A koala peacefully munching on some leaves.
The wildlife in Australia is one of the main reasons people go. That’s why we went. Oh yeah, we visited some cool family, too. What a bonus!
One of my third graders has chosen to study koalas, and he is constantly coming up to me and reminding me what awesome little creatures these are. Two of his favorite facts are that they sleep up to 20 hours each day and that they drink little water, getting most of their moisture from the eucalyptus.
He’s right! Koalas are totally cool animals, and we [...]
Continue reading Reflection #571 – Koala
The French region of Alsace is one of my favorite places in the world. Here are a few reasons why:
Alsace is located on the eastern side of France, along the German border. It is a region rich with vineyards. In spring, you can see scenes such as this, as the bright, lime-green leaves of the first grapes begin to appear. Later, in the fall, the leaves are dark, and the grapes are full and heavy. They begin picking and wine fests pop up all over the region. At any time of year you can visit the [...]
Continue reading Addicted to Alsace
Traveling through the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France was a mixture of stunning landscapes, scrumptious food, and sophisticated wines.
Our time in southern France, the Languedoc-Roussillon region, was relaxing. We rented a gite (cottage) for a week in a town near Montady. We woke up every morning and headed straight to the boulangerie to get our choco-pain or warm crossaints.
From there, we would head to the day’s destination such as Carcassonne, Canal du Midi, Pont de Gard, Nimes, Narbonne, Agde, and more. We would explore until lunch, where we would try to sit and have a wonderful French [...]
Continue reading Reflection #548 – Wine Yard in Languedoc-Roussillon
“Wow! Where is that?” you ask! “Cappadocia,” I say. “Where is Cappadocia?”
This is a pretty iconic shot of the fairy chimney houses in Goreme, Turkey. The region called Cappadocia is located on the Anatolian side of Turkey, right in the middle. It’s about four hours driving time southeast of Ankara, or you can easily fly within about an hour from anywhere in the country into Nevsehir.
One of the favorite things to do in Cappadocia is to take a hot air balloon ride over the enchanting rock formations. Jim and I never went up in one of the [...]
Continue reading Reflection #546 – Where is Cappadocia?
One of the things I was really looking forward to when visiting Israel, was the food. Especially the hummus and felafel. I love hummus, and I’m a pretty big fan of felafel.
As you know, we rented a car and drove around the country. One of the big problems with this is timing. Sometimes it’s easier to wait until you are at a good stopping point, or you are just trying to get somewhere and you forget to eat. We did this on our way to the Roman ruins of Caesarea or Kaysaria. It’s a little south of Haifa [...]
Continue reading The Best Hummus in Israel
A little jaunt to the Hong Kong wishing tree…what fun!
Hong Kong is such a fascinating, chaotic, loud, fun city! We had had quite enough of the hustle and bustle, so we went searching for a little peace and quiet, along with a bit of quirkiness.
The Tin Hau Temple in Lam Tsuen takes a little effort to get there, but we found the bus, and it dropped us off right outside the grounds.
As you enter, you go to a sales booth and find a lady, like the one pictured, to sell you some wishing paper. You [...]
Continue reading Reflection #543 – Hong Kong Wishing Tree Lady
Barcelona is the city of color. Everywhere you look the architecture is amazing, and on all the buidings you have so much decoration from tiles and ironwork, to murals and roof shingles. The facades are interesting and quite a bit different than other European cities.
This photo was taken beside one of the Gaudi buildings in Park Guell. I love that the color of the boys’ uniforms match the blue in the tiles. Overall the park was so crowded and it was very hard to get a great shot, impossible to get one without anyone in it. So, [...]
Continue reading Reflection #542 – Park Guell Blue
In January, we hopped on a plane just to go to the Sumo Tournament in Tokyo, Japan.
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When we lived in Japan for three years, we spent all our winters skiing on the fantastic slopes of northern Honshu and we spent all our summers traveling. We just never seemed to make the time to do the sumo tournament. Stupid us!
Instead, we flew in for just a few days, during the [...]
Continue reading Do You Know Sumo?
A Korean shaman dances in Andong.
We headed to Andong for a festival, and spent at least three hours watching this Korean Shamanism ceremony. My tail-end was sore, but I couldn’t believe how interesting and engaging the ceremony was. People in the audience were at once mesmerized or crying or bowing their heads in prayer. Even though I couldn’t speak the language, some parts of the ceremony were very moving. Other parts, were…entertaining.
They put on quite a show. From dancing, to balancing knives on their heads, to parading a dead pig around the stage, the show was [...]
Continue reading Reflection #540 – Korean Shamanism Ceremony
Yes, I know! I keep telling you this, but I just love it! I love living in the city of pigs! I do. I do.
Just recently I went on a tour of my town. After living here for about seven months, I figured it was about time I learned something about my little city.
The opening bit was about how Schweinfurt got its name. You see, Schweinfurt is on a river, the Main River, and literally, “schwein” means “pig,” and “furt” means “ford,” like to ford the river.
Apparently the Main River used to be much higher [...]
Continue reading Reflection #539 – Our Schweinfurt Pig, Germany
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