Have you ever found the PERFECT Birthday Card? The absolute ONLY one that will make the receiver’s day?
We had been carting this card around with us for quite some time – months. That’s what we do, when we find the ideal card for one of our family or friends we buy it, no matter how long it may be until the occasion that it celebrates. This one was perfect for our oldest, The notoriously carrot-hating Piglet.
Flash forward to a sunny, wildly windy day in Lafayette, Louisiana, a parade of dogs and a birthday card for our eldest to be mailed. What a pretty picture. And it was, until I noticed that the card was no longer in my coat pocket… CONTINUE READING >>
Have you ever found the PERFECT Birthday Card? The absolute ONLY one that will make the receiver’s day?
We had been carting this card around with us for quite some time – months.
That’s what we do, when we find the ideal card for one of our family or friends we buy it, no matter how long it may be until the occasion that it celebrates.
This one was perfect for our oldest, The notoriously carrot-hating Piglet.
Flash forward to a sunny, wildly windy day in Lafayette, Louisiana, a parade of dogs and a birthday card for our eldest to be mailed. What a pretty picture. And it was, until I noticed that the card was no longer in my coat pocket.
That morning we had written a semi-naughty little note inside (referring to The Piglet‘s agonizing over turning twenty-seven – we couldn’t let THAT go by without a sarcastic little jibe!), enclosed a check and stamped and addressed the envelope.
I carried the card in my pocket figuring that we’d see a mailbox somewhere along the parade route. But the ridiculously cute dogs in the Krewe de Chiens Mardi Gras Parade must have distracted me. I never noticed a mailbox.
What I did notice, a little while later, was that the card was gone. It had been poking out of my pocket all day. I kept shoving it back in, but it obviously made one final poke before I could administer another shove. I panicked. How were we going to find another perfect card in time for The Piglet’s birthday?
I surveyed the immediate area, nothing. Time to retrace my steps. We hadn’t gone too far from the last place I remembered shoving the rascal back down, plus the envelope was bright blue, so I felt good about my prospects of finding the escapee.
But I retraced like a kindergartner drawing a Thanksgiving hand turkey and found nothing. The wind was whipping around and could have easily picked up the card and carried it off, but I thought the crowd or bushes or gutter or something would have stopped it. No such luck.
So I doubled back and covered our entire path for the day, still no sign of it. Time to switch into optimist mode, most certainly not my natural state. Perhaps someone picked it up and dropped it into a mailbox.
It was already stamped, so it wouldn’t take much effort, I reasoned, but I didn’t really buy it. Between the wind, the foot traffic and the dog poop – it most likely looked like just another piece of trash amongst the Mardi Gras beads and revelry.
Veronica, on the other hand is God’s own optimist. She decided it would make an interesting social experiment. She called up The Piglet and told her the story.
Now The Piglet was excited to see if the card would show up to her apartment on Manhattan. Suddenly this was way more exciting than just any old birthday card.
About a week later we got a text message, “It came!!!!!!”
Wow, someone did mail it! My faith in humanity was bolstered.
We were curious as to what kind of shape the wayward card was in, so we asked The Piglet for a picture. It was torn up, crinkled and stepped on. To think that someone took the time to mail that battered mess truly warmed our hearts. We wish we knew who it was.
So – to the caring Cajun at the dog parade in Lafayette who had a heart big enough to send kindness our way, thanks.
Up until this year’s Asian adventure our entire understanding of Buddha consisted of cheesy gold statues of a smiling, pot-bellied guy we’d seen in some restaurants. We weren’t exactly enlightened.
Perhaps we could clear up our conceptions a bit with a visit to The Tian Tan Buddha. He sits atop a hill on the outskirts of Hong Kong.
He stands one hundred and twelve feet high, and weighs in at… CONTINUE READING > >
Up until this year’s Asian adventure our entire understanding of Buddha consisted of cheesy gold statues of a smiling, pot-bellied guy we’d seen in some restaurants. We weren’t exactly enlightened.
Perhaps we could clear up our conceptions a bit with a visit to The Tian Tan Buddha. He sits atop a hill on the outskirts of Hong Kong.
