Tag: nightlife

PortFringe, Part 2 – Portland, Maine

Fringe festivals are very interesting events. Some are by invitation, some you just pay a fee and come do your thing. Some are small and some are huge in terms of numbers of shows and people coming to see them. Some feature local artists and some draw on international artists. No one (well very few) make any real money but the festivals continue to spring up around the world because someone has a passion for presenting weird theatre experiences and hopefully they can find an audience that will support that desire.

Portland, or PortFringe as it is called, is a small festival (31 artists), by invitation (names are drawn out of a hat), and this year mostly featured local artists. There was a wide spectrum of material from storytelling to magic to Shakespeare to dance to physical theatre. There were 3 artists from the West Coast and a bunch from along the East Coast, and about 50% local artists. And when you come to a festival the politics of fringe begin to take effect.

You have to hustle up an audience in order to play before people and get the name of your show out. You go to other shows and support other artists so that they will come see your show. You go to events where you talk to other artists and you exchange post cards and ‘excitedly’ talk about your shows. Anything to get the word out so you don’t end up performing for no one. Hustle, schmooze, sell, support and repeat! And if done correctly, you get a decent audience, other artists begin to talk about your show, you support them, and really work to see shows and be seen. This results in awards from the festival (audience awards, critic awards, best this and that award, etc.) that you use for PR in advancing and advertising your next fringe festival performances.

(I won a PortFringe 2018 Critics Choice Award – that is pretty cool!!!)

I chose Portland for a few reasons. I need to get back onstage, the fees were some of the cheapest, it was small with a good chance I could get in, they found housing for the artists, and I had never been there. When I got selected – I was surprised. Not because my show is not good, but I had only applied for 3 festivals and to get into any of them is by chance.

Drydock

So I pulled  my show out of mothballs (been over a year since I last did it in San Diego), rehearsed it, got my ad materials together, bought my ticket and waited for the dates to arrive. I was giving the name of a couple that would host me and my partner, and we planned of seeing all the shows that we could. Our goal was to get one of those awards – either critic or audience – whether it was based on actual quality of the performance or just that we had supported everyone else and played the game correctly.

PortFringe just never told us how effing beautiful the city of Portland was! It was gorgeous! The small city, the bay, the islands in the bay, the parks, the old houses and working class neighborhoods, the water front, the lobster boats and always the light and sky. Summer in Portland must be heaven.

Our plans to see all the shows went out the window because we were so busy seeing the Portland area. Our hosts were always telling us about some new place or adventure we should take. The city is so walk able – so the parks – West Prom and East Prom got done. The Mailboat cruise to 5 of the closest islands, a boat journey through Casco Bay with my host to see his new boat in dry dock up on Long Island, a cruise and hike around Peak’s Island with a lovely dinner by the water, the amazing food available in Portland, and the exciting and vibrant history of the town and its port right in front of your eyes. So instead of fitting in scenery around the plays, we were now fitting shows in around our journeys through Portland.

We got some very nice reviews and a standing ovation at one show, plus a  Critics Choice Award. Yet, we mostly got a truly wonderful feeling of Portland and the surrounding area. The people, the places, the bay and the history all made for a wonderful experience. Plus we did see some really good theatre from our fellow artists.

Most memorable for me were three shows: First, Breakneck Julius Caesar was fun. Filled with humor, background, effects and history, Tim Mooney runs through Shakespeare’s political tragedy playing all the parts and uses the audience to help him along. His acting is spot on especially his juxtaposition of Brutus’ speech to the Roman citizens at Caesar’s funeral against Marc Antony’s speech to the same group. You truly see the contrast between the two characters – an arrogant flawed nobility of Brutus against the cunning and ambition of an intelligent Marc Antony. Very good! Tim does 200 shows a year around the country so look out for him. Whether you understand Shakespeare or not – he will make it worth the ride.

Second, was the sci-fi story, The Sibyl of Mars by my friend, L. Nicole Cabe. I have seen 3 of Nicole’s shows and what always impresses me is the depth that her scripts go to create the world that she is trying to bring us into. They are always about the end of civilization as we know it. Some dystopian  future where everything is breaking down and she leads us into these dark, multi-layered worlds using words, symbols, and images to create this fantastic fantasy. The Sibyl is a seer from Mars,  who has come to Earth to find ancient records of Mar’s original mission. Using tarot cards that the audience pulls for her, she pieces together scattered records, learning why her home world’s ecosystem is collapsing. Interesting, interactive and thought-provoking.

Third, I saw a piece by a local artist, Chris DeFilipp. Using the device of a Dungeon and Dragons game, he examines his disturbing childhood filled with abuse and emotional upheaval and survival. Dark, very personal but touching.

I saw some other shows and heard about others that we missed, but these three stood out to me plus Walking While Black Through Moscow which I reviewed in my last column.

Thank you PortFringe for a wonderful festival that I did not support as much as I should have because our city is so damn nice. I feel guilty, but not much. Thank you for the wonderful hosts – Laurie and Ross – and their generous hospitality. And thank you for some great parties at Local 188, Matthews, and Fringe Central.

Next Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park!

 

Temptation Resort Cancun – Review – Cancun, Mexico

PLAYGROUND FOR ADULTS!

It was a coldish December (for Los Angeles) and I had just received news that my teaching contract was not going to be renewed for the next semester. I had also just been hired to be the Artistic Director of a theatre company in Los Angeles. Changes were in the air and I needed to get away some place where I did not have to think about anything except where the next meal or drink was coming from.

I made a list of what I wanted from this get-away. Hot (or warmish), chance at a tan, inclusive of all meals and drinks, chance to meet people, and adults only (meaning no kids in the pool). I started looking at any place that kind of met that list, but it had to be inclusive – I did not want to leave the property once I got there UNLESS I wanted too.

