That was up until that drive home a couple of weeks ago, in the rare snowstorm we were blessed with down here in south land on Christmas weekend.  By the standards we had become accustomed to up north, this was far from a noteworthy snowstorm, but then again we were in the south where these things just don’t happen, and as prepared as they liked to say they were, the snow plow drivers were doing their best but had apparently missed the training sessions on how to properly clear the major streets AND their cross streets at the same time.  It was major for down here and also major for me in a completely different way.  Santa Claus had surely given me a “special” present this year. During the ride home, the thoughts and memories flooded my mind of how snow used to mean so much to me, and bring me so much joy.     The trees were heavy with white and looked like something out of a fairy tale.  Children were  building actual snow people in their yards, and  you could feel the excitement it held for them.  An occasional gust of wind would whip it up and blow it in all directions, just like I remembered it  so many years ago.  That night after we arrived home, we watched a little on the news channel about the storm and after my wife went off to bed, I opened our front door and looked out through our glass storm door at the street light down the road and watched and listened for quite a while, as the snow kept falling and swirling about, turning everything white ……. and  to my delight once again it was pure magic.

Not nearly as beautiful as the Empire State building or as eye catching as a few other biggies we have seen.  Its observation deck is only on the 92^nd floor, so that alone is 10 floors lower than the Sears Tower.    From there we tried to find the Computer market, but instead stumbled upon the Jade Market.  Let me tell you, we have never seen a market with the kind of price tags they had there,   quite beautiful things, but very steep.  The Jade shops we went to in Thailand and Vietnam were much much cheaper.  After a good look,  and believe it or not,  neither of the women even saw anything they liked,  and we made our way to the computer street,  with its center being  the Computer market, which is a five story building  entirely devoted to electronics.   Fred and Maxi had a task to do, as they were looking for an electronic book reader, but in that entire building they did not have a single one.  Again, we were very disappointed with the prices, as most things were actually cheaper back home.   I know for a fact, that just using a SD card as an example, I bought a 16 GB one before we left for around $28 on EBay, and there they were asking over $80.   I found the same for Cameras, DVD devices and other things.  The only thing I did find that was quite interesting, were some laptop models that we did not have in the States.    Left there, and found ourselves a local market, with all sorts of goodies.  Some new fruits for us, which we of course tasted and even bought some for the hotel room, some candies we had never seen, and very yummy looking what looked like Bratwurst   being cooked on a very large grill.  As Fred and I were very hungry, we both bought one, and were surprised to find them more like a sausage with a candy flavor, which just did not go down well in our minds.  Sausages are sausages, and just think what you would do if you were given a candy cane with spicy mustard on it.  Just does not compute. Seems they like everything sweet.  Even the fresh squeezed juices they were making, they put heaps of sugar into.   After sampling a bunch of stuff including some very weird looking hard boiled eggs  that had a black yolk, we found a place to enjoy a coffee and just relaxed for a while.  We decided on trying the Hotel restaurant for dinner, as Fred said they had an inexpensive Buffet with a discount for more than two people.   We gave it a try but as he has done so many times in the past, he got his English a little wrong, and instead of a discount there actually was an extra charge for the 3^rd and 4^th persons.  Tried to figure it out with the Cashier but due to a limited amount of Mandarin on our part, and almost no English on hers, after ten minutes of getting nowhere, I just said the hell with it.  It seems although the Hotel had a very good rating, it had a number of things going against it.  First off it was out in the damn boondocks, and a 10 kilometer drive to the city center.  They were not prepared or just didn’t give a damn in regards to having ample food items for either their breakfast of dinner buffets.  The Breakfast buffet was constantly out of everything and you had to find someone to get more of whatever it was that you needed, and that was always fun as it turned into a few minutes of making gestures, a lot of finger pointing and other antics used when dealing with folks who no speaky English.  One morning they had no cups for coffee, no bread for toast, or no fruit in the fruit bowl.    Lastly, every time we would leave our room (which was nice) we would notice an unmistakably foul smell, somewhat similar to a bathroom after I had used the facilities. It seemed they had a problem with that, and although the room was fine and free from any odor, it was in the hallways and lobby.  Oh well it wasn’t going to kill us.

We all decided that the 7 days we booked were way too many to spend in Taipei, but we made the most of it.  Went to the Zoo on the next to last day and while I sat and took pictures of the people, they all walked through the zoo.  They also had a tremendous Gondola ride that was part of the transit system.  Thinking it was like most Gondola rides we got our tickets and waited for our cable car.  Normal queues are well over two hours, but we walked right in.  Everywhere we went the tourist traffic was way down.  Much to our surprise this gondola went for over 7 miles, up and down the small mountains and every time we thought the end would be right over the next hill, it just kept on going.   We then had a snack in McDonalds, as Fred proved to be a problem as far as eating went.  That evening went to a very nice buffet restaurant right near the Gondola ride we saw.   Great assortment of western foods, lots of fruits and salads and a huge array of deserts.   As we were in Taiwan we outvoted Fred the next evening and found a very typical Taiwanese Restaurant serving very local type food.   Well, I must say it was fun watching Fred, as luck would have it they had something on the menu that sort of resembled a schnitzel and he was quite happy with that.  Left everything else, but completely finished that.  We all ordered other local dishes which we thought we would enjoy, but to our palates, our Chinese back home was more to what we preferred.   Everything was very mushy and even the shrimp tempura was somewhat strange looking.  Sort of tasted like tempura, but not what we were used to.   Next day we went to the water front, which is very popular with the locals.  Lots of games for the kids, a lot of little shops and dozens and dozens of booths selling dried squid, fresh octopus, a  vast assortment of snails in all sizes and colors  and even raw crabs, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, all ready to be cut up and cooked and served right there.   We opted for Dunkin Donuts on the way in AND on the way out.    So we kept busy and saw many of the sights Taipei had to offer.  Most of all, I guess the most fun came from simply being together again.  It was really great to see them and spend time together.

Left on the next day and flew to Mumbai on Indian Airways.  Little did we know what was ahead?  We arrived at our hotel in Mumbai very late at night, and were in a little bit of shock after the long 1 hour drive from the airport.  We passed hundreds and hundreds of people sleeping on the sidewalks, and even though it was dark, could see the unmistakable filth and garbage everywhere.   Arrived at our hotel and went to register.  Had no chance of getting any Indian money (rupees) so we were not prepared to give any tips.  Little did we know how many tips we would need over the coming days.  It seems the Indian people expect a tip for just about everything, and unless you are very quick, your luggage will be on someone’s head, your bags will be in their arms and doors will be opened for you, and every one of them will more or less demand a tip, regardless of whether you wanted it done or not.  At any rate we arrived at our room on the 4^th floor, after a ride in a decrepit elevator that hesitated then lurched and jumped, hesitated again then made some strange noises and finally arrived on our floor. We saw a blaze of light coming from a room down the hall, and because Indians for some unknown reason love fluorescent lights, we figured that was ours. The room had every one of them on, with four guys all standing there.  At first it looked like something out of a “Midnight Express” movie, and they had busted us, but there they were,  three porters and a security guard all standing there  staring at us in the way only Indians can, and asking for a tip.  Oh yeah,  they are not the least bit embarrassed to come right out and ask for it,  or are they shy about telling you gave them too little.   We tried to explain that we had no money to give them, but they persisted with that stare, and after a short while it got me spooked, and I literally escorted them out of the room.   Next day came much too quickly, and we went down to what they called a breakfast.  It turned out to be little more than Instant coffee and some white bread, but no toaster to be found.   Met our guide at the designated time and headed to our first stop, the house of the late Mahatma Gandhi, the revered leader of when the Indians struggle to be free of English control or the Raj.  Here the trip nearly came to a sudden and unplanned end.  Vally wanted to see the upper floors of the house, and since it was horribly hot outside, it was determined that I would go with the driver and wait in the A/C car while they finished the upper floors.  Well as I have a habit of looking at where I am walking, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the driver did a left, so I raised my head to see where he went and at that moment stepped in one of the multitude of potholes that are everywhere.  Well, ass over teakettle I went,   with my face having an unpleasant run in with a beautiful marble wall.  The wall won!  My glasses were broken, my camera was saved by me holding it against my body, but the lens hit the ground and the impact tore off the UV filter and the sun shield which were both broken.  I must admit that as spooky as the Indian people can be, they are a very caring people, and before I was on my feet, there were more than a dozen people around me, two brought me big chunks of ice from somewhere, and two others had first aid kits while the others got me to a wall to sit on.  With all that happening, Vally comes out of the Gandhi house, sees a big commotion and wonders what it is all about.  Then she sees me sitting on the wall with blood running down my face and my legs, as I also torn up both knees.  It opened up the scar wound from the last knee replacement and all in all, I was a mess.   BUT, I didn’t let something as trivial as that deter us from our appointed rounds, and we continued on our tour, after a brief rest, and much cleaning up.  My face sort of looked like a bad mug shot of someone who lost the fight big time, and my knees   hurt like crazy.  When I fell I also landed on my left wrist which had gotten very swollen and caused me a lot of problems for the rest of the trip.  We finally left and went to see the sights, of which I must admit I really didn’t want to miss. 
We went to what is called “The City Laundry” where hundreds of  families that have been doing it for generations, (remember it is a Caste system and if your father and grandfather worked in the laundry, that too was your fate)They were doing  the cities laundry.  Thousands and thousands of bags of laundry are brought there and washed by hand and stone pounding, no modern machines here, all the same way it has been done for years.  And believe it or not, they say almost NOTHING is ever lost.   Next day we took a boat ride to Elephant Island, where they have a temple at the top of a zillion steps, and it is very popular with the locals.  No, I didn’t climb them, but Vally did and saw the hundreds of Monkeys that hang out there while I sat in a small café and did some serious people watching.  That evening we ate at the Café Leopold, which gained some notoriety as it was where the gunmen who staged the terrorist attack in Mumbai a year ago, shot a bunch of tourists.  We actually sat at the table behind where 4 tourists were killed.  The thought of that gave it an Eerie and chilling feeling that definitely called for a pitcher of draft beer.   I guess between the heat and my hurting I didn’t feel like eating very much, so we had the leftovers put in a doggie bag and Vally was determined to give the food to one of the gazillion beggars that are everywhere.  We found it amusing that throughout the trip there would be so many young girls that approach you with babies (the sympathy prop) and motion the need to eat in hopes of money, while at the same time wearing very nice gold earrings and necklaces.   Again the Caste system enters into the picture, as these beggars are all from a caste group that marries within itself,  and produces offspring where their job in life will also be begging.

