http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Michigan-Schlief/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Michigan Schlief en-us Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:42:29 +0000 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:42:29 +0000 Monday was sunny. I cut through the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden to get home. Tuesday was gray. I took a shortcut by way of the Butterfly Path to The National Mall. I always carry a camera on walks around DC. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/blog-452683.html Chilling in Bangkok's Chinatown with grilled tiger prawns Thai seafood hot pot and an icy Singha beer. Life is good. Bangkok's Chinatown is a Thai smorgasbord of tastes smells sounds and happenings. Life is in the streets Serendipity in technicolor. Please note that I am not in Bangkok at the moment but back home with Marilyn in Michigan. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-443312.html DC is well known for its marvelous museums its mix of people from all parts of the world its wealth of ethnic restaurants its incredible mass transit system its Smithsonian festivals and its angry protest marches plus all the other pleasures treasures of a cosmopolitan national capital. Tourists come from all over the world to DC. Plus the Locals are out there too mixing in. Peoplewatching http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-107522.html I am back in DC for the autumn. Every day I pack my camera a jug of water some fruit a couple of good books and my journal into my daypack and head out either on foot or on my bicycle to explore. DC is NEVER boring. Here's nineteen slices of what's been happening on or near the National Mall in Washington DC. this September. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-91897.html The National Mall in Washington DC divides into two parts. The East Mall runs a mile down a treelined esplanade bordered by flowery gardens from Capitol Hill to 15th Street. The East Mall is where the museums are plus other more subtle pleasures of this large open space in the middle the nationrsquos capital. The West Mall starts where the East Mall stops at 15th Street and flows down to the P http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-57129.html Let's turn around face to the East and walk up the other side of the National Mall. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-57157.html On the second Saturday of this October good friends Sean and Judith got married in Our Lady of the Valley Church near the village of Beaufort in County Kerry Ireland. I was standing up along with Seanrsquos dad Art the best man in this very special happening in the land of Leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of rainbows.My wife Marilyn and I flew Continental to Shannon Airport where I r http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/blog-23307.html I have been in Amsterdam now for six days. Itrsquos Sunday morning cool with a hint of dampness in the air birds were singing earlier around five a.m. when I first opened my eyes. The Dutch weather has been mostly ugly cool to cold blustery winds gray skies for the most part and rain just about every day. But what did I expect weatherwise this is Northern Europe and itrsquos only the fi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-8275.html I spent this past month of July taking beginning level Italian language lessons at Dilit School in Roma. It was a worthwhile experience that provided me with basic skills in Italian. I can now order food and drink purchase a train or bus ticket find out how to get to Campo di Fiori or Piazza di Spagna and best of all make new Italian friendsall in Italian. But the best part of being at Dilit http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-16916.html Buon giorno from Roma. My month of Italian language lessons has suddenly turned into two weekshelliphow fast the time goes when one is having fun. I live in rented apartment on la Via della Luce in Trastevere one of the most picturesque old quarters of the city. My Italian language school is DILIT International House. Today is Thursday July 14and instead of rambling on about how my Italian le http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-13687.html There were plenty of things cooking in Washington DC last week including yours truly. Our nation's capital is infamous for its summertime heat and humidity. I along with the locals and outoftown tourists was overcooked almost burned in the soaring outside temps. Food That was a big part of what last week June 2327 in DC was all about.The 39TH annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival was takin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-12240.html Itrsquos written on the Metro car walls itrsquos written on the street signs itrsquos written on the tombs at Pere Lachaise Cemetery.ldquoLrsquoindividu qui pense contre la socite qui dort voil lrsquohistoire ternelle et le printemps aura toujours le meme hiver vaincre.rdquo This from a Metro car wall not signed by the poet or did he plagiarize it from someone else I am ea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-7950.html ldquoAM I INSANErdquo Thatrsquos what I asked myself shortly after arriving in Paris. I was tired exhausted to the bone is a better way to put itmdashdrained. I had not slept for 24 hoursmdasha screaming infant across the aisle from me on the eighthour plus flight helped in that regard. I was questioning my own sanity for leaving a beautiful loving wife the soon to appear fresh gree http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-7691.html I fly to Paris on April 21. This will begin the first part of a zigzag roundtheworldadventure that I've had on my mind for years. I will explore Europe for six months. For two weeks I will immerse myself in Paris for the second time in my life a young man goes to Paris an old man returns to Parisaren't these lyrics from a old Kingston Trio song. After Paris I plan to wander through the B http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Michigan/blog-5800.html Mickey is a rat Mickey is a rat That's what my placard read. It's also what I vociferously chanted as I marched down Pennsylvania Ave with hundreds of other concerned citizens in a protest march against the proposed Disney's America theme park project planned for the historic Haymarket area of Northern Virgina. That was in the summer of 1994 my first summer of living in the DC metropolitan ar http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/District-of-Columbia/Washington/blog-7179.html