Category Archives: Paul Goldberg Blog

Iceland, Paul Goldberg Blog

Iceland Days 6 and 7

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We had been looking forward to meeting the Icelandic Horses since booking this trip. We had two experiences with them on day 6. First at a small farm run by Magnus where we got to visit some of his 65 horses and had our introduction to Five Gaited horses.

Gaits

Also I had the opportunity to sit on a horse. Unlike my time on Galopan I really didn’t need the mounting block, these horses are short.

These horses are really small. The girl is 10.

Magnus also is a singer composer and entertained us with several songs including “Creme Cheese Cake” for which he is famous, in Iceland at any rate.

Carol dancing to Magnus’ performance

From there we went to another horse farm where we we were to spend the night. Included in the display of the horses ability we were to plant trees for an OAT project as part of the farms extensive government subsidized tree planting. The climb to the land where we were to plant was substantial and a car was provided for those unable to make it. I have no pictures of the climb, all my energy went into the climb and Carol stayed right me all the way to the top! Our new friends were thrilled to see her spunk and I was in tears. To celebrate I bought a round for the group at Happy hour. 

I do have video of the horses performing, but I am too tired to edit and post tonight. Well here is one video of the special walking gait

Today, Day 7 was a long drive to Akureryri with a couple of stops along the way. The most interesting were the Herring Museum and Folk Music Center in Siglufjorour (that is spelled correctly). Herring was the gold of this coast  until it left. and the museum is fascinating and the guide, Daniel, was excellent. I really wanted at least another hour there but we needed to get back on the bus to make our dinner schedule.

Iceland, Paul Goldberg Blog

Iceland Day 3 and 4

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Yesterday We set off for Borganes in the Northwest of Iceland.  There were famous waterfalls and a wool dyer to see. The next stop was to see the “original” Geysir. It is so called because it appears to be the first one called a geyser and all the others have been named for it, albeit with a slightly different spelling .The original large geyser is no longer performing. 

Geysir The original
Smaller active geyser

The most impressive  geological feature was the rift where the North American Tectonic Plate and Eurasian Tectonic plates are pulling away from each other. The movement is in less than inches per year, but the forces are tremendous and the land is scarified for miles and miles with cracks running north and east through out.

Plates Pulling apart 1
Plates Pulling apart 2

There were more falls, and raging rivers as we came to the seat of Iceland government from the late 900’s. I will not recap the last 2000 years of Icelandic history although it is the form of a saga and about as long. Many people died mostly by the hand of others except for those who fell into rivers and lakes. 

After a night in Borganes at the aptly named B59 Hotel (it is located  at 59 Borganes Street) we set out to see goats on the only exclusive goat farm in Iceland where they are preserving the breed of Icelandic goats. The ones that are  not shy will attempt to climb on your shoulder, from behind – or in one case from in front of me.  Here is one confronting Carol in her new bright red poncho.

Carol in her new poncho with goat

Neither of us prepared adequately for the wind and rain we have encountered. I now have a new very expensive raincoat which may make an appearance in a later blog. 

We went to see a couple of more falls. I took too many pictures that look like everyone else’ picture from the falls. Then we went to a Greenhouse/Restaurant. We had a wonderful presentation on growing vegetables in a greenhouse with light for 9 months of the years and unlimited flowing HOT water. There is enough that when the sun goes behind the mountain for the winter they flood the greenhouse with hot water to 2 feet down to sterilize the soil for the coming season. All this water is geothermal and is piped in from the nearby hot water sources. They have to drill for cold water separately. The lunch in the restaurant was three different soups, Carrot, Tomato and Mushroom.  YUM

Back to the hotel for a free afternoon with dinner on our own.

