alexandriacardinals

. . . and they were “fabulous,” aided and abetted by Collective Unconscious (the three guys on the right) in a Tribute to the Eagles.

***

[The anticipation mounts . . . unfortunately for photo takers, the lighting didn’t.  It was tough for the Super’s tablet (here) or for my snapshot camera (the rest of them) but good for the concert!]

[Thousands of guitars take the stage . . . ]

[The regular crowd shuffles in . . . ]

[Ann Hermes, the “person in charge of Theatre L’Homme Dieu,” made introductions for the start of the Theatre’s 55th year, the longest running summer stock theatre in the state. I believe this is the Armadillos’ 3rd year leading off the season, but the first time we have been able to see them.  Last night’s and tonight’s performance was and are sold out.]

[Nine guys raising a ruckus!]

When word got out that the Armadillos were coming, the school year ended and hundreds of students stormed out to get their tickets:

[The class of 2015 is graduating 286; the class in the photo below graduated around 270 50 years ago!  But because of my Cub Reporter responsibilities, I “know” more from the class of 2015 than from the class of 1965?  Por ejemplo, the four ladies here are Card athletes (l-r):  Kaila Dewanz, Brooke Swanson, Katie Dolan, and Kalley Bistodeau (From Voice of Alexandria).  Which again begs the question . . . we have to be the smallest school in the conference, how do we win so many conference titles?]

[Class of ’65 exploring fine dining on Thursday.]

One day, an army of gray-haired women may quietly take over the earth.  ~  Gloria Steinem

Up next:  Back to Europe.

[It was Wednesday.  Temperature over 80.  Really?  A day of a thousand other things going on, but so it happens.  And here they come – to the Alexandria Golf Club.]

[An avid Patchouli fan was there . . . apparently thought it was a music event.]

[And here comes the Supervisor.]

[Eats and soft drinks abound . . . well, unless you didn’t want soft drinks.]

[I then joined the “movers and shakers” of the AGC on the topside deck.]

[Emcee Mike Grimm and Goldy set the early pace.]

[Baseball coach John Anderson, sitting just below us, is acknowledged.]

[Athletic Director Norwood Teague leads off the program and introduces the coaches – here assistant football coach Tracy Claeys.]

[Then wrestling coach J Robinson sitting at our table – well, the table I left to join the “movers and shakers.”  The Super was keeping an eye on things downstairs.]

[Coach Claeys was filling in for “Ole Jer,” who was at a daughter’s wedding.  That’s an excused absence.]

[John Anderson again, brother Cam’s favorite coach because baseball is his favorite sport.]

[Mens’ golf coach John Carlson from Bagley . . . and a CPF of Tom Lehman.  Somehow, and shame on me, I missed a photo of women’s golf coach Michele Redman.]

[Women’s swimming and diving coach Terry Ganley, whose teams have won four straight Big Ten titles.]

[Women’s soccer coach Stefanie Golan.]

[J Robinson again.]

[Basketball coach Rick Pitino.  I guess I missed assistant hockey coach Mike Guentzel filling in for head coach Don Lucia, who was recruiting in Alaska.]

[An old alum (both of Alex and the ‘U’), who just happened to be the first execute a 360 slam dunk in a sanctioned game (OK, I could touch the bottom of the net), won a ball signed by women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings.  Thanks coach, we hope to be down for a game or two this year.]

[As the event was ending, the Super and I immediately repaired to the high school for a Community Education class taught by daughter Jami.  The section softball and track tournaments, which I’d hoped to attend, were ongoing.  Anyway, we locked up the school when we left.]

[We were greeted by the Cardinalmobile on the way out . . . and sadly noticed a lot of the trees planted here last fall (and on Broadway, incidentally) don’t appear to have survived the winter.]

I know no more about women today than when I was in high school.  ~  David Letterman

Up next:  Bulgaria, some more.

Addendum:  We received the following photos of Goldy Gopher with some lady at the event.  Thanks to Shawn Ostendorf, of the local UMAA chapter board of directors, for taking the photos.  And in the background of the last Goldy picture, we see the new CEO of the beverage cart, Cardinal alum, class of 2014, Emily Kuennen.  We got a chance to visit; you may recall Emily’s exploits for the Cards in softball and volleyball.

