Wine Bars and Embassies - Traveling in 2015

I have had several experiences with embassies while traveling.   I try not to involve myself with embassies and to try to stay clear of the proximity if at all possible.  My first experience with an embassy occured in 2001 in Amsterdam,  While not an actual embassy my story involved the American Consulates Office in Amsterdam which is almost an embassy in my thoughts.  I was robbed on the train from Schiphol Airport traveling into the city of Amsterdam.  A group of you gypsy boys ran into the train, grabbed my travel bag and ran out of the door of the train before I was able to catch them.  It all happened very fast and was very scary for me on only my second trip out of the United States.  I was still a novice traveler and still had a lot to learn about dangers while traveling.  The thieves did not get any of value of to them although the items in the bag were of great value to me. They got my passport and my return plane ticket.  I was able to get a replacement plane ticket, at a cost of course.  But I was in a foreign country with no passport which worried me more than the plane ticket.  I had to go to the American Consulates Office to report the loss of my passport and to place application for a replacement.  I had photos made at an office across the street from the consulates office and three days later I had a new passport presented to me.  Again this was at my expense so the theft was costly to me even without them getting any money or credit cards.

New passports outside the gate of the American Consulates Office in Amsterdam

It was an adventure. After returning home the inconvenience and the initial fear were forgotten and I now had an interesting travel story to share.  My second experience with an embassy was a lot more scarier than losing my passport.

Mark and I traveled to Ireland in 2009.  We have a good friend named Holger Haase who lives in Ireland and used to work for a hotel chain there.  He helped us book our hotel with a significant discount in Dublin, which we appreciated very much.  We landed in Dublin and took a taxi to our hotel.  We wanted to immediately get out and start exploring the area around the hotel.  We left the hotel and started to walk towards St. Stephen's Green.  I had just retired in January 2008.  Mark bought me a wonderful digital movie camera for my retirement gift that we could use on our travels.  I was excited about using it for the the first time.  So as we walked from our hotel I took the movie camera and decided to document out first moments in Dublin.  I did not realize our hotel was in the Embassy district. I had just arrived in the city.  As we crossed the street from our hotel and as I recorded our walk I was stopped abruptly by a uniformed security guard.  He demanded my camera and wanted to know why I was making a movie.  I nervously explained I had just arrived and was making a movie of our first walk in Dublin thinking everything would be alright with my explanation.  However the guard became less friendly and demanded my identification.  It seems I had been making a video of the Israeli Embassy.  After a lot of explanations, and providing not only my passport but my drivers license and home address was I released and allowed to continue my journey.  I put the camera away and walked quickly out of the Embassy district before taking out the camera again.

Mark and I have just returned from a wonderful Christmas vacation in Prague and Budapest.  We really enjoyed exploring the Christmas markets, seeing all of the churches and other sights.  Prague and Budapest are two of the more beautiful cities we have visited.  Our first day in Prague we once more became aware of an Embassy in our presence.  We walked from Old Town Square across the Charles Bridge to the Lesser Town area.  Mark wanted to see the Church of Our Lady Victorious where the famous Infant Jesus of Prague is located.  We found the church easily and were able to explore the church and take some photos of the Infant Jesus of Prague Statue.

