My Astoria

Posted by Peter Gearin on June 7, 2011 3 comments

Early morning view of west Astoria

Perhaps one would think this is just a travel journal, well yes, it is for the most part.  It is really a travelers photo journal which certainly shouldn’t preclude one from including photos from ones own home town.  These are a few of my favorites . . . click on the photos for a larger view.

Afternoon view of Astoria to the East

Astoria Meglar bridge linking Astoria to Washington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An executive jet manufacturer spent a week in Astoria taking promotional videos.  I had occasion to take a ride one afternoon and took a few photos.  They had a Lear Jet taking video of the Gulfstream – note the camera in the windshield.  Views of the city are best viewed by clicking on the photo for an expanded view.

 

Astoria from Warrenton

West Astoria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cruise Ships at dock

Cruise Ship in river

 

Astoria is in Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia River.  While the town enjoys Cruise Ship calls and more recently log ships for export, most of the river vessel traffic is destined for much larger up river ports.  All the activity however is great fodder for the photo enthusiast.

 

Congestion is so great for dock space at upriver ports that many vessels moor in the river off Astoria waiting for either cargo’s or dock space.

Ship at anchor off Astoria

Local service tender serving vessels at anchor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vessel steaming up river

Ocean tug steaming up river

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There really is more than just vessels on the river.  The town sports one of the best maritime museums – the Columbia River Maritime – in the country.   Redevelopment projects abound including the Liberty Theater, the Hotel Elliott, the Red Building among just a few.

the Liberty Theater

 

the Hotel Elliott and downtown

 

the Red Building a rehabilitated net shed

 

Columbia River Maritime Museum

the Cannery Cafe

 

Fishing vessels at East Mooring Basin

 

the Astor Column

 

Sunday Market

Waterfront on a winter day

Astoria Clowns

 

Many of these photos were inspired by the redevelopment projects of Chester Trabucco.  To learn more about him see www.chestertrabucco.com

On Vieques

Posted by Peter Gearin on April 10, 2011 Comments Off
 

 

Beach on north shore Vieques Island

We live in a wet cold climate.  It rains a lot.  Even when blessed with that great bright ball in the sky, the on-shore breeze puts a cold damper even on the best of days.  Conversely, the Indian Ocean is warm and adjacent land dry with ambient temperatures to match.  Hawaii aside, we’ve been to Africa, Madagascar and Zanzibar and enjoyed the most amazing beaches and water, not to mention the cultural attributes of those areas.

Rental house on northshore Vieques Island

Trouble is, it takes four days to get there and three days back which really cuts into vacation time.  So we made a pact, that for R&R, we eliminate any destination that takes more than 15% of the total time available for transit.  We tried Mexico on the Pacific side, but water temp just couldn’t match those of the Indian Ocean.  That led to the Caribbean.  Searching, we found a unique island: Vieques, seven miles from Puerto Rico.  The island is but 21 miles long and 4 miles wide. No golf courses and only one upscale resort and no cruise ship calls.

The island had been steeped in controversy as the US Navy had used the island for a bombing range and munitions dump since wwII until 2003.  Only the mid section of the island remained in the private sector.  The eastern third of the island encompassed the bombing range remains off limits until the area can be cleaned.  Despite whatever negative impact the navy has had, in 2011, TripAdvisor listed Vieques among the Top 25 Beaches in the World, writing “If you prefer your beaches without the accompanying commercial developments, Isla de Vieques is your tanning turf, with more than 40 beaches and not one traffic light”.

Beach on the north shore

What really caught our eye about Vieques, was the array of activities: swimming, snorkeling, beach combing of course, but you could rent bicycles, kayaks, scooters and boats.  There are only two villages on the island and only a few hotels.  Most available accommodations are comprised of rental houses which is our preference as not only does it provide much more space, but we can cook and enjoy local markets and ingredients.

Being so close to Puerto Rico, Vieques is only a little over an hour ferry ride which allows visitors to day trip the island.

Old Town San Juan Puerto Rico

Cape Air provided a small twin from Puerto Rico to Vieques and where we were met by the property manager who took us to our rental house after a stop in the main grocery store in Isabel.  Fortuitous it was, because we had planned on renting bicycles for our stay and the SUV really came in handy for our initial stock pile of groceries. The house was a very pleasant 20 minute walk from the center of town along a roadway bordering the Atlantic.

