The Beattie World Trip

Beijing

2009-07-03T12:18:00.006-04:00

After a week in Tibet, our bodies have mostly adjusted to the altitude. So, it must be time to leave! We fly down (quite literally, actually) to Beijing. Beijing might be the city on this planet with the longest history. Archeologists have found the remains of an ancient civilization—a great city was located here in 10,000 B.C. The skeletal remains of one of the earliest humans was found here, dubbed the Peking Man (an unfortunate name, but I assure you he is NOT served with pancakes and plum sauce—see below). Beijing has been the capital of China for something like 850 years, and there’s a lot to see.

The emperors of China lived in a huge city within a city within a city, called the Forbidden City. This walled complex has hundreds of buildings, all painted red, with white, blue and green ornate trim and gorgeous yellow tile roofs. These colors were chosen to represent the five elements, red for fire, blue for sky, green for water, yellow for earth, and white for the wind. Fire was a huge concern as the buildings are largely constructed of wood, and Beijing is quite dry. Large metal urns adorn the exterior of most buildings, but they are there for function—they are kept filled with water, to fight potential fires. Can you see the ceramic figures on the edges of the roofs? These are protectors, to ward off lightning and fire. And, it is HOT here. It is around 100 degrees every day of our stay in Beijing.

The Chinese are big on playing. After the day cools some, we spend one long summer evening wandering the parks of the Temple of Heaven. Here we played ping-pong, watched kites sailing far above us, joined a game like hackey sack with a sort of big badminton birdie, we try our hands at this weird giant yo-yo thing the experts whirl about (and find it is way harder than it looks!), we twirl long ribbons, like the Olympic rhythmic gymnasts, we watch Mahjongg, use communal fitness equipment, watch cards, and, of course, introduce them to the Frisbee. Despite the language barrier, we find the Chinese very friendly and lots of fun.

One evening, we take the subway to the Olympic Park. The Bird’s Nest stadium and the Swimming Cube are glorious at night. I don’t know if you can see in the picture, but the Swimming Cube is made of this rippling plastic material, like some giant blue bubble wrap, and the shape changes slightly with the light breeze blowing.

We visit the mediocre Beijing Zoo, where we spend most of our time watching the local celebrities, the Giant Pandas. I gather there is debate in the scientific community whether the panda should be classified as a bear, and we agree that they don’t really move like bears. There are not many left in the wild, and the rest of the world can’t seem to get the hang of breeding these endangered creatures, but the pandas seem to have no difficulty multiplying here. We watch a group of six roly-poly youngsters wrestling. It seems strange that this dilapidated, kind of dumpy zoo can breed them when the more modern facilities struggle with it, but I guess this is home, if a concrete cage can be.

One night, we attend an Acrobatic show. Centuries before there was a Cirque du Soleil, there were Chinese acrobats, diving through hoops, creating impossible human pyramids, spinning innumerable plates, and piling on to this bicycle.

Despite the unrelenting heat, we take a day trip for a long hike. Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This structure was started in the 3rd century B.C. It stretches for 9,000 kilometers, winding over the most rugged terrain imaginable. Although it was originally built to keep out the northern invaders, it was never successful at doing this. Famously, Genghis Khan said, “The Wall is only as strong as the men guarding it,” before crossing it and conquering all of China. But, it was the world’s first elevated highway and greatly improved commerce and communication throughout its incredible length. Although we had heard this is the only man-made structure visible from space, we suspect this is purely urban legend, as I-75 is almost as long and far wider! This is of course The Great Wall. We hike from one entry to the next, a 10-kilometer slog in some rather hot weather. It is called the “Great Wall” not the great floor, though, and it is tough going. It is steep enough we need to use our hands for sections, and it is crumbling in many others, but it is awesome, truly one of the wonders of the world. The Tsing Tao pijiu (beer) we enjoy at the end of the hike might be the best beer we have ever tasted, and, no matter that the price is inflated because of the location, it soars to the exalted top of the Beattie Beer Index.

The food in China has not been as wonderful as we had anticipated. It has been good, and Siena and I take a cooking class to learn how to make our favorite Dim Sum. The exception to that is the Peking Duck. This bird is almost a religion in Beijing, where entire restaurants are devoted to turning out these bronzed beauties, carving them up tableside, and serving them with thin pancakes, plum sauce and scallions. These are rolled together and the delicacy is eaten like a small soft taco. And, like a taco, it is messy, but delicious. We try it several times during our stay here, to ensure we get the true experience!

We get up early one morning to beat the crowds and the heat and visit Tianamen Square, and we succeed in beating neither! This is the largest square in the world, and Kim and I argue about how many people are here—but regardless of the exact number, there are tons. We wait for almost an hour, with thousands of devoted Chinese, to see Mao’s mausoleum. The guy is looking good, even after 30 years dead! The building is reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. Mao himself is almost worshiped here. Chinese history is taught a bit differently here than at home. Here, Mao had nothing to do with the Cultural Revolution. The decade of mass murders, the burning of priceless cultural antiquities, the ostracizing of the educated was all perpetrated by Mao’s wife, not the big man himself, thus leaving his legacy untarnished. In China, our kids learn first hand about freedom of information (we can’t access our blog in China), freedom of speech (our friend here changed from being a reporter to being a tour guide when he could no longer tolerate lying to people), and just plain freedom, (Tianamen is CLOSED at night.)

This brings us to the end of our trip and we are ready to come home. On the 365th day of travel, I get my new passport back from the Chinese authorities and we head homeward. It has been an amazing adventure. We have enjoyed visiting places we had only dreamed of. We have met some wonderful people, ones that we hope to keep as friends for the rest of our lives. And, we’ve enjoyed being together. It has been such great fun, that, although we are excited to be going home, we are sad that it is over. I hope you have enjoyed reading of our trip. The next big adventure will be adjusting to our lives back home.

Love, in all languages,
Kim, Wendy, Ethan and Siena Beattie

Tibet

2009-06-23T08:04:00.011-04:00

We are off again, flying to the world’s highest airport. Denver brags about being “Mile High”, but this city is well over two miles up. Whether or not this is another country is under considerable debate, the people here feel they are; China vehemently disagrees. This is Lhasa, Tibet, and it sure feels like a different country to us. Of course, it just feels different being so high. We joke that you know you're at altitude when:
1. one flight of stairs, leaves you exhausted.
2. there’s an oxygen canister next to your hotel bed.
3. the sun is so bright, you go to put on your sunglasses, only to realize they are already on.
4. every thing is above the tree line.
Lhasa is actually in a valley, ringed by mountains. The country’s most impressive and important building is the Potala Palace.

This 1300 room, 13 story, towering edifice is built into the side of a mountain. Standing at its base, with our necks craned upwards, gives us a feel for its immensity. It was originally built in the 7th century, for the powerful kings that Tibet had (for a couple hundred years). Since the 14th century, though, Potala has been the home of the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, the head of the Buddhist world, the Dalai Lama. He hasn’t lived there since 1959, when the DL fled to India, fearful of kidnapping or worse by the Chinese government.
Tibetan Buddhism is vastly different from the Buddhism we saw in Thailand and Myanmar. To us it seems like a cross between Buddhism and Hinduism. Tibetan Buddhism (TB) has many different Buddhas and gods. There’re the Past, Present and Future Buddhas, the Compassion Buddha, the Knowledge Buddha, the Power Buddha. There are two leading Lamas in the religion, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The former is the reincarnation of the Compassion Buddha and the latter is the reincarnation of Buddha himself. There is an interesting cycle, where, following the death of a Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama selects the new Panchen Lama. Then, following the death of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama selects the next Dalai Lama. Now, the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama have had some, shall we say, issues. Neither one is very pleased with the workings of the other. We are told there are now 2 Panchen Lamas, the one picked by the Dalai Lama and one picked by the government. There is considerable concern about what would happen to Tibetan Buddhism if the DL were to die. The Tibetan people are very devout, and we join hundreds as they circle temples, cities, even mountains, performing a “kora”, or circumambulation, of a holy structure.
Spinning of prayer wheels like these, with scripture stuffed inside, is a replacement for chanting the requisite words.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena?
It should be easy, as there’s a sign with the name on it. Mt Qomolangma lies at the border between Nepal and Tibet. It rises to a height of 8844 meters, or 29,035 feet. The winds at the top, touching the jet stream, can reach 250 mph—supposedly it sounds like a 747 engine. It was first successfully climbed by a New Zealander and a Nepalese in 1953, because “it was there”. This is the highest point in the world, better known to the western world as Mt. Everest. We are standing at Base Camp, where most expeditions to climb the behemoth start. As you can see, we are lucky to be here on a spectacular day
Tibetan food is good, though not great. There is yak on every menu in every conceivable dish. We eat the local Momos, yak dumplings. Siena and Ethan even had yak enchiladas and yak burger, respectively. The animals look like a cross between Highland cattle and buffalo and the taste is sort of a cross between beef and buffalo, too.

We try bobis, the Tibetan take on tacos, with an herbed cream cheese and vegetable/meat (read: Yak) stuffing. They have a special
breakfast treat, made with barley flour (no other grain will grow this high), yak cheese and tea. If you’ve never tried it, don’t. It is vile. They also make a local barley brew, Chang. It tastes like smoked vinegar, but not quite so good. One sip was enough for Kim; I valiantly attempted to finish the pint, but succumbed as well. The regular beers, Snow, Tibet and Lhasa, were all decent, if quite light, good for altitude parched throats, and quite cheap, about $1-$2 for a pint-ish at restaurants. This is fortunate, as our guide tells us Tibetans drink a lot of beer—splitting two cases between every three drinkers. The Tibetan people are very friendly, even without the case and a half of beer. They look more like Native Americans or the people of the Andes than the Chinese Han. They teach us several Tibetan words, then laugh at our pronunciation.

Shop kak! (cheers, in Tibetan)
The Beatties

China, Part 4

2009-06-17T09:49:00.005-04:00

Our next stop is Xi’an. We know our hotel is located right inside the south gate of the old city walls and we imagine a quaint, small city like Lijiang. We were shocked by the traffic and construction on our prolonged journey here from the airport. This is a big, Chinese city, of over 4 million people. We were driving in the cab in the city for a solid 40 minutes before reaching our hotel. The city walls are about all that is left of the former capital of China and the terminus of the Silk Road.

Our first exploration of Xi’an is of the city walls.

The walls have largely been restored, allowing pedestrians, bicycles and golf carts, for the lazy, to circumnavigate the original city. It takes us almost an hour and a half, with only brief stops to admire the occasional view, to complete the circuit. The perimeter is over 12 miles in length, and it is a workout, despite the flat contour and our use of tandem bikes.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a relatively easy one. This is one of the most incredible archeological finds ever, and it happened recently. In the mid 1970s, five farmers were attempting to dig a new well. Unfortunately, after digging over 12 meters down, their buckets brought up ancient shards of pottery instead of water. Little did they know what they were standing on top of! Upon further excavation, there was discovered on this site, over 6000 larger than life-sized figures. When Xi’an was the capital of China, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the emperors were buried in the surrounding countryside. The first Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang, united all of China for the first time. He accomplished a number of tremendous works during his brief reign: he commenced building the Great Wall, he unified currency, measurement and written language, and he built an amazing mausoleum for himself. Over 720,000 slaves and former warriors worked to complete the tomb. The figures were arranged in army formations, with rows facing east, towards the lands the emperor had conquered. Each figure is unique, with different hair, facial expression, weapons, position, and even the tread of their shoes. This is the Terra-Cotta Army.

It should be noted, that just after the completion and burial of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the local farmers got angry at the high taxes imposed on them to build said Wall and mausoleum, and revolted. They broke down the walls of the newly sealed tomb, plundered everything of value, damaged all but one warrior, and set fire to the place. Interestingly enough, even more recently, in the late 1990s, while digging for the new expressway to the airport, they found another burial site, of a Han Dynasty emperor. This emperor was less consumed by war than Qin Hi Huang, and his tomb reflects this, with figures of court life, and animals instead. Excavations of both sites are still underway.

Our time is not only spent on the ancient. One night, we visit the Big Goose Pagoda, where every night, the city puts on a sound, light and water show. We are told it is the largest one in the world. The fountains are open to the public, and Ethan and Siena, along with many Chinese, have fun romping through the various waterspouts. The fountains are synchronized to match wonderful music. While most is classical Chinese, the Grande Finale is Ein Kleine Nachte Musik (sp?). We arrive back at our hotel soaking but happy.

The food in Xi’an is wonderful. We try the local specialty. It arrives in the form of two round heavy rolls, each about 3” in diameter and 1” thick. We mimic the other diners and break the rolls into small pieces. A woman at the table next to us took half an hour breaking her rolls into miniscule pieces. We weren’t nearly as diligent, or perhaps, we were just hungrier. Next, the waitress took our bowl on a numbered tray so as not to confuse ours with others, and filled it with lamb broth, vermicelli noodles and meat. Yum. Good enough for us to have it again before leaving town. One restaurant had as the specialty, 3.8 meter long noodles they served folded up in a bowl. Such long noodles are hard to serve and to eat, especially with chopsticks, and it turned out to be a messy, and bland dish. The same place, though, had a shredded pork, served with pancakes, scallions and cucumber slices, like Peking Duck. And, as the total bill came to less than $7 for all the dishes and the drinks, who can complain about a little mess? The local beer, Han, is brewed by Tsing-Tao, and, other than having a very high alcohol content, didn’t have much else to recommend it. Our hostel provided a free beer for us (not to Ethan and Siena, though) for each night we stayed. It is interesting to note that sport’s bars are different here. Sometimes, they show NBA basketball on the TVs, but more often, we’ve watched fencing, women’s volleyball, and badminton.

Gun Bai!

The Beatties

China, Part 3 Yunnan Province

2009-06-15T18:35:00.017-04:00

We had some major snafus on our way to our next stop. But, 11 months glitch-free does not mean the whole trip will stay that way. In a single day, we: were a day late for our flight, misplaced a credit card and lost a passport. At least we got everything over with at once! Isn’t there a saying about bad things coming in 3’s? Well, we got them taken care of in a single hour. Despite our troubles, we arrived at our next destination just 24 hours late.

We fly southwest to the Lijiang in the Yunnan province. Lijiang is a beautiful old town. The United Nations has a designation for areas of special natural beauty or cultural significance, and many take tremendous pride in their UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This entire town has been designated as such. It is full of narrow, cobbled streets, many with small canals rushing down the sides. The buildings are all the original Naxi style houses, big wood-beamed structures with beautiful tile roofs with swooping corners. Many have large courtyards in their centers and open balconies on the second floor. To add to its abundant beauty, the town is encircled by snow-capped mountains.

We take a day trip out into the mountains for a strenuous hike. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena?

We have stumbled upon yet another of the world’s most spectacular places no one (well, few outside of China) have ever heard of. Despite its obscurity, this gorge is more than two and a half times as deep as the Grand Canyon, and the Yangtze River that runs through it is almost 2 times as long as the Mississippi. It is the deepest river gorge in the world. Legend has it that the gorge is so narrow that once, a tiger, trapped on one side of the ravine, jumped across to the far side, resting briefly on a large boulder in the middle of the river. Looking up at the absolute sheerness of the cliffs, we believe the story to be apocryphal (word of the day), but it gives the area its name: The Tiger Leaping Gorge. We hike down to the river and climb on to the legendary stepping stone. From here, we are in awe of the power of the rushing water, with churning rapids and high, standing waves. Our guide tells us her brother drowned here, trying to rescue some fool-hardy kayakers, and we readily believe any attempt to enter the water would be deadly. There have been plans to dam the river here, for a hydroelectric plant, but currently it has been scrapped, much to the relief of tourists and conservationists.

The vast majority of Chinese in China are of the Han descent. This area, though, is primarily populated with the Naxi minority.

The faces here are much broader and eyes rounder than typical “Chinese”, and they look more like the people of Myanmar or Cambodia. The culture is traditionally a matriarchal society, and even the language has a strong female bias. For instance, words change meaning if a male or female ending is added. We learn that “stone”, with a female ending means “boulder”, whereas adding a male ending connotes “pebble”. We saw traditional Naxi dress everywhere and tasted the tradition foods. They make a fried bread here, about an inch thick and 8 inches in diameter, called babu. Babus can be savory—with flecks of green onion and smoked ham—or sweet, with a sprinkling of sugar. When fresh, they are delicious; however, left to sit briefly before eating, they become heavy and greasy. There is also a famous local soup, filled with chicken and smoked ham. This would have been lovely, if the chicken were the prime parts. As served to us, with only the neck and feet, it was less so. The broth was still quite tasty, though. Another new taste for us was the local specialty meat—yak! We all tried it, and liked it quite well. It was very tender, and wasn’t gamey tasting at all, although the spicy chili sauce hid most of the flavor, so we can’t be sure. The local brew is Dali Beer. We had several washing down the babus and putting out the fire from the yak dish. The beer is good, a bit lighter than Tsing-Tao. But the price is not to be believed. At restaurants, it was still about 8-12 RMB ($1.14 - $1.70), but at roadside stalls, we bought it for 3.5 RMB or 50 cents for a bit more than a pint! This is less than we are spending on bottled water. We can’t figure out how they can make it, ship it, keep it cold, and make a profit at that price. But, that’s what you ponder on the second bottle, after your thirst is slaked.

Zhai Jin! (Goodbye in Mandarin)

The Beatties

China, Part 2

2009-06-10T20:01:00.003-04:00

We take a bus from our hotel to the train station, board a metro to another station, catch a bus and cross the border into “mainland” China. After another bus ride, we finally arrive at the airport. The plane was supposed to be arriving late, but the two-hour delay means we don’t arrive at our hotel until 1 am.

Things are looking brighter in the morning. We hire a boat and take a cruise. Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? I’m sure you’ve all seen these weird looking mountains in Chinese paintings, and thought the artists were either surrealists or wacko or both. But, they really do look this way. These are karsts, formed when the limestone in the bedrock is dissolved by acidic water. The water forms cracks in the rock, which widen, eventually forming caves and these tall, vertical mounds. This is the Li River valley, just outside of Guilin, and it is stunning. Our driver did not speak English, but he was able to pull out a 20 Yuan note and show us how the picture on it matched the scenery here.

The next day, we rent two tandem bicycles for the staggering sum of about $2 a piece. We spend the day riding through tiny, ancient villages, between rice paddies and karsts, crisscrossing back and forth over the river. An elderly couple gestures to us that there is something for us to see. After stomping on the edge of a rice paddy several times, the woman scares the cobra into wriggling away. It must be 5 feet long. We are encouraged to not stumble into the paddies in the future. There are fabulous bridges, some over 600 years old. We swam in the current just upstream from this bridge

The natural formations are lovely, but the man-made ones in this area are perhaps even more spectacular. The Longji region is renowned for the amazing rice paddies. There are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of terraces, all following the topography of the mountains. The whole thing looks like a giant relief map, or a depth chart in reverse. The towns here can only be accessed on foot. And, it’s a steep climb up. There are paths between the villages and we have fun climbing through the narrow stone walkways. The viewpoints all have wonderful Chinese names like “7 Stars With Moon” and “9 Dragons and 5 Tigers”, and although we can’t pick out any of the figures mentioned we are enthralled with the landscape.

The local minority tribe by the terraces are known for their long hair (almost 2 meters long, wound like a turban around their heads) and for cooking food inside of bamboo. Neither the hair style nor the cooking has become in vogue elsewhere in the world, and it is just as well. Nearer the river, the specialty is “Beer Fish”, which turns out to be carp in a brown sauce, which is so-so. We also accidentally ordered the dog on the menu. When at home, and my friend Audrey complains she always orders the dog, she means something different entirely. Here, although the menu said Beef with Vegetables, we weren’t so sure, as it didn’t taste like beef and was too tough to chew, and we quickly sent it back. The local brew is LiQ, pronounced Lee Ching, which is a wonderful, crisp, dry beer. And, at 8 Yuan (about $1.14) for 600 milliliters at restaurants, it might just be at the top of the Beattie Beer Index. We also have a pint of homemade ale at a French restaurant/brewery here in the small town of Yangshou, and giggle our way through items that could be on the menu here: Panda l’orange, or dog au vin were our two favorites, but we had had a couple of pints each at this point.

So, Gun Bai (pronounced gun buy, which you say after tapping the glass on the table, and before chugging the drink)
The Beatties

China, part 1

2009-06-03T09:05:00.005-04:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? We said we were going to China, but this feels very western in many ways. And, no wonder! The British were here from 1841 until 1997, when this small island was returned to the Chinese at the conclusion of a 99 year lease. There are over 7 million people living here. It isn't a very large island, the main island is barely 77 square kilometers, and most of it is too rugged and mountainous to allow building. So, they have built up. And up. The absolute tallest buildings in the world aren't here, but the majority of the ones from the 5th to 20th tallest are. This is Hong Kong.

We love to wander through markets, and here it is an especial treat. What are these things in the baskets? We can't even tell if some of them are animal, vegetable or mineral. There are whole streets devoted to selling items we can't imagine anyone buying, much less enough of a market to warrant entire streets! The birds' nest stores were of particular interest to us. Are they abandoned nests? Do they boil them to clean them before selling? Does it taste like twigs when made into birds' nest soup? While we are adventurous eaters, we were unable to answer any of these questions.

There are many cities that may lay claim to the most beautiful skyline in the world, but it would be hard to beat Hong Kong. Not only are there a plethora of stupefyingly tall buildings, but there are mountains in the background, and a bustling harbour in the foreground. Each night, there is a free sound and light show, in which 80 buildings participated with flashing lights and lasers shooting in all directions.

Then there is the food. Chinese food is considered to be one of the three high cuisines in the world (French and Italian being the other two), and we are inclined to agree, at least from this first foray into the delicacies. We enjoy eating at small, hole-in-the-wall places, where we are the only non-Chinese. Because space is at such a premium here, we have been seated with other people at absurdly small tables. We do a fair amount of pointing at what other people are eating to order, but the results are worth it! Our favorite breakfast are stuffed buns, sort of like a dinner roll with barbeque or coconut cream or red bean paste inside. We shared 6, and each of us had a different favorite (although none of them was left over). They sell Tsing Tao beer everywhere, and, although it is not so unusual as it can be purchased around the world, it is still very good. It has a honey taste, like St. Pauli Girl, and we learn it was started with German brew masters, so I guess the taste similarity makes sense. I also tried a Lan Kwai Fong (named after the wild and crazy bar area in town) draught, and that was wonderful, too. Sorry, I didn't actually buy the beers, so I can't give you an accurate Beattie Beer Index yet.

We enjoy taking the ferries around. Kowloon, just across the harbour, is serviced by the Star Ferry. The 10 minute boat ride, with the most amazing views, cost us barely HK $6.20--that's about 85 cents, for the 4 of us! It must be the most beautiful "cruise" for the money anywhere in the world. Today, we fly into mainland China. I am sure it will be very different from here. We think this will be our last country before returning home. It is an interesting day to be here, as this is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square "uprising" (so as not to get censored).

We continue our journey, in its 12th month now, trying hard not to, as Confuscius says:

"Like Climbing a Tree to Catch Fish" (waste time).

Ng Goy! (Thank you, in Cantonese, what they speak here in Hong Kong. I guess that's equivalent to cheers if someone has bought you the beer...)

The Beatties

The Whitsundays

2009-06-01T05:16:00.004-04:00

We arrive on Hamilton Island. It is a small island an hour flight off the coast from Brisbane. Hamilton is part of the Whitsunday archipelag0, which has seventy-four islands. Hamilton Island is quite small. Many employees must commute from the mainland. Our apartment comes with a "buggy", a golf cart. It doesn't have much power to make up the steep hills, but the island is so small, going slowly is no worries!

One day, we take a special excursion. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are standing in front of the largest living structure on earth. It can be see from the moon, with other incredibly large things like the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This mammoth structure is half the size of Texas, bigger than the U.K. or is about the size of the Australian States of Victoria and Tasmania combined. Over 1400 species of fish call this home. This is the Great Barrier Reef. It isn’t actually one single reef, but is made up of many reefs. The one we are visiting is called Hardy Reef. It took 2 hours on a fast, sea-sickening catamaran to get out to the reef, where we docked up beside a floating pontoon. Half the family dove, the other snorkeled, and we saw a sea snake, loads of clown fish, a giant clam—over 1 meter across!

