Category: Trips

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The Netherlands in the spring is truly a sight to behold. The countryside is awash in colors. In particular the small town of Lisse has the spectacular park of Keukenhof. Supposedly, it’s the world’s largest flower garden. With 700,000 visitors during its 2 month season, many people agree that it’s worth a visit.
However, the fields of the village have seemingly endless rows of flowers as well. Here are a few of my favorites of the village.



Here are some of the images from our tour of this lovely garden. I won’t belabor the images with a lot of commentary, I will let the pictures speak for themselves.












I love that Anna stops to smell the flowers…

This fat bumblebee doesn’t look like he should fly. He has had a bit too much pollen today.

These are our friends, Andras and Elvi. They have a really unique story: he is Hungarian, she is Israeli and they are married and live in Luxembourg, but are moving to Belgium. We randomly met them in a Luxembourg cafe after watching a movie. We started chatting and hit it off right away. So, we decided to meet up in the Netherlands to check out the flowers for a weekend.



Here’s another good idea for other parks out there. Put a nice comfy couch and people will just hang out…



The other really cool activity we did in Amsterdam was rent bikes. It is THE mode of transportation. It’s so convenient to hop on a bicycle, use one of the ubiquitous bike lanes and you can get from one side of the city center to the other in about 15 minutes.


The people watching was lots of fun…






The cafes were also lots of fun.


This cool puppy was actually wearing his shades (not just for the picture). He and his owner had matching glasses.

Amsterdam is a city that has so much going on. We could have stayed for 2 weeks and not run out of things to do. I think this may be our favorite spring destination. For me, it’s on my top five list of favorite cities in the world. We can’t wait to go back again soon!
Until then…
–Jim

This is the final post of the whirlwind tour my parents, Anna and I took last week.
In this post, we will go to the American military cemetery in Luxembourg followed by a tour of the forests around Bastogne to see the sight of the Battle of the Bulge. Finally, we finished the tour with a visit to the picturesque village of Bruges, Belgium and a short stop by the North Sea.
We started with a visit to an American military cemetery. It is one of 24 American overseas cemeteries that are the final resting places for 124,913 Americans killed in warfare (WWI, WWII and the Mexican War). This particular one is just outside of Luxembourg City. It is just over 50 acres and serves as the final resting place for 5,076 soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen and was established on 29 Dec 1944, while the Battle of the Bulge raged nearby.
It is interesting to note that the land for all the cemeteries has been given back to the US. All these military members are buried in American soil. Also, this location was the headquarters of General George S. Patton Jr’s Third Army. In fact, the General is also buried here. Although he was killed in a vehicle accident shortly after the war’s end, he is buried in a place of honor with the many other members of the third army. Here he is…


There are number of these poignant reminders of the horror of war scattered through the cemetery.

After our tour of the American cemetery, we drove up the road to the center of the Battle of the Bulge. Of you’re not familiar with this battle (and no it’s not a reference to the collective growing American waistline), here’s a brief rundown. On 16 December 1944, the German army on Hitler’s orders made one final push to repel the Allied advance on the west. His belief was to slow the western front would allow him time to build his super weapons (jet planes and super heavy tanks, for example). Initially, the German offensive was very successful and indeed it was the single most costly American engagement of WWII. Over 19,000 Americans lost their lives, however, it was the turning point in the European campaign. It signaled the beginning of the end and although it was a temporary setback for the allied army, it was a decisive blow to the German military machine.
Here in Bastogne, the German cemetery is a very poignant site to see. It is set with trees throughout and each headstone lists six names (three on each side). This is in stark contrast to the one on each American headstone.

After, we traveled to the forests around Foy (a small town outside of Bastogne). This is also the region where Easy Company of “Band of Brothers'” fame fought over Christmas in 1944. It was incredible to actually walk though the forest and see where these men dug in to repel the attacking forces. The 101st Airborne (of which Easy Company was a part) was cut off in the Battle of Bastogne (part of the larger Battle of the Bulge) after the initial battle. In fact, the German Army commander felt he had effectively cut off all options for the Americans in Bastogne. They were outnumbered, with limited ammunition, and little winter clothing. The German commander asked the American commander, Brig Gen McAuliffe, to surrender. The General, in typical American fashion, replied “Nuts!” This didn’t translate very well (in fact, it’s a phrase not used today, but as far as I can tell, it means “you’re crazy”), so his translators just used the term, “Go to hell!” This simple and direct phrase was echoed throughout the regiment and gave the men great strength.
While the trees were probably replanted after the war, this is probably similar to how the area looked when Easy Company dug in to fend off the advancing enemy.

The men of easy company were immortalized in Stephen Ambrose’s novel “Band of Brothers” which was later made into a highly acclaimed HBO mini-series (it won the Emmy for outstanding mini-series). Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg co-produced them. Afterward, the Hanks family, HBO and the Jeep corporation donated this monument to the men of Easy Company.

There is also a powerful museum in Bastogne dedicated to the battle.

It was a great opportunity to see first hand just what happened over 60 years ago.
Next stop was the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges. This city is a very popular tourist destination (for good reason). Our first sight was the Church of Our Lady that houses a statue carved by the venerable Michaelangelo. This is one of only a few of his statues outside of Italy.

