Last Days on Our Own

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Our apartment in Lincoln was located just outside the old city that surrounded the Lincoln Cathedral.  We had to walk through a stone arch that was hundreds of years old to get to this part of Lincoln.

Lincoln (not Nebraska)

Regular readers of our blog know that we love visiting the grand cathedrals throughout Europe. Each is different, yet all are exceedingly impressive. Lincoln Cathedral was no exception. The outside of the Cathedral was more ornate then the other English cathedrals we have visited. Additionally, because local limestone was used in the construction there was a yellowish tint to the building unlike the somber gray of most other cathedrals we have seen.

Lincoln Cathedral

The inside was a bit more austere then others but still awe inspiring. All of these cathedrals are built in the shape of the cross with the congregation sitting in the lower part of the cross and the alter and places for the celebrants in the upper part of the cross. In English cathedrals the area directly in front of the alter is called the choir, probably because it is where the choir sits. The choir is very ornate with several rows of pews facing each other across an open aisle leading to the altar. This is also where the priests who are conducting the service sit.  The choir in other cathedrals partially blocks the congregations view of the altar. In Lincoln Cathedral it completely blocks the view. There is a pulpit suspended from one of the columns in the area where the congregation sits. We assume a priest comes down from the choir and climbs the few steps up to the pulpit to deliver the sermon. There were two large movie screens in the congregation that we again assume allows the congregation to see what is going on up front. A bit strange in our minds. These cathedrals also have small chapels, usually located in the cross piece of the cross and also behind the altar. In the Lincoln Cathedral the chapel behind the altar had been recently remodeled with very contemporary furnishings. These furnishings were in stark contrast to the rest of the Cathedral but no less beautiful. In the middle of the last century the Lincoln diocese was the largest in England, hence, the Bishop of the Lincoln Cathedral was a very powerful and rich figure.  Accordingly, his Palace was also impressive. Part of the palace remains as offices for officials of the diocese. The rest of the palace is basically ruins. This is because centuries ago an earthquake partially destroyed the Cathedral and stones were used from the palace to rebuild the damaged parts of the Cathedral. There was an original tower still standing that had two rooms. Tim climbed the circular stairway that the Bishop undoubtedly used to reach these rooms. Because of the heights of the ceilings, these rooms were probably on what we would consider the 3rd and 5th floors of the tower.  Once back down, Tim offered a silent "thanks" to the inventor of the elevator. We spent the rest of the day exploring the varied mix of shops, having a pub lunch and going back to the apartment to read and nap.

Modern chapel in Lincoln Cathedral

Our original destination for Tuesday had been Peterborough with the primary attraction being Burghley House, one of the largest Elizabethan houses remaining in England.  Turns out this house was not located in Peterborough, but in Stamford, about 10 miles south of Peterborough.  Again, poor research on Tim's part. While in Lincoln, Lynda spent time on the internet arranging another Airbnb apartment for us near Peterborough. The best she was able to come up with was about 20 miles south of Peterborough in a village called Buckden. Needless to say, we never made it to Peterborough. Our hosts at our apartment told us we had not missed a thing by skipping Peterborough. Stamford was another wonderful surprise. While Lynda communicated with our Buckden hosts they suggested we stop at the George Hotel in Stamford for lunch. This hotel is almost a thousand years old and has hosted two queens amongst other celebrities. We had lunch in the cozy bar and then explored some of the other public rooms. It was all very impressive. After lunch we crossed  the street to visit the Mr. and Mrs. Clark Art Gallery. There was a sign over the door that said David Hockney, the name of a famous contemporary British artist. When we entered we were greeted by Mrs. Clark who explained to us that all of the art in the small gallery were either original pieces or prints of work by David Hockney. It took us only about 15 minutes to view all of the works, 15 minutes that we enjoyed.  Before leaving, Tim asked the owners how a gallery with original work by such a famous artist ended up in Stamford. Mr. Clark explained that he had started collecting Hockney prints 10 or 15 years ago which eventually resulted in opening the gallery. They were in Stamford because their children were in various schools in the area and they liked Stamford. Next door to the gallery was an interior design store that specialized in modern Italian design. We spent 15 or 20 minutes in this shop oohing and aahing over several different pieces that we would have loved to have in our house until we looked at the price tag.

The Burghley House was as grand as advertised. It was built in the 1500's by William Cecil, the first Marquess of Exeter. He was Secretary of State and then High Treasurer to the Queen. He felt he had to build a house suitable to host Her Royal Highness, thus Burghley House. The house is still owned by the family of William Cecil. In the early 1900's the 9th Earl of Exeter tried to sell the House to the National Trust. When those negotiations fell through, he set up a trust that would allow the House to stay in the family and provide money to maintain it. Previous to setting up this trust, the family had been forced to sell a lot of the original artwork accumulated over 500 years in order to maintain the house and pay the substantial taxes. This scheme worked. Eventually they also opened the house to the public (for an admission charge, of course). The present owners, the Marquesses of Exeter and her husband, still live in the house with their 4 children. Of more interest, particularly to Lynda, were the gardens which were designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. He is one of the most famous of a long line of famous British garden designers.

