in Prague, Venice, or Rhodes.  Unlike Venice, much of which is now abandoned, even the side streets in Rome bustle with activity.  While in Venice the small side street might open into an empty and abandoned piazza with a non-functional fountain, the side street and little piazza will contain shops, cafes, gelatorias, and/or restaurants.  I've truly never seen a higher density of restaurants anywhere in my life.  Only the French Quarter in New Orleans comes close, and not really.  Every few feet, at least in the area around the Spanish Steps and the area around the Pantheon, there is a restaurant (or 2, or 3) and they are all serving food, with gracious service, that looks absolutely wonderful.  I think you could spend all day in Rome eating!

After dropping off our bags, we walked over to the Spanish Steps (so named because they were in proximity to the Spanish embassy to the Vatican).  The steps were pretty, dotted with azaleas that were just starting to bloom and packed with tourists.  We had cappucino and a croissant at a small, busy, cafe near the Spanish steps.  There is also a splash of England by the steps: a tea room called Babington's and a museum to Keats, apparently in a house in which he died.

From the Spanish steps, we walked to the Trevi fountain, a truly stunning fountain fed by the end of an old Roman aqueduct and made famous in film.  We each tossed a coin backwards into the fountain, which is supposed to guarantee a return trip to Rome someday.  The Trevi fountain was completely mobbed with tourists, reminiscent of the Charles Bridge in Prague.  We paid a street vendor 5 euro (about $7.50 USD) to take our picture and it actually turned out well.

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

From the Trevi fountain we walked to the Pantheon.  Definitely the most impressive thing we have seen so far.  The original Pantheon was built in the first century as a temple to all gods (hence the name, from the Greek), but the current building was constructed by Hadrian in AD 120.  It became a Christian church in the 7th century and remains so to this day.  This preserved it from being plundered for building material and left to ruin.  It is the only ancient Roman structure in the city that is completely intact.

Oculus in the dome of the Pantheon

The Pantheon is the model for much U.S. Federal era architecture.  Davidge Hall at University of Maryland - Baltimore (where I went to medical school), Mr. Jefferson's rotunda at the University of Viriginia (where I did my neurology residency, and particularly the Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore are all modeled after the Pantheon (as is the U.S. Capitol to some degree).  The Pantheon is capped by a huge dome that is equal in diameter and height.  At the top of the dome, there is a 27-foot diameter oculus that lets in the only light.  Like the Basilica in Baltimore, the stream of light from above creates a sense of illumination and holiness.  Two Italian kings, Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I are entombed in the Pantheon, as is the Renaissance master, Raphael.  The soaring height of the dome, the marble floor, and the ethereal lighting create a marvelous effect and the Pantheon is truly one of the most impressive buildings I have ever set foot in, and certainly the oldest that is still completely intact.

Davidge Hall, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Rotunda, University of Virginia

Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore

We had lunch al fresca on the piazza in front of the Pantheon at a place called Cafe Restaurant Di Rie.  We each had insalata mista (tossed salad, which contained raw fennel - apparently a big thing here - and corn) and shared a quite good pizza Margherita.

Following lunch, we walked over to the Piazza Navona, which isn't a square at all, but a large oval because it was built initially as the Circus of Emperor Domitian.  Standing there, I could just picture Judah Ben Hur driving his team around the track...  At the center of Piazza Navona is Bernini's Fountian of the Four Rivers (which figured prominently in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons).  A statute represents a river on each continent: the Ganges, the Danube, Rio de la Plata, and the Nile.  Smaller Bernini fountains are at each end of the piazza.  We stopped at a gelateria on the piazza for gelato.  I had melon, which was out of this world.  Perhaps the tastiest gelato or ice cream I have every had.  It tasted like a perfectly ripe cantaloupe!

Gelato

We got back to our hotel and checked into our room around 4 PM.  We chilled for a while (actually, I dozed off for a bit) and then around 6-6.30 we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Ristorante al 34.  The food was pretty good, although not spectacular.  We shared a half litre of the house white and they brought us a sample of some chick pea soup with some kind of seafood (calamari, we think) to try.  It was quite tasty (a little salty, but tasty).  Then Lisa had the vegetable soup, which she seemed underwhelmed by, and I had insalata mista.  For entrees, I had the spring lamb, grilled, and Lisa veal saltimbocca, both of which were quite good.  We shared a side of grilled artichoke and capped it off with espresso (when in Rome...).  But, what really made the experience was al fresca dining on a gorgeous evening (it was sunny and 70's today, absolutely gorgeous) on a small cobbled side street while street musicians walk up and down the various restaurants serenading for money.  Others approached selling figurines or roses.  Cars could even drive down the narrow street, no more than six inches from our table!

From Piazza Navona, we walked back to our hotel by a different route (and for the first time got a little turned around on the narrow, winding streets) to pass the early first century mausoleum of Augustus, but unfortunately it was closed for renovation. 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel (around 9 PM) to call it an early night.  All-in-all, a wonderfully fun day.  Tomorrow, it's off the the Coliseum, which we got a glimpse of on our bus ride in from the airport.