Around the World Again

Madrid combines some of the best aspects of urban environments – colorful but tidy; historic yet with an edgy modernism; peaceful parks alongside vibrant neighborhoods; a fun food culture and a laid-back lifestyle (by many standards….)

Its heraldic symbol includes a bear eating from a strawberry tree. This relates in a somewhat puzzling way to a thirteenth century agreement between the town council and the Catholic Church over ownership of land. (Apparently, in olden times strawberries grew on trees instead of bushes.)

Street art, of course….

The most comprehensive neighborhood recycling center we’ve ever seen…..

Most of our time, however, was spent sampling the culinary delights of which the Madrileños are justifiably proud… at local markets and tapas bars.

Our biggest investment on the whole trip was in Spanish olives stuffed with anchovies… tender and flavorful, and emphatically not fishy. Just right with an aperitif or simply popping them out of the can.

Good things come to an end…..the gastronomic tour of Madrid on top of all the other “food-forward” destinations had us waddling back across the Atlantic to Washington, DC and then home.

In addition to stuffed olives, a lot of cheap trinkets came home with us….

Faithful hounds were excited to see us upon our return to East Texas.

A Word or Two About Wonder and Gratitude

Most of us alive today are pretty blasé about flying and air trips….. but think for a moment about what amazing opportunities we have to travel long distances in short time periods…. to see, taste, hear and smell new environments and cultures.

Do you remember your first flight? What thrilling moments – strapping in to the seat, feeling the thrum of the engines – and glued to the window, you watch as the aircraft rises through and above the clouds, as the world as you’d known it slowly recedes until it’s just a point on a landscape.

Here’s a young pilot and poet who captured the wonder of flying in verse…..

High Flight

The poet’s name was John Magee….. he penned this sonnet while serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. In December, 1941 – just over three months after writing the poem – he was killed while flying in a training exercise. He was nineteen years old.

It’s Memorial Day in the US, a time when we honor those who died defending the principles of liberty, democracy and equal rights before the law that we hold dear. Let’s acknowledge and be grateful for the gifts we’ve been given and the freedoms we enjoy while remembering those who gave the last full measure of devotion.

Go in peace.

Cairo is crowded, dusty, colorful, fragrant and romantic. Singular in how it captures the imagination… think of minarets, camels, Cleopatra and Omar Sharif….

A few street scenes…

The Khan el-Khalili market was originally part of a palace complex but evolved into a massive bazaar by the 14th century. It is a living part of the city, encompassing religious sites, schools, charity centers… and of course a jillion stalls selling jewelry, textiles, clothing and trinkets.

Henry is the opposite of a shrewd shopper; he adopts a deliberately naive and open manner which is a magnet for the pushy salesmen (all are men and all are pushy), who are delighted to oversell and overcharge him.

At the end of the day, the amount Henry spends is minuscule compared to the joy all parties experience in the back-and-forth of the deal.

A sunrise trip to the Pyramids allowed us to bypass the visitors who normally mob the site….

Saladin, the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria, constructed the Citadel in the 12th century to defend Cairo against Christian Crusaders.

The complex incorporates the Mohamed Ali Mosque. Visitors to the mosque are required to remove their shoes, or else don protective booties.

Women are not required to cover their heads, but it is preferred as a sign of respect…

The Grand Egyptian Museum opened less than a year ago after decades of planning and construction. It contains relics of Egypt’s ancient civilization, including the treasures from the tomb of King Tut. It is absolutely dazzling.

A quick taste of the modern and ancient Middle East….. next stop is the very European city of Madrid.

I count more than 26 elephants on the plain far below our cabin on an escarpment overlooking the great Rift Valley. They have abundant water, are well-fed and have lots of babies. Watching them lumber peacefully along in harmony with the universe soothes the soul.

Bush planes service the Maasai Mara reserve from Kenya’s capital of Nairobi.

With plenty of rainfall, the Mara is fresh and green… a happy place for its residents.

Oops – did I mention elephant?

This little fella had been rolling in mud…. Some of it dried between his toes so he has an itchy foot!

Time for lunch in the bush…..

Incredible birds…

Big cats, of course….

No visit to this part of Africa is complete without a Maasai performance…..

We showed our support for the conservation efforts here with a purchase or two….

A criminally short stay in this breath-taking place, filled with fascinating animals and kind people.

We will have to return to safari before all is said and done, but in the meantime, we head to a completely different part of Africa…… Cairo.

The Seychelles is a nation of 115 islands with only 110,000 people. It was unpopulated until the mid-1700s; then claimed first by the French, later by the English; and has now been enjoying independence for 50 years.

Just a few images from our short stay in this tropical paradise.

The Seychelles is presumably the only place where you will find the coco de mer variety of palm tree….Quite distinctive!

A catamaran cruise to a nearby island….

And they have turtles…. Similar to those on the Galapagos.

And of course sweet and colorful fruit.

Friendly people and natural beauty…but we must leave very soon for a safari in Kenya!

Udaipur is a bustling city in a lake region (some of the lakes man-made) where an 18th-century maharana established a palace complex and seat of power.

The doors in the palace buildings are very small…..especially those leading to the private apartments of the king and his harem. The guide explained that this is not because people were smaller then…. Instead it is a defensive strategy. Infidels who attempt to invade are forced to bend over as they charge through; the maharana’s soldiers wait on the other side of the door with a scimitar and a basket to lop off the interloper’s heads, one by one!