Hawaii does not do inclusive. They have deals that look like that – but they are really different merchants that have been packaged by travel agents to look like that they are all together. Asia too far to fly. I had just completed an around the world trip 3 months before and I did not want to sit on another plane for 12 hours to get anywhere. Central America seemed pretty cool, but Costa Rica deals for that time of year were pretty high and Belize while interesting, I had to travel for a couple of hours outside the capitol to get to anywhere nice. I just wanted to get in a taxi and be there.

I know I sound like the whinny type of tourist – but sometimes you do not want an adventure, you want to rest and relax and not worry about catching that bus or climbing 1000 stairs to see an awesome landmark or view. I want to hang by a pool and watch the world walk by.

So, I turned to the Caribbean, and began to look at lists of best inclusive spots in the islands. Many came up – some really nice and expensive, some allowed the whole family, some for couples only, some like Hedonism II for adults only for adult activities (you understand that right?). I was flying solo and did not want to end up the third wheel to an entire hotel, or deal with sullen teenagers who could not get a strong wifi single in Haiti or Cuba. I was on a budget and could not afford places that were 700 per night or even 300 per night. Cheap, nice, inclusive and easy to get too.

An odd thing caught my eye while I was researching places, and I admit I was a little shocked at first. I am a single adult male who has a strong appreciation for the other gender of our species, yet I was really surprised to see the ads for inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic where hookers were part of the price. Prostitution is legal in the DR, and there are resorts there (not all) that cater to men of all ages who are looking to spend their time having as much sex as their wallet could afford – the sex is included with the meals and drinks. Very convenient. And the resorts have reviews that talk about the food, drinks, girls, and the premises of the resort. Upscale, low scale. I am not a prude by any stretch – topless or nude beaches or resorts for swinger couples – all fine. Yet, a vacation based on the idea of paid impersonal sex just seemed very slimy and rather pathetic to me.

After a lot of comparing of prices, flights, travel time to the actual resort while on the ground, what the term inclusive meant for that resort, reviews about food, entertainment, cleanliness and staff response, I had it down to three places. The final challenge was made by whether if you were a solo at an adult only resort was the resort solo friendly. And the resort I choose passed all those tests with great reviews and an awesome price.

Temptation Resort Cancun was the place that I choose for my Christmas, solo, inclusive resort getaway. And here is my honest review.

I flew into Cancun on a warm, clear day of about 84 F. I cleared customs and was meet at the entrance by my shuttle company – USA Transfers – which I found online when looking for shuttles to the hotel. Great reviews and a very good price. I paid 50 US up front to be taken there and a promise of being picked up to go home at a pre-arranged time. You book with them online giving them your arrival and departure times. After you are picked up at the airport, you pay the first driver in cash when you arrive at the hotel on the first ride and that pays for both rides. You have already exchanged emails when you made the reservation and that is how they will confirm with you the pickup time. Everything with them was smooth as glass. Both to the hotel and during the pickup time back to the airport, things were on time, no extra charges, the vehicle was new and clean, driver spoke excellent English and tolerated my very bad Spanish, beer-soda-water was available complementary, and the driving was very safe. I cannot recommend USA Transfers highly enough. And as they stated, they confirmed everything by email a couple of days in advance. There can be extra charges for changing times or adding destinations.

I arrived at Temptation and from the outside, while it is a big hotel featuring 7 floors and 428 rooms and suites – there is nothing to prepare you for what is inside.  You walk up the wide front stairs and pass thru large glass doors into a huge reception/lobby area. A huge marble hall with floor to ceiling windows at one end that look out on Cancun Harbor with reception is on your right, the concierge on your left and in front of you on a raised dais is a huge bar placed in front of the windows. Through the windows you can see that you entered the second floor of the hotel, because beyond the indoor bar and glass windows is the main party area of the hotel. At night this area becomes “Bash” the hotel’s nonstop party with a bar stretching at least 300 feet in length on one side and on the other is a long buffet with chefs who will also cook you specialty items. Featuring a raised dance/presentation area where the nightly entertainment performs, the patio looks out on the resort’s “Sexy Pool” area with a swim up bar, DJ, and optional topless swimming that goes until the sun goes down.

Temptation advertises itself as “the Playground for Adults”, and it is that with the 21 and above age limit. The hotel features 7 restaurants, 5 bars, 2 pool areas and beach access (also topless). For the high rollers, who are members of the resort (you can buy a membership to the resort which opens certain special areas and services) there is a private roof top pool and bar area on the seventh floor of the hotel.

I was first booked into a room that faced onto the “Bash” area that was very modern and clean. The bed was very comfortable, and each room as a private balcony. The night-time party started about 8 PM and went until 1:45 AM in the morning. With the loud boom music and lights and DJ and dancers, this basically becomes a huge outdoor dance club. The noise level was a little too much for me, so I asked to move; and they gave me an equally nice room on the other side of the hotel that was very private and quiet.

The decor of the hotel is bright colors and smooth textures with a lot of erotic abstract art pieces around. Having a cocktail on your own private balcony with a warm Caribbean breeze blowing is not a bad way to watch a breathtaking sunset.

The food at some inclusive resorts borders on uneatable, but at Temptation the food for the most part was excellent. There is one huge buffet area that faces onto the pool where breakfast and lunch are served. Take as much as you want and bring a drink from one of the bars, or the waiter staff will get whatever you want. The other restaurants that open only at night offer about 15 different cuisines. I ate in all the featured restaurants and the food was very good. And all the bars serve top of the line brands.

There also all kinds of beach activities which are free, like small catamarans, paddle boards, and kayaks. The hotel also tries to create all kinds of ways for guests to interact with each other. Poolside contests, volleyball, and yoga classes are just a few. The staff is very friendly and tries very hard to please. I had some trouble with hot water in my second room, but they jumped on it right away. It took a day to fix, but I felt the effort was real so I dealt with the cold water for a day. Besides it was 85 outside, so not that cold.