From Burghley House we drove to Buckden and checked in to our apartment. Buckden is a small village about 20 miles west of Cambridge. After a leisurely Wednesday morning, we left for Cambridge. As is our wont, actually more Lynda's want then Tim's, rather then the most direct route to Cambridge we took back roads. We drove through charming villages, finding a nice pub for lunch.  Lynda had a cheddar cheese and pear toastie, and Tim had a pulled ham hock, Emmental cheese, and mango chutney toastie. They were as delicious as they sound. Shortly after lunch we were surprised to come upon the Cambridge American Cemetery. We stopped briefly. As with all U.S. Military Cemeteries, the Cambridge Cemetery was tastefully done and a fitting tribute to those who have died in service to our country.

In Cambridge we were headed to the Cambridge University Botanical Gardens. To get there we took a slight detour through the village of Grantchester. Those of you who watch Masterpiece Theater on PBS will recognize Grantchester as the name of a wonderful series that the network has run. We are going to have to watch an episode when we get home to see if the series was actually filmed in the village. When we got into Cambridge we encountered horrific traffic including almost as many bicycles as motor vehicles. We also were unable to find anyplace to park at the Garden. There was no dedicated car park. We decided to give up on the Botanical Garden and fight the traffic leaving Cambridge and return to our apartment.

Lovely English village

Tomorrow morning we drive into London, return our rental car, check in to our apartment and prepare for the arrival of Jeff, Heather, Cole and Kelsey on Friday morning. Our next blog posting will probably come at the end of the weekend. Until then, cheers.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Sunday, September 30, 2018

We'll let you guess where we are now located!

When we last blogged we were headed to Gullane, Scotland where Tim hoped to play golf.  Gullane is located about 30 miles east of Edinburgh on the south shore of the Firth of Forth.  As the crow flies Gullane is directly south of St. Andrews.  Tim did, in fact, play at the Gullane Golf Club, the host of the Scottish Open on occasion and often serves as a qualifying  course for the British Open.  Tim once again thoroughly enjoyed experiencing golf in Scotland, as the game was invented.  After his round Tim picked up Lynda and we stopped on the outskirts of Gullane at the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, more commonly known as Muirfield, a part of the rota of golf courses that host the British Open.  As the name would suggest, this is a rather posh club.  Tim did walk out and take of couple of quick pictures of the course but made no attempt to find the pro shop in hopes of buying a shirt.

Making a hasty retreat from the HCEG, we drove east towards the wonderfully named town of Berwick-upon-Tweed.  The villages and towns in the UK have such inventive names.  Lynda still chuckles over the name of the village of Cockbridge that we drove through.  The drive along the coast on Friday morning gave us stunning views of the North Sea.  We stopped at one point to take pictures of a huge rock island that jutted out of the sea not far off of the coast.  A lighthouse had improbably been built on the side of this rock.  Our destination for the night was Newcastle-upon-Tyne. (In case you haven't figured it out, Tweed and Tyne are rivers.)  We found a lovely inn just outside of Newcastle called The Snowy Owl where we had a large, comfortable room, and enjoyed dinner in a very nice pub that was part of the inn.  This was the kind of accommodation travelers a hundred years ago would have stayed in.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne was a nice surprise.  We planned this itinerary with stops in cities we have known about in our visits to the UK but had never visited.  Just like Forrest Gump we don't know what we will get.  Newcastle was good.  As you may have already seen on Facebook, a pedestrian bridge was built across the Tyne to commemorate the millennium.  It is a beautiful, contemporary structure.  We discovered purely by accident that the bridge moves in order for boat traffic to pass under it. Everyday at noon the bridge is closed to pedestrian traffic and it swings up even if there is no boat traffic.  We watched this happen from the 5th floor of the Baltic Museum of Contemporary Art that overlooks the bridge and has an observation deck for this purpose.

A friendly couple from Newcastle explained everything about the bridge. Two bits of information you might enjoy. 1. The bridge itself was built off site. It was then moved by crane up the river and placed into hinges that it turns on.  Both sides of the river were lined with spectators watching to see if the bridge would actually fit as there were literally just of few inches of clearance on each side of the river. A huge cheer went up from the crowd when the bridge fit perfectly in place. 2. There is an older woman who hosts family and friends and always brings them to watch the bridge move at noon. However, she does not tell them that it always goes up and down at noon. She asks them if they would like to see the bridge do its thing and says "I'll go see if they will move the bridge for you".  Cheeky woman.  We also enjoyed walking  Grey Street, named after Sir Earl Grey of tea fame.  There is a statue of him at the top of the street.  The street was alive with people and we enjoyed window shopping and observing the wide selection of restaurants and bars.

