Tuesday, August 6, 2013

                FROM ELBA TO EIGER TO EIFFEL

     The great advantage of traveling alone, vis-a-vis with tour groups (which I call pods) and having flexible schedules is the opportunity to experience unanticipated and serendipitous adventures.  So it was that I found myself on the historic island of Elba, the island where Napoleon spent 100 days in exile in 1814.  Elba is now a very popular vacation spot off the west coast of Tuscany.

                                          Beach scene on Elba

     After leaving Russia on June 19, I quickly made my way through Finland (couchsurfing), Sweden
(airbnb), Germany an France and went as fast as I could to Florence, Italy (Firenzie).  There I couch surfed with a wonderful young man, Nico and his dog 


NICO AND SPINA
     
     Nico told me that his parents were vacationing on the Isle of Elba and if I wanted to, I could go with him for a weekend visit.  Of course I said yes.  So off we went to the coastal town of Piombino where we took a 12 mile ferry ride to Elba.  Nico's parents, Patrizia and Mario, were wonderful hosts and shared their apartment, food, and wine.  Here are a few scenes from Elba:





3 IMAGES FROM ELBA

      Our return to Florence provided more time in that wonderful city.  Florence is a place of great beauty, ancient history, and home of notable people.  I paid homage to Galileo at his tomb in Santa Croce and visited the house where the Medici's provided him living quarters during his house arrest by the Catholic church in 1633. Michelangelo is also buried in Santa Croce.  Here are a few scenes of Florence:


                                               SCENES OF FLORENCE, ITALY

     From Florence I made my way to Grindelwald, Switzerland and stayed in a hotel at the foot of the famous Eiger Mountain.  Grindelwald is a village surrounded by imposing mountains.  It is also a destination village for tourist from all over the world, especially from Japan.  Evidently the Japanese have a connection with Eiger because a Japanese mountain climber climbed the mountain many years ago and became famous in Japan.  I think every Japanese child knows the story of this man and wishes to go there some day. They were all there in July.  A famous attraction is the "Top of Europe," the highest railway station in Europe. A cog railroad takes tourists to the top.  Here are some images from Grindelwald:


                                                              
EIGER, MONCH, AND JUNGFRAU

   I hated to leave Grindelwald but had to move on.  My next destination was Paris.  As I always do, I went to the Eiffel Tower (not up it) and went to the plaza where Ed Clark made some of his famous photos in 1945.  Also took a guided walking tour of the Marais district, the oldest section of Paris, and saw a wall built in 1380.  The Rodin museum was another stop, but since it was under renovation some of the sculptures were not on display.  Paris: history, culture, fashion, food, wine, beauty, and, I found, friendly people. Just a couple of photos from Paris:

CATHEDRAL DE NOTRE DAME

RODIN MUSEUM

     The last stop before returning home was the BRITISH OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT in Muirfield, Scotland.  For a golfer, it was the ultimate experience.  I saw every professional golfer of note in the world, including Tiger and Brandt.  Just a couple of pictures and I'm done with this blog:

                                   THE FOURTH AND FIFTH ON THE FIRTH OF FOURTH


BRANDT SNEDEKER

     I thank you for following my blog.  Hope it has not been too boring.  I plan to write one more soon.  It will be a summary blog of observations, reflections, and conclusions.  So long for now.







 

Monday, June 24, 2013

THE MAN IN 2-19

     I called my last post, "From Beijing to Moscow."  It should have been called, "From Beijing to Irkutsk" since Irktusk, Russia was as far as I got in the blog post.  This post will cover the trip from Irkutsk to Moscow, a journey of over 3300 miles that took 82 hours at an average speed (if it can be called "speed") of 39 mph.  The train stopped at every town, burg, and crossroad.

     Forest Gump's mother was so right.  "Life is like a box of chocolates," especially when you are on a train for four days in a four berth coupe (compartment) with people frequently getting on and off.  

               
                                     THE MAN IN 5-19

I boarded train # 069 on June 11, at 17:30 and found "vagon" (car) 5 and "mect" (seat) 19.  I had feared my perch for the four nights would be an upper berth which, getting onto, required more dexterity that I possessed.  Lucky for me, berth 19  was one of the lower ones.

