Wellness Journal - Week III

November 9 - Day XVII

It was so interesting to see out the window this morning when I woke up. Actually it was a little alarming for a mo

ment because I could no longer see any of the beautiful buildings I had gotten used to as the fog that had rolled in over the evening was so dense that I could see only grey from my bed.

I got up early and was out of the hotel by 8:15am and although the fog had not cleared completely it was a bit better out so I took a few pictures to capture the beauty of a foggy day in Karlovy Vary.

I got my morning 200ml of water cure number 1C and then off to mass at Saint Mary Magdalena at 8:30am. It was another beautifully sung mass.

After breakfast where I made a final goodbye to Tatiana who turned out not to have transportation until 12:00pm. It was nice to see her one last time. It is also Ida's 70th birthday today which is very exciting for her and she seems happy to be celebrating here.

Next came treatments and it was exactly like yesterdays with swimming pool first for some exercise and a treatment of Pearl Bath, Hydrotherapy by Kneipp, and some inhalation therapy.

The sun came out while I was walking about the spa and I got so excited since we had seen so little of it in the last three weeks I had them push the times of my treatments closer together and by 12:00pm I was already up at the top of the mountain enjoying the beautiful sunshine and the cool breezes. I walked for two hours through all the winding paths and up and down the hills and came out at the end of it all near the newner town center area. When you first come off the mountain you come out to the Karlovy Vary lake which is about the size of a very small pond but really cute and with some ducks just paddleing themselves around.

I had two hours more of inhalation therapy in the salt cave and then it was off for another walk and although the sun was pretty much gone and the air was even cooler than this morning I was just so happy to enjoy more of this oh so fresh air.

Ida took me to the famous Elephant café after dinner for tea and a light dessert. She wanted to celebrate her birthday by going there and her husband isn’t in to that kind of think so I was happy to keep her company. The Elephant Café was where the Russian writer Goethe celebrated his 37th Birthday and is right next door to my hotel. There have also been many other famous people who dined there and it is he oldest restaurant in the town. Interestingly, it also has on the outside to the right of the door a strange mark in the marble façade that is about 5 feet from the ground and which I am told was caused by the horrible flood that ravaged much of the Czech Republic including Prague and Karlovy Vary. The water came up as high as that mark and the buildings here in the main town next to the Tepla River were all badly damaged. All the repairs were done long ago and there is no trace of the flood visible on the buildings except this mark on the Elephant Café.

November 8 – Day XVI










I was up very early for water cure number 1C before breakfast. I met Galena from outside Moscow, Ida and Rudolph at the fountains.

As I was leaving breakfast I fortunately bumped into Mark, the manager here at my hotel that was so helpful to me this whole time and he was getting ready to leave for a two week vacation to St. Petersburg, Russia. I will miss him very much as he is so adorable and sweet and just a pleasure to be around. I took some pictures just because I think he is too cute. And since my mother is reading this I am sure she would like to know if he is single and yes he is but he is only 30 years old and has a girlfriend. It has been such a pleasure meeting him and he has a great energy, so positive. I think the more I spend time here in Karlovy Vary the more I appreciate the Czech people. Unlike the people we met working in the stores and at the hotel in Prague; the Czech people here seem genuinely happy and really make an effort to please people. They clearly are not found of all the Russian people here but I think they make the best of a not so great situation which I so admire. Everyone has challenges in life but I think it is all in how you deal with them and the people I have met here deal with it all seemingly well.

I got a picture with Mark and Simona, one of the Reception Associates at the hotel who just got married in July in a medieval hillside town with a huge castle. She had her wedding pictures with her today so Mark and I perused them and he pointed out some stuff about the Medieval town like the municipal works sometimes dress in period costumes and go about the town and Simona had a picture with her and her husband talking to one of them. If I had more time I think it would be fun to go around the nearby towns and get a real feel for life in this part of the country but with all my treatments there is only so much one can do and I will just have to be happy having had the pleasure of getting to meet these wonderful people and hear some of their stories.

And then it was off to the swimming pool for some exercise and a treatment of Pearl Bath, Hydrotherapy by Kneipp, and two different kinds of inhalation therapy. It was a busy but non stressful morning of treatments.

