LindaB

The Green Flash

2009-04-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ah, the elusive "Green Flash." Many a sailor has stood quietly at sunset gazing at the horizon as the sun slips lower, lower, waiting for the very second it disappears to see a green flash of color, reputed to be the last sign of the sun for the day.

A San Diego State website gives the following comment about seeing it: "A major problem for people who have never seen a green flash is not knowing what to look for. Flashes are not always green; they are not a “flash” in the sense of a sudden burst of brightness (except at sunrise). They do not (usually) light up the sky, but are often small and inconspicuous."

The website also references an article at the Wilson Observatory that explains that this flash is: "... an atmospheric refractive phenomenon where the top edge of the Sun will momentarily turn green. It is seen rarely by the naked eye, primarily because it requires specific conditions to occur, but also because it requires the observer to know what to look for. Despite the name, there is no "flash"; the event only lasts from a fraction of a second to at the longest, a few seconds." The "rarely by the naked eye" part would explain why despite hours of watching over time I have yet to observe this phenomenon!

For those of you who plan to travel where you will have a view of the ocean at sunset, such as in Tahiti, Hawaii or the Cook Islands, do some reading, get your digital video camera, and see if you can glimpse the elusive green flash!

2009-03-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our cousins Michael and Barbara have left their house behind and have set sail for the next two years or until their money runs out, whichever occurs first.

Their home for that time is Astarte, pictured above. They left Tampa and took the thorny path across the Gulf Stream and along the Bahamas and are now in the Turks and Caicos, headed at some point for the San Blas Islands, off the Caribbean coast of Panama.

Visitors are welcome, they say, and may choose the location or the date but not both. Such is the life of cruisers!

So far, they are currently in the Turks and Caicos, islands further along the "thorny path" (just north of the Dominican Repubic) and a great destination for vacations and honeymoons!

Poutine

2009-02-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

Ah, Poutine! This "quintessential Canadian comfort food," which consists of French fries topped with cheese curds and covered with brown gravy, sounds about as appetizing to me as pork rinds. However, at Angie's Kitchen in Waterloo, Ontario, Angie served up a plate of these (well, actually minus the cheese curds) that would put a smile on nearly anyone's face. Alas, Angie has passed on to that great kitchen in the sky, but her grandchildren are still serving up the local favorites.

2009-02-25T15:16:00.000-08:00

One of the best things to do in Paris is simply wander to see what awaits you around the corner, and just around the corner and across the footbridge from Notre Dame, on the Ile St. Louis, (31, Rue St Louis en l'ile to be precise) you will find what is reputed to be the best ice cream in the city at Berthillon's. Rumor has it the ice cream is divine at any time of year!

Loreto in Baja, Mexico

2009-02-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

The Baja peninsula has much to recommend it - accommodations range from luxurious resorts to primitive camping and include just about everything in between.

The most visited destination in Baja is Los Cabos - also known simply as "Cabo" - at the southern tip of the peninsula. It is know for its charming boutiques, courtyard restaurants and accommodations ranging from quaint to luxurious. Favorite activities there are sport fishing, golf and sea kayaking as well as relaxing and partying.

For those who seek a quieter experience, just up the Sea of Cortez is Loreto, a much smaller and less developed town. Here you will find charming hotels and some new resorts. Across the bay is the Loreto Bay National Marine Park where you may catch sight of dolphins or whales in season. It's an easy paddle from one island to another and over the course of several days you may stay on the usually uninhabited Danzante or Carmen Island. Spend a night and wake to the sound of pelicans just offshore as they dive for breakfast.

El Avion, Costa Rica

2009-01-21T14:18:00.000-08:00

Here's a little slice of history for you - in Manuel Antonio,Costa Rica, sits a Fairchild C-123 formerly owned by the CIA. Connected to the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980's, the plane is now a restaurant known as El Avion.

Once involved in clandestine operations, El Avion nows serves up food and beverages! Check out the video on YouTube at El Avion.

A different view of Mexico

2009-01-16T14:22:00.001-08:00

Most tourists to Mexico have their feet firmly on the ground, but not all.

El Potrero Chico, south of El Paso, Texas, is a destination for rock climbers from all over the world. Had you visited over the Christmas holidays you would have met climbers from Canada, the US, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even Mexico itself!

If hanging by a thread from the heights is not your interest, you might want to consider a vacation to Loreto on the Sea of Cortez in Baja. Loreto Bay is a charming town (the resort is outside of the town itself) that looks out on a marine preserve. Visit at the right time of year and you could see migrting whales! Visit at any time of year and have a wonderfully relaxing vacation.

