Miami, FL, USA
Buongiorno, or as they say in Miami, Buenos Días, or just Good morning,
Didn’t sleep to well last night. Probably just too tired. Sounds like a contradiction but it really isn’t. There is the excitement of being yet another day closer to The Cruise. There really aren’t any plans for today. Pulled myself together. Tried to make coffee using the machine in the room – what a huge mistake. Finally decided to go to the Starbucks in the lobby. The expectations are very low, so maybe they’ll get over the bar.
Got one of Starbuck’s hot breakfast sandwiches, the sausage, cheddar and egg. Decided to brave it and order a cappuccino for myself. Got a bold roast coffee for Mary along with a blueberry muffin. Headed back to the room.
We are hoping to have a visit with the Kracht’s sometime today. Needed to count out the next week of medications for Mary. Upon doing so realized one of them was going to be short by about nine days. How many times where they counted, recounted, packaged, and checked against the master list? Goodness only knows. Yikes, it is one she MUST have. No substitutions.
Yes, meetings with the doctors has yielded several conversations about over the counter substitutions. Which combinations can be altered, if necessary. There is a whole binder on options. Except for this one. The hope right now is that the bottle is missed filed in the “pick-up in San Francisco” medical pouch. However, that doesn’t solve the immediate problem.
There is a CVS just a block away; CVS being the pharmacy of choice in San Carlos. So once it has gone 9, the hour the pharmacy opens, we headed out to CVS. Nothing else really on the list for CVS. Met with the pharmacist and discussed the problem. While the insurance won’t pay for a replacement, since there are refills left, since there is adequate documentation of prior purchases, supported by the pharmacist’s computer, the evidence of the empty bottle, and there is cash at the ready – no problem just give me fifteen or twenty minutes. Crisis managed.
It was said to sit there waiting however. One guy came up for some medication, sounded like pain meds to me, and was told the four pills he wanted would be $28. He complained about the price, said many nasty things, and stormed off without getting his pills. He walked up and down the isles of the store, circled back to the pharmacy a couple of times. Yelled some more before finally taking off. Again, without his medication.
Another gentlemen with some serious visible scars came to the window. He didn’t speak much english. The pharmacist didn’t appear to speak much spanish. There was an interchange between them. It seemed cordial but very animated. The customer counted out his payment in coins. Again, extremely sad to watch.
What is the argument against socialized medication? We have the best health care in the world? Yea, right. It is probably the best in the world - if you can afford it. The average Joe or Josephine has to pray everyday that they don’t get sick, that no one in their family gets sick, and goodness forbid they need some medication. It has long been appalling that people have to scrape and bow to the profits of pharmaceutical industry. The EU put and end to it by simply fixing the prices. Simple fix, not a chance in America.
Stepping off the soap box for a minute. Another round of texts and mails from Jim. Looks like we are going to meet at the Biltmore Hotel about 3:15. Google says it is twenty-four minutes away. The distance is all of 6 miles. Miami must have some real traffic problems. The plan will be to leave about 2:45.
It hadn’t gone 2:45 when the taxi pulled up the to enter a nice of the InterContinental. The taxi ride was imported from Disney’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The thing rattled, bounced, weaved in and out of traffic, got on the freeway, got off the freeway, got on another freeway, drove through some disheveled neighborhoods before arriving in the neighborhood surrounding the Biltmore.
The contrast between the peasants and the masters is unmistakable in Miami. Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger are nearby somewhere. This was further enhanced upon arrival at the Biltmore. The handicapped entrance was closed because they were using that area to display multi-million-dollar sport cars. It was some sort of a big deal, photographers, videographers, models the whole she-bang.
Meanwhile the handicapped patrons were obligated to deal with it on their own. Tiny Tim pleased stay away from the nice cars, you might contaminate one of them. Mr. Dickens were you writing a hundred years ago or yesterday? Oh where are the workhouses? The quote is inaccurate, but .. “Dump them on the street!” Attributed, probably falsely to our beloved Ronald Regan.
It took a little bit of doing but we finally connected to the Kracht’s. We sat in the lower lobby and just talked for a while. It was very nice. They had arranged to take us to dinner at Salvatore D. Fine Italian Cuisine, SW 72nd, Sunset(?), FL. They opened at five which would give us time to enjoy each other’s company before it got too noisy for me to hear anything.
The meal started with an order of Calamari Fritti. This was a little bland but very tender. There was either marinara sauce and lemon. Good either way. Mr. Kracht wanted the Burrata appetizer. This was a nice big place of burrata served with prosciutto, marinated artichokes and arugula (rocket). The burrata was surprisingly very good. The table also got some really nice warm bread. Nice and crunchy on the outside and yet light and fluffy on the inside. Excellent with either butter or the oil and acido.
Mr. Kracht’s got the largest veal chop. It should have served Fagin and the whole crew. Topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce. Served with a side of spaghetti. For those that know Mr. Kracht it is needless to say he finished the whole thing. Mrs. Kracht did manage to sneak the spaghetti into a to go bag.
Mary had veal Osso Boco served with champagne risotto. Interesting there was both a veal version, what we would expect, but there was also a pork version. She reported it was very nice, although the portion could have easily served two. She didn’t finish hers.
The menu called it Vitello alla Milanese. The waiter kept saying veal scallopini alla Milanese. It is very confusing. Cotoletta did seem to mean anything to the waiter. He kept trying to convince me I wanted the veal chop. He kept telling how big it was. Being old means eating less. Please the smaller portion, with vegetables on the side, not spaghetti. Not bad, a little different bite to it. I suspect it was the breading used.
The waiter also brought us four garlic rolls. It would seem that the fresh baked garlic rolls are a specialty of the house. They looked amazing and smelled wonderful. They had a nice coating of a mixture of what appeared to be garlic, oil and probably parsley. They tasted as good as they smelled. Thankfully they only brought the four.
They had several interesting looking and sounding desserts. Mary, Mrs. Kracht and I were too full to partake in dessert, but Mr. Kracht ordered the Limoncello Flute. Lemon gelato swirled together with limoncello presented in an elegant champagne glass.
About now people were beginning to arrive for dinner. It was clear there were several groups celebrating something. A couple tables pushed together to seat ten or twelve people. Obviously, a restaurant to take the family to if you want to celebrate. Traditional but not stuffy.
We went outside, called an Uber, said our thanks and good-byes. Hopefully it won’t be another sixteen years before the four of us can get together again. The ride back to the hotel was shorter and much nicer than the taxi ride out. Uber is so much safer and cleaner than using a taxi. You know how much it is going to cost even before you commit to the ride.
Tomorrow, we switch hotels to the pre-cruise hotel. But for now, a good night to you all.
Buonanotte, Ciao, Enrico
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