No one has stated our Further Plans on the blog for a while. I don't think you had previous notice about us coming to Greece. After Greece we go to Budapest. If you didn't know, Budapest is in Hungary. And it has a river running through it. I learned that once there was one city on each side of the river. One was Buda and the other was Pest. Then the cities came together. After Budapest, we do a house sit in England. Then we go to Berlin. Then we go to Paris for a weekend. Then we go to Istanbul. By the way, Gaul is the area that France is now before it was conquered by Rome...
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! You didn't expect another pop quiz! But it fits so smoothly. And I haven't done a Roman Pop Quiz yet! I purposely didn't put it in the title which already had so many other things that it would have been easy to add this. But I purposely found other things that didn't need to go in the title just to make it long. Of course, I am going to talk about all those things. You must admit that that was clever how I set this up.
Starting now: Roman Questions(4)
1. How many subway lines were there?
2. What was the Latin name for when people were condemned to death by beast?
3. What country is entirely contained in Rome?
4. Was the Colosseum stop on A or B?
Going on: Why I am excited about Hungary and why it isn't all of Gaul.
The latter: This is a simple answer: Because we are going to Paris, that is again in France so it couldn't be all of Gaul because I will need it later.
The former: The major language of Hungary is Hungarian. The major second language of Hungary is German. So, like I have mentioned before, this is why I am excited. That was actually somewhat simple.
Of course, we don't have everything confirmed so we aren't certain of all of our plans. However, we are doing the house sit and we have a flight to Hungary. I don't know if we have other flights.
All right, all that I have left is the South Gaul Pop Quiz. Or something else...
No, not another Pop Quiz. What Pop Quiz haven't I done yet? Other than the South Gaul one, of course. I am excited about αυτό. That means "this" as you may have guessed. I looked that up on Google Translate but I didn't copy and paste it. I got a Greek alphabet on my iPad. Yes, that excites me. Maybe it doesn't matter to anyone else but I care.
As I have learned statistics, we use Greek letters for population parameters and generally corresponding Latin letters for sample statistics so I have seen many Greek letters.
Done with that. Now I will have to face the facts. We were in France for 3 weeks so I need to come up with 8 questions. Those who know might think that I have made a formula for determining how many to write based on how long we spent. Those who don't know me were actually right. There is no formula. Because now it would be hard to make a formula that fits with all the Pop Quizzes I have made before. That counts Lisbon, Seville, Fuseta, Burgos, Rome, Fes, Tangier, Marrakech, Cape Town, and Namibia as separate quizzes. We were only in Vatican City for a couple hours and that isn't long enough to get even 1 question.
No, it just has to follow an approximately upward sloping linear pattern. Now, if I had thought of a formula in Cape Town, then I would calculate one for every place we go.
1. What department were we in?
2. What is the capital of that department?
3. How many horses were there?
4. What was the name of the city on a cliff?
5. How many chickens were there?
6. Which one was my favorite animal?
7. Which river did Domme overlook?
8. What was the name of the cave paintings we went to?
Answers:
1. Lot
2. Cahors
3. 12
4. Rocamadour
5. 18
6. Chickens
7. Dordogne River
8. Lascaux II
Roman Answers:
1. 4
2. Damnatio Ad Bestias
3. Vatican City
4. Line B
And now I have done all my Pop Quizzes. When we leave Greece, I will do another. I am doing one for every place we go.
Friday, March 25, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Thousand Islands, but Not the Dressing
Today
we (meaning my dad, Carver, and I) went for a walk to get out of the
house for a while and so we went along the beach. Though you must
understand, that it was not the usual shore we walked on, it was dry
rocks or sand. There was not a large portion of the beach left, in
fact it was much smaller than yesterday. The storm had arrived, but
not the kind you would think of; it was a wind storm. Much like when
we were on Muizenberg beach, the sand was pelting our legs.
Occasionally we would meet a spot where sand was removed from the
ground and water was flowing through, because the wind made the waves
high, some might think it was
high tide!
Before,
when walking the beach, we could see a wall built out into water that
blocked the waves. Between the wall and the shore were two boats tied
down on the sand. Today we found that one of the two boats was tied
at the shore and the wall. You are probably curious “boats,
who cares.” Well,
now these boats were in or very close to being in water. We watched
and saw the one tied to each end was rocking as the powerful waves
crashed over the walls.
Also
while walking we heard that as the waves retreated it pulled the
rocks back. If you can, try to imagine the sound as they rolled past
the ones firmly planted. The edges of the waves that are usually
green, were black. The sea, which some times is ever so flat, was
rough with the wind. Today it was like a new sea.
Yesterday
Carver and I enjoyed making a paste from crushed rocks at the beach.
Today the saved paste was washed away with the waves.
The
beach was soon at an end. Ahead we saw stairs. We took them to a new
level though still along the beach. It was a new perspective. We saw
a cove filled with water to an extent that, I would guess, was
unusual. We passed and then rose once more to a rocky level. We
walked along and found a high platform where the waves were so strong
they were soaking the edges.
Another
discovery was a tunnel that was intentionally filled. Soon we headed
back. We turned into a church lot on the way home.
We
were soon home with storm blown hair.
Lagonisi and the long wanted Spain and Portugal Pop Quiz - Carver
We are in Lagonisi. I just wanted to say that.