Ultimately, the resort met all my needs and was above par. I wanted a quiet (relatively) vacation with sun, fun, drink, food and an adult only atmosphere and I got it. And for a very fair price. The topless optional and adult outlook on clothing and behavior were nice but not the reason that I was there. As solo, I was concerned that it would be all couples, but there were plenty of solos there as well. If you want to find someone to talk to or meet there are plenty of opportunities. I recommend the resort if you are open-minded and willing to try something a little different. But this is not for family, this is a resort that focuses on couples and the sensual.

Visit to Cannery Row – Monterey, California

On a recent business trip to the Bay Area, I had the chance to spend part of the day in Monterey, California. I had not been to Monterey in about 18 years, and I was both astonished but not surprised by the changes along the world-famous street “Cannery Row.”

Cannery Row is most famous for the John Steinbeck book written about it in  1945, Cannery Row. The book is set during the Great Depression and tells the tale of the down and out fishermen and cannery workers on a street lined with sardine canneries. The actual row was known as Ocean View Avenue until it was named Cannery Row in 1946 in honor of Steinbeck’s book.

Yet, the story of Cannery Row started long before that with the arrival in the early 1850’s of Chinese sailing families into the area, and they began fishing in the rich waters of Monterey Bay. During the 1880’s, the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in the area opening the rugged Monterey Peninsula to the world. By around 1902, the beginnings of what would be a massive fishing industry along the Monterey coast began with the first small canneries opening. In 1906, a huge fire destroyed much of the “Chinatown” area of Monterey ending their dominance among the local fishing workers, and they were soon replaced by Japanese and Filipino workers and other fishermen who also began to live around Ocean View Avenue.

From around 1916 to 1945, the Row became the “Sardine Capital of the World” as is supplied tons and tons of sardines for canning and for fertilizer. It only ended when they had totally over fished the Monterey Bay and surrounding areas of sardines. Then a slow sad decline began as the canneries closed leaving their huge metal skeletons empty along the coast. The buildings and small wood frame houses built among the canneries began to fill with painters and writers, bars and whore houses and bums.

During the 1950’s and 60’s, small family restaurants and eateries began to open along the Row making it more of a family atmosphere as tourism began to drift in due to Steinbeck’s book and the artist colony that now was established there. In 1984, the biggest change to the row since the end of the canneries came in the form of the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium with its aggressive educational outreach programs to the local school children in the area.

When I first visited the area in 1998, the Row had a strong tourist vibe going but the shops housed antiques stores, thrift shops, second hand stores, and vintage clothing stores. A couple of chain restaurants had opened along the Row, but it still seemed to be dominated by local family places. My then wife and I bought a beautiful 3-piece vase and bowl set made of cut blue glass that I still use today. The Row still maintained a semi-hippy vibe and charm that went well with the Monterey coast and weather.

Today the Row is a tourist haven filled with upscale eateries and bars, Starbucks, and t-shirt shops. Anchored by the Aquarium, the cannery buildings that are still there have been turned into small indoor malls featuring all types of shops selling tourist junk made somewhere else. All the vacant lots are being filled with condos and upscale hotels. It was a November weekday morning and the street was crowded, during the summer it must be a parking nightmare with bumper to bumper traffic. There are also several B&B’s in the area that are worth checking out for a nice stay along the Row.

The City has done a nice job of trying to keep some the history of the Row with a recreation trail right in the middle of the area featuring markers along the way describing the history of the area and some of the older buildings that are now historically preserved. The area is a little hilly but totally walk-able and is contained in a 7 by 3 block area along the coastline. There is a wonderful open-air plaza with good eateries and ocean views called Steinbeck Plaza featuring a huge statue with several of the significant people who helped turn the Row into a vibrant destination including John Steinbeck and the famous marine biologist, Ed Ricketts.

The Bay is also on the comeback. It was turned into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the protected area extends for 35 miles offshore. It is a perfect place to go on a kayak or stand up paddle board ride, or just to take a walk along McAbee or San Carlos beaches to experience the beautiful Monterey coast.

Cannery Row is certainly worth your time to see and visit. Along with Fisherman’s Wharf and the Monterey Marina and the Aquarium, there are tons of things to do and experience. It is certainly has the potential for a great romantic weekend getaway.

My only personal drawback is the memory of a great day in the 90’s wandering through antique and second-hand stores discovering treasures of the early 20th century. All of that is gone now. Sometimes I wish progress was not so destructive in turning quaint, off the beaten track, tourist friendly environments into themed mega-shopping malls filled with chain restaurants and t-shirt shops. There is a sense that part of California’s amazing history is slipping away, and no one seems to be noticing.

But do not pay attention to me, go experience beautiful Monterey and Cannery Row for a magical day filled with history and shopping fun for yourself.

Fabulous Berlin – Germany

Which Berlin do you want to visit? Because there are so many Berlins all rolled into one. There is the modern capital Berlin building itself into the 21st Century with construction going on everywhere. There is the nightlife and decadent Berlin with endless clubs, fetish bars and late-night raves where 100’s of people line up to get into private places thumping to the endless electronic beat that Germany seems to love so much. There is the cultured Berlin filled with museums and historic buildings plus the exciting avant-garde music, theatre, art and film scenes exploring everything at the same time. Or the quiet, circumspect Berlin paying homage to the victims of its turbulent past with memorials and exhibits to the past and hoping for the future.

Berlin Wall Walking Museum

Which one do you want? But why choose, because you can have them all at the same time. You can experience many, many things in the wonderful and exciting city that is grounded in the past but reaching for the future with both hands.

