Sep 21 2012

FF “Harbors” Edition: Faroese Havens

In the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a group of 18 islands rises up – straight up – from the water. The Faroe Islands are so mountainous that it was only with great difficulty that they were able to build an airport runway, and overland travel was nearly impossible before roads and tunnels carved human routes into the rock. For hundreds of years, the Faroese traveled mostly by sea, and their towns and villages developed beside harbors.

Here’s a quick quay-side tour of the Faroes:

Gjógv

Population: 49

The village of Gjógv takes its name from its spectacular seaside gorge. Although the picturesque harbor is now one of the most popular tourist stops in the Faroes, the village itself has seen a rapidly declining population that has left many houses empty.

Klaksvík

Population: 4,645

Klaksvík is the second largest ‘city’ in the Faroe Islands, and the capital of the Northern Islands. It was founded primarily due to its large and safe harbor, which lies under a majestic view of Háfjall, a pyramidal mountain many Faroese consider to be the most perfect and beautiful mountain in the islands.

Gásadalur

Population: 17

The tiny village of Gásadalur should, by rights, be a small but thriving town. Its area is flat, for the Faroes, and fairly fertile as well. But, due largely to the lack of sea access, it remained instead one of the most isolated villages in Europe until 2004, when a tunnel was blasted through one of the encircling mountains. Since the British occupation, there has also been a rough staircase leading down to the beach, but the seas are usually too rough to approach by boat, leaving only fantastic views.

Tórshavn

Population: 13,000

The capital of the Faroes and its largest town by far, Tórshavn was also founded around a good harbor, protected by the island of Nólsoy. The importance of the sea shows clearly in the city’s name – “Thor’s Haven.” The lighthouse in the upper-right of the photograph is part of Skansin, the small fort built in 1580 as a defense against the pirates that frequently ravaged the islands. The foreground shows how far the nation has come, with a multistory ferry access building and the famous Blue Water trucks, both part of the Smyril Line shipping company.

Gøta

Population: 1,003

Nestled into a protected, calm inlet, Gøta can be considered a mid-size beach town by Faroese standards. The town is actually composed of four villages, the largest of which, Norðragøta, is also one of the oldest settlements on the islands – no doubt partly due to the reliable sea access.

Saksun

Population: 34

Perhaps no village speaks to the importance of a good harbor as well as Saksun, which once enjoyed one of the best in the Faroes. The water you can see in the photo was once a wonderful inlet that led to the sea beyond, but a storm filled it with sand and turned it into a saltwater lagoon. Now Saksun is just a tiny village, one of the best tourist attractions on the Islands with its abandoned spaces and buildings scattered about.

Sep 16 2012

Traveling Teddies and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum

Dale Chihuly's Fireworks of Glass Traveling Teddy

Traveling Teddy visits Fireworks of Glass, Dale Chihuly’s largest permanent exhibit, in the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. The sculpture is built out of more than 3,200 pieces of blown glass.

On the second-to-last day of the SATW Indianapolis conference, the interns were called to the front of the room where we each received an adorable, cuddly, and very packable teddy bear. These are part of SATW’s Traveling Teddy program, which is designed to teach elementary school children about geography by letting them meet and name one of these bears, who then travels around the world collecting photos and diary entries in all sorts of exciting locations.

Now, the bears were given to us simply as mementos of our time with the group – we don’t have to find a school to correspond with – but we were still encouraged to take the bears along with us on some of our travels and get some shots to send back to the organization.

So without further ado, I’d like to introduce my Traveling Teddy, and his adventures in the fantastic Indianapolis Children’s Museum!

Indianapolis Children's Museum Dinosphere Traveling Teddy

Off to a rough but exciting start in the Dinosphere!

Indianapolis Children's Museum Treasures of the Earth Sarcophagus

Meeting up with some friends on Seti I’s Sarcophagus in the Treasures of the Earth exhibit

Indianapolis Children's Museum Xi'an Warriors

Playing around with the Xi’an Terracotta Warriors in Treasures of the Earth.

Indianapolis Childrens Museum Hot Wheels Traveling Teddy

In the driver’s seat of his very own Hot Wheels car!

A few more words on the Indianapolis Children’s Museum -

Founded in 1925, and now receiving more than one million yearly visitors, the museum is the largest of its kind in the world. I was amazed by how well the exhibits combined interaction, theatrics, and actual artifacts for an experience that is both educational and entertaining. In many areas of the museum, children have the opportunity to meet and ask questions from real experts who are conducting research and preparing exhibits just feet away.