Iceland, none, Paul Goldberg Blog

Days One and Two

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Our flights were relatively uneventful. The plan was less than wonderful since it left us at JFK with all our luggage from about 11 AM until 4:30 PM. Because we had booked Delta separately from Iceland Air They would not check our luggage through. Once we picked up our bags at Delta Baggage Claim we were out of Security and had to wait for Icelandic to open check in to get back to “airside”. There are no reasonable options for food or comfort at any of the terminals before clearing security. As we stared at Dunkin’ having had breakfast at Dunkin’ in Rochester I remembered that the Saarinen TWA terminal had been salvaged and made over into a hotel which certainly would have food options. BINGO! in addition to a highly regarded restaurant (pricey in any event) there is a food court with tables and chairs that used to sit on our Sandringham patio after serving as our dinner set on Warder Dr. The food was reasonable and the comfortable lounge looking out the window at the Super Constellation that has been parked there made for a pleasant waiting area. I will admit that the third recycle of the 50’s and 60’s music at high volume eventually became overwhelming. 

We arrived at the Reykjavik Airport about on time and were picked up by an OAT guide (not ours) for transfer to  to the Selfoss Hotel where we met the early arrivals and those who had arrived with us. By 5 PM we had our entire party – minus one couple – for the usual OAT greeting and plan for the 13 days and the next day. 

Day 2 we visited two water falls, one of which those of us who were willing and able got to walk behind.

SeljalandsF0ss
Behind the Falls

From there we had lunch and a bit of shopping in preparation for a hike to a glacier. We were prepared for rain, we thought, and we understood there would be some wind, this being Iceland. We were not prepared for 20 mile per hour winds with rain and at one point hail. I have no pictures. We crossed the front of the glacier headed for the toe over glacial sand and water flows bridged by plank bridges seemingly moved into place for our trek. It was only 15 minutes to our destination and another 15 minutes returning with maybe 10 minutes staring at the huge wall of the glacier itself. I have no pictures, my gloves were wet through as were my pants and water resistant shoes. Somehow the old rain jacket I was wearing over a warm comfortable water resistant jacket staved off the worst of the water. on my chest and arms. I do have a picture of the “Super Jeep” Really a highly modified Sprinter capable of carrying our entire party of 15 plus guide over the glacier itself.

Super Jeep

Day Three is coming up soon. We are moving North and West from Selfoss.

Iceland, Paul Goldberg Blog

Iceland Trip Set UP

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Here is the planned route for 13 days in Iceland:

https://goo.gl/maps/QDL6179DBzZD2SmA

We will be touring the west coast of Iceland to the very north by bus and returning by plane to Reykjavik for the last three days of the trip. As we prepare for departure a volcano has decided to show off near the airport. So far it is not disrupting air travel. This is to be expected on this trip. We are traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel – OAT as usual. We are looking forward to a wide variety of experiences including a home hosted dinner and an overnight at an Icelandic farm as part of this adventure.

In addition we will have the opportunity to talk with several experts about the impact of climate change and the use of geothermal energy to reduce impact on the climate. Many Iceland glaciers are dormant as result of climate change. 

Departure is Saturday morning to JFK on Delta and then an evening flight direct to Iceland on Iceland Air.

I have been told to expect good wifi at the hotels so I should be able to blog as we go.

In Rochester, Paul Goldberg Blog

The New Mural

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As promised a picture of the new mural on 114 Saint Paul St – opposite our lining room window at 80 Saint Paul St This was taken from the parking lot to avoid shooting through 19th century glass and 20th century plexiglass. 

Image of new mural from 80 St Paul

The artist Conor Harrington is Irish, currently living in London. He strongly opposes authoritarian government. You will note that the faces are “defaced” It was interesting because in his “cartoon” they were clearly delineated so he could actively deface them. 

This is an interesting and colorful image to have out our window and we have moved our seating so instead of having our backs to the mural while eating breakfast we will look out on the wall. 

In other news, there isn’t much. Josh and Rohma called to come over for a nightcap on Wednesday and  we had a lovely chat while enjoying Josh’s concoction of  Margaritas. I did sleep well. Carol finally got to go to Eastman Sings and join in the chorale performance of Mozart’s Requiem, these  sings have been a regular event for many years, before covid, and she always enjoys the chance to sing out. I have been solving Wordle most mornings just to wake up the brain. There has been one Bridge  and may be another this week before we leave for Iceland.

