Family Reunion of a First Kind

"Sometimes life brings you pleasant surprises -- it's not scripted or orchestrated, but just right. Life can be charming, like that, if you let it."

It was a family reunion -- one that has never happened at this scale before.

True, I spent nearly 10 days with Rio at the Chiswick flat.  During this time, I was also able to spend some quality time with Luke and meet his father, Derek who inspired me with his abstract paintings.

I was also able to go running with Luke a couple of times (take great satisfaction in his tremendous progress) as well as Chris (we ran down to Richmond together).  In fact London has been a great running city and what I personally dub "the fittest city in Europe".

It was ideal that Luke worked at Apple, since he was able to hook me up with an appointment at the Genius Bar in Westfield Shopping Center.  I had an issue with iMovie, and Apple gave me a free upgrade. (Note: It's amazing that Kim, Kae, Rio, Luke and Chris all use Macs -- I've never seen so many exclusive Mac lovers in my life)

A Bike in a Bag

When I arrived in London and boarded its renowned Tube train, I noticed something different right away. No it wasn't the faces or the accents -- I already was expecting that.

The Difference

There were no bikes.  No regular bikes at least, just foldable ones.  The ones that could almost fit in a gym bag and slide underneath your seat. Come to find out only foldable bikes were allowed in the Tube, rush hour or not.  I could see why the trains were compact and very crowded, even before rush hour.  I finally understood the meaning of a poor, helpless sardine packed in a crushed tin box.



Interesting Features

The bike was interesting. Not only were they compact, providing for flexibility in transportation, but they were virtually thief proof.  It seemed too good to be true.  How come I hadn't really seen them in DC.  Oh yeah, we are the land of the Big and Bountiful while London was tight and tiny.  Still, I had to check one out for myself.  Yeah, it folds, but how does it ride and most importantly of all, how silly do I look on it?

Giants Causeway Limerick

Giants Causeway Limerick

Here we are in Giant's Causeway
Where 40,000 columns of basalt rock stand today
The volcano erupted
The larva cooled
But before there was science
There was the Legend of Finn McCool

It is called the Giant's Causeway

It was made by Finn McCool
It's really just the start of a stepping stone tool

To get across to Scotland
To fight with Bennadonner

Through many disagreeements
They pulled each other asunder 

He took the cloth much 
And try and try as he may
He never his his target
But he made us our Loch Neagh
The mud landed in the water

And with all the might he can
He only then succeeded
In making the Isle of Man

 

 

So he took to playing the organ
And over here are his piples
He played the Sash,  Derry's Walls and Billyboys
And started loads of fights

Cause the Scottish giant thought that this were his tunes


Little did he know that the music for Ireland bagpipes
 Come from across there Near Dunloe

The Imperial War Museum, London

"Cat Man Joe" in Dublin, Ireland

"What's Going On", The Celt in Dublin

A Tour of the Antrim Causeway

Belfast -- an Old City of Conflict is now a New City of Cool

"People are building bridges.  The most important bridge been built is in each and every person...It's important to being part of the solution, not part of the problem."

As a teenager growing up in Georgia, I heard a lot of news of the centuries-old conflict in Northern Ireland.   The problem is, I really didn't understand it.  To me, this conflict was similar to the enduring Israel-Palestine conflict with no end in sight.  Sadly, the news seemed so remote, with no direct, personal impact, and I felt so detached.  I never expected to visit this country with my own eyes -- it was never on my radar scope, up until now.

So when I found out I would be visiting Mark and Lee (friends who I met at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC three years ago), I realized there was a lot to learn.

Belfast is known for its troubles and religious conflict.  For over 25 years, the IRA was very busy here.  On Bloody Friday 1972, the IRA set off 22 bombs killing 9 people and injuring about 120.  The city had not experienced such a day of death and bloodshed since the German blitz of Easter Tuesday 1941. Nearly 1,000 lives were lost and 100,000 people became homeless.  One main fault was that when the bombs dropped, people did not know what to do.  There were no bomb shelters.  They did not know whether to run, hide or stay in their beds. The IRA hoped they would be just as successful in catching the government and the people unprepared in hopes of getting Northern Ireland out of the UK.