Now, I am sorry for not writing the Spain and Portugal Pop Quiz for so long. Especially because you are waiting for the answer to the Tangier Question of Morocco Pop Quiz. Now this isn't much of a Pop Quiz because you know it was coming. If you want, you can call it the Spain and Portugal Quiz. The answer is Tangier Med. You have probably forgotten about the last one and the Tangier Question. The Tangier Question was, what is the farther port in Tangier.
I avoid the issue of having more than one post I am working on. However, because of this, ones with pictures take forever for me to post because I can easily write posts on my iPad but I can't put pictures up on my iPad. So, this post has been sitting as a draft in Blogger for about a week. I am just adding the pictures now.
But now the rest of this Pop(or not) Quiz.
Seville
1. How did we get to the city every day?
2. What is the Spanish name for Seville?
3. What was the big castle with a labyrinth called?
Burgos
The only question: What was the museum about?
Fuseta
The only question: What city was the festival in?
Lisbon
1. What is the Portuguese name for Lisbon?
2. What statue was on the other side of the river?
3. How did we get to Lisbon?
Seville Answers
1. We took the bus or walked.
2. Sevilla
3. El Alcazar
Burgos Answer: Human Evolution.
Fuseta Answer: Moncarapacho
Lisbon Answers
1. Lisboa
2. Christ the King.
3. We took a car.
Here in Greece, we went to a restaurant and there were pitas. The menu was in Greek but then a waiter came to give us one in English. The translation of pita was pie. We didn't know if that meant we were getting what we thought. But they were what we thought which was pitas.
We have a beach close. And it isn't far to an empty island. It is small and, if I can handle the cold water, I will swim there. Here is a picture of the island from the beach.
They are very concerned about security here. We have to turn on and off a security alarm every time we leave and come back. We don't know why but we do it. It is similar to Cape Town.
Now, I am sorry for not writing the Spain and Portugal Pop Quiz for so long. Especially because you are waiting for the answer to the Tangier Question of Morocco Pop Quiz. Now this isn't much of a Pop Quiz because you know it was coming. If you want, you can call it the Spain and Portugal Quiz. The answer is Tangier Med. You have probably forgotten about the last one and the Tangier Question. The Tangier Question was, what is the farther port in Tangier.
I avoid the issue of having more than one post I am working on. However, because of this, ones with pictures take forever for me to post because I can easily write posts on my iPad but I can't put pictures up on my iPad. So, this post has been sitting as a draft in Blogger for about a week. I am just adding the pictures now.
But now the rest of this Pop(or not) Quiz.
Seville
1. How did we get to the city every day?
2. What is the Spanish name for Seville?
3. What was the big castle with a labyrinth called?
Burgos
The only question: What was the museum about?
Fuseta
The only question: What city was the festival in?
Lisbon
1. What is the Portuguese name for Lisbon?
2. What statue was on the other side of the river?
3. How did we get to Lisbon?
Seville Answers
1. We took the bus or walked.
2. Sevilla
3. El Alcazar
Burgos Answer: Human Evolution.
Fuseta Answer: Moncarapacho
Lisbon Answers
1. Lisboa
2. Christ the King.
3. We took a car.
Here in Greece, we went to a restaurant and there were pitas. The menu was in Greek but then a waiter came to give us one in English. The translation of pita was pie. We didn't know if that meant we were getting what we thought. But they were what we thought which was pitas.
We have a beach close. And it isn't far to an empty island. It is small and, if I can handle the cold water, I will swim there. Here is a picture of the island from the beach.
They are very concerned about security here. We have to turn on and off a security alarm every time we leave and come back. We don't know why but we do it. It is similar to Cape Town.
Monday, March 21, 2016
The Trouble with Alpha – Erich
The Greeks, of course, use the Greek
Alphabet. Though English is widely spoken and the Latin Alphabet (the
one we use) is also frequently seen. And that can lead to the problem
of transliteration.
Take for example, alpha. Alpha is the
first letter of the Greek Alphabet (as is evidenced by the word
“alphabet” a short version of the first two letters in Greek,
alpha and beta.) Now in Greek, if one were writing out the word
“alpha” one would write αλφα
or in capital letters ΑΛΦΑ.
That
third letter, φ
or Φ
is what we call “phi”. So when you transliterate Greek words that
have a phi in them, which sounds like an f, do you use “ph” or do
you use “f”? The answer is, it isn't so simple.
Here
is a logo from Alfa foods, a brand you see in the grocery store that
makes frozen and canned goods. They have chosen to transliterate with
the “f”. But one of the big financial institutions one sees
around Athens is Alpha Bank. Here is their logo. As you can see, they
went with the “ph”.
Sometimes,
the trouble isn't the word or the pronunciation, just how does it
transliterate from one place to another?
That
brings me to a more serious topic than the alphabet: health care. (If
you prefer to make that one word, healthcare, please go right ahead.
At my last job at PA College of Health Sciences we had brand
standards, because how can you possibly teach algebra without them,
right? And one of our brand standards specified that health care had
to be two words. Except for the exceptions, but we won't get into
those.)
Carver
was not seeing as well. It was time to look into a new prescription
for his glasses. So we went to an ophthalmologist. (There is another
example of choosing the “ph” as here the ophthalmologist is
called the οφθαλμιατρος.)
As
we all know in this season of presidential politics, the European
Union has an extensive system of health care in which every citizen
is covered. We are not citizens of any EU nation, and so we had to
pay full price. And that was thirty euros. Or about thirty-three
dollars.
