The Big Move

Helen and John's European Adventure - Conclusion

2012-01-28T04:40:00.002+01:00

So we left off arriving at our Paris hotel. It was actually on the outskirts of Paris. We arrived late and first discovered there was no parking available even though I reserved a spot. Luckily there was a spot on the street near the hotel where I had pulled in upon arrival, and we could keep the car there until the morning when a spot would open up in the hotel's underground garage down the street. Then we were given a room on the 5th floor but the elevator was not functioning! So we packed-muled our luggage up the stairs. Wanted to go for a swim in the hotel's indoor heated pool...but no. It was being serviced. I later read online that a guest complained about the pool being out of service 6 months ago! Factor in the long wait at the front desk as two members of staff were helping one customer. Actually one was helping and the other standing there posing. I finally had to interject to get the "model" to start check in procedures. Nothing was open in the area for dinner, so we just relaxed as to be fresh the next morning. I went down to move the car into the garage down the street. Of course the remote control they gave me to open the door didn't work, and there was no place to park the car temporarily as I walked back to the front desk to give them what for. So, the car remained on the sidewalk with the emergency blinkers on and out of the way of the exit from the garage. I was finally able to park the car and we were free to go into the city.The weather was cloudy - even foggy. We took the subway in and the first stop was the Eiffel Tower. There were long lines, so we decided we would go up another day in hopes of the weather being better too. We did a lot of walking and used the subway when logical. We spent quite a bit of time in The Louvre, with the highlight for Helen was seeing the Mona Lisa. I of course got reprimanded by the security guards because I was making pictures of the hordes of suddenly ruder-than-normal people jockeying for position at the rope barrier to get their pictures of the famous work behind security glass and to pose so their mugs are in the picture as well to prove to Aunt Gladys or Uncle Pedro back home that they were there with the smiling beauty. The last time I was there everyone was flashing away, despite the signs saying no photography or flash was allowed. I asked the security person on duty at the time about people ignoring the rules, and she replied "There are so many, what are we to do"? Just like the French to fold like an accordion. But I turn my camera away from the priceless work of art and onto the pack of crazed tourists and I become an enemy of the state! Of course I ask her "Are you serious?! I can't take a picture of the crowd, but they can flash away at the priceless and arguable most famous painting in the world"?! She flashed her best sour-puss look at me and I returned in kind with my "You're an A #1 idiot" expression. Helen directed me away from Broom Hilda and we enjoyed the rest of the museum...or as much as we could manage. It's so huge, I never fail to get "museumed out"!We hit all the major spots during our 3 days in Paris. Bought tickets online for the Eiffel Tower, and almost lost our tickets because you have to be there at the time you reserved. We lucked out because we were late and not entirely sure where to go. Our timing was such that we were up at the top for the last light of the day and then the lights of the evening came on. On the way out of Paris I was able to drive us around the Arc de Triomphe and even stop so Helen could take some pictures. Usually it's bedlam circling that thing, but it was very quiet on our way out of the city. We headed northwest towards Mont Saint Michel, arriving in the early afternoon due to it's close proximity to Paris. Mont Saint Michel is an imposing sight from a distance, and Helen's reaction was more of what I expected in Venice or when seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. We spent a day the rest of that day at the monastery because our hotel was right up the street within a 20 minute walk. We spent about 4 hours there and then drove around the countryside a little the next morning as I showed her different views of it. We then made the hour drive to the American Cemetery at Normandy and spent about 3 to 4 hours there in the visitors center and then walked around the cemetery itself. We were on the road heading back to Amsterdam by 4pm, arriving late in the evening and me nursing the beginnings of a cold. After 16 days on the road, maybe 24 hours behind the wheel and over 5000 kilometers driven, it would be good to remain in the same place for a couple of days. It was a fun experience with my sister, with most things going as planned and a few surprises breaking the pattern. We disagreed here and there, but no blood was shed. We worked well as a team as I drove, and she showed mercy when I made some silly blunders. All-in-all, a very fun experience and one I would recommend to all. It ended too soon! Maybe we'll get a chance to do it again someday somewhere else. The link for the album is at: http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/04f4dba41df940f381f02d92092d9c2d?wf=slideshow

Helen and John's European Adventure - Part 3

2012-01-27T22:51:00.000+01:00

We are now in Venice. It's quite enjoyable watching people's expressions and reactions as they soak in places for the first time. From my standpoint I thought Helen's was more subdued than what I expected it to be. Especially being female, I equate Venice with women. It's a women's favorite destination more so than a man's. I think they react differently when they imagine the city in their minds. I recall my giddiness as Radhika and I got off the bus and walked over to the big, modern bridge crossing the Grand Canal. Seeing the water traffic and the buildings disappearing into the distance on that sunny, pleasant day was something to just soak in, which we did. And I immediately set up my tripod and started making pictures.I am not a shopper when I travel. Never was much of one, but I did concern myself with something material to bring back other than memories and exposed rolls of film or later CF cards full of images. We haven't been so concerned with buying something tangible to bring home I would say over the past decade. Even with that cutback, there is so much stuff, so many knick-knacks and chachki's at home in Orlando from past trips. And t-shirts? We went through a t-shirt period for quite a while. They had to be black and oversized. A t-shirt or several from each place. And then it became Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts if either of those were in our destination. Of course I wanted to wear these t-shirts...but not too much for fear of fading them or otherwise ruining them. There are some I have yet to put on, while others, after I said to myself "this is ridiculous" and started wearing them are already gone. But man I am glad we put a halt to that! I can't imagine the size of the clutter if reason had not found us. If we see something that really strikes us or we believe someone close to us would really appreciate something, we may still take the plunge and squeeze something into our suitcases to take home. But other than that it is more about the experience and memories, with an occasional memento to strike that memory to burn again.So, Helen of course, after the last paragraph, is doing a healthy amount of shopping. Not only is she in these stores for herself, she's got so-and-so to shop for back home. Some even requested specific items but gave her no money to make the purchase. Really? Uncool. No way I would be dipping into my spending money for someone too thoughtless (or cheap?) to offer enough clams to cover what I'm asking you to take time to get for me. Clueless bastard. So Helen shops and I roam in the area with my gear so we don't get separated. This worked out well. We never had to spend time looking for each other. We did wander away from the umbrella once until one asked the other "Where's the umbrella?" and then hot-footed it back along the path we came until we saw it leaning near a sculpture we stopped to admire. Nervous turned into funny!Helen had the expectation that the gondoliers were manned by the most Italian of Italian men. Uber-Italians. Tall, dark, smooth, handsome men with asses that could deflect a bullet. Man was she disappointed!!! That's all I heard - one day in particular. She would see one in the distance. Get her hopes up and then come crashing down, usually with some colorful language to define the moment. There was one man who had possibilities. I didn't see it, but I think her desperation to find someone to hang her hopes on lowered her standards and qualifications for what was drool worthy. She's trying to be all sneaky in taking pictures of the guy. If you looked up the definition of "guilty expression" her face at that moment would've told you all you needed to know. Of course I'm laughing and she's trying to suppress a smile, thinking she's got a Harry Potter invisibility cloak and Mr. Close Enough can't detect her.We spend 3 nights in Venice, wandering through the neighborhoods, eating at quaint restaurants, getting my fill of gelato, taking the vaporetto to Murano and Burano (which provides more shopping possibilities) and taking in the sights of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We did a nice nighttime cruise from St. Marks back to the parking area on the last evening, which wrapped up the visit nicely. Fond memories...A short drive for quick visits to Florence and Sienna before we reached Rome for another 3 nighter in a city that demands more. There was so much I wanted to show and share, but with 2 1/2 weeks allotted for this road trip leaving a few days for Amsterdam making up her 3 weeks here, it's just not possible. So she's able to take some pictures in Florence and Sienna, get a slight feel for the places, but that is all we had time for. We got to our hotel which was located on the outskirts of Rome with sunlight getting scarce. We chilled out and made plans for the next day, which involved getting a shuttle bus to a subway stop that would take us into the city. The next morning, we met an older couple from the UK at the buffet. Actually, they met us. Friendly and open, they started telling me all about their daughter's wedding on a Greek Isle and how they spent the past few months at their home on some Greek island. I was quickly overwhelmed by all the details I was overloaded with. Helen seemed to have less of a problem with all the banter, which makes sense if you knew our personalities. When they asked where we were going for the day, the red alert and battle stations went off in my head! I was non-committal, because we were playing it a little loose. And I can really drag a group down when I come upon something visually interesting and want to work it from all angles. So, they went their way and we went ours...which was straight to the shuttle bus that takes you to a subway stop that goes into the heart of Rome. They were not on it, so we were free and clear. We get into the city and are making our way to the Spanish Steps, when who does Helen see coming our way? You guessed it!! More blabbing ensued and I just dug deeper into my hole and buried by eyeball into me viewfinder. They walked with us to Trevi Fountain, talking all the way. They even said to let them know if we wanted them to go away at any point. I told them to have no fear, I would. Luckily, they got tired of waiting on me to finish making photos at the fountain so they booked out on their own. I think we saw them one more time at breakfast, where Helen happily shared Facebook information with them, and then they were gone. I swear I knew more about them in the 1st 10 minutes than I know about most people after months of exposure to them!Rome demands time. The Coliseum and the Roman Forum chewed up a full day. We enjoyed Rome before we were on the road again, this time heading north to Switzerland with a side visit in Pisa, a place I hadn't visited yet. That was great and convenient. Parking near the tower couldn't have been easier for us that day which optimized our time arriving and departing. It was a warm and sunny October day while we were there for several hours. I didn't want to arrive at our next destination too late and after dark, but we did stay a little longer because it was so nice. We did get on the road and had no delays as we headed to our overnight near the Italian, Swiss, and French borders. Of course it was night, and the navigation device was not providing street numbers for the place we were looking for. It was a smaller secondary road we turned off onto, but then it was like the device said "I got you this far, now you finish the last 2 minutes". We could either continue in the direction we started - up a dark, narrow paved road, or turn around and get our bearings. Helen liked the turning around option. She had little excitement for that dark, curvy road going up the mountain. So after turning the car around, sitting off to the side and getting out to walk around to see if I could get a clue as to where to go, I decided we should go the way we started as it seemed the direction that held the most promise. Within 30 seconds we came upon the lodge. We parked, checked in, had dinner, and called it a night. I did stay up a little late, as the owner said deer have been coming up on the property around midnight, and I want to try to see if not photograph them. It was sprinkling a mix of rain and snow outside, so staking out was not an option. Two did eventually come by, but a good image of them was impossible to be made under the conditions. I was satisfied to just watch them briefly before they moved on...as we did the next morning. It had snowed overnight a little and there was a thick fog that lifted slowly, providing some good picture making. We did that for a little while in the area and as we drove to Montreux and Lausanne on Lake Geneva. After spending several hours in each city we continued on to Paris, arriving in the evening. Problems with the hotel, but that will be in the next post. The slideshow for this post can be found at: http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/b8b5afd08cbc437ea14238f2deb24a7d?wf=slideshow

Helen and John's European Adventure - Part 2

2011-11-22T10:26:00.001+01:00

We managed to navigate out of Prague without any major setbacks and then the TomTom device kicked in at the Austrian border. Our departure was early enough that we arrived in Salzburg with daylight to spare. We stayed at the actual house, not the "Sound Of Music" version, of the von Trapp family. Our room for the night would be Liesl's room. Christopher immediately told us the name was not correct, that Hollywood changed the child’s name from Marie and that in fact a son was the oldest child in the family. One of the many changes made to ump up the story telling. We were informed of a local restaurant and how to get to the city center, so we started the 15 to 20 walk we were told it would be to the restaurant and then from there a bus would take us to the city. But, we only made it 3 minutes when we were crossing the train stop, when a young girl of 16 asked us for help. She was lost, and needed to get to a particular stop to catch a train back home, in Slovenia! We momentarily looked at the map and information board, but when her eyes got a little watery I suggested she walk back with us to where we were staying. Our hosts would know for sure how to direct her. And in one sentence, Christopher gave her all she needed to know, drying up her eyes and forming a smile on her face! We walked back to the train stop together where she remained, as Helen and I continued on our walk to the restaurant, which was probably more like 30 minutes away than 20.It was dusk by the time we reached the restaurant, with rush hour traffic filling the road beside us. We had some good Austrian food along with the usual European spotty service. Our female server seemed to get reassigned to or became responsible for another section of the restaurant, because when it was time to pay the bill she was never in our section. But we managed that and also received bus information to get to the city, which turned out to be only 4 stops away from the stop near the restaurant. Probably a shorter walk to the city from the restaurant than the walk to it from where we were staying! Salzburg was pretty quiet when we got there, but we walked around and checked out what we could and made some pictures. We returned to the train stop via bus and turned in for the night.The next morning we had breakfast, packed the car in a steady drizzle and drove to the city, parking in an underground garage. We walked around on a chilly, wet morning. Luckily as the morning gave way to the afternoon the rain subsided and the day became mild. After we strolled through the older part of the city we went up to the castle, purchasing 2 tickets to enter. We spent the rest of our time in Salzburg here, as there was much to see. We left around 4pm on the slightly over 3-hour drive to Venice, where we would be spending 2 nights. Helen was a "snapping fool", alternating between camera and phone taking pictures of the Italian Alps as we crossed into Italy. I have now crossed the Alps from Salzburg, Zurich, and Munich, and I must say it is a gorgeous experience every time. It was night when we pulled into Mestre, which is the closest city before going out to Venice. I had a little trouble, with road construction causing some tension, but we made it close to our hotel until there seemed to be an issue with a one-way route that we couldn't take. I parked the car on a side street and walking just a few minutes found the hotel. We parked around the back and checked in. Wasn't entirely impressed with the property, but I've seen and stayed in worse places. English was completely foreign to the man at the front desk, so we stumbled through the process and went to the room. Uninspiring but clean, we unpacked and crashed for the night intent on getting an early start.The slideshow for Salzburg is at http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/92bcddbfd15e44baa3e33ada94556745?wf=slideshow

Helen and John's European Adventure - Part 1

2011-11-11T16:14:00.001+01:00

My sister Helen came from Tallahassee, Florida, arriving in Amsterdam a little after 9am on the 9th of October. Her stay was to be 3 weeks, with a little more than 2 of those weeks spent on a road trip circuit through Europe. Not wanting to waste any time, we headed directly to Rothenburg, Germany right from Schiphol airport. She was remarkably fresh from her overnight flight, having gotten plenty of sleep after taking a melatonin tablet. The first adventure I provided to her was to run out of gas on a German highway! Yea!! What fun!!! Let me set the table for this unique opportunity I was gracious enough to provide for my dear sister. Our lease car has a dashboard readout, and "kilometers left in the tank" is just one of the displays you can see above your speedometer. We're driving along, and I observe the readout indicates 100 kilometers are left in the tank. Now, the lowest I have ever taken it was to 50 kilometers on one of my solo trips. So, I figure we're doing pretty good but should start considering a stop. The readout also details outside conditions, and I noticed the temperature readout was 7c below zero with icy conditions! Well, it was actually closer to 20c degrees and partly sunny! I look again at the readout and see the information change from 100 kilometers to 40! Helen sees this too. So, a road sign indicates a rest stop is up ahead and I decide that's where we will fill up. So Helen and I are engaged in a conversation and before I know it I'm passing the rest stop! Now I'm as concerned as Helen has been, because the low fuel light is on steady. And then the 40 kilometers left in the tank sign disappears, and it's replaced with dashes!!! We come up on an exit from the highway and it seems there's a gas station right off the highway. But, there's a huge backup of vehicles waiting to take the exit. I'm trying to figure how hard it will be to get back on the highway if I take this exit as we're passing this extremely long line of stopped cars waiting to take the exit. Right when we get to where the exit peels off the highway, there is a slight space that I could hit the brake, dash over to and squeeze in - - but I don't due to it being a jackass move. Of course Helen is telling me to take it, but I drive on, hoping for another exit. Well, you obviously know the outcome. We're driving, both of us tense as hell, and eventually the car starts hesitating. Done. Game over. I can't apologize enough for the bone-headed start to this trip! I coast the car as long as I can, but don't you know through all the kilometers of driving with a wide shoulder next to us, now there's no place to pull off to the side. We pass an exit, and Helen suggests taking it. But I say I would rather stay on the highway as we have a better chance of getting assistance that way. So, no shoulder to pull off onto and now we are going up a slight hill! Emergency blinkers on and I'm pushing the car on the highway to get to an area ahead with a shoulder. Fun, right? Not 3 minutes later a police car comes up from behind, as cars are making their way around us. An officer gets out and I tell him what happened. He actually asks, "Why did you run out of gas?" I gave him the only answer I could: "Because it's my turn to be an idiot." They towed us to a gas station less than 5 kilometers away, where we filled up and were on our way after several thank yous and hand shakes. We lost less than 30 minutes from that stupidity, and so lucky to have them show up when they did. I was thinking it was going to take a while to get us back on the road as the engine cut off, but we lucked out. First adventure in the books, but I managed to keep that adventure an isolated one!Our first stop (other than the unscheduled one just detailed) was in the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. It is one of the finest preserved walled medieval towns in Europe dating back to 1170. This was my 3rd visit, and I always enjoy walking the streets and now the familiarity I feel as I turn corners and recognize where I am. We checked in, and Walter assured us it was a romantic room. As my full-body cringe wore off I explained that we were brother and sister so any concerns with romance were wasted on us. I needed to ask a question of Walter, so I walked back to the reception area in the other building where we had checked in, but Walter was located in yet a 3rd building and walked over to us when we summoned him on the intercom. This was a slightly inconvenient set up as we needed to have some answers to questions but reception wasn't staffed after a certain time. But we managed best we could and made use of the daylight left to us. It was enjoyable for me to see Helen observe her first European setting, and it being Rothenburg, which looks centuries old and like no other place she had ever visited, made the experience even more rich. We decided to join the night watchman walking tour, which I had not done on either of my previous visits. It was informative and entertaining, as the man who played the night watchman had a great delivery and sense of humor. We walked and listened for over an hour, and if you ever find yourself in Rothenburg I highly suggest joining this tour. We walked along much of the wall the next morning and into the afternoon coming upon places I don't recall ever seeing. We visited shops and had a bite to eat before reluctantly starting our 3 1/2 hour drive to Prague around 3pm. Leaving was a little tough, as it was already closing a chapter on this story too soon. The drive to Prague was tricky; especially once we got into the city because the navigation device had maps for Western Europe only, so now entering Eastern Europe we were working with written directions from Google Maps. The darkness made it more difficult, as street signs were harder to see, especially when they weren't present! There is a difference in efficiency between GPS devices and using directions, which impacts the length of time the trip takes, as we made stops to ask for clarity in our directions and wrong turns (of which there were quite a few). I pulled over into a spot on the street at one point because neither of us was sure of our next direction. I called the hotel, and was informed, "You are right around the corner." I walked up the street 30 seconds and at the intersection I saw the hotel right across the street! Problem was, the streets were one-way. After trying the "legal" route, which did not get us there, I came back and shot down the 30 meters in the wrong direction to the hotel. I had to confirm no trams were coming, as they traveled in the same direction as the one-way traffic. Helen was really good at reading the directions. We got hung up sometimes due to missing signs, a road not where we expected it to be, and things like that. Otherwise, we managed quite well. And once we left Prague in 2 days, we would put GPS back in charge. We parked the car and there it stayed for 2 days as we took the public transportation into the city.Prague is a beautiful city with many settings to immerse oneself in. One of my favorite cities in Europe, its well-aged atmosphere sparkles with history. Comfortable walking shoes are a necessity in most European cities, and Prague sets a good example of that rule. There’s so much to enjoy just walking around from one side of the river to the other. Prague Castle and Golden Lane, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with St. Nichola´s and Tyn churches, the Astronomical Clock and the Old Town Hall, and St. Vitus Cathedral are some of the sights to enjoy when visiting this great city, and we hit these places on a day with fantastic weather. We bought tickets for a string concert the first evening, which was a great treat and reminded us both of the symphonic concerts we would go to as children back in Florida and fight off the urge to fall asleep, as the music was so soothing. The next morning after breakfast we drove on to our next destination 6 hours away: Salzburg, Austria.The slideshow for this post is at http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/68cd29437a9a4394a4e385642a6aa145/slideshow

Poland - Land of My Mother - Part 2

2011-11-04T11:55:00.001+01:00

I'm driving to Warsaw, wanting to get there before nightfall to make it easier to find the hotel. It was about 6pm when I was 30 kilometers away from the hotel in Warsaw, roughly 20-45 minutes depending on traffic. I was driving on a divided highway moderately populated with vehicles traveling around 100kph, as was I. Along a slightly wooded area with a few buildings and side streets, a man stepped out off the side of the road with what appeared to be a ping pong/table tennis paddle. He was moderately gesturing with it in a motion that meant, "slow down" to me, and brake lights came on all around me. Several kilometers down the road a motorcycle cop rolls up beside and with his lights on. So, I pull over and he stops in front of me. Walking over to me, he speaks in Polish, obviously, and of course I tell him I don't speak the language. He asks for my license, which I give to him and he drives off, but stops about 50 meters in front of me and looks back at me. So, I take that as "follow me, you dumb ass" and drive up to where he is. We make a u-turn and head back to where the guy with the paddle was standing, but now I see there are about a half dozen police there, 2 or 3 motorcycles and a couple of cars. I can recognize what this is no matter what country I'm in - Speed Trap. Out of all the cars in the group I was traveling in that were going the same speed, I'm the one the hunted down and brought back. I honestly didn't know what the problem was, because as I just wrote we were all traveling at the same rate, I had made no lane changes, nothing obviously wrong with the car. So, a lot of Polish being directed in my direction and the old guy with the paddle was especially agitated with me (join the club). I simply said I have no idea what you are saying. Eventually a cop came over who spoke limited English, and through trial and error he told me the speed limit where they are standing is 50kph and there's a fine for going over that, and a fine for not stopping when I was waved at with the paddle (which explained grandpa's anger at me because obviously he takes his paddle work quite seriously). I told the semi-English speaking cop I didn't see any change in the speed limit as I was traveling along with everyone else, and I had no idea that the paddle gestures meant for me alone to stop. I didn't even recognize the guy holding the paddle to be wearing a uniform, as he popped out at the last moment as the group of cars traveled by. No matter according to the cop. I am to pay something like a 1000 Zloty fine (€230/$320), 500 for speeding and 500 for not stopping. When I told them I did not have that they said no problem they would take me to an ATM. I requested a ticket be written and they dragged their heels on that. As I began to shift from ignorance of what happened, to apologetic for the misunderstanding, and then anger at the attempt at extortion, the mood changed. I called the hotel to inform them I would be late, and explained what was happening. The man at the hotel said what the sops were doing was not right and I should contact my embassy. He provided the number and I started placing calls, first getting London and finally making contact with the American Consul in Poland. While all of this was going on my new police friends were looking at their watches and saying time was going by. I said I was in no hurry, which was true because I didn't have to pick Radhika up at the airport until 10pm. An hour went by as I walked around, leaned on the trunk of my car, and kept the cell phone to my ear. Another cop who could speak good English was called out, and he spoke good English. He covered the same ground that the other cop did, and I responded with what I had already expressed. He told me I should know all the traffic laws of the countries I visit. I told him I seriously doubt he would know ALL of the traffic rules and regulations of the USA if he were to visit there. I also informed him that I have driven all over Europe and have had no difficulties (other than my flinger-flipping incident in Belgium which conveniently slipped my mind). In Poland, they have a sign rectangular in shape, which shows the silhouette of the skyline of a city. I understood that to be an entering a "city limit" sign, because there was another almost exactly like it however it had a slash through it, and it was always located when it looked like you were leaving a city. But in fact, that sign means the speed limit is 50kph. The cop asked me if Amsterdam or the US had the same sign. I said "No! They are silly that way. For some reason the just post the numerical digit of what the speed limit is. I have not seen this sign anywhere outside of Poland." He was surprised. So much went back and forth between these two cops and me. I became more obstinate as the minutes ticked away, and at one point said how unfair and underhanded their tactics were. When I finally made contact with the American Consul and brought her up to speed, the cop said he didn't want to talk to her. By now, it was getting dark, and as much as I hate mosquitoes I was loving the fact that these guys were constantly fighting off these especially aggressive pests. By now, they had pretty much wrapped up their little enterprise, and most of the cops were huddled in my area or ducked into cars to avoid the pesky little blood suckers. I made a strong effort to slowly and nonchalantly wave away any mosquitoes in my area to project they weren't too much of a concern to me. Anyway, I asked the cop why he was afraid to talk to her. He said he wasn't afraid, but it was due to her inability to speak Polish. I asked her, and she said of course she speaks fluent Polish. I informed the cop, and he had no recourse but to take the phone from me. They spoke for a brief time, he handed the phone back to me, and she said I could leave. I asked her what she said to him, and it was the exact same things I had said to him. I paused my conversation with her, thanked them and apologized for the misunderstanding, and they all smiled and asked me to drive with care, and then resumed my conversation with her for a few minutes more. The cops, cars, and motorcycles were gone within 30 seconds. The realization that there was no money coming from me, their impatience, the mosquitoes, or a combination of all 3 caused a hasty retreat. I thanked her for her help and called the hotel to say I was on my way.Confirming my concerns, finding the hotel under darkness was difficult. Calling the hotel and getting step-by-step directions was not efficient, so I told the guy I would just keep him on the line until I was on site. Closed roads and construction which did not appear on the map made it extremely difficult on my own, and one of the last directions I received by the hotel was to ignore the sign that indicates you cannot drive down this road, because it is the only way to get to our hotel!! So, I parked the car, checked in and put my luggage in the room, and then took a cab to the airport to pick-up Radhika, as I was done driving for the day! David, the guy at the hotel who provided such excellent support received a well-deserved gratuity from me!!The next day we did a full day of sightseeing in Warsaw, and really enjoyed the city. We received several "advisories" of even "warnings" about Poland (the roads are in bad shape) and Warsaw (quite boring and mostly new because more than 80% was destroyed by the Germans in WWII). Outside of the first 40 to 60 kilometers after crossing into Poland from Germany in the south, which were completely terrible and allowed for a max speed of about 40kph, the rest of the roads weren't much different than roads in Amsterdam. And we really enjoyed Warsaw and would recommend a visit to anyone considering it. The next day we drove to Lublin to visit that small city farther east and it's Majdanek Concentration Camp. We enjoyed that city too, and the camp was an interesting experience. Our hotel was a bit of a disappointment, as any information they seemed to provide to us was wrong. But we stuffed ourselves with many varieties of pierogies, potato pancakes, and Polish beer and had a good time. We went back to Warsaw the next morning, arriving in the afternoon and sightseeing that evening and part of the next day until mid-afternoon, when I drove Radhika to the airport for her flight to Amsterdam. I immediately hit the road, expecting to stop somewhere near the Polish-German border east of Berlin, which is what came to be. However, not before encountering the worst rainstorm I remember from recent memory. Florida can dish out some heavy water in the summer, and I recall one way back in '84-'85 in Indiana with a girlfriend, but this one was at night, visibility seemed to be feet if not inches. The sound of the pounding rain and wind was deafening. I could see by the illumination of the headlights that the wind was blowing the rain horizontally at times! Vehicles were off to the side, emergency blinkers on, under bridges, and this was no flash rainstorm. It lasted for a very long time. You would drive for a while after it let up for a moment, and then start pounding the car in the blink of an eye. I made it to the first hotel, one that was on my list to consider when I came upon it probably somewhere around 9:30pm. Not the ideal place, but not so bad either. Logistically it was just what I wanted, only a few minutes from Germany where the navigation would take over and direct me back to Amsterdam when I left in the morning. And that's exactly what happened. I slid through Germany on their great highway system without too many delays (roads are always being repaired in Germany and if you're not caught in a backup you are very lucky) and made it to Amsterdam in the late afternoon. Another adventure came to a close.

Poland - Land Of My Mother - Part 1

2011-11-03T22:45:00.000+01:00

We had visited Portugal back in April, and what a terrific place that was! I'm half Portuguese from my Father's side of the family, as my grandfather came to the United States around the turn of the 20th Century. My Mom's father came from Poland at about that same time. I drove to Portugal, and I drove to Poland. I left Amsterdam early in the morning at the end of August. I drove straight towards Krakow, as my first stop would be Auschwitz and Birkenau. My Navigation device did not have maps for Eastern Europe, so I used Google Maps to get around, and that worked pretty well. I also bought a map on my first refueling once inside Poland. I got an early start on my first full day, and as suggested by what I read online I went to Birkenau first, getting there by 10am. The size of the place is the first thing that impacted me, and many of the buildings have long crumbled away. The stories and information provided add to the experience and your understanding. I was there most of the day and for the first hours I didn't see many other visitors. Not until after noon did visitors in significant numbers come into the camp. All of my pictures are void of people, which I feel add a feeling of emptiness to them. I don't feel the need to go into detail, because I thought many things as I walked around, absorbed the place as it is today, imagining it full of people 70 years ago, and making images along the way. I have my thoughts and feelings about these types of places, and instead of trying to convey those here, I believe it's best for people to go to these places themselves, if they can, and cultivate their own thoughts and feelings.I got to Auschwitz at 4pm, having spent almost 6 hours at Birkenau, and I'm glad I saw these 2 places in this particular order. Auschwitz is small and compact...mostly a collection of brick buildings. The information, media presentations, and displays are much more numerous here, and reading all of this material can take more time than it takes to walk the entire grounds and see everything at Birkenau. I had limited time at Auschwitz and admit to being wiped out from my 6 hours at Birkenau, and could not read everything at Auschwitz. But there are interesting exhibits and displays, from daily life depictions, how new arrivals were processed, an entire building devoted to Dutch prisoners, etc. I left Auschwitz at 6pm a very tired man, and still had to drive to my next destination. By the time I got there, it was dark and the hotel didn't seem to be where the map said it should be. I stopped at a house near where I thought the hotel should be, and this nice, older Polish woman who spoke no English tried her best to gesture where I needed to go when I showed her the name of the hotel. I thanked her and backed out and onto the short stretch of road, making a left onto the main road I was on originally and after 50 meters saw lights on my right past some trees and then a big, nicely lit sign. I just turned in thinking I would ask for more directions, but then noticed the sign on the building and smiled, as it was my home for the night. I was in Zakopane, the southwestern part of Poland which is very mountainous and a big winter ski area. It was a matter of convenience concerning the geographical areas I would visit on this trip. Convenience concerning driving distances and most importantly I wanted to visit the area where it's thought my Mom's father had lived before coming to the United States. That area is around two very small towns named Bobowa and Jankowa, and they were due north between Zakopane and Warsaw where I would meet up with Radhika in two days. Zakopane is a really nice region and the people seemed friendly, although little English is spoken. There were many other tourists around, by my estimation mostly Poles, shopping and enjoying the atmosphere in the town. I had potato pancakes and pierogies...in Poland! For me, that was cool. And they were tasty!!From Zakopane, I wanted to find a location that was convenient for driving through the area where it's thought my grandfather came from, which I would drive through the next day. Looking at the map I chose a place to stay in a small town called Krynica-Zdrój. It was a brand new place, just opened, so it was a pleasant surprise and stay, as I didn't know it had just been built and opened. The town was small and charming, with hills and forests around it which made for great walks and some good photography. There wasn't a restaurant nearby the evening I arrived, so the man on duty asked if I like potato soup. I said I did, and he prepared a delicious bowl of it, along with a tasty dessert and ice-cold bottle of Polish beer! I ate in the dining area with 80's American music playing on the sound system (Europe loves the 80's!). The next morning I began my daylong drive north to Warsaw, stopping at the small towns Bobowa and Jankowa, which were less than an hour away. There was not much there to see - farmland, railroad tracks, a very small general store (they had Pepsi Twist though!), and what looked like a plumbing supply store. I brought considerable interest with my Dutch plates, dark complexion, and cameras slung off my shoulders. The kids on bicycles brought a smile, following me and being intensely curious about this outsider. It was nice to walk around, say hello to the people, breathe the air, see everything with my own eyes, but beyond that I can't say I accomplished much by going there, not that I had any real expectations in the first place. I drove on after a while, following the crude map I had drawn and using the purchased map.It wasn't long before I came upon a road construction site. I had seen road signs, indicating the towns that were up ahead, but there were X's of black tape crossing out the names, so I thought to myself there might be an issue waiting for me. And there surely was. The road upon which I was traveling was dug up and construction crews and heavy equipment were busily working. A man came out of a construction trailer and waved at me. I stopped as he came over and I rolled down my window. He said something in Polish and it was quickly determined the road was closed. It was looking like this could be a serious delay for me. I showed him my map and asked how I could get to the spot I was pointing at. He exchanged a few words with the guys near the site, and then they moved barricades and I understood them to tell me to keep going straight. After several thank you's for letting me go through, I saw where I was on the map and was good to go. I don't know how long it would've taken me to find alternate routes, but I can't imagine that I would've enjoyed the same outcome back in the states. But perhaps being delayed could've been a good thing, because another mess waited for me 30 kilometers south of Warsaw. I'll get to that in part 2.The album for Poland can be found at: http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/5e1d1c58befd436e80f75b83c1fea334/slideshow

Athens

2011-11-02T10:05:00.000+01:00

Another place on our list, Athens. The only destination that we arrived and departed from together as time and schedule did not allow me to stay longer. We stayed in a friend’s apartment, someone we met in Amsterdam but currently lives and works in Zurich. The Athens airport seemed nice, and it wasn't crazy far away from the city, as so many airports in Europe seem to be (remember Istanbul's Sabiha?). Radhika and I were to meet up with a friend of his that would provide the key to his apartment. On the train into the city we were immediately overcome by intense body odor of those around us. It's mid-September, but it's still very warm in Greece. The main culprit was a guy who got on at the same stop as we did, and he decided to stand behind and over me, as Radhika and I were able to get seats facing each other. For stability he grabbed the bar above his head raising his right arm up, which almost sent our breakfasts in the same direction. Radhika was making rather loud pronouncements of her impending unconscious state when I discovered that my cologne had leaked a little onto my Fla. State baseball cap while in the suitcase during the flight. I gave her this, which she used as a pseudo-gas mask for the reminder of the ride. We made our metro connections and got to the stop we needed to meet the young lady who had the key. After a few text exchanges, we met and then walked over together to the apartment. A few warnings about safety and the area, and then we were on our own.Just about the first thing we did was something that bit us on the ass. We bought 48-hour hop on - hop off bus tickets. Given our limited amount of time in Athens, we thought we were making a logical decision. Not so quick, Mr. Spock! It took no time to figure out we were boobs, and that Athens is not a city where a bus tour is any benefit to travelers like us. That is we like to be on our own, we can get around with no physical limitations, and hold up in heat and cold. Besides, to get your money's worth you need to be on the bus. Get off at the Acropolis and you are pretty much done for several hours if not for the day (unless you're the "shuffle up, raise your point and shoot, shuffle off" type of tourist). So, we buy these tickets from the woman selling them near the bus stop after hearing her repeat the same safety warnings heard earlier. We ride for a while, maybe 20 minutes. The bumpy road, heat, exhaust, or combination of everything tossed a little case of nausea on me. When we came to the Acropolis, we decided to get off, as the break would help alleviate my condition. After a cold Sprite we decided to stay and visit the site. Getting in was tricky, as you get to the gate to go in but you have to buy a ticket first located elsewhere. With sincere deference to my Greek friends, I began to see why perhaps there are problems in the country. Anyway, we managed to get our tickets and entered. I was back to feeling fine in no time, and we walked around the ruins and really enjoyed the site. By then it was slightly after noon, not the ideal time I want to be making photographs outdoors, but that's when we happened to be there. And fortunately due to the time of year, the sun was not directly overhead. It was cloudless and the sun was relentless. My formed-in-Florida molecules were loving it!! We were at the Acropolis, and then had lunch at The New Acropolis Museum finishing around 5pm. From there we walked to Hadrian's Gate and Zeus's Temple, finishing there around 6pm. We waited for our Hop On- Hop Off bus at the stop right outside Zeus's Temple, but it didn't seem to be running. Seems they go to a reduced schedule after their summer season ends, and that was just a few days ago. So we decided to go to dinner at a place right across the street with a great view, an almost equal quality meal, and good service at Athens Gate. One view offered the Acropolis and the other side afforded a great view of Zeus's Temple! We walked through the tourist-laden streets on our way back to the square where we bought those now infamous bus tickets and caught a €3 cab back to the apartment. The next day we were using the 2nd day of our bus ticket to go to the port where the ferry to Ihdra/Hydra departs.So in the morning we're packed, check the apartment, lock it up, and take our luggage with us. We walk all the way back to the square where we are to catch the bus that goes to the port which is about 20 minutes away. We wait, and then are told by the woman who had sold us the tickets that we should take a bus that just pulled up. It's not going to the port, but is going to the next stop where a bus will leave from to go to the port. She tells us that the bus that goes to the port doesn't always stop at our current location - even though it's supposed to. Okay! So we drag ourselves and our luggage onto this bus for one stop, which plops us back at the stop for Zeus's Temple. A bus eventually arrives and we board, finally going to Piraeus, the port where the ferry will take us to Ihdra. All this time we are flogging ourselves, as we wasted time and money buying those stupid bus tickets! We get to Piraeus, and there's nothing there to see. It doesn't even take us to the port! To get there we need to walk or take a taxi. So we start walking, not knowing the exact distance we have to travel. A taxi pulls up, inquires about us, we tell him where we're going and ask him how much the fare is, we hop in. Three minutes later we're there! One last kick in the ass from those bus tickets! We're early, but there's no place to eat on the dock side, and a group of American's in the waiting area are really annoying us, so we go across the road where there's a small outdoor cafe and we eat a light lunch. Keeping an eye on the time, we finish our meal, pay the check and walk back over. Seems like the ship should be in. They're numbered, and we don't see our number along the dock. I ask the woman at the ticket counter and she said it will be 10 minutes late. That, of course, turned out to be at least 30 minutes before we actually left. The boarding process (I laugh at my use of the term "process") was FUBAR. Our seats were in the front, where the ship's sides taper in, so we're in very closed space and the air circulation is zero. The Neanderthal taking people's bags must be getting paid by Samsonite to test luggage integrity, because he's tossing bags in every direction. Some people don't help the matter, because they behave in a bizarro-world Emily Post way, themselves. People start moving from the front area before we leave the dock, as veal calves have more comfort than we do. I am deciding in my mind whether I want to bother the people next to me and crawl over them to get out. I was tired of eyeballing that barf bag, thinking it was going to be my close friend very soon, so finally I utter an excuse me and move past them, going to the area behind us where there's more room and plenty of seats. In no time I told Radhika I was fine and back to normal.The trip was less than 90 minutes, and pulling into Ihdra was a great sight…small Island, no vehicles, charming buildings, and lush terrain. Yes...this was going to be nice. We asked someone who pointed us in the right direction to find where we were staying the first night. Following the signs the hotel had placed along the way, it wasn't too difficult to find. It was a really nice place in a location not too far from the waterfront. We put our stuff in the room around 3:30pm and went back down the short route and walked along the dock area and up to a place right on the water where we could have an small late lunch while the sun was still out. We found out later that the restaurant was voted the 2nd best view in the world (http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=8372439). We walked around some more, along a dirt path on the far side of the island, and then turned around as it started to get dark. We found a nice restaurant set in an outside garden to have dinner and then went back to our room for the night. Before going in, we sat outside in the small garden area and had a drink by ourselves. It was so quiet and peaceful. In the morning after breakfast we would be moving to another place higher up in the hills that has a great view over the town to the water.We met a woman down at the port who would walk with us to our new hotel. She picked up some passengers off a ferry and together we walked up the 300+ steps to the hotel. Two mules carried our luggage. The route involved several turns and different alleys, so recognizing landmarks was really important! We checked in, got our room, which was fantastic, put our stuff away, and got to the beach are by 1:30pm. I went walking with my cameras after a while as I can only sit there so long and swim so many times - the swimming was nice, however! Came across a friendly mule who came running up to the fence from across the field, but I didn't have anything in my camera bag for him (no way I'm feeding a Snickers bar to a mule!). Came across another beach that looked nice. The island actually has several beaches, accessible by walking or you can pay for a boat to take you. Made it back to the beach we were at and did some more swimming. The water was great and appeared very clear. The little fish would nip at my feet every now and then. Didn't tell Radhika that. She did pretty good swimming in the water. She's not a big fan of the stuff, and marvels at me when I swim under for a long time and just love it so. But she did quite well. I get a kick out of the sour expressions she makes when the salty water gets on her lips! I could post some funny pictures of her swimming, but would never hear the end of it! We left the beach around 6pm, one of the last people to do so. We walked back slowly, making pictures along the way. We got a recommendation of where to eat some good Greek food from the owner of our hotel, and we eventually made dinner at a place called Christina's at 9pm. We were checking out again in the morning, taking a ferry back to Athens and then on to the airport.Breakfast was not as good as the first place we stayed at, but it was served outside too, which made it nice. We were packed and ready to go. I had gone off early to get a few more shots made, and somewhere along the way my eye extender slide off my camera. I went back down to the area I had visited earlier, tracing my steps, but didn't find it. I consider myself lucky in that regard. I've had a lens cap blown off the deck of a ship in Alaska, a polarizer slipped from my hand, bounced off the deck of a ship once and then went "plunk" into the Li River in China, and now this. I actually glued the piece on just a month or so prior, because it came off my camera in France, but I backtracked and found it. Apparently the glue wasn't strong enough. Already sent an email to Canon complaining and asking for a fix. Anyway, our ferry was late, very late, and people were getting itchy. Some UK vacationers said they would pretty much miss their flight because of the delay. Luckily we had padding and had no such issues this time. But the Greek ferries are notorious for poor service and never being on time! We can vouch for that. Two ferry trips - two delays. Another trip, another great place. We were so down on Athens the first day there. The crumbling streets and buildings, horrible graffiti covering everything, people sleeping on the streets, the traffic congestion, the train experience, and the people...some seemed to be just beaten down while others I sensed were boiling over inside. Our feelings softened on the 2nd day, and we enjoyed it and appreciated it more. It is a place that is unsteady right now, and that's a shame. Athens, the cradle of civilization, should be a shining, prosperous city. Paris and Rome have their areas that the tourist board and chamber of commerce would like to keep hidden, but they have their "shiny" areas that they highlight, tout, and almost stand beside and go "Ta-Da!” Nowhere in Athens did I see an area to really "Ta-Da" about. I hope things turn around soon for Athens and for all of Greece. It's beauty and history needs to be restored.The album for Greece can be found at:http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/9eed44026d304bd0940d9f76cacd255a/slideshow or click on the albums button when on the blogs homepage.

