Bellagio
January 26, 2005
Viva Las Vegas
As always, we returned bleary-eyed and exhausted from Vegas late Tuesday night. I opened my suitcase and everything smelled like an ashtray. We decided to drive over on Saturday with Mark L. and Arturo. They had a 3 night comp at Bellagio and I shudder to think how much Arturo had to lose to get that. I enjoyed the drive, even though a lot of it is through that odious wasteland of the Inland Empire.
Bellagio was packed with people, we got checked in (11th floor, lake view) and I gave my niece, Rohanna, a call over at Flamingo. She and Thomas were in town to celebrate her birthday so they wandered over and we all went to eat at Cafe Bellagio, which has good food even if it's a bit Dennys-like in appearance. Mark brought her a delicious tres leches cake from the bakery. Ro and Thomas look good...healthy. They told us they go every summer to Burning Man and they're all excited about it this year. Ro has learned to walk on stilts and now I want to do it, too. After dinner, we went with them up to NYNY because they had tickets to see Zumanity and we just wanted to go gamble there. We saw Zumanity last year and it was pretty dull. It's advertised as being very adult. They do a lot of ooohing and aaahing and talking about sex and there's lots of tits, of course, but very little else. I would say it's more naughty than provocative. We squandered a few dollars at NY then back home to crash.
Next morning Mark, Hector and I sat at a blackjack table for a while. It was fun because it was just us and the dealer was really having a good time with us. I ended up about $13 ahead. Later we stood in line at the Paris Buffet for breakfast. Then I did my usual stroll around the different casinos, sniffing about for a lucky machine. I didn't find it but I always enjoy looking at everyone. It's amazing that you can walk a few doors down the strip and it's like traveling from a metropolis to a trailer park in Alabama. At Bellagio people are looking nice, for the most part, and at Circus Circus they're wandering around in flip flops and cutoffs without all their teeth.
Rich Garitano is sort of living in Vegas now so he came over Sunday. He won some money. Late that night we had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi over at Paris. I really like that place a lot. The atmosphere is very soothing to me and I love having a steak with shoestring potatoes. Later, more gambling, home. Arturo wandered in around 2 I think. I had to sleep with earplugs because Mark snores like a cartoon character and I could hear him all night through the plugs.
Next morning, more blackjack but that dealer was a bitch so I didn't stay long. Mark, Hector and I met at the remodeled Bellagio spa in the afternoon and it was just wonderful. They have a steam room, dry sauna, 3 jacuzzis of varying temps, and a cold plunge or, rather, a cool plunge. It's very spacious with nice showers and a big lounge area. The decor is all frosted glass and muted colors. I threw open this frosted glass door thinking I was making an entrance into the steam room and it turned out to be the broom closet. Later, outside, I ran into Fred Dicarlo who was in town for some ING conference. So he came up to the room and yackety-yacked at us until he had to go to the airport. He's very funny. That night we ate at Olives, on the patio by the fountain. Wonderful atmosphere and really great food. I think I had crab. Mark and Hector were schmoozing the staff because we were thinking of throwing my birthday party there in August but that's off now.
We must've been out late the night before because it was late when we got up the next morning. We hit the road and stopped at one of those casinos at the state line for a while. We fantasized that they would have a really yummy, cheap buffet. It was cheap all right. Lots of jello salads, iceberg lettuce, gummy desserts. I lost $100 in about 20 minutes playing roulette. None of those dealers can speak English worth a goddamn. We were all so tired nobody spoke the whole way home.
Bellagio was packed with people, we got checked in (11th floor, lake view) and I gave my niece, Rohanna, a call over at Flamingo. She and Thomas were in town to celebrate her birthday so they wandered over and we all went to eat at Cafe Bellagio, which has good food even if it's a bit Dennys-like in appearance. Mark brought her a delicious tres leches cake from the bakery. Ro and Thomas look good...healthy. They told us they go every summer to Burning Man and they're all excited about it this year. Ro has learned to walk on stilts and now I want to do it, too. After dinner, we went with them up to NYNY because they had tickets to see Zumanity and we just wanted to go gamble there. We saw Zumanity last year and it was pretty dull. It's advertised as being very adult. They do a lot of ooohing and aaahing and talking about sex and there's lots of tits, of course, but very little else. I would say it's more naughty than provocative. We squandered a few dollars at NY then back home to crash.