The next day we skipped breakfast, or what they thought was breakfast and headed straight to the airport to catch our flight to Varanasi, probably the holiest city in India and home of the Ganges River. We instead found a nice donut place at the airport and had what turned out to be very very good donuts with some good Cappuccino coffee to wash them down.  Got the plane and had a uneventful flight up to Varanasi.  Checked into our Hotel, and rested up until we were to meet our guide for the evening’s adventure.  At just about sunset, we went down to the lobby and met Mr. Singh who was to lead us over to the religious doings on the famed steps of the Ganges River.  When we got there it was a madhouse of people, cows, oxen, donkeys, camels, rickshaws, scooters, and heaven only knows what else.  Mr. Singh had the driver park at a spot he knew, took us by the hand and led us toward the famed river on foot, as due to the crowds you couldn’t approach by car.  After a fairly long walk, which seemed much longer with all the “obstacles” in the streets, we approached the steps down to the Ganges.  It was like the Discovery Channel had come to life.  There in front of us was a street wide series of maybe 100 steps or so, and leading down to the water where they ended up being about a quarter of a mile wide.  Throngs and I mean throngs of people all headed in the same direction.  Down by the river we learned we would be taking a small poled boat to better see the ceremonies that would take place at the center of these vast steps.  There were people doing all sorts of things as they waited for the ceremony to begin.  They were dipping  themselves in the river, they were brushing their teeth with river water and spitting on the steps , (no Phillips SoniCares here, just a certain type of tree twig they use for dental hygiene, that I had  noticed them being sold up on the street but had no idea of what they were), the animals  were also walking about, which added to the utter confusion of the whole thing.   When we got out in the boat, the man poled us out to a good position and we awaited the entrance of the five priests that would perform the special blessing of the waters, on five platforms erected on the steps.  There were just as many boats as people, and everything sort of became a moving blur.  There were Boats with tourists, boats with locals, boats with little souvenir shops, and larger group boats.  You saw “things” float by in the river produced by both humans and animals, and then you looked at the people dipping their heads under water, and you asked yourself “is this really happening?”  The priests finally came and with much drumming and chanting, did their thing.   Mr. Singh explained most of it, and then suggested we leave a little early as it got kind of hectic if we waited until the end.  Couldn’t have agreed with him more and we poled our way back over to the steps where we embarked from.   On the way up the steps, a young woman was giving out little samples of something, and as it turned out, she was spooning Ganges river water into the faithful’s hands to take a drink.  It was sort of a brownish white color, and not to be offensive, I accidently spilled it as it was in my hand.  At the top of the steps one of us suggested we take a rickshaw, as my knees were really hurting.  It was a hoot to see the fellows who pedaled the things, take a look at me and then take a look at Mr. Singh who was a little man,  and sort did the “I don’t want him, you take him” routine.  Finally they agreed to take turns pedaling me and Vally and the other rickshaw with Mr. Singh in it.   Got back to the Hotel and honestly don’t even remember what or where we had dinner,  but I did hear is a semi shocked state, that we would meet at 5 AM  for the next visit to the river at sunrise.  Here folks is another first,  I have always been a Sunset fan as many of you know, that comes at a much saner time of the day in my opinion,  but I took a big gulp and agreed on meeting at that hour.  Had a good sleep and stumbled down to the lobby to meet our Mr. Singh.  Headed for the river, and found it to be much less crowded than the night before, as this time of day is more for the fervent followers and those who wish to bath in the sunrise light of day in the holy waters of the Ganges.  Another boat, another ride, and I might add a beautiful bunch of  sunrise photos to prove I did actually do this.   Even more boats out there in the AM, as lots of small local boats go out and more souvenir boats are there to capture the early morning sales.  We went down river just a bit, and there were the many cremation altars they use constantly to send their departed loved ones on their spiritual journey.  They go 24 hours a day, and Mr. Singh could not remember a day that they were not in use.   On a normal day,  more than 2 dozen bodies will be cremated, while there are days where hundreds are burned.   The smell must be unimaginable.  That day was not particularly busy as just a few were being burned.  The man poled us into a series of steps down from where we started and we were told we were going to take a walk through the old section of town that has pretty much stayed unchanged for hundreds of years.  The little alley ways are bustling with activity  even at this hour of the morning, and we befriended a young boy that was headed to school and he walked with us for quite some time.      Went back to the hotel and had a nice breakfast, and then rested for a bit before heading out again in the afternoon.  Went to a couple of factories that the area is famous for,  one being silk and the other being in laid marble.  We caught our second late train that evening for the ride to Agra.  Lousy train ride, noisy, very crowded, and to label it dirty would be an injustice.  It far exceeded that.   We arrived late at our hotel, which was becoming the norm and ate dinner and went to bed.  Met our new guide, a young and very energetic guy named Ali in the morning and he would be our teacher for this portion of the trip.  Without me knowing and after seeing how I was walking, he got Vally to the side and asked if I would put up a stink if he arranged for a wheel chair at the Taj Mahal.  I guess I would have squawked if I had known, but as it turned out, it was by far for the best.  There was a lot of walking to do, as you had to park far away from the Taj itself and then of course there were always steps.  The funny part came afterward, when the young boy that was doing the pushing came to the end of the day, Vally asked Ali what we should give him.  After Ali had told Vally that 250 to 300 Rupees would be very good, Vally suggested 500 since he was supposedly an orphan and he had done a good job.  Vally passed that on to me, and when we were finished and starting to catch the small shuttles that took us back to our car, we gave him the money and he actually complained and said it should be a thousand.  Vally and I got separated, as they put me on one shuttle and her on  another,  and the young kid found me and proceeded to tell me that he had talked to my wife, and she said for me to give him another 500 rupee. Well being married for 43 years, one gets to know their spouse fairly well, and this definitely was not a message from the woman I married.  So I told him he had gotten what he was going to get  and then all of a sudden this man pipes up that we are cheating his son (remember  he was supposed to be an orphan) and should pay him another 1000 rupee.  I wished them well and told the driver to get the shuttle moving, we were done there.  Now to the Taj itself. 
It is truly a wonder of the world, and something that is beyond description or photographic duplicity. 
It has a special magical sense about it that draws forth a few deep exhales as one first views it.  The perfection of it is truly amazing. 
I was totally amazed at how few Western tourists were there, as it was packed with people from all parts of India.  There are no artificial lights on the grounds, and remains dark at night.  Once the Taj closes at the designated hour of 8 PM, the guards in force, usher everyone out with no exceptions for one more picture, I am waiting for someone else, etc., there simply are no acceptable excuses.   As I mention somewhere in this little piece, it truly is as the commercial says “Incredible India” and the grounds of the Taj Mahal are immaculate.  However there is that one little problem of getting there and after you get there you must leave, and that again enter the India that is a pig sty.   We also found that the legendary Indian snake charmers are still plying their trade, but mainly by the major tourist sites and shrines.  Just before we left, I watched a special on the Animal Planet Network, and it was all you ever wanted to know and then some about Cobras and King Cobras of India.  Seems they are truly a deadly poisonous snake, and one bite can technically kill an elephant, however they are an extremely shy and non-aggressive snake, and only seriously dangerous to other snakes which are their main food source.  They are very drawn to movement and that is why the flute player/snake charmer will roll the flute back and forth while he is playing, the music itself has absolutely no meaning,  as the Cobra is basically deaf, but the flutes movement fascinate  it.   I guess we came across the little buggers three or four times along the way.   We also found a stunning old palace/fortress in Agra that is almost as beautiful as the Taj.  In a way it is unfortunate that it is located in Agra, as if the Taj wasn’t there or if it were located in some other part of India, it too would be right up there with the wonders of India.

We left that afternoon on a fairly good drive through the country side and headed to the city of Jaipur which is known as the Pink City and is one of the largest cities in the state of Rajasthan located in the Thar Dessert.  It became known as the Pink City when the entire city and all its structures were painted pink, in honor of a visit by the Prince of Whales in the 1800’s.  On the way we stopped at a magnificent old fortress complex that took almost 150 years to build   and because of the shortage of water it was abandoned soon after its completion.   The entrance was reached by riding royal elephants, as the maharajahs did in days of yore, and entered the gates atop one of these Asian beasts. Here also, the guide was concerned as to the amount of people that would be in queue to ride the elephants, but the queue was only us as we arrived and again lucked out due to the lack of tourist traffic.

We then headed further east to the city of Jodhpur known as the Blue City. Jodhpur as everywhere in  India it seems has a glorious palace/fortress that overlooks the city.  The fort is known as Mehrangarh Fort and offers an absolutely breath taking view of the city.  It got its name from the fact that all the house and buildings around the fort are of the color blue, which was the favorite color of the founding maharajah, who felt the color blue was lucky.

