The Murray Factor

How do you say 'deja vu' in Korean?

2011-06-01T09:28:00.000-04:00

I find myself in Hartsfield-Atlanta waiting for a Delta flight that is suddenly a Korean Air flight too.
it made sense last time (flight to Seoul) but I'm more surprised this time (headed to Louisville)

http://mfactor42.blogspot.com/2007/06/korea-sparkling.html

There is no fanfare today, which is fine, but I'd like to get another gift bag...

I'm Amazed

2010-09-01T20:51:00.001-04:00

Slept only 4 of the last 40 hours
Showered awhile ago
Last completely clean change of clothes came with the last shower
Splitting headache for the last 12 hours
Last meal that I truly tasted was 72 hours ago

And I couldn't be happier than I am holding (I now, more fully comprehend this term) this little bundle of joy

A New Era?!

2010-08-23T05:45:00.002-04:00

School starts this morning. I know that because the calendar tells me so, because I'm up at 5:00 AM and because the radio told us to look out for school buses. This year has a definite difference: with Baby Boy due this week, I have barely noticed the dreaded "end of vacation" as I'm all wrapped up in "whoa, something big (or little) and new".

10 people in the shower?! It must be a party

2010-08-04T00:14:00.002-04:00

Tonight, Lisa's book club threw us a baby shower. (IMPORTANT: Thanks to Jessica for all the planning and beautiful scene and to Jeremy for the location and the amazing food!).

I've been to one or two baby showers (I think two) and have certainly seen more on TV or in the movies and heard about the important as a rite of passage event - tonight was nearly unrecognizable to those familiar with the clichés - drinks, a gourmet meal, and a cake that could have come from a reality show.

Again, important thanks to Jessica and Jeremy for making it happen :) I hope someone sends me all the photos (my fancy new camera is great in every situation but low-light.

Transformation

2010-07-14T15:45:00.000-04:00

Ahoy loyal readers!

So the typical summer travel log isn't gonna happen this year. For this summer only, let's call this a "nesting" blog.

Hopefully I can keep this rolling.

It's all over.

2009-08-17T11:29:00.003-04:00

We returned home safely almost exactly a week ago and we've been vegging out as best as possible -neither of us has finished unpacking.

Today is the last day of my summer vacation - a tragic day understood by my fellow teachers and a completely unsympathetic whine to the rest of the world. I am currently posting the photos and a few videos (one with sound overdub) from our recent trip. They appear in the new Picasa gallery on the right side of the blog or you can click the link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MurrayFactor/CentralAndSouthernEuropeSummer2009#

Budapest

2009-08-07T06:49:00.000-04:00

We have been here for a few days now - what a bustling and beautiful place. This is likely the hottest tourist spot we've visited on this trip (rivaled only by Munich). There are lots of crowds and buses - and with good reason - the city is filled with beautiful buildings, rich history and great food!

Many of the great buildings are complemented by the great views one can get of them - views of Pest from the heights of Buda and views of Buda lit up at night from the riverbank in Pest.

Sports day in Zagreb

2009-08-04T19:28:00.000-04:00

Sure, we saw a museum and a few churches but the day was bookended by two of the premier sports franchises in Croatia.
First was a trip to the Drazen Petrovic Center, home to a museum (closed during basketball off season), a monument to Petrovic and the court of Cibona, the powerhouse of Croatia's league and successful in Euroleague as well. Although Petrovic died with many games yet to play, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame a few years ago and there is a touching memorial to him here.

In the late afternoon, we noticed a lot of blue Dinamo shirts moving around town (not on their own - people were wearing them). We asked around and found that the popular Dinamo squad had a UEFA Champions League match in a few hours. After very little debate we found out how to get to the game and went. Although the home side lost, we had a great time and learned a few cheers (and jeers).

Homeland Hrvatska

2009-08-04T11:38:00.000-04:00

After we made our way around the breathtaking Cathedral of the Assumption, "Zlatko", a proud local caught us eyeing a guide to the place and appointed himself our tour guide. Zlatko found out we were from USA and gave us two great facts connecting our history to Croatia's. I think he could have done that with any nation and would love to hear how Croatia relates to Iceland or Korea or Namibia. If you remember the father character from "Big Fat Greek Wedding", it was kind of like that - an endearing nationalism.

Croatia's youth as an independent nation is so strange given the long history here (the same is true in Slovenia). In a wonderful bit of perspective picked up today, we learned that the provincial capital RETURNED to Zagreb in 1776 (it had originally been here for a few centuries, left, then returned) the year the USA declared independence.

We leave Croatia on August 5, the national holiday "Homeland Day", commemorating the end of their war for independence.

Can I get a Linguistics credit for this?

2009-08-02T12:41:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, I learned about the language of Yugoslavia: "Serbo-Croat" - noteworthy due to it's use of a Roman alphabet (by Croats) and a Cyrrillic one (by the Serbs). While a few universities outside the area still teach "Serbo-Croat", the locals refer to their mother tongue by a more nationalistic moniker - Bosnian, Serbian or Croatian, depending on locale.

Well, we learned "hello" and "thank you" on the train, because, as the saying goes "everybody there speaks English". We have found that to be almost as true here as anywhere else, but with a few twists. First, it is important to note that everyone also speaks German and Italian - actually, many older folks have a combination of those without English. The older woman who rented us a room a few nights ago gave a "pah!" at English and we began discussions in bad German until she frustratingly asked "Italiano?" and we offered back "Francais" and "Espanol". She loved that and spoke Italian to Lisa's Spanish and was very happy - it was only as effective as the German conversation but made our hostess happier.

The most surprising thing to see is that English ranks no better than third alternative. That is almost unprecedented in our prior experience. Many things appear in a second or third language, but you have to hit 4th or 5th language to get English. The more time we spend here, the better Lisa's Italian and my German become.

We suspect this is an indicator that the strong tourism industry here is extremely regional: Italians and Germans abound. Either group outnumbers all others combined and we feel like we might be the only Americans in the whole country.

Size Matters - revisited

2009-07-31T07:22:00.000-04:00

Over the trips I have recorded on this blog, I think the entry "size matters" (Jue 2007) has prompted the most reaction. Basically, I commented about the smaller framed people and some funny moments caused by my size (both height and weight). In Guatrmala last winter, height differential was again very noticeable.

Here in Croatia, the tables have turned. I am probably a bit below average height among the men here - shorter than a lot of women too (their 3 inch heels notwithstanding).

Perhaps this size advantage helps explain how Croatia has excelled in sports for a relatively small nation - just 5 million (tall) people. Of course, basketball is big here (pun not intended) - Olympic medals and NBA titles for a number of players. Other tall people sports are popular too - notably volleyball and water polo. Andy Roddick once said that all the Croatian tennis players were 7 foot tall. While I can neither verify nor dispute Mr Roddick, I do have this tale....

In buying tee shirts in Laos, I had to pay extra for an XXL that fights me like a youth medium. In Guatemala, the sizing was a bit better, but inconsistent. I was tee shirt shopping here (okay, it was in Slovenia but the story still works) and Lisa asked the clerk for the next size up. The woman asked "vhor heem?" and shook her head while smiling. The shirt fits and I paid regular price.

Zadar

2009-07-31T05:21:00.000-04:00

Zadar is an overlooked coastal town with a rich history (Venetian, Hapsburg, Yugoslav, Croat - bombed by Allies in WWII and Serbs in 1994), hip nite life (powered, no kidding, by UB40 - club owners now) and two unique features: the Sun Salutation and the Sea Organ.

You should just look these up - Wikipedia I'm sure. I don't know if I have the words :)

Times they have a' changed

2009-07-30T04:07:00.000-04:00

So the Plitvice Lakes area is a popular spot - perhaps as popular as ever - though it is evident that times have changed.

We stayed at one of 3 hotels - all with a definite 1970s look. Our hotel has massive conference rooms, a night club, a banquet hall, outdoor concrete ping pong tables, tennis courts, a bowling alley and a sauna. The hotel is very well kept, but the grounds have fallen into disrepair - many a loose or missing stone on the paths. The night club, conference rooms and banquet hall are empty and the ping pong tables are in need of paint and nets. Beyond the hotels, there are large abandoned buildings throughout the grounds - one had an elaborate outer staircase and what looks like a solarium (Or maybe an "atrium"-I don't know the difference).

It certainely appears that this may have been one of the premier resorts of the Yugoslav era - people may have saved all year (or years) to come for a few days - or maybe elites and party leaders came more easily. Several factors have contributed to change the park's situation. The war in Croatia actually began with a skirmish here in 1991 (can't be good for tourism) and this area was dominated by Croat Serbs until 1995's Peace Accords. Peace brought openness and closure - not many Bosnians can afford to come here and I'm not sure many Serbs would feel comfortable. The rest of Europe has steamed in - cars from half the EU were in the parking lot and we passed a lot of tour bus loads along the paths. It seems that the park has become a stop on the bus route or a day trip in from the coast. The park stays just as busy but the hotels are a shadow of their former selves.

more photos on Flickr

2009-07-29T12:22:00.000-04:00

Click the Flickr link for more photos

Photos from Plitvice Lakes

2009-07-29T05:12:00.005-04:00

Plitvices Lakes National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site (read more HERE).

