year-of-adventure

Horsing around in Colorado

The Winter Park visit continues - so much to do and the people seem to HEALTHY and energetic.  Found a horse stable outside of town that offered "trail rides", but the ride was unlike the usual level ride with many ups and downs that increase saddle sores.  My horse (Duke) took the whole thing in stride as if he'd done this many times before.  The experts suggest that if you are going on a longish ride, wear something like lycra bike shorts under your jeans to lessen saddle sores - next time....  This group also does cattle drives for a day or week - "City Slickers".  In the previous post  mentioned the YMCA of the Rockies - an example of upscale nontraditional camping is the yurt - nicely furnished and spacious.  We dedcided to go south a bit for an adventure to see Pikes Peak.  On the way is a beautiful state park called Garden of the Gods with spectacular red rock formations Garden of the Gods.  The, on to Pikes Peak - as a huge mountain it is immediately visible in the area, but is actually one of 54 peaks in Colorado over 14000 feet Colorado 14ers.  The railway system up is the original and reservations are required, even in the winter - check it out for interesting Pike Peak history (Pikes Peak cog railway, Cog Railway history for railroad buffs).  The cost of $33.00 may seem a bit steep (yuck, yuck, no pun intended) but the tour guide said that the original rides were $5.00, quite a  price in 1891.  Their specialty at the top is doughnuts, go figure... apparently there is some technical feat to getting doughnuts fried at this altitude.  Sampled them and not as good as Krispy Cream - plain fried dough and no Jimmies, nuts, cream or frosting.

Colorado in the morning.  We'll be coming back for some skiing in Feb. 

 

Colorado in the summer

We got the opportunity to visit Winter Park Co, in the summer as part of a home exchange deal.  Some of you readers may be skiers and know of Winter Park as a first class ski resort close to Denver (formerly served by the "ski train" that dropped passengers directly at the resort in about an hour trip from Denver Denver Ski Train).  They stopped service in 2009 after 69 years, but folks who rode it said it was a convenient and cheap way to get to ski country.  The pass over the mountains to get to Winter Park climbs to over 12000 feet with the usual switch-back curves one sees with mountain driving.   On arrival in Winter Park you feel the base altitude of 9000+ feet right away.  It's a charming town famous for the resort and for the YMCA of the Rockies - a super ranch setting just outside of town offering rentals all year long in a colorado setting.  More importantly, for those adventurers, they offer an active volunteer program (YMCA of the Rockies - Snow Mountain Ranch).

The place was wonderful and close to everything in Winter Park. The first day we explored the nearby Rocky Mt National Park and shared the road with about 50 bikers. Be aware that if you are over 60 you may qualify for the Senior Park Pass for only $10.00 National Park Service Passes.  The pine trees in Colorado have been infected with a deadly mountain Pine Beetle (Mountain Pine Beetle).  The brown tress in the foreground and background are dead

 This area of the valley was once popular as primitive dude ranches offering fishing, hunting, and trail riding in the 1920's. Although they are still around in other parts of the state, this valley has returned to nature. The brisk wind in august was a reminder of the harsh winters.

Kathryn practicing her ropin skills...

 

Back in Winter Park we explored the local coffee roaster Rocky Mountain Roastery .  Single Track is their signature blend for the necessary caffeine hit. 

A brisk Saturday morning and we headed out at about 5 am to catch a hot air balloon launching. The enticement to help with balloon setup is that "crew" get to ride ont he second day. Lots of people as crew and only 1 passenger, but the sight of 15 or so balloons heading off into the morning air followed by a hearty breakfast starts a great day.

    

Fiddling, Red Shoes and a labyrinth

Moving on from Baddeck to small town Mabou - on the West Coast on a slow trip back toward Halifax.  I chose Mabou and Jill's B&B Inn at Glendyer because of the world famous Red Shoe Pub , and fiddling.  On this afternoon we had the talented Robbie Frazier  You TUBE of Robbie and his brother Issac.    There are many You Tube videos of Robbie, and I was fascinated by his left heel banging the floor.  A typical fiddle tune is 7-10 minutes of fast-paced fiddling.  He saw my camera and looked over with a performer's smile to a tourist.  It was a pretty lively crowd at 6 PM; imagine a lot livelier with the evening bunch.

The day was perfect, the beer was cold, and the talent was free.  The best dish of the trip was a seared scallop and a bacon sauce with peas and leeks.  The Pub has a small kitchen, but makes up for it with a limited menu they do extremely well.    Jill is an adventurous woman as many of the B&B owners are.  A former tax attny in California, she chucked it all to come north  to Mabou, developed a massage business, painting and felting, and built a labyrinth.  Labyrinths are walking paths for meditation and problem solving in addition to the great fantasy film by Jim Henson The film.  Jill decided to build hers as a slightly smaller version of the famous labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral.  Walking it is a soothing experience.  The lore is that you enter with a question or problem that becomes clearer as you reach the center, and possible solutions come to you as you re-walk the labyrinth to exit - worked for me and I felt much better.   

Starting the trip back to Halifax and our nicest B&B at Terry and Wanda's Kenora B.  Local knowledge is so valuable and they directed us to a great tavern for a famous steak and lobster feast at reasonable prices (on average, lobster dinners were upwards of $28). This one was $19.99, and the lobster was precut so all you had to do was grab the meat, dip in butter and enjoy.   A benign flight home, and preparing to go back to work for a few final days.

Let me know if you have questions about Nova Scotia and I'll try to answer them - a GREAT trip in a wonderful place.  Next time we'll focus on one area and do some in depth exploring and hiking 

Nova Scotia - the Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail is a visual extravaganza.  Named by Lonely Planet as one of the best road trips in the world and by National Geographic as one of the essential drives of a lifetime National Geographic, it stretches 300 or so miles along the northern coast of Nova Scotia.  It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497, although most historians agree his landfall likely took place in Newfoundland and not Cape Breton Island. Construction of the initial route was completed in 1932.  The tour we took is run by the only group doing car/van tours Bannockburn tours  Bannockburn Tours and takes the counterclockwise route (a point of disagreement among locals who feel that one or the other is the best way to see the trail).  Going counterclockwise gives the view on the outside of the road rather than the more restrictive clockwise which goes along the inside lanes.  We showed up on the morning of the tour to find we were the only 2 on the tour and it was given by the son-in-law of the owner who had just died a few weeks before.  To their credit they did not cancel, but took us and a training driver in a small van.  The tour was fantastic, the day excellent (bright blue sky, no clouds, 70 degrees, all perfect weather).  I post some of the photos here, but realize they are a poor substitute for the actual experience.  The first is Kathryn coming up close and personal with a fresh lobster (a 5 pounder) - we stopped at the lobster docks to watch the unloading of a crop.   A look across the tops of the hills and a developing fog that never bothered us.  The rocky coast and lobster buoys right top the sandy shore.       This next photo was similar to one I saw on the Nat. Geo. site, but this one is mine.  Pleasant Bay, lobster and fishing village had a lot of activity when we were there.    The training driver, Shane, stopped at a buddie's lobster place and bought 30# of packaged frozen lobster meat (aside - takes 4 lobsters to get 1 # of meat for about $11/pound). In the 20's lobster was so plentiful that it was the "poor man's" food and kids who came to school with lobster sandwiches were mocked for being poor fishermen's kids.   

Two bald eagles in a tree - where is that telephoto lens?   

Halibut with mango salsa and fresh vegs.  

Tomorrow - red shoes, fiddler and the labyrinth. 

Nova Scotia - clams and seafood chowder

Karen had a wonderful breakfast - hers on this morning was a great salmon benedict with all the usual breakfast fruits and juices .  Spent the morning wandering the rocky beach just down Karen's path.  The rocky toughness and nice cool morning made us think of the heat in NC.   

 She recommended 2 local places for dinner - one with the "world' best clams" and the other with a deck on the ocean and wonderful chowder.  We chose both.  The clam place was local, populated by well-fed people, and did a swinging door business.    30 min of wait for the clams, but they were worth it!  No chips (after all, the fat grams in this basket were enough for 2 days). Then off to the quarterdeck for what was the best seafood chowder of the trip (I tried 6 of them at various spots). This had thick cream sauce, good spice, very few potatoes, and a tasty chunk of seafood in every spoonful.   

The cheese jalapeno biscuits were perfect with the chowder.  Of course we shared both.  One of Karen's works - thread placed on a drawn picture to highlight and give depth/color.      Off on the next phase - a long drive north to Baddeck in the northern portion of Nova Scotia and the entry point for the famous scenery of the Cabot Trail.  Along that route, we had to stop at McDonalds for their famous Mclobster sandwich  ($3.79), only "in season".  It was enough to say we had it - no plans to repeat should it come to NC.  Continued spectacular scenery along the road to Baddeck.  

Settled in for another cool sleeping night and plans for the Cabot Trail experience in the morning.  I splurged and booked a tour with a local company - an 8 hr tour along the trail so that I could see the scenery and not have to focus on the driving.  More on that experience in the next post

 

Nova Scotia - UNESCO

We went to Lunenburg because it was listed as a UNESCO world heritage site - of course I needed to know what that meant and it has to do with sites that are unique examples of a culture or heritage.  Of course Lunenberg with it's fishing, buildings, Blue Nose restoration and position along the Nova Scotia South Shore is an active site.  IN case you want to check out the other sites across the world and their significance, check out the UNESCO website link UNESCO SITE CRITERIA.  Linda Roe is a self-taught artist with a passion for teaching art, felting, reinventing children's clothes and jackets. One technique I found fascinating to allow students to adapt their own style was her wall of the same scene she's painted with different techniques and views   

After those oysters, beer and lime margaritas, we slept soundly and left after a wonderful breakfast to head down the shore to Liverpool and the best way to get there is via a cable ferry pulled across  short stretch of water by a thick cable that needs to be replaced yearly - $5/vehicle and 8 minutes of travel - walk-ons are free.  

More fishing scenes and the smell of salt air and 60's temps - all great fun. 

We headed into quiet Liverpool and discovered the clothing chain of "frenchy's" with many variations, but basically american clothing that has had a previous life (used clothes) with good quality labels, washed, ironed and sold of $2-4/piece.  Of course items were purchased (after all, we brought sweatshirts and needed some shorts for the 75 degree days).  A car made a statement outside a frenchy's - grammar a bit off, but we all get the sentiment...  Also, a commentary about road kill animals  - in the south it's usually some unfortunate opossum; here it's porcupine.  I'd never seen a live one, and this one was pretty fresh with no blood. (CAUTION - AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED BY GROSS THINGS!) - not quite sure which end is toward the camera, but have a general idea.

Food photos will be back in another post after that display of tastelessness.  Got to Karen's place in the countryside with a beautiful isolated rocky beach just down her path.  Her husband is a craftsman and collector and has the largest collection of Rover cycles in the world.  Rover eventually got into the motorcycle and automobile business but developed the first chain-driven bicycles 

Rover website

 This is a photo of Rover's first (and only) chain-driven tricycle that Ron has meticulously restored - the only one made!  He makes the seats and machined a number of the chain and drive mechanisms that have worn out.   Being in a room with 40 or so restored, museum-quality Rover's is a pretty impressive experience.

Next post:  breakfast and the "World's Best Clams"

Nova Scotia Adventure

Day one of Nova Scotia.  We came because it's been a place I've always wanted to visit and never done it (until now).  Maybe that's as good a reason as any to visit a place.

Flight and travel things are the usual that any of you experience, but we'd heard of friendly Canadians and that reputation has continued.  My Momma always said that you should never set out on an adventure without a good, detailed map.  That holds true as the Halifax airport is well north of the city of Halifax (who knew) and the road system is a bit confusing from the map that comes with the tourist package causing an hour or so delay winding through busy downtown Halifax on a sunny friday afternoon.

We chose Lunenburg as the first stop because many people had recommended it. It is a grand tourist town, which along with Mahone Bay can provide whatever shops and nick-knacks a person may want.  The economy is not slow here as tourists of all ages wander through town, spending.  But today we were able to get off the beaten path a bit and into the countryside. Peter and Linda of the Seville-Roe B&B in Lunenburg are charming hosts.  Nothing quite like local knowledge and they were able to give us detailed directions for the day Seville-Roe guest house is a project they've done for the past 2 years and like many in Lunenburg, an old captain's house built of sturdy wood with thick walls, great comfy beds, and nice 50's temps at night.  The day focused on 2 things: food and nautical themes.  We did a bit of tourist stuff, here the dark portion along the tops of the rocks are the high tide, about 6 feet in Lunenburg; much higher in the Bay of Fundy.  We had a back road experience to the end of a pier in a place called Blue Rocks to a fishing pier that exudes the spirit of working fishermen. In Washington, NC we have excellent fishermen, but they do not brave the brutal North Atlantic - calm for us today, there is that pleasing order with efficient and difficult work, but I'll let the photos speak for themselves. 

      
Of course there was good food, starting with beer, oysters and a wonderful lime margarita and moving to a bountiful seafood linguine with large chunks of perfect seafood in a lobster sauce

Lunenburg is beautiful in the warm weather,

I suspect brutal in the winter.  Tomorrow off to Liverpool, just a bit further down the South Shore

A short taste of eco camping

Part of this adventure has been the concept of working to offset room and board costs.  Kate had suggested the Maho Bay Camps on St John's US Virgin islands and whether you're there as a guest or as a volunteer, the website is very complete maho bay.  Before committing to  a 2-4 week volunteering adventure, we decided to check it out with a short stay.  The short answer - GREAT, but....

Who can find issues with beautiful, relaxing St. John's  - certainly not me.  If you check out the website, you know about the tent camping, the need for a flashlight, the MANY stairs, the shared bathrooms, and the excellent enrichment programs in pottery, glass blowing.  The units are clean, well-maintained and ours had a prime view above the beach with only neighbors above us. 