Over the last couple of decades, Berlin has become a construction zone with ripped up streets and giant cranes overhead in every part of the city. It is the rebirth of a great European capital right in front of your eyes. City planners seized on the opportunity of the city’s reunification and the return of the central government to completely rebuild Berlin. What used to be rundown, Soviet East Berlin is now the new, modern, vibrant heart of the city filled with shops, hotels, clubs, and soaring modern buildings and plazas. While what used to be West Berlin feels more residential like a very chic suburb. And this is all linked by one of the best metro systems in Europe. You can get anywhere in Berlin in a matter of minutes by train, metro, tram, bus and using your feet.

Remains of the Anhalter Branhof

I stayed in Central Berlin for a week in an AirBnb apartment located across the street from the S. Anhalter Bahnhof (an old pre-WW II train station), now a subway station. The amount of nightlife, clubs and bars that I could walk to in a few blocks was pretty amazing. While I was technically in West Berlin, I was only a few blocks from Checkpoint Charlie (where East Berlin used to begin) and Friedrichstrasse. Along Friedrichstrasse, there are literally hundreds of clubs, cafes, hotel bars, restaurants and other night spots that stretch for blocks from the Checkpoint north up to the Spree River. Yet, all over Berlin there are neighbor restaurants, cafes and bars. Right in the same building complex that I was staying in was the well-known Solar Sky Bar, very upscale bar visited by tourists and locals alike.

If you followed Friedrichstrasse up to the Spree River as you cross the bridge there, you come to Murphey’s Irish Bar, a true Irish bar (full of real Irishmen) right in the heart of Berlin. Turn right as you walk out the front door of Murphey’s and walk one block to come to a whole string of bistros with outdoor eating areas set up along the river serving all kinds of food from German, French, Italian and Turkish. And nothing in Berlin tastes better after some late-night drinking than stopping at a Turkish food stand and getting a hot, fresh kebap which is a large mix of chicken, lamb or beef with herbs and tomatoes, onions and peppers wrapped in a large pita bread. And yes, you have probably had something similar, but somehow it tastes better made by a real Turk cook in Berlin. My personal favorite was Prime Kebap, Friedrichstrasse 100, 10117 Berlin.

 

Modern Berlin

On the weekends, if you stay up long enough you will find one the late-night raves that open all over Berlin in the early morning hours. The one that I ran into on Friedrichstasse on my second night in Berlin had about 500 young people all dressed in various forms of black trying to get into store front while thundering electronic music boomed out of the outdoor speakers. Or if your personal taste run to the more exotic, you could try one of Berlin’s fetish clubs like the world-famous Kitt-Katt Klub located in central Berlin. Berlin has long been known since the 1920’s as one of Europe’s most decadent cities, and it is all on display in Berlin if you just try to look for it.

A couple of websites that offer a non-stop list of events happening every day in Berlin would be;

  1. Berlin Programm – berlinprogramm.de
  2. Exberliner Magazine – exberliner.com

Also, a place to buy same day half-priced tickets to any event in the city would be as Hekticket, located at Alexnderplatz at Karl-Libknecht-Strasse.

Museum Island

If museums and art galleries are your thing – then Berlin has entire island in the middle of the Spree River dedicated to that. Literally called Museum Island, the island houses 5 world class museums and art galleries, the ornate Protestant Berlin Cathedral, and one of Berlin’s best open space parks, Lustgarten. Plus now where the old palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty stood, that the Communists tore down to be the East German Parliament building, that the city of Berlin tore down – there a huge public venue known as the Humboldt-Forum Berliner Schloss being built that will house more museums, shops, galleries, and concert halls costing the citizens of Berlin 600 million euros. So hopefully for politicians, it will be worth the expense.

It is worth noting that the museums are the Bode, Pergamon, the Neues, and Altes Museums plus the Old National Gallery of Art. Each museum specializes in a different historical era like Roman, Hellenistic, Babylonian and Islamic art and treasures. Of special interest is the 3000-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti located in the Neues Museum. The bust has been called “Berlin’s most beautiful woman”. It is amazing that after 3000 years, this statue makes such an impression not only because of its age, but her sheer beauty that still astonishes after 30 centuries. Right across the bridge toward the Brandenburg gate, is the German History Museum and the German State Opera house both worth consideration. Plus there are museums and art galleries in every part of the city exploring Berlin’s history and artistic contributions.

Victory Column, Tiergarten

Since my background is in live theatre, I took some time to explore Berlin’s avant garde theatre scene.  Berlin possesses more than 50 or so working theaters and produces more than 1,000 new live shows a year. Deutsche Welle’s Ben Knight describes the Berlin theatre scene as “Berlin theater is a hard thing to love – it’s pretentious, abstruse, cerebral and elitist. But on a good night, it’s also unique, iconoclastic, bizarre, and compelling.”

While I understand that Berlin’s theatre scene was one of the richest in Europe, it is really elitist and hard to understand sometimes. Even if you just take in the four international known theatres in Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble (formed by Bertol Becht’s wife), the Deutsches Theatre, the Schaubuhne, and the Volksbuhne, you are going to get four completely different experiences based on the artistic direction of each theatre, and they play to completely different audiences. Yet, I found some of the work I saw to be compelling and inventive, but emotionally distant as if I was watching an exercise in a theatre class. I am told the Berlin music and film scenes are just as inventive and wild.

Small Lake, Tiergarten

If you are looking for something a little more quiet and not quite so cerebral, then check out Tiergarten Park in the middle of Berlin, right across from the Brandenburg Gate. Huge, green, quiet and filled with bike paths and walking paths, where you are always finding a rose garden or a fountain or a memorial hidden among the lush green trees. To US citizens, it will remind you of New York City’s Central Park because of its large size, placement in the city, and how several streets run right through the middle of it.

Along its eastern edge you will find several important sites and memorials including the Brandenburg Gate, the Terror Museum, the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe, the German Resistance Memorial, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims (the official names of the Gypsy race).