Leaving Newcastle, we stopped just outside of the city at the site of "The Angel of the North".  This is a huge, 65 feet tall with a wingspan of 175 feet, metal sculpture that stands on a hill overlooking  the major road into Newcastle.  It serves as a welcome to the north of England and also commemorates the importance of the coal mining industry to the economic health of the area.

The Angel of the North

We drove on from Newcastle towards our destination for the night, Scarborough. (!) As we neared Scarborough we saw the ruins of a castle on a high cliff overlooking the North Sea.  There is never a ruin we won't take time to see so we exited the main road  and descended into the town below the ruin.  This turned out to be Whitby, situated on a small inlet off of the sea.  It was a picturesque town, so after getting close up pictures of what turned out to be a ruined priory, not a castle, we decided to see if we could find accommodations in Whitby.  The city centre was abuzz with people. Tim went into a hotel on the harbor but discovered there were no rooms and was told there probably were no rooms anywhere in Whitby.  A 60's music festival was taking place.  This was another of the pleasant surprises we get when traveling. It was a disappointment not finding a room for the night.  So it was on to Scarborough.

Tim was responsible for Scarborough being on the itinerary.  With strains of Simon and Garfunkel running  through his head, he pictured a bucolic town with a picture perfect market (fair).  His quick research revealed an attraction called the Scarborough Fair Collection.  Viola!  Except further research after arriving showed the Collection to be a collection of antique vehicles, calliopes, and such.  Also, there was nothing bucolic about Scarborough at all.  It was a decidedly down on its luck town that made up for it by not being particularly attractive. Tim may not be allowed to plan the itinerary again.

Seizure

In the spirit of full disclosure, this blog entry was started in Scarborough but is being finished in Lincoln.  We left Scarborough this morning, Sunday, and drove to the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden southwest of York.  We had discovered this park on a previous trip and loved it so decided to return.  Most of the sculptures are created to be displayed outdoors.  We saw 6 pieces by Joan Miro that we enjoyed because Miro has always been a favorite of ours.  We also went inside a work called "seizure".  The artist had taken a room from a house that was to be torn down, removed all furnishings except the toilet fixtures, sealed the room and pumped it full of a chemical solution that was almost at the boiling point.  When the solution had cooled to room temperature, he pumped the solution out of the room and created a door size opening to the room.  As the solution cooled it had formed crystals on all the surfaces.  The crystals were a vivid blue and created quite a striking effect in the room.  A docent tried to explain to us why the work was called "seizure" but she was not very successful.

From the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden we drove to Lincoln.  Lynda got online this morning in Scarborough and arranged an Airbnb apartment for us to stay in here in Lincoln. Unless you stay in high end, modern hotels, accommodations in England tend to be cramped for space.  We are renting this apartment for two nights so we can spread out and relax for a couple of days.  We do plan to explore the area but maybe at a more leisurely pace.  We will be back in a couple of days.

Cheers.

Thoughts from the navigator.  Scarborough had an attractive area on the water front - it reminded me of Bath - the curved road with tall houses lining the street going up hill along the water.  Besides the sculpture garden the highlight of the day for me was finding the perfect spot for a Sunday joint....not the kind you smoke!  The Red Lion Pub had both beef and pork loin roasts today - with roasted potatoes, seasonal veg, Yorkshire pie and stuffing.  To top that off my beef I had Banoffee pie - my favorite.  Very rich with carmel but delicious.

The Scottish Highlands

Monday, September 24, 2018

Loch Lomand (Loch is a Gaelic word meaning lake) is a long, narrow lake just to the northwest of Glasgow.  Sunday, we had not traveled far on the western shore of the lake when we found a lovely Inn in which to spend the night.  We were tired and it was getting dark and we wanted to see Loch Lomand in the daylight when we were reasonably fresh.  The road we traversed on Monday wound around the edges of the lake, giving us constant, spectacular views of the lush and majestic scenery.  We stopped along the way when we saw a sign for the Falls of Falloch.  The parking lot was just off of the road but was surrounded by dense foliage.  A five minute walk  brought us to the falls.  The adjoining picture really does not do justice to what we saw.  Loch Lomand is about 22 miles long so we spent almost a hour driving along the shore of the lake.

Falls of Falloch

Leaving Loch Lomand, we drove into, or more accurately, up into the Scottish Highlands.  The difference in scenery was stunning.  The highlands is a region of rugged mountains barren of any but the most hearty of foliage.  There were no trees, few roads and little sign of civilization except for the moderate traffic on the highway. And yet there was a beauty to this region that we can't really explain.  Fort William was a large, by Scotland standards city situated on the western coast of Scotland where we stopped for a break.  There was nothing particular important to report about Fort William other then it seemed to be a thriving community in the middle of nowhere.

