A favorite photo from 2013

 

Canoes at Lake Moraine, Alberta Canada August 2013

What to do when Koreans only speak Korean: shout

They say that a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, a person who speaks two languages is bilingual, and a person who only speaks one language is an American.

If you don’t think this is funny, then try to order lunch in Munich.

It is a problem for those of us who travel into a world where not everyone speaks English. Here is some advice in case you go into the larger world.

The old saw is that when someone doesn’t understand you, you just turn up the volume. We have heard it. In a quiet tearoom in Edinburgh we heard an American get louder and louder asking for ranch dressing for his cucumber salad. Even then, the waiter spoke English of a sort. It made the rest of us Americans about as comfortable as Mitt Romney in a strip club.

Hint number two: don’t think you can explain things with sign language. Some simple gestures of ours may turn out to be obscene in another environment.

Counting on your fingers may work, but not in Italy. In that country the thumb is used for the number one. Give the peace sign or the victory sign and you will not get two of anything. You will get three.

Then there is inflection. The way you say a word may have different meanings. In my youth I could converse a little in Cantonese. The trouble is the nuance of that language which, by the way, has been supplanted by Mandarin. I kept asking a Chinese friend, in his language, if a young woman was very pretty and he explained to me that I had just asked him if she was cold. No wonder he didn’t answer right away.

It is essentially the same word with different emphasis.

When you walk into an Austrian store it is not helpful if you ask them, "Do you speak English?" If they don’t, you will get silence. Even if they do, they would prefer you tried to ask them in German as it shows that at least you are trying. Once you try the German, they are likely to speak to you in your native tongue.

Another consideration is not to get too good at your opening lines as they may actually think you can speak fluent French and start rattling back to you like Joe Biden on Red Bull.

There has been some discussion of something called "American Exceptionalism". This is the belief that we are different – actually better – than most others. We got here because we are special.

Try explaining this concept to a citizen of Rome, who knows where history started and where it went.

It is humbling to find yourself in a small Italian Village where people are all fluent in Italian and German, but do not have a clue about English. We somehow just expect them to know how we communicate. Their languages, however, predate anything we know.

It behooves us to realize the size of this world.

Getting louder is not the answer.

I write anywhere

 

Indeed, I could have been looking out across Waterton Lake, but I had this idea...

Title: A Christmas Memoir 2013

Our first Christmas was a delightful one. We had practically nothing and appreciated it all.

We were both in graduate school and had little money. We were living mostly on love and a few odd jobs. My wife did some clerking in a store. I picked peaches, painted houses and taught at a local high school part-time. We managed our apartment house in exchange for rent.

Adding it up, we were poor, but we did not know it. It was neither an object of self-depreciation nor pride.

We were able to buy a Christmas tree our first year. It was short, but well-shaped. We decorated it with handmade paper ornaments and a string of lights. We crowned the tree with a dove left over from the decorations at our wedding.

The material things we exchanged that year are long forgotten, but we remember the day as if it were yesterday.

As time went on, our family grew along with our wants and needs. We waited in line for two Cabbage Patch Kids. We made long lists of things to do and buy. I built two dollhouses in my workshop. My wife took the handwritten want lists to the stores.

In 2005 I spent Christmas in Stanford Hospital. We exchanged gifts as I lay in bed. That year I received a polyester, vascular graft in my chest. It was not my favorite gift.

Over the next half decade I relearned about what a difference other people’s concern can mean.

Last year, 2010, I spent part of the week before Christmas in the hospital in Portland. My kidneys had failed from being over medicated. I don’t remember last Christmas much.

It is interesting how priorities change. The biggest gifts are not under the tree and the one most remembered may be the least tangible.

Most of us have all we need in the way of things. We might need a little more conscience, appreciation, and generosity. Those latter virtues may best be acquired through experience. They don’t sell them at Neiman Marcus or Wal-Mart.

We may wish to teach our children to be more giving and less greedy, more thankful and less tightfisted, but it is difficult to do in the middle of a season where our nation’s financial health depends on our spending.

We do not long for the good-old-days because, for the most part, they were not always good. We do, however, remind ourselves that our happiness has never been based on what we get. Our happiness has been based on being grateful for what we’ve got.

It is important that our economy rebound and that those who do not have the necessities of life are cared for. It is each of our responsibilities to reach out to those in need. We don’t do it out of guilt, but out of gratitude.

My personal plan is to stay out of the hospital this Christmas unless it is for visiting someone else. As well, I plan on making sure that people know that it takes very little to bring holiday joy. At Christmas, as in art, less is more.

We will hang up our stockings side by side for the 47^th time this year. On Christmas morning we will walk, not run, to see what is there.