The rest of the church was quite spectacular as well.

There was a moat that surrounded the medieval city that is visible today.

As you can imagine, Belgian waffles originated in Belgium, so they are available pretty much anywhere. However, something that may be interesting is that there are two types of waffles (or gauffres), the “Belgian” with it’s rectangular shape associated with Brussels and the Liege version (associated with that city). You can see here the Liege version with thick dough and irregular shape. These are not eaten for breakfast, but as a snack through the day and not with utensils (it’s finger food).

The famous bell tower afforded a great view of the city.

The other Belgian delicacy is of course chocolate. There are no shortage of shops that sell truly delicious treats. This particular one came highly recommended and did not disappoint…

Dinner that night was also delicious. My father enjoyed the traditional menu of mussels and fries (which is also originally Belgian) and the rest of us had similarly great meals.




The next and final stop on the Tourist Train was the beach city of Oostende on the North Sea. We had a brief tour and stopped on the beach for a picnic lunch.


Since it was such a nice day and we had come all the way to sea, my mother and I decided to take a quick dip. Unfortunately, I was not dressed for it, but I still had to get in a little ways…

That concluded our whirlwind tour of Bavaria, Austria, Munich, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, and Belgium.
It was a great trip for all of us. 🙂
Until the next trip…
–Jim

This is the continuation of our trip through western Europe last week with my parents. In this post, we will travel to Amsterdam, Netherlands for a couple days of exploration.
As you probably are aware, the Netherlands is known for it’s bountiful windmills. This one greeted us on our way into town.

We began our exploration of Amsterdam with a walking tour. It’s a great city to tour by foot, or even better by bicycle. It was the most bicycles I’ve seen since we were in China.

As you probably also know, most of Amsterdam is below sea level and their dikes regulate the water levels so that the canals flow in concentric half circles through the city.

We watched this guy meander across the street.

The Netherlands is also very densely populated. It has about the same population as Florida, but is only about the same size as Maryland. So, suffice it to say that space is an issue. To solve that concern, there are many small vehicles there. Here’s just one example…

Again, let me stress that everyone rides a bike in Amsterdam. In fact, you can see people doing all kinds of interesting things as they ride along. It’s not uncommon at all to watch people talk on their cell phone and ride (how dangerous is that!?). This guy was actually typing an SMS message as he rode and hardly even looking up. Fortunately for him, the bike lanes are very wide…

Next stop was the house/warehouse where a young Anne Frank and her family hid for 2 years in WWII (June 12, 1944 – August 1, 1944). It is a poignant memorial to the girl whose diary has been sold 25 million times in over 50 languages and is certainly considered one of the classics of the 20th century. It was her life goal to be a famous, published author. It’s sad it was posthumously achieved. However, she gave a face and story to the untold suffering of the millions caught in the Nazi web of persecution and concentration camps effecting the “final solution.”
Before we visited the secret annex of the Anne (and seven others), we watched the 1959 movie about her struggle that also won the best picture Academy Award.
This is the front side, which is the warehouse where her father owned a spice/preserve company. When the family decided to go into hiding, it was in a carefully guarded secret annex in the back.

We also visited the Rijksmuseum Art and History museum. If you are a fan of the great Dutch masters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals or Jan Steen, this is the place to go. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed inside, but the trees were just budding and a work of art themselves.

Here are some more of the quintessential Dutch items from the Netherlands:
Wooden shoes
Tulips
Heineken Beer
Windmills
Herring Sandwiches
Of course, there aren’t as many windmills anymore, and wooden shoes are still used as a long lasting work shoe, but these days are used more as a souvenir than practical footwear. That said, the other three are VERY common. We decided to sample a raw herring sandwich…

Yum…

Another fascinating trade often practiced in Amsterdam is diamond cutting and polishing. We toured one company to see how the process works.
This is the diamond being polished.

Then, he inspects each facet to ensure perfection.

There were also other diamond colors like this black one.

That night, we wandered through another famous part of Amsterdam, the Red Light district. It was a unique experience to wander through areas where the world’s oldest profession is on display legally and openly.


We also took a night cruise to see the canals first hand.

So, that completed our brief tour of the city of Amsterdam. Anna and I look forward to going again soon when the tulips are in bloom. Perhaps I will have some more images to share with you.
The next stops on our tour with my parents were Luxembourg and Belgium.
So, until then…
–Jim

Last week Anna and I had the pleasure of hosting my parents for 9 days. During their visit here, we decided to escort them around to five countries: Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In this entry, we will take you to the castle homes of King Ludwig II, the location of the Sound of Music, and the childhood home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Finally, we will finish with the beautiful city of Munich (or München in German) where we had lunch at one of the most famous beer halls.
So, with that overview, off we go…
Once we picked up my parents at the Frankfurt Airport, early in the morning I might add, we drove the few hours to the mysterious and oft visited home of the 19th century Bavarian King Ludwig II.
This is the castle that was his childhood home.

Here is my princess overlooking the castle.