The Infant Jesus of Prague inside the Church of Our Lady Victorious

We left the church and decided to walk back to the Church of St. Nichols in Lesser Town Square.  On our way we say a small side street that looked interesting.  We decided to walk up the side street and then on to Lesser Town Square.  As we entered the street we saw a sign for small wine bar at the top of the hill.  This caught our attention and became our main focus.  It was cold and we were ready to take a break, have some warm mulled wine and a snack before continuing our walk.  As we walked up the hill a car turned on to the street and proceeded to drive behind us. Suddenly four uniformed men appeared and stopped the car.  We stepped back on the side walk, as we were not sure what was happening but being nosey we wanted to see what was going on.  The guards looked in the trunk of the car, searched through the car, and then checked under with car with mirrors.  We knew something strange was happening but we were not sure what it was.  Another car turned onto the street behind the car being inspected. Once again the guards stopped the car and inspected it also.  Then I noticed a large American flag flying over out heads.  With our sights on the wine bar we did not notice we were walking past the American Embassy.  Travel today is a lot different that it was in 2001 when I was in Amsterdam.  Times have changed.  The Isis attacks in Paris had occurred just a few weeks before out trip to Prague and safety was on mind.  And being near the American Embassy is probably not the safest place to be walking in a foreign country today.  We talked about maybe turning around and avoiding the Embassy area.  And then we looked at the very appealing wine bar just ahead of us at the top of the hill.  We have traveled to dangerous places before.  We have learned to be cautious and be aware of our surroundings.  And we have learned that sometimes taking risks creates the best memories.  So the wine bar won!  It was directly next to the Embassy.  We sat in the very pleasant bar and had some warm mulled wine and a delicious Czech Christmas Cake for a treat while at the same time watching every car turning on the street being examined for bombs.  All in all it was a good choice and the right decision.  The lady serving us was very pleasant and we enjoyed talking with her.  We never mentioned the Embassy or the bomb squad searches and neither did she.  That is life in 2015.

Mark and Larry choosing to enjoy warm mulled wine 

Vinoteka Wine Bar

Seeing Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits In Concert - Two Old Men Shaking Hands

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Two friends of Mark's very kindly gave us two tickets to see Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits in concert.  The concert was at the Ram's Head Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland.  Neither Mark nor his friends knew that this had a very special meaning to me.   Fifty years ago this month I bought my very first record album.   I had bought many singles but at the age of 13 I had never bought an album.  My birthday is in November and I always asked for money instead of gifts for my birthday as a teen.   I received enough money to buy two albums for this birthday.  So what did I buy?  People who know me they will probably guess The Beatles first and then maybe The Rolling Stones second.  And they will be wrong. The first album I bought was The Best of Herman's Hermits.  I still had enough money from my birthday to buy a second album.  For this I chose The Beatles VI.  

I loved these albums.  I played them many many times over and over.  Today Paul McCartney still tours to stadiums filled with fans.  Ringo Starr still tours large concert halls.  Peter Noone is singing at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland.  Like everyone else time has treated us all differently.

I was a big fan of Herman's Hermits.  They were not as cool as The Beatles or as rough as The Rolling Stones.  But Peter Noone and his band came to my turntable in my room so many times and brought me so much joy.  I never would have thought that fifty years later in another November I would be sitting at a small table right next to stage listening to Peter Noone sing all those familiar songs that  I memorized back in my room as a teen.  I knew Peter was five years older than me.  I learned this fact in Gloria Staver's 16 Magazine back in 1965.

During the concert Peter mentioned his birthday was November 5.  So he had just turned 18 when I bought his greatest hits at age 13.  But tonight we were two old men in a small tavern setting sharing our 63rd or 68th birthdays.  The concert was great fun.  Peter's voice at 68 was actually much better than it had been at 18.  He had fun playing with the audience and making jokes about all the old people in the hall.  I am sure he was amused at all the older ladies in the audience still wearing Herman tee shirts and still acting like giggling school girls. 

He finished the show with a very high energy version of I'm Henry The Eighth I Am.  He had the audience sing along and spell out the H E N R Y for the chorus.  And then it was all over and he prepared to leave the stage.  But as all fans expect the star came back for one last song.  He came back to finish the show with There's A Kind Of Hush.  All the ladies sighed.  All the men clapped.  And this old fan just smiled and was glad to have relived the age thirteen once more for an hour.  As Peter left the stage he passed directly by our table as we were seated right at the very end of stage.  He had walked around the stage waving to the ladies.  He was telling everyone goodbye and then he reached out and shook my hand.  Of course he had no idea that fifty years ago this month I had bought my first album and that it was his album.  But for me it was a great moment.  Fifty years later celebrating our birthdays together in small concert hall. Two old men shaking hands. Take that Paul McCartney.  As much as I love The Beatles this could never have happened at one of your stadium concerts.  And so I am kind of glad now that fifty years ago I bought Peter's album first.  

