OLD ZOOS

     My California travel buddy, who I met in the Swiss Alps, was an LA zoo docent, so we visited many zoos in our travels. In return she accommodated me with my floral clocks and botanical gardens. We each learned a lot from the other.

     The oldest zoo in the world, Tiergarten, was built in 1752 at Schonbrunn Palace in Austria, just outside Vienna. It was designed around the Emperor’s breakfast pavilion, so he could enjoy the animals along with his morning chocolate. On a very hot day, after walking about the zoo, we decided to have lunch in the pavilion, now a small restaurant.

     Many animals were gifts from European nobility and diplomats from all over the world. In 1828 the first giraffe and first elephant born in captivity were born at Tiergarten. How exciting that must have been!  Even on a hot afternoon the lions, leopards, and black panthers were active and passed only a few feet away behind heavy glass.

     The zoo went under government control in 1921, but in 1991 again became a private enterprise. Today the zoo is actively involved in the protection of threatened species.

     On another European trip we visited the Budapest zoo on a quiet Sunday afternoon. This zoo dates to 1866. Besides the hundreds of mammals, even more birds and reptiles are residents, plus the complex also includes  a large botanical garden, and includes 69 buildings. The elephant house, modeled after a Turkish Mosque was really beautiful.

     Here I saw some new animals which my zoo docent friend was able to explain and identify for me. Of course all the signs and map were in Hungarian.  A couple of  times we were a bit confused as to where we were so we looked for a young male to seek help. Both times we were just around the corner from where we wanted to be. In Europe look for a teenage boy or young man as they almost always speak English—that tid bit never failed us when traveling.

    At the Edinburgh zoo we were having trouble finding the painted hunting dogs. Eventually we spotted a fellow who we thought was a zoo employee. We asked if was familiar with the zoo layout, and then showed him the map and what we were looking for. He stopped what he was doing and trotted all over the zoo until he found the dogs for us. We double stepped to keep up with him and thanked him for his help. Then he told us he was the insurance inspector doing his annual inspection. Just  another example how we found friendly and helpful people everywhere we traveled.   We spent half a day in each of these zoos and I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting them again.

AMERICA'S ONLY PALACE

                                        Iolani Palace

      I normally don’t post U.S. sites or events, but this one I feel is important.  We lived a decade in Hawaii, in fact the children, for all practical purposes, grew up there.  As we were leaving the islands,  restoration of the only palace in the United States was in progress. Hawaii is a very popular vacation destination and when I get to taking to returnees I almost always get a NO from them in answer to my question, “Did you visit Iolani Palace 

     Many know about the lavish abodes of our early wealthy merchants in Newport and other areas. They certainly could be in the palace category; although rich and in a category of their own, they were not royalty.

     Iolani Palace in what is now downtown Honolulu was the official residence of King Kalakaua from 1882 until his death in 1891. Then his sister, Queen Liliuokalani resided there until 1893 when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown.

     The present palace was started in 1879 and completed in 1882 at a cost of $360.000 and is close to the previous one that termites managed to destroy.

      The Royal family’s living quarters were on the second floor, while the first floor was used for formal functions. The kitchen, storerooms and household  offices were in the basement. The attic provided space for cooling the palace.  In 1883 the coronation of King Kalakaua and his consort Queen Kapiolani was held in the Palace on the King’s 50^th birthday.

      Between 1893-1968 Iolani Palace was used as the capitol for the Republic, the Territory and finally the State of Hawaii.  When the new capitol building was completed in 1969, the palace was vacated and its restoration began.

     On the ground level a beautiful wide staircase leading to the second floor dominates the wide hall that runs the whole length of the  building. Built of Hawaiian woods, the staircase gracefully curves as it approaches the second floor.  The throne room, decorated in crimson and gold was the scene of royal audiences, balls and receptions.

     Across the hall the Blue Room was for informal audiences and small receptions. Large pictures of the Royal family are displayed throughout the Palace.

     The palace is on the city bus route. Parking, if driving, is tight but doable. Individual headphones contain much information and allow one to wander the palace at your own pace, a big improvement to a crowd listening to a history lecture by a docent.

A GHOST STORY

                                       Haunted Hotel

     One day talking to my granddaughter she told me she wasn’t sure how she felt about ghosts, but she  certainly believed in angels. That reminded me of the ghost story at one of the Sydney, Australia hotels where I stayed.