Bulgaria

[We landed in Vidin and immediately began a one hour bus trip to Belogradchik.  Yes, we’re in Bulgaria now, where the Cyrillic alphabet was invented.  Remember that for your next trivia contest.  My Latin name is spelled “Tom Obert,” my Cyrillic name is spelled “Tom Obept.” See, it’s not so hard! Then our last day is in Bucharest, where Romania is the only country on our trip with a Romance, rather than Slavic, language.  Bulgaria and Romania both joined the European Union in 2007, so we didn’t have to do the passport thing but the Euro is not yet in effect as the currency in either country,]

[And there’s our ultimate morning destination – the Belogradchik Fortress.]

[No, not a ship porthole.  We are in a Belogradchik 5-star hotel where we stopped for tea and crumpets and other things.]

[Out on the hotel’s back porch, I thought we were back in Zion?]

[Remember me?  I want to go to the Baltic next, or the Galapagos, or . . . ]

[Yup, Zion-like.]

[It was a 5-star hotel . . . I counted them!]

[Some terrific vistas with snow-capped mountains.]

[How could I not?]

[Bill takes a one-handed parting shot.]

[Leaving downtown Belogradchik and the hotel . . . ]

[We advance on the Fortress . . . ]

[Necessary information . . . ]

[Still outside the walls . . . ]

[The door is open . . . ]

[The ultimate destination . . . ]

[And we’re in!  An ancient fortress in the Balkan Mountains dating back to the Roman Empire.]

[We’re going up there . . . to some degree.  The Super (and Karen and Bill) did all 200 steps to the top of the rocks – I went halfway and decided it was too hot to go further. The two rocks on the left are Adam and Eve with the First Kiss. ]

[The view of the town from the base of the Fortress.]

[The pre-ascent mingling, deciding how far do we want to go?]

[Bill, on the left, appears to be checking wind direction before the climb.  Some are on the way up.]

[We have begun!]

[At the halfway point, 100 steps up, Karen stops for a photo op.]

[A bit of a rest and recovery area before the next assault . . . ]

[Nice views from right here, says I.]

[Bill and the Super move on to the summit!]

[The Supervisor took these photos from the top.  All hail the Supervisor!]

[What was that?  Something about “all hail the Supervisor?”]

[Time to head back down . . . ]

[It’s this way!]

[Anne and Bert, being of saner minds, explored the other side of the Fortress while we were playing mountain goat.]

[Oh, now I understand.]

[Leaving the Fortress.]

[This may be Belogradchik . . . it may be Vidin.  I don’t remember anymore but we were on the bus on the way back to the boat.]

[Definitely Vidin . . . ]

[And definitely the boat for lunch.  You may have noticed Kathy and Reetz weren’t with us at the Fortress.  They opted for a home hosted cooking demonstration.  The above is what they made and brought back to the boat for all to share.  Yummy!]

[After lunch, we did a walking tour of our port, Vidin (pop. 80,000), an ancient city that is allegedly the poorest in the EU.  This was in a lovely Danube riverside park, but it does not receive any maintenance (by our Western standards). The further we go into the old Iron Curtain countries, the more we see the struggles to develop economically. Lots of abandoned buildings or buildings, such as the synagogue (five photos below) , where there is no money for restoration. The unemployment rate in Bulgaria is 25 per cent.]

[Well, now you know Cyrillic!]

[Mother of Bulgaria monument]

[Soviet-era worker statues?]

[Park and synagogue in bad states of disrepair.]

[A lovely statue that was falling apart in the back.]

[Bada Vida Fortress.  Neat name, and love ‘working’ days and ‘resting’ days.]

[And then I almost got stuck in a tiny, spiral stairway getting to the top.]

[I think you can guess what this room was used for?]

[Back to the boat for happy hour and folk dancing!]

[Again, bon apetit!]

Only one more day on the boat, an evening in Bucharest, and home (our Eastern contingent will spend 4 more days in Transylvania after this . . . Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, et al).

Old age is not a battle.  Old age is a massacre.  ~  Philip Roth

Up next:  Gopher coaches?