I met a woman from Norway in one of the inhalation rooms and she had arrived a week ago with 7 friends from Düsseldorf where she now lives. She was telling me that she lost her husband to cancer about 6 months ago and her friends thought 3 weeks here would do her some good and she seems to think it is but she did tear up when talking about her husband and said she misses him so much. She invited me to Düsseldorf and said she has plenty of room for guests and would love to have me. She said she wanted me to meet her son so I asked if he was single and she scrunched up her face a bit and smiled and said he has a boyfriend. I of course laughed and explained my abnormal ability to surround myself with only gay men. She said she had wanted me to meet him because he had just been to New York for business. He is a photographer and he did a photo shoot with some models in New York and really loved it and I guess would enjoy talking to me. She said that although she was very surprised when he first told her he was gay said he is my son and I love him no matter what. She was so happy to be talking about it all I think and told me about his boyfriend who she loves and that her son is happy and that is all that matters to here. I have met some of the nicest people who just try so hard to be welcoming and gracious and you can tell they genuinely are that way.

After lunch it was time for inhalation therapy and although Sebastien and his grandmother where not there it was very nice and Veronique and her mother were and they really are such a lovely family and they got to rest a bit except for me taking pictures with my flash once or twice

Nikola, the young lady who works at the spa and who I had tea with the other day, surprised me with a gift and I just could not believe her thoughtfulness. She got me a small container of Czech chocolate beautifully wrapped. I was so touched. It is not like most of my life people have not been kind to me because they almost always have and certainly many, many people have been beyond generous but it was still so surprising and kind of her to think of me. I really am getting very used to this city and it's people probably more than I could ever have imagined.

A lovely two hour walk and then dinner where we say goodbye to Tatiana from Vancouver, Galina and Irena from Moscow and Galina from outside Moscow as they all head home.

Tatiana and Nana, a Russian woman from Moscow who arrived here this past week went for a long walk after dinner. We stopped off at fountain number 11 and then over to the snake at fountain number 13. Apparently if you use number 13 to clean and tone your face it will make you looks years younger. So now I have to do that everyday before I leave. I started tonight and took some to my hotel for the morning.

On the way back to the hotel Nana told us how she was staying here in Karlovy Vary the day the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968. She said it was a scary time not so much because she feared the Russians being Russian herself but because of the animosity and shear anger that the Czech felt and showed toward the Russian guests. She said all the lights were turned off in the hotels and the Czech hotel employees would bring the guests soup but put bugs and other horrible things in it before they served it to them. Needless to say she did not stay long on that visit and left for Prague and then Moscow almost the next day. She clearly understood why the Czechs were upset but that still didn’t make the experience any more pleasant. She also told us about Khrushchev who in the early 1960’s would, at meetings with the United Nations, take his shoe off and put it on the table. Nana says it was because he was so passionate about his country and he just wanted to express himself but did exactly have the right words or something to that effect.

It has been fun to hear things from the Russian perspective and to then get the Czech perspective from the hotel and spa employees who have been confiding in me how awful it is sometimes to serve the Russians because all they do is complain.

Having spent 10 years in the hotel business I think I understand completely about complaining guests and how they can drive you to distraction.

November 7 – Day XV

It was another early start to the day with a quick breakfast before an 8:30am Anti-Cellulite massage which was followed by a very nice long walk up a hill, past a park down a beautiful villa lined street and into the center of town.

Lunch came quickly and before I knew it I was ready for my Pneumopunkture treatment which still hurts and even leaves marks. I have several bruises from where the needle goes in but I know they will go away at some point but for now they are just reminders of the measures one must take to get well or thin whichever is your goal or perhaps they are basically the same for some people.

I quickly changed into my swim suit and off to the pool for some laps and then a 15 minute exercise session with my Czech trainer. This time there was little laughing but he managed a smile now and again. It is like being in some strange military training exercise video from the Cold War. The walls are all white and he is dressed in a white uniform and he barks orders at me and I do my best to follow along. There are times here that I truly wonder what in the world I am doing with my life. Then at the end of the session he sort of gives me some kind of reassurance that I am doing well and that does make it all better.

Next was a pearl bath which is hundreds of jets shooting water at me while I recline in a very warm bathtub? It is oddly relaxing so I like this one very much.

Hydrotherapy by Kneipp which again is hot and cold water pools that you step into and go back and forth between the two for 15 minutes was next.

