WONDERFUL SURPRISES

                                Expect the Unexpected

            On a beautiful sunny Sunday morning In Lucerne, Switzerland we took a ferry across Lake Lucerne to Hertinstein, our hike starting point. We enjoyed the scenery of the mountain peaks which surround the lake. The water was calm and mirror clear. After a nice hike we eventually arrived in Weggis, a picturesque little town with a population of 2500. Nestled between the lakeshore and the mountain peaks, flowers were plentiful and gorgeous everywhere, on porches, on windowsills, and in small pocket gardens and parks.

            In all my logic I planned on taking pictures as we’d be walking back to our ferry stop.  It never occurred to me that we were going one way and that we would pick up the ferry at another stop! With this dawning, I told our hiking guide that I was going to forgo lunch and hike back up to the town to take pictures. He gave me the ferry boarding time and I was off double timing it. I got my photos and made the ferry for a leisurely boat ride back to Lucerne.  I enjoyed the picturesque village twice, albeit once hurriedly.

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One evening in Warsaw, Poland when it wasn’t raining we decided to go for a walk. The huge city park was only a block from the hotel. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed our stroll as well as the quiet.

          Heading back to the hotel, I suddenly said, “Jan, wait a minute. What’s going on?”

          Surprised, she said, “It looks like guards marching. There are three of them.”

          We stopped to watch. Unknown to us we had stumbled upon the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

As we continued back to the hotel I said, “How lucky can we get! To watch the changing of the guard.”

What a wonderful surprise.

INTERESTING FOOD and DRINK

                                              New Discoveries

I ate a lot of goulash in Hungary. I like it but the best I had was outside Budapest in Kalocsa. The beef chunks were 'gray meat' that comes from special gray cows. We were told gray cows are a cross between wild and domesticated ones. The meat is tender and very expensive. The goulash was not too different from what my mother called fricasseed beef. The interesting part of this meal was that the goulash was served over cooked barley. It was different but very good.

Heidelberg’s Student Kiss

The University was for boys only. However, they soon discovered that the girls from finishing schools congregated at what now is Heidelberg’s oldest café in the center of the old city. Everyone liked Fridolin Knosel, the good natured pastry cook, who owned the café. The girls accompanied by watchful governesses frequently encountered merry students. Under such conditions innocent flirtations were kept under wraps.

But the young ladies’ secret longings did not escape Mr. Knosel who decided to help them. One day with a big grin, he surprised the girls with a chocolate pastry he called a ‘student kiss’. The governesses did not object to the girls accepting the pastry.

Much time has passed and much has changed. But the ‘student kiss’ is still available from the same café and serves as a reminder of the romantic past and has become part of Heidelberg’s history and image.

An Interesting Iced Coffee

            During the city walking tour of Regensburg, Germany I kept my eye peeled

for Café Prinzess, the oldest coffeehouse in Germany, dating back to 1686. It was a very hot day and we were delighted to find it. We ordered iced coffee. It was a surprise to find chocolate chip ice cream floating in the top of cold coffee.. It resembled a float, was different, but good.

             We struck up a conversation with a pair of older traveling German women seated near us. They were drinking blond angels which was orange juice with ice cream floating in it. They looked good. In fact the ladies ordered a second one before continuing on their journey. It’s always fun to go back a bit in time.

MUST SEE SITES

DON'T MISS THESE SITES

Ha’Penny Bridge

Dublin’s oldest pedestrian bridge crossing the River Liffey falls in the must see category.  A symbol of the city, it was built in 1816 as the Wellington Bridge, but acquired its nickname because of the halfpenny levied on all who crossed the bridge until 1919. It is one of the earliest cast iron bridges of its kind.  A 2001 restoration returned the Victorian Bridge to its original sparkling white. Several bridges cross the river that handle vehicular traffic, but the ha’penny was the only pedestrian bridge across the Liffey until 2000 when the new Millennium Bridge opened. The historic bridge is very pretty and to me much more attractive than the modern Millennium Bridge.

