We headed North to Japan for the cherry blossom season and stops at 5 new ports.  On the way up, we passed a pod of whales and I caught a few shots of one breaching.

Sado Island was chosen by Japan’s rulers as a place of exile for rivals in the eighth century.  Now it is noted for the Kodo Cultural Foundation that trains students in Taiko drumming.  Young adults live a spartan life, vowing celibacy, and train for hours every day on beautiful hand-made drums of all sizes.  They travel the world doing shows including at the Olympics and the World Cup.  We got to see a demo by two of the students and try the drums ourselves.  A sow by the whole troupe must be amazing and if you watch the video, you’ll understand why they’ve got abs of steel!

A one minute video of two of the students:

In Tokyo, friends Ric and Lorraine joined us for a couple of weeks.  Ric loves Japanese gardens so we joined a couple of garden tours.  Apparently, a Japanese garden has 5 elements: evergreen trees, water, lanterns, rocks and moss – no flowers.  Sometimes these parks and gardens are developed over hundreds of years, but I’m sorry Ric, no flowers (or veggies), no garden in my book.

And as for the cherry blossoms, the weather was often gray or rainy.  And thousands of people flock to the parks or walks with cherry trees and have the equivalent of “tailgate parties” making those idyllic photos of blossoms over empty walks a bit hard to get.

Debra loves almost all Asian food, so we enjoyed taking Ric and Lorraine thru sushi, Kobe beef, Ramen noodles, and the markets.

A highlight of our Tokyo stop was a trip to the Joker Bar, a tiny room where the bartenders perform amazing magic right in front of you.  We’ve been before, but it was fun to take a number of friends.  I was surprised that they let me video.

 Take a look:

At the end of the “expedition” to Melanesia, we had a brief stop in Palau – the next chain of islands to the west.  It’s a part of Micronesia.  Don’t ask me who/how it was decided what is Melanesia vs. Micronesia, or if there is a Macronesia.  On the one full day we had, we went on a boating and snorkeling tour of the area called the “Rock Islands” – hundreds of mushroom-shaped formations popping up out of the beautiful turquoise water.  Local regulations require that native operators are the only ones who can boat in the area, so it seemed isolated and pristine.

Sadly, I didn’t know we would be boating all day and didn’t take my camera.  Let me just say this…the islands and snorkeling were the most spectacular I’ve ever experienced!  I don’t think there’s much else to do in Palau, but if ever I get the chance again, I want to snorkel, scuba, and boat here again – with a camera!

I can only provide two photos, one of a stunning rainbow over one of the island resorts, and one of our best-ever sunsets.

I imagine most of us need to look at a globe or map to figure out where/what Melanesia is.  I thought it was what you had if you forgot to buy cantaloupe at the store. It’s a grouping of 4 countries, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji about 1,000 miles east of the northern part of Australia.  We visited all but Fiji with a team of anthropologists and other experts for three weeks. 

Vanuatu

In Vanuatu, made up of over 80 islands spread over 800 miles, there are over 100 native languages spoken – the highest per-capita in the world.  We visited the islands of Tanna, Ambrym, and Mavea.  In each case we spent time with tribes that practice “kastom” –  the traditional cultural life.  Each island had their own dances, dress, and customs that were taken very seriously, not fabricated for tourists.  What they all seemed to have in common, was a happy, smiling welcome.

At Tanna, after the welcome dances and music, we went to the top of an active volcano at sunset.  Thanks to a strong trailing wind, we were able to experience the frightening power of a mild eruption.  Coincidentally, we were there on the night of the Oscars, and the movie Tanna was nominated for best foreign film.  Performed and filmed on location with only local people, it was fun for us to watch after just having been there.

On Ambrym, we witnessed “The Rom Dance,” a very unique and secretive ceremony.  Aspiring dancers pay large amounts of money (and pigs) to be admitted to the troupe.  Then they spend months making heavy costumes and masks out of banana leaves so they can dance for an hour in 100 degree heat.  Immediately following the dance, the costumes are burned so the spirits won’t haunt the dancers.  The chief and senior dancers wear nothing but a “penis sheath” that left little to the imagination.

