Thanks to the pilot

 I have a nephew who is a Captain with United Airlines.

We are all pretty proud of him.

I was particularly proud when we flew our last flight to New York JFK.

I looked down and wondered where the heck was the airport?

You must have more skill than I to find it.

(They did find it.)

 

Giverny, France

 

I was taking with someone who had just come back from France. He

had taken a long-boat down the Seine and we were comparing notes.

When we had both gotten to Giverny we were impressed with Monet's

garden as we had seen so many paintings and prints that Monet had done of it.

This photo is a detail - not of the footbridge - but just one patch of garden.

As mentioned

I mentioned a while back that when we were in Venice

it was high tide. This picture shows St. Mark's Square

and those "tables" are actually the risers people need

to walk on when the tide is in.

 

Experience is the best teacher

      

 We once tried to plan a trip by just listening to others. Others have different values.

Shopping airlines will surprise you in the difference in fare. We did not buy travel insurance for a trip depending on the insurance provided by our credit card and it took months and a call to the state Insurance Commissioner to settle. Without an itinerary you can miss things, but on the other hand you can find surprises. Your card may not include medical expense or evacuation. Plan ahead: you will need to get an all Paris Card, tickets to Park Guell and the Alhambra etc. As for not telling your credit card provider I got a phone call from a lady in Georgia while I was in Gibraltar. I told them I would be in Spain. Forgot that Gibraltar is not Spain. Call your cell-phone carrier and see if your SIM card works or if you need  another. It also helps if they tell you when to change cards. The ATM at the airport is always a better rate, plus you will need local cash for some services. Don't over pack, I did this just once. We have had to ask a neighbor to go in and find our passport and mail it to us so we could come home.  Do not buy traveler's checks. Hardly anyone accepts them. Remember an extra chip for your camera as you can fill on quickly. Yes, your phone is pretty good but Photoshop is tough. Something will go  wrong ...unplanned. It is part of the adventure.

 

The travel planning process

        So you heard from a friend or Rick Steves or by way of an ad that X is the place you will want to experience. (You don't go to just to see it,) 

1. Buy a copy of Lonely Planet - or another guide  - and read up on your                         destination. If you have access to National Geographic they help too.  

2. Check with airlines to see if they go there and how much.

3. Reserve Air when you set the date.

4. You need to look into Travel Insurance. (your credit card may include it but it         may not include medical expense or evacuation).

5. Set up an itinerary. You may want to visit something that requires a reservation.

6. How do you get to the airport? Reserve it.

7. Call your credit card and tell them where and when you are going. 

8. Call your cell-phone carrier and see if your SIM card works or if you need                  another. 

9. Do not buy traveler's checks. Either get to an ATM at the airport or just use                 your credit card. (At ATM you need a debit card.)

10. Make a packing list. Meds, copy of Passport, special clothing, etc.

11. Pack a week before. Take out unneeded things. Do it again.

 12.Give a copy of itinerary and a key to someone responsible at home. 

13. Make a list of things to do or not do when you are gone. Keep it.

14. Unless you are going to the middle of the jungles there are stores that sell                 dental floss. Unpack again.

15. Remember an extra chip for your camera ... and your camera.

 16. Sharpen your sense of humor.

                                               ...next post is about why...

 

SO... what do you bring home? What size are you?

This photo of a bookseller's window gives you an idea of the political awareness of people overseas. A book seems heavy to carry so I did not buy one. In fact, I bring home very little other than photos and memories. Two lighter exceptions for me were a shirt from Granada Spain and a shirt from Munich Germany. You see, I pack light and I ran out of clean clothes. Yes, we have used laundries in Ireland (Dingle), Verona, and Prague, but we have someone else do the work as we spent too much money to waste it on domestics. Yet, I was close to leaving and stopped to buy a cheap shirt (and in Munich a sweater as it was turning cold). And because I do not waste time, I believed the tags that said "Large". These folks must be smaller than I am. A little tight. But, now that I have lost weight right on.

 

Central Europe: Best places (in my opinion)

OK I haven't been to all the cities in Central Europe. I hear that Krakow is wonderful, but we missed it.) I would just like to recommend three. Prague is a city of old and new. It has much to communicate regarding the effects of World War II and Nazi occupation. I find it charming. The second on my list is Vienna where music meets a clean city. You must go to a concert there. The Third is Budapest. The photo above (not very good I know) is of the Chain Bridge. High on a hill Buda is great to see and look out from.  Great food. 
 

Soweto South Africa

        Soweto South Africa is a large urban township just outside of Johannesburg. It is concerned the center of the anti-apartheid activity.  It now is an important visit. Not only are some parts the poorest of the poorest it is also the home to the Mandalas, In addition it is where you will find the Pieterson Memorial a museum you will never forget. We also had lunch in a cafe near the Tutu home. Soweto is where black Africans took a stand against Apartheid.

 

The Livingstone Resort, Zambia

You go to Africa to get near the animals.

This guy can to our room to see if we had candy.