It is amazing.... here are just a few pics

Plitvice Lakes National Park

2009-07-29T04:15:00.000-04:00

Everything we've read and everyone we asked put Plitvice as the top priority in Croatia. Accessible only on the slow bus routes that connect the capital with the 2 largest cities on the coast, it is a slow ride through the countryside. The 3 hotels on park grounds all look to have been built in the 1970s - and the room looks that way too.

None of this matters - the Park more than lives up to billing: water flowing from top to bottom, with boardwalks going around, over and on top of water falls.

Photos to come

to the Balkans we go?

2009-07-28T04:15:00.000-04:00

The term "Balkans" has to me indicated the territories that comprised the Former Yugoslavia. In reading up
to prepare for this trip, I have found otherwise. It seems that no one ever called Slovenia "Balkan" - they have a Germanic society but their Slavic language and small size led them to throw their lot in with the Yugos.
Croatia considers it's deep Catholicism as the reason it is not really "Balkan" (or even "Western Balkan" as the Slovene press refers to them).
So I didn't really enter the Balkans last week after a 10 minute tunnel left Austria and the Croatian policeman who just stamped my passport would tell me that I have to head further south and or east.
maybe the next trip ...... :)

Getting no flies, just honey

2009-07-27T11:58:00.000-04:00

Honey is a major gift shop item here in Slovenia. The product range looks remarkably similar to the maple syrup gifts you can buy in Vermont, Quebec and other places - bottles of various sizes, honey of various colors, with or without honeycomb, litle candies, dipping spoons and more. As a kid, we used a lot of honey and I like the stuff, but I'm not even tempted to lug a glass jar of sticky agricultural product in my bag or through 3 sets of customs in the next two weeks.
I presume that all this honey production just might relate to all of the buzzing around here. At home, I never see bees - never. I don't look for them, but they never are just buzzing around when I'm sitting outside. Bees are the dominant insect here - not to the point of annoyance (Lisa would disagree) but they are always around. They like to check out your beer, the dressing on your salad or, as we witnessed at the farmers market today, sliced melons wrapped in plastic - must be like bee torture. We walked by the farmers market after closing and there was a mini swarm on the melon stall's trash heap.
That's the buzz here in Ljubljana (ha ha) - we go to Zagreb tomorrow.

I feel sLOVEnia

2009-07-26T06:31:00.000-04:00

We are here in Ljubljana. While it has only been an official capital a relatively short time, "it has been preparing for centuries" - according to one of many brochures put out by the hard working tourist bureau. We would agree - this is a wonderful place to spend time. There is a tourism push - I think the bureau underwrites some cheap tours and bike rentals. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004, the Euro monetary union in 2007 and was the first former communist state to serve as EU president. They rank on the low end in a lot of EU categories but have a high overall standard of living (there is some tough competition there). The culture and architecture feels like a blend of Italy and Austria (shocker) but there is a dash of Communist bloc architecture mixed in - especially once you leave the Old Town. Any amount of Slovene you can speak seems to please folks - I've added "very much" to my "thank you" - need to learn "check please" (the checks are always a pleasant surprise after Austria and Germany).

"Bled Days" - opening night

2009-07-25T05:39:00.000-04:00

We only are in town for the first night of the festival - so we wanted to make the most of it. All through the day, temporary vendor tents and beer gardens were developing. As we came down the castle hill, the streets were filling up. After a short break back at the hotel, we joined the fray ("fray" implies disorder or chaos - there was none).

For dinner, we chose a mixed grill plate (I think "fijakanar", but I could be missing or adding letters). It is hard to be certain as to what we ate - little sausages, hambuger pounded flat, pork and I think veal. The same marinade was on all the meats so there was a blending of flavors. The primary side was boiled then slightly grilled potatoes. There was a generous slice of fresh bell pepper and fresh chopped onion, sour cream for the potato, mustard and a mild chili sauce for the meat. The bell pepper continued a color trend I'd noticed here - basically that there are a lot of available colors. I have seen green, yellow, red and orange at home. This was a lime green/ yellow (okay, maybe it just hadn't ripened). Yesterday I had one that was deep purple. The grilled meats were fantastic (when are they not?) and the garnishes complimented them well.

The big treat at dinner was the company. As we were seeking a spot, an older couple gestured to open seats next to them. They were sharing the same plate we'd chosen. As we both finished up, they offered wrapped toothpicks and said something in Slovene, pointing at our empty plate. Seeing what must have been a blank look from both of us, the man said something that I was able to glean some German words from so we were able to chat a bit. They seemed surprised that we were American - at least that's how we interpreted the awkward pause. If I understood him, they'd visited the US and South America extensively, as well as Iceland, Greenland, Siberia and the North Pole (this is where I really think I may have misunderstood). They have 9 grandchildren - but I'm not sure if that comes from their 2 daughters, their 3 kids or their 5 children - and the man is 73 years old -" I think. It was a nice little visit.

We eventually retired to our hotel balcony for the laser (pronounced with a short 'a' by the PA) and fireworks show. The lasers were projected onto the stone below the castle - it was a cute 10 minute show whose theme seemed to be "Slovenia welcomes Europe to Bled". The fireworks followed - again a nicely short show. There was a neat vertical phenoma going on for us - we were probably 100 feet above the lake (hillside plus building) so the fireworks were almost at eye level for us - like being in the middle of the show. Mother Nature complimented both displays with a cool lightning storm backlighting the castle (a rainy night may have sent revelers home early).

Jezero Bled (Lake Bled)

2009-07-24T16:59:00.000-04:00

We had a jam packed day of fun today - rowing out to the Island and touring the church - there has been a site of worship there for at least 1200 years - but possibly more. We took a dip in the lake too - cold at first for a couple of Floridians, but one adjusts quickly. On the way back to shore, Lisa wanted to try out her rowing skills. How many summers in Michigan, with all of those lakes and I have to teach her to row?! In Slovenia! Did she just swim everywhere? (She picked it up pretty quickly)

We had a great pizza for lunch. Slovenia has historically had a lot of Italian influence and even has an Italian speaking minority near Trieste and a large Italian tourist influence so Italian cuisine is omnipresent.

In the late afternoon, we stormed the Castle Bled (and had fun). According to our book, there are 3 paths to take to the castle. The book describes them in the sort of general detail that makes one say "I'm sure we'll figure it out - there are probably a bunch of signs". There is one sign, with a vaguely upward pointing arrow that says "Grad 1" - it's on a rock 500 feet above the town, the up arrow is only helpful if placed near a stairwell. We found our way to the 3rd path - having dismissed what we later learned was the second as merely someone's driveway (it is both). If we'd missed 6 paths, the view at the top would have still been worth it.

The Castle is not content with just the view - there is a museum, a restaurant, a print shop (?) and a bar (of course). The museum is small, but chronicles the history of the area with artifacts from each age - spear points, arrow heads and Roman coins. There is a cool mix of old and new style exhibits - short videos on flat screens in the same room as an accurate model of an Ostrogoth female. There were several replicas of people - sometimes that is wierd but I really liked it here.

We came down the hill to enjoy The first night of the "Bled Days" festival.

View of Grad Bled

2009-07-24T07:40:00.004-04:00

This is the castle (grad) from our hotel balcony.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28894693@N00/3752171722/

Slovenia

2009-07-24T07:37:00.000-04:00

The natural landscape here is indistinguishable from Austria - beautiful alpine scenery. The human landscape is fairly similar, but with the occasional big communist bloc apartment building, as we saw in Jesenice - our first stop. New construction is much more appropriate to the rising Euro star that is Slovenia. After an hour (at a pub) in Jesenice, we took a short train to our destination of Bled.

Bled names the town, the lake, the island in the lake, and the medieval castle. The train station deposits you on a hillside high above the east side of the lake. The town is on the opposite corner. About 1 minute into our walk (2 km) to town, we knew that 1 day would not be enough here - it is absolutely beautiful.

We managed a hotel room overlooking the lake (thank you economic slowdown) and will have a great view of Friday night's fireworks display. Our second night corresponds to "Bled Days" - the local festival (dumb luck)

So I'm enjoying a view of the castle light up at night and a Slovene band playing traditional music in a courtyard below. Pretty nice.