Tango on the Seine

2009-01-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

One of the delights during the summer in Paris is to simply walk the quais along the Seine in early evening. You will find Parisiens having picnics, walking, dancing, and generally enjoying the weather.

The night this picture was taken we passed several areas where people were practicing their dance steps to a boom box. This older couple had an air about them that took them to a whole different level - the gentleman with his snappy hat moved smoothely and almost aloofly from his partner while she floated over the stones of the quai. The photo caught them as the music finished and an appreciative group of observers applauded.

2009-01-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Statue of Liberty, like lot of ladies, has a most interesting history. She was to be a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States to commemorate the centennial of the Declaration of Independence. Designed in France by sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi, the structural aspects were carried out by none other than Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Eiffel Tower!

The Statue was fabricated in France and shipped in over 200 crates to the US to be assembled on a pedestal contructed by the US. There were funding issues on both sides of the pond resulting in a 10 year delay before the dedicaton on October 28th, 1886.

One of the many museums in Paris has a life-size index finger from the original design - photo above - as well as plans and a model. For purposes of perspective, the young man in the white shirt behind it is 6'3" - this is one big finger!

Paris is a favorite city to visit, one with a surprise at every turn and more museums than you can take in during a visit. For maximum enjoyment, walking is the best way to travel around the city.

Winter wedding wonderland

2009-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon our friends Wally and Katherine were married at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon. While more people seem to associate weddings with warm weather than snow, the views of the mountain are pretty magical. Our friends are taking off for a warm weather honeymoon in Bonaire to go SCUBA diving, though, so they aren't totally tied into snow!

More and more couples seem to be choosing the option of destination weddings with a very small number of guests (sometimes even no guests!) followed by a party after they return from their honeymoon. That way they have the intimacy of a small wedding but still have the fun of a big party.

Favorite destinations for weddings are Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific. It's always best to do some research to find out if weddings in your destination will be recognized in your own country. For example, many couples love the idea of getting married in Tahiti but the US doesn't recognize the marriage. For that reason, these couples will often have a civil ceremony in the US before taking off for the South Pacific.

Unamunda, Esperanto, Japanese, being understood in another language, and how I managed to get in two different photo albums in Japan

2008-12-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Communication among those of different linguistic backgrounds can often be a comedy of errors, as anyone who has traveled to a country where his native language and its native language are not the same. Similarly, trying to help a non-English speaker out in the US can be, at the same time, rewarding and suprising.

Several years ago I was standing near the day lodge on Mt. Hood in Oregon and overheard two young women speaking Japanese. They were taking one another's pictures. Figuring they might want a picture of the two of them together, I cautiously approached and in my best (think 5 or 6 phrases gleaned from one year of Japanese many years previous) Japanese, asked "Nihon no kata desu ka?" - "Are you Japanese?" They looked delighted to hear something even vaguely familiar and responded with such a flurry of words that I nearly fell off the mountain! I was able to communicate that I really coudn't speak any more Japanese, but that I would be delighted to take their picture. They hugged one another, and I snapped the photo. Next, they insisted that I get in a picture with one of them while the other. What would they tell their friends and family I wondered?

There have been numerous attempts at creating an artificial "universal language". Esperanto is one was developed at the end of the 19th Century that still has its adherents today. You can check out the Esperanto USA site at www.esperanto-usa.org to see examples of the language and read up on activities of the organization. The librarian in my high school, Miss Glidden ("the Glider" to the students, behind her back, of course), was a big Esperanto fan, had books on it and could actually speak it, much to everyone's amazement.

Another appears in the one-act play "Universal Language" in which playwright David Ives creates "Unamunda", "an absurdist variation on Esperanto (already absurd enough) that blithely substitutes proper names, brand names and ludicrous distortions of familiar foreign phrases for their English equivalents. ("Harvard U" means "How are you?"; "Velcro" is "Welcome.")" - NY Time reviewof December 3, 1993. This is but one of many one act plays from the collection "All in the Timing" by the playwright, and if it's ever being done in town, wherever "in town" is to you, buy a couple of tickets, get a friend to go with you, and be prepared for a totally enjoyable evening.

The honeymoon registry where I work has seen a number of registries created in different languages. American English is the most common, of course, followed by British, Australian and Canadian (eh?) English, but we have seen registries in French, Portuguese, Spanish and others.

I've recently decided to start a program in Teaching English as a Second Language at Portland State University in their Applied Linguistics Department. Tune in later to see if I'm still with it.

Khatmandu in the Andes

2008-12-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

I loved this news article from last year from the Kingdom of Nepal - come visit!