When we had none, he left for another balcony.

 

A four country European road trip in twelve days (only swung by Germany)

        We started in Rome and went to Florence and Venice for a ten day get acquainted tour. We then took the train to Verona (a little bit of Rome). After two days there we started our road trip. Our first stop was Bolzano to have lunch and visit the famous Iceman. Then it was east for four days in the Dolomites. (Amazing, I could have stayed.) Then, it was north to Innsbruck Austria. (Austria is wonderful.) from east to west with a brief swing into Germany (we spent five days later on in Bavaria.)

            All across Austria to Feldkirch, Austria. (Lovely center city -  great dinner.) Then across to Liechtenstein. (Got lost. Who would know there are two cities in Liechtenstein?) When it was south through Switzerland in the rain. We have been told the mountains are pretty but the fog did not let us see them.) We stayed at Lake Como and explored. Then off on the Autobahn to Lake Garda and Sirmione  (not to be missed). Then Verona over night and a flight to Paris. This may seem like a tough trip but these countries are smaller and we actually took our time and stopped often . Not everyone has that long ... we are retired.

Vineyards in Spain and Vineyards in Napa County

Traveling along in Southern Spain you might

forget for a moment you were not home in

in the coastal area of California.

To be reminded, read the road signs.

 

Fascism in Germany and Present Day ........

Dachau, Germany: The crematorium  

One of the watchtowers with foundations of barracks.

One of the Gas Chambers

        History can repeat itself. It spread from Germany to Italy to Spain and can be seen in South Africa. Fascism can exist where one group of people think they are better than another. They use democracy to forge a new order. But, it is not him or even them that do it. It is the people allowing it to happen. Let us not be those people.

 

 

Monet's House in Giverny

        Many of us have seen photos of Monet's Garden and pond. There are many prints of his work. The biggest display is in the Musee de l'Orangeie  in Paris with his huge work of his waterlilies which can surround you. (Worth of visit.) It is in the Tuileries Garden very central to the city.

     The photo above is closer look at Monet's home in Giverny. It is not that far from Paris by car and a stop on the tourist boat ride down the Seine.

This a a window through which he could look at his garden while painting.
 

A close in Edinburgh

Where the people lived years ago.

 

Saint Martin In The Fields

In Trafalgar Square across from the National Gallery in London

stands a church where we worshipped more than once.

It is known worldwide for its music program.

Part of worship is hearing the gifted organist fill the pipes and sanctuary with sound. No one moves during the postlude.

We got there early when this photo was taken

so we could prepare.

 

  

     Let's look at why you travel and what you hope to receive from your visits. If you just want a interesting place to go, I suggest your local library. A fun place? There is always Disneyland. But, if your reasons are like mine, you want to experience a different culture and the persons that people it, you will go expecting to be changed. I am a different person after a long road trip through the Alps. I have a different understanding of the world after a sustained visit to countries in southern Africa.

    More specifically I have seen the shoes of Jews murdered on the bank of the Danube in Budapest. I have seen the hundreds of nooses in the memorial in South Africa. I walked the cemetery at the holocaust museum in Prague.  I have met a young man in Scotland that taught me about American politics. I sat chatting with a woman in Bavaria who at 101 was learning about what the Nazis were really like. I was gifted with understanding the potato famine in Ireland.

    I took a long stroll with Peter, a young man in Botswana, who wanted to learn about the United States. I drove through the back roads of Spain without much knowledge of Spanish. Well, my wife and I did it together and we learned a great deal about one another along the way. We went to be changed not to change the world.

Madrid City Hall: a sign in English: Refugees Welcome.

Not far from the hotel where we were staying in Madrid is a large municipal building. Hanging from the front is a sign which you would not likely see near our home in California. They welcome refugees. 

 

Amsterdam by small boat

        There are many cities that are dependent on water for transportation. Most of them have canals which change with the tides. Venice actually floods with some high tides. We were in St. Mark's Square and had to walk on the moveable platforms in order to get into the cathedral. 

        Bruges is one, but Paris also has some canals. The most famous is likely Amsterdam. You can see the city by bicycle or by large tour boat, but the best way is to hire a small boat as you can go where larger boats cannot go. We took one with two other couples and really enjoyed it. However, I was not sure about the couple in the stern that smoked weed all the way. By the way, Cape Coral, Florida is the city with most canals - over 400 miles of them.

 

Saint Peter's, The Vatican

Saint Peter's is a huge church which is not in Rome. When in Rome you cannot visit the Sistine Chapel because it is not there. 

The Vatican is its own nation-state which happens to be surrounded by Rome.

It is true that a visitor may have trouble figuring out the boundaries.

You can count this as another country you have visited. 

 

Saint Giles, Edinburgh Scotland

Saint Giles is a major landmark on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.

It is symbolically about half way between the castle (military might).

and Holyrood (The Royal residence).

It is the home church of Presbyterianism and The Rev. John Knox.

We have been there twice. Worship is a tad dry.