One World -One Trip

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

2010-02-04T14:35:00.000-05:00

Lots of things in life don't die but instead evolve or get reinvented. Such is the case with this blog. This has been a great blog to write and we have had many dedicated followers over the past one and one half years. But now it's time to move on from this blog to... another blog.

I have just published a new book about our year long odyssey around the world: Around the World in Easy Ways, A Guide to Planning Long-Term Travel With or Without Your Kids.

For those thinking about long-term travel, this is a great "how to" guide that will help you with the process. For those who prefer to live vicariously through other people's travels, this book is just one more way for you to enjoy yourself. Either way, you should check it out at www.aroundtheworldineasyways.com. Once there, you will discover a blog feature on this site and it is here where I will continue to blog. So come visit my new site and if you have particular ideas of what you would like me to blog about, leave a comment on a blog post or send me an email via Contact the Author. I would love to hear from you.

PS - If you had a favorite post on the One World One Trip blog, don't worry, the blog isn't going anywhere. You can come back and visit it anytime.

HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET

2009-11-25T20:42:00.005-05:00

Running out the door to go pick my mother up at the airport, I grab a book and bottle of water - it could be a long wait. I find this incredibly great parking space and proceed to the ticket counter in order to get a gate pass; this is my mother's first time flying as a blind person and I feel it's best if I meet her at the gate. It's only been six months since I arrived to this airport from our world travels, but somehow, even in that short period of time, they've managed to rearrange everything. I find security and line up in my cue of five - where is everyone? Isn't this the busiest travel time of the year? Why did I leave myself so much time? As the TSA agent scrutinizes my I.D. and gate pass a light bulb goes off in my head, I've got a knife in my purse. I wasn't the one traveling, so why should I have remembered to take it out of my bag? I ask the agent if there is any place to leave it for an hour or so until I come back. His lengthy reply of "No" leaves me walking back to the car to drop it off. I'm not losing this knife after finally getting it back from Easter Island!

Back at security with that Deja Vu feeling. This time I make it all the way to the x-ray machines. "Excuse me ma'am, is this your bag?" (Why do they call you ma'am? It makes you feel so old.) What could they possibly be questioning in my little tote? It's only a book, newspaper and a bottle of water for my wait. "Ma'am, you can't take this bottle of water, do you want me to throw it out?" I notice he's not giving me a whole lot of other options so I say "Yes" since it's clearly the price I have to pay to get to the other side.

I finally make it to the gate with only twenty minutes to spare. With so little time, it turns out I could have left my purse, book and bottle of water in the car and saved a lot of hassle. My mother comes off the jetway beaming like a little kid; she is so excited to be here. I grab her wheel chair and begin to push, all the while wondering, how after 358 days of travel I could have been caught by security twice. My, how quickly we do forget.

AGRA

2009-11-08T14:26:00.005-05:00

I like thinking back to where I was a year ago. Not only is it an opportunity to relive a dream, it's an opportunity to think of someplace warm. I don't like the cold and having had a year of mild temperatures enables me to always think warm when reminiscing.

My thoughts often go to the obscure. Not the "big picture" of what we were doing or what we were seeing but some oddity that stands out in my mind. A year ago today we were standing in front of the Taj Mahal. You can read about that on Marty's blog from a year ago. I'm remembering Agra; home to the Taj.

We pulled into Agra on November 8th around 8:00 PM. It was dark, but not dark enough. Some places should never be seen in daylight, Agra is one of them. It was crowded, it was dirty, it was seedy, it was... We had heard it was rip-off city, we could see why. Then we arrived at our hotel. Thinking back, I'd say it was the worst of our accommodations. They handed us a pad lock key. You unlocked the pad lock and then, once in the room, you put the pad lock on the inside to lock others out, or to lock yourselves in. It was for just one night I told myself but I knew I wouldn't get much sleep with one eye open.

We wanted to be at the Taj by dawn the next day. This required us to leave all our belongs in the room until we returned to check out. I just knew that upon our return, anything of any value would be gone. The thought wasn't sitting well with me at all. Then I noticed the latch on the outside of the bathroom; ideas began to percolate. I retrieved a pad lock, purchased in Zanzibar, from the bottom of my bag. We placed all four of our suitcases and all four of our backpacks in the bathroom and then placed our pad lock on the outside of the bathroom door. Yes, you're picturing this right. We were locking all our belongings in the bathroom. Even if management had a key to the pad lock of our room, they still wouldn't be able to get into the bathroom. We left at 6:00 AM for the Taj Mahal feeling a little more at ease.

As we walked to the Taj Mahal none of us discussed the fact that we had just locked all our belongings in the bathroom; it seemed normal - we were in Agra.

IT ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW IT'S FOUND

2009-10-20T14:17:00.015-04:00

Once our trip was over, I figured our blog was over too. Not that I really wanted it to end (the trip or the blog); it's just that in my mind, they went hand in hand. Sure, people will check in to see great safari pictures or to hear about our trials and tribulations on the road, but who is going to check the blog now that we are here back in the US living our normal everyday lives. I guess there are a few people out there who might be interested in hearing about our reentry into "real" life, but probably not many.

So, here it is, just about 3 months since our last blog post. I'm sure we've lost all of our readership at this point, but something just happened that compels me to write. Eventually someone out there in the universe will stumble upon this post but until then, I'll just savor this post for myself.

As a pre 9/11 traveler, I travelled for years with my Swiss army knife in my carry on backpack; I never went anywhere without it. It was used for everything and I couldn't imagine being on the road and not having it at my disposal. So in June, 2008, before leaving for our year around the world, I consciously took my Swiss army knife and placed it in my toiletry bag which travelled in my checked luggage. Each time I arrived to a new destination and unpacked, I took the knife out of my toiletry bag and placed it in the daypack that was used for our daily outings. So began the ritual...Packing for a flight, put the knife in my toiletry bag; settling into a new location, unpack the knife and put in in the daypack. It was a flawless practice for 9 months, 18 travel days and 32 locations.

Then, in March of 2009, at the tiny airport on Rapi Nui, I saw the bin of items confiscated by airport security: lighters, scissors, knives. Knives! Oh my God! I'd forgotten to take my knife out of my daypack and put it in my toiletry bag. With my luggage already checked, there weren't too many options left. It was either surrender my beloved knife to airport security and never see it again, or run after our guesthouse host, Sharon, who was still at the airport awaiting her most recent guests on the arriving flight. For me it was a no brainer. I gave my knife to Sharon asking her if she would mail the knife back to me in the US in 3 months time when I would be returning home. She said she would do her best and then I had to let go of the outcome.

Concerned that small packages have a way of disappearing and never arriving to their final destination, Sharon later told me, via email, that she would hold the knife until she herself would be traveling to the US in the summer. Once in the US, she would mail the knife to me. Sharon arrived to the US but I got no package, only an email saying that she had essentially done the same thing - left the knife in her carry on instead of packing it in her checked bags. She passed the knife onto her assistant who was still at the airport as a sense of deja vu permeated the air.

At this point I was sure that I would never see my Swiss army knife ever again. I was tempted to plan a rescue mission, going to Rapa Nui myself to get the knife, but no matter how much I loved my knife or how bad I wanted to visit Rapa Nui again, I couldn't rationalize the thousands of dollars it would cost for the mission to get a knife that would cost me only $25 to replace. Besides, my family loved Rapa Nui as well - I might have to take all of them with me!

Sharon emailed me and told me that she would be coming back to the US in the fall for the birth of her grandchild; she would mail the knife to me at that point. But by this time I had lost all hope. It's not that I lacked faith in Sharon, it's just that I had come to believe that my knife was destined to spend the rest of it's existence on Rapa Nui - not a bad fate if I must say so myself.

But by last week everything had changed. I received an email from someone named Corie which I was about to delete since I didn't know a Corie and certainly all emails from people we don't know contain virus' right? Then I noticed that after her name came the phrase: Thank You and Package Mailed and the mention of the name Sharon. I backed up my computer to protect all my data before opening the email (not really) and there it was - a reference to my knife. Sharon had given my knife to one of her guests, this woman Corie from New York City, to mail to me upon her arrival back to the US. And sure enough, several days later, the knife arrived at my door step.

The knife looks exactly the same as when I handed it off to Sharon at the Rapa Nui airport 7 months ago; but it's not the same. It's no longer just a Swiss army knife, but instead is an embodiment of worldwide humanity. Sharon was a wonderful host when we stayed at Te'Ora, her guesthouse on Rapa Nui; but her obligation ended there. She didn't have to take on the mission of returning my knife to me, but she did. And while it took several attempts to keep her promise, keep it she did. Thank you Sharon for being the wonderfully kind person you are. And Corie who never knew me and most likely never will, she took on that mission as well.

Pick up any newspaper and you will see all the evil that our lives are currently filled with. But I know, after having traveled the world for a year, that this world is filled with incredible kindness. I know this because we were the recipient of it many times over.

IT'S A BOOK

2009-07-22T20:19:00.006-04:00

The One World One Trip blog is now a book available at blurb.com. With full color photos, it's just about an exact replica of the blog which you have been following over the past year. Available in both soft and hard back, it looks great but it's not cheap. Since with photos the book turned out to be over 300 pages, it was costly to publish. I would like to tell you that all the profit goes to charity but I can't - there really isn't any profit to speak of.

ONE WORLD ONE ...

One Mom, One Dad, T...

By By: lisa Shusterm...

Book Preview

Check it out!

Also, coming soon (or not so soon) to a publisher near you...

I am in the process of writing an indispensable guide to planning long term travel. This won't be a book to tell you where to go or what to see. This will be a book that tells you all the steps you need to take in order to make your long term travel a reality. It's the book that I wanted to read when we were planning our trip, but couldn't find. I'm hoping that this book will make it easier for other people to take their trip of a lifetime. Stay tuned.

THE LAST BLOG (OR NOT)

2009-06-16T19:39:00.000-04:00

In January 2006, three and one half years ago, I said to Marty, "If we are ever going to take this trip, we had better start planning it." At that point I really wasn't convinced that this trip would ever occur but I was certain of one thing, if we didn't start planning it, then for sure it would never happen. Just thinking about it or even talking about it was not going to make it a reality.

As we started to make plans in earnest, book flights, arrange for accommodations, obtain VISAs...it became clear that this trip was really going to happen - sort of. I still found myself saying "We are PLANNING on taking a trip around the world." It was so difficult for me to say "We ARE taking a trip around the world." Even at this late date was I still scared that it wasn't going to happen? Or, was I scared that it really was going to happen?

Well, it did happen. Of course I don't need to tell you that, you watched it unfold right here on this blog. And the most amazing thing of the whole year was just that; that it did happen. We took a dream and made it into a reality. We didn't let the myriad of obstacles that could have gotten in our way, get in our way. We didn't let the abundance of emotional issues that surfaced stop us either.

Taking this trip was the biggest thing that I have ever done in my life. And at this stage of my life, it may be the biggest thing that I will ever do. The good, the bad and the ugly of it all doesn't really matter. Just having made the trip made it a huge success. It was empowering, it made me stronger and if I can do this, I can do anything - as long as I can hold onto this feeling.

Avocet and Siena are young; they have their whole lives ahead of them. They will probably do something that will surpass this experience. That's OK. This wasn't their gig, it was ours. For them, this was a gift. An opportunity to see a world greater than the microcosm in which they live. An opportunity to have a different perspective as they grow and mature. And an opportunity to have a lifetime of memories that they can share with us.

I will miss writing this blog. For over a year now, this has been an important part of my life. Whether you were a religious follower or one who just popped on for a peek now and then, I thank you. While we will always have this blog as a family memento, knowing you were out there reading and going with us on our journey, made it that much more enjoyable to write. It was a great ride and I'm glad you all came along.

lisa

For me too, this process feels like it started decades ago. At the beginning, the onset of the trip was a lifetime away. What I didn't think about was the end of the trip. You plan for the things that must be done, the itinerary, the visas, the accommodations, etc. Those are “easy” in the long haul to work on because there is an excitement, an anticipation...even though they felt “hard” at the time. Now, after 42,000+ miles, what is there to look forward to? We won't be doing this again, at least the way it was done the first time. Av and Si's next adventure will be one of their own, maybe backpacking in their early twenties. The old farts of the family, lisa and I, will do something travel related in the future but not soon. A year on the road takes it out of you. So what is the next frontier? Job? Career? New Hobby? Volunteering? Green business? Astronaut? Run for President (not)?

I have discovered that the past year has reminded me that life is an adventure. It is too precious to not consider it so. I know that on the cusp of fifty five years of age that I don't have even forty good healthy years left. Doing something just to make money or to please someone or to conform...forget it. This year was the adventure of a lifetime. But maybe just one of the adventures. There are many more to come. It was a GREAT, GREAT year.

Marty

WELCOME HOME BRAIN

2009-06-14T17:37:00.000-04:00

We've been home for going on two days now. I still haven't adjusted. No altitude or time zone issues...it's a brain issue. I'm running on slow speed. When we unpack I do it in slow motion. I have the motivation of a slug. I do want to get stuff done but my mind and spirit are saying pole, pole (go slow, go slow in Swahili). I feel like I'm a step out of “the” world but haven't yet stepped back into “my” world. I want to talk to people about the trip but also want to shy away from it because....I really don't know why. I'm whacked!!! What I want is a simple project that I can do by myself where I don't have to talk to anyone. One whose complexity only uses 10% of my brain and can be done with a cerveza in my hand.

Being a traveler is diametrically opposed to being an efficient, functioning person of society. On the road you enjoy, observe and ponder. Being back in America requires thinking, planning, scheduling and analyzing what goes on every day. It is the sad epitome of being “local”. I guess I don't want to give up being “global” yet.

MEET THE JOHNSONS

2009-06-13T15:05:00.000-04:00

Throughout the past year, we have written numerous blog posts on people that we have met as we circumnavigated the globe. Meeting these people was certainly the highlights of our trip. We loved the sights, sounds and foods of each country we visited, but it's the people we met and the relationships we had with them that hold a special place in our hearts.

The Johnsons are no exceptions. We didn't meet them at an internet cafe or the guest house in which we were staying. They weren't sitting at a table next to us in a cafe or standing in a long immigration line right behind us. They're here. In the USA. In Cincinnati. Right across the street from where we live.

Valerie and Craig are our friends and neighbors. Valerie and Rachel (their daughter and friend of Avocet and Siena) were the last people we saw before we left for our year long adventure – they took us to the airport in June 2008. Valerie and Rachel were the first people we saw after our year long adventure – they picked us up at the airport in June 2009. While we were gone, their son Sam took care of our lawn while Rachel tended to the flower beds. The Johnsons kept an eye on the house and kept us updated on the comings and goings of our neighborhood.

The Johnsons are representative of the many friends and family that we left in Cincinnati and are now returning to. Our friends helped us out in various ways while we were gone. They kept in touch with us through emails and Skype calls. They followed our trip via pictures and blogs, and they prayed for our safe return.

It will be nice to see our house, sleep in our own beds and be surrounded by our familiar belongings. But, just like the people that we met along the way, it is the people that we left behind that will be the highlight of our return. Throughout the year, it was our friends and family who held a special place in our hearts.

BACK IN THE USA

2009-06-08T13:26:00.002-04:00

Well, here it is, the moment we've been waiting for: going home day. Our bags are packed and we're ready to go, we just need a ride to the airport. We call several airport shuttle services for a quote. $70.00 for a van to take all four of us to Tampa International. We explain that a van isn't really necessary – we've had all four of us and our luggage in cars ½ that size. Be he insists that only a van will do. We have refused to pay that much for taxis in other countries and opted for public transportation but that is not an option around here. In the end, a friend of Mom's takes us to the airport and we give her $45.00. Everyone is thrilled!

For the first time in a year we had the opportunity to print boarding passes, so we go directly to the USAir “Check In Kiosk” at the airport. Upon logging in and indicating that we will each check one bag, the computer promptly lets us know that we owe $60.00 for our checked luggage. This must be some kind of mistake! We leave that line and go to the line with the human behind the desk – certainly he can rectify this situation. WRONG! Same price in this line. Let me get this straight. The outrageously expensive one way tickets we have from Tampa to Cincinnati do not include our luggage? I wonder if I will have to pay extra to bring my purse on board; our computer, the girls' dolls? I don't get it. Our previous 30 flights always included our luggage, why is it that now we are back in the USA we have to rent space for our suitcases at the rate of $15.00 per bag?

For that matter, all our other flights always included food and beverages. Even our 20 minute flight from Zanzibar to Dar Es Saalem served us a snack – GRATIS! But not here in the USA. You want food, you better fork up some cash.

How is it that everywhere else in the world they can afford to transport your luggage and feed you for free, but not here in the wealthiest country on the globe??? I really would like an answer to this one.

We have had “sticker shock” every since we arrived back in the USA. Prices have definitely gone up since we left but the increase is magnified by having come from Ecuador where things were much cheaper. But we weren't prepared for the a la carte nature of the US economy. If I order coffee is the cream now extra? How about toast? Are the butter and jam now costing $.50? Is this the USA's answer to making prices look more reasonable? Just itemize everything?

I can tell now that this culture shock is going to be an ongoing thing for a while.

PROBLEMS PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE

2009-06-03T05:18:00.000-04:00

Over the past year of travel, we have had our share of trials and tribulations – problems if you may. An airport security issue in Delhi, India left us standing at our airport gate for a half hour while we watched everyone else board the plane that it looked like we were going to miss; multi pickpockets in Argentina which left Marty without a drivers license, credit cards, an ATM card and cash; wandering the streets of Dubrovnik, Croatia with our luggage, lost and no one able to direct us to our apartment; traffic in Delhi which almost caused us to miss the train that we had reserved months before and might have to wait days before we could rebook... At the time they all seemed like problems. But having spent the last 12 days in Florida with my Mother, it is now so easy to see that those were not problems, they were merely trivial inconveniences of life .

A problem is a 78 year old woman who at one moment is traveling though Europe on her own and the next moment is blind. A problem is a person who needs a lot of assistance but who is still quite vital so she doesn't really belong in a nursing home or even an assisted living facility. A problem is a loved one who wants to keep her independence which means living more than 1000 miles from any of her family members. These are REAL problems. For almost two weeks now I have been trying to rearrange my Mother's life to try to make it work for her. This is one of the hardest things I have ever done: emotionally, physically, mentally and even spiritually. It has left me feeling sad, angry, frustrated, trapped and hopeless. If I feel all these feelings, I can't imagine what my Mother feels – yet she keeps plugging along, trying endlessly to recapture some of her previous life.

All those day to day encounters we have that seem so troubling, aggravating and impossible, they are simple blips on the radar screen of life. They will pass, often without any significant consequence. Losing one's health, now that's a real problem.

MARTY'S TOP TEN SIGHTS OF THE WORLD

2009-06-01T10:24:00.005-04:00

No one else wanted to list their favorites. Av and Si were asked repeatedly along the way "what was your favorite place"? Their answer was always "We like them all". They believe that an attempt to say what is best (and worst) would diminish the experience. I don't believe this will happen for me. I rate things. I log and score the books I read. I used to keep a daily log of how much I jogged. GEEK!!! So I have always scored and rated things. Here goes:

10) Score of 9.1 The beautiful city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. The views of the city from the fortified walls were incredible. So were the views of the Adriatic from the rocky escarpments near Dance Beach.

9) Score of 9.2 I didn't anticipate that the Leaning Tower of Pisa would be spectacular. It was. The views of the Pisa Cathedral and Baptistry from the top of the tower (leaning) at sunset were breathtaking.

8) Score of 9.2 I loved the street scenes of McLeodganj, in Northern India. The smells. The look of the older people. The beggars. The ever present burgundy robes of the Tibetan monks at ground level...and the foothills of the Himalayas up above.

7) Score of 9.2 The incredible symmetry and beauty of the Taj Mahal. Wonderfully landscaped gardens contrasted with the poverty of Agra. I expected it to be the #1 sight in the world before we left. Not quite, but it's a gorgeous world and the Taj adds to its beauty.

6) Score of 9.3 The incredible grandeur of the karst formations on our Li River outing near Yangshuo, China. They jut hundreds of feet up, solitary in their beauty. Much better than the calendars and posters in Chinese restaurants at home.

5) Score of 9.3 The beauty of hundreds of paper lanterns (kom loy) floating in the air during the festival of Loy Krathong in Thailand. The energy and gaiety of the festival added to the wonder.

4) Score of 9.3 The stunning views inside the volcanoes of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The caldera rim was bleak with beautiful vegetation growing in the lake down below. I didn't expect the scenes here to have this much of an impact on me. They did.

3) Score of 9.3 When the lions walked directly beneath my window of our Safari Land Cruiser on game day in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. Incredibly gorgeous scenery and animals.

2) Score of 9.5 Gargantua del Diablo or Devil's Throat Falls inside Iguazu Falls National Park in Argentina. The extreme force of nature astounded me. Too loud to hear.

1) And the #1 sight for me with a score of 9.6 is Peron Dunes, outside the hamlet of St. Helens in Tasmania. It is an unlikely #1 since I had never heard about it before we left and even as we got to Tasmania after leaving Sydney. I walked out and saw the starkness, the mist, the deserted beach, and the dunes rising high into the sky. The outerwordliness of this place. I felt totally at peace.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL WORLD!

HOME SWEET ALMOST HOME

2009-05-23T21:44:00.003-04:00

We arrived at Miami International Airport on Wednesday, May 20th. If you have to arrive in the US from South America, Miami is the place to go. The culture shock is minimized by the fact that everything is still in Spanish; we knew exactly where to enter (entrada), where to exit (salida) and where to go to the bathroom (banos). Very comforting!

I imagined the first picture in our return photo album to be the one from the airport that said Welcome To The United States of America. But there was no sign to take a picture of. I don't understand. We had one that said Bienvenidos Ecuador, Bienvenidos Uruguay... where was the one for the USA? Given the fact that we were arriving in Miami, I would have been happy with Bienvenidos Estados Unidos, but nothing. Are we really that unwelcoming?

We collected our luggage, proceeded through immigration and customs and headed over to Avis to get our rental car that would take us to Sun City Center (250 miles north west) where my Mother lives. I had reserved a full size car which would be the largest vehicle we've been in for a year, but we wanted to be comfortable for our 5 hour trip. When I checked in, Darleen, our faithful Avis representative wanted to know if we wanted to upgrade to an SUV. No, the full size is fine. Do we want a GPS system. No thanks, not necessary. How about a DVD player for the kids? An insurance package? A fuel package? I JUST WANT A CAR! TRANSPORTATION! SOMETHING A LITTLE LARGER THAN A TUK-TUK!