Finally, we stopped at Mavea Island for some nice beach time and a visit to the “blue hole” on the Riri Riri River (say that 3 times fast).  But we also got to see a performance of the “water women” who make music by slapping, scooping, and splashing water.  They can create a wide range of sounds and play the water like a band (see video) – it was fascinating!

Hard to describe the uniqueness of each island, the simplicity of the lives of the natives, and their apparent happiness. 

Here’s a short (3 min) highlight reel :

Solomon Islands

Continuing to the west after the Vanuatu are the Solomons, consisting of over 900 islands (though only six of them major population centers).  We visited 5 of the islands (Tikopia, Guadalcanal, Marovo, Sabulo, and Gizo) and each had their own unique culture, tribal dances, and personality.  Some are rarely visited by outsiders, but all of the locals were excited and welcoming (despite a history of headhunting and cannibalism before the arrival of Europeans).

Guadalcanal was the start of the Allied push against the Japanese in the Pacific.  The Japanese, to that point, were “undefeated” in their 10 year march of through Asian. But after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. drew the line at Guadalcanal despite a commitment to focus first on the European theater.  A Japanese air field being built on the island was seen to be the potential launching point to attack Australia and control the supply lanes of the Allies.  It’s hard to reconcile the peaceful, happy villages we visited with the carnage of WWII.  

Papua New Guinea

Finally, we made a few of stops in PNG (Rabaul, Baluan and a couple of others), the western-most country in Melanesia.  Man was first thought to inhabit these islands 40,000 years ago and to this day, over 30% of the population lives in a self-sustaining, natural way.  Many pockets of people have still never been exposed to the outside world.  One of the islands we visited was last visited by an expeditionary ship in 2010.

What most of these countries have in common, is that they are on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the confluence of three active tectonic plates (if three things can conflue).  So in addition to cyclones, they are subject to volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis.  We spent a couple of days in Rabaul, where ½ of the town had been wiped out by a twin volcano in 1997.  We drove to the mountains to see a traditional “Fire Dance.”  Running through flames in costumes made of husks – guess they want to prepare for the next volcano?

And of course, we had a little beach/floating time.

Courtesy Raul Touzon

Over 32 years ago, I was sent from my job as a GE plant manager, to the Fisher and Paykel appliance company in New Zealand to resolve a quality

Di, Herbie, Annie, and Winthrop

problem. In the week I was there, I began some friendships that would last the rest of my life. John Bongard and John Wardrop (aka Herbie and Winthrop) and their wives have become four of our favorite people in the world – and New Zealand a favorite country.
This time, we brought the NZ gang along with us. We took the train from Auckland to Wellington, then joined the ship for the sail around the North Island. The train goes through the heart of the Island and has an open car with no windows that allows you to photograph. You don’t want to stick your head out when entering a tunnel for sure!

We played a lot of golf (spectacular), visited some great vineyards, and had some fun sailing in a race with friends in Auckland harbor. Mostly we ate, drank and laughed for ten days (see quick “funniest home video” clip below).

I’ve been to NZ seven times and I love it more each trip. If you haven’t been, you must.

Auckland

Despite a very long New Year’s Eve night, we caught an early flight out of Sydney to make our annual pilgrimage to St. Barths with good friends.  Sadly, Ric and Loraine had to stay behind after Loraine’s regular cancer check-up indicated a return of the disease.  We were all so upset.  But despite weeks of tests “confirming” cancer,  she insisted on biopsies to be certain.  12 hours before she was to begin chemo the results showed she was, in fact, cancer free!  So the joined us two days late, and we had a crazy celebration at Nikki Beach as soon as they got off the plane.  Tears of joy all around!

courtesy Artman Agency

Meanwhile,

Record south!

After Memphis, and another big family trip for Thanksgiving, we rejoined the ship in Bali to sail around the western and southern side of Australia, then spent Christmas in Melbourne and rang in the New Year in Sydney.

