2010 Finger Lakes

The glaciers did it. That always seems to be the reason behind any geological formation anywhere on the planet, so of course it would apply to the Finger Lakes region of New York. The only other explanation I've seen is that they are the hand-print of God. That may be so, but I'm wondering why God came up with eleven fingers.

It is, to be sure, God's Country. There is beautiful scenery, plenty of recreation and over 100 wineries. Debbie and I went for a long weekend to celebrate our 35th anniversary.

After 5 1/2 hours of driving, we dove right into the wineries along the west side of Seneca Lake. This is the biggest of the fingers, and is as deep as the Great Lakes. The wineries almost all have a great view of the lake and the surroundings. We hit several before we wound up at our hotel in Corning, which is to the south of the lakes.

The next day we hiked in Watkins Glen State Park. It's 1.5 miles out through the Glen, which includes gobs of waterfalls, including two that you walk behind. It was fairly strenuous, but we took a slightly easier upper route back. That afternoon, we circumnavigated a different lake, Keuka. Of course there were more wineries to be explored. The best of all was the granddaddy of them all, Doctor Frank's Vinifera Winery in Hammondsport. Also in Hammondsport we took another trip down memory lane by stopping at Pleasant Valley Winery, home to Great Western Champagne. Like Watkins Glen, we'd experienced this place before. Many years before.

For our last trip we took one final trip down memory lane by stopping at Letchworth State Park on the way home. We've camped there twice in the distant past. Letchworth is the "Grand Canyon of the East", although, as I'm fond of saying, they don't call the one in Arizona the "Letchworth of the West". Letchworth is indeed beautiful however, and it was great to see it again.

2010 Egypt

The Joy is in the Journey
This is always the case, and it should be the opening chapter to any travel story. It’s even more so when traveling overseas, and more so still when traveling to a third world country like Egypt. This time, as almost always, the Lady Adventurer and I endured flight delays, abysmal airline service, and anxiety over possible missed connections and potentially lost luggage. We were also forced to ask ourselves, how much to pay for a nap? The itinerary called for overnight from Detroit to Amsterdam, followed by nine hours in Amsterdam, followed by a 9pm to 2am flight to Cairo. We would be sleep-challenged for two nights in a row; a nap in Amsterdam would be most beneficial.

How much would those Z’s cost? I figured $200 for a hotel, including taxi fare. That’s $5 per wink, assuming we got 40. The solution? We found a “Yotel Hotel” in the airport where we rented an 8 x 10 foot room for four hours for 49 Euros. This is still pretty steep, and the room was comically teensy, but it worked for us.

Our 2am arrival into Cairo was tough. We stood in immigration/customs queues - sometimes the wrong ones - for well over an hour.

Cairo
The arrival at the Movenpick Cairo-Pyramids hotel was at 4am, which turned out to be not an alert time for us. We were stunned to look outside later in the morning daylight to see the Pyramids right there – almost directly across the road! They weren’t kidding with the hotel name. It turns out that crowded, polluted Cairo has sprawled out to the steps of the once remote Pyramids. We were told that modern Cairo now has 18 million inhabitants, placing it as one of the most populace cities on the planet.

Even though Lady Adventurer and I would be seeing them again the next day, we decided to walk the mile or so over to them while we had the extra time. Along the way we were accosted by several (possibly well-meaning) Egyptians, wanting to talk to us, wanting to help us cross the busy 14-lane highway, wanting to sell us camel and carriage rides, wanting to personally show us around the Pyramids. They all wanted a tip. I did tip the guy who helped us to not get killed crossing the highway, as well as a guy who wouldn’t quit following us around at the Pyramid itself because it seemed to be the only way to could get rid of him.

How were the Pyramids themselves? They are as imposing and impressive, not to mention downright BIG, as advertised. It was awesome to walk right up to them and then look up. Oh yes. At 4,500 years or so, they’re pretty darn old too. When we returned the following day we also got around to see the nearby sphinx.

It was interesting to learn the latest theories about their construction. It’s now generally believed that each of the big three were built in about 30 years by skilled workers – probably farmers during their off-seasons; not by slave labor over longer periods as previously thought. There is even some evidence for this as the remains of some of the buried workers are now being uncovered. These people were apparently well treated.

Of course everyone will want to know if I went inside. I did go down into one of the smaller “Queens” Pyramids. The passage was steep, small and dark. It led to a very small cubical nearly empty room that had held the mummified queen. I was told that the inside of the larger Pyramids were the same – nothing to see inside. The tombs in the Valley of the Kings would be far more interesting.

The Egyptian Museum ranks as one of the top two Archeological Museums in the world. The other is in Athens. Although the accompanying information was sparse, the treasures are magnificent. Among other highlights are the bust of Khafre and all of King Tutankhamun's stuff, including his golden death mask. Great stuff!

An important announcement about King Tut was made a few days later while we were still in Egypt: scientists confirmed his cause of death as malaria. They also announced that he had had several genetic disorders. His father was confirmed as Akhenaten (He was the Pharaoh who announced that he was not a deity, and who also stated that only one god exists. What was he thinking?), and his mother was Akhenaten's sister. By this point I'd finally learned more about the Boy King than I'd been aware of from Steve Martin's song.

Relatively speaking, Cairo isn’t so old. Really. It’s “only” been around for 2,000 years or so. Memphis and Saqqara to the south, and the Pyramids of Giza to the southwest, are much older. We did get to see parts of “Old Cairo” in the central part of the city. We got to see the Coptic Christian “Hanging” Church (About 15% of Egyptians are Christian), a church above the spot where the Holy Family hid from King Herod, Benezra Synagogue, and the Citadel, including the huge Mosque of Muhammed Ali. Ali, who neither floated like a butterfly, nor stung like a bee, is considered the founder of modern Egypt. He built this famous mosque in the early nineteenth century.

Alexandria
The trip from Cairo to Alexandria took about four hours. It was notable because of the police escort we were given. At times we had one police vehicle in front of and one behind the bus as well. We also had a guard who was armed with an assault rifle with us inside the bus. Lady Adventurer noted that she wasn’t sure whether to feel more secure (because the guards were present) or less so (because they may have been needed).

I had expected Alexandria to be cleaner and nicer than Cairo, and it was. I had expected it to be smaller and quieter than Cairo, and it was. But with 5 million people, and also plenty of sprawl and traffic, not by much. Here, at least, dust and pollution are mitigated by the prevailing winds blowing in from the north over the Mediterranean Sea.

Founded by Alexander the Great’s Generals, Alexandria has a rich and storied history. Alexander himself had conquered and ruled Egypt, but hadn’t actually set foot right here. One of the stories, of course, is that of Cleopatra VII, the famous one, who had encounters with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. She was the last Egyptian to rule Egypt for nearly 2,000 years. We were able to live part of this history by visiting Fort Quaitbey, the site of the famous Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Wonders of the Ancient World, and also the site of famous battles of the Greco/Roman era. Another goose-bump historical moment came when we visited the new world-class library, Biblioteca Alexandrina. This is at the site of the earlier library, the planet’s original university and center of learning and knowledge.

Lady Adventurer and I walked, and I also ran along the Corniche, the famous miles-long promenade on the Mediterranean Sea. Some of the beaches looked nice, but it was a bit cool for swimming, so we stayed dry.

Also in Alexandria we visited some Christian Catacombs, and the Montaza Royal Palace Park and Gardens.

Marsa Matruh
Marsa Matruh is west of Alexandria, where the desert meets the sea, and the contrasts are extreme and stunning. Before arriving we stopped at El Alamein, site a decisive World War II battle. It was here that German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, was beaten, and the tide of the war turned. The museum was fine, but the Commonwealth Cemetery was particularly moving. One of our British traveling companions told me the story of his father, who was in the battle and then lost in the desert for three weeks. Eventually hooking up with two New Zealanders and a German, they survived by taking water from a broken down truck’s radiator.

Our hotel, the Jaz, was brand new; we were the first to use it. It was a huge resort with hundreds of rooms, and the 37 of us only took up a few of them. What’s more, there were other brand new resort hotels next door, and they were empty as well. We had the whole place, and the beach, to ourselves. We arrived in the midst of an Honest-to-Allah sandstorm of Biblical proportions. As we settled in, the storm abated, but we discovered that the place still had some bugs to work out: most notably the Lady Adventurer was trying to switch on a floor lamp at the same time that I was turning it on from the wall switch, and this resulted in a small explosion and severing of the cord in Debbie’s hand. Her hand turned black, but she was ok.

Although we had some free time here, we did get to do some sightseeing. We saw Rommel’s cave/headquarters, the town of Matruh, and the beautiful beaches nearby. These included Cleopatra’s Beach (she really did swim here), and stunning Agiba Beach.

We were informed that millions of land mines had been planted in the general area in World War II, and that some are still being found. This turned out to be a consideration for my morning run on the beach. For more about that, see my running blog.

Cairo II: the Return
The bus took a different route through the desert back to Cairo. Before arriving we stopped at Wadi Natrun, an oasis village where we saw the Monastery of St. Bishoi. There was some interesting architecture (the place dates back to 340 AD), but the stop was fairly comical because the Monk who showed us around spoke very fast in some strange dialect of English such that I only understood only about ten of his 10,000 or so words to us.

Once back in central Cairo we stopped at the famous Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar. It’s hard to describe. For one thing, it’s huge, taking up dozens of city blocks. Traffic all around the place was bad; it took us something like an hour to park the bus. And then there was the shopping experience itself. We ran the gauntlet of venders attacking us from every side, but we managed to survive with our money intact.