Normally a train, and then a ski-lift-type gondola suspended across three and a half miles of mountains, valleys, and lakes would take us up to Ngong Ping.
But when we got off the train the cable car was out of commission, so we had to take a bus. No doubt less spectacular, but still quite an experience on the narrow, winding mountain roads.
After a ride that gave us a pretty good idea of how a pinball feels, we arrived and entered through the main gate.
The ornate archway led to a path flanked by The Twelve Divine Generals, representing protective deities that correspond to the animals in the Chinese zodiac.
At the end of the walkway we reached a circular area perfectly aligned with stairs leading up Muyu Mountain to The Tian Tan Buddha.
He loomed as we climbed the 240 steps up, and at the top we could see for miles.
We also got a close up view of The Buddha, and The Offering of the Six Devas, six smaller statues making an offering of flowers, a lamp, incense, ointment, fruit, and music.
The offerings represent the virtues of charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom.
From The Devas’ point of view we could certainly see why this is commonly called Big Buddha. He is really, really big, but since buddhas come sitting, standing, or reclining, it is difficult to judge just which one is the largest, still The Tian Tan is one of the biggest in the world.
He stands, oops, I mean sits, one hundred and twelve feet high, and weighs in at a slender 280 tons of bronze.
Believe it or not, we do mean slender. The Tian Tan looks nothing like those paunchy plastic cash register buddhas, he’s quite svelte. That’s because this is a depiction of the Gautama Buddha.
The little guy that we were familiar with is an entirely different fellow. Those little statues are of Hotei, the laughing buddha (small b), also called Budai, and have become associated with good luck and prosperity.
As we learned about these differences we became more and more aware of our glaring lack of knowledge, so in the hope of gaining some enlightenment we felt we should see the adjacent Po Lin (Precious Lotus) Monastery.
The monastery was founded by three monks back when this was a secluded hilltop, in 1906, and was known as The Big Hut.
It is much more than a hut these days, with several large halls housing dozens of statues.
On our way to the Da Xiong Bao Dian (Great Hall of Treasure), the first thing we encountered was a cloud of thick smoke.
Fortunately there wasn’t a fire, it was incense.
Worshipers were burning massive amounts of the stuff, some holding the sticks, and others placing them in racks or sand.
It was our understanding that this is meant to purify the surroundings, and bring forth an assembly of buddhas to hear the prayers.
We could not discern the significance of the various sizes of the incense sticks though. They ranged from the normal little hippie-style sticks we are used to seeing, to veritable baseball bats of aromatic fumigation.
These, and many other items of religious swag, were on sale in stands lining one side of the courtyard. While we are far from experts on the trappings of worship for any religion, we could only speculate that bigger must be better.
Inside the hall there are three Buddhas – Gautama, Dipamkarara, and Maitreya representing the past, present and the future.
Buddhism teaches that there have been many Buddhas, and there are more to come. Gautama is the most recent, and Dīpankara is one of the Buddhas that came before him, while Maitreya will be the next Buddha to come in the future.
Outside, another monk swung what looked to be a small telephone pole at a 1,000 kilogram bronze bell. That is over a ton of bell!
In Buddhism, bells have an important role, their ringing is said to drive away evil spirits and represent an offering to all the buddhas in order to accumulate positive karma.
Bells also represent wisdom, so ringing the bell is the sound of wisdom that can clarify confusion.
Confused or not, we didn’t need to ask for whom the bell tolled, because the bus back to Hong Kong tolled for us.
A staggering 90 percent of visitors to The Grand Canyon never venture beyond the South Rim.
Very much like the time we stopped by with our three kids (one still in diapers and the other two under six) on a crazy cross-country camping adventure. We took a peek over the rim, snapped a shot or two and then got back in the car and left. All in all a successful visit — not a single toddler toddled over the edge.
But now that our offspring are grown and on their own, we decided to take the canyon a little more seriously, and add some adventure beyond child catastrophe prevention… CONTINUE READING >>
Whooo-hoooo! We WON the Motel 6 all-expenses-paid Ultimate Bucket List Contest! As always, all opinions are our own.
