Month: September 2013

DAY 184 MADRID GREETINGS

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In Spanish Culture
Greetings and Salutations
Abound Everywhere

The last day of September. Amazing that we began this month in Sri Lanka watching elephants, and now we are in the city of Madrid enjoying the sounds of Spanish being spoken on every corner. I enjoy just sitting next to Spanish parents at the playground and listening in on their conversation – not that I understand any of it, but I am pretending I am just a small toddler without words – listening and learning to speak my first words. I met a gut from Pampalona on the playground with his daughter. hopefully we can meet some Spaniards while we are here. We spent time at both playgrounds nearby. We had the playground to ourselves this morning. The school next door dismissed at noon and all the toddlers were freed and came and played this afternoon. The rains started, then the sun appeared. At 7:00pm, the Sun was still bright and we walked and played at the other playground. Ezra almost fell asleep – but I did not want him to have a siesta. Tried downloading some Spanish language applications to supplement my learning.

DAY 183 MADRID BREAD

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Fresh Bread Smells From The
Local Panaderia
Ezra Says I’m Hungry

Sunday. Woke up and purchased some bread at the local panaderia – 2 blocks away. Everything we need is only a couple of blocks away. We can walk everywhere. The Metro stop is a couple of blocks away as well. We stayed around the house most of the day. I did make a trip to the farmers market and purchased some fresh fruits and vegetables. The fish market even sold eels and fruit juice for 1 Euro. At the playground, people and children are enjoying the park – old and young – boys and girls – men and women. They have a small soccer field the size of a basketball court. A pick-up game is going on of co-ed soccer – mostly girls – seemed to be easily organized. The park was dirty and filled with lots of bottles and trash from the night before. Madrid does have a smell of urine in the morning. The Spanish culture seems more social and fun of recreating than Rome and Vienna. Lots of big dogs enjoying the playground. The older people were playing a game with silver Bocci Calls. The weather has been overcast with slight rain and colder than imagined. Enough is enough.

DAY 182 MORNINGS IN MADRID

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Shhhhhh! Can You Listen?
To The Mornings of Madrid
Everyone Sleeps In

Today. Last night, Madrid was awake until all hours of the night. Who knows what time we arose? The grocery store showed that the prices are almost half of Rome and Vienna for most things. That feel good. We took a walk to Parque Oeste – Park of the West. We walked past the fish and meat and vegetable markets and Plaza Espana. Parque Oeste had a view over the est part of the city. The playground was still in shade. People seem to wake up later here. That was the interestingly eerie happening. The early morning around 7 or 8 O Clock was so quiet like you would expect in the middle of the night – zero sounds or people or cars or activity. The sunset is finished around 9pm. the

DAY 181 SPAIN LLEGAMOS

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Protest In The Streets

Taxi Stopped Meter Going

Time For Us To Leave

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Well, we arrived in Madrid Spain after a Metro Ride a bus Ride a Jet ride and a Taxi ride. We were greeted in Madrid by a parade of protesters that clogged traffic in the downtown area, marching for women’s rights. Never saw something like that in Asia or the Middle East. One day. One day. Our place is nice but the bathtub situation keeps downsizing, along with the height of the ceiling.
Ezra has had some funny comments in Rome – assisted by the statues, and churches, and Mother Mary. “Mother Mary, where are you?” Äaah!, Mother Mary scares me” SO many churches in Rome. I am so glad we took our time in Rome and did not try to visit other parts of Italy on this trip. When in Rome – Stay in Rome. Our places to stay worked out perfectly. We were able to walk around everywhere. I learned a little Italian as well. The language is fun to listen to compared to some of the other languages we have heard on this trip. Italians are beautiful and everywhere you look people are dressed nice and looking sharp. So different than our A-round-the -world clothes. I am not going to miss saying “Prego!” to Dwana every time she thanks me for something. “Thanks for the ice cream Foley.” – “Prego.” Ezra has had the most difficult time separating from toy and souvenirs and treats on the streets. “This is not a fun day!” _Ezra. He is getting better. We took the Cipro Metro and arrived at Termini station like Romans. The Terravision Bus was soon to arrive and Viola! here we are at Fiumicino Airport at the McDonalds next to a hidden playset overlooking the landing strip runway. Quite nice for McDonalds. The plan is to take a taxi from the Madrid airport to our new place. Bye Bye Rome. Hello Madrid. Rome has been o nice of a stop. I have never visited a city with so many tourists and so many historical sights. I think we did a great job of walking through the city using Google Maps and seeing as many of the free sights in Rome that you can see. Fountain de Trevi. Piazza de Navona. Pantheon. Keyhole. Acqua Paulo. St Peters Cathedral. Ruins after ruins after ruins after ruins. Cathedral. Basilica. Church. Everyone but me has a slight cold and sneezes, but nothing to hold us back. Cold over fever anytime. The short pop over to Vienna was just right. The weather has been perfect with a touch of blue skies, white clouds and even some raindrops to play in. What will I remember the most – the streets, small and narrow; the Colosseum – big yet small in Rome, picturesque and historical; the markets- fresh, colorful, noisy.

DAY 180 HALF WAY AROUND THE WORLD IN 180 DAYS VATICAN CITY

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A DAY AT THE POPE HOUSE. a HALF DAY. ok Everyone lasted about 45 minutes then we went and broke bread.
Bombs went off last night. Had I been any other place, I would have been scared, but I was living next to the Pope, and the Pope was the one lighting the fuse. The Vatican City was celebrating one of the many Saints. Which one. I do not know, but the fireworks went off for a while. The sounds were right outside our apartment on the first floor. Our apartment is a stones throw away from the Sistine Chapel. You can think of it another way … A Sistine Line away from the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. If the line for waiting to enter the Sistine Chapel went in the direction of our apartment, the line would extend past our apartment at go all the way to Cipro Metro station. The line for the Sistine Chapel has been the largest line I have seen in my life. There must be a FASTRAC. We laughed and walked on as we passed all the other tourists in line. No way we were going to stay in that line. When we started our walk this morning at 8:00, the line was just beginning to form. We walked to St Peters Piazza and Basilica. A wonderful big church that smells “not like Peace” as Ezra said. “Smells like Pee” he continued. I am not sure what Ezra has against the Pope and his church, but we did not last long inside. By far the biggest church we have ever seen or walked through. We were able to see the whole church, give our confessions and offerings in 15 minutes. How to tour the Vatican City in 15 minutes – look for it. We hung out and people watched from the Piazza. This will be our last stop of culture before Madrid. In the afternoon we went to a delicious gelateria and spotted a children’s amusement park. We have seen a bunch of these privatized pay as you play playground throughout the city. This one was conveniently located next to an elementary school. Off to bed. Let the fireworks commence. An ending. A beginning.