Strong Women With No Apologizes

My Aunt Louisa Cullum - a strong and proud factoy worker

My good friend Judy Keithly Hopps just sent out a message on Facebook about the passing of her mother  Anna Marguerite Keithley.  Anna was a strong woman.  She lived in a time when strong women were not always appreciated. They were sometimes just ignored or forgotten.  I have so many memories of her and her quiet spirit.  She was never outspoken.  She just lived her live as best as she could. She raised three children on her own.  This was during the Ozzie and Harriet years when we watched ideal families on TV and when the image was so distorted that there was no reality for us to see.  But we all looked for that reality and wondered why we were different.  We weren't different.  The image was different and wrong.  

Anna Marguerite Keithly along with my Aunt Louisa Cullum (in the photo above) both worked in a shoe factory that was little more than a sweat shop.  They worked for minimum wages and worked hard.  They did not expect a hand out or a free meal.  They worked hard to pay their rent and put food on the table.  My Aunt was a divorced woman with no children.  She lived with her mother for the majority of her live.  She worked extremely hard cementing counters on the back of three buckle arctic boots that the factory had contracted to make for the U.S. military.  She worked in an factory with no air conditioning putting steaming hot cement on the back of the boots where she would place the back support called a counter.  The conveyor belt never stopped running and the were forced to keep up with production.  Yes it was funny watching Lucy eating chocolates on a conveyor belt on I Love Lucy.  It was not so funny watching women burn themselves from the hot glue and being afraid to stop the conveyor belt.  

Anna Keithley had no time to complain on the job either.  Like my Aunt she also could not stop the conveyor belt.  She had a family to feed.  She had rent to pay.  She had responsibilities that she never took lightly.  I mourn with my friend Judy today for her loss.   And I admire people like Anna Keithley and my Aunt Louisa Cullum. They would never meet societies norm today.  They did not have college educations.  Hell my Aunt did not have a high school education.  And they did jobs then that a lot of  people would not do today.  Those jobs are now out sourced to foreign countries where strong women are working for slave wages because they have responsibilities.  Look at the labels on your clothing and shoes and think of the people who make them.  They deserve our highest respect.  

Rest in peace Anna. I plan to attend your memorial service on Friday.  I am sure my Aunt Louisa and the other ladies and men who worked in that shoe factory have already greeted you in Heaven.

The Hiker - Spanish American War Memorial - Baltimore

The Hiker - Spanish American War Memorial in Baltimore
E Fayette Street & N Lakewood Avenue (Street View)

I love monuments and memorials. When I travel if I see a monument  I have to take a photo of it. When I return home and start to label my photos I then take time to research the monument.  I have a learned a lot of history that I never saw in  a text book this way.  I've decided to so a series of blogs on some of the monuments from my home city of Baltimore.  One of Baltimore's nicknames is The Monumental City because of the number of monuments located here.  Some have become hidden or forgotten over the years.  But each is fascinating and has a unique story to tell.

"The Hiker depicts a hero stripped of his parade uniform and shown as a soldier reacting to the challenges of the battlefield."

This statue has a rich history that does not start with Baltimore.  The original statue  was created by Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson.  She created the statue to honor the American soldiers who fought in the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Philippine-American War.  The original statue was created for the University of Minnesota in 1906.  It became a very popular statue and copies have been made and placed in over 50 locations in the United States.  The one in Baltimore was dedicated on June 11, 1943 quite a few years after the original statue was created.

Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson was born in Massachusetts.   She was the student and wife of artist Henry Hudson Kitson.   She studied in Paris and became known for her work by the age of nineteen. The Hiker became her most famous work.

The statue stuck a cord with people.  Due to it's popularity in 1921 the Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, Rhode Island bought the rights to the statue.  They eventually cast at least 50 statues over the next 44 years including the one here in Baltimore.  

The Spanish-American War only lasted for ten weeks and is primarily remember for Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders.  However the conflict did spread to the Spanish owned Philippine Islands and the island of Guam.  The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1898.  It gave the United States temporary control of Cuba and ceeded ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippine island to the United States.  So for me personally, with the historic reopening of diplomatic status with Cuba in 2015, this monument has great interest to me.  I am hoping to travel Cuba in the near future and explore the culture we have long ignored. 

Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson died in 1932 eleven years before the statue was dedicated in Baltimore.