Needing to refuel the car (since I didn't get that fuel package), I pull up to the pump at the gas station. Do I want to pay cash or credit? I put my credit card into the pump. What is my zip code? Do I want a receipt? Do I want a car wash? I JUST WANT GAS!

The next day we take my Mom shopping for a table and chairs for her new home. We picked out a lovely set and when I go to pay the cashier wants to know if I am going to pay with cash or credit? Do I want to open a new credit account with Pier One and get a 10% discount? Do I want to be on their email list? I JUST WANT TO MAKE MY PURCHASE!

After having traveled the world for the past year I have come to see that America is the land of choices. But after having lived without all those choices for a year, I have come to realize that I really didn't miss having all those choices. In fact, life was a whole lot simpler when there was no choice. Didn't I feel deprived? No, not really. Has our quality of life really improved with all the choices that we have or has it just gotten more complicated? More time consuming? More confusing?

When I ask myself how has this trip changed me, I guess the first response will be "It has made me want to have a simpler life." But I'm back here in America so wish me luck.

ECUADOR'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-05-20T16:29:00.001-04:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip Team for the Top Ten (Plus Two) of Ecuador and the results are in:

12. Our Quito apartment
11. Basilica del Voto Nacional
10. Palacio del Gobierno
9. Our final trip lunch at Patio Andaluz
8. La Compania de Jesus (Church)
7. Volcan Pichincha & the TeleferiQo
6. Jacchigua - Ballet Folklorica Ecuador
5. City of Quito
4. La Mitad del Mundo
3. Parque Carolina & Ceviche Chocho
2. Pululahua Experience: Crater, Hostal & Horse Trek

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF ECUADOR IS:

1. The Otavalo Indigenous Market and Fish Lunch

HORSE TREKKING DAY TWO

2009-05-19T09:04:00.014-04:00

The next day started off bueno. We had a good breakfast and said our goodbyes to Noah who we really enjoyed talking to from the night before. Renato got the horses ready remembering my issue with a ring on the saddle which rubbed against my knee and lisa's sore butt. Our saddles now came equipped with sheepskin pads. So New Zealand! Cazoomba, my horse, took off from where he left off the day before - doing his thing regardless of what I wanted to do.

Today we are headed up. Up the crater wall to the rim. A hill climb!! Trekking in the ANDES!!! Our plan is to traverse up in the morning, have lunch, then head down, walking our horses in the tough spots, in the afternoon. Sounds like a plan.

The riding was initially easy and our backs and legs were good. Soon the horses started to labor as we gained altitude. The trail was muddier than anticipated and sometimes the horses slid. As a result, the girls got a bit skiddish. So we dismounted and walked our horses awhile (up the mountain) till we got to more stable ground - which ended up being all the way to the TOP!...of the trail. In some ways I got "closer" to Cazoomba by walking him as his head would nudge me and I would turn around and pet him. Nice boy! Renato said we only had a short way to go (South American minutes: Five minutes promised equals thirty minutes in reality).

Finally, at the top (exhausted) we gladly remounted and proceeded along a dirt road to around 10,450 feet. We stopped when we found a nice lunch spot. We had Rento's ham and cheese sandwiches and watched the clouds go by below us. A magnificent setting. Best lunch seats in the house!

Afterwards we headed onto a trail, into the cloud forest. It was mystical, kinda like a "Lord of the Rings" filmset. But the mystical feeling was soon broken. All of a sudden Siena starts crying...She's been kicked by Tarzan, Avocet's horse. I jump off, go to her, take her boot off and examine her left leg. She is in a panic so I just hold her leg. She is letting me touch it so it's not broken. It must have been a glancing blow and she starts to settle down. Renato infers that Tarzan, might have kicked back because Zeus, Siena's horse, could have bitten him. Horses are unpredictable animals. Renato tells us now to keep our distances between horses (a bit late in telling us).

We soon get to a point where the trail gets tougher: narrower, steeper and very muddy. Since there hadn't been heavy rains for a week, Renato thought the trail was going to be dry - WRONG. This isn't a place for beginners! A joint decision is made to go ahead and dismount and walk until it gets better. Renato walks his horse and Tarzan while I walk the other three. lisa and the girls walk last.

Ready for more excitement???? Tarzan, a seasoned horse of at least sixteen years, slips on the narrow, muddy trail and his 800+ pounds tumbles down the hillside into a thicket of bamboo. I am the first to see him with his head bent between two bamboo stalks. My first thought, "What if Av had been on his back when this happened?" Renato calmly ties up his horse while I tie up the remaining three. He decends the hill, assesses the damage and finds Tarzan OK, with a slight cut on the left side of his head. Renato starts to cut the bamboo with his machete attempting to clear a less steep way out, while I amble down to hold Tarzan's reins. Tarzan is agitated and ready to get out of there. As Renato whacks away, Tarzan gets more excited. Is he going to stomp on me or what? Thankfully the cleared trail to the top is ready and Tarzan scampers up, like a cat, stretching his legs and finally leaping to the top. Cheers go up from all. Just another day at the office, right? Renato is having a bad day: never had a horse kick a kid, never had a horse fall off the trail, never had to have his riders walk the ENTIRE WAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN. Let's get the hell out of this mystical forest!

The girls are unhappy. We are spending more time off the horses than on. Renato is stressed because this is the worst day he has ever had doing this. Let's just get back to level land and go home. After an hour of walking in boots that are designed to protect your legs and not to be hiking boots, our feet are getting sore. Great!

We arrive at the crater bottom and decide to take the longer but easier dirt road back. All remount except me. I try to get back up on Cazoomba but he will have none of it. Clearly he has liked my almost two hundred pound butt off his back. I try another time...up and over...and down I go on the other side. I'm OK, but Siena, after being kicked and watching Tarzan fall, starts to freak out. I quickly run over to her, raise my arms over my head and give her a big grin. Doesn't help.

Renato and I switch horses. Nice saddle. You get one of those when you are the boss. Cool. Nice horse Noel, much more sedate than the skiddish Cazoomba. But he won't budge on the downhill. lisa and I are what appears to be a quarter mile behind the girls and Renato. Finally he moves, but almost immediately gets spooked by an imaginary animal off to the left. Great, now this. He starts down the hill and I can tell he's not comfortable. He does this little nerveous thing with his feet and I decide I'm off of this dude. I walk another quarter mile until we get to Renato and the girls. I remounted and a half an hour later we reached the stable.

The horse trek in the Andes was supposed to be our coup de grace of Ecuador and the whole trip. It didn't quite turn out that way. Today was a tough day. It was supposed to be a blast. It wasn't. It was dangerous. The girls were scared a lot and lisa felt that bad decisions were made. What a way to end it. But it was a real adventure.

Horse Trekking Day One

2009-05-18T19:25:00.003-04:00

In Uruguay, we wanted to go horse trekking for three hours or so. The only horse trekking company available did more farm activities than horse trekking which we were not excited about. When Mom said that there's horse trekking in Ecuador, we decided on a two day, with overnight, trek in the Andes Mountains.

Our horse trekking adventure began in the Pululahua Crater which is the largest and only inhabited crater in South America. It is also the only crater in the world that has farming and farm animals in it.

The day we arrived, we did four hours of trekking. Good practice for the next day! We started on open, but deserted roads, and then turned onto smaller trails. The trails featured beautiful scenery and landscapes. It was awesome! The Pululahua Crater was a very pretty place to go horseback riding. Most of the trails were thin and so wooded, that our legs kept running up against the "wall". We were ever so thankful for the lended rubber boots that provided us with "safe feet". Stopping at the two hour point for a snack did us good and Avocet and I practiced mounting our horses by ourselves! When we started heading back, the clouds started coming in, this is a cloud forest! After horse trekking, we retired to the Hostal, where we sat in the Jaccuzzi talking to Noah, someone we met along the trail. We had lots of fun the first day!

Pululahua Hostal has 5 dogs; Mystica, Ping Pong, Scotie, Rocky and Polilla. Mystica and Polilla are Mom and Dad, with the three boys. They are all quite naughty, and while we were riding, they bothered more than 1 or 2 donkeys, cows, chickens, pigs, and horses. Ping Pong and Rocky look alike with black and white hair, while Mystica is a pit bull/boxer with tiger stripes. Polilla (pronounced Po-leash- a) is a golden retriever and Scotie looks most like him, a yellow labrador. They followed us both days up and down the mountains, chasing animals and having a blast!

~Siena & Avocet

Zeus, Siena's horse

Tarzan, Avocet's horse

Lucero, Mama's horse

Kuzumba, Daddy's horse

WHY WON'T MY VEGETABLES COOK?

2009-05-17T18:02:00.008-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I cook quite a bit - sometimes simple and sometimes gourmet. This is true on the road as well but on the the road I cook only simple. So here I am making sauteed chicken with boiled carrots and rice for dinner perfectly timed for a 6:00 meal. The table is set, the wine is poured and I go to take out my rock hard carrots and my partially cooked rice; what is going on here? I blame the uncooked carrots on the fact that Marty has cut them way to thick and the rice problem is due to the fact that I can't get a flame low enough on this propane stove to properly cook rice.

Several days later I'm making steak with broccoli and potatoes. Same scenario only this time my broccoli is rock hard and the potatoes are a little on the raw side. I cut the broccoli so who do I blame this time? I cook the broccoli for additional 20 minutes and the potatoes for 15 minutes more and serve them with the cold steak. What is going on here?

Altitude! We all know that altitude makes breathing harder since the air density is lower (less oxygen in the air). But did you know that due to this lower density air, water boils at a lower temperature than it would at lower altitudes? If you thought that boiled water is boiled water, guess again. At home, boiled water is 212degrees, here in Quito, it is only 185 degrees. So even though you are cooking something in boiled water, it is not as hot, so it will have to cook for longer - maybe even twice as long!

This is not a big secret, it's just that the people in Colorado forgot to tell me to start dinner twice as early as I would if I were at home. Thank God I didn't try to bake!

ALTITUDE

2009-05-15T07:21:00.002-04:00

As mentioned before, Quito stands at an elevation of 9,300 feet. This altitude has had an impact on all of us. When we arrived here we anticipated being out of breath. What we didn't expect was the same occurrence a week later. Every time we walk up the stairs to our 4th floor apartment, we are reminded we are not at sea level. lisa and I have also had dull headaches when we get up in the morning. Our sleep is also affected, not sleeping well at all. We are tired a lot. When I lie awake lying on my back it is hard to catch my breath. I can feel my diaphragm laboring. It's funny that rolling over on my side makes a big difference. Just sitting here writing it's hard to get a really deep breath. Not satisfying.

Changes in elevation in our travels here make a difference too. We dropped to around 8000 feet on our day trip to La Mitad del Mundo. Much, much better. At the other extreme, taking our one hour trek yesterday between 13,400 feet and a touch over 14,000 feet was exhausting. I was gasping for breath and taking short steps to proceed upward. Our twenty minutes of just hanging at one place felt really good. Surprisingly, it wasn't bitterly cold . lisa and I have frozen in the past when we were at elevations lower than this. Being on the equator allowed some hikers to the Pichincha Volcano peak at 15,800 feet to go up with just t-shirts. We shed our three to four layers of clothes when it got too hot.

Dumb me. Of all days to forget to put on sunscreen. We were exposed for only a couple of hours and I now have the worst sunburn since the head has been shaved. The sun is much more intense at the equator than at the 39 degree north latitude we have at home. And it's much more intense at 14,000 feet than near sea level.

Negatives, negatives, negatives. On the positive side it's beautiful here. I look out the window while washing dishes and see the mountains loom over the beautiful Basilica a couple of blocks away. While on the trail at altitude, I observed alpine grasses with red, purple or yellow flowers all the way to 15,000+ feet. Gorgeous. They even have dandelions up this high!

I like mountains. Always have. Our trip to the higher elevations here was a “high” I wanted the whole trip. And I finally got it.

Otavalo, South America's Largest

2009-05-13T05:30:00.002-04:00

About 2 hours drive from Quito is Otavalo, South America's largest... what? Guess what it is; we've been to ones in The Netherlands, Slovenia, Thailand, Laos, Australia, Chile, Argentina and now, here.

IT'S A MARKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And from the title of my blog, you can probably tell that it's large. They sell all kinds of Andean and Ecuadorian crafts from dolls to blankets. The bus ride up was looooooooooooong and because they stopped at every clustering of people they saw, (possible money...) it made the ride "bumpy". We finally arrived at Otavalo town. If we thought people in Quito were wearing more traditional clothing, almost all the ladies in Otavalo were wearing Andean costume! We headed down 3 blocks, finally arriving at the market.

And they had tons of stuff! Alpaca blankets, alpaca sweaters, alpaca ponchos, llama stuffed animals, llama wall hangings, slippers, bags, hammocks, clothing, purses, dolls, and repeat it all again. We ended up buying, well, a lot. But you can bargain and the prices out there are cheaper than Quito to begin with, so a lot of stuff isn't as expensive as it sounds. And we are getting rid of some stuff in our suitcases here anyway...

We finally decided to head back home around 4:00, getting home at 6:00, another long bus ride. We thoroughly enjoyed Otavalo!!!

Comment:

The One World One Trip Team has voted Otavalo the best market in the world!!!! No, literally.

LIFE ON THE EQUATOR

2009-05-12T06:22:00.001-04:00

Every place people live has a certain rhythm. Lots of factors can contribute to the rhythm of a location but typically the principle factor is established by the seasons. Here in Ecuador, there are no seasons as we know them. They will refer to summer or winter but basically it has to do with the amount of rainfall. Here on the Equator; January is pretty much the same as March which is pretty much the same as June which is pretty much the same as...

When I think of the Equator, I think of hot, very hot, sweltering hot. But here in Quito, at an altitude of over 9000 feet it is not hot. And again, because we are on the Equator, the weather is pretty consistent year round - about 68 degrees during the day and about 50 degrees during the night - 365 days per year! Because of the intensity of the sun, that 68 degrees feels warmer on a nice sunny day. Long pants, a short sleeve shirt and sandals work just great. In the evening, add some socks and a light jacket and you're in business. I could really get used to this. Houses don't have air conditioning, you don't need it, and houses don't have heat, you don't need that either. Imagine that utility bill at the end of each and every month!

Time is also different here. No daylight savings time - no spring forward or fall back. No long days in the summer and short days in the winter. Here at the "middle of the earth", each and every day is the same; 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. The sun rises at 6:00 AM and sets at 6:00 PM. Because of this, it seems that life begins earlier in the day and ends earlier in the day. We have been here a week now and we can't seem to sleep past 5:30 and trust me, it's not from lack of trying. Needless to say, by 9:30 PM we are ready for bed. When you walk out your door at 7:00 AM and the streets are bustling and the trollies are jam-packed, you see that everyone else is on the same schedule. It's a rhythm that after a while you stop fighting and just go with.

LA MITAD DEL MUNDO

2009-05-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

We left our apartment in the Centro Historico of Quito and headed for La Mitad del Mundo – the Middle of the World. The equator is 22 km from the center of Quito. 22 km in a city this size equals 90 minutes travel time (on public transportation). At home this is the distance from our house to Tri-County mall (30 minutes tops, by car). And thanks to the makers of Dramamine = No bus sickness for our three ladies. Yay!!

We arrive at La Mitad del Mundo and first observed the famous monument that has the “line running through it”. We all had our requisite photos taken straddling the equator, one leg in the Northern Hemisphere and the other in the Southern. That's what you do here, take pics to prove you were here. It wasn't great fun, but you can't visit Quito and pass it up. How fun can a “line” be, anyway? We finished our photo shoot and headed into the monument/museum. This small, but nice “museo” gave descriptions of the various indigenous peoples of Ecuador. To add to our experience, we also viewed a room size scale model of Colonial Quito. The girls were bored with an exhibit of the history of the “Making of the Equator," but I really enjoyed it. It went from the need of the French king in the 1700's to settle a scientific dispute between the theories of Sir Isaac Newton and __________(can't remember name) regarding the shape of the Earth, to the eventual naming of the new nation Ecuador after this imaginary line running equidistant between the poles. Good exhibit for Marty = Geeky.

A side note. We met a nice family from New York. The father was Joe Berlinger, a documentary film maker. His most famous film was “Paradise Lost”, about a trial of three teenagers for murder, simply because of their dress style and music preferences. He and his family were in Quito because his current documentary “Crude” was the opening film at an International Film Festival being held here. It is an inside look at how Texaco polluted the Amazon and tried to get away with it. Watch it at your local theatre.

After a day of being equatorial, we headed back to Quito with the “equation” La Mitad del Mundo = Good Day

Donde Es Sacagawea?

2009-05-09T07:49:00.003-04:00

In the U.S., it's a rarity to find a Sacagawea dollar. When you find them, most people put it in their coin collection, rather than take the chance of using it and not getting another. We still mint the coins, so where is Sacagawea? Down here in Ecuador.

In 2001, Ecuador converted to the U.S. dollar, explaining the 1 to 1 exchange rate. For some reason, all the Sacagawea dollars got dumped down here. At the end of the day, you may end up with 5-10 of them. I got 2 from ONE purchase today!

Ecuador's money situation is strange (READ: absurd). They use American bills, dollar coins and cents such as dimes and nickels, but they also have Ecuadorian Centavos, worth the same as their American counterparts. Why are they worth nothing in the U.S.?

We've discussed the money situation down here so much that Dad finally got onto the computer today and googled the topic. Most people commented about the Sacagawea dollar down here but not up there. Several said that when they saw a Sacagawea dollar in the States, they thought that it was counterfeit! Goes to show you that people really don't see them up there, they are all in Ecuador.

Getting High in Quito, Ecuador!

2009-05-08T08:50:00.001-04:00

Most of you probably know of Ecuador because the equator goes through it. What you probably don't know is that the Andes Mountain range starts here, it hosts the largest market in South America, and that the Amazon River goes through it. The only place we're staying in Ecuador, is Quito, the capital city.

What a travel day! To get to Quito, we had to take a plane from Montevideo, Uruguay to Lima, Peru, and then a plane to Ecuador. And we almost missed the plane to Quito too! I bet those people in the airport thought we were mad, running through the gates. At least we didn't miss the plane though!

We are staying in the old town of Quito, but the city stretches far beyond it! Quito is a huge city in a huge valley surrounded by the Andes. It's very pretty and the mountains make for good pictures, especially behind the Basilica.

The Basilica, also very big, just like everything else around here (except for the people!) is gorgeous except for those two clocks. They're hideous! The second day we were here, we climbed the two towers. Great views!

Quito will have been the highest city we've been on this trip altitude wise. It's about 9,895 feet up! We are still acclimitizing and it's still hard for us to breathe. I hope we get used to it soon!

Ecuador is very different from all the other parts of South America that we have visited (excluding Chillan), because it seems like South America. In Valpariaso, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo, it seemed so European. Here in Quito, it's anything but European except for some of the architecture. You'll even see ladies walking in the streets with Andean clothing on! I never saw that in Buenos Aires! It's good to have a change from what we've been visiting.

So far Quito has been very nice and I can't wait to do more stuff here!

THE LAST STOP

2009-05-07T07:21:00.000-04:00

I remember it like it was yesterday; well, maybe like it was six months ago. We arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos and it felt like a monumental event. Why? We finally hit the second column on the back of our trip shirt. As we traveled through Europe then into Africa, it seemed like we would never get to that second column and finally, we made it – coincidentally at around our six month point. Now, here we are, in Quito, Ecuador, the last city at the bottom of the second column.

Time is such a strange thing. On the one hand, a day or a week can pass so slowly but then you wonder what happened to the whole month – it just flew by. Our friends Sean and Dianna and their family spent a year living in Paris the year before we left and I remember asking them, “Did the year pass quickly or slowly?” "Both", they said. "Some months and seasons went quickly while others went more slowly". I too can say the same for our year abroad. Some locations flew by while others seemed to last forever.

Now that we are on the home stretch, time seems to have slowed down. I guess you could say that that is a good thing since it enables us to better enjoy the last days of our journey. But at this point, everyone is anxious to go home and sometimes a day feels like it is lasting forever. If Avocet and Siena had their way, Quito would be bypassed completely and we would be heading straight back to the US!

But TACA Airlines has only taken us as far as Quito and the flight to Miami doesn't leave for another 16 days. From Miami we will drive to Sun City Center where my Mother lives, and visit with her for two weeks. It was originally suppose to be only one week, but she has not been well for the last eight months so we arranged to cut Quito short by a week and spend extra time with Mom. It will be wonderful to be there with her for 14 days but also difficult. We will be so close to home yet so far away.

URUGUAY'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-05-05T07:52:00.000-04:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip Team for their top ten (plus two) of Uruguay and the results are in:

12. The meat of Uruguay - Entrecote, Lomo, Hamburguesa and Chorizo
11. Reserving horse camp in Cincinnati
10. Talking about home
9. The Internet with our Claro modem stick
8. Leaving Uruguay
7. Walking on the Rambla in Montevideo
6. Museo Gaucho y la Moneda
5. Teatro Solis and the Brazilian Ballet
4. Plaza Independencia and the General Artigas Memorial
3. Paddleboating at Parque Rodo
2. Palacio Salvo and our apartment there

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF URUGUAY IS:

1. Our beach day at Piriapolis

WRONG ORDER OR WRONG TIMING?

2009-05-04T06:15:00.002-04:00

Have you ever gone to a really nice restaurant, one that is touted by friends and critics alike, and just not enjoyed your meal? Is the restaurant really not that great or did you just order the wrong dish? That's how I feel about Montevideo, Uruguay. In fact, that's how I feel about South America in general so far. Since we left our friends in Chillan, Chile, I haven't been that thrilled with South America. Is it that South America is not my cup of tea? Or is it just that we ordered the wrong dish from the menu i.e. we didn't pick the right cities/countries to go to on this continent. Maybe Peru, Brazil or Boliva would have been more to my liking. Someplace where there is an indiginous population versus a population of European descendants.

Of course, there is another factor to take into consideration...timing. Here we are in the last month of our trip. We have been there and done that all across the globe. Would anyplace really be new and exciting at this point? Would Montevideo, Uruguay be one of the highlights of my year had it been one of our first stops vs. one of our last? I'm thinking not, but I can't say for sure.

I can still remember my mental state one year ago in May of 2008. I was physically still in Cincinnati, still in the US, but emotionally, I was already going around the world. There was still some planning left to do, still loose ends to tie up at home, but I didn't want to be making plans for the trip any longer, I just wanted to be ON IT!

Now, here it is, one year later. There are lots of mixed feelings about coming home but either way, we will be home in just over a month. Our daily "To Do" lists include not only things like buy more leche, see Presidential Home and buy tickets for the Brazilian Ballet. It includes things like, sign up the kids for summer camp, contact school regarding enrollment for next year and find out date our renters will be moving out. Aspects of home have fully infiltrated our lives here in South America and like it or not, had a impact on our emotional state.

