How I Travel
On May 1, 2015 we went to Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands and serendipity happened. It was Nurit’s birthday, the tulips were in bloom the sun was shining and there weren’t many people. It was also the day that I realized I’d been traveling wrong. Both my expectations and my planning had been wrong. Most travel is inconvenient, boring or difficult. Nothing is really interesting out of a bus window. But occasionally you get a “Keukenhof day” and it is all worthwhile.
Unfortunately you cannot plan for Serendipity.
Here are a few time in recent years when we have run into serendipity when we travel. Continue reading “How I Travel”
Perplexed
In Russia today Stalin is the bad guy. The dead Tsar is a Saint. Lenin who killed the Tsar is still a hero. Putin is a popular politician and Simon is perplexed.
Multi-lingual
“I speak all languages except Greek.”
“Oh. So do you speak Russian.”
“No. Russian is Greek to me.”
Vodka
Vodka doesn’t help you find the answer.
But it does help you forgot the question.
Wisdom from the vodka tasting on our Viking Cruise
Russia (Churchill Quote)
“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
Winston Churchill
Speed Bumps
The Russian word for “speed bump” is: “lexhashchii politseiskii.”
It literally means “lying down policeman.”
I thought this was pretty funny Russian humor, which is often directed at the absurdity of the bureaucracy, until an English passenger on the cruise told me they uses the same phrase in the UK. It’s still funny but might be indicative of the Americans lack of humor.
Seeing
What you see is what you want to see.
On our tour of Russia we went on a home visit in Uglich a small provincial town. Some of the guests found it charming. Some did not. Confirmation bias in action.
Stalin
“One persons death is a tragedy, but the death of a million people is a statistic.”
Josef Stalin
Stalin appeared on the cover of Time Magazine 12 times.
Mushrooms in Moscow
In August the people in Moscow pick wild mushrooms so this news is important.
Russian Scientists recently discovered that you can eat all types of mushrooms. Of course some of them you can only eat once.