Boog's Blog

This is the first post you will be receiving via email The post yesterday failed to go out by email. Tom has fixed it. if interested, scroll down to yesterday‘s post.

First, stop a 30 minute bus ride to the Japanese national Museum. Due to delays we will have a total of one hour and five minutes to see approximately six buildings and numerous exhibitions. Possibly less because we have to walk to the museum from the parking lot.

Nice museum we got to see it for about 35 minutes

Bus ride over to Ginza, and then a tour of Mitsukoshi department store, followed by a walk back to the hotel. Total of 9.6 miles today.

After long walk back, we got to the Shinjuku station. Got JR passes and sore feet. Decided to eat locally, and we found a very good sushi place.

Place was very very crowded by the time we left. Somehow we stumbled into a good choice. another hard one third-floor on some nondescript building in a crowded neighborhood.

BRSJ — Boogs ReSack Japan

Re-Discovering the Land of the Rising Sun: A Japan Adventure.

After a several year hiatus Sacking resumes.

Organized by the ever-resourceful Michelle, our group of eleven intrepid travelers embark on a cruise around Japan. Then off to a traditional Japanese craft village (thanks in large part to the input from the master collector George). Kanazawa follows for a couple of days. Then, in search of poetic inspiration, we hike in the footprints of the legendary haiku master Basho along this famed poetic trail.

A few days of jet lag recovery and discovery in Tokyo before cruise embarkation.

The cruise offers a “Meet Tokyo” excursion set. The first tour will visit the Japanese National Museum (six buildings) AND Ginza. In a half day. Hmm.

I hate to be nickeled and dimed. Flying JAL, very very expensive. That said: want almost $20 for wifi. JAL moves to the bottom of my preferred airlines; just hate to be squeezed by suppliers.

If you are considering a trip to the UK, consider long and hard and harder. Probably spent 6 hours total getting all the pieces together and we had help from Bobby. Apart from tickets, required not free covid testing after arrival with pre-booked tests and codes to put into records, generation of a UK locator form that is not exactly clear. Verifly app to pull docs together and avoid excessive checkin time; I had 14 emails with Verifly! Did not even attempt online checkin as that requires proof of some documents. Think long and hard.

-Ceramic museum of Valencia
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q11ZrSEcoS3c8FVf8

The building was the most impressive part of the museum. A few shots in the link above

Picture of perfect KB breakfast. Some variant on this theme each breakfast day. Even better than it looks. Great hotel, one of the best we have stayed at.

Final dinner in the hotel included some fine jamon Iberico and an agua Valencia (cava, gin, vodka, orange juice). Kind of a mimosa on steroids.

In the morning off to London.

Continued recovery, a bit of walking, museum going, beach going, and of course, eating

-nice walk to green belt which surrounds Valencia. QB got in 3+ miles

-visit to the archeologica museum. History of Valencia from its founding in 138 bce through the civil war, the resettlement, the saint martin, the Visigoths, the Islamic period, to the black death era. All told with good signage and ruins with glass walkways. Link to some pics which cannot do justice to the museum. https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2CyBxHav1DrZ3iUA

-Italian dinner at La Terraza. Took a break from Spanish cuisine. Nothing fancy just some simple pasta and steamed mussels.

-Paella lunch link from Google. Pics in link
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UkJczUSrdFnVdbcx5

The unbelievably small bill is in the photos

-Valencia Beach photos link
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ifgkLiCQzyukNCc39

In the pics of the large port of Valencia, we saw almost no action. All cranes but one or two resting. Suspect lunch time as we took the photo at 14:15 local time.

QB walked over 5 miles today. A bit too much as it required resting afterwards but does show progress.

No longer a daily blog but some notes for our history and possibly the readers.

-three times fire alarm woke whole hotel; smoke from kitchen worked its way up; other story was someone set off fireworks in the disco;
-shower leaks from ceiling, a new one;
-QB sleeping on side; yeah.

-silk museum, QB. (Two scarves ). Again a shout out to Jerome;
-walking about, everyone everywhere eating on a Sunday; all day, all hours

Seen on the street, off to the Levant.

– Didi pastelería: impressive and busy place.

El Corte Ingles tax free form was very complicated. Wanted credit card, but digital only so no visible number, and needed physical card, but it has a different number. Seguro explained. Failed.