Holocaust Memorial

History, shopping, music, art, culture, food, cafes and clubs, Berlin has everything that you could want in a capital city. When I visit Europe, I often trying to envision myself living there and where would feel like home if at all. Rome is the first place that I think about, but Berlin while it can give you a cold distant feeling has an energy that I have not found in many European cities. It does not feel old and tired, it feels alive, new and  vibrant, and that is why I came to like the city so much.

Author with a new friend in Tiergarten

The Hudson – Los Angeles- Restaurant Review

Recently had dinner and drinks at the Hudson in West Hollywood, a casual eatery featuring American cuisine on the corner of Santa Monica and Crescent Heights at 1114 N Crescent Heights Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046-5007.

First, how is it possible for a restaurant to open anywhere in LA and not have parking? Literally, there is no parking for customers, and the eatery is located on the corner of residential and commercial streets in West Hollywood. How does that happen?

This a cool thing. They have actually built the restaurant around living trees. You can dine, have a drink, or talk to friend in a restaurant with a full grown, stuck in the real earth, peel the bark off tree next to your table. Very cool use of space and keeping nature around.

Hudson Bar

The space has a very woodsy vibe with a lot of exposed wood and ceiling beams yet maintains a very cozy feel with booths along the walls, and tons of tables in the middle of the room with a small but lively bar area in the back of the building.

When my friend and I got there, the place was pretty empty for dinner. Yet, the host, while not rude, also just zipped us to our table, placed the menus on the table and was gone before we even sat down. Our waitress was nice enough, but was not very personable. She kept rushing away from the table to do something else. I just had the sense that the staff was trying to turn the table as fast as possible. We both felt like we were being slightly rushed the entire meal.

We started by sharing an Argula and Avocado Salad with parmesan, lemon, and olive oil. Very tasty and fresh, it was a good start to the meal. For the main course, she ordered the Hudson Brown Rice dish and I got the Pan Roasted Chicken with a lemon chill sauce. Both dishes were fine and professional prepared, but were kind of bland and not very exciting.

I like to check the service sometimes by asking for items on the side. This time I asked for the chill sauce on the side instead of on the chicken. The waitress acknowledged this and wrote it down, yet when it came the sauce was already on the chicken. I asked for more sauce on the side, and this created a real stir among the staff. The server went to get the waitress, who came to the table, then a bus boy came, followed by the manager. All of them telling me that the extra sauce (which was not extra) would take time because it had to be made to order for each chicken dish. I was almost finished with the chicken when a small dollop of lemon chill sauce arrived on my table. It had taken them 20 minutes to make this little bit of sauce.

We paid the dinner bill, again feeling rushed. To stretch the evening out, we decided to get a cocktail in the bar. What a difference! The bartenders were very friendly, made great cocktails, and while they were busy they actually tried to carry on a conversation with you. The cocktails are handmade and really very good. I was introduced to “white whiskey” something I had never heard of before. The bartender explained to me that whiskey gets it color from the barrels it is aged in, so this whiskey had not been aged for very long and that process had not been done in wooden barrels.

Trees growing right from the eatery

By the time, we got to the bar it was hopping. It had a real West Hollywood neighborhood feel to it with a very mixed crowd both by age and lifestyle. This a bar that I would come back to again.

Overall, not a bad dinner, but nothing to write home about. Bland food, confusion on the order, rushed service offset by a wonderful bartender and great drinks. So a real tossup as to whether to return or not. If you look at their reviews online, it is also a mixed bag. Great food and wonderful times for some, and sloppy bad service for others.

Check it out yourself and let me know what you think.

The Hudson 1114 N Crescent Heights Blvd, West Hollywood, CA. Call for reservations (323) 654-6686.

The Night Watchman of Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany

You find yourself in Germany and you are on a budget. You are staying in hostels, taking regional trains to save money. You are eating in small cafes or roadside stands. Anything to save a few euros. You are always looking for a bargain. Some way to save money so you stay on the road longer. But you are tired of the castles, churches, and endless tours to see this and that. Yet you want something entertaining. Something that does not require you to buy a meal or a drink or a ticket, yet is fun and entertaining.

Well, buddy, I have a deal for you.

In Rothenberg ob der Tauber not far from Munich is the best entertainment deal in Germany. Cheap, fun, entertaining, and educational. There are no tickets. No long lines. You pay at the end not the beginning. If you don’t like it just leave, no problem. It lasts an hour and walking is involved. Yet, I guarantee that you will laugh, be entertained and learn a whole bunch of things you did not know.

What is this fantastic deal – it is the Night Watchman’s Tour of Rothenburg ob der Tauber featuring the most famous, non-famous actor in Germany.

Ok, lets stop here a moment and fill in some gaps.

Every night (from March to Christmas) just before dark (7 PM in the fall and early spring, and 8 PM in the summer), a single bearded man dressed in a long grey cape, a tri-corner hat, carrying a lantern and a hellebarde (a type of ancient spear with an axe head on the top used in medieval times) strolls into the main square of Rothenburg. He stands on the steps of the ancient city hall and groups of people who have been waiting for his arrival – some for an hour – gather around him. Some nights the crowd could be 50 to 100 people, and some nights in the summer the crowd could be as large as 300. From all over the world – people gather in front of this stranger and wait for him to speak. In a soft, sing-song voice that somehow carries quite far, speaking in English he advises the people that if they want to take a photo with him – to do it now, and that it is free. And as many as 30 to 40 people will rush up and take selfies, or group shots with this mysterious man.

Who is this person? Is he a cult figure, or some religious or political figure? No, he is Hans Georg Baumgartner, an actor, and he has been doing this wonderful tour for 25 years.