We began the day with a tour of the first castle, Hohenschwangau. This was the summer home of King Maximilian II (Ludwig’s father). Literally translated, it means Castle of the High Swan County and not surprisingly, the swan is its symbol. Maximilian discovered ruins on the current site (of a castle Napoleon had destroyed several decades previously) and had it rebuilt in the neo-gothic style.

When King Ludwig II was faced with domestic problems, he turned to fanciful dreams of a new castle. After Bavaria’s defeat by Prussia in 1866, Ludwig was no longer the sovereign ruler of Bavaria. He looked upon the hills overlooking Hohenschwangau and imagined a better, more realistic medieval castle. This would be a place he could be a real king…

The outside is truly spectacular. The castle was begun in 1869 and construction continued for nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, the king only had the opportunity to live there for less than 2 years (1884-86), before he passed away. Even then, the inside was less than a third complete. But, less than two months later, the castle was opened to the public and has been an immensely popular tourist destination ever since. Over four and a half million people visit the castle each year. Since we came in the off-season, the lines were relatively short.
This bridge behind the castle is not only pretty, but offers a gorgeous panorama of the Neuschwanstein Castle.



After our visit to the fairy tale king, we drove south to the village of Garmish.

Then, out to dinner at a very traditional Bavarian restaurant (at least we thought it was traditional). Here’s a nice image of my parents.



Then, just over the border into Austria and the home of the “Sound of Music.” The movie was one of my mother’s favorites when she was a girl, so we decided to spend the afternoon seeing where the movie was filmed throughout the city and surrounding countryside. It also afforded us a convenient way to see the city and area.
We began with the courtyard where Maria and the children learned the Do-Re-Me song. This statue wasn’t in the movie, but another one like it was.

This is that same courtyard.

This is the abbey where Maria lived before she lived with the Von Trapp family.

Speaking of the Von Trapps, this was the outside of their house in the movie. All of the interior scenes in the movie were shot on a set in Hollywood, and the rest were shot in Salzburg and the surrounding areas.

This gazebo used to be on the same grounds, but was moved to a nearby park when too many people were sneaking onto the property to see the site of the “sixteen going on seventeen” song. Of course, the same people also wanted to jump from bench to bench, just like the movie. That resulted in many broken glass panes and some broken bones.

This is another castle in the area. This one is actually just a private residence.

These are where the hills are alive with the sound of music. Unlike the movie though, this is actually a 30 minute drive away from Salzburg.

Here’s another random location. This is the world headquarters of the energy drink company, Red Bull. Apparently, when the hills are alive with the sound of music, it also gives you wings…

If you’ve seen the movie, you will recognize this village from the opening scene.

This is the inside of the church that the baron and Maria were married in.


Since no visit to Salzburg would be complete without some homage to its most famous son, we decided to see a dinner concert playing Mozart’s music (complete with a quintet and a pair of opera singers).

The 18th century ballroom in which it was performed was also quite lovely.

The next day was to Munich. On the way, we also stopped by Dachau. Unfortunately, we don’t have any images, but just being there was a very powerful experience. If you are not familiar with the name, it was one of the first concentration camps of WWII. While it was much smaller than some others like Auschwitz in Poland, with only 32,000 killed, it was a training ground for many others. We were very impressed that this monument exists. Many cultures want to erase any black marks on their history. In this case, it’s a tribute to the German culture. By not letting these atrocities slip out of the collective culture, they hope to prevent it from happening again.
After our sobering visit, we made our way into downtown Munich to take in the sights. Marienplatz is the main square. In it, there is the Grand Glockenspiel.


When lunchtime came around, we decided to try the most famous beer
hall in the world, the Hofbräuhaus. As you can see, it’s quite large (can accommodate up to 3,000 people at a time) and has been in operation since 1607.

The tables close to the music were also for regulars. So, if you go and want to sit close to the entertainment, don’t be surprised if one of the regulars joins you at the table.

The music was lots of fun and very lively.

The main attraction here though is the Munich beer, and it is served in copious amounts.

Then, it was back in the car for our drive home. It was a great start to the visit. We took several more trips while my parents were here. I will cover those in the next post. So, until then…
–Jim

This weekend, our latest adventure was a very eventful trip to the French region of Alsace. If you’re not familiar the region, it’s in the northeast corner of France and borders both Germany and Switzerland. Also, if you are a fan of history, you probably know that this region has been fought over for centuries. It was conquered by the Roman Empire in the first century B.C. After the empire fell, a number of kingdoms rose. One dynasty you may have heard of were the Merovingians (this was also the name of the French omniscient character in the movie “The Matrix”). The golden age of Alsace was probably in the 12th and 13th centuries when cities and the merchant class flourished. During this time, the region bonded more and more with France. In 1648, the Treaty of Westphalia (which ended the Thirty Year’s War, and was nominally between Catholics and Protestants), most of the region was ceded to France. It remained that way for several centuries, however, the people who populated the region were often Germanic speaking and at least strongly influenced by Germany. So, after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, when the Second Reich of Germany handed France a stunning defeat, the region of Alsace-Lorraine was given back to Germany. Prussia (or Germany) instituted a policy to destroy all vestiges of French influence by banning the French language and destroying French signs. But, yet again things changed, and after WWI and the Treaty of Versailles, the region was given autonomy. However, it couldn’t defend itself and France took control a week later. The saga continued when Hitler’s army swept around the Maginot Line (which went through the area) and annexed Alsace-Lorraine as part of Germany again in WWII. It wasn’t until after the war that the region was again French and stability
returned. Now, it is the seat of the European Parliament.
We started our tour in the large city of Strasbourg. Our first stop was the very impressive cathedral. It was designed in the late thirteenth century (but completed in the 15th) and is a massive, but delicate design. In fact, it was the tallest building in the world (after St. Olav’s Church in Estonia burned down in 1625) for 200 hundred years until 1847 when another church in Hamburg surpassed it. It’s still the fourth highest church in the world.