I was ready for a rest but I had one last treatment and that was inhalation therapy and I must say this I was looking forward to not only because it is relaxing but I knew that little Sebastian was going to be waiting for me with his grandmother Alison and he is just so adorable I want to scream. And yes when I got to the waiting area he was there and so excited to see me. He actually brought me a surprise. He had a picture of himself that he wanted me to take back to New York. The funny thing is I had brought my camera to take a picture of him and the little girl who was also there the last two times. Fortunately they were so excited to have their picture taken. The little girl, Veronique was there with her father this time and she is just as adorable and sweet as she was the last two times. Her father said they are from Munich and that Veronique is 6 years old. What a very nice family.

It was a lovely 45 minutes and the kids played and we all rested in the reclining chairs. I will see Sebastian and Veronique tomorrow and Sunday which is great because you just can not help smiling around them they are just so filled with energy and fun.

We had a new couple join us for dinner today from way up in some small town in Russia. They seem nice and are friendly and I am sure they will make a nice addition to our group.
After dinner it was time for another walk and Ida, Tatiana, Galena from Moscow and Irena walked through town and stopped at various fountains for the water cures. Number 11 is still my favorite before bed because you just wake up ready to face the day the next morning. It

was a nice hour or so walk and just the prefect way to end the day. The weather has been overcast most of the time I have been here but it is so mild and very little actual rain that none of us could possibly complain. Actually Ida told me an old Russian saying which translated means “There is no bad weather only bad clothing”. So if you have a scarf, hat, boots and a warm coat you should have no problem bearing a Moscow winter.

On the way back to the hotel we met a couple from Florida who were staying at the Grand Hotel Pupp for two nights with their 10 year old daughter. They live near Regensburg, Germany now and the husband works in Computer Security for the US government there. They were so impressed with this town and I guess it really is hard not to be since it is so unique and beautiful even at night.

November 6 – Day XIV

Today was a hectic treatment day staring off at 7:40am with a Carbon dioxide Dry Bath then a quick walk to fountain 1C for my morning water cure then I was off to breakfast. I am going to miss my daily morning red cabbage and unsweetened, unflavored yogurt and kasha/oatmeal/unsweetened granola mix. I have gotten so used to it and actually look forward to it each morning. I was then off to a 10:00am Anti-Cellulite massage (still a little painful) and then I actually took a 45 minute nap as my body just simply refused to move out of the room for my morning walk. After that quick nap I was down to the pool for some water exercise (about 45 minutes) and then in to the water therapy room for a Scottish Shower (still not liking the freezing cold water). It was time for a quick walk to my afternoon water cure and then to lunch.

I had the pleasure of sitting with Galena and Irena from Moscow and Galena from a town outside Moscow. Only one of the Galena’s speaks a little English but it was fun to figure things out. They are in there late 40’s and 50’s and all left their husbands and children and, in the case of Irena, her grandson to come for two weeks for a wellness retreat. They are all very lovely ladies and Irena was even a champion volleyball player for Russia many years ago. I was also given a little more information about life in Russian and the upcoming holiday season there. It turns out they celebrate Christmas on January 7 and the celebrate the New Year on the 1st of January as we do but they also have a unique holiday called Old New Year which is observed on January 13. No one could tell me exactly what the Old New Year celebration is all about and basically they said it is tradition so they all still observe it. I love these little bits of information and it is so nice to see them get so excited to talk about their country and they are very clearly proud to be Russian.

I was then off for a Twiggy Massage followed directly by 15 minutes of individual gymnastics with a very uptight looking Czech man. I have 5 sessions of 15 minutes each between now and when I leave and basically we do stretches and squats and other painful exercises that he does along with me and as he counts in Czech and says up, down, left right, etc. all in his language I do as I am told. I caught myself at one point saying the words in Czech along with him. I can’t think of what they are now but when you are in the moment and there is a rhythm to your movements you just seem to want to repeat whatever he is saying.

Toward the end of the session I had a few squats left to do and let me say they were a bit much for me and when I couldn’t get myself back up he had to help me and for some reason we both found this whole little adventure hysterical. I am glad I was able to make the strict Czech trainer laugh which I am sure does not happen very often and certainly not to the degree I had him laughing. I mean I really could not get myself back up without help and I suppose it was better to laugh then to do anything else. It sort of broke the tension for both of us.

Next came a Subaqua massage and then hydrotherapy by Kneipp which is when you spend 15 minutes stepping in to a large freezing cold water basin and then 30 seconds later into a, just under scolding temperature, hot basin. You go back and forth from cold to hot and hot to cold until the 15 minutes are up. This is all good for circulation.