Planning is essential to coordinate the many steps needed to get there, but any seasoned traveler can do it, and any person in reasonable physical health can manage the stairs - lots of them, but no-one says you have to climb them in a hurry!  This is about halfway up/down with level walkways in between for rest.  The details of the volunteer programs at Maho Bay and Concordia:

- about 3-4 hrs of work/day for 5 days/wk in return for a place to stay; food is discounted at the resort restaurants (40% maho Bay; 10% concordia), people with skills are especially valued (carpentry, painting, cleaning, registration), but everyone has some skills, couples are preferred at Concordia because it is a bit more remote.  The island bus system is $1 any where on the island and travels somewhat on island time.  Maho gets a lot of on line applications; Concordia somewhat less so.  Volunteers are not needed in peak seasons (winter).  We met folks who had been at concordia 5/7 years and loved it.  They spent every free moment on the beach or in water sports.  What's not to love!  Both resorts are very friendly with excellent staff geared toward families and customer service; food prices are fair for large portions that are plenty to share.

One of the best grouper reuben sandwiches ever at Miss Lucy's on the drive back to Cruz Bay and the required bloody mary with red pepper seasoning.

Check out either resort for a reasonable vacation in non-peak season; we're still undecided about volunteering  for 4 weeks.  Don't try to make the entire trip back home from Maho Bay in 1 day - all of the following have to work:

45-60 min shuttle on a fixed shuttle schedule from maho camps to cruz bay to pick up the hourly ferry; 20 min ferry ride; 45 min taxi ride thorough the center of downtown St. Thomas to the airport; tighter airport security; flight on time, etc, etc.  You get the picture....

But, the views are spectacular and the water is great for diving/snorkeling

 

Between trips

Thanks to all of you who have visited this blog and commented.  This blog is pretty easy to navigate, but may be a bit slow to load because of all th photos - I think the wait it worth it.

Right now I'm between trips and back at work (only half time, so it's not too great a stress after the joys of travel).  With the economy the way it is, I'm glad that I did the adventure when I did, and working on planning the next phase of adventures, hopefully in the summer.

Experiences I'm exploring (with Kate's help) Interim's website. 

- Volunteering on an organic farm somewhere in the world (coffee farm in Hawaii?)

- Volunteering as a light maintenance person at a bed and breakfast somewhere fun  (looking at colorado sites)

- Railroad car restoration

- eco resort volunteering

The Alaska, Nepal, Lambertville, and Romania  segments are archived, and you can still catch up on them and comment if you feel the urge.  The latest ramblings along panama and outerbanks are on top of the stack.

I was pleased to be mentioned in a neat sabbatical website Sabbatical times with lots of folks doing what they always wanted to do

Dennis

Wandering the Outer Banks

We had a timeshare week to spare and decided to spend it on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We'd been here before for short visits and not been impressed with the over development (large; largely vacant) beach houses for rent stretched along every available inch of beach front.  That changed with this visit and a new perspective on the history (and GREAT seafood).

The  term "Outer Banks" was coined around WWII as a method for identifying (and bringing tourists to) the string of sand dunes and minimal road system that runs from Ocrakoke Island to Corolla. At that time there was predominantly a military presence on the dunes to protect against the German U-boat threat (you may recall the term " Atlantic Turkey Shoot" to describe the German submariners ease of sinking merchant ships from January-June 1942).  Prior to that, the sandy beaches were accessed by hunters who came to  Duck in the late 1800's and early 1900's for the plentiful duck hunting and general peaceful isolation.

We took a tour from a local, the best way to learn the good stuff about an area.  Danny of Hatteras Tours is a local and his stories were verifiable by basic web research. 

 Some pearls:

- The prevailing currents of the trade routes made approach to the dangerous Diamond Shoals a risk for mariners and the series of now-famous NC lighthouses were placed to help them steer clear of the shoals and almost certain destruction in a storm. The Hatteras lighthouse, moved with  great fanfare in 1999 to protect it from beach erosion, is one of the most recognized of East Coast lighthouses.

- The local fame of the Pea Island life saving center (the only "black" lifesaving crews in the US with many courageous rescues).  The best documented is the rescue of the 8 crew, including the wife and son of Captain Gardiner of the ES Newman in 1896.  The stats from Danny are that in the period from late 1800's-1915, over 178 thousand people were rescued by lifesaving stations with an efficiency rate of over 99.5%.

- Youpan tea, a naturopathic alternative is a local tea made from Texas Holly leaves and the only wild tea with caffeine. It has been used by Native Americans up the east coast as a purgative and was prominent in Danny's childhood.  Locals who drank it had distinctive black teeth that were a giveaway to mocking kids and required a regular cleansing with baking soda to avoid permanent stains.

- The life guarded portion of Ocrakoke beach was named the #1 beach in the country in 2007 Dr. Beach's national winnersThe announcement marks the first time a beach outside Florida or Hawaii has been named to the top position on this celebrated top 10 list, and once a national winner, the beach is retired from further ranking.

There is a certain draw to the concept of a fishing pier; a bunch of local folks who gather to swap stories, catch fish, and drink beer while balanced high over the surf. The Avalon fishing pier is one of the classics in this area at 705 feet long; built in the 1950's.  Avalon fishing pier. It's seen many storms and sways with each wave, but it's an energizing experience.  No significant fish were landed while we were there, but the $1.00 for sightseeing was worth it and you can stay as long as you want. 

A spectacular sunset after a day of rain with the colors and rays enhanced by the intervening timeshare unit. 

Riding the NC ferry system is a joy. The last of the free ferries to Ocrakoke is the regular from Hatteras to Ocrakoke Island.  The 40 min ride was smooth and sunny on this Tuesday.  Loading vehicles is a special skill with large front loaders, construction equipment, RV's and cycles mixed together by the loading staff member. There were 38 cars waiting to get on to the return ferry and 13 of us made it along with a full length motorhome, tractor trailer towing a front loader, and 4 cycles. The next made it onto a ferry coming back in 30 minutes.

Stack-em-high, an outer banks tradition since 1981 - pancakes and homefries to start the day ....

....and, oysters and beer the perfect way to wind it down on the deck,  awaiting a sunset. These oysters are from James River Virginia with good salty flavor.

 

shopbotting

The most fun part of this adventure has been the ability to try new experiences - sort of like following threads that have been collected over many years as "things I'd like to try". 

So, here I am in Durham NC ready to start level 1 training on the Shopbot - a type of robotic cutting tool.  The interest came from my sister who found excitement and personal growth etching excellent items on acrylic and glass on a production laser.  They have a shopbot very near to her as part of a "fablab", so I wanted to try the technology before I go there for a visit.  The president recently visited this very fablab and if you're interested in some of that background, follow the link LCCC Fab lab.   I've collected several small scale wood projects that I want to cut as a test of my programming skills and the machine.  I've done wood-related projects for a long time, but been frustrated with the inaccuracy that comes from a hobby-user and their tools.  The Shopbot is a quantum leap for me in the quality of work possible.

I've tried to make this a real time blog, so the first paragraph was prior to, now the after segment... WOW!  A wonderful experience with helpful people selling an affordable production machine for the average small business.    Shopbot was started by Ted Hall and colleagues about 15 years ago in North Carolina as a revolutionary upstart to bring high quality computer cutting to the average person and after 3000 + machines in use, an active blog, user group, maker faires, and classes, the machine is a success.  My partner at the class was a guy who builds custom magician props - apparently the trade has creative development of new illusions all the time and his shop produces the highest quality stuff for not only the stock "saw-the-girl-in-half", but for any illusion a magician can create.

My goal at the class was to cut a panel from a door to later insert a glass panel as part of the kitchen remodel at the river.  That was a piece of cake and could have been done with a hand router, but doing it on the Shopbot required me to write the cutting program and help the guys set up the door on the machine to do its work - definitely cooler than the router.

 Anyway, a productive weekend and that thread led to another one on the Maker movement - to be covered in a later post.  Briefly: "The Maker Movement, a push to re-imagine the objects we own rather than throw them away.  Although the movement started with just a few techno geeks, artists and hobbyists, it has attracted thousands over the decades. A record 65,000 people waited in traffic for two hours to get to the Maker Faire in the San Francisco area this spring. Make Magazine now has a circulation of 110,000. Maker's Law: On a basic level, the movement is about reusing and repairing objects, rather than discarding them to buy more. On a deeper level, it's also a philosophical idea about what ownership really is. "If you're not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don't really own it."   Those who may find that interesting can check out the link Make magazine

Went on a cruise recently and thought I'd post some food photos for fun.  I'm a fan of most cruise food.  It looks appealing and the lines have gone out of their way to serve smaller portions with less waste.  Are any of these what you'd choose based on the photos? Of course, the menu describes them in flowery language... Both were great!

 
 

Salmon and Seward

Alaska salmon are legendary for their flavor, color, and just plain healthy goodness.  We were lucky that James was a great fisherman, and we had a lot of wonderful king and silver salmon.   It's not uncommon for Alaskans to burn out of salmon in season and freezers get filled for later.  In Hope we had seen the depressing sight of nature where chum salmon are coming upstream in the jetty and the tide goes out, so literally hundreds of the fish lay dying in the sand.  There is no efficient weay of catching them  (chum are best for canning because of the light colored meat and not-so-good fat content).  The ripples on the water at the left are clusters of chum  The link describes the types of Alaskan salmon salmon information and tips for fishing .  On the drive down, stopping at a side road lets you see the salmon running (and multiple waded fishermen in the stream trying to catch them.)  They are so plentiful that you could easily reach down and grab one.  These reds are medium-sized according to the guys fishing next to us, but great eating!  In our trip from Hope, we migrated down toward Seward.  We'd spent a day in Seward on the Alaska trip with a wonderful Kenai Fjords trip Kenai Fjords cruises, but had rushed through and wanted another shot at this part of the state.  ONe of the highlights of this area is the ability to hike up to a glacier and to get a sense of the impact of global warming.  Exit glacier is just outside of Seward down an easy road with a moderate hike to get up to the glacier itself.  The impressive part is that the Forest service has year marks for the location of the glacier as far back as the 1800's and up to a few years ago - the rate of receding is much faster now, so a hike up was required to get a feel for the power of a glacier Exit glacier.   The rocky landscape was a reminder of the rocks and dirt a glacier carries as well as the blast of REALLY cold air coming off. The walk up was 65 or so, and next to the glacier was dramatically colder. 

On the road, it's great to have some healthy snacks - this is a typical breakfast with wild Alaskan raspberries or blueberries .  My choice for lodging here was a nice little place called Box canyon cabins  - a new set of nice cabins and surrounding excellent rockwork.  Cozy and more typical Alaskan .

Fishing is king in the Kenai and there are fishing lodges, the "chief's kick ass cafe", and  Gwin's- the website has some great views of the Kenai. The advantage of Gwin's was that we got there right at the start of their fall discount sale on clothing - got some great deals at 70% off - unfortunately, most of the stuff is in the airline baggage that remains lost 6 weeks after we returned.

Maybe a trip back another year!

Chilling in Alaska

A shot of one of James' projects - as you recall, he was working with Brian for the summer and is an excellent tiler and stone mason from Maui.  He was called by a friend to tile the interior of a sauna - the building is as unique for a tiler on the inside as on the oustside.

After leaving Brian and the greater Talkeetna area, we had planned to go south to see a bit of Alaska that we had not seen before.  I booked a cabin experience in two spots; widely different to feel the culture of central Alaska - Hope and Seward.  

Hope is "at the end of the road" and proud of it - a small sparsely-populated old gold mining town across the arm from Girdwood, it is an oasis of alaskan characters.   The first is a gold guide and storyteller at the local gold mining museum - old gold Jack  - drives an ATV for gun rack and moose guard.  Hoep had a brief surge of gloary as Alaska's friendliest town by Alaska magazine - Hope Alaska.  Our cabin was at Bowman's - the plush place in town with old log cabins, not the fancy new kind around a lake    - communal bathrooms, no water in the cabins , but a brand new horseshoe pit out back.  I had some choice halibut from James that we were going to cook on the grill, but could not get the charcoal to light, so Melanie offered to cook the halibut for us on her own stove (to avoid health department issues using the cafe's stove).  It was magnificant! 

Hope is beautiful and quiet, and uncrowded.  Some local shots from there including a close road-side encounter with a moose family

    After 2 days in Hope with nice cozy beds and thick plankets, it was time to move back to civilization and truck on to Seward, a large fishing port in the Kenai peninsula

Thanks and lessons

We are getting ready to leave Brian's in a few days to start a little vacation in southern Alaska - hope to be able to post some if internet available.

 I wanted to thank Brian and Katie for their exceptional Alaskan hospitality for we "interns" from Interim.  Brian and I have had many discussions about how much it takes to mentor an intern in rock work, construction, or any trade.  Most of his interns have been young people, and he feels the trip to Alaska, the work, and the travel have been life-changing experiences for them,and he has gotten some nice things done with their help and work.  I tend to agree about the life-changing part, but from a different perspective.  We more mature interns have different needs and expectations, and although we may be more independent in some aspects, require the same committment of time from him to make the experience work - directing our work, educating, and worrying about the usual things of food and shelter and finding something for us to do when it's raining.  Our lives are changed, but more by what we bring to it rather than what it brings to us.  I admire Brian for doing this. He has a real life outside of this and  I thank him for his dedication and instruction as well as the hardships it takes to house, feed, educate someone not in your family while maintaining his own life and job.  That coupled with the SHORT work season for this type of work in Alaska Thank you Brian!