Next morning Mark, Hector and I sat at a blackjack table for a while. It was fun because it was just us and the dealer was really having a good time with us. I ended up about $13 ahead. Later we stood in line at the Paris Buffet for breakfast. Then I did my usual stroll around the different casinos, sniffing about for a lucky machine. I didn't find it but I always enjoy looking at everyone. It's amazing that you can walk a few doors down the strip and it's like traveling from a metropolis to a trailer park in Alabama. At Bellagio people are looking nice, for the most part, and at Circus Circus they're wandering around in flip flops and cutoffs without all their teeth.
Rich Garitano is sort of living in Vegas now so he came over Sunday. He won some money. Late that night we had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi over at Paris. I really like that place a lot. The atmosphere is very soothing to me and I love having a steak with shoestring potatoes. Later, more gambling, home. Arturo wandered in around 2 I think. I had to sleep with earplugs because Mark snores like a cartoon character and I could hear him all night through the plugs.
Next morning, more blackjack but that dealer was a bitch so I didn't stay long. Mark, Hector and I met at the remodeled Bellagio spa in the afternoon and it was just wonderful. They have a steam room, dry sauna, 3 jacuzzis of varying temps, and a cold plunge or, rather, a cool plunge. It's very spacious with nice showers and a big lounge area. The decor is all frosted glass and muted colors. I threw open this frosted glass door thinking I was making an entrance into the steam room and it turned out to be the broom closet. Later, outside, I ran into Fred Dicarlo who was in town for some ING conference. So he came up to the room and yackety-yacked at us until he had to go to the airport. He's very funny. That night we ate at Olives, on the patio by the fountain. Wonderful atmosphere and really great food. I think I had crab. Mark and Hector were schmoozing the staff because we were thinking of throwing my birthday party there in August but that's off now.
We must've been out late the night before because it was late when we got up the next morning. We hit the road and stopped at one of those casinos at the state line for a while. We fantasized that they would have a really yummy, cheap buffet. It was cheap all right. Lots of jello salads, iceberg lettuce, gummy desserts. I lost $100 in about 20 minutes playing roulette. None of those dealers can speak English worth a goddamn. We were all so tired nobody spoke the whole way home.
January 14, 2005
Manhattan
We got a really good air fare on American for this trip, something under $300 I think. Hector's fare, of course, was paid by the ever-generous company. We got in on Saturday night, January 8, checked into our hotel, the Marriott East Side (49th and Lex, a wonderful location unless you're one of those who just won't go above 14th Street, like my friend Mark B.) We took a long walk up Park Ave to the Park; then had dinner at a little Italian place around the corner from our hotel, and crashed. Next morning, we ambled over to the Plaza to have brunch in the Garden Room. We were about the first ones there which simply means we got the freshest food as far as I'm concerned. It's about $65 for the brunch and it's quite a spread. The Garden Room is lovely and you can almost pretend you're at the glamorous "PLAZA HOTEL" and not the "Plaza, a Fairmont Hotel."
After lunch we walked up to the Metropolitan Museum because we wanted to look again at the Egyptian exhibits. Now that we are egyptologists we have a more discerning eye. Well, it's still fabulous. And the display of everything! With all the bullet-proof glass and expensive lighting it makes the tiniest piece of junk look priceless. But it is a wonderful collection. Had the obligatory stroll across Central Park over to the West Side (81st & Broadway, where I lived in 1980...when I was three) and back. Then took my bloody paws back to the hotel for a rest.
That night we met Mark for drinks at a place in the Village called One If By Land, Two If By Sea, once the carriage house of Aaron Burr. It's charming, you can hardly smell the horses anymore. I can't wait to go back for a real dinner sometime. Mark says it's breathtakingly expensive but everything in NY is that way, so what does that mean? Then the 3 of us met his bf Bill for dinner at Blue Hill. Mark has lost about 30 pounds but actually it looks pretty good. And he seems to be in fine spirits. He isn't working, he's on disability. He told me what all he's getting and he makes more money than me.