Unfortunately, the best beaches were all on the other side of the island and given the terrain, roadway, and necessary beach gear, daily commuting by bicycle gave way to renting a vehicle.  But other than that, Vieques was everything we could hope for.  Lazy warm days, beautiful uncrowded beaches, snorkeling.  Our house rental overlooked the Atlantic with an ever-present breeze.

Fort San Cristobal

 

We had spent nearly a month on the island and had planned on spending a couple of days in San Juan before returning home. I must confess that San Juan was not high on our list based on internet searches which seemed to be dominated by modern resorts and casinos. We stayed in a 350 old hotel in Old San Juan and were totally surprised and pleased not only with our accommodations but with the old city.  Our only regret was that we had not allowed sufficient time to enjoy the city and the island.

Fort San Cristobal

 

Beijing Revisited

Posted by Peter Gearin on February 1, 2011 3 comments

Riding on the Great Wall in 1982

In 1982, a small group of cyclists were permitted to ride from Nanking to Shanghai along the Yangtze River under the auspices of the All-Chinese Sport Federation. While billed as an athletic event, it was in reality a tour.

Typical traffic in modern Beijing

We’d spent a week in Beijing, riding throughout the city taking in the Forbidden City, Summer Palace and out to the Great Wall.

Entrance to a garden within the Forbidden City

Beijing was a non descript city with low level buildings, wide avenues with virtually no automobiles, few buses, and hordes of people dressed in gray and blue Mao suits riding bicycles each armed with handlebar bells.

During rush hour the noise was amazing yet maddening as everyone was ringing the bells – thousands upon thousands of them.

the Emperor's "apartment" within the Forbidden City

Almost 30 years later I again visited Beijing and oh my, what a change. Modern designer skyscrapers wherever one looked.  Traffic and automobiles clogged the roads throughout the day and well into the night.

A view of roof tops in the Forbidden City

Gone were the Mao suits having given way to western designer clothing.  International hotels, night clubs and restaurants and yes every major fast food from the US.

 

 

Yet, despite the massive change, other things have not.

We only had a couple of breaks between meetings to enjoy the city, first to visit the Great Wall and then the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was every bit as inspiriting as the first time I saw it so long ago.  It is a massive site with not only the residences for the emperor and his entourage, servants, family, gardens, but facilities to greet domestic and foreign dignitaries, and others to house various departments of state, buildings with ornate ceramic tile roofs, intricately painted eves.

Building roof within the Forbidden City

Massive buildings and palace grounds had to capture the essence of which by a mere camera.

Bone carving

Marrakech

Posted by Peter Gearin on January 6, 2011 None comments

Part 2 of our visit to Alex winter break 2010/11 took us to North Africa after nearly a week in Seville.  We had found a small hotel in the Medina (the old walled city) in  a traditional home (riad).  The cab from the airport dropped us off at a gate and we walked to the riad as there was no room nor streets that accommodate vehicles.   The hotel was most accommodating assisting us in finding restaurants, a driver for excursions beyond the city and directions.  Breakfast was served on the rooftop with a view of the city.  After checking in, it was off to the souk for lunch at a rooftop restaurant.  The souk was one of the most fascinating places I’d ever been in.  The square bustles with acrobats, story-tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open-air restaurant.  Marrakech has the largest traditional market in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world. There is no other was to describe the scene, its just plain fun.  The people are engaging, pleasant and fun.  Negotiating can be a hoot as long as you don’t let it get to you which some do.  Beyond the festival atmosphere of the souk, is the rest of the walled city.  It is a maze of narrow streets and old buildings where people reside and carry on daily life.  There are fruit and vegetable stands, meat and produce stores, appliance stores, and manufacturing wares sold in the market.  A small shop with logs, are cut and put on a lathe to make article which go to another shop where they are painted and assembled.  Raw hides are auctioned in the street, then taken to various shops where they are made into various goods, then sold to shops catering to tourists.  At one point, I’d been searching for a particular ceramic bowl, going from shop to shop without much luck, when one shop keeper offered to take me to another shop in hopes of finding what I was looking for.  He took me to five or six until at last, I found the bowl.  He smiled and just walked away seeking nothing but the satisfaction that a visitor was pleased.  Generally, that is the attitude that seemed to prevail throughout the souk.  We took a day trip to the neighboring Atlas mountains up along the road boarding a mountain stream.  At the end of the road, there was a tourist enclave and parking for those who went hiking up to waterfalls.  Along the way, there were open air restaurants on the banks of the river where the only access was by foot bridge.