That
was a trip to the doctor, drops to dilate the pupils, all the tests,
and a prescription written for thirty-three dollars. It would have
cost me a lot more in the U.S.A.
Alrica
has to have periodic scans as a follow up to the cancer that was
removed in July. In South Africa, she had two x-rays and that cost
$90. In France, she had to have an x-ray and a CT scan, which is much
more expensive. Plus, France is one of the pricier European nations.
And that cost us about $220. This would have been well over a
thousand, maybe two-thousand, in the states.
This
is how it relates to the alpha problem. Saying we should have a
system of national healthcare (throwing branding standards to the
wind) similar to that in the European Union is a great idea. I
believe it is something that a society should provide to keep that
society strong. But I don't think that we can just transliterate the
EU system into our own country. Why? Because our costs are out of
control.
The
first thing we have to do is figure out why every procedure costs
more in the US than anywhere else in the world. Not just a little bit
more. We're talking an order of magnitude more in some cases. Who is
getting all of this money?
Once
we find the source of the price gouging, then we need to make changes
that allow our prices to become realistic. If Alrica can get a CT
scan and x-ray in France for $220, it's the same equipment in the
USA. The doctors require the same amount of training. There must be a
way to get the costs of healthcare down to levels comparable to other
countries. That is something that all parties, whether they like
national healthcare or call it “socialism” must do.
After
costs have been reined in, then we can more seriously discuss how to
insure our population. Let's do this now. Let's make this part of the
national conversation.
It's
time for the United States to find a way to have affordable care that
is still at the alpha level. Or alfa level. Either would be fine with
me.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Sorting Shoes – Erich
I love shoes. That may sound weird in
several ways. I mean, who really cares one way or the other about
shoes? Especially when you are a man who writes and performs in sock
puppet shows. You would think that you would only have room in your
heart for one type of footwear.
So let me explain. I prefer to wear
shoes, pretty much all day. I like to wear my shoes in the house, in
the yard, and certainly when going out. You see I have flat feet. Not
just any flat feet, I have exceptionally flat feet. My arches are
nearly non-existent. So walking around without shoes for too long
means I have really sore feet. Hence, my vast appreciation for shoes.
At least for my shoes. On my feet.
But today I got a chance to admire
shoes, many, many shoes, in another light. And while it has left my
feeling for shoes unchanged, it has opened my eyes to what the shoes
represent.
We are in Greece, staying outside of
Athens. As many people know, Greece has accepted more Syrian refugees
than any other nation in Europe. At first, the refugees came to
Greece, passed through, and continued on to other nations that
announced that they would accept them. But one by one, those other
nations have closed their borders. And still, thousands of people
arrive in Greece.
Greece has not shut them out. I imagine
it would be difficult to do even if they wanted to, with so much
coastline. But Greece doesn't even want to shut them out. The Greek
people feel it is right to help them. Good for you, Greece.
What does this have to do with shoes,
Erich? I'm getting there.
There are many shelters in Greece
housing the Syrian refugees. Some are near the borders with other
nations. Some are near Athens. One is at an old Olympic football
stadium. And next to that is an old Olympic basketball stadium. And
that's where I sorted shoes.
This basketball stadium has become a
drop off point for donations to help the refugees. And again, to
praise the Greeks, they wholeheartedly are trying to help. Boxes and
bags of clothing and other goods are dropped off everyday. What's
more, entire truckloads from other nations arrive at this stadium and
get unloaded and left.
But there is almost no one there to
handle all these goods coming in. And so, they depend on volunteers.
They need people, no experience necessary, to come and help with the
sorting of items, boxing them up, and even just discovering what is
in some of the boxes.
Today, our family headed to that
stadium. Alrica sorted scarves and socks and t-shirts. But Carver and
I (and later Syarra too) headed to the back of the stadium and sorted
shoes.
There are piles and piles of donated
shoes. Some of them, but very few, are in terrible condition and must
just be thrown away. But most are in fine condition to be given to
refugees. However, they are in a jumble. One has to pick through the
shoes, find their pairs, and then sort them and box them up.
We sorted shoes by size (the European
sizes) and by men's shoes vs. women's shoes. When a box of a
particular size and gender was full, it had to be taped up, labeled,
and stacked. And then a new box went into that place and the fun
began again.
You can't effectively distribute items
if you can't find the right size of the right item at the right time.
And that is what they need help in doing. Sorting items so that they
can be given out.
It was a good day. We were happy to
help and the staff and volunteers who have been there for weeks now
were lovely to us.
If anyone wants to help the Syrian
refugees in Greece, don't send more clothing or toiletries. The best
donations are food or money. If you are in Greece and have time to
give, that too is desperately needed. And you don't need to come in
with any skills. Even if you couldn't read numbers, you could still
help to find the pairs among the shoes.
I hope that the work we did today will
help some people in the shelters in Greece. Because if I were in
their situation, if I were facing desperation and stuck in what
seemed like a dead end for I don't know how long, I would be
stressed, miserable, and at times, angry. But I know one thing. I
would feel even worse without a good pair of shoes.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
The Fallen Empire – Erich
Rome is a dichotomy, or maybe a
trichotomy, if such a word existed. But it probably doesn't, so let's
stick to dichotomy. Rome has two faces: the modern city entrenched in
Catholic iconography, and the ancient city that has fallen into ruin,
but lies beneath the surface in so many places. And then, at other
points, that ancient city breaks through to the surface.