DAY 179 FLYING FROM VIENNA TO ROME OVER SLOVAKIA HUNGARY SLOVENIA CROATIA SERBIA AND THE ADRIATIC

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FLYING FROM VIENNA TO ROME
Our travel day from Vienna. Instead of taking a water taxi down the Danube River, we hired a land taxi for $50 cheaper. Not that pretty of a drive. The driver came from Slovakia. I wish I had more time to read up on the recent history of this part of the world. Lots of changes in the past 20, 10, 5 years. The border crossing between Austria and Slovakia was a simple hand-wave. It would be nice if all national borders were like this. We definitely would have visited Jerusalem is the Jordan – Palestine – Israel Border was so simple. The Bratislava airport is so quaint – reminds me a little of the Cordova airport. Not that small, but small enough that they shut down for lunch and they had a green patch of grass that we went a played in outside and watched the planes take off and land. Not much traffic and all brand new. Clean. We now we experts on the Ryanair system, so I lined up first in the que and had no problems finding seating together on the North side of the plane that wold give me views of the Alps. We flew low over the countries of Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, and the Adriatic. Dwana has always wanted to visit Croatia. This was as close as we were going to be this trip. We flew over so much history and natural wonders. Earth lived upon for millenniums. Flown over in an instant. The Adriatic looks bigger in person. We touched down in Rome HARD! But still the passengers in the cabin clapped – another Ryanair tradition. Running for your seat and clapping at landing. Nice travelling with only 4 small bags. I almost missed our Terravision shuttle bus because I was collecting water. We caught the Metro to Cipro station and entered into our new place … with the Pope as our neighbor.

DAY 178 GRINNIN WITH VIENA IN VIENNA FOR GRINZING FOR PEACE

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Finally a green walk.
Our last full day in Vienna. So, we walked, caught the Metro, took a bus, and took a tram. I did not know what the day was going to hold. The weather was sunny in the morning so we packed a picnic and tried out the Metro to venture to the Vienna Woods. We took a Metro to Hallistadt station. Caught the 38A bus to Kalenberg and exited at the top of the hill. After gazing out over all of Vienna including the Danube, we started our walk down through the woods. So cool to be in woods again. We having been hanging around the city centers too much. Back to nature. The woods were so needed and so exciting for Ezra and Viena. They picked up sticks, and leaves, and Viena even carried around a cardboard box to use as a sled. We ate our picnic lunch along the way – always better when you eat outside. Ezra even snacked on some of the vineyard grapes. The walk was all downhill and in the shade of the woods most of the way. So glad we decided to go on this walk. The end of the walk took us through the Grinzing Winery where lots of famous people sponsor grape vines for peace. Our 3 euro Tram ride was waiting for us at the bottom of the hill and dropped us near the city center. We then walked to the University of Vienna and the Museum District and then back home past the Palace and the St Stephen’s Cathedral. All in a days walk. People are always hanging out near the cathedral. I wonder if this has always been true. We finally had a successful attempt at Gelato. Ezra likes vanilla and Viena like chocolate. Everyone one slept great for our last night in Vienna.

DAY 177 ST STEPHENS CATHEDRAL AND BEYOND IN VIENNA

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More than just look up.
A down day. Every walk we attempted involved tears … even when ice cream was involved. Ezra and Viena must really be missing the toys of the last place. Sometimes I think I have the only children that cry around ice cream. Having 100 flavors to chose from all in German did not help. So, Ezra left in tears after 2 unsuccessful tries of ice cream accommodation. Oh well. Better luck next time or just try to find a place with only 2 flavors – chocolate and vanilla. I have been trying to exchange a rouge 22000 sri lankan rupees. Oops. We are without internet, so travel planning around transportation and housing has been more difficult. I run to the local Tmobile shop for free wifi. The bank of Austria also has free wifi but they do not exchange Sri Lankan Rupees. We do not need to use the internet for places to see in Vienna because they are all right here. We have been listening to Mozart and Strauss on the radio in the backpack as we walk around Vienna. this saves us around 100 Euros since now we do not need to go to the concert set up for tourists. The weather has been a combination of grey clouds blue skies and a chill in the air. We had breakfast in the sun on the street near the canal. We took a simple afternoon evening walk around Old Vienna. The children love playing in the tub. A big nice tub is great compared to the tiny shower stall we had in Rome.

DAY 176 A WALK IN THE PARK IN VIENNA FOR THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

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We did alot of walking today. The best way is to start off with a playground.
All the stores are closed today, but not the bread shop at the bottom of the stairs. District II has a high population of Jewish people. The young boys and yung men are easy to spot on the streets by their clothes and hairstyle. We walked early in the morning to the playground in Prater Park. Lots of Austrians out this morning exercising – running, walking, biking, or rollerblading. Very active. Very sunny this morning. We have not seen this many people out exercising in the morning since Southern California with a northern California attire.About 50F outside. We played at one of the many Prater playgrounds and ate our breakfast of breads and fruits. Not many eggs sold here. The playground equipment , especially the high wire practice area would not pass US safety codes. Still no public toilets. They must have their reasons. Viena was rollerblading with the other rollerbladers. A nice fresh chilly sunny fall morning. We are here for our 5 days of chill-feel here in Vienna. We came back to our place to find Luka and his dad. All of the children played together. Luka is 1 and a half and shares many birth properties with Viena. Luka was born at home on March 3rd in the living space where we were playing. Figure the odds of that one. Luka’s dad is from Italy and he shard some Italian pasta making secrets with Ezra. After lunch, we packed up and walked across the Danube canal to our new place in District I. The place was virtually empty. A bed. A kitchen set. A table. A bathtub. The bathtub was excellent. And the best part of all, was the location right near the St Stephen’s cathedral. Very opposite our last place that was well-furnished and had lots of toys. We spent the afternoon and evening walking around the very crowded streets of Old Vienna. the streets are great for walking because they do not allow cars. What a concept. So nice to walk around street in the absence of cars. I do not where the cars park or how everyone arrives – bu metro or by bus or taxi. Sunshine and autumn inclinations. Vienna is the same latitude of Newfoundland. We found Mozart park. Statues and big building rayed in sunshine – a street performance between moving Metro trains.