I APOLOGIZE FOR USING CAPITALS, BUT WITH MY LEFT WRIST STILL VERY PAINFUL FROM THE FALL IN MUMBAI, IT IS MUCH EASIER.   I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SEND A FOLLOWUP EMAIL FOR THE LAST 5 DAYS, BUT IN A LAND THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF OUR TECH SUPPORT, THEIR INTERNET QUITE SIMPLY STINKS.   ANOTHER FACTOR BEING BY THE TIME WE REACH ANYWHERE, IT HAS BEEN GENERALLY VERY LATE AND I AM SIMPLY TOO TIRED TO WRITE OR TRY TO MAKE AN INTERNET CONNECTION.  TODAY WE HAVE A LITTLE BREAK AND I AM TAKING ADVANTAGE OF WHAT SEEMS TO BE A DECENT CONNECTION.   IT HAS BEEN HECTIC AND VERY TIRING.  IT HAS BEEN AN EXPERIENCE TO SAY THE LEAST.  MY KNEES HAVE NOT HELPED MUCH, AS I MUST GO SLOW WITH THE MANY STEPS ALWAYS INVOLVED.  THE CUTS FROM THE FALL ARE HEALING BUT SLOWLY. DURING THIS TRIP WE HAVE NOT HAD MUCH LUCK WITH INDIAN TRAINS, AND THAT HAS GIVEN US THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE THEIR ARCHAIC RAIL SYSTEM VERY INTIMATELY.  THE FIRST TRAIN FROM VARANASI TO AGRA WAS A LITTLE OVER FIVE HOURS LATE BUT BECAUSE WE HAD A SMALL PRIVATE COMPARTMENT IT WAS NOT TOO BAD.  AS WE WERE GOING TO SLEEP VALLY WENT TO TAKE A SIP OF WATER AND A CUTE LITTLE MOUSE RAN ACROSS THE FLOOR.    THE SECOND TRAIN FROM JAIPUR TO JODHPUR WAS OVER TWO HOURS LATE AND CHILLING OUT AT THE RR STATION IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE.  THEIR STANDARDS ARE SO DIFFERENT FROM OURS IT IS LIKE BEING IN A VERY BAD DREAM AT TIMES.  AT THE STATION WHEN ONE WANTS TO GO TO THE BATHROOM, THE MEN SIMPLY STAND BY THE PLATFORM EDGE AND PEE AWAY..  WE HAD THOUGHT WE HAD ANOTHER COMPARTMENT ON THAT TRAIN BUT DID NOT, AND ENDED UP SITTING IN SEATS THAT WERE TOTALLY FILTHY VERY CROWDED AND VERY NOISY.   WHEN WE GOT OFF MOM WAS BEHIND ME AND ASKED WHAT I GOT ON MY SHORTS, UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS FROM THE LEATHERETTE SEAT AND ALMOST RESEMBLED DRIED POOP.  VALLY SOAKED THEM FOR ALMOST FIVE HOURS BUT SO FAR THEY ARE STILL DISCOLORED.  THE FOOD HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE UNTIL LAST NIGHT WHERE WE STAYED IN A GREAT HOTEL THAT IS STILL HOME TO A MAHARAJAH AND HIS FAMILY.  THOSE FELLOWS KNEW HOW TO LIVE.  QUITE ELEGANT AND VERY POSH.  WE COULD HAVE EASILY STAYED HERE A COUPLE OF DAYS, AS IT WAS EXTREMELY RELAXING.  EVEN HAD PROPER TEA GARDENS WITH TEA AND SCONES SERVED DAILY IN THE AFTERNOON.I HAD ROAST LAMB FOR DINNER WHICH WAS VERY VERY GOOD.  WENT ON A JEEP SAFARI BEFORE DINNER, AS THE COUNTRY SIDE IS THE INDIAN DESSERT AND IF 108  WAS NOT BAD ENOUGH IT WAS 10 DEGREES HOTTER HERE,  YUP YOU GOT IT RIGHT,  118.   DROVE THROUGH A BARREN WASTELAND WITH VERY LITTLE LIFE, OTHER THAN SOME ANTELOPES THEY CALL BLUE COWS, WHICH IS ALMOST LIKE A LARGE AFRICAN ELAND.  VISITED TWO VILLAGES, ONE WAS A VISHNEE VILLAGE, COMPLETELY SELF SUFFIECIENT WITH NO ELECTRIC, WATER, FACILITIES OR SUCH,   THEY ARE COMPLETELY VEGETARIAN AND ONLY USE COWS AND BUFFALO FOR MILK AND  CHEESE.   MUD HUTS AND A WATER STORAGE WELL THAT LOOKED SIMILAR TO OUR SEPTIC TANK, YET THE KIDS LOOKED HEALTHY  AND THE LITTLE 5 MONTH OLD BABY  WAS THE HIT OF THE PARTY.  THEN WE WENT TO A BRAHMAN VILLAGE WHERE LIFE IS A LITTLE EASIER, SOME ELECTRIC, SOME WATER AND EVEN  A FEW SATELLITE DISHES ON THE TOP OF THE MUD HUTS.   WE THEN PARTOOK IN AN OPIUM RITUAL  WHERE WE ALL HAD TO TAKE THREE SLURPS OF AN OPIUM LIQUID FROM THE HEAD  MANS HAND.  THEN WE TOPPED THAT OFF WITH A TOTALLY NATURAL LITTLE CIGAR/CIGARETTE, MADE WITH PLAIN TOBACCO LEAVES.  QUITE GOOD ACTUALLY AND ACTUALLY GOT ME A TAD DIZZY AFTER NOT HAVING A SMOKE IN OVER 14 YEARS.

THE MONUMENTS, FORTRESSES AND PALACES OF BYGONE DAYS , SOME DATING BACK 2300 YEARS  ARE UTTERLY BREATHTAKING    IT IS AMAZING WHAT THEY COULD BUILD WITH UNLIMITED MANPOWER AND WEALTH.  I HAVE MANY  PICTURES OF THESE FANTASTIC PLACES BUT ONE CAN ONLY TRULY APPRECIATE THE WHOLE SCOPE OF IT BY ACTUALLY SEEING IT,HEARING IT AND SMELLING IT.  IT MOST ASSUREDLY IS A FILTHY COUNTRY, AND IT SEEMS THAT THE PEOPLE JUST TAKE NO PRIDE IN THEIR ONCE BEAUTIFUL CITIES.  BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS FROM THE OLD BRITISH PERIOD HAVE JUST BEEN LEFT TO FALL APART, AND OF COURSE THE GARBAGE EVERYWHERE.. MIX THAT WITH THE MYSTERIOUS SMELL THAT IS INDIA, AND THE COWS ROAMING THE STREETS AND WALKWAYS  THEY ARE  TEEMING WITH RICKSHAWS,  HORSE CARTS,  CAMEL CARTS, FRUIT VENDORS, ???? VENDORS, AND ALL SORTS OF MOTORIZED VEHICLES,, AND A TRAFFIC PATTERN THAT ISNT.  AS WE WERE WEAVING IN AND OUT OF ONCOMING TRAFFIC, I HEARD THE DRIVER SORT OF MUMBLE “ONE WAY”, AND WE LEARNED LATER THE STREET WE WERE ON WAS ONE WAY, BUT I GUESS THOSE OTHER DRIVERS DIDN’T AGREE TO THAT.  IN ALL THE YEARS WE HAVE TRAVELED WE REALIZED WE HAVE NEVER EVER GONE ON A NON STOP, DIFFERENT HOTEL EVERY NIGHT TYPE OF TRIP.   IT IS VERY HARD, BUT TO SEE ALL THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS TO OFFER, YOU MUST.   TONIGHT WE ARE OFF ON A VILLAGE TOUR TO THIS LITTLE TOWN THAT IS KNOWN FOR SILVER.   THE MEMORY OF THE TAJ MAHAL IS SO VIVID IN MY MIND.  AFTER MYSTERIOUSLY LOVING THIS PLACE SINCE I FIRST SAW IT AS A LITTLE BOY IN A COPY OF LIFE MAGAZINE, AND HAVING MY MOTHER READ ME THE STORY WITH IT,  I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ENAMORED WITH IT.  NOW THAT CHILDHOOD DREAM HAS BECOME REALITY AND THE MANY HARDSHIPS OF THIS TRIP BECOME ALL WORTH IT.  FOR A MAN TO LOVE A WOMAN SO MUCH AND DEVOTE SO MUCH IN TIME AND ENERGY TO BUILD THIS TOTALLY MAGNIFICENT TOMB FOR HIS YOUNG WIFE THAT DIED MUCH TOO YOUNG, IS JUST MIND BOGGLING.  NO PICTURE I HAVE EVER SEEN CAN CAPTURE ITS BEAUTY AS SEEN IN PERSON AND I WILL HAVE THAT LOCKED AWAY IN MY MIND FOREVER. IT IS TRULY DESERVING OF BEING ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

Well, I guess possibly some of you were wondering where the heck the next installment of our trip memoirs was, but to tell the truth,  things just went a little slower this trip.  Had a few chances in Turkey to finish it off, but felt that the trip was still in progress so why not wait a few more days until the trip got nearer its completion.  Oh well, so much for excuses, just never got around to it

So, let’s see ……… where did I leave you last time???   We finished up our tour of India in a couple of more cities in Rajasthan and then headed for the big city of New Delhi.  The cities of Udaipur and Narlai were great, so into the real lives of these people.  It always amazes me as we hear about the “poor” people of our country and some of the other western countries, but the truth of the matter is, most of us have no idea of what real genuine poverty is.  Where it is so poor, a Mother doesn’t know where or when her child will have something to eat, or clean water to drink. So many of these people have absolutely NOTHING with – no handouts or help from government entitlement programs, and are still at peace with themselves and others.  After many discussions with the guides and later with the owner of the tour company,  I guess the answer lies in the fact that these people are extremely religious, and they believe strongly in their religious teachings.  One of their strongest beliefs is what I feel and believe is why they don’t bemoan the fact that we have and they don’t.  It can be summed up in one word…….. Destiny.   They firmly believe that whatever their situation is this time around,  things are all planned, and that things will hopefully be better the next time around.  It was odd to see children playing with whatever they could improvise an old bicycle wheels and a stick make a great toy.  No computers, no TV, no videos, no PlayStations, no cell phones, no nothing.  Yet, the children we spent time with in this one village, as we took an extended walk in and around the entire village, they were all happy, not a sour face  on any of them.  They laughed   and giggled just like kids everywhere, but never once had to worry about their batteries running out,   they didn’t have any.  It is a sad fact however, that the government of India has never allowed the adoption of their countless orphaned and abandoned children.  There is also no foreseeable hope in my mind that things will ever improve for any of them,   the poorer the families, it seems the larger they are.  It is estimated that in ten years, they will pass China as the most populated country on earth.  I remember growing up near New York City, and was always in awe at the nearly 10 million people that resided there.  Those figures are for the many smaller large cities in India, with the main cities closing in on 25 to 30 million people.

