Picture=1000 words

Can't let go

Since the voyage continues, I thought I'd update the blog. John and Julie are already making plans for next winter - Mexico, Guatemala, who knows where else, and who knows for how long? Judith is already booked for the entire month of May in Rome. Patrice and I are going to New York/New Jersey next weekend.

Comments like these are humbling, but they make me want to continue - the voyage, the blog, the conversations:



"Denise, it was such fun to follow your journey. The pictures were fantastic! On my screen they opened in a full browser window - and I'm running a 20" monitor now - so they were gigantic. I kept trying to imagine what was going on behind your deadpan full stare, with all that "world" around you. I installed your blog on my yahoo home page, and looked for the latest links all the time. Sounds like John & Julie were good traveling companions, and as you know, them's priceless.I've been dealing with torn knee cartilage. Painful, awkward, limiting. And it really hit home as I saw the places you guys went, how impossible that would be for me now. Sobering. I could never have done Italy - some days I can't make it to work! But I'm going to fix it one way or another, as soon as possible.I know how much planning and cogitating went into the trip, and I feel as if I got the high-level view of a fascinating journey. Got any more writing to share? I mean, jeez, ya had a laptop.....Welcome back to this version of reality - I can't wait to hear/see more! " Terry in Vancouver



Thanks, Terry. You are inspiring me to continue.

Thoughts on travel

Coming home is comforting. No flights or hotel reservations to confirm, no new currency to understand, no new expressions to learn, no orienting ourselves in a new city. It would be easy to settle back into a routine. But I don't want to do that. My "routine" has been shaken up forever.

How about thoughts from 2 very different men? Henry Miller says, "One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things."

Saint Augustine writes, "The world is a great book. They who never stir from home read only a page."

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for our next adventure...

Paris-Dublin-Chicago

My time in Paris was spent with old friends. Francoise and Gustave welcomed me into their comfortable "pavillon". After dinner, we watched the Oscars from the night before. It was very amusing, hearing the French commentary and critiques.
This morning I flew to Dublin for a layover. It looks "lovely", as the Irish say, from the airplane, and I promised myself to come back to visit.
So then I had 7 hours to plan my return to "normal life". I searched for some enlightenment, some way to make this painless, and meaningful. Ten minutes before arriving in Chicago, as I saw the skyline from the window, I decided that this was just another stop on my trip. I am treating it as if it's a new city I'm discovering. The voyage continues.....

Leaving Lille and back to Paris

It's been great staying in Lille with Damien, June and the kids, but today I take the train to Paris, and tomorrow, the plane to Chicago. They will be coming to the States at the end of June, so it's not too far off.
It's hard to believe that the trip is coming to an end. Of course, I want it to last as long as possible, and I want to take advantage of every moment. Here in Lille, I've loved walking the cobblestone streets, admiring the architecture, exploring the great boutiques, and of course, being with friends and family. I could definitely live here. But then I could live in a lot of places.
I'm approaching the return to Chicago with a bit of trepidation. Cold weather, work stuff that awaits me, and a to do list that I dread. But there are friends and family that I'm looking forward to seeing. And of course, there's the next few months, when I must assimilate all that's happened in January and February. Trite, but true, this kind of trip is life changing, and my gratitude is deep.
Obviously, I hope to be planning the next great trip, asap. Any ideas?

Le Peintre in Paris

Dinner with the FitzGeralds and our friend in Paris, Stephanie Bauer; also one of Annie's best friends.  Le Peintre is a fun bistro in the 12th Arr. that we really enjoyed for a couple of meals.

We also had a great reunion lunch with Denise and two of her friends at La Procope, the oldest restaurant in Paris, a couple of days later.  

After Paris, we flew home via NYC and Denise went on to Lille, France.  We are still floating upon return as the trip has been so fantastic and enlightening and more to think about than any of us imagined. It will take some time for us to integrate all we saw and learned. Denise was a great travel companion (thoughtful, open-minded, flexible and infatiguable!) and we all worked together to have the trip be meaningful and fun at the same time. South America next perhaps??

At Last

The best return home moment was getting into National Airport in DC and seeing Annie, Carlos and our little 15 month old grandson, Carlitos Eli,  waiting for us!  Carlitos was holding a Welcome Home sign and a big smile. Hugs all around and a free ride home. 