Half a building still left standing |
We enjoyed a day of visiting ancient
Rome. No, we didn't time travel. We visited it as it is today, which
is to say, fallen.
My family in modern day ancient Rome |
No one building stands out more as a
symbol of ancient Rome than the Colosseum. There are many amazing
things about that place, but perhaps most of all is that it is almost
exactly like any modern stadium, but this one was built in 80 CE.
The seating and floor of the Colosseum |
The Colosseum could seat over 50,000
people. It was free for Romans to come and watch the games. They
lasted all day. There were hunts in the morning, where sets were
built to look like the native terrain of game animals. Then those
animals were placed in the sets and hunters came and stalked them and
killed them.
At lunch time, one got to enjoy
executions, especially the damnation by beast. Here, the condemned
were sent to the Colosseum floor naked and unarmed. Wild animals were
brought up by a lift, which I will mention more later, and then the
crowd would watch the condemned get torn apart and eaten.
Two arches of the Colosseum, one rough and ruined, the other still smoothly veneered |
The gladiatorial combat took place in
the afternoon. Most gladiators were slaves that were trained to
fight. A few, but very few, were free men who came to gain glory or
money. The fights were to the almost death, and then the Emperor got
to decide, by means of thumbs up or thumbs down, if the loser of the
battle lived or died.
The crowds brought food along to eat,
but there were vendors selling edibles as well. Some people even
brought portable ceramic ovens. Sounds a lot like today. I wonder if
they tailgated.
View of the underground section of the Colosseum |
The floor on which the battles took
place was made of wood, so it naturally did not survive until today.
But under it you can see the remains of the underground section, the
basement. Here the slaves, the condemned, and the animals were
brought into the Colosseum. They could be lifted to the surface in
lifts that were pulled by pulleys. There were eight lifts that could
be used, some for people, some for animals. It required about 28 men
to raise a full lift, just one of them. There were 224 slaves engaged
in moving the lifts under the Colosseum. (That's 25 ×
7 as a prime factorization, but more to the issue at hand, it is 28 ×
8).
Arch of Constantine |
Of
course, the Colosseum is only one relic of ancient Rome that remains
on the left bank of the Tiber River. Another feature is the Roman
Forum.
Wall in the Forum |
This area has the ruins of many buildings, triumphal arches,
governmental buildings, places where business was conducted.
The forum |
More of the Forum |
Here
in the Area sacra dell'Argentina, there are the remains of four
temples. You can still see the steps that led up to each. These
temples were built between the 4th
Century and 1st
Century BCE.
Area sacra dell'Argentina |
One
temple that has survived, at least structurally, is the Pantheon. To
the ancient Romans this was a temple to all of the gods.
The Pantheon |
I
say it has survived structurally, but not entirely, because when you
step inside you will see that any of the Roman iconography has been
removed. Not a trace of it. It has all been replaced with Catholic
statuary, paintings, carvings, and other art. Inside, this is clearly
a Catholic church, though its architecture makes another claim.
A street side ruin |
In
Rome, you can be walking down the road, and there are ruins just up
against a modern building. It's like, hey honey, I found a Roman ruin
in the yard. Call the archaeologists!
The ruins next door |
And
that's part of the dichotomy. The people of this modern city have an
ancient one all around, possibly even under their own feet. And yet,
they go about their daily lives like people in any city. They ignore
the fact that where they live was once the capital of a sprawling
empire, because, well, it doesn't much matter in day to day life.
And
I imagine, if I lived everyday in Rome, that eventually I would have
to forget about the ancient city while I was at work or at home. But
still, when I was walking down the street and saw a column or arch,
it would all come back to me.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Fountains of Beauty and Overflowing Oddity – Erich
Has anyone heard that what happens in
Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas? Well, in some matters, we need to hope
that what happens in Rome stays in Rome. Because some unusual things
do happen here, and we most likely don't want to replicate them
everywhere.
However, there are other things that
are gorgeous and wouldn't it be nice if we could all have such nice
things in our towns?
Let's start with something graceful,
beautiful, and amazing: The Trevi Fountain or in Italian Fontana di
Trevi.
Full frontal view |
The name refers to where it was built,
at the junction of three roads. Tre vie. Three roads. Clever, yes?
And just a bit of trivia for you, the word “trivia” also derives
from Latin for three roads.
In ancient Roman times, this was one of
the end points of the aqueducts that supplied Rome with its water.
But the sculpture that is there now is a bit more recent than that.
Actually, a lot more recent.
The architect is Nicola Salvi (who came
in second place in the contest to design the fountain. But the guy
who won, Alessandro Galilei was from Florence, and the people of Rome
were so upset that a Florentine won that Pope Clement XII gave the
job to the guy from Rome, Salvi.) They started building it in 1732,
but it wasn't finished until 1762 (and Salvi was already dead by
then.)
The central figure is Oceanus (he's the
god of water).
Behold my mighty waters! |
He is flanked by Abundance on his left
and Salubrity on his right.
But even more impressive are his
steeds. Oceanus is on a shell chariot being pulled by two hippocampi.
A hippocampus is a mythical creature that is the front half of a
horse and the back half of a big fish. These hippocampi are even more
mythic, because they have wings too!
The hippocampi are being controlled or
at least being attempted to be controlled by two tritons. Tritons are
like mermen. Mermen are male forms of mermaids. Mermaids are, well, I
hope you know what mermaids are.
