september 2006*

September 2006

I'm finally back from a well-deserved vacation!

U.S.A. / Tullio

Jan and I spent our vacation in the U.S. this year, as Tullio's health is not good. His little heart is giving out. His veterinarian said he has two years at the most to live. The good new is, that in dog years, that seems like 14 years! More good news is that it no longer matters if he eats special food (kibble which he has never liked) and now he gets to eat CANNED FOOD! You would think we are feeding him liver patè every day. We spent our vacation in the Southwestern U.S. so we would be able to see more of him and yet not drag him around to hot places where he'd be uncomfortable, basing ourselves out of my sister's beautiful house in Long Beach. (Thank you, Lisa!) More on the actual vacation later, but here's more scoop on Tullio...


Since I'm travelling so much with concerts this year, short stays with lots of back and forth across the Atlantic, I figured it would probably be pretty tough on Tullio to be lugged around on all those flights. Heck,
I
find it stressful! Jan has gruellingly long days and unpredictable hours. Now that Tullio is on new medicines, one of which is a diuretic, he does not have the all-day-long amazing bladder he once had. He needs to GO OUTSIDE! So I have left him with my sister and her Bichon Frisé Tessa in beautiful southern California for the time being. It breaks my heart not to have him with me, as he has been my companion, friend and shadow for 12 years now, but I think it is better for him. And he is ENJOYING his time! He goes to work with Lisa and Tessa, and has made big friends with everyone there. (What's new? He's always been popular!) This summer, he would awaken the whole house at sunrise for breakfast. You would hear "katchoo" (big sneeze - his way of harumphing since he knows he's not supposed to bark) and thump! thump! thump! of his tail hitting the wall. If you made the mistake of opening your eyes, you'd have this FACE next to the bed staring you down with big bug-eyes. (Tullio does a great Marty Feldman impression, for those of you who don't know...) At this point, he'd immediately run to the kitchen, as if saying, "Hint! Hint! It's
BREAKFAST TIME!." He was never so excited about meals as he is with this canned food now. I think he may live another 10 years, as he has something fabulous to live for -

breakfast and supper

!

He also has excellent veterinary care, which could not be guaranteed when I'm on the road or in strange places in Europe. That is what concerns me the most - the recurring nightmare of him having a problem in some strange place I've dragged him to and not being able to get him to a good veterinarian. He actually has a

cardiologist

in California! How "California" is that? So even though I miss him horribly and want him here with me, I know he is better off "in retirement" there for the time being. I'm still debating whether to take him back with me to Europe this next year when I'll be more stationary. For the time being, he hasn't driven Lisa crazy and he keeps Tessa on her toes.

However, there is one bone of contention in the household between Tullio and cousin Tessa.... no, not a bone.... but the dog beds! There are four - count'em - FOUR dogbeds in the house. One is a small one that Tullio barely fits in, that is perfect for Tessa, and the other three are larger. Which one are the dogs bound and determined to sleep in when it has just been washed? You guessed it - the SMALL ONE. Here is a picture of the two of them (excuse Tess, she's just gotten out of the bath and had a bad hair day...) BOTH sitting in "the" dogbed. Note Tessa's sullen look, "Can someone get this DOG out of MY bed?? ... And I said NO PHOTOS!"

Vacation!

Phoenix

After recovering a bit in lovely Long Beach and visiting with my sister and the pups, Jan and I flew to Phoenix, Arizona. Jan had never experienced such heat. He had grand ideas of hiking, etc... Needless to say, I was skeptical. I had told him how hot it was (as had everyone else), but until we walked out the door at the airport, he didn't understand what it really meant. It's a dry heat, so it doesn't feel muggy at all. It actually feels like you are walking into a dry sauna. Sometimes the heat can actually hurt your skin, even. In the shade! So we quickly revised our grand plans for going tons of places by foot. We stayed at the beautiful Biltmore hotel, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's team. We visited Scottsdale and managed to catch of tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's
Taliesin West. Here's Jan inside, with a typical American (alas) next to him... And the next picture is my FAVORITE chair, an original Frank Lloyd Wright. And it is comfortable, which is not always the case with his furniture. I am bound and determined to get some of these chairs made one of these days...

