by Suzan Abrams

If you read my posts further down, I think a couple of times, I did talk about going to breakfast at the hotel's restaurant and being regaled with the tinkle of old piano tunes that often reminded me of my childhood. A day ago, it was the Elephant Walk.

This morning I was late and on rushing in, got the shock of my life to observe an elderly but stately African pianist playing the baby grand in the far corner of the room. I think it was an old Broadway hit and he appeared oblivious to the rest of us, being utterly devoted to his mission at high early-morning entertainment. Soon, he would turn to Doris Day.

With his coattails and handsome bow, I felt the pianist to be directly plucked out from a character in the Orient Express or a stylish cabaret...reminiscent of a Hollywood classic. Once more, that sense of surrealism and what a strange but splendid way to celebrate a Monday morning.