Marrakech was just a hoot, and enjoyable at every turn.

Seville

Posted by Peter Gearin on December 28, 2010 None comments

Having introduced Alex to foreign travel over the past several years, its is no surprising that he elected to spend his junior year in college overseas.  With five years of Spanish under his belt and a step brother also in school in Spain, Seville looked like an obvious choice. So at the end of last summer, Alex with backpack and roller duffel headed off to Europe solo. He had been attending school less that sixty miles from home up to that point, so he wasn’t really too far from his mother.  But Europe, well that was being away.  It was a great program at the University of Seville.  The students took several side trips in addition to attending school in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language.  The school had a liberal winter vacation schedule – over a month, leaving more than enough time to come home for the holidays.  What, he should come home for the holidays, oh contare’!  Oh for  the opportunity for mom to visit son in Seville, and don’t forget grandmama and oh yes, there’s the cousin who missed the chance to join us the year before in Italy.  So between Christmas and New Years the four of us headed off to Spain.  We rented an apartment near the center of the city which could accommodate all five of us, allow us to cook, and wash clothes.  We were also introduced to Spanish time.  Evening meals are really late and party time doesn’t begin until midnight at the earliest.  The younger set would often roll in at day break after an evening out.  It’s just what they do but it didn’t leave a lot of time during the day to enjoy the city with them.  We did manage a day side trip to Cadiz on the Atlantic a two hour train ride from Seville providing a country side view as well.  It was not particularly warm, but then again it was winter.  Seville is a beautiful city and it is in Spain.  We have become accustomed to food in France and Italy but Spain is just, well, different.  In planning the trip, we considered a relatively short visit to Seville, and secondary alternative destinations such as Gibraltar. But a week in Gibraltar?  Don’t think so.  No, better to head for North Africa.

Zanzibar

Posted by Peter Gearin on May 30, 2009 18 comments

There aren’t many places in the world with a name that elicits the thought of exotic lands as Zanzibar.  And no, this isn’t their airport but rather Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris.  The airport is of incredible design especially the international departure terminal.  We’d flown into Paris to connect to Dar Essalam, then a short flight to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania.   Four days of travel was certainly worth it.  This was the view from our hotel, a small eight room hotel on Paji Beach.  The beaches were white fine coral sand, the water 80 degrees and the ambient temp at 85 with an onshore breeze. The village of Paji was poor, homes were constructed with coral/concrete, there was no running water and little electricity, yet here was a young man in traditional gear talking on a cell  phone. The people were warm and friendly.  We had occasion to have dinner at a local house – it was staged in the front yard, under a broad leaf tree, on a table laden with leaves, a kerosine hurricane lamp, and most incredible grilled (on an open fire) array of fish, shrimp, lobster with pilau rice and curry. They had no electricity but managed to find someone with a refrigerator where they had chilled wine for us. Days at Paji were spent swimming, beach combing, sunbathing and reading. There was a forest park nearby that was home to a troop of monkeys.  Unlike monkeys we’d experienced in South Africa, these monkeys were not obnoxious pets but very playful and put quite a show on for us, not to mention posing.  We also went to a spice farm.  Zanzibar is also known as the Spice Islands and his home to 14 major spices including pepper, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, vanilla, annatto, cardamon, tamarind, menthol and ylang-ylang.  Pictured here is nutmeg.  After a quite and relaxing time on the east coast, we headed to the other side of the island to Stone Town.

Stone Town is the former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate and was the flourishing center of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century.  It was also the point at which early central African explorers such as David Livingstone and Richard Burton launched their expeditions into Central Africa in search of the source of the Nile in the mid 1800′s.

Today, Stone Town is a World Heritage site.  Unfortunately, the city is in a state of significant deterioration and it will be a daunting task to saving many of the old structures.  But Stone Town and Zanzibar City is the population and commercial center of Zanzibar.

There being little or no refrigeration for most of the population, fresh produce, fish and meat is obtained from the Darajani Market  the main bazaar. Despite being chaotic and reportedly home of pickpockets, it is one of the main visitors attraction of Stone Town because of its colorful, chaotic maze of shopping stalls selling everything from kangas to exotic fruits to consumer electronics.