Over coffee and scones we will thank one another for thoughtfulness. Mostly we will remember to be grateful for another Christmas with our family and friends.

They didn’t come from Neiman Marcus or Wal-Mart either.

The wreath on our house in Tracy, CA, USA

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Smart Chip Cards in Europe

In Europe our credit cards are way behind the times. They use a card with a chip and ours does not have one. We use American Express and usually have no problem, but one thing we notice is that our cards never leave our table -- that is true in Canada as well -- the wait staff bring the machine to us and we enter the amount including tip -- if any. Many countries in Europe do not have the tradition of tipping.  In the United States we hand over our card and the account is kept open until we write in the tip and the wait person enters that amount after we sign the sheet and leave. It is silly when I hear that the United States is way ahead of other countries: not in credit cards and not in health insurance.

Favorite through the back window shot

In the Dolomites north of Verona, Italy. We have absolutely no idea what this is, but it is amazing.

Favorite through the windshield shot...

Between Innsbruck and The Lichtenstein border.

Counting the costs of travel.

I just read a post on Travel Advisor where the couple accounted for the cost of everything on their trip to Italy. They knew what they spent on food, souvenirs, lodging, travel. etc. We were in Italy for 24 days last year and we have no idea what we spent.  Both of us travelled with fathers who counted the cost of everything so we are determined to just use restraint. Eat like we do at home. Buy things like we do at home. Bring very few things back. We do have a budget and nearly always stay within it. If we feel we spent too much one day, we have a picnic the next. In fact, as we drive and often make things up as we go along, we now have an "ice chest" that folds up and goes in a suitcase. Makes picnics easier.
If you are in Venice and are not sure when you will be back, you can stand at the door of the museum and debate the cost for fifteen minutes or you can spend the fifteen minutes inside looking at art. The only thing I know for sure is that Tylenol is much more expensive in Italy than it is in the United States. Then again, if you need it you buy it. I now have a nice souvenir package of generic acetaminophen with the directions in Italian. 

Great picnic spot in the Tyrolean Alps: 

MacLellan Castle, Kirkcudbright, Scotland

"Our" castle in Kirkcudbright (pronounced kirk-a-bree) in southern Scotland. We stayed a couple of doors down at Toad Hall - the castle is in poor repair. Great place. (Photo from internet is better than mine.) P.S. I spell my name MacLellan but abbreviate it by writing it McLellan. The "C" with a line under it indicates "ac" or Mac means the "son of". My name therefore is "Son of Lellan".

Buckingham Palace

PBS ran a special on Buckingham Palace and its history. It was interesting, but does not change the fact that it looks a great deal like a Federal office building. It is not exactly pretty, but it is a major symbol of the British Empire.

 

 

Mummies at British Museum

Whether it is the horses stored at Venice or these mummies from Egypt stored at the British Museum. There are many artifacts and pieces of art that have been "relocated" to other countries over the years - often without permission.  

Mohonk

This is an amazing place in upstate New York. My sister and brother-in-law took us there while we were visiting and it was a great surprise. I had never heard of it. It is a conference center as well as a destination. The hiking was really good as was the food in one of the cafes. There are many places that we have not heard about in this world that are surprising and wonderful. We always need to be open to a new discovery. (This aerial photo is from the Conde Nast Facebook site.) Mohonk is an odd name for a beautiful place.

Whales off of Pigeon Point California USA

The lighthouse

Florence trash cans

 

Small Garbage and recycling cans along street.

 

actually hold a great deal of trash.

Style is everything

When you are preparing to travel, a major consideration is your own personal style. This is nearly as important as choosing a destination. Your style will actually color all aspects of your trip.

Do you feel comfortable in a group or do you like to make your own schedule and set your own pace? Are you a big eater or a snacker? Do you love to drive or would you rather ride? Do you get seasick? If you would find out that you are lost in the middle of Ireland, would you be philosophical or frantic?

Our style is to come up with a destination and a list of things we want to see there? We consider if we know the language(s) and whether there are people who speak English at bed and breakfasts. We do our homework and, because I often drive, I take the trip before we go by driving it on Google Earth!

We always get lost. Sometimes we try to lose our way. We rarely use a tight schedule. Our goal is to meet people rather than see monuments. We have taken one loosely planned tour with other people arranging transportation (in Italy) as we do not speak Italian (or did not then) and were staying in cities for four or five days at a time. At the end of that trip, we added ten days of driving on our own figuring we would know local customs by then.

One thing about our style is that we are not afraid to stop and ask for something - suggested café, directions, the nearest drugstore. We almost always have met friendly people.

How do you live day by day and what is your style?