Well, you may be disappointed to learn that the photo displayed in the Royal Nepal Airlines advertisement for tourism was of the well known Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Royal Nepal has apologized to Peru for putting the picture on a poster under the slogan "Have you seen Nepal?"

Apparently, for Royal Nepal Airlines, the answer was NO. Kinda gives you pause when you think about flying with them, doesn't it? Then I won't tell you about the annual ritual of sacrificing goats at the airport...

The names of the two places are surprisingly similar - the Nepali mountain is Machhapuchre. I can easily imagine getting the words mixed up if were dealing with a foreign language with a different alphabet, but Machu Picchu and its ruins don't quite look like Machhapuchre, which is pictured above.

Nepal has emerged from a very difficult time when there was a Maoist revolt underway. Politics have settled down, and things are better in the kingdom. Now they are hoping for the tourists to return.

Our family has had a personal connection with Nepal for about a dozen years now, from the time when our daughter, Amanda, did a homestay with the Karki family in a village some distance from Khatmandu. The family member who was closest to her was Meena, then a young teenager.

Meena, one of the daughters in the family, came to the US, went to high school in Marquette, Michigan, for a year and then on to study nursing at Northern Michigan University, graduating in May 2006. Much credit goes to Sally and Bruce Closser who hosted her in their home for her high school year and guided her through NMU as well. All those who know Meena feel we cannot thank them enough for all they have done for her.

In 2005 Meena went back to see her family for the first time in four years. As with Peace Corps volunteers, she found her native country very strange to her.

Cook Islands - in my dreams

2008-12-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

It's December in the Pacific Northwest where, according to the Mt. St. Helens web site, "it has either just stopped raining, is currently raining, or is getting ready to rain." With a forecast like that, you can see why many of us from the Northwest head out to the sunshine in the 6 month long winter!

The recent rains have made me look longingly at the photos of our trip last year to the Cook Islands. The Cooks are located in the South Pacific between Tahiti and Samoa. If you're looking for an authentic South Pacific experience this may be the destination for you! Their official site can give you a lot of basic information on the Islands as well as a really nice slide show.

So, when it rains in Oregon, where TheBigDay is located, my thoughts turn to the sunshine of the Cooks. Fortunatley, imagining ourselves in other places is part of our jobs as TheBigDay is a honeymoon registry and travel agency and finding the right destinations for our clients is what we do best! If the Cooks are of interest, check out our Cook Islands travel guide and give us a call at 800-304-1141.

2008-12-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica, a lush land that is often the destination for eco-tourists, is located in Central America between Nicaragua and Panama. Although it is relatively small - about the size of West Virginia - there is a lot packed into it.

If you're looking for adventure, this is a great place to go! You can do anything from ziplining through the cloud forest to whitewater rafting to surfing to deep sea fishing...and of course all these kinds of experiences are great things to put on your honeymoon registry at TheBigDay :-)

My favorite adventure was a one day trip on the Pacuare River. The vegetation on the riverbanks is incredibly dense, so dense that most of the monkeys, birds, sloths and jaguars that live there are hidden from your sight. You'll surely hear the howls of the monkeys as you drift by and the calls of tropical birds announcing your presence. The best part of the trip was maneuvering under a waterfall that cascaded out of the green to fall into our raft as we passed underneath.

Up in the Monteverde area, a couple of students took off one day to swing on vines Tarzan style. Many of us visited a butterfly garden where we tried to outdo one another with photos. Everyone on our trip took the time to go through the cloud forest either with a guide or on our own. If you are interested, this is the place for ziplining or a trip along the suspended walkways in the forest canopy.

Because Costa Rica is located in some of the newest land on the planet, you'll find a number of active volcanoes that you can visit -- and the nighttime view can be absolutely spectacular!Traveling in Costa Rica is made easier for those of us from the US since most of the population speaks at least some English.

Lake O'Hara Lodge

2008-12-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

Several years ago we took a weekend trip to Lake O'Hara Lodge in the Canadian Rockies. The lodge is located to the west of Lake Louise and is accessible only by ski, snowshoe, snowmobile or dog sled in the winter. The route, as seen in the picture, is the road one would drive up (and it is UP on the way there) in the summer.

Since the lodge only sleeps about 18 people and meals are served family style, it provides a good opportunity to meet people from all over. When we stayed there we were surprised to be talking with a couple from Switzerland who said the skiing was much better in Canada than in their own country.

Mt Stuart climb

2008-12-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

5 seconds down to the glacier is where this cozy, rock solid bedroom was on a recent climb of Mt. Stuart. Needless to say, I wasn't on this trip!

This was a climb my son, David, and his friend Roman took early this fall. The weather cooperated and the climb was a success!