As I may have mentioned, he and Katie are using one of the 3 houses as a B&B - a great business in Talkeetna with folks coming through town for 1-2 nights or longer.  Kathryn and I have enjoyed painting, rock work, carpentry, and visiting.   This shot of Brian and Katie was today on the dump run - you are charged for refuse by load, so it make the most sense to fill the truck if you have to pay the $10.

One of Kathryn throwing mud onto the wall of this new rock project as a scratch coat.  

Experimenting

After 3 rainy days it's finally gotten sunny - can't really complain about the rain though, we were abel to get some inside work done on a new pantry and gave me some added carpentry experience with brian's excellent carpentry experience mentoring.  

Since I've been here, kathryn has asked me not to shave, and I've accommodated that, experimenting with a bearded look. It's downright uncomfortable, but with some getting used to it may work, but itchy!  I shaved yesterday, but the photo is of me at the local bar with a "real" bearded guy in he background.   My look is perhaps more grunge than distinguished.

  Friday night is a local favorite with berger and a brew for $7 - a real bargain (photo).  

While walking outside saw some outstanding rhubarb plants and West Rib is reputed to have magnificent rhubarb pie.   I noted on previous log posts I've included some tasty food shots, so here is hot of some thick halibut James caught earlier this summer - so nice for him to share - a little seasoning and broiled with some oil and it is as close to fish heaven as we can get.   

The work site is unusually muddy after all the rain, but we were back at it today to start a new rock project on an outbuilding that Brian plans to convert into a room for their B&B.  He is nice enough to let us do the rock work before the rest of the structure has its transformation into a nice private room . 

Rock update

The weather here is beautiful - high 40's at night (cool enough for covers) an most days are sunny and warm (70's).  I don't say this to nanny-nanny those in the loner 48 who are sweltering in 90+ heat or my niece and her husband who just got back from rome on their honeymoon with 106 temps and huge lines, but rather to share with you the beauty of coming to cooler climates.  Latest photo of the rock project - laying the last course at the ceiling today - mortar dries slower in this temp, so have to wait a bit between courses.  The rocks require holding a bit, especially the big suckers. 

Had a tour of the new Talkeetna community playground; great earth-friendly artistic displays for kids to jump around on.    The project was designed by 

Planet Earth Playscapes and the equipment set up/donated by community volunteers.  Brian will be doing the rocks at the concrete foot bridge - not enough of them for us to do them before we leave.

Kathryn has been doing the painting for Brian - changing the green on the house used for the Bed and Breakfast.  She does love painting, but the choice of brushes is limited  

Brian was telling stories last night over dinner about his early days of climbing and of a climbing legend Fred Beckey, 85 and still climbing.  If you recall, one of the goals in coming to Alaska was to meet some characters, well, I did not get to meet fred, but his stories from Brian sound as if he qualifies NY Times article about Fred Beckey.

In the pantry at Brian's are multiple large cans of chili, oatmeal, and other canned and boxed foods that have come back from one or another climbing trip.  I came across a recent cnn post on the subject of when to eat and not eat mold or out-of-date materials - check it out if you think expiration dates are more of a guideline than a rule  Don't eat Mold

Continuing excitement

Alaska is great, but being in Talkeetna adds some challenges.  Brian's home is 5 miles from town and so conveniences I was used to at home are not readily available.  The trip to town is a hike/hitch down the hill 5 miles into town.  Downtown Talkeetna has not changed since I was here 2 years ago except fro a wonderful new Brewery  (Denali Brewery) and microbrews cold and fresh on the deck.  A waitress at one of the popular restaurants, the Roadhouse (one of the few open all year round with lodging and food, bakery) posted $1100 herself in a morning breakfast.  Those tourists coming through town must have a hankerin for a good sourdough pancake breakfast.  On real advantage of Alaska is the ready availability of rhubarb.  Katie went to visit a friend and came back with some tender red shoots.  Normally I would do a double crust pie, but such was not available here, so the single crust prepared shell had to do.  No vanilla ice cream either, but the pie was great (even if out of focus)  

The rock work is moving along with a nice tarp over the area for those rainy days (better idea than in my past rock experience).  The sun hits the rocks nicely when it's out, but if not, the mortar takes forever to dry.

James has been staying with Brian for a few months and is skilled tile  and stone craftsman.  I've not gotten to work with him yet.  He is learning the backhoe.  A shot of Brian's place with the driveway in progress (James did a great job of removing part of the bank with more to come a he rips into that quaint shed in the side of the hill - not the big one toppled, but the neat little one just to the side of the backhoe.  Peaking inside just cries out Alaska!  

The usual collection of interesting mushrooms coming up - love the colors.  As I've mentioned in Alaska #1 these are Amanita species mushrooms.  

I was told initially they were hepatotoxic.  Now they seem to be more of the hallucinogenic variety  Wikipedia for Amanita information

  Siberian shamans eat Amanita muscaria in order to enter a clairvoyant trance state and mobilize their shamanic powers of healing. Amanita muscaria are also ingested when they wish to communicate with the souls of their ancestors or to contact spirits. One to three Amanita mushrooms appear to be the usual traditional dose with initial Amanita effects being felt in about twenty minutes. It was the practice of Siberian and other tribes to recycle the urine of someone who had already eaten Amanita muscaria, and thus, because a substantial amount of active substances in it remained unchanged, it could be used for later or given to someone who could not afford to buy Amanita muscaria.  At any rate, not any that I want to try.

Locks in Anchorage - see one, do one

As I've said before, working with Brian is an adventure.  Arriving in Anchorage we were assigned to help with installing new electronic door locks in the local Days Inn.  An exciting project with lots of organization and challenge.  The instruction set is pretty short.  My job was to remove the old electronic locks - surprisingly short work for secure locks - takes less than 3 minutes to remove one.  The rooms we were working on were occasionally occupied and so moving around in someone else's room is a bit creepy, but you get used to it.  The next phases of lock installation are more challenging with mortising the new door opening    (Brian here getting ready to do that - dusty and noisy!).  Chris (the project manager got the fun part) with a metal grinder to cut out the stainless steel door frame to match the new lock.  Next I would drill door pilot holes and install the lock, Chris would come behind me and program the lock and it was done.  With a team approach we were much more efficient.

We did about 30 or so locks in 2.5 days and were sent back to Talkeetna as the job was nearly done.  Katie was headed back and there was not enough room to take all the people back.  The guys stayed and spent another 2 days delayed because of a variety of issues.    Several photos of Anchorage - first - potty humor abounds in Alaska ; second - the local watering hole is Humpy's -  wonderful mixture of tourists and locals and 

 some GREAT halibut .   If

If you've looked on a map, and follow Sarah Palin's career, you know that she was mayor of Wasilla, and  lives there as private citizen Palin.  She apparently is a regular girl and shops, drives herself to work (always in a pantsuit and heels) and fired the executive chef of the previous governor.  Katie drove up to Sarah's development which used to be readily accessible to we tourist types - here is as far as we could get . This shot of the Wasilla Walmart is to show you the largest traffic Walmart in the USA 

Preparing for stone work

Weather the last few days has been exceptional with cool mornings (high 50's) and sunny afternoons (70's with clear blue sky and only a slight annoyance with mosquitoes).  Lake walks at X-Y lake and blueberries are in - a good picking session and used them in pancakes last few mornings. The berries are smaller and more tart than those in NC  .

iToad stool pushing up from the ground cover at x-y lake
The house we're staying at is one of Brian's and is comfortable and cozy,  easy walking distance to work at the house we're doing stone work at.  Me in front of James' car (James, an excellent tile mason who's claim to fame is doing Oprah's house in Maui) .  Well, I came to do stone work - here is the "pre" of the area of the house I'll be finishing - Brian has given me lots of independence on this relatively non-visible side

T

GETTING READY TO GO BACK TO ALASKA

Excited because Brian has given clearance to go back to work with him in Talkeetna.  I've told many of my co-workers that I'm excited about working with Brian because he always has interesting projects.

Leaving for Talkeetna tuesday.  Spoke with Brian today to confirm arrangments and he will meet us at airport in ANC.  He is working on the project installing those fancy key locks in hotels and may/may not be done by the time of arrival - he noted we may be helping finish that project with him - a novel start.

The plan is more stonework on one of the houses, uncertain if it's the one I worked on before, but it  will involve lots of rocks and moving BIG boulders to decorate the yard.  Sounds like a backhoe project  (not for me to run the backhoe dangling a 2 ton boulder from the chain, but something I can aspire to).

Checked the weather and a cool 70 during the day with low 50's at night, frequent showers on the weather site, but hoping those will work their way through for some nice cool low humidity compared with the heat and humidity in NC.

Re-read the blog on Alaska #1 and still working on my personal goals for this one; more to follow as they develop.  An open mind is easily adaptable to new conditions and opportunities.  Not sure if I will run into Sarah, private citizen, but will recall those questions from my GI lab co-workers to ask her.

Hope to have ready email and blogging capability.

To all of you who read, thanks; to any of you who comment, thanks even more

Medical aspects of building the canal

The engineering required to build the canal was impressive, but the challenges of recruiting a workforce to cut through raw jungle was a more daunting task. After the workers were on site, the death rate from "jungle illnesses" not seen in their native countries was incredible.  During the French effort, the loss of life was more dramatic and more profound. It was common for new engineers or surveyors - highly trained energetic young men newly arrived from France - to die within days or weeks from the twin terrors of yellow fever and malaria.  The loss of momentum was enough to slow progress on multiple tasks to a standstill until new crews could be imported from France.  The senior management of the canal under the French lost entire families from yellow fever. Snakes, wild animals, and poisonous spiders were a part of the jungle, but the twin diseases of yellow fever and malaria killed or incapacitated as many people as accidents.  I always associate bushmaster snakes with the image of Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner  from "Romancing the Stone" Bushmaster. They were common for surveyors in the jungle as they mapped/surveyed the final linethe canal would take.

Yellow fever has been a killer for centuries in spite of the development of a vaccine.  In 1937 Max Theiler, working at the Rockefeller Foundation, developed a safe and highly efficacious vaccine for yellow fever that gives a ten-year or more immunity from the virus.  The vaccine has been used commercially since 1950 - 40+ years or so after the canal had been completed.  All through the French period and well into the American effort deaths increased from Yellow fever - as a viral illness, it kills with a high mortality rate, but if you survive, you are immune.  Some of the lucky senior French engineers developed the disease and survived, and much of the recruitment effort for workers was geared to populations who may be immune to the disease because of previous infection. It was not uncommon for a senior engineer and his family to all be infected and die during their time in the canal effort.  Control of the disease did not come until the sanitation efforts of Dr Gorgas in the canal zone as he accepted the controversial theory that yellow fever was transmitted by a mosquito. This theory had been tested and proven by Cuban physician Carlos Finley and American physician Walter Reed, and found to be medically sound.  Acceptance was slow by the medical community, who believed the disease was transmitted by bad air, so Gorgas' efforts to control the disease by sanitation and destruction of mosquito breeding grounds was look on with skepticism.

Yellow fever infections dropped dramatically with massive sanitation efforts, but the infection rates for malaria stayed the same, puzzling the leadership.  The cost of workers who developed yellow fever was minimal (replace the dead worker!), but the cost of malaria was a different story.  Workers with malaria could not work and required medical treatment and hospital space for multiple attacks, until they were discharged home, still infected, but no longer of use to canal leadership.

Malaria is a common disease worldwide.  In my time in Nepal, I carried malaria tablets to be taken in case I went outside the Kathmandu valley where one of the world pockets of malaria resides.  It is common for trekkers along the Annapurna trek (Megan from the Nepal posts - 10/18/07 for her photos of the beauty of this trek) to encounter malaria-carrying mosquitoes.  CDC, malaria, Lay people stories of malaria.    

My take from this adventure was that great feats in engineering and progress such as the Panama Canal require incredible dedication, zeal, political cunning and ruthlessness with human lives.  On the flip side, the advances made in medicine, engineering, construction methods were staggering - like nothing before them.  Was it worth it for those 25000 workers who died - who can say?

The Panama Canal

Recent South American cruise gave us the opportunity to see the Panama Canal, widely believed to be the single greatest achievement of the American people until the moon landings. In that era, the world saw monumental changes in linking the country. The transcontinental railroad completion in 1869 linked the east and west portions of the USA,Transcontinental railroad and in 1910 the Panama Canal linked the oceans.  The reference book I'd gone through during the cruise Panama Fever by Matthew Parker is the most recent of the historical references on the canal and the incredible achievement it represented. Seeing the canal in person is an experience, but reading about the background set the thing into perspective.  My interest had to do with the role of Dr. Walter Reed in the control of yellow fever and malaria to lower the death rate of workers to an acceptable level.  In my time at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, I'd seen his painting and always wanted to explore that connection. The medical aspect is explored in a subsequent post.

Here is a tanker next to us settling into the Atlantic locks at Gatun.   All electricity to operate the canal and the surrounding area is generated from the hydroelectric plant on site as the locks are filled from the Chagres river dam to lift ships and then released downstream as the locks are emptied.

For security reasons, ships are not under their own power in the locks, but pulled along by electric mules (tracks at the right of the photo) powered by local electricity.

The French effort (10 years; 1980-December 1989) was abandoned for cost considerations, corruption and the lack of confidence with the total loss of the savings of 800,000 private investors and a collapse of the Compagnie Universelle (had successfully built the much longer span of the Suez canal) that shook world financial markets similar to the economic upheavals of today.  The American effort was motivated by a young country looking to protect its interests and to expand it's military power without having to maintain a two ocean navy (ability to move military ships and goods through the canal to cut cost and time for transport from east and west coasts for a country looking to expand its influence in the world).  The completion of the canal marked the zenith of the rise of America to a world power.  Apart from any war, the canal was the costliest project in history, as ambitious as the construction of the Great Pyramids.