Aswan
Lady Adventurer and I, along with the rest of our group, took a very early morning flight from Cairo to Aswan in “Upper Egypt” to the south. Aswan is the site of the famous “High Dam”, which was built in the 1960s, and has dramatically changed Egypt in several ways: there’s now a lot of electricity, and no more flooding of the Nile, but this is causing farmers to use chemical fertilizers due to the lack of silt, and it’s also causing the shoreline of the Mediterranean to erode. Yin and Yang, good and bad. Another problem was that several ancient temples were to be flooded when Lake Nasser was created by the dam. Some were relocated, and we saw two of them: Philae and Abu Simbal.

Philae temple stands on an island, and was dedicated to the god, Isis. We saw great frescoes, but some had been defaced by early Christians, who didn’t like the depiction of virgin birth by the ancient Egyptians; it seemed they wanted the idea to themselves.

Abu Simbal was particularly stunning. It’s actually two adjacent temples built by Rameses II, also known as Rameses the Great. He ruled for 67 or 76 years, and built one temple for himself and the other for his beloved wife, the beautiful Nefertari. They had been relocated 60 meters up, and 180 meters over and above the lake by Unesco. This was quite an engineering project, as the temples are huge, and are built into hillsides. We had driven three hours through the completely barren desert to reach them. But the trip sure was worthwhile. The temples, as well as their location on the lake are stunning.

Did I mention the heat? Upper Egypt was suddenly extremely hot: something like 35 Celsius, which equates to 95 Fahrenheit.

Cruising the Nile
The Movenpick Radamis II would be our moving hotel for a three night cruise north on the Nile. It was small compared to the Ocean Cruise ships we’ve been on. Unfortunately, all our meals were in the form of buffets, so our bellies didn’t go along with the small theme.

Before moving north we took a side trip to a Nubian Village that I still don’t know the name of. Nubians are the dark-skinned people here in the south of Egypt. They “like to keep crocodiles in their homes”, according to our guide. Of course we thought he was joking, until we entered a Nubian house and saw the pet crocs for ourselves.


The joy was once again in the journey. We went by boat and witnessed plenty of bird wildlife along the way. The herons and egrets were familiar, but some birds, including some colorful ones, were unique. And then there was the camel ride into the village itself. This was extremely uncomfortable for us males; because of the hump, I was continuously pushed forward and down into the protrusion at the front of the saddle, and came off with a somewhat high voice.

The house crocs were friendly, but we decided not to touch the really big one. We did hold a cute little one though. The house was used by four families, had a dirt floor, but interesting décor, and a decent amount of living space.

Along the way north to Luxor we stopped by a couple Greco-Roman era temples: Kom Ombo and Edfu. Edfu was particularly stunning in the early evening.

Luxor
The Valley of the Kings was everything it was to be. We passed on the Tomb of Tutankahmun after hearing that its treasures were all now in the Museum. We regretted this when we heard that the Tut’s mummy itself is still there. Oh well. We did enter three tombs: those of Rameses I, Rameses III and Rameses VII. The paintings, hieroglyphics and other designs in Rameses III’s tomb were particularly fantastic. The colors were amazing.

We also saw the temple of Hatshepsut, which is built into the side of a cliff for a spectacular setting. There wasn’t much to see once we climbed the many stairs however. Hatshepsut (say that name three times as fast as you can) was a rare and very powerful female pharaoh.

Lady Adventurer and I went off on our own and hired a horse-carriage ride through the town of Luxor. It was larger, and more interesting than I thought. The ride through the Egyptian (not for tourists) Bazaar was particularly interesting. Someone rode by on a bike, saw us inside and yelled back, “English Number one!” Atta, our driver knew we were American, and said quietly, “America is best.” We did, unfortunately, encounter some kids begging us for money.

And then we saw magnificent Karnak. What a place. It is Egypt’s greatest attraction after the Pyramids with good reason: the place is awesome. It’s a collection of temples built over a period of 1,300 years, and takes up over 100 acres. There are temples, obelisks, high pylons and hundreds of HUGE columns. The evening sound and light show was a little hokey, but still quite spectacular. We toured the place again the next morning, and still couldn’t spend enough time there.

Luxor Temple is nearby. It’s smaller, but still impressive. The two locations are connected by a partially restored three kilometer long Avenue of Sphinxes. That’s a lot of sphinxes.

Our day, and our entire tour, ended with lunch at an authentic African restaurant followed by a slow felucca ride back across the Nile.

Cairo III – This Time it’s Final
Lady Adventurer and I had an extra day to spend in Cairo, and we made the most of it. We hired a driver from the hotel to take us to Saqqara, an archeological site about 30 miles south of Cairo.

Home to monuments spanning 3,000 years, Saqqara is the location of Egypt's oldest pyramids and tombs. The famous Step Pyramid of Djoser was large and impressive. There was a small but very interesting museum. We also walked to several of the tombs. Discoveries at Saqqara continue. A Dutch and Egyptian team is at work there now. We saw the excavation in progress.

Eventually we had to head back; the heat and air pollution were getting to be too much for us.



Egypt in Retrospect
I find it difficult to reconcile the glory of ancient Egypt with the modern one. A couple undeniable connections include the Aswan High Dam and the Biblioteca Alexandrina. I come away more impressed than ever with the rich history and culture, not to mention the longevity of this great civilization. I also come away somewhat depressed about modern Egypt. The people we met personally were really wonderful. It’s the pollution, litter, crumbling infrastructure, extreme poverty and population explosion that are so disheartening. These are the descendents of the pharos and farmers of those glory years gone by, and this is hard to think about – it just hurts my brain.

As always with these sorts of trips, our guide, Ihab was great – he had a great knowledge and enthusiasm for the heritage of his people’s history. And as always, we had great memories and made many friends amongst our fellow travelers.

Also check out my running blog entry for the Egypt running.

2009 Smokies!

It all comes down to preparedness.

I was prepared for Gatlinburg. Vaguely aware that it was a street or two of a thousand tourist traps stuck together, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was just that. Located just adjacent to one of the main park entrances, the main street of back-to-back Ripley’s museums, souvenir shops, curiosity shops, fudge shops and restaurants are squished together so closely that it’s almost comical. Traffic on the main drag is slow and bumper-to-bumper. At least it’s compact.

I was not prepared for Pigeon Forge. If Gatlinburg is the gateway to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, then Pigeon Forge is the gateway to Gatlinburg. Like Gatlinburg, it’s unavoidable when entering the park from the north, and contains tourist traps galore – more than I’ve seen anywhere. Unlike Gatlinburg, it’s not walk-able, and unlike Gatlinburg, it’s seemingly never-ending.

We managed to survive Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, explored the park just a bit and then met up with Veronica and Barry. Our log cabin is located just outside Gatlinburg proper, yet it’s up in the wooded mountains requiring the navigation of some very steep hills to get there. And it’s every bit as rustic and cool as expected. My morning runs would be challenging with all these hills.

Bookended by rainy days, Tuesday, October 13, the day we would spend almost entirely exploring the park, was a beauty. I had been aware that the Great Smokey Mountains National Park is our most visited national park. But one would think that even with the beautiful fall foliage, October would still be off-season. I was therefore definitely not prepared for the crowds and traffic.

If one can disregard the traffic, the park is stunningly beautiful - as wonderful as it gets. Between the lower elevations and the highest point, Clingman’s Dome, there are green deciduous forests, then deciduous forests with the changing bright yellow, orange, gold and red colors of autumn, and finally coniferous forests. Although the day was bright and sunny, some of the trails were still covered with running water and mud, and this caused us to change plans a bit. We walked the steep paved path to Clingman’s Dome, only to find a cloud had arrived at the top just before we did. That was ok; we’d seen some great vistas from just below the summit anyway. Then we hiked some other trails leading up to the Appalachian Trail and wound up once again at the still-cloudy top. Barry and Veronica don’t do as much hiking as Debbie and I, but this day’s hiking was fine for all.

Barry then drove is to the Cades Cove area, which is in the western part of the park. The road winds along a river, so it took much longer to get there than we thought. The traffic on the main north-south park road had been bad enough. Once again though, I wasn’t prepared for the traffic at Cades Cove. It was simply awful – bumper to bumper at about 5mph for the 11-mile loop. The scenery in the loop itself was quite beautiful however. There were huge fields and historic farms and churches. We’d also hoped to see more wildlife than a couple of turkeys in the woods. Back to the traffic for a moment: to put the icing on this particular cake, we had to follow a smelly diesel RV for about 20 miles on the way back to the cabin.

The next day was a rainy one, as predicted. We spent several hours at an arts and crafts exhibit at the Gatlinburg Convention center. Later we did manage to take a ride into the park on the Roaring Forks loop. That was another cool primeval type area with plenty of waterfalls.

On our last full day we drove through the park to Cherokee, the town, and center of Cherokee, the Indian Reservation. Just had lunch and then drove back. We did stop a few places, including a walk at the NC visitor center and sightseeing at Newfound Gap, the top of the ridge.

2009 Dan in Romania

“Maybe you will see beer.” I wasn’t sure how to respond when the guy next to me on the train said this. So I replied carefully: “Beer?” “Yes, you know. Big animal that lives in forest.” “Oh, yes,” said I, “bear”. The train had gotten into the mountainous area of Transylvania, and the forest was indeed thick enough for bear, deer, or possibly even beer. We talked for almost the entire 3 ½ hour trip from Bucharest to Brasov. We talked about how our lives were similar and how they were different. The biggest difference is that he wants to leave Romania to make a better life for his wife and himself. He’s a welder and believes he can get a job in America, Canada, New Zealand or the UK. But the trouble is, he cannot get a visa. When it was time to part ways, he said God bless you and your family, and of course I responded in kind. There were detailed instructions on how to get to it. And the taxi driver bringing me into central Brasov also gave me directions. I ignored them all. “It” is the tram ride up the side of the mountain to look down upon the town of Brasov. I was sure you’d be able to simply see it and then walk over to it in order to ride to the top. And I thought I’d actually do it, for the good view of this medieval city. Of course I was right about seeing it – you can see it from anywhere in town. But I spent most of the entire time I was there trying to get to it. And I never really succeeded. The medieval streets don’t go straight at all. I later got a map and still couldn’t make it. I did eventually get to a park that I THOUGHT was at the base of the tram, but by then it was time to head back to the train station. And even then, I still couldn’t actually see where to get on the darn thing. No matter. The joy is in the journey. That’s what I say to seven hours in hot, stuffy trains, and a few hours wandering around in Brasov in the hot sun. 