Our destination for the day was Inverness, almost to the tip of central northern Scotland.  Our route took us along the entire 23 mile length of Loch Ness. Like most of the lakes in this region, including Loch Lomand, the lake is long and narrow, probably no more then a quarter to a half mile wide.  Loch Ness, of course, is infamous as the home of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. It was in the early 1930's when someone produced a doctored picture supposedly showing the monster.  Could this be the first example of a photoshopped picture?  Over the years there have been many attempts to verify the existence of Nessie with no success. The first sighting was supposedly in the 6th century!   The locals believe the legend of the monster came into being as the result of someone having too much to drink seeing a particularly large eel in the lake.  Nevertheless, there is a thriving cottage industry surround this legend including a place called Nessieland.  We waved as we drove by.

Our interest in Inverness was based on the Battle of Culloden that took place in 1746 about 5 miles outside of Inverness. Jilayne put us onto a television program on Straz network called "Outlander" based on a series of books by the same name.  Hopefully some of you are familiar with this show.  It is a fictionalized story of actual events that took place in the late 1600's and early 1700's in Scotland.  A brief history lesson.  During this time period the Stuarts sat on the English throne as King or Queen.  At some point they were no longer able to produce an heir to the throne so the House of Hanover replaced the Stuarts on the throne. There was a major philosophical difference between the two houses.  The Stuarts believed in the absolute soveirenty of the King in ruling England.  The Hanovers favored a more balanced power between the King and Parliament. There were also religious overtones to this that we will not try to explain. One of the Stuarts, Prince Charles, known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was exiled in Paris but was determined to take what he thought was his rightful place on the throne.  His supporters were known as Jacobites.  The Jacobites were mostly Scottish. Bonnie Prince Charlie secreted himself into Scotland, organized the Jacobites into an army and began to march towards London.  They got within a few days march of London when their commanders, except the prince, chickened out.  The British came after them some time later and they met at Culloden.  The hour long Battle of Culloden in April of 1746 proved to be the end of Jacobite uprising.  The Culloden Battlefield is a Scottish National Trust site with an excellent visitors center explaining all the lead up to the Battle.  The grounds around the visitors center where the battle actually took place is pretty much a large open field. However, excavations still occasionally turn up artifacts from the battle.  Having been to Culloden we are now anxious to go home and rewatch the first several seasons of "Outlander" now that we have a better understanding of what was going on at the time.

Tuesday morning we were a bit lazy, taking our time getting started.  We are on vacation after all. We did a bit of shopping in Inverness before hitting the road again. We drove southeast out of Inverness heading towards Dundee.  This took us through the Highlands again which were even more foreboding because the weather was lousy;  temperatures in the mid 40's, overcast with occasional rain showers, and 30 to 40 mile an hour winds.  Our only company were the sheep we saw the whole way through the mountains. 

Scottish Highlands

At one point on the journey we stopped at an attraction called "the Watchers" which was nothing more then 5 semi-enclosed chair like structures where one could sit and look out on the bleak landscape.  The wind was so fierce and bitterly cold that we quickly returned to the warmth of our car.

Lynda Watching

The Watchers

Our journey down and out of the Highlands took us by Balmoral Castle, one of the Queen's country homes.  There are lovely pine forests surrounding the castle so we were unable to see it. But it is in a picturesque part of Scotland.  We eventually arrived in Dundee on the eastern coast.  Our reason for visiting was to go to the recently opened Victoria and Albert Museum of Design.  Before leaving home we had made the decision to not book any accomodations except for when Jeff and family arrived.  We figured we would have no trouble finding places to stay and we did not want to be locked into being at a certain place at a certain time.  This plan didn't work out too well.  It did not help that we had no guide books with us that listed accomodations, plus we were unable to access the internet on our phones.  Unable to find anything to our satisfaction in Dundee we drove on to St. Andrews, the next stop on our itinerary.  (Anybody surprised?)  We figured we had a better chance of finding someplace to stay in St. Andrews and it was only 13 miles back to Dundee to see the V&A museum.  This plan worked.

Wednesday morning, Tim was up early and went into St. Andrews hoping to be able to join up with a twosome or threesome to play golf at the Old Course, considered the birthplace of golf, as well as one of the great golf courses in the entire world.  Unfortunately, at 7:30 he would have been 18th on the waiting list.  The starter recommended that Thursday would probably be a better day to get on the course. With no golf for Tim, we spent the morning exploring St. Andrews, seeing the ruins of the old Cathedral, walking about the University of St. Andrews and window shopping in the interesting mix of shops in the town.

In the afternoon we drove to Dundee to visit the Dundee V&A.  The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is one of the great museums in the world.  The building design is spectacular and very contemporary.  It is a three story tall building that is shaped much like a large boat.  The interior when you first walk in is open from the ground floor to the roof.  It too is awe inspiring.  Unfortunately, the building may be of more interest then the exhibits.  There were only two exhibit halls, both on the third level. One that we think is a permanent exhibit features Scottish design through the years.  Hence the name of the museum. The displays featured design from a wide range of products, from fashion to the arts and industry. It was an interesting exhibit.  There was also a temporary exhibit about the history of the design of cruise ships.  This exhibit required a ticket. We decided not to visit this exhibit.  The last order of the day was very mundane.  We found a laundromat so that we would continue to have clean under garments to wear.