As you might imagine, the country is enormous.  90% of the 24 million people live in urban areas along the coast and the rest is a vast, empty continent.  In the north, the sand and earth is a bright orange or red as it is rich with ore.  Massive mining operations and ports have developed over recent years to feed China’s insatiable steel industry.

Much of the coast is beautiful with long expansive beaches, cliffs and rock formations.  Here’s the problem – sharks, blue ringed octopus, salt water crocodiles, and box jellyfish are plentiful.  Box jellyfish kill more people than all of the other combined.  We didn’t go in the water.

On land, almost all of the snakes are poisonous, as are centipedes, scorpions, and many spiders.  Even kangaroos can be much more dangerous than they look.  Little known fact – kangaroos can’t walk backward.  I’m sure you’ve been wondering.

So, Western Australia did not make our short-list for a place to live.  But we did enjoy the cities, played some nice golf courses, visited some wonderful vineyards, and heard some great live music.  Then in Melbourne we enjoyed a day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day and watched the first day of the cricket test match between Pakistan and Australia.  We always enjoy learning about new sports, and while I knew the basics of cricket, spending the day with serious fans was very educational.  These test matches usually go for five full days, and often end in a tie!  It was a lot more interesting than you think – seriously.

Finally, we sailed to Sydney harbor and had a great vantage point to watch the midnight fireworks on New Year’s Eve (along with 1 million of our closest friends).  I tried to video about 3 minutes of the highlights (below), but as they launch from many locations around the harbor, I couldn’t do them justice.  Youtube might be a better source if you’re interested.  We’ve always loved Sydney – it was fun to be there on such a special day.

A video sample of the fireworks:

In 1967, an odd set of circumstances let me to Christian Brothers College (now CBU) in Memphis Tennessee to major in Mechanical Engineering. By rights, no engineering school should have accepted me as I’d only had a semester of math in the HS seminary I attended. But CBU took a chance and I managed to graduate in four years. It was the tumultuous time of Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, drugs, and rock. Many of us marched in the garbage-workers strike that was the prelude to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis my freshman year.

While those years shaped me, I hadn’t returned for a visit in over 45 years. But much to my surprise, I was named Alumnus of the Year in 2016. Debra convinced me to return from Sri Lanka for the award ceremony, and I’m glad she did. We met with the current students, my life-long favorite professor Ray Brown, a few old friends, and enjoyed the wonderful Gala Ball award ceremony sponsored by Fed-Ex. I was pressed into participating in a video to keep me from a rambling speech. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCLklvsG0DQ )

As long as we were going to Memphis, we decided to tack on a couple of days to enjoy the great blues music scene on Beale Street. We love live music, and it was fun to have so many choices all on one area.  But the real surprise was the recently renovated Civil Rights Museum built around the very Lorraine Motel room where MLK spent his last night. Maybe I was so moved out of a sense of deja vu, but the whole museum was outstanding. I highly recommend it if anyone ever gets to Memphis.

We flew from Geneva to the Maldives for a few days to recharge our melanin after cloudy Switzerland.  Then we headed for Sri Lanka where we decided to do a bit more of a “deep dive” and took an overland trip with an excellent guide.  When the ship was last in India, we missed most of the trip – only visiting Mumbai for a couple of days.  We thought Sri Lanka would be similar, so we thought of it as a second chance.

I’m not informed enough to declare that despite its Indian roots and similarities, Sri Lanka is much nicer.  But our well-traveled Canadian professional guide did point that out, and I do see it is often debated on websites.  Much higher literacy rates, lower population density, health rates that rival Western Europe, less extreme wealth and grinding poverty, better cleanliness and sanitation are claimed by many.  Professor Alaka Basu of Cornell University, an Indian woman spells out “Three startling differences between India and Sri Lanka” here: http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/3754

Anyhow, we had a great trip across the country.  We departed Colombo to visit a tea plantation and factory.  The current owner is the granddaughter of the founder and has preserved his original home.  I’m not a tea drinker, but was fascinated with the finer points of creating green, black, and white teas. 