DAY 175 FERRIS WHEEL IN VIENNA

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A day spent at the Prater. I did not know they celebrate Octoberfest early in Austria.

Dwana found the 2nd hand childrens clothing store. Viena found a pair of roller-blades. Ezra found all the toys in our new place. Everyone is quite content here in the chilly grey city of Old Town Vienna. We are staying in District II but we move to District I tomorrow. I love having a fresh bread shop at the bottom of the stairs. Dangerously close. Viena and I smelled the fresh bread as soon as we reached the street on our early morning walk together. Ezra and Viena have been in a Christmas playland since a little bo lives here. We saw the big Ferris Wheel. Maybe we will go there later. After Viena and Ezra played in the inside playland, we went on a walk to the Kettlemarket. Lots of locals out at the market buying fruits and vegetables, flowers, honey, bread and cheese. Viena has been asking for rollerblades – forever – since her last pair “disappeared” in Maui. So when we finally found one s her size at the second hand store we had to buy them. The small things that bring big smiles. So now smiling Viena is rollerblading the streets of Vienna. She loves rollerblading the wide sidewalks smooth sidewalks of Vienna. We have not had these wide sidewalks in a while. Quite a change from the scooter driver sidewalks of Kuala Lumpur. Vienna is colder , but not biting cold, even with sprinkles of rain falling from the grey sky. We walked to the Prater and rode the Ferris Wheel (Foley), bumper cars (Ezra), Roller Coaster (Viena) and the Train (Dwana) Entertainment for all. Ezra loved the bumper cars. He wanted to ride again. Viena loved the roller coaster. She wanted to ride again. Dwana loved all the warm clothes the kids were wearing from the 2nd hand store. The afternoon sun was shining through the clouds on the Ferris wheel. Lots of Austrian out having an early start to Octoberfest in September on a Saturday night. We have not seen all the open-drinking in a while. Not in Bali (KUTA BEACH exception). Not in Thailand. Not in Malaysia. Not in Borneo. Not in Sri Lanka. and especially not in JORDAN. We are in Austria – land of the big mugs. In Austria, in the crowds, I am not as easy to sopt as I was when walking around the streets of SE ASIA. Not many children out today. Those children who were out had their own wheels – stroller.

DAY 174 VIENA IN VIENNA

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We finally arrived in Vienna. A little colder here. Viena is all smiles.

We rose at 6AM and shortly afterwards our bags were packed on our backs and another door was locked and closed behind us and we were once again “homeless” walking the early morning streets of Rome on the way to Vienna Austria. A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum and past the Colosseum for the final time. The windy angular streets of Rome are becoming familiar to me by now. Yesterday’s discovery of the Oppim Hills playground was a truth to this fact. Today, we walked 90 minute to Termini Station where we waited for another 90 minutes for our bus to Ciampino Airport where we waited another 2 hours. Sound fun. The flight over South Central Europe was scenically wonderful. The lands are all green and carved up farmed quadrangles. Green flat forested land cleared geometrically for farming. The Ryanair flight flew low over the land. Ryanair flying is an experience in itself. Everyone needs to fly Ryanair once in their life. I have never seen so many people running across the tarmac so they can board the plan first and grab their nice window seats or select seats near family in our case. Ryanair charges for everything, even seat selection. To check a bag is 50 to 100 dollars. We boarded the jet with our allotted 4 small bags and of we flew. We could feel the temperature change in the plane as we flew North. We landed in Bratislava and took a taxi into Bratislava center. We had another 2 hours before our water taxi into Vienna so we walked around the harbour area of Bratislava and were pleasantly surprised. We found a quaint little town section full of cable cars, old style cars and an European style McDonalds. People we dressed in coats and hats and scarves and gloves – a different climate then we have been in. The temperature change we felt in the plane was not just altitude but latitude. In the airplane we could see the clouds start to gather the farther North we flew. The Croatian Islands were something new to my eyes. The rains began as we sat on our boat on the Danube River – Our European Alaskan Ferry Experience. Viena was all smiles embracing the rains atop the watercraft. The rains fell and the skies grew grayer as we cruised upstream on the wide brown river of the Danube passing castles and ruins from times ago. Our new host Susanna greeted us at the harbour in Wien. This is so nice when we are greeted in unfamiliar places. We walked the Danube canal to our new place. Home Sweet Home. Such good hospitality. Viena has arrived in Vienna and there are toys everywhere.

DAY CLXXIII Hodie mihi, cras tibi

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Our last day to roam around Rome. Viena and Ezra are some well-seasoned urban walkers by now. Ezra loved the little fountain in the end that we found near the KEYHOLE.

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Our last day to roam around Rome. Viena and Ezra are some well-seasoned urban walkers by now. Ezra loved the little fountain in the end that we found near the KEYHOLE. No syrup. No ketchup. Yes problem. Viena wanted to walk to McDonalds for breakfast pancakes. The walk was early and took us once again by the Fountain of Trevi and some parliament building. However, the McDonalds did not have any syrup, so Viena did not eat her pancakes. They charge 50 cents for a little Ketchup packet so the fries were not enjoyed by Ezra either. In fact the entire morning was frustrating because who ever’s hand I was holding – and I was purposely walking slow – would not be looking where they were walking and they would BUMP into a pole or garbage can or person. I was walking with MR Bump and little Miss Bump. We had no other plans so we slowly made our way through the downtown streets and with careful navigation we arrived back at the playground at Nero’s home. A little more children were at the playground this time and no one was sleeping under the trees. We walked down and passed the hoards of people surrounding the Colosseum. Visiting the playground help Ezra and Viena with their energy level. After a good bit of walking past the Colosseum and Paletine Hill, we eventually arrived outside the Knights of Malta where we took a glimpse through the Keyhole – a glimpse of the Vatican from Roman Malta – a foreshadowing of things to come.There is a playground nearby and Ezra and Viena made bark boats to float in the fountain. Needless to say, the bark boats were way more interesting than looking through a keyhole and seeing the Vatican. Seemed to be some men hanging around the park wanting for night to fall so they could go to sleep. Great view. Later that night I packed up our Big Blue Bag and walked it over to what will be our new place near the Vatican City, for when we return from Vienna. Thank you to our new host. We are going to be travelling light to Vienna. I was able to spend some quiet time outside St Peter’s Basilica before running home in the night. Night is another story of Rome, one someone else will have to tell.

