Palace Scenes, Within and Without

Cruise ships docked outside the Palace walls.

From the top of Marjan Park.

Outside the Palace gates. A creative downspout.

Near our hotel.

An alley inside the gates.

Split, Croatia, First Impressions

Getting to Split was challenging. Now that are here, even without our luggage, we think it was worth it. Here's our hotel. It's inside Diocletian's Palace.

Hotel Vestibule Palace

One of the many interesting nooks inside the Palace. We saw this walking to dinner.

2021 Covid-19 Resuming World Travel

 This is the trip we planned to take over a year ago.  It was cancelled due to Covid-19, and then we postponed it due to Covid-19.  Now, in spite of Covid-19 and the Delta variant, we are actually going to take a month out of our quiet insular lives in Portland  explore all the Balkan countries, except Slovenia.  We depart September 3, 2021 and start in Split, Croatia. 

Packing for this trip is different than it has been in the past. We will be very careful as we venture out into the world: washing hands, wearing masks and taking frequent Covid tests.

Details to follow. Hopefully you'll see us in Croatia on Saturday September 4.  Be sure to check back here.

Fetch

There's a new coffee shop in the neighborhood, Fetch, on Bybee. The best part for me are the real dishes!  The coffee is good, and the pastries are from Marcee's Bakery.

2020 Covid-19 Roadtrip

September 2020

 Life goes on here in Portland.  Taylor and I are both fine, after the wildfires the air has cleared and we even ventured outside today for the first neighborhood walk in 12 days. I never thought I'd write another blog post since we haven't travelled due to Covid 19 restrictions, but here I am writing again.  We finally got cabin fever and took a road trip. 

Here's the scoop: 

We left Portland on September 1 for a road trip to the far south eastern part of Oregon.  It's very remote and neither of us had been there before, although we support the Oregon Natural Desert Association and see lots of video and photos of the area.  We figured it would be a safe place to visit during the Covid 19 era since they get very few visitors.  We were right.  We felt safe from the virus while we were there and we had so many adventures, including several amazing hikes, treacherous driving situations (we rented a big ass truck in Bend), interesting sleeping quarters, and awful food from our own cooler - we got sick of sandwiches and Cheetos (who knew it's possible to get sick of Cheetos?)  I think it's safe to say we both fell in love with the landscape. It was good to get a peek of the ranching and farming lives of the people who live out there.

First stop, Pillars of Rome, near Rome Station.

We had excellent hamburgers at the Rome Station Cafe.

 

One of the many stunning views on the way to Leslie Gulch.

Taylor and our big ass truck at the Leslie Gulch Trail head.

Leslie Gulch hike.  There were no other people there.

Both of us at the Owhyee Canyon overlook, about 20 gravel road miles from the main highway.

On September 6 we spent what was supposed to be our first of two nights in the Alvord Desert.  We booked a room there for a few reasons:  it is one of the darkest areas in the US, aside from Alaska, so it's a great place to experience stars; and it's across the gravel roadway from a hike in Steens Mountain that we felt we could manage.  The problem with the Alvord Desert Hot Springs was our accommodation.

Alvord Hot Springs Resort.  Alvord Desert is in the distance.

This is our bunkhouse and the temperature outside was 105 degrees, so you can imagine the temp on the inside.  In addition, there was no running water except for the one toilet that we shared with about 100 other people.  Since this is a hot springs "resort", with two soaking areas, the water in the toilet was hot, so going into the bathroom was like going into a sauna - even the toilet seat was hot.  Furthermore, it turns out to be a groovy place where people come from all to stay, soak in the hot springs and drive around on the desert.  This particular weekend attracted many "Burners" -  wannabes from Burning Man.  After dark it turned into an all night party with talking, laughing, loud music, moving lights on the desert.  On top of this smoke was coming in from California fires, so the sight of stars was a little pale and not overwhelming.

 

Pike Creek Trail on Steens Mountain.

Old mining entrance on the Pike Creek Trail.

After a night in our "bunkhouse" I was so happy to be hiking in the mountains.

We deserted this place after one night, hiked at Pike Creek and drove over the to the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve where we were lucky enough to spend a night at the Hotel Diamond.  We had a private bathroom with running water, a bed with sheets, and a delicious hot dinner and breakfast.  In the morning we had the pleasure of seeing our host, on horseback, moving some of his cattle from one range to another.  This was a highlight.

Moving cattle from one range to another, near the Diamond Hotel.

The Diamond Hotel located in Diamond, Oregon, population 6.

 We left the Malheur, paying attention to the smoke in the sky because we had learned that there were now fires in Oregon.  We could actually see plumes of smoke as we drove.  There was no news of highway closures at this point so we took our regular route through the Warm Springs Reservation and over Mt Hood to home.  On the drive we saw lots of downed debris from the wind that we had actually experienced at Alvord, but didn't see fire.  By the time we got home, several of the areas we had driven through were closed and evacuated because of the wild fires.  We felt so lucky to have made it home unscathed. 