OBB wishes you "Gute Reise"

2009-07-23T17:25:00.000-04:00

I think it is unfair to any nation you visit before or after Austria - compared to the wealth, order and cleanliness there, nothing can match. When we changed from a German train to an Austrian - we noticed. Today we switched from an Austrian to a Slovene train - we noticed. Nothing wrong with the Slovene train - it is what I was expecting from my past experience in 2nd class train tickets - just not the same as the OBB (Osterreiches Bahn Bsomething- the Austrian train authority)

schones Klagenfurt

2009-07-23T06:18:00.000-04:00

We arrived Wednesday in the Southern Austrian city of Klagenfurt. Klagenfurt is the city closest to the Wortersee - Austria's largest lake and a summer sports playground.

Klagenfurt is a beautiful place - like all the postcards I've ever seen of Austria (except for the temperature - it was hot). A nice bonus of leaving the beaten tourist path is that people are willing to let me speak my broken German - big city folk switch immediately to English.

re volt(age)ing part 2

2009-07-23T03:42:00.000-04:00

The mighty iPhone went 72 full hours without charge

re-volt(age)ing

2009-07-21T17:29:00.000-04:00

If I can't get my (previously) trusty adapter to work, there will not be many more posts.... This iPhone is runnin out of juice. For the nerdy techy types reading this, it has been over 42 hours since the last charge.

Anglischer Garten

2009-07-21T14:58:00.000-04:00

Munich boasts a municipal park that dwarfs Central Park (a meaningless claim to me - I've never been there - but the tour guide acted like I should care)

It is a beautiful place with bikers, walkers, joggers and dogs off leashes sharing nicely. I think these would have made it my favorite part of Munich by themselves, of course......

There are 2 large beer gardens too. I guess that at one time, beer gardens had only beer but have now added food - roast chicken, pork knuckle (fantastic) and bratwurst. I doubt anyone complained, as beer still flows plentifully.

Our tour included a dinner stop at the Chinese tower garden. I had the pork knuckle because (a) pork is delicious and (b) I know somebody ate one on a travel show (just hope I was copying Bourdain, not Rick Steves). Our guide recommended the beauty of another establishment, so we went back the next night. I ordered the more stereotypical bratwurst, accompanied by an amount of sauerkraut I would previosly described as "the whole jar". It was not too much when you are drinking a liter of beer.

When the very kind lady

Dachau

2009-07-21T14:42:00.000-04:00

We took the commuter train out to Dachau today. "Dachau" once referred to a small village outside of Munich and indeed there is still quite a population there.
Shortly after taking power in 1933, the NSDAP (the Nazis) established their first concentration camp in Dachau - initially for political opponents (Social Democrats and Communists) but later to be reorganized and enlarged in 1938 to hold every group deemed "asocial". Eventually, members of the French Resistance and even Soviet POWs were kept here.

It is hard to enumerate all of the things that amazed me about this place - of course the horrors of Naziism that you know you will see - while most did not "surprise" me after years of Holocaust history, they are nonetheless always shocking to see or read again. 2 things did strike me
1. The heat - I've often read about or envisioned concentration camp prisoners enduring Northern European winters with a thin layer of clothing, nothing in their bellies and maybe no shoes. I'd never pondered summertime, but on an otherwise beautful day, the camp had heat lines rising from the ground. That is in spite of the beautful shade tree that have been planted in the past 60 years (aerial photos of 1945 didn't show them). I had never imagined this hardship too for the prisoners.
2. Life in town goes on - while that fact is painfully and awkwardly true of the townsfolk marched at gunpoint to the camp by the US Army in 1945, it is much more matter of fact today. There is a busy road that goes by the outer fence and homes whose second floor looks onto the camp yard. (We noticed this same phenomena in Cambodia - perhaps it is something innately human) The camp received enough coverage in 1930s German press (heavily misrepresented as "corrective") that it's name had a sort of boogyman connotation to regular Germans. Today the residents pack onto the same bus as the tourists streaming to the camp - 2 different lines head to that part of town and go beyond the camp's stop. Dachau the town seems to exist in symmetry with it's history without forgetting it.

Note - In a move that was not intentional but would surely make the Nazis cringe, we had a Turkish durum snack at a stand near the train station. There were only Germans eating there and the meat used was pork - very German, not very Turkish (Muslims not eating pork and all). Even without the warm and fuzzy "all getting along" sentiment, it was delicious.

Ich liebe Deutschland

2009-07-20T04:20:00.000-04:00

We finally got our bags, figured out a transit pass, took the subway to the bus - found the right one in spite of ourselves (stopped somewhere in there for a pretzel).

Our short bus ride took us through Beethoven square and down Goethestrasse - yes we are in Germany.

Got into our room at 10:00 AM (thank you cleaning lady) and found not only the expected complimentary bottles of water, but, YES, complimentary beer as well.
Yes, we are in Germany

Efficiency

2009-07-20T01:36:00.000-04:00

If there were only one guy unloading the (not even full) plane, and if he were a 90 year old arthritic man, this baggage claim would be faster. Like 2 bags a minute come out - we've been here 20 minutes.

Runnin' on Empty ??

2009-07-20T01:35:00.000-04:00

Our flight from Atlanta to Munich took off on time and 2/3 full - several people have empty rows to stretch out on. We had chosen 2 oversized seats over the wing when we booked the flight.

I guess with an empty flight, we can go really fast.... We are set to land an hour early. We got very little sleep so it could be a long day in Munich

Travel Bugs - and Bags

2009-07-19T09:36:00.004-04:00

We are packed and ready to go - awaiting our ride to the airport. Lisa and I have been on several trips together, but this one keeps bringing back memories and lessons learned on our first and longest - to Southeast Asia. Our recent trips have been of shorter duration and we got very lazy in our packing - ending up with way too much stuff.

This week we found ourselves looking at another long duration trip and realized that we needed to be more calculated. Nonetheless, I think we both have one or two extra pieces of clothing - slaves to European fashion I guess - a pressure we didn't feel in Laos :)

Automaton

2009-06-21T13:14:00.005-04:00

From my brief time in Philly, a certain level of automation has struck me. These were not, generally speaking, never before seen types of things - but it was striking how ubiquitous they were. I think I only entered one bathroom without automatic water faucets and automatic soap dispensers and many also added automatic paper towel reels. Even Independence Hall, arguably the birthplace of our nation, has automatically opening doors (not a Ben Franklin invention)

Now I was puzzled as to the origin of this automation, but I think it is part of a green movement in Philly. The new piece of technology for me was the solar trash compactor - seen here with recycle bin - on many a street corner. Here we see green technology keeping the city clean and probably saving some money.

One Year

2009-03-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

Today we celebrate our first anniversary - among the activities is a viewi g of our wedding video (thanks again Terry). We had a wonderful day and we are so happy that all of you joined us.

Lisa and Stephen

A good cause

2009-01-02T13:37:00.003-05:00

Through our new friends in Guatemala, we learned about Camino Seguro, an NGO doing great work here. The organization lost its founder in a tragic car accident 2 years ago, but the hard work continues.

Feliz Neuvo Año

2009-01-01T10:41:00.006-05:00

Lisa arranged private Spanish lessons with a local couple Ana and Dany. We have been working a few hours a day with them here in Antigua. Of course, Lisa being charming, by the end our our third day of lessons, Ana had invited us to their home to celebrate New Years.

We surveyed the local scene on the way there - Antigua is a popular Guatemalan destination for New Years and the streets were packed with celebrants. By 7:00, the street that hosted the city's festivities was filling up and we saw parts of two processions - a mix of Catholicism, traditional music and fireworks. There is a really cool wearable framework that essentially straps a whole lot of fireworks to someone's body - it doesn't seem the slightest bit like a good idea but it looked cool. The fact that we saw 2 of these go off at around 8:00 indicated the kind of party we were to see.

We made it to Dany and Ana's around 8:30 (having run into Dany on the street and followed him home) and enjoyed a snack of tamales. They were tasty, but not what i'd expected: I'm familiar with the tamale of Mexican (or American) cuisine, cooked in a corn husk. These were cooked in a plantain leaf and were a soupy mix of corn meal, tomato sauce and cheese, sopped up with a piece of bread - tasty nonetheless.

After the tamales, we visited and drank until the main meal at midnight. We had pollo con arroz (chicken with rice). They were cooked separately, the chicken roasted with chorizo, onions and wine - it was fall off the bone and fantastic. There was more wine and visting after dinner until we finally had to call it a night and head home.

While it was late for all of us, the festivities in Antigua were far from over. We drifted to sleep around 2:00 AM in spite of the myriad fireworks demonstrations still going on (they were still going on around noon the next day too).

Mayans - the people who discovered chocolate

2008-12-30T22:05:00.005-05:00

It is a sad statement about our study of pre-Columbian history that many well educated Americans (okay, me, and I presume many others who fancy ourselves well versed in history) studied the Mayans and then learned about the Aztecs and sort of thought of the Mayans as disappearing into history. Some of that is natural to the study of history - students are often unclear about when the Ancient Greeks became the Greeks who have big fat weddings...

