Skeddie Sauce and other Delights: May 2022

31 May 2022

Nice could be nice - Departure

This very much needed little break to Nice started way back 2019. Yes, that's correct - 2019. Little by little, over the years, I slowly collect points on my MasterCard when I use it. I'm not much of a shopper so it takes quite some time to get enough points for a free flight. Usually, my points expire because they are for a limited time only. When a big chunk of points are about to expire, I get a message from SAS letting me know to use them or lose them. I couldn't believe it, I finally had enough points to actually fly to Nice for free. I've never been to Nice before and it was only for a few days so that Jens wouldn't have to spend too much time on his own in the local senior care facilities.

So.... I book my trip to Nice and very excited about it but also very nervous about putting all the ends together when it comes to Jens to make the transition as smooth as possible for him.

Our neighbors, Jan and Ulla, have now since moved, but they have a home in Nice and they travel there all the time. I knocked on their door to hear if by chance they were going to be there when I was going to travel there. What a coincidence, there were, in fact, going to Nice at the same time. We had loose plans to meet. How much fun it could be to meet my neighbors for an afternoon coffee along the azure blue French Riviera. Possibly later the next day we would make dinner plans or enjoy a cocktail under a parasol while being refreshed by the gentle on-shore Mediterranean breeze.

While at work in the cargo department, there was a rumor going around that the pilots might go on strike. Oh no! I sure hope they don't; at least not before departure date. Just one day before departure, we were coming home from the funeral of my mother-in-law, Rigmor. God bless her soul. A wonderful woman. We got along very well and we always had something to jabber on about and then we would laugh.

Anyhoo........... as we are zooming down along the motorway, approaching the capital, the news is on the radio and they announce that the pilots are in fact going on strike. What a total drag. We get home, I unpack the car and roll Jens into the apartment. Shortly thereafter I buzz Jan and Ulla's doorbell. Jan opens the door - Hej Eddie - he says with a big smile. I say, "Well, it looks like we aren't going to Nice after all - eh?" "What do you mean", he asks with doubt and then confirms, "We're going." So, I asked him, "How are you going to Nice if the pilots are striking"? "Oh were not flying with SAS. We're flying with Norwegian."

My heart sank. Here I finally collected enough points to have the opportunity to actually fly somewhere before 8,000 points were about to expire in June. I had exactly 30,000 points and it costs that exact amount to get to Nice. That's the only southern destination that requires so few points. I wasn't interested in flying north to Stockholm or Oslo in the early spring. And what happens? The pilots strike. Such luck :-(

Fast forward now to February 2022. I get another letter from SAS saying: You have 32,000 points on your MasterCard. 8,000 points will expire in June. If you don't have enough points to fly with us, you may want to consider using your points in our on-line store. Oh well why didn't they say that before? I want a new hard-shell Samsonite suitcase. I don't remember exactly what it costs in points but it was over 100,000 points. WTF!!!! 100,000 points for a bag or 30,000 to Nice? uh....... that's an easy choice. And for me - it was the only choice.

So, I booked a flight to Nice - again - and crossed my fingers that there would be no strike. Which, actually there was. But this time it was the baggage handlers striking. I followed the strike closely. I was really rooting for the baggage handlers and I was willing to have to eat another free flight for their benifit. Sadly, the strike was declared illegal. I felt badly for the guys. I was not a baggage handler but working closely with them, I understood very well the problems they were/are having. The guys decided to strike anyway, regardless of the court order forcing them to go back to work. That ruling gave the airline the upper hand and they sent all baggage personel a letter stating: your absence tomorrow, means you agree to be terminated. That was the end of that and I would soon be on my way.

On the day of my departure, I would have to dump the beautiful tulips that I bought for my mom for Mother's Day. Of course she had to enjoy them in thought, on-line. I bought them from Irma on May 7th. I departed on May 14th. The flowers could have lasted at least 2 or 3 days more.

Now the beautiful tulips will go to bio-energy.