Istanbul - Part 2

2011-11-01T13:08:00.001+01:00

The next morning we had breakfast a little later than I would like, but someone does like their sleep! We were inside the Blue Mosque at the crack of noon!!! We walked around quite a bit, stopping for lunch and dinner. Many sidewalk hawkers have things for you to buy, and one of them is a toy that is a complete copy of Spirograph and the even more outrageous Super Spirograph. Those old enough (but not too old where the memory is no longer intact) should remember those kits. They were around at the same time as Lite Brite.The next morning I sneak out early to make some photos, where I encounter the kinky kitties mentioned earlier. After I return to the hotel and we have breakfast, we're off together and reach our first main sight to see at high noon (see a pattern yet?). It's one where we will spend the entire day at, Topkapi Palace. Part command center for a massive military empire, part Eastern pleasure dome, the lavishly decorated Topkapı Palace was the seat of Ottoman power for over 300 hundred years. By the time we left there it was close to 6pm and by the time we finished dinner and was back in the room it was 11pm.Another early start for me as I was tiptoeing out by 7am the next morning. After I came back to the room, breakfast was enjoyed and preparation for the day was finished we were on the streets by 11:30am. A visit to the massive underground cistern, several markets, the Bosphorus, the hotel where Agatha Christie stayed and worked on her stories, a trip up Galata Tower, and dinner of authentic Turkish cuisine gobbled up our last full day.The next morning was the same as the previous 2, with me getting an early start, coming back for breakfast, but this time packing and checking out, storing our luggage at the hotel. We had an early evening flight, so we visited some other places including Haghia Sophia. We spoke with a company in the neighborhood of our hotel that runs shuttle vans to Sabiha Airport, but their schedule would have us at the airport 4 hours before our flight. We figured we would just take a taxi back to Taksim Square and then the Havas bus to the airport. We came back to our hotel early enough for us to cool off a little and clean up, and as we did so a taxi was called and there. The driver said he would take us all the way to the airport, and serious price negotiations ensued. He had to pull over so we could settle the matter of him either taking us to Taksim Square or all the way to Sabiha. It was finally agreed he would take us all the way - what a nightmare! The traffic was THE WORST I can recall in recent memory. It was just stopped or crawling for 90% of the trip. In hindsight, the shuttle van, in this traffic mess, would've arrived at the airport at the right time for our flight, all things being equal. To make matters worse, the driver, once we were on a section of highway that was moving well, passed an exit that indicated it was the way to Sabiha. I asked him why he didn't take that exit, and from his broken English determined he was just going another (I assumed faster) way. In fact, he was avoiding paying a toll to maximize his profit. As the time ticked, Radhika became more nervous but I remained calm and optimistic. When we ended up off the highway and in a small town, stuck in traffic on side streets, that's when I began my serious doubts of making the airport on time. From time to time we would just say things like "We're running out of time." "This is not good." "We have 1 hour before the plane takes off." He may not have understood what was being said, but he surely understood the tone. We were making plans in our heads of getting a hotel room at the airport and/or finding a flight back to Amsterdam. Ultimately, a 1-hour trip to the airport was about 3 hours, and the guy ended up loosing his profit from the time and gas he expended, and he had to go back! The flight was slightly delayed so we could downshift and breathe deep. BUT, my strong warning to all those that visit Istanbul is be aware of the horrendous traffic and as always, no matter what country you visit, scrutinize the taxi drivers. Know your fares!As always, click on the link to the right on my blog site page (www.jd-thebigmove.blogspot.com) or go to the address below to view an slideshow of photos from Istanbul.http://www.photoshop.com/users/johndp/albums/04eb3ee46f4a468eacc00e9c79fb46e1?wf=slideshow

Istanbul - Part 1

2011-11-01T11:34:00.002+01:00

I flew into Istanbul on August 17th. They have 2 main airports there. The older one on the European side, which is perhaps 20 minutes at the most outside the city, and the newer one, which is on the Asian side, and can be well over an hour away if traffic is nasty - - and traffic in Istanbul must like to be nasty because it always seems to be so! You can guess which airport I flew into. That's right, good 'ol Transavia Airline dropping me off at Sabiha Airport, which requires catching something called a Havas Bus (one of a few choices on how to get to Istanbul from this airport) outside the terminal that will take you to Taksim Square. From there you will require another bus, or bus then train to get near enough to where we were staying. I chose the taxi outside the Pizza Hut once I made it to Taksim Square. Besides, I had read it was only a €5 fare and that was okay by me. But just for my own entertainment, the powers that be gifted a cab driver to me who didn't know where my hotel was. You have to imagine nighttime, narrow streets, congested with vehicles and people, scant observable traffic laws...confusion with a dash of chaos. Up a road...down a road...wrong way down the one-way...ask someone - new information - hard left turn...show him the location on the map...puzzled look...ask another person - get ignored - yell at them...pull up on sidewalk - go into store to ask where's New Era Hotel...up next road...down next road...back down same road...ask someone...new direction...honk horn...do a 9-point turn...squeeze past standing traffic...left turn...cars block road...BUT, I see New Era Hotel sign...stop, I'll get out here and walk the rest of the way. Paid the guy and happily checked in at the reception desk which was the size of my suitcase. Went up the equally narrow staircase to my room and got settled.The next morning I awoke early and had breakfast on the rooftop terrace, which offered great views over the rooftops out to the Sea of Marmara! Some strange choices were on the buffet (french fries) but there was enough nutrition to get me started. My first destination on foot was the interesting neighborhood I caught glimpses of the night before. At the time I was convinced this is the Miami, Naples, Boca Raton for buildings, where they come to decay and die. I have since discovered they apparently also like Athens, but that's a later story. So...urban decay surrounds me and I find it interesting as hell - but many locals are looking at me with WTF expressions. Thought bubble - "Beautiful mosques surround him and this schmuck is making pictures of buildings without roofs? Crazy infidel!!" But their mental confusion did not deter me, as I smiled and kept making pictures and moving on. CATS!!!!! Cats everywhere!!!!!! Darting in all directions, licking themselves, licking each other, sleeping, in trash cans, fighting, having kitty booty calls, sniffing things, eyeballing each other, trying to catch a small sparrow. There were 2 cats next to me that just started getting busy, and she (I'm going to assume the one on the bottom or "nailee") looked miserable the ENTIRE TIME!!! Stupidly, I told her (yes, I spoke to this cat) "Turn around and knock him the F@#$ off of you." He looked and acted really pissed off the entire time, and she looked miserable for 90% of it and bored the last 10. At least the lions we saw in Africa "getting busy" had what appeared to be good experiences - he definitely looked worn out and proud, and she looked and acted satisfied. If I had ever seen that female cat's expression over the years in my species (human, before you get any funny ideas) I would've needed serious counseling to get back up on that figurative horse.So my entire morning is spent in this neighborhood, visiting a couple of Mosques and some outdoor markets. All of these places are in Sultanahmet, where the famous Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) is located. In the afternoon I took a tram to a stop near the Bosphorus, the waterway that separates the European and Asian continents. That is a very bustling place as most waterside locations can be. Of course a nice man befriended me as I sat to take a break in the shade from the heat. What are the odds he would be a carpet salesman?!?!?! Such good fortune I have sometimes! And he was once a photographer!! Again, I'm beating the odds. I bet he graduated in my high school class and I never knew him, even though he was about 10 years younger than me!!!! Anyway, after all of our similarities and coincidences were behind us, I took a look at his store where they sold carpets, gold jewelry, and maybe a few other things that escape me now. As I enjoyed a refreshing, scorching cup of tea on this frigid 90f/32c day, I looked over several samples of carpets brought out by another sharply dressed man (image of ZZ Topp pops into head). I told him from the start I make no purchases of this type without my wife, not even to surprise her as he suggested, so that pretty much wrapped things up there. I didn't get back to the hotel until close to 10pm, tired from a full day of walking.The next morning after breakfast I walked down to the waterside near the hotel, where the Sea of Marmara comes ashore. I walked away from the hustle and bustle of the Blue Mosque tourist area and went to the commercial area. Another long walk on an increasingly hot morning, I ended up back at the Bosphorus where I spent a lot of time on the bridge, watching people along the shore and fishermen on the bridge. I walked back to my hotel a little after lunchtime, and made some more pictures of the neighborhood in the area. I had to go back to Taksim Square that evening to meet up with Radhika, who followed the same plan I did once landing at Sabiha Airport. We took a taxi to the hotel, with me knowing and telling the driver where it was and how much the fare should be. Of course we arrived and the driver quoted an amount twice what I told him it would be, and I advised him of that. We paid in Euros because I didn't have enough in Turkish Lira, so he got a little extra anyway. We got settled in the room and then went out for a nice dinner. We found an "okay" one instead, and called it a night.

Budapest - Part 2

2011-10-31T23:31:00.001+01:00

Budapest is yet another European city in a long string of European cities that has plenty to offer. Food, people, sights - tasty, engaging, and beautiful (keep the order straight). There's quite a bit to see from architecture, bridges, parks, shopping streets, and a dinner river cruise is a great way to see both banks of the city from a unique perspective! It's hard to say what my favorite part of the visit was, unless I'm including the beautiful sunshine and hot temperatures (especially while Amsterdam was having a miserable July, weather-wise). Radhika and I spent our days walking around and exploring different parts of the city. We met our friend from Amsterdam, who was in her former city of residence briefly, for a nice dinner one evening. It was quite hot, but we were loving it because Amsterdam has been quite cool and very wet this summer. As a matter-of-fact it was the wettest summer on record since something like 1908!!! Where they get normal rainfall numbers of somewhere in the mid 100 centimeter region, I believe, this year they received something like 700 centimeters!! It was a crazy wet summer, which severely cut down on the outdoor basketball. Anyway, we checked out Szechenyi Baths, but didn't go in, visited Buda Castle and Castle Hill, Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Heroes' Square, walked across Chain Bridge several times, took a nice dinner cruise on the Danube, walked through the Jewish Quarter, enjoyed a traditional Hungarian dance performance, and went to the Terror Museum (only to find it was closed but the outside was great to photograph!).We had a great time in Budapest, coming back bronzed and happy, exposed to plenty of vitamin D carried on rays of sunshine fresh from their 8 minute trip straight to our waiting skin. A place we would definitely return to, and recommend to others. Now I have much to catch up on and pictures to post. Next up, Istanbul.

Budapest - Part 1

2011-10-29T22:15:00.000+02:00

One of the cities remaining on our list of places to get to before this period of European living comes to a close was Budapest. Time is evaporating quickly, so squeezing in our remaining destinations will be tricky, especially with people coming to visit. For Budapest as with several places we have visited, I spent a few extra days there making photographs before she arrived. My traveling habits are quite different than what they used to be, and don't match up with Radhika's (or most non-photographer's, I'm sure). For example, the sunrise was at 5am in Budapest, and I would get out early to make use of the morning light. Radhika would rather do any other distasteful thing imaginable than get up that early. I recall getting up even earlier than that on our visit to Bryce Canyon years ago, and putting in several hours before returning to the room where I would find her still snoozing. Being in the right location an hour or so before sunset is also critical for me. Of course that is usually when normal people want to be eating dinner. But we manage and enjoy ourselves on our travels.

I landed in Budapest on Wednesday right after noon, and the temperature was in the mid-90's (mid-30's Celsius). Not the best shooting conditions, so I scouted around a little making notes (sun positioning, its travel path, composition locations, city layout, etc), stocked the fridge in the room from the grocery store next to the hotel, and made general observations. One of the first things I noticed (starting at the airport) was the proliferation of visible bra straps! Not because I'm a guy (but I'll allow that probably has a little to do with it), but because it was just odd. I would react similarly if people were all wearing similar sunglasses! Seriously, it's the most bra straps I've seen outside a Victoria's Secret. I'm not offended, in support of it, have no real stance on the matter. Just found it highly unusual. Like the time 15 or probably more years ago, when a visiting friend and I went to Daytona Beach, and I hadn't been in a few years. It was spring break, and I immediately felt something was "wrong" and realized the guys on the pool deck had no body hair except what was on the top of their heads and even that was scant. Almost every dude had his chest, legs, underarms, everything, shaved clean as a whistle! We were both thinking WTF?!! And when did this start?! They have entirely too much time on their hands! Anyway...bra straps everywhere. When I saw my friend Thursday night, I mentioned it to her...wondering local or tourist. But before I finished my thought she said it was the local style. And the current heat wave brought out the least amount of material that could be legally worn.

The next day I decided to walk up Gellert Hill which has great views of Budapest. By the way, did you know that the city is actually the combination of two, separate cities, Buda and Pest? It's true! I didn't know that until about 6 months or so ago. Anyway, I was walking up this thickly vegetated, paved path, when I came upon a group of people up ahead of me just hanging out. They finally noticed me as I came closer, moving out of my line of sight, disappearing around the bend in the path. I became a little cautious, getting a good hold on my tripod. But as I got closer and curved left around the switchback, I saw they were all in position, 5 guys and a woman, playing the shell game! I marvel that people still play and think they can actually win! I had to smile to myself as I walked past their staged impromptu game of chance, hoping I would be drawn in. The noise and hubbub died down with each step I took away from them.

Budapest is a city well known for it's Turkish sulfur baths, and I intended to go to one before leaving. I read up on several, deciding on two. One is more "touristy" and the other more "local". I decided I would do the local one and save the other for when Radhika joined me. I went to Rudas Baths, which wasn't too far from where I was staying. I have never gone to one, so it was going to be a new experience. I read up on it, to make sure I went as fully informed as possible. This one had men’s and women’s days, and weekend days for both. I went on Friday afternoon, spending about 2 hours there. Online it said you could buy a 2-hour pass, but the guy at reception said I could only get a full day pass. Not the best start, but I got the ticket and went in. Had a cold Pepsi Twist as I waited for my massage time of 1:45 to roll around. Apparently no female masseuses in this place today, so I told the guy I wanted something like a sport massage. He wasn’t clear on what I requested, so I said I want a firm massage, not a gentle massage. Seems I had 2 choices, an aroma massage and something called a soap massage. He said the soap massage is more vigorous. While I've never had that flavor of a massage, I figured it couldn't be too foreign, and said "Sure. Let's do it." I was given what I'll call an apron. Apparel every one visiting the spa must wear. It's basically a square white cloth that when tied around the waist falls to the knees and ends at either hip. Yep...your backside is bare. I went into an area right outside the baths, and laid on a cushy table. A bucket was dipped under a water flow and the contents thrown across the table. This was done several times before I got up onto it, discovering the water warmed up the table nicely. On my stomach as I was soaped up, the massage was fairly vigorous, definitely more so than any aroma-type version. I flipped over and after 15 to 20 minutes was doused in warm water and thanked the gentleman and made my way to the baths. There was a main pool in the center that was quite big, with a dome over it with small porthole sized windows with colored glass in them, causing multihued shafts of light to cast their beams onto the pool surface and then reflected back onto the ceiling. It was a cool effect. That being the main source of light in the area, it was difficult to see the other 4 smaller pools on the perimeter much less the dozen or so men distributed amongst them. Each pool was a different temperature, the hottest being 42 or 45c (over 100f) and the coolest being 28c. There were wet and dry saunas that were much hotter, maxing out at 55c (131f). I could not stay in either longer than what was probably a minute or 2 before making a break for the cooler sections which were about 48c. There was a wooden bucket with a rope attached that you would pull on, spilling the chilly water onto your body. After exposing your skin to such heated temperatures, the shock of that initial contact was extreme. But after a couple of goes, it didn't seem so bad. Going into the 82f pool after a few minutes in the sauna had the effect of entering icy water like those northern lunatics do in winter who call themselves the Polar Bear Club. Anyway, after 2 hours of wearing a soaking wet white partially see-thru apron covering my anterior while my posterior was boldly out there without shame, going from relaxing warmth to unbearable heat to shocking cold, with other men mostly in their 50's to 70's in less then athletic condition, the fun wore off. Besides, I had a wife (that would be mine) to meet at the airport. So I went to the locker room, went into my private cubicle, dried off, put on my dry shorts, then realized I left my sandals inside, after I reminded myself every time I walked by them not to forget them. I quickly went back in, and headed straight to the room where I saw online the plane was running late. I left with what I measured to be plenty of time based on my travel time from the airport to the hotel. But it seemed to take much longer on the train and then the bus to the airport, and I ended up being 20 minutes late to meet Radhika. I welcomed her to Budapest and we headed straightaway back to the city after getting her 3-day travel card.

Five Month Catch Up

2011-05-24T21:25:00.000+02:00

Long time no write, I know. I could say I was busy - and I have been. But not so busy that I couldn't jot down this and that from time to time. Just needed...whatever it is that made me open up this blog and click on "New Post".

A lot has happened since New Years. Our immediate future is coming more into focus, as our extended year in Amsterdam marches to the halfway point. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself. January starts the year (as it always seems to), and here in Amsterdam we had snow and ice on the ground for the better part of a month. Pretty, yes, but tricky when on foot or two wheels. It was a rare occasion that I was driving in the city, and a car next on our right slid and bumped the car in front of it. In early February, Radhika had a meeting in London and stayed a little extra to visit with friends from her boarding school days. I took that opportunity to go to the Naples area of Italy, and visited Pompei, Sorrento, Capri, Palermo, Positano, and Amalfi. I was practically by myself as it was too early for tourist season and the photography was great. We will try to get back there this fall. As soon as I fly back to Amsterdam I'm trying to get snow tires put on our leased vehicle. I was told it was too old and they would give us a newer car with the winter tires already installed. It was a hassle, as all dealings have been with GE Fleet, but we finally got a Volvo, which was a nice step up from the Ford Focus we had for the last 3 years. We got it just in the nick of time, because I was driving it down to Milan to pick up Dolly and John, who were coming in for some Dolomite skiing with side visits to Venice and Verona. I stopped in Zurich on my drive down to visit Orestes, a friend who was my tennis partner and was in the group of basketball guys before he left Amsterdam for a new job.

Italy was great as it always has been. John and Dolly came in first from JFK, and they were pretty fresh considering the long flight. Radhika came in a couple of hours after them. The distances between our skiing area and the cities we visited were all under 3 hours, so no long drives were needed, but they were just long enough for everyone to grab a little shut eye (except the driver, of course). We enjoyed our skiing, all the food and drink, the places we stayed and the things we saw. So much gelato was consumed! John and I found it impossible to pass one up as we walked the streets. Once, no sooner had we finished a cone did we start on another from the next shop! They flew back out of Milan, and I took another day in Venice to make some pictures during their Carnivale, but I must say it was disappointing, both photographically and otherwise.

March came and I proceeded to do serious damage to my left ankle playing basketball. Never recall ever feeling a pain like that. One so serious and acute I yelled uncontrollably as I went to the floor. Over 10 weeks later and I'm still rehabilitating it. I spent over a week on the couch icing, compressing, and elevating it. Still slight swelling remains which no doubt will take a while longer to subside. Along with this excitement I taught a few workshops and the organization I volunteered with shut down it's Amsterdam office at the end of the month. Radhika and I visited Antwerp over the last weekend, and enjoyed ourselves there very much.

April saw John Marshall, who is a professional photographer from the US who has been here over 20 years, and I put together a Field Trip Workshop to the Artis Zoo here in Amsterdam. Through much planning and emails to past and new students, May 29th was the date set for that to run. I started physical therapy for my injured ankle on the 13th of April, and then drove off to Lisbon with overnight stops at Mont St Michel in N. France, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Spain, Porto, Portugal, and finally Lisbon, where I met Radhika, Justina, and Gary who flew in the day I arrived. Lisbon is a fantastic place - yet another location where we would relish the chance to go back to. We were there for 4 nights, with me staying one extra to photograph a couple of places of interest nearby. Then I left the next morning, driving a total of 14 hours out of Portugal, across Spain, and stopping south of Paris around 11pm to get a place to crash. I finished the drive the next day with a much shorter 5 hours. I was back in Amsterdam for a couple of days before we flew to Helsinki for a long weekend visiting Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia. I must say Helsinki, what little we saw of it, was disappointing, but the other places were great sights and worth seeing. It was my 50th birthday trip, and it was quite unique if only for it's uniqueness.

We came back from that trip on May 5th and two days later Radhika held my birthday party at Foam Museum, which is the photography museum of Amsterdam. It was a "Live Long and Prosper" party, with a Star Trek theme, of course. Most of the attendees dressed the part which was very much appreciated, and all had a good time with their creativity. My cousin, Jennifer, has a colleague who makes birthday cakes, and mine was memorable for sure, as Radhika had a Halloween picture of me costumed as Spock from 2008, and that was on the top of the cake. It was great! We went to Geneva the next week, as Radhika had a GE meeting to attend and I went with. Never had been to the city, and must say it was nice. Made some fine photographs there. Took a train to Zurich after her meeting ended on Friday, as Radhika had never been. We also saw our friend Orestes, who we stayed with for 2 nights before we flew back to Amsterdam on Sunday. Good times.

That's the Cliff Note version of the first 5 months of 2011. Hopefully I can write a few more of these before...whatever resolution materializes in regards to our residency here. We'll know more, hopefully, as the weeks go by. Until then, stay tuned!

2010 - "It's A Wrap!"

2011-01-03T13:22:00.003+01:00

Like every other year, 2010 was a mixed bag in Amsterdam. Some great parties were enjoyed, as we had a US Independence Day Party, my surprise birthday party, another Mama Mia Party attended by a raucous group of females, and a few more get-togethers. There were numerous nice dinners, movies with friends, comedy clubs, and some good travel. On the flip side, most know about our vehicle accident/my injury in Namibia, Radhika coping with work issues, icy winter conditions, and the always-present family-related issues. Friends moved away, and new friends were made. And it seems at the end of 2011, we will be the people who take their turn leaving.

We took trips to Paris, Africa, UAE, a couple to the wine and champagne regions of France, and a Thanksgiving period visit to Orlando and NY to visit family and friends. I spent about 2 weeks in Orlando taking care of house matters. Needed to address slight wind damage to some shingles and some swimming pools stains that's an ongoing issue still. Visited with my sister and nephew over the 4-day period when Radhika popped into Orlando before she went up to CT. to visit with co-workers at GE corporate. Got to play tennis on 4 mostly sunny and warm days with Clide and Vinnie. Florida winters - I love them! Spent several days making some urban photographs in Manhattan while up in NY. Also saw "Mama Mia" on Broadway with the entire Narain side of the family. Radhika and I went to see the Macy's balloons the night before the parade, and on another occasion walked around with Radhika's sister Poonam and her husband Umesh, taking their boys to FAO Schwarz, Lego Store, M&M's Store, and by Rockefeller Plaza. I spent a week longer after Radhika returned on Nov. 29th, spending time in NJ with my mother-in-law and then a few days back out in Seaford with Radhika's oldest sister, Dolly, and her husband, John. We all froze to death on a Christmas Tree farm an hour or so east on Long Island looking for their tree on afternoon, ate a good Polish dinner, John and I devoured 2 Carvel ice cream cakes over a 10-day period, and fought the elements to keep their pool properly and securely covered. Overall, a very enjoyable visit with everyone.

Back in Amsterdam, extending Radhika's GE contract became a mess due to incompetent folks outside our influence and control. Our residence permits expired Nov. 29th while we were away due to that incompetence, causing me to be held up at immigration control when I landed in Amsterdam on December 5th. As of this writing GE is still wrapping up the paperwork to extend our stay through November 2011. So, this will be our last 11 months in Amsterdam. Plans our being made for people to visit from the US before our deadline, and we are making big plans to mark our 40th and 50th birthdays.

So, into 2011 we plunge! The weather is tolerable, I've got a commercial photo gig coming up which is always nice, planning another photo workshop, and we're trying to be optimistic about Radhika's work. And I have managed to keep possession of the bike!!! Perhaps 2008 was just not my year to make a bike theft-proof? I'm shooting for a clean record for the entire year!! We'll see. Hope everyone has a great year in 2011.

United Arab Emirates

2010-10-25T13:09:00.002+02:00

Radhika had a class to go to in Abu Dhabi from September 25 to October 2nd for GE, so I decided to go along, as the Middle East is not strong on our radar of places to visit. It seemed like a good way to at least check out the area to discern if there was any reason to return one day for a deeper look.

We had a mid-morning flight out of Amsterdam, arriving in Abu Dhabi in the late afternoon after connecting in Paris. The hotel GE had her staying at was the OnetoOne Village. It's a little on the outskirts of the city center, but by taxi it's only 15 minutes at a cost of 4 to 5 euros. The first room had a dirty bathroom, so we asked to change rooms. The next day we encountered more problems, and while Radhika was at her class I moved our belongings to the upgraded suite, courtesy of the manager. We had numerous problems within the first 14 hours, so the upgrade and breakfast buffet was the least management could do considering this was supposed to be a top-notch property.

Summer was giving way to fall, but I couldn't be convinced of that. Over 100f degrees/40c degrees every day with little cloud cover. At midday the streets and outdoor public places were deserted, except for one dope with a camera. Shade, any shade, was more precious than a peanut butter sandwich. I have never been so heavily drenched in sweat outside of a sauna! I seriously considered dancing through a children's water park that I came across while photographing the downtown area. I stood there (in the shade, of course) looking at the cool water spraying out of the caterpillar, palm tree, and from the ground, and considered how uncomfortable I would be walking around the city soaked for the next odd number of minutes until I air dried. I eventually decided against it, but the margin was very close!

If the city were a cake than construction cranes would be the icing. I have never seen so many cranes (until we went to Dubai on Friday). I believe I read somewhere that 70% of the worlds construction cranes are in the middle east or perhaps just in the UAE! I can believe that. There are many buildings in various stages of construction, all due to the fact that they have the wealth now, knowing that it is finite, and are trying to develop the place for tourism in the future when the proverbial and literal well runs dry. But it seems they are making it only as a place for the rich and well to do. It may be the first place I have been where my interest was not engaged too deeply. As far as natural things to do, there's a desert safari. But after just doing that in Namibia, revving up a 4X4 through soft sand or being bounced around in one was about as appealing to me as a body waxing. I looked at the online offerings from searches, "what to do" in Abu Dhabi, and there was nothing of interest for me other than the sleek, new construction. The Ferrari Experience would open in a month, and a F-1 race also occurred in November, but that didn't help me now. So, I would do my morning swim, eat breakfast, and head out to the usual starting point near the Marina Mall. From there I had many subjects within reasonable reach, strategic locations to cool off, and meander into the downtown area. I had to be careful with respect to the big temperature changes between the air conditioned 22 to 25 degree Dunkin Donuts for a smoothie and 42+ degree outdoors, as condensation would "dew up" my equipment and that's never a digital camera's friend. Before I would leave the hotel room in the morning, I would place my camera bag outside for 20 minutes so it slowly acclimated to the warm temperature. I wasn't always successful at this, as the images made at the Grand Masque illustrates. Going inside the cold mosque and then out into the hot early evening could not be avoided. Luckily my equipment cleared rather quickly because the cold, dry air didn't have time to penetrate deeply into the camera/lens material. And the effect bore interesting, ethereal results as you can see from the pictures in the album.

We went out one night with a group of some of Radhika's fellow classmates. There were people from different parts of the world. It was a nice dinner place in Abu Dhabi, one of the most upscale restaurants in the city. I enjoyed some sushi, but not being a huge fan I had other items off the menu that were good, and was the only one to order (ahead of time) the chocolate soufflé. Great move on my part if I do say so, because it was toe curling good! I offered a taste of it and a little envy crossed their face at not having one of their own. There were at least two dance places in this complex where the restaurant was located, so we checked them both out. Very top scale, and we stayed at the 2nd one for most of the evening. It was subdued and quiet, at first, and then more people came in and the music started pumping. It was an odd clientele, and there was a sense of some in the female crowd that they were there for "curious" reasons. That's all I will say about that. Anyway, a fairly good time, but for me at least, as most of these things go, I could've split an hour or so before we actually decided to leave. One in our party was really hammered, and Radhika and I helped this person get along. The place was so vast we had trouble finding an exit. Back and forth we went on different floors until we found someone to ask and we escaped to a taxi. We tried to take this person to their place, but they couldn't muster the power to inform us where they lived, so after pulling the taxi over when our driving back and forth in what was thought to be their neighborhood was over, we took them back to our hotel where we luckily had a separate room and a big couch where they would crash. Of course the taxi, persons clothes, and parts of Radhika's and my clothing were a little "soiled", and the taxi driver was given extra above his fare for "cleaning fees". Wasn't the right night for me to where white slacks and a white shirt! After washing the stains out of our clothes in the sink we went to bed as they had a class in the morning. Our guest slept thru the night and was a little late to class after going home for a cleanup and clothing change. Like oh so many Daytona Beach Spring Breaks I experienced in my younger days.

Something that is quite unique for the UAE is that Emirate Nationals make up only 14% of the population! That means the other 86% are foreigners. The majority of those come from two places, the Philippines and the Indian subcontinent. The former are found primarily in restaurants and stores, basically the service industries, where the latter proliferate on construction sites. The native population is basically well off financially. The government meets healthcare, retirement, education, and the entire social needs. There doesn't seem to be much to worry about if you belong to that 14%. I did not see one Emirati driving anything close to a Kia! As a matter-of-fact, I think all of the Hummers that smart Americans dumped over the past 3 to 4 years ended up over here where gasoline is as abundant as sand. Also, apparently one must be careful with their interactions with local females. We were in the mall, and as we passed what appeared to be two young Emirati females, one smiled and looked at me for more than a passing moment. I smiled back, which is when I received the warning from Radhika (and NOT the one you think). I was informed that cultural differences could cause a misunderstanding with members of her family by my smile or attention. My reply was basically "She started it!” Radhika said she saw the woman's behavior, but me being a visitor and her a citizen, it would be better to show restraint in being friendly. I guess that can be true as this is a place where holding hands in public is about as tolerant as it gets. Dubai is more liberal due to the higher flow of tourism that it sees, but Abu Dhabi is still a little tighter on cultural matters. So...no more smiles in return to the Abu Dhabi chickies from me!! Radhika and I continued our walk around the mall, in search of a place to eat. We asked a gentleman at an information counter if there were any restaurants with outside seating, as we didn’t want to just sit in what was a fairly empty mall. He gave me a look that didn't require words, but offered them anyway. "We don't have anything outside." Now, that look and inflection means everything in this story, because the American version would've been something like "Are you f'ing crazy!? The food would cook as it sat on your plate! If you want to salt it you just lean in and let your sweat do the job!!" Too much? Don't be squeamish, it's only to convey how damned hot it was outside, and how oblivious I was to dinner + outdoors = miserable. Days later in Dubai, we saw restaurants with tables outside at the Dubai Mall, and Radhika asked me if I wanted to sit outside! I borrowed that expressive look from that guy back in Abu Dhabi and asked "Are you serious? No way."

We spent only a few hours in Dubai, which lies 90 minutes north up the coast of Abu Dhabi. Just enough time to have a light dinner at the mall with one of Radhika's classmates, see the current worlds tallest building, and the Barj El Arab. Our flight took after a little after midnight from Abu Dhabi International, so we left Dubai via taxi in time to make the airport, and after spending the few dirhams left in our pockets on Twix bars and Emirate Dates, we boarded our crowded flight back to the place of drab, cloudy, rainy weather, pot-seeking/red light district visiting tourists, and increasingly more grumpy Dutch as the sun index decreases. Next trip? USA in November.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&galleryid=1e983c37a0734383928674279d4a5b30&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 14 (Cape Town and Departure)

2010-10-07T10:10:00.002+02:00

The next morning we looked at the various options that would take us from Walvis Bay to Windhoek in time to square matters at the 4X4 rental and get to the airport in time for our late afternoon flight to Cape Town. From shuttles to buses to renting a car, the latter gave us the best option. After visiting several rental companies that were within walking distance from our hotel, we finally found one that actually had inventory. It was necessary to wear a hat to protect my repair work, as it was still windy outside, with sand and other debris flying around. The air quality seemed poor, and we were told that yesterday’s sand storm was the worst experienced in a long time. Just our luck! We got some breakfast and were then on the road. Radhika seemed a little nervous for me, but I was okay driving, as yesterday’s accident didn’t seem to leave me with any psychological scars or newfound fears. But I was a little more careful, as I could see the scrubby bushes along the side of the desert road bending at the mercy of the gusting winds.