So we pass our time here in Montevideo checking out the Carnaval Museum, looking at historical monuments, browsing the market and planning for our return home.

It will be interesting to see what Ecuador brings. I hope we can go out with a bang and not a bust.

PIRIAPOLIS - A PLACE TO JUST "BE"

2009-05-02T06:45:00.000-04:00

Piriapolis is a seaside resort ninety minutes, by bus, up the coast from Montevideo. Seaside resorts have seasons; we are here on the last day of April (equivalent weather wise to October 30th at home in the northern hemisphere) so we are definitely here in the off season. Why go here off season? Because it's on the trip shirt, of course!! When I planned Argentina and Uruguay about eighteen months ago, I knew this would be our last chance to be at the beach. And we like the beach.

We arrived and found the place deserted. As we walked along the sidewalks, few places were open. Restaurants were closed, souvie shops closed. They apparently didn't know we were coming!!! We visited the information office and found out about things to see and to do. Most were kinda boring, to be honest. So get on with it, Marty. Why blog about a boring place? Well...

Walking down the "Rambla" here we walked slowly and just talked. About home, about some of the people we have met, some of the places we have been, about anything. Deep down I feel we knew that we could just relax...we didn't have to "do" anything. We could just walk and "be". The air temp was cool, in the low sixties, but the sun intense, as it is in southern South America. We came upon a chairlift which took us up the hill to a shrine of San Antonio. People had thanked him with professionally made cards for the birth of a baby or a good event in their lives. When we came out you could see all of Piriapolis town, the pretty bay, ships in dry dock...all "resting". Little traffic. No noise...nice.

We ambled down to the two seaside "Pescaderias" recommended by the Information Office only to find them both closed. I would be closed, too. No one around! None of us got upset knowing that we would eventually find some place to eat. We happened upon a place that served us an okay meal (expensive at $50+ with only a rating of 78 out of 100 by lisa) but had good atmosphere. We have been together almost 24-7-365 and you would think we would having nothing else to talk about but we thoroughly enjoyed our ninety minute repast. Nice view of the sea and the waves on the beach. No pressure to leave. No place really to go. Just a pleasure to enjoy "good" (78 rating) food and good conversation.

After lunch we walked to the beach. We were the only ones on it for awhile. Took off our shoes and just relaxed. The girls and I walked down and found a dead dolphin on the beach. Poor fellow. Av and Si then went off exploring in the dunes. lisa found a warm spot out of the wind and "chilled out". I joined the girls and threw them around like I did in the past. Just a Daddy playing with his kids. Nice. We rejoined lisa to find her accompanied by a brown setter, laying down close to her. I went over and he immediately wanted to be petted. Eventually I laid down beside him and we just relaxed. Good dog, Fido. Av, Si, Fido and I went back up the beach. Fido tried to bury the dead dolphin by throwing sand over him. One of those things animals do, I guess. I was aware this would be my last view of the beach and water for awhile so I sat quietly by myself and just listened to the lapping of the waves. Earlier in my life I used to say when I was absorbed by the waves that I was "hearing" the face of God.

Temps got cooler so we decided to head back. After an hour or so walking (with Fido chasing every car) and just looking around we were back on the bus heading for Montevideo. Our day was not exciting, not really interesting, nor a lot of "fun". But, for me, it was a GOOD day. A REALLY GOOD DAY.

RAMBLING ON THE RAMBLA

2009-04-30T04:05:00.002-04:00

This is going to be a long blog. So go to the bathroom first or go to the frig and get a beer. Relax. It's going to take awhile to read this one. I titled it “Rambling on the Rambla” because I will give a detailed view of what we do in the first couple of days at a place. The “Rambla” is the wide promenade that is on the coastline here in Montevideo, Uruguay. People of all kinds just “rambla” along it. Here goes.

I'm journaling at the kitchen table of our apartment at the Palacio Salvo, a beautiful Belle Epoch designed building. The Palacio Salvo is the famous building you almost always see in postcards of Montevideo, or Uruguay for that matter. We are staying here simply because I love the architecture of this place. She is however like the aging starlet in “Sunset Boulevard”. She might still be the focal point of Montevideo, but she needs a good cleaning. The bottom parts of the building are darker than the top due to the fumes of the ever present diesel buses crisscrossing the center of the city. We are on the 4th floor and I'm staring across the street at a 1960's thirteen story tower which in someways looks abandoned. It has mismatched drapes, some broken glass and other reminders of a building “going down”. It's not that look everywhere here but Montevideo is a bit tattered. A blog I read on this city said it's a bit of Boston (historic) and Lisbon (seedy and decaying).

Our apartment here was a bit disappointing. I thought from Eduardo's e-mails that this place was huge. I was expecting huge. It's merely average in size. The kitchen is large which is unusual for us. Speaking of the kitchen. It has a newer stove which is hooked up to a liquid gas “can”. Not a tank like on our gas grills, but a flimsy steel tank. Never in Cincinnati. They would lock us up if we tried this. There is a small family room nook with a loveseat and chair, TV, DVD (can't get it to work so we use the laptop) and CD player. It is nice especially since I can read after lisa goes to bed in our bedroom without bothering her (see later why this didn't work out in this “rambla”). The biggest negative is the noise. 1926 building = 1926 windows (wood with single panes) which don't keep the sound out. We are on the edge of the building which is adjacent to Avenida 18 de Julio, the busiest street in Montevideo. On our first night I slept for maybe four hours and lisa didn't sleep at all. The second night we moved the mattress into the hallway and closed the doors surrounding it. Not exactly super quiet but with a sleeping pill we made it through without ear plugs.

Oh, and our internet (ALMOST ALWAYS A MAJOR ISSUE) was non-existent when we got here. Eduardo, who is taking care of it for the other Eduardo (the owner), said he would be here at eight o'clock in the morning to install it with his son. He was also to give us a phone to use. 8:00 – no Eduardo....10:00 – no Eduardo....1:00 – no Eduardo and son. As we have given up on him and are ready to leave, the doorbell rings. In walk Eduardo and his son Fernando. I immediately start humming “Fernando” by Abba. I can't get my keyboard to turn the b's around in Abba, sorry. Instead of a wireless modum hook up as we expected, we are handed a Claro Internet stick. We have never used one of these before. After setting it to Uruguay vs. Argentina, it worked fine. Fernando turns out is an accomplished non-classical (rock) violinist. He just finished a recording session at the Teatro Solis, MonteV's world famous opera house.

We also thought we had laundry facilities (washer at least). Nada. Some of our clothes were still wet from the boat ride and shower at Iguazu Falls. So, we tried to lay them out all over the apartment. They, within a day, started to smell of mildew and river water. No problem, just bring them to a laundry and they will wash them. Another nada. Not open for wash and dry on Saturday. So lisa and I “handwash” an entire load of clothes in an attempt to save them. Now I know what washing would be like in the 1890s. Enough of the clothes, let's go play.

We walked to the Mercado del Puerto, a tourist area near the port. Inside the mercado were meat restaurants and the smell was WOW! We just had lunch at the apartment so we passed on it. It was a tourist area so we need to look for Siena and Avocet's Uruguayan dolls. We hung around the area a bit and headed back as it was getting to be late in the afternoon. We were told on the way over by a stranger to not be in this area after dark. Oh poopies!!! As we walked back we ended up on streets where we were the only people around. A bit creepy. I'm sure this was caused by being ripped off in Buenos Aires. Others have said Montevideo is much safer than BA. We could look like marks.

This morning I got up and took a shower. Too hot at the beginning but cooling off quick. Not unlike a lot of places around the world. Our showers at home are not perfect but OK. While showering, lisa went to the bakery to get pastries. It is Sunday morning so she got special sweet pastries: medialunas, some with sugar on the outside, some with dulce de leche inside. Very nice. I am journaling right now with the windows open. It's 9:45 AM and the strong South American sun is shining in. I hear horns, truck brakes from the street five stories below. It doesn't seem polluted here, but it must be with the large number of diesel buses. Montevideo has about 1.3MM people but has never had a subway or light rail. As I look out I must watch out for the pigeon poop on the windowsill. The poop adds to the seediness of MonteV. It's nice being up high where I can watch people milling about carrying on their daily activities.

Yesterday we went to a huge Sunday market named "Feria de Tristan Naranje". Regular stuff like clothes, books (new and used...all in espanol), bolts, bike parts, plus souvenirs like mate cups, paintings, sculptures, etc. Nice market. We would have enjoyed it more had Siena and Avocet found their Uruguayan dolls. Blocks upon blocks of stalls and no tipical dolls de Uruguay! Go figure. On the way home, we stopped at Don Rocco, a traditional Uruguayan parillada (meat restaurant). Our definition in the States of a “meat market” is definitely different than here. We sat down and looked at the menu. In espanol, of course (and without subtitles). Our carne choices were asado, vacio, lomo and entrecote. None of this meant anything. I asked our waiter if we could see what was being grilled. lisa and I went over to the grill, at least ten feet wide with all different cuts of meat being prepared. Entrecote: the cook picked up a piece of lean steak about two inches thick and weighing almost a kilo. GREAT BY ME!!! lisa tended toward the rib type looking meat so she ordered the asado. I liked mine. lisa was so-so on both saying they had little flavor. It will be interesting to test the flavors of beef at home vs. South American beef. Argentinian beef was great (to me...not to lisa). Oh, the girls had pure de manzana and pure de papas (warm applesauce and mashed potatoes).

We headed home and walked the almost twenty short blocks back along Avenida 18 de Julio. Nice old buildings next to crummy looking 1970's monstrosities. The parks were filled to a point as were the sidewalk cafes. Nice walk back but we are all tired.

It's time to go to bed. lisa and I move the mattress back into the hall again. As the mattress slides down it just about breaks the table that is built into the wall. Seeing the table separate from the wall is like watching my $500 security deposit go down the toilet. So we end up rearranging our living room and sliding the mattress in there. Not as good a night's sleep as before in the hall, but okay. I lose my late night reading “nest” but anything's better than trying to sleep with ear plugs.

OK, it's over. Thank you for seeing our day to day life as we merge from one place to another. Hopefully it gave you a better understanding of some of the “stuff” we have enjoyed and also have to put up with. Our first two days in Montevideo. Not really exciting. Not terrifically cool but okay. Follow the blog to see how it progresses. Now you can go pee. And I hope your beer is still cool.

ARGENTINA'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-04-28T07:15:00.000-04:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip Team for their Top Ten (Plus Two) of Argentina and the results are in:

12 Our Palermo Neighborhood in Buenos Aires
11. Tango Show
10. Walrus Bookshop (English Language Books)
9. San Martin Plaza and the International Buddy Bears
8. Hippodromo (Buenos Aires' Horse Track)
7. La Juvenil Pasta Shop
6. Recoleta Cementary
7. Artesanal Market
4. Spanish Classes with Paz
3. Our Palermo Apartment
2. Parque de la Costa and Tigre

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF ARGENTINA IS:

1.Cataratas del Iguazu and Parque Nacional Iguazu

A special mention goes to our visit with friends Charlotte & Erwan from Paris who it was great to see and spend time with. You made our stay in Buenos Aires that much more enjoyable.

Another special mention goes to Paz who went above and beyond the role of being our Spanish Teacher to that of being our friend. We greatly enjoyed our time with you and with Francisco. You added a lot to our Argentinean experience. A nosotros nos gusta Paz.

Gargantua Del Diablo Theatre

2009-04-26T14:51:00.002-04:00

One World - One Trip Pictures Presents, a Marty Greenwell production: Gargantua Del Diablo - An Awesome Force!

Cataratas del Iguazu

2009-04-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

In other countries, we have taken what we call “vacations” away from the place we were staying. They were not anything big, just overnights. Since we were in Argentina, we decided to take a “vacation” to Cataratas Del Iguazu, known to the rest of the world as Iguazu Falls. This was planned before we started the trip – it's on the trip shirt!!

We took a plane to Iguazu Falls. It wasn't a long flight, but since it was raining under us, it was very rocky and made us all sick (except for dad)! Please note the key word raining!! RAINING!!! On our trip to Iguazu Falls!! NO! We had images of ourselves being miserable on our tour of the falls the next day, but fortunately by then the weather cleared. On our first day we went to a lookout over the two rivers where you could see Brazil and Paraguay!!

I don't like tour groups. I don't like being in them, and I don't like being around them. That's why, I didn't like it when we had to take a tour to Iguazu. Thank God we didn't have to listen to lectures like some tour groups do!! It turned out to be surprisingly good! Our guides, Veronica and Vivi were also very nice.

The first place we went was the Gargantua Del Diablo (also known as The Devil's Throat). It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!!! There was so much water coming down and with lots of pressure! The Devil's Throat is almost five hundred feet wide and about over two hundred fifty feet deep. And this is at a time when they're having a drought! I was stupefied!

Around the falls, there are these little creatures called Coatis. They are so adorable!! They are relatives of the raccoon and look a lot like them.

There were also thousands of butterflies around the falls! They had gorgeous designs and colours, and most of them would land on us! Occasionally, we'd see a whole cloud of them, or a bunch perched on the ground.

At the end of our tour, before we went back to the bus, we could go on a boat ride and go under the falls! We signed up for it. It was so cool! We put all of our stuff in these plastic bags so it wouldn't get wet,and donned our life jackets. We got to go under the falls (three times!!!) on the Brazilian side, and the Argentinean side, even though it felt the same! We all got so soaked, and the pressure was so much! It was very fun!

Iguazu was very cool and I hope someday I will get to go to the other big falls of the world!

PAZ

2009-04-24T06:25:00.001-04:00

We have met some really nice people in the past 10 ½ months. Some have come to us via connections from home. Some from meeting them at guest houses or hotels. The person I am about to tell you about came to us through our quest to learn Espanol.

I requested via TripAdvisor any leads for a Spanish teacher in Buenos Aires. I got a private message that said Paz Iguacel would be a good fit. The message was from her husband, Francisco. Good job, Francisco. I e-mailed Paz and almost immediately got a long response describing her abilities and a picture of her hanging out a window in a Paris flat. A very chic way to start.

We met her shortly after we arrived in Buenos Aires and hit it off immediately. She was intent on us learning as much as we could in the ten sessions that we agreed upon. She made the classes interesting not just for lisa and I, but for the girls as well. We played games such as being in a restaurant where we were the patrons and she was the waiter and we had to ask questions and place our order in Espanol. At our second class, she brought mate, the Argentine national obsession – kinda like a tea – and showed us how to prepare it and drink it. Another morning it was all of us in the kitchen preparing Argentine panqueques from an espanol recipe. Yummy. We went out another day and visited Puerto Modero, an upscale area down by the Rio de la Plata. Fun.

After the first class, I mentioned we were planning on going to the Hippodromo to watch the horse races one day while we were here. She turned it around and invited us all as the guests of she and Francisco. She grew up in a thoroughbred horse racing family so she definitely knew her way around the track. We had a great time and Siena won 16 pesos, I'm sure because of the good advice Paz gave on “how to bet in Espanol”. We had dinner out afterwards and shared our lives on the road and their recent two plus years in Sweden and Switzerland.

Paz, we enjoyed getting to know you. Mucho Gusto. You helped us when we needed assistance and made our stay here in Buenos Aires very enjoyable. Thanks for being the terrific and fun person you are.

MISCELLANEOUS MUSINGS ON BUENOS AIRES

2009-04-23T08:13:00.000-04:00

After having spent two weeks in this capital city, here are some miscellaneous thoughts:

1. Contrary to what you might think about South American cities, BA is not cheap. Other than transportation, flowers and beef (see #8), prices are pretty close to those back home in the US.

2. BA had a large Italian immigration back at the turn of the 20th Century. Therefore, there are as many pizza restaurants and pasta shops as there are in Rome - maybe even more.

3. Subway vendors and some street vendors have an interesting way of selling things. They walk around and hand out the product they are selling to potential customers. Five minutes later, they walk around again and hopefully collect the money for the product that they just handed out . If you don't want the product, you just hand it back.

4. Here in BA they have crosswalks that cars are suppose to stop at in order to let pedestrians cross - don't count on it.

5. People here drive on the right side of the road. But their subway system was built by the British so the trains run on the left side of the track.

6. Argentina, especially central and southern Argentina, had no real indigenous population before the explorers got here. That is the reason why BA looks like Europe and why the people look European.

7. While there is plenty of chocolate available here in BA, if you're used to fine quality chocolate, forget eating anything chocolate. Go for anything that is made with Dulce de Leche; when in Rome...

8. Argentina is known for their cattle. If you want to eat cheap, eat beef. Vegetarians will go hungry (and broke) in this town.

9. This is a late city. People shop late, eat late and go out for entertainment late. If you're a morning person, forget it. On the other hand, the subway stops running by 10:30 PM - go figure.

10. Here in Argentina, they have a female president and the Presidental Palace is pink. If Hillary Clinton had been elected, do you think the White House would become a Pink House?

Parque De La Costa - Awesome!!

2009-04-22T04:00:00.000-04:00

In Holland, we went to Linnaeushof, a giant playground. In Italy, there was the Parque De Pinocho, a park themed with the character Pinnochio. In Hong Kong, there was Ocean Park, a park themed with the ocean. Now, here in Argentina, there is Parque De La Costa.

Parque De La Costa isn't actually in Buenos Aires. It's in Tigre. Tigre is a restorty looking city fifty minutes outside of BA. The only reason we went there was for Parque De La Costa, but there's probably some huge tennis court in some Sheraton. Even though it's resorty, Tigre is very pretty. It's also very clean!

Parque De La Costa is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The had really cool rides. When we got into the park, we went straight to the bumper cars, and after that, Avocet and I headed for those cars that turn around and around.

I really like the swings that swing high up and around!

Mom and dad didn't go on many rides with us, but we all got soaked on the log flume! My favorite ride was the Vigla, a short but fast paced roller coaster! I had a great time!

After we finished with Parque De La Costa, we walked along the Rio De Plate, and then took the train back home!

MUSEO DEL HOLOCAUSTO

2009-04-20T08:15:00.000-04:00

As a Jew, there is a certain sense of obligation to Never Forget what was done to the Jewish people during World War II. This obligation is two fold: Not only that the Jewish people never forget, but also that the rest of the world never forget. In this way, the people who died in the Holocaust are remembered and the hope that the atrocity of genocide never be repeated. We seem to be doing OK on the first count, but on the second count...well, Planet Earth does seem to be for slow learners.

It is with this sense of obligation, as well as curiosity, that I ventured out to the Museo del Holocausto. I wanted to honor those who died but also, I was curious to see how a county, who allowed so many Nazi war criminals to emigrate after World War II, handled the topic of the Holocaust.

It was a small museum and to someone who is familiar with the history of pre-World War II Europe and the events of the Holocaust, there was nothing enlilghtening to offer. But to those who may not know, or who know little, it was a pretty accurate accounting of what happened. It wasn't graphic (which allows people of all ages to more easily go) but I also didn't find it terribly emotional either. Mostly it felt like history, just the facts. They didn't try to hide the fact that Argentina accepted post war some of the worst of the Nazi war criminals: Joseph Mengele, Adolf Eichmann, Eduard Roschmann, Walter Kutschmann and Klaus Barbie just to name a few. They also gave no explanation, excuses or appologies for that fact either. Again, just the facts. It left me feeling a little chilled.

Fake Passport of Adolf Eichmann

It's not an award winning museum by any stretch of the imagination but it is Buenos Aires' attempt to help the world to Never Forget.

Home Sweet Home

2009-04-19T05:39:00.002-04:00

Home - a place to reside where you feel completely comfortable, with all you need and your friends close by.

That's all I want. I miss home!!! When we first heard that we were going around the world, it was a little exciting. It was too far away to think about the fact that no friends, dolls, stuffed animals or "stuff" would be seen for a year. As we drew closer to leaving, friends started to get email addresses to communicate with us while we were on the road. It made it seem closer. Then finally, here. Everywhere. We move around, so no time to REALLY get settled in. When we accumulate a nice group of animals and dolls, we ship them off. Our stuff is... clothes. And a laptop, two animals each, books, not enough STUFF to... make it feel like home. Now as it is only 46 days until we get home, we find ourselves missing it more than ever. We play on Webkinz here, and we miss our Webkinz. We play with our current group of dolls and animals, and we miss our dolls at home. We play with Seelia, Siena's seal and when she starts getting upset about not seeing her New Zealand fur seal mate Walley, we miss our animals and dolls from the trip. But most of all, we miss our friends. How I long to play with my friends, even if we spend all of our time deciding what to do.

One of the highlights of our trip was going to see Amy and Andrea. We knew that before we left. It gave Siena and I something to look forward to, instead of just crumpling on the couch everyday, moaning of missing home. Now in Buenos Aires, with a perfect feather couch to sink into, that's all we want to do. Amy and Andrea have sadly been left behind and now, we have no motivation except home. It all comes down to that. I MISS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dolls of the World

2009-04-17T06:15:00.000-04:00

I love dolls. Not only do I think they are pretty, but I like to play with them. When people go on trips, they may have something that they collect from each place they go. Often stamps, or something small. But for this odyssey, I decided to get dolls from every country that we visit, and so far, I have been succesful. Each doll is in traditional dress and has a traditional name. Listed below are the names of my dolls from each country and a short description of them.

Holland: Name: Anke, description: porcelain, blonde hair, blue eyes
Poland: Name: Malgorlata (pronuonced Mao - gor - jata), description: porcelain, brown hair, brown eyes
Croatia: Name: Petra, description: porcelain, brown hair, brown eyes
Slovenia: Katcia (C pronounced as CH), description: porcelain, blonde hair, blue eyes
Italy: Name: Tiziana, description: porcelain, Venetian jester hat, brown eyes
Tanzania: Name: Asante, description: wood, no painted hair or eye colour
India: Name: Shina, description: cloth covered, shawl covered head, brown eyes
India doll II: Name: Shiva, description: wood and cloth, shawl covered head, brown eyes
Thailand: Name: Miss Magnolia, description: cloth covered, brown eyes, black hair
Laos: Name: Noy, description: cloth covered, brown eyes, black hair
China: Name: Meili, description: porcelain, black hair, brown eyes
Australia: Name: Cara, description: cloth, multi-coloured hair, green eyes
New Zealand: Name: Kia and her baby sister Ora, description: plastic, black hair, brown eyes
Tahiti: Name: Papeetee, description: plastic, black hair, brown eyes
Chile: Name: Estrella (pronounced Es-trey-a) and baby siblings Luna and Sol, description: cloth covered, black hair, black eyes
Argentina: Name: Rosaria (prounounced Ro-sadia), description: bendable material (unknown), brown hair, brown eyes

So far, prior to Tahiti, all of my dolls have been shipped home. I miss them very much and I can't wait to see them again and introduce them to my other dolls that I got further on the trip and that I had before I left. I miss you dolls!

