France

    The driver of the iDBUS I took from London to Lyon, bought me coffee, fed me new tastes from his plate, gave me a metro ticket and tickled my foot. 

    Where I am staying, the receptionist does not know which side of the street or block the hotel is on. Got a longer walk than I planned for. To get there, Also a long walk, no street sign for my street, after ggoing many blocks the wrong way. Very tired pulling the heavy bag that has three packages of Lavaza coffee that I got with coupons and one from Lynette in England. And, big books. And bus food. 

     Public bus for wheelchairs has center doors that open with a tongue like piece that comes out to lay on the curb, voila. Wheelchair drives in. No stopping for the driver and so easy for the chair.

    Even tattoo places have style. 

    Ultraviolet light in hand dryer.

McDonalds has free standing order yourself computers in many languages. And, offer mayonnaise without asking.

   How can people be so thin and eat so much cheese and bread. And, what cheese . OMG! 

    Sylvie my hostess in chambery, has walked me to new heights, by that I mean mountains. Holy cow. There are prostitutres waiting in the pull out areas of the highway, very convienent.
Food is the best I have had in ages. 
 

Russia 2013

 Among the Russians , ColonThubron

     The trouble with us Russians is that we're hopelessly religious. Of course Communism's a religion.  It's never existed , in any country, as anything else. It has its own dogma, it's own prophets, and even-ugh-it's  own embalmed saint. What else is that Lenin mausoleum? It's pure paganism, or a throw back to the relic/worship of early Christians. 

    The Russian is like an onion: the more you peel him , the more you weep. 

   Why don't they smile? It would be frivolous.  

     This time in Moscow there was ice cream on every block, last time in 1991, when it came, it was gone. Now it is foreign made and the familiar-Magnum. GUM department store is full of very expensive brands. Last time-hardly anything. English AA meetings. New section of Moscow is where the skyscrapers live. That is a different sight. Still not able to see the mummy of Lenin, have missed all of the modern mummies, they all have been in restoration. 

     At the Hermitage the, very boring guide who also would not answer questions, marched us by a Carravagio show to look at 200 paintings of Soviet military men. Screw that. This is what I went back to see:  The Lute Player and St. Jerome. No contest. 

     Finally I have been inside The Church Of Spilled Blood. This is beyond my descriptive words. Soaring interior, open, totally covered with mosaics. Years of restoration and so worth it. My mouth dropped open and stayed there. A truly magnificent tribute to Christianity and artistic endeavor. I am so lucky to have come back to see it. Worth the long journey from Beijing. 

    Спасена

      

San Francisco May 2013

    Took me 5 trips to Russian visa place to get my visa, 3 hours to get a Chinese one.  And China is multiple entry for one year. Russia is very date specific. Still. 

    Enjoyed the city from house sitting at dear friend Nancy's. Concerts, friends, wandering. The city bus talk in three languages: English, Spanish and, Chinese. At noon a horn goes off AND talks-very sci-fi. Spooky in my book. 

   Tour of  Chinatown. Walter Ulum Place is only street in US named for a Chinese. From Canton were brought the first 50 immigrants  for mining, food prep., laundry. That worked out so well it grew to 70,000. 39 men to a woman. So flowed the sex slave trade. 40% of women that came were forced into prostitution, and very young. In the SFChinatown  were 8,000. Most families lived in a room either: 4x6, 5x7, 10x10. No kitchen, shared toilet. Tough. 

    There were so many street people, too many, the drunks are a big problem for the city. Many times in a restaurant or in the street there would be a person screaming obscenities or gibberish. Sad for the best city in the USA.  

Scotland 2013

    On the way to the Orkney Islands: Looking out the bus window to the west coast mountain terrain, glacier gouged glens, covered in green, waterfalls draping themselves like silver ribbons from  top to bottom like a Christmas Tree. Amazing Grace played with bagpipes and drums makes it complete. Life is good. Skarbrae is a 5000 year old village on the north of the island, they even recycled, my kind of people.     

    Purple is the color of Scotland, easy to see why as flowers of all kinds are purple.  Nice to see a beautiful part of your land honored as the national color. The other color is grey: houses etc. made from local stone. Scarecrows are called Tatty Boogles and are found in normal and unusual places. 

    No trees on the Orkney Islands. 

     Monument to the original Braveheart-William Wallace. It is a tower of power. Beautiful castle of Ben Robbie and a picture perfect one at the shore of Loch Ness.  Seems that Nessie might just be an Ore Fish, sure looked like it when I looked it up.  Oh, and the dragon fly seems to be the inspiration for the story of Peter Pan, written by local J. M. Barrie.
   A word about the much awaited Military Tattoo in Edinbourgh.  Wow, it lived up to all that I had imagined.  Who does pomp better than the UK? No one.  So many tricked out pipers and all the drums and marching. Makes one go weak at the knees.  I did not realize that there were other countries represented. In fact the Mongolian National band was there, funny as I just came from there.  More throat singing, awesome.

     Boutique cinema has leather Laz-E-Boy chairs, tables and free Pringles.

    Anything goes as far as hair color and dress. 

    Jenners is a dept. store in Edinbourgh was first 'shopping center'

    A fort is wood and a castle is stone.

    Dunedin is old name for Edinbourgh.

    Argyle means triangle.

    Loch means dark hole in Galic
      List of some famous inventors:
CRT for TV: John Logie Baird
Phone: Alexander Graham Bell
Trans Atlantic Cable: Wm. Thomson
Beta Blockers: James Black
Chloroform: James Young Simpson
Colors in light: James Clerk Maxwell
Cloud Chamber: CTR Wilson
Pneumatic tire: Robert Thompson + Dunlap
Screw propeller: Robert Wilson
Tarmac: McAdams
Lighthouse: Stevenson brothers
Bridges: Thomas Telford
Steam engine: James Watt
Napiers Bones, logarithms, decimal     notation: John Napier

Andrew Carnige

Any names seem familier?
And last but notleast is the ship and Scotch -Cutty Sark. 
So there..