We found our way to Aloe Car Rental after the 4-hour drive. We were already not happy with them due to what we perceived as their preoccupation with the state of the vehicle and the amount we owed them for the insurance, with little to no interest in our condition resulting from the accident. Radhika had told me that as I was getting my IV from the EMT, she was talking to the Aloe owner, who was telling her how much we owed them for the damage, without any inquiry or concern regarding our health. No class move there. After a brief shouting match between us and Hertie and Surita, the German owner and his wife, I said we were short on time and needed to get all the paper work done so we could get to the airport and make our flight. We still had to stop at the police station to make an accident report. The police station was supposedly along the route to the airport, but it did seem a little out of the way, and a long line waited for us as we (Surita, Hertie’s wife went with us) arrived. Surita was being non-complementary towards local law enforcement and I soon learned why. We skipped the long line as Surita explained that we were on our way to the airport and had to make a flight. The place was a madhouse, and the woman who was helping us (if you can call it that) ignored us, turned her back, talked with colleagues, and was loathe to answer questions. It was the worst encounter I have ever experienced with a law enforcement organization anywhere. It was embarrassing for them, the city, and the country. The accident report was a joke. We couldn’t get out of there soon enough. I told all of the people waiting in line I felt sorry for them as we left the building. Radhika was “shooshing” me all the way out. We had been told by the ambulance crew that the police in Windhoek were “lazy”, and indeed they are.

We parted ways with Surita and without delay made haste to the airport. Dropping off Radhika at departures, I was fortunate to be able to turn in the rental with relative ease. We both got on the flight with less than 10 minutes to spare. Any hiccup along the way would’ve meant another missed flight. We were happy to be out of Namibia and hoped our now even more abbreviated visit to Cape Town would wrap up the trip on a good note. Jan had already been there a day, but was relocating to where we had originally made reservations. She had arrived the day before, but her flight out of Windhoek had been delayed to where she didn’t touch down in Cape Town until close to midnight. By then she couldn’t pick up the rental car I had reserved or make it to the place we had reserved for our first night’s accommodation, so she got a place not far from the airport. We were picked up at Cape Town airport and taken to Acorn House, a B&B style house not far from Table Mountain. It was early evening, but we stayed in and enjoyed the atmosphere and relaxed a bit after our last 48 hours. We would get a fresh start the next morning.

After an early breakfast we went to the Cape Town waterfront. It is the nicest, prettiest city we would visit. We shopped a little and ate lunch before heading to the dock where the Robben Island tour departed from. This one of the main attractions to do here in Cape Town: a visit to where Nelson Mandela spent over two decades of his life. What a disappointment!! The ferry ride there and back was nice. From there you are put on a cramped bus and listen to a narrator drone on, make attempts at tasteless jokes, see little of interest, and waste precious time at the only stop made mostly so you can buy drinks or trinkets in a shop. We finally get to walk around with a group led by a former prisoner, and while part of that is interesting, much of it is not. I tried to stand close, as it was difficult to hear and understand his words when he spoke. There was also information on prisoners when we went into cellblocks, but were moved so quickly through it that one couldn’t take the time to read much about the history or people attached to this place. I got fed up and went out on my own for a while, reading what I wanted and making pictures. We were no more than cattle whisked from place to place with very limited time to absorb and enjoy. Awful treatment and management of such an important and solemn place. The three of us were sick with disappointment.

A cab took us to where we picked up our rental car, as we would be driving a couple of hours east to a small coastal town that was part of our original itinerary. We should be able to do some whale watching from shore and other relaxing activities. Jen had made the reservation, so she drove us all to Hermanus Bay. We arrived there in the evening after stopping at a service station for final directions to the B&B’s location. It was a really nice property located right on the coast. We just chilled out in the hotel and our rooms, with Jen retiring quite early. We stayed up several hours more reading and relaxing. The next morning we would eat breakfast and walk across the 2-lane road to the coast. There were rocks and boulders along the shore to scramble over, and a trail that was a nice walk with occasional rests on provided benches with views of the bay. We could see flukes and fins, hear the sound and see the spray as whales came up for air. When whales were sighted, a person armed with a horn, the Whale Crier, would blow his or her Kelp Horn, alerting people that whales were in the vicinity. It was pretty cool to hear that medium-pitched moan echo across the bay. The walk was peppered with great expansive views of the bay coupled with smaller “micro-worlds” of colorful flowers. We kept an eye on the time, as we had to be back in Cape Town that evening in time to return the car and get back to Acorn House. I wanted to make a slow drive back along the coast as I had read it was very beautiful, so we wrapped up our trailblazing and hopped in the car to head west along the coastal road.

We took some roads off the main one when the possibility of something promising appeared, sometimes rewarding us and other times deciding that it would be better to return to our known route as not to get confused or turned around. We stumbled upon a penguin sign, and following it led us to a neat little park where we paid a small entrance fee to check out the little stinkers. And boy do they ever! Good thing the wind was strong near the coast. We spent quite a while walking the wooden walkway built several meters above ground level that went all the way out almost to the tip of the rocks where water met land. They are clowns. They don’t appear to do much; it’s just that everything they do is funny. Just standing still, they are a riot. You can really make an imagined conversation between them with the way they look and interact. I’ll show you what I mean in the album that I put together for this post.
After our penguin encounter, we headed back for Cape Town, which wasn’t too far away now. We came in on the main highway, and along the perimeter of the highway were shantytowns, where hundreds of people lived. Just as in Johannesburg, it seemed straight out of “District 9”. I tried to fire off a few exposures from our speeding car. We easily found the rental place, turned in the car, and took a taxi to where we had dinner reservations. We first had drum lessons with a small group of other diners, and then ate dinner in a large room while a dancer and show entertained every 15 minutes, or so. It was late by the time we left the restaurant, so we almost immediately went to bed when we returned to the B&B. The next evening we would leave, but the morning would be spent at Table Mountain, our last adventure coming on the 13th of August, our 15th wedding anniversary.

Jen left before us for the mountain, as she wanted to hike up it. We were content to take the cable car up so we had breakfast and then had a cab take us up to the Table Mountain drop-off. We got our tickets and too the car up. As you elevate you also slowly rotate clockwise, so everyone gets to see all of the views. We walked around once at the top and then took a trail to a distant point that was a good hike across uneven terrain. Keeping an eye on time to get back to Acorn House for the ride to the airport, we left in plenty of time, getting a cab immediately upon returning to ground level. We got back to the B&B where there was a bit of a panic. Jen had called the airline to confirm our flight and was told that we were on an earlier flight (by about 90 minutes, I believe). How that mistake happened we still don’t know, but after checking with our travel agent the correct information was verified that we were on a later flight. Still, the drive to the airport was terrible as traffic was at a standstill. The manager at the Acorn House had informed us that it wouldn’t take long at all to go to the airport during the time of day we would be traveling. This was just another of the numerous small bumps and annoyances that occurred after our accident. We were hoping for a smooth time to finish up the trip, but little problems kept popping up. Like the first night we spent at Acorn House. We woke up the next morning in the cold! Seemed like the power went out to our room overnight so we had no heat. Then there was no hot water in the shower, so here I am walking across the property in a towel going to use a shower in an unoccupied room! The Robben Island disappointment, overcharging taxi driver - luckily time works in such a way that after only a week or two the memories that remain strongest are usually the pleasant ones. We did make the airport in plenty of time and arrived back into Amsterdam the morning of the 14th. It took about a month for the glue to completely disappear from my scalp, and just a little longer for the last remnant of a thorn to work it’s way out of the heel of my left foot that I picked up on the first day at Sesriem. Since returning, I did considerable research and discovered the accident and death rates in Namibia in general and especially the area where our accident occurred are very high. I’ve communicated with several Namibian authorities concerning the terrible lack of preventative measures industry, tourism, and the government take in order to alert and safeguard automobile travel there. Our rental agent, Aloe Car Hire, accepted no responsibility in providing us with any information or briefing on driving in the country. The owners were not even present when we picked up the vehicle, leaving duties to a person who had difficulty speaking English. I would strongly caution anyone visiting the country to take extra caution there. If I knew the accident and death rates, along with other advisories and warnings that some other car agents give to their clients, I would’ve taken added care while driving.
I’ve finished this story of our African adventure and am ready to go back any time. A great experience – a truly unique one from any other. I can say that Alaska (2000) and Norway (2008) were both beautiful and very similar. European cities do have their distinctive flavors, but similarities are there too. Africa (Botswana and Namibia) is almost a different planet. It’s not just the wildlife and game, but the people, landscape, the feeling you get by being there. So many times we said “When people say they’re in the middle of nowhere, this is what they really meant!” Namibia is the most sparsely populated country on the planet, and you can feel that in most places. The US is big, and driving across Kansas, through the Everglades, or so many other places where people are scarce is an experience, but what we felt in Africa was quite different and perhaps a little tricky to convey. But we would go there again, for sure. Jen is eyeballing Kenya next year…we’ll see.

The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?trackingid=BTAGC&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&galleryid=26b3e5a857644ba1965196ce2cd82d4b

Africa - Part 13 (Sesriem Day 2)

2010-09-26T15:57:00.004+02:00

We woke up around the same time as the day before but managed to reach the gate sooner. However, more vehicles were ahead of us in line, so we weren't in the group that went in when the gate opened. We had to be checked individually. This being our last day we wanted to start early so we had plenty of time to get to Windhoek, turn in the truck and make the airport without any stress. We figured we would have to leave the area by 11am to catch our 5:40 departure. We got through the gate and followed along the main road as we did the prior morning. We were going back to Sossusvlei, and going to attempt a climb to the top of "Big Daddy", one of the biggest dunes in the area. We drove past Dune 45, with the sign for Hidden Vlei coming before we reached Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei. Perhaps I was driving too slowly, but we got bogged down in a patch of soft sand. Yesterday it was no problem - go figure. I got out and dug around the tires, and as I did a safari shuttle passed with a family. One of the 2 kids started laughing and pointing in our direction. I yelled some chastising words, the laughter stopped, as did the driver. His assistant, I assume, walked over asking if he could help but I had already dug away enough sand, so I said I was going to drive it out but he could if he liked. He did, and we were on our way. The people in the safari vehicle did not look our way as we pulled up beside of them. I was a bit pissed at the behavior of what I now recognized as their son, younger than their daughter. We parked and started our way to climb Big Daddy. They were apparently going there too. I was fully expecting either the child or one of the parents to address us and apologize for the rude behavior, but nothing was said, which only irritated me further. They were ahead of us, but Mom wasn't doing so well with her climb so we passed them, telling the father as I passed he should keep an eye on me as I might send him down the dune the fast way. I thought they were German and the chance they knew what I was saying was 50-50 at best, but Radhika recognized it was Dutch they were actually speaking, so it's certain they all knew exactly what I was saying. As we made our way along, the kids made their way past us several times, stopping to remove sand from their shoes as we passed them, and then removing their shoes entirely which had us passing them again. I was making a picture of Radhika on the top of the dune as she stood in front of me and the little pains in the ass ran by me and into my frame. I had already said something to them once about doing that, this time I just told them to stay the hell out of the way. Again, parents said and did nothing. We were both annoyed by these rude pests and their clueless parents. It's been my observation and there's some consensus during discussions when this topic arises that the Dutch spoil, and allow their children great latitude when it comes to their behavior. Of course that's not all, because our landlord seems to have two very sweet daughters. But I have seen tantrums here unlike any I've seen in the states. Small kids taking roundhouse swings at their parents. You ask a Dutch child in a theater to please stop talking and they look at you like you're the rude one! Anyway, we developed some distance from this group and went on.

There was still quite a distance to go, and I told Radhika that I was going to stop, as I was exhausted (and when I begin asking myself "why am I doing this?" and "am I enjoying this?” I know I've checked out). She went on, as the wind started to whip up a little stronger. I ran down the side of the dune all the way to the bottom, zigzagging as I went to make a cool pattern in the sand. Once at the bottom, I took off my shoes and emptied the ample amount of sand that had made it's way in. My shoes still felt oddly tight on my feet, however. It seems the sand had made it's way between layers and stitching, and nestled inside little pockets, what with the sand being so fine and powdery. I banged them in all different directions, and the sand finally came out in sufficient amount that I had a little more room in them when I got them back on. Radhika eventually came back down, saying she had not made it to the top, disappointingly for her, as the wind was getting very strong up there. So, we decided to walk back to the truck, as it was about 10 or so, and we had spent the better part of three hours out there. The wind was whipping up with each passing minute, and by the time we were at the truck the wind was blowing hard, visibility was dropping, and sand was flying at skin-stinging speed. We were in the beginnings of a sand storm. I slid into the drivers seat quickly, and turned the truck into the wind so Radhika could get in without filling the cab with the blowing sand. People were still walking out to the dunes, which I thought was not the brightest idea with the deteriorating conditions. We started off back, navigating a couple of the really soft sandy areas, but visibility dropped to near zero so I stopped the truck on the first hard-packed area we encountered and waited several minutes for it to clear up enough to see where we were going. Never have been in anything like that before! I was nervous and cautious. I needed to build up a little speed to get through the worst area of soft, deep sand, so no visibility means no reaction time to stop if we come upon a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Getting stuck in the sand now was even less desirable than normal, because working outside would be tough and dangerous. Finally there was a break and visibility improved. We didn't have far to go, so with Radhika's eyes and input, we sped through the worst part and made it to the paved road. Visibility remained poor until we were past the dune area what with all the sand there was to be moved around by the high winds. We stopped at our camp for bathroom breaks and drove on, as we were right on schedule. It remained windy for us as we drove, but visibility became clear. However, about an hour later something happened that might be partially due to a burst of wind.

We were driving on a dirt road, which 90% of the roads in Namibia are constructed. It was a wide, hard-packed, smooth road with a posted speed limit of 100kph. Driving on a straight course, all of a sudden, gradually, the truck started veering to the right with the rear end of the truck slowly swinging left. We began to spin in a clock-wise direction. After what seemed like a few moments we were in the middle of the road moving in the direction of the right side, and "Oh shit." was all I said. I could see the banks of sand on both sides of the road that were made by the grader. If we stayed in the middle and just spun we would be okay, eventually coming to a stop or regaining traction with the road. But we continued to drift to the right side, and by the time we got to the edge we were traveling backwards, having made a 180-degree revolution. We hit the bank of dirt and immediately began to roll with force and violence. My hands were remained firmly on the wheel as the earth rotated before me through the windshield. But as windows blew out and the windshield smashed, dirt and sand inundated the cab. As I closed my eyes to keep the sand out, we hit hard upside down and I felt the top of my head hit something. It was painful enough for me to note it but not overpowering enough to distract me from what was happening. We continued to roll, as I loudly heard the crashing and impact sounds of what was happening, felt the discombobulating effects of the rolling vehicle, and felt the sand and debris swirling and hitting my face. After rolling twice completely, coming to a stop back on our wheels, I opened my eyes to destruction. I immediately turned to Radhika and asked if she was okay. She looked at me, and her expression, one I haven't seen before in 20+ years, conveyed immediate fear. She said I was bleeding, and was I ever. I felt the top of my head and it was warm and wet. Blood was all over me, my clothes, the dashboard, on her, and on the underlining. She grabbed the towel we had just bought a few days prior and I placed it on the top of my head and held it there. A small truck was coming down the road from the direction we had just been traveling, and I knocked out the small remaining pieces of glass in my window and flagged it down. I couldn't open my door so I made my way through the window. Radhika had to kick open her door. There was stuff from the truck strewn everywhere on the desert sand. The truck now faced the direction from which we came. My camera backpack and tripod was next to a prickly bush covered in sand, the laptop backpack was outside the vehicle, the tent and topper came off the bed, of course, and camping equipment was everywhere. The man stopped, and the 3 of us started picking up and putting stuff into the back of his truck. I continued to hold the towel and apply pressure with my left hand to the top of my head. The guy took us to a lodge 7km north in Solitaire, where we were given a room. I just stayed put while Radhika took care of everything. She was a trouper through the entire ordeal, staying strong after seeing her husband injured as I was, and handling everything and making necessary decisions.

The manager of the Solitaire Lodge inspected my head, and relayed what he saw to medical staff in Walvis Bay. I later learned it was at this time when they decided whether to fly me out or use ground transport. We had to wait for an ambulance to come from the nearest hospital, which was in Walvis Bay. Their expected arrival time was around 5pm. Radhika had some food delivered to the room from the restaurant, and as I felt better I was able to eat something. I was covered in sand, so feeling better also enabled me to shower, and Radhika carefully poured small amounts of water from a cup over my wound to remove as much sand as she could. I then waited comfortably in the room as the wind continued to howl outside. I was feeling almost back to normal when I noticed what looked like an EMT near the lodge courtyard. It was only 4pm, but they were here already. As I was asked questions about how I was feeling, the three men from Walvis Bay readied me for travel, placing an IV on me, putting a bandage on my head, and putting me on a gurney. It would be a three-hour drive back to their hospital, where I was told I would be overnight. They were able to accommodate our baggage in the ambulance, which at first we were told they might not be able to do. That was a big relief when they said it was no problem. I drifted in and out of sleep as we traveled across the bumpy and sometimes twisty dirt roads. They made one stop for a cigarette break (they checked my condition, but that seemed secondary to the need for nicotine). So I figured I couldn't be too bad off (right?). Radhika sat up front with the lead EMT who was driving, while the other two were in the back with me. They say they are in the area several times a week for vehicle accidents such as ours! And when we tried to pay the lodge for the room and food they wouldn't take it, saying they are there to help and can't take payment in that situation.

We arrived at the hospital right around 7pm, approximately 8 hours after the accident. I was checked out by a very nice "sister", which is the term used for a nurse most other places, and a doctor. I received several shots to numb the area and a spray was also used. The sister used a straight razor to shave part the area around the gash, and that was the most painful part of the treatment I received. Cleaning and disinfecting wasn't as painful, and the actual stitching felt more "weird" than painful. Never had anyone pull my scalp away from my skull before (although there was that kinky girl I dated a long time ago who had a scalp fetish). Radhika was allowed to stay in the room with me as they worked on me, and even made some photographs. If you are not comfortable with a visual rendition of what I just described, I suggest you don't go past the pictures of the damage to the truck when viewing the accompanying album. The doctor said I was lucky, as a major vein was narrowly missed. If that had been severed, he said my situation would have been dire. It seems blood vessels under the scalp do not collapse when cut, so loss of blood would've been a major problem. After the stitches were in place, nine to be exact, they placed a "glue" over them. That would help keep the skin together and protect it from infection as it heals. As it turned out I didn’t have to stay overnight. With a few suggestions coming from hospital staff, we got a taxi and had two hotels to consider for our overnight in Walvis Bay. The first had no availability, but the 2nd one did. We got a room, and the dinner buffet was kept open a little longer than their cut off time due to Radhika's request. So we ate dinner and retired for the night in a pretty nice room, which we both really needed after the day we had. The accident was replayed in my head over and over again that night until I fell asleep. I was still a little angry and befuddled about the accident - how did it happen? We were only about three hours away from turning in the truck and then catching our flight to Cape Town! I was so happy that Radhika was unharmed. That thought occupied my head throughout the afternoon and beyond. Turned out she was a little bruised. She was somewhat stressed by the event, but we both got a good nights sleep. We would wake tomorrow and figure how to go the four hours east to Windhoek and catch our flight, 24 hours delayed, to Cape Town.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=f48795f8b77d4f8fb1468268bd4eacd9&trackingid=BTAGC&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 12 (Sesriem Day 1)

2010-09-24T12:54:00.009+02:00

We arrived at the Sesriem Camp without too much confusion, as the signage was fairly easy to follow. It was early enough in the day where we had a couple of hours until dark, which is a good thing because it took a while to check in at reception and work out going into the park in the morning. Fortunately, in contrast to what was indicated on the internet, they had a small food store located in the same building as the reception, and the prices were surprising under the "gouge" area. I bought 6 bottles of ice-cold beer that went down oh so good once we set up our camp. We were right across from the camp pool, which was small and moderate in comparison to the ones we saw in Etosha. The ablutions weren't too far either, so it was a convenient spot. It's still 70km to Sossusvlei once you get past the gate into the park, which is right at our camp. This entire area is all part of the Namib Desert, and it's considered the driest area on the planet. How that's measured compared to Death Valley, the Sahara, or any other places is beyond my knowledge, but I can vouch for its dryness. We cooked burgers using a campfire for the first time, as we purchased wood and starting material before coming to Sesriem. The night sky was showing the same spectacular show it had in Damaraland and Etosha, only more so as the artificial light was almost non-existent here. The night was cooler here in the desert, and we had to get up around 4am to be at the gate around 4:45 when it opened and allowed the line of vehicles in, as all made a bee-line to the two main stops, Dune 45, where most of the tourists go, and farther into the park to where Hidden and Dead Vlei were located. To get there you needed your own 4X4 or you parked your vehicle in the lot and took a camp provided 4X4 for a fee or walked it yourself.

After a chilly night's sleep we woke up early to be in the line of vehicles that wait at the gate for the park to open. Getting up early did have one unexpected benefit: it being dark at 4am I could change out of my pj's and into my clothes right at the truck. Changing in the cramped tent was a major pain, and bringing up my clothes for the next day into an already small area was a nuisance. Hardly anyone was awake or near us, so it was much easier than inside the tent. It was an eye-opener too; because that cold morning air hitting the sleeping bag warmed skin of mine snapped my heart into the day! We skipped breakfast, delaying it to later in the morning when we got the first chance. The fact that we were carrying our food around in the truck with us made it easy. We got into line, perhaps the 5th or 6th car at the gate and many more lined up behind us as the morning light just began to turn the eastern horizon deep purple. The guard made his way to each vehicle, checking to make sure the correct paperwork was in hand that showed payment to enter had been made, which we had done the afternoon before. I would say he got to #10 in line, and then he ran back to the gate to allow those he had checked go in. The others would have to wait and allowed access one-by-one as they were verified at the gate. The first group drove into the lifting darkness, and as we penetrated deeper and farther east into the park, the light began to bathe the contours of the dunes in great colors. The speed limit was 60kph, which we were traveling at. However, we noticed the group that started ahead had put some distance between then and us, and some that started behind were passing us. For a while we drove the limit, but then, especially as the light became bright enough to illuminate the landscape I kicked up the speed a little. We passed Dune 45, and there were tourists on it already, almost halfway up. Most if not all the vehicles turned off at Dune 45, it seemed. We pressed on, and after a while came upon a sign that indicated the direction of Dead Vlei. This was the area that was highly recommended by a photographer whose work I found online. There was only one 4X4 truck there, as I had no trouble navigating the soft sand between the car park where you must stop if you are driving a non-4X4 vehicle, and Dead Vlei. We actually passed one of the safari shuttles stuck in the sand along the way. The people that we assumed were the occupants of the truck were already making their way into the dunes. It was a clear, quiet morning with the light becoming more intense and higher in the sky with each passing minute, so we started our way in, following the prints they were making in the sand. I was carrying my backpack with my photo gear of course, and the weight of that pack along with the sandy hills induced a few flashbacks to basic training.

I had been on sand dunes before in the Canary Islands and near the Indian/Pakistan border, but these were quite different. The look, feel, orientation, and, of course, the size. Supposedly the tallest in the world, it was an incredible rush to hike along the crest of one as we did. Coming down the other side in a type of broken run was cool. I had my Columbia hiking shoes tied tightly, so I was pretty lucky (and surprised) that I had minimal sand intrusion. Some steps had my legs sinking calf-deep. We got to the bottom much faster than it took to scale up the dune, of course. We had to go over a few small ridges before finding our way to the bottom or open, dry, bed where water does accumulate when there's enough rain. You can tell water is there sometimes from the cracked earth and animal hoof prints embedded into the crust like the walk of fame in Hollywood. I'm finding it difficult to verbally describe the scene, as visuals are the only true way of conveying what it's like to stand there, in the silence, light hitting the far side of the dune but the shadow cast by the nearside dune covering the cracked-earth floor. We walked and climbed around the area for several hours until we got hungry and the light became too harsh, so we walked back to where the truck was parked. By now there were many more vehicles there, and I moved the truck from the direct sun to under one of the few trees. We set up our table, brought out 2 chairs, and ate the sandwiches we made and had some ice cold drinks in the heat of the day. It was fantastic, with both of us expressing how perfect a cold, Windhoek beer was after our morning. Radhika ended up in the cab, reclining the seat, and having herself a little nap. I chilled out in one of our camping chairs sans shirt and unzipped the legs off the hiking pants getting some Namibian desert sun. That was THE life at that moment, until I heard the clicking of a shutter discovering someone felt the need to photograph me half asleep.

We had visited Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei in the morning, and now we were considering what to do with the afternoon. You can't really see the dunes at sunset, because that's when the gates close and it's at least an hour back to the gate from the Dead Vlei area. The road continues on past Dead Vlei, but I never read anything online that indicated there were sights to be seen there. However, Radhika wanted to check it out so we left our picnic area and drove in further - but not much. We came to an area where I saw a lot of soft sand, and before proceeding further I got out, walking ahead and onto a small rise where I could see more of what was ahead. I saw nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. I turned around, but Radhika was still insistent. I stopped and spoke with two of the safari drivers, asking them what was back there to see. Both said "Nothing", and that was good enough for me. We decided to head back towards our camp and checkout Hidden Vlei, which was on the way and then Sesriem Canyon, which was right near our campsite. Hidden Vlei is where the vehicle park is for those who are not using a 4WD, so we parked there. One of the safari guides waiting in his truck said we have to follow the poles painted black on top that are stuck in the ground. They would lead us to Hidden Vlei. It was a long walk there, passing several interesting formations along the way. Hidden Vlei is not visited by most, as it is a hike to get to compared with the other more accessible places of interest. I would guess it is a 30-minute hike if you don't stop to make pictures, so it was longer for me. It was quiet out there and not another soul around. Overall it was probably close to two hours roundtrip. We made the drive back and parked in the lot along with several other vehicles. We got out and could hear voices in the canyon below. It is not a deep canyon by any comparison. At this point it looked no deeper than 30 feet where people were walking along a trail. We decided to go down and check it out, having several hours of daylight left which should be plenty of time to satisfy our curiosity and get back to the truck. We walked along the route that others were taking, contoured, rocky, some steps to climb, grainy sandy areas - quite an uneventful hike in retrospect. Where we came out of the canyon there was a group of people seemingly being led by an African gentleman. We started to go back the parking lot alongside but outside the canyon, but then the path looked over grown, so we decided to turn around and follow this other group assuming they would get us back to the lot. After a few minutes however, we determined they were not going to the lot but what looked like a lodge. So we quickly decided to just head back the way we came, as the day was getting darker now. No one else was in the canyon now, we were on our own and keeping a steady pace. We got back to the truck, the only vehicle left in the lot, right as the sun was setting on the horizon. A few minutes drive and we were back at our campsite getting ready for dinner and showers. Tomorrow, we would do the same thing over again in the morning and then leave the area to make the 4 to 5 hour drive back to Windhoek, turning in the truck and catching our flight out of Namibia and going south to Cape Town.

The album for this post can be found at: We arrived at the Sesriem Camp without too much confusion, as the signage was fairly easy to follow. It was early enough in the day where we had a couple of hours until dark, which is a good thing because it took a while to check in at reception and work out going into the park in the morning. Fortunately, in contrast to what was indicated on the internet, they had a small food store located in the same building as the reception, and the prices were surprising under the "gouge" area. I bought 6 bottles of ice-cold beer that went down oh so good once we set up our camp. We were right across from the camp pool, which was small and moderate in comparison to the ones we saw in Etosha. The ablutions weren't too far either, so it was a convenient spot. It's still 70km to Sossusvlei once you get past the gate into the park, which is right at our camp. This entire area is all part of the Namib Desert, and it's considered the driest area on the planet. How that's measured compared to Death Valley, the Sahara, or any other places is beyond my knowledge, but I can vouch for its dryness. We cooked burgers using a campfire for the first time, as we purchased wood and starting material before coming to Sesriem. The night sky was showing the same spectacular show it had in Damaraland and Etosha, only more so as the artificial light was almost non-existent here. The night was cooler here in the desert, and we had to get up around 4am to be at the gate around 4:45 when it opened and allowed the line of vehicles in, as all made a bee-line to the two main stops, Dune 45, where most of the tourists go, and farther into the park to where Hidden and Dead Vlei were located. To get there you needed your own 4X4 or you parked your vehicle in the lot and took a camp provided 4X4 for a fee or walked it yourself.

After a chilly night's sleep we woke up early to be in the line of vehicles that wait at the gate for the park to open. Getting up early did have one unexpected benefit: it being dark at 4am I could change out of my pj's and into my clothes right at the truck. Changing in the cramped tent was a major pain, and bringing up my clothes for the next day into an already small area was a nuisance. Hardly anyone was awake or near us, so it was much easier than inside the tent. It was an eye-opener too; because that cold morning air hitting the sleeping bag warmed skin of mine snapped my heart into the day! We skipped breakfast, delaying it to later in the morning when we got the first chance. The fact that we were carrying our food around in the truck with us made it easy. We got into line, perhaps the 5th or 6th car at the gate and many more lined up behind us as the morning light just began to turn the eastern horizon deep purple. The guard made his way to each vehicle, checking to make sure the correct paperwork was in hand that showed payment to enter had been made, which we had done the afternoon before. I would say he got to #10 in line, and then he ran back to the gate to allow those he had checked go in. The others would have to wait and allowed access one-by-one as they were verified at the gate. The first group drove into the lifting darkness, and as we penetrated deeper and farther east into the park, the light began to bathe the contours of the dunes in great colors. The speed limit was 60kph, which we were traveling at. However, we noticed the group that started ahead had put some distance between then and us, and some that started behind were passing us. For a while we drove the limit, but then, especially as the light became bright enough to illuminate the landscape I kicked up the speed a little. We passed Dune 45, and there were tourists on it already, almost halfway up. Most if not all the vehicles turned off at Dune 45, it seemed. We pressed on, and after a while came upon a sign that indicated the direction of Dead Vlei. This was the area that was highly recommended by a photographer whose work I found online. There was only one 4X4 truck there, as I had no trouble navigating the soft sand between the car park where you must stop if you are driving a non-4X4 vehicle, and Dead Vlei. We actually passed one of the safari shuttles stuck in the sand along the way. The people that we assumed were the occupants of the truck were already making their way into the dunes. It was a clear, quiet morning with the light becoming more intense and higher in the sky with each passing minute, so we started our way in, following the prints they were making in the sand. I was carrying my backpack with my photo gear of course, and the weight of that pack along with the sandy hills induced a few flashbacks to basic training.

I had been on sand dunes before in the Canary Islands and near the Indian/Pakistan border, but these were quite different. The look, feel, orientation, and, of course, the size. Supposedly the tallest in the world, it was an incredible rush to hike along the crest of one as we did. Coming down the other side in a type of broken run was cool. I had my Columbia hiking shoes tied tightly, so I was pretty lucky (and surprised) that I had minimal sand intrusion. Some steps had my legs sinking calf-deep. We got to the bottom much faster than it took to scale up the dune, of course. We had to go over a few small ridges before finding our way to the bottom or open, dry, bed where water does accumulate when there's enough rain. You can tell water is there sometimes from the cracked earth and animal hoof prints embedded into the crust like the walk of fame in Hollywood. I'm finding it difficult to verbally describe the scene, as visuals are the only true way of conveying what it's like to stand there, in the silence, light hitting the far side of the dune but the shadow cast by the nearside dune covering the cracked-earth floor. We walked and climbed around the area for several hours until we got hungry and the light became too harsh, so we walked back to where the truck was parked. By now there were many more vehicles there, and I moved the truck from the direct sun to under one of the few trees. We set up our table, brought out 2 chairs, and ate the sandwiches we made and had some ice cold drinks in the heat of the day. It was fantastic, with both of us expressing how perfect a cold, Windhoek beer was after our morning. Radhika ended up in the cab, reclining the seat, and having herself a little nap. I chilled out in one of our camping chairs sans shirt and unzipped the legs off the hiking pants getting some Namibian desert sun. That was THE life at that moment, until I heard the clicking of a shutter discovering someone felt the need to photograph me half asleep.

We had visited Sossusvlei and Dead Vlei in the morning, and now we were considering what to do with the afternoon. You can't really see the dunes at sunset, because that's when the gates close and it's at least an hour back to the gate from the Dead Vlei area. The road continues on past Dead Vlei, but I never read anything online that indicated there were sights to be seen there. However, Radhika wanted to check it out so we left our picnic area and drove in further - but not much. We came to an area where I saw a lot of soft sand, and before proceeding further I got out, walking ahead and onto a small rise where I could see more of what was ahead. I saw nothing but sand, sand, and more sand. I turned around, but Radhika was still insistent. I stopped and spoke with two of the safari drivers, asking them what was back there to see. Both said "Nothing", and that was good enough for me. We decided to head back towards our camp and checkout Hidden Vlei, which was on the way and then Sesriem Canyon, which was right near our campsite. Hidden Vlei is where the vehicle park is for those who are not using a 4WD, so we parked there. One of the safari guides waiting in his truck said we have to follow the poles painted black on top that are stuck in the ground. They would lead us to Hidden Vlei. It was a long walk there, passing several interesting formations along the way. Hidden Vlei is not visited by most, as it is a hike to get to compared with the other more accessible places of interest. I would guess it is a 30-minute hike if you don't stop to make pictures, so it was longer for me. It was quiet out there and not another soul around. Overall it was probably close to two hours roundtrip. We made the drive back and parked in the lot along with several other vehicles. We got out and could hear voices in the canyon below. It is not a deep canyon by any comparison. At this point it looked no deeper than 30 feet where people were walking along a trail. We decided to go down and check it out, having several hours of daylight left which should be plenty of time to satisfy our curiosity and get back to the truck. We walked along the route that others were taking, contoured, rocky, some steps to climb, grainy sandy areas - quite an uneventful hike in retrospect. Where we came out of the canyon there was a group of people seemingly being led by an African gentleman. We started to go back the parking lot alongside but outside the canyon, but then the path looked over grown, so we decided to turn around and follow this other group assuming they would get us back to the lot. After a few minutes however, we determined they were not going to the lot but what looked like a lodge. So we quickly decided to just head back the way we came, as the day was getting darker now. No one else was in the canyon now, we were on our own and keeping a steady pace. We got back to the truck, the only vehicle left in the lot, right as the sun was setting on the horizon. A few minutes drive and we were back at our campsite getting ready for dinner and showers. Tomorrow, we would do the same thing over again in the morning and then leave the area to make the 4 to 5 hour drive back to Windhoek, turning in the truck and catching our flight out of Namibia and going south to Cape Town.

The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?wf=sharegrid&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&galleryid=e9a66e2560914dbbaca30dc2cfc9d69a

Africa - Part 11 (Etosha, Damaraland, and Swakopmund)

2010-09-23T11:07:00.007+02:00

Our last morning in Etosha N.P. found us bummed because we really enjoyed our visit here. We were supposed to stay only 2 nights, but early on the first full day we decided we wanted to stay longer, so we would skip our overnight in Damaraland, just driving through it on our way to Swakopmund on the coast. So that was our plan after we packed up our site. We prepared breakfast and took it with us as we walked to the waterhole to catch early morning action, and indeed there was plenty of that. No larger mammals, but the numbers of zebra, springbok, kudu, and even some Oryx were impressive as they are rarely seen at the waterholes at night. Nighttime is elephant, giraffe, rhino, and predator time. As we watch from our bench on this chilly morning, small twigs and pieces of grass would occasionally fall on us from above as social weavers furiously worked on their communal nest hanging from the tree nearby. It was huge, looking like it could house 30 or 40 of the little fluttering builders. It was tiring just watching them. Eventually we had to tear ourselves away from this wonderful setting that we could stay at all day, and head south as our next destination was a longer distance due to our decision to stay another day in Etosha N.P., so our stopover point which was almost dead set in-between Etosha and Damaraland was now just a pass-through point.