Hungarian Puszta

            At the Puszta horse show outside Budapest Magyar cowboys demonstrated their equestrian skills. The entertainment started with a horse parade, followed by all sorts of exercises that were once practiced for wartime. For example, riders taught their horses to sit or lie down providing a smaller target or protection for the rider during battle. A boy on a small burro provided comical contrast to the magnificent steeds. The highlight of the show was when a cowboy completed a complicated twist to the Hungarian five-horse racing, more commonly known as the "Puszta-fiver". Standing on the rear ends of the back two horses the cowboy controlled eight horses with his reins!  It was amazing.

Munich’s Glockenspiel

We hurried to Maria Square where in the tower of the new City Hall, which looked like a big Gothic church, the glockenspiel plays at 11:00 AM and at noon. We’d missed the 11 AM showing and did not want to miss it again. We joined a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance.

The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at the top crows three times. I expected the rooster to come forward when it crowed, but instead it flapped its wings. The bells needed a little tuning, but it was fun to watch anyway.

            I’ve seen and watched several of these old clocks and always admire the workmanship involved and the ‘performance’.

HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA

 PAPRIKA

One cannot visit Hungary without thinking of paprika, the red gold. Paprika is the traditional image of Hungary. There is a small Paprika Museum in historic downtown Kalocsa that is quite interesting.
A museum docent told us, “Incas and Indians (from India) were the first to use paprika. Ground paprika went from South America to Spain in the 15th century. In colonial times, the pepper was introduced to Africa, China,  Japan and Thailand. The Ottomans took it to Turkey. Pepper oil was used to treat arthritis and rheumatism. The first mention of paprika in Germany is found in 1542, where it was used as a container plant.  In 1932 a Hungarian devised a way to de-vein the peppers and extracted vitamin C. He won a Nobel Prize for this feat in 1937. Actually the vitamin C in peppers far exceeds that in citrus fruits!”

The plants grow well in the hot, dry plains of Hungary, and the cities of Szeged and Kalosca are famous for their paprika. One needs a special license to grow the paprika peppers commercially.

            Sometimes, very hot paprika is called Cayenne pepper, but Cayenne pepper is ground from a slightly different pepper plant. Paprika does not develop any flavor until heated.

Many recipes start by heating the spice in a little oil, then adding the rest of the ingredients. The bright red color adds an attractive garnish but no flavor to many dishes, such as deviled eggs. Paprika is found on all Hungarian restaurant tables beside the salt and pepper.

Paprika farming is very labor intensive. The plants need sun and water, sun and water and more sun and water. Paprika farmers grow seedlings, plant, hoe, plow, manually harvest and process the paprika pods the same way their ancestors did centuries ago, thus preserving not only the traditions of their forefathers, but also the quality of the paprika powder.

            Pepper garlands hung everywhere. Paprika mixed with butter or other spreads (maybe cream cheese would be good)  is also used as a bread spread or meat accompaniment.  

            Paprika is available for sale everywhere in all kinds of packaging, and of course a good amount of it came home with me to share with friends..                         

HELSINKI, FINLAND

        HELSINKI CHURCHES

After a walking tour and a general overview of the Helsinki's city center, we walked up to see the Russian Orthodox Church, Uspenski Ccathedral. Sitting on a hill, it dominates the skyline and is easily seen from the waterfront.  Built in 1868, it is the largest Russian Orthodox Church in Western Europe. The dark red brick exterior supports thirteen gilded cupolas (onion domes). The church is huge and the inside is gorgeous and much less cluttered than the Russian orthodox churches I saw a couple of years before in Russia. Fine icons decorate the inside. Although it hovers over Market Square it also faces the Lutheran Church---just as Russian culture faces Europe.

            From there we headed for the Lutheran Church.  With its prominent green dome and twelve apostles overlooking the harbor, the church is hard to miss. The master-piece of Carl Ludwig Engel was finished in 1854 after 20 years of construction.   The huge staircase leading up to the cathedral is a favorite meeting place for locals. The interior is considered to be plain, but to me it seemed understated elegance with its graceful curved archways decorated with intricate geometric designs.          

This church is the centerpiece of Senate Square. Once a town square with a church and city hall, its buildings were burned in 1808 during the Swedish-Russian war. Senate Square surrounded by pale yellow buildings form a unique and cohesive example of Neo-Classical architecture.  The church was rebuilt using St. Petersburg as a model.  A statue of Czar Alexander II is in the center of the square. Many university buildings are in the immediate area. The University accommodates 36,000 students, 60 percent of whom are female.  Diagonally across the square, the small blue stone building, 1757, with the slanted roof is one of only two pre-Russian-conquest buildings remaining in Helsinki.