We also had the opportunity to climb the stairs to see the city from on high.



Inside, the Rose Window was amazing.


One of the highlights inside the church was this astronomical clock.

Every day the characters perform their parade at 12:30PM. It’s fascinating to see the different characters. You can tell which these are. Also, the clock was very advanced for its age and can determine when the Christian Easter is. For those who’ve wondered when Easter is, it’s the first Sunday after the 14th day of the lunar month after the vernal equinox (March 21st). Sounds complicated, huh?

Next stop was in one of France’s most beautiful villages, Eguisheim. As you can see, we made the trip with our friends Jen and Andy. Our home for the night was a 200 year old bed and breakfast. The village was tiny, only about 1,500 people, but it was simply beautiful. Here are some images from our time there.

Here you can see a statue of Bruno of Eguisheim, who later became Pope Léon IX.

Ironically, this region is known as the sunniest (and least rainy) part of France.



Here’s a nice picture of Jen and Andy.

The mountains overlooking the Alsace Valley are the Vosages. Here, there are three castles or chateaus from the 11th and 12th centuries. They were destroyed many centuries ago, but are still quite spectacular. This was also Jen’s first castle experience.

After playing in the ruins for a while, we noticed that were were close to the village of Munster. Of course, this is the namesake town for the cheese. However, this is NOT to be confused with American Muenster Cheese. The French version is quite aromatic. We liked it so much, that we had a whole meal of various types of cheese. It was delicious!

Another symbol of the region is the stork. While this species were nearly wiped out, local advocacy (on chimneys and rooftops) has permitted a resurgence.


Next stop was one of the most famous tourist destinations in Alsace, the château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg. The German translation of the name is quite simply King’s Castle. This is a beautiful castle that was left to disrepair in 1648 again after the 30 Year’s War. That is, until the end of the 19th century when Kaiser Wilhelm II commissioned a Berlin architect to restore it. While it has been ridiculed for inaccurate restoration, it’s still impressive. The goal was to celebrate a medieval castle and its way of life. While the recreation may have been a bit romantic, it’s not entirely off base (and certainly awe inspiring).

The moulin of the castle.



A typical castle ornament.

Hey, what’s down there??

Andy capturing some nice images too.


The final stop on our trip was back in the outskirts of Strasbourg. On our way down (Strasbourg is only a couple hours from our house), we found an advertisement for a chocolate museum. Since Anna is a choco-holic, we simply had to go. The presentation was nice and stepped visitors through the history and evolution of the cacao plant.

As you can see, they are gearing up for Easter.

After the tour, we indulged in a little chocolate ourselves. We had four small cups of highly concentrated, semi-sweet hot chocolate. There were a variety of flavors you can add to it. My personal favorite was the orange (although my favorite combination remains chocolate and raspberry).

So, that concluded our phenomenal weekend with Jen and Andy. The Alsace region is even better in the summer, when flowers and grapes fill the valley. So, we’ll have to re-visit this region…
Until then.
–Jim

This weekend, we went back to Köln. This time, it was not to see the museums or cathedrals. We went to take part in Germany’s Drei Tolle Tages (or three crazy days) holiday. It’s called Fasching or Karneval, depending on where you are. If you think you don’t know what that is… well, it’s based on the same thing as Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carneval in Brazil. The five days leading up to Ash Wednesday (and Lent for the Catholic Church), are culminated by Rosenmontag (Rose Monday). Instead of Mardi Gras which is characterized by wanton sexuality (at least from what I’ve seen), this holiday is more free spirited. That said, you’ll still see strangers kissing total strangers on the street, just because it’s Karneval.
To explain a little more about the season, the holiday starts on the previous Thursday with Weiberfastnacht, or Women’s Fasching. Since I have the honor of working with a number of Germans, I got to see first hand what happens (at least sort of). The tradition (as far as I understand it right now), is for women to basically take over. They go around in groups offering to polish shoes, give sweets or other tasty delicacies, in exchange for a small donation. With that money, the group of women take themselves out to lunch. However, if you wear a tie… the other tradition is to cut it off. What happens to these ties, I don’t know, but the wearer is often compensated with a kiss. So, that Sunday, as the craziness was building, Anna and I decided to drive back to Köln, where we heard the largest party was taking place. While New Orleans is about the only city in the US you hear about for Mardi Gras, EVERY city/town/village has a celebration in this part of Germany. Even our little town of 500 people had a fairly extravagant spectacle. So, if you find yourself surrounded by people with masks or painted faces, about to kiss you, don’t worry, it’s KARNEVAL!