Danube River

[All day cruising the Danube on now Thursday, April 30, through the “Iron Gate,” famed in song and story, with Serbia and the Balkan Mountains on the starboard side and Romania and the Carpathian Mountains on the port side.]

[I was among the early risers to be up top . . . for this.  Gorgeous!  And my kinda weather, delightfully chilly.  This was a day that would require very little effort on my part, so that made it even better.  Wait a sec, is that the sun breaking through?  Boo!]

[River bank travel on the starboard side required a few tunnels be built.]

From “About Travel”:  The Iron Gates of the Danube River originally consisted of four narrow gorges and three wide basins spread over several miles of the river dividing Romania and Serbia. In the 1960s, a huge lock and dam was built to control the speed of the river and make navigating this section of the Danube River safer. Today, the river flowing through the Iron Gates is peaceful, and it is 130 feet higher than prior to the dam and power station. The effect of the dam can be felt on the river for over 100 miles, and two locks, spread more than 50 miles apart, anchor each end of the Iron Gates. Over 23,000 citizens living along the river had to be resettled after the dam was complete.

Danube River cruises in eastern Europe like those with Viking River Cruises sail through the Iron Gates in daytime, and the scenery is spectacular, even though not as dramatic as it was 40 years ago. The Iron Gates and the Wachau Valley in Austria are probably the most scenic parts of the Danube River.

[Reetz has her stocking cap on – trying to catch a quickie.]

[A greenhouse?  Veggies and stuff?  Nope, this is Lepenski Vir.  Never heard of it?  Me neither, but it’s an important Mesolithic archaeological site, from maybe 10,000 years ago.]

[Just making sure the pilot is still in the cockpit . . . ]

[Hard to see how you get to the place?]

[Hmmm, must have had to visit an indoor facility then, so what better opportunity to show off the crew.   As with our France trip, the captain spoke little English – the language of river traffic is German.  But the hotel manager, and, of course, Cornelia and Polina, who were mainly tasked with keeping the passengers happy, spoke excellent English.]      ]

[A Danube Gibraltar?]

[The city of Orsova, making a guess, rebuilt after the dam.]

[Yup, those are Sketchers . . . extremely comfortable and appropriate for all occasions.]

[Karen keeps lookout as we head to the narrows.]

[Yup, those are The Biddies . . . extremely comfortable and appropriate for all occasions.]

[When you come to the fork in the river, take it.]

[OMG, I think it’s Kim Kardashian!!]

[Our passage has everyone’s attention now as we jockey for camera positions.]

[So what is the Super shooting?]

[Why it’s little o’ me.]

[Ponicova cave]

[Wavy cliff striations]

[The cockpit is now multi-crewed.]

[That’s to let you know you missed 967 but 969 is just ahead . . . or vice-versa.]

[Mraconia Monastery (Orthodox)]

[King Decebal, Romania’s Mt. Rushmore]

[He looks like one of my Norwegian Christmas tree ornaments.]

[Trajan’s tablet, a little local history:  Trajan built a suspended road and a bridge to prosecute the Dacian war. This tablet, from Roman times, memorializes that feat. Its translation is as follows: 

“Emperor Nerva son of the divine Nerva, Nerva Trajan, the Augustus, Germanicus Pontifex Maximus, invested for the fourth time as Tribune, Father of the Fatherland, Cousul for the third time, excavating mountain rocks and using wood beams made this road.” 

This is the original inscription, but was moved to a higher location to preserve it when the dams were built and the area flooded. (From a Flickr site)]

[Yup, those are feet . . . occasionally comfortable (such as now) and a podiatrist’s nightmare.]

[You put the lime in the coconut . . . and call me in the morning.]

[Only good up to 80 kilograms?]

[The first of the two locks . . . or was it the second?]

[Doubled-teamed by Polina (who is Bulgarian) and Cornelia in teaching us the Cyrillic alphabet (which, like Polina, is Bulgarian).  Yup, we’re heading to Bulgaria.]

Don’t Bend Over in the Garden, Granny, You Know Them ‘Taters Got Eyes.  ~  Lewis Grizzard

Up next:  Sections or Bulgaria . . . decisions, decisions?