SOME FUN FACTS

A LITTLE TRIVIA

When traveling I like to find the little bits of trivia that make life interesting. Often times it just means listening to people. 

Big Bertha

            What kind of a vision did you conjure up? In Glasgow, Scotland Big Bertha, the huge crane, is now a monument to the vast and prosperous ship-building industry that made the city famous.

The last ship built on the Clyde was the QE2 in 1962. During W W II a warship a day rolled off the rails into the River Clyde. The 24-hour a day operation was incredible when 2000 ships hit the seas in a six year period! Before the war most of the ships built were passenger ships including all of the Cunard line ships. At one point the shipbuilding industry employed over 200,000 people. The ships were not only built here, but fully outfitted  as well. To say something was Clyde built meant that it was quality and built to last. Big Bertha is huge and rightfully named and honored.

One potato, two potato

With a 110,000 acres planted in potatoes, it is  PEI’s largest agricultural crop.  Prince Edward Island grows 30 varieties of potatoes in its rich  red soil, supplying spuds to most of Canada. The potatoes are grown for food, seed, and the huge french fry industry. Canadian Farms, a french fry processing plant, is the largest industry employer on the island. It takes 27 tractor loads of potatoes a day to run the plant at full capacity! By the way french fries were introduced to the world at the 1939 World’s Fair.

The tart with the cart

This is one of the affectionate nicknames for the Molly Malone statue, located at the end of Grafton Street opposite Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. The semi-historical-legendary figure, commemorated in the song Cockles and Mussels, always drew a crowd and often a fellow playing the bodhran drum sat near by. The fishmonger-working girl died in one of the cholera epidemics which regularly sweep through Dublin. Locals lovingly call the statue ‘Trollop with the scallops’ or the ‘Dish with the fish’. Of course a must see when in Dublin.

CHINESE GARDEN

             A FABULOUS CHINESE GARDEN

Having visited several oriental gardens, I highly recommend  people to make arrangements for a docent. There is so much symbolism that one will miss if touring a garden on your own.

It is good to remember that you can never see all of a Chinese garden from any one place. There is always something in bloom. The doorsteps on the buildings indicate how low one must bow. The higher the step the more important the person, and the lower the bow should be.

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden, in Vancouver, British Columbia,  built in 1986,was the first classical Chinese garden in the world built outside of China. It is, without a doubt, one of the finest I’ve ever visited. The brochure told us that the governments of Canada and People’s Republic of China collaborated to create the Ming Dynasty-style garden (1368-1644). Local designers and consultants worked with 52 artisans from Suzhou, the Garden City of China. Four of the 52 workers were cooks.

The docent we met in the formal/reception area  told us, “This garden covers only 1/3 acre here in the busy city, on the edge of Chinatown. All the materials—rocks, wood, lanterns--were shipped from China in 1000 crates. There are no nails or screws used anywhere in the garden. Since this is the first Chinese garden built in a 100 years, it was a training process for the workers. Vegetation could not be brought into Canada so were bought locally..

The scholar’s garden would be a private garden. Scholars were civil servants who were required to take and pass an exam. Scholars worked for the Imperial family and often were sent to distant areas. They would retire after a few years, return home to their family and create gardens to bring nature close to them. Gardens were small, condensed areas, but various methods give the illusion of being much larger.

There are Imperial gardens, such as those at the Summer Palace in China, and public gardens that are near temples.Chinese gardens encompass the use of vegetation, rock, water, and architecture. A surrounding wall is intended to keep the outside out. Rock and water are the center of all gardens.

Our docent told us, “The formal area is always first with buildings on a north-south axis. Water runs on an east-west axis. All gardens involve the five senses---sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste (in the form of tea).”

The formal area of this garden used camphor wood in the ceiling and beams. Even with 15 layers of lacquer  the aroma of the aromatic wood was present.

Perhaps the Chinese were the first recyclers, as they used roof tiles as edging, in stepping stones and broken pieces of rice bowls as the white in rock floor designs.

