THIS
AND THAT TRIVIA
In
1683 fleeing Turks left behind bags of coffee beans, after their
second attempted invasion. The Viennese soldiers thought they were
fodder for the camels and were about to burn them. However, King Jim
Sobieski gave the beans to one of his officers, George Franz
Kohchetsky. He roasted the beans and opened the first kaffeehaus in
the Vienna. The coffee (black soup) spread rapidly and as they say
the rest is history.
When
escalators were installed in Harrods in 1980 people were skeptical
about riding them.After a little brandy was offered to shoppers,
people slowly started to use the escalators. The brandy wasn’t
offered for very long.
In
New Zealand the Barossa Valley is referred to as a hung valley
because one end of the valley is 450-feet lower than the other end.
It
was a strange but, common sight, to see cows grazing with bobbed
tails in New Zealand. This is common practice as the cows tend to
swat the milker with its tail. Some kind of organism in the cow’s
urine cased illness so the farmers solved the whole problem by
cutting off the tail of their cows.
In
France coffee follows a meal, and you might as well get used to it as
it is nearly impossible to get coffee served with
a meal.
Also
in France City Halls are referred to as hotels which can be confusing
for the
unsuspecting tourist.
In
Costa Rica tiled floor porches are common and a sign of one’s
wealth. A great deal of pride is wrapped up in these lovely tiled
floors and they are always kept clean.
The
only bridges I’ve run into where there are shops on the bridge are
the Realito Bridge in Venice and the Pultney Bridge in Bath, England.
At one time it was a fairly common occurrence.
The
hot air balloon ride in Kenya over the Masai Mara was not my first
balloon ride, but it was an exciting one. We were awakened, in what I
think of as the middle of the night, for the early morning flight.
The balloon rose up into the
sky just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Floating over the Mara
the only noise breaking the incredible silence was the occasional
swoosh of the helium being pumped up into the balloon. The swooshing
noise did not seem to bother the animals below. We floated right over
their heads, so the animals were not dwarfed by height.
With no roads, the support van
was able to follow the balloon to the landing site shortly after the
balloon descended into an open field. In record time a galley
appeared and a delightful champagne brunch, including eggs to order,
was enjoyed. What a delightful morning!