 I did get to see the “Black Church”, the important Brasov landmark built between 1385 and 1477, and “blackened” by a fire in 1689. I also saw Piata Sfatului, the town’s beautiful “Council Square”. Besides the square itself, there were several other charming medieval cobblestone streets that I wandered around on. I also saw some of the walls and other fortifications that still remain in the village’s perimeter. And the park in the hills above was very nice and shady on this hot day. So next time my brother asks, “How are things in Transylvania”, I can answer truly, “hot”. When I came to Romania in 2008, I went to Sinaia, which is also in Transylvania, on Saturday, and wandered around the parks on Sunday. Brasov was only about 45 minutes past Sinaia on the train. So on my Sunday in 2009 I decided to wander the parks of Bucharest once again. I actually had been running in them quite a bit, but now it was time to make some more serious explorations. In the morning I ran to a park that’s not too far away, but one that I’d not yet been to: Parcul Carol. There is a tall, stunning monument in the center. I’m not sure what it’s about, but I believe it may be dedicated to Romania’s dead soldiers because there’s an eternal flame there. I later walked back to take some pictures. I also made it through close by Parcul Izvor, where Madonna will perform on her Sticky and Sweet tour on July 26, two days after I depart (maybe I’ll bump into her at the airport), and over to Gradina Cismigio, the Beautiful Botanical Gardens. Just like last year, they had music in the park, even the same old guy dancing in front of the gazebo to get everyone else out there. The Bucharestians were out in droves on this hot Sunday afternoon. What a great scene. Not wanting to get too much of a good thing, after enjoying the music for a while, I got onto the metro and went north to Parcul Herastrau. Too bad this park is so far away – I think it would be by far the best place to run in Bucharest. It is quite large, and includes a good-sized lake. Not to mention a huge statue of Charles de Gaulle. I’m not sure if it’s related, but there’s also an Arcul de Triumf nearby. That, and the long, wide, tree-lined boulevards are why they call Bucharest the “Paris of Eastern Europe”. Veronica is currently in that other city in France, so I asked her to find out if they call that one the “Bucharest of Western Europe”. I walked another mile or two over to Parcul Kiselef. Last year they had had some wonderful folkloric music, including a guy playing Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody on a violin. This time they had some folklore music as well: a girl singing rhapsodic songs. And she sang extremely well. 

 There was one more stop, and it wasn’t a successful one. I wanted to finally do a tour of the Palace of Parliament. Yes, the one that’s close to my hotel. The one I can see from my hotel window. The one I’ve run around at least 12 times during this trip alone. Yes, that one. I’ve been repeating the Romanian superlatives about it’s being the largest public/administrative building in the world, and the second biggest building, overall, in the world after the Pentagon. Veronica disputed that with some Wikipedia information (I hate in pesky things like facts get in the way of a good story), but I found something else on Wikipedia that supports the Romanian view. Anyway, I didn’t get in – the next tour was too long to wait for, and too short to get something to eat and come back for. And I was beat. Next time I’ll need to plan this out better. For more on life in Romania from my strange perspective, see a day in the life, in my running blog.

2009 Canadian Rockies

Snow in June Some of us have all the luck. After a long, but not so long as going to Hawaii flight into Calgary, we got into our rental car and there it was: yuchy wet snow slamming into our windshield. And there was lots of it, too. The temperature was above freezing, so it didn’t accumulate much. Where were those famous Rockies, wondered Debbie? A la Denver, you’re supposed to be able to see them from Calgary. Not with the snow pelting down, however. Finally, about halfway on our 90-minute ride to Canmore, the snow subsided, and there they were.

 And they were as gorgeous as advertised. Canmore is a small town just south of Banff national park, and it’s where we were to stay for our first couple days. Surrounded by the mountains, it has a spectacular setting. We walked a long way into the central part of the town for dinner before crashing. We spent a great deal of time during that first day or two being confused. Maybe we’re just getting old, but there were just too many activities to choose from. After talking about it some, and wandering around the Banff Information Centre as well as the town of Banff for a while, we managed to come up with a plan. It really wasn’t all that tough – we knew we wanted to hike and to see the various other sights, so it was just a matter of which hikes and sights. In the end, we chose wisely… Banff Hiking 

We should begin by saying that there was plenty of great hiking just outside our hotel in Canmore. Canmore is about 15 minutes from Banff Townsite, and it’s every bit as nice. I did my running on the Canmore trails, but our hikes were all within Banff and Jasper National Parks. Our first hike was to the summit of Tunnel Mountain. At 3 miles with 800+ feet of elevation gain, it was moderately difficult. Accessible directly from Banff Townsite, it is probably the most popular hike of all in the Canadian Rockies. There were, therefore, many other people on the trail. But the views of the surrounding scenery were great, as was the cool mountain air. It took us about an hour to make the climb to the top, and then only 40 minutes to roll down. We had considered the Gondola ride to the top of a mountain, but since we hiked up another nearby one, we didn’t feel it was necessary. Afterwards, we did pay a visit to the famous Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel. It’s a castle to rival those in Europe. We had a nice lunch. For our next trick, we chose the Plain of Six Glaciers Hike in the Lake Louise area of Banff. We knew something was amiss as we were driving up towards Lake Louise and noticed that the cars coming back down were covered with snow everywhere except their windshields. Sure enough, it was snowing off and on as we arrived at the lake for the start of our hike. It was mostly off as we got going, but it sure was cold. Off for us, that is; it was still snowing on most of the mountaintops, and virtually all the trees were covered. The first part of the hike is along the shore of Lake Louise. Although the lake would have been beautiful on a bright, sunny day, the snow added its own beauty and enchantment. Did I say enchantment? This entire hike was enchanted; it was a wonderland the entire way. Once on the other side of the lake we began our climb, which would wind up being on the order of 1,100 feet up to close to about 7,000 feet. We walked through sub-alpine forests, along rocky cliffs, and over past avalanches. Those snowy areas made for slow-going, and they became more numerous as we neared the top. At some point there was more snow than non-snow on the trail. Finally, after two hours we reached the tea house. In the middle of the wilderness and supplied by people on horses is this famous teahouse where we were served a sandwich, soup and tea. 

What a great tradition this is. There was all snow at this elevation, and we were not able to continue any further because the snow was too deep to hike through. We had actually seen one or two glaciers, but not all six. In any case, it was time to turn back. We will remember this as one of our most wondrous hikes ever. One other thing about that Plain of Six Glaciers Hike: we saw a strange animal back in that wilderness. Could it have been a wolverine? It had reddish and light orangish coloring, and it walked funny, sort of like a skunk. After much research and discussion with park rangers, we decided that it was indeed a rare sighting of a wolverine. Incidentally, wolverines are so tough that they will attack a grizzly for food. Good thing we kept our distance. “Oh Canada, Eh!” was a fun show involving Canadians making fun of themselves, but also celebrating their heritage and arts. That was our cultural experience for the week. Icefields Parkway This drive through Banff north to Jasper National Park is as great as any drive anywhere. The mountain passes were cold and snowy, and we did a short hike at one of them, Bow Pass, to get a great view of Peyto Lake. After the passes came the Columbia Ice Field, a huge frozen lake from which there are six major glaciers. We got a great view of a couple from the Icefields Information Centre. At that point we had just entered Jasper National Park, and the terrain changed again. Now as we descended in elevation, the forests and rivers became more beautiful, as did the weather. It was actually warm for the first time on the trip. We did a nice hike down to the lower Sunwapta Falls – there were actually three more falls after the main one that everyone can see without hiking. Did I mention the wildlife? We saw a young black bear, several mountain goats, an elk, an eagle, a ptarmigan, not to mention beautiful magpies (black and white with a streak of iridescent blue), ravens, and tons of other birds. Jasper Finally, we made it to our destination: Pine Bungalows in Jasper Townsite. Pretty rustic place, but it’s a very nice location directly on the Athabasca River. Unfortunately they are four for four in the malfunctioning plumbing fixtures department. And it’s overpriced at $CN 140 per night. After the snow and cold in Lake Louise as well as on the Icefields Parkway, we were surprised by the 70+ degree warmth in Jasper. Although it’s 4 hours north of Banff, Jasper is lower and is therefore often warmer. In this case, I think it was getting warmer in Banff as well, but we were now out of there. The Pyramid Lake hike was supposed to be easy, but maybe we’re just getting old. Or maybe we’re over-doing the hiking bit. Anyway, this 2 ½ hour hike was indeed beautiful, just as all the others have been. The view of Pyramid Mountain in back of the lake was grand. We also walked to an island in the lake. Later that afternoon we drove to Malign Canyon for yet another walk down along the falls. That canyon sure is deep. On our second to last day in the Rockies we were pretty darn tired. We nevertheless wound up hiking the Bald Hills loop near Malign Lake. Listed as “moderate”, it wasn’t. Maybe it was just our sore muscles and tired bodies, or maybe it was the snow at the higher elevations. But methinks it was the effort at getting up to those higher elevations that did us in. Starting out at 5,500 feet, it was sunny and warm. About halfway up, and I do mean up, a closed gravel road we turned onto a small rough trail and continued our upward climb. The tree roots and rocks made it difficult, but as we climbed higher, it was the snow and mud that really slowed us down. At times we weren’t even sure where the trail was because of all the snow. But whenever we stopped to catch our breath, the scenery all around us itself was breathtaking. And eventually we did make it to the top. The view of Malign Lake and all the surrounding mountains was great. At 7,000 feet, it was pretty cold, so we hurried through our picnic lunch, giving crumbs to the gray jays who had asked for the handout, and then we headed back down. Altogether it was 6 ½ miles with 1,500 feet of elevation gain in about 4 difficult hours. 