Washington DC

Posted by Peter Gearin on October 10, 2008 1 comments

Washington DC, is of course, our nations capital.  It is also a major international hub that I’d used many times particularly to Africa.  Transcontinental non-stop flights form the west coast to Dulles, two hour layover, then on to J’berg was the fastest way at just over 24 hours.  A two hour layover doesn’t leave much time to visit our nations capital so we decided, we should visit just to visit and see friends that we hadn’t seen for years.  The capital is truly well laid out particularly the mall.  Despite its size, it is easy to walk and the sights are just awesome.  We were there in early October with warm sunny days and cool evenings.  We took a tour on a double decker bus, you know, one of those really tourist things to do, but I have to say, its a really good way to get a broad view of things and then go back and spend time at the more interesting sites.  There were so many majestic structures which have been photographed by really good photographers who really know what they’re doing that I almost hesitate to included them, but then again, this is a travelers journal.

Georgetown

Birdhouse exhibit at the Smithsonian

The Metro: the most stunning subway system I'd ever encountered

the Kennady Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Italian Riviera

Posted by Peter Gearin on August 15, 2008 1 comments

 

Our previous experience renting an apartment in Paris was so delightful we decided to try it again and rented a house overlooking Santa Margarita.  Santa Margarita is located in the Lugura region of Italy, just south of Genoa and around the corner from Portofino.  We landed in Genoa and after spending a couple of days, picked up a car and headed south. Oh, I could easily live in Santa Margarita.  The architecture is alive and the use of color on buildings stunning.  Our accommodation included a pool and stunning view of the city. We went to the market daily and as we found in Paris, the local European ingredients making cooking an adventure.   We discovered Ligurian olive oil which we are convinced is among the world’s finest, so much so, that we have it shipped to us in the states.  Santa Margarita is a summer resort for Europeans, as well as an attractive destination for big yachts. It is also hosts an active fish market that relies on local fisherman.  (a favorite photo of the contrast between the rich and the rest of us).  A short walk along the seashore from Santa Margarita is Portofino.  We had lunch in the town square.  There is a lot be said for traveling to a single destination and spending enough time to get a real feel for the area.  On the other hand, it’s a long way to go and short side trips are a must.

One really attractive aspect of travel in Europe is the rail system – can’t say enough good about it.  Its efficient, pleasant, relaxing, you get to see the country without the distraction of driving however, it isn’t always as flexible as the highways. We drove to Venice as rail schedules were impossible.  Heavy tourist activity, certainly, but it is truly a magnificent city.  We had found an apartment to rent in Venice  as well, affording the opportunity for cooking with local produce. The apartment was 800 years old and far away from the crowds, hustle and bustle of the Grand Canal and pretty quiet.  The “local produce” market was conveniently located at the end of the street over a bridge just down from a square with restaurants for “locals”.
And of course, there are no motor vehicles so getting around is either by water taxi or walking.  Venice is a maze and its easy to get lost but never for long.  I’ve never been much interested in purely tourist activities preferring to go it alone doing my own exploring, but Susan’s mother, who had previously been to Venice and failed to  realize a life long desire to take a gondola, insisted on doing so.  I’m glad she did because it provided a unique view of the city.   Two hours south of Santa Margarita (via train) is Pisa, home of the leaning tower of Pisa.  Its quite the tourist attraction and photo op for those who want to be featured “holding up the tower”.  The tower is but one structure contained in the Piazza del Duomo.  The cathedral is one of the most ornate and beautiful that I’d seen in Europe.   It may have been a short train ride to Pisa but long enough to have my passport lifted – pick pocket getting off the train in Santa Margarita, so we had an unexpected trip to Florence to the US embassy to get a temporary passport.  It did give us a snap shot of this most famous city and a wonderful lunch in the main plaza before heading back to Santa Margarita.  It was a wonderful two weeks with Susan, her son and mother, one of those great experiences that none of us will ever forget.

 

 

Kruger birthday party

Posted by Peter Gearin on April 3, 2008 None comments

My dear friend with whom I’d spent many years traveling in Europe and Africa, invited his closest friends to join him in the Kruger National Park in South Africa in celebration of his 50th birthday.  Willy had been born in the Belgium Congo and considers himself African and takes every opportunity to return to his native land.  It was a wonderful party with folks coming from around the world to join in the festivities and game viewing.  We were not disappointed as reflected in some of these photo’s.