I spent about an hour in the pool just bopping around and enjoying the warmth and basically just moving all my limbs around in a non-stressful way which is really how I prefer to exercise.

Some time for walking is always a wonderful way to spend an hour or more in this town. Here is the Post Office building which was, at one time in the early 1900s the largest in Central Europe.

Dinner was lovely and sadly it was time to say goodbye to Larissa and Tamara as they are off tomorrow morning at 5:00am for their flight back to the Ukraine. They are so lovely and as they hugged me goodbye they said in Russian that they wish me great luck that I should find a husband soon. Yes, I actually understood what they were trying to say after two weeks with them we kind of just found our own way of communicating. It was funny though since just this morning in the pool a very nice older Russian man who now lives in Hamburg, Germany was asking me if I was married with children and when I said no he responded only with “Come to Germany and you will find a husband.” Lately it seems everyone asks me the same two questions “do I have children” and “am I married”. I think they find it strange since it seems Russians and even the Czech people I have gotten to know get married early like in their mid 20’s and for me to be 41 is just not right in some way. I do appreciate all their well wishes and as long as they are hoping for me to find a good husband and not just a husband then it is all fine with me.

November 5 - Day XIII

The day stared early with a Twiggy/Anti-Cellulite massage. Hannah is now combining things for optimal effectiveness. Next are a subaqual massage and then a Pneumopunkture treatment. I have another doctors appointment today and will have a few more treatments added for my last week depending on my current assessment.

I had afternoon tea with Nikola, the Czech spa attendant who is just so sweet and she took me to this Moroccan tea house near the spa. We had to sit on the floor on cushions but it was fun and she reminds me so much of Stacy (little sister as I call her) and I know if they met they would be great friends. She is only 20 and I can not help but think she would be perfect for my cousin Giuseppe in Italy but alas neither speaks each others language and the distance between Italy and the Czech Republic is pretty great that I am sure it is fruitless to even think of it. I just can not help but want to match people up when they are so nice and she told me she is not seeing a boy here in Karlovy Vary because although they are very nice and have good hearts they are not very bright. She made me laugh at that one since the boys she is considering dating are only around 20 themselves and therefore are not exactly mature and, as for being bright, I am sure they have other concerns at the moment that supersede their brain function. She really is such a nice young lady and she could not wait to share thoughts on her country which she really seems to love. I think the younger generation of Czechs seems more willing to accept being happy. She works a lot at the spa and doesn’t seem to be disgruntled like many other Czech people I have met along the way and she even, after we left the tea house, was headed to the Karlovy Vary Magistrates office to apply for a job as a traffic officer. She said she loves working with people and talking to them and she doesn’t even mind if they get upset with her when she gives them a ticket for driving too fast. I am sure that the Czech people are nothing like New Yorkers who scream and yell at the parking officers when they are writing them out a ticket so for her, it won’t be so bad.

I have so enjoyed meeting all these interesting people and learning a lot about the culture. After I left Nikola I went back to the spa for some inhalation therapy and was very excited to see Alison and her grandson Sebastian who were there for treatment as well. I had told 4 year old Sebastian on Monday that I would see him on Tuesday but I did not have a treatment schedule for Tuesday so I was not there and apparently, according to Nikola and Alison, Sebastian was very upset and even told Nikola she could not close the door to the inhalation room because Debra had not gotten there yet. Alison said he was very concerned about me. How adorable his this little boy? I just want to take him home with me but I am sure his grandmother and mother, who I met when she came to the spa after work to pick them, would never ever want to part with him. He talks and talks and talks and even showed me his picture book on fire engines and he spent a great deal of time explaining each picture to me. I tried my best to understand but he was talking very quickly in Czech so I just smiled and nodded my head and he seemed very happy with my general responses.