Biking the Canyon
Good Morning! The view outside our room!
A staggering 90 percent of visitors to Arizona‘s Grand Canyon never venture beyond the South Rim. Very much like the time we stopped by with our three kids (one still in diapers and the other two under six) on a crazy cross-country camping adventure.
We took a peek over the rim, snapped a shot or two and then got back in the car and left.
All in all a successful visit — not a single toddler toddled over the edge.
Hint: To enlarge Instagram thumbnails click on the Instagram logo, then use your browser’s back button to return to our Grand Canyon Photo Gallery.
First glimpse of the Canyon!
David channels “Titanic”
But now that our offspring are grown and on their own, we decided to take the canyon a little more seriously, and add some adventure beyond child catastrophe prevention.
HAWK!
Surreal
Bikes are available for rental near the Visitor’s Center on the South Rim. The rental guys were glad to give us the lowdown on the best way to combine the easier hills on the bike with the harder ones by hitching a ride on the bike-rack-enhanced shuttle buses.
They even threw in a personal tutorial on rack operation.
Grand Canyon Magic
Ecofriendly National Park
Mounting our trusty steeds, we headed west on the road that skirts the Rim Trail. Clouds meandered in and out that day, allowing the sun to peek out and give us a different perspective every time we blinked our eyes.
Just Mule-in’ Around
The stunning Vermillion Cliffs in Navaho Nation on the way to our mule ride
There are precious few things in life that combine breathtaking scenery, hysterical antics and outright fear. We figured that straddling a cliff-clinging beast of burden would certainly do the trick.
Why we never work with kids & animals – they always steal our thunder!
A quicky video sneak peek!
Take 2 – Veronica and her new Grand Canyon mule buddy, Slim
WATCH: Mule Cam! A between-the-ears, cliff-hugging adventure!
There’s really nothing to fear — helpful chap-wearin’ guides are there to make sure that newbies feel comfortable, and that the more advanced riders don’t do anything stupid. Besides, the mules didn’t want to fall to the bottom any more than we did.
They’re stubborn about that.
Through Slim’s eyes
Among the mule ride options are a South Rim tour, a down-to-the-floor overnighter, and the one we chose, a half-day, half-way down trek that is only available on the North Rim. Well worth the incredibly scenic four-hour drive around to the other side of the canyon.
Through David’s mule, Mac’s, eyes
Feeling Above it All
Flying over the rim!
If there is a definition of a bucket list item, flying over the Grand Canyon should be included in the text. The moment we crossed over the rim and watched the ground drop a mile in an instant is something that will be forever imprinted in our minds.
No fear of flying could possibly survive the sight.
WATCH: The grandeur of the Grand Canyon from above
Words can’t describe, Veronica cried like a baby.
Our trusty steed!
Veronica literally bawled like a baby in awe, got out of one helicopter and turned around and did it again.
David had to restrain her from going a third time.
The Twelve Divine Generals represent protective deities that correspond to the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Each has his own personality, time of day, weapon and… CONTINUE READING >>
Normally a train, and then a ski-lift-type gondola suspended across three and a half miles of mountains, valleys, and lakes would take us up to Ngong Ping from Hong Kong.
But when we got off the train the cable car was out of commission, so we had to take a bus. No doubt less spectacular, but still quite an experience on the narrow, winding mountain roads.
After a ride that gave us a pretty good idea of how a pinball feels, we arrived and entered through the main gate.
The ornate archway led to a path flanked by The Twelve Divine Generals, representing protective deities that correspond to the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Each has his own personality, time of day, weapon and a creature on his head.
The General Catura represents 1- 3 AM and the ox of the Zodiac. He is armed with a sword.
The General Kimnara represents 3- 5 AM and the tiger of the Zodiac. He is armed with a rope (though this guy looks like he’s got a bat and ball).
The General Makura represents 5 – 7 AM and the rabbit of the Zodiac. He is armed with a axe.
The General Pajra represents 7- 9 AM and the dragon of the Zodiac. He is armed with a bow and arrow.
The General Indra represents 9 – 11 AM and the snake of the Zodiac. He is armed with a staff.