We were in amazement at the “road” crews we encountered while driving from city to city.  In this intense heat, hovering around 118 to 120 degrees,  you would come upon this group of brightly Sari clad women,  wielding pick axes and shovels,  while the men relaxed with tea in nearby tents.  The bricks would be hauled on their heads, and the cement would be mixed with the water they carried from the nearby river. All the while, while the men relaxed with tea in nearby tents. Not exactly what we are used to seeing, but again they seem to accept this, and I feel that Women’s Rights groups will take quite a while to organize.

We took our final train ride from Udaipur to New Delhi, and it was a fitting finale.  It was a nightmare.  As I said earlier we had little luck with the timing of our trains, as the first one was over 5 hours late, the second one almost three and now we sat at the rail station in Udaipur and learned again, it would be a wait of undetermined length.   At least it was daylight, and the throngs of people had not started to make their “beds” on the cooler cement platforms.   So it was another lengthy people watching event, with the men peeing off the platforms, people brushing their teeth at the water faucets, arguments over seating on the few benches provided and of the course the smell that is only found at Indian RR stations.  As we waited we struck up or I guess I should say a man from a monastery in the mountains struck up a conversation with us, and our guide acted as translator.  He was a very proper fellow, with a fabulous smile and pretty much all his belongings in a small plastic zip lock baggy.  Train finally came, and one thing the Indian people are and take great pride in, being first in any queue   I do believe they would push their own in front of the approaching train as it would open a space at the edge of the platform for quicker boarding.  We at least had reserved seats in a compartment, so we did not have to fight the mobs.  Being a sleeping compartment, one of the main benefits is the fact that it has a wall separating you from the throngs.  To say it was clean by Indian standards is a stretch, but it did have that wall i spoke of, and we kept reminding ourselves that this was first class.   The porter finally came in and left us our bundle of bedding, along with a towel of which we are still trying to figure out “why the towel”? as there is no water for bathing.  My window had a bullet hole in it, so that sort of put a damper on my taking pictures of any scenic wonders.  There are many songs that depict the wonders and romance of riding trains, and the magic of listening to the rhythm of the rails, however the rhythm of the Indian Railway is more like the percussion section, and the gentle swaying you find on European Railroads is more like a ride on the bumper cars at an amusement park.  The toilet facilities were an absolute nightmare.  I have experienced some really BAD WC’s in my life, but this one had little or no competition. It was an absolute “—hole” and that is not a play on words.  Vally spent the first four hours in total dread of having to use the facilities, but as fate would have it, we had both gotten a mild touch of India’s Rajah’s Revenge, and the trip to this dung heap would prove inevitable.  To make matters worse, there was a small compartment across from the “facility” that would serve as the YMCA bunkhouse for four swarthy looking Indians during the night, with their sweaty bodies all tangled up, and in direct view of said facility.  The time finally came, and poor Vally braved it, as the only alternative was not really an alternative at all.  The night ended and the sun made its way into the morning sky, and India awakened.  As we approached New Delhi, I will not go into minute detail, but i can tell you that Indian people have no problem  with irregularity, and they do not use Charmin toilet tissue.  This did put our social standards to the test as it posed a serious question for us, what would we do when the next time came to shake hands with a local? Soon after this I had recurring nightmares about that head man in the village we visited and had the opium ceremony, and involved the slurping of opium from his hands. Along the approach to New Delhi station, I stopped counting bare asses as the numbers passed 100, and believe me, at 6 AM, it is not a pretty sight or the normal way to start your day.

Had a very nice hotel in Delhi, and got there in time for a lovely breakfast, or at least a very filling one, and took a short rest before heading out and doing the sights of Delhi.  New Delhi was the same as Mumbai (or as it used to be known as Bombay), and most other big cities of 30+ million, just a mass of humanity and accompanied by filth.  Drove by all the landmarks, the old British buildings that serve as their government center, the famed Gate of India,  saw the organized “CHOP SHOP” section, where all the parts of stripped autos are sold openly, the chicken slaughter houses, with blood covered stone floors underneath hundreds of cages, and took a rickshaw ride through the old section of endless shops.  About the only saving grace about Delhi, is that in the city center there are NO cows to avoid, still zillions of scooters, carts, tiny little tuktuk taxi’s, trucks, occasional camel carts, mobs of people but no Cows.  Finished off the day with an at home dinner with the owner of the tour company.  Lots and lots of friendly talk, some good Efes Beer, comfortable chairs but the same old baby food type Indian food.  I guess it is a taste you have to acquire, but in my mind I simply don’t have enough time left on this planet to even come close to acquiring it.  Took a 2:00 AM drive to the airport for our 4:30 flight that would deliver us out of India.  To sum it up, it was a grand and memorable experience, one that comes along once in a lifetime, a keen insight into the cultures and history of an ancient land, but no repeats  … been there, done that, and once was plenty.

One of the fun parts of our trips is always the “firsts” we encounter, and on this trip we would fly on 3 airlines we had never flown on before.  ANA which was our Carrier to Tokyo was good, very modern, the food good the flight attendants warm and friendly, the second Air India was a little less tidy than others, the food was a little surprise box with some very mushy stuff inside and a Indian chocolate bar.  Their version of the TSA guys were almost asleep as we came through and put our bags on the X-ray belts, and you could almost hear the little bells go off in their heads as they saw an opportunity to have some fun with these tourists.  It always bothers me that each and every airport seems to have their own lists of do’s and don’ts concerning inspection.  India proved no exception as they had great fun taking apart my electronics carryon bag.  I guess they were somewhat disappointed when all they kept finding were lighters that I had collected over the years from various places and had in my bag for many years, in various pockets.  To my surprise they found 8, which I had forgotten about and they promptly chastised me for trying to take aboard and confiscated them.  I did however find some satisfaction of my own in the fact that they missed 4 more in the same bag.    The third Airline was Air Turkey which held a few surprises for us.  First off their scanner was not turned on and didn’t utter a peep as my metal knee walked through.  At this point let me ask, how many of you pay close attention to the safety demonstration the flight attendants give prior to take off??  Well Air Turkey has solved that problem, they just don’t bother to give any … no directions on the oxygen masks, life vests in case of a forced water landing, exits on the aircraft, nothing.  Close the door, taxi and take off, that was about it.  Oh well, guess we can’t complain as we took off and landed in one piece and they did what they were supposed to do,  got us to Istanbul.