I should be able to blog from Iceland as we are promised WiFi in every hotel. We fly out of Rochester on Saturday morning and hope to arrive in Iceland early Sunday morning. We’ve been reading books about Iceland and watched at least one movie about surfing there, it had my teeth chattering. 

While we were in Griffis Sculpture Park as I mentioned Josh made a couple of flights with his drone. That blurry red device is the drone having just passed through the opening in the sculpture. Nice flying, Josh

In Rochester, Paul Goldberg Blog

Changes and Activities

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When we moved into the apartment, 10 years ago, we bought a Lounge chair for Carol, I kept my Eames Chair, that is modern and rather sleek. However the recliner portion is manual and requires a locking knob to stay in place. It became uncomfortable for Carol as significant effort was required and I became the adjuster and “locker”.  She has been hounding me all summer about getting something more suitable. We went to Ruby Gordon’s a store where we had bought many items in the past and had assumed that like so many other stores that it had been swallowed up by some corporate monolith. The sign says Family Owned since 1937. And on asking the current owner is the son of our former friend, Ray, and grandson of my parents friends, the Ruby’s. We found the chair that suited Carol and it is now setup next to me. As a powered recliner it is not the sleek small modern chair that fits with our décor, but it isn’t ugly and it is comfortable. 

We were concerned about what to do with old chair and asked Josh if he and Rohma had any interest in it. Yesterday we picked them up and drove to Griffis Sculpture Park about an hour south of Buffalo. We had been talking about this trip all summer. We have not been to the park in at least a decade. It hasn’t changed. Well some idiots with spray cans have left their mark in several places. I cannot imagine what motivates this kind of behavior. We did find a couple of locations without too many people where Josh could fly his drone and record the park from the air. When he edits and posts the videos I will post them here. 

We had agreed to dinner out with them and decided to return to Rochester since there was time. Rather than return by the Thruway we chose an alternate route. Those who know me will not be surprised. We ran expressways through Buffalo to Pembroke where we left the toll road for NY 5 for a slower roll through towns like Pembroke, Batavia, Caledonia and Avon just to see some different scenery. While we were rolling, Carol called the Cub Room to book a table for dinner. We dropped off Rohma and Josh and returned to the apartment to clean up from the day’s hiking. We met back at the restaurant where we had lovely meals. Then Josh treated us to ice cream at Hedonist, a short walk from the restaurant. To cap off the day we returned to the apartment and loaded the chair into the Jeep for the short trip to Rohma and Josh’s place where, as Josh started toward the front door, we exchanged farewells and drove home to get some sleep.

Meanwhile, out our north facing window big changes are happening. A small crew spent several days prepping the wall for the new mural to come.

 While we were traveling the artist put up the cartoon of the mural and began filling in the black space.

I will post the finished mural in a few days. I do hope it has some color as promised.

 

In Rochester, Paul Goldberg Blog

Out of the Cage

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After 8 days, or a life time, we both were clear of Covid – whatever variant and ready for some fun. We started with dinner at Bar Bantam before proceeding to GEVA for Sister Act. Dinner was with Victor and Joyce Poleshuck and Neil and Sandy Frankel. We had not been to the restaurant in at least 4 years and expectations were limited. Seating was fine. The menu is limited but we all found items to please us. I had Tuna over Black Rice which was done to perfection and and Carol found  lovely lettuce wraps to satisfy her. 

We headed out the door for the short walk to GEVA with Joyce and Victor. We could not remember going to a play there in several years. Sister Act is a fun musical and I would recommend the GEVA performance to anyone. Production was really good, Acting and staging were also very good. This is not intended as a review!