The General Sandira represents 11 AM -1 PM and the horse of the Zodiac. He is armed with a conch shell.
The General Anila represents 1-3 PM and the sheep of the Zodiac. He is armed with a arrow (The Big Buddha is way up on the mountain in the background).
The General Andira represents 3-5 PM and the monkey of the Zodiac. He is armed with a mallet.
The General Mihira represents 5-7 PM and the rooster of the Zodiac. He is armed with a vajra.
The General Vajra represents 7-9 PM and the dog of the Zodiac. He is armed with a sword.
The General Kumbhira represents 9 -11 PM and the boar of the Zodiac. He is armed with a boardsword.
The General Vikarala represents 11 PM – 1 AM and the rat of the Zodiac. He is armed with a vajra.
At the end of the walkway we reached a circular area perfectly aligned with stairs leading up Muyu Mountain to The Tian Tan Buddha or Big Buddha.
Join us in a tale of Sultans and Emperors, of grandeur, conquest and really big ideas.
Istanbul surprised us at every turn – the colors, the vibrancy, the sheer newness of it all. We sat on pillows, had a REAL feast, learned to haggle at the Grand Bazaar and finally found out what Turkish Delight is!
Rome may be The Eternal City, but Istanbul can make a pretty good case for immortality too. It is certainly not some insignificant transient stop along the highway of history.
The cities are about the same age, both over two and a half millennia, and for much of that time the larger, wealthier, and more influential of the two was not the one in Italy. In fact Istanbul, known as Constantinople at the time, spent hundreds of years ruling over Rome as the capital of the Roman Empire.
By the time we arrived, early in the twenty-first century, Byzantium/ Constantinople/ Istanbul was no longer the capital of anything, not even Turkey, but it remains one of the world’s great cities.
In an effort to soak up some of that history we chose to stay right inside the ancient walls, in the heart of the Old City. Most all of the major landmarks were within an easy walk of our hotel.
Jetlagged and hungry, we set out to see what we could find, since it was too early to check in.
First thing that caught our eyes was a woman sitting in the front window of a restaurant called The Han making what looked to be tortillas.
She rolled the dough out on a big wooden table, laid fillings on top, then folded it over and cooked it on a griddle. It looked great, so we had to go in.
We sat on pillows and ordered two of the gözleme, one with meat filling and another with spinach and cheese. Delicious!
The name comes from the Turkish göz, which means compartment. While eating, we noticed that nearly everyone who passed by on the sidewalk stopped to watch the lady making gözleme. Seems The Han had discovered the best advertising possible.
We perked up a bit after eating and walked to Sultanahmet Square, the heart of the Old City. The square is flanked by The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, two of Istanbul’s most famous landmarks.
In fact most of the city’s main attractions are within a stone’s throw, The Topkapı Palace, Basilica Cistern, Grand Bazaar, and Hippodrome are all nearby. We couldn’t possibly visit all of these in one afternoon, but we could start at the top.
A Stop in Sultanahmet Square – The Blue Mosque
The square is named for the Sultanahmet Mosque, the official name of The Blue Mosque, so that would be first on our list. Built in 1609 by Sultan Ahmed I, it features a main dome, eight secondary domes, and six minarets, and is considered the pinnacle of two centuries of Ottoman mosque development.
Upon entering the mosque we saw how the unofficial blue moniker came about, the color is prevalent in the tiles adorn that the interior.
This is still an active mosque, so as the time for prayers approached, visitors were ushered out. Back in the square, we were just in time for the call to prayer, and learned what the minarets are for.
Originally a Muezzin would climb to a balcony on each minaret and call out the adhan five times a day, but now each minaret has several loud speakers.
With half a dozen mosques within earshot of the square, the mid-afternoon call became quite an audio spectacular. In our time-zone-addled condition it struck us as almost surreal.
WATCH: It’s impossible to show the enormity of the mosque in photos – video helps!
In keeping with our jet lag suppression theory, that a nap and then staying up as late as we can manage on our first night helps to acclimate, we checked in and crashed for a bit.
