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.
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.
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.
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.
Continue reading A Large Crowd and an Empty Stage – King’s Birthday Celebration
Dallas, TX –
Really?
A year?
Already?
Man how time flies…
So, it’s been a whole year since I started writing this blog.
Well, technically, it’s been longer than that.
I had been thinking about doing this for several years.
Started writing a few topics, but never finishing any of them.
Trying to come up with a site name and over-all approach.
But I never made much progress toward getting anything done.
Until a year ago.
Then, everything changed…
Newport, Rhode Island –
People surprise you.
Not by trying, of course.
Not that they won’t try, given the chance.
It’s just that, when allowed to be themselves, they have a tendency to do unexpected things.
But that’s the key, they have to be themselves.
Far too many of us aren’t.
We have a tendency to put on masks and pretend to be someone else.
Partly, it’s out of expectations.
Other people’s expectations for us, not our own.
So when someone figures out what he really wants to do, and then does it…
Well, that’s when things get surprising.
Tirimbina, Costa Rica –
The room was Spartan.
I’m talking monastery Spartan.
It had a couple of twin beds, and the type of metal shelving that you normally find in a restaurant pantry.
Plus a small, student-sized desk.
That was it.
And it did have an air conditioner, above the back door, with a remote control.
And instructions to turn it off whenever we left the room.
I felt lucky that we had a bathroom, in the room, and not some outhouse that we would need to find in the dark.
And the bathroom did have a shower.
Oooo, talk about luxury!
Don’t worry, we just moved from one hosting company to another. It’s all for the good, believe me. However, if you were wondering where we went for a few days, about a week actually, it was because the move was underway. Now it’s mostly complete. There may be a few details still remaining to be sorted out, but by and large, we’re back up and running. So now we can get back to writing about various topics that give us pleasure, and you can get back to expecting something new every week.
Caio
Zaanse Schans, The Netherlands –
The wind is blowing.
Which should be a good thing.
It’ll have those windmills going!
But it also means that we have to deal with it.
Walking into it.
Looking into it.
Making sure we don’t have any loose pieces of clothing that aren’t secured.
Well, there’s a reason this place is known for their windmills…
Continue reading Making Cheese, and Grinding Pigments – A Visit to Zaanse Schans
