Orleans, VT, the first line of defense

We are now in my home village of Orleans in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, the Green Mountain State. Some of you are probably wondering, where the hell is Orleans, Vermont? Well, if you were a French Canadian coming down from Quebec, you'd first find the shopping plazas of Derby, then the beautiful Memphremagog lakefront of Newport, then, the interstate would bring you to the Orleans, VT exit. Once French Canadians encounter the high percentage of rednecks, guns, and former hippies, most of them decide there is no reason to go any further into the United States. That's right, Orleans is the first line of defense against the French Canadian invasion!!

Those of us who have grown up in the Kingdom have a lot of pride in where we come from. Lots of us show our pride publicly with our bumper stickers.

Others have purchased the modified version of the sticker.

On a more serious note, the village of Orleans exists primarily because of the Ethan Allen mill. The mill was built on the Barton river that travels through the town. The mill whistle is a town staple. It blows when it's time to go to work, to leave work, to take breaks, etc. The whole town hears it and can tell time by it.

I had to introduce Laura to the local grease pit, the B&W, for burgers, fries, and onion rings on our first full day in Orleans. After going weeks without a burger and fries, this place hit the spot. It's open only in the summer and is constantly packed with softball teams, families, and workers. Tough to find a more enjoyable diner experience than the B&W (don't ask what it stands for).


The most popular tourist destination in the area is Lake Willoughby about 8 miles from Orleans. The glacial lake is the deepest in the Northeast Kingdom and surrounded by the cliffs of Mt Hor and Mt Pisgah. The Mt Pisgah cliffs are popular ice-climbing cliffs in the winter and the cliff overlooks are a big hiking destination in the summer. For years, I have maintained a geocache at the top of Mt. Pisgah. Here are views from the south beach of the lake (actually a nude beach, which typically surprises tourists). Mount Hor is on the left and Mount Pisgah is on the right.


During the week and a half that we were in Orleans, there were two major events going on. One was the building of a new 3 million dollar Willoughby Falls bridge. The original bridge was found to be inadequate years ago and to solve the problem, the state placed a military bridge over the old bridge to allow large logging trucks to get by. Now, the state finally decided to fund a new bridge. While I was there, the 5 15 ton, 110 feet long steel beams that were to be the basis of the new bridge were brought into town and put down. This task isn't as easy as it sounds. Each beam required a large 18-wheeler which couldn't maneuver through the small streets of Orleans. The town closed down main street for a few hours to get the beams in. At least a couple of the trucks decided to turn around at the interstate exit and back about 3 miles to the bridge.

To take these beams off the trucks and place them for the bridge, a huge 275-ton Grove Model 5275 was brought into town. This crane is huge and it can still do about 55 mph on the interstate.

The bridge is scheduled to be done by the end of this year.

The second big event was the Orleans County Fair. The final day's big grandstand event is the demolition derby and we got there just in time to see the lineup of cars.

There were 6 heats, separated into 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder vehicles. The last 3 cars standing in each heat advanced to the final heat at the end of the day. Each heat contained 12 to 15 cars with a few cars dropping out due to engine issues before they even got into the arena. Those cars would get to participate in the consolation rounds (set up for cars that wouldn't start in their first heat or that got stuck up on to barriers) later in the day. The winner of the 4-cylinder final would win $800 and the winner of the 6-cylinder final would win $1000. The event was amazing as cars slammed each other good, mud got spun up on the crowd, and tractors were brought in to clear the field when it was done. Here are some pictures from the action.

Here's the end of one of the heats.

Finally, here's a classic picture of the Northeast Kingdom countryside... recommended in most of the "1000 places you have to visit" books. It truly is a beautiful part of our country.

Laura and I are off to Colorado to visit friends and then up to Yellowstone to work for a couple of months. We will continue to keep the blog updated with our travels. Eventually, in November, we will travel to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos) and return to the USA broke.

Northern Italy, Salzburg, and Bavaria

For one week, Laura and I visited my family in Italy. They live in a small town called San Zenone degli Ezzelini. It is one hour west of Venice in the Italian region of Veneto. My mother's entire direct family lives there, and we typically spend most of our time with her brother and sister and their families. For this visit, we had decided to take a family trip up north to Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria, Germany.

Our first day, we traveled south to Padova (Padua, in English). Since we had been to Venice numerous times, Padova would be a perfect 1-day new experience for us. As with many Italian cities, Padova has a storied history. One of the most known sites is the University of Padova, established in 1222. It's a well regarded university that was one of the earliest in all of Europe and the second-oldest in Italy. Galileo Galilei taught there from 1592 to 1610, and his desk can still be visited. Here's the center court of the university.

The most prominent city landmark is the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padova. The basilica comemorates the life of Saint Anthony who performed his work in Padova.