After waking in one of those “Is it morning or late afternoon?” freak-outs, we got ourselves together and set out. We certainly weren’t going to waste any time.
Haggling in the Grand Bazaar
We wandered through some back streets toward The Grand Bazaar, got a little lost, and then pointed back in the the right direction by some neighborhood kids.
They were extremely friendly and seemed to find our cluelessness quite amusing.
Finally finding our way to the granddaddy of all malls we ventured in to one of the oldest and certainly largest covered markets in the world.
It seemed as though most of the 400,000 visitors who come each day were inside with us.
Talk about lost, with over three thousand shops packed in along sixty-one covered streets, we felt like lab rats looking for cheese (when we did stumble upon one of cheese shops, it didn’t help much).
WATCH: A romp through the Grand Bazaar – Veronica learns to haggle!
After adjusting to the spectacle of product overload, we focused on the architecture. When the market was built, in 1455, Istanbul was very much the crossroad between Europe and Asia, and the bazaar soon became the hub of trade between the continents, so it had to be spectacular.
Merchants came from far and wide to stock up on items to sell back home.
But over the course of four and a half centuries things had changed, fires and earthquakes nearly dealt a death blow to the already declining bazaar.
After fading and falling into in disrepair until the 1950s it staged a comeback.
By the 1980s restorations had taken place and the bazaar returned to its glory. These days tourists, rather than merchants, come from far and wide, and the name grand is fitting once again.
WATCH: See how Turkish carpets are made, what kinds of dyes are used and how to spot quality – and see a REAL flying carpet!
Istanbul At Night
We came out of the maze into narrow neighborhood back streets again. But things were very different, it was nearing sundown, and during Ramadan, so the city looked like a ghost town.
All the shops had closed and everyone was home getting ready to eat for the first time since sunrise.
Once the sun set, life picked up again especially around Sultanahmet Square.
The scene was almost like a fair, the fountain glowed with colorful lights, vendors were selling food and trinkets, and families spread out picnics on the grass. As soon as it was completely dark another adhan rang out from the mosques and a huge group assembled in the square for prayers under the stars.
WATCH: A sweet street food – osmanli macunu – it’s dessert AND a show!
Walking back to the hotel we passed The Column of Constantine, constructed on the orders of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great in 330 AD. This marked the city’s change from the Greek Byzantium, to the Roman Nova Roma.
The New Rome became the capital city of the Roman Empire, and in time took on the name of its ruler, to be known as Constantinople.
Across from the column we picked up a variety of Turkish Delight in a little shop, not only to try the many flavors, but to celebrate our accomplishment of staying up late enough to reset our body clocks. Time for a little Istanbul-dozing.
A Wonderful Clash of Culture – Hagia Sophia
Bright and early we headed for Hagia Sophia, which could be one of the most impressive structures we’ve ever seen.
Not so much for the building itself, although it is spectacular, but for the fact that this massive cathedral was built in the year 532, and finished in only five years.
The Emperor Justinian wanted to build the largest church in the world, and succeeded… by a long shot. It remained unchallenged for almost one thousand years, until the Renaissance cathedrals of Europe finally caught up. But those all took decades, if not centuries, to construct.
Like many of the churches in Istanbul, it served first as a cathedral, then as a mosque. Now it is a museum commemorating both of those pasts. Interestingly, unlike many other churches, when Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque the Christian artwork was not destroyed, only covered over.
As restorations took place, several masterpieces were found intact. Now it is one of the few places where Christian and Muslim art are displayed side by side.
The Topkapı Palace stands just behind the former cathedral and is where, after the fall of the Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the sultans and their courts lived for four hundred years.
Once conquered, the city’s name was changed once again, and Turkey was ruled from Istanbul.
When the Ottoman Empire ended after World War I and Turkey became a republic, the capital was moved to Ankara and the palace became a museum of the imperial era. We were rightly amazed by some of the items on display.
The sultans had quite a collection of jaw dropping jewels, among them a gold box filled of emeralds, multiple ruby and diamond handled swords and daggers, and the highlight, the Spoonmaker’s Diamond, one of the largest in the world at eighty-six carats.