It's a beautiful Baroque work of art.
We enjoyed it, and we weren't the only ones. Check out the crowd
admiring the fountain.
Who watches the watchers who watch the waters? |
We watched several people throwing
coins into the water. Most people have their back to the water and
throw the coin over their shoulder. I'm not sure why. But we read
that an average of 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day.
The city collects the money and uses the proceeds to help feed the
hungry in Rome. It is also patrolled by police, both to control
crowds and to keep people from stealing coins back out of the
fountain.
Want some more trivia? Let's say you
are Nicola Salvi, you have big plans, you are starting to build and
some barber won't move a sign. Yes, when Salvi was constructing the
fountain, there was a barbershop at one side. And the barber would
not remove his (in Salvi's opinion, unsightly) sign. So what do you
do?
Well, if you're Salvi, you add one new
element that may not thematically relate to the rest of the
sculpture, but hey, it blocks that ugly sign! He created the asso di
coppe or the ace of cups. It just sticks out on the side. Nowadays,
there is no barbershop sign being blocked, but the cup is still
there.
Let's move on to some of the odder
elements we discovered. Maybe all that talk of a gigantic fountain
stimulates your bladder. You may have to use the toilet, but probably
not as much as these two. It's a sign we saw in a restaurant.
It's a kind of dance |
How do jewelry shops in Rome convince
people to come in and view their wares? Well, how about a giant
sparkling skull? Because sometimes even your skeleton needs some
bling.
I even make decomposition look good |
Here is a detail from a fountain in the
Piazza della Rotonda:
Is it about to spit out water, acid, or hell fire? |
I guess it's a demon or a troll kind of thing.
But even scarier than him are his two companions. Fish bodies,
ducklike faces, but with teeth! I think they are supposed to be
dolphins. But they aren't the friendly, let's go swimming with these
playful guys, kinds of dolphins I'm used to. I guess they made
dolphins a lot scarier in the old days.
Back to trivialities, in some of my
previous posts, I have considered cans of soda. As you may recall, in
South Africa you get a can of Coke with 330 mL in it. In Morocco,
however, you get a can of Coke with 33 cL in it. Yes, they are the
same amount, and the two cans, though labeled differently, are
essentially the same.
But here in Italy, while you do get a
can of Coke with 330 mL in it, it isn't at all the same proportions
as those in South Africa or Morocco. It is taller and narrower. Why
is this? I don't know, but I tweeted Coca-Cola with my question. I
will have to post an update when they answer.
A tall tale about a tall can |
You know how we all hate junk mail and
spam? Well, some companies in Rome have taken that idea even further.
If you have a business with big open doors or windows at ground
level, you might have shutters or overhead rolltop doors to protect
your business. And those are going to need replacement someday,
right? Well, shutter companies want to make sure you have their
number handy when that day arrives. So they just plaster the rolltop
door or the sides of the window with their stickers to make sure you
know their services are available. What if one of that company's
stickers already there? No problem, just put another. It never hurts
to advertise twice. Or three times. Or ten times.
When shutters make you shudder |
Happily we are not driving in Rome. Not
because the roads are so crazy. Certainly they are far more tame than
in Morocco. Not even because of the challenge of getting petrol,
which is surprisingly different here. There's no room for entire
service stations. So instead, the petrol stations are just along the
side of the road. A couple of parking spots eliminated, and two
pumps. You pull up, pay, pump, and go. (I'm not sure what you do if
your gas tank is on the driver's side of the car, though. I guess
stand in traffic and stretch the hose over your car.)
Gas and Go! (Or Petrol and Pwoosh) |
But the major issue here is parking. It
is apparent that there is not enough of it. And what makes it so
apparent? Oh, the creative (and most likely illegal and contributing
to the downfall of society) ways that Romans find to park.
Here are a few I noticed.
Bus Lane Parking: Sure, it says it's
reserved for the bus, but they don't really mean that, right? Look at
this huge amount of space! I have to park here.
Oh, that's why so much space was available. |
Motorcycles on the sidewalk: See these
little marks on the sidewalk?
Mystery marks |
Well, I found out what makes them.
Mystery solved and without even getting Scooby-Doo's help |
Beyond Compact Cars Only: If you get a
super duper small car, you can fit where no man has gone before. You
might have to be perpendicular in a parallel parking zone, but hey,
you fit!
"Parallel" parking is so last century |
Double Parking: Now, double parking is
nothing new, right? Well, what about a driver deciding to park in the
yellow stripes that indicate a no parking zone. And the second guy
thinks this was so clever, he decides to block him in by double
parking.
Two can play at that game |
Double Parking 2.0: If that's not
enough, what if we double park at the corner, in the lane that should
be used for turns!
Just don't need to make a left turn and we'll all be fine, okay? |
I guess the moral of the story is this.
When in Rome, you may do as the Romans do. But don't do it elsewhere.
Small, smaller, smallest – Syarra
Now we have been to five countries in
Europe, on this trip.
- France, which is 643,801 km squared.
- Spain, which is 505,992 km squared.
- Italy, that is 301,318 km squared.
- Portugal, being 91,568 km squared.
- Vatican City which is 0.44 km squared.
France which is not real small, is very small compared to the U.S.A,
so that is the “small.”
Italy is almost half the size of
France. That is the “smaller.”