Arrived in Istanbul and was met by the people I had arranged our transfer with.  The greeter was very helpful with a brief rundown on what we should not miss, and how to get around.  He also gave us a complimentary Lonely Planet book on Istanbul, which I think Vally read cover to cover.  Got to the hotel and was very pleased.  It was located just a couple of short blocks down the hill from the main drag and the street-train trolley.  The hotel was very worthy of its 4 star rating, and a real bargain at the prepaid early payment rate I had come across.   It had everything and the staff was incredible – very friendly and very helpful.   The room was big and comfortable, and had all one needed for a very pleasant 4 day stay.  The breakfast buffet was one of the best we ever encountered, with plenty of everything, with many things we were not used to seeing at buffets.  They actually had a full plate of fresh honeycomb each day for those wanting some very fresh sweet starts to the day. We relaxed for a while and got ready for our first exploratory trek into the city.  After spending a number of years in my earlier life as a buyer of leather goods, the feel and smell of leather has always held a special place in my heart, and I was blown away by what we would pass each time we headed up to catch the trolley.  Dozens of shops, with hundreds of leather handbags and belts, and each shop different and each one offering their own take on style.  Ours was the handbag street, while one over was shoes and so on and so on.  It was great fun, some really outlandish designs, some very unique.   Also located at the top of our street was one of the 11 gates that allowed you entry into the Grand Bazaar, the oldest and largest bazaar on the continent.    Thousands  of small shops that carried huge amounts of tourist oriented goods, wool and silk Turkish carpets, leather coats etc.  At one point this bazaar took great pride in its layout, as everything had a specific section, such as all leather coats would be here, ceramic goods would be there, inlaid goods and jewelry over there, the bazaar even had a map printed to guide you through the streets of merchandise.   This has stopped as various shops have moved, new ones have come in and now it is an endless maze and mishmash of stuff,  some great and fun stuff but still just more STUFF!  It always amazes us as here you have maybe a hundred or so shops selling the exact same lines of merchandise,   with basically nothing to make one more unique than the other.   It is a unique experience to walk through this bazaar, as the colors alone are great.  The vast assortments of colored glass light fixtures,   and all turned on, is definitely eye catching.  We were to find out however, that one must be careful, as I guess the rent has increased over the years and forced these vendors to raise their prices, as we found the exact same items much cheaper at other store groupings around the city, which we found much more fun to shop. There were a large group of shops near the Blue Mosque and Spice Bazaar etc. where we found a few things.  Did our fair share of shopping as we kept finding some little unique things that we would look at each other and almost simultaneously say how cute that would look on Logan or Isabella.  The one great footnote about the Bazaar and other Turkish shops was the break from the excessive high pressure sellers that you experience in India.  Yeah, they try hard to sell you, but you can have fun with them and they can eventually figure out you just ain’t gonna buy, unlike their Indian counterparts.  Even though we had originally said we were not buying a bunch of stuff on this trip, we did have to buy a small duffle bag to put the “extras” in for the flight home.   Spent a number of hours in the bazaar but actually had more fun shopping other places.  The endless amount of carpet shops is enough to boggle your mind.  Granted, these are high quality carpets, but how many can they possibly sell?  They honestly expect every tourist to buy a carpet and have it shipped home, and the prices run into the tens of thousands of dollars. We actually met one owner by chance on the street and I guess we looked lost, and he asked if he could be of assistance.  He showed us where to buy the essentials for the room (bottled water, beer and coke) and then showed us an out of the way restaurant that was really very good.  We got to talking and of course he wanted us to visit his shop, as they all do, so we told him we would stop by the next day. He promised no pressure as we explained that we do not need a carpet   and that Florida does not lend itself to leather coats (his other store)  We went back to the Grand Bazaar and met him and had a tour of his store,  saw simply beautiful carpets and enjoyed some freshly made Turkish coffee and also some tea.   In his shop alone there were 4 floors of inventory that was valued at around $4 million dollars. The other great shopping attractions in the City were the hundreds of shops selling Turkish Sweets or as they call them Turkish Delights, which is a powdered sugar covered chewy candy in a myriad of flavors and of course Baklava in all its honey dripping sweetness.  A favorite of the locals was a Baklava type pretzel,  generally sold from carts in front of the candy shops.  We had one, and found the first bite good, but then way too sweet for our tastes.  Chocolate Baklava seemed to be the hot item, and was being sold in most of the shops.  While regular Baklava was way too sweet for us, the chocolate version  was actually very good.  We stopped for a Cappuccino one afternoon, and the lady gave us a plate of 4 pieces of them. Pistachio seems to be their favorite filling, and used in abundance in all their candies and their pastries. Other than that we spent a lot of time exploring.  We tried to enjoy the local foods, which included a lot of  lamb, chicken  and great salads. Rode the second oldest subway in the world, it is actually a funicular railway and it is preceded only by the tube in London.  Found the trolley to be fantastic, as it was cheap, very clean, ran often and got you close to all the places of interest.  On the Saturday after our arrival, we took an all day tour, which was both a bus ride through the old city,  a visit to the Oldest Spice Bazaar in Europe and a 3 hour boat ride on the Bosphorus River, which separates  the continents of Asia and Europe (a little geography lesson for all you out there) .  Some great old buildings, beautiful mansions and lush summer homes, a million jelly  fish  in the river and all in all just a wonderful day to be on a boat ride.   So now it is late Saturday, and when we go back to the hotel,  Vally goes up to the room and I head for the Old English Pub, to enjoy a couple of wonderful ice cold Efes  Draft beers and watch the semifinals for the European Cup in soccer on a huge flat screen TV in the bar.  Between periods, they break to news, and they start talking about air space being closed throughout Europe, due to the eruption of some unpronounceable volcano in Iceland.   With that I take a couple of final gulps of my beer and head up to Vally with the good news.  The next day we find out that the hotel is chuck full of folks that are now looking at extended unplanned stays.  The young lady that was in charge of customer relations was outstanding.  She spent the next few days calming down dozens of hotel guests, trying to soothe much frayed nerves and finding solutions for their problems. She was quite literally earning her pay in the heat of battle, and going far and beyond the call of duty.  We tried not to bother her too much, but she even called our room on the following Tuesday when she didn’t hear from us, and was worried that we had other problems.  We found out on Sunday night that our Lufthansa Flight was cancelled along with all the rest, and started looking for possible solutions.  We briefly toyed with the idea of taking a 10 hour bus ride to Sophia Bulgaria and then spend the night and then connect to a 20 hour bus ride to Munich.  We opted for the comfort of our very nice hotel room, and decided to wait it out right where we were.   So we spent the next 4 additional days exploring some more, and talking to all the folks in Germany on that wonderful computer program of Skype, and letting them all know what was happening.   In a way it was good,   as we took the time to visit the Hagia Sophia Museum  which at one time was a Basilica and then a Mosque.  Its name comes from the Greek words “Holy Wisdom” and is about 2000 years old and absolutely marvelous.  We did the  Blue Mosque which is a must but not nearly as impressive as the Sophia, and walked the streets of the old city, and even found a Catholic Church to visit and say a few prayers.   We skipped the Museum Topkapi as most everyone told us it is just a huge old palace with tons of Harem cells and portions converted to a museum that happens to hold the most famous and most valuable dagger in the world.  Actually got the movie “Topkapi” that was made in 1964 with Peter Ustinov and Maximillian Schell when we got home, it was about the attempted theft of that dagger. Thought we could check it out for accuracy after just being there. Other than that, it is always crowded and there are lots of steps that my knees just didn’t feel up to.   As we had done in Taipei we rode the city transit systems from end to end, as it is cheap and a comfortable way to see more of the city than any tour will take you on.  We finally found out that the ash cloud was leaving and airspace was finally opening up, and that Lufthansa had hopes of getting us on a plane out on Friday.   Although it was a huge inconvenience for many and an unbudgeted expense for most, it all worked out great for us.  We actually saw more of the city than we would have, and got a chance to actually take it really easy for a few days.  Found some great restaurants, bought some more Stuff, and left knowing we had truly seen the very very interesting (not beautiful) and ancient city of Istanbul (not Constantinople as the song goes)

Departure day finally came, and after a good breakfast, finished our packing and got a leisurely transfer to the airport.  Had a nice flight to Munich and was met by Vally’s brother Gerhard, who had just visited us in the States this past summer.   It was great to see Irene, Gerhard’s wife as I hadn’t seen her for a few years, and she is such a great and fun person to be around.  Headed for what I call Schloss Schelz, as their house in Grafenau is truly a unique and very large multi leveled residence.   We had some wonderful meals, as one will never go hungry with Irene around, and a huge plate of fresh “spargle” which is a delicious variety of white asparagus.   It was heavenly!  And my Schwaga Gerd, had a number of nicely chilled Budweiser (the great kind from the Czech Republic, which has been brewing it for a little over 900 years) beers  ready for consumption.   Spent a day with their Daughter Andrea and her family, and then went to visit their house in a neighboring town about 30 minutes away.  Their daughter Rebecca is the wonderful young lady that came with Gerhard to visit us last year.  This time I got to meet her two brothers,  Danny and  Rafael.  What a fantastic family.  Talk about time going by way too quickly, it was hard to believe looking at my niece Andrea, and realizing she is all grown up with three children of her own, a wonderful husband who is a Doctor at the main Hospital in Passau, and a killer Poodle  with a mental problem,   you have to ask yourself where the heck has the time gone.  She and Michael have done an amazing job of raising these kids, as they are all full of the devil, yet well behaved, enjoy and do very well in school, and are a joy to have around.  Finished off our visit with a dinner out at a little guesthouse called the “SchmugglerHof” on a little farm, with all freshly made items and it was fantastic.  Took the long train ride (just a tad more comfortable than the Indian Railroad) from Bavaria through Frankfurt and up the Rhine River to my wife’s sister’s house in Leverkusen, which is just a short hop from Koln (Cologne).  Saw all the majestic old Castles along the Rhine,

and had a simply wonderful time with Gerlinde as we always do.  She came with us when we left and headed south to Vally’s brothers Ernst and his wife Irmgard’s house in Oesthofen, and arrived for his birthday party.  There also, time played some tricks as Ernst and Irmgard’s son  Florian, who did some scuba diving with me in our pool one summer a long time ago when we owned the Motel in Vermont when he was around 12 or so,  now is married and  has a wonderful set of twins  that keep him very busy.   Vally and I had the chance to spend the day with Marie Simai, who was a grade school/high school classmate of Vally’s back in Karlshafen.  Had a lot of fun talking about stuff Vally had completely forgotten about, and I never knew.  Visited her Brother and wife who lived nearby and as usual had the ritual German coffee and low calorie CAKES in the afternoon.  Had a leisurely day visit to the very old and historic city of Worms, with it wonderful Cathedral, and slowly got the last few pieces of chocolates that Vally always brings home.    The visit was cut short due to our friendly volcano in Iceland, but it still gave us the chance to have a wonderful visit with family.  Had a nice flight home, and got picked up at the airport by our son Scott. As it turned out, we waited around for the arrival of his wife Stacey’s plane who was delivering her and our Logan home from a business/personal visit to Michigan where Stacy’s mother lives.   Had a ball with little Logan, as she is developing so quickly and repeating every word she hears, and is such a joy to watch grow.  It felt strange, as we were just getting home, and they were packing to leave for Germany on that Sunday.  Stacy had a few lectures to give in Garmisch and they decided to make a family trip and show off their prize offspring to the family in Germany.   So I as finish this, they are there enjoying all the things we just left.  Hear tell, that Logan was a perfect traveler on the flight over, which in a way doesn’t surprise us at all.   Don’t know exactly where this fits in, but I always love when we are exploring these out of the way places, and they try their hardest to get the attention of potential customers, by putting up signs in English, or should I say  their version of English.  I don’t know but I just found this one sign so funny, I giggled for quite some time.  It was unbelievably hot, and everyone was thirsty, so what better thing to have then a …………………………..  