Back to our story: when we arrived on Sunday, we found a parade fully underway. That was a pleasant surprise until we realized that the parade route went right by our hotel and we were on the wrong side! Eventually though, we made it across and checked in. Apparently someone liked us as our room was on the fourth floor, right overlooking the parade. It made for a great viewing location!


After the parade ended, we decided to wander around and watch the craziness for ourselves. The merry making continued into the next morning. We, however, didn’t make it out too late, but did find this nice image of the church.

The next morning, we woke up, enjoyed a very nice continental breakfast (a true one). 🙂 Then out to wander through the parade route. Turns out, the route is rather long (about 4-5 miles), but snakes through the streets of old Köln. People were already out in the streets dancing, drinking, and staking out their spot for the parade, hours before the parade started. Apparently, there were over a million and a half people who came to watch the Rosenmontag parade. Some had very comfortable bleachers to sit in, but most were packed in the streets.


The parade reminded us of the American Thanksgiving Day parade, although perhaps a bit less commercial. Plus, the great thing about this holiday is that the spectators wear costumes as intricate as the paraders themselves. Can you tell which are from the parade and which were spectators?





Only the first image were spectators, but EVERYONE was dressed up. In fact, I was one of the only ones that wasn’t. Anna was at least wearing her wig from Budapest. So, when these people saw me sans costume, they took it upon themselves to paint my face. I obliged and they decorated me with a smile and a lighthouse. It was very well done and I felt much more festive after being so decorated.

More images from the parade.

The parade dates back over 180 years to 1834, but celebrating fasching itself is as old as the city. It is a throwback to a combination of German, Greek and Roman celebrations to the Christian Lent season which seeks to recreated the suffering experienced by Jesus through fasting (or some sort of self deprivation). This is where the term carne vale, or farewell to meat came from. In the early middle ages, meat, eggs and dairy products were forbidden. This may have been partly for practical reasons. At this time of the year (at least as far as one of theories goes), the stores of food were either on the verge of spoiling or running low and needed to be consumed quickly.

Of course, the Karneval in Köln is also based in satire. I can’t think of a much more satirical character than the pope in this image.

Everyone got involved…

and I mean, everyone!

As you can see here, the people who passed by on floats liked to toss out chocolates to the crowd. These small pieces of candy nearly caused riots amongst the crowd as people struggled to get their hands on every piece that came their way. In fact, I had one chocolate bar land on my chest, only to have someone grab it off! Fortunately, Anna and I weren’t in the market for more chocolate (we still have some from our trip to Belgium).

The second most popular item to hand out to the parade watchers were flowers. This man just finished handing a flower to a girl right in front of me. His expression says it all…

There are also hundreds of bands that play lively music as they march through the streets.

This image gives you an idea of what the floats look like.

The clown brigade marches on.

More floats, while perhaps not as large as the ones in New York were still very interesting.



Again, this is a holiday for the whole family (unlike Mardi Gras).

The German Version of the Good Year Blimp. This particular one is for an inexpensive German airline.

It seems that everyone was very friendly. We met these girls standing along the street watching the parade as well. The twins are from Bavaria and informed us that while Köln has the best Karneval, Munich has the best Oktoberfest. Perhaps, they will invite us to see their celebration there as well.

Our experience at the Köln Karneval was a great introduction. We love seeing glimpses into this new culture. We can’t wait for more!
Until then…
–Jim

OK, let me start with: this post is atypical and REALLY long. I am posting images that were originally film. These are from my trip to Africa back in 2001. However, the overall experience was an epiphany for me. Although I had traveled abroad before, it was on this trip that I discovered my love of learning about and understanding different cultures. The first vehicle for this discovery was a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro. For those who aren’t familiar with this mighty peak, it’s about 200 miles south of the equator in the sub-Saharan African country of Tanzania. It was probably first made famous in the collective mind of the western world by Ernest Hemingway and his novels about the mountain and native peoples and colonial life in Africa.
My cousin, Chad, joined me on this incredible journey of discovery. As you can see here, we began in a tropical jungle. It was interesting to note that the trail was better maintained than many roads in Tanzania.

We soon emerged into a more traditional alpine steppe. In fact, we went through a number of climatic zones, with a glacier on the very top (the picture is later). 🙂 This was one of our first views of the peak.

We climbed the traditional Marangu route. This is the most common route, which took us 5 days, and is consequently known as the Coca-Cola route (probably because it is the most popular). In this image, we are looking back of one of the camps we stopped at. Even though this is not that high, it’s already above the clouds. That is because Mt Kilimanjaro is the largest free standing mountain in the world. It rises to a height of 5,895 meters (19,340 ft).

You can see in these next two images we stopped to take a break at an altitude that was almost as high as the highest mountains in the lower 48 states of the US. You can see we’re at about 13,500 feet above sea level and for reference, the highest peak in contiguous US is Mount Whitney in California at 14,505 feet. In fact, later that night, the hut we stopped at (the Kibo Hut) was about at 15,500 feet.