By noon we were at Khorixas where we got gas, which is not too far from our original destination in Damaraland named Twyfelfontein. Another 90 minutes and we found ourselves where we wanted to be. We stopped at a camp and asked the young lady where we could find the place called Organ Pipes. I found it on the internet and wanted to visit it as we passed through. We had also passed an attraction named "Damaraland Living Museum" which was tended by a young, attractive, topless woman who sat in a small booth at the entrance. She said it would take several hours to see the presentation depicting life for the Damara people, past and present. No, to those of you wondering - I DID NOT have trouble maintaining eye contact with her. But I can say that a brassiere would benefit her and her triple D's that were making their way down to her belly button! And she couldn't have been more than 20 years old. I was later informed she was single, but had plenty of interested "boys". Yeah? No doubt! Anyway, it looked really interesting, but we didn't have the time to devote to it. We also had to pass on the main attraction of the area, the UNESCO ancient rock paintings. After we visited Organ Pipes, we found ourselves back in the parking lot of the museum, facing a dilemma. We both really liked the area and wanted to explore what it offered more than we were able to under the current circumstances. My position was Swakopmund was mainly a resting point and where I was going to try my hand at sand boarding (where you use a snowboard and slide down the huge sand dunes). I was willing to give that up and eat the cost of our camping fee to stay overnight here in Twyfelfontein and stay only 1 night in Swakopmund (it was originally planned for a 2-night stay). Radhika agreed, so we went to Aba-Huab Camp down the road from the museum where Radhika told the young woman at the counter in reception that we were thinking of staying overnight and what availability did they have. The young woman looked puzzled by Radhika's use of "thinking", and I interjected that we "were" staying and wanted a site. After a brief chuckle, we secured a campsite and decided to visit the rock engravings with the rest of the afternoon and save the museum for tomorrow morning. So the last few hours of the day were spent hiking over rocks with Honey, who was our guide, learning a little about the people who left these pictures 6000 years ago. It was interesting and the terrain was beautiful. We were the last visitors to leave, and several of the workers started walking back to their village, which wasn't too far from our camp. We piled as many as could fit into our truck, telling the others we could come back for them. After the 10-15 minute round trip, we picked up more, who had been walking along the dusty road. We still couldn't fit everyone, so the final 2 continued to walk, saying they would get a ride with someone as they passed by, as we made another trip to the village. It was almost dark now, enough to need my headlights. Radhika and I debated the odds of them getting a ride out here in the middle of nowhere (which describes many places we had and would visit), so we decided to play it safe and drive out in their direction one more time. As we did we passed a vehicle, but it was too dark to determine if the final two were inside enjoying a ride home. We didn't see them on the road where we calculated they should be, so we returned to our campsite. After borrowing towels from the camp, we took showers under the starry, desert sky. We forgot to pack towels and had been using "Magic Towels" that we bought in Amsterdam that came in a package the size of a half dollar coin and a little under an inch thick. When you open the package the towel eventually opens to the size a little larger than a washcloth. I was happy to use a real towel even if it was just for one night. As I dropped off my towel and soaps, a German woman came out of her shower without any modesty. Gotta love those Germans! She left as I came back with my pj's that I had left in the truck. After my shower I stepped out to find her back in the shower area (there were 3), and she asked me if I had seen her coat. Uh, can I get my towel and no, I didn't see your coat in my shower (the one she used was 2 over). Guess she feels we are even now in the "seeing you naked" category!

After I got my jammies on, we made some sandwiches, bought some drinks and looked for a place to eat. The same young woman from reception said we could eat in the restaurant area, which was really nice of her. So we ate upstairs in our pj's and enjoyed some cool beverages to end our only night in this area. Definitely want more - some other day, perhaps. I stayed up as Radhika went to bed, setting my camera up in a good place to get some time lapsed work on the night sky. There was one artificial light I had to avoid, but the cool thing was it was throwing some light on a tree that I decided to place in the lower portion of the frame. After a couple of 15-20 minute exposures, I was ready for bed, and crawled up the ladder. It was a warm night, which was nice after slightly chilly ones in Etosha.

The next morning we were up early, had our breakfast and went off to visit the museum after paying our bill. We spent almost 3 hours there, leaving a little after 11am. We learned how they settled internal tribal disputes, natural remedies found in the area to treat various physical ailments and injuries, from ground ostrich egg shells for colicky babies, to dried elephant dung for joint pain. The former is taken internally; the latter applied externally to the painful area, just for those of you wondering. You don't want to get those two confused! We learned how they hunted, celebrated, played, interacted, and so many other things. We watched a ceremonial dance, the shaman "cured" a patient, they demonstrated how to start a fire, set a trap, etc. It was cool! They made buttons, beads, prepared hides, used the first sunscreen - did I already say how cool and interesting it was? They have been doing this for only 3 months with this new museum, but I hope they are able to sustain it because it was one of the most interesting experiences we had on our trip. We had to get to Swakopmund, and the young lady at our camp said it would be 6 or more hours. I couldn't see how, I was thinking more like 4, but we got on the road by noon and stopped only briefly once or twice. One time was when we were about 2 hours into our drive. We passed a Himba woman and man on the roadside selling what would be considered trinkets. But she was the thing of most interest. Himba's are mostly found to the north, so it was fortunate to see them here. We bought several items to wear, then got back to our journey to Swakopmund. But I felt I hadn't made enough images of her and it was bugging me. Radhika said I should decide to continue on or got back before we traveled too far, so I stopped and whipped the truck around. The somewhat comical thing about it was we had to pass a man who was selling things of his own on the side of the road, and every time we passed him, he came out into the road holding up some of his wares. I felt a little bad for the guy because he looked so hopeful each time we passed. We pulled up, parked, and I paid her directly to make some more images of her. She loved it! Her boyfriend seemed quite proud too, but keeping an eye on me to a degree I sensed, even though Radhika was with me. We loaded up again, passed the guy on the roadside on more time, and kept on. At some point, we took a road that was shorter in distance (and time we had assumed), but it probably didn't save us any because it was almost a "non-road". The trails in Moremi were more "road" than this was! Hell, I couldn't determine where I should be following at one point as we passed some houses and huts as there were no tell-tale tire tracks. I just winged it and rolled the dice in my head, luckily coming upon a better-marked path along the way. We eventually came back upon the more primary-type road, and we determined that we will not take any more "D" roads. "B" indicated a paved road, "C" a dirt/gravel secondary road. We saw some demarked as "F" roads that seemed to go out into pasture, so I designated that F as farm! You're wondering where "A" roads are? Good question - so were we. Never saw one.

We got to the coast by 4pm, seeing the clear skies of the desert recede and give sway to thick fog and chilly, biting winds. We headed south along the dunes on our left and waves on our right. I saw one of the few shipwrecks that remain stranded along the coast, so I pulled us onto the beach engaging 4WD. I made some pictures out in the cold blustery wind, and jumped back in to warm up and drive off to reach our destination only a few kilometers more south. Getting stuck in the sand was not in the plan, but that didn't matter. Florida-boy got stuck. I dug a lot of sand out, and got the truck to move out only to bog down again. Now the tide was coming in too close to the truck, it was getting later, and I was concerned. I saw some fishermen in the distance, so I ran over to them and asked for their help. One said he would be buy in a little bit, so I ran back and unloaded the heavier cargo in the back of the truck. After a few minutes, the older German gentleman came up in his Toyota, got out, tied a tow rope to the back of his truck and told me to tie the other end to our truck. He then got into our truck, changed the 4WD gear from Hi4W to Lo4W, told me to untie the rope that I had just attached to the front, and he drove it out with a little effort. Remember the guy in Moremi who told me NEVER to use Lo4W? Well, I didn't even consider trying lo in this situation! I thanked the guy twice; we loaded the stuff back into the back, and got the hell off that beach. Next stop - Alta Bruke campsite in Swakopmund. No more pussyfooting with any side trips! And the weather was already bumming us out, going from sunny heat to overcast gray windy cold! Plenty of that shit in Amsterdam come winter (and part of fall and spring too!). After the fact, removing a day here and spending it in Etosha was a freaking stroke of genius I wish I could take credit for. Swakopmund became a resting point between 2 far apart destinations, where we did laundry, charged batteries and cell phones, got a decent restaurant meal, pulled out more cash, took great showers in the nicest, cleanest camping facilities we would enjoy on this part of our trip, and bought a few more provisions for our time in the desert to the south where the internet indicated there would be no groceries to buy. After a slightly chilly night in our tent, we left the next morning for Sesriem several hours due south. But not after I handled a decision in the most wishy-washy of ways.

Gas. There was between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank of it showing on the gauge. I figured we could make Solitaire, where the map indicated we would find gas stations. As we left Swakopmund, we didn't directly pass a gas station. As a matter-of-fact, we were looking for one at one point, because we couldn't find the road we needed to take to head south. If we had found one for directions, we would've killed two birds with one stone and filled up the tank, as well. I was also factoring in the spare tank of gas we had in the back that we had been traveling with since the 2nd (it was now the 7th). Anyhow, Radhika became very nervous about the state of our available fuel once we were on our way and many kilometers out of Swakopmund. Then I became more nervous and less sure of my decision. So the safe decision was made, and we turned around after some hard moments in the truck. Luckily we didn't have to go all the way back to Swakopmund, but could get gas in Walvis Bay, which was closer to us and would figure again later into our adventure. We were delayed probably an hour due to my indecision, but it was better get there later than desired than be on the side of the road with an empty tank. If I had been by myself, I most likely would've pressed on. And now knowing the route and distance, I'm completely confident we would've made it to Solitaire by using the spare tank.

Anyway, we're on our way to Sesriem, the closest camp site to the park entrance, where we need to be to get a "first thing in the morning" start when the gates open and we can get the sunrise experience of the worlds tallest dunes. That will be picked up in the next post.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=bccd0ceeb0864e0dbb98941821fed66f&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 10 (Etosha National Park Day 2)

2010-09-22T10:15:00.005+02:00

We were able to wake early, a little before sunrise. We went through our now morning ritual, breakfast and then packing away the tent, exiting the Halali gate right after it opened. We decided to hit a few waterholes in the area that we missed yesterday, visit the pan, and then make our way west to Okaukuejo towards the afternoon. Reception had already told us Okaukuejo was full that night, but seeing as they were batting 100 at being wrong, we decided to go there anyway and finagle a spot for us to camp at tonight.

We headed out, stopping at the Etosha Pan. Just a huge to the horizon zone of white, scorched, dead zone with nothing apparently living there. Still, would be cool as hell to cross, but we didn't have the time. It was an experience just visiting it for 15-30 minutes. Not out too long after leaving the pan, we were driving past a wide-open dry area and into a grassy plain, when Radhika emphatically said, "Stop!” She had spotted our first lion!! It was a female, relaxing in the tall yellow/tan grass. Zebra and springbok were eyeballing here. The zebra were like stone, hardly moving a muscle, with eyes fixed on her. The springbok however, would glance in her direction, but would continue on. They are so quick and agile, they are not as concerned about the lion as the zebra. Then, by surprise, out of the tall grass a male lion laying next to the female lifts his head to check out the scene. He was totally hidden from view. They both took in the menu as it passed, but showed little interest. That's because they had other things on their minds - - SEX!! Yeah baby. There was some shagging going on in the bush. After they both had almost completely vanished from site laying back down in the grass, she raised up to all fours. She looked at the frozen zebras, still not moving much, glanced over at the male and slowly walked over to him. He raised his head as she came near, and she walked past him, but as she did she smacked him in the face with her hindquarters! She just swung her ass in his direction and popped him with her hips. He made it to his feet and followed her to where she had stopped, crouched down, and waited for lover boy. For all of 10 seconds, we watched as these two (I guess you can say) went at it. It was not inspiring, so all you guys should know if your partner calls you a lion in the sack, it's really a slam. Don't be bragging to the fellas. However, as women like to complain about, after he did what he needed to do, he walked a short distance and promptly fell back down into the grass to resume his nap. She, on the other hand, rolled over onto her back, paws up in the air like the Don Juan of the lion world had just ravished her. We stayed there for almost 2 hours watching them, waiting for them to exhibit some interesting behavior, chase some game, welcome more lions, but all they did roughly every 30 minutes was get busy. And it was the exact same way each time - the male getting a smack in the face with the business end of the female. It was interesting when a herd of Wildebeests came up on these two. The entire herd, maybe 50 or so, locked it up quick when the lions were first detected. I could almost hear the screeching tire sound in my mind. But even they, eventually, weren't as skittish as the zebra, and I know why. That zebra flank we ate in Windhoek was damned tasty! If I were a lion, that silly, striped horse would be at the top of my list of what I would want to run down, suffocate, and than chew on for the next several hours. After watching the 4th ho-hum hump-fest, we decided to move on to see what else was going on.

Not too far down the road from where we watched the al fresco fornication, we came upon 5 more females laying low in the tall grass on the opposite side of the road. As luck would have it, a bus came by to watch for a little while, and out through one of the windows popped cousin Jens smiling mug, as her group toured Etosha before returning to their program back near Windhoek. These lions were stationary, and it was now late morning and the sun had heated up the earth pretty efficiently. I didn't think they would hunt at this time of day, as they were huddled under a scrub tree for its shade. But we sat and watched for a while anyway, in the event something would happen. It didn't. So, with it being close to noon and we weren't far from Halali, we returned to have our lunch there. It was pretty empty, with most out in the park. We sat near the pool and outdoor restaurant, ordering a couple of drinks to go with our sandwiches that Radhika made. Halali is a really nice camp, with a great swimming pool, nice restaurant, and plentiful campsites.

After lunch, hit some waterholes and then made our way west towards Okaukuejo. We saw many animals along the way at the waterholes and on the plains. But one of the best ones waited until we were practically at the gate of Okaukuejo, when we spied a rhinoceros in the bushes foraging. Jockeying the truck back and forth as it moved along, we watched it until it went deep into the wooded area and out of sight (at one point it got within perhaps 20 feet of the truck!). By then, it was close to 5pm, so we figured our viewing was done for the day and we went to reception to secure a spot to park and camp. We were given spot #40 and a map to find it (remember - we were told at Halali that Okaukuejo was OVER booked). Well, it took a little effort to find it, as the map and the verbal directions didn't seem to match to me or Radhika. But we eventually found it, parked, and checked out the area and what is widely considered the best, nighttime waterhole for viewing game. The lodges here are the best in the park. Also, the most numerous. The restaurant and shops looked pretty nice, and they had a "baby" pool along with the larger Olympic sized one. They have a tower that offers great views, and the waterhole IS fantastic. I would say a perfect visit to Etosha would be a night in Namutoni, two in Halali, and as many as three in Okaukuejo. That night after dinner, we watched a large group of giraffes come for water, and heard lions in the distance groaning, which set off howling amongst some closer to the camp wild dogs. I took a shower late, as Radhika was in the tent. On my way from showers to tent, the lions released some low groans, sounding a lot closer to the camp. I must admit to climbing the ladder into the tent with more purpose than usual. I know there's fencing around the entire camp - or at least that's what I was told and assumed, but my heart was saying get your ass up the ladder tout de suite. Radhika could hear the lions from inside the tent, and she smiled as I told her my determination to scale that ladder a little faster than past nights.

Tomorrow we would leave Etosha and head for Damaraland, not too far from the Skeleton Coast. The animals of Namibia, for the most part, would be left in Etosha.

To see the album for this post, go to:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=0f9906f085c9411d92efe254cf526e7b&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 9 (Etosha National Park Day 1)

2010-09-17T10:07:00.003+02:00

The next morning we woke fairly early, and I climbed down and made breakfast. I’m only talking bowl of cereal and fruit – having only to heat water for the late sleeper’s cup of morning tea. Campers all around were bustling with activity, packing up, washing dishes, and fixing breakfast. The gates would open very soon and animals are active in the morning and late afternoon. We decided the night before that we would travel to the northeastern side of the park towards the campsite named Namutoni. The 3 camps of Etosha National Park are ideally placed 70km’s from each other, with Halali pretty much square in the center of the public area of the park. Off we went on our first day in Etosha, feeling quite excited, but determined to see a lion. You see, while we were in Moremi, we talked to several tourists who already visited Etosha, and they spoke glowingly of the park, how easy it is to get around, the nice camps, and the multitudes of animals. And they all saw lions! So, we were pumped to drive around all day, making plans to stop and eat lunch midday when the day and sun were at their hottest. We figured that would be near or in Namutoni, and as it turned out we were right. We stopped at several waterholes that are on the way to Namutoni, seeing animals there and dispersed along the plains. It was a hot midday sun that hovered over us as we reached the northern most camp. We parked in the shade and walked to where there were picnic benches inside the courtyard where a few restaurants, stores, and shops were. Radhika made sandwiches and I went to the bar that was open and bought 2 ice-cold refreshing beers. A band of 6 or 7 mongoose’s scurried along the grounds exploring, bickering, and eating tidbits found along the way as we ate our lunch. Most everyone was watching them, with one young girl following them around with a camera.

We left Namutoni around 2:30, leaving us 3 ½ hours before the gates would close at Halali. Our first stop was a Chudop waterhole. The day before 8 lions were sighted there, but none showed during our stop today. We did get great enjoyment out of watching giraffes drink and two males in particular, who were engaged in what appeared to be activity geared to establishing status within the herd. They would swing their long heads in a low arc, and then bring them up with considerable force, turning their heads slightly so their stubby horns would lead to impact. Over, and over and over this was repeated, as they stood side-by-side, walking a little, adjusting their positioning with slight foot (hoof) work. It was very interesting to watch. Also of interest was each species reaction of the others when approaching the waterhole. Which are skittish, which ones are ignored, which ones give ground. Some are pretty much universal, like giraffes being very nervous of other species even with their size advantage over most, no doubt due to their vulnerability when their heads are down drinking. It seems like there’s a 3 minutes period before each 10-second drink, as they are very cautious when they lower their heads. When there’s a larger group, the giraffes do have a slightly stronger sense of calm about them. Ungulates are pretty careful all the time, as well. Elephants seem to be the only ones observed that basically lumber up without much concern, and do as they please. If other animals are near or in the water, they all make way for the elephant. It was surprising to me, because they weren’t aggressive. Perhaps size matters at the waterhole! One night we witnessed a mid-sized elephant try to run off what appeared to be a full-sized rhino by fake-charging – breaking into a slow trot in the direction of the rhino, kicking up dust when it came to an abrupt stop halfway to it. The rhino took note, even took a step back on the elephants 3rd or 4th charge. But on what turned out to be the elephant’s last gesture at making the rhino leave, the rhino actually reciprocated and did a mock charge of it’s own, with equal or elevated gusto to the elephant’s, which caused the elephant to back down and return to the group of mostly larger elephants. Maybe this elephant had a Napoleon complex? The rhino was left alone to share the water with the group of 5 or so elephants, getting is share of water and leisurely making its way back into the darkness.

Departing Chudop, we stopped at a waterhole named Kalkhauwel, I believe. It was overrun by pachyderms too numerous to count! There were a few vehicles already there watching the show. Huge to small, all sizes drinking, playing, fighting, bathing, and socializing. At one point, with us watching the herd pass left to right leaving the waterhole with the sun behind them, two moderately large elephants started a shoving match, locking their trunks and pushing head to head. Our parked location had us 30 seconds from getting a whole lot of gray, wrinkled, elephant ass on top of our hood! Radhika had already been chanting the previous 15 seconds “Start the car. Start the car! Start the car!!” I did, and put a little more distance between us. In the meantime, to medium-sized vans pulled up packed with what turned out to be Italian tourists. Almost as soon as they stopped, they were yelling from vehicle to vehicle, and one idiot even got out to take pictures. He looked at me, shooting from the driver’s seat with my camera and long lens, and tossed back his head slightly in a manly, kindred spirit sort of gesture. I just shook my head and hoped my expression back to him conveyed what I was thinking – asshole. Everyone else, in all other vehicles, was being quiet, respectful of the other viewers and the animals. This lot was being ignorant from beginning to end. Even the Etosha safari guide in one of the trucks told the bonehead he wasn’t allowed to be outside the vehicle. Numbnuts paid him no mind. Where was a lion in the mood for some linguini when you needed one? Mangia, mangia!
The next waterhole was Springbokfontein. There were more of the same herbivores there, but as an added bonus we watched those funny looking ostriches come along for some water. We had seen a few already, but mostly from a distance. They are skittish too…very hard to get anywhere close without spooking them. We made the 150km (and more) roundtrip circuit for the day, getting back to Halali at 5:45pm again. Making photos at sunset is impossible, seeing as how the sun goes down close to 6:30 and you have to be inside the gate by 6. That was a little of a bummer. It would be nice to be able to stay out slightly past sunset, but you give humans and inch and they take a mile (or kilometer), and then dopes would be wandering around in the dark hitting animals or becoming a lion’s chew toy, so I understand their thinking by making everyone return before sundown. We took site number 16 tonight, doing better than the night before and not taking 20 minutes to decide on where to camp. It was still bright out too, and that was very helpful. Once again, we heard that the campsite was full, but we saw plenty of open spaces. We decided we would stay another day, and not leave Etosha tomorrow, but stay at Okaukuejo for a third night, considered to be the best camp of the 3 in Etosha, at the southwestern side of the park, 70km west of Halali. We had our dinner, finishing off the chicken and borrowing a can opener again to finish off the vegetables. We went to the waterhole, which was relatively quiet. Walking back to our campsite, we passed my 2nd cousin Jennifer, who was with her group that was doing fieldwork for their degrees. Part of their group decided to camp out all night at the waterhole, taking turns watching the action while the others slept, and waking the group if anything exciting occurred. We decided we would get an early start tomorrow, and try our luck at getting a spot at Okaukuejo at the end of the day.

The album for this post can be found here:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&galleryid=aea9f611754442d4a54cfb96c53c40bb&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 8 (Windhoek and Etosha)

2010-09-14T17:07:00.004+02:00

We landed in Windhoek where the airport was much more modern than the one we left from in Maun. We had accommodations already booked for our one night in Windhoek, but Angel and Haide had NO idea where they would be staying – not even how they would make the 35 kilometer journey from airport to town. They were traveling with no plan, and this was their honeymoon! In Africa! For several weeks!! To me, that takes cojones!!! Our 4X4 hire company was picking us up, so we decided to see if they would take them to where we were staying, as well. Our driver, Gerson, said that it was no problem. On the drive from the airport, he was saying how hungry he was because he had been so busy today that he didn’t have time to eat. Haide offered him cookies and the little bit of snacks they traveled with, and he enjoyed them in copious amounts! He also suggested they travel with us, as they were looking for a tour to join or something like that, as they had made no provisions for traveling around the country. That put Radhika and I in a tight position, because while we liked Angel and Haide, I travel differently due to photography, and it’s not compatible for most people. But then, when we got to our guesthouse, Gerson asked them for the equivalent of €30 for the ride. A pretty steep price, so Angel and Haide chastised him for the misleading way he indicated they could travel with us, making it seem there was no added fee or cost. He was getting paid twice for the same journey, already being paid by Aloe Car Hire to pick us up and deliver us to Rivendell Guesthouse, and being slick about it. He took off €5, but he still pocketed €25. As it turned out, where we were staying didn’t have any availability for them, so the driver agreed to drive them to a couple of places close by. They called us, saying they had found a place and we would meet at this local place called “Joe’s Beer House” that is a favorite of tourists. Meanwhile, we were given a crappy room without a bath. Not what I had booked. The young girl who unenthusiastically greeted us at the gate when we arrived, and tried to tell us there was no reservation (until I pulled out proof), was now saying that’s all they had and a mistake had been made. Our room had someone else in it already. But she was kind enough to inform me that we wouldn’t be charged the rate for the nicer room. Yeah, no shit! Needless to say our stay wasn’t what I hoped for, and luckily it was for only one day. I’m still exchanging emails with the owners as they are “tracking down” what went wrong.

After a mix-up between Aloe 4X4 hire company and the subcontractor they use to provide airport and hotel pickups, we were delayed in getting to their location the next morning. Their 4X4 hire business seemed to be run from their house. Their neighborhood, like similar ones seen in Johannesburg, was full of houses all encircled by concrete walls, topped with barbed or razor wire and some electrified. The houses do seem like mini-prisons. One large step beyond developments and gated communities one finds in the states, where access is granted only to those with proof of residency or hold special permission to enter. Only things missing were machine gun turrets at the corners. A young gentleman named Opy (yes I thought of Andy Griffith right off) was there to meet us inside the compound that we entered. He made sure to close and lock the heavy steel gate with electrified wires running along the top once we were inside. I later wondered what his impression is of all this security, being a black man of Africa. The truck was there, with the tent on the roof. It was the same truck model we had in Botswana, so that was good. The paperwork didn’t take too long. He showed us the 2 options we had for insurance. One, where we paid about $5000 if the truck becomes unusable and there’s no additional fee, and another where you pay about €10 per day and the amount owed drops roughly to half. I asked him what do most people take, and he said the first option. So that’s what we took. He went inside the house to get us a sheet and 2 pillows, and said he had to give us sleeping bags. We inspected the truck, its contents, camping supplies, emergency equipment, and how to erect and take down the tent. There was ¼ tank of gas, so we were told to bring it back that way. No point in telling Opy that’s a dirty little trick, trying to make the client “guess” at their fuel usage and not come back with a full tank, as his grasp of the language was spotty, at best. So, we took off after he showed us on a map where the tourist office was located downtown. On the way, we realized he never put the sleeping bags in the truck. We called him, saying we would come back after we were done at the tourist office. We also ran into Angel and Haide at the tourist office. They were looking to stay in Windhoek a couple of days and then head out to other areas. We had already settled the idea of traveling together and they understood the reasoning. Besides, they would be in the country for a week or so longer than us, and had more time to travel at a slower pace.

So, we find the tourist office and park. Now, from what we experienced in the several urban places we visited, this is how it’s done. There may be parking meters, but there are also men and women, most with a colored vest, usually orange, standing in parking areas. Whether they put money in the meters for you or not, I’m not sure. However, they watch the vehicles, keeping them safe. When you return to your car, you give them some money. That’s how it was here. We got a lot of useful information inside the tourist office and even booked a campsite in Etosha using their phone to call the park! It was the best, most efficient and thorough tourist office I can recall ever experiencing. They even told us how much we should pay the gentleman watching our vehicle. Across the street was a grocery store, and after a little difficulty, we found what we wanted and stocked our small fridge that came with the truck. We proceeded back to Aloe where Opy gave us our sleeping bags, got directions to the closest gas station, filled up the spare tank, as well, and then went to an ATM where it promptly digested Radhika’s card. The reason we needed cash was because Namibian gas stations do not accept credit cards! That was going to be a pain in the ass as it’s a large expenditure. Gas was not near as cheap here as it was in Botswana. We pulled some money out at a different machine with another card and headed north for the 4-hour drive up to Etosha around 12:30 or so.

The road was paved most of the way, so that was good. It enabled us to keep our speed at 120kph or higher. We had to not only be inside the main gate by 6pm, but also inside our rest camp gate, which was 70km from the main gate. It was called Halali, and when we hit the main gate, the lady was so nice and concerned about us making it in time she let us pass and pay when we left several days later. The road into the park was paved for a little while, and the speed limit dropped down to 60kph, but I went a little over that to get to Halali’s gate before closing. I had read online that if you get there late you can honk your horn and someone would come out and open the gate, but you may get a fine or at the least perhaps a less-than-cheerful vibe. I would prefer to avoid that. And as it so happened, the guy was in the act of closing the gate when he saw us drive up, and reversed his course and widened it so we could pass through. No dirty looks from him either, instead we got a “you just made it” smile. As we made the journey from main to Halali gate, we saw a fair amount of game. The land was very different from what we saw in Chobe or Moremi. Chobe is riverfront and forest, Moremi more broken brush and marsh, especially in the Okavango, and Etosha is really flat with a lot of scrub – much drier than the other two parks in Botswana.

Once inside, we went to reception to get a campsite, and the process was a little slow. We had been told (as we will be told every time we try to book in an NWR run camp) that they were fully booked with precious few spots remaining open. But the woman at the reception counter told us to drive in and find an open spot and take it. That was like a 3 Stooges bit for us, because we must’ve pulled into 3 or more, and once in the spot, we didn’t like it for one reason or another. It’s dark, so our headlights are blasting away into people’s camp area, and I just knew they were thinking, “What is wrong with this guy? Pick and spot, already!” I was about to pop a blood vessel, but we finally agreed on a spot. I had a hard time even recognizing where to pull in, perhaps being the camping novice that I am. Nightfall and the lack of bright lighting didn’t help me understand the layout, either. We also wanted a spot close to where the waterhole is, and in close proximity to one of the shower and toilet houses. Once the truck was positioned as we wanted, it was time to open up the tent, get the cooking gear out, and start dinner. Oh boy! Cooking the frozen chicken pieces we bought was an adventure, as first I tried them over the open fire, but that didn’t seem to be going so well, and we also wanted to eat before we woke up for breakfast the next day. So I busted out the mini LP tank and attached the top burner, and tried the covered pan method on the chicken. It heated them up plenty, but what was left was not recognizable as foul by a long shot. Actually, it was fortuitous that the lamp didn’t provide ample lighting, because looks-wise it was visually foul looking. After removing 80% of the chicken from the pan to our plates and leaving the other 20% as a baked-on crusty cratered lunar surface looking mess in the pan, I scooped out most of the mixed vegetables that was also cooked on the LP tank onto our plates. Ummmm-good! Those vegetables came in cans, and of course you know our camping kit did not include a can opener! Luckily the people next to us had one that I borrowed. I was quite surprised how good both tasted, and Radhika enjoyed our first camp meal together too. Washed down with some ice cold Lychee juice and I was good to go! We walked to the waterhole, and as we got to an area far enough from camp where the lights dimmed significantly, we both looked up into the southern hemisphere night to enjoy the show and both witnessed the same falling star! It was magnificent! The waterhole had quite a bit of spectators at it already, so we merged right in and watched as elephants already present chilled out and filled their trunks with water. A rhino was also there, and through the time we were there several different species paid a visit to quench their thirst in this dusty environment. It was a bit on the chilly side here, not as warm as it was in Botswana. We walked back to our site, checking out the sky along the way. Maneuvering up into the rooftop tent was a unique experience. Changing and storing our clothes out of the way was a little tricky, but it worked out okay. Our first night “roughing it”. How would it work out by morning?

The album for this post can be found here:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?galleryid=bf5a76d3d4d34a889564d7c51185c281&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 7 (Maun and Delta)

2010-09-06T16:18:00.005+02:00

It's a little confusing...Maun, Okavango Delta, Moremi Wildlife Refuge. Looking at a terrain map, Okavango Delta is an area that spreads across this region. When I first started research for the trip, I believed The Okavango Delta was another park or area to visit, but it actually spreads across the area, encompassing or touching the city of Maun, Moremi Wildlife Refuge, Chobe National Park, and other towns and areas.

We were staying several kilometers north of Maun at Discovery B&B. A really nice place and good location that provides many options the area has to offer. We decided to take a flight over the delta, a nice bird's eye view. A little later in the day than I would prefer due to the turbulence from warm air currents that my stomach doesn't appreciate all too well, but it was fantastic to see the life below from that vantage point. After the flight, which ran about an hour, we dropped Jennifer off at the Maun airport so she could catch her flight to Windhoek, Namibia. We spent the rest of that afternoon driving along Shorobe Road, as there were many photographs to be made and things to see that were more "local" and not touristy. We ate dinner with our hosts at Discovery B&B tonight, who are transplants from Holland. It was very interesting to hear their story, of how they were volunteers in the area and decided they wanted to stay, and found Discovery when it was for sale and decided to buy it.

The next day we decided to turn in our rental vehicle, as we had it a week at that point, was €100 per day, and we were staying local and could get around using our feet and taxi's. I drove out to Kaziikini in the morning, because since we left there I hadn't been able to find my reading glasses, and it was not fun to ask Radhika to read the menu the night before at dinner. I had a feeling I knew where I could have left them, and it was less than a 45 minute ride. Besides, I hoped to see some animals in the early morning hours. I did find the glasses, but didn't see much wildlife. Funny about the glasses, they were left in the shower/toilet area of the camp sites. One of the campers heard why I was there and told me he saw the glasses just sitting there over the past 2 1/2 days - even tried them on to see if they worked for him, but they didn't. He figured those glasses were there to stay and the owner was long gone, so he was really surprised to see me get them back. Radhika was just getting ready to have breakfast when I returned, so we ate, relaxed a little around the grounds, and then drove into Maun to return the vehicle to Budget. We then walked around the area some more, making pictures and checking things out. The day before, we decided to arrange for an afternoon boat trip today, timing it for after we drop off the vehicle. The guy had told us to bring some beer, so we bought some and dropped it off early where the boat was leaving from so the guy could store the two 6-packs in their fridge. Today, we walked along Shorobe Road until it was close to when Neil, who owned the place, had told us to show up. We took a taxi to the place, and Neil had no recollection of our conversation from the prior day. I heard him telling Radhika the boat was full and he couldn't take anyone. We'll we finally jogged his memory, and we had a nice ride all to ourselves on the delta waters on our way to pick up some people at Buffalo Gate. We walked to few kilometers from the boat location to our B&B. It was a little adventurous, as it was pitch dark, but we had no problems and made it back fine.

The next morning was our last in Botswana, as we caught the same 3:30pm flight to Windhoek Jen had taken two days prior. We just hung around the B&B after breakfast, and had a taxi pick us up a little early so I could get some last shots in before we were taken to the airport. Of course there was a glitch, as we waited to board with a Spanish couple. Four of us, in total, would be on this plane. Jen had texted us the day she left saying she was the only person on her flight (maximum 16 passengers). Well, our flight was full and delayed. The four of us were sitting at the locked glass door to the tarmac as our departure time passed by. We had to go find airport personnel to find out where our plane was. We were redirected to another area and told the plane had arrived and was fueling up on the other side of the airport. We finally left, behind schedule, for Windhoek, saying "goodbye" to Maun, Botswana, and all the incredible times we had there.

The album for this post can be found at:

http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?wf=sharegrid&galleryid=05c584aebd2a4ab9902bcbb4b7c513c3&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 6 (Moremi Wildlife Refuge)

2010-09-02T14:15:00.005+02:00

Sleeping in the small huts was quite different than our large Kubu Lodge cabin that we shared. At first I found it amusing that there were gaps between door, wall, and floor, and small gaps all over as the reed/bamboo “sticks” don’t provide building material that seals like bricks, blocks, wood, etc. If it were mosquito season, the net over the bed would be even more treasured. But it was cool to see the almost full moon peeking between “slats” of bamboo/reeds. Almost wished there was no roof so we could lie in bed and see the stars.

We woke up to the watch alarm. We had our breakfast of soymilk, cereal, juice, muffins, and banana’s on the tailgate of the truck around 7:30. After finishing our morning routines, we walked up to where the reception hut was to find out about our reservations and guide into Moremi. We were introduced to Tizzer, who would be our guide and ride with us into the park. We went back to organize and lock our huts and met Tizzer about 20 minutes later. Off we went, eagerly looking forward to our adventure the day would bring us. We drove out of the camp area and down the dirt road that brought us from Maun but going in the opposite direction. Tizzer had me turn off onto a small track, basically a path that has been made by two sets of tires. We slowly drove along this for some time, looking for wildlife. As we drove, our discussions with Teezer left me a little puzzled. After more time had passed, we still hadn’t entered Moremi, and his conversation left me with an impression that something was amiss, we figured out that he was told that we were using him only for guiding us in the community concession, which lies outside the boundaries of Moremi.
The small community near Kaziikini Camp was given land next to Moremi by the government, to use and develop to provide jobs and support the tourism industry. So they built the camp and conduct guided safaris on the concession. But I indicated via email that we wanted a guide for Moremi. We eventually convinced Teezer that was our intention, to go into Moremi all day with him, not the 3-hour concession safari that he was told. So, he agreed to be “kidnapped” by us, at first expressing a slight concern that back at the camp they would wonder where he was when he didn’t return. But he said he would explain it all to them at the end of the day and we said we would pay for his time. So, after spending about 2 hours or more in the concession, where we did see giraffes and other animals, we drove to the south gate of Moremi and entered around 12:30.

Teezer said it had been about a year since he was last in the park. Our eyebrows raised a little on hearing this, but I felt it was at least one more time than me, he added a little sense of comfort by being there, was helpful driving the correct route, and it didn’t cost that much to have him along. Moremi’s roads are quite “natural” – dirt and sand, with ruts here and there, most parts in need of serious grading and speeding never an issue. The CRV would not have been able to handle the conditions we encountered. We hit some very deep and long sand pits, getting stuck once. Luckily, there was someone right behind us and with them pulling us using a towrope, digging out the sand, and me in reverse we came out. Must say it’s a little weird being outside the car in a place where there are lions out and about. The guy, who was from South Africa said they were stuck in mud for 90 minutes the day before, and he walked to a campsite to get help. The park posts advisories saying if you get stuck to stay with your vehicle, as someone will eventually come by. I don’t know if I would walk by myself any great distance out there.

We drove on, pulling over to the side to deflate the tires a little as he had suggested for better traction. They waited for us by going slow, and I tried to drive with a little purpose so we could stay with them in case I managed to get stuck again. We came across some tricky, hazardous areas, but I followed their example and we made it to where we wanted to go. One of the most unnerving situations was crossing what passes for a bridge there. We had to pass two – and seeing someone else do it right before me was a big help! Pictures don’t do it justice. The one we have pictures of isn’t even the worst one! A long, deep pool of water had to be crossed, not too fast, not too slowly, with a 40-degree turn in the middle of it. Then you had to ease up onto the “bridge” while mostly out of the water, and take that very slowly as you hit a rut with a different tire constantly so we were bouncing and shifting all over the place. We checked the time and figured we should head back to get to the south gate before it closes. That meant crossing those two “bridges” again. Not ideal, but I did gain a little confidence by doing it once. Such a relief as we successfully negotiated the first then the second. I was only mildly concerned when we passed the long section of soft, deep sand where we had gotten stuck earlier. This time, I had built up a good head of steam and just kept the pedal down. Also, the guy had told me to always keep it in “High 4”, never use “Low 4”. That would come back to bite me on the ass in a week, but that story comes later. We drove back to Kaziikini, the situation with Teezer being with us all day was explained, and it was arranged for him to be with us all day tomorrow. We went to the restaurant/bar for some cold drinks and discussions about our day with Teezer, Fana, who is the assistant manager, and some other guests. After, we ate some of the groceries we brought with us for dinner, cleaned up, ands retired for the night into our huts. Nothing much to do out in the middle of nowhere, if I’m not mistaken we were lights out at least once between 8 and 9pm! But that made it easier to get up early the next morning.