ROADS

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon (and Washington)

Lane in Ireland

Caught in Road Rally: Italian Alps

Road into Banff, Alberta, Canada

Around the San Francisco Bay November 2013

Bay Bridge and San Francisco from the Sausalito Ferry

Bay Bridge light show.. see YouTube for video.

The Day following Thanksgiving 2013 returning by ferry from Sausalito..

Window at the Tower of London

Canadian wildflowers: Alberta, August 2013

Meanwhile at the Vatican

Today in a 85-page document, Pope Francis pulled together the priorities he has laid out in eight months of homilies, speeches and interviews and put them in the broader context of how to reinvigorate the church's evangelical zeal in a world marked by indifference, secularization and vast income inequalities.

Please note the scaffolding in the picture above. When we were there things were already starting to crack. Pope Francis almost sounds like a Protestant.

How many days to see Venice?

There a many travel forums to help you plan a trip.

I belong to four and am always surprised by people who want to see all of London in two days or all of California in four days. They want to see it all at the cost of seeing nothing.

 

How many days to really see Venice. Ah, one for each canal side café to sit watch the people...plus one for every church... a life time...

 

That is three cafes in a row...

Enlarge and count the churches...

 

Lake Garda, Italy

 

 

Lake Garda is the largest of the bodies of water in the lake district of northern Italy. The southern- most shore is not far from Verona (or Milan) and the northernmost is the beginning of the Sud Tyrol or Dolomite Alps. These areas have changed political hands many times in history. Verona is considered by some to be the farthest north Italy goes. In the Dolomites, while many speak Italian, they also speak German and Ladin. This is due to the fact that Austria has a big influence there.

LORD OF THE DANCE

At the Arlington, Dublin

THE YOUNG

At St. Stephan's Green, Dublin

THE NOT SO YOUNG

Flying

            As you may be traveling soon, and it may be by air, here are some fascinating facts and some hints to make us all less likely to be “Ugly Americans.”  Yes, another list.

- First, no matter how you time it, you will be either too early or too late for your flight.  One yields boredom and the other panic.  The airport is a place of great emotion and Tums are very expensive in the gift shop.

            - Aboard the aircraft you will find that peanuts taste terrible at 30,000 feet.  Actually, most things taste worse on an airplane, although on JetBlue “beverages” are only two dollars whereas on other airlines they are five dollars.  Two dollar beverages are easier to swallow.

- You will discover that the seat next to yours is usually occupied by a seasoned traveler who has no trouble sleeping, uses a large laptop and has an uncanny ability to hog the armrest.

            - Always ask for the emergency exit row as you will receive additional leg room and the admiration of fellow passengers.  On the down side these seats do not recline and you will be called upon to be heroic in case of an emergency.  However, you will be able to get out of the burning plane first.

- Listen to the flight attendant’s directives.  Sure you have heard them before, but humor us all. In case of a disaster your life and mine may depend on following the instructions.  As they go through the choreographed information about what to do if the unspeakable happens, resist denial. 

            - You can also help by not glaring at the parents of a crying baby.  Honest, parents know how annoying the noise is.  Your suggestions for quieting the child only point out how obnoxious the screaming has become.

            - If you have a cold or sore throat we all wish you would stay home.  If this is not possible please do not snort all the way to Miami or click your throat in the hope that the pain will go away.  Ask the overworked flight attendant for something.  They have remedies on the plane. If you whisper the request the rest of us will not know that we are about to fall victim to ill health on our expensive vacation.

            - Be as nice in the air as you are on the ground.  Yes, artichokes are less tightly packed in their jars than passengers on a 737, but relax. People are generally nice to one another on airplanes.  Slowly, the same stress as too many mice in a maze takes over and congeniality usually only breaks down when leaving the plane.  Everyone wishes to be the first off, which is counter productive as the doors to airplanes only allow for the exit of one person at a time.  Upon landing, you are going to wait for your luggage, so there really is no hurry to get off.  This is a fact lost on most of us.

            - When the plane’s staff thank you for flying their airline accept it graciously.  The skies are filled with updrafts and air pockets.  Pilots try to avoid them, but the ride is sometimes rough. It is not the fault of the flight attendants.

            - The luggage carousel is like playing a slot machine.  Will your bag be first, last or gone forever?  Bags usually are not really lost; they just end up somewhere where you aren’t.  If you see yours arrive, try not to trample the little lady standing where the luggage mysteriously appears from who-knows-where.

            - Remember that the pilot wants to get home as safely as you do.  He or she also depends on your help.  Being cordial is the least we all can do. Traveling is stress producing, please do not add to the stress. Just sit back and relax and try not to think how far 35,000 feet is to fall.