The statue is 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and stands on a 6-foot (1.8 m) granite base, depicting a soldier clad in a period uniform with a campaign hat and a Krag-Jorgensen rifle

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"The Hiker depicts a hero stripped of his parade uniform and shown as a soldier reacting to the challenges of the battlefield."

There are worse problems I know

It was a beautiful day today.  The weather was perfect.  As you can see above Fell's Point in Baltimore calls my name on days like these.  My day started out kind of normal.  I got up. I stretched out the old man morning pains.   I put the Delilah the Wonder Lab out about ten times this morning which means twenty trips to the back door.

I took some time this morning for some house work.  I cleaned two bathroom and vacuumed dog hair from the carpets.  If you have a black lab you already know this is a daily requirement. I had planned to do some laundry today also and few other things around the house but by 11:00 and trip number twenty to the back door the weather got the best of me.  I decided today was calling me for a trip to Fell's Point for lunch.

Larry at Woody's Wine Bar Spring 2012

I usually go down to Fell's Point the first really warm day in the spring and go to Woody's Rum Bar.  I don't go for the rum, although I do like a little rum.  I go there because it's a small cafe on a third story balcony overlooking Baltimore's harbor with a perfect spot to people watch and they serve a perfect portion of wine along with my lunch.  It's the perfect way to start my spring.  I have even written a blog or two here about early spring afternoons at Woody's.  This year I was side tracked a little.  I was still recuperating from my spinal surgery through the spring and was not allowed to drive or to drink any kind of alcohol.    I finally had my chance last week to make a trip to Woody's  I was waiting for my glass of wine, a fish taco, and lots of people watching from my perch on the rooftop.   To my dismay Woody's was not serving single servings of wine any longer.  They were serving $40 bottles of wine which is way over my budget for lunch and also way to much for me to drink while driving.  So I asked the waitress about this.  She told me there did serve wine by can now for single servings.  She said it was the size of two glasses.  Wine by can?   Let's just say this did not really appeal to me and just leave it there.  My response to her was "Show me the beer menu".  I ended up with a beer and a rather boring and tasteless burger because not only didn't they have wine but they were temporarily out of the fish tacos also. So I made a note to myself scribble Woody's off my list of favorite places.

I returned to Fell's Point today, one week later. The first thing to happen is my air conditioning in the car was not working.  My car is two years old.  The A/C simply can not be broken.  But it was.  No matter what I did all that happened was hot air blew in my face.  So I had to roll down the windows and deal with the heat.   I was hoping for the perfect experience I missed last week once I arrived in Fell's Point, a glass of wine, a light lunch, and some time to relax along the water front and enjoy the view.  Where better to this, now that Woody's is scratched off my list, than the Waterfront Hotel, aka WTF Hotel.  It is know to have some of the best food in Fell's Point.  Baltimore Magazine and The City Paper give it awards every year.  And I have enjoyed it in the past.  I parked my car in the square in Fells Point and paid the meter. (Please keep this in mind dear reader as it plays a roll in the end of my story).  I entered WTF Hotel and placed my order: a glass of wine and a Maryland Crab Cake.  .  I found a seat with a view of the street and the harbor.  Things were looking up.  UNTIL.....

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They served my wine in a stemless glass!  I have whined and posted rants on Facebook in the past about my disdain for restaurants and bar who serve me white wine in a stemless glass.  It's a huge pet peeve of mine.  I can accept, if I must, red wine in a stemless glass.  But not white wine. EVER!  The wine gets warm from my hand.  It's difficult to pick up and hold.  And it makes me unhappy.

Next they served me my crab cake.  For an award winning restaurant I was expecting a text book perfect Maryland Crab Cake.  But no that is not what I was served.  I was served "their take" on a Maryland Crab Cake made with smoked crab meat.  So there I sat with my stemless wine glass and my wine getting warmer each time I touched it and a smoked crab cake.  Let's just say I made another one of those notes to myself to scratch the WTF Hotel off my list also.

I did not finish the wine.  I picked at the crab cake.  I paid my bill and decided to try and salvage the afternoon  by going to Max's Tap House.  Max's has over two hundred beers daily.