Next day Hector had to work so I met Mark down in Chelsea for a bit of shopping. He took me to Prada and he bought the ugliest pair of shoes I've ever seen in my life. I didn't like Prada much. We were being jokey and asked the security guard if we could slide down the hardwood display embankment and he just scowled and gave us a look. Then we went over to Burberry because he wanted... get this... a Burberry dog leash for his new dog. I'm not making that up.
That night we were meeting B & H. Hadn't seen them in quite a while. When I told Mark earlier what their address was he said, "are they fucking rich?" So we were ready for a nice pad but this was really something. It was down on 7th, I believe, in Chelsea. Large and spectacular, modern, really beautiful. They had the plasma TV on when we got there so we'd be sure to notice it. Then we walked over to Sapa, which is French-Vietnamese food and it was good but not wonderful. We saw Steven Van Zandt eating there with a crowd of hangers-on. He had that handkerchief on his head.
All the stores were having big sales. Next day we did some consuming at Banana Republic and then off to JFK. It was really a very nice New York weekend. The weather was cold but partly cloudy until the last day when it began to sleet a little but we were getting out just in time so it didn't matter.
After lunch we walked up to the Metropolitan Museum because we wanted to look again at the Egyptian exhibits. Now that we are egyptologists we have a more discerning eye. Well, it's still fabulous. And the display of everything! With all the bullet-proof glass and expensive lighting it makes the tiniest piece of junk look priceless. But it is a wonderful collection. Had the obligatory stroll across Central Park over to the West Side (81st & Broadway, where I lived in 1980...when I was three) and back. Then took my bloody paws back to the hotel for a rest.
That night we met Mark for drinks at a place in the Village called One If By Land, Two If By Sea, once the carriage house of Aaron Burr. It's charming, you can hardly smell the horses anymore. I can't wait to go back for a real dinner sometime. Mark says it's breathtakingly expensive but everything in NY is that way, so what does that mean? Then the 3 of us met his bf Bill for dinner at Blue Hill. Mark has lost about 30 pounds but actually it looks pretty good. And he seems to be in fine spirits. He isn't working, he's on disability. He told me what all he's getting and he makes more money than me.
Next day Hector had to work so I met Mark down in Chelsea for a bit of shopping. He took me to Prada and he bought the ugliest pair of shoes I've ever seen in my life. I didn't like Prada much. We were being jokey and asked the security guard if we could slide down the hardwood display embankment and he just scowled and gave us a look. Then we went over to Burberry because he wanted... get this... a Burberry dog leash for his new dog. I'm not making that up.
That night we were meeting B & H. Hadn't seen them in quite a while. When I told Mark earlier what their address was he said, "are they fucking rich?" So we were ready for a nice pad but this was really something. It was down on 7th, I believe, in Chelsea. Large and spectacular, modern, really beautiful. They had the plasma TV on when we got there so we'd be sure to notice it. Then we walked over to Sapa, which is French-Vietnamese food and it was good but not wonderful. We saw Steven Van Zandt eating there with a crowd of hangers-on. He had that handkerchief on his head.
All the stores were having big sales. Next day we did some consuming at Banana Republic and then off to JFK. It was really a very nice New York weekend. The weather was cold but partly cloudy until the last day when it began to sleet a little but we were getting out just in time so it didn't matter.
January 05, 2005
Back from Cairo
We returned from our trip to Egypt around the end of December. We decided to do this all-inclusive tour because our friend Orrie did it last year and really loved it. He travels a LOT and said it may have been his best trip ever. We travel a lot, too, but I've never done anything in the exotic all-inclusive department like this so what the hell and it was pretty cheap. We got to New York and flew directly to Cairo from JFK. We upgraded to Business class but the Egypt Air planes are so old it wasn't what I'd call glamorous. Plus, they serve NO ALCOHOL. Did you get that? NO ALCOHOL for a flight lasting eleven and one half hours. There was a First class section but the only people up there seemed to be family and friends of the pilots.
The tour company rep met us at the airport, there was a big crowd of us there. Hector and I looked around our group and it was ALL old white people. The tour people collected all our luggage, which was no easy task, and off we went. Our hotel was really nice, the Cairo Marriott, located on the island of Zamalek. It was built as a guest house for the Empress Eugenie for the opening of the Suez Canal. It's come down a little in the world and now it's a Marriott. We didn't like our room and they quietly moved us. But the hotel was busy 24 hours a day, full of Saudi sheikhs and exotic women covered head to toe.