We have been taking some time in the apartment to continue our recovery of strength. Sunday was a magnificent day with temperatures in the mid to high 80’s and The Corn Hill Festival was on. Corn Hill is a section Southwest of downtown (barely) that once was the 3rd Ward better known as the Blue Stocking District. It was once entirely lovely Victorian home and later became more inner city and in the last couple of decades has become a vibrant mixed community less than a mile from our apartment. All the streets of the district are given over to vendors of all sorts for the two day event. There are 4 music stages and in the past there have been many street buskers. 

We walked back along the banks of the Genesee River which borders the area and were please to see the fine work restoring the river wall and even including a special launch location for wheelchair bound individuals to board a canoe or kayak.

If anyone really wants to read the instructions, let me know and I will send the closeup along.

It is indeed Festival Season and the Rochester Jewish Film Festival is on, 21 films in 7 days. We went to ONE today, not sure how many more we will get to. We saw The Automat which is a documentary about the famed Horn & Hardart Automats. Mel Brooks provides introduction and some narration along the way. It is both fascinating and hilarious. Ruth Bader Ginsberg also has an important role as do many other familiar characters.

It has finally starting to rain as promised. We will stay in for the evening and get on with other plans tomorrow.

In Rochester, Isolation, Paul Goldberg Blog

A Caged Lion

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Since the day after Jazz Fest we have not left the apartment for more than a few minutes. Tuesday Carol tested positive for Covid and I tested positive on Friday.  If we had the energy, we would be shredding the apartment from frustration. At least we are stuck in 1470 square feet instead of 400 as on the motorhome. The size of the cage really is a matter of indifference. Neither of us is moving around much except from the living room to the bedroom with stops in the bathrooms as we go by. 

We are supposed to go to a wedding reception  that is really a one year anniversary of the marriage. Won’t be there. No one wants our bugs and we don’t have the stamina to walk from the car to the event.  We have plans for next Thursday. There is a possibility we will be able to attend. Not taking any bets on that. 

Carol has been making dinner each night and has kept up the housekeeping in her moments of energy.

No Paxlovid in this house. Carol can’t take it because she weighs too little. My doctor thinks the side effects may be worse than the disease in its current form.  I have trusted this doctor with my medical care for over 20 years, I’m not about to go against his recommendation.  

Our neighbors were noisy this morning, they must have gone out. The wall between our units is quite thin. Every now and then I think they may be coming through.  They seem to converse loudly. Fortunately it doesn’t disturb us particularly, although I must admit to being spoiled by the soundproof double walls in the East Ave Townhouse. Nothing can be heard in the bedroom and our quiet neighbors on that side are away for the summer in any event. Ah apartment living. A spacious cage with no escape until the virus lets us go.

In a few minutes I will get up the energy to prowl from the living room to the bedroom and back just to say I have moved. The actual distance from the end wall to the far end of the bedroom is 70 feet. I need to do that a lot of times to equal one night of Jazz Fest.

I just completed the round trip. Not totally exhausting, but I noticed it.

In Rochester, Jazz Fest, Paul Goldberg Blog

Jazz Fest Day 9 – The End

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It is Sunday morning and the sounds of the Festival are still ringing in my ears. There was the music in the venues, the music in the free events and there was the crowd noise blended with all of the above. The noisescape shifted as we moved from venue to venue and paused in the midst of it to have a meal or to converse with friends and acquaintances – mostly shouting over the noise or waiting for a break between numbers. 

Last night we only went to two performances, not counting a couple of free stage events on Jazz Street. We joined the mob in Kilbourn Hall to hear Kurt Elling “Super Blue” with Charlie Hunter. This started slowly with some wonderful scat and morphed and grew to a some fine music and interesting sounds, especially when Elling started cupping the microphone with his hand and generating feedback tones which he was able to control for pitch. He ran over a bit and no one seemed to mind.

We decided to get some food and then take our time going to the Theater at innovation Square for Drum Battle: Justin Faulkner vs Joe Farnsworth. This also included Mike Ledonne on piano, a bass player and two trumpet players. The drummers were front and center with the side men providing some great music to support the drums. The “Battle” seemed to be mostly good natured kidding and trading riffs. They built to a climax as time was running out and finished strong just as the hour was up. 