Exhibits vary widely from the colorful Chihuly kaleidoscope to the dramatic Dinosphere, from model train sets to The Power of Children, which explores the lives and influence of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Ryan White. I especially loved the Treasures of the Earth exhibit, which lets children ‘partake’ in the excavation and investigation of an Egyptian Tomb, a Caribbean Shipwreck, and the Xi’an Terracotta Warriors.

Shipwreck in the Indianapolis Children's Museum

A beautiful mix of scenery and lighting effects almost convinced me that we were diving down to retrieve cannons from the floor of the ocean!

There’s also a great rotating exhibit called “Take Me There!” which transports visitors to another place and culture. The current destination is Egypt – the next one will be China. The focus is modern life as you tour a ‘home’, meet ‘residents’ and walk the city streets tasting traditional foods and trying traditional activities. A great idea for teaching kids about geography and sparking their wanderlust – just like the Traveling Teddies!

Although I’ve been spoiled by growing up in St. Louis, where everything fun is free, I appreciate the effort that the Indianapolis Children’s Museum makes to be accessible to all. There are special free entrance days every month, and visitors are allowed – even encouraged – to bring their own picnic lunches instead of hitting the food court. If you don’t have the budget to take your kids around the world, this museum is the next best choice!

Sep 14 2012

FF “Windows” Edition: A Room with a View

<<< Last Week: Bridges

Next Week: ??? >>>

This week’s #FriFotos theme is Windows!

When I first heard the theme, I thought of stained-glass church panels, views seen from planes and trains and automobiles, crumbling edges of castle lookouts and light streaming into darkened rooms.

But mostly, I thought of something much similar. I thought back to the different windows I’ve had throughout my life, the spaces I stared into as I took breaks from writing and studying, the everyday views that shaped my moods. So, a look back at life through my windows -

The View from Endenicher Allee

From where I lived in Bonn, Germany, I could see out over a field, with the low Rhine hills behind it. There were trees almost touching my window, and I saw the season shift from Winter into Spring and Summer with the months. A spider lived with me for awhile, even through a fierce storm when he crawled up close to take shelter under the roof shingles. Once I looked out and saw rainbows – another time, hot air balloons. Oddly enough, my little patch of bucolic peace was completely artificial. I lived quite near downtown, and while Bonn has a lot of green areas, the field that made me feel so far away from everything was the University’s testing garden. As I had no air conditioning, I kept the window open most of the time and came to love the fresh air.

The View from Plaza Felix Huarte

Although it has spilled out somewhat from its original city walls, Pamplona, Spain is still the densest city I’ve ever lived in. There were no grand views or even a horizon line when I looked out of my window, but I did enjoy looking down into the plaza. I saw a hundred siesta lunches at the restaurant across the street, a thousand people walking their dogs (one woman had a huge, black Newfoundland that was twice her own size), and my favorite was always the children on the playground. The leaves turned beautiful colors in the fall, and I was even there to witness the first snowfalls of the year. I spent a bit more time studying in Spain than in my other Study Abroad locations, so this was a great way for me to see daily life in my Spanish city.

The View from Årstadsveien

As anyone who follows this blog is well aware, Bergen, Norway is my favorite city in the world – and was, from almost the very beginning. I was a mess the day I moved in. I had a way-too-large suitcase which, having missed the ‘luggage depot’, I had pushed all the way up and down an icy hill to get the keys to my apartment. Then I had to figure out the bus schedule, the street address, and how it was that I lived on the sixth floor when the staircase only went up to the fifth! I was sweating in the January air by the time I figured it all out, but when I saw this view all my anxiety vanished. When I arrived, the sun was setting around 3 in the afternoon. By the time I left, it was light all through the night. But the view over the city, sea, and mountains – in twilight, mists, or under bright blue skies – never failed to bring me joy.

The View from Cherry Street

Lest I forget my hometown, this is one of the views I have had in Columbia, Missouri. The apartment didn’t have internet, carpet, or air-conditioning, the shower leaked and the wooden floors were slanted and uneven, but I loved it anyway. After all my European wanderings, isn’t it ironic that my place on Cherry Street was the oldest building I’d ever lived in? Mark Twain stayed there a time or two, and it was even said to be haunted. I actually had no fewer than four windows here, one facing the street, two facing a leafy-green alley, and the fourth (my favorite) looking out over canopied rooftops, church towers and smokestacks and into a beautiful Midwestern sky.