Guatemala´s population is heavily Mayan - percentages widely vary, but most people are either a mix of Mayan and European ancestry or just straight Mayan. There are Mayan language schools here in Antigua and Spanish is the second language in many rural homes. The mais y frijoles diet here dates to Mayan times and the backstrap weaving we´ve purchased so much of is Mayan in origin too.

I have a new appreciation for the most famous contribution of Mesoamerican culture to the world - chocolate. I would hardly call myself a chocoholic, but I enjoy an M&M, the occasional Twix or a hot cocoa now and again. Since I´ve been here, i´ve gained a new appreciation for Guatemalan hot chocolate (Guatemalan has sugar, the Mayans was unsweetened). It makes the expensive hot cocoas I have at home taste like the back of a postage stamp. I´m hoping to bring some home, but am a bit concerned that the supermarkets are closing for New Year´s Eve....

If I find some, i´ll have you over for hot chocolate

El Mercado de Panajachel

2008-12-30T12:33:00.003-05:00

We passed up a chance to go to the big Sunday market in Chichicastenango and stayed closer to base to hit the Sunday market in Pana. The Chichi market is one of Guatemala´s biggest tourist attractions, but the idea of a large portion of the day taken up by bus rides was not terribly appealing. Aside from that, we had a connection to the Pana market: through Kiva, we´d lent to a group of weavers who sold in Pana. Although we wouldn´t have necessarily seen them at the market, we spent enough on Mayan textiles to safely say that we helped pay back our own loan.

After another fine evening at La Casa del Mundo, we set off early Monday for a return to Antigua.

Lago de Atitlan

2008-12-29T20:08:00.005-05:00

We arrived late on Friday night into Antigua de Guatemala - and the lovely Hotel Aurora. After breakfast, we strolled out to the market before catching a shuttle to Panajachel, the largest town on Lake Atitlan - a large volcanic lake in the Guatemalan Highlands. The ride was the typical "minibus" trip - a large Hyundai or Toyota van with every seat taken, driven faster than my comfort level on winding mountain roads - nearly identical to one we took in Thailand. Only tourists can afford minibus trips, so we shared the ride with a Bavarian, 2 Italians, a gringo of unknown origins (he didn"t go to the lake, so he may be ex-pat) and another American couple.

Aside from the aforementioned gringo, we all got off at the docks to catch a launch to one of the many lakeside towns and resorts. Lisa and I paid for a private boat (suckers) to get to La Casa del Mundo - easily one of the most beautiful places either of us has ever been, The hotel is the only game in town, so everyone has dinner there, ensuring interesting conversation and comparing of notes on travels here and elsewhere. Lisa reserved the hottub after dinner, so we sat underneath the very dark sky and saw more stars than I knew existed. The tub was made on site- a wood burning stove stuck in the middle of a small pool - smells of oak rather than chlorine - i may try to duplicate someday (probably harder than it looks).

An incredible place to spend a weekend

$$##""*¨foreign keyboard

2008-12-29T19:55:00.001-05:00

try writing an email without using an apostrophe..... i see it printed on the key but can{t make it work.... i get {{{{ instead......

Risk Management

2008-12-27T13:11:00.001-05:00

So you`ve waited on the painfully slow belt at Baggage Claim and perhaps thought to yourself: "can´t this thing go any faster?"

it can .....

but there is someone in the USA - I blame an actuarial type in Risk Management at the airport - who keeps the speed set low - in order to avoid the 15 suitcase pileups and other mishaps that we saw last night at the `Guate` airport - i´ve never seen lugguage fly off the belt before - saw 3 bags do that last night - also saw 3 pileups caused by tags getting stuck or bags being off kilter before returning to the loading area.

Best baggage claim experience ever.....

getting ahead of myself

2008-12-27T13:06:00.001-05:00

So, people often refer to their skill in a particular language with a laughed off "I know enough to get into trouble" and there is often an implication of drinking or picking up a member of the opposite sex. I have learned my lesson without getting into any real trouble (thanks to my translating wife)

Waiting in customs line at the Guatemala City airport (BTW a beautiful new place that reminded us of Bangkok´s new airport and MUCH nicer than Miami where we spent 3 hours) there was announcement that I understood enough of to presume this:

"Those who have a TACA Airlines connection to San Salvador should wait in line 1" - we were waiting in line 1 and I was expecting to get inundated with people.....

What was said:

"Those who flew in on TACA from San Salvador and other connections will find their baggage on Belt 1"

Lisa pointed out that I missed the key word "equipaje" - no real trouble would have ensued had I been left on my own, but I do understand the expression a bit more personally.

Omens from the animal kingdom

2008-08-31T19:17:00.001-04:00

As I drove into our complex with the pre game supplies yesterday, the little alligator who had taken up residence in the pond outside was sunning itself out on the bank.

After I got home and was enjoying my first beer (oddly, given the Gators opponent, from Kona Brewery) Oscar (our dog) came downstairs with the rarest of toys in his collection - the stuffed gator

Florida 56 Hawaii 10

I hope this bodes well for the whole season

My 15 Minutes

2008-08-18T20:02:00.002-04:00

Check out this article from the Herald Tribune's back to school issue. (Hopefully the link holds up)

I know a guy who was physically adjacent to a guy who may become President....

2008-08-03T21:54:00.005-04:00

Those of you in the Bay Area may have caught word of Candidate Obama's visit to St Pete last week. If you tuned out before the Q&A portion of the speech, you'd have missed the frequent Charlie Kennedy sitings.

So here's a snapshot for posterity.

Photos are up

2008-07-01T14:48:00.005-04:00

At long last, here are the 202 photos and videos we took in Iceland. I added captions to make them at least slightly explanatory.

Click Here

Yes, it is beautiful and you should visit (its not too cold)

Whale Watch Video

2008-07-01T10:30:00.003-04:00

So, we are back at home now. I managed to clip our few minutes of whale watching video to just the "money shots". The sound isn't great, but you can hear the the blow and a bit of the guide's commentary.

The body of water is the Skjálfandi, we at the north western end (you can see the Kinnarfjöll mountains in the background) at the opening to the Arctic Ocean.

The real thing is MUCH more impressive than the video.

Icelandic Cuisine

2008-06-26T23:04:00.006-04:00

After a week back in the US, I think Lisa and I are just beginning to settle back to eating "American food" - we've had a great meals in Boston, Vermont, Montreal, and now in Bar Harbor but nothing compares to Iceland. The food we ate in Iceland was FANTASTIC!

Start with amazing fish (haddock and cod), grass fed lamb and if you feel like it, order beef, because that's great too. (And from what I gather, all the livestock is organic - enough to make me buy organic meats). Beyond the great ingredients, the food was amazingly well prepared. In small, unassuming little places, we had amazing food. In Reykjavik, here is our favorite, if you make it to Akureyri, try this one. I don't think it is exaggerating too much to say that going to Iceland for the food is NOT a crazy plan.

A few things on most menus that we passed up were whale and puffin. I love to try a new meat and perhaps gain insight into another culture (water buffalo in Laos) but these two just couldn't excite me. Sorry if it disappoints , but it wasn't because I was opposed to eating smart whales or cute puffins - I tried to work up moral outrage and failed. It came back to the descriptions of the flavor - one description of whale meat as "like a steak" and another as "like liver" - what? Steak and liver taste nothing alike and I wasn't going to risk having a huge piece of internationally controversial liver in front of me. Puffin was described as "kinda gamey" and "really gamey" - not enough to convince me to give up "butter fried haddock" which I presume is what they eat in Valhalla (how's that for Norse flavor).

If we had made this trip 100, or even 60, years ago, we'd have eaten far more of the traditional Icelandic cuisine. For much of its history, Iceland was a poor nation, where nothing edible was wasted. Now, with a healthy economy, some traditional cuisine is still ubiquitous - Skyr and geysir bread (its name comes because it is cooked by steam in under ground ovens), but some less desirable options have been left behind except on a few holidays in the winter.

The photo i've attached is from a billboard advertising a cafeteria that serves traditional Icelandic plates (allegedly). The sheep head is not a reference to eating lamb, it is a reference to eating svið, preserved sheeps heads. Preserved in a gelatin of their own making, they can be "enjoyed" hot or cold. I never saw these tasty treats - and I went inside, read the dish of the day and spotted everything else offered - apparently these little treats are so unappetizing they can't put them out on display.

I also didn't see a whole lot of Hakarl - actually, I didn't see it anywhere - and I looked. This is the food mentioned in every guide book as a sort of open "double dog dare" to tourists. If you haven't clicked the link, it is usually described as "putrified shark". A shark too poisonous to eat fresh is buried in the ground for months until it is edible. The final product is said to have a strong ammonia smell and makes first timers dry heave. I survived durian, I think I would have tried it (easy to say now).

Long Delay...

2008-06-25T23:08:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long absence, but who'd have thought that my first week back in the USA would find me further from a computer.... coming soon, at long last is the final Iceland post.