Next morning they corralled all 132 of us into one of the ballrooms and gave us some stern instructions about always sticking with the group, watching our step because this is Egypt, not Omaha, and the temple floors are all uneven. As we looked around we saw were in for a lot of falling and wandering off. Next we divided into 4 groups that would be our permanent travel groups for the duration. And we got the nicest guide (they prefer the title Tour Director), Basem, although not the cutest one. That was Attia.
Then we went over to the Egyptian Museum, which is a wonderful old building straight out of Indiana Jones. But it's in need of some serious attention. It's crumbling, has broken-out windows and no one has dusted anything above eye level in years. Unlike other countries, the proceeds from the admission tickets do not automatically go for the upkeep of the museum. They go into somebody's pocket farther up in the government and are never seen again. So here's this fabulous collection of some of the most incredible artifacts in the world and most of them are almost completely unprotected. Well, a number of the more important items are screened behind plexiglass and certainly all the extraordinary King Tut artifacts are well protected. But there were initials carved into the feet of the some of the pharoah statues, and not ancient initials, either. Grimy handprints, things crowded together. About half of the items had a faded, descriptive index card that looked like it was typed on Howard Carter's Olivetti. I looked under a stairway and there were some ancient tablets just lying in a corner. However, having said all that, it really was an incredible experience and I have to say that the air of dilapidation made it more fun, as though I really was in an Indiana Jones movie.
The next morning VERY early we caught a plane for Luxor to board our boat, the Anuket. This was to be our home for the next week. The ship was very comfortable, although small. It held about 140 passengers and 75 crew members. 4 floors with a very flat bottom because the Nile River isn't very deep. Our cabin was larger than I expected, 2 beds with a private bathroom but best of all, huge windows that opened like a sliding door with an absolutely fantastic view. We began our cruise and it was sheer heaven, gliding past tiny villages and green farmland. Little children ran to the bank, waving and shouting English phrases like "Hello" and "What's your name?" Everyone was very friendly to us, which was a bit of a surprise since there was a machine gun mounted on the back of the ship and armed guards with us everywhere we went. In fact, all of the Egyptians were warm and curious. But the Egyptian government is trying very hard to encourage more American tourism, we account only for a small percentage of overall tourism there.
To save space here I won't go into detail over each and every temple and tomb we visited that week. But we saw Abydos, Dendera, the Temple of Luxor, Karnak, Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and Abu Simbel. And at each and every one someone tripped and fell and had to be hauled back to the ship or wandered off and got lost.
Although each site was distinct with it's own wonderful story, I must say I enjoyed Karnak best. It's sheer size was overpowering. We returned to see it at night and it was just as impressive. We visited small villages and local markets and got a lesson on proper bargaining techniques, which seemed more obligatory than anything else. In a country as poor as Egypt what is the point of bargaining from 50 cents down to 25 cents? We did learn that if a merchant is really hassling you and you want to shake them, just speak Spanish to them. They won't waste much time with you since it is quite well known that the Spanish are cheap. This is not my own opinion but merely what I was told by the guides.
One night we were waiting our turn at a lock on the river. A lot of us were up on the top deck watching the action, when we began to hear voices from below shouting "hello! hello!" and suddenly small missiles came whizzing past our heads and plopping on the deck like tear gas canisters. It seems that merchants will sail out to the waiting tourist ships to sell their wares. They throw things up at you wrapped in a plastic bag; say a scarf or one of those robes they all wear, called a galibea- you just open the bag and look at the merchandise, lean over the edge and haggle with them a bit, then if you agree on a price, they throw up a second bag and you put the money in and pitch it back down. And it doesn't matter if you hit the wrong boat or don't even hit a boat. They all know whose is what and it's great fun.