As we are finishing this post it is Thursday morning.  Tim has just returned from another unsuccessful attempt to get on the Old Course.  The plan now is to check out of our hotel and drive around Edinburgh, heading east to a village called Gullane where Tim knows of a course that is highly thought of that might be easier to get on. We will keep you posted.

Greetings from Bonnie Scotland

Sunday, September 24, 2018

We started this blog in December, 2008 as a way to communicate with all of our family and friends during our "Around the World" adventure. It was popular enough that many of you asked us to continue it on our following trips.  We have found over the last few years that it is not only a vehicle for entertaining vicarious travelers but also has become a travel diary for us.  We still get great joy in going back and rereading portions of the blog.  Remember - if you think we are being a bit verbose, keep in mind it is a blog for us as much as you.

 Thursday evening,  September 20th, we took a 10:34 p.m. flight from Detroit to London, landing Friday morning at 10:30, forty minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival.  Thank you Delta.  We also found British passport control to be considerable more efficient then in the past.  Consequently, we were in our rental car on our way to Liverpool at noon.  Unfortunately, traffic was a nightmare all the way to our destination.  We ended up in a hotel just outside of Preston, England which is located about 20 miles northeast of Liverpool.  It was an exhausting day.

Our first stop on Friday was Blackpool, a small town on the west coast of England about 15 miles north of Liverpool.  It is famous in England as a family resort town that caters to middle class blue collar families.  A poor man's Cedar Point if you will.  Within one block you will find Ripley's Believe It or Not next to a Fish and Chip shop, next to 2 souvenir shops, next to another Fish and Chips Shop, next to Madam Tussuad's,  next to a gypsy fortune teller, next another Fish and Chip Shop.  We think you get the picture.  The whole lot of it is across the road from the beach so when you tire of the stores you can soak up the sun.  The garish lighting and decoration is in direct contrast to what we would consider proper, dignified Britain.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in Blackpool, were glad we had stopped, and have no plans to ever return.  Just by happenstance (ha) on the way to Blackpool we stopped by the Royal Lytham and St. Anne's Golf Club so Tim could see one of the courses he arranged this trip around.

Horseradish Carriage in Blackpool

Our destination for Saturday was Prestwick, Scotland, on the west Scotland coast.  To get to Prestwick we chose a route that took us through the Lake District of northern England.  It earns its nickname by being the location of a number of lakes with Lake Windermere being the largest.  The hilly scenery around the Lake District attracts a large number of outdoor enthusiasts, not only for the boating but also for the spectacular hiking that is available.  We drove through several beautiful towns on Lake Windermere that contained lovely hotels, inns, and B and B's as well as wonderful shopping.  The Lake District was in stark contrast to Blackpool.

Our last stop of the day was rather sombre.  Lockerbie, Scotland is where Pan Am flight 103 crashed in 1988, as the result of a terrorist bomb being exploded on the plane. We had done no research ahead of this trip but thought there might be some sort of memorial to this horrific attack.  What we found was the "Garden of Remembrance" located towards the back of a cemetery located just outside of Lockerbie.  It was an understated but appropriately dignified memorial to the 288 people who lost their lives in this tragedy.

We spent Saturday night at the Adamton Country House Hotel just outside of Prestwick.  Parts of the Adamton House were quite nice and were probably very impressive once upon a time but the House is now a tired shadow of its former grandeur.  We took a trip into Troon for a lovely dinner on the harbor - and just happened by Royal Troon - you guessed it...another famous golf course.

The reason for going to Prestwick was so Tim could play golf at the Prestwick Golf Club.  Prestwick, founded in 1851, was the site of the first ten British Open Golf Championships, now simply called "The Open".  It no longer hosts major golf tournaments because there is not room for all of the ancillary components that surround a major modern golf tournament, i.e. Corporate sponsor tents, merchandise tents, food concessions, temporary press and media facilities, etc.  However, it still is a challenging course to golfers of all abilities.  Tim's caddy remarked that he would love to see the top pro's play Prestwick. He said that they would not be able to bully the course with their monstrous length.  It is a links style course right on the ocean that looks nothing like the typical American golf course. While Tim had a great time and loved experiencing this Scottish golf, please don't ask him his score.

17th Hole at Prestwick

After Tim finished his round of golf, he picked up Lynda at the hotel and we drove to Glasgow.  Recently we have been reading that this dingy industrial town has had a bit of a comeback featuring among other things new and exciting architecture in the city center.  While we did find some impressive older architecture, what struck us most was the chaotic traffic patterns throughout the center of the city that made driving around the city a mind numbing experience.  It did not take long for us to pull over in a parking spot and quickly plan an exit strategy out of Glasgow.