Now let’s talk a little about the resourcefulness of the Thai people. For four straight years we would spend two weeks on what is known as PhiPhi Island (see above), which became famous after the horrible Tsunami of 2006. We always rented the same beachfront bungalow that sat right on the beach a short walk away from the restaurant. Every morning, as we finished breakfast, we would walk back to our bungalow and sit on the front porch and write postcards, do some reading or catch a snooze. That was always around 10 AM in the morning. The year of Tsunami, we were scheduled into our regular bungalow exactly ten days after the tidal wave hit. It struck the island at approximately 10:15 AM. Yup, we would have been right there and as we found out later, the inhabitants of our bungalow, as all the bungalows along the beach were swept away and either confirmed dead or are still listed as missing. When we went back to the island to visit with surviving friends and to view the devastation, the only thing left of our bungalow was ONE cement block that had been part of the front porch. Everything else was completely gone. Over 50% of the island inhabitants were killed, and that included both tourists and locals. The Scandinavian countries alone lost over 3,000 citizens as it was a very popular destination for them. On a very flat island, especially when everyone is thinking of fun things leaves very little time or places to run to for safety. The remarkable thing we found after this tragedy was how the Thai’s took the horrible hand dealt to them. We were there roughly 2 weeks after the catastrophe and with all their losses, both material and personal, they stood up straight, said to themselves “ok, we have had our mourning period, but now it is time to get back to work and start again” and they did just that. No waiting for handouts, no one being sent in to help them, just themselves their neighbors, and a few small groups of foreign volunteers, getting together to help each other, and starting with the first boards and nails they could find. The loss of hundreds of traditional Thai Long Tail Boats was catastrophic, as these are very labor intensive to build and a major source of income for many of them. They are a work of art, and costing over $20,000 American dollars to build one, they are a prized possession for those fortunate enough to have owned one. While we were there, we found ourselves going out into the village to buy supplies, and instead of going to one store as we usually would, we would make a stop at almost every little shop and buy two cans of soda here, two bottles of beer there, some cookies here, some candy there, we even found ourselves buying some things we didn’t even need just to help them out. The looks on their faces of pure gratitude was unforgettable. Each time we did this, it cost so little but the returns to ujs were so high. They had so much to complain about, but we never heard anyone complaining. It was a memorable visit, and we will deeply miss what the island once represented and the people we knew and cared about, laughed with and talked with, that were not spared.
So, that’s about it. We have tried to cover everything that we felt was important, but like in any writing I am sure that once I finish, I will remember even more things I would have liked to put into this blog. However there is just so much you can reasonably expect people to read, and I hope I knew when to stop. Thailand is just so much more than simple words can convey, and if you decide to go you will also find the magic that this country and its people possess. I miss it already and even though it is unlikely for us to return there again, I am still holding out hope, that things may allow us once again to explore its cities, enjoy its people, and find the peace that it brings over me. “Pope gunn mai” or in English till next time, or see you later.

              Unlike the last 6 years, this year we decided not to take another around the world journey, and concentrate on a single country, with a minimum of stopovers. Number 1, it is a lot easier and number 2 it affords you a much greater opportunity to truly discover the “real” place you are visiting. In all our travels, we had yet to head south, and visit South America. As there are many wonderful countries to see, it was hard to decide which one. Probably the one that generates the most interest with visions of beach life, beautiful scenery, attitude, fun and what the media has built up to be the world’s mecca of beautiful, exotic and scantily clad women is Brazil, primarily Rio De Janeiro. Yup, we settled on that and made the necessary flight arrangements and studied the internet to find two bases of operations, one for two weeks in Rio itself, and another outside Rio. After a long and sometimes frustrating search, we decided to see and taste Brazilian life for two weeks in a small fishing village that the Brazilians now call the St. Tropez of Brazil, Buzios. This little town approximately 120 miles north of Rio was “discovered” by the French actress Brigitte Bardot, when she visited it with her then Brazilian boyfriend in the 1960′s. What once was a very sleepy little fishing village now is a booming tourist destination. We found a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment in the Leblon section of Rio, just a couple blocks from the beach and an absolutely fantastic Pousada (Hotel) called the Pousada Beach Hibiscus Hotel in Buzios.  We set out to gather as much information as we could on various elements of our planned visit such as some useful phrases in the local language of Portuguese, types of transportation available, restaurant and food types, local clothing habits etc. You always try to kid yourself into thinking if you plan hard enough prior to your arrival, you won’t have “TOURIST” stamped on your forehead when you arrive. Don’t kid yourself, it ain’t ever gonna happen! We were as ready as we were going to be, and anxiously looked forward to our departure.

                Departure day came and we had a comfortable uneventful flight to Rio, and envisioned all the wonders we would find there, during our 9 hour flight from Washington DC. We arrived in the early morning, and were greeted by a light rain and cooler than average temps. We had arranged for a private pickup, and as we would later find out, this was a wise choice. Buzios is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the airport, along a mostly modern highway, and with the rain, it didn’t afford much of scenic drive, so as I can never get a good sleep on the plane, I caught a few zzzz’s on the way to Buzios. Upon approaching Buzios the scenery and area was kind of dismal, and my wife and I kept giving each other those “where the hell is this place” and “this place couldn’t be here” looks. We found the approach to Buzios very unexciting to say the least, as it goes through a lot of little sections of the area, overflowing with everyday Brazilian life, with no fancy shops, beaches or anything touristy. Buzios is actually a decent sized peninsula, similar I would say to what we call townships, with all the beautiful little beaches (there are actually 23 of them) down both unmarked or poorly marked small roads, and the now famous city center towards the end of the peninsula. We finally got to an intersection, turned left and started seeing what all the buildup was about. A beautiful narrow street along the waterfront, a city center that is all cobble stoned and loaded with little cafes and shops and dozens of Pousada’s, big ones, small ones, expensive ones and less expensive ones.  We got to ours and found a charming small resort, built into a hillside with 12 very comfortable looking bungalows.  We checked in with the owner’s wife and had our introduction to Brazil’s national drink called a Caipirinha, which consists of at least one to two whole limes, sugar and the rest a Brazilian version of sugar cane liquor called Cachaca. They are refreshing, and have a very subtle relaxing effect, no worries in no time.  One of the great benefits of this particular Pousada, which helped me decide on it in the first place, was that English was the spoken language.  We were to find out during the next four weeks, that this is something of a rarity and the instances of finding anyone or anyplace that speak English are very few and far between.  That fact is one of the few major negatives about Brazil.  We felt that once we got to the big city of Rio this problem would disappear, but we were dead wrong.  In fact, strange as it seems, more people (and the numbers were very small) actually spoke English in Buzios than did in Rio.  

               We were exhausted, and took a little break to recharge before heading off to the city center.  When we did we found it to be a wonderful walk of about 20 minutes, and that would bring you to the harbor side of the village.  The city center is about another 20 minutes further down the promenade.  Transportation is also available in small van type buses at anywhere along the route for the measly sum of $R 2 Reais (pronounced Raw-ice) The one we mostly rode actually started its roundtrip journey of the peninsula at the bottom of our Pousade street.  The City Center section is great and consists of 2 long cobble stoned streets that run parallel to one another.   Total length of each is probably around 300 meters and each is loaded with bars, restaurants, shops, ice cream shops, and yes even McDonald’s, which is one of the busiest spots in town.  It seems the locals love it, and each night we passed it, there was actually a queue of 30 or so people.  Quite expensive by our standards, as the $1 menu there is actually $2 and change.  Their “Big Mac” runs $R 12 which is about $6 and change.   The first major problem we had was finding money.   The one ATM that was findable and in the main square was not working most of the time we were there, and the one night it was, is programmed to only give a maximum of $R100 after 10 PM at night.   Here was the first of many times we would have traded our kingdom for someone to ask directions, but the lack of anyone speaking English took care of that,  and during our first couple of days,  a lot of exploring was required to find a bank with a ATM that did something other than make local deposits or withdrawals.    Finally located the 4 banks in town and two of them would not read my Visa card, so we were down to two.  The farthest one out of the City Center also gave you $R20′s instead of larger notes, and that was a definite plus.  Another exploration mission involved the traditional mailing of the stack of postcards that are a requirement of any notable trip.  You think “no problem” we’ll drop them in the mailbox, and then find a nice place to eat.  Wrong…….. no mailboxes.  In Buzios, the local Post Office (called Correios in Portuguese) is the only place to post mail.  Since almost no tourist material is available, and the local Chamber of Commerce or tourist information center is nonexistent, we were fortunate to have our wonderful night manager Alejandro at our Pousada find us a map and mark an X where the Correios was.  As with any small tourist map, they are dreadfully out of scale and after about five separate trips down the main drag where the map showed its location to be, we finally found it.  Next problem, it seems the folks there think nothing of waiting in line forever for anything and everything and simply take it in stride.  That visit to the Post Office took almost an hour in line for one dozen stamps.  The restaurants were great, the Caipirinha’s got stronger with each vendor, the number of bikini shops was mind boggling and the prices for the items were great,   very little money for very very little material.    Beaches were very nice, but very narrow and on weekends very very crowded.  A sea of umbrellas and chairs, with vendors traversing the beach with every conceivable commodity to sell, from raw oysters or shrimp kebobs, to ice cream to beer to Caipirinha’s (no restrictions of alcohol sales over here) woven blankets, sunglasses, corn on the cob, kangas (ladies wraps) soccer T-shirts of the two local Soccer teams (did I mention that soccer or football is a religion here, held almost above everything) jewelery, cashew nuts, bikinis, and probably a few other things I forgot to mention.  The other major form of amusement that is sort of a “must do” while in Buzios, is renting a Sand Buggy.  They are mostly old, have long ago seen the last of their shocks or muffler systems and ironically are NOT allowed on the Sand.  They are allowed on all the streets of Buzios and are a great way to do some serious exploring of the peninsula, since rental cars are very expensive.  Since the roads in Buzios are in very bad shape and offer an ample amount of serious potholes, most of which are  fully capable of swallowing any sand buggy,  (I think I mentioned the lack of shocks)  two or three days of this is more than enough.   Most have NO working turn signals, are very loud, no doors so one must hop in and out, and since all of them are stick shift, they offer an additional form of entertainment at any of the hilly intersections in town.  It seems being able to drive stick shift is a disappearing art form.  I do however guarantee a night long bouncing sensation after spending the day in one of these beauties.  Had some great meals at restaurants called David, Lorenzo’s and Parvati’s,  some great pizzas and one little ice cream shop in town called “Sorveteria Trento”  has probably some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever tasted.   You wash it all down with the almost required Caipirinha’s, which the first ones can be had gratis (and believe me you’ll have more than one) as the pousada’s offer little restaurant business cards that offer a complimentary one for eating at their establishment,   or one of the many decent Brazilian beers such as Skol, Bhrama or Itaipava which are all good.  The ones on draft or “chopp” as it is known locally are the best. 