The island, being so small, we can literally drive all the roads in 30 minutes. But, the southwestern portion of the island is mountainous, and can only be accessed by foot (certainly not our underpowered electric buggy). We park our buggy and take two separate hikes. The first was to Coral Cove. Although the map indicated this would be a 45 minute hike, we did it in 40 minutes return (that's how the Aussies say round trip). We went steeply up, then steeply down to the small, empty beach.

The second hike was much longer. It took us about an hour each way. We were disappointed to have people on the beach when we arrived, but they left shortly afterwards. We built an in-ground picnic bench, and enjoyed our lunch in complete privacy.

The "town" 0n the island surrounds the marina, consists of 4 restaurants, a general store, a bakery, a dive shop, a pharmacy, and, of course, the local pub. There is no local "fare" or local beer as it is too small to produce anything here. We try an Australian rum, and may we suggest no one consider doing the same. There's a reason you've never heard of Australian rum. We enjoy our 4 days in paradise, catching up on our blog, our math and our sleep.

We stop in Brisbane on our way to China. We have a lovely day exploring this fast paced, big city. For some reason, they want to be known as the Vegas of Australia. Personally, I'd have higher aspirations, myself. It does have a river running through it, and a great park on the south bank. They even built an artificial lagoon and beach in the park right in the middle of the city, which was pretty cool. We bid Australia a very fond farewell as we enter the last month of our trip.

Good on ya!

The Beatties

(written by Ethan and Siena)

Sydney

2009-05-27T18:59:00.003-04:00

This might be the easiest Where in the World yet. The iconic building in front of which Ethan and Siena stand was designed before the technology was developed to complete it. It was supposed to take 5 years and $4 million dollars, and ended up taking 15 years and over a $100 mill. The young Scandinavian architect got so fed up with the bureaucracy that he finally threw up his hands and left in disgust. We are told he has never returned to see his completed masterpiece. This is the Sydney Opera House.

We spend 3 fabulous days exploring this wonderful city. Sydney is very much a harbor city, and we take ferries from cove to cove. The ferry out to Manly beach was particularly exciting. The 20’ waves washed over the front, and the boat pitched and rolled. The passengers all treated it like an amusement park ride, and there were laughs and shouts as each wave hit. One gentleman, who bravely stayed on the bow deck for the entire voyage, told us that he had been coming out here his whole life and had never been drenched by the waves before today. How lucky for us, I guess… The beach at Manly was closed because of the waves, but it was a beauty anyway.

We wandered around the city, taking way too many pictures of the bridge and the Opera house. Fellow engineers might find it interesting that the two concrete pillars are there just for looks, and to instill confidence in those who cross it. It is the arch that supports the bridge.

Sydney is gorgeous in the day and truly special at night. The smell of the salt water, the gentle lapping of the waves, the ferries ferrying around, lots of people walking, the reflection of the lights in the water—just fabulous! The Australians are friendly and outgoing. We strike up conversations on the ferries, in restaurants, on the beach and in pubs. This is another place we feel perfectly at home. Kim was even asking locals questions regarding the job market, he of no job at home…

One rainy afternoon, we went bar hopping in the Rocks, the oldest section of Sydney. After several cozy places, we happened upon a new favorite bar in the world, The Lord Nelson. Having had friends and relatives recommend it to us, we were not surprised to find we liked it. The home-brewed beers were excellent. I had the Three Sheets (although I wasn’t) and Kim had the Trafalgar. Mine had a hint of citrus to its nose, almost like a weiss beer with lemon, whilst the Trafalgar was more of a bitter. We both like ours much better than the other, and finished them off quickly. They weren’t cheap—like $5.75 for a pint—but very tasty!

No Worries~!
The Beatties

Melbourne and the Blue Mountains

2009-05-25T17:03:00.006-04:00

We bid farewell to my parents at the Melbourne airport, and are greeted by friends we made in Italy. 7 months after meeting Virginia and her two youngest children on a beach in Monterossa, Italy, we arrive in their hometown for a visit. It feels like we are still with family. We explore the beautiful city on a glorious day. Matt, the youngest, plays hooky and accompanies us on tours of Captain James Cook’s cabin (moved here from England), the old gaol (jail for those of us unfamiliar with this spelling), and the parliament building. We were in for a surprise on our jail visit. They want the experience to feel authentic, so they treated us like criminals. I’ve never been yelled at so much in my life. And, I paid to have it done. Weird, huh? The kids were deputized as assistant wardens and rather enjoyed the experience—maybe a bit too much.

From Melbourne, we traveled north to New South Wales. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? These hills are covered with eucalyptus trees, and, we are told, when the sun shines on them, they are eerily blue. These are the Blue Mountains. They were rather gray and misty when we were there, but the vistas, when the clouds lifted, were great. The kids are standing in front of the 3 Sisters. The myth regarding them tells of a powerful sorcerer, who can change into a bird with his magic shinbone (why a shin bone????). One day, he told his daughters to stay on top of the mountain, away from the horrible ogre. The ogre charged towards them and the father didn’t have time to help, so he turned them into rock, and he was in so much of a rush to save them, that he dropped his shinbone, thus preventing him from changing himself or them back into human form. This bird, the lyrebird, is continually digging in the soil in the hopes of finding the lost shinbone and saving his family. Our hike started with 1000 steps down (no, that’s not a typo, and crickey, as Siena would say, were my quads sore the next few days). We opted not to climb back up, back took the steepest railway in the world, an astonishing 52 degree incline. The seats were reclined like dentists’ chairs, but when we were going up, we still felt as though we were going to fall off forward. Here is how it looks from the top. We almost get back to the car before the skies open up.

Cheers to you and yours!
The Beatties

G'Day to Ya!

2009-05-24T21:06:00.003-04:00

“G’day Mates! A cracker of a day (pronounced “die”), aint it? Crikey it’s been coming down in buckets the past few days. The weather has been absolutely shocking down in Tassie. Although no surprises there, since the weather there is always just ordinary. It got so frosty one night that I needed to put on a jumper. When we get a lovelie day like today we like go to a bonza beach. So put on your cosies and your thongs, and don’t forget to take your sunnies along! If you are running late, no worries. Remember to bring some tucker to throw on the Barbie. We’ll pick up some chips and crisps. We can have lollies or biscuits for dessert. There’s footy on the telly for the blokes and brollies for those fair skinned Sheilas! Good on ya. ”

Does this sound like English to you? It’s English all right, but not the English we speak back home in the US. This is Aussie English, and I need a translator for some of it. Here’s my translation of the first paragraph:

Hello, Friends! It’s a very nice day, isn’t it? Wow, it has been pouring recently. The weather has been terrible down in Tasmania. The weather there is usually bad. It got so cold one night, I needed to put on a sweater. When we get a nice day like today, we go to a nice beach. So, put on your bathing suit and your flip flops, and don’t forget your sunglasses. If you are running late, no problem. Remember to bring some food to throw on the grill. We’ll pick up some French Fries and potato chips. We can have candy or cookies for dessert. Aussie rules football will be on the television and I’ll have umbrellas for the fair skinned women! Have a nice day!

We haven’t gotten all the lingo down, but Ethan used “mince” instead of ground beef the other day and I’ve started to call my mother “Mum”.

Hooroo! (Goodbye)

Siena

South of Down Under

2009-05-24T20:43:00.004-04:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? If Australia is Down Under, we’ve just fallen off the bottom of the world. We take an overnight ferry south out of Melbourne. We wish the boat would either go slower, or leave later, but, as it is, we arrive at a bit before 7 a.m. Siena certainly doesn’t think this is a reasonable time, but it does give us the whole day to explore. We are now in the smallest of Australia’s 7 states. This island was first populated by convicts from England. The prisons there were over crowded, and the crown needed somewhere to put the dangerous criminals who might have stolen a loaf of bread, or arrived late to work. England had previously exported their convicts to the American Colonies, but after 1776 we were unwilling to accept them. And thus, England turned to the New New World and sent them here. While Australia’s mainland saw many convicts transported to their shores, this state had the repeat offenders sent here. Today, it is better known for the elusive, nocturnal, carnivorous marsupial: The Tasmanian Devil. This is Tasmania. Ethan and Siena are sitting overlooking Wineglass Bay. This beach frequently makes it on lists of the most beautiful beaches in the world. I’m not sure how anyone can decide which beach is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, but I’d like the job of visiting and ranking them myself. And, we certainly agree that this is near the top of our list.

We find the animals here very tame. Evidently, the wallabies liked the salt on Siena’s hands. We never saw any Tasmanian Devils; wallabies were as common a sight as squirrels at home. We hated seeing them dead on the road, but it was testament to how overpopulated their numbers have become to have cars hitting them so frequently.

We visited some beautiful parks, with majestic mountains, pristine rivers, pounding surf, and the cleanest air in the world this side of Antarctica, it’s only neighbor to the south. Cradle Mountain provided spectacular vistas and was perfectly mirrored in Dove Lake, doubling its beauty.

The day we were going to go on a boat tour there were 25 foot swells. Although it prevented us from going out, it gave us amazing views of the surf pounding against the waves. We felt the spray on our faces although we were 350 feet above the sea by the southernmost lighthouse in Australia. The wind was so strong at the top, we literally had to fight to stay in place. Holding the camera still was even harder!

We continued our streak of seeing at least one rainbow every day during my parents’ time with us. The optimistic viewpoint is, “How wonderful to see a rainbow every day.” More realistically perhaps, it means it rained every day as well. However, the rain always timed itself to allow our walks to be dry, and we were able to keep our sunny outlook despite some inclement weather.

The seafood on Tassie was especially noteworthy. Great fish like barramundi and the blue gurnard (sp?), Tassie oysters served on the half shell and fresh mussels made the majority of our diet here. Unfortunately, as all liquor had to be shipped, the booze and wine were very expensive. Luckily, the local brew, Cascade Draught, was good. Interestingly enough “draught” is part of the name, and does not refer to it being on tap. My father, trying in vain to get a lager on draught, was unable to convey his desire to the barmaid. It was a fabulous conversation to listen to. She evidently thought he was a bit dim to be requesting such a thing, and my father thought the same of her for failing to know what a draft beer is, after all she was the barmaid. They went back and forth several times before Kim and my laughing put an end to the circular reasoning. Another rather curious fact about Cascade: It has a tiger on its label. The last Tasmanian Tiger died in captivity about 70 years ago.

Between the wind and the beers, Tassie was a drafty place!
The Beattie Clan + the Fischl Duo

Ethan Plays Around the World

2009-05-21T06:37:00.011-04:00

You wouldn’t think there would be much opportunity to play while traveling with only your parents and a sister, but there has been lots. I’ve played with many different people in many different places on this trip around the world. My family has been for almost 11 months, and I've played with kids and adults in most of the 32 countries we've visited. It has been in some unlikely places.

In Egypt, we were waiting at a bus station for a bus to Hurghada, a town on the Red Sea. The bus station was in the middle of no place. It was almost completely empty, and the parking lot was just dirt, not paved. My father and I decided to play Frisbee. An Egyptian boy was watching with interest. My father threw the Frisbee to the boy. He did not catch it, but he picked it up and looked at it. Then, he threw it to me. It wasn’t a bad throw but it was clear he had never thrown one before. The Frisbee went to my father and then onto the boy again. This time my father showed him how to throw it properly. The next time he threw it to me it was a perfect throw. Soon, my father stopped playing; the Egyptian boy and I played until the bus arrived. When we got on the bus, I saw him pull out the lid of a plastic container from behind a shelf. He threw it to his friend. It did not work as well as a real Frisbee, but it wasn’t bad. They may still be playing Frisbee today.

The next time I played with children was in Zanzibar, Tanzania. We were at a beach and there were a lot of people standing in the water. We were the only foreigners there; everybody else was a native Zanzibarian. Again I started first playing Frisbee with my family until I could see everyone was interested in this flying disc. We threw it to one man, who laughed, and threw it back. I was standing on land and would throw the Frisbee into the water and everybody would dive for it. Once somebody had the Frisbee, they would throw it back to me. There was another boy, about my age, on the beach with me who was trying to catch the Frisbee, too. He was fast and agile. We joked he could be in the NFL. I caught some of the throws, but I would say he caught most of them. I was only guaranteed to catch the ones that were on an angle because he was ready for the Frisbee to drop straight down but I, because I had played more, knew it would curve, and positioned myself so that it glided back to me.

One day when we were in Myanmar we walked past a field where school kids were at recess. I gestured that I would like to play soccer with them. They nodded yes; I had a big advantage. I did not have flip-flops on and I wasn’t wearing a longee (a skirt). The other kids on the other team was teasing me by passing the ball back and forth between each other and making me run like a mad man. After a while I finally got the ball and almost scored, but I didn’t because of a stupid rock in the middle of the goal. After that, recess was over so everybody went back into the school.

In India, I played cricket with a couple children on the street in the front of our hotel. The street was cobblestone and very narrow. A small car could barely fit through. Because of this, cars were infrequent, but a lot of motorcycles raced around the blind corner at the end of the block. Not only did we have to jump out of the way of the motorcycles, but, we also had to avoid the ditches of sewage on the sides and the cows standing in the way. The smells were odiferous. I would bowl the ball, then run and catch the ball and dodge the cows on the way. I had to wash my hands well after playing, because the ball landed in the cow manure and the sewage ditch a few times during our game.

Sometimes, it doens't matter so much about the game itself, but the view is so memorable. In Thailand, I asked if I could join a game, in English this time. All the people playing worked in the hotels and restaurants, so they all spoke English. They played every evening, at low tide, when they got off work. The time frame was very strictly limited. If it got dark, or the tide came in, the game was over. Most of the players weren't Thai, they were Burmese (from Myanmar). They were working in Thailand because they were refugees from Myanmar.

Another amazing setting for a game, was playing on the cricket grounds in the middle of Singapore. The cricket grounds in Singapore was a regular sized cricket pitch right in the middle of the "big" city. It was surrounded by skyscrapers. I again asked if I could play in English because everbody in Singapore speaks English. It was only a man playing with his son at first. When I joined, we played two on one, both of us kids against the dad. Then, another boy came and joined us. It was never a full game, just two on two, but it was an unbelievable time.

It has been great playing with people around the world. I’ve played in many countries and many continents. I've made friends, and had lots of laughs. It was interesting to watch how people react to playing with a foreigner. Most of them laughed and giggled at me when I asked. After I asked, it has been so much fun.

Australia

2009-05-16T19:53:00.004-04:00

A relatively short flight on a good airline (food, reclining seats, free booze), takes us to Australia. We are a bit concerned with being a bit let down by this country as it has the disadvantage of following our absolute favorite New Zealand, but, there is no disappointment from the first day.

New Zealand has no native land mammals. While we loved seeing the sheep and cows, it wasn’t thrilling. Within the first two days in Australia, we see kangaroos, koalas, and kookaberra birds. Remember the song, “ kookaberra sits in the old gum tree-ee, eating all the gum drops he can see-ee.” Apparently, the eucalyptus tree is a gum tree. The koalas eat the leaves and the kookaberras eat the berries.

One morning, we had a mob (group of kangaroos) of over 30 ‘roos grazing on the grass in our backyard. There were three nursing sheilas (females), and it was wild to see the joeys (babies) burrow their heads into mothers’ pouches for some milk. You can’t believe how wonderful it is to watch them hop. 100 + pound adults can bound over 6 foot fences without any apparent effort. It isn’t silent, either. There is a distinct “thud” on landing.

The koalas are cute, but boring in comparison. They sit in the eucalyptus trees and slowly munching on the leaves. If you enjoy watching paint dry, koalas are your kind of animal. Actually, we did see one move. It reached out for another branch, and languidly moved onto it. Then, it sat back down and started eating again. In total, we saw 6 koalas.

The bird life was beautiful and much more active. The brightly colored parrots dive-bombed us when we were trying to take pictures of the koalas. In fact, I was startled when one landed on my hand holding the camera. It was impossible to get a picture of that, but I was able to get one of my mother in another moment!

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Along the southern coast of Victoria (a state in the south east of Australia), there is a spectacular drive. There are steep cliffs, going straight down into the water, wide sweeps of beach, and huge waves crashing onto shore. We stop at Bell’s Beach, home of a surfing world championship, and watch the surfers. It is wild to see them cut into the curl of the wave, and back out. Sometimes, they would catch a wave perfectly and we would watch them come out of the tunnel formed by the breaking huge wave. Further along this gorgeous road, there are numerous sandstone rock stacks standing in the surf. The most famous of the formations is the Twelve Apostles. As the name indicates, there used to be 12 stacks or towers just off shore; now there are only 10 as the other two became undercut by the persistent waves, and toppled over. We see a huge arch, in front of which the kids are standing, and look at pictures of when there used to be a second arch connecting the now island to the coast. 10 years ago, this bigger arch collapsed. We learn that the sandstone is eroding at a rate of 5 centimeters a year. How much longer will some of these amazing structures remain standing? This is The Great Ocean Road, and it is great!

The Aussies are famous for and proud of their beer. And they should be. The beer here is wonderful. We’ve tried several different types from local microbreweries. Each is quite distinct. We particularly liked one which was brewed at a vineyard. It actually had the same sort of bouquet as a white wine. The prices aren’t so good, though. Even at a package store, the prices are over $2 Australian ( $1.50 USD). The wines are fabulous, and relatively less expensive. We prefer the big reds, and they produce great Shiraz, and Cabernet blends here. The local cuisine is a combination of fresh seafood and English pub-type fare. Lots of pies, delicious fish and chips, great mussels and scallops--rich food. Luckily, we can wash it down with the wine!

G’Day to ya, Mates!

The Beatties

The North of the North

2009-05-09T05:04:00.006-04:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Although New Zealand is roughly the size Colorado, it is long and thin. The North Island is over 800 kilometers long, and the roads hug the coasts, snaking around bays and hair-pinning their way up and down mountains, making the drive almost double in length. It is too far to go to the end without a very long drive: at least 3 hours each way from where we are in the Bay of Islands, more time than we are willing to spend in the car. Our dilemma of wanting to see the entire island and the reality that we don’t have the time is unexpectedly solved. We have an especially special day when my parents splurge on a surprise for us. We go by single engine plane up the peninsula that juts furthest north on the north island of New Zealand. This is a holy site for the Maori, where the souls of the dying leave the earth. The tree on the right side of the rock is supposed to be 800 years old, and the individual, aware of their imminent departure, sit underneath the tree, sliding into the ocean when their time has come. The kids are standing on Cape Rienga. If you look behind them, you can see the waves from the Pacific angling in from the right meeting the waves from the Tasman Sea on the left. It is a spectacularly beautiful spot, not to mention the plane rides in both directions on a magnificent day.

There are 250-meter tall beautiful sand dunes near the Cape. They change dramatically, even from day to day. To reach the dunes, we ride in a 4 X 4 bus through a riverbed. The river is flowing and our driver warns us he cannot slow down, and absolutely not stop as the base of the river is quick sand. After brief inactivity, the bus will be stuck. In 4 hours, the vehicle will vanish from sight, reappearing in 6 years on the adjacent beach. We are shown pictures of a car that has recently emerged on the beach. With only 2 months left on the trip, we can’t wait that long. But our driver drives like the wind through the creek so it is not to get “quicksanded”(a new verb) We are thrilled to go sledding on the steep sand dunes, straight down the fall line. As we see the river rapidly approaching, we dig are hands in the sand to slow our descent so as to prevent our entering the water. Kim, ever pushing the boundaries, gets his feet wet. The river used to be the main “road” connecting this area with the rest of the island. It still has a state road designation!

The west side of the long cape is lined with a wide beach. Stretching for 64 miles, the Kiwis have wisely named it the 90 mile beach. We are told that Australia has a 90 mile beach, so New Zealand needed one, too, to keep up with the Joneses, I guess. We watch tour buses driving on the beach, right at the water’s edge. Fishing here is excellent, but hazardous. Many people have been swept out to sea by the unpredictable waves. The strong riptide and large number of great white sharks makes getting out difficult. We are glad to be looking at this gorgeous beach from 1000’.

We’ve had a marvelous time in this beautiful country with friendly people. I think if it weren’t so far from our families we would seriously consider moving here some day. In fact, Siena teased Kim that we were lucky there were no houses with for sale signs in one town he particularly fell in love with.

A last note on the food here: the seafood and the lamb are excellent, the rest is very British. If you like pies (meat, sausage, shepherd's, etc), and fish and chips, the food is great. If not, come for the scenery, not the food!

Cheers, with the wonderful reds they make in Hawke’s Bay!
The Beattie Clan

New Zealand

2009-05-07T05:20:00.003-04:00

It has been 4 months since we had any fellow travelers. We are thrilled to greet my mother who is joining us for this leg of the trip. What a surprise to see my father walk off the plane as well! The kids are in heaven, and we all realize how much we miss our family and friends. Our trip is 10 months over, with only 2 more remaining. It hardly seems possible that we will soon be returning to our home, school and job(s?).

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? All of New Zealand we’ve visited so far has been glacial. This portion is volcanic, and man is it volcanic! The kids are standing in front of a geyser, which was spewing boiling water 60 feet in the air as we stood gaping, and breathing through our mouths. It smells vaguely like rotten eggs here in Rotorua. They are on the North Island of New Zealand. Auckland, the largest city in the country, with almost ½ of the national population, is built on 48 volcanoes. Not all of these are extinct, which makes you wonder about the sense of living here. The insurance exposure here makes New Orleans seem like a safe investment by comparison. We are continually reminded that we are on a fault line between the Australian and Asian plates, with New Zealand sitting along the huge arc known as the Ring of Fire, encircling most of the Pacific with volcanoes and earthquake prone regions. Evidently, the two plates are moving quite a bit now, as there have been several minor tremors since our arrival.

We see more evidence of geothermal activity on the east coast. Hot springs are very close to the surface. At low tide on this one beach, we are able to dig a shallow hole and luxuriate in our own hot tub. We needed to choose carefully: many places were so hot the water was scalding. Even in our fabulous spot, we couldn’t dig our hands into the sand without withdrawing them quickly. The phenomenon is only accessible an hour on either side of low tide, and, despite the isolated locale, a large crowd, mostly backpackers, has gathered to experience this. Can you see me and Siena on the left edge of the picture? The scene may look orgy-esque, but it is a really friendly, laid back vibe, and we feel right at home, despite being older (Kim and I) and younger (Siena) than anyone else there…Ethan has opted to stay at the house with my parents rather than join us on this adventure.

We had thought that the South Island was the spectacular, and had not heard much about the beauty of the North, but this area is beautiful. Some of the landscape looked eerily familiar. We are pretty sure Castle Rock Entertainment’s logo was filmed here on this stretch of coastline.

This beautiful river gorge was the home of the elves, Rivendale, in the Lord of the Rings movies. The entirety of the trilogy was filmed here, and the countryside looks just like the Shire. We hear all the locals with chubby cheeks were enlisted as hobbits for the movie. We keep our shoes on (hobbits go barefoot), but raise our pints to say-

Cheers to you, mates!
The Beatties

The Other Side of New Zealand

2009-04-21T15:26:00.009-04:00

Yes, New Zealand is a spectacularly beautiful country. But, there is another side of New Zealand, an edgy, wild risk taking, grab life by the horns, side. New Zealand is the birthplace of bungee jumping, where an elastic cord is tied to the limb of a person willing to dive off a precipice, jet boating, where a jet engine is attached to a small skiff and the driver proceeds to speed into ridiculously narrow and shallow waterways, And, we don’t think we can say we’ve really experienced New Zealand without doing something wild. We discuss that the original settlers, who traveled at great peril to the end of the earth. Their progeny have continued to take risks and live life to the fullest.

We walk on the beaches in the southeast, and almost step on a sea lion. We learn afterwards that you NEVER get between a sea lion and the ocean, as they feel very threatened and may attack. Luckily, we didn’t end up paying for our ignorance.

The Shotover Canyon winds through steep cliffs. We strap ourselves into the boat and hold on for dear life. The boat zooms at up to 80 kilometers/hour through the narrow gorge, barely missing the walls. The driver likes to get our adrenaline really flowing by aiming at the walls and veering off at the last possible millisecond. We do 360s within the confines of the canyon. We stumble off the boat with wild hair, wet clothing, and our hearts pumping!

