September 3, 2026

September 3, 2026

Kansas City Missouri

Good morning. Had a great night’s sleep. Managed to stay in bed until nearly 06:30. Got dressed, combed my hair and headed to the streetcar for the ride to downtown and the obligatory morning cappuccino and brioche and Messenger’s. Arrived at Messenger’s a little after 07:00. Sat and enjoy my cappuccino and brioche, picked up a cinnamon roll for Mary, and headed back to the streetcar.

I took the streetcar to Union Hill stop. Got off and walked to Home Depot to get replacement bulbs for the chandelier at Rochelle and IV’s house. Now I got off at Union Hill because it was a downhill walk to Home Depot, for the most part, and I got back on the streetcar at Armour Blvd., because the stop is downhill from Home Depot, again for the most part. On the way to the streetcar stop at Armour I did pass LaMar’s Donuts. LaMar’s is an institution in KC known for the best donuts and maple bars in the city. I managed to pass it without stopping, although I was very tempted.

I got back on the streetcar and rode it to the plaza. Then walked to Whitehall. When I arrived Mary was still sleeping, so I made a cup of tea and worked on the blog. I should have written that last night Mary and I chose a couple tours for while we were in Vienna.

Just after it had gone 11:30 Mary and I walked down to the plaza to have lunch at the Classic Cup Café. The Classic Cup has been a round of several years and serves a great breakfast and/or brunch/lunch. The walk to lunch isn’t very far, maybe a quarter of a mile, however it is already 88° (31°C). There is a light brezze, although it is a warm one.  Walking in the sun you really notice the heat, in the share of a tree or building it is actually bearable.

It was difficult to decide what to do for lunch. Should we have breakfast or brunch or lunch? Mary chose the Santa Fe Sunrise Salad – mixed greens tossed in ancho lime vinaigrette topped with zesty black bean corn relish, crispy hominy, cotija cheese, avocado, and BBQed shrimp. Cotija cheese is new to us, but apparently it is a firm, dry, and very salty aged Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk, often called the "Parmesan of Mexico". A good “local”, well at least within the same hemisphere, cheese

I was feeling a little bit brave and chose the Thai Chicken Wrap. The visual was a little bit of a put off. The menu said flour tortilla, which usually means white with some brown spots. There tortillas were green. But what the heck. The green tortilla was wrapped around Roasted, pulled, and chilled farm fresh chicken, chow mein noodles, peanut sauce, mandarin oranges, carrot, scallion, mixed greens rolled in a flour tortilla. It was severed with a sweet Thai chili dipping sauce which was great. The dish came with fries, but they were horseshoe fries and a bit soggy.

After lunch Mary headed to Barnes & Noble, while I headed to the cigar shop. About 14:00 Mary headed over to IV’s house and I headed back to the AirB&B for a nap. Dinner was at Rochelle and IV’s house. They ordered BBQ from Kansas City Joe’s. While I haven tried them all, KC Joe’s is probably still the best. The feast consisted of pulled pork, slices sausages, burnt ends, roast turkey, St. Louis style pork ribs (excellent with lots of meat not them), BBQ beans, onion rings, friends, Texas toast, and a large salad. More than enough of everyone.

Oliver’s girlfriend, Julia, and the Smith’s joined us for dinner. A full house, lots of talking and rabble rousing. We finished up dinner, I had an after-dinner cigar and Harry & Rochelle drove us back to the AirB&B. Great day, lots of good food.

Buonanotte & Cia,

Enrico & Maria