Paella at Arroz in the hotel; very high end. Had Fideua and paella. Appetizer: Tomatoes, peppers, pine nuts, tuna and garlic; of course oil. Surprisingly to me at least is that I liked the rice version better than the fideua.

Air quality in Valencia terrible. QB with breathing problems outside as well as in.

A rest day; slept in and a bit of shopping at Cortes. QB was able to shop, a very good sign. Dinner at a pizza place, for a change.

As the sacking and, hopefully, the hospital adventure has come to a close so will this daily blog. It will now be published irregularly with tidbits or summaries as they occur.

For those who have followed, commenting or lurking, we say “nos vemos”

Where QB is released and …

The doctor wanted us to have a USB file for our USA doctor – led to an 90 minute delay in discharge. Hospital does not stock them so borrowed from some staff member.

Discharge process: None, handed us the USB, shook my hand, yes, formal, and said goodby, NO paperwork or forms or payment. Five nights, six days, nada.

Gave us a report in Spanish of the visit (3 pages) and a one page form of lots of Rx stuff. Hospital does not have a pharmacy -only a distribution of special needs stuff – so off to a regular one. Eight items on the list, each in overly large quantities, filled in five minutes at the first local pharm I went to. Total bill: about $75 Clearly Spain is the place to get sick. Ex-pats have told us so. One can buy into the medical system here for a relatively low cost.

This one made from capsules and beans added to the coffee rum lime sugar and a touch of cinnamon. Apparently a drink typical of Valencia.

Where the good news and only important news is that QB is to be sprung tomorrow (Spain morning time). We will stay in Valencia for a number of days for resting and eventually maybe some touristing and eating good stuff again.

For today’s picture: Mexican coffee of some type. The hotel has a barista for morning breakfast. We got to chatting about different coffees and today he delivered, unbidden, “Mexican coffee”. Beans from Mexico, rum, lime, cinnamon. Yesterday a cafe freddo with too much sugar.

Dinner. Keep in mind this is bar food. Went back to the hotel and decided to eat again at the bar. A beer and some bar food.

QB’s dinner on the hospitalized tray, well. …

Where QB still in hospital; where Apple Maps guidance worked fine; where a simple club sandwich was reimagined.

Stopped in the cafeteria to pickup some edibles (as mentioned hospital is good but food not so much). It was 14:00 or so. Everyone eats at the same time in Spain so, very few could get service. Line out of the cafeteria. No planning for what must happen every day.

Here is a view of the housing near the hospital. Notice all the cranes. This view is similar in many areas.

QB is improving but very slowly and very painfully, especially today. Lots of rib busting coughing with much shaking. No confidence that items are on the mend – depressing feeling. Breathing might be a bit better. Took her off oxygen and will test blood oxygen level tomorrow; arterial blood test to capture the gas. It will be used to determine, after being off oxygen, if her level is high enough too be able to fly or even be released.

As of this writing QB does not feel even remotely able to fly, no matter what the numbers show.

Walked back from the hospital arriving just before dark. Decided to get a beer and a club sandwich in the hotel lobby. Here is the hotel’s reimagined “club sandwich”. Actually a pleasant surprise.

Where QB gets some more positive news; where KB goes to the wrong hospital; where KB gets to walk back from the right hospital.

A lovely day for a walk. I put in the name of the hospital into Apple Maps and used the watch to navigate. Fine walk, lots of turns and good neighborhoods. Got there and ….. closed, old hospital, no longer in service, replaced by new hospital with exactly the same name! Google Maps has the correct hospital but it was not to be.

At hospital doctor stopped by to chat. Had seen QB earlier in the day but I let the desk know I wanted to chat. Basically QB is much improved. If breathing was 11 out of 10 on a scale of not breathing today it is 6-7. Lots of drugs, lots of pushing for more drugs, lots of delay (could have started the drugs 20+ hours earlier). The hospital is large, good, well staffed it seems, and very conservative – offering nothing until pushed. No cost as best as we can tell. Never asked for any credit info. Private room. All rooms are private. No hurry to push her out. Clearly not the USA

Lovely walk back to the hotel after visit.

Hospital does not serve wine with their appalling dinners. I bet French hospitals serve wine to patients.