NUESTRO AMIGOS

2009-04-16T15:17:00.000-04:00

They were first spotted at the Mut Mee Guesthouse in Nong Khai, Thailand. There was a quick sighting of them in Tahiti. And now, once again, they have been spotted - in Buenos Aires, Argentina, nuestro amigos Charlotte and Erwan. From the beautiful city of Paris, Charlotte and Erwan are also spending a year traveling around the world. When in Thailand, we compared our itineraries, and were amazed at how many overlaps we had for the rest of our trip(s). The only problem was, often we were arriving as they were leaving or vice versa. I don't mean that we would miss each other by a day or two here or there, I mean we had 3 or 4 cities where we were literally arriving/leaving on the same exact day. We knew from this coincidence that someday we would meet up again.

And here we are in Buenos Aires with 6 days overlapping! We had Charlotte and Erwan over to dinner at our apartment and shared good food, wine and conversation. Not wanting the night to end too early, we had a sleepover - a first for us during this year. We spent the next day exploring this beautiful city together. After an afternoon drink, we parted ways with plans to get together one more time before they left.

Dinner went so well the first time that we decided we would do it again (we're all foodies). Only this time we followed it up with an Argentinian Tango Show. The show was great fun and we all agreed that this was something to watch and not something to try at home!

One of the joys of traveling is meeting new people and sharing time and stories with them. When your travels involve many destinations, it's not often that you have the rare privledge of meeting up with the same people. When you do, there is a certain connection and history that you share with them that is very special. Thank you Charlotte and Erwan for your friendship over the miles. We hope to see you in Paris some day, if not sooner.

RIPPED OFF...TWICE!

2009-04-15T07:29:00.001-04:00

We were on the subway heading back from the artisan market near the Recoleta Cemetario when we noticed a person acting weird. He was three feet away, acting like he was getting out of the subway car...on the wrong side. He dropped some coins and scurried to look for them. In an instant, he was out of the subway car, on the correct side. Weird. I didn't realize how weird until we started out the next morning. I asked lisa “Have you seen my wallet”? We looked all over and realized that the “strange guy” on the subway was just a diversion and someone else had stuck their hand in my pocket and extracted my wallet. There was the initial shock. There was the anger. There was this feeling of “how stupid can you be”....carrying all your credit cards when you seldom use them...or having my ATM card with me all the time, even though we don't need money...or..just something else that I could have prevented. I was in a daze for a couple of hours. My steadfast mate lisa, always thinking, called Nathan, my brother-in-law on Skype and he then dialed the credit card companies which allowed lisa to talk to them to cancel the cards. When I returned with a fresh supply of Argentinian pesos, compliments of lisa's account (and her ATM card), I finished the calls with the help of Nathan. THANKS NATHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everything is now OK. Credit cards cancelled. ATM card cancelled. lisa had all the numbers we needed to call in case this sort of thing happened written down in a separate book. I lost about $60-80 US and the morning we spent cancelling all the cards could have been spent doing something else. And I lost the nice wallet I bought from the Bangkok wallet guy for $5.75. Damn!

Now I really need to get it out, to journal about this, even if it's in a blog. I was ripped off AGAIN in the subway today. I had maybe 400 pesos on me (estimate about $110.00 US) in large bills in one pocket and all my small stuff in another pocket. The train was extremely crowded with people squeezing in to get on the subway. I'm holding on to Siena with one hand and grasping (protecting) my backpack with the other. I didn't have a handhold so I was held up by the other people around me. Someone raises my outer right pocket and lifts the money. I didn't feel it happen. Apparently you seldom do.

When I discover the loss, I am stunned. How could this happen again? Deep in my subconscious I knew the rip off of my wallet earlier was a once in a lifetime occurrence, not something that is going to happen again three days later. I feel victimized by just being a tourist. I feel that people here are out to rip you off. Who can I trust? This has caused me to want to get on the subway and yell “HERE I AM. AN AMERICAN. A TOURIST. COME GET ME. COME TAKE MY MONEY. Would people just think I am crazy? Or would they in some small way be embarrassed for how “unsafe” their city, country and perhaps their continent is? On the other hand, New York isn't safe. Over-the-Rhine in Cincinnati isn't safe. So why should a very busy, crowded part of a South American city of fifteen million people be safe? I don't know. It just should.

I'm naïve. Even after ten months plus on the road, I still am. I'm still a little kid from Morganfield in Western Kentucky where you say HI to everyone and don't lock your houses (even on vacation). Must I be callous and non trusting or am I the fool? A fool for not wearing the money belt. A fool for just not knowing better. OK Marty, enough moaning. Grow up!! I must find a way to protect myself, my family and my possessions. This isn't Oz, it's a crime possible ( I almost said crime ridden but that's a big overstatement) city. Was it only in America in 1965 when people would return a wallet with the money still in it? Maybe. Will this have a lasting impact on me? Probably not. I'll wear the money belt for awhile, at least until we get to Florida. I'll be extra vigilant, but probably only till we get home. I don't want to be paranoid. I want to trust my fellow man, whether they are white, black, red, American, Chinese, Indian and yes, Argentinian.

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

2009-04-13T06:15:00.000-04:00

Who would think of spending a beautiful sunny day walking around a cemetery? Well, visitors to Buenos Aires, that's who. Here there is the world class Recoletta Cemetario (who rates cemeteries, anyway???). Instead of rows of tombstones like Arlington National Cemetery, here you have crypts that are architecturally designed to give their owners, dead though they are, a beautiful place to rest out eternity.

The crowning jewel of this place is the mausoleum of the family Duarte. Inside this crypt rests the remains of one Ave Maria Eva Duarte de Peron, popularly known as "Evita". The normal cemetery "streets" are populated by a scattering of tourists but around grave #114, it is packed. It is a Kodak photo op site. People don't linger, cry or pray, they simply "ready, aim and fire" their digital cameras. We weren't immune, we did the same. No one sang "Don't cry for me, Argentina".

The place is one of mixed reverence for the dead. It's not creepy. Young people bring their dates here but no one is making out on benches, a first in BA. Looking at how one mausoleum is nicer than the next makes you wonder if this was just another way wealthy "Portenos" (Buenos Aires' residents) came to one-up their now dead neighbors. Not all of this is one-upsmanship as some graves have gone into disrepair. These are usually ones where no relatives or friends remain alive and therefore no one is there to take care of the site. These places also have their special beauty, and now "utility". Some "dead" sites are used as maintenance closets for shovels, rakes and brooms. You're on the top of the world one day, a broom closet the next.

THE HAIRCUT

2009-04-11T11:15:00.003-04:00

I just got my hair cut. People do it all the time so what's the big deal? I get mine cut every six weeks, so over the past 10 months, I have had my hair cut all over the world: Krakow, Lucca, Mcleodganj, Luang Prabang, Hong Kong, Christchurch and now Buenos Aires. Some were better than others, some cheaper than others. So what makes this hair cut blog worthy?

Well, it probably is the best haircut of the trip and while it wasn't the cheapest (India wins that one at $1.00 US), it wasn't the most expensive either. What makes this haircut significant is that it is the last! Not my last haircut ever, but probably the last haircut outside of the US and certainly my last during this round the world adventure.

We're starting to hit that point. The point where you start saying "This is our last train ride," "These are the last people we will be meeting up with," or "This is my last haircut." While all good things must come to an end and we are looking forward to coming home soon, there is definitely a sadness that comes with the "lasts." It was really hard to believe that we were going to be making this trip, and now, it's hard to believe that it is all going to come to an end.

DID WE MAKE A WRONG TURN SOMEWHERE?

2009-04-09T13:55:00.009-04:00

Heading East from Chile, we should hit Argentina. But as I walk down the streets here in Buenos Aires, I swear that we missed South America and are back in Europe . The Avenues are wide (especially Avenida 9th of Julio, the widest street in the world with 20 lanes), the buildings are old with beautiful architecture, and the shops cosmopolitan. The restaurants and cafes are chic and sophisticated and I swear there are more pizza places here than in Rome. In fact, this city feels a lot like Rome to me, not at all what you think of when you think of South America. Even the people look European. Buenos Aires does have a LOT of European influence, especially Italian, and since this will pretty much be our only stop in Argentina, we will have no comparison of the capital city versus other places in the country.

Since we have just arrived, we haven't done much other than settle in so far. We have seen some of the major buildings/structures of the city: The Casa Rosada, The Congress, The Cathedral, Plaza 25th of Mayo and the Obolisco de la Republica. We have tried the famous Argentinean beef (I think it's good, Marty thinks it's great)and also Yerbe Mate (I like the ritual, I don't like the drink). I have also managed to find the best homemade pasta store in town (doesn't take me long to "settle in").

Big cities haven't been our thing, so it will be interesting to see what happens here. It's not that we haven't been to big cities (Rome, Bangkok, Hong Kong...aren't exactly what you call small) it's just that our stays in them have typically been short. We will be here in Buenos Aires for more than two weeks - the longest stay for any of our large cities.

Here we have an incredibly spacious apartment that is very comfortable and we have Paz, our resident Spanish teacher, who will be giving us Spanish lessons for two hours each day. She's smart, she's funny, and she's sure that she can have us all fluent in Spanish in just two weeks (just kidding).

CHILE'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-04-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip Team for their Top Ten (Plus Two) of Chile and the results are in:

12. Avocet & Siena going to school with Amy
11. City of Chillan
10. Rapa Nui Cultural Show
9. Chillan Markets (International Market & Artesian Market)
8. Our full day Rapa Nui Tour with Marie
7. Luz's Birthday Party
6. Moai
5. Rano Kau (Volcano on Rapa Nui)
4. Rano Raraku (Volcano from which the Moai are carved)
3. Te'ora, Sharon & Michigan
2. Horseback Riding with Ritoque

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF CHILE IS:

1. Our visit with Amy, Andrea, Luz and Dave*

*Special Note: We typically don't rank the visits we have had with people since we view them as unique and special and not in competition with the sights that we see in those areas. We have made an exception in this case as our sole reason for spending 10 days in Chillan was to visit with our friends. This is the only visit of this type on our entire itinerary.

The Best Horse Back Ride Ever!

2009-04-05T10:00:00.011-04:00

On our third day here in Valparaiso, in the afternoon after Spanish class, we waited outside for a ride to pick us up to take us to Ritoque Expediciones. Ritoque Expediciones is an adventure company just outside the city of Con Con. It was recommended by our landlady so we decided to try it. Hey! We have been wanting to go horse trekking here in Chile ever since we hit Easter Island. In fact, we were going to go horse back riding in Easter Island, but then we read in a book that the horses were not well taken care of, so we waited 'till the mainland of Chile. We had no idea of how incredible our horse back riding was going to be!

~ Siena

We knew we would be riding over dunes, through marsh, and on the beach, but that did nothing to prepare us for the amazing scenery. Since we had an afternoon ride, the sun was shining on the dunes, creating a golden glow emitting from them. The sky was perfectly blue, great for pictures? Not. When the sun is shining at you, it makes the picture dark. Less pictures, better memories. Several times we crossed a river, once it was up to the horse's chest!!! We were glad for the leather chaps we wore, the blackberry bushes are not merciful. The surf was rather rough, our horses wouldn't go in. We galloped down the 2 mile stretch of the beach, boy were our horses fast!!! The horses were extremely cooperative and calm. Oh, which brings me to another point, we didn't have to walk in a perfectly strait line!!! We could gallop, walk, and trot, all while being right next to each other. It was the best horseback ride ever!

~Avocet

Avocet (in pink fleecy) rides on Trapeal

Siena (in purple fleecy) rides on Aguacero

VALPARAISO, CHILE

2009-04-03T18:54:00.010-04:00

The Rough Guide to Chile 2004 edition says “Valparaiso isn't really about museums and sights but about losing yourself in labyrinthine street and magnificent panoramas. They are right. We have a week here and at the very beginning I knew it would be a stretch filling up every day with activities. And we have had “problems” with these one week stays: they can wear you out if you do too much. So maybe this is the place to be. So, first for the panoramas. I am writing this blog post from the balcony of our apartment in Cerro Alegre. More about Cerro Alegre in un momento. I look left and have a vista of old houses, in all colors, stacked on a hill that semi circles the bay. Pretty now at 6:30 PM but wait till it gets dark. Thousands of lights twinkle on this side and all sides of our vista. Beautiful. In the early morning it is different but equally as beautiful. Straight ahead in my view is the port where massive container ships load and unload their goods. Thousands of containers sit on the dock, due to be placed on trucks for delivery to other Chilean cities. Beautiful in a organized, efficient way of thinking.

The neighborhood of Cerro Alegre is bohemian with something you wouldn't think would be special: graffiti. Everywhere. But here it resembles more art than vandalism. People don't cover it up. Who knows, they might have paid to have it painted. Old houses, pretty flowering plants and just enough grime to make it feel really different. No large markets here either, but small mini-markets where you can buy the basics. Most of the shop keepers know no English so they have difficulty (some have fun) dealing with our crude attempts at Spanish. Speaking of Spanish....

We have had three days of Spanish classes which are starting to have some impact. Pamela,, our professora espanol has built on what Luz Fuentes started down in Chillan. We can do the basics. Sometimes we actually say the right words. My brain has a way of getting language VERY wrong. I went to say Thank You (muchas gracias) to some ladies who let me use their phone and I blurted out “Buenos Noches” (Good Night). Duh, duh, duh. Well, maybe our ten days of training in Buenos Aires will help.

We visited the Pablo Neruda house called “La Sebastiana” our first day. I have never read any of his “stuff” up to now (due to it being poetry) but after a glance at a book of his, I might be able to get into it. His house was like his work: eclectic. A bird hanging from the ceiling in the dining room; a carousel horse in the living room; cool art work everywhere. Neat house. Av and Si even liked it.

We get around by walking and when we need to get down to the “city” (flatland), we take the ascensor. Built between 1883 and 1916, these funiculars or elevators are small cages that are pulled up and down the steep hills of Valparaiso. They are a landmark here and one of the reasons Valparaiso was named a UNESCO World Heritage City. This method of moving people is not just used by the tourists, but by the locals as well.

This isn't a real exciting place. But a place to just sit down, drink your cerveza, eat an empanada and chill.

FELIZ COMPLEANOS LUZ ELAINA

2009-03-31T08:15:00.002-04:00

While our trip to Chillan hadn't been planned to coincide with Luz Eliana's birthday, our timing could not have been any better. A week after our arrival we found ourselves trotting out to Luz's childhood home in San Nicholas to celebrate her ___ birthday. Family (lots of it since Luz has 4 sisters and 3 brothers) and friends gathered for the festivities.

What transpired over the next 7 hours is hard to describe. We felt like we were in a movie of Chile in days gone by. Vegetables were growing in the yard, grapes were hanging from their vines up above and chickens were roaming everywhere. We met so many people, it was hard to keep track of names or relationships. Almost no one spoke English and we know little Spanish but that didn't stop anyone from talking to us.

We helped Luz prepare a less than traditional pizza for dinner, which was cooked in a very traditional outdoor wood fired oven. Other foods served were more traditional. We cooked, we ate, we drank, we ate, we drank, we ate! Just when you thought the eating and drinking part was over, more people would show up and more food and wine would be served. Birthday cake topped off a great meal.

But the end of the meal didn't signify the end of the party! First there was a pinata to break open which Luz's mom succeeded in doing with her one and only blow. Candy spilled out everywhere and the kids (and Luz's mom) scampered around to quickly collect it. Next the dancing. Luz's cousin Joel began a traditional Chilean "courting" dance (the "Cucea") while everyone stood around and clapped out the beat. Almost everyone took a turn dancing - even us gringos, some doing better than others.

It was a wonderful evening filled with flavor; we all had such a great time! As we travelled the world over the past 9 1/2 months, we have had the opportunity to see so many amazing sights. But we never had the opportunity to share in someone's culture so intimately as we did on this night. Luz's Chilean birthday party will be something that we will remember for the rest of our lives and will certainly be one of the highlights of our year around the world.

Feliz compleanos Luz y muchos gracia!

CHILLAN, CHILE - A GREAT CITY!!!

2009-03-30T09:00:00.003-04:00

How many cities in American desire a vibrant and energetic feeling? How many feel like they have had their energies sucked out by people moving to the bedroom communities surrounding them or by Big Box stores taking the trade to the edge versus the center of the community? A lot. I was in Portland, Oregon a few years ago and admired how the downtown area was vibrant with cool old architecture, their neighborhoods abuzz at night and how well their great transportation system worked (light rail).

Well, in my humble and uneducated opinion, Portland has nothing on Chillan, Chile. We have been here for ten days visiting friends from home (see earlier blog on the Gutmann/Fuentes family) and have discovered what energy really is in a city. Chillan has about 175,000 people so it's not huge but not so small either. The downtown is filled with people all day. People get into downtown by taking either buses, taxis or “collectivos”. We tried to take the collectivos most of the time. They run on a specific route that doesn't vary. We take the #15 from Paseo de Aragon to downtown (or Central). The cost is afordable for everyone to ride this way. A small sedan, usually Hyundai or Toyota, will handle four, three in the back and one up front. The charge is 350 pesos. The collectivo drivers hustle and try not to leave seats unfilled. Dave, mi amigo por Clifton, says they make a good living. If you don't take a collectivo, take a bus for 300 pesos. These also fill up throughout the day. By the way, one US dollar equals 600 Chilean pesos. You do the math. So Chillan has a good transport system without having to resort to tax levies for light rail or the like. And you get to sit next to your neighbor or fellow Chilean. Nobody seems to mind.

They have modified their highway system for special needs: MOTE!!! On one street, they have constructed wooden street stalls where "mote" (a national Chilean favorite of boiled water with wheatberries and peaches) is sold streetside. Female hawkers come out to encourage you to drive by for a drink. Very tasty and the hawkers ain't bad either.

Once downtown, you have a six block square area that has businesses, from banks and newspaper offices (three now, since they have ADDED newspapers) to mini markets and big department stores. Their mall is downtown in the center. Amazing concept, huh!!! In addition to the supermarkets that are filled with people, they have a central “mercado” which sells meats (about thirty different “butchers” selling their wares similar to Findlay Market at home), fruits and vegetables. Restaurants surround the meat stands and serve their comida del dia for 3000-4000 pesos. They are filled with Chillan people, not visitors, because Chillan is really not a “tourist” city. Just outside the market are the kiosks that sell everything from shoes to band-aids. And people aren't ignoring them either. People are actively buying socks from the sock guy and beautiful strawberries from the corner kiosk lady. Vibrancy. Energy. Vital. NORMAL FOR HERE.

The parks are filled with people. Young people walk hand in hand. Street performers do their performing. The place is clean. Dogs run around free like in Rapa Nui. The Art Institute where Amy and Andrea take their violin lessons is filled with cool art. And it had the required guy outside selling you something (if you want) as you enter and exit. Schools are downtown so you see uniformed school kids strolling through the streets.

And this is just taken for granted here. They do have their big box stores. Luz and lisa are at “JUMBO” right now looking for a baking dish that we really couldn't find in town. So what!! Our first night we shopped for groceries in a pretty large supermarket called “LEIDER”. Dave told me that, guess who, is buying them out. You guessed it, Walmart! Oh Oh. Hope they really don't screw up this really cool place.

Back to School - Chillan Style

2009-03-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

The day that we came to Chillan, Amy said to us, "Sometime this week you guys can come to school with us for the day!." Well, a couple days after that, those words came true.

Amy and Andrea go to Martin Rucker Catholic School. It starts at kindergarden and goes up to 8th grade. Their playground is a blacktop like at North Avondale but is smaller. The kids are very loud on the playground and in the classrooms too. We didn't go to school for the full day. We just went for Amy's gym class and her arts class.

Wow! Chillan kids seem like they've never seen American kids before! Almost everybody in Amy's class followed us around the entire school, the entire day. They also kept trying to tell us things in Spanish. The first class we went to was gym. First we did some exercises before we did relay races. After relay races, we played dodgeball. I didn't have a very good time playing dodgeball because nobody wanted to hit us with the ball and I never got to throw the ball! We also split up into pairs and tossed balls back and forth.

After gym, Amy told us some things about the school and showed us their school Chapel. After every two classes, they have a short recess. For lunch they have an hour during which you can go out of the school but you have to come back in.

In art class, we got to make either Easter Bunnies or Easter Chocolate Baskets! It was really fun!!

HIKING IN THE ANDES

2009-03-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

I've just got this thing about mountains. Snow capped mountains. It could be caused by “Growing up in the Heartland” (from the song Jack and Diane...1982...John Mellenkamp) also known as flatlands. We have incorporated mountains into the trip....the Tatras in Poland, Julian Alps in Slovenia, Apuene Alps in Italy, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, The near Himalayas in India, The Southern Alps in New Zealand and now....the ANDES.

Because this trip is weather planned...eternal spring...we haven't seen a lot of snow on the tops of mountains. A hint as we sat on our deck at the Annex Hotel in McLeodganj in Northern India and Kilimanjaro also showed us a peak when we could see her. But nothing big. Until now. The peaks around Termas de Chillan, even though only topping out at around 7300 feet, still have snow on them. It's early fall here in the Southern Hemisphere and the snow from last winter hasn't totally melted. Cool!!!

We (Our family plus the Gutmann/Fuentes household) hiked up to around 5500 feet keeping in mind that there were four youngsters involved. Our elevation rise was not only steep but the path was filled with loose soil; unusual, almost like dust because it is so dry. The dust was also kicked up by the people walking ahead so you get a nose, mouth and body full. My shoes at the end had never been so dirty. So we went up and up and up. Our arrival at “our” peak was stunning. A whole valley with jagged peaks on the sides. Amy, Avocet, Andrea and Siena sat atop a large boulder, not anticipating the hike back. But you know what they say, “one hour up, half and hour back”.

Wrong!!! The loose soil and small rocks mentioned before (called “scree” in mountaineering parlance) were so loose that you couldn't keep your “grip” on the ground..you would slide and lose your balance. Kinda like walking tentatively on ice. It was easier to go off trail and walk in what little grass there was. But that alternative was usually steeper and filled with different issues. It took us just as long to get down as it did to go up. The kids did great but they didn't seem to mind falling. All except Andrea had sore butts. Luz did great. Dave did great. Lisa and I didn't kill ourselves.....but carried the rear.