After a lovely week on the boat we got up VERY early one morning to catch our plane from Aswan back to Cairo, where we were to spend a few more days. Oh, did I mention that I got deathly ill on the cruise? There was a bronchial infection going around the boat, all the seniors were hacking and wheezing the whole time and I finally caught it. I had a fever for 2 days and Basem brought a doctor on board the ship (that was a novel experience). He poked around on me, gave me some medicine and I started getting better. So, now back in Cairo and having recovered from our initial timidity, we took long walks around the island and went to restaurants away from the group to have dinner and took advantage of the nice spa and massage facilities at the hotel.
Our next-to-last day we finally went to Giza. It was the highlight of the entire trip, the pyramids and the sphinx are just as impressive in person as they are on NOVA. We took thousands of photos. I rode a camel; a flea-bitten, pathetic, wreck of a beast. I just did it for the photo op and regretted every second of it. It is inconceivable that there could be as many tourists in one spot as there were at Giza that day. You could wait hours to get a good photo of yourself without throngs of other people in it (see photo above). Plus, this was a big surprise, the city of Cairo comes right up to the very edge of the Giza Plateau. So instead of greeting the vast desert by the dawn light like he did in the old days, the Sphinx now greets a Burger King.
One thing about wandering around Cairo alone: the streets are deathtraps. Our first day, Basem told us to never, never cross the street alone. Wait until you see an Egyptian crossing the street then cross right next to him. That way he will get hit before you. They don't bother with putting lines on the pavement, the traffic signals mean absolutely nothing, and if you do get hit they will just keep running over you rather than stop. Two separate people on our tour told us they had friends who were killed in traffic accidents in Cairo.
On our last day most of the group took a day trip to Alexandria but we decided to go instead with Freddie, an Egyptian friend, to the Red Sea. He owns a condo there in a community below the Suez Canal. It took about 2 hours and it was like driving on the moon. There's nothing, nothing growing. It's miles and miles of brown dirt with huge billboards of President Scary Mubarak all over the place. Freddie's condo was very comfortable and the Red Sea was just beautiful. Blue. We had lunch and drove back. Next day Basem asked us what we had done on our day off and he just about fainted when we told him we went off on our own to visit the Red Sea.
The tour company rep met us at the airport, there was a big crowd of us there. Hector and I looked around our group and it was ALL old white people. The tour people collected all our luggage, which was no easy task, and off we went. Our hotel was really nice, the Cairo Marriott, located on the island of Zamalek. It was built as a guest house for the Empress Eugenie for the opening of the Suez Canal. It's come down a little in the world and now it's a Marriott. We didn't like our room and they quietly moved us. But the hotel was busy 24 hours a day, full of Saudi sheikhs and exotic women covered head to toe.
Next morning they corralled all 132 of us into one of the ballrooms and gave us some stern instructions about always sticking with the group, watching our step because this is Egypt, not Omaha, and the temple floors are all uneven. As we looked around we saw were in for a lot of falling and wandering off. Next we divided into 4 groups that would be our permanent travel groups for the duration. And we got the nicest guide (they prefer the title Tour Director), Basem, although not the cutest one. That was Attia.
Then we went over to the Egyptian Museum, which is a wonderful old building straight out of Indiana Jones. But it's in need of some serious attention. It's crumbling, has broken-out windows and no one has dusted anything above eye level in years. Unlike other countries, the proceeds from the admission tickets do not automatically go for the upkeep of the museum. They go into somebody's pocket farther up in the government and are never seen again. So here's this fabulous collection of some of the most incredible artifacts in the world and most of them are almost completely unprotected. Well, a number of the more important items are screened behind plexiglass and certainly all the extraordinary King Tut artifacts are well protected. But there were initials carved into the feet of the some of the pharoah statues, and not ancient initials, either. Grimy handprints, things crowded together. About half of the items had a faded, descriptive index card that looked like it was typed on Howard Carter's Olivetti. I looked under a stairway and there were some ancient tablets just lying in a corner. However, having said all that, it really was an incredible experience and I have to say that the air of dilapidation made it more fun, as though I really was in an Indiana Jones movie.
