12 Odd things from my travels that I can’t forget
Here are some travel oddities that I still can’t get out of my head.
I guess, in a roundabout way, that means I’m recommending them. I’m a believer that surprises are 1/3 of the fun of traveling – if you stay flexible. My time overall has proven that out, and here are some.
All of these are chosen because I have digital pictures of them, but there have been many others that I have to relegate to folklore, since I didn’t have a camera.
1. Central Oregon, USA
The giant spider invasion before Halloween of 2018 on the way to the Redwood Forest’s giant trees. I felt so inadequate on that trip . . .
2. Northern California, USA
The Del Norte Child Care Council created this poster in late September of 2018 in the manner of the 60’s ZAP Comics. They know who they’re talking to within their community: all the dancing frogs who live with flashbacks up there among the trilliums.
3. Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
A nuclear family artwork from a Christmas party at the Harold Agnew house during the 27 month development and building of the 1st atomic bomb in December of 1943. Each footprint is signed with the physicist’s foot on a giant framed Christmas card for Harold Agnew. The angst and irony is palpable in that particular museum room.
4. Cadiz, Spain
Our first try at Tapas Bar culture in Spanish was this daily menu at Bar El Laurel. Between the handwriting and the local Spanish, we had some wild exchanges . . but we were fed well over 10 days.
All the food is fresh and cooked to order – including squid, beef, pork, salmon, and sliced ham. They are very tolerant of Anglos like me who speak poor spanish. I tried with the waiter, but we both broke out laughing too often, so I used my finger & the menu a lot.
5. Grenada, Spain
Our BnB in Grenada right below the Alhambra was very exotic with lots of stucco, earth tones, fabrics, and local hand made tile. In the view from the hill above, we were in the small slit of alley and 3rd house on the left. But as we walked out of that alley, we were treated to world class views of the walls of the Alhambra above us.
6. Figueres, Barcelona, Spain
We arrived during October of 2017 when the Catalan people were protesting against the national government’s harsh dealings with the separatists and regional gatherings. We walked into a 3 day protest that was broadcast nationally throughout Spain. Serious, yes – but done peacefully. We saw the same in Barcelona that delayed our visit to the Sagrada Familia by 2 days.
7. Valetta, Malta
We love Malta. But sometimes we have to wonder about its dark side.
Like the bombing murder of investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia in her car. It was discovered that the bomb was triggered by a phone on a boat off the coast.
This was her tribute in Valetta when we arrived in November of 2017. It’s 2021, and there are few answers still.It still makes international news, because it was so outrageous – and involved high-ranking government officials.
8. Valletta, Malta
Who could know that in this tiny archipelago is Carravaggio’s largest known painting: “The Beheading of St. John the Baptist” ? Commissioned by the Knights of Malta, it was stolen and held for ransom – but now hangs in St. John’s Co-Cathedral for all to see within 4 feet. And, at 12 ft wide and 17 ft high, the artist’s use of light is still impressive. (If you can get close enough, you might see Caravaggio’s signature in the blood on the stone floor in the painting.) He was quite a character and very involved with the Knights.
9. Island of Gozo, Malta
The Gantija Temples Complex is the 2nd oldest man-made religious structure on earth. Yeah, the whole earth. It’s one of several megalithic Temples of Malta that predate the Pyramid of Giza by over 1000 years. Every decade, archeologists uncover another megalithic site on these islands that imply a sharing agricultural society with an earth-worship foundation. Some of these sites are necropoli, some are worship temples with food storage, and some, well – they just don’t know. At 5800 years old, this is indeed a surprising example of earliest man creating a society & culture integrated with nature.
10. London, England
Access to scholarly artifacts like the Rosetta Stone, Magna Carta, Egyptian – Greek – and Babylonian statues, and real mummies at the British Museum still amaze me. Like the Smithsonian Institution in the U.S., you can spend days looking in detail at the exhibits and their write-ups. That’s where I first learned to appreciate artifacts and the academia behind them.
11. Madrid, Spain
In Madrid, there are 4 world-class art galleries that are full of the real wealth of Spain. The Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, Reina Sofia, and the National Archaeological Museum are all worth 3 days in Madrid. While there, we were surrounded by street art installations of Harry Potter related pieces – and some other odd personalities at the train station. Not all galleries allow pictures, but most do.
12. Rome, Italy
The Forum in Rome is a tourist mecca, and filled with ancient Roman artifacts just laying on the ground. Many of them were hand-carved ornamental trim pieces from the Temple ofJulius Caesar. It’s all open, fairly well-marked, and in the Fall, not too crowded. We should have taken 2 full days there, but we were sidetracked for 2 full days dealing with the aftermath of a pickpocket team who stole my valuables. (That was it’s own surprise.) Some pics here include my foot to show the scale of the pieces . . .
So, that’s my little digression this week to show the readers my own lighter side of traveling. When I find some more good pics that fit this category, there will be a #2 of these kinds of surprises that happen along the way. I’ve got several old flash drives with pics on them from previous trips, so I expect more goodies from those . . .