National Security

2008-06-17T10:01:00.001-04:00

The President of Iceland juast rode by- no motorcade, no fuss, just a nice Lexus with a presidential flag

Dedication

2008-06-17T05:02:00.001-04:00

The Icelanders' philosophy of "work hard, play hard" is most famously manifested in their hard drinking on weekend nights. This comes in spite of some very strict laws regulating the purchase of alcohol. Anything stiffer than 2.25% beer (half strength for those of you who were wondering) has to be purchased from Vin Bud - the government liquor store.

Today is Iceland's national holiday, celebrating indepndence from the Danes in 1944. In preparation to celebrate, Lisa and I felt we should stock up on patriotic items like Viking beer and Brennavin (when in Reykjavik..). Vin Bud keeps sparse hours (11:00- 6:00) so we snuck in at 5:50 and picked up some beer. The store was packed and the line was deep but fast moving. On our way out Lisa saw a store employee bar the turnstile for some poor schmuck who will be celebrating independence with lattol.

The difficulty and expense (nearly $20 for our 6 pack of tall boys), not to mention the significant pre-planning, the Icelanders put up with in order to party like the rock stars they are makes their dedication to their craft an inspiration to partiers everywhere.

'Car Days' in Akureyri

2008-06-16T19:08:00.003-04:00

After our sojourn to the small towns of Husavik (population 2500) and Reykjahlið (pop 210), we returned to 'the capital of Iceland's North' - Akureyri on Saturday afternoon.

We got into town and began a trek to the great guesthouse we'd stayed at before. There was a much livelier vibe in the street than Wednesday had held. Soon a pickup outfitted with speakers blaring radio ad babble moved slowly through the streets, moving by us on cross streets. When they passed on our street, we could see that they were promoting N3 - a local DJ act playing as part of the Festival and giving out bottles of a soft drink called "Ri Mix" - punny name. Free is rare in Iceland, so we both took a bottle and the truck moved on in the same direction we were headed.

In the main road adjacent to the river there were the loud noises of revving engines and crowds of young revelers. Through the fencing we saw pairs of cars drag racing. We later found that this was Akureyri´s 'Car Days´. The racers were a variety of 'tricked out' street cars of all makes and models - some were more obvious money pits than others. As we passed the road and stood on the bridge that overlooked the line of pending dragsters, we saw a rag tag collection of amateurs - including a number of the style of mid size
luxury SUVs popular in the US! Alright, I can envision a few of my students borrowing Mom's car and drag racing down the Palma Sola Causeway, but standing outside one of these cars was a middle aged man in too tight jeans and a leather racing jacket, strapping on a helmet.

A quick glance through the line of a dozen pending dragsters, I could see that everyone had a helmet on - glad to know that safety comes first.

A REAL SUV

2008-06-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

There are a lot of SUVs here in Iceland - with good reason and real 'utility' (most have caked-on mud). These two fall into the broad category called "Super Jeep" - built for off road trips that may require fording a river

Saturday night in Akureyri

2008-06-15T19:02:00.000-04:00

We were excited to see part of the 4 day Akureyri International Music Festival (sorry to say, no Sigur Ros or Björk on the bill) and enjoy a peak at the weekend runtur (Iceland´s world famous pub crawl), even the calmer Saturday version (Friday night brings out the Vikings).

We checked out Australia´s own Hoodangers - told you it was an international festival - a rockabilly jazz group that had a poster up in every town we´ve visited. They were fun and it was an interesting scene - not our usual and it struck us that the band was used to a lively crowd.

On our way home from the show, just before midnight, we passed plenty of high schoolers hanging out, one pair of middle schoolers (hey, its still light out...), about 4 roaring house parties, one group of women headed out (things start late), and 2 people so drunk they may not
have known where they were (Iceland!)

While waiting for the bus at 8:30 the next morning, we saw one walker of shame in only a few minutes - and this was only the Saturday runtur!

Sheep Crossing

2008-06-15T12:15:00.001-04:00

Our bus had to stop for a herd of sheep to clear the road. I may be bias towards the far cuter and less threatening sheep, but this was somehow more charming than the water buffalos in the road in Laos.

Photos

2008-06-14T14:14:00.001-04:00

I just posted 2 photos (low quality) to the Flickr link you see on the rightside of the page. Hopefully more to come -depends on the rules of the local Internet access - the guesthouses don't seem to like grubby hippies usingup bandwidth with photo blogging.

The big hike

2008-06-13T14:09:00.000-04:00

The wonderfully nice woman at the Husavik Info Center explained how we could take the van to Kross, walk to Godafoss, then take another van to Reykjavlid. She said that there would be 10-15 minutes - which we understood to mean a 15 minute walk and 55 minutes to see Godafoss, maybe get a coffee, etc. When the van driver dropped us at Kross, he pointed us in the direction of the distant mist (Godafoss is the waterfall of the gods) and said (with a grin) that it was 5 km to Godafoss - we had our full packs and hadn't had our coffee!

We were passed by 6-8 large tour busses - folks who fly in from Reykjavik for various day tours and plenty of locals - I suppose we could have hitched a ride (the woman at the tourist office had suggested that as a totally reasonable option) but we trekked on our own. With time winding down and the van pickup in view, we ditched our heavy packs at the side of the road (theft is not much of a concern here), turned down the path to Godafoss to see the falls (totally worth the jog) and sprinted back to our bags in time to make our ride.

The extended exercise on a cool, overcast day produced the unfamiliar oddity (for us anyhow) of being hot and cold at the same time. Some of the tourist stuff calls Iceland the"land of fire and ice" but I don't think that is what they mean...

Whale Watching

2008-06-12T21:28:00.002-04:00

So whale watching is a big thing here. Whales are big, people like whales, Iceland has a lot of boats....the whole thing just sort of fits. We went out of Husavik... stopover tourists go from Reykjavik, but I think the success rate is better further north.+

Husavik has a whale museum, which we visited as a primer. All you wanted to know about whales, whaling in Iceland (more interesting than the biology stuff, in my opinion) and a ´whale walk´with a half dozen skeletons of whales. The folks at the museum are clearly ´save the whales´ types, which I feel safe in presuming the restaurants offering whale meat are not.

We got on the boat and drove out for 45 minutes (i suppose ´sail´ is the proper verb). We took a Dramamine before the trip and it was a good thing - when I saw the older French lady spewing over the side of the gunnals, I almost lost it myself - she hurled again right when we saw the whales (chumming the water...?). I focused on the horizon and thought about ice a lot - kept my composure.

After awhile, we spotted another boat and 2 humpbacks. We watched them for what seemed like a long time - pretty active creatures - and then rode home. I have what I think will be good video footage of a whale surfacing...

We then headed home, enjoying a bit of hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls. I suppose it may have been the late timing (around 6:45-7:30 for the ride home) or the pðst-whale adrenaline let-down, but this is when the cold air hit...read the other post for details.... I just want to emphasize: Arctic Ocean

Almost Arctic

2008-06-12T20:01:00.001-04:00

We took a bus ride to the far northern town of Husavik - this is the furthest north we will get on this trip. Right away we could feel a stark temperature difference from more southern portions of Iceland. We added a layer of clothing and the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

At 17:00, we boarded our whalewatching tour with Northern Sailing, having chosen them over seemingly in descernible competition - same price, same time departure, same snack of hot chocolate and cinnamon roll. We saw whales (see another posting) but at this moment I'd like to talk temperature.

It was cold. Very cold. The wind was coming off the Arctic Ocean! Not in the figurative way that the weatherman talks about "Arctic winds" - we could actually SEE the Arctic Ocean!! While pondering that for a moment, I realized that there was no land between us and the North Pole - struck me as an odd thought - I briefly thought of asking whether the company had an "iceberg tour" aside from the whale tours and puffin tours...did not inquire.

I was wearing the warmest set of clothing this Florida boy owns - a short sleeved undershirt, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, a lined light jacket - topped with a ski hat and gloves, long but light pants, shoes and socks. (don't laugh you Northerners - jealousy is unbecoming) I have no concerns that these clothes will get me comfortably through the rest of the week in Iceland where it stays in the 50s most of the time, but it was a bit light for the Arctic. Lisa borrowed a suit from the company but was still cold.

Off to a well earned and geothermally heated shower...

Iceland - first impressions

2008-06-11T18:05:00.001-04:00

No Surprises - stark landscapes on the Rejkjanes peninsula - no trees, lichen covered rocks with distant area vents and even a volcano (i recognized it from the 6th grade class project)

Here in Akureyri, we can see snow capped mountains, glacial river, and bright green grass.

Weather is great. It was overcast when we arrived but the sun is out now and the temperature is making me wonder if I overpacked....

Keflavik

2008-06-11T18:04:00.001-04:00

What would it be like if everyone liked the clean modern lines of
Scandinavian furniture? It might look like the Lieffur Eriksson
terminal at Keflavik International Airport.

