The Henry Ford again

But first things first.  Breakfast at Dime Store where I’d say they hit the spot perfectly!

From there, it was a relatively short drive through the Detroit suburbs to Dearborn, where we planned to take over where we left off yesterday.

Greenfield Village is part of The Henry Ford and consists of a “village” created from structures moved mostly from different parts of the USA.  Many have historical significance but apart from Thomas Edison’s home, we had no idea what to expect.

An early arrival was a great idea.  You know how we like to have these places to ourselves.

Mind you, we did wonder if we should have dressed for the occasion.

Or perhaps used a different mode of transport to get us here?

We began in the collection of buildings known as the Liberty Craftworks.

Arranged around a small pool, it was quite an attractive setting.

First, the weaving shop, brought from Bryan County, Georgia.

Here were sock looms (familiar to anyone who’s lived in Leicestershire!)

and a set of conventional looms too, both manual and powered.  A young docent was on hand to explain and answer questions, but just like the museum yesterday, this was “bite size” learning.  Fine with us.  We had plenty to see and do and time was limited, as always.

So, on to the potters next.  Here was a 7-day working pottery, creating items to sell and to use throughout the park.  I think we arrived before the potters, though

A couple of artists were demonstrating the sgraffito technique on slip-glazed plates, though, which was interesting to watch.

Next stop, the print shop where Todd was demonstrating the Washington Press.  He printed off a small handbill as an example – thank you, Todd, it’ll go nicely in my journal!

The tinsmith had just gone for coffee, so we heard a brief explanation of the uses of his craft before going next door to the last of the craft workshops.

Here was the glass workshop, hot as hell and not really doing much creating whilst we were there.  We didn’t hang about.

Outside, life was perking up and things were happening.

We were enjoying wandering about the small streets, poking our noses into interesting buildings to see what was going on.

Our next conversation was with the lady in Grimm’s Jewellers, which had been situated opposite Edison’s workshop in 1881.  When Henry Ford was working for Thomas Edison, he’d cycled over to the shop frequently, to chat to Englebert Grimm.

The engineering precision and manual skills required for clock repair were greatly admired by Henry Ford and the two men became good friends.  This was the actual shop, moved piece by piece from its original location and rebuilt here, we were told.

The village was a pretty busy place this morning; the first full day of the summer season.  There were plenty of small activities in which to participate, led by the staff members in costume.

As we headed over to the white house on the main street, we noticed a woman telling a story.  We knew this to be the home of the Wright Brothers, and she was telling the story of their first flight, speaking as their sister, Katharine.

No sooner had we stopped to listen, when look who came home!

Wilbur and Orville Wright continued the story themselves, explaining their background and what it had been like.  They played a good part, were interesting to listen to and the whole show was rather entertaining.

Having heard the story, we went next door into their original cycle store and workshop, moved here from Dayton, Ohio.  There was a model of their original plane with photos of the first flight.

In the workshop, behind the cycle shop were the original tools and machines used by the brothers.  A docent was explaining that the most difficult part was making a wooden propeller, which had not been done before but which later engineers have considered to be extraordinarily effective.

Back out on the street, a young woman came up to us and invited us to see a show, taking place in the Town Hall shortly.

We were ready for a break, so settled into our seats and enjoyed the pre-show: 6 talented singers who performed music by Cole Porter.  We chuckled at some of the words: 

If you're ever in a jam, here I am.
If you're ever in a mess, S.O.S.
If you're so happy, you land in jail. I'm your bail.
It's friendship, friendship, just a perfect blendship.
When other friendships are soon forgot, ours will still be hot.
Da da da da da da dig dig dig.
If you're ever down a well, ring my bell.
If you're ever up a tree, just phone to me.
If you ever loose your teeth when you're out to dine, borrow mine.

Read more: Cole Porter - Friendship Lyrics | MetroLyrics

The show which followed was equally great and was themed around Broadway shows.  Four more extraordinarily talented performers sang and danced their way through thirty minutes of non-stop fun.  The whole show was right on the button – not a step or note out of place.  Amazing.

After that, a look around Thomas Edison’s workshops seemed a little tame.