Weaving through the streets of Padova, we passed a guest home where Dante had lived for a short period of time. Dante was the italian poet who wrote La Commedia, a masterpiece of world literature. We also stumbled upon the Saint Sofia Church (ridiculous that you just stumble upon medieval historical buildings). This church is the oldest in Padova, built in the middle ages. The entire church slopes in one direction and appears like it's ready to crumble. Here is a picture of the interior of the church. Note the braces on the columns of the interior of the church to prevent further collapse of the church.

Padova had a busting downtown filled with government buildings, the market, and Italian designer stores (Versace, Armani, Converse?, etc.). Just outside of the city center war our final stop, the Scrovegni Chapel, which houses the frescoes of Giotto. Prior to entering the area where the frescoes are stored, one must "detoxify" in a climate-controlled room for 15 minutes. This helps in the preservation of the frescoes. One of the most amazing features of the frescoes was how the painting gives the sensation of 3-dimensional objects, most notably the columns throughout the fresco. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed and they wouldn't do it justice anyway.

The day following the Padova visit, we began our drive north to Salzburg. Salzburg, Austria has been a rich region for hundreds of years. The ruler of Salzburg has always controlled the salt mines of Durrnberg which have provided more than ample riches. The first afternoon led us to old town Salzburg and the Getreidegasse, a high-end shopping street.

There was only one place we could afford.

Along Getreidegasse, there is the birthhouse of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the famous musical composer. Much of Salzburg's draw is centered around Mozart's life in the city. Both his birthhouse and his residence are located in the city. We visited both museums and found the residence museum to be an impressive account of his life.

The following day, we visited the salt mines of Durrnberg. These mines held the "white gold" that made Salzburg what it is today. The mines were in operation as long ago as the Celtic times and were the center of advancement for salt mining. These Salzwelten (salt mines) is where they developed a method to fill the mine with water, let the water set and dilute salt, pump the water out, and then dissolve the water to obtain salt. Large quantities of salt could then be mined. The mines are well-preserved from their original operating days. We had to suit up in protective white uniforms to take our tour.

A highlight of the tour was 2 long wooden slides that miners had installed to move around quickly in the mines. There were 2 of them on the tour, 30 meters and 40 meters long. They were fun to ride on and also heated up your butt in the cool mines.

High above Salzburg lied the great Festung Hohensalzburg, a fortress to defend the city. This picture shows old town Salzburg with the fortress overlooking the city.

Food and drink was unique and plentiful throughout both Austria and Bavaria. Beers were cheaper than soda and man, were they good. Many of the beers I had been previously introduced to by my friends Derek Kelm (of German decent) and Tim Leisy (who served in Germany). We also tried Weiner Schnitzel (breaded fried pork), Bratwurst (with sauerkraut), and all kinds of pretzels (my favorite!).

From the riches of Salzburg, we moved on to the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau, the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. Now, it stands as a memorial to all those who died and suffered during the second world war. The camp is well-preserved. The administration building serves as a huge museum with endless information. For me, the most amazing thing about being there is how amazingly perfect the entire grounds are. Each building, each yard, everything is measured to perfection. When Germans do something, they do it to perfection. Here’s a picture of the roll call yard where hundreds died or were dragged from their bunks dead so they could be counted.

The main gate contained the words, arbeit macht frei, work brings freedom.

After passing by all of the barrack foundations, we arrived to the crematorium. This building gave everyone who passed through it a shiver down the spine. It contained a gas chamber that most historians believe was never used. The furnaces put thousands to ashes until the end of the war.

As coal ran low, the Nazis began just piling up the bodies into large rooms. American soldiers eventually found these rooms of death when the camp was liberated. As education for the citizens of Dachau (who claimed they didn’t know this was going on in the middle of their town), the Americans forced the citizens to pass by the death rooms.

Finally, one of the memorials at the site says “Never Again.”

This memorial struck Laura and I as earlier in our trip in Rwanda, we heard the saying “I guess Never Again didn’t include Africa.” There’s much more to describe regarding Dachau but the most important thing I can say is everyone should visit one of these sites once in their life, as difficult as it may be.

The following day we visited Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Hohenschwangau. Schloss Hohenschwangau was the home of King Maximillian II of Bavaria, the father of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

Schloss Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II during his reign. The interior was never completed. The castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s disneyworld castle.

Bavaria was laden with castles atop of nearly all the hills. An absolutely beautiful landscape with fairy tale buildings throughout.

Our last night in Bavaria, we traveled to Hofen, Germany where we would check into our reserved hotel. We arrived to the small, beautiful, lakeside town and were unable to find our hotel along the main street. We luckily found an english-speaking local who told us there isn't a hotel by the name we were looking for. He finally helped us realize we had reserved a hotel in Hopfen, Austria, not Hofen, Germany. We scrambled to find a map to search for Hopfen, praying it would be within driving distance. Luckily, Hopfen was only 30 km away and the hotel was great.

