Why do you travel?

Barcelona, Park Guell

        Some  people travel so that they can say that they where there. Others travel to learn about other places. Some people travel because they are bored. Others travel to check something off their bucket list.

        Why do we travel? As we grow older it is more and more difficult, but there are still things to learn and citizens from other places to meet. Number one reason we travel like we do is that we did not go to Zambia to see more tourists from the U.S. with their cell phone out so they can have a quick photo of a place that they don't remember the name of. We try to stay awhile.

Wenceslas Square, Prague CZ

        We were on our way to see five Central European Capitols and chose to fly into Prague. In our youth we had heard about the struggle for independence with the Soviets. There are two squares: Old Town which is very much tourist and Wenceslas which it a commercial and political center. At night the latter is full of people strolling along. Some are going to the theater as we did and others just enjoying the evening. Many people just go to the Old Town Square and the huge clock, but they miss the history and sights of Wenceslas.

 

I collect beer can and bottle openers

        All over Europe and the U.S. I have been on the look out for old openers. I found a great beer bottle tap in a thrift shop on a backroad in Ireland. I grabbed a rare one in a second-hand store in Edinburgh, My favorites are three openers featuring the last three Popes from Rome.
 

Beer tasting

Ordinarily I am a wine drinker. I grew up close to the great wine producers of the Central Valley of California.  However, when in Rome ...

The European nations  pride themselves on the beer thus I needed to test them.

Guinness is the pride of Ireland and I don't like it. In Ireland my vote goes to Tennent's.  In much of Europe the house bottled beer is Heineken a product of the Dutch although they are starting breweries in other places. Italy and France are into wine production so you might as well join them. Peroni leads the way in Italy.

The photo shows some of my research in Munich. All around I would judge that the beer in Prague CZ all-in-all is my favorite.

Petting The Pig in Florence

In Verona you need to fondle Juliet's right breast. It is tradition.

In Edinburgh you have to pet the Greyfriars Bobby (dog).

In Munich it is some nameless young woman in the street market.

However:

In Florence Italy it is the pig (really a boar)  just off the Plaza República.

The lines are long. If you pet the pig, put money in its mouth, you are not only blessed you make sure of a return to Florence.

Now:

There is a secret. During the day the line is long and folks are bringing coins to put in its mouth. If the coin is washed out the luck is good. My hint for you is that following dinner go for a walk in the Plaza. There is a Merry-Go-Round and lover's walking, and lights dancing off the walls.

And then there is the bronze wild boar called "The Pig". No one is around. The shops are closed and there is no line. You don't have to put money in its mouth or pet it. You can just enjoy the myth.

 

Tea Break On The Botswana Savanah

Most safaris start early in the morning. There are two reasons. One: it can get hot in the afternoon. Two: the animals are smart enough to use those cooler morning hours for activity. Besides wine hour in the camp, a fun part of some safaris is a stop in mid-morning for tea, biscuits, and small sandwiches. No alcohol at this point. You have to be on your guard for animals who want to share.

Duncan and his wife were our guides and we traveled in specially converted Toyota trucks which, in four-wheel-drive, were better suited than Landrovers.  

 

In A Scottish Country Garden

 

While Peter Rabbit's home was in the Garden District of England, one might expect him here. There is something well-organized and relaxed about gardens in Scotland. These gardens are an extension of the manor house or castle -- and even the small homes around.  Maybe it is that many days are a little gray and flowers and living thing brighten the day. For whatever reason they are a pleasant place.