This was our toughest “hike” of the trip. I thought at one time in my life of climbing Pike's Peak, maybe Denali, etc, etc. On second thought, maybe a movie at the Omnimax will suffice!!!

THE GUTMANN / FUENTES' FAMILY

2009-03-27T07:46:00.007-04:00

Back in December we went to Nong Khai, Thailand just to go to a specific guest house (See Mut Mee Guesthouse blog). Nong Khai was not the attraction, Mut Mee was. Well, here we are in Chillan, Chile and once again the city is not the reason we are here. If you check the travel guidebooks, you will note that there is a Cathedral here worth a visit and a nice artisan market, but other than that, there is no real reason for tourists to come to this Chilean city. But our friends from Cincinnati, Dave and Luz and their family are here and for us, that is a good enough reason to be here.

Our expectations for this visit were...well, we really didn't have any expectations; it was a social call. What ever happened here happened. We knew that Dave worked long hours at the University of Conception and that the girls were back in school after their summer break. We had arranged prior to arriving to have Luz be our spanish teacher for the week and we are having 2 hour lessons each morning. Other than that, we have allowed ourselves to be incorporated into whatever it is that is going on in their lives.

We have been to that "famous" Cathedral and the Artisan Market and at the moment, there is also an International Market on the Plaza de Armas that we have gone to. We all took a day trip to Thermas de Chillan in the Andes Mountains where we hiked to the top of a mountain (a small one) and then swam in the hot spring pools in the area. But the highlight of being here in Chillan is the social time that we have had with our friends and their family. It is also about being in a "regular" Chilean town and just living life here.

Since this isn't a well touristed town, short term apartment rentals are not really available. Dave and Luz's next door neighbors, Tatiana and Leonardo and their family, have vacated their house and moved in with Leonardo's mother so that we could use their house for the 10 days that we are here. Now that's what you call great neighbors! Thank you Tatiana and Leonardo for your generosity. We have a wonderful house to live in and best of all, we now have the most awesome visinos (neighbors) in all of Chillan!

AMY AND ANDREA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-26T11:59:00.001-04:00

Way way back in 2007 when we were planning our trip itinerary, two of our best friends had decided to move to Chile for two years. Their mom is Chilean and she wanted them to grow up with some sense of Chilean Culture. We were planning our itinerary. Why not fit them into it? Chillan, Chile is a nice town, right?

When they left in '07, Siena and I would occasionaly say to each other "I can't wait to see Amy and Andrea." But it was too far away to think much of it. As we made our way east and east and finaly south, the suspense continued to build. In Easter Island we would constantly say, "How many more days 'till we see Amy and Andrea?" In Santiago, we couldn't even pay attention to the sites! Not that they weren't nice, but every few seconds we would squeal or say "I wish we were in Chillan right now!" The 5 hour train ride seemed to last for 10 million hours, but then we finally pulled into the station. Amy and Andrea were jumping up and down holding an orange and brown banner welcoming us to Chillan. We were sooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see them!!! We arrived on a Friday so we had that afternoon, Saturday and Sunday to play with them. No time was wasted, we started playing immediatley. We played non stop unless dragged somewhere against our own free will. Okay, okay, we did some things that we did like. Like yesterday, we had a day at school with Amy, gym and art. She also showed us the chapel at her school, it was actually quite nice!!!

We are having a great time here, so if we decide to stay for their next four months, don't be suprised!!!

Welcome to Llama Land

2009-03-24T21:25:00.000-04:00

Here we are - mainland Chile, also known as Llama land. I call it Llama Land because they have a lot of llamas in the north. Right now we are in the central part of Chile, in Chillan. Before we came here, we were in Santiago for one day.

The first thing we did in Santiago was get on the subway to historic Santiago. Once we got there we walked around the government buildings and plazas. Here in Chile, there is usually a main plaza and a lot of smaller ones.

After that, we took the subway down to the fish market where we had lunch. Avocet thought it smelled bad! Soon, we headed down to one of the smaller peaks in the Andes Mountain Range. The Andes Mountains surround most of Chile and border Argentina. We took a funicular up to the statue of the Virgin Mary at the top.

There is also a zoo there but we heard it was really wild!! The next day we took the 5 hour train headed to Chillan to see our friends, Amy, Andrea, Dave, and Luz.

(The following paragraphs of Chile were taken from my friend Andrea's school books and translated from the original Spanish)

Chile announced their independence from Spain officially on February 12, 1818. Chileans celebrate their independence day on September 18th. It's like our 4th of July. Just like America, Chile had to fight for independence, and there were two main sides - the royalists (who were faithful to the Spainards) and the patriots (who wanted independence). The Chileans got their idea for independence mainly from the United States and their victory from Britain and also for the same reasons as the colonists in the United States: political, social, and economic.

Chile is called a tri-continental country. This is because Chile owns land in three different continents: South America, Oceania, and Antartica. The land in Oceania are islands like Rapa Nui (or Easter Island) and Sala Y Gomez, and they are more then 3,000 kilometres apart from the mainland. Chile has a big share of Antartica along with many other countries. They have 4 basecamps, the third largest amount.

Chile is host to the driest desert on Earth called The Desert of Atacama. Chile has a mountainous terrain that stretches out from the north of Chile and lessens towards the south. These are the Andes Mountains. Not only do they border Argentina, but also Bolivia, Ecquador, and Peru. In the Summer they are very dusty, but in the Winter, some places get very snowy and make for good skiing!

THE VOLCANOES OF RAPA NUI

2009-03-22T20:18:00.000-04:00

This will be one of the easiest blog posts to write. No phrases will be written such as “it's the most beautiful place in the world” or the man/child thing of “ever since 1965 I've wanted to see a volcano”. No, none of that! Lucky for you!! In New Zealand we did see volcanoes but they were more like conical shaped hills. Here, on Rapa Nui, were ones with a crater rim you had to climb to and an interior flat surface. Both of these were filled with rainwater over the millennium and became crater lakes.

A quick geography lesson. Rapa Nui was formed thousands, maybe millions of years ago (I don't know, I took a really nice nap inside the Museo de Archeologico) by the eruption of three volcanoes. Take a look at a map of Rapa Nui – Google it - you will see it is in the shape of a triangle. These eventually settled together into the current landscape of this beautiful island.

Enjoy the pics

Rano Kau

Ranu Kau volcanic outcrop

Ranu Kau caldera wall - worn away by the Pacific Ocean's waves

Wild grasses atop crater rim - looks somewhat like Scotland

Lake formed at bottom of Rano Raraku

Entering Rano Raraku - possibly iron in soil

Lake at bottom of Ranu Raraku - rained later that day

Rano Raraku - Moai manufacturing facility

MORE ON MOAI

2009-03-21T18:18:00.001-04:00

I know I mentioned these Moai dudes on my last blog on Rapa Nui but I feel I must give them a little more attention than what they received in my last missive. If you have had your archaeological fill, just skip this blog, but be prepared for the photo albums which will feature Moai ad nauseum.

The Moai were not created by slave labor but by a master carver and his apprentices. When someone wanted a Moai, they went to the carver and bartered for his services. The Moai was then fabricated from the volcanic rock in the Rano Raraku quarry on the south side of the island. That was probably the easy part! The Moai then had to be moved to the desired location. As I mentioned in my Rapa Nui blog, it is still not conclusive how this was done. Speculations are that they were moved on logs either lying down or in an upright fashion. No matter how you look at it, this was an incredible accomplishment.

Once the Moai made it to the desired location (which was not always accomplished give the number of “dead Moai” covering the landscape), this 20 ton statue had to be erected on top of an Ahu, a stone alter. Again no one conclusively knowns how this was done but it is believed that they used ropes, wooden poles and stones. A crane sounds a whole lot easier to me. It is only after the Moai was erected onto the Ahu (or shortly before) that the eye sockets were carved; Moai in the quarry do not have eye sockets, only the ones moved to other destinations have them. Once the eye sockets are carved it is then that the Rapa Nui belived that the “statue” embodied the spirt of their ancestors that were buried in that particular Ahu. Only one “actual” eye has been found made of coral and obsidian so it has not been determined whether at one time all erect Moai had “eyes” or if only some Moai had “eyes” and the rest had only eye sockets.

Great cylindrical topknots (Pukao) were carved from red scoria and added to the heads of some, but not all Moai. These may have signified hats, hair tied up into a knot, or a feathered headdress worn by warriors and had some connection with status and power. The red scoria from which the Pukao were carved came from a different quarry, Puna Pau, which, of course, is on the other end of the island – who was in charge of the manufacturing organization of this society? Given that these Pukao were round, it is assumed that they were rolled to their destination. But a 20 ton Moai doesn't just need a small hat, it needs a BIG one! The Pukao alone could weigh up to 12 tons so even rolling it couldn't be easy. Also, how do you lift a 12 ton Pukao to put on top of a 9 meter statue? Little research has been done on this but some archeologists have suggested that the Pukao were lashed to the stautes and raised together as a unit.

There are almost as many Moai in the quarry as there are on the rest of the island. For whatever reason, these Moai were carved but never transported. The entire quarry, both on the inside and on the outside, are dotted with Moai in various stages of “life”; many still attached to the rocks from which they were carved, others free standing and upright. The largest Moai ever carved is still attached to the rock in the quarry, possibly because the carvers realized that it would have been impossible to move.

The largest Ahu, Ahu Tongariki, holds 15 Moai while smaller Ahu may hold only 5 or 7 and many stand alone. By the time that Rapa Nui was discovered by the Western World, all the Moai had been toppled due to tribal warfare, all face down, and all clearly positioned with their backs to the ocean. Only Ahu Akivi, with 7 Moai, face the sea. It was believed that the Moai faced inward toward the island to protect it's inhabitants. Only about four dozen Moai have been restored to their upright position while the majority of the Moai lie where they were last left by The Ancient Rapa Nui or buried for some future archaeologist to discover.

PAINGA ETE RAPA NUI

2009-03-20T20:09:00.000-04:00

As we walk the streets of Hanga Roa, the only village on Easter Island, we are approached by beautiful creatures. No, not pretty Polynesian women in their sarongs, but DOGS!!! - the "Painga ete Rapa Nui" or streetdogs of Easter Island. Dogs are everywhere here. No leashes, no collars. They are all by themselves. WILD!!! They are mostly brown or black, or a combination and appear to be of some Shepherd heritage. We thought they were all friendly and “man's best friend” until the night lisa went to the market. She walked back to our guesthouse with both raw chicken and pork sausage in a plastic bag. Now doggie wants dinner. He (bad dogs are always “boys”) snapped at the bag and bit her shoe. She picked up a rock and he left her alone. lisa escaped with the groceries and arrived home safely. Whew!!! (The chicken was good...just a hint of German Shepherd)

When you approach an area, lets say, a portion of a sidewalk, they will amble up to you, maybe sniff, then follow you to the end of their territory. Pretty soon another will join you at the beginning of their turf and drop you off at their boundary's end. They huddle in doorways of shops but won't enter. They allow you to pet them. Sharon, the owner of Te'ora, our guest house, says they will stay with a tourist because they depend on us for food. They don't look hungry or emaciated so they must get their food from somewhere. I wonder how our leashed friends back home would fare here? Probably not very well since they bark and whine in English not in Rapa Nui.

While at Te'Ora, our stay was enhanced greatly by the presence of a former streetdog named "Michigan". He kept us company at Te'Ora by staying close... even laying half his body on our doorstep. You see he wasn't allowed in the room. He walked with us in town (five hours one day), always keeping us in sight as he socialized with his friends and picked fights with others. He wouldn't let anything harm us. GREAT DOG, MICHIGAN!!!!!

RAPA NUI

2009-03-19T23:10:00.001-04:00

I can still remember the cover of the National Geographic issue. Huge statues on some remote island photographed in the sunset. “Someday I would like to see those statues” I thought. But the location of “those” statues, Rapa Nui, Isla de Pascua or Easter Island, was about as remote of a place as you could go and not somewhere on the beaten tourist track.

Fast forward to 2006 when I was working on our Round the World itinerary and exploring South Pacific Islands. I was trying to find an island for us to visit on our way from New Zealand to South America. We would be hitting that area in the rainy season which, for some locations, meant up to 17” of rain per month – not sounding like a lot of fun to me. I came across Tahiti which not only had less rain fall that time of year than other islands, but had something even more enticing, a flight to Rapa Nui – the place with those “huge statues.” This for me was a no brainer.

Rapa Nui, as it is called by the indigenous peoples, is considered the most remote place in the world. There are no inhabited islands for thousands of kilometers. Like the Maori of New Zealand, the people came here from other islands in the South Pacific, by canoe, looking for a new home. While Rapa Nui means “large land”, this island is anything but large. If a road were to go around the perimeter of this triangular island (which it doesn't) it would run for about 65 km. - not even 40 miles. Looking down on it from a plane, it looks like a speck in the ocean.

There is only one town on this island, Hanga Roa, with only one bank, one gas station... you get my drift. There are 4500 residents and the two handfuls of tourists who make their way here, travel from either Papeete, Tahiti, or Santiago, Chile, the only two airports that service the island. Lan Chile is the only airline that flies here. They have electricity, but it is not uncommon for it to go out for hours at a time for no apparent reason and the island has no sewage system. It's remoteness is truly felt every time you walk into the grocery store which may have empty shelves if a new shipment of food has not yet arrived.

Much of the island is considered a National Park and most of the island is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site. You need only walk down the street in town to see one of those “huge statues” called Moai which date from 800 AD to about 1500 AD. The Moai are located all over the island but were quarried from only one source, the volcanic hill of Rano Raraku.. Carving these Moai with rudimentary tools is one thing, but moving them and erecting them without today's technology is another. There are all types of speculation of how this was done and many of these have been tested for validity, but the reality is, with no written history, no one will ever truly know how this feat was accomplished.

I am in awe of these Moai and I can't pass one without stopping and taking a look. They are remarkable statues which embody the spirits of the Rapa Nui ancestors and who give their energy to this island even to this day. This is an amazing place to be and I can't believe that I am lucky enough to be here.

MISCELLANEOUS DITTY ABOUT TAHITI

2009-03-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

The place is really pretty, but no more or less than other mountainous islands in the Pacific or Caribbean. No more so than St. Thomas, or Guadalupe. It has a natural forest that extends from the mountaintops downs to the shore. It really doesn't have beaches, but instead, rock shelves that extend out from the shore. So you don't go to Tahiti if you're looking for a beach vacation..

It is also very expensive. Our first glance at a French Cafe in a strip center outside of Papeete, the capital, showed entrees priced at 2900 xfp (about $30.50 US) with food that Av and Si could eat being 1500 xfp (about $15.00 US). Too rich for the tight Greenwell – Shusterman household (for lunch). In fact, we have talked to several people in the “hospitality” industry who say that tourists just don't come to Tahiti because it is so expensive. I can belive it....the big hotels seem deserted.

The language spoken here is French....duh, “French Polynesia”. Less people understand us here, it seems, than in Thailand. I have gone back to using hand signals to order my food and am still not sure what I will get until the food arrives at our table. lisa had French in high school and it has helped but only so far. If that isn't challenging enough, most of the “places” here use their Tahitian names such as the area our pension was located: Punaauia. They seem to use an incredible amount of vowels here. “Can I buy a vowel please....”. Some words begin with a consonant followed by seven vowels. With my dwindling memory it's hard just to remember English words so it's tough.

We have only been here for three days and it's enough. Not really a fair shake at the place. If we were here longer we would take a ferry to an outlying island and be true vacationers. But our year was never intended to be a vacation. This place has served its purpose...to be a layover between Auckland and Easter Island.

NEW ZEALAND'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-03-12T06:28:00.002-04:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip Team for their Top Ten, (Plus Two)of New Zealand and the results are in:

12. City of Auckland
11. Livingspace - Christchurch Accommodation
10. Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa
9. Agrodome
8. Kaikoura and The Whale Watch
7. City of Christchurch
6. Akaroa and Swimming with the Dolphins
5. Xtreme Adventure Day
4. Antarctic Center
3. Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Park
2. The White House - Rotorua Accommodation

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF NEW ZEALAND IS:

1. Mitai Maori Experience

A special mention goes to our evening with the Hookings which gave us a warm family experience that we truly enjoyed.

Another special mention goes to Robyn and Jeremy who opened their home and their hearts to us. This was a long awaited meeting and worth every moment we waited! We love you both.

PLANES, BOATS AND AUTOMOBILES

2009-03-11T06:30:00.002-04:00

Occasionally, well maybe more than occasionally, there are things that I have wanted to do but lisa and the girls have no interest. Most of these activities are what I will call “boy things”. In the cases that follow, they also relate to “planes, boats and automobiles.” So I have ventured out on my own (and didn't even get lost, hurt or robbed –amazing huh) without the ladies' involvement. One by One:

Planes: I have been a big fan of vintage airplanes since I was a little boy. I remember checking out the World Book “A” so my brother and I could check out the planes. More than twenty years ago I happened upon the DC-3, a plane that has remained somewhat in service for over sixty years. Sixty years in the air is like a cat living to be forty. It just doesn't happen. I think the DC-3's lines are beautiful. I can even recognize the distinctive sound of its engines as they approach overhead. Well, I flew in one today!!!!!! Beautiful cosmetically and mechanically even though built in 1944. She creaked when her engines were started and shuttered somewhat as it taxied onto the runway. We left the tarmac going slow, much slower than today's turbo-props. Smooth, except when it hit the thermal pockets over Auckland. I met Jessica Cooper, who I must mention. She was so nice on the phone prior to booking and even offered to have someone swing by to pick me up from downtown because I had no transportation to Ardmore Airfield. Thanks Jessica. There are few DC-3s left. The US Government has banned them from passenger service because they couldn't be secured against terrorism (boo!!!). One day we will see these only in air shows and air museums. I'm glad I had my day with her while I could. And I loved it.

Boats: I could sit up all night staring at pictures of older ships, especially ones built around 1900. I tried to get the family to join me to visit the Sydney, Hobart and Auckland Maritime Museums, with NO success. Here in Auckland, I alone witnessed large sailing ships, an exhibit on the history of whaling, another on how large fishing vessels operate, a nautical migration of the Maori from Tahiti, and finally these great wooden models built by craftsmen. Totally cool. While there I felt ten years old again.

Lastly Autos: I visited Fazzaz, an antique sports car dealership almost next door to our apartment in Christchurch. To see old Jaguar MK-2s, Mercedes 280Cs from the late 1960s (I WANT ONE!!!), and vintage red Ferraris and other great super conditioned vehicles was just too cool. I thought I was over my desire to again own an old car, but..... I would give my left _______ ( you supply the body part) to be associated with a vehicle with the quality of these. Ahh, that leather smell, it's intoxicating.

NINE MONTH STATE OF THE UNION

2009-03-10T06:13:00.002-04:00

Today is nine months out. Even though this was all planned, it's still hard to believe that we have been gone from “our lives” for this length of time and that we are ¾ through a year long odyssey. We will be home in less than three months and all of us have found ourselves thinking more about coming home than ever before. The girls are planning on how they are going to redecorate their room and have already coordinated with friends regarding sleepovers for when they return. Marty and I talk about how we are going to deal with this depressed economy and our need for employment. Thoughts of playing a more active role in taking care of my mother, who became ill during our journey, are perpetually present.

Our overall state of mind is somewhat that of boredom. Yes, you read that correctly, boredom. How, you might ask, can you be bored on such an exciting adventure. Well, it just happens. First of all, we have been in Australia and New Zealand for two months now and it is in many ways not that much different from vacationing in the US; just not that different enough to be exciting! We also suffer from the been there, done that syndrome that comes from long term travel. We are hoping that our last quarter in South America shakes things up. We will once again be in countries with a different culture and a different language. We have friends that we will be visiting for 10 days in Chile which we are very excited about. And we will be studying a foreign language, Spanish, which is something we have yet to do.

I still don't miss much about home other than relationships – that has been pretty consistent throughout. I think we are all tired of moving around and will look forward to being in one place when we get home and not having to pack a suitcase for a long time. We have all managed to live for 9 months with pretty much what we brought from home, and with the exception of Marty, everyone seems to be surviving quite well. Marty, after his “I Hate My Clothes” blog post, bought 3 new t-shirts which seems to have quieted him down for the moment.

We arrive home on June 3rd and while I know we will have some culture shock, I believe we will all be ready to be home.

FRIENDS IN FAR AWAY PLACES

2009-03-09T04:36:00.000-04:00

Back in the days when the world was a lot bigger, people actually wrote something called letters as a way of communicating with people in distant lands. And in an attempt to make the world seem a little bit smaller, fourth grade teachers encouraged students to get pen pals from other English speaking countries to communicate with. My pen pal Lee, from Australia and I wrote for about two years and that was that; but my sister Donna and her pen pal Robyn from New Zealand have been writing, emailing, Skyping and meeting/visiting each other for 42 years now. While Robyn has been to the US, Donna has not yet made it here to New Zealand - but here I am!

Robyn has been a part of our family's life for a long time; not often in the foreground but never not in the background. When she came to the US 26 years ago, she lived with Donna for about 3 months and was most definitely a part of the family. About 11-12 years ago my parents had the opportunity to be in Auckland as part of an Australia and New Zealand tour and had a day with Robyn and by that time, her son Jeremy.

We met Robyn and Jeremy at Little Italy, a downtown restaurant, for dinner one night. A short evening, but that was OK, there was more to come. Saturday morning found the 6 of us wandering the streets of the Otara Polynesian Market. After several hours, we split up; Jeremy to hook up with some of his Friends, Marty and the girls to a museum, and Robyn and I to have a ladies' afternoon. What we did really wasn't important, it was just great to have 5 hours together to share our lives with each other.

On Sunday evening, we all went out to Robyn and Jeremy's house to have a BBQ where they shared their home, their hospitality and even some of their friends. It was a fun and enjoyable Kiwi night and certainly one of our New Zealand highlights.

THE HOOKINGS

2009-03-07T06:10:00.000-05:00

We met five months ago or so in Bagamoyo, a beach town on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania. They were on a short holiday from their positions as principal/teacher and teacher/maintenance director of a school in Dodoma, the small central "capital" of Tanzania. The Hookings had something that other couples we have met did not...KIDS...Emma, age nine, Matthew, age six and Jonathan, age three. Alistair and Vicki are the parents. In October, we exchanged contacts and said we would try to get together when they went "home" to Auckland.