Lion pride. Monkey looks cute, but they are pests and obnoxious and if you don't watch them, they'll get into everything.

This poor leopard dropped its kill. A pride of lions grabbed the kill leaving the leopard high in the tree only to observe.

Game viewing is best in the early morning and dusk.  The animals generally avoid the hot mid day sun and are more active earlier and later.  The light is also better for photography.  The Kruger is crisscrossed with roads accommodating vehicles for viewing which is the only safe way to observe the animals.

 

And then there was this small boa (6-8ft) which Willy proceeded to show us how to catch.  He approached from behind the snake and grabbed it by the tail.  The snake reared back and Willy dropped the snake.  It then raised up about 3ft off the  ground and slithered off as fast as one could walk.

The Kruger is a huge park full of animals.  We stayed in fenced compounds and observed animals from the safety of vehicles.  It was as if we were the ones in cages – as it should be.  After a week of festivities and game viewing, some of us headed to the coast and Sadwana Bay to a divers haven.  Pretty rustic to say the least – rough wood walls, metal roofs, built on stilts with and elevated walk from the front door to the back of the bedroom to the bathroom. The bathroom included an open shower, ie there was no roof.  Not that a roof was all that important in the mild climate, the problem was the monkeys.  We’d seem monkeys in the Kruger but we were not prepared for them in Sadwana.  There was a troop of them that began the day looking for food.  They would run across the metal roofs jumping and bouncing.  It was like living in a drum. And oh yes, they jumped over the open shower managing to poop in the shower.  So, every time we wanted to shower, we had to clean the monkey poop!  And then there was the dinning room which was essentially open except for a roof of course.  The monkeys would position themselves on the window jams waiting for an unsuspected guest to be served their breakfast.  Then like lightening, the monkeys would jump from the window landing on the table grabbing food off the plate and in one continuous move jump away.  Cute but it got old really fast.

And one final photo and a note.  Africa is wonderful, as are its people, its heritage, its land, and the animals.  But Africa is violent and dangerous.  It’s beauty and resources in peril.  While in Sadwana, we went to a little know game park and observed these game rangers on anti poaching duty. 

 

 

South of the boarder

Posted by Peter Gearin on April 7, 2007 3 comments

Sometimes in the middle of the dreary, wet, gray Pacific Northwest winters, you just have to get away to maintain sanity.  We found a small six room hotel, south of Zihuatanejo on a semi deserted stretch of beach just west of the airport.  Semi deserted because there were a few summer homes and small hotels.  At the south end of the beach was a local village frequented by folks from Mexico City, some of whom could take a bus from the city and spend the day.  The hotel had a full restaurant and bar as well as the most lush gardens I’d ever seen in Mexico, with a beautiful pool.  Rooms and showers opened to the outside and gardens. Pictured here is the main entrance to the hotel.  Walking up in the morning, our view from our room.  As one who wakes up early, often before the restaurant opened, I could go to the kitchen for coffee to take back to the room, out to the veranda, update my journal enjoying the cool of the early morning and the rising sun.  The surf was very strong as the land fell way very rapidly, so swimming was limited to the pool.  By hey, it wasn’t so bad.  Actually, it was great.  Days were hot, water warm, and I could actually sit in the pool relaxing and cooling off while reading a book.  Only trouble was that sitting in the water so long, I started to turn into a prune. The hotel was owned and operated by a couple from Arizona.  He was a doctor who spent most of his time practicing medicine in the States while she spent more time managing the hotel.  It was a warm family atmosphere for the dog as well who was quite comfortable with the guests. The dinner menu changed every night even with the small number of guests.  I don’t include personal photo’s in this travel journal because it seems so personal, but this was an exception.  I was experimenting with low light shots, when
Susan was watching salamanders and I just couldn’t resist including this shot. I certainly don’t want to give the impression that we just holed up in the hotel.  The hotel had bicycle which we rode to the local village and actually went into Z’wat for an afternoon.  Z’wat was geared for the Cruise Ship trade with tons of shops selling their wares to the tourists – not our bag, but interesting none the less.  The hats provided quite an array of colors.  On one other occasion, we took another winter break and joined friends in Sayulita, just north of Puerto Vallarta. It’s a good beach, surf and town.