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.

Seeing more when carrying a camera

 

Glenn Moore, an incredibly talented photographer for the Tracy Press and for his own company, has thought me how to see much more than I once did. He has done it merely by posting his photos. I suddenly will think: I was there and yet I did not see what he saw. So, I have been carrying my camera and ponder what is actually in front of me. In the case above, I suddenly realized that these trees are bent. Had there been a earthquake, a landslide, or heavy winds? I do not know. All I know is that they have grown in an interesting shape seeking the light. Don't we all?

At a road side stop, The Icefields Highway, Alberta, Canada.

Veteran's Day

 

You will find this set of flags at the Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland. As the western most place in the Republic, they have this as a monument to all of their ties with the United States and especially the help they received during World War II. It was a gray day (many of them are in Ireland)  and that is a bird seated on the center pole.



Sunday Post

One of my favorite places to worship: St. Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London.

We go there whenever in London.

Great people, great music, and a great café in the crypt.

The building at left is the National Gallery and well worth and half or full day visit.

Pet Crows of the Tower of London

This picture does not do justice to the size of these owners of The Tower.

Venice to stop huge ships from the waterways

 

 

What is wrong with the center picture? Well not only do these huge ships damage the buildings with their wake (sometimes there are four or five a day) but they hold thousands of passengers who all pile out and overrun the city for the middle of the day. The best time to walk in Venice is during the evening - it is wonderful. But, at 11 am you can hardly make it over any of the bridges that cross the Grand Canal with all the people with cameras. Going to Venice? Stay in the city and come and go by train or by water taxi .

The Internet and education

The Internet is a big help to travelers, especially those who write. When I was writing for the Tracy Press every week, I carried "starter" in a USB stick and would go to Internet cafes and send in a weekly column wherever I would be. Now, I suppose I would use a iPad.

When traveling through Ireland, I wrote about the experience and sent in columns and made blog posts whenever possible. People might ask me what I was doing as I would come in, pay two Euros and start writing. While I did check email (it was before I carried my smart phone) all I did was write.

A young boy playing video games was sitting next to me in Trim, Ireland and we struck up a conversation while typing side-by-side. He told me about school, life in a smaller Irish town and how they made lots of movies there. I was writing a column on driving on the left side of the road or as I felt the wrong side of the road. (Maybe I’ll post that again.)

I learned a great deal from going on the Internet..

Greenland from 35,000 feet GREEN?land

The Inverse Travel Conundrum

     There is a phenomenon known as the "Inverse Travel Conundrum". It is based on the problems of aging. While aging itself is a good thing, the older we get the harder it is to travel. However, often you can only afford the time and money to travel when you are retired.
     The young have the greatest need to travel. Travel educates you and gives you wonderful experiences. The earlier you travel the better you are at understanding the world. However (that word again), when you are young you usually are trying to work, get started, and just pay the bills. That is, unless you have rich parents and you just decided to spend two years bumming around the world before finishing college. Few have willing parents who will fund adventures.
     Thus we find that travel and adventure may occur when we are most ready for it, but least able to participate in it. Paragliding in the Andes sounds great for a seventy year old, but few accomplish it.
     This is similar to the inverse need for money. When you have a young family you need money and don't have much and when you are old and the kids move away you have more but don't need it.

Athabasca Falls - The Icefields Highway - Alberta, Canada

The roar can be heard from far away. It is amazing and beautiful.

Sunday Memories: Crosses in Europe

British Museum

Near Galway

Rock of Cashel, Ireland

Cemetery in La Villa, Sud Tyrol, Italy

Kenmare, Ireland

 

Where physicians still make house calls like members of the clergy.