Then on to Kandy, the former capital for a stay in a quaint little hotel and a visit to the Temple of the Tooth, a relic considered to be the most important to the Sri Lankan Buddhist culture.  I’ve never stood in line to see a tooth before, but judging the mood of the locals, it was a pretty-important honor.

We then went to the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, or Lion Rock, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  As the story goes, a guy named Kashyapa was King Dhatusena’s son by a non-royal consort.  In 477 AD, he decided he’d like to be king and walled up his father alive to kill him.  (Maybe dad was napping?)  The legitimate heir, Moggallana feared for his life (Who could blame him?) and fled to India.

Kashyapa, partly out of concern his brother might go to masonry school and do the same to him, and partly because powerful Buddhists didn’t support his stonewalling (ouch), moved the capital to Sigiriya atop a 660-foot rock formation.  He only reined 18 years as his brother did return with an army, defeated him and moved the kingdom back to where it had been.

Never-the-less, the citadel he built is considered to be one of the most important planned sites of the first millennium.  Palaces, gardens, sophisticated hydraulic systems, a reservoir and one of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world – all built in less than 20 years (then abandoned until it was discovered in 1831)!  No one really knows how the king got to the top of the formation, much less how they built it.  But now 1200 frightening steps allowed me (Debra has a bit of acrophobia and it was no trek for her) to see the ruins at the top.  Fascinating!

Palace remnants

Ancient gardens

Sigiriya as it might have been

We also had a great visit to a small batik workshop, a lot of great food, saw a lot of Buddha statues, and an eclectic cast of animals and creatures.  Oh, and we stopped at a lovely Colombo beach resort on our way out – no surprise.  All in all, a very interesting journey.

In October, we took a little side trip to tour some of Switzerland, since we didn’t think the ship would go there any time soon.  We’d been a number of times before, but never had time to really explore.  We enjoyed the old town section of Zurich, but found the Schaffhausen waterfalls (largest in Europe) to be feeble compared to many we’ve seen.  Lucerne on the lake was beautiful as always and we loved the cheese festival and Transportation Museum.  Bern was nicer than we expected and I particularly enjoyed the Einstein Museum.  Did you know he didn’t speak fluently until 9, was kicked out of school once, and refused admittance to Zurich Polytechnic on his first attempt?  His father died thinking him a failure when Albert was 23.  Don’t give up on your kids – maybe there’s a Nobel prize in their future! (Ask Bob Dylan’s parents.)

I had hoped to spend much of my time with photography, but apparently, this was the rainy season.  Note to self – check the climate before booking a big trip. 

We love being home in Connecticut for the summer.  The weather, golf, boating, family, friends, our house on the coast and the sunsets over the water – we rarely have traveled during our summer.  As a result, we’ve not seen much of the far northern hemisphere when there are long days.  Last year we gave up August to visit Greenland and Canada.  This year we gave up June to see Scandinavia. 

We left the ship after it sailed in to London on July 4^th,  coincidentally  just after the Brexit vote that stunned many in the UK.  I posted this shot on Debra’s Facebook page to remind our British friends that the USA survived our exit from the Empire 230 years ago.

We were home for much of July, August and September, and had wonderful weather (for us).  While we had a serious drought and record heat, it was great those of us who like to boat, golf, swim and enjoy the sun. 

We had three happy weddings, and sadly, a funeral for Debra’s mother, and her father’s love of 56 years.  We’re encouraged to see Debra’s father working hard to move on – watching his diet and health, talking about travel, and taking up golf – a 76 year old beginner, who can already hit a 200 yard drive!

On the 15^th anniversary of 9/11/2001, I captured this moonset north of New York City with the memorial search lights where the WTC twin towers once stood. 

15th Anniversary of 9/11

My daughter Margaret claims that when I have a camera in my hands, I insist that getting the shot is more important than life and limb.  I don’t remember ever saying you have to “Get the Shot, no matter what” but she claims I always did.