We left Kibo Hut at about midnight for our final ascent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. The goal was to reach the peak by sunrise. Unfortunately, our guide didn’t quite time it right and we were a little below the crater rim (Kili is also a volcano with magma active only 400 meters below the summit … although it is still considered dormant). This is an image of the glacier on the crater. Although it has diminished in size over the last few years (some people attribute that to global warming), it is still very pretty to see. Keep in mind that we’re only 200 miles south of the equator!

This is the highest point I’ve been (and still in contact with the Earth) at just over 19,000 feet.

After our successful climb of the formidable mountain, we went back to the city of Arusha. We stayed in the city for several days with the family of one of my classmates in college. This was a great way to get a feel for local life. We explored the markets and sights of the city. In many ways it is a modern city. However, since there is a fairly small middle class in this city of 270,000, all the people who would normally work in offices, were out in the streets. Many people were subsistence farmers or laborers. However, while their income was perhaps meager compared to the industrialized world, everyone we met was quite happy (or at least so it appeared to us). One thing both Chad and I wished we had brought were pens. All the children seemed to be in want of writing utensils and I lost count how many times we were asked for them. So, if you happen to travel to the region, remember to bring something small to hand out to the children!
After we had recuperated sufficiently (about three days), we headed out to Serengeti National Park. On the way, we stopped by a Masai village. It was a fascinating interaction. Although I am sure there are many tourists who visit these semi-nomadic people, we were the only ones there that day. The Masai are one of the 128 tribes that make up the people of Tanzania and are the only ones who have largely resisted western influence to adhere to their traditional dress and lifestyle. Perhaps that is why they are one of the best known tribes
of Africa.

The villagers came out to sing and dance. The men were singing about the joys of marriage and their dance included jumping as high as a NBA superstar.

We had a chance to talk to the chief/leader (he was elected by the village) and he showed us his home. The huts are made of mud and cow dung. He shared with us that on special occasions, they would drink milk from their cows and mix it with a little blood. Yum.
Although the flies are ubiquitous, people and animals seem to have grown accustomed to them.

After we left the village we made our way over to Serengeti National Park with the most incredible display of wildlife I have ever seen. In fact, the experience has ruined me from ever enjoying a zoo again. It was truly spectacular to see these amazing creatures in their native habitat (relatively) undisturbed by human influence. Chad and I headed out with our driver/cook and guide in the quintessential safari vehicle: a Land Rover with an open top to stand and watch the wildlife.
The “Big 5” of the Serengeti are 5 species of wildlife that are most sought after:
1. Lion
2. Leopard
3. Rhino
4. Elephant
5. Cape Buffalo
The only species we didn’t have the pleasure of watching was the rhino. In fact, my favorite animal wasn’t even on the list. It is the cheetah (or Duma in Swahili). As I recall, we saw five or six of these magnificent predators on our safari.

How much Swahili do you know? I bet you at least know how to say lion. It’s simba (just like the character in the movie) and no worries is actually hakuna matata (literally translated it means “there are no worries here”).
Lions truly are the kings of the Serengeti. They have no fear of any other animal (including humans). You can clearly see the lion’s powerful muscles in this adolescent male.

This is a group of male impala (much more fun to watch than the version produced by Chevrolet).

These plains elephants were also fun to watch saunter through the Savannah.

This is one of the few places we got out of our vehicle. We watched these hippopotamuses in the water. The name hippopotamus means “river horse.” We saw many of these animals on our trip and on land they looked large and lumbering, but in the water, they were perfectly at ease. However, since they look fairly docile on land, people have a bad habit of approaching too close. Although they are most at home in the water, hippopotamuses can be very aggressive. This combination has made them the most deadly creatures in Africa. So, don’t get too close!
This group stayed together as for protection, with the young ones in the middle. When crocodiles (7-8 were resting on the bank) got in the water and swam too close, the hippos jumped as a group to warn the crocs that they were getting too close. This one shows his imposing dental array.

The tallest land animal, with his two meter (six feet) long neck needs no introduction, but it’s interesting to note that it has the same number of neck vertebrae as humans with six.

This zebra stopped and posed nicely in front of an acacia tree.

These lionesses are certainly the queens of the land. The scariest experience (for me at least) on the whole trip happened while we were camping out on the plains of the Serengeti.
Imagine this, we were in a campsite with a ring of tents about 50 meters across. The tents were made of the normal, thin nylon fabric. As our cook was preparing the meal, Chad and I decided to take a walk around the area to explore a little. As we walked away, our guide mentioned that if we left the safety of the circle, we would be dinner for the animals. So, we quickly reconsidered the scope of our exploration. When night fell and we were ready to turn in for the night, our guide explained to us that he and the driver/cook would sleep in the vehicle and if we had to go to the bathroom during the night, we should just open the tent and relieve ourselves out of the door, but not leave the tent, lest we risk our lives. But, we were not to worry too much, because the animals wouldn’t come through the very secure nylon of the tent.
With that thought in mind, we went to bed. Throughout the night, I awoke to the sounds of animals walking right past my head (just on the other side of the sturdy nylon wall). Then, the scariest sound I’ve heard came from what sounded like right across the camp. It was the cry of a lioness as she patrolled her vast territory. Although I thought she was right outside our tent, it turns out she was about three kilometers away. That knowledge didn’t allay my concern at night though!
Here are a few of those lionesses, perhaps one was the one I heard…