The boat through Milford Sound and Doubtful sound are much more sedate by comparison. These two Sounds are actually fiords. A sound is a flooded river valley, whilst (yup, we are in the British Commonwealth country again and we can use the word again) a fiord is created by a glacier. These fiords are different from their cousins spelled with a “j” in Norway. Here, the cliffs are lined with trees and fern, and, there is so much rain in the region that there are waterfalls everywhere. We learn that it rains here an average of 8 meters a year. This kind of figure is meaningless to me (like the size of the national deficit), but, to put it in perspective, at least for those of you from cold climates, that would be the equivalent to 3,744 inches of snow. Our boat went close enough for us to the fiord walls to fill glasses with water from the falls. We are taken out into the Tasman Sea where the 10 foot waves and splashing surf make taking pictures impossible.

Along the west coast of the South Island are a series of glaciers. We hike up to the face of one, watching the centuries old ice break off with tremendous crashes. We watch a movie of attempted rescue of a climber who had fallen into a crevasse. Although the scenery is magnificent, the risks are too great for this group. Instead, we opt to take one of the numerous tramps.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? New Zealand has walking trails crisscrossing the country. These range from hour long paved walks, to 7 day grueling hikes over volcanoes. We have walked briefly on some of the longer walks (or tracks as they are called locally) but we decide we want to really experience one of the trails. While some of the trails require camping, others have huts or other accommodations. The track we decide to take has various lodges along the way, making it a much more attractive option for us. Ethan and Siena are standing at the start of the Queen Charlotte Track, a 4 day walk along the spine of a peninsula extending into the straits that separate the north and south islands. The views are amazing. It takes us 6 hours of hiking to reach our lodge for the night. We are not exactly roughing it; the lodge has a spa and a fabulous restaurant. After all, who wants to carry a four course meal with accompanying libations?

Continuing on the risk taking theme, we try some Kiwi specialties. There is a local soda we've never heard of before: L & P, a light cross between lemonade and ginger ale. It is good, but the ad campaign "World Famous in New Zealand" is fabulous. At breakfast, we are encouraged to try the national favorites, Marmite and Vegemite. Both are yeast extracts, a salty spread for toast. We are informed that you are either a fan of one or the other—never both (like being a Yankees and a Mets fan, I guess). I am the only Beattie to finish my piece. But, I don’t like it well enough to eat the others…We also try paua, a local mollusk. The word is pronounced like powa—like, for those of us from New York, Powa to the People. We have it fried in a fritter and it reminds us of conch, which we love. The paua shells are gorgeous, iridescent blue and green.

We continue to love New Zealand. And, we can say that with absolutely no risk!

Cheers,
The Beatties

New Zealand, East and South part of the South Island

2009-04-16T15:45:00.010-04:00

We leave Singapore on a circuitous route. To save a bit over a thousand dollars, we fly from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (that’s due north), layover there for three hours, and then fly to Melbourne (south again), which is an eight-hour flight, spend 12 hours at an airport motel before finally flying into New Zealand. Well, we took El Cheapo airline for the first two legs (which is why the flights were so much less expensive). The seats didn’t recline, we couldn’t control our air vents, we had to buy everything, including water, and there was no in-flight entertainment. There were two small boys on the flight, who started running around after the first hour. Ethan and Siena decided these would be great kids to play with and spent the next 7 hours doing so. I am starting a new company. I figure if my kids had collected donations from the passengers seated near the boys, we would have made a killing!

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand. It was settled by the British in the 19th century and retains a very English feel to it. There is a river Avon on which you can go “punting”. There is a school that looks just like Oxford. And, there is a big Anglican church in the center of town, pictured behind the kids, which the city is named after. This is Christchurch.

Although it is the largest city here, it isn’t very big—just over 300,000 people. But, New Zealand, as we find out on our first week, isn’t overly populated. There are only about 4 million people. There are over 40 million sheep, though! We see sheep everywhere. The hillsides are quite literally polka dotted white. We drive passed gorgeous countryside with sheep. We see beautiful farmland, with sheep, long stretches of white sand beaches, with sheep in the foreground, tall snow capped mountains and rocky cliffs, the latter two thankfully with no sheep. We make a zigzag route down the lower island, stopping first at Mount Cook, the highest mountain on the continent. We rent a house on Lake Pukaki, in which the mountain is reflected perfectly. We gather we are quite lucky to see Mt Cook at all as isn’t seen too often; usually it is shrouded in clouds. We learned this from the local tourist information office that had a photograph of the view out their window taped to the window, with a caption reading, “This is what the view looks like on a nice day” implying that nice days were very rare. We were fortunate to have both days here clear. This is the view of the moon rising over the lake from our lodging.

After eating Asian food for 3 months, we are ready for some simple, home cooked meals. The motels here almost all have kitchens in them. We buy the local goods and cook them ourselves. Of course we buy lamb—having past at least a million sheep. The country is also renowned for its seafood. We try local salmon, the local green mussels and the just-in-season Bluff Oysters. All were wonderful, but the oysters were particularly noteworthy. Kim and I have had oysters in the US from the east coast, from New Orleans and Florida, from the Pacific Northwest. We’ve had oysters from Prince Edward Island, Canada and oysters from Scotland, all of which are supposed to be the best oysters in the world. When the waiter informed us that the local oysters are the best, we were understandably skeptical. Well, he was right! These large oysters are less slimy and chewy than oysters usually are (not that those characteristics are necessarily bad in an oyster…). With no grit and a wonderful briny taste, the oysters have us hooked! Paired with the local excellent champagne, Lindauer, they were perfection.

When we first landed here, I wasn’t sure we were going to have a Beattie Beer Index for our first installment. We arrived on Holy Thursday and the national blue laws were in effect. No alcohol could be sold on Friday, Sunday or Monday. And, it was a long drive into town on Saturday. Does anyone know why these are called “blue laws?” I mean, I know we were blue when we learned we couldn’t purchase beer or wine…

There is no single local type of beer. We try New Zealand lagers, pale ales and pilsners. Some are excellent, especially the Summit Ale and the Monteith Radler—a pilsner with a distinct lemon flavor. Unlike the German Radlers or Scottish Shandies, this isn’t diluted with lemonade or soda, but regular strength beer. Some are less noteworthy. The most advertised brand is Speight’s, which I thought was watery. The real disappointment, deep sigh, is the price of the beer, though. It costs around $7 NZ (about $4.20 US) for a pint. But, the bubbly is cheap! We bought a bottle at a restaurant for $22 NZ—that’s about $12.

So, we may raise a glass of sparkling wine instead of beer as we say
Kia Ora (health! In Maori, which isn’t really spoken much here, but is used frequently to be politically correct)
The Beatties

2009-04-09T17:19:00.004-04:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are now at the southern most tip of continental Asia. Which is odd, as we are on an island. But, the island is connected to the mainland by a causeway, so I guess it qualifies as on the continent. This is a fast growing, modern city, that we learn handles one quarter of the containers shipped worldwide. We loved the phrase that this is a “fine” city, where you will be fined if you litter, spit, eat or drink in the wrong place, cross streets inappropriately, or, yes, even chew gum. This, of course, is Singapore.

Singapore likes to be the ultimate, whether it is with the biggest Ferris wheel in the world, busiest port, or, in a truly lovely statistic, the city with the most people stuck by lightning annually. There is supposed to be a 2 p.m. storm. It came early one day, but we were treated to quite a display each day we were here.

If you could take New York City, throw out all the poor people, wash everything until it sparkles, and place it in a terrarium near the equator, you would have Singapore. We wander and sweat our way through the streets and along the river, marveling at the modern skyscrapers, which surround the old colonial buildings. One of the classic buildings is the Raffles Hotel. This is one of those old world, classy establishments with a low key elegance, where they treat you the same if you are dripping with jewels or wearing shorts and t-shirts (thank goodness as we definitely fit the second category). We treat ourselves to a Singapore Sling at the bar where the drink was invented. It is a wonderful concoction with gin, cherry liqueur, pineapple juice, Cointreau and Benedictine. I’ve got the recipe for when we return. The food is dominated by the majority Chinese that live here. We have wonderful dim sum and enjoy eating at the hawkers’ centers, where the owners vie with each other for our business. We have sad, sad news regarding the Beattie Beer Index. The local beer is Tiger, which was brewed in Thailand, and the cost, a whopping $8 sgd—about $6 US. Luckily, we can finally drink the tap water again. This is the first country we’ve been able to do so since South Africa, and we relish freely rinsing our toothbrushes, and refilling our jugs.

We raise our expensive mugs to you, and say

Cheers! (They speak English here…)

The Beatties

Malaysia

2009-04-05T06:43:00.009-04:00

We had originally planned on taking the train from Bangkok all the way down to Singapore, stopping at several places along the way. However, we read and heard of "unrest" near the southern border of Thailand. Now, the word "unrest" doesn't sound nearly as scary as the reality of terrorist attacks, kidnappings and killings. Same with "uprising". You just wouldn't think, to hear the words that things would be bad. I mean if you forget the current meanings, the sentence "Siena is a bit late 'uprising' this morning as she had some 'unrest' last night," makes perfect sense. But, I digress. Suffice it to say we skipped the whole region by flying over it at 30,000 feet, landing in Kuala Lumpur.

We were all very surprised by the capitol of Malaysia. We had pictured people in sarongs and Southeast Asian architecture. But, KL is very modern. We got the feeling everything had been erected in the last 5 years. But, we are still very much in the tropics. It is hot and humid, and there are open spaces with palm trees and grass interspersed with the skyscrapers. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in front of the largest, twin towers in the world. This would sound more macabre if these weren't the tallest before 9/11. We always like when there are all kinds of disclaimers to a statistic. You know, like when watching baseball, and hearing the batter has a .400 batting average on Tuesdays in July against pitchers whose names start with "J". Anyway, I've wandered again. These buildings are 452 meters tall, connected by a skybridge midway up. They were the tallest buildings of any kind in the world from 1996 to 2003, until the one in Taipei was erected. Currently, there's one in Dubai going up higher, but it isn't done yet. These are the Petronas Towers.

We spent two days in KL before traveling by bus down to Melaka (or Malacca). This small city has a completely different flavor to it. Malacca, a strategic seaport, was ruled by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, occupied by the Japanese, before finally gaining independence. The city has lots of remnants of those former inhabitants, and has a weird combination of European and the tropics--like Puerto Rico in Southeast Asia. We meet a great family here, and enjoy an evening with the locals. Chris, center in red, a dance instructor, even tries to teach me some steps. Chan, far right, is like Mr. Malacca. We must have a dozen people greet him and come over to chat. We hear there is a bridge and a road named after him and are mighty impressed until he tells us he shares the name of a famous philanthropist of old.

The food in Malaysia is fabulous. Satay is the national dish, and Ethan tries it everywhere. We have one dinner wandering from streetstall to streetstall. The combination of the Portuguese spicy fish, with the local peanuts and coconuts is wonderful. Believe it or not, the "local" brew is Carlsberg, which is brewed here. The prices are higher here, almost $2 a bottle, and, it tastes just like Carlsberg.

Battam zup (which we had to have repeated several times when we ask how to say "cheers" in Malay. Say it over until you figure out what they were really saying...")

The Beatties

Southern Thailand

2009-04-01T23:40:00.006-04:00

Well, we’ve been traveling for 9 months. Three quarters of our trip is over, and it is still wonderful. Virtually everyone we’ve met wants to know our favorite. There isn’t one favorite, but we can tell you our favorite for individual things.

Best food: Tie between Italy and France
Best Beaches: Thailand
Best Scenery: Norway
Best Hiking: Great Britain, Tanzania
Best Medium City: Venice
Best Overall City: Paris
Best Museum: The Hermitage (Musee d’Orsay is close second)
Best National Park: Plitvice, Croatia
Best Building: Taj Mahal
Friendliest People, in their own country: Myanmar, Great Britain
Friendliest Fellow Travelers: Holland, Australia and Germany
Best Wild Animals: Kruger, South Africa

Back to our current travels, if you look on a map, the Thai peninsula is really narrow, but it is a 5 hour bus ride across it. We stop for a couple of nights at a national park, renown for the jungle and animals living in it. While we hear there are elephants, tigers, cobras and pythons around, the only animal we fear are the leeches. Did you know that these disgusting bloodsuckers can penetrate through your clothing? The hiking was great, though, and we really enjoyed swimming in a rift between two cliffs. The park was empty enough that we felt comfortable skinny dipping, although other hikers joined us after we were re-dressed.

Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? They are in front of a group of mangrove trees, along the coast of Thailand. This region of the Andaman Coast was hit hard by the devastating tsunami of 2004, when thousands of people on the islands and along this coast were swept into the sea. The sheer cliffs that hem in much of this coast are beautiful, but caused many deaths, as the people could not flee the rising water. There was no notice, and residents tell of standing on the cliffs watching helplessly.

The area has been completely rebuilt. While the visibility is not nearly as good as on the east coast islands, the hiking and climbing here are much better. We stay on Railay Beach, a small isthmus of land, completely cut off from the rest of the mainland, by towering cliffs. We take longtail boats back and forth to the port. The karsts rising from the water are dramatic, and we spend days swimming around them and into the caves the ocean has formed. To see stalactites dripping off 300 foot cliffs, touching the ocean at high tide is awesome!

We hope we continue to enjoy our travels for the last 3 months, and look forward to hearing from YOU.

Chock Dee!
The Beatties

Koh Tao

2009-03-30T07:43:00.008-04:00

We need a break from our travels. India took a lot out of us and we are fed up with people trying (and sometimes succeeding) in ripping us off. We’ve had enough of bargaining for food, lodging, water. We need a rest. And, we found a fabulous place to do just that.

We travel south, down the Thai peninsula on an overnight train. The train, like every other train we’ve taken here, is late. But, this time we are thrilled. The train was supposed to arrive at 4:50 am, but pulls in at 5:45—giving us almost a whole extra hour sleep! We take a bus to the pier and then a 3 hour ferry out to Koh Tao, Turtle Island. This small island in the Gulf of Thailand has beautiful boulders strewn picturesquely at the ends of crescent shaped beaches. There are fabulous coral heads encircling the island, and we explore them by snorkeling and scuba diving. Ethan and Siena are quite the novelty, as the youngest certified divers the instructors have ever met. We discover that none of our family quite fit into the usual demographic for the island. Everyone else is between 18 and 30, from all over the world, although almost no people from the US. Our dive boat has a British and a Canadian instructor, with one French man, an Israeli woman, three Germans and us. The diving is great. We’ve never seen so many anemones before, and the colors of the coral and the huge clams range from brilliant purple to a neon green. I’m afraid we don’t have an underwater housing for the camera, so you’ll just have to imagine.

As there are no weird animals for us to ride, we contrive to try some other conveyances. We rent a kayak one day and explore the nearby coves. We hear that the cove just to the east of where we are staying has some interesting snorkeling. The cove, nicknamed Shark Bay, lives up to its moniker. We see a dozen black tipped reef sharks, ranging from 1 to 2 meters in length. The water is only 1 to 2 meters and a bit murky, so the sharks appeared and disappeared in a rather eerie manner.

Taxi costs were prohibitive. When a round trip fare into the nearest town cost more than a night’s accommodation, we refused to use them. So, we rented motorbikes to explore the limited paved parts of Koh Tao. It takes us barely 15 minutes to go from one end to the other, although we toodled along very slowly. Unfortunately, I sprain my ankle hiking down to a view point/snorkel spot. At home, we advise Rest Ice Compression and Elevation (RICE). Here, where we’ve already had plenty of rice, we tried Rum Exercise by Snorkeling in the gulf of Thailand (REST). Sometimes the ice was on the ankle, sometimes the ice was with the rum. When I went to the pharmacy for an anti-inflammatory, the woman initially quoted me 120 Baht for the pills. I expressed surprise at the cost. She immediately dropped the price to 90 Baht. I hadn’t really been intending to haggle for my medicine, but I sure wasn’t going to argue and pay the 120. Suffice it to say, the recovery has been remarkably swift. I’m not a doctor, but I myself will be dosing with rum for all injuries from here on out.

We spent 4 days on Koh Tao. The cost for our bungalow, just meters off the beach, was less than $15/night. The kids had a more basic room, which was only $6. Thank goodness they gave us a $3/night /room discount for diving, or we might not have been able to afford it! We leave rested, and ready to resume our adventures.

Chock Dee!
The Beatties

Cambodia

2009-03-20T09:43:00.008-04:00

For our next adventure, we bussed to Cambodia. We had heard the roads were terrible, but the main road had been partially repaved making the trip much shorter than all the scary estimates. You need to stay on main roads in Cambodia, as this country has the dubious distinction of having more landmines than any other country. We are told never to wander off well-trodden areas. Even if you are lucky enough to avoid any explosions during an amble, Cambodia is still blessed with numerous venomous snakes, and the walk could kill you anyway. We listen to a number of bands comprised of landmine victims, which reminds us that although the mines were left years ago, their killing continues today. Like this country hasn't had enough troubles. We learn of the 1 - 2 million people killed by the Khmer Rouge, who the people had originally welcomed as their saviors. This after invasions by Vietnam and carpet bombings by us.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This temple complex is a short tuk tuk ride north of Siem Reap. The Khmer dynasty which built it lasted from 800 A.D to 1400 AD, which is a long time, as empires go. We are informed that the city here was the most advanced city of its day. Of course, this corresponds to a rather dark period for Western Europe, so not much competition from that quarter. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most awesome places we have visited. We hear it is the largest religious structure in the world. There are over 100 different temples in the area. It is commonly known by the most famous of the temples: Angkor Wat. when the temples were constructed.

The temple of Ta Phrom was our first stop, and my favorite. Have you ever seen Tomb Raiders? I guess this is where some of the scenes were filmed. It has been left largely as it was when re-discovered in the early 20th century. Here, we were able to explore everywhere, crawling into small passages, climbing to the top of steep towers. Here, towering trees threaten to topple the ancient temples. It looks like some sort of demonic giant sea creature engulfing the walls with their huge tentacles. There are lots of tall towers, and we tire ourselves in the hot humid weather, scrambling to the top with incredibly steep stairs. But, luckily, refreshment is close by...

Khmer food (the language and the food are referred to as “Khmer” not Cambodian) is similar to Thai food (as they say in this part of the world “same-same…but different). They use more spices, lots of coconut milk and less chilies. It is a bit more oily and blander, but still has a really fresh taste to it. We tried a Khmer Cake, which was like an heavy crepe, filled with chicken and shredded vegetables and topped with a sweet peanut sauce. Fabulous! The beer is very good, too. It is a bit confusing, as the two most popular lagers here are Angkor and Anchor. You try specifying which one you want after downing a couple! The town of Siem Reap has a party town atmosphere to it—like a Ft Myers Beach mixed with the French Quarter of New Orleans (before Katrina). Which means cheap beer was to be had everywhere. We had two for one and 50 cent drafts at several venues. We were also fortunate to see a traditional Khmer song and dance show. I think it must be hard wearing a replica of Angkor Wat on your head whilst dancing. As for the singing, I kept looking for the cat, which sounded like it was in horrible pain. No, the arts here are probably not my favorite (other, of course, than the culinary arts).

We rented bikes for a day. The back roads are a bit rough, and we had to return two bikes with flats, but had a marvelous experience riding on a dirt road, alongside the river. We attracted lots of school children practicing their English and felt we were miles and years away from the tourist trail. The houses are built on stilts both to protect themselves from floods—this entire area is less than 100 feet above sea level-- as well as to prevent the snakes from getting in.

Next, we are heading down the Thai peninsula to try out some beaches

Lerk Guy Oh! (cheers, in Khmer)

The Beatties

India, in name at least

2009-03-15T21:39:00.011-04:00

Where have those crazy Beattie’s gone now? Ethan and Siena are glad to change the hot, dusty Rajasthan for this area in the far north. So where are they now? They have a snowball fight in the mountains in the background. In fact, they are standing at the base of the third tallest peak, over 26,000 feet high part of the highest mountain range in the world. These are the Himalayas. We fly from Delhi to Srinigar (deciding to go only after our Indian travel agent swore there had been no troubles in Kashmir for a long time, only to discover a protest with a death had taken place there the day before our arrival.). Kashmir lies between India and Pakistan. When the country was partitioned, Kashmir, despite having an overwhelming majority of Muslims, was named a part of India. We think the Kashmiris are still pissed about it.

Srinigar is like a cross between a western mountain mining town and the West Bank. It has two beautiful lakes and is ringed by high peaks. The buildings here have the steep peak corrugated tin roofs that we see in the Rockies. But, troops are everywhere as there have been any number of battles between India and Pakistan over the region. Kashmir is different from the part of India we have been in. The people mostly don’t speak Hindi. They are a different religion, eat different food, and wear different clothing.

Kashmir is about 75% Muslim. We are lucky ( we guess…) to be here for a special Muslim holiday. Hundreds of thousands of people (we are told a million, but all figures we were given are highly suspect, as I will relate later) have made the pilgrimage to this mosque. The mosque’s most prize possession is being shown to the throngs for the first time in over a year. At first, we misunderstand our guide’s accent and think they will be displaying Mohammed’s ear, which seemed a bit macabre. We travel by boat to the banks of the lake in front of the incredibly crowded mosque, where Kim decided it really was a poor idea for us to disembark. We continued around to a small park to have a picnic lunch before the 2:30 prayer and the main event. As we sat to eat, we were surrounded by a large crowd of people, four deep, all staring at us. The mosque’s relic seemed a poor second draw to the Beattie Clan. We felt as though we were aliens, which in a way we were. My headscarf hadn’t fooled them into thinking we belong. So, we retreated to the safety of our boat and watched the event from a safe distance. Mohammed’s hair was hard to see from our distance, but the sound of thousands of voices chanting in quasi-unison was amazing.

While many in India are vegetarians, Kashmiri’s are dyed-in-the-wool carnivores. They eat lamb in countless ways, and live chickens line the streets. Kim’s birthday is during our stay and I shop to make him a non-Indian meal (we need a break from the Indian food). When the bag with the chicken is thrust in my hands, I am shocked, exclaiming, “It’s hot! Have you cooked it?” Duh. Had the seller understood this city girl’s English, the whole block would have been in hysterics; the bird was alive hardly 5 minutes before…

Unlike the rest of India, there are no bright colors in the clothing here. Most of the women wear headscarves, and we see a small percentage wearing black burkas covering their faces, and small percentage wearing no head covering at all. The men virtually all wear long woolen cloaks, of varying shades of gray. They look like something Clint Eastwood would wear to conceal some big weapon. Perhaps a bit too good an analogy considering the history of violence here.

Ironically, Kashmir is famous for its beautiful and colorful textiles. This is where the famous yarn (of the same name but different spelling) was first spun, and we are approached by many people selling cashmere sweaters during our stay. But, even more famous here are the pashmina shawls, made of the neck wool of a specific kind of goat that lives only in these mountains. Of course, we are not here to shop (although we do ; - )), and we spend our time hiking and for the ultimate treat, we go skiing in the Himalayas. On the way to the hill, our guide points out the 3rd and 4th highest peaks in the world. The mountain he claims is the 4th highest he says is 19,000’. Well, we know that wouldn’t make it anywhere near #4. Feeding us with misinformation and trying to take us for all we are worth seems like India’s national pastimes, and here is no exception. We are initially told skiing in Kashmir is cheap, and then quoted 2500 Rupees/person (~$50) because of the expense of renting equipment. They attempt to “fit” us with boots and skis as we stand in the middle of a snowy field. When we insist on going into the ski shop, the price of the rentals is revealed to be $5 for each adult and $2.50 for the kids. We walk about a mile from the rental location to the base of the cable car (great planning, huh? I’m just glad my kids can carry their own &*^% gear). Finally, we ride the cable car to the highest lift serviced location in the world—14,000 feet above sea level. The 5.2 K run down is awesome, although the snow conditions alternated between crust and slush depending on the sun. The views are fabulous and there was virtually no one else on the mountain skiing, despite clear skies and warm weather. There were a couple of crowds NOT skiing. There were at least 100 Indian tourists up on the mountain posing on top of skis, and Kim skied into an army troop, hiking up the mountain, with machine guns slung over their shoulders. I steered clear.