Our initial plans were to meet at St. Hellier's Beach, one they had frequented when they used to live here. The weather interfered, as it has so often here in NZ. The decision was then made to go to their house in the late afternoon. Good move, weather, because it is so nice to see people in their own place. As far as I am concerned, meeting in some one's home makes me feel relaxed. We took the train out of the CBD of Auckland and Alistair picked us up at the Panmure train station. Upon arrival, the girls reacquainted as did we. Conversations ranged from our travels, past, present and future to their holiday here in Auckland. Jonathan, the youngest, practiced his bow and arrow skills on Alistair and Vicki's bellies. Having six year old and three year old boys in our presence reminded both lisa and I of the attention needed when Av and Si were younger. Av and Si still require attention, but no where near what we experienced.

Our conversations drifted to the school and Dodoma and how different their lives are there. They will be gone from friends and family for another two or three years. Vicki and I talked in the kitchen about the different foods and how cooking was much different. They had a bottled gas stove because the electricity could be out for days at a time. She also talked of the "progress" of the city: A pizza parlor, olive oil now available, and the like. They are leading the adventurous life. We all shared a meal of lasagna, vegetable casserole and salad, all delicious. The treat was just sitting down to a good meal, sharing conversation and enjoying ourselves. Vicki had to speak that evening about the school so our evening came to a close. It was nice.

Thanks to the Hookings for a very nice time.

CITY OF VOLCANOES

2009-03-06T06:15:00.001-05:00

Auckland is the largest city in the country of New Zealand. Of course, we were in villages in China that had larger populations than this; but New Zealand is not a country of huge populations. It's also the fourth largest city in Australasia; also not a region of huge populations. And it's a city that is "pock marked" with volcanoes everywhere! Being on the Pacific Rim of Fire, a highly volcanic area, Auckland's "rocky" past is evidenced everywhere by extinct volcanic hills around the city.

Geographically, the city is chopped up by inlets, bays and waterways everywhere - but this is Auckland and this is what people around here have come to know as home. They have bridges, causeways and ferries that compensate for it's strange boundaries. It is also one of the things that makes this city unique.

But Auckland has the distinct disadvantage of being visited during our fourth week in New Zealand, and our eighth week in Australasia. So much of what Auckland has to offer, we have already seen, done or experienced in the past seven weeks. It's challenging to find something unique or different for us to do. In many ways we feel that Auckland is getting short changed but that is one of the effects of long term travel.

No worries, Mate, we have managed to find some interesting things here to past our time. We went to the top of the Sky Tower and watched people Sky Jump from the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. We visited Devonport, the first English Settlement in the area, via ferry and visited the island of Waiheke, an area of Auckland accessible only by ferry. We even went to an "ice bar," Minus 5, a cocktail lounge made entirely of ice, including the glasses you drink out of! And of course there is the Auckland Museum, one of the finest museums around and currently being visited by our very own Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sue, from The Field Museum in Chicago.

MAORI

2009-03-05T05:12:00.000-05:00

They came from Hawaiki (present day Hawaii) and other East Polynesian islands. In their Wakas (canoes or larger sailing vessels) they traveled over thousands of miles on the South Pacific Ocean. Many did not survive the trip; those who did made their new home on the islands they named Aotearoa. Today it is better know as New Zealand.

Maori is the collective name used for all the peoples native to Aotearoa prior to the arrival of the British. But like many indigenous people, they are made up of a multitude of tribes, each with their own dialect and customs. Today, the Maori are integrated into New Zealand's western culture. Other than skin that is slightly darker and hair that is slightly wavier, there's a good chance that you wouldn't recognize a person with Maori heritage on the street. In addition, with hundreds of years of western/Maori marriages, there are few true blooded Maoris left today.

In Rotorua, an area heavily settled by the Maori, there are numerous opportunities to partake in a Maori cultural experience. Ours was at Mitai, a village that has been set up on Maori land to recreate a piece of their past. Our first event was to witness the cooking of our dinner – a traditional Hangi. This is where your food has been cooked in a huge hole in the ground by heated rocks over a three hour period – no opportunity for rare meat here!

After a view of the feast to come, we proceeded down to the sacred Fairy Springs where the men rowed upstream in a Waka in traditional dress with the face tattoos that the Maori are known for. Their rowing to ritualized chanting was very eerie, impressive and fearsome. They were a very war like culture and it is evident in their Waka Ceremony.

After the warriors arrived, we traveled to the auditorium for the cultural performance. For about an hour, we watched Maori Warriors and Maori women in traditional dress perform their songs, dances and greetings. We were introduced to their array of weapons and their uses and shown their pre-battle preparations We learned about their facial tattoos, why they were done and what they mean. Much of what the Maori did was for the purpose of putting fear into their enemy and toward winning their battles.

After our Hangi dinner, we went on a bush walk through the Maori land. Our guide pointed out various plants and trees and what medicinal use they served for the Maori. Down by Fairy Spring we saw the Maori's sacred water source bubble up from the earth and for a special treat, we got to see New Zealand's very own glow worms. The banks of the spring glowed with little blue lights as the hungry glow worms gave us a light show.

The night after our Maori experience, we rented the movie Whale Rider which Marty and I had seen but the girls had never watched. If we had any doubt as to whether we learned anything the night before, it was quickly resolved in watching the movie. Everything in the movie was so much more meaningful when you know more about the Maori culture. Great movie if you've never seen it. Great evening at Mitai.

STICK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN

2009-03-03T03:47:00.001-05:00

When we first started seriously planning the Round The World adventure, I said that I didn't want to stay in any city/town/village for less than 3 weeks. People would often say things like “Krakow is a lovely city but you don't need more than a week there.” Or “Christchurch is great, just a few days will do.” But in my heart I just knew that moving around any more often than every 3 weeks would be hard on us and since we were looking at a full year of being on the road, we needed to make things as “easy” as possible. Besides, how could you get a “real feel” for a place if you just flew in and flew out? We planned almost all of Europe on the “3 week plan” but then we started coming across places that we wanted to go but feared that 3 weeks would just be too much. We deviated from the plan, one week here, one week there...

One week works out great – in cities like Nong Khai, Thailand where there is almost nothing to do! But if there are places to go, things to see, people to talk to, one week is a nightmare! You pull into town and the pressure is on – go here, go there, do this, do that, until you wake up one morning and you're just too tired to do anything else. A rest day is thrust upon you whether you like it or not. A one week stop is like you are on vacation, you know, the kind you need a vacation from when you return back home. Three weeks is more like a short term stay where you have ample time to see and do things, but also, plenty of “down time”. There is time for domestic activities (food shopping, cooking, laundry) and time for work (blogs, editing pictures, emails, journaling, travel research).

Writing this blog on one of those “forced” rest days in the middle of one of those one week stays, I recall that initial planning thought of required 3 week stays and am reminded that sometimes, it's a good idea to listen to your gut feelings.

Extreme Day

2009-03-01T02:30:00.001-05:00

NZ is famous for its extreme sports, bungee, zorb ball, skydiving, just to name a few. Rotorua is the practically the extreme capital of the north island, while Queenstown is the adventure capital of the south. We had seen zorb and bungee on a travel video by lonely planet but that does NOT prepare you for all the other opportunities you see; swoop, luge, agrojet, sky swing, freefall xtreme, shweeb, and then the skydiving, bungee and zorb. Since each adventure only lasts less than three minutes and they cost at least $35 NZ each, we, (Siena and I) were limited to three adventures each. Swoop and bungee were out of the picture quickly as Mom and Dad were scared to death of these two adventures. Zorb was a definite and so was the luge and freefall xtreme was nearly approved. The day after the three adventure pact was made, we headed out to Agro Adventures (Rotorua's home of bungee, agrojet, swoop, freefall xtreme and shweeb), to see which ones interested us. We were too light for bungee, to short for shweeb, but just perfect for all the others. We decided to do freefall xtreme.

Freefall xtreme = body flying. We went up onto a bouncy trampoline/platform with a humongous fan that would easily blow you away. And that's exactly what you want to do. We got into suits that allow much air to blow in and plastic goggles to protect our eyes. I had to crawl out onto the net covering the fan on my hands and knees. The fan started to pick up speed. Then one of the flight masters grabbed my feet and the other grabbed my hands and I started to go up to the net above. When I got there, they let go and I was flying!!! However, read the top paragraph again, specifically the three minute cost a lot for a little part. After 1.5 minutes, gravity had to take over.

Zorb = inflatable ball, just add yourself. There are two versions of Zorb, Zorbit and Zydro. In Zorbit you are strapped into the ball and sent head over heels down the hill. In Zydro, there is water inside the ball and you just get in, not strapped, to have a sloshy ride. Siena and I chose to go together down the straight hill, Zydro. We weren't tall enough to do Zorbit anyway. We started to go down facing the downside of the hill but that quickly changed. We must have hit a small bump because all of a sudden, we were jostled around and Siena's head was on my stomach. Not to mention that our backs were now facing downhill. Another quick (expensive) adrenalin rush was over, with soaking wet clothes.

Luge = alpine slide, just missing the track. For our last adventure, we headed up the closest mountainside on a gondola. No, not the 80 Euro ones in Venice but a SKY gondola, like the thing we took at Ocean Park in HK. Plus it's kinda hard to row up a mountainside. The Luge is an alpine slide type thing, like we did in Zakopane and Lake Bled. This one still had little carts that you control the speed, but in addition you also steer this one. Going down the mountain, you don't have a track but a road where you just try not to run into anybody. You have to do the scenic track first, to prove that you are a responsible driver. The scenic track is a 2k track running through a forest. It was very scenic!!! We rode the chairlift back up again and this time, Siena and Daddy went tandem on the scenic track, Mom went alone on the scenic track, and I went alone on the intermediate track. The intermediate track is shorter so I should have gotten down first, but when a fork in the road occurred and I made a decision that lead to a steep track with a drop, I had the trouble of getting to the other side of the fork were I felt more comfortable. When I finally arrived down, we rode the lift up once more to get the gondola to go down the mountainside to get to our car to go home.

A PLACE LIKE HOME

2009-02-28T06:15:00.000-05:00

Being gone for nine months makes you want "a homey place", an abode that makes you feel comfy. Kinda like crawling into a warm sweater on a cold morning. We have had some really cool places to stay this year. We haven't talked about a lot of them because they just aren't as “cool” as the places we visit. The Pearl Palace Hotel in Agra with it's wonderful owner Mr. Singh was great but did it compare to the Taj Mahal. No way. So you haven't heard about the goods and bads of our accommodations. Till now.

We are currently staying at "The White House", a detached house associated with Sandi's Bed and Breakfast in Rotorua, New Zealand. The place is great. Here's a rundown:

The place is huge. Maybe as large as the three floored house in Haarlem in the Netherlands. When we book places we generally know the size, usually quoted in square meters, so we have to do the conversion to square feet. I do this. lisa isn't nearly as anal as I am about numbers. Size is usuallly mentioned with places booked through services such as Homelidays or other travel accommodation sites. When you go to an individual you don't get as much: not the pics by room, not the details of internet access, etc. With Sandi we had a few details but not a lot. Not enough at the beginning to know we had a special place.

Everything works: The stove, the windows, the bathroom (sink and shower), the DVD player was simple enough to figure out, etc., etc. Our place in Coogee, a suburb of Sydney, had blinds that didn't work, screens that fell out of the windows. We have had ovens that we couldn't figure out or never got hot enough. Here we also have a really big refrigerator. In Venice we had one a little bigger than a cooler; same as in Krakow, St. Helens, Dubrovnik, Korcula, Montepulciano. Big kitchen, little frig.

Here at The White House, the girls have their own bedrooms for the FIRST TIME in their lives. Our first night here they separated at ten o'clock, Avocet to one bedroom with a double bed and Siena to one with a queen. We were scared they would be up throughout the night in our room scared because of the change. No way. They really liked having the rooms to themselves. But this blog isn't about Si and Av, it's about this cool place. I go on.

The thing that makes a place great is how it makes you feel. We just left a three bedroom apt in Christchurch that was very spacious and very efficient but its style was minimalist and lacked warmth. Our great place in Montepulciano in Tuscany was picturesque with great views but we didn't feel as good “together” as we do here. The walls have adornments of paintings or wall hangings that are appropriate and match the room. The living room has an alpaca rug. The window treatments match the carpet. The dining room table has a tablecloth that doesn't look like it came from the Salvation Army. The carpet is clean. The beds have comforters that match the colors of the room. The linens are quality. But it also has that unique intangible that just makes you feel good. Kinda like our rooms at home that we have made into our own. Those rooms make us feel good.

Thanks Sandi. Your place makes us feel good.

Rotorua - Geothermal Heaven!

2009-02-26T16:00:00.001-05:00

Here we are in the city of Rotorua, a Geothermal wonderland! For those of you who don't know what a geothermal park looks like, then here goes: hot water geysers, sulphur lakes, hot mineral pools, and naturally formed craters that open into the Earth. Rotorua is also home to many volcanoes - extinct, dormant, or caved in.

Today we went to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. This park is home to much of the creations of the Geothermal activity and is most famous for their Lady Knox Geyser. It only goes off once a day at 10:15 AM. There were a lot of craters! Either made by explosions or by something that caved in. We also saw something called The Champagne Pool, a sulphur pool with lots of colours in it. There were lots of sulphur lakes made by caved in Earth. There was this really cool pool that had lime green liquid!

We also got to see the mud pools. In my opinion they were kind of creepy! The mud would be calm and then all of a sudden it would bubble up a little.

You can see geothermal activity not only in Wai-O-Tapu, but just go to the city park! If you're driving down the road, you'll see smoke rising from the streets because the city park has steam vents.

After Wai-O-Tapu, we continued our Geothermal day by going to Waikite Valley Thermal Pools (don't worry I can't pronounce Waikite either). It was like Hamner Springs (see earlier blog)except less crowded and much smaller. When you walked down to the office, you get to see the place where they get their hot water and you can see it tumbling down into the different pools. There are various pools with different temperatures. There are also private spas but we didn't get to see them. It was very warm and fun.

WHAT'S THE STORY WITH EGGS?

2009-02-25T05:41:00.000-05:00

In the US eggs are sold in the refrigerator case. Not only are they sold in the refrigerator case, but there are “guidelines” printed on the egg cartons for the proper care of eggs, which includes keeping them refrigerated at all times and at what temperature they should be kept. Restaurants are almost forbidden to serve eggs that have not been fully cooked changing the recipes for Caesar Salad and Chocolate Mousse forever. Warnings exist at the bottom of menus about the risks of eating eggs that have not been fully cooked.

So why is it that here we are, in New Zealand, our 12th country around the world, and in not one supermarket in not one of these countries have eggs been refrigerated? The cartons sit on a shelf next to the rice or cereal or wherever they choose to put them – anywhere but in the refrigerator? No where else but in America does there seem to be this obsession with refrigerating eggs. Does the USDA know something that everyone else in the world doesn't???? Or does everyone else in the world know something that the USDA is hiding from us???? What is the real story about eggs?

The Weekend Market

2009-02-24T02:52:00.000-05:00

Every weekend at the ChCh Arts Center, shop owners come from all over the city with tables and products to be a part of the Weekend Market. The Weekend Market isn't like the daily market on the banks of the Ljublianica in Slovenia, that was just daily stuff. Daily stuff at a daily market, go figure. This market is more like... Padington Market in Sydney, (Did we tell you about that?) or Salamanca Market in Hobart (Did we not tell you about that either?). Gifts and tzaatchkas from boutique shops are what makes up the market, but there are many food vendors too. And several street performers.

New Zealand has a native people like Oz's Aborigines or our Native American Indians. The Maori have a distinctive artwork, lots of curly cues and swirls with intricate patterns. These symbolic designs can be bought in cow bone (why not sheep?) or Nephrite Jade. Another popular item is Paua shell. Paua is one of the many varieties of Abalone. It's blue, green and sometimes black, usually all at once. Earrings, necklaces, hair ornaments, rings, bracelets, even decorative whole shells can be bought. I'm starting to think that the Paua is NZ's national shell if there is such a thing.

Street Performers are definately there. Today (the 22nd) we saw a girl about 13 years old who was playing Bouree on a violin from Suzuki Book 3. The first time we had been there we had seen a comedy act by a man from Scotland, he was awesome. There are other musicians and an occasional large crowd around a magician or actor/actress.

In the back where you exit from the theatre (on the premises), you will feel as if you have walked into the Epcot food court. The "best" Souvlaki in town, Hungarian dishes, Lebanese baba ganoush, Thai and Chinese cuisine, Czech Palinka (pancakes), make your hand float to your wallet, not to mention all the sweet waffles, crepes, and even fruit ice cream. Like I said, the Epcot food court.

THE BIG FIVE O

2009-02-22T06:15:00.005-05:00

50 - it's one greater than 49, one less than 51, 1/2 of 100. It's just a number. But for some reason, in our culture, 50 is suppose to represent something. A long time ago, when life was harder and medical science hadn't had so many advances, making it to 50 was a big deal. Now, it's assumed that you will make it to 50. When people retired at 65 and traded in their working lives for a recliner, 50 meant the end of your youth. Now, people climb Mt. Everest at 50 or beyond. The goal post has moved on how we live our lives but somebody forgot to tell the greeting card companies or the paper goods manufacturers who print "cute" sayings like Over the Hill on napkins and paper plates.

People like to throw themselves or their loved ones big parties when they turn 50. I don't think it's really because they turned 50, I think they just wanted to have a party and have a good time with their friends and family. Kids have birthday parties all the time, not just at 5, 10 15 etc. But as adults, we need to justify having an event for ourselves so we celebrate the "big ones." What's wrong with a party at 48 if you feel like it? or even 52? Sounds good to me.

If I'm suppose to be feeling something special or unique today because I'm turning 50 someone forgot to fill me in on the details. I feel the same way I did yesterday only now it's today (at least until we hit the international date line when it will be yesterday again). No, I'm not as young as I use to be and the aches and pains and lack of flexibility are apparent, but they were there yesterday, and last week, and last year - they didn't miraculously appear today. The signs of youth don't disappear overnight, they erode over time and they started eroding a long time ago.

I have fewer acquaintances at 50 but more friends. The birthday messages that I have received from all of you are so warm and heartfelt and hold a special place in my heart - thank you, each and everyone of you, for being who you are and for sharing your life with me. I know that we will celebrate when I return home since all the time I spend with you is a celebration. And thank you Marty for organizing my email birthday party.

Having been born in February, I always envied those kids who could have their parties outdoors. I hate the cold and have always wanted a summer birthday. So here I am, in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the southern hemisphere, having my first ever summer birthday. Not too bad for a 50th birthday present. I am surrounded by my loving husband of almost 17 years and my two awesome daughters who all planned a wonderful evening of great food, champagne, a scavenger hunt, presents and birthday cake (we celebrated last night due to travel plans). I have been traveling the world for the last 8 1/2 months and will continue to do so for another 3 1/2 more. Life doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

I don't have my whole life ahead of me, I haven't had that since the day I was born. With each day that I live, that part of my life is behind me. Today, on my 50th birthday, I just have one more day behind me than ahead of me. It's just math.

HAVING A WHALE OF A TIME

2009-02-21T06:26:00.003-05:00

Whale Watching is one of those things that I have always wanted to do but have never done. Mostly because I didn't want to be disappointed. I didn't want to spend 2 hours plus on a boat and then come back to shore not having seen a whale. You know, it's not one of those Disney things that's a guarantee; it's nature! On top of that, you would have to pay dearly (whale watches are pretty expensive) for the privilege of not seeing a whale.

In the town of Kaikoura, about 2 1/2 hours up the coast from Christchurch, they offer whale watches to see the Sperm Whales that reside on the New Zealand coast. They say they have a 95% success rate at spotting whales and that if you don't see a whale, they will refund you 80% of the cost of the whale watch. These are numbers that I can get behind. I'm in!

Due to weather and sea conditions, they don't determine if a particular whale watch is going to go out until 15 min. prior to its scheduled departure. We arrived at 2:15 for a 3:00 watch so we sat and watched a whale movie waiting to hear if we were going to go. The whale movie really psyches you up, so now if we don't go, the disappointment will be even greater. They call our trip - we're on! with a "sea sickness" warning. Great, I get sea sick on flat seas. While I could have backed out at that point (with a full refund), I had come too far on this journey. We swallowed our Dramamine (even Marty, you doesn't get sea sick, took some)and we were off.

It only took 10 minutes on this boat to realize that this was not going to be an easy couple of hours. The Pacific Ocean swells were not kind to my stomach. I took my slow deep breaths, stared at the horizon and prayed that we would at least see a whale so that it wouldn't all be for naught.

Since Sperm Whales can dive deeper and longer than any other whale, they spend a lot more time under the water than any other whale which makes finding them a little more challenging. But sometimes nature doesn't disappoint. After just 15 minutes at sea we spotted our first Sperm Whale - these suckers are huge. There he was, just floating on the surface, taking in his air. You could see the water bursting from his blow hole and then all of a sudden he made his move to dive and that magnificent tail was in the air.

Back inside the boat to search for more - ugh! Being inside is worse than being on the deck. At this point Avocet and Siena came to sit with me in the back of the boat where it is "supposed" to be better as they were not feeling too well themselves. Great, just what we need, 3 sea sick people.

Another whale has been spotted. We go out on deck to see this second beauty. This one gives us a blow hole performance but never does dive. It doesn't matter, my attention is not on the whale at this point as the swells have gotten larger and the sea sickness has gotten worse. I toss my cookies into the sea. Does some sea life eat this stuff or will it wash up on some beach onto some unfortunate swimmer? Time to go back inside.

Sometimes life is not cruel and makes a fair (?) exchange. After another 12 minutes at sea, two Sperm Whales are spotted side by side. This is rare as they are solitary creatures. I'm feeling a little better (little being the operative word here) and the girls are holding up O.K. We are trying to enjoy this incredible scene. Siena says "What if they both dive at once?" I told her that would be awesome but not to count on it. Well, they both started moving at the same time and yes, they both dived simultaneously. What a magnificent sight seeing both of those tails up in the air at once. I would include the picture, but there isn't one, just the memory.

Heading back to shore now I'm holding my own but Avocet gets sick. At least afterwards she says that she feels a little bit better. We swing by a Fur Seal Colony and get up close and personal with the seals and their pups. They really are adorable. We also get a look at an Albatross, the world's largest flying bird, gliding across the sea.

I had told the girls before we left that this was a once in a lifetime experience. They now say they know why. Who would want to feel like that again! I personally don't want to do it again but in hindsight, it was well worth it this time around.

Hanmer Springs

2009-02-20T03:25:00.000-05:00

On the 16th, we left Christchurch EARLY in the morning to head out to Kaikoura, the Whale Watch Destination of NZ. Some background info: at anytime of the day, the weather may change at once, allowing you to experience a years worth of weather in one day. Somehow rain always seems to come into the picture. Another fact: most activities in NZ are weather dependent - do you really want to bungee in a storm? When we called the whale watch company from Christchurch, our boat was already canceled due to rough seas. And high winds. And rain. Our original plan was to go to Kaikora, spend the night and the next day head to Hanmer Springs, the famous hot springs. But because the Whale Watch was cancelled, we decided to reverse, and go to Hanmer Springs first.