DAY CLXXII Poli, poli, di umbuendo

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Viena has a sore throat and a small cold. Ezra and I walked to a hidden playground on the hill … slowly but surely.
Viena has a sore throat and a small cold. Ezra and I walked to a hidden playground on the hill … slowly but surely. Ezra and I went on our own adventure today to discover and explore another playground around Trastevere. First though, we had to visit the Basilica in Trastevere. Ezra of course goes straight to the candle offerings. The reason this was a guys day out was that Viena is not feeling well and so she is staying home from Romeschool today. Ezra and I had no trouble locating a store with a 75 cent popsicle or the church or the park. Ezra is a much stronger walking the farther he walks away from Dwana. I heard the playground was located somewhere in a park. I was about to head off when I heard Ezra scream “Playground!” and he started running. A real playground, with real toddlers, and real parents, and real slides. Ezra could not believe his eyes. Ezra played and played and played. He was so content on this Roman playground. He even wanted to go home with a Roman family. instead he ended up jumping in a Roman fountain. You know one of us had to do this. Ezra is becoming quite our little ambassador. Ezra was all wet, but mostly dry by the time we arrived home. We saw some clothes markets near the streets and we went back out with Viena and Dwana to see if we could find some warm clothes to pack for our trip to Vienna. Vienna is going to be a little chillier.

DAY CLXXI Facilius est multa facere quam diu

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This morning’s walk through the Roman Empire took us past the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and the Fontana di Trevi … and many Basilicas along the way. We finished the urban walk with 2 Euro Tuesdays of Gelato.
This morning’s walk through the Roman Empire took us past the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and the Fontana di Trevi … and many Basilicas along the way. We finished the urban walk with 2 Euro Tuesdays of Gelato. The dy Viena lost her voice. Viena has been quite the trooper here in Rome – walking everywhere we ask her to walk without complaint, and she is usually the one that plays the most with Ezra in the afternoon after we walk all morning. Well, something caught up with her. Might have been walking in the rain a couple of days ago om Sunday. Today, we continued our walking tour around Rome by visiting the Piazza de Navona, the Pantheon, and the Fountain de Trevi. Plus, we encountered at least 5 other huge basilicas along the way. Ezra loves going to church. Ezra loves giving offerings. Ezra goes straight for the candle to light. Ezra even lights the electric candles with the switch. We had a picnic along the way with bread and jam and even found a McDonalds near the Fountain de Trevi. So far navigating around Rome has been very easy. The bridges help to give you a sense of location. I have yet to buy a map. My trick is to look for the masses of other tourists and I just follow them. I have never been in a city with so many walking tourists along the streets. The churches were magnificent. Ezra is even silenced in them. Viena seems to hum or carry some sort of tune while inside. So quiet. So quiet. Not too many other children walking around. I can tell Dwana is churched out – ruined out – colossemed out. So many things to see. Viena awoke this morning at 4AM and we were out the door by 6AM to come back after gelato at 1PM. I purchase some 1 EURO squeezy toys that broke. Ate lots of bread today.

DAY 170 Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu

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We saw dragons at my dragon-school yesterday. A walk up Janiculum Hill past Acqua Paola fountain. Finally bought Dwana some Roman Coffee. Have not tasted coffee like that in a long while. We found the market at Campo de Fiori. Lots of water fountains but no bathrooms.

We saw dragons at my dragon-school yesterday. A walk up Janiculum Hill past Acqua Paola fountain. Finally bought Dwana some Roman Coffee. Have not tasted coffee like that in a long while. We found the market at Campo de Fiori. Lots of water fountains but no bathrooms. Today we had a late start of 9AM. All of the school children could be seen walking to school. Not too many children driving to school. Some were dropped off by scooter or car. We love hearing the violin and the Italian chatter below us from the cafes and restaurants. Today we walked up Janiculum hill in Trastevere. We passed the Aqcua Paulo and ate our breakfast. Lots of cars this morning. Sure is nice to walk earlier when there is less cars. We walked the ridge and had great views of the city below. One thick mass of buildings all the same height. Will this always be? Will Rome ever have change and build a tall skyscraper. I hope not. Even the immensity of the Colosseum fades away when you see from a distance. A kids area was and was thankfully closed since they charge 10 Euros for 20 minutes of playtime. That’s just for starters. I have been really good about trying ot spend our money frugally in this “not in our favor” Euro economy. So far. So good. I think. Every time I go to the market – at least $25. Not like SE ASIA. In SE ASIA we were living like kings. Now we are Roman peasants. But the Roman peasant lived a good life I am sure. I treated Dwana to here first cup of European coffee. Yum. We have been missing real coffee. We walked down and found the Campo de Fiori market area and purchased some more fruits and vegetables. At this point in our walk Dwana informed me of the urgent fact that Rome is lacking in the area of public bathrooms. We arrived home barely without anyone having an accident in their pants. Ezra and Viena played in our new place in the afternoon. I tried once again to find the playground next door, but ended up just walking around the block. All the walls are built up here, so a block is actually really a block. Hard to explain. You just have to walk the streets. Try this. Imagine if all your neighbors have 50 foot walls around their yard.

DAY 169 Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit

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We greeted the morning again with an early walk through Rome. A little more cloudy this morning. We walked around until we found a playground near the Golden House of Nero. Thanks Nero your Ezra’s hero. Viena was so excited to find a playground. The playground is near the coliseum. They were having a Greenpeace event to Save the Arctic so lots of bicycles everywhere. we entered the Forum and saw the many many ruins. Incredible how strong the Romans built things 2000 years ago. The sky darkened and rain fell. We were soaked by the time we exited and made our way to the farmer’s market. Cheese, bread, honey, and fruits. Viena loved trying to shoe splash me with the many puddles were passed on our walk. A nice rain.