Max's did not disappoint.  They had one of my favorites.  Susquehanna Brewing's So Wheat.  It was a perfect Hefewizen for my hot afternoon. So I left Fell's Point to head home in my non air conditioned car feeling somewhat satisfied.  It was not quite the experience I had hope for but there are far worse problems in the world.

I got back to my and what do I see on the wind shield?  A parking ticket.  I looked at my phone for the time.  3:00.  I looked at my parking permit inside the window.  Expires 2:58.  I was pissed.  Did the cop stand there and wait for two minutes to post my ticket?  Was it really worth even coming to Fell's Point any more?  Ugh!   I picked up the ticket to examine it.  It was not for expired parking.  So I guess I owe the police an apology for my nasty thoughts.  It was for expired license tags!  My tags expired July 31.  Today is August 4.  I was mad at myself now instead of the police. I drove my car to the MVA express near my house and went in to pay for new tags;  Before going in I looked at the ticket again.  And there it was.  The wonderful and kindly but fat fingered policeman had keyed my license number incorrectly on the computerized ticket.  My tag has three letters in the middle of the plate and he or she had keyed two of them wrong.  So there is no way I can pay the ticket on line because my tag number is not in the system from the ticket.  Not a bad ending all things considered.  Someone else with the license tag number on my ticket will have a bad day in about a month when they get a notice for not paying their fine.  I was saved a $35 fine but still had to pay $135 for my tag renewal.

These are all insignificant first world problems I know.  I have a cousin who is battling leukemia.  I have a best friend who's brother is battling cancer.  I have a prayer list a mile long for friends who are ill, or having financial problems.  A stemless wine glass and a crappy crab cake really don't hold up as major problems in the long run.  I do count my blessings every day.  Now if only Fell's Point could pull it's act together!






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Learning a lesson from an older couple - People Watching In Sintra, Portugal.

People watching from a small cafe in Sintra

I love to sit back and watch people when I travel.  I know some where some place there is some one sitting back watching me also.  But it's all part of being a traveler. So I am sure there is a photo of me doing something that someone else found amusing or unusual.   I was in Sintra, Portugal in June 2015.  It was very hot and Mark and I had done a lot of walking.  It was time to sit down for a while, have a cool glass of Vino Verde and maybe a chilled can of Pepsi on the side.  We found a little cafe just out side of the tourist center of the city.  We took some time to talk about some of the things we had seen in Sintra.  We looked at some of the photos each of us had taken.  Then we ordered some lunch.   While waiting for lunch to be served it was time for me to do some people watching.

I saw a older gentleman walk toward a table near ours and take a seat.  He had two braces attached to his arms that he was leaning on for balance as he walked.  He took his seat and removed the braces and placed them against the side of his table.  He appeared to be alone.  A few moment later an older lady came to the table.  She had very large swollen ankles as a lot of senior citizens develop at her age.  I am getting close to that age myself.   They placed an order with the waiter.  A few moments later they were served to cold beers.  They smiled and raised the glasses to toast each other silently.  It made me smile.  I thought it was very sweet.

A little later our lunch was served.  It was a delicious lunch.  I ordered a meal a little heavy for a hot afternoon but it was so good I did not mind.

I was drawn back to the older couple.  I glanced over to see what they were doing.  I noticed that the lady had taken off one of her shoes.  I thought poor thing. Her ankles must really be bothering her from all of the heat and the walking in Sintra.  She casually took her foot and tapped the gentleman's foot under their table.   He smiled.  Then she slowly ran her foot up his leg and massaged his leg with her bare foot.   He smiled even more and reached across the table and held her hand.  This went on until their food was served.  It was something totally unexpected and I could not stop watching.  There was something so sweet and so loving about that moment.  They were oblivious to every one around them and they were having a very intimate moment.  

I enjoyed my glass of wine.  Lunch was excellent.  But I do think this couple had a much better lunch experience than I did.  God bless them.  An elderly couple still in love and not afraid to show their affection for each other.  I thought about them for a while and thought how

sweet it must be to still be romantic with each other after all of their years together.  But then I thought perhaps I was wrong.  Maybe they were new lovers who had both lost their previous spouses.  Whatever their story is does not matter.  They left me with thoughts of getting older and still enjoying all that life has to offer.  And perhaps I should put down the camera more often, stop editing photos over lunch, and just reach over and touch my spouses hand.   Maybe some one younger will see it, sneak a photo and write a blog about it later.