The docent explained, “These leak windows allow the outside to leak through. Each one has a different geometric design. Plants are not clustered, as we do in many of our gardens, but separated to be fully appreciated and enjoyed.  Camellias,  the symbol of spring, are the first flowers to bloom. Banana represents learning and is found in all gardens. Bamboo represents strength, able to bend without breaking.  Pine represents strength. The flowering plum represents rebirth and purity. Bats mean good fortune.

Standing in one of the rock ‘patios’, pointing out the floor design, she concluded, “Square represents the earth and circles represent heaven. Notice how the rather feminine designs have slowly changed to more masculine designs in these rock patios as we’ve walked through the garden”

The visit to this fabulous garden was one of the highlights of our stay in Vancouver.  

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

                A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE GALAPAGOS

Once upon a time anyone could sail into the Galapagos, drop anchor, and wander at will. Fortunately for the ecosystem, no one can do that any more. Ecuador has very tight control over the islands. Everyone wishing to visit the islands must check in at Santa Cruz Island, register, pay his fees, and hire a guide for the duration of his stay. The guide sails on the boat and informs the visitor where he may and may not go

Only so many people and so many boats are allowed in the island waters at any one time. All boats have a guide for every fifteen passengers.  Most of the boats are small accommodating between 8-20 passengers.

There only are three large boats with a limit of 60 passengers. All the guides are trained at the Darwin Research Center on the island of Santa Cruz. All life is protected and habitats and nesting areas are off limits.

We are familiar with the word dinghy or zodiac, but in much of the world such a small boat is known as a panga.  With the boat often moving with the wave action, loading the pangas was often a challenge, but the crew was always there to lend a firm helping hand.

It is a 600-mile flight from Quito, Ecuador to Baltra Island in the Galapagos Islands. Baltra has the only runway and the airport is small, open air and as quaint as the Honolulu airport was in the 1950s. At the time of our visit the park fee was $80 that could be paid in either US dollars or Ecuadorian sucre. One dollar equaled 1800 sucre so you can imagine the fist full of sucre I had to pay our $160 fee. I just handed it to the officer and with a smile said, “You can count it.” He did and we were on our way outside.

Once outside, an old school bus transported us to the harbor where all the boats waited new visitors. We loaded a panga and ferried out to our luxury yacht, Reina Sylvia.

There is much to tell about this awesome vacation, its animals and people, but another day.  

A VIENNA EXPERIENCE

                                      OPIUM ICE CREAM

One evening on my third visit to Vienna, my traveling buddy and I finished a great pizza, and as we were walking outside she said, “Wouldn’t ice cream just top off that great meal?”

“While I awaited your arrival I scouted the neighborhood and I’m sure there is an ice cream kiosk around the corner about half way down the  block on the way back to the hotel.”

She followed my lead and as we turned the corner we could see the queue in front of the kiosk. We joined the queue, and when it was our turn I realized the young man understood no English. After several failed attempts to learn the flavor of the ice cream I was eying, I just opted for what looked like maybe chocolate chip but with micro chips. As we walked away, a young man standing behind us who had overheard my attempts to learn the flavor started talking to us. “That is opium ice cream you are eating,” he said.

            “What,” We chorused.

            “You know from the poppy, like they grow in Afghanistan.”

He repeated this twice and finally the light went on in my head as I said, “Oh,. You mean poppy seed.” Sure enough, that is what it was!

The young man continued on his way.  As he disappeared around the corner I said, “I wonder since that young fellow understood and spoke English why he didn’t come to my rescue when I was inquiring about the flavor.” 

My friend giggled saying,, “Now you can go home and tell everyone you ate opium ice cream in Vienna!”

TID BITS

SOME GOOD AND SOME ANNOYING

Pesky Hawkers are always annoying. Our first day in China set the tone for what was to come at nearly every tourist attraction.

In Beijing, it was very hot and humid but clear, and I was beginning to think I had taken the Texas heat with me. There were a lot of people about, but Tienanmen  Square was not a mob scene. This is where we experienced our introduction to really pesky, in-your-face hawkers.  They were relentless following one around, and never taking no for an answer. The price of whatever they were selling kept getting lower and lower, and eventually became a good buy if the article interested you.

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We were just finishing a city tour the first time I was in Auckland, New Zealand when I asked the driver, “Is there a floral clock in the city?”

He answered, “Yes, there is a lovely one in the park. Would you like me to take your there?”