While in Norway, Debra, Emma and I went on a white-water raft trip.  Emma and I both took a GoPro.  Emma dutifully attached hers to her chest, I thought I’d hold mine in one hand to get more interesting videos.

When we hit the first big rapids, I wanted to video Emma and Debra’s face as we crashed through the white water.  I guess I was supposed to be paddling though.  We turned into a wave and I was thrown from the raft.  But as you can see from the sequence below, I tried my best to “Get the Shot”

Going,

going,

gone!

Get the Shot!

Sadly, I lost the GoPro in the excitement and never got to see any of the video.  They should make those darned cameras float.

Because Debra and I like to be home in Connecticut for our summers, we haven’t been able to see much of the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere.  So we’ve been giving up a month of our summer to try to remedy that.  Last year we did Greenland and part of Canada, this year, after St. Petersburg, Russia, we did Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.  We invited 16 year-old granddaughter Emma to join us.

She was a trouper, joining us for all the museums and tours (even if they were before noon), trying all the new foods (and some massive ice cream sundaes). But to make sure Emma thought of us as young and cool, we signed up for all the fun stuff we could find – roof walk, hi speed boats, white-water rafting, etc.

The weather was not always great, but of the 6 stops we made, we all enjoyed Stockholm, Sweden the best.  A great Old Town, interesting museums and parks, lots to see and do.  My brother Jim and wife Cathy were also along, so I didn’t get to take as many photographs, videos, or history lessons as usual – but it was a great couple of weeks.

Never-the-less, I offer two interesting factoids for your lesson of the day:

I knew that the Scandinavian countries are noted for their very generous social programs, but I was still surprised by Sweden’s family leave policies.  Parents can SHARE 480 days off with 80% pay (up to a limit) any time for the child’s first EIGHT years – PER Child!  That’s a lot of Little League Baseball games. 

The Nobel Prizes are funded by a trust set up by inventor and chemist Alfred Nobel who is best known for inventing dynamite!  Dynamite – Peace Prize, I found that a funny combo.  Actually, he developed it in response to the extreme danger of making and working with Nitroglycerin, a noble cause (ouch).

Copenhagen, Denmark

Rib boat tour, Stockholm

Emma, Dave, Debra, Jim, Cathy

Rooftop walk

Stockholm Old Town

I did make a video of some of our fun outings with Emma, but she also made one that’s way more fun.  Compare and contrast below, and tell me if I should hire her full-time.  Um, no – skip that.

My version (5 minutes):

Emma’s hip version (1 minute!):

We’ve always heard how beautiful St. Petersburg is, and were looking forward to a three-day visit. We were joined by our good friends Neil and Anjali from New York on their last big trip before starting a family. It was great to spend time with them, but the weather was horrible until the day we left. I’ve always thought my impression of a city is heavily influenced by the weather, so I’m not sure what I would say about the city if it had been sunny. For sure, it has numerous beautiful churches, palaces and museums – but otherwise the architecture seems boxy and simple. What stands out are the exteriors and domes of the historic sites and the spectacular condition of their interiors. The formation of the city and the efforts made to safeguard the art and buildings during WWII (“The Great Patriotic War”) are also fascinating.

Tsar Peter the Great founded the city in the early 1700s in an attempt to “Westernize” Russia. After visiting the great European cities, he selected the St. Petersburg area to make a new start and moved the capital there from Moscow. For 200 years, it developed as the cultural center of Russia, with museums, the arts, and beautiful private and government palaces becoming the norm long after Peter died.

Fortunately, the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was more centered in the Moscow area and much of St. Petersburg’s beauty was preserved. WWII was a different matter. The Nazis besieged the city for almost three years. An estimated 1 million of the 3 million residents died of starvation or froze to death since supplies could not reach the city. The story of efforts to preserve the art and buildings of the town despite those hardships is amazing. If you go, take the time to understand what the museum workers and residents did to preserve their heritage.

Our guides joked that Russians are stereotypically grouchy. They told us we’d rarely see a smile. Other than wedding couples doing their traditional “walk” after getting married, there did seem to be a lot of stern looks. Maybe it was the weather.