We had been looking forward to staying put for the full 8 days of our visit. Such a luxury to not have to pack and unpack for a bit! We stayed on a “houseboat” on Lake Dal. Although we had visions of floating in a pristine mountain valley, the reality was a bit different. We were taken by shakara (shallow canoe) to our boat, which was moored alongside hundreds of others, with trash floating occasionally by. The locals’ way of combating the litter is the throw it behind the boats, where the tourists can’t see it so readily. We were a bit isolated for our tastes, although, perhaps this was for the best considering the tension all around. When we leave, we go through no less than 11 security checks, including two separate pat downs and four metal detector/ baggage screenings. We have found India very interesting, but are happy to finally board our plane and leave.

Salaam Ma Lekum (a: hello-how are you-fine and you-take care-good bye multipurpose phrase in Kashmiri)
The Beatties

Indian Culture

2009-03-06T21:41:00.006-05:00

India is just plain different from the rest of the world. Part nuclear power, part third world nation, part cutting edge science (here’s a guy doing oral surgery on the street, oh dentist friends!), part belief in witchcraft, part democracy, part corruption, India has it all. And has it in spades! To my Indian friends: I hope I get this information right! Our driver and guide book are limited and biased, although not necessarily at the same time.

The caste system is unique to India. Your caste is your level in society, which you inherit from your father. Originally, this denoted what job you could hold. The top caste were (are) the Brahmins, the caste of the priests. The lowest caste was the Untouchables—people so lowly others were not to touch them. There are thousands of castes between these two. You remain in the same caste until you die, no matter if you make millions, cure cancer or devote your life to charity. If you live a virtuous life, you might move up to a higher caste in the next life. Only the Hindus follow the caste system. Not surprisingly, a large number of people who convert to other religions, such as Islam, Jain, Sikh and Christianity, are those from lower castes. It is a much quicker path to salvation than in Hindu if you are from a low caste.

India is the birthplace of some of the world’s oldest religions. Hinduism is the religion of the majority. 75 and 90% of Indians adhere to this 3000 year old religion. One of the primary tenets of Hindu is reincarnation. All souls will be reborn after 13 days; depending on the karma or quality of their previous life, they might return as an animal or a person in a slightly higher caste. Some people put sand on the floor at night after the death of a loved one. Any footprints found may tell them if the person has returned as a person or an animal, and what kind of animal. It is an endless cycle of life, death and rebirth. Hindus believe in 3 main gods, Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, and thousands of lesser gods, most of whom are reincarnations of the first three. Interestingly, in Hinduism, Buddha is the 24th incarnation of Vishnu. The Hindus, therefore, consider Buddhism to be a part of Hinduism. There is something a bit ironic that Buddha, who told his followers that he was not a god and should not be worshiped, is a god in Hinduism. Buddhism, which also started here, does not have much presence in India anymore, not after the invading Moghuls insisted on conversion or death. The Hindu gods are an interesting lot. The top god, Brahma, creator of the universe, has been meditating since his original burst of activity. There are almost no temples dedicated to this most powerful god. Apparently, Brahma had a bit of a marital tiff that prevents temples from being dedicated to him. His wife was supposed to meet him for a ceremony. She was late. Impatient, Brahma quickly married another woman so that he could continue with the ritual. His wife, arriving on the scene, was understandably pissed at her husband for marrying someone else rather than waiting for her. Being a god herself, she cursed him, preventing temples from being erected to him for all posterity. His only temple in India, a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, is in Pushkar. At the foot of the temple, lies a beautiful lake, considered holy. People come down to the lake’s ghats (steps down to the water) to bathe and cleanse their souls. We drop flowers into the water. Gandhi’s ashes were sprinkled into the lake at a nearby ghat.

Here is a huge temple to Hanuman, god of protection. This is our driver’s personal favorite god, and he prays to him whenever he starts the car. We feel we should be praying to him as well, which anyone who has driven on the roads in India will understand. Hanuman, as you can see, has the form of a very buff monkey. Our family likes Ganesh—the god of luck and prosperity. He is pudgy guy with the head of a baby elephant. Despite outward appearances, the gods of Hinduism are so human—they are late, impatient, jealous, spiteful. I gather they have gods for everything—including a god of plastic surgery.

We visit one of the most famous Jain temples in the world. Jainism has practiced since 500 BC. (about the same time as Buddha was born). It is part of Hindu, but this sect believe all life is sacred. Most Jains are totally vegetarian, and do not even wear leather. Their priest sweep the floor in front of them to prevent accidentally stepping on a bug. One minor group of Jain priests go naked (no pictures, friends, this is a G Rated Blog), so that they don’t kill any bugs inadvertently. There are only (only!) 24 gods in Jain, but 21 deadly sins. We saw ancient painting of each of the sins, and the resulting specific punishment for each. The temples are beautifully carved, with intricate patterns. This temple is one of the most famous. There are 1440 columns, each unique, although you’d be hard pressed to see the differences. The temple gives us the impression of being in a light filled forest. They may have decried violence, but extortion is apparently not a sin, as we were approached by various priests demanding donations. But, the beauty and serenity of the place more than offset this.

Although the county had a female prime minister twenty-five years ago and currently has a female president, the women are definitely second-class citizens. Until the 1950’s, many women didn’t to show their face in public. Even traveling today, many women outside the big cities wear their saris over their faces. Arranged marriages are very much the norm. Girls used to marry when they were only 12 or 14 years old. Even now they will marry at 18, sometimes after meeting their husband only once or twice. The bride’s family must pay a suitable price for her to be married. The wife then goes to live with the husband’s family and is responsible for taking care of his parents. Working is considered unusual for married women, unless their husband’s job is so poorly paying that she must work. Daughters are considered far less desirable than sons. Today, the birthrate of females is lower than males, in some areas frighteningly lower. We are told selective abortions are fairly common.

On a happier note, I feel up to talking about the food now! Indian food is fantastic. The tastes are so unusual. We have wonderful dishes, spiced with cardamom and cinnamon. Cilantro and saffron flavor others. Instead of the meat or vegetable being the focus, the sauce is everything. They blend colorful and aromatic spices with chicken, mutton or vegetables and it is all delicious! In fact, the sauces are so good, Ethan and Siena, who have to be threatened to eat their requisite 3 bites of veggies at home, have gone days eating no meat. The flat naan and chapati breads are great, too, served piping hot out of the oven. We have lassies every day. This is a yogurt drink, flavored with fruit, or sometimes, nuts and spices. Our favorite is one with saffron, cardamom, raisins and cashew nuts. The only problem with the food being so good is that it is easy to fill yourself near the point of explosion. I will not finish my time in India with a Gandhi-esque physique, that’s for sure!

The clothing is unique as well. Men’s clothing is not so unusual. There are some turbans, and an occasional person wearing the dhoti—a diaper like white thing, but most men wear ordinary pants and shirts. But the women almost all wear the traditional garb. The saris and the silk long shirts over coordinating pants are gorgeous. No one wears neutral colors here. Yellows, bright reds and greens are woven into beautiful patterns, some with mirrors and metallic thread in them. Colors you couldn’t imagine in the same room are together in the same scarf, to wonderful effect. It is especially spectacular when a group of women are together.

Despite the Rajasthani outfits we wore in the last blog, we do not blend in easily here. In fact, we are getting a crash course in how to be a rock star. Today, outside a temple, I had a throng of more than 40 young girls, all wanting to say hello to me and shake my hand. Kim literally had to clear a path for me to get through. Every one wants to take a picture with their arm around us. Or, have us in the middle of their formal family portrait. We are told we remind people of movie stars, something we would be more willing to believe if the stars chosen had any hint of a resemblance to us. One salesman told Kim he could be Al Pacino while on the same day I was thought to look like Nicole Kidman. With my dark hair and Kim’s red hair and fair skin, I’m afraid I look more like Pacino and Kim like Kidman!

To end our time in this area of India, we went to the iconic symbol of India. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Yes, this is an easy one. This building was erected for the memory of a man’s dead wife. She died after giving birth to the couple’s 14th child in only 18 years. Kim says the chances of him building me this kind of mausoleum are about the same as of my bearing 14 babies. Despite the hype and all of the images we had seen before, the Taj Mahal does not disappoint. It is beautiful and graceful, perfectly proportioned, enormous but balanced. It is a wonder. We stay for hours, watching the colors on the marble surface change as the sun started to set. Even with thousands upon thousands of visitors around us, it is an incredibly romantic place.

May we all have everlasting love,
The Beatties

India Part 1

2009-03-02T20:39:00.016-05:00

We arrive in Delhi and quickly arrange a tour of Rajasthan with a car and driver. This is a completely different experience for us. Our transportation and accommodation, and even some of our restaurants, have been arranged. We have been persuaded not to take the public transportation as the cost will be similar and the delays more than we will be able to stand! Off we leave on a 2000 kilometer adventure into an Indian state known for its forts, the desert and its fierce inhabitants. Each of the major stops is associated with a specific color.

Our first major stop was the Golden City named for the sandstone used in all the buildings. Jaisalmer sits at the western edge of Indian civilization. On top of the highest hill around, the Jaisalmer fort sits like a giant sand castle. Jaisalmer reminds us of the medieval walled cities of Europe, especially Carcassone, without the turrets. But this is distinctly Indian flavor. Or, should I say aroma. India has more
smells than the other places we’ve visited both good and bad. On one street, we might smell wonderful Indian spices, but, as we turn a corner, there can be an overwhelming smell of urine. The cows wander everywhere,and many places smell like the barnyards of home. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is another frontier. The Thar Desert stretches as far as we can see in all directions. Here, only camel paths connect the towns. We venture out into the dunes on top of four comely camels. Kim decides camels are his favorite animal of our trip. They are obedient, moderately comfortable, regal looking and cute! Mine was nicknamed “Michael Jackson”, but judging by the astonished looks of the camel drivers with my moon walking impersonation, I’m not sure they are really familiar with the notorious performer. The hills beyond the dunes in the distance are actually Pakistan. In 1948, when Britain granted independence to India, the land was partitioned into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. This turned out to be ill advised. After the initial killing of a million people, as each group fled to their new “homeland”, the hatred and mistrust between the two sides now intermittently flares up with murders and retributions. We are reminded of the tension as fighter jets fly low overhead. On the ground, though, we feel no such tension. Our camel drivers are 2 Muslim, 2 Hindi, and the spice store we visit is jointly owned by gentlemen from the two religions.

Our second major stop is in Johdpur, of riding pants fame. This city is called the Blue City, and the narrow streets are lined with blue buildings. The buildings were originally painted blue to show the residence of a Bramin, the highest cast in India. Now the blue color is more widely used as it rumored to keep the homes cooler and repels insects. We learned from our driver that the Maharaja of Johdpur has bad karma as his daughter is yet unmarried and his son , following a polo accident, is partially paralyzed. A temple in the fort above town was the sight recently of the violence between religions I mentioned earlier. A bomb last year in October killed over 200 people.

Udiapur, the white city is the city of love. There are wedding processions clogging the streets with load music and dancing. The groom is riding an elaborately decorated horse in the middle. Earlier, he was texting in the midst of the revelry. Last post I had a picture of Ethan playing soccer in Myanmar. Here, Ethan is playing cricket, the national obsession, with a group of local boys. I almost got gored by a "naughty" cow when I retrieved an errant ball.

If you asked me yesterday, I would have said the food is fabulous –some of the best yet. Today with a bad stomach ache and frequent trips to the toilet, the food is less appealing. We have a split decision on the Beattie Beer Index. Kim likes the Kingfisher while I find it too bitter. The cost is $1.20 on the street and $2- $2.50 in a restaurant for a liter.
The country here is brown and dusty (hey, we're in a desert, right?), but the clothing is incredibly vibrant. Here we are dressed in Rajasthany garb.
Yesterday marked the end of eight months traveling. Thanks to all we have met on the trip and our family and friends back home who have stayed in touch with us.

Jamatadi! (a word they use for cheers and also a name of a god, we think.)
The Beattie Clan

A Different Kind of Country

2009-02-23T05:00:00.008-05:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena?? We get up really early to leave fly to this country. We are worried about clearing customs as we’ve heard it is difficult to enter the country. Not an issue! We breeze through, with the people at passport control as nice as they can be. Although the country is ruled by a military dictator with an iron fist, we see very little evidence of troops or police anywhere (unlike Russia or Egypt). This country has done a nomenclature switcheroo in recent years, changing not only the name of the country, but the name of the capitol city. The former we can understand; it was called Burma because of a mistake of understanding by the British colonialists, and difficulty with pronouncing the real name. As for the capitol, we never heard a real explanation why they changed from calling it Rangoon. They are in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar, and earlier Burma, do not usually make the international news for good reasons. Last year, Myanmar was hit with a huge cyclone (a hurricane that originates on the Indian Ocean), with an estimated 1 million people killed in the river delta. (Reports vary wildly.) Several years before, Myanmar graced world headlines when the government quelled a rebellion by shooting and arresting those pernicious Buddhist monks who were lobbying for democratic changes. For centuries, Burma was known for growing poppies—and selling opium. The last democratically elected president is currently living under house arrest, having never served a day as president.

Why did we choose to come here, you may be asking yourselves at this point. Well, two main reasons. First, Myanmar has been relatively isolated from outside influence and so the local culture is almost entirely intact. Also, one of Kim’s oldest friends in the world (not that he’s any older than Kim, but whom Kim has known the longest,) is teaching and living in Yangon. It turns out to be an amazing place to visit! Other than in the capitol, it is a bit like being in the early twentieth century.

The people all wear longyis—tubes of fabric that are wrapped and knotted into long skirts. At least 90% of the men and all of the women wear them. Ethan had a distinct advantage over his fellow soccer players. He didn’t have to continually re-tie his longyi and he was the lone wearer of closed toed shoes. The Burmese (the people and the language are still referred to as “Burmese”, not Myanmarese) prefer light skin and the woman and children wear a tree bark extract, a yellow salve, on their faces to prevent their skin from darkening. At first, it looks like there are bandages on people’s cheeks, but shortly we grow accustomed to the new in “look”.

The food here is like a combination between Indian and Chinese, but with more grease and less taste. Not so good. In fact, this is the first country we’ve not stuck with the local cuisine for our visit. We ended up going out for Japanese once, and had burgers at our friends’ house and out once. The beer and wine, on the other hand, are quite good. There are several different brands of local beer, and Scott has them all ice cold in his fridge in preparation for our visit (he’s been following our blog). We tried Myanmar brand beer—a nice lager, Mandalay, Dagon, Tiger, all decent, and, our favorite, Spirulina, an “anti-aging beer”. I gather it has some herbal supplement that’s supposed to make you look, act and feel younger (and get a healthy buzz at the same time). Now does that sound too good to be true or what?!! It is even delicious. We have no desire to find out if this doesn’t work, so: Nay Sayers, hold your tongues, please. The beer came in 20 oz bottles—can’t tell you why—that cost about $1.50. We also tasted the red wine. Pretty good, actually. Not worth importing, mind you, but nice with a burger.

We spend a few days up at Inlay Lake, about 500 miles north of Yangon. This is an unusual culture, based on fishing and hydoponic agriculture. There are acres and acres of vegetables grown in the middle of the lake, on mounds of seaweed, tethered to the lake bottom. The houses are all on stilts, and the local people have developed a technique to row their boats, standing, using only one leg, so that they had both hands free for fishing. The people were unbelievably friendly and so happy to have us in their country. Tourism, apparently, is virtually non-existent. We took hikes into the hill villages and people would literally come running out of the fields and out of their houses to greet us, offering us cups of tea and to visit in their homes. Few spoke any English, but our hiking guide would translate and smiles are a universal language. The people here are really off the grid. They run their own schools and health clinics. We passed 40 people from one village working together to repair their road. Everyone is responsible for working on common projects one day a week. They collected money from each family to buy a generator, which they hook up to a nearby stream to provide the village with all of its electrical power. We were told the government approached the village a few years ago about taxes. The villagers replied that the government gave them nothing, and they would give nothing in return.

There are several temples in the area. Some are surrounded with “stupas”, tall, pointy structures built by wealthy families to gain an in with Buddha (kind of like donating a pew in a church). This one here has hundreds of stupas, spilling down the steep hillside towards the lake’s edge. The stupas nearest the temple had been restored, but the rest had a wonderful, ancient feeling of eternity, with nature slowly reclaiming each one, thick vines climbing up and obliterating some, storms causing others to crumble. It looks like the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The most important temple in the country is in Yangon. Shwedagon, located in the center of the capitol, is nothing like the rural temples. It is gilded in, according to an official guide at least, 7500 kilograms of gold. Some of the Buddhas have flashing neon halos, and bright strobe lights. We joked that it was like “Buddha does Vegas”. The night we visited, the whole town seemed to be there. Everyone got a real kick out of our wearing the local longyi, loaned to us by Sandy. On our way in, we watched what we estimated was a million bats stream out of the top of one building, creating a black river of bats, extending for miles. It was an unbelievable sight, although I would recommend an umbrella for anyone considering watching from close by.

We visited Scott’s classroom and spoke to the students about our trip. They had as many questions as you’d think 30 eighth graders would have: none. Scott assigned Siena and Ethan each a book to read and a report to write. It was wonderful having someone else be their teacher—and a real teacher, too.

Since the Buddhists do not drink, there is no Burmese word for “cheers”. In the hill village we visited, though, they do have a word in their language-
Tan-to! (Pa-o for Health!)
The Beatties

Thailand, The West

2009-02-17T00:19:00.009-05:00

Well, our plans got foiled a bit as our visas to Myanmar required an "interview". Without our passports, we couldn't go as planned to Cambodia, and rescheduled it for after the next two or three countries.

Because we didn't want to spend much more time in Bangkok, we trained over to Kanchanaburi. I loved this picture from the train. Unlike traveling in first class, third class is like a rolling party. There were no livestock on the train, but that's about all there wasn't. There must have been 10 different people offering various foods for sale, including ice cold beverages, grilled meats and unknown concoctions in plastic bags. One woman, returning from a farm, was tying together different vegetables, in packages for resale at her local market. She sold about a half dozen before her stop.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Although it is normally the river that is the "Where", in this case it is the bridge and the railway that are. During the Japanese occupation of Thailand in WWII, prisoners of war and forced labor were driven like slaves to complete this railway. The bridge was built and shortly afterwards damaged. The railroad stretched for 405 kilometers, connecting Bangkok to Yangon, an area with such mountainous and jungle covered terrain that the engineers said a rail connection couldn't be built. 38 prisoners of war died for each kilometer of track laid. As for the bridge, it was memorialized in a highly fictionalized movie, with William Holden and Alec Guiness. This is the Bridge on the River Kwai. We visited the war cemeteries and walked part of the track, where it clung to the cliffs on rickety trellises. The railroad was dubbed the Death Railway--over 100,000 people died building it.

This mountainous region is also home to some beautiful waterfalls. We spent the better part of a day climbing up the 7 steps of Erawan Falls. Our favorite, level 4, has a natural slide. What a rush! After searching eagerly for a glimpse of the local Macque monkeys, one hit Kim and grabbed Siena's shirt before making off with another tourist's bag and throwing his camera in the river. This is what I call wildlife.

Riding on the roads in Thailand reminds us how different this country is from our own. How do you think these guys would go over in the states? We frequently see people dressed like terrorists, either on top of a truck, as pictured, or driving motorcycles. I have heard it is to protect them from the fumes. A piece of fabric over your face does exactly what to keep out fumes? Anyway, here, no one gives them a second glance, where as at home, we'd be running for cover.

The other sight that was everywhere was the image of the King of Thailand. At 82, he is the longest reigning monarch in history. Talk to a Thai citizen and somewhere in the first 3-4 sentences the phrase, "We love our king" is spoken. There are pictures of him lining the roads, in every restaurant and store we visited, plastered 20 feet high on buildings. Either he is truly beloved by his subjects, or the people want to be seen as incredibly supportive of him, as dissenters are not always treated kindly.

We have learned more of the Thai language, including being able to count to a 99. We like the numbers 7--Jet and 8--Bad. Unfortunately, as soon as we become comfortable with the language, it is time to move on.

So, Chock Dee, which means cheers, good luck, bon voyage, and just a general phrase for a positive vibe.

The Beatties

Chiang Mai

2009-02-05T22:30:00.004-05:00

We train north out of the capitol. We can’t understand how the 450 mile trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai can possibly take the 12 hours scheduled until our train pulls into the Bangkok station. Ethan turned to me and asked, “Where is the engine? Our train doesn’t have an engine.” Unlike the trains we have taken throughout Europe, there is no separate car for the engine. This was more like a streetcar or a subway car, where the engine and the car are all one unit. We had some serious issues with the lack of power when we were trying to make it up the steeper slopes, and, in fact, we slid back a few times. We even thought we’d have to get out and push on one notable occasion. Have you ever been on a train that needed to downshift for hills?

The trip itself, except for being a bit too long, was glorious, traveling through endless terraced rice paddies, interspersed with golden wats. Whilst in England (BTW, you can use a word like “whilst” only when discussing places like England), we learned that the difference between a hamlet and a town was that the latter had a church. Well, whatever the Southeast Asian equivalent, there are NO hamlets in Thailand. No matter how small the village, there was a wat and sometimes a large (read: 50’) golden Buddha, sometimes looking like it was sitting in the middle of a rice paddy. Our destination, the city of Chiang Mai, apparently has over three hundred wats. Suffice it to say, we did not try to see most of them.

We arrive late (12 hours was an underestimate of the time), and find our way to the doorstop of my friend Ken, who recently moved here from the Bahamas. We explore the cultural and natural sites of the area, including the highest mountain in Thailand. There are beautiful waterfalls, and we are puzzled by the origin of all the water up here. There are no lakes or glaciers on the mountains. The mountains look different in this part of the world. I don’t know how to describe it, but they look Asian.

Our family took a two day trek through the hill country, visiting the local hill tribes, and staying in their huts. Many tribes from the surrounding area, including Burma (Myanmar), China and Laos, have fled their homelands for freedom to maintain their identity here. Most of the villages have no roads to them, the only way to go from village to village is by hiking (now, some risk the steep slopes with motor scooters. They lived without electricity and running water until recently, although the town we visited had satellite dishes in evidence. After the trek, we took a bamboo raft down a beautiful river, with towering vegetation and an occasional elephant on either side.

Having ridden on horses, camels and ostriches, we decide that our repertoire of animal backs would not be complete without a trip on the top of a pachyderm. It is an amazingly comfortable ride, almost akin to being on a small boat rocking on gentle waves. Unfortunately, our “vessels” got hot and cooled themselves off with a bit of a shower. We were all drenched.

On our last day in Chiang Mai, Ken, Siena and I took a Thai cooking course. We made, and ate, a 6 course meal. The food was easy and quick to prepare, and, if I may say so, a-roi, which means “delicious” rolling the “r”, in Thai. After, we hopped on the night train back to Bangkok. Of course, “night” would imply that the train left and arrived during the night. We left at 4:30 p.m. and pulled into the Bangkok train station at almost 9:30 a.m.

Sawadi- caa (hello, good morning, good evening, and goodbye, spoken by a woman, in Thai. Men say sawadi- cap, if you are not forceful enough with the “p” it is a sign of not being manly…)

The Beatties

Thailand

2009-01-29T04:33:00.003-05:00

We arrive on the other side of the world after a rather long trip—4 hour drive, 8.5 hour plane ride back north of the Equator, 3 hour layover in Abu Dhabi (I bought Siena a cinnamon roll for 11 of whatever the currency is there. I have no idea if this was expensive or a deal, as I neither learned what currency they use nor what the exchange rate was—hey, I was jet lagged!), 5 hour plane ride. During our walk to customs, we notice a distinctive aroma in the airport: Thai food. Our “hotel”
that I booked online ends up a bit lower than low budget in the heart of the hippy, backpacker world. It is like a combination of Mardi Gras in New Orleans and spring break week at Daytona.

Our first day in the city, we make our way to a floating market.
It’s more like a floating food court, as all the boats sell cooked foods. There are no tourists here and the prices and food are remarkable. There are small tables and we sit cross-legged on the ground. We gorged on barbequed fish with green chili sauce, chicken satay, and some bizarre but delicious noodle dish, washing it down with several beers and waters for a whopping $6. Although early yet in our time here, the Beattie Beer Index reports exceptional levels in Thailand. We have tried Chang (aka Elephant) Beer, Singha, and Leo. Interestingly, Singha is our least favorite, and the only one I’ve seen imported to the US. It is a bit bitter for me, but the other two are wonderful, and, at $1.70 at a restaurant for half liter, even better.