We had learned that we could buy the entry pass at the gate the previous day, so that’s what we did. Up to this point, we already had seen most everything we were hoping to see, with the exception of a big predator…a big cat. So, we were hounding and pressuring Teezer during the ride on our second day to guarantee us a lion sighting. If we didn’t, he would enjoy a long walk back to his village, we told him. We could hear them in the far distance in the morning, and he spoke with researchers who tracked their movements in the park, so we were hopeful. We even stopped at their research station briefly in the morning before going into Moremi. We did get stuck in soft sand again, but this time we dug a little with our hands, and Teezer and I placed some sticks under the tread to get some traction and we were out with little trouble. Once in Moremi, we would drive a different route. The day before we had to cross 4th and than 3rd bridge, respectively. Today we would have to possibly cross 1st bridge, if we went that far. I was not eager to do so, even with yesterday’s successes. Having spent most of the morning searching for lions in the village’s concession area, we made it to Moremi right around midday. We saw plenty of wildlife in the morning, but still no lion. Saw lion tracks, took pictures of the lion tracks, but not one lion. Even saw a kill from a distance…took pictures of that…but no lion.

Our first witnessing of a predator making a kill was from a most unusual source. Teezer said he knows of no one who has seen one. It was a Secretary Bird fighting, killing, and then tearing a Black Mamba snake to bits to eat it. These snakes are no joke, being 2nd only to the King Cobra as the longest venom snake on the planet. This one looked to be about 5 feet long at least, considering the bird was the average height for a Secretary Bird of 4 feet. Once subdued, the bird took the snake away from where we were parked watching, and joined what was most likely it’s mate, as it shared some of its meal. That was really exciting and interesting to watch. But as we told Teezer, it’s not a lion, so he better warm up his walking shoes! It was about 1 o’clock, we had 5 more hours until the park gates shut for the day. Time was running out. We saw more zebras and giraffes, and then came upon 1st bridge. I did not like the looks of it, and immediately voted “No” regarding crossing it. It was almost 2 now, and we had to start back soon anyway, seeing as how it would take us some time to get to the gate if we made stops along the way. As we sat there and debated, tourists in several trucks came from the other way, driving around the “bridge”, choosing to go through a large water hole. Then a truck with workers went through, exchanging a few pleasantries with Teezer. We turned around and followed them back the way we came. We were quite some distance away from 1st bridge when we came across a group of vehicles that we had passed earlier in the day. They gestured for me to roll down my window, and they asked me if we saw the leopard and cubs up ahead. We said we hadn’t, and asked how they came to believe this was up ahead. They said the people, the ones who had come across the water hole while we watched them had told them. You see, one of the unwritten courtesies of doing safari is to spread the word of sightings to others you come in contact with. Teezer couldn’t believe these 2 vehicles of German tourists traveling together didn’t say anything to us at all about what was literally 3 to 5 minutes down the road from where we were at the water hole and bridge!! And he couldn’t understand why the guys he spoke with in the truck didn’t tell him. So we immediately decided to turn around and go back, as this was our chance to see a big cat and Teezer’s chance to have a ride back to camp! AS we were deciding whether to try the bridge or go in the water, the other vehicles, one being a Mercedes SUV took the bridge route. One was even pulling a trailer. So I was the last to go over the bridge, and while it was bumpy, it would prove to be the easiest crossing of the 3 we would make, as the leopard’s location was right before 2nd bridge, so we wouldn’t have to cross that. Good thing to, because it looked really bad! We went all the way to 2nd bridge, because we were told the location of the leopard was right before 2nd bridge, and we would see quite a few vehicles parked there watching. We saw nothing! We waited and debated, drove back and forth in the area, scanned the area with binoculars and zoom lens…no cat!!! We were bummed, but entertained the thought that we were in the wrong spot. While possible, we didn’t think that the party broke up so quickly. So we drove back the way we came, and right before a small turnoff, in the distance along that turnoffs route we saw a group of cars all parked in the same direction. We made haste and found what we were looking for!! One hour later and 470 exposures later, we were fully satisfied having gorged ourselves on a beautiful leopard and two playful cubs! We were maybe 15 meters (about 50 feet for those metrically challenged) from them. About 6 or so vehicles maintained a watch, two would leave then others would come and join. My knee hit the horn as I sat on the window to shoot over the truck’s roof, and the people in the safari vehicle next to us had a cow. The leopard? She looked over for what was maybe two seconds and then went back to watching her cubs. It was fun observing the behavior of this family for an hour – such great entertainment. The cubs would play, and when they got out of hand she would go over a give a little growl, and if that didn’t settle them down her paw would lay the smack down on them. At one point she went into the brush and came out with the severed head of a Springbok! The cubs played with and chewed on the thing for quite a while, until the two cubs started fighting over it. She got up, took it in her mouth and disappeared into the bush, returning a few seconds later without it. Playtime was over!! If we didn’t have to get to the park gate before 6 we would’ve stayed longer. We passed over the bridge around 4pm, and made our way back the way we came. We got to the gate with a little time to spare and back to the camp well before sundown.

We had to get to our next destination, Discovery Bed and Breakfast near Maun, which was only an hour away. Jen was going to depart for Namibia the next afternoon, so we wanted to be close to the airport. The bill was settled and we left the camp, again, a little later than I would’ve liked, because we got to the B&B after dark. We had no trouble checking in, and decided the next day we would take a plane trip over the delta before Jen flew out a little after 3pm. We drove to Audi Camp where we spent our first night in Botswana six nights earlier, which is only a few kilometers south of our B&B, to have dinner at the restaurant there. After, we drove back to the B&B, not too concerned about driving at night here as it was a paved road and only a few kilometers between places, and went to sleep in our really nice cabins, ready to start fresh tomorrow for another phase of the trip.

The album for this post can be found here: http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?trackingid=BTAGC&galleryid=fdf03f9f1716469b91c83574be06932d&rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 5 (Victoria Falls)

2010-08-31T15:16:00.004+02:00

The plan was to get up early and head to the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe, as I read online that it can take a while crossing the border. The reality was we didn’t get up all that early, and we had a nice, leisurely breakfast. We also took an abbreviated stroll through the lodge’s natural trail that is on their property, starting around 7:30. We thought it was entirely fenced in, and it is, except where the fence has been breached! The elephant droppings we came upon kind of gave us the hint. We became separated as I stopped to take some shots and they kept moving forward. I ended-up back at the lodge, but they were not. I checked the reception, our cabin, and restaurant. I checked with Barbara, who said she hadn’t seen them but they would be okay out there. Finally they returned after perhaps 30 minutes. Muffin-stealing monkeys at breakfast were also a distraction that ate up our morning time. So we didn’t depart from Kubu Lodge when I thought we would or what we all agreed to on the previous evening. We would be back to Kasane in time to do a river cruise in the afternoon, as we didn’t expect it to take a long time to get what we wanted out of the visit to Victoria Falls. That was the plan…

Jen offered to drive the ninety minutes each way, so I became a passenger for the day. She was a little shaky at first, what with the steering wheel being on the right side of the car, but got somewhat more comfortable over time. It was helpful that the CRV was automatic.

The border was very close to Kubu Lodge, as we mistakenly ended up there the night we came in to Kasane. The process takes a little time, as you first visit the immigration window and then customs window. Several different fees have to be paid and information provided. They wanted to know the size of the engine in our CRV for instance, along with some other off-the-wall details regarding the vehicle. I had no idea, said I had no idea, and just threw out some numbers. The guy would say “55?” and I would say “Yep. That’s it!” Passports were stamped and we finally moved on. In-between my periods of usefulness, I covertly made some waist-level images, as I felt they wouldn’t be too happy if I lifted the viewfinder to my eye. Visually, it was a very interesting place, and I wanted to give it a shot at trying to capture what was going on there. I like the results.

We drove into Zimbabwe, luckily using a paved road all the way into Livingstone, which is the area and town around Victoria Falls. It’s funny – you are driving past literally nothing, and then within a few meters these tourist shops and this quasi-civilized area erupts from nowhere. Capitalism is alive and well at Victoria Falls! We follow signs and pull into a small parking area across the street from the entrance area to the falls. A polite man in uniform confirms we can park there. We walk across, pay our entry fee, and study the map displayed on a big wooden board. There are only 2 main paths that make a long loop along the rim of the falls and then back to the entrance gate, so we begin our walk.

It’s a short distance to the first place to stop to view the edge of the falls, so I stop and put my rain sleeves on my cameras and shower caps over my lens. This works well here at the side of the falls. It’s fairly easy to keep droplets off the lens, and the sleeves I’ve been using for a couple of years now to keep the camera bodies dry. As we move around to the front side of the falls, the mist becomes heavier. The bodies aren’t a concern, but keeping the water off the lenses will be tricky. I mean I have to remove the shower caps to make exposures, so timing will be required. The mist isn’t constant here. The air can be calm and dry, providing a pretty clear view of the falls. But then there’s a shift, and rain actually falls UP in front of you – mist being pushed up the side of the cliff from the floor below and then it falls onto you on the other side. It’s a weird sight and sensation to see rain going up in front of you! I was moderately successful keeping the lens dry at the sides, but as I got closer to the middle it was a losing battle. In no time I was soaked through, a spot or two (or 3 or 4) would land onto the glass, but the cameras remained dry. It was constantly “raining” in certain areas. This was the dry season! We were told the falls were at their weakest this time of year, and we may get slightly damp. If that’s their weakest, I can’t image the power, the roar, and the soaking of being where we were when the summer rains swell the river and flow of the falls. It’s got to be incredible! Images capturing the size and depth of the area were impossible to make as mist created a veil that covered much of the falls. I read online that seeing the falls from both sides (Zambia being the other) was ideal, but also read the best view is from Zimbabwe. I also read crime against tourists was common in the area. Given more time and better conditions, I still wouldn’t be too interested in seeing what else was available in the area, as it looked fairly straight forward. Anyway, we reached the apex of the loop, and watched some bungee jumping over the river gorge before heading back on the trail to the entrance. It didn’t take as long to get back as we didn’t stop along the lookout points. We were back at the parking lot and were headed back to the border, having spent a little over two hours at the falls. Of course after the 90-minute drive and dealing with the border, which wasn’t as tedious as traveling in the other direction, we still got back too late in the day for a river cruise due to our late start. So, we decided to just go back into Chobe to see what we could see for the remaining two hours of the day before the park closed around 6pm. The players were pretty much the same, although Radhika spied a Giraffe in the distance that I didn’t get a chance to see before it disappeared into the trees. We went back to our Lodge a few minutes before closing, and prepared for dinner. This was our 3rd and last night at Kubu Lodge, and it was most definitely the nicest place we would stay at during our trip to Botswana. In the morning we would be hitting the road back to Maun to stay two nights at Kaziikini Camp, which is the closest camp to the south gate outside of Moremi Wildlife Preserve. This would require another early departure in the morning. So we did our packing and showering that night before and after dinner.

The next morning we awake at a good time and go for a walk on the nature trail for pre-breakfast exercise around 7:15. We walk the entire trail, something I haven’t done but Jen and Radhika did the morning prior. It takes us about 40 minutes. Breakfast runs us another hour so, as we all become involved with a Yellowbellied Greenbul that's inching it's way to my scrambeld eggs, and it’s now about 9:30. If a bird eats egg, is it a form of cannibalism? It’s after 10am before we are checking out, the CRV is loaded, and two members of the party are jibber jabbering in the reception with Barbara and generally loitering around. It’s pushing 10:30 now, and I say we REALLY have to go. Several times already we found ourselves driving late in the afternoon, trying to reach our destination before sundown. Our next destination is a remote camp, no doubt with very little artificial lighting. I didn’t want to get there after dark (which happens about 6pm or so)! So, we’re on the road back to Nata and then west to Maun. Our schedule looks pretty good in terms of providing us with time, so we decide to drop in on Budget to complain about the CRV not being what we had contracted for, and demand a true 4X4 to be able to navigate the abysmal road/trail conditions of Moremi. We also have to get a pass into the park for the next day, money from the ATM, and some food and water for the next two days as I read online that there was none to be had at the camp. The vehicle exchange took less than an hour I would say, with us getting a Toyota Hilux 4X4. We worked well as a team, splitting up the duties between us to cut the amount of time required to accomplish everything. Even so, with the best-laid plans we had delays. The ATM’s were not cooperating, the grocery shopping was tedious, and the takeout chicken dinner was anything but expedient! But we muddled through and got everything done and had about an hour to drive up Shorobe Road towards Moremi’s south gate where Kaziikini would be found. It’s about 48 kilometers total distance, and at the halfway point there’s a veterinary fence that you have to gain access through and the road turns from paved to dirt. So the last 24 kilometers is slower going. Fortunately for us the road signs provided were good, as nightfall once again provided a little tension as our journey concluded. We arrived at the camp in darkness, using the truck lights in an attempt to discover where we should go. We went along the sandy trail that took us by campsites with names and small huts, but we found no reception or check-in area or building. We returned to the area where we first came in from, and two young gentlemen met us. They said it was late (uh-huh) and reception was closed. Hmmm…it was barely 6:30, and my interpretation of what they were saying was “You can’t stay here”, so I gave my name and said we were staying here over the next two nights, and we had a guide in the morning. They disappeared down a road that had a “Staff Only” sign at the entrance way, and came back with keys to two huts and we followed them down the same dirt road we took earlier as they walked us to our huts as we drove behind them. Small, made of a reed/bamboo type vegetation, they were just enough for us, and our backpacks. Thirty seconds away were the showers and toilets, nice and clean enough as we checked them out after dumping our stuff after eating our chicken dinners that were bought in Maun. We kept the rest of the food locked up in the cab so as not to draw the interest of animals. The night skies were clear finally, after not being able to see the stars due to light pollution or clouds, and it was a tremendous sight! This was my first time seeing the southern hemisphere’s constellations, and what an incredible moment it was for me. I was in total awe – we all were. I can’t express how absolutely plain the night skies in the northern hemisphere are in comparison! The number of stars must be at least two-fold, and the arm of our Milky Way galaxy stretches from horizon to horizon! As chilly as the night was, I decided to take a shower that evening under the stars. The water was lukewarm, at best, but the show above kept my mind off the air temperature and any goose bumps I had could have easily been from the sight above than from the cool water hitting my warm skin. I will NEVER forget the sky on that first night.

The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?trackingid=BTAGC&rlang=en_US&galleryid=598aa22ec09946aab1631c5dfd155751&wf=sharegrid

Africa - Part 4 (Chobe)

2010-08-30T11:22:00.003+02:00

Up early after a good nights sleep, I quietly eased out of the cabin to enjoy the morning. Jen had already ventured out, so Radhika was left to snooze away. The lawn sprinklers were on over various parts of the grounds, and I had to time it just right to make it to the bank of the river without getting irrigated. Didn’t see any guests out and about, but lodge staff were scattered around, doing their duties. Saw nothing of interest in or near the river, so I worked on my timing again to get past the sprinklers. Did well with my timing but poorly on foot placement, as I stepped into a mud hole formed by the sprinkler. Guess it would’ve been smart to tie my shoes too before I slipped out of the cabin in my pj bottoms and t-shirt, because soon I had both socked feet in the mud as I looked back over my shoulder to see my shoes firmly secured deep in the brown muck! I have to pat myself on the back, only because I kept myself from doing something even more asinine, and that was the momentary thought of putting my muddy-socked feet into my new, still clean-on-the-inside Columbia hiking shoes. I balanced on one foot as I peeled the pasty sock off and carefully slid my clean foot inside one shoe. I bent down tying it just enough to keep it securely on, and then pulled the other one from the mud. Think of a sink draining the final measure of water in a whirlpool and the sound it makes, adding a little “pop” at the end for sound effect. And it was so securely in there that my pulling took me down at first more so than pulling out the shoe! Getting it on and quickly tying it, I returned to the cabin where I quickly gave the socks a sink cleaning, hung them to dry, and put on a clean pair and joined everyone for breakfast. A pretty yellow bird was chirping overhead near a platform at the corner of our outdoor location. I took this to mean only one thing – it was hungry and one of the humans down below needs to put something tasty on the platform. There was a family with two young children near this platform, and when I placed a small piece of bread on it, the yellow bird came down immediately and pecked away. The kids especially loved this close up view and sat there in amazement until the bird finished and returned to the tree. A fun start to our day.
The entrance to Chobe is just a few minutes drive, so we were there in no time. Once past the gate, we came upon a turnoff to the right with a sign that indicates the direction for the river route, which is where we wanted to be. It took us perhaps 30 minutes or more to reach the river, because almost immediately we saw Impala, and stopped every few minutes to observe them. But our “show” began in earnest when we reached the river. There’s a track that runs along the river several kilometers in length that you slowly drive, stopping whenever the situation dictates…like watching a group of hippos or giving ground to a frisky male elephant that’s picking up sticks and slinging them with his trunk in your direction. As a matter-of-fact, hippos and a group of crocodiles were the first animals we saw along and in the river. Soon, we were seeing more impala, elephants, baboons, warthogs, zebra, kudu, and many types of birds. All either stayed at or in the river, or made their way to it at some point during the day. But Chobe is known for the highest concentration of elephants in Africa, and that is what we saw. Elephants of all ages, solo, in small groups, and large herds. They are so much more magnificent-looking in the wild than they are in a zoo. Even more so than when we rode on elephants in Nepal during a bush safari looking for rhinos. Warthogs loudly munching vegetation at the waters edge, impala and antelope constantly grazing, hippos mostly dozing along with crocs, and baboons making their way across the watery field to play in the trees and get to the dry ground across our track and into the forest. We slowly drove the length of the trail, and at the end it seemed to me to be a dead-end…you just turn around and go back in the same direction. There were a couple of turn-offs along the way that lead you into the park, away from the riverbank. We took one of them as we double-backed, and it took us through sandy areas and a scrub forest before we came upon a sign that indicated a right turn would take us onto something called the “upper route”. Jen, with her adventurous spirit was very keen on taking this, but I was skeptical, as none of us knew where this would lead us. After a brief discussion, I said we would drive on it for a little while, seeing where it takes us. Well, a little while turned into a couple of hours, and as more minutes passed without signs or any indication of where we were headed, nervous tension began to permeate the vehicle. We had a map of Chobe, but no trail was marked as “upper route”. There was no cell phone coverage. No GPS. We hadn’t come upon or been passed by another vehicle since taking this route. Not one sign was passed that indicated a destination, the length of the route, or where we were. It had become late afternoon. I was (and possibly not alone in this) thinking we might be sleeping in the CRV tonight somewhere in this wilderness. Minutes dragged on as we continued to pass only unremarkable terrain and large piles of elephant droppings. No signs to direct us still. No signs of anyone else out there with us. We were hoping to be led back to the riverbank, and every so often became hopeful, as the terrain seemed to be changing back to what was found near the river. But those hopes were dashed and the scrub forest went on and on. Cell phones were frequently checked for signal, maps were being passed back and forth, and then silence would fill the CRV for a while as I just drove slowly on. I glanced at the time on the dashboard often. We came to an intersection where there was deep sand, and it was decided that we would make a left. But the sand was too soft from the side we were on and I did not want to cut the wheel and bury the front tires, so I went straight through. I hoped I could find, from the other side, a way to gain some speed along the safest path to avoid getting stuck. The path straight looked very overgrown, with vegetation so close on either side it was impossible to pass without the constant scratching of branches on the sides of the CRV. I stopped and managed to turn around, and now made what was a right turn, getting through the soft sand. On we went, hoping we were headed in a direction that would soon reward us with a road sign or any sign of human life! Fading light and gas level added to our concerns as we made our way. But almost out of nowhere, we drove up a small hill and on the other side was a paved road!! Everything that was puckered-up from tension in that car was released in unison! A couple of cars went by, and just up the road there looked to be some kind of checkpoint, so we pulled up and asked someone if Kasane was in the direction we were traveling. It was, indeed! We had no idea where we were, but so glad to be out of our “lost” situation. When a policeman at the checkpoint asked if we had seen the lion with it’s kill along the side of the road back from the direction he thought we had come (he obviously didn’t see us emerge from the forest), we didn’t flinch from our desire to get to Kasane, fill the tank with gas, and just go back to our lodge. We were going to Victoria Falls the next morning, and had enough adventure today. The excitement of dinner, a shower, and sleep was all that I was looking forward to, to end this day. The album for this post can be found at:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?wf=sharegrid&galleryid=e3c6b6809fae4764865f22da26354c38&rlang=en_US&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 3 (Maun to Kasane)

2010-08-27T09:33:00.001+02:00

It’s our first morning in Botswana, and we’re to pick up our 4X4 and drive the trail through the parks for 6 hours to arrive in the northeastern town of Kasane, where we will spend 3 nights visiting Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls 90 minutes across the border into Zimbabwe. At least…that’s the plan.
We are dropped off at the airport with our baggage to pickup our 4X4 rental, a Nissan X-trail recommended to me by Auto Europe, who I contracted with online. They in turn subcontracted with Budget, so that’s where we headed. Instead of the X-trail, Marcus had a Honda CRV that he vouched would handle the park terrain that we would encounter. He said it had just been in the parks for the past few days by the previous renter. I was slightly skeptical, but reasoning that this man had more knowledge of the area than I, was okay with it. I thought the vehicle had “on demand” 4 wheel drive, as I saw nothing from the driver’s seat that indicated manual engagement for 4 wheel drive operation (No, I didn’t bothered to look underneath). So, we load up and drive to what the map says is the office where we get permits to drive through the parks. We stop at what we think is the area where we will find the office. Radhika gets out and walks around – I wait a bit but then get out and walk in the direction she did. Finding her, we determine there’s no office here. Someone we ask says it’s further down the road, so we load up and drive on, stopping at the next location the office won’t be at! The building looks empty and is being painted and worked on. I walk around but don’t see anything close to what we are looking for. A rudimentary cardboard sign half torn off is stuck on the fence around the perimeter, indicating the office has moved. Ugh! Meanwhile…tick, tick, tick…the day is advancing and it’s now 11am. A woman sits in an official-looking jeep not far from us, so I ask her about the park office we are trying to find. She tells us where it is – luckily it’s not too far. From her clothing, paperwork, what looks like animal traps, and tools, I make out that she’s a researcher of some type. She looks at the CRV and doesn’t convey a lot of confidence – kind of like “You’re gonna take THAT into the park”? Uh-oh moment number one. We make it to the park office, where there are others getting served, as well. We tell them what we want and that we’re driving through the parks to Kasane. “It’s too late for that”. Uh-oh moment number two. “What do you mean too late”, I ask, “I understand it takes 6 hours to go from here to Kasane through the parks”. Again I hear, “It’s too late. Do you have a place to stay inside the park”? Uh-oh moment number three. “No. We have reservations for tonight in Kasane.” We’re told we need proof we are staying inside the park to enter the park. Uh-oh moment number four. Looks like we’ll have to lose our first $300 night for the lodge in Kasane and stay in the park tonight. I’m not a big fan of this idea, but Jen seemed to feel strongly about not going the alternate route, which involved a 6-hour drive on paved roads east from Maun to Nata for 3 hours and then another 3 hours north on a paved road to Kasane. So, we ask if we can get a place in the park. “Probably not at this late notice”. Uh-oh moment number five. Can you check for availability at any of the locations that would be along our route? “No”. We were told we have to drive to another place to get a place to stay. Oh, and this park office closes at 12:45, so you have a little over an hour. Jen asks if they can place a call to them to see if they have availability. “No”. Uh-oh moments 6 thru 8!!!!! By now I am irritated. All the pre-trip work and information I did to make it easier seemed to be a waste of time. It wasted my time as I was doing it and wasting even more valuable time now that we were in the moment. As we were dealing with the questions in the park office, I asked a fairly dirty-looking young guy who was with a group of tourists if he had been in the park. He said he had, and they had been in Savuti recently, which is about halfway to Kasane. He said Savuti is very sandy and tough going, doubted the 6-hour drive time, and asked what we were driving in. I pointed out the window to the CRV, and his expression was much like the female researcher, and may have even said something along the lines of “Yeah, I wouldn’t try taking that in there”. SHIT!!! I’m sick of uh-oh moments! WTF! One of the ladies from the park office looks out the window – imagine the expression of someone looking across a bottomless chasm that’s 8 feet 4 inches wide and they need to jump across that to get away from a man-eating lion, but knowing their best long jump EVER was a wind-aided 8 feet 3 inches. That’s what we kept seeing when we told anyone we were driving that CRV into Moremi. The “Yeah…right…sure you are” look. So, we go to this place to look into a place to stay inside. There’s a guy already inside ranting and raving about the backwards procedures that they are making him follow, and that they won’t take his Euros but gladly accept the lowly American dollar. I agreed with him, but man he was about to pop a vein! Why these departments were not in the same office space, or at least in the same building is a puzzle. So, we find out there’s space in one of the camps. Momentary joy, until I say, “Wait a minute. Is this a tent, lodge, or just a site where we have to provide everything”? Yep, our last uh-oh minute because from that point on I just wanted to hop in the CRV and drive the 6 hours to Kasane across the paved roads. We could still stay on schedule, but we had to leave soon because driving at night was not something I looked forward having to do! We scrambled back to the park office before it closed, getting Chobe Park tickets for the next day. A couple of stops for maps and drinks, a missed turn that quickly turned into a dirt road, a correction, and then we were finally on our way around 1pm.
It was actually nice getting on the relatively smooth road and driving. There were some things of interest along the way, villages, a couple of pissed-off ostriches, weird birds that didn’t quite get out of the way of the vehicles all the time, but mostly it was scrub and construction. Not even much vehicle traffic. The steering wheel being on the right side and driving on the left doesn’t bother me anymore, even with stick. We stopped in Nata for gas, which is ridiculously cheap in Botswana. If the US was still charging that low for gas everyone would still have their Hummers and guzzling SUV’s (remember those?). A drink, snack, and stretch and we were back on the road.
The sun was hanging low, light getting dim, and we weren’t in Kasane. You have to picture a road, and on either side no fence or barrier. We were seeing wart hogs here and there, and who knows what else was out there. During one stretch there was one to two foot tall grass right up to the asphalt edge. Anything could come zipping out and either be road kill or cause us problems. I was not willing to alter the path of the vehicle too dramatically to avoid hitting anything smaller than a medium-sized dog. I figured I would have enough warning with an elephant, zebra, and the like. I did moderately steer around a small antelope that luckily froze in its tracks on the road. I can’t recall if I steered in front or behind it. I just know I didn’t steer over it. Radhika freaked a little when the headlights illuminated it, but breathed a sigh of relief, as I did, when we successfully passed it. After that, I dropped my speed down a bit, as I was sure we were pretty close to Kubu Lodge. Of course we ended up at the Botswana-Zimbabwe border, making a u-turn realizing we were off course. It didn’t take too long to find our bearings and arrive safely at our destination. What a great feeling of relief. Our place was nice, the dinner fantastic, and the shower and bed felt so good. A day of unpleasant, unplanned for adventure, had finally come to a close. Tomorrow, the planned adventure of Chobe National Park will be the order of the day.

Africa - Part 2 (Johannesburg)

2010-08-26T10:22:00.001+02:00

We left Amsterdam in the evening, taking the bus from Leidseplein to the airport. Of course the stop was closed at Leidseplein and temporarily moved to Overtoom, so we missed the first bus but caught the following one. It’s not uncommon or unexpected to have a “hitch” in the beginning of our trip. Jennifer was already there waiting for us. A little background – Jennifer is my second cousin who has been teaching in Amsterdam at one of the international schools for several years. One of my cousins in California told me about her being here and we met for the first time a little over a year ago. I know, small world! Anyway, we had a connection in Paris, and our flight was roughly 30% full. That allowed each of us to stretch out in the middle aisle across four seats for the long-haul portion of the journey, and grab some sleep overnight. It was one week after the World Cup final, and people were leaving Johannesburg en masse, but the numbers going were far fewer. We lucked out. This double-decker monster was practically all ours. Jennifer said she didn’t sleep much, but I was out most of the time and Radhika said she managed some shut-eye too, which is rare for her.
We landed mid-morning of the 22nd, and Nicky from Chamonix Guest Lodge was there to meet us. I always get a kick when I see my name on a sign being held at receiving once we leave customs. I even have a few tucked away somewhere. I know – such a child. Anyway, after exchanging some Euros for Rands, we made our way to the van and Nicky drove us to the lodge where we were staying. It was near the airport, as we had no plans to explore the city or area, having booked a flight out the next morning for Botswana. The place is very nice, beyond my expectations! I have learned to be optimistically cautious regarding what is viewed on my screen and what lies before me when standing there at the location. What was striking when we pulled up was the cinderblock wall that surrounded our lodge and all of the other properties in the area. On top of each wall was barbed wire, razor wire, electrified wire, or a random combination. This was curious, as we had never seen this type of “protection” before to such great lengths outside a prison. We were told it is because of “corruption”. That choice of word was puzzling. We would see this again later, and hear different reasoning. We did get settled, cleaned up a little, and then Nicky took us into Johannesburg. We went to the top of the tallest building on the continent for the view. Afterwards, Nicky went back to the lodge, leaving us to wander around and grab a bite, picking us up later that evening. The city wasn’t too inviting. A little rugged – raw. Some old buildings and churches amongst the newer construction. Fires in 50-gallon drums on dark streets keeping people warm on this chilly night. The people seemed mostly friendly. I can’t say the city and I connected, but I’m going by only a few hours. No burning desire to return. So, Radhika and Jen had some alcohol-enhanced convo at dinner, and I soberly listened. Can anyone explain to me the benefits of combining too much alcohol with anything, or where enhancement is the result? Okay, maybe parties. I’ll give you that one. We all know driving a car isn’t a bright idea. Sex and alcohol? - if you want to fumble and slobber your way through it. I’ve seen intelligent people try to hold conversations after imbibing a tad too much. It just doesn’t work. Anyway, I digress. The next morning we ate our breakfast, took our showers, settled the bill, and headed back to the airport for the flight to Botswana. I did take pictures during this period. Funny thing – I can’t find them anywhere! I have never “lost” image files before. I vaguely remember downloading a card to my Mac in the room at Chamonix, but so far I have turned up not a one. Damn! Just figured it out. I used Radhika’s Panasonic point and shoot while we were in Johannesburg. Whew. Thought maybe I had one too many beers somewhere along the way and deleted files. What I actually downloaded at the lodge were Radhika’s files from her camera. Never mind. So now I can put some images in an album for this post. Not much, but it’s what I came away with. Click on the “link to albums” found at upper right, and when you get to the site find and choose the Johannesburg album and run a slide show. I’ll have an album of images for each post from here on out. The address for the album is http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?rlang=en_US&galleryid=01aefb7f75c64a3eb29782c0b5be34bb&wf=sharegrid&trackingid=BTAGC

Africa - Part 1

2010-08-24T10:16:00.002+02:00

As many of you know, we took a trip to southern Africa over a 23 day period spanning July and August. I can say the planning rivaled the China trip we took 3 years ago in terms of difficulty! Actually, it was more difficult in several respects. One was booking places to stay. Hotel, lodge, guesthouse, bed and breakfast - it didn't matter. You had to make sure your schedule was set and wouldn't change, because there are no refunds. You cannot "reserve" accommodation at most places. Some allow for 24 hours, but after that you have to make payment or lose it. So, our schedule had to be set first, then our flights which there were 4 of within Africa, before I could commit to the places we would stay overnight. Another problem was logistics - driving from one place to another. What were the road conditions? How long does it really take? We did no driving ourselves in China, but that was not possible in Botswana, Namibia, or even South Africa due to the places we were visiting. Public transportation is not an option. Can't take a bus into Chobe National Park nor a ferry across the Okavango Delta! The trip was centered around my 2nd cousin Jennifer's week-long stint in Namibia where she was doing field work for her degree, and her return from the US before the Africa trip and her return to work teaching at the ISA in Amsterdam. We knew the beginning and ending dates, as well as where she needed to be between August 1st and the 9th. Everything else was built around this information.

So I sent requests for information from the tourist agencies of the countries we would visit. Namibia sent useful information quite quickly, but what Botswana sent was very lacking and came late. It was virtually of no use. The local sources in Amsterdam had limited information and it was all in Dutch, as well. The internet was my main source for information and tool for booking. Days and days were spent researching where to go, when to go, how to get there. I spoke to friends who had gone to Africa. Jyoti and Rajat in India had a great trip to the continent several years ago, but it turns out they went to central eastern countries, so I couldn't use their information. Right here in Amsterdam Brad and Natalia went just last year, but they went mainly east once they hit Johannesburg. I was able to use the agency they did for our time in Cape Town. Ultimately that wasn't as smooth as I had hoped for. More about that later. Justina, a friend in Amsterdam, had visited the areas we were scoping out, but it was so long ago that her memory was weak and probably so much had changed anyway. So I was basically starting from scratch.

Research, blogs, trip advisor, Google - site to site gathering and recording information day after day. Three weeks and a couple of days may sound like a lot of time fro a holiday, but there's no such thing as "enough" time for 99% of the places we have visited. Once I had a comprehensive list of places to visit, the hard task of editing that list down began. Of course many of those places that were removed from the list during the editing process due to time limitations were mentioned later once we were in the area by locals or other visitors who said you "can't miss" it. Well, we're just going to have to "miss it" as there's not enough time in 23 days to see everything you want in places such as these. Many articles I read indicated a need to book places a year in advance due to popularity and scarcity. Once I got into the "meat" of planning this adventure, I barely had a month. As a matter-of-fact, one flight (between Cape Town and Johannesburg on the back end of the trip), the last detail of the entire journey, was finalized AFTER we landed in Johannesburg! I had a hell of a time booking 4X4's. Reply after reply came back from my inquiry indicating "sold out". The 4X4 we initially had in Botswana from Budget wasn't even a 4X4, though I was told it was!! We drove a Honda CRV for 3 1/2 days before turning it in and getting a Toyota Hilux. That CRV would NEVER have handled the sand and water we would later encounter in Moremi Wildlife Game Reserve!! Namibia was the same - out of the dozen or more car hire companies I contacted only 2 came back with one vehicle left. It didn't help that we were going during their high season, so rooms and vehicles were hot property. Responses for many came slow because many don't have internet access on their premises, or services were down for 5 days I was told in one case. So I played the waiting game a couple of times trying to get the place to stay that I favored over others. Once I committed to my second choice when time was getting short only to have the first choice respond several days later when it was too late. Suffice to say it was a lot of work, many details, a little tense at times trying to make the right decision for everyone, keeping the budget low while providing nice places to stay, and keeping unpleasant surprises from ruining the experience. It's good to know that some places had no grocery stores, or that gas stations are spotty, at best, and in Namibia they only accept "gas cards" or cash. ATM's? Apparently Visa IS NOT everywhere you want to be! ATM's love the taste of plastic in Namibia. You need to go to several places in Maun to get access to Chobe or Moremi. You are told you cannot buy a pass at the gate - and then you get to the gate after jumping through hoops of fire earlier to buy passes and they tell you "Sure, you can buy passes here at the gate." WTF?!?!?!?!!!! You had to keep telling yourself "It's a developing country...relax".

So as you can tell, as much as I tried we still had surprises in store for us. Like reading time and again online that it takes 6 hours to drive through the parks (Moremi and Chobe) to go between Maun and Kasane. In reality, it's a 24 hour ordeal. Details about this later, too. I just wanted to drop a little info on the planning process. The three of us met at least twice to discuss the trip beforehand. The first time we pulled the trigger and Jen bought our round trip tickets, as the price for them was just getting higher. I'll start on the actual trip in the next post. But know that this was a trip for all trips! More different than any other trip we have ever taken in many ways. I will include an album of images that cover the area I talk about in the post. None for the planning stages (could've taken a pic of me sitting at the laptop, but really, who wants to see that?). Africa was terrific in so many ways. Not a trip for the pampered. You're going to get a little dirt under the fingernails. You have to be okay with that. You may get a little cold for a while, and sweat the next day. May get a bug bite, sleep on an uncomfortable mattress. But the experience will blow you away.

No Birds In Belgium

2010-05-03T14:45:00.003+02:00

So I was back in Amsterdam several weeks - getting back into the flow of things. Taught a few workshops, spent a few days at the ACCESS office, and the brutal winter weather was actually losing it's grip and allowed a couple of 60 degree days in late March. Even the Dutch men and women were breaking out their white pants that they seem to love to wear as often as they can get away with! Seriously - sometimes it looks like the streets are full of ice cream vendors.

We plan a trip to Riems, France - the heart of Champagne country, over a long weekend, and friends Elena and Justina would join us. We had not visited the area, so we all looked forward to the 4 1/2 hour drive. We hit the usual traffic on our way out of Amsterdam and passing through Brussels, but otherwise the ride was uneventful. Our hotel was quite difficult to find, as the city is installing tram lines down the streets and so construction and detours are everywhere! TomTom was confused, stress was building in the car, and night was falling. The crisis was over when we managed to follow the alternate route that got us to our destination. The hotel was clean, comfortable, and convenient. We unloaded our bags and went out to the walking street that's 5 minutes from the hotel's location. We picked an Irish Pub and with the conditions outdoors being drizzly and chilly, decided we would get some rest and get a fresh start tomorrow assaulting the champagne houses and tours.