We've spent the last two days with them catching up and pulling out souvenirs for them from our fully  loaded suitcases. They very thoughtfully recorded 12 hours of the Presidential Inauguration

festivities and ceremonies for us!!  (I had the original recording of Etta James singing "At Last" on my iPhone  and played it in the Paris apt. Marcia FitzGerald immediately got very teary eyed and told me that it was the song that Michele and Barack Obama danced to at the first Neighborhood Ball in DC on Inauguration night; she said that Beyonce Knowles sang it live and was fully sobbing with emotion at the end of the song.  I hope it is on the taped recording!)

I felt that this year, of all years, the coming home photos should include us in front of the White House ... 

Why I love Lille

So happy to be in France

What a great way to end an Around the World trip. Paris felt like coming home, and now I'm in Lille, in the north of France, where I'm currently watching my granddaughter, Sophie, build mighty towers out of wooden blocks. What more could I ask for?
I shall try to take some pictures of this incredible city, which I imagine most of you are not familiar with. It's an hour north of Paris, a half hour from Brussels, and an hour and a half from London. Cobblestone streets, and beautiful stone houses.
A word about my travel mates. I was lucky enough to have the best travel partners you could imagine. Always ready for an adventure, always with a smile - or even a lift, if it was too high to jump. Spending all that together time would not have worked with people who were less flexible, less willing to go with the flow. This worked..... marvelously. It was much more than I could have imagined. Thanks J&J.

La Magie Calder

Last Friday, we went to the Pompideau Centre musee of Modern Art here in Paris:
The best thing we saw was a film of Alexander Calder performing his wire circus; filmed in 1961,
using the circus he created in Paris in the late 1920s, it was a tour de force of creative hilarity!!
The four of us laughed for an hour! The first thing Marcia and are doing after arriving home will be to buy the DVD, called La Magie Calder.

Valentine's Day a Paris

Entering the Western world via Paris made the transition easy; the cold weather was a shock though! Our friends, George and Marcia FitzGerald have joined us in the little apt we rented in the 12th Arr. As it turned out, St. Valentine Day was this Weekend so we enjoyed the day even more here. There are not the red hearts everywhere here like there is in the USA though; we had to search a long time to find one for the photo! We did see a few young girls at Notre Dame with English signs offering Free Hugs OOOOOOO John took advantage of that!
The food seems so rich; the people look so healthy; the traffic so loud and dense and orderly.
Color seems so shocking in the land of the black and gray, but I am trying my best to at least wear some of my colorful, new silk scarves. I feel so grateful every time I can brush my teeth with water from the tap; also for things like the Rule of Law, health care, and freedom of speech and freedom of the Press. They should not be taken for granted. In so many ways we in the Western world are very lucky.

Upper Egypt

We’ve experienced the wonders the Pharaohs left behind. We started off at the rock cut temples at Abu Simbel created by Ramses II and moved by the modern Egyptians to a higher site when the Aswan Dam was built. Interiors with painted surfaces almost as brilliant as when the Pharaohs worshiped here and were worshipped as gods themselves. Taking the boat from Aswan to the lovely and peaceful temple of Isis on Philae Island made us feel like we were Ancient Egyptians off to worship our goddess.

With each monument or temple complex, you think it can’t be topped, and then you see the next one. Driving from Aswan to Luxor, we stopped at Edfu to see the massive and marvelous temple of Horus, outdone only by the even more massive and magnificent temple of Karnak. The Valley of the Kings, with one tomb entrance after another built into the limestone mountainside, was such an impressive place with, once again, paintings that have barely lost their color after thousands of years.

We have learned to gracefully refuse the ever present appeals for yet another felucca ride, caleche ride or bargain at the market, and Denise has become rather adept at getting the best price at the market. Egyptian food, for us Americans, doesn’t have the same reputation back home as other Middle Eastern cuisines, and it’s very good with many dishes similar to other Middle Eastern cultures. The many varieties of bread are delicious, and there is an abundance of beautifully prepared vegetable dishes.