When we arrived in the town of Hanmer Springs, we got out of our Nissan Sunny (the only sun we've seen, hahaha) and found that it was drizzling. After we changed out of our clothes and into our bathing suits, it was, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, only misting. They have many different types of pools there; the rock pools are moderate in temperature, the sulfur pools are 41 degrees Celsius (HOT!), the lap pool and the children's pool are normal swimming water (not hot) and there are several other pools that are pretty warm. We visited a 35 degree pool, a 39 degree pool, a 37 degree pool, and dipped a toe into the 41 degree pool. It was much too hot, my toe started to burn when it was exposed to the nasty stuff. Siena and I liked the 37 degree rock pool. It had one main pool from which a stream flowed to a much shallower pool. We liked the shallow pool and even made up a game in it called Cheeky Americano. To play, one person gets on their knees and the other holds the back of their legs. Then, the person in the back moves the persons legs to make them walk. However, the person in the front chooses the direction, and usually they move into a spot called the Cheeky Americano spot. The other person has to pull them out and they begin to walk again. The finale is where the person in the back picks up the walker and throws them onto the rock in the center of the pool yelling “Cheeky Americano!”

We all loved Hanmer Springs, we just wish it had been a sunny day!

Swimming With Dolphins - AWESOME!

2009-02-19T05:00:00.002-05:00

When we first got to New Zealand, I saw a brochure for something that said, “Swimming With Dolphins”. It was where you got to swim with the tiniest dolphins on Earth: The Hector Dolphin. They're a little smaller than I am right now, and I am pretty tiny, and just about as wide. Just like a lot of other animals out there, The Hector Dolphin is endangered. There are only about 6000 – 7000 of them left and they're all located off the east coast of New Zealand. I didn't think we'd get to do it , but there we were in Akaroa (a town a little ways outside of Christchurch) standing on the main wharf, with wet suits, booties, and snorkeling gear.

There were only ten people in our group as they don't want too many people in the water with the dolphins. It makes them feel crowded. We took a fairly big catamaran out of the harbour and sailed until we reached the end of the harbour. On the way out there, we saw seabirds called Cormorants, and three White Flippered Blue Penguins – also the tiniest penguins in the world.

The Hector Dolphin likes murkier waters so we went out to the churned up part. Our guide told us to lookout for a dorsal fin just above the water but that was very hard because there was a lot of seaweed that could easily pass as dorsal fins.

We finally saw two dolphins. They were playing in the waves that the
front of the boat was making. The Hector Dolphin is not only tiny, but cute!!!!!! They really like to play and when we got into the water, our guide told us to make noises with our snorkel under water. It was really exciting!!!!!!! They were swimming really near us and would circle around you! The water was very cold though and so I shivered the whole time. We never got to use the snorkeling gear since the water was so murky – you wouldn't be able to see anything! After about five minutes, we got back into the boat and headed around the wide open ocean looking for the tiniest, rarest dolphin in the world. We didn't get to swim with them anymore, but from far away we saw one jump in the air! On the way back, we cruised near the rocks and took a look at the seal colony there. We saw one pup nursing!

Swimming With Dolphins was truly amazing!

ANTARCTICA!!!

2009-02-18T05:30:00.001-05:00

Occasionally we see a place that is really cool. No pun intended. We visited the International Antarctic Centre on one of our first days here in Christchurch and we were not disappointed. This attraction is here because the NZ, US and Italian Antarctic research teams are based here.

We were picked up by the Penguin Express at Cathedral Square and the driver told us funny stories about Christchurch. We then watched a video put on by the staff, including bloopers, as to what we could expect to see. Upon arrival, there was something for all of us: we got to see Blue Penguins on the mend after being rescued. There was a simulation of an Antarctic winter storm which included wind and a drop in temperatures to about two below zero fahrenheit. I didn't tell them that Cincinnati has that temperature every winter and especially this one. Probably would be outdone by Canadians anyway. There was an exhibit depicting the four seasons there.

The center had a lot of interactive displays where one could see the daily life that goes on at Scott Base on Antarctica. I really enjoyed that and felt a bit closer to understanding how a person could devote six months of their life at a timeto this icy continent. They even had the rules for the Scott base golf "course"...if it could be called that. Once in a lifetime would be cool (cold). The staff at the center all said they would love to go. Some of the displays had geeky things like temps, wind speed, when explorations were completed and the like which suited my geeky side. lisa asks "does Marty have a non-geeky side??? The girls also learned a lot in case any future teachers of theirs are reading this blog post.

Near the end we rode in a Haaglund, the big tracked vehicles used in Antarctica, around their training track. Everyone who is scheduled to go to Antarctica must experience Haaglund training - up 45 degree hills, 30 degree sidehills and how to go through water up to the middle of ther windows. Great!!

An interesting, educational and fun day was had by all.

CHRISTCHURCH, NZ

2009-02-16T05:15:00.004-05:00

Christchurch: The Garden City; Gateway to Antarctica; Our South Island New Zealand home for two weeks. Christchurch is larger than Hobart but that's not saying much now is it? Being the largest city on the South Island, we are talking about a population of about 350,000. There are definitely more sheep and cows here than people!

We were told that Christchurch is more English than England. I don't know about that, but it definitely has a more English feel about it than Australia, which had a more American feel. And it's not that you can understand the Kiwis a whole lot better than you can understand the Australians. They may both speak English, but sometimes subtitles would be real helpful.

The city here is quite lovely with many older building, tree lined streets, beautiful gardens and the Avon River running (just barely) through the center of town. They seem to have a strong arts community with an art museum, art galleries and exhibitions, a theater, and an arts center with a weekend arts market.

Christchurch is not on the coast but just a 12 km jaunt will put you at Lyttleton Harbour. Other coastal areas are also not too far and there are plenty of "water activities" for you to enjoy. In fact, the whole island is a playground and there is a plethora of outdoor adventures awaiting you.

With New Zealand, United States and Italy having their Antarctic Research Centers headquartered in Christchurch, this city is also considered the gateway to Antarctica. 70% of all flights to the Antarctic leave from the International Airport here. It would be great if we could catch one of those flights in order to hit the seventh continent, but none of those flights are open to the public. Guess we'll have to save that one for the next trip!

Christchurch is such a quaint and charming city and everything would be just perfect if it weren't for the fact that our apartment is right next to Sol Square which is a street lined with 24 hour bars that blast music into all hours of the evening (and morning). So much for quaint and charming!

AUSTRALIA'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-02-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip team for their Top Ten (Plus Two) of Australia and the results are in:

12. Old Town Hobart Model Village
11. Cadbury Chocolate Factory Visit
10. Bridestow Lavender Farm
9. Louisa's Walk
8. Bondi Beach
7. Bay of Fires
6. The Faerie Shop and The Teddy Bear Shop
5. Alpenrail and Wildwoods Gardens
4. Koala Park Sancturay & Bonorong Wildpark
3. Sydney Opera House & Le Grand Cirque performance
2. Hobart Town and the Salamanca area

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF AUSTRALIA IS:

1. Coogee Beach and Coogee Town

A special mention goes to our wonderful evening with Shelly and Garry Johnson which can't be rated - it was priceless

LOUISA'S WALK

2009-02-13T03:40:00.000-05:00

We had the brochure but didn't think too much of “Louisa's Walk” because it was probably just another“Class B” attraction here in Tasmania, with the business having enough money to put together a nice brochure. Fast forward a few days later to when we were looking through the “Visitor's Book” in our apartment and noticed that someone HIGHLY RECOMMENDED it. OK, let's give it a shot.

We met “Louisa” outside the Cascade Gardens parking lot where she was dressed in 1840's attire. She introduced herself as an Irish woman who's husband had passed away and wanted to tell us her story. She had apparently been caught steeling a loaf of bread and was eventually convicted by a magistrate for her crime. The sentence was to serve a seven year term in the prison on Van Diemen's Land, Tasmania's original name given by the British. She “befriended” us at that stage and we were with her on a prison ship in London, on her eight month passage to Tasmania, and eventually to a prison here, known as the “Female Factory,” in the Cascade neighborhood of Hobart . We were her friends. Siena helped teach her sewing techniques. She asked our advice whether she should tell the truth or not to the authorities. She told us her “secrets”. We felt like we were a real part of her journey (and Tasmanian history) as she spent her seven years in prison for the atrocious crime of stealing a loaf of bread to feed her starving family.

Along with Louisa was a male actor who performed the roles of magistrate, ship's captain, factory doctor, and other “bad” characters. Both performed their roles admirably.

We got the adult version. So did Av and Si. The conditions for a female convict at the Female Factory were terrible: virtually no ability to converse with fellow prisoners, little sunlight, poor rations, beatings. Some with lesser crimes were called “assignables” because they would be “assigned” to work for wealthy “free-settlers” who often abused them in many ways. Any children born from this “abuse” were cared for for only a couple of weeks before being separated from their mother. Then the mother went to the worst section of the “factory” where they were beaten...because of their “crime” of getting pregnant. Louisa was one of these mothers. Her baby girl didn't survive. We experienced in a unique way the chilling history of female convicts in Hobart.

The “Factory” was shut down after about thirty years but not before untold numbers of women died or were scarred for life. All ended well for Louisa as she fell in love (at first sight) with a new master.
They were married and she survived. Interestingly enough, the actor and actress (Chris and Judith) performing the strolling theater were married in real life.

No “Class B” attraction here. I give it an A+!!

What to do in the Hobartian Suburbs - the gateway to two good attractions

2009-02-12T02:30:00.000-05:00

The day after we went to the Cascade Brewery, we went to Richmond. Richmond is this little town about a fifteen to twenty minute drive from Hobart. It's one of those towns with boutiquey shops, an old fashioned candy store, and a little museum about the town's history. Please note too look for these three significant sites among the next two paragraphs.

Richmond

Once we got there, we headed to Old Hobart Town. Old Hobart Town is a model of what Hobart was like in the old days; kinda like Madurodam. (Madurodam – a humongous model of all the cities in Holland all put together in an amazing realistic model. Located in Den Haag. See previous blog for more details). The miniature town had the harbour and the old causeway connecting Tasmania to Hunter Island. There were boats on the harbour too! The town was really cool. They put in little streets, a creek, a mill, people, houses, and convicts. The old convicts of England were every where in the town. They even put in the old gaol! (Gaol - the Australian word for jail.)

When we finished Old Hobart Town, we walked along the streets looking at shops. We walked across the Richmond Bridge, which is the oldest bridge in Australia, and back again. Then we headed to lunch. After lunch was finished, we went to the Richmond Gaol. I guess it kinda counts as a museum about Richmond's history. Personnely, I didn't like it. After that “task on our list” was done, we got ice cream which was purchased at the old fashioned candy store.

Bonorong Wildlife Park

Australia is known for it's unique and different animals. But like I said in my Tasmanian introductory blog, Tasmania is often thought of as a different country, which means that they are known for two animals that the “mainland” doesn't have: the Tasmanian Devil, and the Tasmanian Tiger.

When we got to Tasmania, we had heard that Tasmanian Devils could be seen on the roads and in the bush. Well here we are in Tasmania sitting and contemplating why we haven't seen a Tasmanian Devil on the road, or in the bush! We heard that they are mostly found dead on the road, which is sad, but we never even saw one dead on the road! Tasmanian Tigers are now extinct. Someone tried to clone them but it didn't work out. How come they could clone Dolly the lamb then! Anyway, we saw Tasmanian Devils at Bonorong.

It was a long ride out to Bonorong, as it is all the way out in the bush. When we got there and had bought our tickets, we went off to see the Tasmanian Devils first. Well, we got sidetracked by an adorable baby wombat, and a silent, sitting, Kookaburra.

We finally made it to the Devils. They are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They had adult Devils, pre adult Devils, and the baby ones. The babies were just so cute!!!! Tasmanian Devils are black with a stripe across their chest. They are pretty tiny, about a foot long, and about six inches wide. They look a little like dogs but their face has some resemblance to a bear.

We got to feed kangaroos again and touch koalas. We saw one Kangaroo with a joey and the joey's head was sticking out of the pouch! Some of the kangaroos would grab our hands when they were eating. It really hurt! All and all, it was a fun experience!!

MEET THE JOHNSONS

2009-02-09T06:54:00.000-05:00

In our eight months of travels we have met fellow travelers and have shared a meal with them in a restaurant or guest house kitchen. But never have we been invited into a locals home – until now. Shelly and Garry are owners of Apartments on Strickland, our home for eight nights here in Hobart, Tasmania. Our second morning here, Shelly stopped by to see how we were settling in and invited us over to her house for dinner. In shock, we said yes, and agreed to a date and time.

With easy directions to follow, we arrived and were welcomed into the Johnson's' home. Shelly is my age and Gary is Marty's age (and if you don't know what that is, too bad!) and they have two grown sons, Marcus and Sam. All four of them (along with Emma, Marcus' girlfriend) are warm and delightful people and gracious hosts as well. We enjoyed tasty hors d'oeuvres and a scrumptious Tasmanian salmon dinner followed by great homemade desserts. But of course the real feast was the enjoyable and endless conversation we shared. We were there for almost six hours and never once was there a moment of awkward silence.

Even Avocet and Siena had a nice visit. When they took a break from the family dinner table, they entertained themselves with a trampoline, a Wii, and a DVD, all generously shared with them by the Johnson's.

Thank you Shelly and Garry for a wonderful evening and an even better memory. Have a great trip to Japan and keep in touch.

Cadbury, Alpenrail and Wildwoods

2009-02-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

Cadbury

On our first real day in Hobart, we (Siena and I) insisted on going to the Cadbury Factory. We had previously heard that they did tours of the factory. Yum, chocolate, why not go? Because they don't do tours anymore. Last year in March/April, (we missed it by one year), they had to close down the tours due to health issues. It doesn't mean that you don't see anything though, as you see a presentation, and if you look into the mirror afterwards, you see your eyes spinning 'round with all the goodies you have just witnessed being made (and the free samples you have received). The one they sell the most is Cherry Ripe, a dark chocolate outside with a coconut and cherry filling. The largest bar they make is 10 kg., and goes for about $145 AU in the shop! My favorites are Boost, Carmello, Roses and Old Gold Dark.

~ Avocet

I love chocolate! It is one of my favorite sweets and I love to eat it. After the presentation about Cadbury and chocolate, we went to their sweet shop and bought chocolate!!!! Cadbury mostly has milk chocolate products but we did find some dark chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate). Some of my favorite Cadbury chocolates are: Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Freddo, and Boost. Cadbury's main product is chocolate but they also sell some candy. The presentation was mostly about how you make chocolate and about Cadbury's history, and its chocolates. YUM!!

~ Siena

Wildwoods at Alpenrail

Before we visited the trains of Alpenrail (Below), we noticed a door with a picture of a fairy on it which read "Wildwoods Fairy Garden, One For All". There is a small door there, but you don't really have to go through it, you open the door by the small door's handle and the big door opens! You walk through a small entry way area and then you get to the garden, Wildwoods. There are many directions you can go. Some paths lead to things like the Enchanted Cottage while some of them are just pretty lanes with dead ends. Please enjoy your tour virtual of the miraculous Realm of the Magical.

~ Avocet

The first thing we did when we got into the Fairy Realm (Wildwoods) was go to the Enchanted Cottage. It looks like a regular cottage on the outside but on the inside, there's a pretty fairy set-up in the window. Then, we went to Fairy Glen Falls. Fairy Glen Falls is a miniature waterfall with fairies, pixies, brownies, etc., all around it. It was really pretty!! There is also a lot of moss. Nearby there is a little pond with mermaids all around it, with water lilies, and fish in the water. After that we walked around the garden and ended up next to Chalet Wildwoods where we had tea and biscuits.

~ Siena

The Trains at Alpenrail

Almost all little boys who grew up in the sixties had a train set. I did...and loved it. What I thought would be just another Tasmanian “Class B” attraction (re: the trains) turned out to be really awesome. There was an entire building measuring probably eighty foot square filled with an alpine scene of Switzerland.

In this space were handmade trains and landscapes. They are phasing out the purchased trains from long ago with their own pain-stakingly carved, molded or constructed from detailed plans of trains and scenery of that region. Some people have recognized the surroundings while visiting from Switzerland. So realistic is Alpenrail that they computer controll daylight into dark with a storm occurring high in the mountains. To coin a term from those sixties: cool!!

- Marty

THE LOVELY TOWN OF HOBART

2009-02-06T18:57:00.008-05:00

Just a thought before I start. Why are we here? Hobart? Hobart? It's name doesn't dredge up exotic images like Dar es Salaam or McLeod Ganj or Luang Prabang. It's because of where it is located. From the time I was a young boy in the fourth grade (coincidentally the age the girls are now) who loved geography, I have “known” the city situated on the bottom of Tasmania. I didn't know much about it, but I knew it was down there...way down there. When we started the trip planning, I couldn't pass up adding Hobart to our itinerary.

On one of our first days here we toured the Cascade Brewery. I wanted to tour Union Brewery in Ljubljana, Slovenia but they only gave tours once a month and we weren't there on the right day of the month. Not here, every day is tour day – three times a day! A good hour and a half but we all were bored after awhile with technical beerspeak. The tasting room was more fun. Lisa and I drank beer samples while the girls sampled soft drinks that Cascade makes. The gardens were very scenic as well.

Another day we went in search of books. Not for lisa and I because we still have a few unread in inventory, but the girls are down to nothing. Hobart has a lot of second hand bookshops. Unfortunately books of the genre Harry Potter or Percy Jackson are few and far between here. The area of the bookshops was Salamanca Place, an area of restored warehouses by the waterfront. It has sidewalk cafes and has the look of a European city.

Hobart has a very nice waterfront with beautiful yachts. We enjoyed sitting on a bench by the harbour eating fish and chips. Where we had meat on a stick in Thailand, we survive on fish and chips here. Not just here but in all of Australia; it's plentiful and inexpensive (not that anything is inexpensive around here). Hobart also has nicely designed parks and buildings that are typical of their time: mid 1800s. The place has a charm, from Salamanca Place to our apartment up from the Cascade Brewery. Our area is green from the tall eucalyptus trees to the lush undercover. It has the everpresent Mt. Wellington, soaring over 4000 feet just on the edge of town. I said it: town. This place feels less like a small city and more like a big town. You have lovely (a word used a lot by the Australians) small cottages with neatly groomed hedges and flower beds .

Just a “normal lovely” town.

DOING WHAT TASMANIA DOES BEST

2009-02-02T06:15:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking back and trying to recall if I have been anywhere as remote feeling as Tasmania. When you are in a town, it doesn't feel remote, but you need only drive ½ km outside of the town to feel like you are in the middle of no where. Often we are the only car on the road, the only people in a shop, on a hiking trail, or on the beach, the only tourists at an attraction. There's not a whole lot to do out here with your time; you can relax, visit one of the the many tourist attractions, or experience nature.

The tourist offices are filled with tons of beautiful glossy brochures for “tourist attractions.” We all went through them and picked what interested us the most. After going to about 4-5 of these “attractions,” we came to realize that everything in Tasmania has a beautiful glossy brochure – whether or not you would really consider it an attraction or not. The fish store has a brochure but it is just a fish store. The candy store has a brochure but it is just a candy store. Anyone with a hobby, a collection, or a farm prints up a brochure and voila you have a museum or an attraction. It leads to a lot of over selling and a lot of underwhelming. After many disappointments, we gave up on the tourist attractions.

Where Tasmania doesn't disappoint is in it's nature. After all, it is the Nature State. We went to the Bay of Fires, recently rated the world's second most beautiful beach. Regardless of the rating, it is gorgeous. No fine dining restaurants, no boardwalk selling fudge, fresh roasted peanuts or salt water taffy, no hotels. No anything – just pure, pristine, unadulterated beach. There are hugh orange boulders jutting out which you can climb on and in between, kilometers of white sandy beach.

Another day we went “chasing waterfalls.” We hiked three separate trails to Halls Falls, St. Columbo Falls and Ralph Falls. If the falls itself wasn't spectacular, the trail offered something else. Incredible rain forest flora, spectacular views of the valley down below or sometimes, even wildlife - on our last trail we found an echnida and then saw a wallaby on the drive back.

On the way to Hobart, we detoured and visited Freycinet National Park. Like any national park, you could spend days on the hiking trails. We opted for a 1 ½ hour hike to the Wineglass Bay Lookout. A pretty trail lined by huge boulders led us to the top of a mountain over looking yet another gorgeous beach. Another hour would have taken us to the beach itself, but we opted to head back to the car to continue the long drive ahead of us. Near the park entrance we were treated once again to an echnida sighting.

At this point we have trashed most of those glossy brochures knowing that many fine trees died in vain – we've decided that we're going to stick to the trees that are living.

MY GOD, THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL

2009-01-31T06:26:00.000-05:00

When we left the airport in Launceston (I call it Lonny for short, like the Tassies do), we had maybe an hour before the sun was really down. I didn't expect the rolling hills beauty that was placed before my eyes. The sunset had oranges and peaches in its color. Very nice.

I have wanted to go to Tasmania almost forever. Not that I researched and obsessed about it from 1988 on or the like, but I really thought this beautiful island was a place to go. It was on my “A” list in early 2006 when lisa and I started planning the itinerary for this year "away". I am not disappointed.

The following day we went to a place called Peron Dunes, about 10km down from our place in St. Helens. We were one of only three cars in the parking lot. After about a 300 meter walk through tight trails of scrub and small trees we were showcased with sand dunes in front of us. The earth beneath our feet crunched as we approached dunes, some tall, some short. Because there was no established trail, we had to leave markers so we wouldn't loose our way back. Soon it became silly to continue with shoes so we discarded our trotters and continued on knowing full well we better remember where the shoes were. More marshmallows (oops...twigs and brush) to guide us back. At any point we could have stopped and listened....nothing except the surf in the distance. Really, no planes, no buses, no cars, nothing!!! When was the last time you heard just nature? We progressed through the sand hearing the sound of crunching beneath our heals as we outweighed the sand under us. Scruunch, Scruunch, Scruunch.

Our first view of the Tasman Sea/South Pacific was wonderful. The waves weren't as high as in Coogee, but they were larger further out, somewhat like the waves on our beaches on our Atlantic coast. One big difference between here and America; I look from right to left for probably five kilometers both ways and see NOBODY. NOBODY!!! It was so serene, so placid, so calm. Only the visual of the waves breaking against the beautiful white sand and the ever present sound of those same waves. I stood there, hands at my side and enjoyed the wonder of it all. My God, this place is wonderful.