Next stop on our itinerary was a visit to the Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley. The gorge is one of the most important sites of paleoanthropology in the world and is often considered the cradle of mankind. Here the Leakey family has done a great deal of significant research throughout the 20th century (and work continues to this day). Interestingly, it is here that the oldest evidence of human consumption of mammoth was found. This dates back 1.8 million years ago to Homo Erectus.
After our journey through the Serengeti and the Olduvai Gorge, we headed to another natural wonder, the Ngorongoro Crater. It is a volcanic mountain that collapsed in on itself 2 million years ago, creating a effective barrier to the outside world. The rim of the crater stands 600 meters above the crater floor. The sides are incredibly steep and provide a great vista of the world’s largest unbroken caldera and home to over 30,000 animals. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures from the top, nor the beautiful lodge we stayed in, the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, perched right on the rim. I think the best part of staying there was the hot shower we enjoyed. Although we had been able to bathe regularly, this was our first “western” shower in over two weeks.
On the crater floor, we followed the hyenas to the wildebeest they had killed. It was also an interesting social lesson. If lions had been present, they eat first (even if they didn’t kill the prey). Next, (and the hunter in this case) were hyenas. After they had their fill, the vultures and smaller carnivores picked the bones clean. It was a fascinating process and we were captivated as we watched the drama unfold.

There were numerous large herds of Cape Buffalo as well. Our guide decided to take us right through this long caravan of them. They looked a little resentful of the interruption (and perhaps wasn’t the nicest thing for us to do), but we continued on the road and the herd soon got back together, with no further apparent concern.

This zebra was kind and stopped to pose for the camera as we passed by.

These zebra butts were a fitting end to the safari. 🙂

We again returned to Arusha for a little more shopping/bartering, then another scary bus ride (in a 15 person mini bus) back up to Nairobi for two more days of adventure. We had spent a day there on the way down as well. This time, Chad and I went to probably the best wild game restaurant I’ve ever been to: the Carnivore. They brought us a never ending supply of meat from the animals we had just seen on the safari. We ate and ate and when we finally were satisfied, we laid down a flag to signify that we had had enough (reminded me of surrendering). My personal favorite meat was the ostrich. Nairobi is an interesting city of over 4 million residents, but it is a little scary to walk down the streets. We heard from many people that we were liable to be robbed if we walked from site to site, so we opted for a taxi and had no problems at all. After the two days there, Chad returned home and I continued on to Egypt.
My trip to Egypt was unique in that it was my first overseas expedition I undertook by myself. However, I have to admit that I opted for a tour that was just about all inclusive. A guide or driver was with me almost all the time. Since I had less than a week to explore, I also chose to stay in Cairo. Next time, I would love to go out to the Red Sea for a little SCUBA, and down the Nile to more fully immerse in the culture.
Of course, the highlight of my time there was seeing the Great Pyramids on the Giza Plateau (just outside of Cairo).

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, this is the only one remaining. If you’re curious, here is the list which was finalized in the Middle Ages:
1. Great Pyramid of Giza — a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu built around 2560 BC (that’s over 4,500 years ago and it was the tallest structure in the world for 43 centuries!)
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon — built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II, believed to be 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq, but very little is actually known about the gardens although they are thought to have been built ~600 BC.
3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia — the giant statue of the Greek father of the gods, survived from 450 BC – 462 AD when it was destroyed by a fire.
4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus — a beautiful temple built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature built in 550 BC and destroyed by an arsonist in 356 BC (on the same night Alexander the Great was born. It was rebuilt, but finally destroyed in 401 AD.
5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus — a tomb constructed for the Persian King Maussollos, built in modern day Turkey around 350 BC. It was dismantled by invading crusaders in 1522 AD to build their castle, which still stands today.
6. The Colossus of Rhodes — colossus of Helios the sun-god, erected by the Greeks near the harbor of a Mediterranean Island, built in 282 BC until toppled by an earthquake 226 BC. It was further dismantled and sold in 654 AD. It is possible that this 33 meter high statue inspired the artist who created the Statue of Liberty.
7. The Lighthouse of Alexandria — between 115 – 135 meters high and built around 250 BC, surviving until swept away by earthquakes and construction of a new fort in 1480.
The tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu was simply magnificent. You can see in this image, the blocks of stone are enormous. They are as much as 80 tons each. When Napoleon’s army visited at the turn of the 18th century, his engineers estimated there were enough stones to build a three meter high wall around all of France. In fact, it is nearly perfect in its construction. Its base is a perfect square with a mean error of only 58 mm and 1 minute in angle. Also, the sides point to each or the cardinal directions and interestingly, the side that points north is not to magnetic north, but to true north. The height of the great pyramid was 146.6 meters high, when its polished marble casing was still intact. The exterior of these buildings is spectacular, but the interior was only intended to house the remains of the pharaoh. I toured the inside of the smallest of the three, the Pyramid of Menkaure. It was impressively austere inside, although a fascinating tour.