During the ride back to Jasper we saw several bighorn sheep on one side of the road, and then later on a large black bear on the other. You may have figured out that Debbie and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the trails in Canmore, Banff and Jasper. Collectively, in fact, this has to be the best hiking anywhere on the planet. Yes, we’ve had great and memorable hikes in other places, especially Hawaii. But nothing comes close to the grandeur as well as the simple volume of great hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Besides all our great hikes on these trails, I had some wonderful runs on them as well. My running is, as always, chronicled in by running blog: danhorvath.blogspot.com. To do next time we come to the Canadian Rockies: • See nearby Yoho and Kootenay National Parks • See Miete Hot Springs and Mt. Edith Cavell area in Jasper • See Lake Minnewanka in Banff • Take a canoe trip on a river or lake • Take one of the gondolas to the mountaintops in either Banff or Jasper • Take one of the other million great hikes that we weren’t able to do this time • Avoid staying at Pine Bungalows (not so terrible – nice location, but not worth the price)

2009 Dan in Peru

Lima The first thing to know about Lima is that although it’s on the Pacific coast, it’s also in a desert. The second thing is that 9 million people live here, making it roughly the size of Chicago or LA. Like LA, the mountains to the east trap fog and the ambient air pollution from these millions of Peruvians has turned this into smog. The mountains themselves, the foothills of the Andes, crop up abruptly and are completely void of vegetation. That, along with the desert air, reminds one of Phoenix. But drive anywhere in Lima, and satisfaction is guaranteed that we’re not in Kansas anymore. Besides the pollution, there’s the traffic. It’s pretty darn awful. And then there’s the driving. Staying within lanes? Yielding to right-of-way? Watching out for pedestrians? Traffic laws in general? Mere suggestions. The architecture and various businesses are also unique to Peru. I’d had plenty of warning about the crime, including kidnappings. The warnings did give me pause. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but it doesn’t look so bad to me. It helps that I’m in, I think, a fairly safe area. 

The Hotel Golf Los Incas is built into the side of a mountain overlooking a golf course. It’s not far from the office of my client, and in all the driving back and forth, as well as my almost daily running, I haven’t seen anything to be worried about. Not that I’ll take any unnecessary chances, mind you. And my clients, as well as all of the other Peruvians I’ve met, have all been more than gracious. The Historical center of Lima is, in fact, quite historical. Founded by Francisco Pizarro in the 16th century, Plaza Mayor, the main square, hosts the presidential palace, the Lima Cathedral and several other historical buildings. The architecture here and in the surrounding blocks takes us back to the colonial times. There’s also Peruvian music everywhere. On one of the nearby blocks is the Cathedral of San Francisco. Below the cathedral are the famous catacombs, where 30,000 Peruvians were buries. It’s quite a labyrinth. They’ve unearthed the bones, and they’re on display. There’s a lot of them. Back to the Plaza Mayor, and people were lining up on the sides of the roads, so of course I lined up with them. As I suspected, a parade started up. It was a folklore parade, as dozens of groups of dancers, all wearing masks and extremely colorful costumes, came dancing by. Each dancing group was followed by a band, and each band appeared to be playing the same music. Quite the cultural experience for old Dan. My friends from the office, Liliana, Fernando and Fiorella, not to mention Fiorella’s beautiful 5-year old daughter, Rafaella were kind enough to take me to the Gold Museum. Interestingly, there wasn’t a tremendous amount of gold there. The Spanish Conquistadors had plundered most of it. What was left, death masks, chalices and the like, was certainly fantastic however. What there was a lot of, however, was weapons. I’d never seen so many knives, swords and guns of all types. There were also plenty of interesting archeological items. The highlight for me, however, was the mummies. They are extremely well-preserved, and quite fascinating. The nightmares will come later. My running in Lima is chronicaled in my running blog, including my first run in Peru, and other running in Peru, and finally, Running in Peru – My Final Run for the Trip and Sort of a Summary. 

 A couple days before leaving, Liliana and Fernando took Mary and me out to the Miraflores area for an evening. Located above directly on the Pacific, including the sea cliffs above, Miraflores is the tourist and nightlife center of Lima. It is noticeably cooler and more humid that the La Molina and Surco districts where I’ve spent most of my time. The area was quite lively. We had pisco sour drinks (good, but very strong!) at a restaurant in the Larcomar mall, which is built into the sea cliff. What a great evening out. It was wonderful of Liliana and Fernando to spend the time with us. 

 Pacachamac Pacachamac is an archeological site about 20 miles from Lima. I took a tour In order to get there. On the way I got to see some of the districts of Lima that are on the seacoast: Miraflores, Barranco and others. This part of Lima is quite different from the parts that I’d been used to. Here the haze/fog/smog is very noticeable. It hangs just above the ocean, hugging the surrounding sea cliffs. The Pachacamac site itself is, like many of the mountains, completely barren. It appears to be as much a desert as any you could imagine. There are a few somewhat green areas not too far away however – they can get water from a nearby river. This river is where the Incas, and those who preceded them, got their water to live on in Pachacamac, which was a fair-sized city in its time. The Incas who inhabited the area were the final regime/era; there had been three others before them. It turns out that Pachacamac was a god as well as this city, and the central focus is at the Temple of the Sun, which is high on a hill. From there one can see miles of seacoast (even with the fog) and a couple of nearby villages. 

 Well Being Unwell being is more accurate. Don't even think about drinking the water here. I didn't, but I still managed to get deathly ill. It's something I ate (not the water itself), but I'm not sure what. I'd been trying all kinds of new things, especially at the breakfast buffet. I had to see the doctor at the office's clinic. Now I'm on Cipro. It's killing me to not know what did it. Cusco and Machu Picchu Let’s say, just for fun, that you’re in Lima, and that you would like to visit Machu Picchu, the famous Lost City of the Incas. You may think: it’s only a few hundred miles away, and in the same country, so it ought to be easy to do, right? You would be extremely, hilariously, totally wrong. 

 First, you must get to Cusco (also spelled, Cuzco). Cusco, population 350,000, is in the Andes at 11,000 feet, and from Lima, it is 26 hours by car, and 1 hour by air. A long and winding road comes to mind. The cost of the air, we learned, was $430 for Americans and $172 for Peruvians, depending on where you are and what version of the website you use. With some help from Fiorella, I paid the $172. After you arrive in Cusco, you must get a train ($98 R/T) from nearby Poroy to Aguas Calientes. Once in Aguas Calientes, you have to buy a bus ticket ($14 R/T) from there to Machu Picchu. This doesn’t take into account the taxi rides (Lima hotel to airport, airport to Cusco hotel, Cusco hotel to Poroy train station), the need to buy the entry to Machu Picchu whilst in Aguas Calientes ($42), or other general confusion. Oh, and one more consideration: all this takes, at a minimum, three days. One day to get to Cusco, one day for the trains and buses and the visit to the site, and one day to get back to Lima. Not good if you’re on a five-day work week in Lima. But my colleague Mary, who would be my traveling companion on this trip, and I were in luck: Friday, the 1st of May was a holiday and the office would be closed. With the three-day weekend, and the relatively lower airfare, the trip was doable. At least it seemed so before the 3 ½ hour delay and general mayhem getting out of Lima. 

 Arriving in Cusco after being in Lima is akin to arriving in Oz after being in Kansas. The air is crisp, clear and clean, but unfortunately, there’s little of it. I’d been at high altitudes before, but never for more than a few hours. It was after a couple hours that I really did begin to feel the effects: difficult breathing, light-headedness and dizziness. It took the rest of the day, and a nearly sleepless night before I felt ok again. This is good because one would want to feel decent for the next day’s tough trip to Machu Picchu. Despite my difficulties, I just had to get out and walk around Cusco. It’s a beautiful mountain city. After some coca-leaf tea (it really is supposed to help, and is supposedly non-addicting) at our Terra Andina hotel, out I went. I hit the main market area, and that was fun. Crafts, fruits and vegetables, various meats, including whole pigs, various dining options, dogs running around, flies, all kinds of people, you name it, and it is there. The same scene took place on several streets that surround the building as well. Here the fruits and vegetables are very colorful in the sun. Tons of fun for a guy like me. The main square, known as Plaza de Armas, is also very nice. I saw it several times: daytime, nighttime, when it was nicely lit up, and on a Sunday morning, where there was yet another parade. This parade included folklore dancing once again, and was at least as colorful as the one I saw in Lima. Earlier I had seen the costumed groups marching and dancing into the church for Sunday mass. Even dinner in Cusco was memorable. I was tempted to have the guinea pig (they call it cuy), but it was twice as expensive as everything else. I settled for alpaca, and it was great. We had some good conversations with fellow travelers there, including some who would be doing the multiple day hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’m going to look into this for next time. 