     To say that Russia is a vast land mass would be a huge understatement..  Let me quote from a travel book (Bryn Thomas, "Trans-Siberian Handbook" 8th edition, 2011):
     
     Russia...remains the largest country in the world, incorporating 17,175 sq km (over 6.5 million square miles) and stretching from well into the Arctic Circle right down to the northern Caucasus in the south, and from the Black Sea in the west to the Bering Strait in the east, only a few kilometres from Alaska.  Russia is twice as big as the USA; the UK could fit into this vast country 69 times.

     Keeping up with the time was a challenge.  Since I am traveling East to West I am gaining an hour almost every day (like going from Knoxville to Nashville).  Russia has eight time zones, but the train schedules are all on Moscow time, MT (four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)).  The time in Irkutsk, for example, is MT+5. Somewhat confusing, but hey, I had time to figure it out.  In Stockholm today I am only one hour ahead of GMT.  

     The view of the vast Siberian wilderness is limited when seen through a train window.  Two words and one photo will capture this landscape:  BIRCH TREES



                              VIEW FROM TRAIN WINDOW

        Life on the train was infinitely more interesting than the landscape.  People getting on and off the train, getting settled in their compartments, eating, talking, sleeping, and passing time as creatively as possible.  During my four days on the train I had ten compartment companions. Not only did we share close quarters (read cramped), we shared stories about ourselves (home, family, work, travel), information about the journey, and we shared food.  Whatever anyone had brought along to eat was shared.  People were very generous, open, and often very funny.  We laughed a lot. There seemed to be what might be called a "ritual of discovery."  Hello, my name is Clinton, what is your name?  Where are you from?  Where are you going?  Are you traveling alone? Do you work?  What do you do? etc.
I discovered that using my first name, Clinton, got a much better response than just Mack.  Ahhh, President Clinton.  And Nashville always was recognized:  Ahhh, country music.  Johnny Cash.

Here are four people who enriched my four days on the train:


LENA




Lena boarded the train in Zima and got off in Omsk.  She spoke very little English, but made efforts to understand and communicate.  She was married and had a daughter eight years old.  Of interest to me, she raised chickens and brought hard boiled eggs along.  She generously shared the eggs.  I hated to see her go (as with most of my companions).


VLADIMIR




Vladimir was a large, muscular, jovial man from Moscow.  He spoke English very haltingly, but kept trying.  I, of course, spoke perfect Russian...NOT!  The phrase I did learn and use a lot was "spasibo" which means "thank you."  Every time I said spasibo to Vladimir for a kindness he would respond in his  deep-voiced Russian accent, "Don't mention it!"  It soon became a joke.
Vladimir was a very devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church and carried laminated cards of saints, patriarchs, and a photograph of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family which he gave me as a souvenir.  At one point he asked me, "DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?"  Hoping not to offend this Russian bear, I said meekly, "I'm not sure, Vladimir."  Again, in that deep accented voice, he said, "You should believe in God!"  Ok Vladimir, I'll try.  We were the only two in our coupe the last day and a half.
He hugged me goodbye when we got to Moscow.


ANDREW


Andrew was a fifteen year old boy from Irkutsk who was traveling with his mother to Moscow.  They were in the next compartment but Andrew started hanging our with Vladimir and me.  He told me he made 5's (the highest grade) in his English class.  His English was pretty good and he became Vladimir's interpreter.  When he couldn't think of an English he would rub his head and say,"How do you say...?" until it came to him.  I asked him what he wanted to be when he finished school.  He said a policeman.  I said No Andrew.  You are too smart to be a policeman.  You should be a scientist.  You could be a cosmonaught and go to the space station.  He seemed to like me and just before we got to Moscow he came in and said, "I brought you a present."  He handed me three small squares of chocolate..  I gave him a ball point pen.  

SERGEI V.



