February 19, 2015, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil Carnival is over but in Salvador it ends later than in Rio, and Salvador claims it throws a bigger party than Rio, which bills its carnival as “The biggest party in the world.” In … Continue reading Carnival Just Keeps on Coming, Salvador, Bahia
February 16, 2015 Carnival in Rio. We were on our feet dancing for the entire performance of the Mocidade Samba School at the Sambodormo in Rio for Carnival. This group was clearly a crowd favorite. When they were announced thousands … Continue reading Joyful Apocalypse,
February 16, 2015 Rio Sambodormo is the epicenter of Carnival. It is a street lined by concrete bleachers, 13 grandstands plus reviewing stands, holding 90,000, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, who designed the city of Brasilia and major soccer stadiums. The … Continue reading Carnival in Rio!
February 15, 2015 Rio Dear Friends, Anyone who has traveled in India, North Africa or the Middle East knows the ritual of a visit to Uncle Tonoose’s carpet shop. In South America there is a VERY upscale version of that … Continue reading The Girl in Ipanema
February 15, 2015 Rio I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. Therefore I was rewarded as we sailed past sugar loaf just before sunrise watching the pilot boat drop off the harbor pilot on Prinsendam. We watched the sun behind … Continue reading Manha de Carnaval
February 8, 2015 Montevideo, Uruguay A week from tonight we plan to be at the Sunday night carnival parade in Rio. Today we are in Montevideo, Uruguay. Montevideo’s carnival lasts for 40 days, starting the 40 days before Ash Wednesday. … Continue reading Recycled Carnival
January 30, 2015 Ushuaia, Argentina The train at the end of the world started as a convict work train. It’s a narrow gauge railway that used to run from the Prison in Ushuaia into the forests of Tierra del Fuego. … Continue reading Railway at the End of the World
January 1-3, 2013, Sitka, Seattle and Ft. Lauderdale Dear Friends, I’m starting the adventure around South America sick. We had Liam with us for Christmas and, like every little kid in a daycare, he brings home an assortment of bugs, … Continue reading Anticipation
The Sitka Artisan’s Market & Holiday Craft Party lives in the spirit of the best European Christmas Markets. Allen Hall, on the Sheldon Jackson Campus, has historically been a meeting place for Sitkans. Over the last few years Sitkans volunteered … Continue reading Sitka Artisans’ Market
The Lille Christmas Market is the first one I have attended in France. Lille bills itself as the most Flemish town in France. It’s thoroughly French in language but the architecture is more Flemish-Dutch. It is the heart of French Flanders … Continue reading Lille, France Christmas Market
Hasselt “Winterland” Market is, perhaps the most commercial Christmas market we have encountered in Europe. It reminds me of the tables under the grandstand at the Minnesota State Fair. There was a collection of kitchen wares, knives, trinkets, I half … Continue reading Hasselt Winterland, 2014
The last time I was at the Brugge (Bruges) Christmas fair, in 2007, it was a short visit. It was raining and cold. The skating rink in the middle of the main town square was more slush than ice and, … Continue reading Brugge (Bruges) Christmas Market, 2014
Christmas Markets started in Central Europe, Austria and Southern Germany, and have moved up and down the Danube and spread out from that waterway across the continent. London has always had great Christmas decorations and shopping, but the European style … Continue reading Covent Garden, London, 2014
Valkenburg is perhaps the most unique, and possibly the most interesting, Christmas Market in Europe. I have been back to this market in The Netherlands three times now. The first two times with our friends Dave and Carol Lam. (The … Continue reading Valkenburg Christmas Market, 2014
When the St. Pancras railway station opened in 1868 its wrought iron and glass train shed, designed by Henry Barlow, was the largest single structure roof in the world. It was 689 feet long, 240 feet wide and 100 feet … Continue reading St. Pancras International Railway Station
When I was a kid I loved to go “Down the Shore.” Well, when I was really young, not too far down– as far as Keansburg, New Jersey to be exact. You have probably seen Keansburg. When movie makers need … Continue reading Keansburg, A Living Museum “Down the Shore”… But Not Too Far.
Growing up we could see the New York Skyline from the back window of both my grandparents’ flat and from our flat, although the best view was from Grandma’s kitchen fire escape. The Empire State and Chrysler buildings dominated the skyline. When I moved to Ridgewood the favorite spot for “parking” was on a ridge overlooking the skyline. Again, those two buildings were the focus of the skyline. The Empire State Building lost its title as the tallest in New York to the World Trade Center twin towers in the early 70’s. When the towers were brought down it was … Continue reading New York’s Deco Towers
It looks like a giant Klingon Bird of Prey has landed in the middle of the World Trade Center. It’s the skeleton of a new railway station, designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who says the design is that of a bird being released from a child’s hand. Now, under construction, with welders sparks flying, it looks ominous, but I can see how, minus welders’ sparks, when finished, it could be inviting. The World Trade Center zone looks like Dubai. Construction cranes swing between impossibly tall buildings. One World Trade Center, The “Freedom Tower,” rises to 1776 feet. This … Continue reading New York’s World Trade Center in transition.
It’s Throwback Thursday. This is a letter from November, 1993. I edited out the middle of the letter, where I talk about our time in Vlora, for reasons of length. But I remember we went swimming in the Adriatic Sea … Continue reading A 1993 Albanian Bus Adventure, Tirana to Vlora and back
This is a letter from 1993. I pulled it out of my digital files because an Albanian friend posted pictures from this area on Facebook. I got into a Facebook conversation with several Albanian friends about the pictures and this … Continue reading A Trip to Northern Albania, 1993
This coming Tuesday is primary election day in Alaska. I’m beginning my “Throwback Thursday” posts with my family letter about being a municipal election monitor in Albania. Albania was a new democracy and people took their newly won privileges … Continue reading Albanian Municipal Election Day, 1996
I love the iron and steel constructs built between the American Civil War and the First World War. Many were built by the railroads, the wonder train sheds of Europe. But the US has its share of railway architecture. The St. Croix River Soo Line High Bridge is a magical construct of steel latticework. I never tire of taking a boat down to the bridge just to marvel at how, more than a century ago (in 1909) folks made such a wonderful and beautiful structure. I love how delicate the lacework pattern of iron and steel can look. Make sure … Continue reading St. Croix River Soo Line High Bridge
Liberal Arts educations are often derided in the popular press today. Today the reason for a college education seems to be to find a job not to find a life or a vocation. I’ve never regretted the broad liberal arts education I got at St. Olaf College. Sure, it gave me skills to function in the workplace but more than that it gave me insight in how to live an enjoyable life, in finding a vocation. When I look back at my college time from the perspective of 50 years the one course that stands out, providing me more lifetime … Continue reading A Professor, An Art Barn and A Lifetime of Enjoyment
On Saturday Suzi and I were fortunate enough to to sit on the Macalaster College lawn surrounded by family — kids, grandkid, in-laws, nieces and nephews celebrating A Prairie Home Companion’s 40th anniversary. The whole weekend was kind of a PHC festival with outdoor stages and indoor concerts in the Macalaster Fine Arts Center and the chapel. There were food booths, including great corn on the cob, and radio booths. At one the PHC sound effects man recreated the sounds we all hear on the show and had kids help him create the effect of a creaking ship, a crackling … Continue reading A Prairie Home Companion 40th Anniversary Celebration