Tuk Tuks - not only in Southeast Asia

Tuk Tuk's and traffic in Chiang Mai

  
When I think of tuk tuk's I immediately think of large Southeast Asian cities with lots of traffic and tiny little tuk tuk's weaving in and out of the traffic to transport tourists quickly to a special destination.  I took my first tuk tuk ride while I was in Bangkok, and yes it was  large southeast Asian city with lots of traffic.   The guide books all said to be careful of tuk tuks.  They over charge.  They are expensive when compared to using a bus or a tram.  I did not find them all that expensive in Bangkok.  Once I assured the driver I did not want to visit the tiger sanctuary or any other tourist trap on his list it was a pleasant and quick way to get to my chosen destination.  Mark and I used tuk tuks' several times while in Bangkok.  We found it fun to zoom through the busy traffic blocked streets.  And the breeze blowing through the tuk tuk was a welcome relief to the heat in Bangkok.

Mark and I in Bangkok in the back of a tuk tuk

After leaving Bangkok we visited the city of Chiang Mai.  We decided to hire a driver with a taxi in Chiang Mai instead of using tuk tuk's.  Our driver was a very nice lady named Ebon.  We spent an entire day with her for only $45.  She was delightful and showed us many interesting places and taught us a lot about the city of Chiang Mai and surrounding area's outside of the city.  We met her at the airport when we arrived in Chiang Mai.  She drove us from the airport to our hotel and gave us her business card to use if we were interesting in hiring her the next day.  After our day with Ebon we decided we would spend the rest of our time in Chiang Mai on foot visiting the many side streets, temples and shops. As we walked the streets we say many tuk tuk drivers parked along the streets.   Each tuk tuk we passed called out to us "Tuk tuk?"  After a day of hearing "Tuk tuk?" at least a hudred times I started to find it humorous.  We saw one last tuk tuk driver on a very hot afternoon and as he called out to us I responded with a friendly laugh "No. No tuk tuk's today".   I was looking back at the driver and was not watching my step very well.  Mark had walked on ahead of me.  I slipped on a curb and had a very bad fall right in front of the tuk tuk.  I called to Mark ahead of me frantically.  I knew something was wrong and I could not get up on my feet.  I had broken my ankle.  I looked back at the tuk tuk driver I had just said "No" to hoping for a ride.  I must have made him angry when I said "No tuk tuk" the first time, as he just looked at me and started up his tuk tuk and drove away.   Mark helped me to my feet and I realized I could not walk back to our hotel.  Luckily we were able to flag down another tuk tuk and he took us safely back to our hotel.

After leaving Chiang Mai we flew to Phuket and stayed in the city of Patong.  I had no issue hiring tuk tuk's in Patong.  My foot was very swollen and it was painful walking.  At this time I thought it was just a sprain.  I did not find out it was actually broken until I returned home and went to the emergency room four days later.  Four days of tuk tuk rides in Phuket gave us the chance to see the variety of different tuk tuk designs in the city.  Some had fancy lights inside the cabin that blinked on and off.  One had a Winnie the Pooh decor which I found amusing.

A Winnie The Pook Tuk Tuk in Patong

We traveled to Portugal in June 2015.  The last thing I expected to see was a tuk tuk.  We were not in Southeast Asia.  We were in Western Europe.  We took a day trip from Cascais to the city of Sintra.  We had been in Sintra in 2009 for a day also but did not get the chance to really explore the city.  We made the big mistake of walking to the Castle of the Moors our first time in Sintra.  We had wanted to see the Castle so when we saw a sign pointing to the trail to walk to the castle we thought it would be a good idea.  We did not really research this very well.  The sign made it look like just a brief hike.  In reality the Castle of the Moors is on a very high hill way above the city.  We spent our entire day climbing the hill to the castle and we too tired afterwards to really explore any of the city itself.

