Good Morning, Taipei!

The journey was more arduous than we expected, but that is past history.  Now we are in Taipei, stepping out the front door of our building and entering into life on the other side of the globe from Portland Oregon.

This is what we encounter as we walk out the front door. Everything is especially green and lush this year.

We turn the corner and walk toward our favorite breakfast locations

Our first stop is 7-Eleven where I manage to order two large lattes, and I request that they be put in bags.  I'm pretty sure the lady remembers us from last year.

Here's the soy milk shop where we will have breakfast.

I place our breakfast order, and we settle in at one of the few tables with our 7-Eleven coffee, in bags.  It's such a nice way to carry take out coffee.

I impressed myself by placing my order for breakfast.  We got exactly what I ordered, except this fried dough came as a surprise.  I don't know which words got me this.  It was tasty though.

I'm looking at the food prep area.  This is fast food which is prepared, from scratch, right on the spot.  Everything here is good.

I got shao bing jia dan bing - egg cake inside a bread wrapper that is fresh off the griddle.  Taylor got the same thing, with the addition of fried tofu inside the shao bing.

After breakfast we head to the market to get some supplies.  On the way we pass this small Buddhist sidewalk temple.

We are thrilled to be back in Taipei with local markets for our shopping.

It's a busy day at the market. There are so many choices and everything is fresh.

First things first.  We purchase a shopping cart.  This will make our lives much easier than in the past when we carried all our purchases.

This has nothing to do with shopping, but we walked by this police car.  I'm not sure what to think of the slogan.

Our shopping expedition has been a success.  We filled our shopping cart with all this fruit and nuts, plus two enormous bottles of water.  

The chores are done, now it's time to treat ourselves to a visit from Solomon Soup - the reason we are here.

Big City, Small Apartment: Settling In

Here we are.  Our first morning back in Taipei, in the same apartment we lived in last year.

Yes, I got the key from Li Xian Sheng.  However, I hardly got one full sentence out before he produced the keys, and signed to me, "Where is the little boy?"  I was able to tell him  in Mandarin that Solomon would be here tomorrow morning.

First things first. We unpacked and set the apartment to order, the way we like it.  I don't think I gave my readers the grand tour of this apartment last year, so before we clutter it up, here's what it looks like.

We live on the 8th floor above the blue sign.  Yes, it's a very big building on a very busy street.  We are in the big city - think New York City big.

The apartment building is big, the city is big. Like  many urban areas the apartment is small.

The kitchen is minuscule, but serviceable.  It's also clean so all we need to do is start cooking.

The master bedroom is small, but perfectly outfitted for us. To the left of the chair is a very tiny laundry room.  Actually, the laundry room is slightly bigger than the washing machine. There are three sets of built in closets and cupboards in the room.

Bathroom number 1.  Just like the other bathrooms we have had here, there is no division between the shower and the rest of the room.  That toilet seat is deluxe.  It does everything - heat, wash, and a bunch of other stuff that we can't figure out. 

Bathroom two. This is the only apartment we looked at that has two bathrooms - luxury.

Living room with one love seat, and across from me is the enormous TV.This room also has three sets of built in cupboards.

The den is an extension of the living room.

I haven't shown pictures of the the second bedroom.  It is small, but we are lucky to have found an apartment that has room for Solomon to have his own space. 

The amenities of this apartment building include a doorman, an elevator, a cleaning crew, and a man who sorts the trash and takes it out to the trash trucks every night.  We are also located near three parks and a produce market, a regular grocery store and lots of restaurants.  We think we have a pretty sweet situation here.

Setting Goals - our return to Taipei, Taiwan 2017

I like to start my visits to Taipei, Taiwan with simple goals.  The first trip to Taipei was to participate in David and Chia's wedding banquet.  I was in such a high level of culture shock, that I barely functioned, let alone had goals.  Having the culture shock well under my belt, I had three goals  in mind for our second trip:

• Leave the apartment by myself
• Go to a store and buy something, by myself
• Take public transportation, by myself

Now, I have been studying Mandarin for almost two years.  We are leaving for Taiwan November 30 - tomorrow. My goal this time around is to talk to people.  My first challenge will be to get the keys to our apartment.  The landlady is not coming to the apartment to let us in, since she already knows us.  Instead she is leaving the keys with the guard.  Here's what I plan to say to Mr. Li.

李先生您好.  我 叫 Jamar Pearson. 我先生 叫Taylor Dennen. 請給我們    8f  公寓的鑰匙

Translation:

"Hello Mr. Li.  My name is Jamar Pearson.  My husband's name is Taylor Dennen. Please give us the keys to apartment 8f."