(In this part of India, the title Maharana means “Great King”; elsewhere in India the term Maharaja is common and means pretty much the same thing.)

A shout-out to the current maharana, who has served in that capacity since his father’s death a year ago….. Although his title is largely symbolic, he leads a large foundation dedicated to community welfare. And has been so successful that he has received nine Guinness World Records for his charitable activities since 2019!

The shores of this lake are very popular with local visitors as well as foreigners….

The Taj Palace hotel was the “summer palace”, built on a rocky outcropping in the middle of the lake.

The most striking impression from our short sojourn in India is the obvious love of color and shiny things reflected in the decor throughout both royal accommodations and public places.

Henna is used for skin decoration…..

Dancers also wear bright colors, with music and movement adding to the spectacle.

A quick and unabashedly sanitized sampling of India – our drives to the airport through city streets showing another whole country filled with small marketplaces, storefronts, public parks, schools, businesses…. lots and lots of inhabitants – and yes, piles of trash, stray dogs and cows, street vendors and many reminders that India has the largest population of any other country in the world, at 1.4 billion people. A rich stew of humanity.

Onward we go to our next destination – the thinly-populated island nation of The Seychelles.

Hoi An – in the outskirts of Da Nang on the coastline – probably used to be a nice sleepy agricultural community. Today, however, due to the beauty of the beaches and its accessibility, it has become quite a magnet for tourists.

Massive resorts and high rises – both complete and under construction – crowd along the beachfront. And lots of “experiences” give the casual traveler a prettified taste of Vietnamese history and culture.

Bike ride through the rice fields….. including a photo op with a fisherman using a traditional hand-thrown net:

Visit to a workshop fashioning sculpture from driftwood…

Jeep ride….

A stop to taste and learn how to prepare the rich Vietnamese coffee, usually consumed with sweetened condensed milk or coconut cream….

A visit to a vegetable farm, where I helped plant some spinach and the farmer showed off his irrigation technique…

And an exclusive street fair providing typical and tasty bites and beverages.

The nature of this type of trip does not really allow an in-depth appreciation for the places visited, but it is a fun way to sample a bit of its culture. The National Geographic experts who accompany the group are a great source of context and history – and the local guides are enthusiastic and can provide some contemporary perspective.

A fast-paced couple of days… and next we are off to Udaipur in India’s Lake District for an even briefer stay!

Sorry for the gap between posts – have had a little problem with WiFi strength and the blog app….

Golden Week in Japan is an accumulation of several public holidays observed over the course of six days. It is a time when mobs of people visit – both foreign and Japanese. Kyoto is a prime destination owing to its history, beauty and cultural significance.

Children’s Day is marked by hanging koinobori (colorful flags that look like koi fish)… these symbolize the wish for health, strength and success. (Until 1948, this holiday was Boys’ Day, but then political correctness dictated a more-inclusive public posture.)

Kyoto has a wide variety of fun and delicious foods, often depicted for the benefit of foreigners with plastic replicas….

Folks in Kyoto have become a little fed up with the tourist trade, as demonstrated by these signs exhorting people to behave properly…..

The Japanese people are very committed to law and order, maybe a national characteristic that they hope will translate effectively for their less-respectful visitors.

Lots of those visitors flock to Nara Park and its temple with a regular Buddha (and an attendant)…

And a more practical Buddha who heals people, but must now be shielded with shower cap and cape from the more aggressive rubbing from his supplicants.

Nara Park is known most famously for its large deer population, who are quite habituated to humans, and have even learned how to beg for treats by bowing in a very Japanese manner…..

Needless to say, the deer have no qualms about approaching people….

Finally, as much as the Japanese love baseball, their number one favorite sport is sumo wrestling….. so much more civilized than other kinds of wrestling, it consists of several preliminary rites, and then a couple of large men are involved in a controlled shoving match.

The game can go to the quickest, the biggest or the wisest….. but always conducted with dignity.

On that note, so ends our brief stay in Kyoto… on next to Vietnam!

A mild winter in East Texas – and a new favorite photo of our little family on a rare cold day, captured on a game camera….

Mindful that it is never too late to reconnect with the people who are important in your life – I had a mini-reunion in California with some cousins, second cousins, and even third cousins!

Shortly after, my cardiologist told me that my congenital heart valve defect had reached the point where a replacement was needed via a non-invasive procedure through the groin. Easy peasy.

Little did I know…..

The valve worked fine, but my heart rhythm was off; my blood pressure and heart rate plummeted, and they brought out the crash cart to keep me going with a defibrillator….

Following an urgent procedure to install a pacemaker and an extra day in the hospital, everything stabilized and I got back to relative normal….. with what feels like 5 pounds of shrapnel in my chest.

The entire medical team was dedicated to getting me back in shape for our next travel adventure – a trip around the world beginning only a week after the valve replacement. I had my doubts….but here we are!

This little brush with mortality made me realize more than ever the philosophy so aptly articulated by that venerable sage, Viggo Mortensen:

Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose their capacity to walk, run, travel, think, and experience life. I realize how important it is to use the time I have.

There is still so much to see, so many people to meet, and so many things to experience. It’s fun and we can!

SOOOO – a frantic few days of packing and preparing the animals and house, and off we went to Seattle.

Our dear friend Margaret was able to join us there from her home in Portland for a couple of days….

We join fellow travelers and the National Geographic experts in Seattle and will take off soon for our first stop – Kyoto, Japan.

More later!