A lot of folks visit Iceland as part of a stopover in Atlantic
crossing. Brilliant marketing by Icelandair doesn't charge a fee for
stopover and emphasizes the short flights - 2 flights around 4 hours
instead of one 7 hour flight.

The Customs official's first question to everyone was "where are you
going?". He showed no glint of cheer when we said we'd be staying in
Iceland. He did ask if it was our first trip and was definitely happy
about our response. When he was looking for a place to stamp he noted
our Cambodia visas and pointed out "This is not Cambodia" with a laugh
and "enjoy your stay"

On the way (almost)

2008-06-10T20:56:00.002-04:00

We made to Logan in no time - thanks to the Kelleys. The check-in and security took no time. Now we are waiting to board and playing a new game: "Icelandic or not Icelandic". It is self explanatory to those who have played "Dressed or Not Dressed" at Halloween, but borders a bit closer to politically uncomforttable racial profiling.

Pre boarding just started
Gott kvold

At Long Last

2008-06-04T05:38:00.002-04:00

Since we are headed out on our summer trip and thought that we might need to show some pictures of our wedding to Icelanders - and because I finally fixed my PC - I finally posted some wedding pictures to the web.

Point here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MurrayFactor

Enjoy

Travel blog next week......

Countin' Down

2008-03-24T23:06:00.003-04:00

So, there hasn't been a new entry for quite some time and I'm much
too swamped with the end of the grading period, and the last 5 days
before the wedding....

Suffice to say, I'm excited!!!!

See you all soon

Bachelor Par-tay

2008-03-24T23:06:00.001-04:00

You guys are the best group of friends one could ask for

Thanks Boe for being the ringleader and thanks everyone else for
making it a great and mostly memorable night (i'm sure you all
remember it better than I)

For those who missed it, I can't really say that "What happens at the
'Roo, stays at the 'Roo" since we all know that is false and it would
only cover the first third of the day anyhow....

How about "alls well that ends at the Waffle House..."

Some Assembly Required

2008-01-21T23:44:00.001-05:00

So the invitations went out, as some of you have already found out. Lisa and I spent 3 nights engaged in just the post-addressing phase, so it was certainly a laborious task that has prompted some reflection.

Since we chose an invitation with an odd sized envelope, we found out that we'd have to pay a "little extra" for postage. Our trusted public servants at our local Postal Service told us that we'd need 97 cents in postage and so Lisa spent a lot of money on stamps. When she was at the Post Office to drop off our completed work, another employee said that we'd only needed 75 cents. I've never been one to knock the US Postal Service, but honestly, your rates so difficult to understand that your own employees don't know what postage we need ??

I will add a complement to the Postal Service marketing genius who created the self-adhesive stamp - a clear improvement to the old glue backed ones. Another innovation that surely came about after May 16, 1996 (original air date of Seinfeld's

"The Invitations" episode) but was new to me was the envelope "licker" that we purchased from Staples. No concern of glue toxicity for us.

Finally, for the adult years that i've received my own wedding invitations, I have come to loathe the inner envelope. Mostly on environmental grounds - trees are dying for these useless envelopes - but also on the understanding that people probably have to spend money on them. I am moderately curious as to how this tradition started - probably some sort of one-upmanship in a small town or 2 weddings competing for guests. I decided at some point (I think it was my sister's invitation back in 2005 - no offense Anne) that I would be the person to change that wasteful tradition. I was not. I blame a system stacked against me - the inner envelopes were just included in our invites, so we already had them and they frankly have practical use with their lack of glued flap - plus, I didn't want any of you to think we were being chinsey (wedding frenzy got to me)

Time melts away

2008-01-14T01:07:00.001-05:00

So it was another very busy, but of course productive wedding weekend.

Saturday began with Mom, Lisa and I hitting the road to Fort Myers and help from Lynne. The primary goal of the day was a rehearsal dinner location. We scouted several places and ended up with one that should accommodate. Along the way we met with our photographer for the first time and went to see the reception site all done up for another wedding. Mom got her first look at the site all together. After all that was through we did some hotel wheeling and dealing (more info soon).

Today, Lisa and Mom addressed all the invitations while I wrangled with address lists and web sites.

Wedding Frenzy !!!

2008-01-05T22:46:00.001-05:00

Wow. Busy Day.

Took care of hair and makeup (for Lisa, not me), our cake (I love cake) and met with Father Bob. I learned that you have to bring your own cake cutting device to a wedding - since obviously they don't have that kind of thing in a banquet hall.

Lisa and I walked through 10 hotel rooms today but since every hotel sales person in town takes weekends off, we couldn't arrange a deal yet (we have choice 1, 2 and 3)

I think we're taking tomorrow off

Wedding weekend #3

2008-01-04T22:58:00.001-05:00

Lisa and I are kicking off our third weekend of serious wedding planning and have returned to Fort Myers.

Tonight was the tasting at the country club hosting our reception. We loved it! The traditional entrees were well done and there is a subtle creativity to the side dishes. I know that most wedding meals tend to blur together, and I'm sure this will not be an enormous exception for most folks, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it in the moment.

Early rising tomorrow for a slew of appointments and tasks.

We are so 2008 in 2007

2007-12-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

According to the NY Times, the top place to travel in 2008 is.......

drum roll please......

Laos

Photo Album

2007-07-09T12:05:00.000-04:00

So, here are all the photos we took on the trip (minus a few thumbs and floors). We took some time to caption them, so they make some sense. If you want to settle in for about 20 minutes, there is a "Slideshow" button. Otherwise, you can just click on specific thumbnails to see the ones that look interesting.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MurrayFactor/SEAsia2007

We love to hear comments....

Flight Attendants

2007-06-29T17:01:00.001-04:00

In movies, flight attendants of the early boom of flying were always attractive young women in a very specific style of uniform. With the more casual standards of dress in American business and changing attitudes towards women and perhaps even to the job of flight attendant (shown perhaps by the fact that I haven't once used the word "stewardess"), that stereotype is no longer true.

Walking through an American air terminal, you may recognize a flight attendant by the determined walk, wheeled black weekend bag, generic navy uniform or plethora of official looking IDs. So it was like a fun exercise in yesteryear for us to walk through Seoul-Incheon International where Asian carriers dominate and there were groups of identically, impeccably clad stewardesses (yes, they were all young, pretty and female) in the colors of their airline.

Lisa and I discussed the difference and decided that different attitudes towards men and women and the workplace between the East and the West were probably at the root of the difference and while it probably strikes a blow for feminism, we both liked the friendlier service of the Asian carriers...

The Longest Day

2007-06-28T23:32:00.001-04:00

Flying across the International Date Line allows you
to have a 36 hour Thursday. To make our particular
trip surreally longer, our departure from
Bangkok was at 1:30 AM so we had a full day of
Thailand fun, then a full day of intercontinental
travel.

We were blessed again with a good seating arrangement
on the BIG flight - one of the rows of 2 in the rear
curve of the plane - same size seat, but no neighbor,
nobody behind us (guilt free recline) and a tad more
space.

All good fortune must come to an end. For us, that end
is JFK Airport. After 24 days of the Asian Buddist
"have a cool heart" style, we are jolted back to
reality by New Yorkers and the angst-ridden goings on
at our departure gate. Oh, don't forget the wallet shock at
lunch (airport Chili's) - no booze and still cost more
than our priciest hotels in Asia. Tack on the 3:30 flight that
hadn't left yet at 5:30..... all together 34 hours
from doorstep to doorstep

We're back.

Thailand

2007-06-28T23:18:00.000-04:00

Just a few day before we left on this trip, I was at Fav's for lunch with Mom, Grandma and Aunt Madelon (note to Charlie - Ken S was our waiter, he says "hey Mr Kennedy"). It was my last chance to ask Madelon for Thailand tips and advice. (For those outside the Murray clan, Madelon served in Thailand in the Peace Corps.)

After the term "3rd world" came up, Madelon disputed that Thailand was not a 3rd world country now and wasn't when she was there. I found this a surprising statement and figured that Madelon was just trying to make the point that we would be comfortable and safe in our trip. I'd taken enough poli sci classes to know that my professors thought of Thailand as "3rd world". The closest I'd ever come to 3rd world was a trip to the Bahamas and I don't think that really counts.

Lisa and I had an itinerary that allowed us to see Thailand in stark contrast to its much poorer neighbors. After 4 or 5 days in Thailand, we spent 2 weeks in Laos and Cambodia before returning to Bangkok. In our first foray, we noticed news stories that hinted at Thailand's comfort: problems with illegally trafficked workers from Burma and Cambodia as well as the emphasis on green, eco friendly choices. An economy whose business sector wants low wage workers more than it fears legal repurcussions is a booming economy.
Upon our return to Thailand after the Mekong Valley sojurn, we noticed other, smaller signs: Thais dining in Western restaurants, grand public transit and infrastructure, exhorbitant rents and teenagers with braces.