The builder of the third (and smallest pyramid of the great three) is also thought to have built the Great Sphinx. Although this half man, half lion statue is one of the largest single-stone statues in the world, guess how tall it is?

From the base to the head is 65 feet. However, the part that is visible is only 10-15 feet high (as you can see below). While it was very impressive to know it is so old and carved from a single stone, it was much smaller than I expected. Perhaps because the perspective is often with the sphinx in the extreme foreground and the Great Pyramid in the background, it appears nearly the same height. My misconception was so great that when my guide said, “And here is the Great Sphinx” I replied with, “really?? But, it’s so small…” Hopefully, if you go see it, this will better prepare you to appreciate it. Also, I watched a laser light show on the side of the Sphinx that was most interesting and informative (I highly recommend it).

This perspective gives you a better idea of the relative sizes of the two monuments.

With that, I concluded my grand first tour of Africa. I subsequently returned to Tunisia in 2004, but this was the great awakening of my passion for travel and cultural understanding.
–Jim

Today, Anna and I drove 90 minutes north and toured a little of one of the cultural centers of Germany, Köln (or Cologne in English). Downtown is one of the most famous (if not the most) architectural icons of the country, the Köln Dom (or Cathedral).


Inside is just as amazing.

Construction was begun in 1248, but the cathedral wasn’t finally completed until 1880 (that’s 632 years later!). In fact, for a while, its status had sunk so low it housed horses. However, during the mid-nineteenth century, a massive sum of money was raised to finish the cathedral. It was dedicated by Emperor Wilhelm I and briefly held the title of world’s largest building (until replaced by the Washington Monument in 1884, which you may recall was replaced in turn by the Eiffel Tower in 1889).

We toured the inside as the clergy were setting up for their next mass.


Inside there is also an important reliquary (or a container housing religious artifacts). In this case, it’s known as the Sarcophagus of the Magi, a gilded sarcophagus dating from the 13th century. In fact, the cathedral was built specifically to house these relics. What is inside? Well, it is believed that the remains of the three wise men (of Bethlehem fame) are held by this container. This has fostered pilgrimages to the cathedral. Interestingly, the Christian practice of honoring reliquaries wasn’t begun in the third century.

After we toured the magnificent Köln Dom, we moved next door to the Ludwig Museum (of 20th century art). Köln has over 30 museums, so whatever your interest, there’s probably a museum for it!
While we don’t have any images from the inside (cameras were forbidden), this is a statue outside of it.

Anna and I also strolled across the bridge and along the river.






We loved our little taste of the city and can’t wait to return (fortunately, it’s only a short drive away). So, until the next trip…
–Jim

This year to ring in the New Year, we went with a big group of friends to the historic Hungarian city of Budapest. Lonely Planet calls Budapest the Paris of Central Europe. I certainly agree with that description, there is culture, history, art and spectacular architecture.
The Danube River dissects the city and on one side is Buda with it’s castle district and the other is Pest with shopping and the impressive parliament building.
We began our exploration with a visit to one of the famous thermal baths. This one is in the Hotel Gellért. One of the more popular spots (especially for tourists). It was built in 1918 in an Art Nouveau style.

Here is the outside of the same hotel.

Just outside, there is a hill, over which this statue stands sentinel.

Here is a sampling of the city’s wonderful architecture. First, is one of the city’s main bridges.

Next is the gargantuan parliament building.

St. Mathias Church dominates the skyline on the Buda side of the Danube.


This is King St. Stephen, who was the first king of Hungary and ruled 997 – 1038 AD. He fought against pagan forces to control the country and with his victory assured Christianity’s dominance. He planned to abdicate to his beloved son and spend the rest of his life devoted to the church, but his son died unexpectedly in a hunting accident in 1031. Upon his death in 1038, his people mourned him for three years. He is still revered as the father of the country and his image is on the 10,000 Forint currency (roughly equivalent to $50 in 2006) and his feast is celebrated on August 20th and is one of the largest holidays in Hungary.

The statue of the king stands in front of the Fisherman’s Bastion. It’s a fairly modern building (built between 1895 and 1902).

A view of the parliament building through the arches in Fisherman’s Bastion.


As it grew colder at nightfall a soft blanket of fog fell over the city and made for nebulous images. These next few are from the Buda Castle Quarter. We also toured the Labyrinth beneath the quarter (which is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites).




St Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion.

More sites of the city.


We gathered with a group of people on the bridge to ring in the New Year. If it hadn’t been foggy, we would have seen the large fireworks display. Tons of smaller parties were simultaneously going on in this city of nearly two million people. In fact, they had a lovely Christmas Market and three different concert stages set up (at least that we saw).

Although there were over 20 of us on this trip, we split up into smaller manageable groups. Here are the girls with me and Ken.

Happy New Year!


Sparklers are always fun to play with.

Here we all are walking back through the streets of Budapest.


So, that was our little trip to Hungary. It’s a fascinating country and we both loved our experience there.
So, until the next adventure…
–Jim