Awarded the TripAdvisor Award for Excellence in 2014, Baumgartner tells his stories about Rothenburg’s medieval history using dry wit and sly puns with a comic’s timing. He tells you just enough without boring you with endless details and too much information. Yet, he does convey the harshness of medieval life even in what was one of Germany’s grandest cities of the 14th to 16th centuries.  He talks about the day-to-day life in a walled city where the livestock were stored inside the city gates at night in the people’s homes, the constant fear of famines, and the unpleasant odors (especially in the summer) from people throwing their waste into the streets each day and the open sewers that ran through the city. He talks about plagues, the wars, how the city became wealthy, and how it slipped away.

 

All while he manages to hold an audience’s attention without aid of microphones or projections or sound effects. Just a single performer using his voice and his story-telling ability to weave his story as he walks the streets of his small town as cars, motorbikes, other tourists and residents pass by. It is really a very impressive performance as he leads through the streets and down alleyways, through gates, in and out of tunnels and to vantage points that offer sweeping views of Rothenberg and the surrounding valley.

Yet, Baumgartner is not really acting a role, he is the role because after doing this tour for 25 years the entire tour reflects his wit, style and personality. His bright blue eyes flash with humor and his devilish smile and inflection get constant laughs from his engaged audience. Yet, the narrative is what drives this interesting tale full of legends and true stories.

A legend like a 1631 drinking contest, in which the mayor of the town supposedly saved Rothenburg from being destroyed by the Catholic army during the Thirty Years War. It’s said that he downed three liters of wine in one gulp, besting the conquering general.

Or the very true story of how the town suffered during the end of World War II, when Allied bombing destroyed about 40 percent of its buildings and 2,000 feet of its wall. The town was about to be destroyed by the Allies when an official in the US State Department halted the bombardment because his Mother had gone to the village as a young woman and fallen in love with it. Years later, she often talked about the experience around the family dinner table, so when he heard about the possible destruction of the village he had to act. The official told the US commander to offer the Germans a chance to evacuate or be destroyed. The Germans withdrew and Rothenburg was saved all because a son honored his mother’s memories.

Rick Steves, the travel guide-book author, savvy in what American tourists will pay to see in Europe, calls the watchman tour “flat-out the most entertaining hour of medieval wonder anywhere in Germany.”

At the end of the tour – which lasts almost exactly an hour – he passes the hat and almost not one person refuses to pay him. Many in fact give him more Euros because of the quality and fun of the tour. He has a DVD for sale as well, that he hawks a couple of time during the tour, but even that gets a laugh. Baumgartner is a rock star storyteller and you can tell he loves the audience reaction.

This is without a doubt the best entertainment deal in Germany. Check it out and enjoy the ride.

NOTE: There are several Rothenburg’s in Germany. Do not go to the wrong one. You must go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (the city’s official name) or you will miss out on Germany’s kept medieval city.

NOTE 2: There is also a strictly German-speaking tour later in the evening. Baumgartner sometimes does this one as well, but there is another Night Watchman for the German tour. Check local travel guides for the times of this tour.

 

Seven Final Thoughts on Iceland

  1. It is expensive! Remember it is expensive. As a young hostel guest I heard say, “Is nothing in this county cheap?” The answer of course is no. Not sure but by vote of every one in my hostel, Reykjavik seemed the most expensive city in Europe to them. More than Stockholm or London or Oslo. Buyer beware because you are going to spend some dough. Icelandic Kroner is about 106 to a US Dollar. So if you divide everything by 100 you will get a pretty accurate price.

Example – 1500 ISK for a beer (very usual) is in reality to a US citizen – 15 US Dollars almost. That is an expensive beer.

It is cheap to get to Iceland because the government heavily subsidizes the airlines to Reykjavik, but once they have you – look out. They are after the tourist dollar to correct the horrible financial crash that they went through in 2008 and 09 and are still feeling. So there are no deals in Reykjavik.

  1. It is wet! Bring rain gear, and I mean rain slickers, rain pants, boots. You will not need it all the time, but there are days and places that you are going to need it big time and you will not know when. Also all the weather clothes in Reykjavik for this type of weather – (lets say it together) are EXPENSIVE!

On the day that I went to Black Sand Beach outside of Vik, and the waterfall that you can walk behind – I was drenched to the bone. I had a rain poncho but with the strong wind that day, it made no difference. I wanted a rain suit or at least water proof pants.

3. It is beautiful. Amazingly so. A new vista, a new waterfall, a new cove, a new glacier, and new volcano just around every corner. Get out of Reykjavik. By car, by bus or tour bus, by boat, just get out and see this amazing place.

4. Rent a car if you can. The tour buses are great tours make no mistake – but they are on a time table. Slow down and enjoy this beautiful island. The Golden Circle tour is 8 hours and 69 dollars and while the day was great, most of it was on the bus. The Southern Coast tour was wet, wild and fun, but we were gone of 11 hours and most was riding from point A to point B. The cost for both trips was 170 US over two days and 17 hours of riding and getting out and running around because we usually had about 45 minutes to see everything. The day I rented a car with Canadian lawyer, Andrew Guerra the car cost us about 140 US with gas and we saw a lot of things that were not on a tour, but also things that were. Cost wise, it is better to share with someone if you can. Even a stranger that you meet at your hotel or hostel. Everyone wants to see the same things, and this way is cheaper and you move at your own pace.

5. No need to do the Blue Lagoon. It is a thermal with blue water for about 120 US. Pretty and it has a bar! A 30 minute bus ride out of town.

For a 20 minute walk through lovely Reykjavik and 1200 Kroner (12 dollars US), I had a great afternoon at one of the two local bathing houses/thermal pools in Reykjavik itself. Cheaper, not touristy, locals all around and you can meet some very interesting people.