            Another “must do” while in the area is to take one of the many tours offered that take you to the area of Cabo Frio and Ariele Cabo.  It is an all day affair and a real value.  They bus you down to Cabo Frio which takes about 45 minutes or so, than you transfer to a ship for about a 3 hour sail to Ariel Cabo, which offers some of the most magnificent pure WHITE sand beaches we have seen outside of Australia. It is the kind of sand that stays cool, even under the brilliant and very hot Brazilian sun.  They make 2 stops and let everyone swim or go into the beach.  At one, they actually have a “ski” board slope with snow boards for rent, so you can test your abilities at skiing down a pure white sand ski hill.   All the while, they offer snacks and drinks and of course some very good Caipirinhas.  They then take you to a very nice late lunch at a typical Brazilian BBQ restaurant, and then to a surprise shopping mall.  All during the trip, the guide kept repeating the days schedule and the last item always was that we could go shopping at the last stop, and maybe buy a bikini.  Well when we got to the mall,  it was hidden behind some local shops, and consisted of probably 100 or so shops,  where at least 90 of them sold bikinis………… that’s it    bikinis.   Most of them were what you might describe as rather skimpy, but then on the plus side, they left almost NO tan lines.  All this for around $35 US …… truly a real bargain.   So we were almost done with our two week adventure in Buzios, and it was now time to hit the big city. 

                 As I said earlier in this report, it was a wise decision to book the private car transfer, versus the big bus.  The big bus makes all kinds of stops at various hotels, the driver speaks no English, and if you are going anyplace other than the airport, how do you give or take directions.   Our driver was a nice guy named Marco, and although we were now tanned and doing our best to look like locals, he informed us that our foreheads almost had neon signs saying “tourist”.  Thankfully he spoke good English, and it turned out to be an informative and interesting 3 hour drive down to Rio.  As with any big city, as you approach it the air gets smellier, the traffic more congested, and a whole different world approaches. It took some doing, but our driver finally found our apartment, and as everything is gated and locked and security enabled, we were again fortunate to have the private driver who talked the talk.   The apartment was a wonderful surprise, as it was much bigger than the internet pictures showed it to be, and was very modern with all the necessities.  It had two separate balconies and even 2 ½ baths.  We were expecting our son and his wife to join us for a week, and this was going to be an ideal place to call home base.  As the next two weeks would again show, the one major drawback was once again the lack of anything English, from the guys at the security desk, to the instructions for the TV, etc.  The apartment was in an ideal location, about three blocks from Leblon beach, a huge 24 hour supermarket a half a block away, a taxi stand on the next corner, four or five restaurants within a hundred meters, a large local fruit and veggie market across the street and a school with screaming kids next to the market.  We have come to the conclusion that from a very very early age, Brazilian kids are taught the basics of screaming, whether that is to prepare them for getting attention in later life or getting ready to attend soccer matches I’m not sure,  but they are very good at it.   The apartment also had a magnificent view of the newly selected modern Wonder of the World, the Christ the Redeemer statue (or Corcovado as the locals call it) high atop the mountain overlooking Rio.  We started each day and ended each day gazing upon this wonderful and relaxing sight. The city itself is a big city.  It has an old section, has modern rapid transit, is very crowded, has a huge problem with poor to well off ratio,  has tons of restaurants, is very dirty away from the beach and has a diligent and very hard working street sweeping crew, that tries their best to barely stay ahead of the slobs, but fights the good fight. The Beaches are a different matter. They are magnificent.  The avenue that runs alongside the three major beaches, Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana is wide and offers a wonderful walkway, a bicycle lane and is closed to traffic on holidays and Sundays.  Refreshment kiosks every 100 meters or so, offer a little bit of everything consumable, from tasty local treats to fresh coconuts to cold beers and of course the mandatory Caipirinhas. (One little tip,  you must do some comparison shopping on these little beauties, as the prices run from $R7  on Leblon beach all the way down to $R4 at Copacabana beach.)  The beach life is active and the Rio people seem to dwell on fitness as you see everyone or so it seems,  jogging, power walking working out on the beach, and dozens of volleyball courts, where mostly they play by soccer rules, or in other words “no hands allowed”  it’s all played soccer style. It is awesome to watch. Another delightful way to spend time on the beach is to watch one of the many volleyball games being played by the ladies, sporting Brazilian thong bikinis.  It generates a brand new appreciation of the game. The beaches offer very soft sand, some very strong surf at Leblon and Ipanema, and a little gentler one at Copa. The beaches are filled with vendors, again as in Buzios selling everything and anything.   All along the beach, thriving little businesses under tents rent you the beach basics of chairs and umbrellas and even provide drink service for a very reasonable price.   At the end of the day, it is great entertainment to watch them close up shop and pack all their gear into VW buses.  I’m talking dozens of chairs, umbrellas, three or four large ice chests, tables, tents and tent poles etc.  It is all very well orchestrated and puts the buses so far over their legal weight limits its amazing.  Talking about VW buses, we have come to the conclusion that most of the entire worlds leftover VW bus population is located right here in Rio. They use them for everything from local buses, to vendor’s mobile warehouses.   

The “must see” tourist sites are few,  so that can be accomplished in a day or at the most two,  and that leaves a lot of time for exploring or just kicking back and enjoying the beautiful and relaxing Brazilian beach scene. No Nudity, no topless, and not near the number of itsy bitsy teensy weensy bikinis as the tour books lead you to believe.  Yeah the bikinis are a lot skimpier than in the States, but that just helps you relax and enjoy your beachside Caipirinhas more.  They are by no means self conscious of their bodies, as many of these little numbers are being worn by people who wouldn’t be caught dead in them back home.  But here………. No problem.  While here you MUST do the tourist thing and see the world famous Christ the Redeemer Statue,  take the ride up to Sugarloaf and treat yourself to a truly spectacular view of Rio and possibly see the old Aqueduct that is also quite impressive and offers a tram car ride across the top.  The shopping is not nearly what one expects, and outside of a few items, there isn’t much to entice you into the shops.  The old town market streets are great to explore with their narrow streets and hundreds of shops selling mostly stuff you have absolutely no use for.  If you didn’t get your bikinis in Buzios, there are a few shops that sell them here, at good prices, but not nearly the selection as in Buzios.   Then explore the subway, which is very good, very clean and very cheap.  Take a bus ride with the locals and be able to say you did, but if it interferes with anything else, skip it.  The restaurants along the beachfront a very few by Leblon or Ipanema, but offer a much bigger variety up at Copacabana.  One very good one we found, right across the street from the night markets in Copacabana was named Alcazar, and it served extremely good food, and the as most of them , the eating area is outside and the wait staff is very friendly but again non English speaking.  The Filet Stroganoff is excellent and the Spaghetti Marinara or Calibrisi were great. We stumbled into a large group of pimps and their “stables” one evening by accident at a local café, and it was great entertainment.  It seems a lot of African American gentleman have brought their pimping profession down south and set up shop in Rio.  Although I can’t say we sampled the night life or at least we didn’t see any to speak of while we were roaming about at all hours.  From what we understood however, there are plenty of Samba clubs around, we just couldn’t find any and certainly couldn’t ask anyone for directions. The one very large discotheque called “Help” which is located in the Copacabana section is said to house dozens of prostitutes, waiting for lonely looking tourists to sample their wares, and then do nasty things to.  Help also charges a $R35 cover charge, so have one more  reason to avoid it.  Another “must do” is to take in the Samba/Cultural show at the Plataforma night club, located in the Leblon section.   They also serve a great Brazilian BBQ dinner prior to the show which is truly fantastic. If it doesn’t totally entertain you, then you have no hope anyway. It’s a little pricey, but still a “must do”.  Eating out is an experience, as almost none of the eateries offer menus in English.   That can get a little frustrating, but quickly solved or at least helped, by learning the local lingo for the basic food groups you want, such as the word for chicken would be  “Frango”, or beef which is “Filet”, or fish or octopus or whatever, and get them down pat and then when you attack the menu, you’ll have a fair chance of getting what you think you ordered or at least close to it.  It is an adventure, so treat it as such.  Make it fun and believe me with a few Caipirinhas, it won’t make much difference what the main course is anyway.  Most of the local food is NOT spicy, and the better restaurants offer beef from Argentina which is super, and surprisingly not a lot of seafood is offered in restaurants.  Plenty of it is in the seafood section of the supermarket, but not tons of it while eating out.  Ice Cream or any desert for that matter is not a huge section of the menu, and ice cream itself, other than the ice cream bars they sell on the beach, is not readily found in Rio.  Lots and lots of fresh fruit juice cafes and the Brazilian version of fast food restaurants are plenty.  The public transportation is abundant,  but the only problem there is you don’t have a clue as to where they are going, and don’t think you can ask the driver as odds have it, he won’t speak a single word of English.  Make a note to also definitely take in the market that is held every night of the week along the Copacabana waterfront.  It opens at around 6 PM and stays open to midnight on weekdays and 1 AM on Saturdays.    On every night but Sunday they offer well over 100 stalls selling a little bit of everything from Amazon blow guns, to local musical instruments, to bikinis and on and on.  On Sunday nights they change the assortment of merchandise to Art only goods, and some very talented local artists display their wares.  Haggling over the price is expected, and it’s a win win situation for all.  It is perfectly safe to walk the water front promenade, as it is extremely well lit, and there is something magical walking along the ocean and taking in all the twinkling lights on the hillsides of Rio. Many nights they have local bands playing, with the standard “open guitar case” in front for donations,  but they are really great to listen to, and generally you will have a few locals that let the rhythm take control and show their steps.  The beautiful twinkling lights are generally the poor or slum areas of Rio called “Favelas”. It is ironic that the people with the ultimate views of the oceanfront are the poorest people in Rio.  Rio de Janeiro is experiencing a huge increase in population growth. This increase has come mostly in the form of the rural poor coming into the cities to find work. Because of the very high land values and the enormous demand for space, these poor are forced into illegal squatter settlements known as favelas. Although illegal, they are mostly ignored by the police as most are unsafe for even the police to enter.  The living conditions are horrific, with little to no sanitation facilities, electricity  only if a few hundred extension lines have found their way  into power supplies of houses at the bottom or unknowing businesses , and water only available at the bottom where people have tapped into the nearest water main. They got their name from the first such settlement that was started a number of years back on  the hill Morro da Favela