There is food everywhere you turn. Pushcarts are set up on either side of the street, selling noodles, pancakes, odd soups, barbequed frog, bugs (grasshoppers, grubs, crickets, etc), stirfry pots of vegetables and meats. You could literally eat on a single street for weeks without ever actually entering a restaurant.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is the spiritual heart of the country, and in the absolute heart of the capitol of Thailand: Bangkok. The complex was initially built at the beginning of the reign of the current dynasty. This is the Grand Palace. The chedi (tall, hat shaped structures) and the Wats (Buddhist houses of worship) are unbelievable. The colors are so vibrant, all jewel tones of red and blue and gold. The buildings literally sparkle in the sunlight. This seems like a very religious country. We see shrines everywhere, with people on street corners lighting candles and praying. The smell of incense is as prevalent as that of garlic and coconut milk. The orange robes of the monks not only pervade the wats, but accompany us on buses and boats. While we sightsee at these shrines, it is evident that these are very much still places of worship. We are trying to work meditation and enlightenment into our daily lives, too.

Today is the start of the Lunar New Year so we take a tuk-tuk to Chinatown. A tuk-tuk is a three-wheeled cross between a scooter and a motorcycle with a surrey attached behind the driver. It is a bit cramped with the four of us, but fun to be outside, zipping through traffic and through tight spots (sometimes on the wrong side of the road). Chinatown is wild. There are thousands of people, all milling around, with firecrackers, and noise makers all contributing to the din. We even see our first Asian elephants at the celebrations. Asian elephants, if you didn’t know, differ from African elephants both by having smaller ears and by being much larger. The elephants were trained, and we were treated to seeing them dance, demonstrating better rhythm than some people I know. Remarkable how light on their feet these behemoths are. We pet the elephant’s trunk and marveled at the dexterity of this appendage as it received money, which it deftly swung up to the man riding on back, or bananas, which quickly disappeared down the hatch.

Today, we train up to the north of Thailand, to visit a friend of the family who recently moved to Chang Mai.

Shun! (cheers, in Thai)
The Beatties

South Africa, part III-Garden Route and onward

2009-01-23T23:21:00.006-05:00

I know we have sounded enthusiastic about other countries before, but we have absolutely loved South Africa. What a magnificent country! We finish our tour of South Africa with a ride up the eastern coast, along the region called the Garden Route, then turning north to see the tallest mountains in the country before heading to the airport in Johannesburg.

Our first stop along the way was here. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, this town has the wild distinction of being the ostrich capitol of the world. Did you even know the world needed an ostrich capitol? Siena had asked if she could ride an ostrich for her birthday, and, as we were within driving distance of this town, how could we resist? This is Oudtshoorn, and don’t expect me to be able to pronounce it. We took turns standing on the huge eggs—each one the equivalent of 20 chicken eggs, before Siena, Ethan and I climbed aboard for a wild ride. Siena summed it up best: “I rode a bird.” There was no controlling the beasts once on their backs, but it was exhilarating, for sure!

We had met a friendly couple in Santorini who invited us to come visit them in South Africa. The Ruperts entertained us in high style, taking us to various beaches, riding tubes, hiking around the coast and sampling many of the wonderful wines of the Western Cape. Our children loved playing with Sabrina and Erin. Traveling is great, but being in a home is the best.

During our trip to South Africa, we visited about 10 national parks. The parks here are fabulous, with beautiful scenery, amazing wildlife and traditional architecture in their lodges. In the northern game parks, they talk about the “Big Five”, lion, leopard, buffalo, cheetah and elephant. In the south, they have the “Big Seven”, all of the above as well as whale and the great white shark. We were thrilled to see a whale, a finback whale surfaced hardly a half kilometer from where we stood watching. We were equally thrilled NOT to see any shark, especially whilst swimming. In addition, we saw lots of dolphin and a huge group of seals. Seals are great to watch and listen to, but less great to smell. Try to stay upwind of their colonies.

Our last national park before leaving South Africa is in the Drakensburg mountains. Royal Natal National Park is home to the second highest waterfall in the world. We had no idea! We hiked 7 kilometers to the base of the falls, crossing on boulders back and forth over the river as the location of the cliff face dictated. This is one of the most beautiful places we have seen. They call the semi circle of mountains The Amphitheater, and we had this as our view from the backyard of the rental cottage.

This country has it all! The natural beauty, delicious foods and wines all combine to make this a worthy travel destination. We had the added pleasure of meeting friends in Cape Town and on the Garden Route, and meeting friendly, helpful people everywhere we turned. Our two months in Africa have flown by. Tonight, we depart for Bangkok.

Cheers
The Beatties

South Africa-part 2 Cape Town and environs

2009-01-23T06:34:00.005-05:00

We fly to Cape Town. Cape Town might be the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. It is set on this peninsula, with ocean on three sides, mountains on three sides and the mountains are right in the city so they are visible from everywhere with lovely gardens and interesting architecture. It is hilly, like San Francisco, sandwiched between ocean and mountain, like Laguna Beach, has lots of cheap parking, unlike any city I’ve ever visited, and, bonus, it’s pretty inexpensive.

There are even exotic animals in the vicinity. We see baboons on the side of the road. There are elands (very large horned, hoofed mammals—like an elk, I guess) and dassies (rabbit sized rodents supposedly related to the elephant). They even have penguins here. We swam with the African penguins at a great beach. Sort of. The penguins were there swimming, and so were we. What a strange animal—so awkward and ungainly on land, but magical in the water. They move like missiles.

The largest and closest mountain to the city is Table Mountain. One day, we took the cable car up. Table Mountain rises 1,200 metres above Cape Town. The cable car is wild—it rotates as it rises, making a full 360-degree rotation during its rapid ascent. The views from here are unbelievable. As the name implies, this mountain is rather flat on the top. There were trails around, and some major steep drop offs.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a trick one. They are at the point where Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape. This is where most people think the Indian and Atlantic Oceans collide. But, scientists say this is not so. Nor is it, as most people will tell you, the Southern tip of Africa. This is the Cape of Good Hope. Enough of what it is NOT, it is beautiful. The waters surrounding us are littered with shipwrecks. There are warning signs telling us not to swim, and a fellow hiker cheerily informs us two people got swept to their deaths last week. I guess it’s called the Cape of Good Hope because you need to Hope you have Good weather in order to survive.

The next day, we drove to Cape Alguhas, which is both the southern tip of Africa and
where the two oceans do meet. It isn’t as impressive a location, and the name doesn’t roll off the tongue in the same manner, which might explain why it is never mentioned in the history books. The other fact we learned is that de Gama wasn’t even the first to round the Cape. Another Portuguese explorer named Dias made it through the treacherous waters about 20 years earlier. He did not make it to the Far East, though, and so his name languishes in obscurity.

South Africa has a completely different feel to it than Tanzania. In Tanzania, we knew we were in Africa; here, we have to remind ourselves as the roads are great, English is spoken, and there are modern conveniences everywhere you turn. The South Africans are outgoing and friendly. The barbeque, or braai as they call it here, is almost a religion. The wine is fantastic—we drove into the vineyards region of the Western Cape and sampled some. The food has been excellent. Lots of grilled meats and fish, wonderful oysters, and Siena’s new favorite, ostrich steak, which has the texture of the best fillet you’ve ever tasted, with a strip steak taste. Lekker, or delicious, in Africaans. And, all at reasonable prices. Lunch yesterday was particularly cheap, where we spent 70 rand, or about $7 for the four of us, including drinks and a tip that thrilled our server.

So, it is no surprise that the Beattie Beer Index is at almost an all time high. The beer, Windhoek, Hansa and Castle, are all good lagers. At a restaurant, we are paying about $1.50 for a draft, but we can buy it at the supermarkets for the equivalent of 75 cents each. The wine is also cheap, and the pinotage and cabernets are world class.

We had a wonderful time exploring with my brother and it is with sadness that we drop off the last person scheduled to join us for part of our adventure. We would love it if we could arrange to meet our friends or family during the trip. Let us know if you are interested…

Hsuntite! (Health! In Africaans)
The Beatties

Tanzania Climb and Safari

2009-01-16T01:10:00.007-05:00

Impressions on Tanzania Safari

By Ethan Beattie

We were off on a six day Safari through four different reserves. Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tangerie. We left the hotel at around noon when saying we were supposed to leave at 9:00. It took less time to get everything ready than Kili because there was much less gear and there was a car instead of porters.

Driving through Lake Manyara we pass an elephant about five feet away, eating away at a tree. The little tree was no match for the elephant’s big strong trunk. The animal used its trunk like a lawn mower clearing everything in its path. The elephant ate everything including the sticks, twigs, leaves and branches unlike a giraffe, which only eats leaves. After a couple of minutes the elephant walked, behind our car, looked at us, and then kept on walking. It was unbelievable the size of this creature and how close he was to us. This was an amazing moment because it was a first day, so we had never seen a elephant before, and he was really close too. You could tell the elephant was younger because the size of the tusks weren't as big as when full grown. It seems crazy that someone would kill an animal just for the ivory from the tusks. The tusks were bright white and got brown as you got close to his face. Rounded and reflective, the tusks gleamed in the setting sun. The elephants must not have many predators because of the size and weight of just one elephant. After five to ten minute stay, we moved on to see what else we could see. On the way out we saw another elephant, a little farther away, but it crossed the road right in front of us again. It is amazing to see animals in the wild so close with no fence. This was one of many great experiences on our safari. There are so many different types of animals. It would be great to go on another safari in the future.

Kilimanjaro

By Siena Beattie

Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa at 5895m. It is in Tanzania near the border of Kenya. You are not allowed to climb the mountain without a guide so companies can charge a lot more than it should cost. It usually takes three to five days to climb it but the fastest was in eight hours. Some people have to turn around either because of the altitude or because it was too cold. The chance of not making it to the top is 1 in 5 so you have a pretty good chance of making it. But if you don't make it you won't die like you do on Everest, you just turn around and go back down. And even if you don't make it to the top, it is a beautiful and fun climb.

When we, my mother, father, Ethan, Ross and I, climbed Kilimanjaro, we had twenty people taking care of us we had 13 porters to carry our bags, one cook for them, two cooks for us, two assistant guides for the last day (the cooks and the assistant guides were also porters) and two guides. The guides were great. Their names were John and Thomas. They would help us up big steps and pull me up small cliffs. They were great fun to talk to and taught us a few words in Swahili like Pole Pole, Slowly; Jambo, hello; Pole, sorry; Asantay, thank you; Karibu, you're welcome and a few others. When we were on our final assent day we had to split into two groups because I was getting cold and stopping often. Dad, Ross, and Ethan went ahead with John and one of the assistant guides, William, while mom and I went slowly with Thomas and the other assistant guide, Guidian. We walked for another hour after they left us before I started to feel lethargic and extremely cold so we had to turn around and go back down. We found out later that it was probably hypothermia so it was a good thing

we turned around or else I might have died. One the way down, Thomas could not have treated me better if I was his own child. He gave Joseph my hiking poles so that I could ball up my hands to keep them warm while he held my arm ad served as my hiking poles. He held my hand all the way down and tried to warm me up when I sat down even if it did

n't work. At the camp again my mom and I lay down for a while. When the boys got back we heard that they had made it to the top and John had helped Ethan a lot pulling him up the last part of the way. When we got back to the hotel that was included in our climb we had to tip our entourage different amounts according to what they did for us: the guides

got the most, porters the least etc. We mosts have given them more than normal because John and William joined us for dinner and took us around Moshi.

When we were on the mountain we had some excellent

food. Our cook made wonderful soups. The only thing we didn't like was the sardine sauce that he made with the pasta on the night before we would go to the summit because we do not like sardines. Also the chicken we had for almost every lunch was over cooked and dry. The chickens in Tanzania are skinny and tall. They don't look anything like the chickens in Europe or the US. One day we asked William if he made the soup when he came to take away the bowls. He said yes and we told him it was delicious. “Asante sana,” he said. On the trail William told us that

he was going to some technical school. We told him no, that he should become a chef. We went for four days thinking he was our cook until John told us that it was Joseph was the one who made the soup and William was just our waiter. We laughed about it then gave Joseph our compliments about the soup. William thought we meant: Was the soup made by one of you?

Over all, the climb was great. We met some people from Finland who were going through the same company as we did. We ended up seeing the again in the middle of the Serengeti. We also talked to a woman from Canada who was studying in Tanzania at the time. There were people from all over the world but we were the only children on the mountain at the time. The climb itself was also great. Every day was a different experience and we climb over different terrine. Someday I will go back, but next time I will make it all the way to the top.

An Unexpected Country

2009-01-13T10:51:00.005-05:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, we had no idea we were going here. We decided that, although our stay at Kruger was stupendous, the park was too big to see the rest of it (hours and hours of driving) and it would be nice to see a bit more of the surrounding area. We headed into another country. This country is surrounded on three quarters of its almost circular boundary by South Africa, and by Mozambique on the rest. It is the only absolute monarchy in Africa. It is mountainous and lush, the major industries here consisting mostly of logging and mining, and minimal tourism (no one appears to have “discovered” this gorgeous place). This is Swaziland.

We read in the guidebook that the biggest concern we should have in Swaziland is the roads. Although the road conditions were excellent, the drivers here are notorious, and they are very lax with drinking and driving. The scariest statistic we heard is that 2 of the last 4 Ministers of Transport for Swaziland died in traffic accidents. 15 minutes into the country, we were stopped by an accident. We couldn’t figure out where the truck involved was trying to go. We proceeded with caution.

Our first stop was to see ancient rock art, painted on the wall and ceiling of a cave. The short hike to the cave was through beautiful wild flowers, with vistas of an azure river running through a tropical valley. Our guide, Gabby, told us the paintings were 4000 and 400 years old. She was unable to understand our question asking which parts were 4000 and which were 400, replying that they were all very old. Did this mean they were unclear about the actual age of the drawings? Carbon dating is a bit more accurate than that, right? Upon reading the literature, the 4000 year number was repeated, so it might just have been a problem with translation. When we signed the guest registry, we noted we were the only visitors for the day or the proceeding day. A total of 11 people visited in January of 2008. Yep, Swaziland is apparently not swarming with tourists.

Next, we arrived at Malolotja National Park. We paid the absurdly low entrance fee and proceeded into some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen. These blesboks were everywhere, but much more wary of us than the animals we had encountered in either Kruger or in Tanzania. But, judging from the registry at the park, this may be because they may never have seen a car in their lifetime. We described the views as either jaw-dropping or OMG moments. The most amazing thing was it was entirely ours. I mean, the whole national park. Not another car, not another hiker, not a building in the distance. No sounds of humans anywhere. Well, we did have Ethan with us, so it wasn’t like it was quiet or anything. These mountains are some of the oldest in the world, over 3.6 billion years old. The grassland covered even the peaks of these mountains, with waterfalls cascading into the valleys. Absolutely a fabulous place. . We ate dinner at the Hwane Resort, just outside the park. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay here as we had a fairly early flight from Johannesburg, and the border didn’t open until 7 a.m. They literally close the country down between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. That was at the main border crossing. The others were much more limited—like 8 to 8. We made it out before closing time, and regretted we hadn’t planned on more time in this lovely country.

Love, (we weren't here long enough to learn anything in the local language)

The Beatties

South Africa Part I Kruger

2009-01-13T10:35:00.006-05:00

We fly down to South Africa, with almost no problems. Other than the airline we were supposed to fly had stopped flying. Problems with capital. And, who owns this airline? The Tanzanian government. We were able to find different flights, though, despite being the busiest travel day of the year (2January, end of Christmas holiday). Unfortunately, as Air Tanzania was looking for investors, they had no cash to refund our flights. And, the other airlines we took only accepted cash. Do you have any idea what the wad of cash looks like for 4 tickets in Tanzanian shillings, where the largest bill, the 10,000 Tsh note, equates to about $8??? We thought we were going to need a wheelbarrow to carry the money.

We met Mark in the Joburg airport and drove to the northeastern border of South Africa. Gluttons for punishment, we arose at dawn (5:15am) to see the park during the early morning hours when the cats are most active. We were lucky. Here is a rare cheetah, who enthralled us by crossing the road several times in front of us and behaving most cat-like—scratching the tree, rubbing against bushes and stretching languidly.

We also saw the elusive leopard. This is the most beautiful animal I’ve ever seen. Its gait combines grace and power, barely contained.

One evening, Mark and I took a short drive through the park. After a fairly uneventful 90% of the drive, we rounded a corner to find 20 elephants blocking the road. This was a herd of females with their young. We sat watching them feed and interact, until something spooked one of the females. She, along with 2 of her friends, started towards us, shoulder to shoulder, ears flapping madly, as they appeared ready to charge. Mark backed up slowly, while I, shaking, took this out of focus shot. Finally, the girls decided to dine instead of attack, and we were able to drive passed. Then we had to talk our way out of the closed park, as the ranger felt we were too late to exit.

The 5 of us spent a day exploring a large canyon nearby. The river has created beautiful scenery. The valley below us must be 4000 meters down. Spectacular!

There are 11 official languages in South Africa, English being one of them. We learned “cheers” in Zulu, but when we used it at the bar that evening, the bartender had never heard of it. So, either he didn’t speak the same language as our first friend, or we were massively mispronouncing it. Since it is unlikely that most of you will know the difference anyway, we sign off with

Yambu (cheers, maybe, in Zulu, maybe)
The Beatties

Zanzibar

2009-01-07T03:54:00.005-05:00

Zanzibar

It is such a magical name. Zanzibar is actually an archipelago (word of the day) located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania. Zanzibar, although nominally part of Tanzania, is fiercely independent and has a completely different feel from the mainland of the country. Historically, the islands were controlled by immigrants from India and then from Turkey. 90% of the population is Islamic, although those we spoke to did not adhere to the no alcohol tenet. And, there was a lot of drinking on this island.

Zanzibar is known not only for its beautiful beaches, but also for growing some of the best spices in the world. We were fortunate to take a wonderful spice tour. We saw cardomon, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, curry leaves, pepper, vanilla beans, and cacao (chocolate), as well as pineapple, coconut, jackfruit, and bananas. We tasted everything. Notes to others: Turmeric really stains (Siena had yellow lips from the turmeric for the rest of the day) and freshly picked ginger is quite a bit spicier than the roots you buy at the grocers (wow, was that hot!).

We snorkled in the Indian Ocean, where we were saw lots of clown fish, which is the kind of fish Nemo was supposed to be. They were hanging out in the anemone and the fire coral, but, overall, the visibility was only mediocre which is a real drawback to good diving.

Zanzibar has wonderful food and we ate very well here. The fresh fish, including ocean perch and king fish (neither of which we had ever tried before) were fabulous. There were curries and coconut milk sauces, and lots of interesting spices. There was a distinct Indian flavor, but with an African/spiced twist.

After 5 days of resting here, we fly down to South Africa and meet my brother Mark.

Jambo! (Hey, or what’s up in Swahili)

The Beatties

Tanzania 2, the Safaris

2008-12-30T13:11:00.003-05:00

Now, this is Africa, in all of its glory. We left Moshi, Tanzania in a large Land-Rover, packed to the rafters, if you can say such a thing about a vehicle. We headed west, along the northern portion of Tanzania, stopping at several of its national parks along the way.

Tanzania is big, and the distances to get from place to place are long. We drove through numerous small towns, with roadside shacks/houses, called dukas, all selling the same few products: lots of bananas, cell phones and clothing. The last were some of our favorites, as each store had a sewing machine, usually set up outside. People pick out their fabric and have dresses made on the street. In the town of Moshi, there must have been 30 different dress/suit vendors, sewing away.

We passed many Maasai villages as well. The Maasai tribe has resisted change and remains a largely nomadic, cattle based culture, living the way their ancestors have for centuries. Their villages are little more than a small circular hedge with somewhere around a dozen huts—mud with thatched roofs, no windows, no water, no electricity—arranged around the perimeter. The Maasai are a very angular, stately looking people, with regal red and purple blankets draped over one shoulder. The men always carry a stick or spear in their hands. We saw Maasai children as young as 6 years old tending herds of goat by the roadside with their requisite stick in their hands. I imagine their children are a bit more mature than those from our culture! I don’t know many kindergarten-aged children I would trust by the side of a highway, caring for my life savings…

And segueing into the where in the world are Ethan and Siena, this gorge is known for truly ancient man. This is where the oldest known footprints of homonids (not considered homo sapiens yet—but the term “homonid” includes other evolutionarily close species) were found, over 3.6 million years ago. Their feet look very similar to our own. From discoveries made here, scientists have determined that two separate species of homonids existed contemporaneously (word of the day). The one with the larger brain ended up vanishing, and we evolved from the other (this explains a lot about man, doesn’t it?). This is Olduvai Gorge (actually called Oldupai Gorge, for the Maasai word for sisal “oldupai”, but mistranslated generations ago).

The first evening we stayed on the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. And, we were really on the escarpment. Our “lodge” (in quotes because it is nothing more than rooms in a house with common bathrooms) was on a promontory. There was an absolutely vertical drop down to the valley floor below us on two sides that must have been 400 meters high.

It overlooked Lake Manyara National Park, where we get our first taste of a safari with an evening drive and a dawn drive through the park. If you’ve never been to this part of the world, it is unbelievable. We saw an amazing assortment of animals, incredibly close. I like this picture of a near encounter with a male elephant.

We continued our westward trip to the Serengeti where we were treated to the spectacle of the annual migration. We had heard of the wildebeest migration, when almost a million of these large hoofed animals journey from Kenya to Tanzania and back in search of the best grazing land. What we hadn’t been prepared for was the zebras, African buffalo and various antelope/gazelle type animals also migrating. We must have driven though herds of 30,000 zebras. Zebras as far as your eyes could see in all directions. The zebra herd would part as our jeep approached, and close back around behind us. Each animal has a unique striping, although we had to take our guide’s word for this, as they all looked the same to us—gorgeous, but the same. We saw herds of 20,000 wildebeest. The wildebeest tend to stay close to either the zebra or the gazelle as they themselves are very nearsighted. They look nearsighted, don’t they? The other animals have much better eyesight and thus serve to warn the wildebeest if danger approaches. I gather the wildebeest offer the other species strength in their horns as well as in their numbers. The power of this number of animals was staggering. When a portion would start to run, the rumbling of the ground and the dust raised left us speechless (and coughing from the dust).

We camped most nights, and lying in your tent, listening to the sound of animals outside is an experience. Kim woke me one night with, “There’s something out there. I think it is a lion.” Staying asleep through this period would have been wonderful. We have no idea if it was actually a lion (we did not open the tent to check). I sure wasn’t heading over to the bathrooms in the night! On Christmas night, we tried to find a phone to call our families. After many miles and several failed attempts, we were blocked from returning to our campsite by 2 male lions walking in the road. At first, there was just one lion. I, completely unaware of any danger, unrolled my window and leaned out to get a good picture of this large cat, walking sedately down the road. The second lion walked by, close enough for me to pet, if I was so inclined. Luckily, it wasn’t a fatal error. The window was kept up for the rest of the encounter.

Now that we are back to normal altitudes (and don’t have to worry about going out with the wild beasts in the night for a bathroom run) we have been enjoying the beer in Tanzania. The Beattie Beer Index scores very high for this country. We’ve tried 4 different, local beers: Serengeti, Tusker, Kilimanjaro and Safari. They are all good, and differ from each other as to strength and sweetness. The three of us (Ethan and Siena did not partake in the taste trials) all liked a separate one best. And the prices were super: $1.50 in a restaurant for a half liter. Moreover, the labels were fabulous. Our favorite label was Tusker: “named after the elephant who killed one of the founders.” You just can’t make this stuff up! We said goodbye to Ross in Moshi, as we head off to Zanzibar and he returns to Michigan and college. Happy New Year to all of you!

Hakuna Matata! (no worries, in Swahili)
The Beatties

Kilimanjaro--pictures coming shortly...

2008-12-21T09:36:00.005-05:00

We flew to Tanzania and met up with Ross! Even though he must have been jet lagged, because of the shortness of our stay, we arranged to start our climb the next morning. Which turned out to be mid afternoon. Hakuna matata (no worries, in Swahili).

where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in front of the highest mountain in Africa. Rising 5895 meters, this is the highest place you can stand in the world without oxygen. I understand this is because it is so close to the equator, and the atmosphere is thicker here. It is also one of the largest volcanoes in the world. This is Kilimanjaro.

