Friday 14, November, 2014

We started the day with a beautiful breakfast of an spinach, ham and cheese omelette roulade and some very tasty crispy potatoes with capsicum. And of course the chef had to try out a new recipe on us...pumpkin muffins with walnuts and a citrus glaze! Yum! Haven't even lost the weight I gained in South America and I don't like my chances on this trip if the meals so far are anything to go on!

 But we did try this morning to get some exercise. Braving the -3C temperatures with a very cool wind, we walked the 3-4 miles into town. It was so cold that the poor flowers had icicles on them! 

The only reason it isn't snowing is that there isn't enough moisture in the air. It is certainly cold enough. My fleecy lined pants from Peru and my knitted hat from Burma did the trick and kept me warm, with the 5 layers I had on under my coat! Sadly the gloves did not do a good job keeping my hands warm, and then I had to keep taking my hands out of the gloves to take pictures!

Didn't really think we would be in time to see all the fall colours as I thought all the leaves would have lost their leaves already! But the carpet of leaves on the ground was lovely to see (as long as I don't have to rake up thse leaves! The colour od the sugar maples is stunning!

Nashville is the state capital of Tennessee and has a population of 650,000 in the city but 1.5 million in the greater city area. It's average wage is $50,000 and unemployment is 5.4%.

We walked through the music area where there are recording studios side by side. We stopped in the Country Music Hall of Fame for a hot chocolate and to warm up. None of us are huge country western fans so we didn't go through the museum. Walked to the Ryder theatre where they used to broadcast the Grand Old Oprey and had a look around before we went down to the river to join the Hop On Hop Off bus tour of the town.

It's an excellent way to get a bit of history of the town and see the main sights. The driver is also a musician as was the waiter at the restaurant. They say many of the residents are musicians. On the main street in town, little places have live music all day long. No cover charge and you don't have to buy any drinks or food, just find a place where you enjoy the music and sit and listen.

We saw some booze bicycles (bring your own booze) that you ride around while drinking. Saw these in Germany a few years ago! Too cold for my liking!

Took a taxi home and just relaxed for a few hours! That was so pleasant. We were served tea and freshly made chocolate chip biscuits. Spoiled!

Dinner was excellent again! Rob had pork belly, Diane and Bill split a chicken dish that was a whole chicken! It was delicious, moist and succulent and could have easily served all 4 of us. It was served with a vinegarette which was quite tasty. 

I had a small hazelnut agnolotti (ravioli) with butternut squash, mushrooms and pretzel crumbs? Excellent! For dessert we had angel food cake with a Concord grape sauce, buttermilk meringues and concord grape ice cream. Ummmm!

Walked home and agin relaxing in our lounge room!