Sergei came into our compartment late one night after Lena and I had gone to sleep.  He made hardly a sound, unlike two boorish men a few nights earlier.  I took a peek at him and noticed he had placed a small animal carrier in the corner of his berth and placed a sheet over it.  I thought to myself that he must be a good man to care that much for his pet. Soon he was asleep with the carrier tucked behind his legs.  I was up early next morning eager to discover who our new companion was and what he was carrying.  But my two mates, Lena and the stranger, slept on.  Finally I saw Lena's feet and legs appear from the upper berth and watched her swing down with the agility of a gymnist.  Soon our new companion was also up.  We said, "Good morning," and began the "ritual of discovery."  I said, "This is Lena and I am Clinton.  What is your name?"  In perfect English he said, "My name is Sergei."  Curiosity got the best of me and I asked what he had in his animal carrier.   Sergei said,"Its my cat."  That pleased me.  He pulled back the sheet, opened the carrier and a small white face with a black mustache appeared.  As she emerged further, very warily, I saw, to my amazement, that she was a Calico cat, very much like Miss Priss.  "What is her name?" I asked.  "Sonja," Sergei said.  "Her name is Sonja."
Lena left the train at Omsk.  Sergei said he was going to Ishim.  That would be about six more hours.  His English was very good.  He told me he had been a sea captain and had traveled the world.  He was from a town near Vladivostoc originally called "America."  A little ironic.  He was taking Sonja to stay with his parents while he and his wife traveled some more.  Over the next few hours we talked of longitude, the Suez Canal, religion, literature, Russian history, and more.  He said when you travel to other parts of the world and see how other people live, it makes you question your own culture...whether "Our way" is the only way.  It makes you think, "Maybe I need to change."  He told me about getting a health check-up in Singapore when he was visiting his older son.  Why not in Russia I asked.  He said, "We have a good health system, but I don't trust the Russian system."  I laughed and said I wouldn't tell anyone he said that.  He also laughed and said, "Thats ok."  He liked Obama and said the new president had greatly improved the American image abroad.  Bush was not good for America, or the world, he said.  
     As he was leaving the train we parted with a warm handshake.  I said, "I am discovering a downside of travel.  It is the sadness of parting with a new friend you know you will probably never see again.  Maybe I'll write about that and call it, "The Joy and Sadness of Brief Encounters."

I was reviewing some photographs and noticed the series of replacing the train's engine.  I made a collage of five images and think of it as a theme of this trip I'm on.  Metaphorically, I call it MAKING CONNECTIONS.  That is, after all, what travel...and life...is all about.
BAYAR-TAI
         
                                         A METAPHOR


Sunday, June 2, 2013

ANTICIPATION

Tuesday night before I left Nashville was a long sleepless night filled with anxieties about what Wednesday would bring. I worried about lots of mundane things but mostly about the plane connection in Vancouver. Would 1 1/2 hours be enough time to make my plane to Beijing. As it turned out, I had time to spare.

The plane's wheels lifted off the surface of North America at exactly noon on Thursday, May 31, which was one a.m. Friday, June 1, in Beijing. I never got a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean because we were above the clouds the whole way. Most of the eleven hours were spent reading, watching movies, and talking with Li Zitian (Candy), a young exchange student.
The question I had posed was whether during the flight we would experience nighttime. I'm sure if I had studied algebra more I could have stated the question in an algebraic equation and found X. The answer came experientially. We, in fact, did not have a single moment of darkness. In essence, I lost an entire night.

BEIJING. Beijing is urbanism on steroids. An overwhelming city in many ways, but also a city with what Herbert Gans called, "Urban Villages." There are grand avenues lined with skyscrapers and throngs of people moving about on every mode of transportation the human mind can conceive. The "villages" are the very narrow alley-ways called "Hutongs." These Hutongs are extremely congested areas in which people carry on their daily lives. Without actually seeing them, it is hard to imagine the commerce and traffic that proceeds in the narrow spaces. My hotel, the Orchid, is actually in the Baochao Hutong. I dare not send pictures of the hotel entrance lest you think I've lost my mind. But I will, because once inside, it is a small tranquil space with an international staff (mostly women) dedicated to the comfort of the guests.

Today is my last full day in Beijing. In the morning I'm off to Mongolia by train. Another day, another adventure.

The pictures below are of the Hutong, Orchid Hotel entrance, Orchid Hotel courtyard, People on Tiananmen Square, a laborer moving debris, and a child of the Hutong.