The Land Under The Land Downunder

2009-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Okay. You know how Australia is known as “The Land Down Under”? Well Tasmania is the land under the land down under. For those of you who don't know what Tasmania is (hey! Some people don't), it is an island “belonging” to Australia. A lot of people think that Tasmania is a different country, and apparently it caused a big uproar when they were announcing the states of Australia in a cricket match or some kind of sport and excluded Tasmania. We also realized this when one of our waitresses' in Sydney didn't know if Tasmania used the AU dollar! Ah well. Let me tell you about Australia's green state.

Tasmania is not tiny. Compared to some other islands, it's big, but it hardly has any population. All the tourist sights are empty! There are towns in Tasmania, but usually very small, consisting of one main street. The other streets are just residential. That is because Tasmania is mostly made up of farm land and park land. There are lots of cows and sheep and you notice them a lot on the many miles you pass getting from one place to another. Since the towns, parks and attractions are all so far apart, it takes a very long time to get to your destination and back again. This makes it very hard to take day trips!

You know I was telling you about those one street towns? Well St. Helens (our home base) is like that. And since it's so tiny, it seems like everything is crammed in to one shop. Ex: There is a little shop that sells gourmet food, opens as a restaurant for breakfast and lunch, serves as an internet access point, a deli, etc. We actually went to that shop you know!! That's why the towns consist of one street, everything's crammed into one shop.

Tasmania is BEAUTIFUL! Not beautiful with high rise buildings and glitzy metropolitan subways. It's beautiful nature wise. That's why it's called the nature state. It's surrounded by mountains and has beautiful beaches. The towns are also cute and small. It makes you feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere.

Yesterday, we went up to Scottsdale and made a stop in Derby (two towns). It's a long road just to Derby! At the end of it they should give you a t-shirt that says, “The Road to Hana” or something like that for the twisty road that you just survived. We stopped in Derby to see the Tin Museum which is located where their old tin mine was. Derby is another one of those one street towns but unlike other small towns, this was devastated by a flood many years ago. The Tin Museum was interesting but small. It was a one room museum of what tin is, what it is used for, and stories about it. Then there was a small movie theatre about the tin mine that used to be here and how the flood swept through and destroyed it. After Derby, we drove up to Scottsdale to The Doll and Teddy Bear Cottage. Also a small museum, the DCB (abbreviation) is a three room exhibit. The first room has porcelain dolls that are life sized and very detailed. The second room is dedicated to teddy bears, and the third was porcelain dolls but they were dressed in only pink and white. It's like they were wearing lingerie!

Then we headed to the Bridestowe Lavender Farm. It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It seemed like endless fields of purple! We learned how Bridestowe made lavender oil and we walked through the fields. I also bought some lavender scented incense sticks. Our last place was the Forest Eco-Centre. The Forest Eco-Centre is mostly about the forests of Tasmania and other parts of Australia. Then we headed home.

So you see that we're getting very good sleep here as there's nothing to wake us up; and that it doesn't take long to circle around town; and that we're enjoying the island of nature!

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

2009-01-29T04:50:00.000-05:00

This past week we took a trip to the Blue Mountains.....in a car. We usually choose to go with public transportation in order to enjoy the scenery while someone else does the driving. You know, “Go Greyhound” and leave the driving to us. However it was much CHEAPER (amazingly) and gave us more flexibility to rent a car and we wanted to spend the night up there as well.

Driving on the left hand side isn't hard. Turning is also OK with help from my pretty nav-lady lisa. It's that damn wiper stalk that gets hit every time I want to turn. US cars have the turn signal on the left stalk of the driving column; the Australian cars have it on the right. Aargh. Throughout our trip I wiped my windshield incessantly (and unnecessarily). Cleanest window in Australia!! In addition, the lanes are narrower here than in the States so you feel like you are always encroaching on your fellow drivers.

100 km later we are in the Blue Mountains. Quite lovely, as they would say. The green Jamison Valley seems miles down as you view it from the outlooks. These views are sometimes on the trail or sometimes, at a touristy overlook area such as the one where we experienced the famous “Three Sisters”. On the days we were there only a few fellow hikers were around. . Nice, not crowded. But one cannot sustain the One World One Trip team with nature alone. We need food.... and shopping!

Though only a “Wombat Crossing” sign, an Echidna stuffed animal and a Fairy Calendar were purchased, we all enjoyed the small quaint little shops. Katoomba must have a lot of readers because we saw a lot of used books stores. Even the thrift stores had a lot of books. But we have enough books right now. That we doesn't include Siena who has once again read herself out of books, having read four since this past Sunday. And restaurants...we had a really good meal (overstuffed ourselves) the night of our stay. Caesar Salad, “Rump” steak, cheese quesadilla, and a steak sandwich, plus enough “chips” (fries) to feed an army were eaten. After we left the restaurant we walked back to the hostel but found the Common Grounds Cafe first. It was too cute to pass up so we stopped in for a drink. Though the rest of town had light tourist traffic due to it being mid week, the Common Grounds Cafe was packed. Low lighting and lots of native woods, it exuded the Blue Mtns charm.

We walked backed to the Blue Mountains YHA where we spent the night. This was our first hostel experience and knew this one was a really nice example. It was a BIG older hostel, lovingly restored. A nice but somewhat sterile room with accommodations for a family of six and a clean good shower. Nothing fancy. The lounge and kitchen had people sitting about talking and fixing their food. Some played pool. Marty did what he wanted here....uploaded and edited pictures to KodakGallery. Our wireless internet connection at Coogee didn't work. We had to run to Internet Access places with a memory stick. Not at the YHA. We got three albums uploaded and one album edited. Now that's success!!! We have said it before, sometimes we judge the quality of the place by the strength of their internet connection. What have we become? Instead of worrying about the number of pics stored in cyberspace shouldn't I just say “NO WORRIES, MATE” like they continually say here.

We hiked more the second day. Again beautiful settings but.... I forgot the “BUT”. The flies. The Blue Mountains are close to the outback where there are large cattle stations. Apparently they drift from the lowlands inland in.....to our faces. I thought this was a made up story until we heard the same reason from a second collaborator. You are always swatting them. Someone said they could tell the tourists because they are always waving their hands. The locals just ignore them. Again YUCK!!! We decided near the end to avoid another face full and get into the car and “fly” back to SydneY.

POST AFRICA/ASIA BLUES

2009-01-28T06:00:00.001-05:00

After a big event in my life is over, I often get the blues. You know what I mean, an event that required a lot of planning, a lot of time, a lot of energy. Then you finally have the event and afterwards you are left with a hole in your schedule and a hole in your heart. That's where I am now, feeling the aftermath of the planning and experiencing of this whole round the world adventure. But wait a minute I tell myself, it's not over. I am in Australia, the Land Down Under. I am half way around the world; a 16 hour time difference from EST in the US! The problem is, it doesn't feel that way!

Sydney is a great city, lots to do, easy to get around, beautiful beaches. But everything is in English. The people speak English, the signs are in English. Most people are white and everyone wears western clothes. I swear that there are more Thai restaurants in this city than there are in Thailand, but when you walk in, no one says Swadeekaew, the traditional Thai greeting. It doesn't feel like I'm home in Cincinnati, but instead, vacationing in let's say, California. It's nice here, don't get me wrong, it's just that I miss the strange and exotic.

I miss seeing the women of India in their bright and colorful sarees walking down the street. Or the women of Africa in their bold colored caftans and head wraps. I miss seeing signs in languages I can't read or hearing people speak in languages I can't understand. The enthusiasm of trying to learn at least a few words in a new language, and the success you feel when someone acknowledges your greeting and returns one to you. I miss riding in tuk-tuks which are a terribly uncomfortable ride but hey, they are different. You can get take away (take out to us Americans) here from most restaurants but it's not quite the same as eating some of the amazing street food that we had in Asia. I even miss being stared at and having people we don't know take our pictures. (I know that Avocet and Siena don't miss that)

Europe was “Western” as well but there was a language difference to each country that we went to and food differences as well. The architecture was old and beautiful and each city we visited had it's own version of European charm. Besides, Europe was at the beginning of our trip and everything was new and exciting. Plus, we han't been to Africa and Asia yet!

The scary thing is, as the world becomes more westernized (and it is, there is no doubt about that) where will we all go to experience something different? When a 10 year old Chinese kid can speak English as well as a 10 year old American kid, you know that soon, the whole world will be speaking English. Traditional dress will give way to Westernized clothes and Coca Cola won't be the only American product in people's kitchens.

For another six weeks we will be in Australia and New Zealand where the only thing stange and exotic will be the animals. I will have to find a way to get over my “Blues” and enjoy what each of these countries has to offer – I may never be back here again. After that, we move on to South America where everything will be in Spanish, people will look different and their culture will be unique. Then I will have three months to enjoy the differences until the “Real Blues” set in – the trip really will be over!

Koala Park Sanctuary

2009-01-26T06:00:00.002-05:00

I (the miraculous me) had been planning a day in Sydney. Siena and I had showed much interest in seeing koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, kookaburras and so on. So, when I was planning my day, I started looking at all the possible animal options, and here in New South Wales, they are endless. Finally, the Koala Park Sanctuary was picked.

We went out there on a Monday. Siena and I had packed a picnic lunch in case there wasn't a restaurant on the premisis. We left very early in the morning, 7:20 to be exact, as we had to take a bus, a train, and yet another bus to get there. We finally arrived at 9:30, enough time to see all the animals desired and all the presentations the park had to offer. We first headed towards the koalas, the park's main attraction. During the koala presentation, we learned that koalas are extremely lazy; 18 to 19 hours a day are used for sleeping!!! The rest are for eating. They only eat eucalyptus leaves, also known as gum leaves. The eucalyptus gives them enough hydration without their having to drink water. But the leaves are also hard on their digestive system which by the way is 4 meters long!

Next we saw a man sheering sheep and throwing boomerangs. The sheep looked very desperate to get away from the man and away from the sheep dogs too. When the man threw the boomerang, it accidentally got stuck in a tree and that was the end of the presentation.

Next, the famous wombat. We got to touch them. Suprisingly they are not as soft as they appear to be. Instead they are very coarse, most likely a trait needed for their borrowing skills lifestyle. Wombats, like kangaroos, are marsupials. Their pouches, however, are backwards!!! This is because when they dig, they don't want their babies to get dirt in their eyes. The wombats are actually distant cousins of koalas!!!

And for the last presentation, the fairy penguins. They are small, sleek and shy. We didn't see them at first, but when the food came, they thought it was irresistible and had to come out. You can see them in Sydney and Darling Harbor, just you might have to strain your eyes as they are very small.

Next, we bought food (honey nut cheerios) and went to feed the gray kangaroos. They are extremely cute, especially the joeys! We saw one mama with a joey in her pouch, but the head wasn't sticking out, the legs were!!! There were also two joeys outside a pouch, with dad. When I tried to feed them, the dad would nudge their heads aside and take the food for himself!!! What a food hog!

We left the park at about 2:30 to go back to Coogee. It was a long way there and back but we had a very fun day!!!!

WHERE ARE ALL THE TOURISTS?

2009-01-25T06:05:00.001-05:00

You're sitting in a restaurant in Italy. At the table next to you, the people are speaking English. You lean over and ask, "Where are you from?" and a conversation ensues.

You're walking down the street in Tanzania. You see another white person walking down the street. You stop and ask, "Where are you from?" and next thing you know, you are having dinner together.

You're sitting in the garden of a guesthouse in Thailand. People are white, some speaking English. You ask "Where are you from?" and you exchange travel itineraries to figure out where you might meet up next.

Our social life, outside of each other, (which, as you've heard before, gets a little boring) is meeting up with fellow travellers. We would meet tourists in restaurants, internet cafes, accomodations, on the street...pretty much anywhere. Throughout Europe, the identifiying factor was language - if you heard English, you most likely had a traveller on your hands. Throughout Africa, India, Thailand, Laos and China, we had two identifying factors: skin color/appearance and language. If you saw white - tourist (or expat) and if you heard English - tourist (or expat).

So, here we are in Australia and EVERYONE speaks English! And the majority of people are white! Our two previous identifying factors are null and void here. So how do we identify the tourists so we can have a conversation??? Answer, we CAN'T! We can talk to just about anyone who we meet, the thing is, natives really aren't in need of conversation - they have their friends, family and co-workers here. It's we tourists who are desperate for a chat.

Quick, send us emails, we are lonely here!!!!!!

The Beached Sharks Guide to the Beaches of Sydney

2009-01-23T20:43:00.008-05:00

Dear Sharks,

Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry for calling you beached sharks, as that's a term for whales, but you guys truly are lost. First, I will give you some advice: the lifeguards will not harm you. They're coming after you to save you!! Ah well. On to the subject. If you're tired of baking in the sun, I suggest you start learning about Sydney beaches.

Bondi Beach:

This delightful beach is sooooooooooooooooooooooo fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The waves start out small, and then as you get out, they get bigger and bigger. That's why it's a surfer beach. It's fun to ride the waves in like a human boogy board. Since the waves are so strong, you either have success with riding them in - or you go under water. Some waves are just like a wave pool, not very strong. If you get tired of swimming, you have tons of restaurants to choose from. You can also go shopping! The way we got to Bondi beach was by taking a beach walk. There is a path that goes from Coogee to Bondi. It's a beautiful walk and you get to see lots of other beaches on the way. It's a really hot walk though!! But that makes it all the better to go swimming after it!!!

Coogee Beach:

This beach is the most convenient beach to us as we're staying two minutes from it. They call Bondi a surfing beach but Coogee has bigger waves!! You go under water more in Coogee as the waves are stronger. They don't have much souvenir shopping, but if you're looking for a bikini then there are tons of places to shop for them (the Australians rarely wear one piece bathing suits)!! There is one place to go souvenir shopping though, and tons of places to eat. The only glitch about Coogee is that the water is much more affected by weather patterns. We found this out when it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and all of a sudden it started to rain. The waves were very rough that day and the day after,when it was cooler the waves were milder. It's a glitch because sometimes it's too rough and sometimes not rough enough.

Now that you beached sharks know all about beaches, work on trying to tell the lifeguards that you want to get back in the water fast.

Good luck!

Siena

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF SYDNEY

2009-01-22T05:00:00.002-05:00

It's a great city like any other great city of the world: New York, San Francisco, London, Paris... It has more to do than you have time to do it in. It has museums (dozens), a sky tower, a zoo and other animal parks, markets and more markets, tourist attractions, great neighborhoods to explore...and if that's not enough, it has beaches – lots of beaches.

Wondering what we have been up to for the past week???? First stop, Sydney's iconic sights: The Harbour Bridge and The Sydney Opera House.

The Harbour Bridge is the largest steel arch in the world. Whether or not to build the bridge was in itself a debate for quite a few years. Once decided upon, it was an engineering marvel. Now it's one of those sights that help identify a city like the Eifel Tower of Paris. In addition to the six traffic lanes, there is also a footbridge so you can walk across the bridge. In addtion, there is a bridge museum in one of the pylons where you can learn more about the bridge as well as climb 200 stairs for a great view of Sydney Harbour. By the way, the pylons serve no structural purpose, they are strictly decorative.

Across the harbour from the bridge is the world famous Sydney Opera House. You've seen the picture a thousand times (and here's one more) but being there in person is amazing. It's an architecturally magnificent building that sits on an incredibly scenic piece of property complete with a sordid past. We took a one hour tour where we got to see two of the six theaters, the hallways, the open areas, the private rooms, the stupendous views, and hear the history of it's birth.

So many museums and so little time – we opted for the Australia Museum. Here we had the opportunity to witness the story of the Indiginous People of Australia and the injustices they endured. Many of these stories are not unlike our own stories in the US of the Native Americans and African Americans. We visited an exhibit called “Surviving Australia” which described some (but thankfully not all) of the risky wildlife encounters one might have with native Australian fauna. The Wildllife Photographer of the Year exhibit also happened to be in Sydney at the time and we got to see some amazing photos taken by professionals and amatures alike. It was a nice museum but in all honesty, I was a little disappointed. Oh well.

Saturday found us down at Paddington Market, a once a week craft market where people come from all over Sydney to sell their hand made (or not hand made) products. It was a cloudy day (our first) so it was a good way to pass the time. We also caught a new movie (at least new to us), Bedtime Stories, at the Ritz Movie Theater, a great old fashion movie theater. It was nice to be in a country where we could go to the movies in a language we could understand.

If that's not enough, stay tuned – everyone else needs something to blog about too!

COOGEE - A GREAT "DEFAULT"

2009-01-20T02:53:00.001-05:00

In our travels, when we picked out cities to visit it's been because they were either of historical or cultural significance or by their nature, exotic to us. Dubrovnik had its beauty. Moshi, Tanzania had the point of being an African city. Luang Prabang in Laos because it was, duh, in Laos. We picked the Sydney area of Australia out of default because this IS where you go in Australia. How many people visit Australia and say I stayed in Canberra (sorry Kevin), or Melbourne (sorry Vince) or even Perth? Nobody. You visit Sydney. Of course.

Our decision to plant ourselves in Coogee was also by default. I had a place reserved on Sydney Harbor but Barbara decided to break up with her “manfriend”, move to Melbourne and take her condo off the rental market. Same for Carol, whose place in the Northern Shores town of Narrabeen was pulled because her husband took a job in a different Province. So I had to scramble last May to have a place in this area during the “high” season of January 2009. The default place was in Coogee, on the shore, east of downtown Sydney. I expected a “default” type of place because it wasn't a “Harbor” neighborhood, or a place on the North Shore. No “default” here. Coogee has turned out to be a great community.

First off, it is a beach town. A small beach town. We are staying in an apartment building like many others here, probably built in the 1960s. We can see the Pacific in the distance from our balcony. These apartments were built years ago to house Coogeeites, not necessarily travelers from elsewhere. Ours is the only unit of six for rent for “holiday”. There are no new high hotels springing up to handle the tourists. It's a town built for locals but is somewhat filled with vacationers because of high season; probably not dissimilar from our beach towns on Cape Cod. It has that small town feel of regular small businesses, restaurants and some souvie shops. People seem to be speaking to each other in restaurants like they have known each other for awhile. The grocery store is one you walk in from the street without a large parking lot being present like our Krogers in the US. This place has the feel of Lake George in New York state with its old town charm. And it has Coogee beach.

Yes, the beach. If you listen closely to your computer with the sound turned up you can hear the waves. We aren't close enough to get this sound all the time but it's ever present as you near the beach. The beach here is doglegged into Coogee Bay with nice white sand bookended by large rock formations. There are also no rocks or pebbles in the water requiring water shoes. The waves here are big and powerful and will knock you down more times than not. We had a front go through the day before yesterday and some of the waves were eight footers. The expression Av, Si and I use is “My Gawd, it's a Pipe, it's a Pipe,” reminiscent of the surfing expression “Pipeline” mentioned in competitions from decades ago on ABC's “Wide World of Sports.” We of course say this in our brilliant Australian accents learned from watching “Crocodile Dundee”. What I really need are the cheap Thai and Chinese massages after being in the waves for a couple of hours. However, I do feel like I've taken off forty five years when I'm playing in the waves.

This was no default. This is where we were supposed to end up.

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

2009-01-18T05:15:00.001-05:00

After 7 months of traveling, we are now finally in the Land Down Under, Australia. In our minds, it was going to be kind of like being back in the US for a while, just the Southern Hemisphere version of it. This is not necessarily true. Yes, there are similarities, but also differences; and there are expectations unmet...

1. We both speak English, kind of sort of. We often have to ask people to repeat themselves, spell something out, or just smile and walk away and then ask each other, did anyone understand what they said? Often this is no different than when we would be in a non-English speaking country and the person who we were speaking to would speak English to us.

2. We use the dollar and they use the dollar. Part of a dollar is called cents in both places. It only cost $ .70 US to buy 1 Australian Dollar – we like that! It does however, take $2.50 Australian Dollars to buy an “American Candy Bar,” we don't like that.

3. We drive on the right side of the road, the Aussies drive on the wrong side; oops, I mean the left side. This requires you to look right first when crossing the street and it also means that on walkways, stairs and escalators, people hang to the left just like the traffic patterns.

4. All of their food products have nutritional labeling just like at home, however, they don't have a line for calories but instead have one for energy. Since I'm always looking for more energy, this works for me!

5. The ADA, American Disabilities Act, must have conveyed to the Australian Disabilities Act for this is the first country that we have been to in our 7 months of travels that has cared for their citizens with disabilities to the extent that the US has. Clearly, traveling here with a physical disability would be much easier than any of the other countries that we have been to on this trip.

6. Sydney is an international city and has people of all nationalities living here. Just like in the US, if you see someone who is Asian, Hispanic, Black, Indian etc. it doesn't mean that they are tourists; here in Sydney, there's a good chance they are Australians.

7. Here, public transportation is for everyone. Regardless of the time of day or the route, the buses are filled with people. In the US, in most cities, public transportation is for the indigent i.e. for those who can't afford cars.

8. Once we decided to take along a computer, we were curious to see where we would have Internet access in our accommodations and where we wouldn't. Certain places were obvious: Tanzania – no, India – no, Thailand – no, European countries – yes, Australia – yes. Well, we have had Internet access almost everywhere so far, but here we are, in Australia, and this blog is being written at the local Internet cafe. Go figure. Expectations are just another word for premeditated frustrations!

We thought about how easy things would be once we reached Australia. Some things are easier, but some things are not. We are still travelers in a foreign land and with that comes challenges regardless of where you go. Then again, we have challenges when at home too, just different.

CHINA'S TOP TEN (PLUS TWO)

2009-01-17T06:10:00.002-05:00

We surveyed the four participants of the One World One Trip team for their Top Ten (Plus Two) of China and the results are in:

12. The Chinese People
11. Bike riding in the countryside of Yangshuo
10. Hong Kong sites including the Star Ferry, Victoria Peak, the skyline of the city and the transportation system
9. Eating Dim Sum in Hong Kong
8. Souvenir shopping
7. The China Cafe including breakfast each day, their wonderful staff, their superb Chinese food and the awesome cheesecake
6. M.C. Blues Bar and Cafe
5. Yangshuo Town including it's beauty and charm
4. The Magnolia Hotel including their staff, their shower (best of the trip), and their heat (it was cold outside)
3. Yangshuo outdoor activities including hikes up to Moon Hill, Pan Tao Hill, Pagoda Hill and the Li River cruise
2. Buffalo Bar and Cafe

AND THE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE OF CHINA IS:

1. Ocean Park of Hong Kong and it's Pandas

Results of this country's survey were tabulated by Siena