Leiden, Vienna, Leiden, Morocco, Leiden – December 2019 -January 2020

INCOMPLETE AS OF 1/21/2020

Tuesday 12/17/2019

Finished packing, turned water heater to “vacation”, left for Berkeley Heights at 11:10 am arrived BH at 1:30pm. Ed drove us to the airport. Quick traversal of TSA. Hung around. Flight left at 6pm. Full plane. Watched movie – The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Watched parts of others. No sleep.

Wednesday 12/18/2019 – Amsterdam – Leiden

Arrived Schiphol Airport about 7:15am. Very fast transit through customs and baggage. Caught 7:57 train. Arrived Maredijk 19C at 8:30. Coffee and chat with Nan and Jonathan. J. Upset about problems with contractor in Vietnam. Walked to Vodaphone store for SIM cards, then a circuit through the market. Light was very good coming from a low angle with few clouds in the sky.

Nap.

Lunch with kids at pizza place.’

More nap.

Dinner at home. Lots of chatter from Jesse and Anna, especially Anna. Cartoons. Bed at 9pm.

Jonathan bought this 18 yr old Dewars for us.

Thursday 12/19/2019 – Leiden

Slept thru the night and until 11am. Overslept. After breakfast walked to Museum de Lakenhal. Saw exhibit of early Rembrandt. Also exhibits about the weaving industry in 18th century Leiden.

Went to dinner at Thai restaurant while Anna and Jesse had a special dinner at their school.

Friday 12/20/2019 – Vienna

Virtually no sleep through the night. Up at 6:45am ….breakfast….out the door to train station. Arrive Schiphol ~8:15am. Flight to Vienna departed 15 minutes late at 10:30am….arrive Vienna airport at about 12:30. After figuring g out which bus to take arrived in Olde City Center by 2:30. Checked in to Star Light Hotel. Walked around a bit. Had “hot dog” cut up in little pieces within mustard and Diet Coke standing at a kiosk. Walked around on fancy shopping streets. Demel Bakery. Loos Architecture. – loos, American Bar, building opposite Royal Apartments. St Peters Church. St. Michaels Church. Lots of Christmas decorations… Apple strudel and coffee.

Located Music Verein concert hall….dinner at Cafe Schwartzenberg ( Kärntner Ring 17). Met a local couple who were also going to the concert. The concert was at the Musikverein, the hall where the Vienna Philharminc performs. The Orchestra was the Wien Symphoniker. The program began with Mozart’s Overture to Figaro followed by the Ladislawski Cello Concerto. The final piece was the Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4. The concert hall looked like a Baroque version of Boston Symphony Hall though a bit narrower and generally smaller. Acoustics excellent. Walked back to Starlight. Another night of almost no sleep.

Saturday 12/21/2019 – Vienna

Woke up late. Breakfast around the corner. Then we set off to find some Art Nouveaux buildings on Fleishmarkt Gasse. After following a map for a while to no avail, took out phones for Google maps. This sent us in the opposite direction and roused angst. Finally came on the street (there are two of the same name 1/2 a mile apart). Rain. Walked through St. Stephens Platz where there were enormous crowds waiting to get into St. Stephens Church. We pushed on by taking the subway from the station at this square to Karlskirche.

Kalrskirche – large Christmas market outside. – elevator structure inside along with large aluminized balloons. Great views of inside and outside the building from the top. Also bought tickets for music in the church on Sunday evening.

Walked to Secsssion Museum not far away. Stopped in Nashmarkt where there are kilts of fish and other goods. Ate at kebap(sic)and pizza place. Klimt Beethoven mural and other contemporary art in a building that looks modern today and must have really jumped our in 1910.

Rain

Walked over to Opera House – now a little after 5pm. It was closed for tours. Rain. Then walked one minute to Albertina Museum. Durer exhibit….. Warhol bis Richter exhibit.

More rain…. walked through the Hapsburg Palace complex. Stopped at another Christmas market for Christmas punch moist extra schuss”. Bought some cheese and bread along with sweets.

Had dinner in the hotel room. Watched part of a Jack Nicholson vehicle…. As Good As It Gets

Another night of no sleep.