Sedona

Next, we drove up to Sedona, where we were just going to spend the night. We ended up quite late driving way up into the hills, and then into Boynton Canyon where our resort was. We were wondering why we bothered to come up so far away from everything and spend more money than we probably should've on a hotel when there had been plenty back in town. We were driven on a little golf cart to our cabin and enjoyed a beautiful evening. When we awoke in the morning, we understood why we came all that way - - we were in a gorgeous canyon, with nothing but the face of the mountains surrounding us. There was a great spa where we did yoga and hung out at the pools. Needless to say, we did not leave that day, but spent a little more time in this slice of heaven.

Grand Canyon

Next, we drove up to the Grand Canyon. Because we'd dilly-dallied around Sedona so long, we gave up on our idea to spend the night in the bottom of the Canyon. (Also, Jan had figured out at this point that a 5-6 hour hike might not be the most fun thing to do in the heat, and certainly an overnight in a place we weren't sure there would be air-conditioning and a hike back up 7-8 hours didn't seem too fun...) So we decided to see the Grand Canyon the most impressive and the "easy" way - by helicopter! It was gorgeous and impressive. We got to see so much more than if we had trekked down to the bottom or driven onto either side of the canyone. I'm so glad we did it! And it was Jan's first time up in a helicopter.

Bryce Canyon

Our next stop was Bryce Canyon, which we explored on horseback! Very fun. The formations there are gorgeous, of course...




Somewhere along the way to Utah, we fed some elk

and we made our way through Zion National Park up to Lake Powell, on through Saint George where we stayed at the funny-monikered "Seven Wives Inn" (I don't recommend it) and saw the local Mormon cathedral. Yes, I did get a book of Mormon! Very nice people.

Las Vegas

Then, we drove on through the desert full of Joshua Trees to Las Vegas!




Note the "New York" skyline behind me...


I'm not a big gambler, but played a few slot machines and only managed to lose about $30. Not bad for Vegas. We mainly walked around and looked at everything, with Jan with his jaw dropped most of the time... We saw most of the big hotels, the lions at MGM Grand, swam a lot in our hotel's pool, and best of all, went to Elton John's show, "the Red Piano." Yes, there was a red piano. He was great, and still so stylish after all these years. What a great voice! He sang all the great old hits I grew up with. You forget how many great songs, in so many different styles that he wrote until you hear them all back to back like this. Amazing.

But one of the highlights of our trip was the

Liberace Museum
. Jan didn't really know who or what he was, but had just vaguely heard the name. So now, we DO know who Liberace was... Here's Jan with one of Liberace's famous, fabulous costumes!

San Francisco

After a brief visit with Lisa, Tess and Tullio, we decided to go to San Francisco. I got to visit with a few friends, and Jan got to meet some of my old friends at long last. It was great, but much too short. On the way home, we stopped at two of my most stalwart fans, and supporters since my days in the Merola Program. They were my Adler Fellowship sponsors, Mary and Jane.

Mary in San Jose

First, we drove down to San Jose to have lunch with Mary. It has been forever since I've been down to her house there, but it was just as beautiful as ever. It's been over 5 years, probably, since I have met Mary on HER turf! She and her sister Jane have come to cheer me on at many of my big debuts - Paris, La Scala, Houston... They call themselves my "favorite groupies." Ha ha! They're more like family than friends.

Santa Barbara with Jane

Lest her sister get jealous, we HAD to stay at Jane's place in Montecito on the way back to Los Angeles. We got to visit, and even had the treat of her daughter coming up to give us a quick hello before we left.



Next, we hung out with my sister in Long Beach and enjoyed a bit of beach time. THANK YOU, LISA, FOR LETTING US INVADE YOUR HOUSE!



Last updated September 12, 2006