Wish me luck.

More from the other side of the world.

Belle Montisi

 Montisi - another beautiful Tuscan hill town.  It has 350 residents. It is built on an ancient Etruscan necropolis.  It is beautiful. It is hard to describe Montisi with words, so here are some scenes that captured my heart.

On the way to Montisi.

Villa Maddalena, our home for one week. The door we enter is the middle one.

Walking toward the villa. Notice the flag - one room of the villa is the clubhouse for one of the four contradas.

The Contrada San Martino bulletin board. Several bedrooms of the villa are above the San Martino clubhouse.

From the loggia of my room, I look out over the Tuscan hills and part of Villa Maddalena garden. Ah............

From this map of Montisi, you can see it's very small.

Plaques like this are all around town.  I suspect that this is a depiction of the annual joust.  I hope it's not a real person being beheaded.

Many churches throughout Tuscany have mini labyrinths on display.

One of a collection of frescos at the back of a small parking lot.

If I could move to Montisi I would soon look like this.

Is this a little hotel?

Another fresco.

Belle Montisi. If you add wonderful food, fabulous wine, engaging day trips to the country side and a villa full of extraordinary people to the experience you end up with an enchanting week in Tuscany.

Volterra II

It took us about 2 minutes to walk from our convent to the hilltown of Volterra.  Once through the city gates, we enjoyed strolling through the narrow streets.

Our first view of Volterra.

One of the many enticing alleys veering off from a main street.

We explored two museums - the Pinoteca (art museum) and the Etruscan Museum.

The Pinoteca is an art museum in an old palazzo.  It doesn't have a huge collection, but what it has is exquisite.  This is one of many sculptures that I enjoyed.  It was located in the courtyard - almost as an after thought.  It made me think of our grandson, Solomon Soup.

This Etruscan tomb top is unusual because it is in good shape, and because it portrays a husband and wife together.  

Margit and I needed a break from the tourists, and were lucky to find this bar that seemed to be lovely and unpopular.  It was a perfect place to rest between museums.

Everything in Volterra is exquisite - Mary looked down at us as we ate lunch at a sidewalk cafe in a quiet alley.

 One afternoon, Taylor and I walked downhill and outside a different city gate than we normally entered.  We discovered a neighborhood where the people who work in Volterra live.  Nondescript as the neighborhood is compared to the walled city, it was full of hidden gems.

We popped into 4 or 5 churches on the other side of the city gate.  Each one was exquisite in its own quiet way.

This diminutive gem is the Church of St Christopher.

The inside of St Christopher's shows the ravages of time - frescoes in disrepair, but beautiful nonetheless.

Wine tasting on the street.  The bottle on the left has the best - the Brunello from Montalcino - delicious.

There were so many things to see and do in Volterra, but we need to move on to Villa Maddalena in Montisi.  But first, we end our day with a wine tasting.  How perfect.

I Love a Parade

Arezzo
We arrived in Montisi on Saturday. Here it is Sunday and we are already taking a drive to the hill town of Arezzo.  It's the day of the monthly antique market.  However, when we get there we find that in addition to the market, there is a parade!

It's the day of the Joust of the Saracen!  This happens on the first Sunday of September.  The town is divided into  four contradas (neighborhoods), and every year they compete with one another in a jousting match. The purpose of the parade is to whip up team spirit and introduce all the contenders. Each contrada's uniforms have a different color scheme and style..............all of them quite fetching.

This man gave a speech before the parade began.  I think he said something like, "Let the games begin!"  His speech was received with much enthusiasm.

All the men in white had the same color page boy.  I suspect that they have something to do with the mayor and won't be jousting.

I love the chain mail beard. This outfit represents one of the four contradas.

Here's contrada number Two.

Number Three.

Number Four.

"This tournament has its origins in the early 16 C and commemorates Christian efforts to hold back the tide of Islam in the 14 C. A lively and colourful procession of costumed participants is followed by the main event in which eight costumed knights charge towards a wooden representation of the Saracen, aiming to hit the Saracen's shield with lances. The Saracen is mounted on a swivel so that part of the task of the knight is to avoid being struck back.  Each pair of knights represents one of Arezzo's four rival districts and their supporters each occupy a side of the piazza. The winner receives a golden lance"  from The Festivals of Tuscany Italy website.

We did not stay for the actual joust, but we all felt that the parade was worth the price we paid for the anxiety of driving, and parking on festival day.

Yes, Dan Johnson....

there is Burger King in Venice.