To a standing ovation the lights came up and Faulkner went back to his kit and suggested we give him 5 minutes more. Farnsworth returned to his kit and doffed his suitcoat. They got into it, trading riffs and trying to outdo each other with unique approaches to the drums. At one point Faulkner was shouting into the head of the snare drum and Farnsworth stood drum stick vertically on the drum head and got it vibrating by sliding his hand down the shaft. This duel continued for twenty minutes and the audience was on the edge of its seats through out. 

Carol and I were tired from nine nights and realized that there was no better way to end the 2022 19th Festival then on those drums. We went home.

We attended some or all of 34 performances over the nine nights. This is a low count compared to prior years, but we are older and get tired earlier. We also attended 4 or 5 free stage performances. We were on the Street from 4 to 11, about 7 hours, each night. Of the 38 performances we attended (including the free stage) I think there were 2 or 3 that we didn’t care for at all and maybe another 4 that didn’t hold our attention for the full hour.  That brings to about 30 performances that were engaging and interesting enough to hold us in our seats for most of the hour. This was a GREAT Jazz Festival. We had pined for it for two years and are delighted to have been able to attend this year.

Plans? What Plans? We have none for today other than opening a Family Zoom. There is a calendar full of stuff for the coming weeks, but none of it is Jazz for the moment.

In Rochester, Jazz Fest, Paul Goldberg Blog

Jazz Fest Day 8

last night was a night of fewer concerts and more straight Jazz. We were starting with Mike Ledonne Trio at Max. After we picked up our timed entry wrist bands we had just over an hour to wait before returning to the line to wait for the doors to open. The timed entry groups are large enough that if we want our preferred seating we need to get back in line before the doors open. While waiting we drifted over to the Jazz Free Stage that opens each evening with sets by local high school Jazz groups. As we found our seats the Harley School Jazz Band was on stage with a particularly precocious trumpeter/singer at the front. She is Amalia Nugent, daughter of John Nugent, producer of the Festival. Next up was Gates Chili High School Jazz Band with massive forces of saxophones, trumpets, and trombones. We couldn’t count high enough, maybe 30 musicians on the stage. They were wonderful and set us up for the evening. 

Ledonne is old school straight ahead keyboard player. He left his Hammond B-3 home and worked with his bassist who he has a long working relationship with and drummer with whom it was is first time out to provide over an hour of fine Jazz. Before the performance we found ourselves at a table with Don Ver Ploeg. Don has been an accredited photographer with the Jazz Fest from its beginning and we have known him for many years even before the Festival. He tole us he had a picture of us taken early in the festival and wanted to send it. I can’t wait. 

Ledonne ran over and rather than run to The Temple for John Locke which would have less than 30 minutes left if we ran (an unlikely happening) we walked over to  Glory House for Jonathan Kreisberg Trio Featuring Eric Harland and Rick Rosato. This trio kept us entranced with yet more straight Jazz. This time with a guitar lead. they also ran over their allotted hour and we did not complain. With no immediate plan except dinner, Carol suggested we head for the apartment to avoid yet another night of street food. We were in the apartement for about 45 minutes before we headed back out to the Hyatt for Bobby Rush. Bobby is an 88 year old Black blues player with guitar, harmonica and story telling songs. After a few minutes on stage with his guitar and a brief biography starting in the Deep South in the 30’s he picked up a harmonica and and a portable microphone and came down into the audience where he told stories mixed with harmonica and singing backed by a guitar from the stage. Much of his story telling was blue as well as blues. We were enthralled and really enjoyed this performance, which also ran over. 

We stopped by the Jam Session for a while, ,but didn’t stay around long enough for any of the performers to take the stage. They seldom appear before midnight. 

I am not posting a plan for tonight as we don’t have one yet and we are headed out to the Public Market for breakfast and shopping. Maybe I’ll amend this later when I do have a plan.