 The train ride from Poroy to Aguas Calientes has to be one of the most spectacular in the world. For the early part we witnessed scenic farms and a couple villages that were framed by mountains. Then the mountains got serious. They went straight up to impossibly tall heights, sometimes with walls inches from the train cars. We had to pull ourselves into the windows so as not to get our hands chopped off. For other parts of the trip we went along the whitewater rapids of a rushing river that ran between the peaks of the Andes. We even saw the staging area and hikers for the multiple-day hikes of the Inca Trail. Upon our arrival in Aguas Calientes, a mountain village that’s in a beautiful setting and made specifically for tourists, we were greeted by mass confusion. Where to buy the bus tickets? Where to buy the Machu Picchu entrance tickets? Where to hire a guide? What order do we do these things in? Mary and I somehow managed to work it all out and get to Machu Picchu. 

 Machu Picchu was constructed in the 1400’s and abandoned about 100 years later. Although the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire did not include the site – the Spanish never found it – the Incas left nevertheless, perhaps due to disease. The primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Theories abound as to the purpose of the city. Some of them hold that it was a citadel to control the economy of conquered regions. Others say that it was a home to virgins of the sun, whoever they were, or a prison. Although it was known locally, it was brought to the attention of the modern world by the American explorer Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. It was later named a World Heritage site and voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. There is now some concern that too much tourism poses a threat to the site. But then it can help too. We talked to volunteers who were there to clean moss and plants that grow on and between the stones. They sure help the preservation effort. Yes, Machu Picchu is everything it’s cracked up to be. And then some. Of course there was more confusion after getting off the bus and trying to get in. One of the points of indecision was: should we hire a guide? Naaah - $40 or so seemed like just too much. We set off on our own. The map was confusing, so after entering, we just started to climb the high-road path at the first fork. That’s when we saw it. The classic Machu Picchu view. It’s breathtaking. And not just because of the climb we just did. There had been the costs, the travel, the general hassle. But now suddenly it was all worthwhile, just for this one view. Now it was time to climb around all the stone stairs (lots and lots of stairs) and pathways to explore the place. The scale is deceiving; once you enter some of the lower buildings and open areas you realize how huge the site really is. Mary seemed to always know where she was, but I was happy to just wander around and gawk. We did manage to see most of the main stuff, and even relax a bit towards the end. It was later in the afternoon that we saw the llamas. First a mother and her baby, but then more and more. At one point several of them stampeded by us. Although I’d seen everything that I wanted to, it would have been nice to come back the next day. I’m still going to consider that hike. As it was, however, it was time to get back on the bus, and then back on the now uncomfortable train to Cusco. The next day it was back on the plane for Lima, where life would soon return to not so normal. 

The Good and the Bad Although the food was generally very good, with more variety than one can imagine, at some point I became sick from some of it. The drugs cured me of the GI problems, but I also developed a cold during my last couple days in Peru. So I’d have to say that although the Peruvian germs liked me, the feeling was not mutual. Lima is very large, busy and crowded, and at times exciting. The history is fascinating. The pollution and the squalor of the poor tend to detract from it however. Cusco, on the other hand, is a city in a beautiful mountain setting and is just what one might think of when conjuring thoughts of a city in Peru. The market there was very colorful. Machu Picchu is in a category by itself. Finally there is the Peruvian people. They are as gracious as anyone anywhere. Our hosts at the office, Liliana, Juan, Fiorella and Fernando, became great friends, and everyone else we met was congenial and welcoming. This is what I’ll remember best from Peru.

2009 Hawaii

ICan'tBelieveILiveHere.com
That's the name of Rita and George's imaginary website. They may actually register it yet, and I hope they do. We had the honor to stay with Rita, George and Chessie (aka Kitty in Paradise) for the first couple nights of our 2009 trip. We didn't plan anything big - just a visit.

Unfortunately, Rita had experienced a death and an illness in her family. It was a tough time to be visiting. She was in the midst of planning to go back to Ohio the same evening that we'd be leaving for Kauai. George was recovering (well) from his knee surgery. In spite of this, we had a nice visit. Rita prepared some nice meals, and we took a grand walk along all of the Kameole beaches in Kihei. A highlight was seeing a whale breach just as we took a rest at the farthest point. George said he could hear the thing flop back into the water. Dinner that night was at Cafe Ole - a wonderful place that we'd been to before.

Rita and I had a very nice run before we had to go on Sunday morning. Sad to go, but it was on to Kauai, and Rita had things to do to get ready for her own trip.

Nualolo/Nualolo Cliffs/Awa-awapuhi Trail Hike
This was some hike. We'd been planning it for months, and it was everything we thought and hoped it would be, and more.

The early part was extremely muddy, and extremely downhill. It was more of a climb than a hike. A climb through mud. After 3.8 miles of thick, slippery muck, and nearly four hours of hiking, we reached the Lolo Vista viewpoint. It was indescribable. Such grandeur to look out upon the Na Pali coastline from the top of the cliffs. It might as well have been top of the world.

After backtracking a bit, the 2.1 mile Cliffs trail was fine, except for one eroded section where we had to literally hug the side of the cliff to get by. Treacherous doesn't begin to descibe the feeling of being inches away from a 2,000 foot drop.

The lookout from the end of the Awa-awapuhi Trail was the most spectacular yet. Simply fantastic. Then it was time to go back up for 3+ final miles of the 9.8. It was a steady uphill hike, not as steep as the climb down. But we were extremely tired and had to stop often.

We made it out alive. It took us over 9 hours - that's about 1 mile per hour - and we were exhausted as I ran down to get the car. What a day.

The Lady Adventurer and I were pretty durn sore for the next day or three.

Island Cars
This was our car rental company. Hertz, Avis, National, etc. are all available, but I decide to save some money with this outfit. I did probably save about $150, but what an experience. We wound up driving a complete wreck. It was so bad it was funny. The guy did tell us that we could swap it for a better one in a couple days, and that we did. Even then we had a problem with the newer car over-heating. I found the loose coolant cap and replaced it after filling it up, and then it was fine. So I guess it all worked out, and we still saved the money.

General Sightseeing
We've been checking out some of the same stuff we've seen on other trips, and also some new stuff, like a waterfall we'd never seen before. The same stuff included home-of-the-magic-dragon Hanalei area (although we'd never before walked that particular beach), Kilauea Lighthouse and Haena/Ke'e Beach. Ke'e beach gets my vote as the world's most beautiful. (Trunk Bay on St. John is second.) We walked it and gawked at the nearby Na Pali cliffs all along. We couldn't believe that we'd actually been on top of them a few days prior. Whenever I see those cliffs I'm always amazed that such an other-worldly place exists. We also saw a couple endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals sunning themselves on the beach there.

Timeshare Presentation
Yes, we'll listen for money. $100 in this case. It was at the Marriott's Waiohai in Poipu. We'd stayed there 24 years back, before it was leveled by a hurricane. Interesting to see, but timeshares don't make no sense at all to me, no matter how nice they are.

Our Marriott
Speaking of Marriotts, ours in Lihue is as nice as ever. We've got a fantastic view of the ocean from our 11th floor room. As nice a home away from home as you can get. Great gardens too. You should see them feed the koi.

Other Hikes
Nothing as big-time as that first big time hike described above, but we're doing other stuff as well. Lots of walking around the resort area, and then some other dirt trail hikes as well. One was the Kuilau Ridge Trail, which was near the middle of the island. The very middle is Mt. Waialeale, the wettest spot on the planet. We weren't far - the mountain was, as always, shrouded in clouds only a few miles to the west of our trail. But we stayed dry for this very scenic and relatively gentle hike. I think I speak for both myself and the Lady Adventurer in saying that we'd happily do this one again.

The Pihea Trail to Alakai Swamp sounded like it would be great hike. Unfortunately, it was raining and very cold (54F) as we started out. And then there was the muddy downhill slope. Not this again. The mud, combined with the cold rain forced us to turn back. The view of the Kalalau valley along the way was awesome as ever, even in the rain.

Just a couple miles back down the road, it was sunny again. We started on a Waimea Canyon hike. The trail descended deep into the canyon, and we turned back after a half hour or so. The best views were from the top, but at least we got a workout coming back up.

The Weather
In general, it never got hotter than about 76 or so. Never colder than about 68 (except at the start of the Pihea Trail in the rain at 4,000 feet. I think that Kauai is best in the summer - for a tropical island, it feels pretty cool in the winter and early spring. And we've had some on and off rain. One day Debbie and I started off on a walk from the resort amongst very bright sunshine and perfect blue skies. Wouldn't you know it? By the time we were about a mile away, a sudden rain storm drenched us. A Marriott coutesy shuttle came by and courteously picked our drowned-rat selves up.

Another experience was sitting down to watch the movie, "South Pacific" on the beach at our resort - they had set up a screen, loudspeakers, chairs, etc. The movie was filmed here 50 years ago, so it was appropriate. After some earlier rain, the skies were clear and there was a pretty sunset. Just after the credits came an airplane scene followed by the song, "Bloody Mary", and with that, the rain. In we went, saying we'll rent it and watch it in our dry basement.

Debbie was really pissed. "Where are all the %#$^* rainbows?" We'd been here a week and hadn't seen a single one. And we'd had plenty of rain AND sunshine, often both at the same time. Last I checked, those ARE the main ingredients. Finally we did see a nice bright one from our lanai. Then another the very next day in the Kalalau valley. Maybe they've been around all along and we just hadn't seen them.

Sunsets have not been overwhelmingly beautiful; it's often cloudy in the afternoons and evenings. The sunrises, however, have been sublime. The whole sky has been taking on watercolor/pastel hues, much to my enjoyment during my daily morning runs.

Allerton Garden
$45 each for a garden tour? And it was worth it? Yes, and yes. The Allerton Garden was truly beautiful, and Wendy the guide made it an experience to remember. It shows what an extremely rich guy who likes plants can do. Also included were some of the areas filmed in Jurassic Park - watch out for those raptors!