And then you might know that the
Vatican is the smallest country in the world! That is the “smallest.”
Like Carver's last blogpost, this must
be distinctly understood or no good can come from this title.
Now we shall move back in time. To this
morning.
Four people were
taking a walk around 8:45. They crossed the street and soon were
walking past a line that was so long it turned the corner of the vast Vatican wall beside them. They continued on past. They were now
inside a metal gate herding them to the inside of a building. Once
inside they walked towards a security booth and, with tickets, they
passed through.
Continuing, they stopped once more at a booth, but this one was like
the kind at a airport for security. They went straight to an
escalator where they separated. One of them got on, the other three
went up a long spiral ramp, in which models of boats were in separate
showcases. When they all met at the top, they followed the sign
towards “Sistine Chapel.” Oh, so much! It was as if all the
statues in the world were either there on display or in a closet in
that building. The mix of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Christian
beliefs were displayed in many different ways.
With gold in every
corner it makes you wonder how hard it was to build and paint this
massive structure. Even the stairs were pretty.
![]() |
Artifacts |
![]() |
Statues Paintings |
Getting tired they reached “The Sistine Chapel.” Once inside
this packed room they talked of stories and artists. Soon they
followed the loop back and were outside quickly.
We had mixed feelings about this visit
to the Vatican. It felt like they bought so many artifacts that they
could not place them all on display. Though I enjoyed this visit in
many ways there were some disappointing parts.
Granadilla is the same as Passion Fruit - Carver
Granadilla is the same as Passion Fruit. There is no doubt about it. They are as similar as Bird Meat and Poultry. This must be distinctly understood or no good can come of this blog post.
I'm sure you know where I got that from. At my grandparents’ house in Texas where they have lots of land, there is a garden. And there I tried passion fruit. It grows out of control and wasn't ripe when I tried it. But I liked it. It was small and green. And I figured that the small green fruit was what passion fruit looks like.
In Windhoek, I ate a granadilla. I ate many. They were big and purple. We were at the Hilton in Windhoek and they had many granadilla halves. And I loved them. I ate so many. And when everyone else was done, they asked if I wanted to stay there and eat more. But I figured I would get them later. So I went. At this time, I didn't know they were the same. They were called different things. And they looked completely different because the ones at the hotel were not unripe. At the store we got two but granadillas are very expensive. And they aren't even as big as an apple. They are probably a small orange in size. So, I was sad that I wouldn't get more granadilllas.
In either Morocco or Portugal, I began to figure it out. We went to a grocery store. And there were passion fruit flavored things. But it showed a picture of a granadilla. So now I am certain that they are the same.
I'm sure you know where I got that from. At my grandparents’ house in Texas where they have lots of land, there is a garden. And there I tried passion fruit. It grows out of control and wasn't ripe when I tried it. But I liked it. It was small and green. And I figured that the small green fruit was what passion fruit looks like.
In Windhoek, I ate a granadilla. I ate many. They were big and purple. We were at the Hilton in Windhoek and they had many granadilla halves. And I loved them. I ate so many. And when everyone else was done, they asked if I wanted to stay there and eat more. But I figured I would get them later. So I went. At this time, I didn't know they were the same. They were called different things. And they looked completely different because the ones at the hotel were not unripe. At the store we got two but granadillas are very expensive. And they aren't even as big as an apple. They are probably a small orange in size. So, I was sad that I wouldn't get more granadilllas.
In either Morocco or Portugal, I began to figure it out. We went to a grocery store. And there were passion fruit flavored things. But it showed a picture of a granadilla. So now I am certain that they are the same.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
From Poop to Pope with Polylingual Puns – Erich
Today we made quite a transition. As
you may know if you have been keeping up with the blog, we spent the
last three weeks on a horse farm in Lot, France. We loved it. But our
time drew to its end. So we had to say a sad goodbye to the twelve
horses, two dogs, two cats, and eighteen chickens. (And you
Scarecrow, I'll miss you most of all.)
And in true metropolitan fashion, I got super super overcharged for a meal here. Wow! I'm so not in Kansas (or more to the point, Lot) anymore, Toto.
We'll also miss our wonderful hosts.
Yes, for two of those weeks we were on our own while they were on
holiday. But they were so generous to us during the times we were
together. They are an exceptional family and we are glad to have made
such incredible new friends.
As just one more example of their
generosity, today, we were driven over two hours to Toulouse so we
could catch a plane to Rome. And let me say, if you want to get far
removed from the rural life of a farm in a big hurry, just travel to
a metropolis like Rome.
It reminds me of New York City in many
ways. As we were descending to the Metro, I felt practically at home.
It was like descending into the Times Square subway station, but a
light version. They only have two metro lines (A and B, which makes a
good deal more sense than the alphabet soup of New York. Actually,
here's an idea! What if NYC replaced the letters and numbers that
demarcate the various subway lines with emojis? Brilliant, right?)
And in true metropolitan fashion, I got super super overcharged for a meal here. Wow! I'm so not in Kansas (or more to the point, Lot) anymore, Toto.
But we are looking forward to exploring
this amazing city come the morning. And maybe, dare to dream, it
won't be raining. (We've been in Europe for over a month now, and it
has rained all but about five days. I'm sure it hasn't rained over
all of Europe that entire time. But it seems to do so wherever we
are.)