 When we arrived he let us out to wander, take pictures and enjoy the area. I was a happy camper as I have been fascinated with floral clocks ever since I saw my first on in Niagara Falls in 1965.

I thanked this kind kiwi profusely for taking the time and going out of his way to accommodate a stranger to his city.

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QVB is short for Queen Victoria Building, a beautiful sand-stone structure, built in 1893. It occupies a whole city block in Sydney, Australia. The building has been restored and now houses 150 specialty shops. The tile on each of the three floors is different. Stain glass windows tower above the beautiful large marble stairways. A large clock dangles from the ceiling in the atrium in the center of the building. The basement level, which is under the street, is full of eateries.

This is a most unusual and beautiful building.

CEILING BOSSES

FASCINATING OBJECTS

            When I travel I’m a pretty unusual tourist. In fact I don’t think of myself as a tourist but as a visitor to another place. I’m often off the beaten track and am always looking for something different and unusual. While others are photographing the popular tourist attractions I’m looking at manhole covers or unique trashcans, or something else that is different. I could probably do a whole article on any of the previous mentioned if I went through my scrapbooks and pulled the pictures.

            OK, so now to today’s topic. What in the world is a ceiling boss and where would I find one?   I spotted my first ceiling boss in a church foyer ceiling in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, England. I was intrigued, and had to ask what the handsome wooden designs I was looking at were.

            I was told, “A boss is an ornament, often of carved wood, but can be plaster, that overlays the joints of wood or plaster beams on decorative ceilings. They are quite common in Gothic architecture.”

            Of course I had seen them in the many Gothic churches I’d been in. I just thought they were part of the architecture and never gave them a second thought.

After finding the ones in the Cotswolds, I looked for them and found many more, but, except for the gothic churches, I have never seen them anywhere else. I’ve never noticed them in our old Victorian or antebellum homes, but I also admit I’ve not specifically looked for them either.

            I wanted to buy one so I started looking for them everywhere I went. They are not easy to find. I finally found one in a church gift shop, and a second one in another gift shop. They hang on my hall wall with my collection of photos and paintings of famous churches I’ve visited. The bosses often provoke questions and I have great fun explaining about them.

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

SCARY THOUGHT

            Tasmania, Australia’s island state, is picturesque with a good deal of the island inaccessible because of rich forest. On the way to Port Arthur we rode over rolling hills and farmland. We passed Barilla Bay, famous for its oysters, and stopped to visit the Tasmanian Devil Park to learn all about that unique animal.

Port Arthur was not a town at all but a prison from the time of its settlement in 1830, until its closing in 1877. It operated as a prison for 47 years.

Original punishment was whipping with a cat ‘o nine tails—nine leather straps, each knotted nine times was dipped in salt water before striking the offender. Punishment was carried out in front of all other prisoners. This punishment was abolished in 1849 in favor of solitary confinement.

Taken to a separate building the prisoner was placed in a small totally dark room (no windows) for 72 hours where guards would then play mind games. Fed only once in 24 hours, sometimes the guards would bring a meal just before midnight, then an hour or so later bring the next day’s meal. Prisoners totally lost track of time and became disoriented. In 1867 an asylum was built, and when the prison closed in 1877 the asylum housed 100 prisoners. Charles Dickens visited Port Arthur for research material before writing Oliver Twist.

   As we walked the grounds, we found the isolation room. Of course  I had to check it out. I entered the room leaving Jan outside to open the door when I yelled. When I was inside she turned off the light.  I don’t think I made it even a full minute. If you’ve ever been in a cave when the lights were turned out you know what total darkness is like and as a prisoner there would be no end.

I stepped out of the room saying, “Oh that is awful. I’d go insane real fast! I'd rather take the beating.”

            Before leaving Port Arthur we took a short boat ride out to the Isle of the Dead. All 1769 prisoners who died are buried on the low south side of the island, often in common graves, and. 180 free settlers are buried on the top northern side of the island. Headstones were not permitted until 1852, and prison stonemasons often cut head stones for the settler graves.

            Following  closure of the prison, buildings were sold or gutted by fire. In 1884 in an effort to remove the ‘convict stain’ the name was changed to Carnarvon. The name Port Arthur was resumed in 1927. The National Parks and Wildlife Service acquired the site in 1970. The Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, established in 1987, now manages and maintains the site.