With 15 porters, 3 cooks and 4 guides, our small party set off into the rainforest. I felt a little like those images of the British royalty going for a picnic. The first day was a steady climb, with a gradual grade, for about 5 hours. The scenery was beautiful. Kim took pictures of every flower growing in the jungle, but we still made it in time for tea in our mess tent. The first night we were very pleasantly surprised by the wonderful dinner, which was thankfully to be true for the entire trip.

We stayed in tents for the entire trip, and each night grew colder, as we ascended the mountain. Days varied from 3 hours of hiking to 11 hours on the second to last day. We had beautiful weather and unbelievable scenery. We climbed from cultivated land, through the rainforest, to the moorlands (which looked a lot like Scotland), into the alpine desert (which resembled our southwestern U.S. states) and finally into the arctic region near the summit. At times, it seemed as though we were hiking through the mountains on Mars.

There were many other groups, similar to ours, except no other children. We made friends with 4 men from Finland, a couple from Canada and another from Denmark. The final day of ascent, we were awoken at 11 p.m. and started our climb by midnight. It was cold, windy and steep!

Siena started to have symptoms of hypothermia (laying her head on a stone and saying she just wanted to take a short nap was troubling) at 5 a.m. and she and I headed back, but Ross, Ethan and Kim made it! The three Beattie men stood on the roof of Africa and watched the sunrise over Tanzania. It was an amazing experience for all, and especially for Kim, who had been dreaming of this for almost 20 years.

Best wishes to all of you and my apologies at how long it has been without a post--no fast enough internet, I am afraid!

Merisha Merafu! Cheers, in Swahili

The Beattie Clan

Egypt III, then Egypt II

2008-12-13T15:43:00.007-05:00

We took a hydrofoil from the east coast of Egypt (skip it--over built and ugly) to Sharm El Sheckh, on the southernmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula. Also, should be missed--except for diving in the Red Sea which was awesome. The most noteworthy site in the Sinai was this. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are at the top of a mountain. It is not the highest mountain in Egypt, but is famous nonetheless. This is where Moses received the Ten Commandments, where he heard the voice of God in the burning bush: Mount Sinai . We hiked up in the afternoon, watched sunset over the desert and mountains and hiked down by the light of the full moon. Awesome. Kind of weird being here. I mean it is in the middle of nowhere, but we went through something like 5 check points, where they stopped the car and checked all of our passports, with guys with machine guns at the ready. Hope all is well with all of you! We are off to Tanzania next.

Ma'a Salaama (Goodbye, in Arabic)
The Beatties

We leave Cairo and fly south, to Aswan, in Upper Egypt. It is hard to get used to this description initially, as we are accustomed to North being Up, and South being Down. So, Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This is the longest river in the world, snaking through an amazing 10 countries before widening into a broad delta to empty into the Mediterranean Sea. This is Upper Egypt because this river flows from South to North. It used to flood every year, providing passive irrigation, but, because of the unknowns of when and how high the floods would be, creating great uncertainty and, occasionally, some devastating famines. The river was home to the world’s first great civilization. This is the mother of all rivers: The Nile.

It is bizarre seeing Egypt from the air. It looks just like the map of the country. There is beige desert as far as you can see, except for this narrow strip of green, following the river. It isn’t like there is a gradual transition. You could draw the line with a ruler for the demarcation between the green of the river valley and where the desert starts. Bam, you are in the desert!

In 1902, the British built a dam taming the river. A second dam, the Aswan High Dam, was built in 1971 as the old dam wasn’t large enough to handle to unpredictable annual flooding. The hydroelectric plant here produces enough energy to provide power for the entire country. In fact, when originally built, Egypt used 80% of the electricity. Today, they only use 20% of its power. The rest of their electricity comes from solar panels. We have no problem believing this as we haven’t seen a cloud in the sky for the week we’ve been here. The rest of the electricity generated here is sent to neighboring countries. How wonderful that all of the electricity in the country is from clean and renewable sources.

In Aswan, we begin to see the amazing temples the ancient Egyptians built along the course of the river. The sites chosen are beautiful. The work to build these enormous monuments with nothing but hand tools and lots of laborers is incomprehensible. How could they move these stones? How could they lift them to such heights?

We board a boat, a sort of floating hotel, with about a hundred other passengers. Most of the passengers are French, although a Polish group comes aboard the next day. We are seated with 2 British brothers who are studying Arabic in Cairo, two couples, one from Saudi Arabia and one from Moscow, both vacationing in Egypt, and a musician from Brooklyn, traveling around the world as we are. There is some logic to the seating arrangement as we are the only English speakers on board. Since we take all our meals together and tour all of the sites together with an English-speaking guide, we become fast friends in a short period of time.

In addition to temples, we tour several tombs. Concerned with the looting that had already occurred in the pyramids to the north, the later pharaohs built elaborate underground tombs. They were mistaken to think this would make them impossible to find. All of the tombs were looted. King Tut’s was, too, but they think the robbers must have been in a hurry so they didn’t take everything. We learn that the tombs are different depths related to how long the pharaoh ruled. The tomb was started on the day after the coronation, and the tomb couldn’t be completed until after the king died—otherwise it was considered bad luck. The longer the reign, the deeper the tomb. The builders had a bit of wiggle room as it took 70 days to mummify the body.

Here is one of our favorite temples, the ancient temple of Karnak in Luxor. The temple complex is larger than St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and St Paul’s in London put together. This hall is unique in the world. There are 134 of these pillars, each about 8 foot in diameter, and 60 feet high. It felt like we were standing in an artificial redwood forest.

Last blog I wrote of the crazy drivers. Unfortunately, on the day I wrote that, one of our British friends, Muneeb, was hit by a passing bus. Siena and I experienced both the medical system and the police system in Egypt in one evening. The hospital was efficient and relatively inexpensive (at least for me, coming from a country with a for-profit health care system). The police kept wanting me to “accuse” someone. I didn’t understand why. The word “accident” means it wasn’t intentional, right? We are delighted that, despite a broken foot, Muneeb is otherwise fine. This picture was taken earlier in the day. He sure wasn’t climbing up to the top of the Valley of the Kings in a cast with crutches…

In the rest of the world we have visited, a price is a price. Costs are more or less fixed. Here, the price is whatever the market (read: sucker) will bear. We bought a hat at the market, very proud of ourselves from getting the price down from 125 gineah (Egyptian pounds) to 40, only to have an Arabic speaking friend buy the same hat from a different vendor for 20 gineah. We did better than my father in Turkey, though, where he bought a small bag of chestnuts for 10 Euro (15 dollars, at the time of purchase). I believe it amounted to a buck fifty for each chestnut. And, they didn’t even taste good. In Egypt, it is definitely Caveat Emptor—Buyer Beware!

There are many places in the world where I can blend in, look like a local. Kim has fewer such countries. Here, no matter if we learn the correct pronunciation of the handful of phrases we’ve learned, we stick out like foreigners wearing Hawaiian print shirts and cameras around our necks. The Egyptian people are very friendly, and want to try their English phrases on us. “Hello, what’s your name? Where are you from?” We frequently have our pictures taken, sometimes with a stranger’s arm draped around our shoulders, sometimes in a crowd of children. The local children are very interested in our children, and we joke that our Frisbee is the best ambassador/icebreaker ever.

Itsa Eid (Happy Eid in Arabic)

How can you help being happy with sunsets like this over the Nile?? Taken, I must add, by Ethan!

The Beatties

Egypt part I

2008-12-08T13:40:00.004-05:00

Well, I have just experienced my first encounter with censorship! There are sites that are blocked from having images uploaded in Egypt, and that, I think, is why I have been unable to put pictures to the words. But, as I am still technically in Egypt (through passport and immigration, but haven't boarded the plane yet), and the pictures are going through, maybe I am mistaken.

This is an easy "Where in the World are Ethan and Siena" as I am sure you will recognize the location. The huge sculpture was carved from the granite bedrock of the land, after the sand covering it was removed. It was meant to guard and protect the Great Pyramids behind it. This is the Sphinx. It is not a tomb, nor a temple, but a figure with the face of a man, the hair of a woman, and the body of a lion. This was supposed to give the creature brains, beauty and power, respectively. These were built in 2000 B.C., or, to use the vernacular, B.C.E. Hard to fathom, but this is not the oldest sites around. We arrive here using the same mode of travel as that used during the building of the Pyramids—camel. Riding a camel is, shall we say, interesting. They are quite tall, and to mount and dismount, the camel kneels down to make this easier. Unfortunately, the process of getting down and up is a bit like being on a mechanical bull. The animal pitches forward, then backwards. And then there are the sounds the camels make. They sound like Chewbacca from Star Wars, when he’s angry about something. The pyramids and the Sphinx are very close to the capitol of Egypt, Cairo.

Cairo is another world. We are fortunate to be met by a person from our hotel, who guides us through the throngs at the airport and delivers us safely to the front of the hotel. I have driven or been in the traffic of many cities. I have no problem driving in New York or Boston, have driven in London and around Paris, and taken taxis in various urban settings. But, I was completely unprepared for Cairo.
Image, if you will, a road 3 lanes wide in each direction. There are perhaps 100 cars attempting to be the first through the 3 lanes. With at least 6 cars squeezed into the width of the road, all accelerating into any gap, it is amazing we didn’t see any major accidents. On our first day, our driver was threading his way between the center median, and a police officer who had stopped a driver to write up a ticket. I thought there couldn’t possibly be enough room, but who am I to interrupt an artist? We clipped the cop in the backside with the side view mirror on our way by. The driver waved, but never so much as took his foot off the accelerator.
We are told most Egyptians speak 3 languages: Arabic, English and the first and most important language: the horn. You would think the cars’ accelerators were attached to the center of the steering wheel. At all hours of the day, the sound of various horns are everywhere.
We have problems regarding the other languages, too. As we looked at the signs, we realized, even if we had wanted to, there is no way we could drive here. Hungarian was hard to understand, and Russian and Greek used different alphabets, but Arabic doesn’t even look like letters to us.
To people from the U.S., Europe is old. But to Europeans, Egypt is old. Egypt blows our ideas of old away. We go to the oldest pyramids, in Saqqara. These are from the Old Kingdom, from 3000B.C. In the temples, the colors are still vivid. We learn that is because the "paint" was made from ground up stones, which were combined with egg white and glue before being applied to the artwork adorning the walls. We tour the Egyptian Museum, which is filled with artifacts from various tombs and temples, including much that was unearthed in King Tut’s.
It is truly foreign here. The people are all very nice, and many want to practice their English with us. There is a constant barrage of touts—people asking for us to buy things, to take cab rides, to stay in their hotel or buy water from them. The men dress either in Western style clothing, or in traditional dress, about 50% each, but the women almost all wear the traditional Islamic clothing, with long skirts and head scarves. We really look like tourists here. Which segues nicely into the reason it is hard to keep up the Beattie Beer Index. Our hotel does not serve alcohol. Most restaurants do not, nor is it sold in the small markets where we buy our bottled water. The larger tourist hotels have no problem selling it, though, and we sample both Sahara and Stella beers. We both like the former better, although both are a bit light for our normal tastes, this tastes good after being in the heat of the desert.. If the price of beer purchased at a resort counts, then we report an average of 15 Egyptian Pounds, or $3.

Sucaret! To Your Health, in Arabic
The Beatties

Paris

2008-12-01T03:41:00.005-05:00

We finish up our European portion of the trip with a week in the City of Lights. Paris has it all. Spectacular monuments, some of the world’s best museums, huge parks, small neighborhoods to wander around, a beautiful river running through it, and fabulous food. We have heard that the French, but especially the Parisians are unwelcoming. We do not find that at all. The people are warm, and friendly, and very funny. And, they speak with that fabulous French accent. “Take zeese street, and zen you turn over zare.” That, with the croissants, is enough to make me want to move here. Kim, the realist, explains we cannot afford to do so.

So, in this glorious city, where have we chosen to do our Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This is the heart and soul of Paris. In fact, it is considered to be the center of France. All distances in the country used to be measured to a small plaque on the plaza out front. It is a beautiful cathedral, with flying buttresses circling the church, and the most beautiful rose windows. People would pray here before leaving on crusades to pillage far off lands. Napoleon famously yanked the crown off the King’s head here and crowned himself emperor. Gargoyles leer out from all corners. And, according to Victor Hugo, a hunchback rang the bells. This is Notre Dame and it is glorious. We even are able to hear the 7800 pipe organ played during mass.

My brother, Bruce, and his family, Susan, Natalia and Conrad, meet us in Paris. We have a fabulous, 3 bedroom apartment in the heart of the city. The kids play soccer in every conceivable location: at the Tulleries, around Luxemborg Gardens, in the courtyard of the Louvre, even in the Rodin Museum sculpture garden. Rest assured, The Thinker still has both arms, unlike those other famous Parisian statues of Venus de Milo and Winged Victory…Once, while playing soccer in the Place de Vosges, we strike up a conversation with another woman. Debbie recognizes me from a science program in California we attended together 27 years ago. It is an amazing world. So big, but so small.

We have so interesting experiences here. As it is Thanksgiving Day, we feel the need to watch football. Natalia, Ethan, Kim and I attend a wild game, with some truly crazy fans. Kim makes the mistake of getting his hair cut on Montmartre. He considers himself lucky, despite the less than great end result, when we learn that the martyr for whom this mont is named, lost his head, not just his hair!

The site that wowed us all was the Eiffel Tower. Of course, it is the quintessential image of Paris, but it is hard to convey the grace and power of the structure. We stand under it the first day, unable to go to the top because of high winds. We gawk at the world at our feet the next, seeing all of Paris stretching out to the horizon. We are staggered by the Tower at night, looming like an alien creation, literally taking our breath away.

We are especially lucky, not only to have my family for the week, but to meet three other local families. We enjoy seeing their homes, meeting their children, and eating the wonderful food the French eat at home. We will miss you as we travel on to Egypt today. I do not know how accessible the internet will be, but I will post when possible. Europe has been wonderful, but we think the real adventure is only just beginning.

Happy Holidays from our family to all of you.

Cin Cin

The Beatties

Normandy

2008-11-23T12:45:00.003-05:00

As we finish the c-shaped loop around France’s southern, western and now northern coasts, we arrived at this location. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? The somber expressions on the children’s faces are apropos of the locale. This wind swept beach, with high waves was the sight of one of the most savage battles the world has ever seen. Over a thousand U.S. armed forces died here within the first hour of fighting. In fact, the beach is nicknamed Bloody Beach for its history. This is Omaha Beach, one of several landing sights during the Normandy invasion, the beginning of the end of World War II. At dawn, on 6th of June, 1944, US troops landed here and at Utah beach further west. British and Canadian forces simultaneously attacked at beaches to the east. But it was here, at Omaha, that the most casualties were suffered.

On a high bluff overlooking the beach lies the Cimitiere Americaine, or the American Cemetery. The French government gave the land to the US in perpetuity to honor those who had given their lives for the freedom of the French people. We try to understand the kind of courage it would take to run off a ship, with thousands of guns aimed at you, and run towards the firing. The gravestones have only names, hometowns and dates of death, and we wander among them, wondering at the person and those left behind, staggered by the shear numbers. It is beautiful here, in an immensely sad way, so peaceful.

The next day, we visit the Memorial Peace Museum. Siena comments that it is really a war museum. We watch a documentary of the Normandy Invasion. The film of actual footage, has a split screen. We can see the German preparations at the same time as the Allied troops approach the coast. Over 64 years later and it is still terrifying.

Tonight, we raise our glasses and toast the hundreds of thousands of souls who died during this horrific war.

Paix (peace in French) to you and yours

The Beatties

Vive la France

2008-11-22T05:25:00.004-05:00

Vive la France!

And, boy, do they know how to live. We have spent the week learning how well the French, or at least the wealthy French, have lived throughout the centuries. This is Carcassonne, a medieval walled city in the southwest of France. The turrets, the castle, draw bridges and moats made us feel like we should be wearing armor and those weird cone hats, with the veils trailing off of them.

On to Bordeaux, and the celebrated Haut-Medoc wine region. Set amidst acres upon acres of perfectly rowed up vineyards are massive elegant chateaus. We went to the largest beach I’ve ever seen. We were here at low tide. The beach was two hundred yards wide, and, we were told, 30 miles long. From on top of the dunes, you could look in either direction and see nothing but beautiful beach. You can get a feel for just how enormous the beach is if you can pick out Ethan and Siena at the edge of the sand. The 15-meter tide completely covers the beach. We did our share of tasting the wonderful, deep red wines of the region. In fact, the tourist office had a tasting with 13 local vintners, each with 2-4 wines. We were not able to try all of the wines, but we put in a decent effort—and were unable to eat dinner that night. Of course, with all of this wine, there is still no Beattie Beer Index for France.

We found our own chateau to stay at in the Loire River valley. As it is the off season, we have the entire place to ourselves. This is where the royalty, before the revolution, built their summer palaces. We tour Chenonceau, which the King took over by levying steep taxes on the existing owner. Sounds a bit like the real estate market in the States doesn’t it? The vineyards here are the largest we’ve seen, stretching to the distant woods. We do some sampling here, too, but of the dry white wines and the wonderful brut sparkling wines. Here we toast with the vintner.

Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This is one of those iconic locations, one that you have seen in countless photographs. It becomes an island at high tide, when the tides actually fill not only the surrounding marsh area, but also the lower parking lots. The steeple is part of an Abbey, built on this rock following a priest’s vision of the Archangel Michael. It was an unbelievable feat of engineering to build such a huge structure, precariously balanced on the peak of a mountain, in the 9th century. This is Mont St-Michel, the only spot in northern France to never be captured by the British. But, this whole northern part of France greatly resembles Great Britain, even treating us to the same cold, rainy weather for most of our time here, although the sun was shining on Mont St-Michel.

A votre sainte!

(to your health)

The Beattie Clan

France, Une

2008-11-15T13:11:00.004-05:00

After a week spent in Gubbio, admiring the Umbrian scenery, hiking, riding horses, and making new friends (Fabio and Maurizio), we headed north and west. We spent 5 days in the South of France, near St. Tropez. Our good friends, Laura and Gilles, had offered us their beautiful home. We day tripped to this spot:

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, the Vatican was the smallest country; San Marino is the third smallest, and this tiny country, barely 4 kilometers by 800 meters, holds the second smallest position. This is a monarchy; U.S. citizens became better acquainted with the country when a top movie star, and my vote for most beautiful woman of all time, married their monarch. They hold a very famous Formula One car race on the windy roads of the capitol (where the regal actress met her untimely death). Can you see the large building with the green roof on the right, in the background above Siena’s head? It is the most famous casino in the world, where Bond, James Bond, had martinis whilst wearing his tux. This is Monaco, playground of the rich and famous. We saw Rolls Royce’s, Ferrari’s, and Lamborghini’s. Good thing we didn’t have to pass any of them in our underpowered Fiat Panda.

We visited the largest gorge in Europe, the Gorges du Verdon. You can’t believe how steep the cliffs are, like the Grand Canyon, with no crowds, parking lots, admission fees guardrails or warning signs. We were the only ones there. Our hopes for a hike were foiled when the rain caused the paths to become slippery, and slipping was out of the question for these walks! Unfortunately, the clouds descended about half way in, providing us with white out conditions for the tortuous drive. The part that we could see was spectacular, though.

We consoled ourselves once out of the mountains at a couple of chateaus, where we sampled several wines. The wine in this region is wonderful. We prefer red, but the rose here is quite good, too. This chateau did not have our favorite wines, but the tiny chapel here had a Chagall and two Gioccometti sculptures.

Can you recognize this spot? Perhaps if it were night time, and the lights all had halos around them? This is the Night Café, in Arles, which Vincent Van Gogh immortalized in his painting of the same name. The town is largely a Van Gogh memorial town, with plaques describing where each of his paintings had been done. Kind of ironic, considering no one there bought a single one of his paintings. In fact, when he was in the local psychiatric hospital, he gave a painting to his doctor, who liked it so well, he used it to fix a hole in his chicken coop. I sincerely hope the doctor didn’t tell Van Gogh this, as it could only accelerate his suicidal tendencies.

I don’t think I have mentioned the food lately. While in the U.S., we might go out for French, or Italian food, here the foods vary tremendously within each country. We try to have the specialty of the region (except when it is something truly gross, like tripe, for instance). The local truffles (the mushroom-like things the pigs dig up, not the rich chocolate dessert type) in Gubbio gave the pasta an earthy, wonderful taste. Pesto in the area around Genoa was fabulous. In fact, in Italy, it is called Genovese Sauce. The pizza was good everywhere in Italy, but none better than in Napoli, where they claim to have invented it. There are never many toppings on the pizzas, usually just a sprinkling of cheese. The seafood, especially the clams, were delicious in Venice. The best thing in Florence was the Gelato. And we had several. In St Tropez, we had their special dessert: a sponge cake with rich custard filling. Tonight, we had cassoulet in Carcassone. Cassoulet is a casserole with white beans, duck and sausage. I started the meal with a Hypocras, an aperitif made with white wine, and, forgive my inability to understand the waiter’s French, some sort of aromatic plant???? It was really delicious, whatever it was. Far better than the pastisse Kim ordered, anyway. Pastisse is a licorice flavored drink, served with water to dilute it first, so that you can swallow the vile concoction (Kim liked it, but we know how suspect his taste is…).

On to the Beattie Beer Index. Kim was commenting on how he couldn’t name a French beer. I replied that they had a few good beers. The first two bars we tried, though, did not have any French beers. And, with how patriotic the French are, you’ve got to figure their beer isn’t so hot, or they would sell it. So, there is no report on the beer, yet. The wine is another story. We usually spend about 3 Euro for a bottle, 8 Euro on a splurge or in restaurant. (today, that’s about $4 and $11, respectively).

Merci to all of you who write to us! We miss you and appreciate your letters.
Cin Cin (French, for Cheers!)
The Beattie Clan

Reflections on the First Four Months

2008-11-07T02:39:00.008-05:00

Well, we’ve been traveling for 4 months. One third of our year long trip is over. During that time, we have been to 18 countries, most recently San Marino yesterday. What a gorgeous, if tiny, country! It is perched on a precipice, 1000 feet above the Italian countryside below, with views stretching forever to the Adriatic and the mountains to the west.

We are spending a week in a small resort complex near Gubbio, in the Umbria section of Italy. From our window, we can see farms and mountains, and, in the distance, the medieval city of Gubbio. There is fog in the valley every morning, but it has burned off by late morning on most days. We wake to the sounds of cows and roosters—no cars, or airplanes. We are using this week to rest and recharge our travel batteries. While we have not grown tired of our trip, it is wonderful to not have to plan where we are off to, not have to pack, to stay “home” in the evenings, playing cards with the kids.

As we lounge, we have been talking about the past four months. By and large, the trip has been incredibly easy. We have enjoyed being together and enjoyed the places we have visited. Along the way, we have met many people (lots of Australians!) The first question we are inevitably asked is, “What is your favorite place?” We do not have a single answer. Every place we’ve been has been wonderful. England, our first stop, was clearly our favorite, until we went to Wales and Scotland, which were just as great. Then, Great Britain was our favorite until we traveled to Norway and Sweden. Each successive country had something special about it. The national park in Croatia, the mountains in Slovenia and Slovakia, the fjords in Norway, window shopping in Istanbul, the views in Santorini, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, St. Basil’s in Moscow, St. Peter’s in Vatican City, the food and wine in Italy, the beer in Germany and the Czech Republic, Budapest at night, the old city of Dubrovnik. These are all our favorites.

There are some things that have provided us with extra enjoyment. Ethan was in hysterics reading the street signs in Great Britain. His two favorites were “The Elderly Person Crossing” and the “No Shoulder” (or Sharp Drop Off). The former was a sign with two old people crossing the street. The silhouette of the people showed an old man, walking hunched over with a cane. The person behind was an elderly woman walking bent over, too, and it looked like her hand was in the old man's back pocket. I call it, “Beware of Elderly Pickpockets.” The latter sign was a picture of a car running off a cliff. I think it meant beware of running off the road into the water, which was 50 feet below, but the picture was so funny. Like it meant “No Diving With Your Car.”

Siena especially liked visiting a certain city in Italy. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are overlooking one of the nicest squares in Italy. Twice a year they hold a mad horse race around its perimeter called The Palio. This is Siena, the city our daughter is named for. She loved seeing gelaterias named Siena. Bars, banks, restaurants, T-Shirts, pins, and every other piece of trash you could imagine, all emblazoned with her, usually unusual, name. Cool! Ethan wants us to visit a town called Ethan.