Sep 12 2012

A Little Bit of Bloomington

Once again, the SATW Conference is keeping me too busy to sit still and write, even as it fills my mind and memory cards with brilliant images and story ideas!

I couldn’t resist giving you a taste of what I did today, though, so here is a quick preview of my day trip to Bloomington, Indiana. It’s an adorable small town/campus, very much like my hometown in Columbia. And just outside of town is a fantastic surprise – the biggest Tibetan culture center in North America! It was founded by the Dalai Lama’s older brother and is a little piece of exotic serenity in the middle of America’s heartland. Loved it.

Sep 11 2012

SATW Preview: Indy Motor Speedway

Chelsea, Claire, Ben, and I on the Indy 500 Motor Speedway!

Today was the first full day of the SATW Indy conference. The other interns and I met more cool people, ate more delicious food, (duck two-ways and watermelon macarons, anyone?), pet a shark, came face to face with a walrus, strolled downtown at sunset and sped along the Indy 500 track.

*Pause for Effect*

But seriously, a group of Indy 500 racers let us sit shotgun as they hurtled down the track at 130 mph. It was basically a real-life roller-coaster. No rails, no straps, just moving so fast that the air resistance pulled my skin tight across my face and froze it into a smile.

I can’t wait to write out all the details, and share the ridiculous photos – but there’s still a lot to do, and no rest for journalists, so the full post will have to wait. Also coming up: a day-trip to Bloomington, and North America’s largest Tibetan Cultural Center.

All this in Indiana – Who knew!?

Sep 10 2012

In Indianapolis!

This week, I’m honored to be attending the annual conference of SATW (the Society of American Travel Writers) as a guest intern! The 2012 conference is hosted by the surprise-filled city of Indianapolis.

First, some fun facts:

Indianapolis is the 12th biggest city in the United States, and the biggest one without a navigable river.

Indianapolis is home to the world’s largest Children’s Museum.

Indianapolis hosts the world’s two largest single-day sporting events: The Indy 500 and the Brickyard 500.

Elvis performed his last concert ever in Indianapolis.

Not as boring as you heard, is it?

—————–

First Impressions

I got up early this morning to make the 7-hour drive across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Luckily, I had company in the form of fellow Mizzou intern Chelsea! The drive was easy and mostly uneventful, save for a short gas-seeking detour in Marine, Illinois… where we also discovered a “Tire Kickin’ Display of Old Cars”!

We had certainly reached stereotypical mid-America, but we were still far from Downtown Indy!

Quite suddenly a few hours later, countryside gave way to a stunning skyline! I was super excited to see our hotel – the 1,000 bed, 31-story J.W. Marriott – rise up from the wide Midwestern horizon.

It’s easy to see why they call it the Big Blue. Azure skies and a perfect peppering of clouds were mirrored in the enormous glass windows.

The Original Love Statue! © Morgan Art Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The first evening was devoted to conference Meet-n-Greets, held in the IMA Indianapolis Museum of Art. There was just enough time to browse through a few of the museum’s collections, from ancient mayan pottery to early American landscapes and the brilliant Angel of the Resurrection stained glass by Tiffany Studios. I was also surprised to find out that the original LOVE Statue is found not in Philadelphia, but here in Indy! In fact, having been designed by a Robert Indiana for downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, it could hardly be more hoosier!
We also tried “Just Pop In!” popcorn, which came in bags of cheddar mixed with caramel. Apparently this is Indianapolis style, and 90% of the world’s popcorn is grown in Indiana. Who knew?

In a very strange way, this trip is a homecoming for me. Between the ages of six and eight, I lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but I haven’t been in the state since then. So imagine my feeling when I went back to the hotel room in the evening to find a Vera Bradley bag filled with information about my former city!

Sep 7 2012

FF “Bridges” Edition: Superlatives

<<< Last Week: Clouds

Next Week: Windows >>>

This week’s #FriFotos theme is Bridges!

A fun and easy one, I thought, and eagerly started writing down bridges that I remembered visiting. Before long, I’d covered an entire sheet of notebook paper – and I was just getting started.

With far too many to pick from, I decided I had to pare things down to the superlatives. I haven’t written a simple list of ‘longest, highest, oldest,’ but rather explored the quirky diversity of the many bridges I have visited. Here are nine of my favorites:

My Scariest Bridge

Osore-zan, Shimokita Hanto, Japan

I know what you’re thinking – Miranda must have gotten the pictures out of order. This bridge doesn’t look scary at all. It’s well constructed, brightly colored, and arches gently over a merry little stream!