Judith Rose February 14,2008

Don't wait until you're old to go to Egypt

Egypt is an experience I wish for all of you; however, it is not for the faint hearted. Physically, it involves many steps, uneven terrain, and functioning in the hot sun. Mentallly, it’s a mind boggling combination of history, mythology, art and culture which most of us Americans haven’t studied.
Judith Rose, fellow traveler, friend and former art historian, will write the next blog entry.
By the way, I found out where all the tourists are---in Upper Egypt. No Americans, though, not a single one.

Update

So it turns out we had an extra day in Delhi, and we decided to have another adventure. Delhi Haat is a souk, bazaar, market, cultural attraction. It's filled with things to buy from every province of India, and it kept our interest for most of the day. Then we were whisked off to the airport, and landed in Dubai at around 11pm.
Pleasant surprise Dubai. We stayed in the old Dubai, and spent our time on Dubai Creek, walking, watching the boats, checking out an architectural museum, experiencing the market, and eating, yes once again, some fine food right on the creek. Originally scheduled as a stopover where we could recharge, it became a destination.
Up at 4 am, we were once again at the airport. J&J are now safely in Paris, in their apartment, while I am in a hotel in Cairo, after a day at the Pyramids. Maybe Judith will write some impressions of our visit, which turned out to be a bit surreal, due to the haze. We actually climbed up, then climbed into one of them. We had to go down a narrow stone passage, for about 10 minutes, practically on our knees - very, very low. My claustrophobia, almost made me turn around. Once inside it was very hard to breathe, so we made the trek out again. As Judith said, we are glad we did it, but wouldn't do it again anytime soon - especially if it were more crowded, as the guide told us it usually is. Of course, it was awesome to be there - "awe" is the right word for these wonders.
Now, back from our dinner at l'Aubergine, I am faced with repacking for 3 nights in Upper Egypt - Aswan, Luxor, and Abu Simbel. The alarm is set for 2am, and the taxi will be here at 2:30. Crazy, but that's just the way they do it. We fly at 4 am, so bonne nuit.
But before I let you go - I'm looking forward to some new music from you, Joel. Betty, I'm very aware of the employment situation in the US. It's hit most of the countries we've visited, too. But it's still weird to see so few tourists everywhere we go. Don'tknow if there will be any internet access in Upper Egypt, so J&J - a vous? Comment ca va a Paris?

Chamber of the Emperor

We celebrated John's birthday in India, and when the head chef at the Mughal Hotel learned that it was his birthday, he made a beautiful chocolate birthday cake to surprise him with at our one big dinner at the hotel........ The service here was amazing at every turn.
Our room at the hotel is called "Chamber of the Emperor"!

Incredible India

Our snapshot of India is just two days only, with the focus on going to see the Taj Mahal in Agra,

so it is only our "first impressions" that we can relate.......

The best metaphor for our "first impression" might be the story of the Buddha. He was born a Prince and kept inside the palace walls where life was a paradise; when he managed to sneak out beyond the walls, he was deeply shocked by the misery, sickness, poverty and death of the real world outside....... thus beginning his search for meaning and understanding of this life.

Leaving either aiport, Delhi or Agra, we were overcome at the sights along the roadside; the dust, dirt, chaotic traffic of old bicycles and old motorcycles with families on them, tiny old cars,

brahma bulls pulling old wooden carts, donkeys pulling old carts, a camel pulling a cart. Poor people living and working on the side of the road, dressed in dirty rags and colorful clothing all mixed together. We saw huge numbers of monkeys on the rooftops (about 10 ft from ground) and hanging off the doorways, cows in the middle of the major road lyingdown, eating grass from the center and at around five o'clock, they all start walking to their respective owners' homes for food.....!! In the middle of the crazy traffic scene. Beggars and street children and young mothers covered in dirt and in rags with babies, try to sell you any little trinket they can manage; some tapping on the car windows....... it goes on.

Arriving at the Mughal Hotel in Agra was like Siddhartha's early experience except in reverse.

You can see this in our photos a bit. The difference between the service and luxury inside the hotel walls was disorienting for us.

THE TAJ MAHAL --- We hired a driver and guide to take us for two days to the Red Fort and the Baby Taj and then the Taj Mahal. He was great at explaining the historical context of these great Mughal monuments/mausoleums; the Taj Mahal, as you know, being the great homage of love from Shah Jahan to his favorite wife, built in the 1600's, near the end of the Mughal Empire.