The American effort between 1904-1914 cost more than $400 million dollars in a day when a working wage of several dollars a day was a good wage. 

Here is a view back across the first Atlantic locks with ships lined up along the entry for the paired locks to raise them the 85 feet required to get to the Gatun lake and start the descent on the Pacific side.

The famed calebra cut, the most earth to be moved between mountains and digging defeated the French effort, and nearly defeated the American effort because of the volume of earth to be moved (233 million cubic yards of dirt, rock, sand, clay) and the unique soil composition that produced massive slides of the walls of the cut into the newly excavated area requiring redigging after months of effort.  The huge loss of life in the excavations (estimates of more than 25,000 men from disease and accidents)  makes sailing through the cut perched high on a super cruise ship a humbling experience (it is estimated that several thousand men died and were never recovered from this segment of the canal dig) This shot of a portion of the cut shows some recent slides but does not show the huge amount of earth that has already slid down over the past 100 years.  The canal is being widened to accomodate current ships and the engineers workign today have the same challenges of moving unstable earth that the original French or American engineers did.  

The Pacific Ocean and the corresponding locks on the Western side of the canal.

Thriving Panama City after nearly 100 years of growth with the canal.  A great trip through the canal. 

Year of adventure summary for those interested

Here is a summary I put together for Holly's website Center for Interim Programs.  There are several people who contributed their experiences and you can find them on the website.

Have you ever had a day that made you seriously reconsider your career or working environment? Of course you have. About two years ago, after a particularly stressful day of patients, meetings, and general administrative problems, I got the idea for a break. I had worked long hours for twenty-six years in an academic medical school. A year break seemed like the right amount of time to get reoriented and rebalanced. I wanted to explore adventures other than medicine, those "always wanted to do , but never had time" possibilities. I wanted skill-building, not a vacation; excitement and stretching outside my comfort zone, not a plush travel experience.

 

I was giving a lecture at a conference in a distant city when fate intervened. The morning paper featured an article on a gap-year option for students. In my generation, a gap year occurred less often as we steadily plowed forward from one institution to another - high school, college, professional school, marriage, family, and now retirement - all very programmed, secure, and predictable. The gap-year concept sounded pretty good as a time to explore and experience new adventures. I called the lead organization featured in the article, the Center for Interim Programs. I represent a different demographic than their typical client. Kate Warren of Interim described it as "more mature" euphemistically referring to my fifty-five+ status and AARP membership. Holly Bull, president, arranged a detailed phone interview to better define my interests. My goal was to participate in three different experiences spread out over the year; each of sufficient time to allow an in-depth exposure, each relatively low cost, each in geographic locations I would not normally go, and each in areas of skill building that I could use in my hobby of house renovation. Interim tapped its database of over five thousand programs and made suggestions.

 

I have been considering remodeling a cabin in the NC mountains. I had been thinking about incorporating stonework in the cabin renovation, and so my first choice was to find an in-depth experience in the technical and artistic aspects of stone masonry. Kate and Holly suggested traveling to Alaska to work alongside Brian laying stone and building residential stone fireplaces. Wow - Alaska! Alaska was more fun than I could have imagined with super views of Denali, great summer weather and an unusual summer with only a few legendary Alaskan mosquitoes. Two months of hard manual labor in exchange for room and board had the added benefits of meeting some interesting characters and enjoying clean outdoor living.

 

To keep family and friends up to date on my activities, I created a blog as a focus point to chronicle my "year of adventure," sharing photos and musings on a nearly daily basis. The blog was another skill-building aspect of my "gap year."

 

My second adventure presented a much greater cultural challenge. I've always been interested in Eastern Medicine for its ancient roots and its holistic approach to the patient. Kate sought the assistance of a long-standing Interim contact to locate experienced health care professionals in Nepal to act as preceptors for an overview of Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine. The Nepali contact emailed me a draft daily schedule outlining a two-month cultural immersion program: one month of study focused on Tibetan medicine and one month focused on Ayurvedic medicine, combining didactic instruction and patient contact mixed with cultural experiences and excursions with local guides and homestays with local families. Nepal is a wonderful country and the local contacts, Vidhea and her son, Yanik, made the adventure safe, and enriching. It would be difficult to have this quality of experience without local contacts.

 

Tibetan medicine uses a different body of knowledge than western medicine with almost none of the examination or diagnostic techniques I've used in my twenty plus years of medical practice. Nonetheless, the patients are open, appreciative, and come to the physician with many of the same complaints as western patients. My Tibetan homestay and local language/culture lessons helped fill out my immersion with the local environment, diet, cultural and religious holidays. I gained a new perspective on Tibetan political issues by daily interaction with the Tibetan people who love their country and miss their independence.

 

There is a striking practical and philosophical difference between western medicine and Ayurvedic Medicine with strong links between mental health and disease; bringing the diseased body back into balance through a combination of diet, mental training, and behavior and lifestyle changes. The providers are much more holistic than the mechanistic-based western medicine providers. During my month of study, I had on average 4-5 hours of didactic instruction in various phases of Ayurvedic Medicine including diet, spices, food preparation, herbal plant qualities and medication formulations and uses. Each of the four instructors focused on differences between Ayurvedic and Western medicine, and learned from my western experience. This daily dialogue made the experience practical and interactive. For the month of immersion in Ayurvedic medicine, I stayed at the only Ayurvedic Health home in Nepal and sampled the massages, diets, and mental training and meditation. The health home is strictly vegetarian and the meals are substantial, healthy and varied. Food is prepared with only the freshest ingredients in combinations tailored to the individual patient. I ate with the patients staying in the health home and had good conversations with a predominantly German patient population there for a variety of illnesses.

 

Kathmandu is rich in the history of traders and ancient caravans. To round out the cultural immersion aspect of my adventure, the in-country coordinators booked weekly cultural excursions to local sites of historical or cultural interest led by a superb local guide; the type of excursion that transcends tour books. After an excursion, I was even more excited about updating my family and friends back home with blog entries and photos. Internet access was easily available at a local internet cafe (on average, 50 cents/hour for broad-band speed) with uninterrupted power supplies to deal with the periodic power outages in Kathmandu.

 

My third adventure was spontaneous, just something I’d always wanted to do.  I’d done the usual homeowner furniture refinishing and now that I had time to explore, why not go to the pros and see how they did their artistry?   Kate connected me for a 2 week experience in New England with a dealer in British antiques who did fine furniture repair, refinishing. and antique sales. The experience was more fun than I could have predicted – my tutor gave me an battered antique table to work on from start to finish

and guided me along the way. The finished product went onto his sales floor along with several other pieces I did under his guidance.  What a sense of pride that he felt the work was good enough to sell!  This confidence has continued at home with more advanced projects – after all, if I could redo a multi-thousand dollar pieces, my treasure finds from antique stores got a new life. An unexpected side benefit – my B&B has genuine haunted guests and I had several interesting encounters.

 

My final adventure of several months started out in discussions with Holly as archeology in Romania. I chose that because of an interest in archeology, but wanted to live with people who had experienced a communist regime.  Romania is a fantastic country with Dracula-lore for tourists and scenic beauty and warm, friendly people.  It is about 5 years behind in the US tourist trade, so I felt relatively alone touring the sites of Transylvania and Timisoara.  Romania gave me a special connection to average people. Diggers at the site invited me for beer, my home stay family and project leaders went out of their way to help me see the spirit of the country.  The fortification

was an early dig, still under archeology control, o basic archeology principles applied and I could see them at work.  As the digging got deeper, we went from “modern” 17^th century, through 14^th century, to Dacian times at the base of the structure.  The ground maintains objects remarkably well.  Patient interpretation by the site project leaders made the site come alive for me.  I asked about diagrams, they were able to let me see the plans from the 14^th century and the 17^th century so I could study castle lore during my visits to the local internet café. I talked with the regional planner and contributed my tiny bit of tourist lore to the enduring legacy of the site.

 

What did I accomplish in this year of adventure?  At the start, I needed to break out of a routine. In Alaska and Nepal I learned artistry from a stone mason, compassion and a commitment to patient care from eastern medical physicians, and countless lessons from the people of Alaska and Nepal. In New Jersey I learned artistry.  In Romania, I felt curiosity about life in the USA from a people who produced Vlad Dracula.  I felt their sprit in the rugged and beautiful hills of Translvania.  Any of these lessons required some work on my part to take the first step, but the reward was well worth it.

 

Tips for others considering a time of adventure:

1) Allow yourself to think outside the box. Consider things you always wanted to explore, but were stymied by one or another hurdle.

2) Choose guides well. The guide/facilitator is crucial to the success of your adventure, so the experience, contacts, and price are considerations that will make your time most worthwhile whether in the US or overseas.

3) Set realistic goals. Packing multiple adventures into a short timeframe lessens the value of each by imposing a sense of hurriedness. Leave yourself some reflection time to process the adventure.  Mine spaced over a year with a bit more than 6 months gone from home and no less than a month home between adventures.

4) Mind your health. An adventure can be a challenging physical experience. Prepare well with preventive health measures and reasonable physical activity.  Give yourself permission to try new foods.

5) Keep a diary. People will want to know about your adventure. While photos help, they do not capture the granularity of daily life. I chose to do a daily blog and found that it allowed me to focus the day into a one-page vignette with photos that captured the experience in the moment.  Family and co-workers love to stay in contact and live your adventure through your journal.

6) Decide if this is to be a solo adventure or an adventure with a partner.  Kathryn and I found the adjustment period of 2 weeks on each end of each adventure required some patience.  She decided to visit for the last week of two of the adventures and that was a grand time to show off my new knowledge of the country.

7) Let each adventure crate its own opportunities for mental challenge. Each person who comes brings something different, and a more mature person brings the compendium of their life to date.  People you visit will be interested to hear your story.  Let the adventure show a new way of telling that story.

 

Are you feeling hesitant about taking that first step?  If not now; when?  Act to start this most adventuresome time of your life! "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."  - Mark Twain

The New York Times article

Through Holly Bull's influence, I was lucky enough to be included as an example in this piece. Tanya is an excellent journalist and one of the things that appealed to her about this piece was my "mainstream" life as a physician and reaching outside that for the year off.  There will be a followup in the local ECU publication and I will attach that as well for diversity - the two journalists took a slightly different approach.

Those ‘Gap Years’ Aren’t Just for Students

Christobal Perez for The New York Times

Dr. Dennis R. Sinar, a gastroenterologist, with a patient in Greenville, N..C. Dr. Sinar took a career break to explore several interests around the globe.

By TANYA MOHN

Published: January 10, 2009

DENNIS R. SINAR, 61, a doctor from Washington, N.C., is quick to explain why he took a yearlong break from his job.

“I was pretty burned out after practicing medicine for 26 years,” said Dr. Sinar, a gastroenterologist and professor of medicine at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. “I needed a recharge.”

So he took a “gap year,” from July 2007 to June 2008, to explore things like stone masonry, antique restoration, archaeology and traditional Eastern medicine, in locations spanning from Alaska to Nepal to Romania. “I think everyone in his heart of hearts has some things they have always wanted to do but for one reason or other never does,” Dr. Sinar said.

Taking a break from work is an excellent way for adults to segue into a new career or invigorate an old one, said Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim Programs in Princeton, N.J., which sets up gap-year programs. The group works mainly with college-age students, but it has also served older adults since it was formed 28 years ago, Ms. Bull said. In recent years, midcareer breaks have been garnering more interest, she said.

A report on adult gap years released in July 2008 by Mintel International, a market research company, described the potential American market for gap years as a “sleeping giant.” And now, with job cuts on the rise, the newly unemployed may find the timing for a gap year to be ideal.

Planning a gap year “takes a little more preparation for adults,” Ms. Bull said. Concerns about finances and job prospects are more common, she said.

Costs range widely, depending in part on location and the types of programs. Ms. Bull estimates that an average gap year runs $6,000 to $15,000, or less “if you keep travel down and do low-cost programs.” Of course, that does not include financial obligations like a mortgage, although some people can rent out their homes to finance their year away.

You don’t have to be wealthy to finance a gap year, said Susan Griffith, author of “Gap Years for Grown-Ups.” If a schoolteacher were to rent out his or her home for six months, “the rent would go a long way to paying their daily expenses in a developing country like Cambodia or Bolivia,” she said.

Dr. Sinar limited expenses by working for room and board on some programs. In Nepal, home stays with local families were arranged, which helped to lower costs.

The entire year does not have to be spent away from home, either. Dr. Sinar was away about seven months during his year off, which included extended stays at home between programs. That schedule made the experience easier for his partner, Kathryn, who also visited him on location several times.

“A gap year is a challenge for the older individual to step out of a comfort zone and take a risk; I enjoyed that side most,” said Dr. Sinar, who kept a daily blog about his experience. His time studying Eastern medicine “reaffirmed the reasons I went into health care” said Dr. Sinar, who returned to practice medicine at his old job, although he works fewer days. “I use those experiences to provide more compassionate care,” he added. “And I listen better than I did before.”

By contrast, Lee Attix of South Portland, Me., 52, used skills gained during a gap year more than 10 years ago to switch careers from sales and marketing into work focused on wildlife. “I wanted more than just a paycheck and doing a job,” he said.

His gap-year volunteer experiences included trail maintenance in Vermont, a stint at a farm in Arkansas devoted to ending world hunger, and study of endangered hawks in Utah. It paid off. He was offered paid seasonal work in loon conservation. Today he is a manager for BioDiversity Research Institute, a small nonprofit in Gorham, Me. Taking a gap year “was the best thing I ever did career-wise,” he said.

Tari Marcou, 54, of Hamilton, Ohio, was working as a program coordinator for an adult leadership program at Ohio State University several years ago when she realized she needed a midcareer break. Her children were grown, and she was able to sell her house for a profit. She gave her dog and her furniture to her daughter for safe-keeping and started a gap year that included time at a meditation retreat in France, organic farms in Italy and a wildlife awareness center in South Africa.