We were also joined this time in the inhalation room by a daughter and her elderly mother who were visiting Karlovy Vary from the Ukraine for a week. They were so sweet and knew a little English and were able to talk a bit with me. Then there was a mother and a young girl around 6 years old who came in as well. The young girl was there on Monday with her father and I watched her that time as she played and she reminds me so much of my Goddaughter Amelia. The young girl played with her dolls and with Sebastian and they were both so well behaved as the adults all relaxed for the 45 minute treatment. The only other people in the room with us were a young couple and their 6 month old son. The mom fell asleep with in minutes as did the baby who was snuggled in her arms and the husband spent most of his time playing on his Blackberry phone. It was a really interesting group that came together today and at one point I sat up in my extremely comfortable reclining chair and just looked around and thought what an amazing world when you think about it and how incredible that such different people from different backgrounds (Ukrainian, Russian, Czech, American and German) can just sit quietly in a cave like room and breath in the healthy air and just basically be still with one another. I think we should get world leaders together in this kind of room and just let them be quiet and simply observe one another. There is something very peaceful about watching other people relax and with the unique air quality and the dripping salt water and soothing lighting effects they could perhaps each have epiphany’s that would help the peacefully solve the world’s problems. I know I am over simplifying things, but right now my head is so clear from all this fresh air, clean healthy water and the company of some wonderful people that I just wish the so many others could feel this good.

November 4 - Day XII

It started out to be a very cloudy gloomy day but by 11:00am it was sunny and fabulous. I started the day with Lymph Drainage and then my first treatment of Dry Carbon Dioxide Bath which consists of getting naked and stepping into an enormous white plastic bag that covers the whole body then laying down on a table where a technician comes and wraps a collar around the neck area and just leaving your head out. The bag is then inflated with carbon dioxide and you sit for about 30 minutes with your skin absorbing it all in. It is very relaxing and 15 minutes into the process the technician comes back in and re-inflates you. The purpose of this treatment is to improve blood circulation and positively influence the central nervous system

Prior to the carbon dioxide treatment I had the pleasure of sitting in the waiting are with a lovely gentlemen I met about a week ago. He and his wife are here from a small town in Russia near the Siberian border. They are an older couple and he is so distinguished and such a gentlemen that every time he has seen me over that last week he has made a point to stop and say hello and chat as best he can since his English is extremely limited and my Russian is only 5 words strong. Today was our first opportunity to really talk as we were seated together for about 10 minutes. His name is Oscar and he is a petroleum executive. Somehow with our limited ability to communicate clearly I was still able to discern that he had worked in Cuba sometime ago and spoke a little Spanish, that he had two daughters and one spoke English well. At one point he took out a pocket watch which somehow fit his persona perfectly. He has an elegance about him and I was watching him as he checked the time on this amazing gold piece which he then showed to me and, although I expected it to be a lovely work of craftsmanship, which it was, I had not expected for this antique piece to have an etching of the Statue of Liberty on it. There is something very familiar about him, possibly because he reminds me of my Uncle Victor in appearance a little. And to add to my confirmation that he is a perfect gentlemen when his wife came out of the treatment room he said slowly, but in perfect old English style, “may I introduce my wife to you?” It was so charming and his wife whose name is “Josefania” of something very close to that. What a lovely couple and I am more and more impressed with the quantity of truly wonderful people who come here.

What was most interesting and I was thinking about it as I laved in my big plastic inflated bag, was that Karlovy Vary is a step back in time. The more I get to know the place and the more I am entrenched in the happenings around town and in my spa I feel more like I have been transported to early 1900’s Bath, England. Yes, there is only Russian and Czech spoken here for the most part but in every other way I am sure this is what it must have been like in Jane Austen’s time when she wrote Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion (My favorite of her novels). The day is spent strolling through the beautiful Victorian town socializing with other guests, congregating around the fountains (or in Jane Austen’s time the pump) conversing about the day and life in general and then in the evenings there are lots of theater and music events which keep everyone who is interested in Russian entertainment very busy. It is an extremely social atmosphere with a main focus on getting healthy. It is all so civilized and pleasant.

I had a twiggy massage after lunch which consisted of today a special Hannah body scrub concoction which she massaged all over and then washed off to only begin again with an oxygen oil combination she created. After a few minutes of absorption she then mixed up some kind of paste substance which she slathered all over me and wrapped me up in cellophane and warm blankets to stew a bit except this concoction had peppermint in it and was like sitting on a block of ice for a half hour. I don’t think any number of blankets would have helped this situation. I did endure and after she washed all the paste off she did a full body massage with a different cream that smelled great and had not unpleasant side effects. I think Hannah is a bit of a chemist with all her special mixes and she seems absolutely determined to eradicate all cellulite from my body which I greatly appreciate but she may not have ever faced a preservative rich/fat and sugar based American diet which helped create the cellulite in the first place and therefore more stubborn than she is used to. I do applaud and appreciate all the effort she is putting into my treatments though.