We all agreed that this took our breath away when we enter the gateway. It is much more awe inspiring than any photo can relate. I think it is the most beautiful building I have ever seen.

Catch up and Betty answers

Yes, we sure are glad that you're such a faithful reader, Betty. Keeps us on our toes. So here are your answers:
Julie and John picked most of the hotels. I was more involved with the suggestions for which countries and sights to see. You're right - everything, so far, has gone very smoothly. We're going to Dubai today, where our hotel says - "No internet, no alcohol". So we'll have to see about that.
I've had absolutely no desire for Western food. We just came up from the most delicious variety of foods at the breakfast buffet, here in Delhi, at the Radisson. I think it was my favorite breakfast of the entire trip, and that is saying something. We Westerners are so stuck in the bacon, eggs, cereal trinity, that we ignore the possibilities to delight our tastebuds.
You asked if there are many crowds at these places. Quite frankly we are so astounded at the lack of people. Americans are nowhere to be seen.
So as we leave India today, I'll let J&J enlighten you on the sights of Agra and Delhi.

Short Hits

Home Stretch: We started out at 77 degrees W longitude (Wash. DC), and now we are at 78 East (Agra, India).

Customer Service: The service in SE Asia is really superb. Staff at hotels, restaurants, airlines, etc are thoughtful, friendly and it is low key and seems genuine. Three examples:

• Mangosteens were provided in a fruit bowl in our room in Bangkok. I called the concierge to ask how in the heck you cut and eat it. A staff person came up, saw that I had butchered it and showed me the correct way and saw that I liked it. 10 minutes later, a knock on the door and she has returned with a plate of half a dozen all perfectly prepared.


• When we returned back to Bangkok a couple days ago, upon arriving by taxi at the hotel (Holiday Inn), we realized we didn't have any Baht. I asked where an ATM was so I could get some quickly while the driver waited. The doorman said don't worry and paid the fare himself saying I could pay him back later. Ever happened to you in the US?


• All flights provide excellent meals even on the 30 minute flight from Luang Prabang to Vientienne. Today, Julie and Denise were given orchid corsages as they left the plane.

Fruits I have known: Banana, papaya, mango, rose apple, mangosteen, jack fruit, dragon fruit, tangerine, rambutan, pomelo, guava, pineapple.

Lunch at the National Museum in Bangkok yesterday: $5 for all three of us. What a deal.

Red Fort tomorrow and the Taj Mahal on Saturday.

Anonymity leads to bravery

A special thanks to Marcia, Terry, Judith, Kathy, Elodie,and Betty for your encouraging words. The chances of us stumbling upon this type of activity were slim, and in the old "Carpe diem" spirit, I jumped on it. These people are so friendly and helpful. They were advising us on where to visit, what to see and how to navigate through the city. A rare chance to mingle with these warm people.

My only regret - I stopped dancing to take a picture of J&J, grappling with the so important form and posture of this dance - you would have loved it. But they stopped dancing too, so no pics of them.

To answer your questions - the heat was overwhelming, and we ended up in an air conditioned library that was also in the park, right after this session, to regroup. We're going to India tomorrow. Incredible India as the commercials say. Hang in there dear friends and family. We'll do our best to keep you updated.

Dancing Queen

We walked to Lumpini Park this morning and were slogging about in the heat when we heard some interesting music coming from a building that we realized was a kind of community center.
Climbing up the stairs we could see through the windows that lots of people were dancing and it seemed to be some kind of huge, group dance lesson. We stood by the open windows peering in (and trying to keep in some kind of shade) when a man came over to us and invited us to come on in. It was a ballroom dance class they have twice a week and there were a lot of Thai people about our ages. The emphasis was on keeping the correct "form" and position of arms and hands and keeping your head and posture while learning the quick step. Part of the experience was to learn to dance, but also it was be appreciated as a way to keep fit as an older person....
After we saw that the lesson was a very basic one, Denise jumped right in and immediately was
swarmed with dance partners! Madame Popular! It was hilarious! After I took a few photos, John and I joined in for a dance and then we had a pleasant conversation with a few people there who were pretty amused...... I don't think they have visitors from the U.S. every week.....

