Kon’nichiwa everyone! Apologies for falling off the face of the earth for more than a few days. Came down with a miserable cold on the first day in Japan and dragged by butt through Kyoto feeling unwell. Three more stops down the road, I’m in the mountains in Takayama and feeling much better 😀. I’ll leave you today with a photo collection of a few of the greatest hits of the last week and half and will then back up and document the journey from where I left you off in Dallas. … [Read more...]
Day One: DFW, Dallas, Texas
Today’s the day, folks! But, before you get to hear about bullet trains, vending machine beer (thanks, Brendan!) and zen gardens, you have to put up with my travelogue of getting from Charlotte, North Carolina to Japan. Chill; I think I can spice it up a bit to be at least mildly entertaining. Phase 1A: Linda-to-Dallas concluded successfully on Tuesday afternoon. I flew to Dallas yesterday and stayed at the Hyatt hotel connected to the airport. Nice treat. And it’s just an escalator … [Read more...]
Next Stop: Tokyo
Hi, Everyone. I’m packing my bags and heading off for my next adventure in a few more days. Join me as I make my first visit to Japan!! I’ll be sharing stories, photos, menus, observations, and maybe a travel tip or two. I’ll be traveling with three friends—two from the US and a third coming from Australia who’ll meet us there. More on the traveling troupe in future posts. If they let me. A quick current events update about an interesting coincidence, perhaps synchronicity…? Japan’s (symbolic) … [Read more...]
Pasta and Wine!
I'm packed and headed out the door again. And what could provide more of a "sense of wonder" than Venice? I'll be a couple of days in Milan and then a week on a river cruise around the Venetian islands. Good food and drinks, but hopefully awesome scenes and fun stories. BUT, I'm experimenting on this trip with Instagram rather than this blog. Hopefully quicker, more mobile ... lighter luggage. Please join me over on Instagram! http://www.instagram.com/withasenseofwonder … [Read more...]
Crossing the Finish Line
Hey, folks. I've finally wrapped up all my diary stories for Iceland 2017 and organized all my photos. My homework is to finish a more indepth piece on how the Icelanders are harnessing their volcanoes to heat their homes! You'll recall I had a goal to balance my duck fat cocktails and shellfish soups with a good dose of walking ... well, from my front door there and back (which admittedly included a lot of airport walking), I clocked 31.2 miles!! Yay. And for those who have … [Read more...]
Squishy Toes and a Glowing Moon
Warm, dry, and dressed … I made my way back through the lava field, as the sun dropped. I was anxious to get back to the Silica hotel and sink into their quieter, less busy pool. Yes my friends, Silica has their own mini-Blue Lagoon. For. Guests. Only. And what a different experience this was. Wow. Silica has its own pool from the same geothermal power station runoff (sounds very spa-ey, doesn’t it?). But with a fraction of the number of swimmers. You enter the pool indoors and then push … [Read more...]
Soaking in the Blue Lagoon
When it came time to leave the ION Hotel and head south to the Blue Lagoon (and eventually the airport), the road we took to come from Reykjavik three days earlier was closed due to snow and ice conditions. Fortunately, my trusty driver Maron was able to use an alternate route to come get me and deliver me safely to the next stop on my itinerary. Despite the brilliant blue sky and the fact that it wasn't snowing, even the "safe road," was kinda blowy. My next stop was the Silica Hotel … [Read more...]
A Brief Lesson In Geothermal Energy
Indulge me for a moment in some engineering humor. There is such a thing. I often work with water utility companies helping them set up systems to manage repairs, which includes managing customer complaints or requests. Inevitably, someone around the table will bring up the story of the time the guy called the water department to complain that his hot water wasn’t hot enough. Ha, ha, ha … we’d all laugh knowing that North American water departments don’t deal with hot water. They distribute cold … [Read more...]