Monday, April 8, 2013

PLANNING - WHAT A HEADACHE

                                            
Seven weeks before I depart and I'm in panic mode over the planning details.  I have worked for a week on acquiring visas for China and Russia.  I am using a company in D.C. to get them for me and they have been helpful.  But the process for getting the Russian visa is extremely complicated.  You have to use the on-line application that the Russians have created, and while it is complicated, it also is humorous in some ways.  For example, it asks for employment data: Where employed.  "Who was your chief?"  Date of employment.Date of termination.  (I thought, is termination the only way to end a job?)  There is also magic involved.  The on-line application is about six pages long, but at the end you do something (for the life of me I don't know what) and the six page form is magically and miraculously transformed into a TWO page formal application.  I sorta think it has to do with Adobe Reader and pdf files.  But who knows?  I am dealing with Irina in the Washington office.  She has been very helpful and patient...so far.

I have been reading a blog by Lori and John who are traveling in SE Asia for three months (see www.loriandjohnskiptown.com).  A very good blog and extremely helpful.  I ordered the backpack (Osprey Porter 46) which they recommended.  When it came I was floored at how small it is.  I don't know if I can go around the world with such a small pack.  Guess I'll find out.

I am taking a small camera, not the two ton Nikon.  Its a Sony Nex 7.  There are a couple of technical problems I am trying to figure out, though.  One is how to download and store images.  The obvious answer is to use a computer, which brings up another problem.  Which computer?  My PC desktop?  I don't think so.  I have a small HP laptop but its so slow I could go to Moscow from Beijing quicker than it boots up.
I need a small storage device on which I can also view images.  I will go back through my photography magazines to try to find such a device.

I made an appointment at the Vanderbilt Travel Clinic today.  They will tell me which shots I need and what medications I should take.  Another item checked off the list.

There are still many things to do and my mind is in a constant spin.  I have lists of lists. I think I need to get better organized.  Working on that.

Any suggestions from you experienced travelers out there would be appreciated.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

WHERE IS MACK?

WHERE IS MACK?

December 23, 2012

Today I am in Nashville, Tennessee.  I plan to be here for the next five months planning a trip I call, "Around the World at 80" (ATW@80).  I will be 80 years old on January 20 (or 21).  Only two members of my immediate family have lived this long. The others died in their fifties or before.  Attaining this age, therefore, calls for a special celebration, not just on the birthday itself, but a celebration of the year, 2013.  The major event will be the trip I am planning.  I figured that if Phileas Fogg could do it in 80 days, I could do it at 80.  I will, of course, be on my own since I do not have Passepartout to assist me. While it will be a journey for me into the unknown, geographically, it will also be a journey metaphorically into an unknown stage of life, my 80's, middle old age. Now that is really scary.  What dragons and monsters and caves and rivers and lakes and ogres and trolls will I encounter?  I don't know, but I'm ready to find out!

I have had a taste of foreign travel, but only a taste.  The photo below was taken by Ray Johnson in 2009 when we were in Ireland together.  I like it because it shows me on the road.  Now I look forward to being on the road across America, China, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, England, Ireland,  Canada and back home again.  For now, its the planning stage. Figuring out how to get visas and reservations for planes, trains, ferries, hotels, B&B's and couches will take a lot of time and attention to details.  But what fun. I plan to fly only when necessary (across oceans).  The rest will be on trains, buses and ferries.  One of the great web sites I have found for train and ferry schedules around the world is "The Man in Seat Sixty-One" (www.seat61.com).  It contains an amazing amount of information.  I highly recommend it to anyone planning a trip that includes train travel.  While I can afford to pay for the trip myself, I would not refuse contributions from friends (I have two committed already), grants, foundations, or other sources I should consider. Any help in this area would be appreciated.



                                     Photo by Ray Johnson 2009

A project which is an adjunct to my travels will be a book of photographs and biographies of people who were born in 1933.  A working title is, EIGHTY AT 80.  My plan is to locate people who will be 80 years old next year, photograph them and write a brief biography.  The book will include some famous people, like David McCullough and Willie Nelson (if I can contact them and they agree), non-famous people, men and women, Americans and people in the countries where I travel.  Now I must come up with a plan for finding these people.  I am open to suggestions and will be grateful for ideas from anyone.

Since I am in the planning stage, please send me any ideas, suggestions, contacts, experiences or any related information you think would be helpful. Send email to: clipsey3@comcast.net