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and hit the streets bright and early between 11 and high noon. This version of "bright and early" is not mine. If a champagne glass wasn't approaching the front of their heads and pillow was supporting the back of it. I had three semi-hibernating, auto-narcoleptic females in this party. An area map is acquired from the front desk staff, and the ladies design a "shock and awe" strategy where champagne will be consumed and the area depleted before Pierre even knows what hit him! I swear I saw them just walk by stacks of champagne and the sweet fluid somehow mysteriously evaporated from corked bottles!! We went to several champagne houses in the area, taking tours and doing some tasting. I enjoyed the first two, but when I discovered that each place makes their champagne pretty much the same way...yeah...I'm done.

The next day, we drove to where the Moet et Chandon and Dom Perignon houses are. Quite impressive as you would expect. We took the tours and drank the champagne, and had a leisurely morning of it. We left around France bound for Amsterdam around 2pm, driving through some beautiful countryside. It started out as a typical drive, with me behind the wheel and everyone else dozing. We were passing through Belgium when Elena eased out of her coma in the backseat. I'm passing someone on their left, checking the mirrors to make sure it is clear. There was no one visible in the far left lane as far as I could see. I get over and as I am even with the car I am passing I glance into my rearview and there is a car right on my bumper with what appears to be 2 "skinhead-looking" types in the car. I speed up even more to create space and move over, and they remain attached to my back bumper. Now you must know that this type of behavior really pisses me off. Usually, I try to stay cool, knowing that I don't benefit by losing my temper. And this time, I kind of compromised with myself. I just presented the bird using my left hand as I continued to drive and look straight ahead. The passing car went past and that was that...or so I thought. Perhaps 5 or 10 minutes later this SAME CAR was somehow behind me again! - Almost in the backseat with Elena who was witnessing all of this with me, and a still snoozing Justina. They stayed on my bumper for quite some time, and then moved to my left. I didn't acknowledge them, but then they started drifting into me, getting just inches away from us as we were traveling 120kph up the motorway. They would pull a little ahead and then drift back to be equal to us. I looked over, and the passenger was making a gesture and I had no idea what his deal was. They pulled a little ahead again, and the passenger was pointing to his shoulder. By now all the hibernating in the car came to a stop, and nerves were getting a little shaky. The car pulls directly in front of me and then this sign lights up in their back window indicating "Police". Cool - - Belgian cops. This should be interesting. We follow them off to the side of the motorway, and the passenger gets out and shows his finger to me and asks "What's this?" in an agitated voice. Of course I respond "Your finger". "What does this mean?", he almost yells. "You know what it means", I reply. Both Radhika and I explain my reaction to the dangerous driving by what we determined was a civilian driver. I told him I would not knowingly give the finger to a law enforcement official. We went back and forth for a minute or two. I was asked to take (my first ever!) an alcohol breath test. Took me 3 or 4 times to use enough force to get the thing to register. By now, the passenger had calmed down and was talking to me in normal tones. The driver of the car had been dealing with another car that was pulled to the side, and once that business was finished, he came over and started a rant that was much worse than the first. He said he would take the car and leave us on the side of the road. He wanted €300 on the spot, and the matter was not open for discussion. He was "the authority". Of course I had to fight a smirk because Cartman from Southpark came into my head - "You will respect muh author-i-tay!" I pretended to look into my wallet and said we didn't have €300 in cash. He said something about taking a card, but when Radhika handed him her Mastercard, he said he couldn't take that. So, he rants and raves some more, with us telling him that we had no way of knowing they were law enforcement, with him interrupting to remind us "There's no discussion." I was being advised to apologise and pay the €300, but after being told we had broken no laws by the one cop, but the other telling us it was against the law to show your middle finger or other disrespect, I felt it was a shakedown to a degree. The other part was the driver took my gesture very personally, and being a cop I got the vibe he believed he was due ultimate respect. We were told to follow them as they went back to their car. We drove south and ended up in a small town in the parking lot of a convenience store apparently near an ATM. Radhika got out to discuss the matter with them. I believe the passenger, who appeared older than the driver, spoke some sense in the driver, who seemed at times to be quite close to a meltdown. Anyway, the discussion went on for several minutes, with Radhika being shown in some official looking booklet where the law was stated that the finger is forbidden. The pow-wow eventually broke up, apparently on a promise that I/we won't use that gesture again. And you know, that seems like a wise idea. I know...there are doubters out there. But, I know that giving the finger has NEVER made any situation better. There's no point to it as far as I am considered. It's an emotional response that I don't need to make. So, that is my newest shift. Controlling the irritation I get sometimes when behind the wheel.

Of course the true end to the story above was the email I sent to the Belgian authorities. I made a promise to wait 3 days before I did anything regarding this episode - and I did. Three days and a couple of hours after, I relayed the story to the proper authorities, who followed up with several questions and now they are investigating the incident. My concern was the reckless behavior of the driver, where the effort was way over the top for the offense committed. Property damage, injury, or death could've resulted by his dangerous driving, and for what? Because there's a law on the books stating "No Birds In Belgium"!

My US Visit - Part 3

2010-05-01T16:21:00.002+02:00

I fly into Newark, with Dolly and John picking me up on their way to Edison where we'll stay long enough to drop off most of my luggage. Once again, it was a tedious exercise to make sure I didn't go over the weight limit and subject myself to airport hassles while packing in Orlando. I had to make sure I left enough room and weight to carry some of Mom's great Indian food back to A'dam. I weighed one package of what she usually makes and I take back with me. She freezes them and they arrive mostly frozen in Amsterdam from being in the cargo hold. Anyway, we hit the road to Lake George in upstate NY for 3 days of skiing and relaxation. Where we were staying was quite nice, and provided a pleasant drive to the ski area the next day. Conditions were good until late in the day when it got a little icy. But the sun was out for most of the day and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Mom got a little bored, I think. Skiing is NOT one of the many things she has wanted to try in the last couple of years (like parasailing, NASCAR races, visiting Paris, etc.). I did pretty well for my skill level. My wipe outs came later in the day as I tried to increase my speed and the icy conditions became worse. Did get dropped what seemed like 10 feet but was probably more closer to 5 when my pants "stuck" to the lift seat and I couldn't get off in time - so square on my ass I landed. I scrambled to my feet as I can't stand when the lift is stopped for me! The second time off the same lift I had trouble again, but this time I only came off backwards but managed to stay upright and turned myself around. That was the worst of the day for me. My brother-in-law is a very good skier. His friends Ed and Loretta came up from NY on the same day with their 2 kids, and he (JK) skied with them in the afternoon after he and I skied a little together in the morning. Mom stayed in the lodge for the most part, working on a gift she was knitting for someone. We walked around the town, attended a fair they were holding (much of it on a frozen lake!), drove around the area a little, dined out together with Ed and Loretta, spent time at the hotel indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna, and listened to some live music by a mediocre band. After 3 days, we headed back to NJ where John (brother-in-law/JK) and I worked on Mom's water-damaged dry wall. We didn't get it finished before I had to leave, but NJ suffered a period of rain after I left, and more damage was done. Seems that leak in the roof was NOT fixed! Anyway, I figured how much of Mom's cooking I could take back. I packed everything and took the train to the airport and was bound for A'dam, where Radhika picked me up. On the day I arrived, I had a meeting with an ACCESS board member in The Hague and conducted a workshop 3 days later. No time for jet lag!

My US Visit - Part II

2010-04-23T19:26:00.002+02:00

So it's back to being solo at the hacienda, with everyone back in Amsterdam, Oklahoma, Tallahassee, or NY. My sights became set on finding someone wanting to rent the upstairs part of the house. Someone mentioned Craig's List. I thought that website was for buying and selling stuff, but I learned that you can advertise for roommates and such, as well. So, I posted an ad and got 4 immediate hits. I guess it was lucky #4, as the first 3 didn't work out. I met Wes, who had been living in Daytona Beach, but wanted to come to Orlando as he was finishing up is Masters soon in Business Entertainment and wants to work at Disney or Universal. Into his 30's, he seemed like the mature person we would want. Everything seemed to fall into place, and finding someone we were cool with wasn't as difficult as we expected it to be. He moved in while I still had several weeks remaining on my visit which was good. It gave me time to get comfortable with him being there, and allowed us to go over operating the pool and other household details.

I went up to Tallahassee to visit Helen and Lee a couple of weeks after they had come down to Orlando and Tampa. Ahhhhh Tallahassee...the necks get redder and redder with each visit. But we had a good time up there. Saw some movies and had some surprisingly good Mexican food in Woodville, of all places. Think Hooterville - minus the hooters! Well...that doesn't work very well, does it? Let me just say that Woodville is VERY small, with more Confederate flags per capita than the stars and stripes. I went out shooting in the area one afternoon, and Lee came along and assisted me, doing reflector duty on several shots. Helen tried her hand at making dosa's, a south Indian dish consisting of a crepe filled with potatoes, sometimes cheese, and various spices. She did pretty good. The crepes are always the tricky part.

So back in Orlando, Wes moves his stuff in after a week or so. He doesn't have nearly the amount of stuff that our previous renter had! That makes it easier for everyone. I borrow some video equipment from the photo department at (formerly) DBCC and commence to transferring VHS tapes to DVD. Man, some of that stuff goes back to '66!! Junior and senior high band performances, basketball games, piano recitals, family holidays...haven't seen some of that stuff in a long while. Would be fun to share some of the school stuff with old classmates. I'll try to get around to that sometime soon. Anyway, this is a laborious process! Now I see why businesses charge what they do. The tough ones were the early ones, where all kinds of different stuff is on the VHS tape. It's easier in the long run to stop and start when the subject matter changes, as it makes it easier to find in the future. But it is a drag and I'm glad that is behind me! I also visited some friends from far in the past that were seen for the first time in 30 years at last years high school reunion. Had lunch with Scott, who goes back to my first grade class in 66-67. Also saw him at a car show/rally in Orlando when Helen and Lee came back down from Tallahassee a week or so before I returned to Amsterdam. Another lunch with Mike, someone I first knew from 4th grade in Mrs. Elliot's class at Holly Hill Elementary. We also became reacquainted right after high school when I was in and out of a group of guys that started hanging out late into the evenings. He had never had Indian cuisine before, so I took him to Kohinoor in Altamonte Springs. He loved it, especially the butter chicken. And Susan and I were in the high school band. We had lunch one day in Daytona, and when Helen came down to Orlando, we all went to lunch on a Sunday in Port Orange. It was good conversation and some laughs catching up with people that I had either a remote or direct connection to. Look forward to seeing them on occasion on my trips back.

I got everything I wanted done with the exception of the lawn mower. Kind of overlooked that. Played a lot of tennis until my elbow became sore (not tennis elbow, however), Carla cut my hair (as usual), saw Karin and Bill's twin sons, Joe and Alexis in Daytona - visited with so many friends - kinda forget how many until I stop to think about it. A good stay in Florida, for sure. Now I was off to NJ/NY!

My US Visit

2010-04-20T20:17:00.002+02:00

Well, it's taken me a while but better late than never. I was in the US from December 9th to February 24th, and my timing couldn't have been better. While I was away, Amsterdam had the worst winter on record during the past 30 years. Record low temperatures and snowfall started almost from the time I left. Now central Florida didn't exactly have a mild winter either, but compared to what was experienced in Amsterdam and other parts of the world, I'll take what I had in Orlando! As a matter-of-fact, the first 2 weeks were beautiful, with sunshine and warmth creating great times on the tennis court.
It was a little strange at first being home. Marc, who was renting part of the house since January 2008 had moved out in July, so the house was empty. I figured this was a good time to clean it and do some repairs. The fridge was empty, so let's tilt that over slightly and vacuum the coils and all that under there. Cleaning only the front intake area since it was purchased in '94 left many mondo-dust bunnies packed around every nook and cranny. It took a very long time and many different angles to clean. Top to bottom I cleaned for days. The car started up fine this time, so I wasn't stranded like I was last summer. I made a promise I wouldn't shop at Sam's, and it made sense that I didn't to avoid surplus food when I left. I immediately started to think about how to go about finding another person or persons to rent part of the house to. This was THE major task that had to be done while I was back. I also had things to buy to take back, clear out the garage, transfer VHS tapes to DVD, and planned to visit with family and friends.
Radhika arrived a little over a week after I came in, and worked from the Orlando office, actually occupying her same Trustreet/GE office she had before leaving in '07 for Amsterdam. We visited with friends and she got to hang a little with her "girlie-girl posse". A few days before Christmas, her Mom and my sister and nephew arrived from New Jersey and Tallahassee, respectively. We drove over to Tampa where we met up with her oldest sister Dolly and Dolly's husband, John, her other sister Poonam, husband Umesh and their boys Akshay and Abishek, and John's Mom Joanne and step-brother, Brian. We had a fun 3 1/2 days playing volleyball and ping pong, pool lounging, eating and drinking, and sailing the seas on a pirate ship. Those pictures are in an album when you clink on the link to the right. On the 26th, John and Dolly went on a short cruise, Joanne and Brian visited with friends they knew in Florida, and the rest of us went back to Orlando. Helen and Lee went back to Tallahassee, and Poonam and her family came over to Orlando from Tampa. Before everyones departure on New Years Day, there were visits to Kennedy Space Center, Gatorland, and Universal Studios. Everyone had a good time. It had been 5 years since everyone had been together at once. Dolly's plan came together nicely. But it was an adjustment for me to be back in an empty, quiet house. I continued my tasks and then got an email from Dolly and John that they were coming back from their cruise in the early morning and their flight out of Tampa wasn't until early evening. So I drove over and met them at the port of Tampa. We hung out in Ybor City, had a nice lunch, did a little shopping, and then I took them to the airport. It was a nice, sunny day for them to conclude their holiday and head back to endure the rest of an icy cold winter in New York. Again I required another adjustment back to the quiet of the house void of anyone but myself. But that was about to change. Part 2 will follow.

New Year

2010-02-25T17:44:00.003+01:00

Greetings! Hope everyone is doing well in 2010. Yesterday I completed a 2 1/2 month visit in the US that was varied as it was long, and it couldn't have come at a better time considering the wickedly brutal winter weather Amsterdam experienced while I was gone. Mind you Orlando wasn't a tropical paradise during this period either, but it was substantially better than sub-freezing days and nights strung together endlessly, icy sidewalks and streets, and more snowfall than they have seen in decades. Two days before my return on the 24th they finally broke into the 40's (5 degrees c)!! By the weekend we're creeping close to 50 before another dip in the temperature hits. No, I haven't seen the sun since returning. But, that could be because I slept 10 hours (to noon today) after being awake for 38 hours straight. I got to the apartment around 11 after my arrival was delayed, placed 40 of Mom's (Radhika's Mom) precious homemade paratha's in the freezer, unpacked, fell on the bed for 10 minutes before I was picked up to go to a board meeting in The Hague about an hour away. Came back to Amsterdam around 6, where I was met at the door by our new maid and Radhika preparing for her Dutch language tutor and the other 3 students who share in the class that takes place at our apartment. I finished unpacking and ate after class was over and watched some TV to relax. Fell asleep I was so relaxed, but could not duplicate that feat again until around 2am.
Today I spent organizing and finalizing the two workshops that I will conduct this Sunday and on the 21st of March. I also scheduled a meeting for the commercial shoot I will be doing soon with the tour boat company. I will be back at ACCESS soon, as the board member I was butting heads with before I left has been asked to leave and has done so. They are deciding on compensation for the editors of the magazine too, so hopefully I will be back at that soon. I will be making some photography trips of several days soon to areas close by to continue building my portfolio, and also want to set up some other commercial flavored settings with local models to bolster my book, as well. Also following the path suggested by one of my professors that I talked to on one of my trips to Daytona Beach, getting work with US based magazines and clients. So, being busy in the coming weeks and months should be good. I will keep this up as often as possible. My next entry in the coming days will cover my trip to the US, and everything that happened along with pictures. Until then....

Last 2009 Post

2009-11-25T14:26:00.002+01:00

It's been 2 months since my last update. The weather that I said was so pleasant back in September now has the usual wintry menu: big dark gray skies (making noon feel like early evening), with blustery chilly winds and moderate helpings of rain on the side.
Made some really nice wedding photos back on the 6th for my second Dutch ceremony (see website or Facebook album) and have a marketing shoot coming up before our visit to the US if the client wraps up their end in time. Did the cover graphic design for the Magazine issue that comes out soon, and one of my Alkmaar images will grace the spring cover next March. Interviewed the British Consul for a profile of him, and writing the last of 2 articles for the spring issue from my pen (okay, Mac). The ACCESS calendar is coming out soon, and supposed to contain several of my images that I submitted to the Editor in Chief, who said they were "brilliant" and asked if they were all mine. Hmmmm, sounded like he couldn't connect something he thought had merit, and yours truly. Bummer. Anyway, after deciding not to say I plagiarized them all, I did indeed take responsibility for them all. Whether that will lead to any assignments or work with the 2 magazines he's involved with will be determined at a later date.

We jumped 2 1/2 hours southeast last weekend to a small town named Aachen across the German border to check out their Christmas Market. Was a little strange hearing Jose Feliciano singing "Feliz Navidad" in Germany. Made me think of my high school Spanish teacher. All of the booths were full of chachki's or something to eat. A huge, inflatable gingerbread cookie was the "mascot", as it towered over the proceedings only to be out "verticaled" by the Town Hall that stood nearby, which was built by Charlemagne back in the day - I'm talking waaaaaaaay back in the day (the 790's to be precise). The weather was an absolute gift, sprinkling only a little late in the evening while providing cloudy skies and around 60f during our major "walk-around" time. Gluhwein is the popular seasonal drink, a sweet red wine served warm. You can get a hit of amaretto or a number of different liquids in it. Most are cradling the drink in their fingers, especially when it's cold, to keep a small portion of their outsides warm before it dribbles down their esophagi to keep their insides warm. Nearby restaurants and cafes also fill up with visitors from all over - so much food. Luckily, our hotel was perhaps a 15 minutes walk, so after our filling breakfasts and dinners, we walked our way to a little turbo-digestion. A few years back I would've been looking to eat again after that 15 minute burn to maintain my Greek God, 120 pound temple!

Well folks, that brings 2009 to a close. Have a great holiday season. Maybe I'll see some of you back in the states soon. See you on here again in 2010, unless something compels me to add to this once again in the next 30 or so days. Til then.......

Picture "Catch-up"

2009-09-27T18:51:00.001+02:00

We've been doing things and going places recently and I've been behind. If you go to the blog and click on the links to albums, you will find three new ones once you get there. One is of our visit to Alkmaar where the cheese market is held every Friday morning from march to September. We attended the 2nd to last one of the season together, and I went back for the very last one the following Friday. Also, there are 2 albums from our holiday to Barcelona. One of sights and another of us and the sights.

Leaves are starting to fall from the trees, and the daytime highs are only in the mid to lower 60's. There hasn't been a lot of rain, and we haven't been under a deep, dull, blanket of gray cloud cover, so that's good. In fact the sun has been more active here than usual!

Some excitement at the apartment. The valves were recently changed on the four radiators upstairs, but there was a seal issue with one of them and water leaked between floors - right above our bedroom! As a matter-of-fact, Radhika noticed a different odor one night before bed (do NOT go there!), but I didn't sense it. However, in the morning I felt the air was really moist. I got a ladder and felt the ceiling - cold and damp! Texted the landlord, who had done the job himself, and told him there was a serious problem. Drained the system when he got here, but that still didn't keep water from spilling all over him after he opened a hole in our bedroom ceiling and undid the joint in the pipe! Problem was fixed, and for the next week we have this (un)cool contraption in the room sucking out all of the moisture. The hole will remain for another week or so, and then finally in October the hole will be patched and the entire ceiling repainted (covering the "memorials" on the ceiling where I squished several mosquitoes at 2 in the morning last summer).

Had another good Basic Workshop yesterday with an energetic group of photography enthusiasts. This one even has assignments that some are choosing to do and then I'll critique their results. I find it so enjoyable teaching people! Looking into taking my workshops to The Hague, as I have had several people come to Amsterdam for mine and say there's nothing like it there.

Nailing down next months trip to Munich (post-Oktoberfest) and then scheduling US for December 2 1/2 months from now.

Barcelona! The Forgotten Chapter

2009-09-15T19:09:00.002+02:00

I don't know why. Perhaps I got lost in everything "good" concerning Barcelona? Still suffering from sunstroke? Who knows? But I left out some details about two not-so-pleasant incidents of our story from my earlier Barcelona post. They follow...

So...months ago, as we decide on where to go, everyone has the same basic opinions on Barcelona. Beautiful this, gorgeous that, nice this, tasty that - oh, but watch out for PICKPOCKETS! Our first few days we were sporting money belts, and we endorse them tremendously for use in may places. But, a brief word with each other one day before leaving the hotel room, and we decided we felt safe enough to go out sans money belts. Well, towards the end of the trip on a subway train back to the hotel around 11pm or so, we were in a crowded car. Not packed, but you could not move freely either. My back is to the door and I'm carrying my camera bag. R is on my right with her backpack. We had just gotten into these positions after getting on the train when this tall, smelly, stale-looking (use your imagination - you can "see" what a stale-looking person would look like on a subway!) man "bumps" into the older man in front of us who is sporting a fanny pack worn in front. I know, he should not be allowed out of his own home with one of those, but it's Europe and they love a lot of shit from the 80's. Just listen to their radio or watch their TV. You would think A-ha just released "Take On Me" and The "A" Team was in it's first run! I should be wearing my old OP cord shorts and puca lightning bolt chain. Any way, I digress. So, I see this "collision" in front of me and I'm thinking this doesn't look kosher. Next thing I know "Rough and Ready" Radhika grabs the phony drunks hand and knocks it away from the older gentleman. I am now in a semi-WTF mode, because my pea-sized brain is comprehending what "Eagle-Eye Annie" has already figured out. I finally grasp the situation and watch to make sure that the now known pickpocket does not retaliate towards the trains new security force of one. He slides away, and R tells the older guy to watch his stuff. He's either French (my guess) or Swiss (R's guess), as he and his older posse earlier bumped and pushed their way past us without a single "excuse me" or "pardon", and we noticed their langauge was not local. He checked his "pack" and his wallet was gone! Well they went into high gear, trying to take photos of the crook and chased him off the train. The doors close, and we noticed that several "shifty" looking people remained amongst the group of riders, tourists, and locals. Damn!! One got off, but was replaced by perhaps 4 to 6 others!! What a feeling it is to have what you KNOW to be criminals right in your sight, but you can't do anything about it. They made no eye contact with anyone. All they did (at least 3 men and one woman) was look at everyone's belongings! It was so obvious. I tried to warn the girl who was now in front of me, as her purse was being "eyeballed", but she was too preoccupied flapping her lips on her cell phone and with her friends. They made no attempt to disguise their intent. I was watching them so intently that I didn't notice one of them trying to distract me by pointing at something, hoping I would look in that direction. R told me about that later. What I did notice was my shorts moving (no, not a good time for one of "those" type of jokes), as I had velcro closures on all of my pockets. I smacked the guy on my left who was tugging at a closed pocket that contained my cell phone, and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing. He didn't look at me or say a word. It was at this moment that Radhika said to get off the train as we were pulling into a station. Once off, I said this isn't even our stop. Well, it was - I just didn't notice because I was intently watching the wolves trying to get the sheep right before my eyes! Well, this was excitement of the variety we didn't need. It took R a full day and a half to regain her chill-buzz she had gained from all the red wine, cava, sunshine, and tapas she had absorbed.

It's the day of our departure. Our flight leaves at 8:25pm. It's about 5, and R wants to head to the airport early (as usual). I finish my mango and coconut ice cream cup (as usual) while she gets assistance from the front desk. Now in my first post, I conveyed that we made it to the hotel by taking a bus from the airport to Catalonia Plaza, and from there a subway train to a stop near the hotel. We could've followed that pattern, but figured the local at the hotel would know a better route. Yeah, you know what's coming. This AAA reject had us take 1 train to a stop, change to another train, and then go to the next stop where we should find the Renfre train that takes you to the airport. At the first transfer, we were both saying what a mistake it was not taking the reverse route back to the airport, because we were hoofiing it through the better part of these stations, up stairs, down stairs, and it was a pain in the ass! But, we finally find the Renfre ticket window, and all seems well. R tells the guy we want 2 tickets for the train to the airport, we ask what platform and he says 1. So we go to the platform, a train comes in, and we board. "Hmmm...not a lot of people with suitcases on this train." We pull into a station we're both familiar with, and I know it to be one that access the airport. Radhika sees people with luggage. We are on the upper level, and the thought to get off there doesn't occur with enough strength until later (hindsight, you know). So we're leaving the city and the view through the windows looks like the plain from "Dances With Wolves", and neither of us is confident we're on a train to the airport. It's well past 6 by now. I ask the gentlemen next to us if the train stops at the airport. You know the answer to that. So now it's a thought process of how to get back on track to the airport. They say the next stop is about 5 minutes away, so we grab our crap and guard the door so we can jump off when it stops. I talk to a guy with a suitcase on the platform who said he was in the same situation, he was put on the wrong train. He said we wern't far from the airport - maybe a 15 euro cab ride. We went into the station to find out in spite of a language barrier that the next train back to Barcelona came in several minutes. Back to the platform, but then I went back to see if we could get a taxi out front, as we were in a small town. The woman didn't fully understand me, but the street looked like it had a decent amount of traffic on it, so I went back and got R and we dashed to the street. It's past 7:15pm now. We walk a block up and do get a taxi and he says he'll take us. We're in the car headed to the airport. We arrive in 15 minutes, the fare was about 15 euros, but it's Saturday AND there's an extra charge to go to the airport. That bumps up the fare 10 more euros. BUT, we are there on time, get on the flight, catch the bus perfectly to Leidseplein, and are safe in our apartment back in dreary Hamstercram. But it's not that bad a place to come back to. So, as with most things in life, we dealt with the good and the bad on this holiday. Had some lessons learned too (like don't try to take something from R unless I want my arm dislocated). Good times.

Barcelona!

2009-09-15T11:43:00.003+02:00

Well, we brought summer (in Amsterdam) to a close with style...by going to BARCELONA!! Today it's below 60f / 15c degrees, the sky is a uniform middle gray, it's windy and wet - typical fall weather for Hamstercram. What's a little soothing is that it's not much better right now in Barcelona - 63f and rain. But for our visit just last week the average was 86f / 30c and sunshine every day! So now that you have the weather report, let's go into our 8 day experience en Espana!

Of course we would encounter extremely strong winds and some rain thrown in on our trip to the airport on Friday evening. We got to the bus stop at Leidseplein before the worst of it dropped from the sky. The KLM flight was fast (a little over 2 hours) and the service was fantastic considering how much flying really blows these days. We were seated in opposing aisle seats (still don't recall picking those). Radhika had her handbag under the seat in front of her with her hair clip on one of the straps. A dutch fellow and his female companion were seated next to her, and during the flight she had to stand in the aisle so he could pass to go to the bathroom. He stepped on her bag, and her clip "crunched" under his foot. He noticed the obvious feeling and sound of stepping on and breaking something, lifted his foot, and went on about his business with no acknowledgement of the incident. I expressed that I felt she should show him the broken pieces, but I was informed it was a cheap clip and not worth mentioning. So, I agreed to not say anything - and man was it hard!!!! And try as I might to remember to collect my tripod from the garment closet located at the door of the plane on the way off the plane in Barcelona, it was Radhika and a flight attendant who did! Right before touchdown I said to myself "Get your tripod on the way out." What a dufus!! And R just loves to point out these things to me! Damn!!

So, we're on the bus from the airport to the city, and we reach Catalonia Plaza where we'll take the metro to the stop near our hotel. As I rise from the seat my wallet stealthily falls to the floor. Radhika is behind me and alerts me to it. Now I am in serious trouble!! I'll save you the grizzly details. I was on a severe "dufus" streak and needed to be watched carefully so I didn't give away my passport and ATM card with a thankyou note consisting of my pin code to the first person who said "Hola!" to me. Luckily we made it to our hotel and I conducted no more giveaways!

A good nights sleep and out of the hotel at the crack of noon the next day! Well, almost...it was a little after 11am. I like to start early, but R prefers a "measured" approach to mornings on holiday. So I end up going out on my own sometimes and come back to the hotel or meet up with R later. But today, we stroll to the ramblas, passing the cathedral which is mostly caged in by scaffolding and a material cover. Can't tell you how many places we have been where major sights are unrecognizable due to surface maintenance (acid rain!) being undertaken. Down the ramblas past street performers and stores to the beach area past The Chris Columbus monument. Funny how they still credit him with "discovering" America! And there's a plaque where he stands before a kneeling native who is kissing his hand. Perhaps because 'ol Chris decided not to kill the guy or cut off his hands as he did to so many others? Pushing past and continuing east, we ended up at the large mall at the harbor. Nice, but hitting malls is not how I like to spend time on holidays. But we explored a little, as R was looking for a pair of Birkenstocks for her sensitive feeties. We walked along the waterfront north finally coming upon beaches. They looked really nice and I was looking forward to a little chill time on them in the coming days. And we did - officially 2 days were spent wholly or partly lazing in the sun and swimming in the cool water. Radhika got 2 massages from the asian ladies who ply the beach with the men selling "cerveza, agua, coke" like hotdog vendors at a ball game. I got one, myself. 30-40 minutes for 10 euros can't be beat! And I'm pretty used to topless beaches now, not like when I was 19 and stumbled across my first one in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't remember, but another "dufus" moment for me, I'm sure. I do recall my friend Tony and I "trying" to be cool as we walked through, then noticed the beach had been taken over by guys laying on towels together. Guess you can say it was a day of firsts for 2 "dufus's" from a small beach town up the coast!

Sightseeing - of course we saw Sagrada Familia, and stupidly paid 11 euros to go inside and witness a construction site. Unless you want to go up the tower for the view, and there are other vantage points to see the city, I would strongly suggest passing up the interior because there's nothing to see. We went to the Picasso Museum, which focuses on his early development. Pretty cool. Many of the parks and plazas were visited, not to mention the many wide streets and narrow passages that offered great buildings and cool little slices of Catalan life. For us, the coolest thing was our visit to La Pedrera. Such a great building way ahead of its time. The Olympic Village was pretty cool too. We took a day trip out to Montserrat, and must say we were disappointed. The monastery is really old, but it's been rebuilt over the centuries that it looks almost contemporary. The surrounding countryside was not all that impressive to us, therefore this is something we wouldn't recommend to others, either. But all-in-all, plenty to see and do for those that want to, or you can just relax and de-stress if that's what you're looking for. A place very high on our list of visiting again! Pictures coming soon!

Amsterdam Summer!

2009-08-04T21:48:00.002+02:00

Yes everybody!! We are finally experiencing some nice, prolonged, western European summer-type weather. Tomorrow the high is forecast to reach 77 and Thursday an absolute scorching 81!! I cannot impress upon you enough, especially those in central Florida, how nice it is to finally have this stretch of sun and warmth. Granted, people still ride their bikes with jackets on as the air always possesses a chill to it, but it's nice to break out my shorts and short sleeves! We have been enjoying pleasant weather, on and off, for several months now. Last year, it seemed we went from spring straight to fall. Much less rain and overcast conditions this year than last. And it's still strange to come home from a movie late at night in July and now August, getting chills from the cold night air!
Some local Amsterdam stories that you may find interesting and/or entertaining? I have a few. One involves "Public Enemies", Naan, and mice. We had a nice Saturday out and about in the city, and decided to have dinner at a good Indian restaurant we know. As usual, we couldn't eat it all, and much to the shock and horror of any Dutch diners in the place, we asked for the food we couldn't finish to be packed. We decided to hit a movie before going home, so we got tickets to "Public Enemies" (eh-2 stars out of 5). We get home late, so I put the doggie bag straight into the fridge and we crash. Next day I'm warming up the Indian goodies for lunch and notice 2 small holes on opposite sides of the plastic bag. But I take out everything and start to zap the containers. The naan (bread) was wrapped in tin foil, and I noticed two little holes on both sides of that, too. Just like the plastic bag. Upon further examination I determine without doubt they are chew holes!! You see, several months back I was at the movies with 2 other folks (their identities will be protected here because one acted like a sissy), and we saw a wee little mouse on the floor of the theater. Well, one not-so manly man squeeled like a mouse when he said he felt it on his foot. I couldn't stop laughing. Back to the present. I opened the tin foil, and sure enough there were little mousey-bites on each end of the naan!! I called Radhika over to show her. She said during the movie the bag seemed to move, which was placed on the seat next to her. She even picked it up and folded the top over to seal it better. She said she was a little puzzled when it seemed to move a couple of times on its own, but didn't consider the "Jerry" factor. So...NEVER leave your Indian food unprotected at the De Munt theater in Amsterdam. The mice have discerning palates!
Also, I learned there is a squatters law here in Amsterdam. I believe there are similar laws in the US (anyone recall the movie "Pacific Heights" with Michael Keaton?), and I just don't get it! Here, if your property is unoccupied for 6 months, people have the right to break in and live there. I was told this came about many years ago, a century or more perhaps. The wealthy would buy houses here, but only live in them part of the time. Meanwhile, many had no place to live. So, the government, in its infinite wisdom, allowed "squatting" to occur, and made it next to impossible to legally remove them. Today I'm told it is still quite difficult to remove people who are living on your property, some paying 100 euros per month rent. Some have resorted to hiring "muscle" to physically convince the unwanted tenants that it would be in their best interest health-wise, to move out.
Went out for a 3 hour cruise (no, not on the Minnow) on the canals last night. Man was it great!! The sky clouded up as we pushed off after a day of sun and blue skies! It even sprinkled momentarily a couple times, but overall the conditions were nice enough for an end-of-day float with some snacks, cold beer, cider, wine, and conversation. We went through the red light district, Jordaan, out to the Amstel River, and toured down numerous canals. Many had their boats out, enjoying the summer weather.
We'll be in Barcelona in less than a month for our last, European trip this year. At least the last one of any great length (8 days). Looking forward to that! Have heard nothing but great things about that city. More about that after the trip.

French Open

2009-06-26T19:59:00.002+02:00

As some may know, we made a weekend trip at the end of May down to Paris to catch two days of professional tennis. I just had to see how much farther I had to develop my skills before I go pro. Uh, it's going to be a while! But it was a great 2 days, with great weather, great tennis, great atmosphere. I'm putting up some pictures that you can find through the usual methods - clicking on the "link to albums" in the upper right corner of the blog. The trip to Orlando, my 30 year reunion, and our week in Ireland will show up shortly, along with ACDC (see video clip on my Facebook page).

Finally A New Post

2009-05-19T22:19:00.002+02:00

Yes, it's been a long while since I last wrote anything of substance. I've been busier than I have been in the past since arriving in Amsterdam, and that's a very good thing! I guess foremost would be my work with ACCESS, which is a not-for-profit organization here in The Netherlands, with offices in The Hague and Amsterdam, that helps English-speaking expatriots deal with their new home. Most people may speak English, but when dealing with government agencies, some utilities, and various other entities, one is not always met with someone you can communicate with. ACCESS helps people with all kinds of matters, and I answer questions that come in via email or phone call. Recently I put in a lot of time and effort on something called the Creative Contest. Art students in the English language schools have their creations chosen by the art teachers in their schools and then a panel of 3 judges, of which I was the head judge, chooses 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in several age categories in 2D and 3D work. I am also the associate editor for the ACCESS magazine, and that occupies a lot of time developing and writing stories, editing other writers work, taking photographs for publication, even doing some distributing. Outside of ACCESS there's workshops. I've held four so far. I went to Munich for a week to assist a commercial photographer on a Caterpillar project (heavy equipment, not the little fuzzy tubes on your 'maters), and I do all the research, planning, and reservations regarding our travels (the holiday when Radhika's family was here took a while to put together, then there was the Normandy weekend, French Open at the end of May, this long weekend trip to Brussels, Belgium and Maastricht, Netherlands, and our week in Ireland.) Also there are personal photo projects that I do with another US photographer here, tennis (of course!), movies (3 Star Trek viewings under my belt), and the little things and daily battles.
One of the battles recently fought was with our bank here, ABN AMRO. Let me start by saying banking sucks here. Charges for EVERYTHING and severe lack of service. I went into the branch near us one day to conduct some business - it was 4:20 and they close at 5pm. The girl tells me I have to come back another day because their personnel cannot serve the amount of people waiting in the lobby. This was the latest in an endless line of poor service experiences with the bank. I went outside, unlocked my bike, but locked it back up because I didn't like where this ended. So I went back inside, asked to speak to the manager, and waited while I was scoped out by several bank employees. You see, the Dutch do not generally make "waves" when they are treated poorly - they just take it. So, when someone ramps up and starts asking questions like "How is it I come into this bank at 4:20 and am told to come back another day when there's 40 minutes left in the business day?", or "How much more pathetic does the service have to be here before I take my money out of this sorry institution?" things get interesting. Mr. Manager says they don't have enough associates for the number of customers (wrong answer!) - "Not my problem", I tell him. I was in there in the first place because of their poor security and incompetence. Someone copied our card and got the pin and started withdrawing money from Indonesia. Luckily we caught it on a Sunday and put a stop on the card immediately (Radhika wanted to know what in the hell I was buying and spending so much money on! 18 years together - - has she met me?). So, the Barney Fife's who run ABN AMRO security can't see a suspicious pattern when the same amount of money is taken from an ATM in Indonesia 1 or 2 minutes apart repeatedly? What kind of programs do they have in the network to sniff out this type of obvious nonsense? Questions that I posed the desk jockey in the bank. I appreciate when Citi contacts me in China, India, or wherever when I make a withdrawal in these places and didn't tell them beforehand that I would be there. ABN AMRO knuckleheads would sit back and watch withdrawals from an ATM installed in The Sea Of Tranquility and not blink an eye! To continue, they gave us various time frames of when they would replace the stolen funds into our account, so that was a fight. Finally, Radhika called them and she was told by the Female Fife on the bank end that they didn't know when the money would show up! Well, Muffin went off on the hapless Dutchy, got the manager on the line after verbally abusing "Ding-Dong" for a spell and Miss Manager said the funds would be put back by Monday, along with the charges for a new card and stopping the old one. YEAH!!! Can you believe their security fails and they are going to charge us for stopping the card and issuing a new one??? CLUELESS!!! But, they get away with it because the government lets them and the Dutch "take it". We finally got that settled. Next was figuring out this 200+ euro bill from the water company. Seems it's a water purification tax. Not only is the income tax 52% here, but you get taxed from every direction too, not to mention VAT, which is another 19%!!! Oh, they give some dandy tax breaks for having kids, because the Dutch have stopped having babies and in a few years there's going to be far less people to tax and support the socialist agenda here. But that baby break does nothing for us. Maybe we can go out and rent a few for the next 18 months. Anyone want to send their tax deductions (er, I mean children) over to us for a while? I got plenty more to bitch about, but I'll move on to more pleasant matters.
As you know we have been traveling fools of late. Vienna, Prague, Rothenberg, Luzern, Bordeaux, Paris, Luxembourg, Normandy, Munich, now Brussels and Maastricht this weekend. Paris again at the end of the month for the French Open before I hit New York for 3 and Orlando for 10 days before a week in Ireland and returning to Amsterdam the day of the ACDC concert. Of course that's the obvious upside of living where we are living. Still planning some more travels in the year - Barcelona being one of the destinations. It's late, and I got stuff to do. But it's good to get some writing down after such a long break. I'll try for more a little later.