On my way out of the hotel Hannah was leaving for the day so Mark, the hotel manager translated some things she had wanted me to know about the treatments she had been doing and also she wanted to know if I was losing any inches yet. I think I have but I never measured myself before hand so I really am not sure. Some clothes are bigger now but who knows what that really means. Mark was kind enough to take a picture of Hannah and me.

Some inhalation therapy and then I am done with treatments for the day. Alison said she would be there this afternoon as well so perhaps I will be entertained by another one of Sebastian’s Czech songs.

It is also such a lovely day for a hike and the leaves are pretty much all changed and many of the trees are bare already.

One thing did surprise me this morning and that was the appearance of some pink and yellow roses along the river when I went for my walk. It has been so cold yet they are out and blooming beautifully. I think the healing waters have a profound effect on the plant and flower life as well. It certainly has affected the ducks who I found simply sitting in the water not doing much of anything but enjoying the water as the current brought it down toward them. The river is directly about the hot springs so I am sure the water is somewhat comfortable for them and they certainly seem happy to be in it.

I try to make my way to the public library everyday to do the blog. It is nicely situated just on the edge of the old town and the newer town and in a very pretty yellow building. There are always a few people enjoying the magazines and using the internet. They have such a variety of current magazine issues (easily over a 100 or so) and many are Russian or Czech translations on US magazines. Now why I mention this is that I was looking around while the pictures loaded on the blog and notices among the many publications they had very prominently displayed near some beauty and current news selections was Playboy. I was taken back at first as you would never, and I mean never see one on a shelf in the New York Public Library or in any US library for that matter. Europeans do certainly seem more comfortable with this kind of thing but in a library I just think that goes against the general nature of the establishment but who am I to criticize so I am simply just mentioning it as an interesting and odd observation I made.

A picture looking out over the more modern part of town and in the distance the complex of contemporary apartment buildings.

After dinner Tatiana, Ida and I took a long two hour walk around town. We made it to the Elizabeth Spa and then back again. It was such a balmy sort of night and so pleasant for a long walk. We finished with a visit to fountain number 11 for some colon cleansing water and then off to our rooms for some rest.

November 3 – Day XI

Today starts a count down of my remaining 10 days which are packed full of lots and lots of treatments and exercise. I am looking forward to it and today began at ten this morning with a subaqua massage which basically is a massage performed by a therapist while you are in a tub of warm water. Then came the Scottish Shower and some water exercise. The twiggy massage was next and basically special cream was slathered all over me and then I was wrapped up like a mummy with cellophane and left to stew for about thirty-five minutes at which time Hannah removed all the cellophane and I had a half hour, somewhat painful, massage.

Time for a nice walk through the town and around a the hills.

In the afternoon before inhalation therapy I met Alison and her 4 year old grandson, Sebastian in the waiting area. What an adorable little boy and his grandmother and mother have been teaching him English which he was happy to share with me. He can count to 10 and say various other words and one of the first questions he had for me was if I had a dog. He of course had a dog. While we waited for the room to be opened he sang a Czech song for me which his grandmother said had something to do with apples. They live nearby and are doing some of the therapies which I found so interesting as it seems very few of the native Czech here do them and as I have been told by many at the spa they would never do the water cures because the water tastes so bad. I am use to the water now and really can not taste much of anything but some salt now.

At dinner we were very happy to see Tamara and Larissa back as they had gone for three days to Paris. They are so sweet and I had missed them while they were away. They told Ida who translated it in English for me that they missed me as well and could imagine that if I am so happy here in Karlovy Vary that I would be incredibly happy in Paris. Well they are right I do love Paris but they were so funny when describing to Ida that I would basically be all smiles there.

After dinner I took a nice walk with Ida to fountain number 11 and I must say that it is working very well each morning. Number 11 is known for it’s power as a colon cleanser and it most certainly is that.

After our walk I went up to Ida and Rudolph’s room to see their accommodations as they are in a sister hotel to mine, the Mozart Hotel. Their room is very nice and Rudolph read a few of his poems and Ida showed me the book he had written 4o years ago to teach foreign languages. It was really interesting as he combined visuals and text with a constant repetition process. He is retired six months now but he clearly loved what he did.