As we were coming into the city proper
by bus from the airport, Syarra noticed a restaurant called
“Eat-aly.” Kind of clever, but it only works if you are an
English speaker. So this is sort of a polylinguistic pun. To the
Italians, (though many of them probably know enough English to get
it), it's just a ridiculous name. To those from the UK or US, it's a
pun. (It's not a very good one though.)
But we noticed a better pun in France.
But this one only makes sense to English speakers in translations,
and I wonder if it was intentional. I suspect not.
When you go from one departement to
another in France, much like when you travel from one state to
another in the U.S., you see a sign welcoming you to that new
departement. Well, when you are entering Lot, the sign says “Tres
Nature. Tres Patrimoine. Tres Lot.” Now “Tres” means “Much”.
But if you translate it another way you get: A lot of nature. A lot
of heritage. A lot of Lot.
I found that very funny. But I wonder
if any of the French find it even remotely funny. Why should they?
They aren't looking at it and thinking “What could this mean in
another tongue?”
But maybe we will see more of that as
we explore Rome with our Vati-can-do attitude. And if you didn't
enjoy that pun, maybe this blog isn't the right Forum for me. (Yeah,
that one wasn't funny. Sorry.)
Friday, March 4, 2016
UCH - Carver
Yes, the title of this post is UCH. But I assure you, it is not a misspelling of the word such or much. It is Ultimate Chicken Handler. Which I am. It started one day when I was bringing our chicken (Boneless, skinless, chicken breast I think. Certainly not a live chicken.) from the guest house to the main house. We generally cook in the main house. And I was carrying chicken bullion. And I do the chickens. So I decided I was the Ultimate Chicken Handler.
But I do the horses and I have a basic map of the place. Can you guess who drew it?
Pencil marks are ropes keeping the horses in. Pen marks are buildings. Two pencil dots are places where ropes can be opened. Two pen dots are doors. Broken line is a rope that get puts up at night and taken down in the morning.
And the chickens are loud and sometimes come outside our door to squawk at us. And this is why they are my favorite animal. Not just on this farm. (Don't get any ideas about whether or not I am loud.)
But anyway, the animals have been covered. The dogs’ other plans include going out in the evening. We let them out because they pee outside. But then one of them, Lincoln, never comes back in. So in the middle of the night, we wake up to Lincoln scratching at our door. Well, only my Dad has so far. As he has to go put them back inside.
Now what I have realized is that I have not yet done a Morocco Pop Quiz. And it should be smaller than the South Africa and Namibia one because we spent less time there. So there will be 7 Marrakech questions, a Fes question, and a Tangier question.
Marrakech
1. What is the other way to spell Marrakech?
2. What was the big grocery store we went to?
3. What part of the suburbs were we in? There are two acceptable answers.
4. What was the part inside the walls called(this is the easiest one)?
5. What was the main square with the orange juice sellers called?
6. What was printed on the train tracks we had to cross over if we walked(actually covered in the 100th blog post)?
7. Where did we fly in to
My one Fes question: What was the place we stayed at called?
My one Tangier question: What was the farther away port called?
Marrakech Answers
1. Marrakesh
2. Carrefour
3. Either Targa or Lala Hiya
4. Medina
5. Jemaa el Fnaa
6. The train company’s name(ONCF)
7. Casablanca
Fes Answer: Riad Mikou
The answer to my Tangier question will come in the next of my blog posts, Spain and Portugal Pop Quiz.
Yes, I am very behind on my pop quizzes.
I wrote this a while ago and never got to finishing the map. So, this is fairly old. I just gave away who made the map.
But I do the horses and I have a basic map of the place. Can you guess who drew it?
Pencil marks are ropes keeping the horses in. Pen marks are buildings. Two pencil dots are places where ropes can be opened. Two pen dots are doors. Broken line is a rope that get puts up at night and taken down in the morning.
And the chickens are loud and sometimes come outside our door to squawk at us. And this is why they are my favorite animal. Not just on this farm. (Don't get any ideas about whether or not I am loud.)
But anyway, the animals have been covered. The dogs’ other plans include going out in the evening. We let them out because they pee outside. But then one of them, Lincoln, never comes back in. So in the middle of the night, we wake up to Lincoln scratching at our door. Well, only my Dad has so far. As he has to go put them back inside.
Now what I have realized is that I have not yet done a Morocco Pop Quiz. And it should be smaller than the South Africa and Namibia one because we spent less time there. So there will be 7 Marrakech questions, a Fes question, and a Tangier question.
Marrakech
1. What is the other way to spell Marrakech?
2. What was the big grocery store we went to?
3. What part of the suburbs were we in? There are two acceptable answers.
4. What was the part inside the walls called(this is the easiest one)?
5. What was the main square with the orange juice sellers called?
6. What was printed on the train tracks we had to cross over if we walked(actually covered in the 100th blog post)?
7. Where did we fly in to
My one Fes question: What was the place we stayed at called?
My one Tangier question: What was the farther away port called?
Marrakech Answers
1. Marrakesh
2. Carrefour
3. Either Targa or Lala Hiya
4. Medina
5. Jemaa el Fnaa
6. The train company’s name(ONCF)
7. Casablanca
Fes Answer: Riad Mikou
The answer to my Tangier question will come in the next of my blog posts, Spain and Portugal Pop Quiz.
Yes, I am very behind on my pop quizzes.
I wrote this a while ago and never got to finishing the map. So, this is fairly old. I just gave away who made the map.