Normandy

2009-05-04T18:22:00.002+02:00

Okay - - still haven't gotten around to my writing, but I have another batch (21) of photos from our long weekend visit to the Normandy area of France. Was a great place, as you can see. As usual, go to the link, and the album is Normandy (duh!).

Latest Pictures

2009-04-23T11:52:00.003+02:00

Okay, so I am not doing so hot on the writing part, but I am making some fun pictures of the family visiting. More are on the way and I WILL get to writing again soon. So much is going on, workshops, magazine, volunteering, family visits, GE, French (Hell Yeah!) Open, a trip to Orlando and NJ, Ireland, AC/DC concert, long weekend trip to northern France, fashion photography for the portfolio, photo assisting in Berlin, etc. But I'll get some words down soon. Stay around. To see the pictures, click on the link as always and it's the European Dash album. Enjoy the slideshow!

Skiing In Germany

2009-03-05T17:49:00.002+01:00

We went skiing last weekend and I have put up 20 images from the trip. I will write about it later. But for now, enjoy the pictures.

Been A While.....

2009-02-26T19:00:00.002+01:00

I know, I know - - no posts in a long time. I'm finally busy with several things, and my mind is cluttered with many things to write in this forum. I will get to them... at least I hope to get to them. I'm sure you are all breathless with anticipation. But in the meantime, until I untangle those thoughts and put them down here, I wanted to advise that I have uploaded new pictures from Vienna, Austria and Bratislava, Slovakia on the blog. Just go to the link, pick the Vienna album and run the slide show. Hope you enjoy. More later - or have I lost my audience and I can shut this thing down? That's an idea. If I don't hear from anyone, I can do just that. I do enjoy it, but let's face it... it's one less thing to do and if no one reads and enjoys it there's no point. It's a DEAL! See you (maybe) later.

New Years Eve and Year One Report

2009-01-10T16:55:00.006+01:00

Sounds fun - - AND official, doesn't it? "Year One Report!" Actually, I thought it would be interesting (but I could be wrong) to revisit some of my thoughts about being here that I shared from a year ago, and how some of those things may have changed or still hold true. But first, let me get into our New Years Eve party, held at our crib in its "primo location" that's close to Leidseplein and the Centrum. Never held one of these, so there was excitement and tension in the planning. We were also always being asked to host some sort of shin-dig, especially by Zsolt, a co-worker of Radhika's at GE. So before we went to The Canary Islands, we visited Europe's version of Sam's Club, a place called Makro. Borrowing our friends membership card while they were in San Diego, we visited the place, list in hand, on the Saturday before we left. Not the best time to go shopping, of course, the weekend before Christmas. But it was all we had. Now, the first obstacle was getting a cart. They have a simple way of insuring that carts don't end up all over the place when shoppers are done with them. To remove a cart from the convoy line of carts, you have to insert a 1 or 2 Euro coin into a slot. It releases a chain that connects your cart to the "convoy", and to get that coin back you have to return it to the "convoy" and as you slide the chain back onto your cart, the coin pops out for you to retrieve it. No dudes huffing and puffing in the parking lot on cart duty. No carts laying in ditches or on the side of the road here. You find them only in their little cart sheds waiting to be used. It's quite smart - - quite simple. Why the US retailers don't do this puzzles me. Now, the only carts I saw initially were the size of tanks! They have the largest carts I've ever seen. It took all I had for my scrawny ass to keep from running over innocent children with it. Turning corners? Forget it. I rolled over an entire generation of "Dutchies" and took out half an aisle!! Then I see people pushing normal-sized carts! Where did those come from? Outside! So I tell R I'm not popping a hernia with this thing and I'll return it outside and get a smaller one. I got my 2 Euro coin back and went to the other side of the lot for the human-sized carts. Oops! They require a 1 Euro coin, and of course I don't have one. Back into the store for change. I finally get the cart I want (this entire process took at least 10 minutes as I have left out portions of the story) and we commence our shopping. Beer, champagne, snacks, sweets - - we're loaded up and ready for check out. Along with the meatballs from Ikea, we're pretty much set for the party when we come back.

A day of decorating and final preparations on the 30th and 31st, and we're good to go. Ultimately, we have about 25 guests in our place eating, drinking, talking, and playing a round or 2 of "Never Have I Ever". Such an international gathering!! Guests of so many descents - - Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, American, French, Romanian, Dutch, Australian, Russian, Indian, not including dual passport holders for Ireland, Poland... WOW, I hadn't thought it was SO VARIED until I compiled this list! We went from 9 until a little after 3, and the wrap up was indirectly spurred by the hosts request that 2 "partiers" should depart as they either showed up "hammered" or reached "hammerdom" the last hour or so of the party, and the likelihood of them crashing through a glass table or taking a header down the stairs was becoming more and more a probability! And when you cut off their drink supply, well, it can just get ugly. But before this, many stood out on the terrace in the cold watching fireworks from several directions. As we learned from last years experience, there seems to be no municipally organized firework shows, just people setting them off from the streets, rooftops, basically anywhere. That's why we saw a building ablaze last year and read reports of deaths and dismemberment's in print media. Also the next morning, the place looks like "shock and awe" went down the night before. The air still has sulfur and powder in it, and the ground is strewn with papers from spent ground and airborne fireworks. It's a real mess that takes days to clean up! Even with the 2 that were unable to show self restraint or recognize their own limits, the party went well, everyone had fun, food was good, there was plenty of champagne, and people made new friends and acquaintances. A good night overall. I'll get some pictures up of the evening soon.

Canary Island Remedy part 3

2009-01-03T16:33:00.003+01:00

I got up at 7am with a slight headache and burning eyeballs (you remember/know that feeling!) and just laid there. About 8am my headache was gone and my eyeball fire was extinguished. So I got dressed and woke Radhika, as she had indicated she wanted to go with me. Yeah, that was a bundle of energy getting out of that bed! She did well, however, and we drove off to Telde which is near the airport and from there took a road that led to the middle of the island. We visited several places along the way, driving high into the mountains and into pine forests that reminded me of Florida. Small villages and scenery was enjoyed on yet another bright, sunny, blue-skied day!! Jamie had another tee time, this one for 2pm so we had to make sure we were back for him to take the car. Also, Elena, Radhika, and I were booked for massages at the place R had her aloe massage earlier in the week. I wanted a seaweed massage which is supposed to be good for the skin, but that "department" was closed on Sunday's, so I opted for a honey massage. Radhika and Elena went for the chocolate massage. My ideas of chocolate don't involve just washing it off the body when the massage was done. Seems like an awful waste to me. Even the honey wasn't my first choice, but after the seaweed wasn't available, they had one where they place hot stones on you (yeah - doesn't sound appealing) and one where you smell all of these oils during the massage. But I get ahead of myself. We visited these little places, and one destination that I plugged into the TomTom had us on a dirt road on the side of a mountain that allowed for very slow progress. R was nervous, and it didn't seem like the road was going to terminate at a breath-taking vista, as we were within 500 meters of the end and it didn't seem like there was going to be much more to see. So, I turned the car around and headed back down. We stopped in a small store, R had a cafe con leche and I had an ice cream bar. We figured at that point we should head back to give Jamie enough time to get to the golf course. Good thing too, because the traffic in Las Palmas was really bad. I pulled the car to the front of the hotel. Jamie and Elena were still on the beach. He grabbed his clubs and went off while we returned to the beach for an hour or so before our massage appointments at 4pm.

We spent an hour or so in the hydra-pool (or whatever it's called), sitting at various stations while water jets work their desired effects on your body underwater, or the several that poured gallons of water down onto you from a specifically designed spout from above. Then there's the cold water dip where neither of the girls made it into, the steam room, sauna room, and finally the room where you rub ice all over the surface of your now hot skin! Isn't this shit outlawed by the Geneva Convention, like waterboarding? Anyway, we sat in our robes with our towels, waiting for our masseuses. This short little muscular dude and nice looking, long curly-hired young woman walked by us several times. You don't have to guess too long who I was hoping for! If the dude came up to me I would've been really unhappy. But to my delight, the woman came up and asked who was getting what. When it was mentioned that I was getting the honey massage, she asked to to follow her. YES!!! Crisis averted!! We went into this room with a metal table like you have in your doctors office, even with the brown paper on it. Now I'm not a "massage expert", so I didn't know whether I'm supposed to keep my compression shorts on or off for a thing like a honey massage. Not wanting to end up looking like a fool or pervert, I just hopped up on the table, figuring she would tell me what I should do. She said nothing, so the rubbing commenced. First, she used this oil/rock mixture on me. Not the most pleasant experience one can have at a spa. Again, seemed like it belonged at Guantanamo or Abu Graib rather than a spa, but that's just my opinion. I was later told that it was salt, but it sure felt like rocks and pebbles to me! Glad my shorts were on at this point, because - - well - - I'll assume you know why. If I didn't like the course sand paper grit on my legs, back, stomach, chest, or arms, I would'nt appreciate it in any other more "sensitive" areas either! I was on my stomach first, and she rolled down my shorts enough where I could easily be confused with a plumber, if you get my drift (or is it draft?). Then she had me flip over, using what apparently is the universal signal to do so by whistling low to high, and she rolled down my shorts on the front side too! I'm thinking by now that this is usually down sans clothing, which is why they gave me a robe (duh? perhaps. Anyone feel free to set me straight on this) So after enduring what I knew to be an exfoliating procedure (hey! I know a little something about skin care!), I was sent off to another room to shower off the oil/rock mixture stuck to my body, walking bow-legged to keep the abrasion down to a minimum. I wanted to keep some of the flesh on the inside part of my thighs. After I did that, I waited. Beatrice came and got me after a while. Guess I was supposed to find my way back to the torture chamber, er, I mean massage room. I know what you're thinking too - - Beatrice!!!!? A girl can have that name and be nice looking. It is possible. So anyway, we're back in the room, it's darker, there are candles (electric ones - you know, the bulbs that "flicker" like a flame), plastic on the table, and Beatrice takes off her official-looking spa attire to reveal a spandex figure-hugging outfit underneath. HELLO!!! To quote my good friend, Chris Washington, DAMN! So I lay on my stomach, being careful not to slip off and end up on the floor as I am still very oily. This warm ooze hits my calves and feet. Finally something that feels good! She works her way up, and I finally catch the scent of honey, which is very nice. She whistles, I turn over, and it's a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. She finishes the massage, then covers me up completely in the plastic film and drapes warm towels over me. It's like I'm a twinkie in the wrapper or something sticky, like a bear claw. That was weird! She left the room, and I was like that for quite some time. I think I fell asleep. All I heard was the ticking of the clock above and behind me, and I think it lulled me to sleep. She came in, removed the towels, opened the wrapper, and then swung this arm over the table that had several nozzle heads on it that could be adjusted to spray in different directions. A forceful stream of warm water came out as she washed my front side off first. But, every so often I would hear a "beep" and the water temp would change to cool, and then another "beep" and it would change to cold, and then finally back to warm. This was a little shocking to the body. She whistled, I flipped, and soon I was rinsed off and out in the waiting area where Elena was already waiting. Radhika walked by with the short, muscular dude, and she was covered in chocolate, on her way to the wash room to have it removed. We took a picture of it before he rinsed her off. When done, we compare notes and I find out they had their behinds massaged! I felt cheated!! Radhika says it's because you're supposed to wear loose shorts so they can move them to the side or work underneath them. How was I supposed to know?! All-in-all, it was a good experience - over 2 hours of treatment for only 60 Euros. You can't get that in the US or Amsterdam from what I know. Elena indicated the chocolate treatment was a one-time deal for her, as she didn't like it as much as Radhika. We walked back to the hotel, and later that evening Radhika and I went back to The Laughing Pig, where the 4 of us ate the 2nd night of our stay, and Elena and Jamie ate at a nice Italian restaurant. We walked back to the hotel and just relaxed, knowing we were leaving the next day. Jamie and Elena tried to get some last minute sun Monday morning before checking out, and I took a bus to "Old Town" which is a section of Las Palmas that is exactly what the name implies, making some last minute pictures. Radhika seemed to get the most sun, with Jamie and I at about the same level of tanning. Elena, with her Russian ancestry and penchant for wearing a fleece jacket that covered her neck and arms on the beach got the least. Our flight ended up leaving around 3pm and we were back in our apartment by 11pm that night. Yet another fantastic place visited, another trip too short, another place we would like to revisit some day. They just keep adding up!!!

Canary Island Remedy part 2

2009-01-03T15:37:00.003+01:00

Another early morning start for me as I drove down to the southern part of the island to check out and photograph the sand dunes and Playa Del Ingles. Again there was "fun" between the reality of the road in front of me and what the TomTom was directing me to do. Also, there is a serious lack of consistant signage to guide one along without a navigation device. All of this coupled with my obvious unfamiliarity with the area was cause for more head scratching, audible WTF's?, u-turns, dead ends, "I just passed that" moments, and the like. Luckily I used my pea-sized brain when I thought to mark on the TomTom when I came to a place that I figured I would want to find again (like the damned parking lot near our hotel which was always an adventure when returning to it). This area is much more "resortier" than where we were staying in the north. Las Palmas is a combination of business, residents, and tourism, where this southern area looks to be 99% tourism, with quite the older set from Europe being the main visitors. Plenty of topless areas and a few "all naturale" ones. Seems like the older crowd like to let the sun hit as much of their epidermis as possible. Nothing really out of the ordinary with the exception of one older "boyfriend" greasing up the privates of his younger companion with much gusto! I'm sure it was all about protection from skin cancer. Not to my surprise the men "from fit to fat" loved their "speedos" as did the women and their 2 piece bikini's. It is really quite the norm here, whereas on Canteras Beach in Las Playas there were others than myself wearing swim shorts. But most of the above 60 set had on what American's call "speedos". I spent about four hours down there walking around and making pictures before heading back to Las Palmas between 12 and 1pm. All of us spent time on the beach in the afternoon, and we made plans to return to Playa Del Ingles that evening for dinner and partake in it's nightime festivities. We spent our time on the beach, and a windy day it was indeed with sand finding its way into all sorts of places on/in the body. Jamie and Elena took a drive out to the big Media Markt near the airport while R and I hung back at the beach and hotel. We probably left for Playa Del Ingles around 7pm after Jamie and Elena returned.

Once we were all in the car and close to our destination, that's when the fun started again. Jamie seemed to think we should park in one area near where their "ant" apartment was, but Elena felt it was in a different place. Elena sounded the more confident one, so we went with her recommendation. Oops! Well, you can't win them all. Jamie gloated for some time (yeah, about the rest of the night), as we had to walk a little more then needed from where Elena had us park. We made it to the promenade area where all of the shops, restaurants, and bars are. We walked from about the middle of it to one end checking out the menus and enjoying the sidewalk solicitors who stand out there trying to coax you into their establishments. Jamie took the business card of one guy and told him we'll come back, with the guy responding if Jamie didn't he would come looking for Jamie!! That was pretty damned funny, so when we hadn't made a choice and closed back in on this guys restaurant, we parked ourselves at a nice table outside near the beach and had a great meal. The service was a little "dutch" (for those of you who have forgotten, dutch service is like "military intelligence"). The guy put on one hell of a show as he joked, cajoled, and charmed people into eating at the restaurant! After, we walked to a bar that had a guy playing electric guitar and a woman singer who were doing a pretty good job of entertaining. Better than that they had a huge gas heater right next to our table and we had them fire that up. Soon the jackets and sweaters were coming off of Elena and Radhika as we drank, talked, listened to the music, and played some lively "Connect Four". I started off with a 4 game win streak and Jamie couldn't buy a victory. Then fortunes changed and I was on the losing end. When we left we were all pretty much even in the win column, so there were no bragging rights in the Connect Four championships that evening. We moved to another bar where it was one dude, his guitar, and music machine backup. Not as good as the first bar, but okay. We then moved on to a small place that was playing some techno dance, so we just went out to the dance floor? area? spot? and stayed out there for what I would say was 30 minutes getting our exercise for the evening. There was one guy out there dancing around with a sock on his hand - - what lonliness will do to some people! I want to say 3am we got back to the hotel, and tomorrow was our last full day. Bummer! So we went to sleep, with me having the usual "get up early to shoot" plan, which would mean 4 hours sleep. Would I be able to do it? Stay tuned for part 3!

Canary Island Remedy

2009-01-01T23:31:00.004+01:00

What's the next best thing to returning to Orlando for a break from this overcast, gray, dull, wet, cold, windy, icy, shit, Amsterdam winter? Turns out it's a 6 hour flight, with a connection in Madrid, to The Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa (for those who don't know that's a country below Europe, isn't that correct Miss "Maverick" Palin?!) Just what the doctor ordered between the 24th and 29th of December!

Just days before we left, we were at a dinner hosted by DC, with Jamie and Elena (GE grunts) amongst those in attendance. Well, they heard of our warm-weather getaway and started considering it the next day, pulling the trigger within hours and booking flights, car rental, and hotel. They called us, asking if it was okay if they plagiarized our vacation. Unfortunately they didn't get a hold of us, because we would said "Yes, we do mind." But, we figured the island was big enough for all 4 of us, and as luck would have it they were staying on the southern end (of course that's where Jamie would want to be)and we were in the extreme north. So, we see each other at the airport after DC was kind enough to tote Radhika and I there at 6am, and we ride the same flight to Madrid and into Gran Canaria. Note: Iberia is not a top notch airline to fly, but it's the best game in town it seems to get to this destination. Mid-70's NEVER felt so good, and when that sun hit the face it was damn near orgasmic! Jamie and Elena were kind enough to make the 20 minute drive and drop us at our hotel, which also gave them the chance to see our area. They headed out to their place, and R and I were thinking "Man! We dodged a bullet." We check in - - nice room, clean, comfortable. So we go walking around, grabbing a bite at a small place along the beach, then check out some shops. Quite a few tourists in the area. A lot of pasty Germans. Radhika and I were infants compared to most of the visitors, but hey, we'll be fine. There were some younger people around.

The next morning, we're gathering our stuff to head to the beach when the cellphone rings. Seems Jamie had ants in his bed at the apartment in Playa Del Ingles and they want to come up to where we are!!!!!!!!!!!! The Griswold's want to come to Las Palmas!!!!!!!!!! Being the generous and helpful fellow that I am, I checked and told him our hotel had rooms (DAMN!) and that they would like the rooms (ants are an extra charge). So, we're on the beach and this shadow hovers over us - - the Griswold's have relocated!!! So we all get some sun, decide to share the rental car instead of us getting one of our own for a couple of days, and grab a dinner that night. The next morning, Jamie has a tee time at a golf course near the airport. I went out early in the morning with the car, driving to 2 small town southwest of Las Palmas. I came back just in time to pick him up and we drove to the golf course, making every wrong turn you could imagine, missing exits, having the TomTom suggest we turn right into boulders and sides of buildings. It would seem that there has been major road development on the island, and many roads, roundabouts, and highways are different in the navigator then they are in reality. There was so much cursing in that car because tee time was clicking closer and closer, and there was one, edgy Australian driving that car!!! Who said Aussies are laid back? Let missing a tee time become a possibility and you'll see some daredevil maneuvers on the road. We stopped to ask this elderly Spanish woman for help. Bless her, she didn't know we were pinched for time, because she was dishing a dissertation in Spanish involving we believe every detail of the route between where we were and where we wanted to be!! I thought Jamie was gonna yell at her to shut up already!! He kept inching the car along, and I kept saying "Gracias", but that didn't stop Senora Jabber-Jaw. I think a nuke could have gone off, the land laid waste, with skeletons flying all over the place, and she still would've been flapping those lips to our singed remains!!! We finally broke away from the sweet lady (she was! and all dressed up with her fine self too) and after trial and error (mostly error) we made it to the club with under 10 minutes to spare! We should have been there close to an hour ahead of tee time, but we burned 50 minutes easily chasing down every street on the island except the right one! I went shooting in some local towns and villages while he chased the little white ball in the grass for 4 hours or so, and the girls did their thing back in Las Palmas. Radhika chilled out in the sun, Elena shopped, I made photographs, and Jamie exorcised the little old senoras voice from his ears with the whack and crack of golf balls being propelled from his club into sand and water, no doubt. I picked him up after he notified me on my cellphone, had a couple of beers at the clubhouse with another GE employee (Jim - Mr. Facilities), and then headed back to Las Palmas for dinner and relaxation. Seems Radhika had received a 2 hour water spa and aloe massage, being very mellow. I'll finish up part 2 later, and get to our New Years Eve party at the Amsterdam crib. In the meantime, enjoy the C.I. images by clicking on the link to the right and choosing the Canary Island album when you get to the Photoshop site. Enjoy!!

2008-12-17T14:29:00.000+01:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Halloween and Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-28T12:47:00.002+01:00

Okay, with Italy and everything I'm a little behind, but this should catch everyone up. The plan which formed a week or so before the 31st was to meet at a pub/bar that was having a Halloween party hosted by an expat organization not far from Central Station. Plenty of costumes would be on display and even prizes were to be awarded. Radhika and I, Jamie and Elena, Brad and Natalia, Szolt, and other friends were in on the plan. Radhika and I were going to pull out our punk rocker garb and getup from several Halloween's back. But I really wanted to do something different, but wasn't sure what. Besides, my hair didn't have 3 years of growth which was "the 12 inch spiked cherry on top" of my look back then! Luckily, there is a costume shop not far from the apartment where most of us ending up going to get what we needed. As I walked around the small, multi-leveled store squeezing past the mostly female 20-somethings, I wasn't getting a strong reaction on my "idea factory" from any of the costumes of props. I was leaning in one direction and then saw a pair of pointy ears. From then it was downhill. As a kid I went as Capt. Kirk 1 or even maybe 2 times trick or treating. But lets face it, I'm more Spock looking than I am Kirk. So, with a little work with the material I had on hand back at the apartment, I was set. R was "punking out" again, so all that was left was the night we "geared up" and went out.

I got way more compliments on my outfit then I expected (which was zero). The Dutch really like Star Trek here, with the original series and Next Generation on their Sci Fi channel. Radhika and Natalia really covered the details in the costumes, as did as Elena. They looked really great. Brad was "demonic", as was Szolt, and Jamie was Aussie Elvis. We enjoyed ourselves at the expat function, but were a little suspicious of the "winners" of the contest. We kept asking how we would enter, hearing you fill out a form (which we never saw even one of), people vote, and you go up onstage (basically a small platform where the guitarist/singer was stationed) and people applaud for their champion. Well, all of a sudden, while the entertainment was on break, they arbitrarily announced 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners! How they were determined we'll never know!! But the costumes that won were not better then some in our group. We left soon after, heading to another bar towards the Jordaan. That one was much smaller, and was populated by several GE employees. We stayed there for quite a long time before calling it a night, with me (walking back), Radhika, and Natalia (weaving back). When we were somewhat close to Natalia's place, one guy hanging on the street asked that I share one of the ladies I had in my company. It was a tough decision, but I had to say they were both mine for that evening. He looked quite sad. He tried the request again, being the persistent little Dutchy that he was, but I just could not share the "funky punky" or the pirate who was going to "shiver me timbers"!! ;) We got home, my guess, around 3am, which ended a fun evening.

Thanksgiving was a much more subdued event. A little strange when you first hear of it - - Thanksgiving dinner at a Greek restaurant. However, this is somewhat of an Amsterdam GE tradition. Someone who worked at GE who has since taken a position in London arranged this some years back, and it continues on. The originator even came in from London to attend, as he has become close friends of the restaurant owners and staff. About 30 or so people were there, including Natalia (Polish Pirate), a mutual friend Szolt (but NOT to be confused with the Halloween Szolt who is a GE employee but didn't come to the dinner), Dave Conover, Jamie Harrison (Aussie Elvis) Denis, so the food and company was very good. People from the US, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands, and more, were enjoying turkey (first time eating turkey in Europe!!!), stuffing, white and sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rice with gravy, salad, beer, wine, and I started a trend at our table (go figure, me of all non-alcohol-consuming people!!) by ordering a glass of Bailey's. We have NOT seen turkey in any grocery store or restaurant - - not just here in Amsterdam, but in our travels here since arriving. The 4 turkeys served last night were possibly flown in, as turkey seems to be fowl only found in the US. Dessert was an apple/raisin and some other ingredients I didn't identify - pie with a scoop if ice cream. STUFFED!!! I couldn't even finish all of my pie (and many of you know of my deep affection for pie!). Once everyone was finished eating and some had left the restaurant (about 11:20pm), so Greek dancing behind the bar started and soon dishes were being tossed to the floor. I wondered how the Greek Pilgrims managed to break their wooden bowls or steel plates at the first Thanksgiving. Come midnight after about 5 hours of Thanksgiving festivities, when the numbers had dwindled down to about 10 GE folks left, I was ready to head back to the teepee to see what football teams were playing (unfortunately it was Dallas and Seattle). Radhika, as usual, still had 2 more hours of socializing in her, so she stayed on with Natalia while Szolt rode his bike and I walked home. After several minutes of boredom watching the Seahawks do their best impression of a high school team, I called Thanksgiving 2008 over a little before 2am! Hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving who celebrated one!! Pictures to follow shortly, so check back.

Lecco, Italy and Luzern, Switzerland

2008-11-19T14:19:00.004+01:00

Hooray! We got an early afternoon departure from Vernazza for our drive to Lecco, which is just north of Milan. It's only several hours drive, so we guaranteed ourselves a daylight arrival barring a breakdown or massive traffic jam. Luckily, neither occurred. And, there were no surprises, as the TomTom took us right to our hotel. We were really unenthusiastic to leave Vernazza - - A. Because we loved it so and B. Because Lecco was our last stay in Italy. Before we left Vernazza, we were told that George Clooney has a place in Lecco, so Radhika had a momentary heart flutter. His image was in more then a few shops and stores there. When we arrived in Lecco it was again easy to find our hotel. It's located on a river that cuts through and around the city, so the location is very nice. The temperature was warm enough, but there was a thick fog everywhere, and it wasn't a fog that enhanced the atmosphere. We walked the very short distance to the center of it all in Lecco, grabbing a couple of slices and gelato. Now, it has been mentioned to me that my posts mention us eating a lot of pizza but nothing else. Believe me, we ate much more then pizza. The food in northern Italy was delicious! But during the day when we were out and about, it was easy to grab a slice or 2 of pizza and keep going until dinner time. I am happy and satisfied with some great slices and a couple of scoops of gelato (coconut and tropical fruit became my favorite!). The "serious" meals were all good that I can think of with the exception of one dinner in Vernazza that was a little disappointing. Our dinner at Monica's restaurant was VERY delicious and I was dreaming about it on my taste buds the rest of that night! Anyway, we had a nice dinner out in a square that night in Lecco before going to sleep in our very nice, comfortable room at the NH on the river. We woke up the next morning, had breakfast in the hotel, and went walking around a little so I could take some pictures as the fog was gone (but coming back as the morning progressed). We left in the early afternoon so we could make Luzern before nightfall. Right before we left Italy, I was jonesing for one more tasty, sweet, gelato experience. As luck would have it at a stop light, there was a gelato shop on the left hand side. We pulled to the right and parked in front of a closed store, walking over to the store and I gazed into the freezer case to check the flavors. I had my coconut/tropical fruit double cone and Radhika had a chocolate/cappuccino. Man I made that last as long as I could. We sat outside on a bench on the sidewalk in front of the shop next to a bus stop. It was the perfect ending to our Italy adventure (maybe a cone to go would've been REALLY perfect!), and we were back on our way after the last sweet, chilly morsel was savored.

And we did. The drive from Lecco was several hours. The terrain in Switzerland was gorgeous and as we neared and then drove around Lake Luzern, I knew we were going to have a nice time there for our 2 night stay. We arrived without a hitch at our chalet (la-dee-da) and was shown to our room. We were actually staying outside of Luzern in a sleepy town several train stops north. It was a great location! The views of the lake were beautiful, the town sleepy, clean, and tidy, and the people friendly. We had an indoor heated pool at our disposal as well as a sauna, which we used both nights (Radhika's first time in a sauna! She actually asked if people really "sit in these things on purpose and sweat like this?". I said "Hell yeah".) I was loving the intense heat after months of Amsterdam weather! And we had everything to ourselves as the chalet wasn't very full. There were quite a few people in the restaurant for breakfast and dinner, however. The breakfast buffet was okay, but nothing really special. However, the meals we had at dinner were very good!! And this place had some unique rooms for guests. The best one had a completely restored and modified Rolls Royce that the guest slept in. Next to it was a hot tub. Others had different themes and layouts. There was even a large gondola over the indoor swimming pool that was outfitted with a bed that could accommodate 2 guests! I believe you can see them on their web page. Let me know if you are curious and I'll find it. We walked around the small town one day, and went into Luzern the next. It's a nice city to visit, with plenty to see and do. We even did some shopping there which I usually don't like to bother with. But there were some surprisingly good deals so we came back to the hotel with a few shopping bags! We looked for a place to eat in Luzern before we left, but nothing grabbed us enough to try. We wanted to eat somewhere different then the chalet, but the food was so good we didn't really mind eating there again. Dinner and another trip to the pool and our second night came to a close. The next morning we would head back to Amsterdam which would take us about 8 hours according to Yahoo and TomTom. We expected another hour or two on top of that because of the horrible experience of our drive south from Amsterdam to Munich almost 3 weeks earlier. But all of the construction and delays must be on the southbound roads, because we zipped home with very few traffic hiccups. I even got some 170kph time on the autobahn, which is about 100mph. Of course the Mercedes, BMW's, and Porche's were still flying by our Ford. But it felt good and the car handled safely at that speed. We pulled in and unloaded in front of the apartment, and I found our usual parking spot on P.C. Hoofstraat around the corner. We were back, but still part of us was back in one of our vacation destinations.

The Cinque Terre

2008-11-17T13:09:00.004+01:00

We were slowed a little by rain around La Spezia and also some navigation confusion with the TomTom. Then, I remembered in an email from the place we would be staying at that they requested I call 24 hours before arrival to make plans to get the keys. You see, there are very few hotels in the area. An offhanded guess of how accommodation is divided in Cinque Terre would be 95% private rooms and 5% hotel. I contacted a woman from Rick Steves book. She was booked, but had a friend with a nice room. I went with it, based on the Steves recommendation. Anyway, I forgot to call the number the day before, so I called from La Spezia as we were driving. Monica told me that the room was gone, that the 24 hour call was to "confirm" we would be there, not just to arrange to pick up the key. But, she said to call back in 10 minutes as she apparently has an entire network and would find a good place for us. We were less then an hour away by this time. Radhika placed a call 15 minutes later, and all was settled and we were told where to go in Vernazza to meet our new hostess (Erica). So that was settled and it was on to finishing the drive. The roads into the Cinque Terre and to Vernazza where we would be staying are full of hairpin turns, or switchbacks. The rain was behind us, but now it was dark and the road frequently narrow. We were basically alone on it, no one coming from behind or from our destination. The roads did not suit Radhika well, who asked me on several occasions to reduce speed. We followed the TomTom and road signs with no problem to the parking area that's about 1km above town. We parked, but could find no place to make payment. So, we each grabbed a bag and headed down the dark road that we assumed led into town. It was a perfect night for Halloween - - unfamiliar place, windy with trees and bushes weaving back and forth, very dark. We eventually walked past some houses, along a small river, and eventually more and more houses that turned into the town of Vernazza. We were to meet Erica at the only pharmacy in the town, which was on the main street. As we approached, a woman who was talking with a group called out my name. We met and walked together to our room for the night. It was in the center of town, right off the main street. It was newly done, small and clean. We were good for that night. But we were told that we would move to another, larger room with a window on the street tomorrow. It seemed we would be moving a lot while we would be there! Anyway, I went back up to the car and brought down other bags we may need. There were not a lot of people out, perhaps because it was Monday. But we walked around a little, grabbed some pizza, and called it a night. It looked like this was a very small town. I would go as far to call it a village, with a couple hundred residents. As we would see, the other 4 towns that make up Cinque Terre were equally small with 1 exception.

The next morning, after moving our stuff to the other room, I went up to the car to pay for parking. One guy was very nice, but the other guy barked basically everything he said. I had to move the car, as it was in a "short-term" area, so the barking dude had me follow him in this shuttle bus to another area farther up the mountain. Not too far, I parked the car and rode the shuttle back into town with Mr. Sunshine after paying for 5 days of parking. We decided to hike over to Monterosso, the westernmost town of the 5. That was the longest and most strenuous of hikes between all of the towns! Guess it's good we did it on the first day! It was s nice, sunny, hot day, and even before we were out of sight of Vernazza, people coming into Vernazza from the Monterosso were huffing and puffing. I made one girl panic by telling her she only had about an hour more to go when knowing she had less then 5 minutes. Man... the look on her face!! But I let her off the hook and told her how close they were. The views along the path were gorgeous, with sheer cliffs below and the green-blue waters of the Mediterranean. You could see towns in the distance and occasional lemon groves. Monterosso is larger then Vernazza, has a much larger and nicer beach, and it seemed there was more to do there. It's not as quaint or picturesque as Vernazza. We stayed there a while, grabbing lunch near the beach and enjoying gelato. It was getting late, so we decided to take the train that runs between the towns back to Vernazza. It's only a couple of Euros and took less then 5 minutes!! The hike over was about 2 hours!! That night, we had a slice of pizza and chilled out around Vernazza. During our 5 night stay, we spent an entire day on the beach in Monterosso, took an early morning train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, the easternmost town, and spent the entire day hiking back to Vernazza, visiting each town (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Cornigia) along the way, and overall just relaxed. The only "downer" was changing our rooms every night except one because of the 24 hour "non-call". But even that was okay as we got to sample different places, had different views, met different people, everyone involved felt sympathetic, and we received reduce rates. We really enjoyed our time there. The locals were very friendly, as well as visitors we met. The Cinque Terre is simply a "can't miss" stop for any visit to Italy.

Siena

2008-11-17T10:28:00.003+01:00

We again arrived into a new location after sunset, and with new road construction it made finding our way to our hotel a little tricky. So new and redesigned, in fact, that the TomTom showed our cars position t be in grass and trees on several occasions! But with road signs and common sense, we lost little time and regained our way. Our place in Siena was right outside one of the city gates, and it was really nice especially when compared to our "Rick Steves Nightmare" in Florence. We unloaded our stuff and I squeezed the car into a tiny spot in their underground "garage" that accommodated perhaps 6 cars. After Jasmine, the international lawyer-in-training who moonlights as a front desk clerk gave us suggestions on places to eat, we headed out on the 5-10 minutes walk that would place us in the center of Siena. If you've seen "Quantum Of Solace", it's where the horse race is held. By night, Siena seemed smaller, less crowded, and cleaner then Florence. The next morning would confirm this.