Sunday 12/22/2019 – Vienna

Up late again. 10:30 am breakfast in the same place around the corner. Rain and wind…. took subway to Karls Platz stop…walked to MAK museum (Museum für angewandte Kunst)…Thonet bentwood chairs exhibit. MAK Design Workshop in the basement…

Subway to Kunsthistorisches Museum. Caravaggio-Bernini exhibit…noisy floors – not much of interest.

Rain…Lunch in Museum cafe….Toured through the historical painting galleries. Most enjoyed the Dutch painting section… dinner at L’Opera Cafe & Bar,,,

Rain…. walk back to hotel.

Monday 12/23/2019 – Vienna – Leiden

Another no sleep night. Up late again. More rain…lots of wind…. took subway to new Haupthafbahn railway station. Modern, functional, but not an addition to the world’s great stations. Breakfast of pho.

Rain and wind…. walked to Belvedere palace. Line 150 yards long of people waiting to buy tickets in driving rain… Karen upset to miss the extensive collection of Klimt paintings. Spent 31 euros online to buy what turned out to be useless “vouchers”. More wind driven rain…. subway and walk back to hotel. One good stroke of luck was to find the airport bus waiting for us at the stop. waited around for two hours ate airport for two hour flight back to Amsterdam. Dinner was waiting for us at 19c when we arrived at 8pm.

Good sleep…..finally

Tuesday 12/24/2019 – Leiden

After breakfast, Jonathan went to work, the rest of us walked over to the Naturalis Biodiversity Center…. snack at museum….then walked to meet up with Jonathan the movies, Frozen II. Jesse ate a large box of popcorn pretty much on his own. Karen almost matched him. Mark snoozed through the songs.

Walked home. Indian take out….

Another night of good sleep.

Wednesday 12/25/2019 – Christmas – Leiden

Up by 8:30 for present opening. Presents…. coffee…lunch at Hot King Chinese restaurant in Den Haag…. kids watched 1964 Burl Ives movie Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Preparations for departure to Morocco tomorrow.

Thursday 12/26/2019 – Morocco – Casablanca

Fly to Paris from Amsterdam then on to Casablanca. When we arrived at the hotel Nan had arranged they announced that we had to find another place because of some water problems on. She got a habit outraged and we ended up staying at Idou Anfa. Dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Friday 12/27/2019 – Casablanca

Breakfast at hotel. Cab to Hassan II Mosque – huge place. Tour. Walk 1through neighborhood- quite poor adjacent to mosque. Lunch at La Sqala. Off to train station Casa Port for 1 1/2 hour ride to Rabat. 20 minute walk through Médina to hotel – Riad Dar Dar at a dead end alley (13, Rue sidi Kacem – Medina de Rabat). Walked to old fort at mouth of a river and the Atlantic Ocean. Dinner at hotel.

Saturday 12/28/2019 – Casablanca – Fes

Breakfast at hotel. Taxi to Chellah archeological site. Phoenicians, Romans, Muslims, abandoned in 1154 CE. Taxi back to hotel then walk to railway station. Lunch at Le Capri – hurried – got to train with 5 minutes to spare. 3 hour ride in hot carriage to Fes. Big argument among taxi drivers about who would drive us. Dropped at Blue Gate of the Medina. Walk in narrow alleys to Riad Le Chifris hotel (no. 15 Sidi kjih Talaa sghira Fes Medina). Dinner at Cafe Restaurant El Khmissa. Loud band of musicians upstairs. Waiter has brother in Brooklyn. Good food.

Sunday 12/29/2019 – Fes

Breakfast at hotel. Met guide, Hamid, at Blue Gate. He was suggested by a French teacher Jonathan had chatted up on the train the day before. Toured through Medina, his birth place. Woodworking shop, rugs, tannery. Local architecture. Lots of discussion of Moroccan history. Lunch at restaurant run by his friends. Taxi to garden near Royal Palace. Worked our way towards old Jewish Quarter, Melah (sp.?) Bumped into old guy who spoke excellent English and had obvious knowledge of this section. Much poorer. Old Jewish temple that is undergoing restoration and a large cemetery. Walked back to Medina. Dinner at M Touch Restaraunt.