In addition to having excellent guides and tours of the most famous sites, we were privileged to experience a private tour and symphony concert in the Hermitage Museum.  The next night we had a typical Russian dinner and local entertainment (and lots of vodka). The final night was the highlight – a private ballet performance and a “Cirque de Sole”-acrobat show at a formal dinner at Yusupov’s palace. The performers joined us for dinner, but I don’t think they ate anything; they’re all bone and muscle! The talent level was stunning; I put a few clips in the video below.

Video of orchestra, ballet, “cirque” performance, violinists, such wonderful entertainment! (8 minutes):

We made brief stops in both Latvia and Estonia on our way to Russia and we enjoyed both a lot. Many call them the “Baltic States,” but they prefer to be known as individual countries. I feel badly even lumping them together in this post. I still don’t quite understand how these two countries, quick to exit the USSR when they could, flourished so. They are both lovely, inexpensive, friendly, and inviting – they would make a great vacation trip for bargain hunters.

Estonia is particularly interesting. They ranked as having the second lowest corruption rate in the world. (How does a country coming out from under USSR dominance do that?) They’re rated the most “connected” country in the world, with free wi-fi available almost everywhere.

In 2007, a Soviet war memorial was moved from the city square of Tallinn (the capital) to a less-prominent location. Russians saw that as an outrage and have since been accused of launching a massive “denial of service” cyberattack that shut down the country for 21 days. As a result, NATO stepped up its cyber defense research center in Estonia. Some worry that because of their history of being a part of the USSR and the large population of Russians, the “Baltic” countries could be at risk of becoming Putin’s next Crimea. The locals we talked to all said “no way, we’re part of NATO, it could never happen.” I sure hope so.

On a lighter note, Estonia is famous for its Song Festival. Dating back to 1869, and based on peaceful protests that twice led to independence, this festival is held every 5 years. 30,000 people come together and sing in harmony – it’s worth a look on youtube. The next one is July of 2019 – mark your calendars!

Tallinn Estonia

Tallinn city wall (600 yrs old)

Doll shop

Riga, Latvia

What’s the busiest commercial canal in the world?  The Kiel Canal – never heard of it.  Built in 1895 by Kaiser Wilhelm, it connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea, thus saving 275 miles of sometimes treacherous sailing around Denmark.  We cruised its 61 miles waving to the locals who came to “boat watch” on a nice spring day.

We docked in Wismar, Germany which was just inside the East German border fence during the Cold War.  I’ve always been curious about the re-unification of Germany.  It seems to have gone very well despite the huge financial disparities that developed over the 50+ years of Soviet rule.  The town of Wismar and the neighboring countryside and villages were beautiful.  Almost everything is new.  Our guide told us that West Germans agreed to an incremental 9% income “solidarity tax” for the rebuild.  She said that when she first came to Wismar after the wall came down, buildings were all grey with most windows boarded up for lack of replacement glass – they looked like facades for a movie set.  Residents could save money, but there was nothing to buy.  Once freed to visit the West, oranges and bananas quickly sold out – some didn’t even know what the fruit tasted like.  I could only find one of the old buildings – the rest of the town and countryside we saw was beautiful.                                 

We traveled inland with good friend Marianne, who is German, to visit a former military base where a private club have accumulated a vast collection of Soviet era cars, trucks, planes, and military equipment.  It was like going back in time.  The highlight was a wild ride on an old Russian tank – not a very comfortable trip.  I tried to video a bit (below), but mostly I was hanging on for dear life!

Having Marianne with us was not only helpful for her language skills, but to gain an appreciation for the outrage East Germans must have felt that a foreign country occupied their homeland and put up fences to keep people in!   I don’t think I ever really considered what that would be like.  Imagine if we (the U.S.) lost the war and our country was split up with a fence, dogs, and armed guards ordered to shoot anyone trying to leave our zone.  It wasn’t that long ago.

Renovated Wismar

Old East Germany

Guide showing Soviet fence

Soviet tank

Radio section of tank

Tank video (3 minutes):