The next day we returned to Northern Italy to visit DeSella, a natural art park. Artists are invited to the park to produce artwork using only items found within the forest. After the artwork is finished, it must be left alone so that nature can add its own influence. The most impressive piece of work for me was the Cathedral.

Note that trees have been planted within the poles of the cathedral so that as the man-made portion of the cathedral falls, the natural portion will take the same form. It will be interesting to see this place in 10 years. Many pieces of artwork are worthy of posting but this arch is the one I chose.

It isn’t hard to convince my uncle to take a trip up to the Dolomites so that’s how I spent one of my last days. The Dolomites are a unique portion of the Alps. The special dolomite rock gives the mountains a distinct shape and color.

During the first world war, there was quite a bit of action in the Dolomites. We stumbled upon an old WW1 cave on our hike.

We also found a church memorial commemorating the lives of those that had died in the war.

From Italy, it was back to Barcelona, Spain for a week and then Orleans, VT, my hometown.

Barcelona, the Catalan capital

Barcelona is the metropolitan capital of Catalunya, the northeast region of Spain. Barcelona was the center of the resistance against Franco during the Spanish civil war and even today, the catalans peacefully wish for independence from the Spanish state. Thus, Barcelona has a strong revolutionary feel to it. Laura grew up just a 25 minute train ride away from the center of the city. The city is well known for its Catalan restaurants, Gaudi architecture, street performers on La Rambla, and beautiful beaches. Laura and I spent 2 weeks with her parents and decided to spend some of our time photographing the city for the blog.

One of our first days was the paella contest at Festa Major in Sant Fost de Campsentelles. Sant Fost is Laura's home town and Festa Major is an annual fair in the town. The paella contest is a big draw as numerous groups/families create their best paella for judges. Paella is a rice dish that is extremely flavorful. The rice is generally cooked with various meats and seafood to create an incredibly tasty dish. Entries to the contest are judged upon taste, appearance, and creativity. I'd really like to know how one can become a judge for the contest. Here is a creative "tour de france" paella.


Along with the contest, Festa Major funds are used to pay the best paella restaurant in town to create a huge community paella. It's a real treat to watch this paella get created. Three gigantic water pots are set above small bonfires to get water boiling. Once the water has reached proper temperature, the cooking pan fire is started and rice and water is added to the pan. Ingredients are slowly added upon the direction of the restaurant owner, an elder man probably in his 80s. The chefs bring him spoonfuls of the paella concoction for tasting and he then directs them on what needs to be added. The result is a huge line of people awaiting their dish of paella. Here's a few photos from the largest paella I've ever seen.


Many people say if you could only do one thing in Barcelona, you should walk down La Rambla. It's a huge pedestrian walkway that travels from the center of the city to the beach. La Rambla is lined with tourist shops, restaurants, and most importantly, street performers.


The street performers range from dancers to statues to painters to... well, lets just say anything under the sun. For me, the most impressive of them are the statues. Here are a couple of the statues along our Rambla walk.


Halfway down La Rambla, you will find Mercat St. Josep, commonly knowns as La Boqueria. This market has some of the most beautiful and tasty food a person will ever find. It's always loaded with people coming from La Rambla and pictures are the only way to do it justice.


After walking up and down La Rambla, we walked up Passeig de Gracia to capture some photos of Antoni Gaudi's architecture. Here are photos of the Pedrera and the Casa Batllo along Passeig de Gracia.


Gaudi designed numerous buildings in Barcelona and also designed a beautiful park (Parque Guell) in the city. For most, though, his crowning achievement has to be the still unfinished cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi died when La Sagrada Familia was being built and city officials debated for years on whether or not to continue his work. Gaudi had the habit of changing his designs as the design was being build and many felt that La Sagrada Familia should not be completed based on his plans because he himself never would have followed them. Now, the decision has been made to complete La Sagrada Familia and therefore, in our lifetime, you won't be able to get a photo of it without a crane in the way. The cathedral is being built completely on private funds as Gaudi had wished. It's the most identifiable building in all of Barcelona. Click here for further info and a picture of the model which shows how the exterior will look upon completion.


Finally, just walking along the streets of the jewish community is a great experience. The streets are small and laden with restaurants, shops, and cafes. It's quite easy to find yourself a glass of sangria, an ice cream, or some tapas.


Sorry, no pictures of the beach. Too many beautiful topless women and afraid google would stop me from blogging!

Barcelona is a special place for Laura and I. We grew up as a couple there and it's become a special place to both of us.

Photos of East Africa

For those of you interested in more photos, see the following link for all of our hi-res photos.

East Africa 2007