Even though these were the actual machines with which he lit those first electric lights, somehow, it felt a little empty.

The lamps themselves were rather beautiful though, hand made especially for the workshop here.

Edison’s chemistry labs were here too, together with his other works, including the phonograph.

As we stood outside his workshop, we questioned whether we needed to continue right along to the very end of the village, to view the Cotswold cottage?  We decided that, on balance, we didn’t!

Greenfield Village had more than delivered!

Time to move on, though, driving along Ford Avenue, where almost every building bore that name too.  Had we more time, it’d have been fun to do a factory visit, but we had other things on our list!

Hitsville, USA!

Except…      Huh.  We’ll just have to come back tomorrow!

We “made do” with the Fisher Building, just along the road.  This Art Deco classic looks interesting from the outside, but step inside and…

Wow.

It being Monday, we could only explore the ground floor – had it been a weekend, we could have taken a tour of the building.  But no matter.  We were happy to wander and admire.

It was stunning.

The ceilings were beautiful.

And the mosaic panels on the wall, so brightly coloured and beautifully constructed.

Inside is a theatre, closed this afternoon, so it wasn’t possible to see inside.  But surely, it was equally elaborate.

Opposite, just across the road is the equally impressive former HQ of General Motors, now renamed Cadillac Place and being converted into apartments.

We headed for a highly recommended “Made in Detroit” branded shop, Shinola where the design was lovely, the staff delightful, the journals very practical and the rest of the stock

rather too expensive for a mere souvenir, sadly.

Never mind.  We consoled ourselves with BBQ ribs at Redsmoke this evening.

Delicious!

On our way

Our road trip proper won’t begin until the whole gang is here on Wednesday, when Mary arrives.  Till then, my Hero and I are just limbering up, getting into the (time) zone and looking forward to the main event!

We got off to a flying start last night, when we met Edward for dinner at Launceston Place, where the Gin and Tonics were spectacular.  Sadly, Amy was feeling poorly and decided an early night was the sensible option, bearing in mind that it wasn’t long till Monday morning.  Such a shame she couldn’t enjoy the fun and contribute to the conversation in these politically turbulent times!

As usual, we were spending the night at the Sofitel at Terminal 5, dropping off our car in what always seems to be the windiest spot in the land.  Perched on top of a hill with wide open space all around, I guess it’s ideal for an airport, but for those who work here, it’s always exceptionally breezy.

The travelling companions found the whole experience exhausting!

Fortunately, it wasn’t too early a start and though our flight was a little late as a result of a strong head wind, it was trouble free and comfortable.  We also had the added advantage of our new Global Entry status, so breezed through immigration in no time at all, collected our bags and were on the shuttle to the rental car lot within an hour of landing.

Whilst I sat with the bags, my hero negotiated the challenge of the Avis office, where a new software system was causing a few problems.

“Our” vehicle was waiting for us in space L33, which was fine – except someone else was sitting in it when we got there!  Since we both had the registration document showing the same vehicle, I stood with the luggage a little longer, whilst the Avis staff managed a new challenge - one vehicle, two contracts.

The answer was across the way.  Our Dodge Grand Caravan was in J22 it seemed, so we left the red car with the other driver and familiarised ourselves with the identical grey vehicle in the next row.  Whilst my hero made the necessary adjustments and fitted our own great satnav, I walked around taking photographs of a few small dings and, most important of all, the numberplate

Soon we were in downtown Chicago and already spotting things we’d like to see/do.

Our hotel of choice in Chicago is the Sofitel as well.  This will be our fifth time here and for these couple of days “warm up”, we’d booked a standard room; good enough for the two of us.

A little surprise then, on opening the door fully to find ourselves upgraded to a rather large suite – how nice to find our loyalty recognised!

Someone was very excited indeed.

Chicago and the mid-west generally is enjoying a bit of a heatwave right now, so we lost no time in getting ourselves together and out there in the fresh air.

It’s so good to be back!

Dinner was  bit of a no brainer – it had to be a Giordano’s pizza.