At 8:10, I deliver my keys to my neighbor upstairs and then off to the airport via bus and train. I got really lucking on the way to the airport. The night before, I checked out google maps and it showed that there is actually a bus that will drive just 3 stops to the central station. This meant that I didn't have to walk all the way to the station I normally walk too. But I couldn't see the actual bus stop. I saw the bus coming and I waved my hand frantically up in the air while the other hand was pulling my baggage. The bus driver was kind enough to stop and wait for me to run to the stop. The bus stop was set back from the sidewalk and covered by tall bushes. That is why I never noticed it even though I have walked pasted it a 1000 times already. Then when I got to the central station, the train to the airport was just pulling into the station. It was perfect timing. Below is the airport station.

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30 May 2022

Nice could be nice - Arrival

A few snaps out of the airplane window over the riviera, just minutes before landing.

I checked out on google maps and found out that it is only 7 km / 4.35 miles to walk from Terminal 1 to my BnB. There is also a new tram, for less than €2, that stops at the door of the airport and goes almost to the front door of my BnB.

The above photo shows the walk from Terminal 1 to my BnB in Old Town. The promenade is called Promenade des Anglais - Promenade of the English. Was built by the English in 1820. It's 7 km / 4 miles long. It goes all the way from the airport to the Quai des Ètats Unis - United States Quai.

These were taken on my walk just 2 minutes away from the airport. Good friend Carlos and I are always exchanging flower pix. I guess it's what old men do; notice the beauty in nature.

Above, I point to where I have to walk to.

Bring a mat because it's small stones and not sand on the beach.

I snapped the above photo for my friend Gail who is in this kind of business.

It's not in English but it can be fun just to take a look at the website.

Above - The Palais de l'Agriculture is the headquarter of the Central Society for Agriculture, Horticulture and Acclimatization of Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes, a learned society founded in 1860.

This building was built in 1900 and inaugurated April 8 1901.

The tram would have zipped me to my BnB by now but why sit in a crowed tram when you can walk the beautiful coast line of the French Riviera? And as I planned, I stopped halfway and enjoyed a lovely cocktail and spooky native Nice salad. You know it as: Salad Niçoise. In case your not up on your French, its pronounced by pointing to the menu card and carefully saying: "one of these".

I say it's a spooky salad because the menu card said: "half cooked tuna." My gosh!!! Just the description alone made me imagine my stomach being infected by single-cell parasitic amoeba, preproducing at the speed of light. I had to make a mental note of where the toilet was located - just in case the diarrhea would begin to freely flow before I even got the bill.

Only just a few days ago did I realize that it was an awful translation on the menu card. What was printed as "Half cooked tuna" could only be one of 2 things: a plate with a huge hunk of fish OR they meant seared tuna.

After a late lunch, I continued on the last half of my walking tour with fingers crossed that I wasn't going to have to look for a public toilet with only a cardboard roll hanging from the t.p. dispenser. I was nervous. The wind was picking up and the heavy hazy sky was starting to form thin clouds. oh no - not what I needed now.

I finally got to the BnB office. The keys were handed to me and I just needed to walk 10 doors further down along one of the dark and narrow old village roads. Buzzed myself in with the magnet key and climbed up to the 5th floor. The front door to the apartment complex was extremely non-descript. It looked more like a door to an old abandon warehouse. Up the very well worn-down decrepit black slate steps to the top floor and I let myself in. Here are a few pix of what it looked like. Very large. Very pleasant, Very clean and just perfect with very nice view.

It had everything and I was very satisfied with it. It was spotless. That really made a huge difference. I didn't do any cooking but easily could have. I was on a break and that meant that somebody else could cook for me - of course I would have to pay for it. But so be it. (what am i talking about? I did pay for it but only got a half cooked fish)

After a hard morning the previous day with getting everything ready for Jens, and after a long walk this day, by the time I got to my BnB, I just took my sweet time getting un packed and finding my way into my new weekend holiday home. Eventually, I would walk out and see part of the town before the sun set.

Take a look at the top of the hill and see if you can notice a waterfall.

Along with flowers, Carlos and I are often sharing pix of the moon. If I remember correctly, he said there was supposed to be a blood moon in California at this time.

Eventually I would check out the bus stop that I needed for the following day.

I wasn't really hungry but I thought I had better eaten something so that my tuna parasites wouldn't eat me up alive in the middle of the night. Some spicy Thai food ought to do the trick to kill those little bastards.

Above: the table on the left is where I sat.

Then it was time for dreamland.