Now That's a Castle! – Erich
The other day we visited the Chateau de
Castelnaud. This immense castle has been around in some form for 900
years or so. But different pieces of it were built at different
times.
The Chateau de Castelnaud |
Looking out from the ramparts, you can
see why this was such a strategic position. You can see the river and
valley below for miles.
No sneaking up on this castle |
In the Hundred Years War, the castle
changed hands between the French and the English six times. Not all
of those times involved battles. Sometimes a siege was enough
(accompanied by a bribe, of course) to convince the current occupant
to give up the castle for the other side.
But when a battle was involved, we saw
a ton of the implements used in said battle. Because the Chateau de
Castelnaud has huge displays of medieval weapons, siege weapons,
armor, and implements of the time.
At heart, I suppose, I am still just a
pre-teen boy who revels in the joy of looking at weapons and armor.
For that boy inside, this was a treat.
For armor, the displays began with
simple chain mail shirts or chain mail helms.
For the fashion conscious battle weary soldier |
But you could see plate mail as well.
Even a knight in plate mail on a horse covered in barding. (Barding
is the name for the armor plates that a horse wears.)
Look ma! I'm shiny! |
In the line of personal weaponry, well,
you can always start with the classics: swords and daggers. We
learned about the hilt and pommel, and how important the pommel is.
It keeps your hand from slipping off the end, and it is there to
counterbalance the weight of the blade.
It's kind of a double edged sword. Not just kind of. |
But if something more exotic is your
interest, what about flails, morning stars, or battle axes? How about
all three?
I do not want to get hit by any of these! |
Perhaps you are more of a war hammer
type. Did you realize that these don't look anything like Thor's
Mjolnir, but much more like really big versions of ball-peen hammers?
I didn't.
Hey guys, after the battle, let's go drive some rivets |
Have to face the cavalry? No problem.
You just need a staff weapon or a pole arm. These allow you to keep
your distance from the nasty charging knight while still dealing
maximum damage.
I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. Unless it had something sharp at the end. |
Check out the many varied ends on these
pole arms. They could be used for all sorts of things. And we learned
that the inspiration for many of the shapes of the heads of the pole
arms came from the agricultural implements used in those days.
From the fields of wheat to the fields of battle |
And finally, what kind of defense could
a castle put up without the trusty crossbow? Of course, the challenge
with a crossbow is drawing back the string. In early forms, men just
had to pull. But then they invented the stirrup crossbow. You put
your foot in the stirrup and use the leverage of your whole body to
pull it back. But when even that isn't fast and easy enough, here
comes another improvement in crossbow technology: the crank! Not just
for fishing anymore! You can use it to draw back your bowstring.
Ready, aim, wait, wait, pull back the string, then aim. |
But personal weapons are only the
beginning of a battle at a castle. What you really need are siege
weapons and defense from those nasty crossbowmen on the castle walls
shooting down at you.
Well, you could certainly use the
monteau. This handy device lets you approach the castle with a huge
wooden shield in front of you. And it has holes in it for you to
shoot your own bows through.
A rolling wall. Genius! |
But even better is to stay far away
from the castle and blast them with varied catapults. Unfortunately
for the besieger, the besiegee may also have defensive catapults on
his walls. We saw a giant crossbow that was capable of launching a
bolt which could go through three men, a horse, and still have enough
thrust to lodge itself in a door. That's what it said! What a selling
point. Because most people besieging castles bring along their own
doors.
But the ultimate in siege weapon
technology was the trebuchet. First, engineers invented the mangonel,
much like the trebuchet. But the mangonel had a fixed counterweight.
The trebuchet has a hinged counterweight. Why is that better? You
still get all the launching power of the mangonel, but it is much
easier (though still not easy) to lift the counterweight and reset
the arm of the trebuchet for another shot. This brought the firing
rate from about one per hour to two per hour. Huge improvement!
Knock, knock. Who's there? |
The trebuchet was so effective in
breaking open castle walls that it continued to be used for another
150 to 200 years after the cannon was invented.
Yes, after we learned so much about
these weapons and armor, the kids were ready to sign up for the
service! A new swordsman and knight in the making.
Brave knights |
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Day Away - Syarra
Early one day there had been four people having a
discussion. Then the discussion ceased, it had been about where to go, the
decision was that we were going to explore the direction that had only briefly
been touched. So we got into the hybrid, which is one of the two we were left
with, and drove down the terribly small and windy road.
Driving we saw a yard for old bikes.
And a covered horse trough!
We saw amazing sights!
Soon thereafter I found out we were heading towards a castle.
It was a castle that had a mini golf course. It had a swimming pool, and inside Josephine Baker had adopted children from around the world, and left them to grow up with servants. Unfortunately the
Château des Milandes was closed for the winter.
So we followed a loop towards home but stopped at Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle this amazing castle was used as a base in the 100 year war, including switching hands between the French and British. I think it was like 6 times! We had soon decided to come a different day so we could have more time to explore the castle. So we headed back and soon we were home.
Château des Milandes was closed for the winter.
Les Milandes had a lot of work done on it |
So we followed a loop towards home but stopped at Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle this amazing castle was used as a base in the 100 year war, including switching hands between the French and British. I think it was like 6 times! We had soon decided to come a different day so we could have more time to explore the castle. So we headed back and soon we were home.
This is the amazing base that was used so much in the Hundred Years War |
That was great exploration!
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