Truly, there was only one main pursuit: The Irish Republicans wanted a united Ireland. However, there never such a state as a united Ireland.  After all as a detached foreigner, I didn't truly understand what the big deal was, other than the name and the unity.  Truly, Northern Ireland and Ireland enjoyed an open border where citizens could cross either side freely without having to produce a passport.  So what's in a name?

Background

The conflict between the Catholics and the Protestant isn't  really about religion.  It stemmed from differences in social classes. The majority of the population in Ireland was Catholic.  They never underwent the church reform that England did in the 1500s.

Hostility arose between Catholics and Protestant when England began to establish plantations in Ireland and act as a colonial power.

The Legend of the Giant's Causeway

Derek Stockley: Profile of a Painter

The Man Who Tried to Blow up Westminster Abbey

Here we are in front of Westminster
Where in 1605 the lunatic Guy Fawkes planned something sinister
He wanted to blow up every Lord, Common and Minister
But the Kingsmen caught him in the act and punished him with light torture
And today the towers still stand, surrounded by timeless British culture

Trafalgar Square Celebration

London Wall

Old London Limericks

"We are the Champions" at the Eiffel

Neil Proposes to Jill at the Eiffel

Normandy: My 20 Years in the Navy was Nothing Compared to this

"It was a travesty to see how so many young,  boundless lives were forever lost on this bloody foreign beach.  At the American Cemetery, I could see thousands of white crosses and Stars of David facing patriotically towards their homeland."

My retirement from the Navy wouldn't be complete without paying homage to the D-Day troops in Normandy.  Americans, British, Canadians -- it didn't matter which flag they were flying -- they stood up for unity against Nazi aggression and many fell to their gravesites on these beaches.

Over Sixty-five years later, the hilly seaside bears few scars from the dark and gray day of June 6, 1944.  But on that longest day, things had turned to hell in a hurry.

I could not imagine these young soldiers jumping out of their LCAs, crossing the slippery beach and climbing the cliff face via ropes and grappling hooks in the face of nasty fire.

The Louvre

Putting on the Ritz

Notre Dame

Jardin de Tuileries of Paris

Hello Kindle, Goodbye Borders

"Books no longer, get lost on the shelf. They can be accessed even in the remote parts of the world, even that clunky textbook.  With the Kindle, once you buy a book, it's forever yours."

Reminiscing

I used to love Borders and Barnes and Nobles.  I would spend countless hours, flipping away at shelves,  relaxing in the comfy chairs, eating away at books and sipping Seattle's Best.

Those were the days. Long, and lazy with nothing in store but a good book and an open mind.  Now those long, lazy days are long gone....

Planning for my European Backpacking Trip

When I was planning my trip to Europe, I knew I would spend countless hours waiting for a plane, for a train or riding on one.  Since I was backpacking, I had to travel light.  I was convinced then that I needed to purchase a Kindle.  And since Amazon had just reduced the price on the Kindle 2 by 20%, I was off running to Target to make that storied purchase.

Operation Welcome Home

Relationship

I flew in with approximately 200 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for up to one year.

A flight that I barely made (Space-A), and one that I didn't expect to make turned out to be the highlight of my trip.

Understanding

It was an honor flying with my brothers and sisters back home. And it was a great honor being in the receiving line of the best, most heart-felt welcoming I've ever witnessed in my 20 years of service.

What a wonderful way to come home after the whirlwind tour of Europe and a fantastic way to end my Navy career.

I start school on Sunday and go on terminal leave until the end of October.

Thank you sincerely to everyone especially Operation Welcome Home for giving our Heroes the welcome that they truly deserve.

Bastille Day 2010, Paris

Spectacular Greek Islands

I was just on my way back to Souda Bay, Crete to catch the Patriot Express back to the States. I decided to arrive a day early, so that I would hopefully be ensured a seat back in what I consider the "Navy's best kept secret in the Mediterranean".

Hania is so attractive, it's surprisingly beautiful and warm.  Not just the blisfull Mediterranean climate but the people, their hospitality, the beautiful, crumbling Venetian harbor, the character of the sea town with the rhythm of the Aegian Sea, warm and frisky.  My heart skips a beat everytime the balmy summer waves pound against the shore and the harbor wall.

Hania is just not your average Mediterranean seaport adjacent to a US Naval Base.  It is a location, a destination, a place to prop up your feet and to declare Crete as one of the best, under-rated vacation spots in the cultural, eclectic Greek island chains.

EURORAIL from Prague to Dresden