Thanks, everybody. I'm glad to know that sur is south.

Apparently Big Sur is like the Deep South. The closer you get, the less you can find it. It sounds beautiful, but I have no plans to go there - too far, too expensive, too much traffic. The DH says he can see the smog and his throat is scratchy.

Spaw, I am not worried about the DH misbehaving. He's a good guy. Also wise. He has done two things for fun so far - gone to the aquarium and had lunch with some Taiwanese professors who were pleased to talk to someone who didn't try to sell them anything. They told him about their homeland.

He's been complaining about the rubber chicken they have for lunch, so I am making khorresh, a middle eastern dish of beef sauced with tomato, lime juice and turmeric, to welcome him home.

Paul Burke: how can wine be Chilean Aussie? Chile and Australia are fairly widely separated. It's a good thing you explained about the pun. My brain put Spanish in one closet and English in another, and I didn't make the creative leap.