Having the time of our lives!

The snow is falling all across Colorado’s front ranges and the temperatures have plummeted to somewhere close to -10F. The chill winds of winter have well and truly descended on the good folks of Colorado. While skiers may be rejoicing at their windfall, so as to speak, for the rest of us it’s a time to stay close to the fireplace, consume copious amounts of soups and casseroles and perhaps the odd hot toddy.

Looking through my photo albums including many pictures that have appeared on posts to this blog, I settled on the photo above as perhaps the most memorable of all photos taken during Margo and my road trips. It was featured in a post way back on August 29, 2013. The road lies between Tennessee and North Carolina and is affectionally called the Tail of the Dragon.

For our European audience, think of the world famous Nordschleife, or North Loop, of the Nürburgring! But not passing through the Eiffel Mountains but America’s Smokey Mountains. No matter the location but the reference to the Grüne Hölle, or Green Hell would apply equally to both venues. 

And yet, with Margo behind the wheel of our then-current Nissan GT-R, we couldn’t hide the smiles on our faces as we simply had the time of our life. Whereas I had driven this Tail from east to west in an older Cadillac Escalade, Margo drove it west to east in Godzilla and to this day I remain envious of her opportunity to let Godzilla roar.

Put it down to just one more occurrence where Margo outdid me as it remains a well-known fact that Margo has lapped the Nürburgring one more time than I managed to eke out.

While seated by the fire I dragged out an old photo album. Yes, with real photos from real places. Any discussion about having the time of our lives wouldn’t be complete without me showing that picture above. As fuzzy as it may appear, it’s just the number that counts. Can you read it?

You may need a torch and a magnifying glass but the M 2,01 is the centerpiece of this photo. The plane was flying at twice the speed of sound. You can ignore the passenger as the photo was taken a long time ago. From memory, it was November 1981 and I was aboard an Air France Concorde flying between New York and Paris. It was during a bad period for air travel and I happened to be seated alone in the back half of the plane – I had a choice of 48 seats from which to pick for the flight.

At an altitude of 63,000 feet the view was different from anything I had previously experienced. As the afternoon transitioned to night, there was clearly visible a distinct line curving away from the earth where on one side, the sun shone while on the other side of the line, it was pitch black with the sun’s illumination giving way to an array of twinkling stars.

Before anyone begins to wonder about such an extravagance, Air France offered me a combination UTA / Air France business class ticket flying across the Pacific to the US and thereafter, first class across Europe and Asia back to Sydney. For an extra AUD$50, Air France would upgrade me to the Concorde for that short hop across the Atlantic and there was no way I would miss out on that opportunity.

The slightly more than three hours flight was only long enough to serve dinner that began with chilled vodka and a caviar service followed by a five exquisite course dinner with a different glass of French wine with each course served. Talk about having the time of my life!

It would be a decade later when visiting Arizona Margo and I had the opportunity to take a hot air balloon ride piloted by the son of a good friend and former business colleague, Gary Stevens. Following the contours of the hills north of Phoenix, for just the briefest of moments, I thought of the extremes in flight that I had enjoyed over the course of just a couple of decades.

Much like comparing driving a Cadillac SUV to driving a Nissan GT-R on the Tail of the Dragon, the differences between a flight in an air balloon and the Concorde couldn’t be any further apart. Then again, it’s all part of the weave in our life’s tapestry.  

As a youngster enjoying my early twenties, I had the pleasure of sailing across the Atlantic aboard the Lloyd Triestino ocean liner, the SS Galileo Galilei. Put it down to typical Aussie wanderlust but then again, I had talked my company into a fully paid transfer to take up work in London. Serving the Europe to Australia route the SS Galileo Galilei was the pathway for many Europeans immigrants looking to start anew in that land down under. 

Unperturbed by the one way traffic of migrants, the powers that be within Lloyd Triestino thought it would be a good idea to offer passage back to Europe for tourists interested in returning to their homeland. Picture this, as folks so often like to say, a migrant ship no matter how tastefully decked out, is still just a migrant ship.

Traversing the Pacific before passing through the locks of the Panama Canal and entering the Caribbean, the ten day voyage from Curacao to Lisbon, Portugal was only memorable from the stand point of just how inexpensive the passage proved to be. Priced a few dollars less than the air fare Sydney to London, you could board the SS Galileo Galilei and enjoy almost three months at sea. As the job transfer was from a shipping company there was no way that they would let me fly. I was paid to sail and that in and of itself made this holiday memorable.

For this twenty year old Australian, it was the voyage of a lifetime. With ports of call that included Auckland, Suva, Papeete, Acapulco, Cristobel, Curacao, Lisbon, Malaga, Malta, Messina, Naples and then Genoa, where it was onto a train for the final hop to London, I truly experienced the time of my life. And yes, as in the classic retelling of past voyages, it took me a while to shake off my sea legs.

Coming from the opposite end of the spectrum, it would be many years later that I sailed yet again across the Atlantic, this time from Lisbon to the Virgin Islands. The vessel of choice was a four-mastered schooner-rigged yacht sailing, the Windstar Spirit. While I have little memory of the conditions under which the SS Galileo Galilei sailed, this latter trip on the Windstar Spirit was memorable in the extreme.

