Here and There Blog

Work trip. First up a stopover in Sydney before moving on to Newcastle. Xmas decor already up. Street Art in Newcastle  Beer in Newcastle 

This morning the ship is sailing east and passing by small villages. They are colorful and the older parts have been around for hundreds of years. Nice mix of new and old.

Passau was one of the stops on the revised cruise agenda. It’s a small town on the Austrian-German border. One of the more interesting areas is the Artist’s Alley. The resident artists are in charge of decorating the street and the theme changes. The current theme is trash and recycling.

Due to record heat and lack of rain the Danube is at record water lows across Europe. So much so that the Bucharest to Budapest cruise that I was supposed to be on was canceled and I’m now cruising Austria. The ship is stuck between countries due to the water level. It’s not all bad as it’s relaxing and scenic.

Bran Castle - the fictional home of Dracula. Fun to visit if the timing is right. We arrived with multiple other tour busses and the place was packed full of people. I did a run thru and then walked around outside since it was such a good day.

Wandering around Bucharest is a pleasant pastime. It clean, organized and there are lots of parks with fun things to see. Here are a few from around the hotel area.

Vacation time! This trip is a new one for me - river cruising in Europe. I’m spending 4 days in Romania before the cruise. The flight was long with little sleep but once in Bucharest I picked up. 

This one’s a test only to see how this mobile app works.

I track my flights online and as I did the current update I realized that I've had a busy year so far. My record year was 2010 which ended with 161,500 flight miles and I'm not on any target to repeat that. My guess is I'll end around 130,000 this year. The time spent at airports arriving, in transit, departing, clearing immigration and customs feels like it must add up to hundreds of hours in addition to the 220 actual in-flight hours that are shown. For such a large part of my life it's really only a tiny fraction of how I spend my time. Still as I type this from Dubai with a doozy of a Dubai-Zurich-San Francisco-Los Angeles ahead of me, it seems like it's my whole life. More than likely, it's because I'm 2/3 of the way through this trip and looking forward to being back home where it's safe to eat the fruit and not be paranoid about drinking any water or ice.

September at last! For some reason (maybe not having a home base) this year has gone by really slow for me. I set a goal when I sold my house to wait until after summer to buy and that time has nearly arrived. I'm still on the road for another week but when I return I'll be Zillow obsessed! I think Yertle has it right - why stop to smell the flowers when you can eat the flowers? I'm tired of waiting and it's time to jump back in and establish a home base that everyone will tease me I don't need because I'm never home. Trust me though, it's always nice sleeping in your own bed and doing laundry in your own place even if you're only there a short time.

There are surprises around every corner and building. It's easy to miss the small sights when most of your attention is captured by either the buildings or the traffic. But look around and looking back is a snail queen. And these balancing men.  Taking a selfie in the globe! Street entrance to the mosque. The Sultan mosque.

Haji Lane in Singapore is a mix of shops, restaurants, and street art that is fun to walk around. As a bonus it's near other areas of interests to tourists and takes your mind off the heat for a short time. I wish there were artist explanations. The golden C3PO early bird gets the worm? Look up at the tops of the buildings in this area. Art is not confined to walls. Cafes and shops all have their own unique art

A group of us went to dinner in PB last week and decided to walk along the boardwalk for post meal exercise. The timing was great as we arrived at the beach just in time for this great sunset!

After a day on the hunt we started at the Kennedy School for breakfast and coffee (stamp) before continuing on. Pinball was a fun and easy experience to complete. It had been a long time since I did this. Sadly, I am not a pinball wizard. Kennedy School Complete!

McMenaminS Brewpubs are one of my favorite things about Portland. The beer is good, the food is reliable, and the uniqueness of some of the historic restorations makes for a fun outing. I've been to a few of their locations and when a friend asked if I'd join her for a weekend to work on the McMenaminS Passport , it was an easy yes! Stamps in the passport are earned by visiting the hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. When doing the location stamps no purchase is needed but there are things to do, such as using a clue to find a photo.  When you do an Experience, there's usually a cost involved such a buying a beer flight, playing pinball or staying at one of the hotels. Fill up a section, get a free gift. Complete four experiences, get a $20 McMenaminS gift card. Below - I've got my flight and my passport in hand. The flat iron building is the Crystal Hotel where we stayed.