After returning to the United States, she was approached about a new job at Ohio State “for a sizable increase in salary” she said. Instead of pursuing the job, she parlayed her passion for travel into a new career by becoming a certified tour director. “I feel like I finally found where I need to be,” she said.

Dennis J. Garritan, chairman of the department of leadership and human capital management at New York University, said a gap-year experience could be worthwhile for employees and companies.

For employees, “investing in themselves and enhancing skill set is a strategic move that will pay dividends throughout their career,” Dr. Garritan said. He added that returning employees feel refreshed and have given thought to their careers.

For companies, offering unpaid leaves makes good sense for recruitment and retention of talented employees, and is a more creative long-term way to weather the economic downturn than layoffs.

BUT Dr. Garritan cautions that those returning from a gap year and looking for a new job could run into problems. Some companies may perceive these prospective hires as turnover risks. He also suggests that gap-year workers who intend to switch careers keep the door open to returning to the same profession: if an accountant hoping to become a chef goes to Paris to study culinary arts, he should plan to devote a little time to learning the European accounting system or to doing accounting work for a nonprofit.

“But my hope is that this takes off,” Dr. Garritan said. “We’re all thinking, ‘What’s my next act?’ ”

Touring Romania

It was good to have Kathryn come for a visit - an incentive to show her the country other than through the blog.  We were lucky to have Leo from Projects Abroad pick her up at the airport and bring us both back to Brasov, the start for my touring.  Touring a country in a week can be very hectic, and so my plan was to spend several days in two major cities to minimize unpacking, so I chose Brasov (bigger city) and Sighisoara (small town).  My initial thought had been to rent a car to see smaller villages, but the driving challenges in Romania convinced me to use train travel.

Brasov is a nice city with good eateries and an open square and the sunny days and the closeness of Elvis to Romania made it a great few days. I arranged a day trip to see local fortresses, and 8 people (2 australians, 2 irish, and 2 italians and us and the guide set out for the trip in a nice van.  The first stop was the Rasnov fortress ((http://stronghold2.heavengames.com/history/cw/cw110, a nicely restored castle fortress with a LONG uphill walk.  The web link shows the photos better than I could, and it was much less touristy than the more touristy Bran castle that followed (billed by tour people as dracula's original castle) - actually Dracula spent a mere 3 days here and it has been a private residence of the family of Archduke Dominic of Austria, Prince of Tuscany.  A nice castle as castles go with more of a living history, and less of the fortress feel I'd seen before and certainly none of the Dracula tourist hype .   After this we stopped at the great ski resorts in the area for some lunch.  The Australian and Irish guys decided to be "guyish" and ordered palinca with lunch - as you recall from previous posts, very potent!  They each threw down a large glass of palinca to our cheers and became more talkative afterwards.  However, about 30 minutes later, Pat (Irish guy), started to have grand mal seizures while we'd stopped for a photo op.   His wife said he'd had the last one in January as a result of a head injury, but pretty obviously, the palinca had prompted not one, but continuous seizures.  I did what i could  to protect him from injuring himself, but we decided to call the ambulance to haul him to the local hospital  (sorry, no photos of Pat in the midst of his seizures!).  Interesting look at Romanian emergency medical techs and we left Pat in the ambulance speeding to the hospital 50 miles away in Brasov (romanian law prohibits anyone riding with the patient).

Next stop was Sighisoara and a dinner with PIF and his family - it is a great little town and a scenic little family-run Casa with walks to anything important and a much slower pace.  A palinca buy at PIF's suggestion from the "palinca man", with some Kick-#$%$  award-winning palinca .

Back on the train to the bustle of  Bucharest - a great city that I wish we had more time to see. In transition between the old and the new, communist influences being overridden by Western influence, the "Paris of the East", super museums and cheap eating (for now) . 

 Then the flight home and this phase of my Year-of-Adventure closes.

Did I enjoy it - of course....  Hope you felt that through this blog.

Thanks for reading!

Dennis

Communism in Romania

I had an interest in Romania because of its previous communist history.,  I've never been to a communist country and even more importantly, have never been to a former communist country to be able to talk with the people who were living under communism to see the influences on their lives.  For those interested in more history, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Romania.

During my time in romania, I tried to talk to all sorts of people about their lives during the "time of Ceauşescu".  The people were usually in their late 40's and were students or teens during the time of the revolution that overthrew Ceauşescu in 1989.  From web searches:

" After World War II, the Soviet Union pressed for inclusion of Romania's formerly illegal Communist Party in the post-war government, while non-communist political leaders were steadily eliminated from political life. King Michael abdicated under pressure and went into exile in December 1947, and the Romanian People's Republic was declared.

During the early years, Romania's scarce resources after World War II were drained by the "SovRom" agreements: mixed Soviet-Romanian companies established in the aftermath of World War II to mask the looting of Romania by the Soviet Union, in addition to excessive war reparations paid to the USSR. A large number of people were executed or died in custody; estimates vary from 137 to tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands. Many more were imprisoned for political, economical or other reasons. There were a large number of abuses, deaths and incidents of torture against a large range of people."

Things I noticed or people pointed out:

- There are MANY more cars in romania after the revolution, but the road infrastructure on the narrow 2 lane highways has had minimal work, so the traffic is thick and drivers are aggressive

- Stories of pre-revolution: 2 eggs/month, 10 liters of gas/month, power outages for 8 hrs/day 3-5x/week.  You had to know someone and give them a bribe to survive - the "plus" as it was called - to get extra rations.  Photo is of lines of people waiting for their ration of cooking oil late 1980's.   An example: visiting a physician required a bribe to the receptionist, and then another bribe to the physician above the usual charge, similar for bread, groceries, fuel, anything really.  Romanian people had money although salaries were low, but there was just nothing to buy.  From web searches:

"In the early 1960s, Romania's communist government began to assert some independence from the Soviet Union. Nicolae Ceauşescu became head of the Communist Party in 1965 and head of state in 1967. Ceauşescu's denunciation of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and a brief relaxation in internal repression helped give him a positive image both at home and in the West. Rapid economic growth fueled by foreign credits gradually gave way to austerity and political repression that led to the fall of the communist regime in December 1989".  The local folks believed that he was somewhat well-intentioned in the early days in trying to reduce the huge national debt of romania, by exporting virtually everything that could be sold, leaving nothing to stock the shelves at home.  Power, corruption, a highly aggressive wife and family were said to add to the people's difficulties.  Timisoara in the western part of the country, is famous as the stating place of the revolution with an outspoken priest critical of the government placed under house arrest, then public protests, and 10 days later, Ceausescu was quickly tried and executed along wiht his wife.

- Buildings throughout the country show the communist influence with blocks of drab highrises, now very expensive to rent because of enterprising landlords who bought the buildings after the revolution and can charge any rent they want.

- Buchrest residents are especially mad as Ceausescu demolished entire histioric neighborhoods to replace them with drab goverment buildings.  His famous palace:

"The centre piece of Ceausescu's new Romania was built on the rubble of Bucharest's old quarter; 26 churches, and over 7000 homes were destroyed to make way for the Civic centre known as the Ceausima. At its centre looms the infamous Palatul Parliamentului, the Palace of Parliament, the third biggest building on earth after the Pentagon and the Tibetan Potala. Over 20,000 labourers and 600 architects toiled to build the Palace to Ceausescu's exacting standards. On one occasion they were required to rebuild a staircase three times because Ceausescu himself was not satisfied.

The palace stands 12 storeys high with over 1000 halls and rooms and massive underground basements. There is a nuclear bunker, underground parking that could accommodate Buckingham Palace and a lobby stretching for 300ft. The rooms are lavishly decorated in gold leaf and marble and over 4500 chandeliers (of 11,000 originally planned) hang in the Palace. This enormous building was originally known as the Casa Popularii, The House of The People, but the people instead coined it Casa Nebunului - the Madman's House."

Now, Romania is working diligently to enter the age of tourism, improve infrastructure.  My stay was during election time with a much more passionate approach to politics than in the USA.

A good time to visit...

New Photos

posted new photos of people, food, and flowers - don't know enough about flowers to comment on them - the photos are pretty high resolution, so if you have a slow loading, that's the issue.

as i mentioned, download any of them you like and you can make prints from the downloads at walmart or similar places

I plan 3 more posts in the next few days to finish off this portion of my year-of adventure

thanks for yoru comments!

d

Train travel

Electric powered trains seem so common in europe and the fast one I was on yesterday made it a great journey.  I was lucky that the compartment of my reservation had no-one in it for the 5 hr or so ride, and so i was able to stretch out (shoes off/conductors are very strict about that) and nap while the scenery went by.  Train travel makes food taste better and even my dry sandwiches (cheese,fresh bread, and some nice ham from the deva grocery) were wonderful.  The lack of electric poles and infrastructure during the heyday of train travel apparently limited the development of a significant electric rail component for the american system, but the lack of pollution and less dependence on diesel have made it great for european travel.  all you want and more about electric rail travel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_locomotive.

June 1 is a celebration day in Romania, and a sunny sunday just enhances that with a rock band playing on the square, kid face painting and free snacks for the kids (I did not stand in that line) . These two girls 10 seconds before this was shot were playing a great game of "poke your sister with the flag" and were led away by their mom.  In the background is a group of about 30 people vigorously signing - they did not pay much attention to the music (no PC intent meant!)

Was looking back on these posts to be sure I'd covered all the things i wanted to say and came across one of the earlier ones where i was curious about the crusades and their links to Vlad Tepes times and his battles with sultan Mehmed II during about 1450 or so. Well, the history knowers among you will know that the crusades took place about 150 years before that time (guess i had a gap in my history knowledge) and were felt to be a military failure, but a cultural windfall  http://www.medieval-castle.com/castle_attack_defence/medieval_crusades.htm.  Anyway, the link with Mehmed II was interesting because of his overwhelming power and military strategy allowing him to march over the christians and sack the "inconquerable" heart of the byzantine empire,  constantinople in 1453 - the website gives an interesting perspective on the battle and preparations for the battle with some knowledge of the warfare tactics of the time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople#Ottoman_dispositions.  My link with all of this is the large number of cannon balls found at the deva site that were felt to be small ones used in the 1450 timeframe, and not nearly of the size the sultan would have used against constantinople .

Roses are in bloom everywhere, so excuse me for posting another one from the homestay mom's garden .

Another post waiting for me to get motivated on romania under communism - have not had the inspiration, but have the information

Winding down in deva

Last day at the dig yesterday was HOT and sticky.  I have not been able to do a wash, so.... Gathering together my clean(est) clothes so the train people do not think badly of americans  (and of course I stand out as a tourist!).  Leaving on train today for 5 hr trip back to brasov and my homestay mom -   Hope she will let me do a wash with her washing machine.  Took the opportunity for a stroll around deva as it is waking up on saturday morning.  The city is well organized and has nice public green spaces where families come with their children and teens hang out with rollerblades (very big here).   Kids are creative with their chalk drawings.  The election is coming up and every billboard and store front is plastered with political ads - wonder what goes on those boards when there is not an election? I like this guys board - he seems thoughtful, considerate, responsibile from his photo.

Josef has gone home for the weekend and so we have to get the place together because I'm leaving today and Paul and Elly are leaving sunday for their new dig assignment.  Had not posted a photo of Josef.  In case you do not know, if you want to download any of the photos from here, just click on the photo to get the enlarged version, then right click to save it to your destination.  Elly, Paul and Josef have been busy with documenting - in my experience the most time-consuming process I've found on the dig. After the workes finish the pick and shovel and sweeping part, someone has to document the exact measurements of the area on a line drawing that requires incredible patience.  Here is the result of a week's work from them - all perfectly to scale and every rock documented. 

Normally the internet cafe is packed with kid/adult gamers, but this morning at almost 8 am I have it all to myself.  This one is "nonstop" which means it's open 24 hrs, and the guy's girlfriend is here this am, sitting patiently waiting for him to get off work so they can do something on a saturday morning.  Everyone smokes in romania, but there is no smoking in this space, so they have to go outside,

The workers dug up a skull from a wild boar of sorts from deep in the layers  (they are about 36 feet deep now and looking for the base of a residence tower. Normally they do not get skulls, mostly eating bones - this one from probably 1300 or so based on other layer data.    

 How many romanian street workers does it take to fill a hole....

Hunedoara

We were lucky - a perfect day and an expert guide.  Dehlia, an archeologist assigned to this castle is working part time assigned to "our" dig.  She was nice enough to accompany us through her castle as our personal guide. The bus there was an efficient group-thing that goes regularly from deva train station to Hunedoara, but the castle is about 45 min walk from the bus drop (good to have a local).  We took a cab, then stopped for lunch (we'd been given "clearance" from projects abroad to buy lunch for Dehlia as a treat).  We decided to have a local dessert ("papanash") and photo - fried donuts with sour cream and a blueberry topping .  With this, a wonderful chicken soup, and i had a greek salad, we were ready for the 10 minute hike to the castle.  When we got there, the castle was closed for filming a midieval war epic - Barbarrosa - http://www.geocities.com/pirates_hold/roster/barbarrosa.html  (not sure if this is the theme of the film, but it's correct enough for this blog.  Dehlia is a determined woman and we went in the back way and she talked her way through the guards.  The horses going across the front drawbridge are only shadows in this photo, but a sense of history none-the-less . This castle is a combination of royal residence and defensive fortress for Janis Hunyadi, a famous hungarian hero/warrior/king in Vlad Tepes time (1430's). The castle has been through the usual fires, lightning, botched restoration and is now in it's form as a great tourist attraction and movie film set. The center courtyard was set up as a peasant village with a bunch of warriors llounging between takes.