So,  I‘m going to spend the next page or two  sort of giving you a rough tip sheet on all the things we found to be different, our observations on life in Rio and Buzios and  things to look for or things to look out for.  It won’t be fancy or loaded with bells or whistles, just what we observed and hopefully pass on a little information to help out some future visitors to Brazil

 So here goes:

         Local Currency:    The local currency is called the Real or Reais pronounced Raw-ice.    Try not to have large notes, as vendors DO NOT LIKE them.  $R 10 & 20’s should be the note of choice.  ATM’s are tough, a lot of them don’t like our credit cards for some reason, and spit them back out at you.  When you find one that likes you, get a few days worth and then leave most of it in your room in a safe place.  Almost everywhere accepts VISA MC American Express, even Diners Club.  

         Converting Money:    If you do insist on converting money, just convert very little at the airport or any other money changer as they will surely take you to the cleaners.  Very high fees and very low exchange rates make it a very poor choice.  Instead of this, use ATM machines, you actually get a fairer rate and the fees are 1/3 of money changers. With the current rate of exchange a little under 2 to 1, it is sad to think that only three years ago, the dollar exchange rate was 4 Reais to 1 of ours.  What a time you could have had then!

         Electricity:   No need to bring voltage converters as the local current is the same as our 120v, with two prong plugs.  Makes using the hair dryer or electronic gadgets from home much easier.

         Tourist demographics:      Almost none from America, or at least they aren’t out exploring, or mingling.  A huge percentage of their tourists are from other South American countries, with the bulk coming from Argentina & Uruguay

         Ice Cream Shops:    Plenty of great ones in Buzios, even make your own dish as they sell it by weight.  As mentioned above, some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever had.

         Souvenir Shops:   Almost nonexistent.   Most of the stuff you find in those kinds of stores is crap anyway.  Surprisingly, most of the few souvenir type items you do find are made in Brazil, and NOT in China.

         Bikini and Halter top shops:    Abundant in Buzios, yet other than the old section side streets where a few can be found, none.

         Openly Affectionate:    If you get embarrassed by folks that like to openly kiss and nuzzle and damn near consummate their love in public, Rio is NOT for you. They have no hang ups on this type of behavior.

         Risqué Post Cards:  If you were thinking you would send one of those very R rated post cards back home,  showing those very sexy thongs, and lots of skin, forget it………….nowhere to be found.

         Public Transportation:  Very close to being the city with the most we’ve encountered.  They have buses going everywhere, and no long wait between runs.  A subway that is expanding and covers most of the Copacabana section through City Central and beyond is very clean and very fast.  Taxis are plentiful, and very reasonable.  Just make sure you get ones with meters.  As in any city, there are those that will try to con the naïve tourist into paying triple fare, don’t buy it        just say no thanks     and find a metered taxi.  ALL taxis have red license plates.

         Tipping:   It’s in the bill already as a 15% or more service charge.  Only people to tip are taxi drivers, where you simply round it up a $R or two and they are very happy. 

         Fuel for rental cars:    The gas station experience is great.  A lot of cars run on Natural gas, and to fill up at the pump, you open the hood and treat the engine like large refillable butane lighter.  You plug the wand into the receptacle and wait for it to stop.  When done it pops and squirts just like a lighter.  DON’T SMOKE AND FILL UP AT ONE OF THESE.

         Supplies at the Super Market:   Prices vary greatly.  You can find ice cream but it is very expensive.  Cereal and chocolate likewise, while beer, wine, soda, and the main ingredient for Caipirinha, Cachaca is very cheap.  Meat and fish in the market is reasonable, and baked goods like cakes and cookies and bread and rolls are plentiful and inexpensive.  Likewise with a wide selection of veggies and fruit.  If you are a Cashew Nut fan, you can get very fresh and very tasty ones for ¼ of what you are used to back home.   Eggs and cheese are very cheap.

         What the locals wear:    Don’t worry about dressing up.  Almost no one wears a button front shirt except the tourists, almost no dresses were seen, Tee’s and shorts are the uniform of the day anyplace and anywhere, the men or the ladies.

         Shoes:     Sandals, sandals, sandals and more sandals.   They are worn by everyone and everywhere.  Few fashion ones either, mostly good old flip flops. With the many cobble stone streets it is an obstacle course for high heels.  Sneakers are only worn by the locals it seems to church services.  I think the number of “Crocs” we saw could be counted on one hand.

         Pizza:  There are a never ending amount of Pizza places, and they are all mostly very good and very big.  The prices vary from cheap to downright expensive for a Pizza.  Check the menu first, as you don’t to read Portuguese to read the $$$.  They are easier to order than the regular menu, as cheese is cheese, and most of the toppings although not pronounced the same, are spelled pretty similar to our toppings.  Sardines, pepperoni, champignon, fungi, spinach, tomato etc., pose little problem to understand.

          Street and sidewalk repair:   Keep your eyes open.  Cobblestone sidewalks can be very menacing when not watching your step.  They tend to be a little lax in repairing the many loose stones and missing stones in the walkways. 

         Coconuts:    With all the South Pacific countries we have visited where the Coconuts main use is to fall from trees and hit unsuspecting tourists in the head, Brazil uses it to its fullest.   All the kiosks sell it for a drink at $R2.  They are at room temp but they are very refreshing and a whole lot healthier than soda.  They eat the meat for snacks, and burn the leftovers for fuel.  The kiosks have huge amounts delivered in huge piles by their stands in the early morning, and it is all cleaned up and the rubbish taken away by the very hard working sanitation crews at night.

         Smoking in Public:  A lot less than expected.  It is allowed almost everywhere but again a lot less than we had thought there would be.  A very pleasant surprise.

         Alcohol:   No restrictions on its sale that we could see.  Possibly they are just ignored, as it is sold everywhere.  If you are in desperate need for a little hair of the dog, you won’t have to look very far.  First place we have been where no American or Canadian beers were found anywhere.  Not a Budweiser to be found.  The local beer is OK as mentioned above, but the “Chopp” or draft beer is the best, and that is found in almost any restaurant, fast food place, even the guys on the beach carry kegs around. 

         Solar:   You would think that a country like Brazil with all its sunshine would utilize solar power more, but during our entire trip and little side trips, I believe I only saw one array of solar panels. 

         Voice decibels:   The Brazilian people are just downright LOUD.  As I mentioned before, we think they are taught at an early age to let their voices be heard.  One interesting thing we noted was that if you were to take a group of males and females, any age group and put blindfolds on and have them talk, you would be hard pressed to tell which were which. They all seem to have low and very loud voices.

         CRIME:     I think that the crime stories and warnings they print about Rio are very highly blown out of proportion and highly overrated.  We walked around in just about every area of the city open to tourists, at all hours, and never once felt threatened or menaced.  Just like any big city, you have to use common sense and not flaunt anything that a huge poor population might find desirable, and keep the money carried to a minimum and stay out of areas that seem dark or foreboding.  Don’t flaunt jewelry and leave all the bling at home.  Yeah there are some beggars, but just ignore them or if you feel compelled to help them, give them something small and useful.  A few times we found ourselves giving some cookies we had from the store that we knew we would not be eating and they were truly appreciated.  One young man who we gave some small spare change to,  sat down and did a small painting on a tile he had, and actually found a person that spoke a little broken English to explain to us that the tile needed 30 minutes to dry.  He was very thankful, as was the family we gave our leftovers to from our meal.  I wouldn’t make a habit of it, but a few kind acts are always appreciated by those less fortunate.

         Beach necessities:    Another thing that is so enjoyable about the beach life in Rio or Buzios for that matter is that no one worries about what to take to the beach with them.   NO towels, NO sunglasses NO mats to lie on, NO IPods or cell phones, NO unnecessary stuff at all.  Just some sun lotion, the swimsuit under the shorts and tee shirt and that’s that.  Everything else that is a necessity can be found at the beach.

         Dinner hour:    If you are an early eater, you might have a problem.  Most of the restaurants don’t even start to set up the tables until after 6 to 7 PM.  We have been in many restaurants where people were still being seated at well after 11 PM.   Unlike here,  the busy hour is usually around 9 to 10 PM. Most of the restaurants in the Copacabana section are open until 2 AM

      Sand Sculpture:  If you have seen and loved sand sculptures on various beaches you have visited and appreciated the amount of work involved you would be   hard   pressed to  find another area to match their intricate and beautiful works on these beaches.  They are simply “sandtastic”

                   I think I have just about touched all the bases, and covered what I hope you have found helpful and useful if you are or even if you are not planning a trip to Brazil.  It is a great and challenging place to visit, one that holds lots of surprises and interesting new vistas   to discover.  The people I regret speak almost no English, and I feel that is one of the things I felt badly about as it didn’t afford us the chance of just shooting the bull with anyone and having a good old back and forth dialogue.  That was sad, but they are a happy people and a very confident bunch.  It is refreshing to be somewhere that “political correctness” is not deemed very important, races mix freely with one another and people feel that the local soccer match is much more important than just about anything.  Next to church services on Sunday, and possibly family, sport especially soccer is the most important thing on their menu.  As they say in Brazil,   Adeus