I get a kick out of the Renaissance paintings of Biblical figures with Guiseppe, the local town administrator, and Paulo, the guy who paid the artist to paint the piece. “Look, honey, there’s me with Jesus and Mary! Did I tell you I ran into them the other day?” I mean, it strikes me as a bit ludicrous, but I guess it was all the rage for a few hundred years. Like the ancient equivalent of getting your picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cut out of a famous person.

Kim has enjoyed talking with the locals, even if they don’t understand him, and he certainly doesn’t always understand them! I must say his German has been extremely useful. Even here in Italy, there are lots of traveling Germans with whom he strikes up conversations. Of course, he does sometimes throw out a German phrase instead of the appropriate one for the current country. Like greeting people in Italy with Guten Tag! Most people have spoken excellent English, though, and we have made new friends in Vienna, in Prague, in Bratislava, in Krems, in Gubbio, on the Hurtigruten, from Melbourne, and from Canada, South Africa and Perth.

The world is full of some wonderful people and places and we feel very fortunate to be meeting the former and seeing the latter. We do miss our friends and relatives back home, and our pooch. After four months of travel, we each finished the following sentence. The world is: (Siena) “….our oyster”. (Ethan)”…a big place.” (Wendy)”…lots of fun.” (Kim)”…so much more full of wonder than I ever imagined.”

To end with the Beattie Beer (and wine) Index: This area of Italy is covered in vineyards; in fact, we can see two from our room. The wine is dry and cheap, two of our favorite adjectives to describe wine. We shared a half liter at lunch today, for 2 Euro fifty, about 3.50 USD.

So, with a glass of Chianti, or Brunello (both local wines), we say
Salute! Yamas! Sherefe! Slainte! Nastrovya! Prost! Skor! Skol!
Cheers, to all of you, in whatever language

The Beatties

Italy IV: Roma

2008-11-03T12:27:00.004-05:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? We are high on top of a monument, overlooking one of the most famous buildings and squares in the world. There have been huge masses assembled on this square. And, huge lines waiting to get in. This is also the smallest country in the world. This is the center of the Catholic Church, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Cathedral. In fact, we couldn’t climb up to the dome because Il Papa (The Pope) was going to be there. Personally, I find it unlikely that Pope Benedict the Whatever Number We Are Up To was going to climb the 400+ steps to get there, but, when the guard tells me in Italian that it is closed because of Il Papa, who am I to argue with him in Italian?

Rome IS Catholicism. Where else in the world would you have a department store that only sells vestments???? There was a shop across the street selling chalices. There was even a lovely travel kit, with a bowl for your wafers, a goblet for your wine, a little jar for some holy water, a shaker to distribute the water, etc. All in a carryon size briefcase, with extra room for robes, for your Cardinal on the move.

Christianity was a faltering religion, with sparse numbers and Romans set to crucify any believers until Constantine won a major battle, essentially making himself Roman Emperor. This monument, the Arch of Constantine, commemorates this victory. Well, the night before the battle he had a vision of a cross in the sky and converted to Christianity. He made Christianity the religion of the realm, overnight transforming Christians from those likely to be crucified to the in crowd (and, you might be crucified if you weren’t a Christian). Needless to say, the religion really took off.

Our favorite piece of art in Vatican City is Michelangelo’s The Pieta. The expression of loss on Mary’s face, the tenderness with which she holds him, made us want to cry. She looks so young. He looks so fragile. It is behind plate glass as some deranged moron took a hammer to the statue a few years ago.

We did see the Canadian Ambassador, while in St. Peter’s. We were amazed at the security and pomp and circumstance that accompanied this visit. Cardinals, secret service types, police, and the funnily dressed Vatican guys all but closed down the Cathedral for about 45 minutes. No offence to my Canadian friends on the blog, but we thought it was going to be a president or the pope or somebody we would recognize—or at least have heard of!

Before the Christians, there were the Romans. This is the famous Coliseum. It is huge—seating over 50,000 people. “Festivities” here would last a week, with Jews, Christians, gladiators and wild animals fight it out, in various combinations, to the death. Actually, for you Latin lovers, our word Arena comes from the Latin word for sand, which the Romans used to soak up the blood and guts in the Coliseum.

Rome is great, but sprawling, and we hike for miles to see the various sights. But, it has much less of the big city feel than Napoli, with neighborhoods, fountains and piazzas providing places to congregate.

To our U.S. friends, don’t forget to vote tomorrow. Kim and I voted with absentee ballots we had sent to Athens. We learned from our new Australian friends that Down Under you are fined if you don’t vote. Maybe that would increase our voting percentage from the current deplorable level!

Wishing you a wonderful fall,
Salute
The Beatties

Italy, Part II

2008-11-02T03:59:00.003-05:00

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a city, built basically on a river delta, that was filled over time. This is the main thoroughfare or “street” of this city, the Woodward Avenue, for those from Michigan. This is the city of Venice. There are as many different types of boats as vehicles on our roads. We liked watching the guy in a UPS boat unloading boxes. This one was my favorite. Can you make out the Italian writing? “Urgent Medical Supplies, temperature controlled”. And, what are the boxes filled with? Marlboro.

I understand this is a city that you either love or hate, and we all loved Venice. Yes, it smells a bit of decay and pigeon poop. Yes, it is crowded with tourists. But, it is just so different from everywhere else. For those who have never been here, there are no cars, no scooters, no bikes. You either walk or take a boat. The passages are so windy, and the walls on all sides obscure the horizon, that it is impossible to keep a sense of direction. Frequently, the alley way will end abruptly in a canal, making backtracking necessary. We spent most of our time here just wandering, or, as Ethan and Siena liked to call it, getting lost. Our hotel is right near the fish market. This has the most beautiful selection of fish we have seen on our trip, some so fresh they are still flopping or wriggling. We can’t understand, with all this water and fresh fish, why the fish in the restaurants is so expensive—twice as much as anything else on the menu.

This is a view of San Marco Square, Venice’s main piazza. We are on top of the bell tower, allowing us, despite the haze, to see the entire city. We stay up here until noon, to hear the bells clang so loudly we clap our hands over our ears.

One evening, instead of a sit down dinner, we participate in a Venice tradition—the “cicchetti”, the Italian equivalent of a pub crawl. We stop at several tiny bars, have a glass of the house wine or an aperitif, and a small appetizer—meatball, or potato croquette or bruschetta. Each item, including the drinks, cost 1 Euro. Luckily Ethan and Siena were there to lead us back to the hotel, otherwise we probably would have wandered endlessly or fallen into a canal.

The next day, we went to some of the neighboring islands, famous for their crafts, Murano for glass blowing and Burano for lace making. It is amazing how a piece of molten glass can become a horse before our eyes. The cemetery was interesting. Anyone have any idea why Igor Stravinsky and El Greco are buried here??? Neither is particularly Italian, no?

Tonight, we take the night train down to Napoli or Naples.

Salute!

The Beatties

Italy, Part III

2008-11-02T03:27:00.004-05:00

Napoli is not our favorite city. Granted, we arrived here tired, having not slept well on our 11 hour trip (Ethan fell out of his upper berth during the night, with no memory of it in the morning), but we are warned before leaving the train station to: take off and hide my necklace and earrings, physically hold on to the children, and not to trust any vehicle to stop as we cross the streets. Lovely place, huh? Red lights are considered “suggestions” or decorations, and we literally run for our lives each time we attempt a crossing. The locals consider themselves Neopolitans, only acknowledging their allegiance to Italy for the Olympics or the World Cup. But, in Napoli’s favor, they make awesome pizza. We share a huge pie, with nothing but sauce on it, but it is the best crust and the best sauce ever.

We take the first train possible down to Sorrento, on the Amalfi Coast, the southwestern area of Italy. Here, cliffs line the coast, and the drive south from here is stupendous. Kim and I are glad to be on a bus and not driving through the hairpin turns, with trucks and buses coming the other way. This tower, in the background, in one of the smaller towns near Amalfi, was the model for one of Escher’s famous pictures.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? On August 24, 79 AD, this town had a bit of a surprise. The mountain, which you can see in the background, exploded, revealing itself to be a volcano. The city was covered in meters of ash, instantly freezing the life of the town in time. This is Pompeii, with Vesuvius, still actively smoldering looming over it. We wander the streets, marveling at the bakeries, the fast food places, even the gardens. Archeologists have been able to determine what kinds of plants were there based on the cavities the decayed roots left. The streets still have ruts from the carriages. Vesuvius hadn’t erupted in 1200 years before that fateful summer day. If you make a triangle, connecting the two present peaks, you can get a feel for the size of the original mountain, and the vast quantity of earth that covered this city.

We ferry over to Capri (pronounced CA-pree, not like the short pants). This is the original vacation home paradise. Roman Emperor Tiberius had a house here, and liked it so well he ruled the Roman Empire from here. We arrive at the Blue Grotto minutes before it closes for the day. A generous boatman offers to row us in for a mere 10 Euro ($14) a person. We can almost touch the cave from the landing, and so decide to forego the expensive ride. The water is still warm enough, so we dive in, pulling ourselves through the small opening to the cave. The light that seems to emanate from the water is an unearthly blue. Our bodies appear phosphorescent and the only sound we can hear is that of the waves surging through the opening. Since we swam in, we couldn't take any pictures. Try this link: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/B... It is truly a magical place.

Wine continues to be our drink of choice. A bottle in the store is $5 and a liter of house wine at a restaurant is $9. The food is wonderful. We have fresh pasta and pizza everywhere we go. Ethan prefers the pizza, Siena, the pasta. Kim and I partake of both. The quantity of food eaten at meals is astounding. We usually have either a primi piatti or a secundo piatti (first or second plate), but the Italians will usually start with a pasta, have a meat course, then a salad and a cheese course. We see gelati (Italian ice cream) everywhere, and sample much of it ourselves. It does taste different from our ice cream. It is softer, with a smoother richer taste. Whatever the difference, it is awfully good.

Salute! (Cheers or Health in Italian)
The Beattie Clan

Italia! Part I (Roman Numerals, of course)

2008-10-26T13:30:00.007-04:00

Italia. Kim and I honeymooned here fourteen years ago. I remember loving this country. The countryside, the towns, the food, the wine, the people, and the language are all so lively and fun. I took Italian in college partially because of the way the Italians seem so happy when they speak it and partially because everyone has always mistaken me for being Italian and I wanted to know what they were saying…

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is the main square of what is arguably the fashion capitol of world. It is also Italy’s publishing and banking center. This is Milan, where we arrive and spend a couple of hours wandering around the heart of the city. Never have I felt so drab, dowdy and underdressed. These Italians have a great sense of style. And, they don’t seem to wear their hiking boots everywhere. Not only do the Milanese dress well, but they are also quite good looking, as Kim and I ogle the locals. The cathedral (il Duomo) was built to impress and it is impressive, in a garish, over-the-top, sandcastle kind of way. There are pigeons everywhere, swooping low and making us look even more ridiculous as we duck to avoid being hit.

We train down to Monterossa, the most westerly of the towns making up the Cinque Terre. These towns are only connected to the outside world by train or hiking. The coast is beautiful, lush, vineyard covered mountains, ending in cliffs above dark blue seas. The hike takes us about 4 hours, not counting the stops for gelato and lunch to refuel our tanks. The path is so narrow, so that we must hug the hillside when hikers come from the other direction. The towns are almost too perfect—multicolored buildings, carefully placed churches and castles, brightly painted boats. We muse if there is a local building code to make sure your paint goes well with the neighbors, but at the same time provides sufficient contrast for artistic interest.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is an easy one, isn’t it? I gather the builders realized the tower was tilting when they had only built two levels, but they forged ahead anyway, putting this city on the map for eternity, or at least until the tower falls. This is Pisa, a major rival of our next stop--

Florence. The colors here are much more subtle than on the coast. There are so many shades of browns, and, with the ubiquitous red tiled roofs, the effect is of tremendous warmth. We climb to the top of the cathedral (Duomo). This church was built at the start of the Renaissance. They actually started building this cathedral before there was the technology to build the dome to enclose the gapping hole in the structure, but, with supreme confidence in the abilities of man, they built it, secure in the knowledge that someone would figure it out in time. The whole of Florence unfolds under our feet, with the morning mist obscuring the Tuscan hills in the distance. While Italy as an entire country was a leader of the Renaissance, Florence was really the heart of the movement. It was an interesting place for the Renaissance. After hundreds of years of the dark and middle ages, during which time the people must have unearthed ancient ruins from the Romans and earlier. They undoubtedly realized that, at some point, long before their time, there had been an age possessed with greater knowledge than they. “Darn, I wish I could figure out how they built this building…” or “I wonder what all these lines and squiggles mean (in exhumed writings). Like sitting in on a preschool and discovering the babies know more than you do.

Siena: We purchased tickets for the Uffizzi gallery beforehand (lines are always very long). Taking our time to see every room, we wander through the gallery. They have the artwork in chronological order. There are too many religious panting for my liking but some are absolutely gorgeous. It is very interesting how the paintings vary through the ages. In the paintings from the dark and middle ages, the painting are very two dimensional and the peoples’ faces are blank. Everything is posed for the painting. It doesn’t seem like they moved. In the painting from the renaissance period, they rediscovered how to paint perspective. Every thing seemed more lively and life-like. We listened to a story about a painting. The painting is of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, with two angels in the corner. The master painter painted the central figures and had his two young apprentices, Leonardo de Vinci and Botticelli, paint the two side angels. The two angels seemed so much better than the master’s work, so much more beautiful, that he never painted again.

The Beattie Beer Index has stalled a bit in Italy. I mean, the beer is good—we had a Peroni tonight the cost $1.30 for a little one. But, who would drink much beer here when the wine is so unbelievably good and cheap??? Not only have we enjoyed the local wines, but the local liqueurs have been great, too. Have you ever tried Limoncello? I’m working on learning the recipe, so you can try it at our house when we return.

Greece, Part III: Crete and Athens

2008-10-20T06:10:00.005-04:00

We finally arrive on Crete, after a two day delay. Our plane leaves early (!), but our rental car is not there when we land. It arrives, running on fumes, and we circle around the city, searching for an open gas station. We finally arrive at our villa after 1 in the morning. But, it is definitely worth it. The house is straight off the pages of Architectural Digest. It is not a house that you would want to live in, (no comfortable places to read indoors, gorgeous, but hard to climb out of showers, etc) but to rent it for a week was wonderful.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is an ancient palace that figures prominently in a number of Greek myths. This is where the Minotaur was kept captive, in a labyrinth and fed the young people of Athens. The Minotaur was finally slain by Theseus, who escaped from the labyrinth using an unwound ball of thread to find his way out (kind of like Hansel and Gretel). The word “labyrinth” actually came from here—the symbol of the palace is a double-headed axe, which is what “labyrinth” means in ancient Greek. This is also the palace from which Dedalus (the architect of the palace) and his son Icarus escaped by building wings made of feathers and wax. It is critical that the young people following the blog understand that the son perished during the escape because he failed to listen to his parent. Don’t let this happen to you… This is Knossos. The civilization that lived here, known as the Minoans, were incredibly advanced. Like the houses in Delos, they had flush toilets and indoor hot and cold running water. To put this in perspective, when France’s Palace of Versailles was built, 3000 years later, the most glorious palace of its age, neither running water nor indoor toilets were installed.

It is interesting to come here right after Santorini. As you may recall from my posting on Santorini, many historians believe that the catastrophic eruption on Santorini caused a tsunami to destroy the palace here on Crete. The 50 meter high tsunami actually traveled faster than the plane we took to travel between the two islands. And, there wasn’t a two day delay, either!

I know it is juvenile, but we snicker every time we see a restaurant proudly stating they serve Cretan food, sell Cretan products, or a typical Cretan village. Can’t they come up with a better adjective for themselves??? But, Crete itself is fabulous. There are so many olive trees here. We learn that the Cretans (heh, heh) consume 1/3 of their daily calories from olive oil. The roads are tortuous, winding up into the mountains and along the cliffs that line most of the coast. The Cretans are known for being scrappy and independent, fighting off the Turks, the Nazis and their enemies. They have a reputation for revenge bordering on brutality, but everyone we met was friendly and welcoming. There are countless caves and gorges in this rugged island. One day, we hike down one of the narrowest. The walls rise above us 100 meters straight up, barely 2 meters apart. The trail closes during periods of heavy rain, and we can see why. Being at the bottom of the ravine would be deadly if water were to funnel down here.

In addition to olive trees, grapevines cover the arable land. The wine is spotty. They serve this special local wine, that to us tasted like cheap sherry. Other wines were great. It was a bit of a crapshoot when you ordered it. Prices for beer and wine are moderate here. I should mention the liquor. The first house we rented had a homemade bottle of ouzo. Now, I’m not usually a fan of ouzo, as I loathe licorice, but this didn’t taste like licorice at all. It was fabulous! Our attempts at purchasing the stuff were less successful, as all the store bought ouzo tasted like black licorice. Yech. We also tried what we thought was an after dinner drink called Raki. It was brought to our table after a meal at a small taverna. The aroma and initial taste were of rubbing alcohol, but, by the third glass, we all quite liked it, kind of like sake that way. The reason I said we thought it was an after dinner drink, is they gave my parents shots of it after breakfast one day as well. As my friend Peter would paraphrase, when tippling early, the sun’s over the forearm!

There are sheep and goat everywhere on Crete. When hiking through the gorge, we are amazed by where the goats can get. Shear rock faces seem to be no obstacle, and the ringing of the bells the animals wear around their necks makes us search the rocks for their location. The weather is still wonderfully warm. Siena and I swim in the Libyan Sea, on the south shore. We see land in the distance, and believe that it is Africa. After looking at the maps later, we realize this is impossible (250 kilometers away).

Our last two days in Greece are spent in Athens. We stay at a small hotel in the Plaka, hike between the various archeological sites, and take a day trip to this spot. The Temple of Poseidon is on an awesome location, jutting out into the Aegean Sea, on a promontory a hundred meters high. This is where legend has it King Aegeus, for whom the sea is named, threw himself to his death when he thought his son Theseus had been killed by the Minotaur, (see above).

Ethan is standing in front of the old Olympic Stadium, from 1896, the first year the modern Olympics was held. They used this stadium during the 2004 Olympics, too. This is where the marathon ended. We loved that the hedges surrounding the area was made of laurel bushes. You could make your own wreath even if you were unable to win one…

We bid farewell to my parents at the airport, to fly to Italy. Unfortunately, our flight does not exist. Instead of flying to Bari (southeastern coast), we fly to Milan (northwestern mainland). Luckily, while we had sketched out an itinerary, we’ve made no reservations. When you fly il cheapo budget airline, it isn’t like flying Lufthansa. Wish us luck!

Yamas,
The Beattie Clan

Greece, Part II: Santorini

2008-10-12T01:59:00.006-04:00

Wow. Let me say that again. Wow. As our boat pulls into the pier at Santorini, we crane our necks to see the top of the island. It looks like there is snow on the peaks, but this is an illusion created by the myriad of white buildings clustered at the top. The island makes a large "C" with two islands in the middle, and two more that used to form a circle around the two in the middle.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are standing on the edge of the active volcano's crater. This is the larger of the two middle islands.

The island on which we stand is the newest island in the Mediterranean. It's top emerged from the sea only about 450 years ago. The newest eruption to increase the size of the island was 50 years ago. Santorini lies at the convergence of the African and European tectonic plates. As these move relative to each other, molten lava occasionally spews forth from any of a number of openings. This one is the most obvious one, but we are told a much larger volcano is lurking 7 kilometers off the cost, just under the water. There was a very sophisticated civilization living on Santorini ages ago in 1650 B.C. They had a city and hot and cold running water. A huge volcanic explosion covered the island in meters of lava and ash, causing a tsunami to form. Present day scientists believe this tsunami may have wiped out the cities on Crete, 75 miles away, in a half an hour. An earthquake devastated the island in 1956. We understand that earthquakes here are a way of life, but that doesn't make us feel any more comfortable when the ground shakes under us one evening during cocktails.

We were planning on spending 3 days on Santorini, but high winds prevented our ferry from running. We spent an extra 2 days on this island, enjoying the waves the wind blew up. We had lunch at the place where I snapped this picture. We had to periodically lift our feet to prevent getting soaked by the waves.

We are staying in a villa, a cave actually, built into the side of the cliffs facing the caldera. Our view, from almost a thousand feet above the water, is breathtaking. The down side to having such an awesome view, is that the rest of the tourists come here to watch the sunrise, the sunset and crowds accumulate here at all hours. We've had to shoo people off our roof, and feel a bit like celebraties, with the papparrazzi surrounding us with large cameras pointed our way. If that is the price one must pay for paradise, it is worth it.

This is taken on our terrace. Santorini might be the first real "buzz" place that has exceeded all expectations. It is more beautiful in person than in all of the pictures I have seen. The view from our villa adorns countless posters, postcards and travel brochures for Greece. And it does not disappoint.

Yamas!

The Beatties

Greece, Part I

2008-10-08T02:32:00.008-04:00

We leave Istanbul and travel by plane to Turkey's nemesis (word of the day) Greece. Thank goodness for all those math, physics, and engineering classes Kim and I took. I was concerned that I would never use my knowledge from them again, but here they have come in most useful. Greek Letters! Sure, we know what a sigma, theta and pi look like. And, we can sometimes translate that knowledge into reading a street sign! Unfortunately, the signs frequently are in interesting fonts, impossible for us to decipher.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a city with one of the longest histories of any city in the world. People have lived in this city for over 3000 years. This is the birthplace of democracy, the birthplace of western philosophy, of western literature. The citizens wrote a constitution, had an assembly comprised of citizens, and developed a sophisticated society two millenia before America was "discovered". Wild to be on the same streets as Plato and Aristotle, Socrates and Sophocles, Pericles and Homer. It is named after the goddess of Wisdom, Athena: Athens. Ethan and Siena are behind the Parthenon, a large temple to Athena. It is the largest structure on the Acropolis, Greek for "high place in the city." It was built in the 5th Century B.C. and is a magical place. It is so beautiful that I'm going to put another picture of it here:

From Athens, we traveled to Paros, one of thousands of islands in Greece. There are small fishing villages, empty beaches, and hilltop churches. They seem to have two paint colors here: white and blue. We are in a beautiful home; in fact, it recently graced the cover of Greece's Home and Garden. We love the pace of life here. You walk to the butcher, vegetable market and grocer before each meal, and we plan on nothing between 2 and 5:30 (sometimes 6:30) when the island shuts down for a siesta. Can you see what this man is pounding? It is an octopus. Instead of throwing them on the ice, the way they do in Detroit, here they thrash the octopus to tenderize it. Evidently, they don't thrash it hard enough as, while it is delicious, the octopus is decidedly chewy. As for the rest of the food here, it is wonderful. Ethan can't get enough of the fried squid, ordering it whenever we go out for meals. Each morning, we walk to the bakery, a couple of blocks from our house, and pick up fabulous warm bread. Siena doesn't know how we will ever return to eating packaged bread again.

Reminders of past civilisations surround us here. We hike on a Byzantine road, through ancient groves of olive trees. We take a day trip to Delos, a holy island, filled with ruins of temples. These lions are aligned to face the morning sun. The amphitheater's acoustics are so good, I can hear Ethan, sitting in the first row, tell Barbara to "smile" as I click this picture from the top. We stop at Mykonos in the afternoon. While lovely, we are a bit mystified as to why this island is "in" more than the other islands.

We are clearly here after the season. There are large, largely empty, parking lots, boarded up tavernas and inns, reduced bus and ferry schedules. Of course, this is to our liking, as there are no crowds. The only negative though, is the keg beer has been depleted. No place on the island has draught beer, so we drink our Mythos and Alfa in the bottle. The beer is excellent, like a not-quite-so-sweet Beck's. Prices are about $4 in a restaurant, $2 in the store. The wine is wonderful, except for the one with the handwritten label we try. Last night, we bought wine in a water bottle (1.5 L) for 3 Euro-- about $4.50. It was delicious. It is now the "house wine".

Next, it is on to Santorini!

We hope all is well with all of you, despite the financial market woes.