The next morning VERY early we caught a plane for Luxor to board our boat, the Anuket. This was to be our home for the next week. The ship was very comfortable, although small. It held about 140 passengers and 75 crew members. 4 floors with a very flat bottom because the Nile River isn't very deep. Our cabin was larger than I expected, 2 beds with a private bathroom but best of all, huge windows that opened like a sliding door with an absolutely fantastic view. We began our cruise and it was sheer heaven, gliding past tiny villages and green farmland. Little children ran to the bank, waving and shouting English phrases like "Hello" and "What's your name?" Everyone was very friendly to us, which was a bit of a surprise since there was a machine gun mounted on the back of the ship and armed guards with us everywhere we went. In fact, all of the Egyptians were warm and curious. But the Egyptian government is trying very hard to encourage more American tourism, we account only for a small percentage of overall tourism there.
To save space here I won't go into detail over each and every temple and tomb we visited that week. But we saw Abydos, Dendera, the Temple of Luxor, Karnak, Valleys of the Kings and Queens, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Philae and Abu Simbel. And at each and every one someone tripped and fell and had to be hauled back to the ship or wandered off and got lost.
Although each site was distinct with it's own wonderful story, I must say I enjoyed Karnak best. It's sheer size was overpowering. We returned to see it at night and it was just as impressive. We visited small villages and local markets and got a lesson on proper bargaining techniques, which seemed more obligatory than anything else. In a country as poor as Egypt what is the point of bargaining from 50 cents down to 25 cents? We did learn that if a merchant is really hassling you and you want to shake them, just speak Spanish to them. They won't waste much time with you since it is quite well known that the Spanish are cheap. This is not my own opinion but merely what I was told by the guides.
One night we were waiting our turn at a lock on the river. A lot of us were up on the top deck watching the action, when we began to hear voices from below shouting "hello! hello!" and suddenly small missiles came whizzing past our heads and plopping on the deck like tear gas canisters. It seems that merchants will sail out to the waiting tourist ships to sell their wares. They throw things up at you wrapped in a plastic bag; say a scarf or one of those robes they all wear, called a galibea- you just open the bag and look at the merchandise, lean over the edge and haggle with them a bit, then if you agree on a price, they throw up a second bag and you put the money in and pitch it back down. And it doesn't matter if you hit the wrong boat or don't even hit a boat. They all know whose is what and it's great fun.
After a lovely week on the boat we got up VERY early one morning to catch our plane from Aswan back to Cairo, where we were to spend a few more days. Oh, did I mention that I got deathly ill on the cruise? There was a bronchial infection going around the boat, all the seniors were hacking and wheezing the whole time and I finally caught it. I had a fever for 2 days and Basem brought a doctor on board the ship (that was a novel experience). He poked around on me, gave me some medicine and I started getting better. So, now back in Cairo and having recovered from our initial timidity, we took long walks around the island and went to restaurants away from the group to have dinner and took advantage of the nice spa and massage facilities at the hotel.
Our next-to-last day we finally went to Giza. It was the highlight of the entire trip, the pyramids and the sphinx are just as impressive in person as they are on NOVA. We took thousands of photos. I rode a camel; a flea-bitten, pathetic, wreck of a beast. I just did it for the photo op and regretted every second of it. It is inconceivable that there could be as many tourists in one spot as there were at Giza that day. You could wait hours to get a good photo of yourself without throngs of other people in it (see photo above). Plus, this was a big surprise, the city of Cairo comes right up to the very edge of the Giza Plateau. So instead of greeting the vast desert by the dawn light like he did in the old days, the Sphinx now greets a Burger King.
One thing about wandering around Cairo alone: the streets are deathtraps. Our first day, Basem told us to never, never cross the street alone. Wait until you see an Egyptian crossing the street then cross right next to him. That way he will get hit before you. They don't bother with putting lines on the pavement, the traffic signals mean absolutely nothing, and if you do get hit they will just keep running over you rather than stop. Two separate people on our tour told us they had friends who were killed in traffic accidents in Cairo.
On our last day most of the group took a day trip to Alexandria but we decided to go instead with Freddie, an Egyptian friend, to the Red Sea. He owns a condo there in a community below the Suez Canal. It took about 2 hours and it was like driving on the moon. There's nothing, nothing growing. It's miles and miles of brown dirt with huge billboards of President Scary Mubarak all over the place. Freddie's condo was very comfortable and the Red Sea was just beautiful. Blue. We had lunch and drove back. Next day Basem asked us what we had done on our day off and he just about fainted when we told him we went off on our own to visit the Red Sea.
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