Trivia---2

Helicopter Rides

My first helicopter ride was when I literally dropped off the cliff into the Grand Canyon. I was sitting behind the pilot and I won’t repeat what I said! The next helicopter ride was a few years later when I flew a very short distance across Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba.

Unloading was the interesting part of that trip. After the copter landed, a fellow jumped out holding a loaded rifle to stand guard while we quickly got out, ducked under the rotating blades and scurried inside the lodge. Why the drama? Polar bears.

Maunthausen

Maunthausen, meaning mother camp, was the first concentration camp built in Austria. It also was my first visit to a camp. I had to muster up a lot of courage to step inside the gas chamber. It was an emotional experience.

In succeeding European trips I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. The exhibits at Auschwitz made me sick to my stomach. Another year at Dachau, the exhibits seemed less intense, many buildings had been destroyed creating a lot more open field. Such memories are seared into my brain.

A Group Wedding

When we were at the ancient city wall in Xian we learned about an upcoming wedding. It was China’s first mass wedding, something the government was encouraging. Thirty brides and grooms soon filled the area below. Our guide found us a great viewing area. We watched all the activities until the ceremony was well under way. Being in Chinese, we couldn’t understand it but we admired the pretty brides. We saw the featured article in the next day’s paper.

 

A Shinny Hand

A bronze statue of a French gentleman stands on the sidewalk outside the Basilica Manor in Cuba. I’m not sure who he is but it is supposed to be good luck to rub his hand. Obviously lots of people have done so, as his left hand was very shinny.

A Fiasco

We were about to leave the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia when we spotted a beautiful Victorian carriage. Fourteen men stood around scratching their heads discussing how they were going to get the carriage up the wide staircase. Eventually strips of wood arrived to be used under the wheels to ramp the carriage up the steps. The problem was that the wood was pressboard and the weight of the carriage broke the wood each time the carriage moved forward. After a time we decided it would take much more time than we wanted to waste watching this fiasco. We walked away laughing.

Brigadoon

In Scotland, brig means bridge, so Brigadoon means a bridge over the River Doon. The bridge is located close by the Robert Burns birthplace. The picturesque medieval stone bridge was a nice photo op.