It was a nice, bright morning, and the light of day enabled us to see that our hotel was in a very scenic location. We walked through the city gate and into the heart of Siena. We were told that no cars were allowed in the center, that it was a walking district. However, just like most of Italy, you have to be wary of scooters and motorcycles. Also, I guess according to the Italians, taxi's aren't cars, so you have to avoid them too! And then there are the occasional delivery trucks to dodge. Don't forget the police car too that rolls by from time to time! Yeah...not so much a traffic free zone if you ask us!!! Then there are those dangerous mothers pushing their baby strollers into you! I must've shifted my position 3 times to avoid a woman who was window shopping as she pushed her stroller. When she eventually ran into my leg, she whipped her head around, glaring at me with the iciest stare like I had bumped carelessly into her. I couldn't believe her reaction and uttered words to her that conveyed my thoughts. She continued to drill into my head with her expression, so, wanting to "fit in" and do as the locals, I gave it back to her. We visited several highlights, purchasing a card that gave us a discount at about 5 of them. We also went to a wine tasting where Radhika enjoyed herself and made a purchase to bring home. All that said, we enjoyed Siena more then we did Florence for the reasons stated earlier. It was more of a pleasure for us to walk around Siena. It was more charming, seemed friendlier, and relaxing. There's no substitute for the art in Florence, but the same can be said for everything else in Siena. We spent 2 nights there and really enjoyed ourselves. We would like a return visit here. And as usual, we got a late departure out of Siena as we were enjoying the day so much, and Cinque Terre was only 3 hours away we figured to arrive after dark again but not too late. Nice plan, but...

Florence

2008-11-13T13:50:00.004+01:00

We rolled into Florence later then we wanted, but Venice was so great! TomTom was good until we got near our hotel (as usual!). When it indicated we had reached our destination, there was no hotel in sight, just apartment buildings and a car repair garage. I pulled the car up onto the sidewalk a bit so I could get out and check address numbers to try to figure out where we were. The number of the hotel was found on the garage, so I was thrown off by that. I looked down to the street we had turned off of and across to the other side and saw what looked like a hotel sign. It was our place! The street name was the same on both sides. I would come to find out later that in Italy, they separate residence and business numbers that confuses a western guy like me (and apparently navigation devices)! I drove to and parked out front of the Hotel Enza, which was listed in Rick Steves travel book. I went inside, checked in, saw our room (wincing a little), and came back outside to gather Radhika and our baggage. The place was a disappointment, especially after such a nice stay at the Delfino near Venice! It was very dark, old (old can be charming, but this wasn't THAT kind of old) and worn out. It wasn't bad enough to find another place, so we just accepted it as it was and focused on everything outside the hotel. I asked the guy at the front desk about parking, but it seemed a major hassle to park on the street, paying, and moving it for the street cleaners, so I inquired about a parking garage. Not being too clear on where he was directing even though he used a map, we decided to use a garage we drove past as we neared the hotel. It's one of the problems of driving in Italy. The hotel was in a convenient location to the major attractions and art, but parking can be a big issue, which has expensive daily charges. It's one of the several reasons why I prefer to stay outside places like Rome or Paris if driving. It's less expensive accommodation, the car is not a problem, it's quieter, cleaner, and generally a more relaxed atmosphere. But, we were here, the car was taken care of, so we just crashed (with me chasing a few mosquitoes around in the room) and thought about tomorrow.

You want art? - - Go to Florence!! Man, after 3 days I had it oozing out of my pores! It was very cool to read and learn about the history of the city through the frescoes we viewed. And an impressive sight to behold with your own eyes in person is Michelangelo's "David". Fourteen feet tall and every bit perfect! The Galleria degli Uffizi is loaded with paintings and sculptures of Florentine masters. But speaking for me, my head was spinning after the 100th "Madonna And Child" or other constantly repeated religious themed pieces contained in this building (and city). I enjoyed the earlier work especially, seeing them grasp distance and perspective over the years, using light in new and dramatic ways. The buildings, churches, architecture are all fantastic. We went up to the top of the bell tower for a view of the city near sunset. It's quite lovely, even with the little drizzle of rain/mist towards the end. We were the last visitors of the day so that was nice. We walked around the city visiting some pretty sights over the next 2 days, and came away feeling pretty satisfied of the time we spent in Florence. Our next stop was Siena, just minutes south of Florence, but again we got a late start as we were getting our last glimpses of Florence from the park above the city on our drive out. Next stop - - Siena!

Venice PT.2

2008-11-13T11:20:00.003+01:00

The next morning was foggy but it quickly burned off by the time we finished the breakfast buffet at the hotel. What a great place to people watch! The international mix of our location, the situation of what is perceived as "free" food, people being time conscious. People have the most interesting expressions and behaviors at a breakfast buffet! The look on a person's face when there are no more croissants in the bin!! The searching eyes - - where's "this", where's "that"? You can see the wheels turning. "Do I want this?" "What is this?" "Where are the coffee cups?" "How do I get cappuccino out of this machine?" "Where do I sit?" "Where are my people?" And the kids running around pushing the levers of the juice dispenser, yelling what they want and don't want. The older people trying to fill their plates while keeping their fragile hips from breaking dodging the kids. But we didn't want to linger long there, so we were soon off to Venice. Such a unique place! Amsterdam has it's canals, but Venice is really one-of-a-kind. We used the vaporetto which are basically buses on water (let's just call them boats!) to get around. The transportation system is not too hard to figure out. With a map and the information at the stops, you know which one to take so you go in the right direction. We went to St. Marks Square, which is the suggested place to start you visit. It's one of the settings you see towards the end of Casino Royale. Over the course of our 2 1/2 days there, we visited many of the sights and several of the smaller islands, but one of our nicer more unique experiences was attending a concert in a church one evening. Five violinists, a cellist, contra base, and clavichord. It was fantastic! The talent was first rate and the presentation and atmosphere couldn't be beat! The group will actually tour the US in 2009, I believe. We completely enjoyed our visit and have definite plans to return again as our time there was very short. Wednesday morning we checked out before heading to Venice for our last 1/2 day, as in the afternoon we had to drive to Florence. Because we enjoyed our current location so much and found it hard to leave, we began a habit of getting to our next destination after dark, which sometimes made arrival a little more difficult. More on that later. On to Florence!

Venice!!

2008-11-04T17:09:00.004+01:00

A deep nights sleep from the previous days festivities had us feeling good. On to a little breakfast and then deciding whether to wander around Munich some more or hit the road for Italy. The weather being cloudy and cool, we decided to head south so we could make Venice before nightfall. The drive took about an hour longer then it should've due to road construction again in Germany. There was a little in Italy too, but not enough to consider beyond the realm of what's expected. The drive was really quite beautiful, with the mountainous terrain of southern Germany and northern Italy slowly transforming into the rolling, Italian countryside.

Using a TomTom, or any navigation device is a great tool for driving in foreign places! It does a really great job, but like almost anything else it is not perfect. We have already learned this on several occasions. I realized, with the help of my co-pilot, that I relied on it almost exclusively, forgetting common sense and sometimes even road signs! Not as bad as Michael and Dwight on "The Office", driving into a pond because the device told them to go straight, but getting "brain-lazy" and over-reliant on this technology. So, after driving past the hotel outside of Venice, and going around the block not once but twice, we parked and unloaded. Check in didn't take too long, and it being Sunday we were able to leave the car out front until tomorrow morning. So, we made sure we were happy with the room and then caught the bus in front of the hotel for the 10 minute ride to Venice. That ride reminded me so much of the area right outside the Taj Mahal in India. You basically pass through the "not-so-nice" section of town before you get to the beauty in both places. Between our hotel in Mestre and the drop off point in Venice you've got industrial buildings, railroad tracks, side roads, weeds and scrub brush. It's quite an eyesore. But arrival into the bus lot at Venice changes everything. It's twilight, so I setup the tripod quickly and get off some good shots with the best light of the day. We begin to walk, not getting far before we park ourselves at a canal side eatery for a couple of pizza slices, washing them down with a cold beer for me and a glass of red wine for Radhika. We then take our time exploring the streets and alleys, eventually hearing and following the sound of a piano. It must've been close to 9pm or so when we came upon a small square where 2 or 3 restaurants had setup places for outdoor seating. In one of them is a man dressed in a nice suit, with a black upright piano and glass for tips on top. There were several large trees along with benches underneath them. We got our first gelato at a small vendor who was just about to close, sitting on one of the benches under the Venice stars in the dimly lit square with Girl From Ipanema filling the air. I was thinking the perfect song for him to play next would be one of my Mom's and mine favorites from when I was a boy, "Moon River"...and he did! It was one of those lightning strike moments in life. I called my sister in Tallahassee, but instead spoke with my nephew as Helen was not at home. We sat there listening for a while, tipped the pianist, and began to walk back. Venice was practically empty now, being around 9:30. It was cool having the place practically to ourselves! Making some pictures along the way, we arrived at the pickup area where we caught the bus back to our stop in front of the hotel and we were in the room by 11pm. It was a nice first evening and we looked forward to our first full day in Venice tomorrow.

Oktoberfest!

2008-10-29T18:31:00.002+01:00

Up fairly early to get a good start to our day of Oktoberfest. I ran a little late for breakfast because of the mirror in the bathroom. Yeah, you read that correctly. They had one of those magnifying mirrors attached to the wall in the bathroom. A light on it too. Normally, when I use my electric shaver I can be done pretty fast. It must've taken me 5 times as long as it usually does because of that damn mirror. Whiskers that I usually miss and ignore due to my failing eyesight look like steel cables or telephone poles coming out of these manhole-sized openings in my skin!!! No one over the age of INFANT should look at their skin so closely!!! Seriously!!! Like shaving with a electron microscope!! The surface of the moon is smoother then that disgusting sight I witnessed! But I couldn't look away. I had to keep shaving, looking for every little hair, even the whispy ones, to chop them down to size. If you ever check into a hotel and they have one of those cursed things in the bathroom, treat it like Medusa!! Don't look directly at it!! Just blindly throw a towel over it and go about your business!

I finally finished shaving and made it to breakfast. Afterward, we walked from the pension, going around Munich sightseeing for a little while before going to the grounds where Oktoberfest was taking place. Now, naive as I am about these matters, I thought Oktoberfest engulfed the entire region if not the country based on those fine, fact-filled Hollywood resources like “Beer Fest” and (was it?) “Stripes”. I’m sure I’ve seen others, but just like when I worked in Japan on a 2 week project and those Japanese engineers I worked with thought everyone on the streets and highways shot at each other like “Ah-nold”, Stallone, and Bruce Willis, I thought Oktoberfest was an all-encompassing event. It's not! It's confined to one area in the city. However, it IS the biggest carnival/fair atmosphere I have ever seen! Rides all over the place, and not the type at county fairs in the US that look like they may fly apart at any second killing all riders and several gawkers eating cotton candy back in Bug Tussle. These were first class, huge, brand new looking rides - - and too many to count! If I had to make a guess, I would say between 70 to 100, and that’s not including the beer tents or food concessions!!!

We tried to get in one tent, but it was packed and the guy near the door said “No”. So, standing in line we gradually made our way up to the front while mostly clean-smelling people wedged up against us. I came to find out that later in the day is when the clean-smelling people really get funky. And let's face it - - this is Oktoberfest, so it's easily 80% drunk, or on their way to drunk, dudes. Just what I want, drunk, stinky dudes all up in my space!! So, we left that line after a little loitering and walked around trying to decide which one to try next. After a few dead-ends, we had success. We didn’t get in a tent, but we did manage to find one open seat at a table. You have to be seated before they would allow you to order a beer. For some reason, they will not serve you if you don’t have a seat at one of the gazillion picnic tables. So a guy was kind enough to let one of us sit, place an order for 4 beers, and as soon as the beer was delivered and the server turned his back we bolted the scene with the 50 gallon glasses of golden liquid!! With nowhere to sit, we searched and found a place with ample standing room where the sun was shining and most passersby would say “cheers” and clink our glasses! Now, these are NOT your ordinary glasses!! They have gone through stress and crash tests that would make the automobile insurance industry envious. These glasses get slammed together with such force and gusto that half of the beer shoots out like Old Faithful and as it makes it’s way back down to Earth a good portion of the airborne nectar ends up back in the glass it came out of or in one of the 5 to 10 glasses that were smashed together in not-so-perfect unison.

As we were standing and drinking, waiting for some spots to open up so we could sit down, a very drunk Italian (it was Italian week) was being propped up by his friend about 10 feet from us. The dude was in really bad shape, just dead weight to his buddy who struggled to keep him upright. Soon, there were 2 guys trying to walk the guy out of the crowd, but he didn’t quite make it. He was eased down onto the concrete and I held my camera overhead to make a couple of pictures. I was there to document Oktoberfest, and this was pretty much part of it. Well, a woman who had been selling pretzels saw me and put her hand in front of the lens and said “No Photo!” in a very authoritative way. I got a little irritated, but I got the shot I wanted anyway so that evaporated into nothing. The “beer medics” came and began to tend to him as he lay on the ground. He “expelled” a keg-load of liquid and then proceeded to roll around in it. (Nice, huh?! Guess he wanted proof for his friends that he attended Oktoberfest.) I took another picture or 2 when one of the beer patrol dudes grabbed the front of the camera as I finished shooting, which immediately and impulsively caused me to tell him to get his damn hands off my camera. He did (surprisingly), and after a brief stare down we found a place for all of us to sit. Meanwhile, the drunk Italian was carted off on a stretcher, leaving behind what can only be described as a big "smear" on the pavement.

People at a table we were standing next to got up, so we swooped in. We ran over, quickly claimed the spots, and smiled at each other like potheads finding a bale that has washed up on shore. We sat, talked with the people at the table who were from Germany, Australia, and Peru, and ordered some food and more beer. We stayed until after 8pm, several hours after our schedule for dinner, but once you manage to park your ass in a seat, you’re loath to give it up! We walked around the rides and then took the metro back to our Pension so we could eat at a German restaurant in the vicinity. It was full but we found another smaller one not too far away so we ordered, ate, and said our goodbyes back at the hotel as our friends were leaving in the morning before we would get up for our trip to Venice.

Driving To Munich - Sept. 26th

2008-10-24T18:23:00.002+02:00

Okay, here comes our vacation. Some names have been omitted or changed to protect the guilty.

We left Amsterdam around 1:15pm headed for Munich. The TomTom and Yahoo Maps indicated a 7-hour drive, but that’s not accounting for stops, construction, or speeds slower than 180kph. I see NO WAY to make that drive legally and safely in 7 hours under the best of conditions. One of R’s colleagues called her on the cell phone to warn us that he heard on the news that there were long backups out of Amsterdam, but by then we were already in Germany, so whatever was happening back there, we fortunately missed it! But Germany was saving their worst for us, as it seemed every 20 kilometers there was construction or some sort of delay. The worst was 70-100 kilometers north of Frankfort, where the traffic flow was at a stand still. In Frankfort the traffic slowed to a crawl. There were many other smaller spots, and the speed limits were jumping all over the place like jackrabbits! 120, 90, 70, 100, 90, 120, unlimited, 90, unlimited, 120 - - and that was within a 90 second stretch of highway!! Where’s that highly touted German engineering we hear so much about? I say engineer better construction zones so traffic isn’t delayed 90 minutes because you squeeze 4 lanes into 3 and those 3 lanes are so narrow you can scratch the itch on the passengers nose in the car next to you as you pass!

We made Munich in slightly less than 10 hours arriving at 11pm to our Pension. We were shown to our room and decided to recharge and attack the festivities tomorrow. R’s friend from work and husband had flown to Munich, arriving by mid-afternoon and called us when they got back to the same pension we were staying at. We were already in bed reading some material picked up from the front desk when they knocked on our door. Apparently I hadn’t shut or locked it because it swung open a few inches, so after peeking inside they came in. The quasi-hammered female visitor jumped on our bed between R and me (luckily I had pj's on), while the not-so-drunk male plopped into a chair. We heard about their fun day, about a group of 4 guys who said they were in the US Army and how their so-called leader was trashed and tried to pick fights with people and then said R’s friend from work was “hot”, a remark that was overheard by the drunk American soldier’s girlfriend, who proceeded to open a can of whoop ass on him! So, we all can rest easy that all of our foreign representatives in the military are doing us proud, especially since they have had trouble meeting their quotas and have reduced standards for entry into service! The drunks left, we crashed, getting rest for tomorrows chaos.

Bike Plight

2008-10-21T19:23:00.003+02:00

Okay... I promise, I'm working on Italy. But in the meantime, a little humor.

We currently have 3 bikes. Radhika's bike from the US that I now ride because mine was stolen in May, a bike she bought from a co-worker that she now uses, and another one from a male co-worker who left Amsterdam for the UK. We were supposed to pay 65 Euros for that one, which I would ride. It came with 2 locks and a child seat (for when Vince visits). Well, several weeks before he departed, the owner dropped the keys to the bike locks down the elevator shaft at work! So we waited to pay until facilities could check the bottom of the shaft and retrieve the keys. Correct! They didn't find them. So, he's in the UK by now and I check into the cost of removing the locks. I let him know the 65 Euros has climbed to triple that amount due to lock removal and replacement! After our vacation (this was a multiple month affair!), he emailed saying for us to just take the bike, which was stored in the bike shed at the office. We got it into the back of the car and I carried it up the stairs to the apartment so I could work on it. I hack sawed one lock off, but the other two just laughed as I drew the saw over them. All the saw did was make them shiny, but didn't chew a molecule of metal off the locks! So, I'm looking into a bolt cutter, but it seems they don't carry them here (perhaps due to rampant bike theft?). So I can rent a small grinder at their version of "Lowe's". However, the 24-hour rental has been out over 10 days, and the guy at the store is thinking the renter is on a bike-stealing spree! In the meantime, I went to ride my bike late yesterday to pick up the IPOD at the Apple Store but the rear tire is flat and won't hold air, so I beat feet. When I return, I carry my bike up to the apartment and put it in the guest room with the other one I'm trying to cut the locks off of. It's raining the next morning, so Radhika takes the car into work. She notices that one of her new mittens that was in her coat pocket is missing, so I tell her, using her bike, I will ride the route she took home last night and look for it on my way to the "Dutch Lowe's" (called Praxis) for the replacement inner tube and tire for my bike. So, after the rain stops, I head out, riding slowly, checking out the ground, looking for the mitten. As I near her office, the chain snaps on her bike and deposits itself in the middle of the road that I was crossing. So, I'm "skateboarding" the bike the final 10 minutes to and past her office, as the Praxis is 2 minutes down from her building. I buy the stuff for the bikes, and walk and "skateboard" the bike all the way back to the apartment (maybe 2 miles) and carry it up to the guest room, where ALL 3 OF OUR BIKES are in different states of disassembly!! Three bikes and not ONE road-worthy!!! But that's NOT the "kicker" (good word to use and you'll see why in a second). The front of our building has maybe 6-8 concrete stairs that lead up to a small platform where the door to the inside is. The platform is not big enough to hold the bike while I open the door, which requires to hands, one to turn the key and one to pull the handle. So I parked the bike in front of the apartment, went up the stairs to open the door and turn on the light in the stairs. Well, some "hero" thought it was a prime moment to jump on this unattended bike and ride off. This Goober saw me walk it up to the building, not knowing it had no chain. All I saw as I turned was his legs whipping around on the pedals going nowhere as he lost his balance and fell. I got down there just in time to utter a few expletives and kick him square in his ass as he scrambled to his feet to flee!! I just needed that dude on the Spanish Channel who covers soccer games to holler "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL" to complete the nonsense that just occurred. And I didn't give him a push pass with my instep or the top of my foot; he got the full toe of my Reebok's. Made a thud sound like I imagine smacking a goat with a sheep would. I think my foot helped him up actually (in a very uncomfortable way) and I may have to throw out those sneakers due to contamination! He ran down the street, turned a corner and was gone. I stood there with a smile on my face. No one was there. No cars, no pedestrians. No one to share a laugh with. He could've been on World's Most Stupid Criminals. But, I'll know him if I see him again, for sure. Such fun in Amsterdam, right!!?

Coming Down From The High Of Vacation

2008-10-16T17:59:00.002+02:00

Man...back 36 hours from our 19 days away from Amsterdam and it's like it all was a dream! Now the nightmare of a global economic free fall with the US leading the way down, darkness until 8am, and earlier each afternoon as winter inches closer, getting caught in the chilly rain on a gray, overcast day, dodging a micro burst of wind followed by golf-ball sized hail that had the Dutch gape-mouthed, a ticket for parking in the same damn place we've been using for the last 8 months requiring a visit to the Parking Bureau where I fill out a form explaining the mistake they made, and the usual rigmarole of grocery shopping has made Italy as foggy as the inside of Sarah Palin's skull. Have I regaled you yet with the tale of the checkout procedure here? It's quite similar to the US procedure with 1 major exception. As the item is passed over the scanner, it slides down to the bottom of the platform. You bring your own bags to the store which I really like, but you have to bag your stuff quickly, always cut short to pay the cashier, and when that's over if you're lucky only half of your goodies remain to be collected. But, time and the cashier waits for no one, and the next persons stuff comes zipping down the platform, and as you're trying to protect your remaining items, the cashier slides a dividing board over to keep your stuff from mingling with the new stuff. But the next person and their icky purchases are dangerously close to you and yours, and time is running out! You have to toss your stuff in the bags "by any means necessary" and get to one of the round tables they have set up in the walkway so you can place your bag or bags down and start rearranging everything correctly for the walk or bike ride home. If you have glass bottles, frozen items, bread, it all becomes speed packing and you hope your bread doesn't get assaulted by the other food. I usually lose a few slices in the middle of the loaf. If you're buying eggs - - well - - you just think you're a bad ass, don't you? It doesn't seem like a very efficient system...needing 2 places to bag your groceries, but that's Dutch-style. And woe is you if all the tables are taken, you squeeze in with others, or you drop something. Unlike in the states where I hit Sam's once every 2 weeks or so, I prefer almost a "drive by" approach here where I get in and get out as soon as possible with no dilly-dallying and keep the items down to as few as possible. "We're out of peanut butter? - - yeah...next time...tomorrow maybe....gotta go!" Bim-Bam-Boom on gone!

I've got plenty of pictures to go through to add to the blog with stories to go along with them. Just trying to decide whether to include details or just "nutshell it". You know...went to Italy, it was gorgeous, the end! I'll get to that soon. If you have a preference, let me know. But don't cry to me if you don't "vote", and you wanted "short and sweet" but I'm requested to give up the funny (hopefully) stories and do so. That's how a goofy, Russia-watching soccer Mom becomes Vice President!

The Last 2 Weeks

2008-09-23T17:54:00.002+02:00

Radhika went to London the weekend before her birthday to hang out with 2 friends from boarding school, Dimple and Shraddha. Shraddha came in Friday afternoon and bolted back out Saturday morning. What's that about? Anyway, I hear they had a good time hanging out Saturday and Sunday before she left to come back to Amsterdam. However, she conveniently left her camera home so there's no visual incriminating evidence, which is probably best!
Radhika's birthday fell on a Friday this year, so she had to spend a good deal of it at work. But, we went out to eat at a restaurant she likes that's close to the house that serves good, organic, vegetarian meals. They also display artwork by local photographers, so I spoke with the owner about hanging some of my work for 2 months. She wanted her gifts early in the evening, but I played mum, wanting to wait and extend the fun into the evening. After dinner we walked home and then I sprang the gifts on her. She didn't think the black dress was "her style", but the necklace and earrings I bought to go with the dress were perfect!! I shot 50%!!! That's a respectable field goal percentage in hoops and a downright record breaking batting average in baseball. That's not too bad. We'll shop for another dress together.
Well, we've had a stretch of good weather now that fall is upon us! There was a 10 mile race (called Dam To Dam) last weekend from Amsterdam to some other city nearby ending in "dam". I want to say Vandam, but I can't help but think of that acclaimed thespian, Jean Claude, and want to say that's not the name of the city (although I did like "Time Cop"). Brad and Natalia hosted a "Carbo-loading" dinner the night before the race, serving 3 types of pasta that were all delicious. Also, while I was talking to Natalia earlier in the week about what I was doing for R's birthday she suggested doing something the night of her pasta-fest, a cake to finish off the meal. I brought the candles to tennis in the week and gave them to her, and she picked up a great cake at the bakery near their flat. I went upstairs to use their "facility" only to come down with a cake and lit candles. Like magic, the attendees spontaneously burst into "Happy Birthday" as I came down the stairs. Radhika was totally surprised!!! Everyone went home with happy bellies and spirits. Anyway, Brad was running as well as two GE colleagues of Radhika's (Zsolt and Phil). All had great times and fared pretty well after the race. I went to the start of the race, but decided to walk around the city as it was the one day of the year where cars are not allowed on the streets and "things" were going on here and there. Meanwhile, Radhika and Natalia took the train to "the other dam" so they could be at the finish line when Brad, Zsolt, and Phil came blazing across it. I didn't see too many "things" happening in the city, but it sure was nice walking and riding the bike without worrying too much about automobiles. Taxi's and tram's were still operating, and taxi's are always worth keeping an eye on! Played a little tennis in the late afternoon with Vikram and John Atkinson, who is married to yet another GE employee. By the time I made it back to the apartment after tennis, Radhika soon followed 5 minutes after I arrived.
The reservations have all been made, the schedule is set, the clothes are in process of being packed, the camera gear is being checked, the plan to sneak out of the office early is in place (oops!), the car is being readied - - I believe it's a go for Friday!!! 2 days at Oktoberfest in Munich, followed by 4 days in Venice, 3 days in Florence and 2 days in Siena, 5 days in Cinque Terre, 1 day at Lake Como and finally 2 days around Lake Luzern in Switzerland before heading back October 14th. You will hear a full update from me when we return. Until then, think Sophia Loren, Ferrari, Rocky Balboa, and everything Italian.

Now you see it, now you don't, now you see it!

2008-09-10T14:58:00.003+02:00

Okay... here's that story I briefly mentioned yesterday. Radhika got 25% of the way to work Monday morning when she called me to say her tire was flat. I took the pump and rode the other bike to where she was. I couldn't get air in the tire, so she took the "good" bike to work and I walked the "bad" bike to the local bike shop. So as you may know, I am using a borrowed bike until I get one to replace mine which was stolen earlier in the year. Vikram, a GE colleague of R's and my tennis partner had an extra bike that I have been using. I used his bike that morning to go over to R's dentist office to get copies of her x-rays for a 2nd opinion she was getting. I locked Vikrams bike back up when I returned where I normally do. I left the apartment around 2pm Monday to drive to a camera store, passing the locked bike as I went to the car parked around the corner on PC Hoofstraat. Ninety minutes later I returned, parked the car, and as I came up on the apartment building noticed the bike and BOTH locks gone! Stolen in broad daylight! Now the irony of this is the bike was being returned to Vikram at 5pm or so that day, as we were to play tennis and I would leave it with him. Radhika had bought a bike she liked better then the one we brought over from the US from a GE co-worker a week or so ago, so we technicall had 3 bikes...her old one, her new one, and Vikrams. So, I would ride her old one until I got one that I liked after returning Vikrams'back to him. I had been in possession of his bike for at least 2 months if not longer, and it being stolen just hours before I was returning it was just unbelievable! So, I emailed Vikram who was at work, told him the tale, and he basically said "Shit happens" and to not worry about it. We, of course, intended to compensate for his loss. He seemed "skeptical" at first, because he had a very heavy duty chain on the bike. He thought maybe the authorities had removed it thinking I had locked it to a road sign or other location where it's not allowed to do so. But it was secured to our private, apartment building. In the meantime, I went to the bike shop around 5:30 when they told me it would be ready. I paid, and then drove to a bike store to look at locks to get another one. I bought one and when I came out I found the front tire on R's bike flat again!! So I walked it back over to the shop where they said they would fix it for free (no kidding!) and it would be ready when they opened at 9 the next morning. Fast forward to Tuesday morning. I describe where the bike shop is to Radhika, but she hems and haws about going. After 18 years of "exposure", I translate this behavior to mean she wants me to go with her. She also "fesses up" and asks me, but I had already used my "husband filter" to decode what she wanted (in this case...I haven't perfected it yet and don't expect I ever will...but that's where some of the excitement comes from!). So, she wants to walk to the bike shop using a certain route, but I say the route I use will be shorter. We take my route. As we near the shop, I spy a bike 3 feet to my left that is locked near a tree that looks a lot like Vikram's. Something like holyfu%kingshit comes out of my mouth as I realize IT IS the very bike that was stolen 19 hours earlier!!!! Disbelief, joy, anger, tension... yeah I'm feeling it all! Seeing as how it was to be a quick walk to the shop, I left my cellphone at the apartment that had the police number in it from when they told me if I were to ever find my bike that was stolen months ago to not confront the possessor of the bike, physically assault them, or steal the bike back, but to call them immediately. Radhika, of course, does not have the police number programmed in her phone. Luckily I ask a passerby and he gives the equivalent of 9-1-1. We call it and they send someone out. In the meantime I call Vikram, tell him what has happened, and to get here as soon as possible to ID his bike. The police get there 60 seconds before Vikram does. He 100% identifies the bike to the cops, but they say they can do nothing! Even if he had serial numbers and a purchase receipt, they still can't do anything! This discussion went on for a while, but ultimately they said to "steal it back" but only after they leave!! I was later told that one has to get the person in possession of the bike to sign a statement indicating that they are not the owners of the bike!!! And you thought the US had the monopoly on stupid laws?! So, the cops leave. I run to the bike shop to see if they have bolt cutters and can tell me where to buy them. No real help there so I went back to the bike. R had to get to work, so they stayed there while I went back to the apartment to get my cellphone. Once there, I noticed Vincent (our landlord) had left a hacksaw on our stairs as I had asked to borrow one about a week ago. PERFECT TIMING!! I went back and cut off the lock and brought the bike back to the apartment (inside and upstairs off the street!). Vikram used a piece of paper and lipstick from Radhika to let the person/possible thief know that it was stolen Monday and was stolen back on Tuesday. He stuck it to the pole the bike was locked to with chewing gum. A little closure for him, I guess! Anyway, we played tennis that afternoon. The bike is safely back in his possession, and we are thinking of methods to use to keep our bikes nearby and safe from any further thievery. You see.... Hollywood hasn't cornered the market on happy endings (or Thailand). We can have them too in Amsterdam!

Whirlwind of Visitors

2008-09-09T20:34:00.006+02:00

Man! We had a stretch there of several weeks where we had people coming in and out of Amsterdam. They've been gone now for about a week, so I can get caught up now on what's been going on. Got a real good story to tell that just ended today, but let me touch on all of the visitors that blew through.
First, Barbara came through in early August for a few days on her way to a cruise that she was taking from Copenhagen. Barbara had never been to Amsterdam before, so we walked around the city a little, hitting the touristy spots. We went to Brugge, Belgium and she really enjoyed that (who doesn't really, other than Colin Farrell's character in the movie?). There were a few days between Barbara leaving for her cruise and Radhika's Mom, sister Dolly, and Dolly's husband John (JK) arrival from NY. They went through the usual adjustment period with the 6 hour difference and then were good to go... more or less! This is Dolly and John's 2nd visit to Amsterdam in 4 months, and we are hard pressed to ever get out of the apartment before noon during their visits! But that is the nature of their vacations here, so we're "good to go" when they are! We saw "Mama Mia" because Dolly loves Abba and saw the Broadway show but not the movie yet. They liked it. We returned to Brugge again, because this was Mom's first visit and she has never visited. We all climbed the tower this time, squeezing past the others in the narrow, twisting stairwell like you find in your average Amsterdam apartment building. We ate outside at cafes, walked the streets, went in shops, bought chocolates... the usual Brugge itinerary. Mom, Dolly, and JK went to the Rijk's Museum, and one day we drove to The Hague, as we hadn't even checked that city out since arriving last year. It's definitely worth a repeat visit. One story ends with us getting 2 cool outdoor chairs for our rooftop terrace. We were all walking back to the apartment after yet another great dinner one evening, and the sidewalks had scattered piles of "stuff" that had been formed by resident's for the refuse pick up the next day. JK and I noticed what looked like 2 wooden outdoor chairs on top of a pile. After 30 seconds of inspection, we could find nothing wrong with them so we carried them back. The next day I removed the cloth seating and back from the wooden frame, tossed them in the washer, and they came out looking like new! The next time we need some furniture, we've decided to just hit the streets the night before trash collection. One man's trash IS another man's treasure (or garden terrace chair!). I have noticed that resident's do toss out a lot of stuff that normally Americans would find at a yard or garage sale. There appears to be no Goodwill, Salvation Army, or any other similar organization here. I'm told things of this nature are handled exactly how our situation occurred. In the Netherlands, the low-income family sector is much smaller then it is in the US due to the amount of government assistance. Anyway, one of the most enjoyable things we did was go to a local pub that has a live band playing near Leidseplein. Mom hit the sack, but the 4 of us went out for some drinks and music. The band was quite good, and it happened to be the night where it's an "open mic" situation. Several people came up before different numbers and joined in. There were 2 guitarists who came up for different numbers, and a saxaphonist. We were telling John he should go up to do something with them. He eventually did go up and did the number "Flip, Flop, Fly" by the Blues Brothers. It rocked, and the guys in the band and the crowd really enjoyed it!
So after Radhika's family scoots back to NY, her marathon coach and boyfriend come in for a couple of days before they take part in a triathlon in nearby Almere. Also, at the same time, Barbara comes back from her cruise and spends 2 1/2 days here before she heads back to the US. We go to an area just outside Amsterdam where there are farms to see the "rural" side of Holland, she tours the Ann Frank House, and shops for souvenirs for her friends back home. The apartment was now empty, with the slight possibility that Consuela and Trung (the afore mentioned marathon coach and her boyfriend) might stay a night or 2 after their triathlon and visit to Belgium. But they headed back to the states straight away, and thus ended our own "guest marathon". Now it's back to the normal craziness involving us and the local cast of characters. More on that later.

Just An Update

2008-08-06T00:20:00.002+02:00

No big stories to tell or complaints to make. Just a small narrative to go along with the couple of pictures to be added.
We live right near Vondel Park, which is the main green space in Amsterdam. It was a nice sunny day and the sun was hanging low in the sky, so we figured we would take some light food, find a spot, and throw down a sheet on the grass and enjoy the outdoors with many other visitors to the park. People are always in the park on nice days, doing all sorts of things.
We attended the Gay Pride Parade that floats down what's considered the main canal in Amsterdam last Saturday. Words can't express some of the costumes I saw. Needless to say this would NEVER fly in uptight Orlando. People would think the world was ending! I'll let the photo's do the speaking.

Up to Texel

2008-08-01T13:37:00.003+02:00

Last Sunday, we decided to do a little exploring, and drove the 90 minutes to where we caught the ferry to the most southern Friesland Island (hope I got that right - I'm not a REAL PAID writer so I can't afford a fact checker yet), Texel - pronounced Tessel for all you foreigners! The website for the ferry said it's a 30 minute trip... try 15 minutes max! For 35 euros round trip it should've been 30!!! We had limited time on the island due to our late start and Brad's need to get back to Amsterdam to pick up Natalia at the airport coming in from Poland. We ate a nice, relaxed lunch. Radhika and I swapped meals after I discovered I had small shrimps in my sandwich (you try to decipher a dutch menu - - sometimes you say to hell with it and ye takes yur chances!). We drove past the nude beaches heading to the north end. The terrain was quite different to what we are used to down in the "big city" which was nice. We drove through some small towns. I believe there are only 7 on the entire island. We walked along the beach for a spell and then had to head back, stopping only after Brad spied an ice cream shop on the side of the road after we took the ferry back to the mainland. We pushed Brad out of the car as we zipped past the airport where we assumed he met up with the birthday girl because we saw her later that week and headed home. I believe we saw a movie that night, but who remembers these things?!??! Oh yeah, it was the second viewing of Kung Fu Panda (Jack Black being funny with just his words and voice).

Rowing Lesson 3

2008-08-01T11:41:00.003+02:00

What a beautiful weather day yesterday!!!!!!!!! Don't get to say THAT very often in Amsterdam (from OUR experience here and point of view - living previously in Orlando!). Played some fun, sweaty tennis with Vik and Natalia, then biked it over to the GE office where we met Radhika already mounted on her bike heading to the rowing location which is right near the office. Brad was already there waiting for the rest of the team. Radhika actually sat in the lead position yesterday, this being the first time all 4 of us were in the boat together (Brad missed lesson 1 with injury, Natalia missed lesson 2 being in Poland). It went well. Brad saved my Sweetie's life by not allowing her to step out of the boat by placing her foot on the sliding seat (that's my girlie!!!). I am in his debt and must now save Natalia's life some day, some how. Eva, our coach was celebrating her 23rd birthday and decided to celebrate with us by telling us how much we sucked at rowing! Just kidding (not about her birthday). She gave us good instruction and just enough praise so we didn't toss our oars into the Amstel River out of frustration. Radhika was displaying the start of a few small blisters on her hands afterwards as badges of honor, evidence of the rigors and stress of leading a team of rowers down the dangerous, treacherous waters of the Amstel.

By Popular Demand

2008-07-21T17:03:00.004+02:00

Adding a few pictures by request. The first one... I guess some people needed visual evidence that Radhika DOES indeed ride a bike to work - weather permitting. The others that follow are of our place here in Amsterdam. The bedrooms and such are on the floor where you enter the apartment, and the living room, dining room, kitchen, and nook are on the top floor. Sounds backwards, but it is the best way as we're on the top of the building so there are 3 skylights providing natural light and they open up when the weather is nice. The rooftop terrace is a nice area to have for gatherings or reading, and just hanging out (again, weather permitting!). The views from both floors are exceptional and it's relatively quiet considering it's a popular section of the city. Enjoy!