Across the courtyard there are perhaps even more valuable treasures, a plethora of holy relics from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Among them, the oldest known copy of The Koran, several bits of Muhammad’s beard, a cloak and a sword also said to belong to the prophet, a staff that Moses carried, and bones of John The Baptist. We cannot show these since no photos were allowed, so some things must be taken on faith.
Very apropos where relics are concerned, and while we are prone to take the authenticity of most with a grain of salt, a little research showed that at least some, particularly the ones attributed to Muhammad, may be genuine.
Several hundred ancient cisterns lie beneath the city, but The Basilica Cistern is the largest, and the only one we knew how to get inside. Descending into the damp darkness felt pretty darn good on a hot August Mediterranean day and, once our eyes adjusted, we were dumbfounded by the sight.
Row after row of hundreds of columns hold up arches and domes in a stunning work of architecture that was never meant to be seen.
The huge space was built as a water storage facility which was used by the city for around fifteen hundred years. Those zany Romans hid all of this surprisingly ornate work under twenty-one million gallons of water.
For unknown reasons, they also chose to hide oddly-angled sculpted heads of Medusa at the base of two pillars in one of the corners.
Back up in the sunlight we had one last stop, The Hippodrome. The track and stands are long gone, but with a little imagination we could still see the crowds and hear the thundering chariots.
It was originally built by the Greeks, but Constantine knew that a great Roman city needed a great race track.
So the new Emperor expanded the arena to hold 100,000 spectators.
Then he did a little decorating, which we didn’t have to visualize because the monuments survived. He installed an ancient Greek column formed from three intertwined bronze serpents that was taken from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.
Later, Theodosius erected an obelisk from Egypt that had already been around nearly two thousand years when he put it up in 390 AD. Now over thirty five hundred years old, this was probably the oldest man made object we’ve ever seen.
With another Ramadan sunset fast approaching, we set out in search of supper. Avoiding the tourist traps, we took a side street and ended up at Antakya, which looked to be serving a mix of natives and travelers alike.
A fresh breeze off The Sea of Marmara had cooled the evening, so we took a sidewalk table and ordered a couple Efes, the local brew.
Luckily the menu had pictures, but when we started pointing at things the waiter had a better idea, bring on the Sultan’s Delight, or Feast, or whatever, for two.
A platter only slightly smaller than our table arrived, piled high with various grilled meats, veggies and breads, on a bed of rice. For a bit of flair, columns of flame adorned each corner. Dangerous, but delictable.
Eating so close to fire was more than enough to remind us of our sleep deprived condition and put us down for the count. It also was most certainly fit for a sultan.
And that’s no Istanbul.
Getting Around
WATCH: Of course David the Train Nut needed to ride something on rails and, lucky for him, there is a funicular that goes up the steep hillside from the waterfront to Taksim Square. Because it runs inside the mountain, it’s the only funicular we’ve ever been on that didn’t scare the tar out of Veronica!
Istanbul’s Old City can be a bit overwhelming but there is always help. Flag down a young person wearing an “ask me” shirt.
This is a fantastic college volunteer program
that we utilized quite a bit. These young folks are knowledgable, friendly, and speak so many languages, we’d be surprised if it were possible to stump them!
The Hagia Sophia could be one of the most impressive structures we’ve ever seen.
Not so much for the building itself, although it is spectacular, but for the fact that this massive cathedral was built… CONTINUE READING >>
The Hagia Sophia could be one of the most impressive structures we’ve ever seen.
Not so much for the building itself, although it is spectacular, but for the fact that this massive cathedral was built in the year 532, and finished in only five years.
The Emperor Justinian wanted to build the largest church in the world, and succeeded… by a long shot. It remained unchallenged for almost one thousand years, until the Renaissance cathedrals of Europe finally caught up. But those all took decades, if not centuries, to construct.
Like many of the churches in Istanbul, it served first as a cathedral, then as a mosque. Now it is a museum commemorating both of those pasts.
Interestingly, unlike many other churches, when Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque the Christian artwork was not destroyed, only covered over.
As restorations took place, several masterpieces were found intact. Now it is one of the few places where Christian and Muslim art are displayed side by side.