We greeted the morning again with an early walk through Rome. A little more cloudy this morning. We walked around until we found a playground near the Golden House of Nero. Thanks Nero your Ezra’s hero. Viena was so excited to find a playground. The playground is near the coliseum. They were having a Greenpeace event to Save the Arctic so lots of bicycles everywhere. we entered the Forum and saw the many many ruins. Incredible how strong the Romans built things 2000 years ago. The sky darkened and rain fell. We were soaked by the time we exited and made our way to the farmer’s market. Cheese, bread, honey, and fruits. Viena loved trying to shoe splash me with the many puddles were passed on our walk. A nice rain. Yesterday we survived the Colosseum. Today we survived the Forum and Palatine Hill. When you buy a ticket into the Colosseum, entrance into the Forum is included and you have two days on the ticket. So one day you can visit the Colosseum and the following day you can go visit the Forum. Glad for this, because we were really tired yesterday evening after our colossal day. Today the weather was a bit cloudy. We found the playground near the Colosseum on Nero’s Golden Home or Oppia Hill. Ezra and Viena were super excited to see a playground. Unfortunately, some of the guys still asleep in the park were not so excited. Rome’s climate allows for easy sleeping on park benches and beneath trees. By the time we walked around the Colosseum the tourists were out in force. You have to see it to believe it. So many tourists. They even had a GreenPeace organized bike ride to SAVE the Arctic. This was the weekend. What was interesting was the actual lack of paid park personnel that are around. You see guides, but not like a museum or National Park Ranger. We were almost finished walking through the Forum on our way to Palatine Hill when the rains started. No umbrellas. No poncho. No problem. Oh well. The rains actually felt pretty good. We were soaked when we arrived at the museum for shelter. We tried waiting out the weather at the museum, but the rains just seemed to rain harder when we ventured out again. Ezra’s energy was fading. Viena was going strong. Not quite sure what their favorite part of the forum was. They trying to find a statue that looked like me but could not. The rains continued to fall as we made our way to the farmers Market. Glad we stumbled upon this place yesterday. At home we made a nice Italian pasta meal and I even took a nap. Another time I shall mention the Roman Dreams I have been having. In the evening I tried to find the playground in front of St Cecilia Basilica next door, but all we found was a beautiful wedding taking place. I think a lot of people are married in Rome. This is our honeymoon of honeymoons. Amazing to see a wedding in one of these big churches.

DAY 168 Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

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An early morning walk around the Roman Coliseum and Forum. Violins can be heard playing from our second story apartment window here in Trastevere. Dwana has a case of the sneezes.

A colossal day. An early morning adventure to explore around the Colosseum. Everywhere I looked a new picture was waiting to be taken. A city like San Francisco. Very few children walking around. Lots of young people walking around. Good to see couples walking hand in hand again after so long. People running around the Colosseum or walking on their way to work. Too early for the tour buses and the masses, but they would arrive. You can count on it. 24 Euros for admission into the Colosseum. Kids were free. Worth it. 12 Euros each. So huge a place. Preserved. Here in Rome. A city built around the ruins. Ezra and Viena are more interested in wedding rice, race cars, and baby statues – but who can blame them. We came back home and Dwana made a wonderful Roman pasta meal. We found a farmers market. Need to go back there tomorrow. We took another walk in the afternoon. Now more people were out. We heard the bells of the big church. The biggest church we have ever been in. We saw the bells. The bells have replaced the prayer calls of the mosque and Buddhist loudspeaker chants. At the end of the day we ran into some streets blocked off for Yom Kippur. We walked around the narrow cobblestone streets winding our way back home through the neighborhood maze – Ezra begging for shoulder rides. Violins can be heard playing from our second story apartment window here in Trastevere. Dwana has a case of the sneezes.

DAY 167 dimidium facti qui coepit habet

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A day that started out with camels and goats …

A day that the veils are lifted …

A day that ended with colossal ruins …

Just another day on the Earth

We are here in the new Queen Alia International Airport of Amman Jordan. So far so good. I kept telling different people – the hotel guy, the taxi driver, the airport baggage guy – we are flying Royal Jordanian Airlines – they would all just kinda look at me funny, because once you are at the Airport, you realized Royal Jordanian is the ONLY airlines that flies into Jordan. Or at least I did not see any other planes from a different carrier. No exit tax. Cleared through immigration. All of the people at immigration were happy and smiling; however, the guy who checked us in on Royal Jordanian must not have been a morning person. He even gave me the wrong boarding pass, which I thankfully caught before I walked too far away. Little things like that turn into bigger things when you are travelling with two children. Ice cream cones at the McDonalds for $1. Not too many other things on the $1 menu in Jordan. Viena and Ezra are drawing princes and princesses. They are just laying on the ground of the newly carpeted airport. All the talks of Kings and Queens and Princes and Princesses finally registered in their head here in Jordan. Also helped that we see the Jordanian symbol of the crown everywhere. A very simple security check. I was expecting a bit more since we were in the Middle East. We did not see a single bicycle during our time in Jordan. Nor did we see anyone riding a scooter or motorcycle. Definitely a different place than SE Asia. We are taxing on the runway. Jet propulse. Faster and forward we move. Liftoff. Liftoff. We are up in the air. Flight. “We are up in the air – now we can play the games”- Ezra. We are finally in the air – flying away from the land of Arabia, of Asia – heading fast to Europe – our new world. Can we breathe easier? I know our parents are. I want to show Ezra from our plane the land below of Israel and Palestine and Syria and Lebanon – in hopes that one day he will return and find peace among the all the people. One day. One day. But on this day we fly West – West to Rome. Rome – a museum city. And so we walked around the museum of Rome and instantly forgot the Middle East. That quickly. And just as quickly for others who as soon as they arrived went straight to the bathrooms and changed attire from their Muslim clothes into the Roman clothes. No one at the baggage claim had on a headdress. No one. Quickly forgotten- just like that. Every way we turned on the Terravision bus ride into ROME from Fiumicino Airport we saw another building or structure or monument or ruins that needed just the few seconds that we could give on the bus. Feels good to be safe and heading into Rome. The line for the Terravision Bus was a little unruly since people had been waiting for over an hour for their bus from the airport into ROME. A good first impression of the Italian Fever. Some raised voices. Some hand gestures. Eventually we made it on the bus. The Terravision bus takes you to Termini Station. From Termini station we caught the H bus to Trastevere. Using Google maps imprinted on my brain we were able to navigate the narrow streets and find our host waiting outside our new place without the use of WIFI. The bells of the local church are ringing over 100 times. A Roman thing I guess.