Castle of the Moors - high above the city of Sintra

When we were at the Castle of the Moors in 2009 we were able to see the beautiful Pena Palace located above the castle on an even higher hill.  We did not have the time or energy to visit it that day.  So on our return trip in 2015 we planned to take explore the many side streets and alleys of Sintra and then take a bus up the hill to visit the Pena Palace.  As we explored Sintra we walked past a tuk tuk stand.  What kind of sorcery was this?  Tuk tuk's in Portugal?  We also noticed that the drivers of the tuk tuk's were very attractive young men.  

We were enticed to take a tuk tuk

So it was decided.  We would hire a tuk tuk to take us to the Pena Palace.  It was a bit more expensive than the tuk tuk's in Thailand.  But it was worth the price.  We had a very pleasant driver who took us to the palace and showed us quite a few beautiful over looks on the way to the top of the hill.  It was a lot easier and more fun than the long climb we had on our first visit.

Pena Palace

Our driver was not only pleasant and a good guide but he was also a very attractive young man which made the day all the more pleasant for these two "older" gay men.   At the end of our trip I asked the driver if we could take a photo.  His thought I meant for him to take a photo of Mark and I together.  When I explained that I wanted a photo with him he kind of blushed, smiled and said of course.  

Our friendly tuk tuk driver in Sintra

So if your in Sintra take my advice.  Do not follow the sign to the walking trail to the Castle of the Moors or the Pena Palace.

Hire a tuk tuk instead.  

Surprises in Portugal - Making Friends and Memories in Alcochete

Mark and Miguel walking through Alcochete

Surprises always happen when I travel.  Sometimes they are unpleasant surprises like missing plane connections or breaking an ankle in Thailand.  Sometimes they are wonderful surprises.  It can  be a toss up.   We traveled to Portugal in June 2015 and each day it seemed we had one good surprise after other.  I was almost afraid to mention them to anyone before the trip was completed for fear of jinxing the experience.  The trip to Portugal was one of the most pleasant in my memory from the ease of getting through security at the airport in Philadelphia right up until the ice cream service on the plane on our return flight home.

Mark and I visited Portugal for the first time in 2009.  We did not really know what to expect.  Portugal had never been on our radar as a location we had to see.  We went to Portugal to attend a meeting of the travel group we belong to called Virtual Tourist.  We went to spend a weekend partying with friends.  And in the end we also found a destination that really spoke to us and made us want to return. We did meet two people, Miguel and Gloria,  who became very good friends to us.  We kept in contact with them through Virtual Tourist and Facebook for the next six years always talking about returning and seeing them again.

When we returned to Lisbon, Miguel wanted us to visit the town here he lived named Alcochete.  The town is located across the river from Lisbon and is a bit isolated from the hustle of the capitol city.  We met Miguel after he finished work on Friday evening and he drove us to Alcochete.  We took time for a couple of beers and watched the sunset over the river from a small tavern on the waterfront.  Then we took some time to stroll slowly back through the town to see the church, the city hall and the side streets.  And as for all travelers it allowed us time to take many photos.

Igreja Matriz de São João Baptista. Church of St. John The Baptist - Alcochete

Miguel told he that he had had planned dinner for us at a restaurant managed by his friend Daniel.  He also told us he had ordered dinner for us that was prepared by Dona Conceição,  Daniel's mother.  As we walked through the town to the restaurant Miguel pointed out a sign to us that said Alcochete was celebrating it's 500th anniversary this month so we were there during a very special time.

We arrived at the restaurant and met Daniel who was very friendly and very glad to have us as his guests.  The meal was, in my opinion, the best we were served our entire stay in Portugal and we had a lot of very good meals.  Daniel told us there was a very special vintage of wine prepared specifically for the 500th anniversary.  The wine was not available to the public yet but he a bottle reserved for us.  

He told us this was the very first bottle to be opened so we would be the very people to taste this special vintage.  What a wonderful surprise for us.  The wine was very good.  The meal was excellent.  We finished the bottle of white wine and prepared for a dessert made by Daniel's mother when Daniel mentioned he also had one bottle of the red vintage if we wanted to try it also.   How do you turn down an an offer to be the first persons to not only taste the white but also the red wine made for this celebration?  To me this was one of nicest experiences I have encountered in all my many years of traveling.  So here is a toast to Daniel and his parents and their wonderful restaurant Don Peixe in Alcochete.