Yamas! (cheers in Greek)

The Beatties

Istanbul

2008-10-01T11:51:00.005-04:00

This is the most foreign city we’ve visited. As we drove towards the old city, minarets, shaped like modern rockets clutter the skyline, surrounding the numerous mosques like some defense system. We wake each morning at 5:30, by the wail of the male voices, telling us it is time to pray. This occurs 5 times a day, starting with our morning wake up call, and ending in the late evening. Each mosque has its own crier, their timing staggered with the other mosques close by so that all can be heard.

We are staying in our first hotel in a long time. It is such a luxury to have people to ask directions, suggestions, to make reservations, arrange for transportation. And, my parents are here! We explore Istanbul together. What an amazing city!

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a mileage marker. Istanbul was the center of the world for over 1600 years. This is a remnant of the Roman period here. When Constantine led the Roman Empire, he moved its capitol to Byzantium, present day Istanbul. This was a more strategic position, especially relative to the east. This marker is the zero mile post for the entire Roman Empire. All cities and distances were measured from here. The city was renamed Constantinople after Signore Constantine. The Romans were the first empire to call this city their capitol, but far from the last. Following the break up of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire was formed from the eastern half of the original Roman Empire. The Byzantines were, I believe, of Greek origin, and their empire extended across a wide swathe of Asia and Europe. The third empire to rule here were the Ottomans. When the Turks defeated the Byzantines in 1453 for control, they renamed the city Istanbul. So, present day Istanbul was the capitol of the largest empires of the world from about 88 AD until the 19th century.

Where in the world are Ethan and his grandfather Alan? They are cruising along the Bosphorus, a river connecting the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. On the left of the river is Europe; the right bank is Asia. Istanbul sits at the cross roads between East and West, Europe and Asia, and, today, Islam and Christianity. It is the only city that spreads across two continents.

The city is also marked by decline. The Roman Empire’s collapse, the long, slow decline of the Byzantines, and the 300 year fall of the Ottomans all have left an ancient air of abandonment to this city. My favorite story involves a magnificent cistern, built in Byzantine times to provide water for the growing population. Apparently, after years of disuse, it was entirely forgotten, buried on debris. The people of Istanbul thought Allah had blessed their city as you could drop a bucket into any hole and pull out water. The cistern was only re-discovered about 20 years ago. There are over 300 columns, all stolen from other ruins.

The Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia are both staggering in their magnitude and decorations. We have a knowledgeable guide, willing to not only show us the sites, but also to discuss the history, the religion, the people of this city with us.

We are fortunate to be here for Ramazan (Ramadan, as we know it). The devout fast from sunrise to sunset, but the population is very tolerant, and restaurants are open and, if not teeming with people, at least not empty. Each evening, the city is filled with revelers. We are glad to not be fasting. The food here is excellent. We love the lamb, lemon, dill, baklava, grape leaves and wine. Not all in one dish, though. The Beattie Beer Index is high for taste, moderate for price. A half liter of excellent draft beer, Efes, is about $4. So, we say cheers in Turkish—

Sherefe!
The Beattie Clan

The Last of Croatia

2008-09-25T09:37:00.009-04:00

We love walled cities. We loved York, in England, Bautzen in Germany, Cesky Krumlov and Durnstein in the Czech Republic and Austria. There is something about a walled city that is magical. The sense of community, the feeling of protection, the way the physical boundary creates a maze of narrow streets to be wandered endlessly, the anticipation and home-coming I feel when entering the gates, like the relief of opening the door to our house after being away a long time, all make walled cities always my favorites.

So, where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are standing on the walls of an ancient city. This city, long fiercely independent itself, was the first foreign state to recognize the fledgling USA in 1776 when we declared ourselves a country. This is Dubrovnik. It juts out into the Adriatic at the southern tip of Croatia. Have you ever looked at the shape of this country? Here is a map, so that you can see where we are. Dubrovnik is the perfect walled city. Not only does it have all the usual attributes of being surrounded by ancient walls, but what compounds its wonders are the multicolored hues of the Adriatic surrounding it, and the fact that it is built on the side of a mountain. It is a strenuous hike from the main street in the middle of the city up to the walls at both the east and west.

Dubrovnik was an independent republic for centuries. The city motto is Libertas, Latin for Freedom. The fort pictured on the top right edge of the window was built to protect the city of outside forces, but the city was so concerned that they could be controlled or conquered by themselves, by a strong ruler, that they only built the three walls facing away from the city with the usual, thick, impenetrable stone. The fourth wall, the one closest to the city walls, is only 60 centimeters thick, thus enabling the city to blow a hole in the wall if a military leader undertook to become a tyrant.

In 1991, Dubrovnik as a part of Croatia, declared themselves independent of the crumbling Yugoslavia. Well, the Serbs in power in Yugoslavia were not prepared to let Dubrovnik go peacefully. This tiny city, long past any military significance, was attacked from sea, land and air. The ancient monuments, which has been selected as UNESCO protected for their world cultural importance, were bombed with impunity. I think my children have a much better understanding of the horrors of war having witnessed bombs exploding on streets they have walked, especially as this is not many years in the past, but very recent. It is a miracle that the people of Dubrovnik and Croatia were able to rebuild the city to its current state. I do not know if it is as beautiful as it was before the war—certainly there are scars both on some buildings and in the inhabitants-- but it is incredibly magnificent today.

Can you see what this hedge is? Rosemary grows here with abundance. So do figs, lemons, limes and apples. We pick them to flavor our meals, and smell the lavender sold by the bushel in the markets. We are no longer in Eastern Europe, that is for sure! We are in the Mediterranean.

We rented an apartment on the very top of the hill, the last row of houses before the city ends and the mountain which looms over the city begins. It was 379 stairs up, and that was if we took the sloping way, to avoid many of the steps! But, the view was incomparable. The city, the ocean, the islands rising from the sea up in a chain heading north along the coast, all illuminated by the gorgeous Mediterranean light, here in sunset.

Next, we head to Turkey—Istanbul and my parents who are meeting us there.

Jivili! With the Croatian wine (and milk for E & S)

The Beatties

Croatia, limited pictures...

2008-09-20T14:46:00.007-04:00

So, the trip continues. What I failed to mention in the last blog, is the trivial occurrence, which happened immediately following the last picture, the one of the four of us in front of the beautiful river in the Slovenian Alps. I slipped while removing the tripod and literally threw the digital camera into one of those crystal clear pools. In an effort to rescue the submerged camera, I slid into the pool myself. The water was a brisk 10 degrees Celsius—darn cold. Luckily, the chilly water helped to ice my derrière, which landed rather abruptly on the rocky prominences of the canyon. The camera, after 4 days of drying out, is unscathed! We didn’t lose a single picture. My posterior has been slower to heal, turning an amazing array of colors in the process.

The next day, we boarded a bus to a train to a bus to arrive in Krk, not a typo. There are all kinds of places with no vowels in this part of the world. We understand this is pronounced “Kirk”. Krk is a small medieval city, paved with marble, with narrow, winding alleys, perfect for playing hide and seek. Unfortunately, the second bus was so late that we arrived after the information center closed. We wandered, unsuccessfully trying to find an apartment or hotel, when the distant threat of thunder and lightning turned into the opening of the skies in an absolute down pour. By now it was approaching 9:30 pm, we were drenched, and had neither a place to stay nor dinner. Do you have an idea what happens to marble when it gets wet? Those quaint narrow alleys became completely treacherous, absurdly slippery. Things improved in rapid succession as we found a place (less than half the price we thought was quoted), a great dinner (no more heavy, Eastern European food) and a plan for the rest of Croatia.

We ended up, given our first lousy experience with Croatian buses, foregoing public transportation for this part of the trip, renting a car and heading for the mountains. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This might be the most spectacular place in the world that you’ve never heard of. Plitvice National Park. We spent a cold, rainy day touring Plitvice National Park. It has a series of lakes, interconnected with countless waterfalls. They’ve built a boardwalk, around some lakes, over others, close enough to the falls to put your hand into the water. The lakes are almost eerie colors, turquoise, sapphire, teal--certainly not colors that normally occur in nature.

From here, we headed to the coast and a string of wonderful cities on the Adriatic. Split, Hvar and Korcula are all beautiful, clean and friendly with great fish and vegetable markets, ancient ruins, red tiled roofs, rising up the steep hillsides, which end in the light green of the Adriatic. You can see the bottom of the sea from the shore, and the water is very swimmable (Word doesn’t like this spelling, but I like it)—about 22 degrees Celsius. Is it possible that this is saltier water than other oceans/seas? We seem to float more easily here, although that may be due to our skipping the dumplings in Slovakia, which reminds me…

Let me digress and tell you about the food on the second part of the trip. I think I already wrote about the food in Great Britain, Scandinavia and Russia. Our entry into Eastern Europe was a return to some seriously hearty foods, way heartier even than in England. We had sausages and more sausages, goulashes (yum), stews, roasts, and fried everything. And lots and lots of “dumplings.” Now, dumplings are usually a favorite of mine, but, here dumplings have an entirely different meaning. Here, they take partially cooked white bread, slice it into 1 centimeter portions, and serve it along side whatever gravy covered meat was ordered. We were talking to some Canadian tourists, who claimed that these dumplings sank faster than a hockey puck when tossed into water. We didn’t actually try this, but we sure did miss vegetables and lighter fare. Once in Croatia, we’ve been living off of grilled fish and seafood, other than the wonderful meal of pig on the spit.

The Beattie Beer Index has a moderate rating for Croatia. The beers are pretty good, a bit lighter and fizzier than we really like, and costing about $3 in a restaurant and $1 from the store for a half liter. But, the real story here are the wines! Especially where we are now, in Dalmatia. And, the bottles are mostly 1 liter, not the typical, skimpy, 750 ml bottles we get in the States. We are presently finishing a bottle of an absolutely fabulous wine, Plavac, from Korcula, the island where we are today. We rode bicycles through the vineyards, arriving at this tiny shack where they make this incredible wine. As we finish the bottle, we wax nostalgic, as we miss drinking wine with our wine buddies! If you can find any wine from this region, known as Grk wines, please try it, especially the reds. Supposedly, the vines were transported here by the Greeks, saving the grapes from Troy after they destroyed the city. “Grk” is pronounced, understandably given the origin of the grapes, like “Greek.” The picture here, is of a group hand picking the grapes for this wine. They gave us a bunch to taste. So, pour yourselves a glass of good wine, raise it up, and clink with us!

Jivili! (Croatian, for Cheers!)

The Beatties

Hungary and Slovenia

2008-09-13T05:16:00.004-04:00

We trained from the mountains of Slovakia to Hungary, traveling hours out of the way as the train lines do not connect easily. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the capitol of Hungary, Budapest. Budapest was two cities, for hundreds of years, Buda and Pest, until those Hapsburgs decided that it should be one city, and combined their names. The Danube curves through, dividing Pest, on the east, and lower side, from Buda, which rises up on the hillside over Pest. The children are standing on the balcony of the National Art Gallery. The large building in the background is the Hungarian Parliament, the largest building in Europe (at least when it was built—there’s probably a Wall-mart bigger now…) This is a lovely city, with a stately castle on the hill, soaring basilicas, and beautifully preserved buildings. The apartment we rented was in a turn of the century building (can one still use this phrase to mean the beginning of the 20th century and not the 21st?), with marble stairs, 14” high ceilings and ornate plaster molding. Too bad the building, with its numerous shops conveniently located on the ground floor, also housed a disco and a betting shop that did brisk business throughout the night. There were a fraction of the tourist here compared to Prague, and we were able to wander throughout the city, without any crowds. Here are pictures of the Fisherman's Bastion and Kim and Ethan in the Jewish Synagogue. The Beattie Beer Index had a favorable report in Hungary. Beer was about $1 per half liter, and the beer was good. However, we found the Hungarian wine to be quite good, and, at $3, an even better bargain.

To see what Hungary was like outside of the capitol, we picked a small town on the largest lake in the country, Keszthely, to explore. It was kind of like an ancient Saugatuck or Coney Island, maybe more like the latter, as it had the feeling of better days gone by. Oddly enough, we heard far more German here than Hungarian, which was okay by us, as we are having a very hard time picking up any words in this tongue twisting language.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the capitol city of a small country, nestled between Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia. It has a short coastline, just 46 kilometers long, with a population of only 2 million. This is Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is easier to pronounce than to spell, Lub-lee-an-ah. The capitol is about the size of Ann Arbor, and has a large university in it—also about the size of University of Michigan. The city is filled with wonderful small squares, each with its own statue or fountain, outdoor cafes, and a green river running through. The bridges crossing the river are beautiful and the entire city is made for pedestrians, with lots of narrow alleys, and steep stairs climbing to the towering castle above. Behind the kids, you can see the Town Hall in the background. We wandered in to the Town Hall off the small plaza in front of it, only to have a well dressed man approach us and welcome us to tour the building. I asked the security guard, and, yes, that was the Mayor of Ljubljana. What other mayor of a national capitol would have personally greeted us? We can’t remember when we decided to come to Slovenia, but are so glad we did. We love it here. After exploring Ljubljana with Mark, (a Canadian we met on a four hour wait for our train and the 5 hour train ride, if you were wondering who was the other guy in the picture…), we headed towards the Slovenian mountains, the Julian Alps (after Julius Caesar). We biked around the lake in Bled, which looks like it is a movie set for a town in the Alps, with a church on an island, turquoise waters, and the obligatory castle on the hill. The town was a bit commercial for our tastes, though, and we continued on our way to Bohinj, a small town in the middle of Slovenia’s only national park. In the course of our second day here, we wrote a poem—this is the kind of place that would make anyone want to write poetry. From our room, we can see the highest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav, rising almost 3000 meters, far above the tree line. Yesterday, we hiked around the lake and up to the waterfall on the far end. Today, we explored a deep canyon near here, where the cascading water has created a chasm almost 40 meters deep. The clarity of the water is astounding. We can literally see fish from the top of the canyon. More people seem to speak English here than in any of the other countries we have been in recently (with the exception of Austria), making travel much easier. Adding to the allure of Slovenia, beer in the market cost 75 cents and a nice bottle of local wine, costs a something like $3. I think I have forgotten to put this in perspective. The cost of a bottle of water is $2 and a can of coke is about $2.50. It makes it hard to rationalize not drinking. As of today, I have resisted the temptation to encourage the kids to start drinking beer in order to save money. Tomorrow, I think we are heading to Croatia.

Nastrovja
The Beatties

Ode to Bohinj

We swim in the lake, throw rocks for fun
The water is cold; we warm in the sun.
Surrounded by Alps, with water so clear
Couldn’t be better, than it is right here.

From an underground source, that does not show
The water drops far to green pools below.
We climb to the falls, air cools as we near
It couldn’t be better, than it is right here.

We hike for miles, ‘round canyon and lake,
Photos of mountains and valleys we take.
The town where we stay has hardly a peer.
We couldn’t be happier than we are right here.

Happy Labor Day!

2008-09-01T13:09:00.002-04:00

Austria
The hills are alive. This is as close as I’ve ever come to singing in tune. We traveled around Salzburg, visiting various sites famous for real or make believe occurrences. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This house, on this very busy pedestrian street is where one of the most famous composers the world has ever known was born—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Salzburg, and to a lesser degree, the rest of Austria has commemorative plaques on places where he played, ate and slept. (It is kind of like George Washington on the East Coast of the United States. You think to yourself, on the twelfth time seeing a plaque acknowledging Washington’s having slept there, that, my goodness, the guy really slept around!) Actually, the opera house in Prague where we had the pleasure of seeing Don Giovanni was where the opera debuted. And, who conducted this first performance? Yes, none other than the omnipresent Mozart himself!

And, now, where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Salzburg is also the location for the film the Sound of Music. Thousands of tourists traipse over Salzburg and its environs to see the Abbey where Maria lived (This is the gates of the Abbey, actually a nunnery, built in the 8th century, I think), the gardens in which the children and Maria frolicked whilst singing Doe, a Deer, (beautiful gardens) and the plaza through which Maria walks on her way to become a nanny (unfortunately covered with scaffolding, like a good portion of Europe). Interestingly enough, the people we stayed with in Austria had never seen the movie, but understandably scoffed at tourists seeking out places based on fictitious events.

We spent a lovely day in the Alps. We climbed up a mountain, overlooking a gorgeous town and an even more beautiful lake (St. Wolfgang—no relation, phew, but his sister was married there, and his mother buried there.)

Now, where in the world are Ethan and Siena? The river in the background has been the major route for transporting people and goods in Europe for centuries. The color might be a bit misleading. If it were more blue, could you guess? Dah, dah, dah dah dah, bump bump, bump bump. This is the Danube River. We have climbed high above the river to a picturesque ruin of a castle where Richard the Lionhearted was imprisoned briefly. The surrounding countryside is covered with vineyards, and they make fabulous wine here. We stayed with a wonderful couple in Krems, an ancient walled city on the Danube, and sampled a number of bottles with them. One evening, we were treated to a Heuertigen. This is an old tradition in the region, where wine makers are allowed to sell their wines directly to the public for a specific week during the year. They serve cold foods along with their wines, and it is a bit like a city block party, that rotates week to week. In fact, we toured a winery in Krems, where they make not only lovely wine, but, as Ethan and Siena will attest, the world’s best grape juice. Each time there was a wine for us to taste, the kids got a different kind of grape juice. We also took a dip in the Danube to clear away the effects of drinking wine in the afternoon. The Danube is a fabulous place to swim. You can swim at whatever speed you prefer, depending on how far from shore you are, and never move a centimeter. Just don’t rest, or you’ll end up in Vienna!

Vienna was our next stop. We stayed with our sister-in-law’s counsin’s wife’s children and their boyfriends. Their home is high on a ridge, overlooking Vienna, and, despite the rather tenuous family connection, we were made very much to feel at home with family. Anna and Lisa were fabulous hosts, showing us the city and taking us to the best schnitzel restaurant in the world, where the meat is pressed through a series of rollers, to insure even thinness, and then fried in a series of pans to prevent the oil from cooling during the process. Yum. The only sad part of Vienna was this is where we said farewell to Ross, who must return to college. And, this is the end of the planned portion for a while.

We woke up the morning after dropping Ross off at the airport, trying to decide if we wanted to go to Budapest today or tomorrow, if we wanted to go by boat or train, if we wanted to stop for few hours in Slovakia on the way. Ultimately, we ended up going to Bratislava, and spending the night is this small, but beautiful capitol city. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are in the capitol of Slovakia, a relatively new capitol as this country only split from Czechoslovakia about 20 years ago. They speak a language very similar to Czech here in Slovakia, not unusual considering the recent split. We learned during the Olympics that the two countries even split their national anthem—with the Czech Republic getting the first half and Slovakia the second! We were given a tour of the city by a local, Andrej. At dinner that night, eating the traditional heuskys (kind of like gnocchi in sour sheep’s milk sauce…) we talked to the people at the next table. They informed us that the mountains in the eastern portion of Slovakia are amazing. So, the next morning we boarded a 4.5 hour train ride across Slovakia. Today, Labor Day in the US, Independence Day in Slovakia, we are planning to hike in the mountains. Tomorrow is the start of school back home. We wish you all a wonderful school year!

Nastrovy!
The Beattie Clan

End of Russia, Germany and Czech Republic--with images

2008-08-23T02:05:00.001-04:00

Since last I wrote, we have left Russia, gone to Germany, and proceeded to Prague, CZ. It wasn’t until we arrived in Germany that we were able to verbalize to each other that Russia gave us the hebbijebbis (sp?). (A note from Ross) Adding to our discomfort in Russia, was that the first night that we were in St. Petersburg, as Putin walks onto the television screen, Wendy, maybe not so tactfully, actually yells “He’s Evil!!” At this point I immediately began to disavow any knowledge of connection to her, as Dad began sweeping the apartment for bugging devices. But eventually we got over our fear of having the government after us, until we got to Moscow anyways which was maybe slightly less hospitable to tourists than Siberia under Stalin (which I finally feel like I can say having now left Russia). Something just was not right. The morning before our flight to Germany (our airplane trip, I should say, as there is a history of flights from Russia, no?) we met an American woman married to a Russian. We lamented that Moscow did not exactly seem welcoming, nor the people happy. She replied that as a former English major, she found it very interesting that there is no word in Russian for “Joy”. And, that pretty much sums it up. We saw few smiles, no laughs, no one over the age of 5 playing. In Moscow, everyone we met seemed on the verge of yelling at us. Some past the verge, actually. There was no tolerance for our lack of speaking Russian—and we tried. I used my translator (it was a lifesaver, Mom. Thank you very much!) In St Petersburg, there were information centers and maps and signs throughout the city, pointing directions to popular tourist spots (in Cyrillic and Roman alphabet). Subways at least had maps to follow. In Moscow, there was nothing. We had a horrible time trying to find the main Russian museum, as there were no signs, and no one we stopped on the surrounding streets seemed to know it existed. The subway stations were gorgeous, but contained no signage to help anyone unsure of where to go. The sites were fabulous—especially the Kremlin and the incredibly extensive and beautiful subway system, but the people and the experience were lacking. We noticed the difference on the plane ride to Berlin. There was a group of twenty-ish year olds, practically dancing in the aisles to be leaving Russia. They had spent a month in Russia and they couldn’t wait to reach paradise (out of Russia and into Berlin).

Berlin was fabulous. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? We’ve already crossed some important lines (the Prime Meridian and the Arctic Circle) and an amazing wall (Hadrian’s Wall). This is the Berlin Wall. It separated East and West Berlin for 28 years, from 1961 until November 1989. After World War II, although Russia and the U.S. and winning powers of Western Europe were on the same side, there was incredible distrust between the two sides. Russia (then, the USSR), didn’t want the people to leave (defect) to West Berlin. They built a wall separating the two sides of the city. Many people who tried to leave East Germany were arrested or killed. The Wall was torn down by the people of East Germany. The city of Berlin has been united since November 29th, 1989, and rapidly East Berlin has been catching up with the West. They have left the cobble stone path showing where the wall used to run. Ethan and Siena are riding on either side of the old wall.

From Berlin, we rented a car and headed south, to Bautzen, a small, walled city. We loved it here. The Beattie Beer Index reports that a beer in Berlin is about $4, but excellent. I should note that our beer costs in Russia were a bit deflated as we usually bought the beer in a market and drank in the apartments. After all, who wanted to hang with the not-so-friendly Russsians?

Then, it was on to the Czech Republic. This part of the trip through Eastern Europe has been of particular interest to me as this is where my family was from. The foods in Russia were the foods my maternal grandmother used to make. Now, in the Czech Republic, we are in the homeland of my paternal grandfather. It is a good thing he emigrated when he did. We went to the Jewish Museum in Prague and read the names of at least 4 dozen Fischls killed during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

The highlight of our time in Prague, though, was our stay with our first Servas family. Servas is an organization designed on Ghandi’s work. World peace, built one friendship at a time. We contacted a family in Prague, who opened their home to us. Our first night there, they cooked their traditional Christmas dish for us, which is a wonderful potato salad. The next night, I cooked the Beattie Family Christmas meal, or a reasonable approximation, as we could find neither turkey nor cranberries. Our kids and their kids had fun playing together despite being unable to communicate verbally.

Prague is a beautiful city, with open squares, a river wending its way through, castles and churches around every corner. There are, unfortunately, an excess of tourists, which detracts from the experience. But, it is difficult to complain as we, in fact, are tourists. My new friend Vera was able to get us tickets to the Opera in Prague. Ross, Siena and I were treated to a fabulous performance of Don Giovanni, in our private box. Ross had sung one of the arias in high school, although not in Italian.

The Beattie Beer Index has fallen in the Czech Republic to an all time low of $1.10 at a bar! The quality of the beer is comparable to the German beer in taste. Can you read the name of the beer Kim is guzzling? Budvar’s Budweiser Beer has been made here for 700 years. And, it tastes considerably better than our Bud, that’s for sure. Kim is commenting over my shoulder that the Russians tried to hold onto CZ after losing West Germany to keep the good beer flowing. We were in Prague for the 40th anniversary of the Russian invasion.

We are now in Cesky Krumlov, a small city in the south of the Czech Republic. Can you see the name of the beer Kim is guzzling? Yep, that's Budweiser, the original--not the fizzy American variety. Sometime today, we will travel into Austria, homeland of my maternal grandfather. We have no reservations, and no idea what town to even look in. This pretty much ends my planning from home, so it is on to traveling by the seat of our pants now… Love to all and:
Prost! (German) and Nastrovy (CZ)

The Beatties