DAY 166 AMMAN JORDAN

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Walking through the city streets. Fresh bread ovens. Slushies on the streets.

This is our rest day. If we do nothing but eat sleep and jump in the pool that would be OK. No brief swim in the Dead Sea. No quick run to the Israeli border. No fast trip to Jerash. Petra was enough. Our US dollar does not go very far since the Jordan Dinar is tied to the Euro. We went on an early morning walk around the neighborhood of East Amman. the sun rises early and brightly like a desert sunrise of Arizona or Nevada or Palm Springs. The morning sunrise even has the same smell. Not many people were walking. Everyone drives. Men were hanging out in front of some markets talking, greeting. The Jordanian men greet is interesting to watch. We purchased 25 cent slushies on the streets. I did not picture slushies on the street of Amman. We passed a fresh wood-fired bread making place – looked and smelled wonderful, but we had just eaten breakfast so on we must go. Downtown was too far to walk and I did not feel like taking a taxi to downtown, so we turned and headed back home via the big Mosque and catholic church combination block. The street were so much more uncrowded than any other place we have been. At our hotel – Abjar Hotel – we jumped in the pool and played the afternoon away. I chose the Abjar hotel because of the price, the pool, and the close location to the JETT bus terminal – walking distance if you know the area – 5 minutes. I found a wonderful tasty restaurant Gaithe – up the street. Yummy hummus. Tabouli. Falafels. Oils. Good to be eating food that is not so spicy and has more oils. Time to pack for the morning.

DAY 165 PETRA JETT BUS TO AMMAN

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Another exciting day in the ruins of Petra. A night entry into Amman on the Jett Bus. Viena is an amazing little traveler. Ezra is a good sleeper.

How would you like to spend September 11 if you were in the middle East. We visited Petra for one more day and then took the JETT bus back to Amman Jordan. We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel – only us. Then we went on a walk to the playground – only us. Some workers came to clean the park. We had beautiful desert views of Petra. Ezra and Viena loved the tall spiral slides of the playground. After checking out, we attempted Petra one more time. We hiked all the way to the Treasury and just hung out like the ancient Nabataeans surround by local Bendoin and their working children, their working donkeys, camels and horses. Some little girls about 8 years old were playing with Ezra but then were told to go back to work selling postcards or jewelry. Just part of the whole Petra experience. The heat of the day was upon us. We stayed in the shade of the tall rock canyon walls – the same shade that the ancient Nabataeans sat under so many years ago. Sun Rocks Shade Earth. A timeless equation that does not change. The same shade. The same shade. Chariots moving fast through the SIQ. We had only to eat and wait for the JETT bus to bring us back to AMMAN. The JETT bus experience was nice. Spoke to a young 18-year-old Jordanian who shared some secrets of Arabic life. We noticed on the streets that Jordanians like to tell stories in a soft tone like everything is a secret. We were stopped twice on the bus by Jordanian officials to check passports.

DAY 164 PETRA PLAYGROUND

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We were able to visit Petra and a playground all in one day. One long hot day. We climbed all the way back to the Monastery. The day went by to fast to really know what happened. So glad we decided to drive south from Amman. One more day.

Our day to explore Petra. Our room included breakfast. In the huge dining area with 20 tables, one was prepared just for us. Only us. The breakfast was wonderful coming from the scanty and spicy foods of Sri Lanka. Nice breads. Yummy Hummus. We packed the extra for a lunch picnic. 5JD for the Taxi to the Petra Gate. Petra cost 110 JD for all of us for 2 days. Kids are free! We were one of the first people in the Petra Park. We followed another couple who mentioned they were walking straight to the Monastery because the walk is long and you must start early or pay later by walking in the afternoon heat. We were offered horse rides, mule rides, and donkey rides, but said NO to all. Well, on the way out I paid 3JD for both Ezra and Viena to ride donkeys, just for the photo. We also paid 5JD for the 3 of us to ride camels in front of the Treasury. Being up on the camel was pretty scary, especially since Ezra seemed like he had a difficult time holding onto the donkey and now he was up at least 8 feet on a camel back alone. But I love he camel photo Dwana took of us in front of the Treasury. So many sights to see. Such a nice morning, before the heat, and before most of the hawkers were up to try and sell you things. Much like the walk through the Narrows of Zion National Park without all the water and with big rock carvings of tombs and facades from long ago. We had a picnic of bread and cheese outside the Monastery before walking back down. Nice to start early since none of the market people were selling their stuff. This was not the case on our return trip. We had to practice saying “No thank you”. We did have tea (1JD) with a Bedouin woman who had a place with a great view of a canyon. We were not prepared for all the little children employed in this practice of selling items to the tourists. We saw a boy about Ezra’s age sitting in the hot sun trying to sell rocks. The day was very warm by the time we finished in the early afternoon and the swimming pool felt great and was mandatory and we were the only ones in the pool.

DAY 163 JORDAN JUST IN TIME

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One of our best travels days yet. Here is how it all went down. Woke up around 4:20AM to finishing packing. Pickup from tuk-tuk driver at 05:30AM. They do not allow tuk-tuk drivers to go all the way into the airport, so we had to walk to last 500 meters. At least we were at the correct airport. Check in no problem. Found a money changer to change all my leftover Rupees (6000) into dollars ($41). Everyone is feeling good. Smuggled 3 liters of water onto the plane. Nice waiting area. The flight touched down in Al Ain … Look it up – I had to. … Sandy everywhere. … Everywhere. Miles and miles. Touched down in Amman Jordan. Jordan Visas ($120 for the four of us). Cell phone connection ($15). Found ATM. Found taxi driver holding FOLEY sign. Hit the road to PETRA. This is where the dream becomes fuzzy. We are the only guests at this hotel. Tomorrow we walk through time, we walk through Petra.