The Ends of the Earth
We all know it's Polihale, the wind-swept, sun-baked 17-mile beach on Kauai's western shore. Looking west from here, there's absolutely nothing but blue Pacific Ocean for thousands of miles. That wasn't totally true for us this time, since we weren't able to drive to where the road goes through the park - it was closed. So we were actually facing southwest, and could see Ni'ihou from here. But this stretch of sand feels like the end of the planet no matter what. You can walk for miles and hardly see a soul.

We pulled into a parking area and began putting lotion and otherwise getting ready for our beach walk. No other cars around. After I closed the trunk I asked Debbie if she had the keys. You can guess where this is going: car open, keys locked in the trunk. After much consternation, Debbie was able, with me prying the seat away, to reach behind the back seat and use a hiking pole to snare her key-containing purse.

After our beach walk and picnic, we had shave ice for the first time. Not bad stuff.

Restaurants
Duke's is great. Portofino is ok. Roy's, which we remember as the best Hawaii restaurant chain, was good but not as great as we remembered. Buffets at our Kukui's were very good, but too much. Gaylords in Kilohana was the best all-around. Our last day we went to the hole-in-the-wall Lihue BBQ, and it was really great. And it was also a fraction of the cost of the other joints.

All in all, we had a great time. As always. Time to start planning our next trip back!

2009 Dan in UK (Again)

I went to the UK two more times in early 2009. A couple interesting things happened:

The first time I was there, I went to a little party. Call this part, "Dress Like an American":

I was in the U.K. on the day of the 2008 presidential election; I had managed to vote early. And now I find myself here once again on the 20th of January, the day of the inauguration. Last time I was overwhelmed at the interest and positive feelings about the election on this side of the pond. This time it’s the same, only more so. To underscore this point, here’s the story of the inauguration party I attended last night.

My client contact here, Kevin, invited me to an inauguration party at a friend’s house in Newbury. Newbury is about 55 miles west of London, and perhaps 15 miles west of the office location. He told me the theme was, “dress like an American.” I found all this a bit hard to believe, but I went along. After work, Kevin and his wife Allison took me to dinner and then to their house so they could stop to dress like Americans. Kevin came out with a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, shorts and a baseball cap, and Allison with a complete cowgirl look with boots, denim jacket and cowboy hat. I was starting to believe.

John and Caroline’s Georgian home was actually appointed with period furnishings. We were greeted by John, a former American who was dressed as Abe Lincoln. The lively group included another cowgirl, a football player, an airline pilot, a U.S. Marine (worn by another former American who last wore the uniform 24 years ago), a native American Indian and Joe the Plummer, among others. I believe I was the only one not “dressed like an American.” On the other hand, everyone kept telling me that I was fine because I was “authentic.”

We all laughed at the George Bush sayings posted all over. There were also American quiz questions – I think I got them all correct. The hostess explained the various American foods: celery and American Peanut Butter, cornbread muffins, Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, etc.

Then the place became quiet as we watched the speech. I think it was every bit as moving to the Brits as it was to me. Of course afterwards the party got loud again, but then it was time to say goodbye.

That was my January visit. I went again in February. Upon arrival, I had most of a day, so I drove out to Stonehenge. This are some pretty awesome rocks. I learned the entire history of the place: how the henge was rebuilt twice between 3000 BC and 1800 BC. About where the rocks came from (hundreds of miles away), and how they may have been erected. I also learned about the special location of some of the rocks to commemorate summer and winter solstice.

There was still plenty of snow around from Britain's now famous recent rare snowstorm. It's supposed to snow again in a couple days. Driving may get even more challenging.

Back to the henge, the place is mostly just wierd. Kind of erie. Even the wide-open general location is quite erie. I thought it was interesting that the narator on the ear-phone thought so too.

2008 Dan in Philadelphia

I'd been here in the Philadelphia area many times before, and I've explored Valley Forge National Park a few times. But since I'm always well west of town, I had never ventured into the city center to see the historical areas there. This day, however, I'd been saying how much I love history and how I'd never been to Independence Mall, when I suddenly realized I had the time to go down there. Of course I didn't want to fight the traffic, and the weather (rain/sleet/snow) was rotten, but I had no other excuses. So downtown I went.

In the morning I had explored Valley Forge again by foot, running around the park for a couple hours. On previous visits I had gone to the visitor center and other historical buildings to learn and take in all the history. So it was ironic to have been there in the morning and to Independence Mall in the late afternoon. I only had a couple hours, but that was enough time to see what I wanted: the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. I also spent a few minutes in a Ben Franklin museum.

I learned all about the history of Liberty Bell at the visitor center. I was vaguely aware that it predates the Revolutionary War, and that it was rung to call revolutionary meetings to order. I was also somewhat aware that it was hidden from the British as they occupied the capital (which at the time was Philly). I was surprised to learn that it also symbolized freedom and liberty for African Americans, both before the emancipation, and afterwards for civil rights.

Independence Hall gave me goosebumps. To stand where the signers of the Declaration of Independence debated, and to see their arrangement of tables and chairs was fantastic. Our other important document, the Constitution, was also ratified/signed here as well. Our guide, a National Park Service ranger, did a great job of bringing it all to life.

Even though the weather was so awful, the whole Independence Mall area had its own historic beauty. There is enough other stuff to see to spend an entire day or two there. Maybe next time. At least I did see what I did. And the weather *was* awful coming home.

2008 Dan in UK

As so often happens, I found myself on a plane over the Atlantic just hours after running a marathon. If you guessed that it was an uncomfortable trip, you’d be quite correct. 

I’d been to Merry Olde England before. It was the beginning and end of our Family European Vacation in the 90’s, and more recently I’d been here in June doing the same sort of work I was here for again this time. The location is Theale, which is near Reading – about 40 miles west of London. Last time the taxi fares were ridiculously expensive. The client pays this, but I still wanted to save them money, while also staying a bit out of the way at a Marriott/Renaissance hotel back near Heathrow. So I rented a car, something I’ve never done in Europe. I’d driven on the left before however, in Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica. I had always had Debbie to navigate and remind me to stay left. This time I’d be on my own. What a disaster. 

Immediately after arrival I drove out to Windsor to see Windsor Castle. I had no trouble finding the main motorway, M4. I had no trouble finding the exit for Windsor. I had a great deal of trouble, however, following the directions into town, which was only a couple miles. When I did finally get there, it was seemingly almost by accident. But this little spell of being lost finding the village would prove to be nothing. Now the problem was where to park. All of the street areas and parking lots required exact change, and I had only large bills. After several tries, I finally did find a lot that had a change machine. 

I walked around the village for a while, and then headed into the castle. It’s a village in itself. You can tell right from the start that it’s a “proper” castle, with a moat, turrets, etc. Of course it has changed and grown over the centuries, but it is the largest and oldest royal castle that is still in continuous use. I think for over 800 years. These days the royal family uses the castle on weekends and for special occasions. The Queen’s colors are flying from the top of the keep when she’s in residence; otherwise it’s the union jack, as it was when I was there. Also, when the royal family is present, some of the state rooms that I toured are closed to the public, so that they may actually be used. The ones I saw were appropriately grand. There were also some famous works of art. Besides the state rooms, some other castle highlights were the chapel, which was grand, and the royal guards. 

One would think that finding my way back to the hotel afterwards would be no big deal. After all, it was very close to the airport, on one of the busy nearby roads. But nooo. I accidentally passed the exit and was forced to remain on the motorway almost all the way into central London. This was a near disaster, but I did manage to turn back and again, only by dumb luck, find my way back. 

The being lost stuff would actually get worse over the next couple days of work. One would think that once I figured out one way to get to the hotel, that I could just continue to repeat that. But nooo. Not when I only find it by dumb luck. My next bout with being lost was the worst – I got off the motorway one exit too early and found myself on another one going the wrong direction. And then, after many miles I was finally able to get off to try to turn around, but I found myself unable to do so – because I was on yet another motorway! This was truly motorway hell. I should say one good thing about driving in Britain. Only one. The drivers are extremely courteous. No cutting people off; no road rage. I almost never heard the toot of the angry horn. And there were plenty of time where people had reason to be angry enough at me for a toot. 

Another experience to report: lunch with at a proper pub. Interestingly, my client had to leave his credit card with the proprietor to cover any tap fee. When I asked, huh?, he told me it was to prevent us from having a beer and running off without paying for it. We weren’t even having beer; we were there for the fine cuisine. And the pub grub really was pretty good. 

“Remember, remember the fifth of November.” I haven’t forgotten this extremely profound little poem I learned from the movie, “V for Vendetta”. It turns out that, as noted in the movie, the people of Britain actually do commemorate the day that some anarchist nearly succeeded in firebombing parliament in the 17th century. They celebrate with fireworks and bonfires. The most fun, I take it, is the making of a straw man and throwing him into a bonfire, as was done with the anarchist. I’m really not sure whether this is out of respect or contempt for the guy; maybe a bit of both. I did witness plenty of random fireworks on my way back to the hotel that night. I also smelled the smoke of bonfires as I got out of the car. Don’t know if any anarchists were burning. 

Earlier on that fateful 5th or November, I awoke at 4am to watch John McCain and Barak Obama’s speeches as the election concluded. I was surprised at the amount of interest on this side of the pond, and it’s almost all positive. The TV networks and newspapers are full of it. So were the folks I was working with. One guy stayed up all night watching the returns, although he was up with his young baby anyway. But he made his 8-month old son watch Obama’s speech so that the boy would witness the historical moment.