We are spending Sunday night in a hotel with beautiful views of Loch Lomand out our window.  Tomorrow we plan a leisurely drive through this beautiful part of Scotland on our way to Inverness.

Cheers. 

Beijing, China

April 24-25,2018

Tuesday and Wednesday were days of stark contrast as we visited The Great Wall, Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. All three were spectacular edifices that caused various emotional responses. 

Tuesday morning we were bused about 30 miles outside of Beijing to a region of mountains where we spent two hours walking a very small section of the Wall. This was a well preserved portion of the Wall which attracted many visitors. Walking the Wall was challenging because of the steepness of the Wall as it winds up and down the mountains. The weather was spectacular and the views were picture postcard worthy. Lynda walked just a small portion while Tim took on the challenge of joining others in our group in climbing up the steeper inclines. One of our compatriots had an app on his cell phone that measures gradation and told us that the grade of the Wall at times was 50 to 60 degrees. We all agreed that climbing up the walkway on the Wall was just as difficult as walking up the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. This was an exhilarating experience for both of us as we added another one of the Seven Wonders of the World to our list of places visited.

Wednesday morning was another Chamber of Commerce morning weather-wise as we visited Tienanmen Square, probably best known to our readers as the site of the student protests in 1989.  This is where the iconic picture of the single student standing defiantly in front of a Chinese Army tank was taken. This square is several hundred acres large, overwhelming in its size. There was a line of thousands of people that snaked throughout the square waiting to walk past Chairman Mao’s tomb which didn’t even have his remains in it. We found this to be a bit disturbing. There was really nothing else to see in the square other then the large buildings that surrounded it.

The final stop on Wednesday was the Forbidden City, built between 1406-1420, and  home to the Emperors of China. It is now a museum of sorts although we went inside only one of the buildings which contained an ugly throne made with deer antlers, a couple of rifles, several bow and arrows, and some Chinese calligraphy. There must have been 40 or 50 particularly large buildings (we lost count) that stood on multiple large courtyards, just one building after another and one huge courtyard after another, all looking alike.  The sheer size of each of the buildings ended up dulling our senses. Had we been Chinese or had we studied Chinese history and understood the significance of each building, we probably would have appreciated the Forbidden City more.

The other attraction in Beijing that should be noted was the dinner we had at the top Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing, which has hosted several U.S. Presidents. Like practically all of the places we ate in China we sat at large round tables for 8-10 people with a lazy Susan in the middle where the different dishes of food were placed. There is strict protocol to the preparation of Peking Duck. Air is blown into the duck to separate the skin from the meat and then the duck is hung to dry for several days before being roasted. In the restaurant in which we ate a chef carved the duck on a cart next to our table. Eating the duck was almost like eating a taco. We took a very thin, almost translucent, pancake, spread a bit of hoisin sauce on the pancake, added pieces of the duck including the skin and then finished with various toppings such as slivers of onion, celery, beet, mushrooms, red cabbage, etc. The pancake is rolled over the top of all of this and eaten like a soft shell taco. Delicious. This meal was particularly enjoyable because, for the first time since leaving our boat, there was unlimited complimentary wine, and our tour guide was not rushing us to our next stop. We have enjoyed wonderful conversations covering a wide array of topics with all of the people on our bus at all of our meals.

This brings us to the end of another wonderful trip. We are both looking forward to going home but it won’t be long before we start planning our next adventure - stay tuned! 

Xi'an, China

April 22, 2018

Xi’an is the home of the Terra Cotta Warriors, over 6600 life size soldiers and horses made of Terra Cotta. These warriors were created by the first Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, to protect the Emperor in the after life. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer drilling for water. True story. This is now both a major visitors attraction as well as an ongoing archaeological endeavor.  Most of the warriors were broken apart during the process of being buried and archaeologists are doing the painstaking work of putting them back together. This work occurs at night so that neither the visitors nor archaeologists are disturbed by the other. We saw the Terra Cotta Warriors 9 years ago on our National Geographic Expedition and were looking forward to seeing them again. We were not disappointed. The attention to detail on both the figures and the features on the heads is incredible.  The rank of each warrior is determined by the knot of hair on top of his head and the division of the army is shown in the differing detail of the warriors uniforms. In the ensuing 9 years there have been obvious changes. The areas where archaeologists were at work were made clear by the presence of desks, file cabinets, etc. We could also see individual warriors that were in the assembly process with different numbers attached to various parts of the figures by the scientists. Unfortunately, the attraction has been “Disneyfied” by the addition of a long pedestrian-only street leading up to the exhibit containing restaurants, fast food joints, gift shops and souvenir shops where one can purchase an array of warrior related tchotchkes. We understand that the Terra Cotta Warriors now attract over 80,000 visitors a day so all these new additions should not be surprising.