Wonder where we woke up. A wonder. We woke up in Negombo Sri Lanka and went to sleep in Wadi Musa Petra Jordan. All in a day. What do I remember? The darkened Tuk-tuk ride in the morning. Tuk-tuks do not have very strong headlights which make seeing people and bicycles on the side of the rode difficult in the darkness of the early early morning. All of our bags barely fit in the tuk-tuk, but tuk-tuks are usually half the price of a car taxi. The downside we found out was that tuk-tuks are not allowed in the airport – at least today they were not allowed. We had to walk the final quarter mile to the airport. Check in and check out of Sri Lanka – no problem. Bye-bye Sri Lanka. The flight to Jordan was like no other flight I have been on. So much sand outside covering the Earth, being the Earth, sandy Earth … as far as the eye could see, and from our vantage point we could see a long way. Like an ocean of sand. We flew up along the Western coast of India and then landed in Al-Ain, United Emirates. Barren lands. All day long we flew and the sandy landscapes rarely changed. We touched down in Queen Alia airport in Amman Jordan. Now the logistics started: mobile phone plan($20), atm to withdraw Jordanian Diners, and our Jordanian Visa ($120). I had pre-arranged for a taxi driver to meet us at the airport and drive us the 3 hours to Wadi Musa – Petra. All going smoothly. Ezra fell asleep quickly in the taxi and was down for the count. Ezra did not wake up when the taxi driver took a break. When we told the taxi driver we were staying at the Hotel Grand View, he called his taxi friend in Wadi Musa who replied, “The Hotel Grand View – you are going to be the only one staying up there!”. In our travels, we have stayed at some off the map places where we have been the only one using the pool or there have been very few other guests at the hotel, but Dwana and I were truly shocked when we arrived at the huge Hotel Grand View in Wadi Musa and we were “the only ones staying at the hotel”.! Still hard to believe that we were the only guests staying at this 5-star hotel on the upper hills of Wadi Musa overlooking Petra. We arrived just in time for sunset and a plunge in the deep blue pool. We are in the desert – no doubt. The greenery of southeast Asis – Borneo, Thailand, Malaysia, Bali and Sri Lanka disappear quickly behind us – long forgotten – like yesterdays breakfast. Being in the desert, being alone at a 5-star resort, being in the middle East with the sun setting over Israel … so different, so strange, so surreal. This entrance into Arabia in a beautiful place – a desert place – and we are familiar with the desert. In the West, the sun was setting, and I pictured the Holy Lands of Palestine, Israel, Egypt and wondered how far the Mediterranean Sea was.

DAY 160 MOUNT LAVINIA ELEPHANTS NEVER FORGET TO LOOK BOTH WAYS

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Me crossing the street.
Happy
Great Apartment. Great Host. Not so great beach environment.
Our only playground in Sri Lanka

Elephants learn to look both ways before crossing the road or train tracks at an early age – as do many Sri Lankans. The train ride yesterday from Colombo to Mount Lavinia was interestingly beautiful because the tracks are laid literally 10 meters from the breaking waves of the Indian Ocean. The ramifications of this is that you can see and fell the ocean spray from your open train window as the train travels south down the tracks. Very nice. However, also, now you have tracks and trains on prime beachfront property. Which means the prime beach front real estate is now longer “prime”. So most of the beachfront dwellings are shacks and shanties. The nicer houses and apartments are located about 100-200 meters from the tracks and deafening noise of the train. What follows? Now you have a row of poor disadvantages people living on “prime” beachfront that is visited by “rich” foreign travellers. So, as tourists, we learned quickly to “look both ways” – not for fear of an approaching train, or an approaching elephant, but for fear of the encroaching Sri Lankan male who likes to hover around and strike up meaningless conversation, or just hover. Unfortunately for us we were the only tourists besides 3 Russian guys on the beach. Normally I like a beach without the crowds of tourists, but here at Mount Lavinia beach I was hoping some other foreigners would appear to take some of the hoverers. We could not for this reason enjoy the beach. I did jump in and enjoy the waves for a bit but had to come out because of a hoverer. Oh well. We have been peacefully approached throughout Sri Lankan without any issues, but since we are now near the big city of Colombo – everything fells a little different – another level of distraction. And when your children are distracting enough, you do not need any thing else. So, we headed home, crossed the tracks, looked both ways (not for a train) and enjoyed some Viena inspired oven baked chocolate chunk cookies. Yes, we have an oven. Maybe we will cook a turkey tomorrow. Will we dare to go to the beach for sunset? A dream with Jerry showing us around Columbia and taking pictures of the Brazos River.

DAY 159 TRAIN FROM KANDY TO COLOMBO

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Room with a view. Observation Cart
Mount Lavinia City Train
Surfing on a train.
Rains finally found us
Sunset on Mount Lavinia
another
Fresh Baked

We are on the train from Kandy to Colombo. 1st class – no A/C. I do not even see the A/C cart. We are riding backwards and are watching the jungle scenery pass by. We have real individual seats – worth the $3 upgrade. The rocking of the train is so relaxing and has put most people to sleep – not Ezra or Viena. Yes, what a relaxing way to spend the morning. Our host Marlon, gave us a ride to the train station. Thank you. They have been the best of hosts. Now we are heading for Colombo and onto Mount Lavinia and I have not secured our place to stay. This is the first time on this trip that in the morning I do not know where we will rest our heads tonight. Now, the other, Dwana, Viena and Ezra never know where they will rest their heads. They place their trust in me to find “suitable” housing. Suitable in this case means with air conditioning. The train has stopped on the tracks for a while to let another train pass, but here in first class, we have less worries and our carts are not jammed full of people and the heat of the day has not started. Viena and Ezra are seated with Dwana writing in their own little notebooks. No breakfast yet. We hope to change trains in Colombo and arrive in Mount Lavinia before noon. I have a couple leads on places, but it looks as if we will be wandering around Mount Lavinia with all of our bags in the late morning heat. Last night I kept waking every hour to check on the time. Not ideal sleep, but here we are on the train. We had such a wonderful time in Kandy, and I will always remember Viena lost her first big upper tooth after visiting Temple of the Tooth. Maybe the tooth fairy will place her tooth right next to Buddhas.

DAY 158 SIGIRIYA AND PIDURANGALA?