Lots of waiting in the heat . The church in this photo was present before the castle and this part of the castle is not changed, so this might be the view of the royal chambermaid as she walked across the courtyard with the royal chamberpot.  Another legend. The king captured 3 turkish prisoners and did not want to execute them, so he tossed them into a  hole and told them that if they dug and reached water, he would free them. They dug really deep and eventually reached water (dehlia says 15 years!), but the king had died and his wife did not honor the agreement and beheaded them.  Their sad plight was recorded by them on this stone taken from the bottom of the well .   I loved this view down to the sarcophagus of one of the knights of the castle in the royal chapel

Paul and Elly overlooking the balcony (for their parents!)

A final castle shot before we start our combined bus/taxi trip back home.

More Castle Lore

The more you ask, the more you learn.  As I've gotten to talk to the archeologists, I've gotten more good information about this particular fortress and Romanian castles in general.

The story of the stone mason's wife is an old one and apparently circulates around several castles in romania (and perhaps the world). Liked this variation though:  during the building of the castle, each day was a problem - whatever they built fell down and it was determined that there was a curse that needed to be broken and the way to break a curse as anyone knows, is to sacrifice something.  In this case, the decision was made that the next woman who came into the castle would be the sacrifice. As luck would have it, the stone mason's wife was bringing food to the workers, and appeared, so he had to place her into the wall. After the stones were sealed, the curse was broken - he was so distraught, that he threw himself from the highest point to his death on the rocks below.  It's a Balkan tradition to bury something in the wall fo a house (usually a hen, rabbit) for luck.   

I've looked from various angles to show the challenges of archeology in this fortress and this photo is a good example . The stone to the left is original, but has been replaced toward the right and around the window with different stone in a different density. The bricks are from an 18th century arch added to the main entrance. In this photo of an archer's window , the window would have been used to shoot down on attackers coming up the gate road, but the rest has been filled in.  The architects who will be in the reconstruction phase said that castles were built using scaffolds with the first layer of stone, then a wooden core that may/may not be replaced with stone to add density and defense  (BTW: stone count over 1.1 million stones!)

More on vipers. Peef was all excited monday morning to show a picture of viper sunning himself in one of the holes of the inside walls - I'd been poking in that very hole on friday  (MUCH more cautious now!).  Apparently withe the summer heat, more vipers are expected and all staff are to get desensitized with antivenom to lessen the risks of a bite (still need intensive treatment) - I'll be gone by then.

The most valuable thing found here, brass pen nibs and ornaments.  There have been gold dacian bracelets in other fortresses and there is an active business searching the hills with metal detectors by poachers for gold pieces that get sold into private collections.

Plans for the castle - make money for the community of Deva from tourist dollars!  This photo from one of the areas we've been working will be converted into a conference center with slide shows, office meetings, weddings, etc and the parts below will be a food service/catering area, a small museum will be in the crypts to the right of this.  The tower in the center will be rebuilt with a winding stair up to a walkway overlooking the views from the top of the walls. The roses are in bloom and i love this color.

Tomorrow: off to Hunedoara - a fairy-tale castle south of us with one of the archeologists from this site who works there as a guide there - expect it to be much different from this military fortress as that was a residence.

Out of the Doldrums - Timisoara

A fair day yesterday, but the post did not reflect it - lazed a bit in the local park and took some kid photos.  There is peculiar red hair color in Romanian women and it must be a style thing because about 1:3 women have variations - same color, just different amounts of hair streaked.  Looks a bit like clarabell from howdy doody (now that is dating myself - how many remember that one!).

Had planned to go to Sibiu to explore that city a bit to the south and in my good railroad ticket manners, I wrote the train, the cities, departures, class, etc on a paper and handed it to one of the nice ladies at the train station because only a people few speak conversational english.  She laughed, and handed it back to me with the comment "I can't read your handwriting", then she proceeded to tell me how i could get to sibiu, but it would involved multiple changes and slow local trains, so i thanked her and left.  Came back after regrouping and she asked if it still wanted to go to sibiu - nope, going to timisoara, the cultural capital of romania (with a tag line like that, how can i pass it up; just a short 3 hr train ride to the west, on the hungarian border). The pastries at the station looked especially good this am at 7:18 - that tall chocolate one was about $1.10.  The train was a "fast train", clean, good seats, and not too crowded - timisoara is a university town, so a fair number of students.  First thing i came across was a clinic of GI docs in the hospital district .  The city is lovely and has multiple things to be proud of - the first city in europe to have electric ligths - the start of the revolution that overthrew communism in 1989 a long history if independent newspaper publishing, even during communism, great trolleys, a wonderful set of open air squares - on and on.  A beautiful romnan catholic church (I got there for the middle of the service and stayed and heard the choir practice - in catholic churches, thre are "singing churches" where music is important, and nonsinging churches - the organ and choir provided an excellent backdrop to the service. The squares were great in the sunshine with locals out and about driking coffee on the terraces.  I include this floral clock for my sister and brother - haven't see one like this since mom and dad took us ot niagra falls so many years ago

The city has a feel of european capitals without the crowds or dirt - monuments to the virgin mary and to god for sparing the city from plague at the end of the 18th century.  Of course, the MacDonalds at the left does take some of this ambience from the scene.  Had an exceptional lunch at a place on this square.  Traditional beef soup and fried sausages served with mashed potatos and a wonderful mustard sauce (can't seem to kick the sausage thing in romania).  They even gave me a free small appetizer of a super curry risotto,

My goals for my last week here:

- get to Hunedoara - an already restored fortress not as classy as "ours"

- finish the stuff for the stone project so Peef and Josef can publish it

- Talk to the general (see romanian people photos) and see if I can get architectural plans for the envisioned finished project

Travel challenges

Just a text post this morning to share some of the challenges of travelling. 

The monestary we're staying has 3 doors that we lock religiously (no pun intended) - Paul and Elly as young people like to play computer games late at the internet cafe and Josef has gone back to his home town of Cluj for some exams for the weekend.  Imagine my surprise when I got up for a bathroom stop at 2:30 and poor paul and allie were tapping on the window to get in - Paul had broken the key in the last door and they could not get in and had been on the outdoor porch since midnight.  I tried the door from the inside, but it would not open, so after a few minutes we decided the only way in was through a bathroom window.  They came in and promptly went to bed.

This morning, the maintenance guy changed the lock, but there is still only 1 key, so we'll see how that works until monday when we can get new keys made.

Had planned to go to sibiu on the train today, but when i got to the station and gave the lady my itinerary, the train that i needed only runs starting june 1 (the internet schedule say May1), and later trains and return would not get me back tonight, sooooo.  Here at the internet cafe to find another possible weekend day trip and the romanian train website is down.

The meeting with Peef about the rock count went well and he was impressed with the detail of the calculations. He wants to know if he and josef can publish the final report in the romanian archeology journal.

Weather great today though and expected to be hot next week.

More about vampires

The vampire legend is everywhere in romania and I've been asking around to see what romanians feel about it. Vlad Tepes (Dracula) seemed to have bad PR while his cousin stefen the great, had good PR.  Both were equally ruthless feudal lords at the time, yet one is considered a vampire and the other a national hero.  I got another perspective on the blood-sucking aspect from one of the visiting archeologists. Apparently the "truth" for ruthlessness in this area was Elizabeth Bathory, http://www.abacom.com/~jkrause/bathory.html)  a medieval princess who was accused of murdering 600 virgins and bathing in their blood to maintain her youth (this peculiar night-time facial ritual wa suggested to Ms. Bathory by her witch advisor The punishment was to have her bricked in to her room where she died 4 years later.  Hungarians have had a tradition of vampires long before the 470's vlad stories and their legends are of sort of a poltergeist or bad spirit that comes during full moons or misty nights and steals cows milk, or makes frightening sounds.  Anyway, Vlad makes money.

Say what you want bad about Mcdonald's, but the one here in deva is new, has the best lawn in the city, and is open all night.  Granted, a big mac is about $3.50 and fries are $1.00, both expensive for the local folks, but kids pack the place next to the train station, and the bathroom is clean, toilet paper is there, and it's on a keycode (if you look like a tourist, the macdonalds person will let you in.

Remember in a previous pst I was talking about the castle lore of the stone mason who bricked his wife in the wall to protect the castle?  well, I think I found her - actually, a peculiar hole that is only visible from high on the outside walls (the scaffold is there now).  I stuck my camera in and took the photo to show you her likely space - her bones are just below the sand - OOOOOOOOOOOO - more creepy stuff from romania.

I have been asking a good bit about castle life, and found a site that describes living in a castle (a british castle) and you may find it interesting.  (http://www.castlewales.com/life.html)

In my castle, the workers got some neat gun stuff from the cannon batteries.  The first photo is of a 14th century cannon that exploded. The cannon in those time, called bombards, were more like mortars and hurled a ball on an arc with a maximum range of about 1/2 mile (depending on the amunt of gunpowder used).  This type of weapon was used by Sultan Mehmed to break the "indestructible" walls of Constantinople and conquer that city for the Ottoman empire. This sultan was the one who Vlad battled for his entire lifetime.  The bombard exploded if there was even a trace of powder left in the hot barrel - the fate of this one. The second photo is of a Harqebus  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arquebus, a large thick rifle held by 3 men and used in this fortress from about 1400 onward.  The link shows some photos. This barrel had exploded, but it was Heavy!  The rifle ball Peef gave me on my first day matches the diameter of this weapon - pretty cool.  The last photo for today is taken from the most forward cannon position in the castle to show the impressive scan of the town below that a set of cannon could command.  The structure being built is the romanian gymnasts new training center.

Dig News

Was going to write about the communist revolution in Romania - have been collecting informaation about that from the regular people that i contact, but another time. Great days on the dig - my calculations are coming together and I'm getting great feedback from Josef and Peef. Josef thinks that he would like to continue this method at another castle dig that he, allie and Paul are going on the day i'm leaving and thinks it would be a great publication for him. He and Peef discussed that the calculation will be useful in archeology restorations to allow planners to estimate rocks needed and mortar. I've found a way to extend the information so that I can calcuate the weight of the structure (rocks, mortar),and working on how to estimate how many rocks an average stonemason can lay in a day, so can calculate possible manhours used in the construction. I love that creative part, and with the plans, I can avoid the more tedious stuff of trowel digging and sweeping and still feel as if i'm contibuting. Was in a pit today doing measurements when one of the workmen found a nice piece of Dacian pottery from a bowl used to hold fruit.  This type of pottery is common at this dig, so no-body gets excited about it, but for me it's pretty impressive to hold a piece of stuff that is over 2000 years old, and just came out of the ground after that time.

There are the usual crop of tourists that come up the cable car to view the castle, but they are excluded by wooden gates from the workers - one of the guys yelled if anyone spoke english, so a worker came over and got me, peef opened the gate for them, and i gave my simplistic "tour" to a young couple from seattle.  Then in the spirit of discovery, Peef came over with a turkish hashish pipe bowl (missing the pipe stem) that he gave me - 17th century, so a sense of history today. 

I keep talking about these "plans" I got, so including one of the overview ones w/o the detail topographic or measurements - the plan is the best projection of what the fortress looked like in the 17th century with the hillsides and bastions for cannon/defensive roads, etc.  The roses are spectacular and I lvoed hte color of this red one . 

As you can may be able to tell, the folks at typepad have come up wiht a new interface that I'm using today for the first time - much more intuitive and allows sizing of photos (thik it even has spell check!).  Last photo today is of the "big eaters" at the bottom of one of the excavations - we had been getting puny little chicken bones, but the bones coming out of here are from serious meat.  I keep looking for the human bones - they found skeletons from 3 turkish soldiers killed in the blast of the powder magazine in 1840's a few weeks ago. in this approximate area 

WEEKEND OUTING - SIGHASOARA

The trip was excellent - as i mentioned yesterday, the train was a bit late, but clean and uncrowded on the way up, PACKED on the way back.  Romanian railways does not make announcements of stations coming, so you sort of have to keep[ track of the time, or know your stations - I was bit panicked coming back because the train started for the first hour with me going backwards, then turned around and i was going frontwards - they just took a different route and had to turn the train at a junction point.  Sighasoara is a tourist town in the northern part of transylvania with a midevil fortress and the birthplace of vlad dracula - they make all they can of it with tee shorts and coffee cups with vlad's mug plastered eveywhere. The flowers are out in full bloom and the town is clean and ready to receive all those tourist dollars.

Runners preparing for the transylvania 15k on a sunday morning- looks like a lot of uphill stuff. The clocktower in the center of town is the focus for tourists to climb and on the hour see the mechanics of the great german-built moving figures.  I skipped the midevil armor and the torture museum on this visit and will visit with kathryn when she comes in early june (I know she will not want to miss the "spanish boot" for extracting information from resistent folks). Nice looking authentic romanian clothes that seemd stylish - just costly for the tourist. A great quiet coffee/pastry place off the beaten track with lovely vines covering the eating area - an outrageous 5 lei ($2.00) for an expresso (twice what it is in the city), but i had an hour to kill and it was good to get out of the sun and watch the hot tourists wander by on the side streets.   A pretty cat at the cafe who seems to have it all figured out. 

A cold beer at the youth hostel in town (fair rates, no youth that I saw - all the drinkers and residents appeared to be elderly german couples (maybe i should not be so glib in the use of "elderly").

Excited because i got my set of plans for the fortress today and started with the rock calculation project.  Takes a bit of time to orient to the detailed scale drawings, but they are a huge help, and i don't have to risk vipers after all!  I plan to finish the draft by friday of this week so i can review the results with peef and his henchmen, make the changes he suggests, do the new calculations and measurements and then give it to Josef (our projects-abroad archeologist) for him to translate into romanian and burn my photos to cd before i leave.