2008 Dan in Lisbon and Bucharest (and Prague)

It’s not like these two places are close together; they’re on opposite sides of Europe, two time zones apart. But this is the way the work worked out: one week in Lisbon, Portugal followed by a weekend stop in Prague, Czech Republic, followed by two weeks in Bucharest, Romania. I’d been to these places before, so I tried to concentrate on seeing and doing new stuff.

Lisbon
Part of the fun was getting here. Part of that was running the Green Jewel 100K race *just before stepping onto the plane. But that’s another story.

There was too much work and no time to explore. That’s too bad, because Lisbon is lovely. I did do a bit of running in the areas I’d run before – the university grounds (nice soft dirt trails) and Monsanto Park (huge hills and some trails, interesting prison at the top). Each day I took the three metro trains to and from the office. It’s kind of fun to get around this way.

I was finally able to get away from work for a couple hours on Friday afternoon. I took the metro to the city center and walked up, up, up to the Castle of St. Jorge. It’s a huge edifice at the top of the hill overlooking all of Lisbon. The views of Lisbon and environs – all 360 degrees of them – are great up there. The castle itself, built in the 12th century, is mostly in ruins. But even so, the sheer size and complexity of it are something to behold. I should have checked this out the other times I’d been here.

Prague
I stopped here on the way from Lisbon to Bucharest in order to run the Prague International Marathon (PIM). The travel arrangements were highly complex, but everything worked out. At the expo, I met up with Mike George, his mother-in-law, Dolly, wife Judy, and daughter Angie. We had a nice dinner together; they would be cheering me on.

I made it through the marathon. It wasn’t my fastest, but at least I ran a steady pace. Afterwards, as usual, I had to catch a plane, this time on to Bucharest.

Bucharest
It’s been said that Bucharest is the Paris of Eastern Europe. But what has not been said is that Paris is the Bucharest of Western Europe.

As with Lisbon, in Bucharest the hotel and the office are in opposite corners of the city. I was tired of being ripped off by taxi drivers, including the huge rip off I received coming from the airport. And traffic is always very bad. So I figured out to use the metro here as well. I would only need to take one line, but it’s a long walk between the hotel and the station (about a mile and a half) and then I also have to take a bus between the Pipera station and the office. Even with all this hassle, it’s still better than the taxi.

Bucharest has an architecture style all to its own. I think the experts call it neo-classical or something like that. Most buildings are whitish, and sort of grand-looking. They’re usually symmetrical when you look at them in relation with those adjacent or across the street. The boulevards are wide and tree-lined. And then there’s the Palatul Parlamentului, the second largest, after the Pentagon, building in the world. As with my last trip here, my hotel room overlooks the monstrosity.

Everywhere I go in Bucharest I see loose dogs. Not good if you’re a runner. They’re everywhere. The Marriott has its own little pack hanging around, as do the office buildings where I’ve been working. I often see them lying right on the sidewalk leading up to the building; people have to walk around them. And speaking of the office in the Pipera area, what a mess that is. Everything is new: the office buildings, the big homes, the metro station (I think). Too bad there are almost no roads or, for the new homes, no water or sewerage. It’s called infrastructure, and Piper ain’t got it.

I know that there’s much more to Romania than just Bucharest, and I was determined to see some of it. There’s the small matter of Transylvania, which has mountains and castles, one of which belonged to Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. It really isn’t all that far from flat Bucharest – maybe 90 miles or so. After a bunch of planning and research, I took the metro to the main train station and then got on a train to Sinaia, a mountain village in Transylvania. I wouldn’t be able to visit Castle Bran of Vlad the Impaler fame, because it is perhaps 15 miles from Sinaia by road. But Sinaia has its own castle and plenty more.

My first thought when I got off the train is that Sinaia looked like it belonged in Appalachia. Some of the mountains here are even higher than those of Appalachia though. I walked up to the Monastery and checked it out. Then I walked up to Peles Castle. It’s in a very picturesque setting on the side of the mountain range. I took the English tour and was impressed with the wood floors, walls and ceilings. 90% of the castle was wood of different trees and shades. Dark, but very nice.

There is another smaller castle called Pelisor further up from Peles. I walked around it, but didn’t go in. Then my real walk began. I walked up the road until the town ended, and kept going. There were occasional houses, and occasional glimpses of the great mountain scenery. The road I was walking on was dirty and dusty and full of ruts; they were working on it. I thought I might be near the top, because I heard the gondola announcements. It wasn’t till later that I figured that I was nowhere near the top of the 2,500 meter mountain peak. Oh well; I had to turn back sometime. Back in town I walked around a small village green type park and explored the village some more before getting on the train back to Bucharest.

I had only seen a few parts of Bucharest, but not really very much as a tourist. So I set out one warm Sunday morning to see the essential Bucharest.

I decided to skip a tour of the Big Palace, at least for now; I wanted to see other stuff. I’d been to the central historical area, also known as the Lipscani area, one other time, and it was not impressive. I went there again thinking that it might’ve changed for the better. It didn’t. Yes, it’s old, but I thought there was almost nothing worth seeing, and evidently everyone else thinks so too; there are very few people around. There had been a lot of construction and excavation of historical artifacts last time, and it appears that this has even increased.

Walking on, still looking for something to see, I stumbled onto and into Gradina Cismigio, a botanical garden and park. I wasn’t expecting much, but what a wonderful place it turned out to be! There are beautiful flowers and gardens, sculptured lakes, a large playground and a gazebo/bandstand. I saw families with kids of all shapes and sizes heading to and from the playground. Older folks sitting on park benches. And a polka band. The music had some folks dancing and everyone else tapping their feet. It was getting hot out, but the shade in the park felt just fine. I could’ve stayed all day.

But I thought I really ought to see more, so onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Victoriei. And then I stumbled into another park: Parcul Kiselef. I was going to just walk along side it to get to another square, but something drew me in: gypsy music. It turned out to be another wonderful park. There weren’t so many gardens, but the people were here once again: families with little ones, older folks, etc. This gazebo had a “traditional” band. It sounded like gypsy music at first with a woman singing along with a band, but then they played traditional Romanian music. It still sounded gypsy-ish, with several violin/fiddles, but I know it was Romanian because I recognized a much extended version of George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody. No one was dancing, but as with the polka band, everyone was tapping their feet.

But I thought I should see more stuff, so once again, onward I walked. I saw more wide boulevards and huge squares, including Piata Charles de Gaulle and Piata Arcul de Triumf. Their triumphal arch (covered with scaffolding) is almost as big as Paris’, but I’m trying to find a European city that doesn’t have one. Now it was getting extremely hot – near 90 – and I decided to return via the metro. On my way to the station, I stumbled through, guess what? Another park: Parcul Hebestrau. And this park was every bit as wonderful as the other two. Cool shade, playgrounds, gardens, gobs of people strolling. I could’ve stayed all day.

So that’s the essential Bucharest. Yes, there is interesting architecture, the wide boulevards and the great squares. But those wonderful parks were not at all what I expected. They, in and of themselves, make this place a great city.

2008 Central Europe

There are reasons why people go to Europe in the summertime; reasons like nice foliage, flowers and beautiful sunny weather. But we had our reasons for going in early spring, and they seemed like good ones at the time. These included fewer people, lower costs and maybe half-way decent weather.


We got the fewer people part right – the crowds were very much on the low side. Lower costs? The package price for the tour, lodging and a few meals wasn’t bad at all. But the near-worthless dollar for everything else put the cabash on any thoughts of saving money. And this brings us to the weather. I had to keep telling myself that it is spring, and the day before Easter, as we endured leaving Cleveland in the snowstorm. At least it would be sunny and warmer in Europe, right?


Frankfurt
Frankfurt was cold. It turned out that this would become a recurring theme. We took a long cold walk around the town, especially in the river area. Then we ate at a very nice small traditional German restaurant. The local specialty was "green sauce"; it wasn't bad. In the evening we met our tour director, "Wentz" Wenceslas.

Berlin
The drive from Frankfurt to Berlin was longer than expected. With the stop in Weimar, it took most of the day. Weimar is the intellectual and artistic home of such Germans as Schiller, Goeth and Bach. It was lunch and a nice cold walk around town for us. We also stopped at the old border between East and West Germany. It was interesting to see the guard towers that were left standing for the sake of history.

Berlin is huge. The contrast between east and west is striking, as the east is dominated by old Communist era starkly ugly architecture. The west is park-like. At our first dinner in Berlin we ate at "Fat Paula's" and learned how she became so.

The bus arrived, with all of us in it, at 8:29, exactly one minute before our scheduled time to meet Ben, who was to take us on our local tour of Berlin. Ben wasn't there. But then, just as the clock turned to 8:30, Ben suddenly showed up from nowhere. Wentz observed, "Such is German punctuality… that Ben would be nowhere to be seen at 8:29, and then appear at 8:30."

We continued to learn about the fascinating history of this incredible city. World War II left the city almost entirely destroyed; only rubble remained. East and West separated after the war, but the West had to be supported by the airlift until a roadway to the rest of West Germany was built. Reunification came in 1989, and the changes thereafter are most profound. The new architecture is stunningly modern. The entire city is alive and vibrant. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the parks and the interesting architecture.

Potsdam was rather interesting, especially with the history of the peace conference there. It's a small village 15 miles outside of Berlin; we arrived by train. Most of our time was spent in the famous Sans Souci gardens and palace. The palace itself was a bit on the small side as far as palaces go. Of course the gardens were only beginning to come alive; the calendar still said March, and our bodies told us it was January. The off and on snow didn't help.

Everywhere we went in Germany we saw wind turbines. There are 50,000 of them, and you absolutely can’t miss them. I’m not sure what percentage of Germany’s power comes from wind, but I keep asking myself, wind power is such a no-brainer - why can’t we do this?