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Why not? Why not wake up again in the early morning and drive around looking for elephants? Why not? When do you even have that as an option? However, this morning we were shutout. Zero wild elephant sightings. The last two days have been so wonderful. Everything that we set out to do, we accomplished. I love that feeling. Today was our Sigiriya day. Our guide Terrence was quite confused on our methods to see Sigiriya, but they worked for us. We started walking the trail from the Pidurangala Temple near Sigiriya. The trail up Pidurangala rock was easy. Ezra walked the entire way. From the top we had 360 degree views – include the view of the masses of people ascending the stairs of Sigiriya – not us though. We picniced alone atop our castle rock castle. We could see all the way to the Big Golden Buddha in Dambulla. On the Pidurangala trail their is a huge reclining Buddha in the rock. Near the sleeping Buddha statue is a peaceful Lotus pond. Amazing. The early sun was striking the sleeping Buddha and yet Buddha continued to sleep. Only our footsteps were around and no one was following us and telling us where we could or could not step. No one was asking to see our ticket or asking us if we want a guide or if we want to buy a wooden elephant, We were able to walk free. WE were here as if we were here 1500 years ago, when man made their mark among these rocks. Of course Ezra was more interested in catching some of the frogs in the pools of water. Sleeping Buddha – Jumping Frog. Sounds like a good Chinese Movie, I can truly say the drive back to Kandy was uneventful. I am so glad we decided to do this little expedition up North. We could have easily just stayed and played in our nice guesthouse in Kandy, but that is not why we are travelling the world. Ruins and Rocks and Elephant talks – that is why we are travelling the world.

DAY 157 THE EARLY BIRD FINDS THE ELEPHANTS NEAR POLONNARUWA

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DAMBULLA BUDDHA
SWIM PRACTICE

A pack of at least 10 wild elephants eating a breakfast of fresh forest trees – that’s why we woke up at 3:30AM this morning and started our drive to Polonnaruwa. The road to Polonnaruwa from Kandy cuts right through Minierya National Park where the largest gathering of Sri Lanka elephants live. My strategy of an early morning drive to see the elephants paid off BIG. We sat on the side of the road for about 20 minutes watching elephants tear down the forest. We observed that Elephants look both ways before crossing the road – look past those big flapping ears. They have a march about them where they bend at the knee to 90 degrees as they are walking – pretty cool to see. The elephants were about 20-30 feet away – too close for Dwana. I noticed that Terrence out driver was ready to punch it (the accelerator, not the elephant) if we needed a quick get-a-way. Only once did the elephants seemed disturbed and one made their distinct BBBRUUUMPPPHH sound! I think he was telling the others elephants to look out for the little baby elephant. Elephants in the wild – close up. CHECK. And that was just the beginning of our trip – of our morning. We arrived in Polonnaruwa just as the postcard salesmen arrived and just as the park opened. Terrence drove us around all the amazing archaeological sites. Ezra and Viena did OK. The only time Ezra was bummed was after an encounter with a salesman selling overpriced trinkets. Ezra said, ” I do not want to look at OLD things … I want some NEW things!” A small inconvenience for a wonderful place.

DAY 156 ALL MY HANDS ARE FULL OF KANDY

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prayer flags

Our last walk into Kandy-town took us on the back roads from our guesthouse to the top of the ridge where we could see our destination for the day – Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha Statue -or the Big Buddha statue overlooking Kandy. I asked a number of tuk-tuk drivers if they knew the back way to the Big Buddha from our neighborhood, but they did not, and once again Google Maps was able to efficiently and successfully navigate the uncrowded roads all the way for our Pilgrimage from the Buddhist Temple near our house to Bahiravokanda. The day was hot even in the morning. We tried as best we could to stay in the shade. The Bahiravokanda cost 200 rupees to see and we were able to climb all the way to the top of the Big Buddha and see Kandy -town and the surrounding mountains – the Temple of the Tooth, the lake, and even the radio tower on the ridge our guesthouse. I am stil becoming used to seeing military police armed on the streets with automatic weaponry. The Sri Lanka civil war was not that long ago. I think Sinhalese writing was perfected while writing on an undulating train. After saying no to a number of tuk-tuk offers, we walked into Kandy-town. The streets were full of men and products – must have been delivery day, but maybe everyday is delivery day. We found a nice shop to eat where Ezra guzzled down 2 fresh bottles of chocolate milk. We also found a children’s clothing shop. Walking along the city street tires us out more than walking in the neighborhood. Too many other distraction to look out for – cars, trucks, tuk-tuks. We walked past Temple of the Tooth one final time before we caught a tuk-tuk back home. Amazing, the smiles a tuk-tuk ride brings after a long day of walking.

DAY 155 CRICKET AND KANDY

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Played our first game of cricket with Yohan and now I can see why Sri Lankans have good fielding talent and sure hands. Usually children are playing cricket in the street or a small driveway with no room for error – or else the ball goes rolling down the hill or into the run-off drain or worse yet into the razor sharp snake infested tall grasses. I say snake infested, but I have only seen one snake in Sri Lanka. I did however chase a ball into the tall grass and heard something slither away as I reached my hand down to retrieve the cricket ball … and then I had to retrieve another ball. We have seen cricket being practiced near railroad tracks. on the side of mountains, on steep streets and driveways, in crowded neighborhood housing … we have seen cricket played everywhere except the cricket field in Kandy. I bought a $1.50 Sri Lankan Cricket ballcap for Ezra to give him some shade. We had lots of fun playing with Yohan who was immediately excited when we started playing Cricket instead of just Catch. Cricket – Sri Lankan National Sport – I think. We went on a small walk to a clothing store in the afternoon to supplement our wardrobe. I have been trying to find some <$5 clothes along the way. – the difficulty is finding a large enough size. The weather has been especially hot today. Our place has a washing machine so Dwana washed all of our clothes and then hung them out to dry. We had to remember to bring the clothes in before the afternoon rains. Viena and Ezra were so excited in the clothing store. The have not been in a real retail store in months. We were able to Skype with Mylon in the morning and wish him a Happy Birthday at his 18th Birthday Party in the evening in Alaska. That was nice. I made plans once again to visit the Rocks and the Ruins of the north. I arranged an early morning driver and an overnight stay in Polonnaruwa. We have not had an overnight driver, but having an overnight driver is a very popular way for foreigners to see Sri Lanka. Costly though. We plan to leave in a couple days when I am feeling better. My headache is finally gone. Our host families continue to improve in their hospitality with every guest house. So wonderful to be greeted with smiles and a pleasant conversation about rippening avocados and coconuts and tea.