Have not provided a food photo in a bit - lunch today was out at the workers' restaurant - a cabbage salad, a great tasting soup of chicken hearts and livers and vegs (I loved the broth, passed on the innards), and a big mess of beans and a huge hunk of sausage - all for about $4.00.

Politics and "the guys"

Interesting friday - the prime minister of romania came to the site (I missed his visit) - the general thought is that all of these visits are all carefully arranged for political elections coming up in june, anyway, Peef told me there would be free food - sure enough, as i wandered out about 7:30 ish there was a large tent in the parking lot and a VERY sweaty lady cooking sausages and guy passing out draft beer - there were abotu 6 dark-suited politicos and many kids - forgot to tell you that this is the premier school to train romanian gymnasts (nadia comenic) from previous olympics and the mayor/prime minister came to cut the ribbon on the memorial to them with busts and all - not sure if nadia approved the bust; looks a bit stern.  Anyway.... there were about 30 kids in line, pushing, and about 10 adults - all kept pushing and jockying for position, but i held my ground for my place in line to get 2 nice thick sausages, 2 slices of bread, a tall cold draft beer and some hot mustard (do not have photos because i did not want to look too touristy).  I sat on the side because all the tables were full, and a table of the workers from the site saw me and one of them invited me over (they are intensely curious about this "americaner").  More beer flowed, they pulled out their brandy, then some palinca (potent romanian drink - 50% alcohol) came out, and one thing led to another... I held it in check while maintaining a delicate oral and sign language balance while drinking just a sociable amount even though their bravado wanted me to keep up with them.  A great evening of fun - i was glad they asked me and they think better of me i hope - at least they smile a lot and wave.  Had a day of GI upset (the sausages were not entirely cooked I suspect), but all back to normal.  Strolled around downtown Deva and send you these photos of what the best dressed man and woman is wearing in deva

Apparently my rock-counting project has generated some interest because today , they offered me a complete set of plans and wanted to know when i could have the draft to them - before i left or after i got to america - they see a publication and some good-old fashioned PR. This is a local postcard of the fortress from about 1980 or so without the scaffolds or viper signs.

Had a Great trip by train to Sighasora in the north (about 3 hrs) and will cover that visit tomorrow.  The train was clean, fast, moderately cheap (3 hr there and back for $30.00 with reserved seats) My train travelling companions .  Cars are expensive here, the photo was of a car in the local parking lot - judge the condition for yourself - price 1400 euros - about $2000.00!

Met a young hungarian woman today at the church lunch - she is from cleveland ohio (about 26 miles from my home town, elyria ohio- " the star of the north, and exit 8 on the Ohio turnpike".  She teaches kindergarden here and her kids all wanted their picture taken 

Romanian People

Just added photo album of romanian people - Enjoy!

Walking around the fortress and fortress lore

There are signs around the fortress asking people to be aware of vipers - well, we have some poisonous snakes in North Carolina, so i thought how bad can this be.  The wikipedia link is here Vipers in Romania.  I was impressed with the toxicity of the venom, the location of the snakes on rocky hillsides, and the long fangs.  Peef noted that 2 had been seen around the castle walls by workmen last week.

I am starting a self-imposed project - I asked one of the archeologists (peef in closeup on the right - the crusty-looking guy, but very nice) how many stones there were in the castle - "no idea" - so i thought that would be a good creative project for me and i started out on it today  and the photo shows a sample of the outer wall defences - part of the stones i wanted to include.  Note the thick vegetation and hence the viper reference.  More to follow on that project.  The archeologists seemed genuinely interested in this nugget of tourist information.

The guidebooks say the fortress was started in 1250 on the site of previous Dacian fort and legend has it that the wife of the mason was buried alive in the walls to ensure "it's" safekeeping - unclear if it's the wife or the fortress they are referring to....The fort was expanded in 1453 during the time of Vlad Darcula because of the strategic location in the defense of Transylvania.  In 1784 there was a peasant uprising, the fortress was a stronghold for frightened nobles fleeing enraged peasants (the peasants overran it and killed the nobles).  In 1849 Hungarian nationals attacked austrian generals holed up here and the powder magazine explosion occurred (? lightning, sabotage) and half the castle was destroyed.  There have been 3 major restoration attempts, so the walls have mortar and brick from at least 3 periods.  My quest for the number of stones will use samples from the base foundations and some of the walls that are interior and may be less influenced by explosions or restorations.

This would have been the view from inside the fortress of the defenders with folks coming up the hill, and this would have been the view of the attackers coming up (minus the arrows, cannon and rifle bullets coming toward you along with hot oil .

This is the oldest and likely original window in the castle dating they think to the original construction (1250) - I have a feeling the mason's wife is somewhere close.

Photo of the dining hall with the quiet orderliness of many children well behaved and organized in a task - some get plates and silverware, some get sweet hot tea (herbal, no caffeine), and some get bread - they pray before, talk quietly, cleanup and sweep their areas, then off to school.  The breakfast - bread and boiled pig fat with pepper for seasoning - fat is boiled till it melts, seasoning added, the mixture cools, and is like a thick jelly - you spread it on bread, thicker-the-better.  I passed on this one, but had a few extra slices of bread to hold me through till lunch

More digging stuff

A great day between storms. From this height, you are able to get a new perspective on storm movements.    A break in the clouds and sunshine radiating to a lucky part of the countryside.

The castle continues to be fun. The work we're about is not all that history-changing -  but then we're just volunteers - but it is good in showing archeology principles of layer digging, documentation, and measurement.  We've been working in an area of an oven (likely in the 1800's sometime) and we're sorting through the black charred remains of what was in there as we go down a few millimeters at a time.  It feels a bit like working in the back of a KFC because of the small chicken bones and rodent bones we're recovering along with the shattered pots and pieces of iron (of course, nothing of that left but rust at this time). Next to it is an oven that we've been cleaning and removing a small dirt wall in prep for the artist to do final drawings of the area. Everything is documented with photos, measurements and collection of as many intact things as possible - several coins have been found at the base of the foundation, but they are only from the early 1800's - the intial hope is that they would be "prehistoric" during the era of the Dacians Dacians as a people in 1100 BC or so.  The archeologists believe that this fortress was intially occupied by the Dacians as a crucial defense in the mountain routes across Romania.  According to the archeologists, the romans, who conquered this entire area, had only 2 religions they did not tolerate - the dacians and the druids (of stonehenge).

This photo is of the foundation walls along one edge to show how they are built on bedrock of the mountain. The project involves constructing a fancy walkway for tourists to come up to the castle in much the same way a head of state would enter from the main gate and drawbridge - this is the basic stuff for that walkway to come later in the summer.  Peef, the head archeologist and the one who gave me the rifle ball on the first day, is in his mid 40's, has a continual worried look, and constantly is moving around checking, thinking, planning - his private company won the bid and they are about 5% done with the project with all the digging that's been done even since i've been here - they still have major work on the exterior defensive walls down the hill which will keep the workers busy as they have to move dirt up and down the hills.  This photo is of peef (back to camera - I don't know him well enough yet to ask for a front on photo, he's not that kind of guy!) is directing shoring up a wall between the chapel and the master bedroom next to it - as they dig deeper, the walls become more unstable and collapsing a wall would be an archeologic no-no.  Paul, a new volunteer joined us tonight from England and we decided to go to dinner in the "big city" of Deva. This is my order, a pizza "o-solo-mia" - delicious and plenty to take home from me for breakfast.

DIGGING

The fortress is a great experience!  It is an active dig in what's called the consolidation phase - the archologists and engineers are piled all over the place and digging is going on - that's different from the castle project i did in provence that was in the restoration phase (to follow here in several years) where the structure is put back together.  This one is much more alive and active.  The cable car ride up is great and have not made .  The head archologist and his hunchmen have been very instructive and answered all my many questions patiently. Theyull out all kinds of stuff from the fortress and he gave me nice round iron bullet from the "middle ages" - he says about 1450 or so.  There was lots of bigwigs wandering around and the mayor of Deva  and some minor american rock star (allie knows the band and says they are a 1-hit wonder) coming tomorrow for a tour.  Cable car ride up on a misty morning yesterday that cleared quickly to glorious sunshine yesterday and today.

Great views above the clouds and a comparison of the super clear views from the fortess walls.  In Romania, fortresses are built on HIGH hills and this one has been occupied since 1100BC with one of another tribe. It was conquered last after a 4 week seige in 1450 or so (the bullet above) and impressive to see the cannon blasts on the outer walls and the pwoer from the distance of the valley floor.  The castle is ofter hit by l;ightnigh and a lightning strike in 1840 caused an explosion of the powder magazine and destroyed half the structure. This one is of one wall being worked and a gathering strom yesterday (that did not come) but had lightning and everyone was ready to get off the hill.

The castle has a long history and one of the goals is to dig down to the bedrock of the mountain that was the foundation for the strength. This is a sample of a layering that allows them to date the ages of work. They say that the numbers between 12-13 are about 1400 ad and the ones at the lowest level on this shot are from about 20BC - pretty impressive span of history.  Our normal work hours are get up at 6, have some instant coffee in the room, go to breakfast at the church orphanage (food shots coming of that experience), work from 8 till 1, then lunch, same place, work till 6, the dinner at 7-7:30, then make it about 20 minute walk to the internet cafe to post the days adventures, then to bed - have been sleeping well - the walk up the hill to the fortress is a heck of an uphill hike!!!! 

  Last one for the day - I feel SOOOOO like Indiana Jones - the new movie comes out may 22 and will have to wait till i get home

Travel to the dig

Catching up from seveal days ago - they consider a "volunteer vacation" one that involves work, so difficult to find the leisure time to go to internet cafe (they are fewer now than in the past due to high penetrance of wireless and low rates (here in romania it is about $1.00/hr!

This is Allie, a very nice 20ish year old Irish woman who is going with a guy from south carolina.  She has a level head and a spirit of independence.  We got on the train together in Brasov and took the 5 hr train ride in the rain to Deva (see map on photos).  Nice train, on time, and the ticket cost was about $25.00 - no frills on the train however. Very nice dining car, but Alex convinced me it was about 5x more expensive than in city and frowned on me going - even for a coffee. The train arrived on time, and we were met by Josep, our projects archeologist - always make all the difference to have local contacts. The next series of photos goes through the place (onestary building) where we're staying, my lower bunk with Josep and the fortress we're wotrking on with ,the cable car up - we have unlimited rides up and down and as the weather improves, great sunrises and sunsets from the very top.  It is a major restoration project for the romanian govt with a bevy of workers digging. tomorrow - castle photos and history.

Food: hearty - we eat with the orphan kids from the town cared for by the Fransiscans with strict meal times (7 breakfast, 1 lunch, 7:30 dinner and you better be on time or no food!  Food photos coming in the series of romanian food photos.

Overall, a good experience, just have to adapt to the local customs and give up a bit of your independence.  According tot he ehad archeologist, the weather should be getting nicer and warmer - we'll see,

Tomorrow, a foggy cold morning and the first castle day (after all this travel, finally getting to do some real work!)

Vlad Tepes (dracula)

The romanian countryside was divided, conquered, reconquered, redivided and in summary, rarely has had a free time in its history. My sources say that's because of the strategic position on edge of eastern europe.  The romans wanted it for gold and removed several billions dollars worth of gold (todays prices) during their 165 year occupation. Vlad Tepes, a feudal prince in the 1430-1470 time period was considered a great conquerer, but had ruthless tendencies, and is remembered for those, even though his mthods were not terrbily different from other conqueres of the time.  My source is "Vlad Dracula, The Dragon Prince"  by Micheal Augustyn.   Vlad was influenced by his capture by and being hostage of the turkish sultan, and it is said, developed his love of impaling there. He is remembered for impaling entire towns, merchants, prisoners, scouts, and effectively killing 40-50,000 people during his reign of terror either on the throne of Wallechia or seeking it.  Impalement for those interested involves placing a thick sharpened stake into the anus of the prisoner and slowly advancing it into their body.  When about 2 feet are in, the stake is lifted upright and the person left to die a slow death. His exploits are in every tourist eatery, visitors information center, and he is likely the most famous person in this part of romania.  Acutally a minor historical figure according to records, his ruthlessness marked him for history and made Bram Stoke use the character (adding literary license) for the famous dracula of the 50's with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karlof as the lead character.  It is said he was a vampire because the Orthodox catholic church excommunicated him and forbid the earth to accept his body after death - one legend led to another, the bats, the blood sucking, the undead, and a historical personality was born.  It's been interestng to use the book above as a reasonably an accurate historical record with some fiction added to get a flavor for the person each tourist encounters at some time in this part of romania.

Enough about that aspect of romania.  This area is also considered one of the last natural environments for bears  (those of you who read my alaska blog know my interest in bears) - check out this website for an interesting vacation idea bears in romania.  The photo is of the cable car up the mountain said to pass through the largest bear reserve in the world.  Alex notes that you frequently see bears wandering around from the vantage point of the cable car

A nice sunny day (gosh, 2 in a row!), so out and about to see the city in holiday mood - will be going to museums tomorrow and posting again I hope before my monday morning trip to Deva in the western part of the country to start a real dig (up to now have been minimally active in archeology).

A nice exerience this morning as I followed a few dressed up  folks into the beautiful Greek orthodox church for a baptism.  I was not dressed TOO differently than the family and smiled and shook hands withe the happy mom and dad and wished them well.