Word to the wise, Reykjaviks are not hung up by nudity. Not in public so much, but in the locker rooms. In the pool areas, everyone has proper bathing suits on, but in the locker room flesh everywhere. Only speaking for the male side here, but young boys, old men, all colors, every male I saw walking around in the locker not covering with a towel at all. For people from some cultures, it can be a little shocking at first. But since they already have what you have and have seen their own, they do not care about yours. So relax and enjoy yourself. The heated water by volcano is wonderful.

6. If you came to Reykjavik to party and drink. Please be responsible. But save some money and get a local app called “Appyhour”. It is an app that you can load on your phone that tells you when every happy hour in every bar in Reykjavik is. Since they all have different or rolling happy hours, some starting as early as 2 PM, you and your friends can move from bar to bar and save money. Sometimes a lot. Remember a beer at regular price is 12 to 15 dollars, this app will let you drink for about 7 to 8 dollars per beer. Depending on your intake that could be a lot of money.

It is very easy to get around in the party area of Reykjavik. You walk everywhere. Cabs are EXPENSIVE. They are not many police, but the bouncers at these bars do not take any crap. They are nice and professional, the ones I saw and talked too. But if you bring trouble, you are gone and in a not so gentle hurry. So behave!

  1. Please do not throw your trash around. Seriously. Every Icelander I spoke with told me how upset at how their country is filling up with trash at all the natural sites. They take amazing pride in the country and treat it as a sacred place. Tourists do not. Especially the Americans and Chinese seem to be the worst to them. So pick up after yourself, throw your stuff away – plenty of garbage cans everywhere and do not treat Iceland like your trash can please.

Enjoy!

Iceland – Day 1 – Reykjavik

So I left LA at 9:50 PM on WOW Airlines, and the reason that they are WOW is that they charge for everything. Leg room, carry-on luggage, every bag that you put in the hold, and ALL food items. You get nothing for free. WOW. The fare was cheap, but by the time you add seat selection, plus checking a bag that was 23K (the industry standard), but for WOW their limit is 20K, the total cost increased by 147 dollars. The bag alone was 135 dollars that includes 75 dollars to check and an extra 60 dollars for the 3 kilos over.

Other than that cost, the flight was very smooth to Reykjavik. Nine hours non-stop. I arrived at 1:35 PM and breezed through customs. You have to take either a taxi or buses into town because the national airport is about 27 kilometers from the city. There are no trains. I used Gray Lines for about 25 dollars, but there are a couple other bus lines that I also noticed.

Hallgrímskirkja church

I was staying at 101 Hostel, really nice family hostel run by Svava and her daughter Sara right in the middle of Reykjavik’s city centre. Perfect for shopping, walking around the city, dining and the famous Reykjavik night life.

Reykjavik at 11 PM

Food in Reykjavik is very expensive as is everything else as well. So I am buying food at a chain store known as Bonus, and cooking at the hostel. An example of the eating out expense is a beer is about 12 dollars, a simple hamburger could be 17 or more dollars, and a steak could be as much as or more than 50 dollars (in not an expensive place). The money here known as the Icelandic Kroner (ISK) and is about 100 ISK to one US Dollar. So all the prices are like 5000.00 ISK or 2250.00 ISK, and those break down to about 50 US and 22.50 US. Not exactly but close enough if you always divide by 100.

By this time it was about 4 PM and I was exhausted. I crashed for a bit and took a nap. I woke up around 9 PM to full sunshine outside and went walking around the city centre to get a feel for the place. You can tell the Icelanders very quickly. They are walking around in shirt sleeves or light jackets (it is their summer), the tourists are in coats with hats and scarves. The projected temp for the time I am in Iceland is 57 degrees F daytime and 45 degrees F at night. Summer indeed.

Hallgrímskirkja church

Did some sightseeing. The image above is the famous Hallgrímskirkja Church, the unofficial image of Reykjavik. In front of it is the statue of Leif Eriksson, son of Iceland and the man who discovered North America for the Europeans. He called it Vinland and landed there about 400 years before Columbus. The statue is a gift from the United States to Iceland.

Lief Eriksson
From the USA to Iceland.

I sampled some of the local beer in two places – first the American Bar, which I can vouch that there was not one American in the place, but a whole bunch of hard drinking Icelanders. A really great band playing American rock songs in perfect English but talking to the audience in Icelandic was fun to hear. While thumbing through my phone looking at the photos I had taken so far, I realized there was an older man standing right in front of me just staring at me. I asked him if I could help him, and he repeated back to me “Can I help you?” Being somewhat confused now by him, he began telling me that he disliked Americans and Trump. I told him I was Canadian to avoid any problems, and he hugged me than walked away.

The next place was a cute Irish bar called the Drunken Rabbit. Fun place where I met a couple from Boston who had driven the Ring Road (the road all the way around Iceland). They were amazed at the beauty of Iceland and all the different types of terrain. The only drawback was the car rental for a week that was 1000 dollars. Everything is expensive in Iceland.

I wandered home about 1:30 AM and it was still light comparable too early twilight. Great first day in Iceland.

SD Fringe and San Diego Waterfront – San Diego, California

So I returned to San Diego for two more shows of Mi Casa Su Casa as part of the 5th Annual San Diego Fringe Festival with my partner and co-author, Silvie Jacobsen. This time we drove down instead, and came down a night early because I had a 2:30 PM show the next day, June 25th.

We chose the Quality Inn Downtown on 4th Street about 8 blocks from the theatre. The place while not horrible was pretty sketchy. The rooms were extremely tiny. The kitchenette was in the closet. The bathroom sink doubled as the kitchen sink with a garbage disposal in it. We found a bug in the bed the first night. Overall, the experience for the two nights there was disappointing.

The hotel did provide a very, very basic breakfast for $10 in the morning, and I passed on that for my own coffee in the room. We soon walked down to theatre for the 2:30 PM show. The Geoffrey Off Broadway theatre was more than half full so the energy was very high. While still struggling with the script a little, I had a wonderful show and received many great compliments on the material.

the Playwrights backstage after the successful 2nd show!