This was the only tour we took in Xi’an. There was an optional tour in the evening that included dinner and a Tang Dynasty show that we had seen on our previous visit. Instead, we visited the mall across the street from our hotel and found a pizzeria that was a welcome change from all the Chinese food we have been eating.

Monday morning we flew to Beijing and were bused directly to “Old Beijing”  where we took an hour long Rickshaw ride that included a half hour visit with a local family similar to the visit we made in Tibet. This was followed by a “tea tasting.” Tomorrow, Tuesday, we visit the Great Wall and enjoy, we hope, a Peking Duck dinner in the evening. Wednesday we go to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square before flying home on Thursday. Our last blog posting may not happen until we get home.

Old Beijing

Local Home Visit

Tea Tasting

Several other random observations. Each one of our hotels has had two gas masks in the closet!  While traffic laws in Italy tend to be suggestions, the Chinese have taken this to a new level. We have watched our bus driver make a left hand turn as soon as the light turned green directly in front of oncoming traffic. Likewise, our bus drivers don’t wait for a break in traffic before turning right on a red light. Unlike the rest of the civilized world where pedestrians have the right of way, in China you take your life in your own hands even when crossing the street in a clearly marked crosswalk.  Finally, motorbikes are everywhere and they don’t make any noise. Tim took a walk one morning in Shanghai while Lynda was getting ready and was on a quiet side street when about 10-12 motorbikes went by. It was like someone had hit the “mute” button as they went by.

As always, we hope you have enjoyed following along on our adventures and appreciate the interest that you show in our travels.  We look forward to seeing you all when we get home and don’t forget that you are suppose to have spring in place for us.

Lhasa, Tibet

April 18-20, 2018

Wednesday morning, we left the boat at 6:30 to visit the panda bears at the Chongqing Zoo on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Lhasa, Tibet. Pandas are beautiful, fun creatures to watch and we always enjoy seeing them but we were more intrigued by the fact that this zoo was more then just a zoo. We watched several groups of people doing Tai Chi together and in another area of the zoo people were playing badminton. The zoo seemed to be a meeting place for all sorts of activities. 

Tai Chi at the zoo

Lhasa, Tibet is a city of half a million people situated in the mountains at 12,000 feet. Having experienced a similar altitude on our trip to Cusco, Peru we came prepared with medicine prescribed by our doctor. Or so we thought. Upon deplaning, Tim grabbed our carry on bag and quickly moved down the aisle to the gangway. Once on the gangway he needed to stop because he was so out of breath. We both needed to stop several times to catch our breath before we arrived in the baggage claim area. The same thing happened once we reached our hotel. The simple task of unpacking a suitcase had us both winded. Everyone we talked to at dinner was experiencing the same thing, many were having worse problems then us, including headaches and dizziness. After dinner we both went straight to bed and slept fitfully until morning.

Thursday morning’s tour was suppose to start at the Jokhang Temple but the line to enter the temple was so long that our guide decided to take us to the Barkhor Market first. We took a narrow pedestrian street towards the market where we passed through an area where over 100 people sat, spinning prayer wheels while Buddhist chants were being played over speakers. 

Group prayer - notice individual prayer wheels

We also passed several small buildings that had a row of cylinders in the wall of the building. These were also called prayer wheels that people would spin as they passed, presumably saying a brief prayer as they did so. 

Prayer Wheels

Once we arrived at the main street of the market, again pedestrian only, we witnessed people walking down the street several steps, prostrating themselves on the street, crawling a few feet and then getting back up, taking several steps and repeating the whole thing over and over again.

Praying in the street

Our guide took us to a shop where he recommended we do our shopping saying that this was a government owned store, thus guaranteeing high quality goods. We discovered they were also higher priced. We were given time to shop so we did. Tim bought an authentic Tibetan trumpet for 63 US dollars. This was half of what the shop owner wanted for said trumpet. Probably not authentic. What we did buy that was authentic was a painting for the dinning room signed by the artist. We are looking forward to having it framed and hung.

Our guide was correct in going to the market first. When we got back to the temple the line was considerably shorter. The Jokhang Temple is the 1,300 year old spiritual center of Tibet. The Buddha  in this temple is said to be the first one in Tibet. The crush of people trying to bow before this Buddha reminded us of the similar chaos we experienced at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.  An interesting side note. Many of you are familiar with the practice of lighting votive candles in churches. In Lhasa temples there are large containers containing melted Yak butter that have several wicks in the container. Instead of lighting a candle one adds a small quantity of Yak butter to the container. While in line outside the temple many people tried to sell us Yak butter for this purpose.

Inside Jokhang Temple

After lunch at a local restaurant we were taken to a private home to see how a typical Tibetan lives.  We were welcomed with yak butter tea, don’t ask, whole roasted barley, and fried bread. We saw three rooms: the lounge, kitchen and a prayer room where several monks were meditating.