The next morning the smoke in Portland was at the Hazardous level and it remained there 10 days.  You've read about the wildfires and the damage they have caused through Oregon.  People lost their homes and businesses.  In Portland, we never had to evacuate but were warned to stay inside.  Taylor continued to use his Nordic track in the garage and would come inside saying he felt like he had smoked a pack of cigarettes.  We basically stayed inside for this entire time. 

One of the good things about the wildfire smoke was the protesters took time off.  However, they've been back the last two nights. Portland continues to be a mess on multiple levels.  This past week we drove from our SE Portland house to our doctors on the NW side of town and were able to see the graffiti, broken and or boarded up windows, trash, and businesses closed or moved to safer areas.  In the meantime I read a report of a house break in in a very poor neighborhood over the weekend. 911 was called and the police couldn't get there for over an hour and a half because they were dealing with the fa and antifa battling it out at one of the police precincts. In the meantime, the neighbors attempted to catch the knife-wielding intruder, had him for a while, but he eventually escaped.  The neighbors said he was high on something and impossible to contain.  When the police arrived the intruder was gone. 

On the positive side of life for Taylor and me, we were able to go to the farmers' market this morning. It wasn't too crowded and people wore masks.  We took our first walk in the neighborhood. I worked in the garden for about an hour, and I ate lunch on our patio.  On a tiny personal level, life is looking up.  I think with all the drama we have to remember the virus isn't under control and we need to continue distancing, wearing masks and and washing hands.

If you're still reading, I apologize for being so long winded.  I hope you are surviving the crises in your own situation.  Hopefully life isn't too dramatic, or traumatic.

 

 

Wazhiwei Nature Reserve & Guandu Temple Lantern Festival

February 10, 2020

Corona Virus (Covid-19) continues to rule our lives. We avoid crowds by avoiding public transportation, wash our hands and stay away from people. To this end, Chia rented a car again and drove us a mere 8 miles north of Taipei to the area near Tamsui District.  Taylor and I have been to the town of Tamsui on the MRT a number of years ago, but we visited the opposite side of the river which has a bustling downtown.  This time, we explored the quieter opposite side of the the Tamsui River at the far north where it empties into the Taiwan Strait. 

We began our outing at a public playground, and then wandered along a boardwalk through the mangrove swamps in the Wazhiwei Nature Reserve.

Solomon was exuberant at being in the fresh air, in a playground, and among children.

Tamsui is across the Tamsui River from us.  Mangroves and fishing boats are in the foreground.

We paused at this riverside stainless steel sculpture for a family portrait.

For a child, there is always something to examine on the riverside. Chia is teaching Solomon about how mangrove trees germinate.

As we walked along the boardwalk, it became apparent that we were walking along side fishing villages.  The tide is out so the boats are all grounded. It's a great time to see the painting on the sides of the small boats.

I can tell that this is an active fishing village when the boats go out, and when they come back in.  Right now, all is quiet and ready for the boats to go out again.

Mangrove swamps are fascinating for all ages.

The trees germinate when these long beans drop into the sand.

After our walk through the mangroves, we headed to Guandu Temple for the Lantern Festival.  Guandu Tample was built in the 1661 for worship of Mazu, the goddess of the sea.  The actual date of the Lantern Festival was several days ago, so we don't encounter large crowds, which is our goal.  We pretty much had this enormous temple all to ourselves.

I took this photo from the parking lot.  This is one portion of this enormous temple which is built into the side of a hill.  There are several more entrances.

I'm standing at one of the many entrances, looking out at the river.

We entered through this long tunnel, built into the hillside.

In one of the temple courtyards, Solomon helped feed the fish and turtles in the fountain.

Mickey supervised the feeding of the fish.  After all, it's the Year of the Mouse (Rat).

This is an animated display.  The sealife was in constant motion.

These lanterns are recycled water bottles, brilliant in many ways.

The temple was brightly lit with lanterns every where.  However, up in a room at the very top, was  the grand finale:  lanterns made to represent famous European paintings.  Maybe you will recognize some of the artists.

Of course, no festival would be complete without Mighty Mouse.  After all, it is the Year of the Mouse (Rat).

No trip to Taiwan is complete without a visit to a temple or two.  This year, due to our location in a western style shopping area which was short on temples, and the virus, we didn't go to the temples like I prefer.  Guandu Temple, during the Lantern Festival, proved to be the magical temple experience that I require in a visit to Taiwan.

Thank you for watching over Solomon.

(Thanks to Chia for contributing many of these photos.)