Think again. This is the Sanzu river, which is the Japanese equivalent of the River Styx. The surrounding area of Osore-zan, or “Mount Dread,” is apparently where your soul goes when you die!

My Longest Bridge

Tromsø, Troms, Norway

At just over a kilometer long, Tromsø bridge can hardly be considered short – but the longest bridge? For me, the designation has less to do with the absolute length, and more to do with the sheer number of times I’ve crossed this bridge, and the conditions in which I have done so. During a week-long visit to Tromsø, I walked over this bridge 2-4 times a day because I was too cheap to pay bus fare. When the weather was nice, the views were fantastic! Just as often, though, I crossed over in fog or snow so thick I could barely see the railings… and it seemed to take forever.

My Most Important Bridge

Budapest, Hungary

One of the first things I learned about the Capital of Hungary was that the city is split through by the Danube river – including by name. One side is Buda, the other is Pest – so without the lovely Széchenyi Bridge, there wouldn’t be a Budapest at all!

My Most Underrated Bridge

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Slovenian locals warned me again and again not to expect much from Dragon Bridge. “It’s so small,” they told me. “overrated.”

Please.

It’s a small bridge, but good things come in small packages… and often with dragons.

My Most Dangerous Bridge

Foz de Lumbier, Navarre, Spain

Hiking near Foz de Lumbier in Northern Spain, I came across this bridge – or lack thereof. Apparently it was quite important before being destroyed in some 19th century war.

The first thing you should know is that it’s called the Devil’s Bridge or Jesus’ Bridge. You might think there would be a big difference between these two possible names, but the point is that the builder needed some sort of supernatural help to finish it.

Why is it the most dangerous bridge?

If you walk out to the edge, you can almost – almost – see straight into the Foz de Lumbier canyon. Another foot, you think, and you’ll have a clear view. If you lay down and inch your head out as far as you dare, you can see a ribbon of blue sky through the gap – and the temptation to keep pushing (just another inch!) is immense.

My Oldest Bridge

Brumley, Missouri, U.S.A.

Obviously, the Swinging Bridges of Brumley are not the oldest bridges in the world. They were actually built a mere hundred years ago, but as the story goes they were built on the backs of mules and designed by a blind man. Astonishingly to my eyes, they are still open for foot and vehicular traffic, despite thoroughly rusted beams and huge gaps in the rotting wooden planks. Myself, I always roll down the windows as I drive across, just in case…

My Most Impressive Bridge

Sundini, Faroe Islands

The Faroese say that this bridge, which crosses a narrow strait between their two largest islands, is “the only bridge across the Atlantic!”

It’s hard not to laugh a bit when you see that it’s not actually a world-changing, intercontinental feat of engineering.

Still, this stretch of water is so narrow and turbulent that it’s often unsafe for boat traffic, and the bridge has been very important in linking the Faroe Islands with one another – so it’s still pretty impressive!

My Most Photographed Bridge

Venice, Veneto, Italy

Rialto Bridge in Venice is just too lovely to pass up in a list like this. It wins the award for ‘most photographed’, as I think it’s a safe bet that I have more shots of the Rialto than any other bridge in my collection.

My Most Broken Bridge

Fort Augustus, Highlands, Scotland

This old railway bridge in Fort Augustus, Scotland had some stiff competition for “Most Broken Bridge.” But it has one very special detail of corruption that not even the Devil/Jesus Bridge can match – it has a tree growing in it.

I actually had to hike for awhile through the forest to get a better look and confirm my suspicions… but that is definitely a tree!

Sep 3 2012

All About Onigiri

Onigiri on sale in Nikko. The average price of an Onigiri is less than $1.50.

Onigiri, (Kanji 御握り, Hiragana おにぎり), also known as Omusubi, are Japanese rice balls. They are relatively simple to make, especially once you get used to the basic techniques, but you can also buy surprisingly yummy Onigiri in any konbini (convenience store) in Japan.

Onigiri are a big part of Japanese culture and show up in a lot of books and shows. For example, the Pokemon characters eat Onigiri frequently. In English translations, Onigiri is often replaced by ‘doughnut’ – even though what they are eating looks nothing like a doughnut! The contrast is a bit funny – a ball of greasy dough or a rice ball filled with vegetables or high protein fish…

Onigiri come in many different varieties. The most common shapes are the little triangles, shown in the picture, and disk-shaped Onigiri. Normally, Onigiri are made of plain, white, sticky rice, and have a single filling in the very center. The most popular fillings are Umeboshi (sour pickled plum) and salmon, although any reasonably dry and strong-flavoured ingredient works well… for example, I have made super-American breakfast Onigiri with sausage and egg.

