Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Off to Iceland and London
So the wedding is over. The Bride and Groom disappear into the Victorian Bed & Breakfast--the rest of us disperse. We arrange to all meet for dinner, and wind up at a Greek restaurant, Taverna Opa, in German Village--very near the motel many folks are staying in; a positive review is at http://www.gayot.com/restaurantpages/info.php?tag=CORES0125&code=CO, while there's a less complimentary one at http://www.wsyx6.com/newsroom/features/bite_with_johnny.shtml#taverna
The food is plentiful, hardy, and filling, and apart from a minor confusion (the vegetarian stuffed grape leaves are delivered to the wrong person, so MOTB winds up with meat filled grape leaves, which requires some adjustments). We're all seated outdoors, on a side porch of the Victorian-era house that the Gayot review mentions. Service is pretty good, and FOTB runs into one of the community performers who's a volunteer in his research facility and has the chance to share the evening's pleasures.
We're all having a grand time, when a belly dancer starts up. Literally.
We get out as soon as possible. And go home and collapse.
The next day, we take the newly-weds to Cirque de Soleil's performance of Varekai, playing in a big tent. The show is as unbelievably slick as the website: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/varekai/intro/intro.htm
highly theatrical, highly polished, great skills, and kind of a really, really silly and thin plot line to hang all the virtuosity on.
Then it's the next day. TB and TG show up at POTB house to pack up gifts, etc. And they depart for Iceland, then will be off to London for a week. Each, cleverly, has gotten three weeks' leave, but overlapped them--so TG spent the first week of his leave in Norfolk with TB, second week (her first) in Columbus getting ready and getting married, and the week in London will be his third week. And her second. Her third week will be in Iceland, while he returns to work. So they get a month together. Here they are departing for the airport:
After the week in Iceland, TB returns to her ship; they'll be separated until TG retires in February--and we'll all meet in Iowa to celebrate a late holiday.
And now we all return to normalcy! Or what passes for normalcy, after this period of enormous activity, and enormous joy.
The food is plentiful, hardy, and filling, and apart from a minor confusion (the vegetarian stuffed grape leaves are delivered to the wrong person, so MOTB winds up with meat filled grape leaves, which requires some adjustments). We're all seated outdoors, on a side porch of the Victorian-era house that the Gayot review mentions. Service is pretty good, and FOTB runs into one of the community performers who's a volunteer in his research facility and has the chance to share the evening's pleasures.
We're all having a grand time, when a belly dancer starts up. Literally.
We get out as soon as possible. And go home and collapse.
The next day, we take the newly-weds to Cirque de Soleil's performance of Varekai, playing in a big tent. The show is as unbelievably slick as the website: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/varekai/intro/intro.htm
highly theatrical, highly polished, great skills, and kind of a really, really silly and thin plot line to hang all the virtuosity on.
Then it's the next day. TB and TG show up at POTB house to pack up gifts, etc. And they depart for Iceland, then will be off to London for a week. Each, cleverly, has gotten three weeks' leave, but overlapped them--so TG spent the first week of his leave in Norfolk with TB, second week (her first) in Columbus getting ready and getting married, and the week in London will be his third week. And her second. Her third week will be in Iceland, while he returns to work. So they get a month together. Here they are departing for the airport:
After the week in Iceland, TB returns to her ship; they'll be separated until TG retires in February--and we'll all meet in Iowa to celebrate a late holiday.
And now we all return to normalcy! Or what passes for normalcy, after this period of enormous activity, and enormous joy.
