The Impractical Hedonist

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Coffee, from Seedling to Roasted

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Alajuela, Costa Rica –

Coffee.

It’s my drug of choice.

Every morning.

And I’m very glad that I already have it in my cabinet, ready to dump into the coffee maker every morning.

Especially now that I know just exactly what goes into getting it there…

Its not like I didn’t know, but I hadn’t seen the whole process myself.

From the tiniest of seedlings to fully grown, bean-producing plants.

From the harvesting to the roasting.

I mean, yeah, I had an idea of how it all goes, but there’s nothing like seeing it for myself.

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A Peaceful Hour in the Woods

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San Francisco, CA –

There’s one detail that has always irked me about taking an organized tour.

I’m not talking about a tour of a specific place, where a guide is walking you through, telling you about details you otherwise wouldn’t know.

I’m talking about bus tours of cities, where you are going to multiple sights.

Yes, it’s a good way to see all of the highlights of a city in a single morning or afternoon.

But every place you stop and get off the bus, the clock is ticking.

You have a limited amount of time to see the sight before the bus takes off again.

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River-Front Yards

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Bangkok, Thailand –

What was that?

There, just on top of the water.

It looks like a giant lizard head, or kind of like a crocodile head.

Wait, there it goes, up the stairs into someone’s back yard.

Water Monitor In Yard

Definitely not moving like a crocodile.

Is that? Is it?

It’s a Water Monitor!

A very large Monitor Lizard.

Boy, I’m glad it’s not my back yard it just went into…

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On Top of the World

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Cotopaxi, Ecuador –

It’s quiet, at the top of the world.

Peaceful, with the only sounds being the wind, and your travel companions.

Well, and the occasional suicidal bicyclist.

Of course, it could be that we’re here in the middle of the week, so everyone’s home, at work or at school.

Coming here on a weekend or holiday might be a different story.

Still, there’s a certain beauty in the desolation.

The absence of most life.

Well above the tree line, where the vegetation is mostly scrub.

A Lone Horse

And other than the wild horses, there’s not much in the way of wildlife to be seen.

Of course, there are plenty of rocks and boulders.

After all, this is an active volcano that we’re standing on.

Or, at least, semi-active.

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A History of Plants – Hortus Botanicus

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Amsterdam, The Netherlands –

We had passed by several times, fascinated by the huge greenhouse on the edge of the canal.

It was obviously some sort of botanical garden.

And it made sense; after all we were staying just down the street, directly across from the zoo.

All we had to do was turn left as we exited our hotel, and within a couple of blocks, we would find ourselves walking past the entrance.

So, after a couple of days, Dore wanted to see what they might have hidden behind those walls.

After all, she loves flowers and plants.

As for myself, I’m fascinated by unusual looking plants.

Ones you don’t normally see in people’s flower gardens.

Neither of us was disappointed.

It was like stepping back into a living part of city history.

From back when Amsterdam was a center of international trade.

Back when the city sent ships to all corners of the known world, returning with all sorts of discoveries and goods to sell and trade.

Back when Europe was struck with the plague.

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The Tomb of Khai Dinh

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Huế, Vietnam –

Stairs. Lots of stairs.

Good thing my knees are holding up.

Compared to the other Imperial tombs that I visited in Hue, this one is very compact, and goes pretty much right up the steep mountainside.

Definitely not handicap-friendly.

Not that any of the Imperial tombs in Hue are handicap-friendly, but this one is the least so.

Well, I guess I might as well start climbing.

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Nectar of the Gods

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Guanacaste, Costa Rica –

As I sat down at the table, the waiter came over to get my drink order.

“Dos cafes, por favor.”

He looked at me like I had grown a third head. Or at least a second.

I decided to switch to English.

“Two coffees, please.”

This he understood.

Maybe it was because my Spanish was bad, so bad he didn’t have a clue what I was saying.

Maybe it was because Dore had made a beeline for the buffet, before I had secured us a table, and thus was nowhere to be seen.

He thought I was alone.

I’ll never know the reason he gave me that look, all I can do is guess, because once he understood what I was asking for, he was the epitome of excellent service.

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A Day of Tech Failure

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Montreal, Canada –

Some days, things just seem to work.

Others, it doesn’t matter what you do; they are not going to work.

Today was one of those days.

It started way too early in the morning.

Flying to Montreal.

Our flight departing at seven in the morning.

Everything seemed to be fine, until we got to the airport.

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A Large Crowd and an Empty Stage – King’s Birthday Celebration

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Chaing Mai, Thailand –

It was quite the crowd, all gathered in front of the stage.

And the costumed performers were waiting in the wings, ready to go on stage.

But they never did…

How odd.

It seems all the action is elsewhere.

Bangkok maybe?

You’d think that being in Thailand during the week of the King’s Birthday would be an interesting time to go.

Well, it did have its interesting aspects.

But more than anything, it had its boring aspects.

It seems the normally bad weekday traffic in Bangkok was even worse.

Especially near the royal palace and places where public celebrations would be taking place.

But then we came to Chaing Mai.

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