Day 17 Observations (deferred) and Miscellanea + 3 Book Reviews

J, DB, C May 25, 2026

 OBSERVATIONS of Bucharest to Budapest and Vienna

(deferred)

• This was the first river cruise by THB and DB
• This was the first Tauck tour by THB and DB
• This was the first time THB and DB had been to E. Europe

THB thinks this must be too many "firsts" to make a decent stab at comparisons. 

HAH! Like that has ever stopped THB from making ill-judged Observations before.

Well, this time it did stop THB! On other hand, you all saw how much great contemporary art we saw...tons! THB will produce Observations after the July Tauck trip to Ireland.

In the meantime, here in CA there were some quirky things to update for the followers: 

like a pelican at the window with a broken wing (b dylan)

from the fringe of the slough, now at MD

pool finally re-opens

our water is back to normal, the source of the leak into the main water line remains a mystery

the dunes are ablaze with colors

this bulldozer is slowly moving north along the beach 

maybe this is a clue

two guys out rock fishing capsized in strong winds, their boat looks unseaworthy 

it is a long sad tale: the sensors imply the tires are not set a right pressure. A tire place in Castroville gives the tires and electronics a very thorough stress test. No problems can be found. PHEW!!

gale force winds buffet E-ville

a crew is out early to clean up the damage

tree trimming completed

Berkeley wall art

Bean Finneran ceramics

sunset in E-ville

peonies in Kevin Snipes vase

peonies in Kevin Snipes vase at the beach

set up for C&S's wedding behind Cellpa and Alta; not sure why THB and DB weren't invited....maybe because we don't know the couple?

Book Reviews Highly Recommended

Non-Fiction

London Falling, a Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth, Patrick Radden Keefe (read by the author): First pub’d as an article in the NY’er, this expanded version took a long time to get to the essence: if the rock hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the rock, it is bad news for the pitcher. When a 19 year-old fabricates a story of his status in life (son of an oligarch), it attracts dangerous men wanting some of his wealth. It doesn’t end well for the kid. And, the British police are not keen to go after this level of criminals, for good reason.

The World Of Yesterday, Memoirs of a European**, Stefan Zweig (read by David Horovitch, translated by Anthea Bell, pub date in English 1943): An accomplished intellectual, Zweig’s 62 years (1881 - 1942) spanned many countries, many literature forms, and an unbelievable number of famous acquaintances. Austrian and Jewish by birth, he traveled extensively. His conclusion: if you give a crazy man like Hitler total power, your life can easily end in tragedy. By the end  of the book (1940), the similarity to DJT is overwhelming. Zerig (and his second wife, never mentioned in the book) committed joint suicide in 1942.

Fiction

The Hill**, Harriet Clark (read by Maggie Thompson): Clark has written an exceptional coming of age story, based on her upbringing. It is fictional (per the author), and even more intriguing in that the story is told through the interactions of three women (daughter, mom - in prison - and grandma who raises the daughter) and very lightly on events. 

Day 16 Vienna, Day 17 Vienna to E-ville

 

The last two days: more great contemporary art, a long walk to the Daube

and even longer Uber ride back from lunch (Vienna is getting ready to host

Eurovision contest), a small dinner in the hotel, and early start to the airport,

an on-time arrival at SFO.

view from hotel 

THB and DB get a tour of other hotel rooms; the pics are from the unoccupied rooms. About 25+ years ago an IT tecchie exec bought the building and converted around 60 units to hotel rooms, using variouss architects. There are still a few of the original tenants, and Reception handles their needs as well. The "curator" of the art hustles through the tour, she and the owner's daughter rotate art every Dec/Jan during the  low period. No attributions as the hotel doesn't want the hotel guests know how much individual pieces are worth

photo was blurry before THB took the pic

THB thinks the vacuum is real, the car is not

this painting was outside our room and the closer THB looked the more he like it

not easy to tell, the headboard is a chocolate bar

this rug would fit perfectly in the Loft

pics around town, taken as we walk to the Danube for lunch

we are dining outside at Heindls Schmarren & Palatschinkenkuchl

we are a few minutes early so walk a few blocks to the Danube

slightly spritzy strawberry lemonade

Heindls Schmarren & Palatschinkenkuchl: THB can't believe he ate the whole thing!! We first had this dish at Hotel Charles in Munich...

more shots from around town before we take an UBER uptown....an hour ride (we walked it in 30 minutes) as the police have closed a number of bridges along the Danube

The Ludwig Moderner

2 big shows: a selection of artists who canvas the museum's collection to pair up with their own work; and lots of work by Tobias Pils (THB not overwhelmed)

there's a large blue line on the floor, reminiscent of THB's and DB's apartment near Lake Mettitt where we painted a similar stripe on the walls.

projected on the stairwell

one of the few paintings with color

Years ago, Trumer opened a brewery in Berkeley, using a recipe provided by the Austrian company. Lots of places in the East Bay carried the draft version and THB made it the Loft house brewski. Just recently they sold the Berkeley site to an LA group. The bottle below was ordered by THB as part of the light dinner at the hotel. Identical to the Berkeley version

DB sticks with Gruner Veltliner

somewhere between Vienna and Istanbul (probably the Black Sea)

the new look in Business Class: an updated Jane Fonda workout type attire

She put on a coat and she's ready to party in SF

graffiti artists are not known for getting their acronyms / spelling right

Book Reviews

The Unicorn Hun (book 5 of the House of Niccolo Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett

(read by John Banks, pub’d 1993, audio version in2023). More travels and travails

for Niccolo as he finally gets his child and wife back in Venice.

Beyond Inheritance, Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding

of Health, Roxanne Khansi (read by author): mostly snippets of how on-going

analysis of changes in DNA over our lives can create diseases. Not recommended -

a long-ish magazine article would suffice.