Lounge in typical Tibetan home

The last stop of the day was the Sera Monastery, the second largest monastery in Tibet housing 600 monks. While we were unable to see one of the monks' rooms we did see the Grand Assembly Hall.  The highlight of the visit was the debating yard where the monks gather each day except Sunday from 3:00 to 5:00 to debate. Lynda did not go into the Monastery because of the long uphill climb.  Tim assumed that the debate would be a very civilized discussion of a particular topic between a few people representing each side of a topic. Nothing could be further from the truth. The debating yard was just what the name implies. It was held in a large outdoor area where over a hundred monks  were paired off in groups of two. One monk would sit on the ground and the other would stand in front of the seated monk. The standing monk would start by expressing his point of view on the agreed upon subject. When he had made his point he would clap his hands and the seated monk would respond. This would continue for an hour whereupon the monks would trade places. The monks were debating with varying degrees of intensity. Some had very angry looks on their faces and there was even a pair smiling as they debated. At the back of the yard was where the older monks were located. Our guide told us that these monks had been doing this for 20 or 30 years so they took a much more leisurely approach to the whole business. There were also 6 monks sitting by themselves off to the side reading. There was no indication what they were reading. Probably not the latest John Grisham.

Debating Courtyard at Sera Monastery

The day concluded, after a 2 hour break back at the hotel, with a short trip to a dinner theater. The dinner was a buffet supposedly of Tibetan dishes although we don’t think French fries count as Tibetan cuisine. Dinner was followed by a show of typical Tibetan songs and dances, featuring traditional Tibetan costumes. The dinner was mediocre at best, the recorded music for the show was over amplified on a poor system, and the Yak Dance was the only portion of the presentation that held our interest.

Yak dance. Not an actual Yak.

The real highlight of the day was returning to our hotel, going to the bar on the top floor and having a drink while looking at the Potala Palace, the former home of the Dalai Lama, all lit up.

Potala Palace from our hotel

For almost 1300 years the Dalai Lama was both the political and religious leader of Tibet. The Chinese government has long thought that Tibet was rightly part of China. In 1959 the Dalai Lama was exiled and the Chinese took political control of the country. Our guides have assured us that Tibet has an autonomous government under the auspices of China. However, the flag of China flies everywhere, pictures of Chairman Mao along with the present Chairman are prominently displayed, and the military we have seen are all Chinese soldiers. Also until 1959, the Potala Palace was the home of the Dalai Lama. The palace has 1000 rooms and sits on top of a hill with a commanding view overlooking Lhasa. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Outside the Potala Palace

The Potala Palace was also the first stop of the day Friday morning. Visitors must climb over 300 steps to reach the entrance to the Dalai’s quarters and the other rooms of religious significance.  Lynda knew this would be impossible for her so Tim made the trek alone. There were many people besides Lynda who opted out of this tour. It was an arduous climb. Fortunately our guides made frequent stops on our way up for us to catch our breath. Photography was only allowed in the outdoor portions of the palace which left out all of the really good stuff and all of the really good stuff is beyond description. A couple of highlights: we saw the cave that served as the first temple for the Dalai Lama 1300 years ago and around which the rest of the palace was constructed. This cave also contained the original Buddha. The second highlight was the room that contained the tombs of the 3^rd, 5^th, and 11^th Dalai Lamas. For some reason the 5^th Dalai Lama was the most important of all of the Dalai Lamas and his tomb was the largest.All three tombs were made of gold. The 5^th Dalai Lama’s tomb also contained over 1000 gems and a small piece of the brain of an elephant.The reason behind this was unclear. Surprisingly, there were not many monks around.  In the Dalai Lama’s meditation room and in his private room there were monks quietly chanting as we passed through. There was universal agreement among the people Tim was with that it was worth the awful climb.  Finally, in the spirit of full disclosure,  Tim must admit that he could not help thinking about the wonderful scene from the movie “Caddyshack” where Bill Murray describes his experience caddying for the Dalai Lama.

Courtyard at the top of the Potala Palace. The gold balcony in the middle is where the Dalai Lama would sit.

The final stop of the day was at a Buddhist Nunnery.  We did not know that there were nuns in Buddhism but Tim can testify to their existence. They dress in the same robes as the monks and have their heads shaved just as the monks do. We were fortunate enough to visit the small temple at the nunnery while a group of the nuns were chanting. They seemed to chant with more enthusiasm then the monks. Earlier in this post we mentioned prayer wheels. Inside these wheels are rolled up sections of scripture. In an adjoining  work room we saw another group of nuns rolling up these portions of scripture to be placed in the prayer wheels. The last highlight of visiting the nunnery was the fact that we had to take streets to get there that contained shops that the locals actually shopped in. Not a sign of a souvenir anywhere.

Nunnery Temple

This was our last day in Lhasa, a city we have thoroughly enjoyed. Tomorrow we fly to Xi’an where we look forward to once again visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors.