The first of our discovering South Africa series where we pose certain truths·myths that exist out there. The answer: Not for us. But we have only seen a very small and exclusive part of it. I would say it is generally safe but you just need to be very careful. We made it safely to the hotel, I am writing at 2:30AM local time as we are both reasonably wide awake, but having missed an entire night's worth of sleep, we are still a bit tired. There is a 7 hour time difference, so this means that when we "wake up" [View Full Entry]

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I am in at work today for a half day of wrapping things up, though the phone calls will likely continue right into the flight to Jo'burg. Jennifer is sleeping in and wrapping up the usual program at the house. Musings I've heard and read a variety of opinions on how southern Africa will be. Not entirely certain what to expect, but despite the crime rate, despite the disease, despite the wild beasts, the greatest danger on that trip will be the amount of driving I will do. Driving is always dangerous, especially in what has become the familiar roads of [View Full Entry]

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Intensive Planning Over We are finally all set to go on the trip, it was a far more laborious process than I would have liked. Last Minute Planning Begins Now we scurry around for those things we may have missed. My only complaint is how bulky all of our camera and video equipment is, but then that is the point. My Sony that Pat gifted me 5+ years ago still takes amazing pictures, especially when mated to the lens adapter from Sony. But I am betting nothing will beat the Nikon D80 for good pictures of wildlife. Our goals remain as [View Full Entry]

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Waiting for the flight back to Columbus tonight at Denver International Airport, at least it's a direct flight back, but we'll be in close to midnight tonight. We had a great weekend but after yesterday, we slept in (relatively speaking) and opened The Cheesecake Factory in Boulder for brunch. We walked Pearl Street a bit and after checking out from the hotel, headed south. Western Denver We went through Golden, Colorado which only has about one useful thing in it - the Coors Brewing Company, which was not much to look at. The old town is a bit interesting, but did [View Full Entry]

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First Night Jennifer got in last night without a hitch, even ahead of schedule. I decided to surprise her since I dropped dad off early and catch her coming out of the terminal. I had suspected she might start doing some intensive shopping in the concourse rather than come to the terminal, so I waited for 30 minutes intently watching every tram load of passengers trying to find her . . . argh! So easily distracted by shiny perfume bottles! We are at the Hotel Boulderado as guests of one of the owners, Frank, who I am working with to do [View Full Entry]

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We crossed the border into Flintstone, MD where we fed the thirsty Ingrid some much needed gasoline. In the backcountry hills of Bedford, one could easily run out of gasoline if not careful. Not much to see in Flintstone but it was a relatively important town to the Imes family simply because it was nearest significant junction on the National Pike. Cumberland Fireworks We drove on to Cumberland which was readying for the Fourth of July Festivities. A quiet mountain city with great historical character and reasonable efforts at reviving the downtown, something which lacked [View Full Entry]

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I organized what has turned out to be a relatively pricey but well-worthwhile trip to explore the roots of Jennifer's maternal grandparents. This was simple enough as it involves one county in Pennsylvania, Bedford. Making I-70 Interesting We picnicked and enjoyed our Portuguese Vinho Verde from house wine in Worthington (highly recommended) in the wonderful State Park that is Lake Barkcamp in eastern Ohio, it is only a few miles off of the interstate and well-worth the detour for a picnic on the monotonous highway. Note that it is forbidden [View Full Entry]

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Commentary on Istanbul Shopping We leave tomorrow morning very early the same way we came through Amsterdam. We had an interesting day today which ended with our stay here at the Sheraton in Atakoy which is a wealthier suburb of Istanbul near the Ataturk Airport. The hotel is nice although the staff is even greener here than they were in Santorini, more on that later. It was nice to be in a true residential neighborhood as we went to the Galleria, which is an enclosed mall next to our hotel, with a number of high end shops but also evidence of [View Full Entry]

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Two Behemoths of The Golden Horn We had to get it out of the way, the two most important sites in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sofia Museum. Each among the most stunning works of religious architecture in the world, each competing only a few hundred meters from each other for the glory of their respective interpretations of God and his worship. The Blue Mosque was built later and its cohesiveness and execution give it a perfection that the much older and somewhat tattered Hagia Sofia cannot keep against on a "looks" basis alone. But the story of Hagia [View Full Entry]

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My favorite quote from Day 1 in Istanbul, a rug merchant in the Spice Bazaar: "You see all of these old people who come here to visit, and they can barely see and are tired of walking after five minutes . . . they save up their money their whole lives and then spend it to come here when they can not really enjoy it. Here in Turkey, we live life now, why wait to see the world? Do it when you are young and can enjoy it. We don't live long in Turkey, maybe not past 75 or 76, because [View Full Entry]

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