When the captain addressed the passengers as we departed Lisbon he cautioned us all that the trip would prove interesting for all who enjoyed sailing. We would not be escaping a force nine gale as we entered the north Atlantic that likely would strengthen to a force ten, which it did, but nevertheless there was no escaping what happened next. Indeed it was the passage of a lifetime and one that will not soon be forgotten.

There are unforgettable meals in the fantastic locations that were in the times of my life category! Whether it was a Michelin three star restaurant inside the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, something almost as good atop the cliffs at Eze on the French Riviera, Doyles on the Beach at Sydney’s Watsons Bay or even the Cottage Point Inn alongside Cowan Waters that is accessible by seaplane, Margo and I have enjoyed marvelous meals all around the planet.

There was the occasion too where we simply settled into a meal at London’s first restaurant, Rules, and were treated to game birds that were raised on Rules’ property in Scotland. Over the centuries Rules has entertained the likes of the Royal Family along with Charles Dickens, HG Wells and Graham Greene and even Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. 

There have been many restaurants we have tried to enter where we have been turned away – would you have an American Express Platinum card by chance? But then again, dining out for us has always been one of those little pleasures we have so enjoyed through the years. On the other hand there was always Starbucks where a coffee was readily at hand.

When she had lived in Poland, Margo’s mom had enjoyed an unusual lifestyle in that she was a representative of a Polish chemical company that specialized in industrial applications. The upside was that she had the good fortune to be able to pass through the iron curtain and travel throughout Germany, France and the UK. On one occasion she met the Prince of Monaco, a circumstance she was often only too willing to recall.

However, she was always in the unfortunate situation where her travel stipend barely covered a rail fare let alone accommodation and meals. Fortunately, a German industrialist helped her out in ways she could never repay and it was only during a vacation that Margo and I caught up with the gentleman and his wife and were able to entertain them over dinner at the clifftop restaurant of the Château Eza hotel. 

Overlooking the Mediterranean above St Jean cap Ferrat the meal that was served did full justice to the view on hand. As for the price of that dinner, well that is another story for another time, but it was very expensive. However, when Margo’s mum asked us about the dinner and of how we entertained her good friend, she was simply ecstatic, overjoyed with the news about the price even as she congratulated both Margo and me telling us both that in having the meal of our lives, we had gone sizable ways forward in settling her account.

St Jean cap Ferrat, Lake Como, Positano and the Amalfi Coast, Lake Louise and Banff National Park and the drive up the Illawarra Highway south of Wollongong, Australia. All places we have enjoyed so much through the years. Then there is California’s Pacific Coast Highway taking you north from Malibu to Monterey and beyond.

Places have always held a charm for us and as we sat by our fireplace, paging through a photo album recalling my journeys made in the early 1980s, it is hard to overlook the many friendships have developed with our love for travel, food and places. Irrespective where we may be on any given day, there’s always a place and time to call home even if it is a bit off the beaten track.

The Kennys whom we met driving around race tracks, my old school chum David Roberts and my work colleague Kevin McCormack, our neighbors Don and Anne Marie Fowler, and my former boss at Nixdorf back in the ‘80s Dieter Monch and his wife Chris. Not to be forgotten are Larry Lynch and his wife Kathleen who from the 80’s up until now were more than friends as they became my de-facto American family.

Whereas it is rather simple to highlight the differences in transportation and venues when it comes to families it is sometimes difficult to remain objective. Margo and I have daughters, with my daughter Lisa living in Sydney and Margo’s daughter Anna living nearby here in Colorado. They are two entirely different personalities, but then again, we love them both.

Lisa may have experienced a little turbulence in her life as she continues with her studies but in time, they will pass. We miss her so but even now we are pushing ahead with plans to sail back to Sydney year after next. Sailing back? Of course we are, right!

However, Anna faces more serious challenges given her twin boys were born prematurely and suffer from CP that will be a lifetime challenge for us all. Fortunately there will always be granddaughter Ella to help out whenever needed. While we routinely visit Anna we are separated from Lisa for extended periods. That will change in 2023 as we will be heading back down under to help her celebrate her fortieth birthday.

These contrasting situations with our children might showcase as big a difference as a Nissan is from a Cadillac or how we are treated at a Starbucks or at Rules but then again, with all that has been touched on in this post, it is a stark reminder that with all the ups and downs of life, it is our life and it has provided us with rich life experiences. So much so that I have only scratched the surface but then again, sitting in front of the fire and looking through scrapbooks, what else can I say?

Photos always give you a glimpse into what once was, even as it is a reminder of so many enjoyable times of our lives. I am often asked about my passion as though I could quickly recite what exactly I am passionate about. However it is not that easy as over the years I have been passionate about many things and it is without a second thought that I have to say that it is life about which I am so passionate. 

The people, the places and the passages through time that burn anew with each remembrance I still have of what I can only say have been the best times of my life! And as Margo so fondly reminds me, here’s to many more as we enter 2022.

Cheers!