     I found the  story framed on the wall of my room. It explained that the second part of the building had been built of sandstone with Georgian flattened brick arches over the windows. Built the terrace houses were known as Scarlett’s Cottages. Scarlett, a well known lady of the night, lived and died in the area.

     I asked reception for a copy of the story which they happily gave to me and is still in my scrapbook. It stated that Scarlett was Eric’s one true love, but although in a moment of thoughtlessness she declared her love for him, she did not mean it. However, Eric died before learning of Scarlett’s lie.  It is said to this day Eric wanders the halls and rooms of the cottages searching and calling for Scarlett who also had met an untimely and tragic death.  On occasion Eric has appeared in front of surprised hotel staff members questioning them of Scarlett’s whereabouts.

     The 150 year-old hotel was built on the site of Sydney’s first hospital. After the hospital was moved, the terrace cottages were added and the building became a hotel.

     Each evening we would kid around and speculate who might see Eric’s ghost that night. And each morning at breakfast we all told our non-stories and non-sightings, but the gist of it was none of us had any ghost encounters of any kind during our hotel stay.

EMU AIRWAYS

                              A Small Plane

     When I walked into the small airport on Kangaroo Island, Australia all I could see was tarmac with small planes. Immediately I realized we and our backpacks  were going to 
 be weighed  before boarding the plane. It was not my first such experience of being weighed before a flight. Midway was a long 1250 miles over water from Kauai, where the Australian mainland was really pretty much a hop, skip and a jump away, so I could reassure some in our small group  who had never experienced the process of being weighed.

     Looking out the airport window I saw little planes with EMU written on their tails. Turning I heard one of the gals say, “Who would ever name an airline after a flightless bird?” Interesting thought.

     A couple of pilots surveyed our group of 11, divided us in half and led us out to the planes. The biggest and heaviest man in the group was seated in the front co-pilot seat of my plane.  The pilot took our packs and stuffed them in the wing tips. I was happy to see him lock the compartments—not that there was anything of much value in my pack as my camera was in my pocket.

     Once the rest of us were seated and buckled up, I was a bit astounded to watch the plot climb over the wing and through the window to his seat.  Did I really want to take this flight? It would be a lot quicker than the rough ferry crossing but still----.

     Much of the short flight was about the clouds. When the clouds parted I looked down at the water where the waves looked like wiggly little viruses look under a microscope. Once over land the sheep in the pasture looked like golf balls.

     The short flight was a smooth one but I was still happy to be on land where our driver was waiting to take us back to the hotel. Fog still covered Mt Lofty. Our hotel was lovely and we’d had a great day and wonderful time  on a clear day on Kangaroo Island!

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT

                                             A Scary Room

 Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, operated 47-years (1830-1877) as a prison and never was a town. On the way to Port Arthur we rode through rolling hills and farmland passing by Barilla Bay, famous for its oysters. Stopping at the Tasmania Devil Park I saw and learned all about the small, black, rather ugly Tasmanian Devil.

     Port Arthur, located on the isolated Tasman Peninsula, was just as much a natural prison as Alcatraz was in this country. Surrounded by hungry sharks, the peninsula is connected to the mainland only by  100-yard wide Eagleneck Neck. Guarded by chained angry dogs it made escape nearly impossible. All deliveries to the prison were made by boat as the road overland from Hobart, the capitol, was not built until 1893.

     Of the 73,000 English convicts sent to Australia, 12,500 of the worst offenders were sent to Port Arthur. Originally established as a timber settlement there were no permanent buildings for three years. Although the conditions at Port Arthur were brutal, the prison was progressive. All convicts were gainfully employed in one of 47 trades.  Young boys were required to attend school at a time before education was mandatory.

     Whipping punishment in front of the entire prison complement was replaced with solitary confinement.  The small windowless concrete walled room was  totally dark. The approximate  

6 X 6 –foot room left little space even for exercise. Claustrophobic me took my turn entering the room. It wasn’t ten seconds after the door was shut that I was yelling, “Open the door NOW and let me out.”  It wouldn’t take long to go mad, and so many prisoners actually did that a psychiatric building had to be built.

    Today the whole area is peaceful.  The visit was very interesting, but the solitary confinement was dark and scary indeed.  What would those walls say if they could talk?