Since we were last here a couple of years ago though, they’ve expanded/remodeled and the place is bigger and better.  We sat straight down – no waiting – with a pitcher of beer and ordered our pizza.

We needed no reminder of how filling these pizzas are and knew we’d struggle to finish even the smallest on offer.  Forty minutes later, the freshly made “small” pizza arrived and the challenge began.

Delicious!

More of a pie than a pizza, there must be at least a pound of mozzarella in there, not to mention all the rest.  We reminisced as we worked our way through it too, for our first encounter with such a pizza was in Florida, with two small boys (Edward and his friend Seb) and my parents on one of our fun birthday jollies.  There was (still is?  I don’t know) a Giordano’s near the house we rented and it was a favourite supper location, involving pizza eating challenges and boys with seemingly hollow legs

No such appetites here sadly and we admitted defeat leaving a pile of crusts behind!  It was definitely rather more of a stagger back to the hotel then, at the end of what’s been quite a long day.

I think we will sleep well tonight, for sure.

back at Daylesford

Well, not literally, even if I could move in there permanently!  But in my last post, I mentioned the fascinating Cult Vinegar display, which prompted a comment from Jonathan, who kindly sent me a couple of photos from the barn last Saturday.

We spent some time chatting about the process of making vinegar, about which neither my Hero nor I had much idea.  I suppose I might have had a vague inkling that it was a kind of ferment, possibly resulting from opening bottles of sour wine.  But beyond that, we hadn’t a clue.  No need to go into loads of detail here – it’s all there on the Cult website, which opens up a whole new way of looking at vinegar and how it can be made and used.  Needless to say, for me, the styling hit the spot right away!

What had caught my Hero’s eye were the hexagonal, slip cast vessels for making the vinegar in at home.  Beautifully designed and constructed, there’s something so satisfying about that shape, isn’t there?  Good to have the opportunity to chat to Billy about the process of making these Vinegar Vases, then, and to acknowledge the benefits of occasions like this where people with a passion have a chance to share it with the rest of us.  I’m sure that spending a summer Saturday standing in a draughty barn out in the wilds of Gloucestershire wouldn’t make the ideal weekend, but however beautiful the styling, however slick the website, sometimes there’s nothing better than actually talking to the makers and hearing the enthusiasm and commitment in their voices!

Thanks Jonathan (and Billy).

Мы здесь

We are here.  In St Petersburg, that is.

I know, no sooner have I finished rabbiting on about Switzerland and all of that, and here we are, just a couple of weeks later in somewhere totally different.

Life, eh?  (Good, innit? )

The glorious sunset was captured as we arrived at LHR last night.  With a flight leaving at 9.20am this morning, we chose to stay overnight at the Sofitel, expecting to meet Edward and Amy there sometime mid-evening.  But the hours wore on and it was almost midnight by the time they appeared, feeling slightly discombobulated by a succession of transport hiccups along the way.  Never mind.  We were all together and all was well!

Because this was Edward’s belated birthday jolly, organised in January for a supposedly quieter time, even if the quieter times only really exist in our imagination. 

A flight time of nearly four hours, together with a time difference of another two and it was mid afternoon when we arrived, in spite of that early morning start.  Never mind.  The sun was shining and we were happy!

I’d arranged a transfer from our hotel, not wanting to spend valuable time fiddling about with taxis and the like, so in minutes we were speeding down the motorway into the city.

Our travelling companions lost no time at all settling into the fine surroundings.  We quickly sorted ourselves out and decided to get out there and enjoy what was left of a beautiful Spring afternoon.

I mean, look at that sky!

We weren’t going very far – just across the road in fact, because we thought we’d begin gently and take a look around St Isaacs Cathedral first.

Now, it’s not long since we were here, is it?  Just last September, in fact.  But we had loved what we saw and we couldn’t wait to share it with Edward and Amy.

I think they were similarly bowled over.

Of course, he was there watching, still.

And I did my best not to take all the same photographs again, trying to look at things slightly differently and to notice small details which may have escaped me previously.  But actually, it didn’t matter at all.  It was simply amazing to just be here, to sit and wonder at the magnificence of it all and to enjoy the whole experience.

