My Visitor

Who am I to disregard Carolyn and Nathan? :) ‘Tis, in fact, my pleasure to comply with their requests and provide a brief update on my existence…

Daniel – my brother, my partner in crime, “The D” (vocative is simply “D”) – arrived, finally, on Saturday last after spending some extra time in the Milan airport. Since then, we have wandered about town, eaten at some lovely restaurants, gone shopping, and gone to the beach. I managed to get Monday off (it’s not very hard, since they’re not paying me :)), so we had two and a half days to bum around before I had to head to work.

On Sunday he got the “Old Town from Gabi’s perspective” tour. Monday was a trip to Jurmala to see the town and relax on the beach – which for him was sunbathing listening to his MP3 player and for me was wading to stay cool and remaining as covered as possible as I finished Gaudy Night. I also finagled Wednesday afternoon off, and we walked around and went clothes shopping, mostly for fun, partly for an elusive outfit he wanted; we did accomplish the purchase of a pair of European-looking black leather shoes.

We’ve managed to eat at some fairly fun places – some old favorites of mine, others that were new to both of us. …The French bakery, where I fed the sparrows some of my pastry… the Iguana, next to my apartment, where we could get some fairly decent Mexican edibles… “Steiku Haoss,” which was sort of a Latvian take on the wild west (with really excellent steaks)… the Skyline Bar, on the 26th floor of the Hotel Latvia (taller than anything else in the area, so it has an excellent view of, no duh, the skyline :))…

We often watch movies in the evening – mostly in the apartment, but we managed to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith in the theater (and enjoyed it). Yesterday evening we watched the Bourne Identity over Ramen, ice cream, and pieces of a cake-sized napoleon in lieu of a birthday cake (since his birthday is on the 19th).

This evening we went to an organ/soprano concert in the Dom Church downtown. The D liked the lady's voice and survived the rest by observing what sorts of watches our neighbors were wearing. My highlight of the evening, on the other hand, was hearing the organist play "Adagio in G minor" by Albinoni - it was full, rich, moving. The notes spoke of something... terrible, in the fullest sense of the word. And the dramatic ending! Every molecule of air in the old cathedral quivered. As the last note died out, many wide-eyed smiles of appreciation could be seen in the audience.

So, we have kept busy but haven’t been hurried; we’ve taken it easy. Tomorrow is going to be something of a catch-all day for the other things we haven't gotten around to. Possibilities are to go to the zoo, get to the top of St. Peter’s, maybe return to Jurmala, and see the Fantastic Four in the theater… So, I'll see you 'round :).