There are also Onigiri that have a topping of fish or ginger instead of a filling, and some Onigiri are formed from rice flavoured with sesame, Katsuoboshi (fish flakes), or other traditional seasonings.

A little bit of dried seaweed is wrapped around the rice ball just prior to consumption. The idea of eating seaweed may be a little bit frightening to the uninitiated, but don’t be afraid! The flavour of the seaweed is very mild – not even my pickiest friends object to it. The main purpose of wrapping Onigiri in seaweed is to allow you to hold it without getting your fingers too sticky. And it has a delicious crunch!

Onigiri make great breakfasts and packed lunches while traveling. Laura and I started each day in Japan with a nice, filling rice ball or two. Onigiri are easy to eat on the go, although remember that in Japan it is considered rude to eat while walking.

Aug 31 2012

FF “Clouds” Edition: Bergen

<<< Last Week: Faces

Next Week: Bridges >>>

This week’s #FriFotos theme is “Clouds“.

How strange that, only yesterday, I wrote about my misty wandering through Rosendal!

For this post, I considered images from Scotland, Costa Rica, Japan, and Northern Spain… but I kept coming back to the same country.

And so, you get two Norway posts in a row – because to live in Bergen is a sort of heaven, where you walk every day with the clouds.

Low lying clouds pass Fløyen and Sandviken behind the Hanseatic wharf.

A family stands and points out features of the city from Fløyen as blue storm-clouds gather behind.

A cloudy mist blankets Bergen and transforms this Løvstakken view into a silver, mirror-like vision.

A brilliant display of clouds boils above Blåmannen as a storm roll in.

Clouds drift across Bergen power lines and evoke images of San Francisco, half a world away.

On top of Ulriken, I often found myself walking high above the racing clouds…

—————————————

To Rosendal – an Uncertain Voyage and Spring in the Hardangerfjord also feature my photos and memories of Norway’s changeable weather.

Aug 30 2012

To Rosendal – An Uncertain Voyage

When my friend Nadine came to visit me in Bergen, I was hoping to show her the Western Norway that I was growing to love — the mountains and the fjords and even a taste of the fine weather that was just starting to be possible.

But it turned out to be a rainy, foggy March week, and we spent much of it drinking tea and watching Norwegian movies in the comfort of my dorm room.

As the week went by and the weather forecast didn’t improve, I decided we had to take a bit of a gamble. So, on Nadine’s last full day, we booked tickets to Rosendal – a town on the Hardangerfjord just south of Bergen, and accessible by ferry all through the winter. At the last minute, we were joined by Laure, a French CouchSurfer who was in town looking for some fellow travelers to spend time with.

The weather for Bergen was meant to be rain, rain and more rain — while Rosendal’s “mostly cloudy” offered a chance at a few moments of sunshine, or at least a few mountain views. Things didn’t look promising as we set out through cold, chowder-thick fog.

Then we arrived in Rosendal, and were charmed despite ourselves by the medieval feeling the weather cast over the hillsides. Even without the promise of views from the top, we decided to follow the lower mountain trails and go exploring.

We discovered a world of mystery and magic around every corner, where white birch trunks shone ghost-like through the mists, sheep continued their blind grazing, and streams opened and flowed silently beneath the cover of fog.

Where we should have had a fine view over the village and the mountains beyond, we took goofy pictures on the wooden boardwalk and ate a quick picnic. A few patches of white snow appeared up there, glaring and blurred through the mist.

In the end, we were rewarded for our optimism and indomitable spirits. Just as we’d fully accepted our unusual, but beautiful day in the fjords, someone spotted a bit of blue sky as we were walking back towards the sea.

Before long we could see a bit of water down below. As we came out into the village, we could see a low mountain emerge clearly from the mist.

For a moment, we looked uneasily at the strange looking clouds that continued to cling to the horizon. Then we realized that we were looking at a mix of clouds and snow. There were big, snow covered mountains, right in front of us! The weather continued to clear and for the last half hour in Rosendal, we had glorious sun, blue skies and mountains!

In Norway, you very seldom get what you expect.

But each day finds its own way to be perfect, just the same!