So that’s what I did.

When we were all ready to move on, we walked down towards the river, heading towards the large statue of Peter the Great, past a most impressive building with the name in gold letters above the arch.  I find it so frustrating to not be able to read the names of places, but at least the bright spark amongst us recognised a word which resembled “bibliothek” in there somewhere, so we assumed it includes some kind of library. ( I googled it later, and yes, it does)

I loved the view of the street through the archway.

The main thing we’ve noticed so far has been how grey everything is.  Until the sun came out this afternoon, there was a dreary look to the city with not a blade of grass or green leaf in sight.  This patch of parkland looks threadbare and brown, but the sunshine and clear blue sky brought everything to life and the whole city twinkled in the light.

Actually the sun made it hard to take a decent photo of this, the Bronze Horseman.

But looking the other way, it was difficult to stop taking them!  Cities on water have that special something, don’t they?

High above the Admiralty building, the flag flies at half mast following the incident on the Metro earlier in the week.

We continue along the river front to the Hermitage.  No time for a visit now, but it’s good to get our bearings and work out what is where, and especially good to wander independently without a guide too.

The four of us stood for a while, counting our blessings and feeling very thankful to be here.

We resisted the temptation to ride in a horse drawn carriage – or is it a pumpkin?

Because by now, we were feeling peckish.  Elena, the concierge at our hotel had recommended Gogol, a Russian restaurant serving traditional fare, so that’s where we headed next.  It was 7pm by now, anyway.

Was this his hat and coat hanging in the hall?

The menu came in the form of a book, with chapters for each course.

It made for quite entertaining reading, even before the food arrived.

Yes, of course he tried that.  No, not the tongues, but the lard!

We’ll remember Gogol for the bell on each table though.  “Please ring the bell when you have decided what you’d like”. 

Somehow, though, it didn’t seem right to ring the bell for attention, even if the moment we did so, our waitress would come running (or maybe, because that’s what happened?)  Suffice to say, we had a super meal, the beef stroganoff was delicious, as was the smoked salmon, the Siberian white fish and everything else we ordered.

Returning to our hotel in somewhat lower temperatures than when we’d set out, St Isaac’s was looking rather lovely in the mist.

We are so pleased to be here and feel that, whatever the weather chooses to do tomorrow, we will always remember a sparkling afternoon in the city!

A night at the Old Havana Cafe

February can be a dreary month and so usually, we try to get a bunch of friends together for some fun, even though finding a suitable date for eight busy people is a challenge.  This year, they sorted it out between them and when we arrived home from our travels, I knew where we’d be going.

The Old Havana Cafe.  (It bears a passing resemblance to our garden room btw)

We’d enjoyed the spirit and atmosphere of Little Havana whilst in Miami, so with the aid of a few Pinterest boards (what did we do without it!?) I began the planning.  To begin with, I knew how much we all like a bright invitation to put up somewhere, so did a bit of Photoshopping to an old travel poster and hopefully set the scene.

I came across this website and remembering the online class I took to make these I made something similar for the menu.  I’m not sure it’s *that* authentic but for a February evening in Gloucestershire, it was good enough.

Lagom, people

We had a few things tucked up our sleeve from our journey – not from Cuba of course, but from “that part of the world”.  Well, Costa Rica is near enough, isn’t it?  (Don’t answer that question)

The cooking was fairly straightforward too, once I’d sourced my ingredients.  Plantains in Gloucestershire?  No problem!  Dulce de Leche ?  A piece of cake!  (or make that two..)

With few bright colours around and a great Spotify playlist on the Sonos, the scene was set.

Fuelled by a few Mojitos (and Nojitos for the drivers) we had a great evening.  I was having far too much fun to remember to take photos, so you’ll just have to believe me when I say how delicious the Lechon Asado was, but the star of the show were the (mexican style) corn cobs which we will forever associate with the Calle Ocho restaurant where we had them first.  Really easy to make,  it was only when we ordered them in Miami that we remembered how much we love to eat corn that way!  We just had to try making them at home and share them with our friends.

Plus, I kept a little surprise to have with coffee