Warsaw
The trip from Berlin to Warsaw was broken up with a stop for lunch in the medieval Polish village of Poznan. This town exceeded expectations, since we didn't have any. The town square and church were quite nice. The trip also saw some crazy driving, as drivers coming the other way would be passing others and not seem to worry at all about being in the oncoming lane with a busload of tourists hurtling towards them. Of course we'd move aside, but Wentz needed to reassure us: "Don't worry; this is Poland. It's the way things are here."

It was snowing as we arrived in Warsaw. This wasn't just a few flurries, as we'd been experiencing. This was big-time snow; almost white-out conditions. It was fun to watch it from our hotel dining area, once we had finally arrived safe and sound. Some of the Australians were fascinated with the storm, and one, Skye, went out to make a snow-angel.

It feels like we're living in history. It's like we are, in some small way, a part of it. Warsaw has its own fascinating place in history. Did you know that the word, "ghetto" only meant Jewish neighborhood before World War II, and that it only received a negative connotation after the war started? The Jewish Ghetto had been walled in by the Nazis, but the Jews rebelled in 1943, fighting with everything they had. The rebellion was finally put down months later, and the Ghetto was completely destroyed. Then the non-Jewish Poles rebelled in 1944, only to have their rebellion put down and see the remainder of the city destroyed.

We saw the completely rebuilt Royal Palace, and this *was* impressive. It was huge in scale, and the rooms were ornate to an incredible degree. The gold leaf was especially impressive. We've been doing several of these sightseeing excursions with our friends from the UK, Allan and Susan. It is saving us some money to do them on our own rather than take the organized tour.

Krakow
It rained in Krakow. A very cold, hard rain. This was very unfortunate, because it is a wonderful city. You can’t appreciate it, however, when you spend all your time trying to stay dry and warm. We did manage to see the royal castle and cloth market.

Two other things about Krakow. It is home to these salt mines that must be seen to be believed. 300 kilometers of tunnels. Huge open areas. Lakes. Chapels, Statues. I could go on. Did I mention that the mines are also dry, and reasonably warm?

And then there was the “Polish Folklore” dinner, show and dancing. Audience participation, you know. Yes, some of this included your faithful blogger, himself.

Auschwitz
Nothing can prepare you for Auschwitz. It is far beyond any capability I have to describe it, but I will try anyway. We arrived first at Birchenou, just a few kilometers away. I learned later that this is "Auschwitz 2", and that there is also a "3". It is a huge complex, stretching as far as you can see in each direction. Some of the wooden and brick buildings remain. Otherwise it is a lot of chimneys from all the furnaces, railroad tracks and barbed electrical fencing. Miles and miles of it.

We had a guide for Auschwitz 1. She was extremely informative, and took us into several buildings and described their parts in the killing process. All the buildings together were made into a large museum, and our guide showed us important parts of it. The combs, shoes, suitcases taken from the Jews and other prisoners were hard to take. The quantities were also hard to take. Hardest of all for me was the incredibly large mounds of human hair. It was to be used for pillows and beds. Unbelievable. Finally we walked into one of the gas chambers. Words fail to describe it.

Our guide told us of her two uncles who had lived in the area before the Nazis completely evacuated everyone within several miles. These uncles tried to shelter some Jews from the Nazis, and did so with some success. For a while. Then one of the Jews was re-captured and, probably under torture, told the Nazis of all the locals who helped him. The Nazis placed several hundred Poles, including the two uncles, into the camp and tortured them as well. At least that was the fate of the one she could find records on; there is no word on the other. She is still trying to learn more.

There are people on this earth who doubt or even deny that the holocaust occurred. Those people need to come here.

Częstochowa
Częstochowa was also supposed to be a spiritual experience, but most of us thought it was just plain weird. We lined up along with lines from gobs of other busloads of people, and then "snuck" into church *while mass was going on*! We wound through the churchgoers and monks (it is a monastery) and in back of the altar in order to catch a glimpse of the bejeweled Black Madonna. She was pretty cool, but the whole thing just seemed so wrong for some reason.

It didn’t take long. Lawrence from London, who’s in his early 20’s was traveling alone. Jen from Michigan but who’s studying in the U.K., and who’s in her early 20’s was traveling with her Mom, Louise. By this point in the trip these two were seen holding hands. And sitting together on the bus. And resting one another’s heads on the other’s shoulder. Everyone enjoyed the concept of this budding relationship.

Budapest
Budapest was lovely, as always. It helped that the weather cleared up, and it even felt warm. Since I had been there, I became the defacto tour guide and led a group to the central city to see the sights at night. They were, as always, stunning.

Budapest was just as spectacular by day. Along with Allan and Susan, and sometimes a few others, we walked for miles and miles. We saw Heroes Square, Castle Hill, including the changing of the guard by the presidential palace, the famous Jewish Synagogue with all its associated history, and of course the Chain Bridge and OF COURSE the Danube River.

It had been a long, long day, but it was not over. My work client-associate Istvan, and his friend Vera picked us up and we all went to dinner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant. We enjoyed several hours of conversation over slow, and good, Hungarian food.

In Budapest we also said goodbye to our bus driver, Franco. His son, Giovanni, who was much more on the quiet side would take over for the rest of the trip. We would miss Franco because he was so entertaining. At the rest stops, he would say things like, “You miss bus, no problem. I come back – two weeks.”

Wentz, our tour director is also a funny guy. He’s always helpful and serious when he needs to be. But some folks are funny without even trying, and he’s one of them. Complaining when we weren’t able to get out of an automated parking area in Krakow, he says, “When you have man with mustache, you pay him and no problem. When you have computers, you have big problem.”

Vienna
Vienna is probably even grander than Budapest. Whereas Budapest is in the process of restoring much of its former splendor, Vienna is much farther along. Vienna was spared much of the devastation from war that had befallen Budapest. It seems that everywhere you turn, you bump into a palace. And each one is grander than the last. It’s hard to take it all in.

The Kursalon Waltz show would be our chance to sample Viennese music at its source. The orchestra only had nine pieces, but they sure knew how to play. The music was mostly that of Johann Strauss Jr., but there was also some by other members of the Strauss family as well as Wolfie Mozart. There were some operatic pieces and some dancing to the waltz music. The lead violinist made like Andre Rieu to make sure no one took anything too very seriously. But it was all very well done, besides being fun.

Also in Vienna we spent some time gaping at the Hapsburg crown jewels. They included several diamond and gold bejeweled crowns, other outlandish clothing, and a 2000+ karat emerald.

No travel story can possibly be complete without a word about the toilets. They were mostly ok, and were invariably very clean. The one at our hotel room in Vienna was special though. The Austrians, and particularly the Viennese, take pride in being a very “civilized” society. Indeed, the food, music, architecture, etc. were all outstanding. Too bad about the plumbing. Our hotel toilet was built such that when you sit down, the drain is up near your feet, and there is a slight dry “bowl” right beneath you. Thus anything that you leave is presented right back to you, like on a platter. When you flush, the water pushes it forward into the drain – good thing that part worked ok.


Prague
Prague came with more cold and rain. But later on it cleared up. What a difference that made. Some, including me, have called this the most beautiful city on the planet. Yes, I still think so, but it sure helps to have the sun shining. We bought 24-hour metro / tram tickets, and made great use of them. We spent all the time with Allan and Susan walking and riding and exploring. The medieval town seems to just go on forever. The main districts are the Jewish Quarter, Old Town, New Town (which, being 600 years old, is a relative term), Lesser Town and the Castle District. Wenceslas Square, the Monastery, the Infant of Prague (which we only stumbled upon). We did them all.

PROST!
You have to yell it loud and deep. It helps if you spray some saliva in the process. Then you grab your mug by placing your hand through the handle and as far around as possible, and slam it hard against that of your fellow drinker(s). Good thing these are industrial strength 1 plus-liter mugs. But you’re not done yet. You must look your drinking partner(s) directly in the eye all the while, as you take your long, hearty swig.

This we learned from the 17 and 18 year-olds at our table at the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich. The place was wild when we arrived, and only became more so as the night wore on. Oom-pa-pa band. Dancing in the isles, and anywhere else you could stand up. Waiters and waitresses carrying four or more of these 1-liter mugs full of beer in each hand, spilling it as they went. A lady mopping the floor around the men’s urinals whilst they were in full use. Spontaneous singing, even when the band wasn’t playing. A vomit-urinal. Eternal Oktoberfest. I could go on.

Oh yes, we did see other parts of Munich as well. The most interesting to some of us was a platform at the head of a square used for some of Hitler’s speeches. There are statues of lions on either side, and it was said that he hid behind the left one during an assassination attempt.

Romantic Road
This is a misnomer. There is nothing at all romantic about the road. It’s the villages here in Bavaria that are romantic. They give new meaning to the word medieval. We stopped at Harburg to view the castle from the other side of the river, and then spent some time walking around Nordlington. The ‘O’ has two dots over it to indicate that it is to be pronounced like a ‘u’. So it sounds like “Nurdlington”. When we saw the inhabitants, I mentioned to Debbie that here were all the Nurds, and their little Nurdlings. The Medieval/Bavarian walled village was right out of the story books. If it wasn’t for the occasional auto, you’d swear you’d hit the 1200 year button in your time machine. The village of Rothenburg was much the same, only more so.

Frankfurt and Goodbye
Now we had returned, and it was time to say good bye. We’ll miss our new friends as well as competent and funny Wentz. And Cosmos did it again. They are a class act that continues to impress us.

The weather had been more lousy than nice, but we’d had a great time in spite of that. The places that I’d anticipated liking the most, Budapest, Vienna and Prague, did turn out to be the ones I still want to return to again and again. But the rest was memorable as well.