Larry, Mark, and Miguel toasting friendship and Daniel and his family

We had many surprises in Portugal.  All of them were good surprises.  But non surpassed this moment drinking the special vintage with our friend Miguel and our host Daniel.

Thank you Daniel for a very special evening

I will be writing about the food we ate in Portugal in another blog where I will give detail to the meal prepared for us at Don Peixe.  

Restaurant Don Peixe

I will be writing another blog about all of the food we ate in Portugal with special mention of the meal prepared for us at Don Peixe.

Switzerland Deja Vu

Larry 10,000 feet in the Alps on top of Schilthorn

 When I to took my first trip to Europe I was with my ex partner.  He and I had not done a lot of traveling in the past other than family vacations with our individual families.  He was scheduled to attend a conference for his job in France in the city of Marseilles and he asked if I wanted to join him on the trip.  All I needed was my airfare and money to spend.  The hotels would all be taken care of with his expense account for the trip.  He said it was a three day conference and we could plan a weeks vacation around the convention. I was so excited.  I wanted to see Paris.  But the conference is in Marseilles he replied to me.  Yes, I was aware that it was in Marseilles but Marseilles is in France and Paris is in France.  It did not matter to me that they were at different ends of the country. They were in the same country.  And I was not going to France or even to Europe and not see Paris.  So we went to Paris and then on to Marseilles.  For the next seven years we traveled to Europe each spring to attend this big medical conference in different cities and countries each year.  These were my first traveling experiences outside of the United States.  With each trip I was fascinated with the cities we visited.  I learned a lot about the culture and the history of each country we visited.  And with each experience I came home with a feeling of having discovered some new and wonderful.  Nothing seemed familiar to me.  I was a stranger in a strange land drinking up the knowledge and the beauty all around me.  I never felt at home.  It always felt foreign and fascinating to me.   Then I went to Switzerland.

Switzerland was never on my dream list of places I wanted to visit.  I never really thought much about Switzerland at all.  It was just Switzerland somewhere in the middle of Europe.  I was thrilled when his conference sent us to Italy.  It was a real fantasy to finally get to see ancient Italy.  Likewise with the Netherlands and Amsterdam, Cologne,  and Copenhagen.  But when he told me the conference was to be in Switzerland I was a bit let down.  I was glad to be able to continue to take  the annual trip to Europe.   But I was not thrilled about visiting Switzerland.  The only thing I really wanted to see in Switzerland was Piz Gloria the location where the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed.  

Piz Gloria high above the village of Murren

We planned the trip with little excitement.  We made arrangements to see Bern, Basel, Zurich, Geneva, and of course Piz Gloria.  The conference was in the remote village of Les Diablerets high in the Alps in the western French speaking part of Switzerland.

Les Diablerets

The strangest thing happened.  The moment we departed our plane in Geneva I was spellbound. Something felt very comforting and very familiar.  I could not quite figure out what it was or why I was feeling this way.  We boarded the train in Geneva and headed to Bern.  I could not stop staring out of the windows watching the villages and mountains go by. Switzerland  just captured my spirit and I felt completely at home.

Bern

The ten days passed  way to fast.  I wanted more time.  I did not want to leave.  To this day over ten years later I can still just close my eyes and be instantly transported back to Switzerland.  I find it strange.  I don't necessarily believe in reincarnation.  And I have no ancestors who came from Switzerland.  So there is no reason I should have felt so at home there.  But who knows.  Maybe I did live there in past life.  Or perhaps my mother's German ancestors originated in the Swiss area and migrated up to Germany and I felt some connection through them.

Perhaps it's because there is a Samson fountain in Bern.

Larry Sampson at the Samson fountain in Bern

The beautiful village of Murren

Or maybe I just fell in love with the beauty of the small villages.

I still feel like there is a piece of me in Switzerland.  I want to return one day soon and spend some more time there.  Maybe I will figure out the connection.  Or maybe I will be more confused.  But I do know there will be a certain satisfaction to be able to return and continue the journey.

Chateau Aigle

And I know that a glass of wine from the vineyards at Chateau Aigle is waiting for me on my return.  And perhaps there, all will be revealed to me.  Switzerland deja vu.