Near Lismore, Ireland - the whole road - photo taken by leaning out the driver's window

 

Someone asked what it is like to drive “on the wrong side of the road”. They meant driving in the United Kingdom, The Irish republic, or even Japan for that matter. Places where they drive on the left.

One finds zipping down an Irish back road at 100 km/h exciting not only because of driving on left, but because the roads are so narrow you are driving on the right as well.

The motorways are much like our highways. It does not bother you that the oncoming traffic is to your right. The more rural roads are nothing like ours.

Besides the obvious position of the steering wheel on the right and an often terrified passenger on your left, there are the sheep in the road.

It takes ten minutes or two on-coming trucks to get accustomed to being on the left. Dodging sheep takes longer.

The roads are often only wide enough for one car and we are not talking about a Hummer. Some people fold in their side mirrors, although this is illegal, because it makes it easier for two small cars to pass.

Hedges, houses and pubs are close to the road. This is based on the fact that the roads were originally for horse carts and pedestrians. There was no need for a set back.

The people warn you not to clip a hedge row because in every hedge there may be a stone fence or wall. There are no shoulders or ditches along the roads. Thus you cannot actually ditch a car. It is easier to stop at 30 km/h than to hit a wall.

So, you drive at 30 km/h a comfortable speed for people in Ireland. Their history is long and their commutes are short.

Besides sharing the road with sheep (cows, horses, chickens, and swans) there is also the occasional tractor or hay truck. In California a slow truck pulls to the right, which will not work in Ireland for two reasons. First, you should pull to the left and second there is nowhere to which you can pull.

Patience is the key to survival. The locals must be patient with those of us from other countries that drive on the wrong side of the road.

Marietta's photo

 

This is a favorite photo. It appears at first glance to be a church behind a fence. It

is, however, a photo of an ultra-modern building in Glasgow, Scotland.

It is reflecting a old church across the street. Marietta took this from the

top deck of a double-decked bus. Cropped and photo-shopped it is now a framed poster

in our Portland, Oregon home.  

Dr. Mike McLellan delivers address

Sunday, Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park, London: The Rev. Dr. R. Michael McLellan delivers his Sunday address at the world famous Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. The crowds heard him give his mailing address as well as his email address. Impressive.

View From the Connolly's Front Porch

The Connolly Ranch, Altamont, near Tracy CA.

Wine - the view - Connolly beef - ahhhh.
(Clear view from Stockton to the Oakland Hills and Mt. Diablo.)

Hotel and Motel Art - an essay

B&B art- San Stephano B&B, Verona, Italy 2012

 

     If you travel much you become an expert in motel and hotel art.
     Awaking in a strange place to the vision of a nondescript print of a tree in an anonymous forest means that you are on vacation or at least not at home. It indicates you will not need to make the bed or clean the toilet. You can get up and drive away.
     This alone should make us appreciate motel art. To see it is to be away from home in both a real and symbolic way. It has a place in art history even if that place is remote.
     Likely you have not thought much about this specific art form. This is exactly the point.
     In various places around the United States, and most other countries, lodging art is colorful, bold and less than memorable. I don’t remember the art in accommodations in a good many major U.S. cities. This inability to remember brings back fond travel memories.
     There must be special art classes for motel and hotel designers in nondescript watercolor. The majority of pieces are vague, neo-impressionism with a hint of bland. None of it is fit for the Guggenheim, but it works. It is designed to neither add nor detract from your lodging experience and it doesn’t.
      On the other hand, if your room has no art, it is obviously barren. There must be something on the wall even if you cannot remember what it was.
      The only picture in a motel I remember is a calendar tacked up in a sparse and warn motor court in Beatty, California. It was the only lodging available on a road trip in 1980. It was a 1972 calendar from Shell Oil and would have been forgotten if it had some cheap print on the wall.
      During some research, I asked the head maintenance person at a major hotel chain if any of the art is ever stolen. While most of it is attached to the walls with screws to keep it level, it could be easily slipped into a suitcase.
      The long experienced maintenance person looked at me as if I had asked the ultimate in stupid questions. His response was two fold: why would anyone want it, and why would it even cross my mind?
      There are some questions that come to mind and no matter how stupid need to be addressed.
In a hotel, while looking at art that you will not remember, your mind tends to drift

Love and Hate

 

I have a love/hate relationship with the monitors on the back of the seats for international flights. I never can sleep so I keep checking to see if we "are there yet".  No movies for me, I do not have the attention span. I read, check where we are, read, check where we are. This is a good deal of work on a 10 or 12 hour flight. The biggest expanse of "hardly anything" is Hudson Bay which you fly over on a non-stop from SFO or LAX. The above photo is an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin out of San Francisco.