I presume that the old academic notions of "1st world" and "3rd world" are breaking down, so I'm sure that the poli sci classes of today would have a new designation for nations in Thailand's sector.

As for these two travelers, our eyes have certainly been opened in new ways.

size Matters

2007-06-26T12:31:00.001-04:00

So for years, I've dismissed the notion that Asians
are smaller than Westerners as myth rolled up with
cultural stereotypes. I read something once about
Japanese being shorter on average than Americans, but
thought maybe it was just Japan. I mean, there are
like 4 Chinese guys in the NBA and none of them are
point guards...

I'm ready to reassess. The reason I'm hitting my head
every other day may have something to do with the low
ceilings and door frames.

Shopping for tee shirts in Lao, I had to go with
Double X-L - and pay extra for what I presume to be
the Lao body language sign for "needs more material".
They said "big" several times.

The kicker came the other day at the mall. Lisa
dragged me onto a scale. (NOTE: we are both down
several pounds). A curious teenager peaked over the
top of the scale as I got on. When he saw the meter
hover around 90 kg, he swayed backwards, his jaw
dropped and he let out a shocked "oh" that could have
been a "whoa", though I'm sure his command of American
slang was not very strong at that exact moment.

To paraphrase Ron Burgundy "I'm kind of a big deal
around here" ;)

The Mall

2007-06-25T12:20:00.000-04:00

During a blazingly hot day in Phnom Penh, we happened upon the Sorya Market. Contrary to the dozen or so other markets we've seen in Asia, this was not an open air, bargain for a price, 15 stalls that sell the same merchandise. Sorya is Cambodia's (only?) American style mall.

Call it a cop-out, but we enjoyed all 5 floors of air-conditioned glory. I bought a pair of Ray-Bans for $5 (surely, they are genuine) and I had some fried noodles at the food court. The oddest moment came when Lisa took a picture of me at the food court. A security guard appeared, as if from nowhere, and declared "no camera".

Presumably, he thought we were industrial spies, taking the concept of indoor shopping back to America to make millions

Phnom Penh

2007-06-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

As the days go on here, we've been talking to each other about how ODD a place this really is; So full of contradictions. most relate to the combination of poverty and luxury or the attitude so close to a nonchalance regarding their history of the last 35 years.

As unsettling as those things can be at times, we both really liked it here.....

Stuff I didn't eat today

2007-06-20T09:43:00.000-04:00

Our bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh had a 20 minute stopover somewhere (didn't catch the name). It was a rest stop Cambodian style. We bought some potato chips and cookies in packages.

I passed up freshly cooked

frog
cricket (or grasshopper, Í can't really tell the difference)
tarantula

I swear the frogs had the same smell as Cajun crawfish....must have used cayenne.

(Gordon, if you are wondering, Lisa didn't eat any of these choices either, so you haven't lost your lead...)

Kids

2007-06-20T09:29:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, Cambodia has a very young population. As a poor nation with little infrastructure, people suffer in ways that we just aren't familiar with - killing fields we read about, but the fact that people go deaf or blind due to childhood illnesses! It seems like that went out a century ago in the US.....

Lisa and I visited a school for blind and deaf in Siem Reap yesterday. It is run by Krousar Themey. Some of the kids are sent there by family, many were abandoned. They specialize in preserving Cambodian culture, so there are training programs for Khmer massage and there is an educational exhibit on the importance of Cambodia's water system, especially their great lake, the Tonle Sap.

Today we got to Phnom Penh. We had a late lunch/early dinner at the highly recommended Friends restaurant run by the Mith Samlanh charity (Khmer for "friends"). Street kids are taught skills for the hospitality industry, with some moving to Phnom Penh's (and presumably Siem Reap's) very high end hotels (while we are spending $25 a night for AC, hot water and a frig, we could have spent up to $3000 for presumably much more). The food was served Tapas style - small servings - so we tried a few things. Gourmet menu very well done. Because of the guarantees on the menu and the reputation of the place, I even ate the fresh fruit (tasted so amazing after 2 weeks staying away from most of it).

Dust

2007-06-18T10:12:00.001-04:00

I don't understand why Cambodia is so dusty and dry -
they grow rice in wet paddies and tropical fruit like
bananas and papayas grow everywhere and yet i'm
covered in clay dust.

Oh, we spent the day at Angkor.....back for sunrise tomorrow

Age Factor

2007-06-17T02:56:00.001-04:00

40% of Cambodia's population is under 15 and many of
those who are older don't look much older.

I think Lisa and I are almost the oldest people in
Siem Reap.....

Laos to Cambodia

2007-06-17T02:54:00.001-04:00

We had to tear ourselves away from Luang Prabang
eventually, so we booked a multi part ticket with
Bangkok Airways (working hard to be "Asia's boutique
airline"). To call the LPB airport small is an
understatement of sorts. We left from International
Gate 1, though they didn't really need to number it -
there was only the one gate! There was no monitor
with listing of arrivals and departures and what was
on-time; you knew that your plane wasn't leaving soon
- it hadn't arrived yet. We saw the airport 2
different times from high views around the city and
never saw a plane or a hanger. Planes fly in or out
on non-stops then go right back.

I used the very clean restroom at the airport where I
saw the first urinal in Laos. With so few, I guess
the price on urinal cakes is high - the airport
authority opted for mothballs, which makes for quite
an interesting scent.

We took off on time, and the flight was pretty smooth.
After a very short transfer in Bangkok, we took a
short flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Siem Reap is the provincial town closest to Angkor Wat
and so has become quite the tourist town. Driving in
from the airport was akin to riding down the strip in
Vegas - giant lux hotels on both sides. It was
completely unlike the strip in Vegas in that the Khmer
don't seem quite as into neon.....

Laotians, Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

2007-06-15T10:27:00.001-04:00

Cheesy title, yes, but just read on.

We finally made it to the Kuang Si waterfall today.
When we got there, we found the Bear Rescue project,
working to save Southeast Asia's black bears. There
were about 9 or 10 bears, mostly very young (1-4
years). One or all of them were making odd chirping
noises and were just generally being bearish.

Next door to the bear enclosure was Phet, a lone
Indonesian tiger. She was very small compared to the
larger ones at Busch Gardens (Bengal or Siberian) but
she very conveniently placed herself right at the
front of her enclosure so we could take a picture of
her.

After that, we visited the waterfall, hiked to the top
and swam for a while in what has to be the coolest
water in Southeast Asia.

Helping out

2007-06-15T09:45:00.000-04:00

So the other day, we learned of a project here in Luang Prabang called Big Brother Mouse. Started by a few young locals, the aim is to provide books for kids here in Laos. For several reasons - poverty and small size - there are incredibly few books here and many of those are not even in Lao. The group has a storefront where you can buy books and a classroom where they have "English practice".

A portion of the profits from the bookstore goes to giving books away in the countryside, with the hopes of hooking readers early (sounds familiar). We went by the classroom today to donate an hour teaching a few novices ("novice" referring to their status as monks, not yet to their English). Lisa worked with an older, slightly more advanced boy - a task made difficult since he is not allowed to have contact with a female. I worked on reading "pen", "pencil", "table" and "chair" and a few other classroom vocab words with 2 younger boys.

After our "work", I chatted with one of the young men who runs the classroom part time. His name is Linthot, he has finished college and plans to attend university to become an English teacher. He comes from a farming village and we had a great chat about farming life in Laos.

ici à Luang Prabang

2007-06-13T08:13:00.001-04:00

C'est très jolie dans cette ville. C'était une
capitale coloniale et les rues dans le viel quartier
sont vraiment français. C'est aussi possible de parler
français avec les Laotiens et aussi avec les autres
gens de l'Ouest (aujord'hui, c'était des touristes
francais, hier, c'était un homme qui m'a donné
directions)

(ma mere et ma soeur doivent écrit une note après
cette exercise de langue)

People Everywhere

2007-06-13T07:58:00.001-04:00

One of the themes i've used in world history classes
for years is that people are the same, everywhere and
anytime. Every once in awhile, I am reminded of the
truth of this idea.

Completely unsurprising has been the prevalence of
mobile phone usage. I know that mobiles have long
since passed land lines for price and flexibility in
developing countries. In spite of my expectations, it
does startle me a bit to see a traditionally dressed
Hmong on the side of a rural highway chatting away on
a Nokia or the monks at the Wat we visited today with
a more up-to-date phone than me...

Riding through less affluent areas, I've noticed a
phenomena identical to one i'd noticed in rural SE
Georgia 13 years ago: satellite tv dishes outside of
homes that barely seem like they keep out the rain.

I guess everyone wants to be connected to the rest of
the world.