Two street sweeper ladies finished with their shift and waiting for a bus home. I asked if I could take their photo and the one on the left was ll into it - the one on the right was not so sure, but the lady on the left jabbed her with her elbow and motioned me to shoot away. Last one on this tour is of Deane's - Deane is an irish internist who decided to pitch it all and start a band (the front ad says big band style), and then a pub - I plan to ry that tonight after dinner to see if i can hear some good irish music

Challenges in Romanian History

When I started at projects, they asked " why did you choose romania"?  well.....  I remember grade school history (catholic school) and my fascintation with the "crusades" of the middle ages - heroic knights from western europe who travelled to eastern europe with their armies to fight the turkism empire threatening to impose eastern religion on those good catholics of western europe. Also, there was a TV series on robin hood where robin was robbing and stealing to fight the evil king john while the good king richard was off at the crusades.  My simplistic view of the crusades has maured a bit while studying romanian history and romania was often the front line of crusdae battles with the ottoman (turkish) empire in the 1400-1500 time period.  So, I wanted to explore this border between eastern/western europe and between the christian and muslim empires.  Obviously that is not something that's going to jump out at you as you walk the streets of brasov, so i wanted to challenge myself a bit to find some of it.  Also, as I got into my prep, I was impressed with the balancing act that princes of that period and since have had in maintaining stability in this region of the world.  Hence you'll hear about vlad dracula because lots was written about him, and romania under communism.  Any REAL historians may cringe at my fragmentation of the facts.

My second reason was that romania has passed through the revolution of 1989 and is on full-speed to move itself into a viable modern economy.  I assume that in 5 years romania will change dramatically as a destination for tourists and a lot of the native charm will be "touristized", so I thought that this time may be a good one to see a country in transition.  Projects-abroad has an active presence here and their archeology program is well established providing volunteers to projects throughout the country.  I loved the connectedness with history from my provence castle restoration project several years ago and thought a more intense experience may be fun.

Third, my family seems to have come from the "old country" at some time in history. I've been unable to track down a country or village of origination and the family names have changed as they passed through ellis island multi-generations ago, but i believe that at least some of my stock came from this "type" of people, land-based workers and i wanted to get a chance to see them in remote villages.

Is all that going to turn out be a bunch of hooey?  perhaps, but the adventure is in trying it and challenging your ideas.

My challenges:

- find out enough of old romanian culture (pre-revolution) from folks who speak minimal english in a country that has minimal tourist resources in english, and only rare books on the subject tha i have access to

- observe, smile

- talk with the younger generations and get their take on the situation; hence i rely on Leo, alex, and projects staff for their opinions, so like in previous blog posts, you may hear a lot about the few people i can talk with and some of the impressisons about those i can't

- journal enough of this in text and photos for my later reference and your reading.

I welcome your comments and suggestions

A sunny day

A nice walk around town with my Projects contact, alex several days ago.  Not many days are this sunny, so wanted to get these photos and post them with comments.

A look down a typical cobblestoned romanian street close to the project office - Alex, a 19 y/o cameraman and recent projects coordinator on his cell talking to a contact in Bran to see if we should go to see the castle bran (Dracula's castle) - as it turned out, it was pouring rain there and i decided to postpone the trip till later in the spring when the weather MAY be better.  On this stretch of street, we see lots of older folks in traditional romanian dress and a gathering storm in the background.

The downtown area is nice, seems prosperous, and shops have nice things for sale and people are moving in an out of them buying things.  The trouble as it turns out with the internet cafe's is that most have closed due to financial issues - we've located one that we could find only on a sunny day (about a 20 minute walk from my homestay) and will be trying that over this weekend. This is a statue in honor of romulus and remus, the founders of rome, raised by a mother wolf and in the city center square.  You know my love of food photos, and we stopped at a great traditional romanian eatery - a former wineceller converted into the business-class eatery. Alex recommended a traditional romanian favorite - (of course i wish i had the romanian name) - a beef-stew with a sour cream sauce, sausage, and a form of potatoes on the side - prior to that a sour romanian soup eaten after biting into a moderately-hot green pepper, surprisingly tasty!!!

Lots of walking and as long as it's not raining, walking is  great.

Alex: working 2 jobs (cameraman and projects abroad), living with mom and younger sister, attending first year university in tourism (3 more years), and frustrated that he can't afford a car, or any form of transportation. My question about why are the streets being paved and the parks being cleaned, flowers pruned - his reply: elections are coming and the mayor wants to be sure she shows that progress is happening.  A public bus ride is expensive (about $1.30) and most locals chance it and ride w/o a ticket - the fine is 45 lei, but it is easy to get out of it by bribing the bus driver and inspector with 10 lei each, and all is forgotten.

A shot of flowers in my homestay's garden - with springtime and all the rain, tulips are everywhere (and those politicians just planted them to show the public that the city is being beautified!).  Can't believe what a difference the sunny day makes after all the rain and projected to get to 71 over the weekend with rain.   The rain should let up soon.

ROMANIA IMPRESSIONS #1

Sorry it's been a while getting this blog entry out - had to find an internet cafe that had a fast(er) USB connection for photos.  Let me know if the photos come across well as I reduced the resolution to speed transmission.

Thanks to Kate and Interim for hooking me up with Projects Abroad - the airport meeting was efficient To have a friendly driver waiting after a long flight is incredibly comforting in a new country.  The first impressions of romania were very positive - it is clearly a country in change.  Coming from the airport everywhere there are signs in english promoting business development and investment. The country is working very hard to come into the modern world.  As these blog entries continue, I hope to give you an impression of how close the romanian people are to the USA, and yet how different.  The defining things to my first impressions are the revolution of 1989 overthrowing N. Ceausescu's dictatorship and communism and Vlad Tepes (Vlad Dracula as the major tourist draw in this country because of the legends from hollywood) - more on both.

This first photo is after the long flight with my heavy rick steves bag packed with clothes for digging and warmth in a country changing from winter to spring balanced by an equally heavy carry-on with the essentials (camera, medications, snacks, and general "stuff". The happy face is from a long trip ended - I was met by the projects-abroad driver, leo (shown below).  Had to shoot a photo of the airport supermarket with the best looking fresh fruits shy of a farmer's market - all at prices roughly comparable to the  USA. Leo gave me some estimates for my economic meter "the MAC-meter" - the cost of a big mac, fries, and a large coke would be about $4.00 in Romania and he and his young son eat at macdonald's often.  Although not as common as in USA, they are placed in the large cities - as I explore Brasov this weekend, I'll look for the starbucks that is on every street corner at home.

We stopped for a snack on the 4 hr drive from Bucharest to Brasov and the snack is typical of the US.  Met my homestay mom and she was surprised because she was told a college-age boy was coming - imagine her surprise when someone her age arrived.  She was diplomatic about it though.  She and Leo are pictured. She does not speak any english, but as usual, we communicate in gestures and sign language.  My room is comfy, toasty warm at night for the 30-40 degree temps at night in these mountains and quiet.  Last photo on this blog was of a typical breakfast.  Good protein and good sausages

A SPIRIT(ED) PARTY

Was telling Doreen (owner of the Hawke) that I was leaving and she asked if I'd had any spirit adventures - No - wish I had. Told her about the other night when about 1:30 am there was a LOT of ruckus from the bar below me. Voices and furniture moving - I thought it was the movers,table/floor guys doing their work - she said there has been no-one in here at nights (I sleep in the house alone!) - the bar closes about 11.  The noise continued for about 30 min and I looked at the clock several times to be sure of the time.  Guess there was a hot time in the old town that night.  No change in the furniture or the floor the next morning which seemed odd to me after the commotion the night before.  The spiritis seem to like the bar as a gathering place.  Wonder what would have happened if I'd gotten up and walked down there...

Getting ready to leave Lambertville after a GREAT time learning things from james - he has been an excellent treacher and in spite of a busy schedule has taken time to explina in detail techniques and nuances of the business.

Wanted to update on the projects.

The patch went back and was satisfactory to the owner. The finish was great and the patch was hardly visible when the table was assembled.

The table - my biggest project, was buffed with an automobile sander and then wax polished - lots of hand work to get all the wax off (Karate Kid - wax on/wax off) and went onto the sales floor - before and after photos .  Remember that the lady liked the table, but did not like the color.  The finish removal, color washing to make the leaves match the center, and reapplying a multi-coat french polish dramatically improved the table.

The chair, my easiest project , was a lesson in how little things can improve something.  The stripping process had made the chair frail at all the joints, and the harshness of the stripper and water steam wash had damaged the wood.  The disassembly, reglueing the joints, and a coat of mahagonay wax made the chair good as new and fit perfectly with a desk on the floor.  He made a good point that he often buys single chairs cheap because they can usually fit into a desk he already has to make a nice item for sale, or he may find 5 chairs with one missing and the single chair will complete the set.  Had a nice discussion on this last day about repairing small defects in the finish - what I see most commonly in my furniture.

A great experience - thank you James!!!!

On to see Evan and Emily and the boys in Pittsburgh and then home for my own projects.

IMPERFECTIONS AND CORRECTING THE STRIPPER'S WORK

Updates on multiple projects - the patch is nearly done and the owner/dealer approved the fix and it is ready to go back- We had a discussion of how to bill for it because if yo billed for the time, it would be too high; if you billed a flat fee, it has to be just the right amount to cover the work and skill in blending it.  A good blend job, but multiple attempts.

James gave me a new project. Disassemble and sand/polish a mid 18th century chair. The owners in England had painted it mutliple times and then sent it to the stripper for cleaning; they did not like it and James bought it from a dealer. The things I learned: stripping in a vat of hot caustic liquid is hard on a chair.  After it comes out they power wash it with steam to get the stripper off. The result is a pitted, split chair with all loose joints where the animal glue originally used has been weakened/dissolved.

Sort of a cute "farmhouse chair". Removing all the pieces was easy and the sanding of the turnings a bit tedious, but hope to finish that today.  I'm less likley to send one to the stripping vat with all the work to get it back.  If you just want to paint it, fine, paint over it or hand strip it; if you want a finish on good wood beneath. hand strip to avoid the cracks and splits from the water.

The original table we started with is coming along- the shellac has to cure a few days between major coats. James rubbing in circles and figure 8's to get shellac/rotten stone in. I'm now up to 25 thin coats of shellac hand applied with a polishing rubber.  Today we'll be doing a close-to-final rubbing in with pumice, then polishing. I wanted to show the fine details of the project - each coat of shellac, even though thin, has an effect on the final finish. The two photos are of minor defects I noticed from my technique - They should come out with final steps (I hope), but they really are not bad unless you know they're there.  The last photo is of the back of one of the chairs with a difference in the finish between an area that I polished and an area that i missed. The wax provides a fine gloss, but the underlying finish is different in color (but the cushion will cover it)

Finished chairs

The polishing of the 4 chairs took most of yesterday and I've only finished 3 of the 4. These chairs are beautiful and the shot of them does not do justice to the shine, depth of color and beauty of the wood and craftsmanship, James joked about the time it takes and at his ealry stages of restoration, he took that same amount of time, but in todays world, that amount of time is prohibitive with teh profit margins unless the customer wants them absolutely perfect.  So, he was glad of the time I'm taking.  Did somoe discussion of chair repair as I have several at home to repair when i get back.  The most common fairlure is at one of the rear tenons where the seat skirt and the back rail join - Fat people (or thinner people acting funny) throw the chair back when their in it and lift the front legs.  That stress on the tenon causes the glue to weaken first, then the tenon to split second.  The braces on those areas in this chair photo are trying to prevent that breakage. Less well-made chairs may not have that reinforcement and when the tenon fails and the leg falls off, the only repair is to fashion a brace like this to hold the leg in place firmly to avoid a future damgerous break with the person crashing to the floor.  These chairs are a set of 12, and only the 4 that James has are known to have survived. The roman numerals carved into the seat back (on previous post of this chair) are p to 9 on our 4 chairs, so the thought is that there were 12 at one time.  To make a chair like this wodl have taken about a week in England and the test for an apprentice was to build a chair - felt to be the hardest task for a furniture maker.

The patch is coming along and perhaps some minor color leveling and finishing and it will be ready to go back to the dealer

Off to Princeton today for a visit with Holly and Kate and lunch in the college town.

Minor historical fact about Lambertville - buried in the cemetary is George Coryell, the last living (until he died) pallbearer of George Washington and right next to him is George Holcomb - one of Washington's spies during the war

Finished chairs

The polishing of the 4 chairs took most of yesterday and I've only finished 3 of the 4. These chairs are beautiful and the shot of them does not do justice to the shine, depth of color and beauty of the wood and craftsmanship, James joked about the time it takes and at his ealry stages of restoration, he took that same amount of time, but in todays world, that amount of time is prohibitive with teh profit margins unless the customer wants them absolutely perfect.  So, he was glad of the time I'm taking.  Did somoe discussion of chair repair as I have several at home to repair when i get back.  The most common fairlure is at one of the rear tenons where the seat skirt and the back rail join - Fat people (or thinner people acting funny) throw the chair back when their in it and lift the front legs.  That stress on the tenon causes the glue to weaken first, then the tenon to split second.  The braces on those areas in this chair photo are trying to prevent that breakage. Less well-made chairs may not have that reinforcement and when the tenon fails and the leg falls off, the only repair is to fashion a brace like this to hold the leg in place firmly to avoid a future damgerous break with the person crashing to the floor.  These chairs are a set of 12, and only the 4 that James has are known to have survived. The roman numerals carved into the seat back (on previous post of this chair) are p to 9 on our 4 chairs, so the thought is that there were 12 at one time.  To make a chair like this wodl have taken about a week in England and the test for an apprentice was to build a chair - felt to be the hardest task for a furniture maker.

The patch is coming along and perhaps some minor color leveling and finishing and it will be ready to go back to the dealer

Off to Princeton today for a visit with Holly and Kate and lunch in the college town.

Minor historical fact about Lambertville - buried in the cemetary is George Coryell, the last living (until he died) pallbearer of George Washington and right next to him is George Holcomb - one of Washington's spies during the war