The theatre is located on 1st and Broadway which is very simple walking distance to San Diego Seaport, the Maritime Museum and the USS Midway Museum on the San Diego Harbor shoreline.

The Kiss

Starting at the Seaport, we walked North along the shoreline. The city has really developed this part of the harbor into a very friendly tourist area with walkways, small parks, and the museums and restaurants. First, you come upon the 25 foot statue of the “Kissing Statue” based on the famous Life Magazine photo of a sailor kissing a random girl in New York City in 1945 celebrating the end of World War II. The statue is officially called “Unconditional Surrender” and is located right next to the USS Midway Museum.

USS Midway Museum

The USS Midway Museum is a maritime museum located in downtown San Diego, California at Navy Pier. The museum consists of the aircraft carrier Midway (CV-41). The ship houses an extensive collection of aircraft, many of which were built in Southern California.[1][2]   The USS Midway was America’s longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century, from 1945 to 1992 with approximately 200,000 sailors served aboard the carrier during that time. USS Midway opened as a museum on 7 June 2004. By 2012 annual visitation exceeded 1 million visitors and as of 2015 Midway is the most popular naval warship museum in the United States.[3] The Museum information for tickets and times and events is located here, www.midway.org/hours-tickets. (Wikipedia)

Rigging of the Star of India

Further up, the boardwalk is the Maritime Museum of San Diego which preserves one of the largest collections of historic sea vessels in the United States. Located on the San Diego Bay, the centerpiece of the museum’s collection is the Star of India, an 1863 iron bark. The museum maintains the MacMullen Library and Research Archives aboard the 1898 ferryboat Berkeley.  Other boats in the collection include a replica of the America, the first ship to win the America’s Cup Yacht race, the HMS Surprise, a full size operating Royal Navy frigate from 1800’s that has also appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean series and the Master and Commander movie. The collection also includes two submarines: one US and one Russian, plus others. You can purchase tickets for the Museum at https://sdmaritime.org/tickets/. You can find times and prices and Museum activities there.

HMS Surprise

A really beautiful warm night stroll along the harbor and looking at tall ships and aircraft carriers.

The 3rd show the next day was a great success and back to LA. We return for 2 more shows on June 29th and July 1 plus a visit to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Park.

Mi Casa Su Casa – San Diego International Fringe Festival

As some of my full time readers will know, I am also a performer/teacher/director who has toured the world doing shows and workshops. I have worked in South-eastern Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

I am currently doing a one-man show at the San Diego Fringe Festival called Mi Casa Su Casa or How to Get 175 Roommates (The AirBnb Show). The show is about my other job which is owning and operating the Hacienda Guest House in Los Angeles, and being an AirBnB host for the past 6 years. All the wonderful, strange and downright weird things that happen when you open your home to perfect strangers from around the world.

The opportunity to combine my show and my travel writing was too good to pass up- so here goes.

My show was to open at the SD Fringe on June 22 at 6 PM in the Geoffrey Off Broadway Theatre, 923 1st Avenue (which really just a half block from Broadway) in the Gas Lamp district. Instead of enduring that hell that is the 5 Freeway which can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours one way from LA to SD depending on the traffic, I chose Amtrak instead. The train, the Surfrider, is a lovely stress-free way to get to San Diego in about 3 hours with about half the train ride along the coast with great views for about $40 one-way.

The end of the line in downtown SD at the Santa Fe Station was literally an easy 5 block walk to the theatre on First Street, so I got there in plenty of time for the technical rehearsal at 12:30 PM. After tech rehearsal, I went over the the hostel that I had rented a bed for the night, the USA Hostels San Diego – Downtown on Fifth Steet. Located in a historic 1880s building in the Gaslamp district, the hostel serves a daily free breakfast and offers shared accommodations with free Wi-Fi. The hostel offers exclusively-designed privacy pods with a light, a shelf, an outlet and screening from roommates. All shared guest rooms have free lockers (guests need to provide their own lock). The daily free breakfast includes all-you-can-make pancakes, baked goods, toast, oatmeal, fresh fruit, juice, coffee and tea. Guests can cook their own meals in the shared kitchen.

This all sounds very lovely until you arrive. The hostel is tiny with no lobby, tiny kitchen and small lounge area. If reception desk is really busy, the lobby space gets really crowded and it is impossible to get to the kitchen or lounge area. The place is reasonably clean but the rooms are very small and people seemed packed in tight. I do not recommend this hostel if you are looking for space or comfort. However, the location cannot be beat right in the heart of the Gaslamp district.

I returned to the theatre for my 6 PM curtain. While very nervous as this is an entirely new play, the audience was half full and very receptive as I tried to work out some of the kinks in the script. For 45 minutes, I regaled the audience with tales of random people who have ventured into my front door over the past 12 years. I only got lost in the new script once so I was overall pleased with the first show. Special shout out to Kevin, the CEO of SD Fringe, and my stage manager, Scott for their amazing work and dedication to theatre and live artists.

The San Diego Fringe is part of the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit. Each festival houses about 100 shows over a 2 week period and provides the artists with venue, technical and programming support. Unlike an open fringe festival like the Hollywood Fringe Festival which the artist pays FOR everything, and the Hollywood Fringe festival in 2017 had 375 shows in a 3 week period. It is just too many shows and too much competition for any one show to get any traction for an audience. San Diego Fringe is much more calm, professional, and easy to attract an audience for.

Next morning, I took the Surfrider back to Los Angeles the next morning. Arrived at Union Station in DT  Los Angeles about 4 PM and took an Uber home. Quick but really nice trip.

I have two more shows in San Diego on June 25 and 26. More about those next time.