Trekking in Thailand

2007-06-09T07:51:00.001-04:00

There are a few photos on the Flickr stream of our
trek today. We went through 2 hill tribe villages and
ended at a beautiful waterfall. It was a great day
(overcast so not too hot) and we had a great time. We
walked through rice fields, banana groves and bamboo
forests.

A truly amazing day.

Our guide, Cha, was a member of the Karen tribe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_people

We walked through a village of the Lisu tribe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisu_people

Lunch was in a Lahu village, with "Lahu noodle soup" -
Lisa is going to look for the Campbell's version when
we get back to the States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahu_people

Pai

2007-06-09T07:26:00.001-04:00

Lonely Planet said that "the hippy spirit is alive and well in Pai". Lonely Planet was right!

Pai is a small town (3000) in the north-west of Thailand. The trekking and hill tribes that are a
popular trip from Chiang Mai are close here. Chinese Muslims from Yunnan are here too.

At some point, Pai became the spot for bohemian Westerners to drop out for awhile. In certain parts of town, it seems the fareng outnumber the Thai...

We had lunch at the appropriately named Drop In Cafe where we had the best Thai food we've had yet, but we could go back tomorrow and have bangers&mash or a croque monsieur. The proprietor was a Swede who took our orders and relayed them in Thai to the rest of the staff. He drank beer and smoked cigarettes while they did the busy work. Seems to be a workable business model.

Chiang Mai

2007-06-09T07:20:00.001-04:00

I guess we don't need to go to Bangkok - everyone in
Chiang Mai told us that Chiang Mai is much better -
including the guy vacationing from Bangkok. According
to the folks around town it is more relaxed (we were
relaxed), less crowded (1.5 million people versus 8
million), less polluted (believable).

I think we are still going to spend a few day in
Bangkok, but CM was very nice. Chiang Mai was the
capitol of the pre-Siam kingdom of Lanna and so has a
large walled and moated area. Further more, there are
a lot of wats (temples) in town. Various "experts"
have told us 300, 1500 and 2500. I'm sure a real
figure is in our guide book, but who cares...?

The highlight is outside of town - Wat Doi Suthep.
Perched on a mountain, it was built in the 1500s
because a particularly special white elephant died
there. I'm putting some of our photos on the Flickr
stream.

Flickr photo stream

2007-06-07T03:03:00.001-04:00

Our first photos have made it to the Flickr photo
stream. Depending on your computer, there may be a
link right about here -------->
that reads "Flickr Photo Stream"

If there are no links on the right side of the page,
scroll to the bottom of this page and find them on the
right side.

River View Lodge in Chiang Mai

2007-06-07T02:53:00.001-04:00

Thanks John and Pam

This place is fantastic....riverside, pool, Thai
furnishings, wide balconies and a well kept tropical
jungle....

For all the rest, going to try to post picture

Bangkok to Chiang Mai

2007-06-07T02:50:00.001-04:00

We got into Bangkok's awesome new airport late at
night and got a cab to our hotel. The concierge was
very nice (told Lisa how beautiful she was) and our
reservation was all prepared - here is where I plug
www.directrooms.com - and our room was great - nothing
special, but clean and cheap.

The hotel had a taxi waiting to take us to the airport
when we got downstairs - about 45 minutes earlier than
we'd told them - apparently cab ride to the airport
comes with our room rate...

Spent some extra time at the airport - ate first Thai
noodle dish and went to Starbucks - scoff if you will,
but the Thai seem to think that all the fareng want to
drink instant coffee and I'll choose Starbucks any
day.

Thai Airways plane was fantastic - gorgeous multi
colored seats. I'd have laughed at the idea of a
"beautiful airplane", but seeing is believing. Flight
to Chiang Mai was uneventful.

First snafu of the trip - my ATM card doesn't want to
work, so until we sort that out, Lisa is my "sugar
momma" ;)

Hello Asia

2007-06-05T04:57:00.001-04:00

Well, we've walked around the international terminal
of the Seoul-Incheon Airport and passed up dozens of
duty free opportunities (though the Ginseng Cognac is
a big maybe for our return). I think we've recovered
a bit from the flight. We have another 2-3 hours here
- likely will get a beer and perhaps some food.

We just missed the mirror event for the Delta - Korea,
Sparkling event that was in the Atlanta airport. Don't
know if they were serving Coke and peach cobbler at
this one...

I've never been in such a new airport before and only
on Christmas morning at 5:00 AM have I been in a more
deserted airport. It is strangely eery...

That's a flight

2007-06-05T04:56:00.001-04:00

Wow, that is a long flight!!

At the point where I started to feel like it was
almost over, it was less than half done.

At the point when Lisa described me as "a little
loopy", there were 4 more hours.

We were given 3 meals

While flying over the North Pole there is so much
sunlight that the windows were hot to the touch.
(Roger, any unclassified stories about this
phenomena??).

Did get to see some of the Arctic Ocean through the
clouds and many, many frozen Siberian lakes.

After all that, there were still 2 hours left.

Numb

Korea, Sparkling

2007-06-05T04:11:00.000-04:00

So, we had some how figured out that our flight was
the first Atlanta-Seoul non-stop that was branded as a
Delta flight. Had we flown yesterday, it would have
been on a Korean Air jet. I guess when you link
Olympic cities (or as one of the big-wig speakers
pointed out: major economic partners) ou have to throw
a party. Free food, gift bags for every passenger,
Korean dancers, Korean drummers (remarkably similar to
the MHS Drum Line at a pep rally), Delta, Korea
Tourism and Georgia Economic Development dignitaries,
and here are Lisa and I, not even leaving the
Seoul-Incheon airport. The man who interviewed Lisa
for KTN TV was obviously disappointed that we were not
seasoned travellers to Seoul whose lives were to
improve due to this new service. The cameraman was
pleased when I later told him that we were headed to
Bangkok and the look on his face makes me think he may
have enjoyed the "nudge-nudge, wink-wink" sites in
Bangkok.

"Korea, Sparkling" is the newly branded motto of the
Korea Tourism Organisation (www.tour2korea.com). The
intent is to imply "revitalizing energy and freshness"
along with "vital refreshment". The Korean Minister
of Culture and Tourism emphasized that Korea, Koreans
and their culture offer an experience unique from
their Asian neighbors, China and Japan. I think he
started to say something about unification, but
changed direction midstream - all of hte sudden his
English went from stronly accented but grammatically
correct to heavily accented and very broken. Maybe i'm
reading too much into his comment, but I like to think
abou the possible international intrigue.

Good fortune continues here on the flight; the only
empty seat on a 15 hour flight is next to us. Lisa
moved over and now there is a spare seat between us -
how lucky can you get?

Holidays are fun

2007-05-21T11:57:00.001-04:00

So Sunday was the long-planned visit to the Wat Mongkolratanaram in
Tampa. There is a weekly market with authentic Thai food. We got
there to find an enormous crowd. Turns out it was a big celebration
for Demarcation of the temple. From what I could gather, this is a
one-time event for every Buddhist temple where the members and guests
leave gifts that are buried in the foundation (more or less).
Thousands were there, from miles around and hospitality flowed.

A sneak peak for the big trip (2 weeks from today)

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/07/Taste/A_taste_of_home_on_Su.shtml

Test

2007-04-01T17:11:00.000-04:00

Can i blog from my pocket pc?

It's an uncle

2007-03-13T06:05:00.001-04:00

After 8.5 months of uncertainty, last Thursday, I became an uncle (as opposed to an aunt). James Oliver Troisi was born on March 8. He is all of 6 lbs, 13 ounces and 19 inches. Anne is back home after spending the weekend in the hospital and Mom is soon headed up to Hotlanta at the end of the week.

Oliver (as he will be known) was born on International Women's Day. I can only hope that he is able to parlay this into lots of dates as a college student - I envision him throwing parties for himself and saying "hey, its international women's day, want to celebrate my birthday".... maybe its a good thing that Anne doesn't read this blog...

Speaking of college, the day after his birth had the Gators facing UGA in the SEC tournament - the 4th time his parents' alma maters have faced each other since Anne got pregnant. The good guys are 4-0 - hope this trend continues through Ultimate season.

old timey folk blues

2007-03-05T18:10:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night, Lisa suggested that an interesting show was playing at the Fogartyville Cafe in Bradenton, she just couldn't remember any details or why she thought it had sounded so interesting. With that promise, we made our first visit to Bradenton's community coffee house and music venue. We were surprised to be greeted by "do you have reservations?" (we did not) and we were told the show was SRO (we still didn't know who was playing). One of the volunteers said that they could squeeze us and called over a performer to sell us on the show. A mix of awkwardness and curiousity made us commit to see Paul Jeremiah and Roy Bookbinder, in Roy's words, "just about the best you'll ever see". Between the two of them, there are over 80 years of performing and lots of stories and the whole thing benefitted Sarasota's upstart community radio station. While not totally my cup of tea, I had a good time and was glad to be there.