Pigs on a Motorcycle

More Wats and temples at Anchor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat is at the center of the Old Khmer Empire but there are so many other wats in the area to explore. Each one is from a different phase of the empire. These ruins are what is left of the religous buildings only; these were created to house and honor Vishnu, Shiva and the Buddha, etc. The actual palaces, houses, etc. were made mostly of wood with bamboo or straw roofs and clay tiles over the top; all of this is gone. Phana drove us to quite a few in two days and here are some photos. Some of them were an extreme physical challenge for us gals to climb into!

blog des malades

Our Health...... so far, so good; except for John's couple of days (last day in Vientiane, first day in Cambodia, when he was in bed with a stomach bug (?) and Denise''s accident with stepping on a bunch of fire ants in Cambodia...(we quickly unstrapped her shoes and got her sitting so she could rub off the ants from her feet and John shook out the shoes. She was in a lot of pain; felt like her feet were on fire. Not fun. We all are drinking the daily beer at either lunch or dinner as we feel that if pretty safe but with the heat and the culture shock, drinking much alcohol is the last thing we feel like doing; we all have the occasional day when our stomachs are a little "funny"' but we are being super cautious about food; taking malaria pills and using mosquito spray and brushing teeth with bottled water. How much we take for granted in the West; just having clean water!
Oh, and yes, Julie's broken foot bone is not causing any problems and her back problem leaving SF was better by Hong Kong...... So Far, So Good..........

So Much to Do and Tell and So Little Time!

We visited many more Cambodian Khmer Empire wats as well as Angkor Wat, and some of those photos are really great....... but we are leaving Cambodia today and onto Bangkok again for 2 days before India. We will try to finish up some Cambodian blogs and upload more photos while in Bangkok.
I also have a photo of Dr. Beat Richner that I will try to get onto that blog......
Getting computer time or getting online in the last two countries has not been easy at times; so
bear with us...... I am sure we will be completing this blog even after we return home! There is still so much we have not been able to convey in a blog.......

Answers to questions again

We get CNN, BBC, and all the standard cable fare in our rooms, so we knew about the Cal woman. Didn't hear about the rockers though. Weather has been beautiful - low 80s and sunny. There are mosquitoes, and I had an attack from fire ants at one of the wats. I am thoroughly enjoying the food here - haven't tried everything, by any means, though. Julie and John are buying some exotic spices. As a whole, we are acclimating very well. We consulted Trip Advisor, among other sites, and haven't been disappointed yet. The Tara Angkor, where we are now, is a 4 star hote, with all the bells and whistles, at a much lower rate than you'd pay in the states. It's a stark contrast to the way most of the people live here.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat.
It is a ruined former center of a rich and powerful Khmer Empire that once stretched from southern Vietnam (the former Cham Empire), up to China, and included what is now Thailand (formerly Siam) and Myanmar (formerly Burma)........all the way to India where the religion and culture of SE Asia originates.
Depending on how you define the Angkor ruins, the wats or temple complexes from the years 800 - to roughly 1500 can be found in 65 square miles or maybe 36 square miles for a more central cluster...... get the picture?
The stone work at Angkor still has very beautiful and well preserved bas reliefs of the mythic battles from the Hindu oral histories and religion..... There is Vishna and the Elephant god and the monkey army.... all entwined and displayed with beautiful skill and composition. The carving on the temples can still be fine in some places; every surface was once covered in carving with allegorical or symbolic meaning for the viewers. It is also HUGE>
Maybe it was the heat, but at some point in our first day at Angkor, walking through room after room, hall after hall, doorway after doorway, I felt like I wasn't sure what was real and what was illusion. Standing in one place you can look either direction and the architecure repeats and repeats until you wonder if you are looking into a mirror... It seemed the same with the bas reliefs. It occurred to me that this architecture reflects the culture and religions that created it.
There was a sense of the repetition of life, bringing to mind features of the Hindu and Buddhist religions/philosophies... re-incarnation, the wheel of life, karma...
We went to several Wat areas in two days with young Phana, our driver, and some of them were very physically challenging to climb about and into in the heat here. The photos are a snapshot only.