Tag Archives: thailand

Temples and Monks

2014-12-10 ramblintraveler 2 Comments

I’m not sure why, but whenever I step into a Temple or see a monk passing by, something about it brings me chills and tears to my eyes. There’s something so powerful about a place and people who dedicate their entire lives to a single belief. A belief in peace. A belief in harmony. A belief in loving your fellow-man, animals and Mother Earth. There is a powerful tranquility being in that space.

I will say it is funny to see monks riding on the back of motorcycles, smoking, talking on cell phones (not all at once of course) and that some have tattoos, lol!

So many other religions are full of corruption and are misguided in my opinion, that the true teachings of them are clouded by power and personal need or gain. Of course, just like in all religions, not every person who believes in one religion or another are perfect. But that’s not the point. The point is to live being the best YOU that you can be. If we were all the best versions of ourselves, for the betterment of the world and those who live in it with us (not for ourselves) then we would finally have a home to live in without fear, injustice and hate.

Just my two cents.

On to Gecko Hallucinations

Back to Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand

One Day in Bangkok

2014-12-07 ramblintraveler 2 Comments

I didn’t know what to expect when first exploring Bangkok. One thing for sure is that there are many different parts to explore. I stayed in a hotel not far from the airport (Floral Shire Hotel) basically picking it because it was easily accessible from the airport AND they offered a free shuttle, so can’t go wrong there! I stayed for two nights, which turned out to be a good call since I barely had any sleep on the flight over and was dead tired when I arrived. So technically my first day there was spent catching up on sleep!

Driving into Bangkok

Driving into Bangkok_2

Bangkok

Street Markets_3

From the air Bangkok has the look of Houston (industrial and HUGE with lots of a large variety of buildings) yet as if it was set in southern Florida (tons of wet fields and watery canals/rivers giving the land a swampy look). Upon landing, the air smelled like San Jose, Costa Rica (thick jungle air with the scent of a city nearby). Honestly there were times I had to remind myself I was in Thailand and not back in Costa Rica as the plants and animals also reminded me of C.R. with loads of banana trees and geckos (love those little chirping buggers!!) crawling all around the walls and ceilings chasing after bugs. Oh, and there was the veggie truck that came by each morning by the hotel advertising fruits and veggies for sale. It brought a smile to my face once again being in place that felt easy going with simple living:)

Street Market

Wires Abound!

Bangkok_2

Street Markets_4

Before going into my day there, I wanted to give my overall impressions. Bangkok is an interesting mix of life. There is obviously poverty there and it has a very dirty feel to it (literally dirty as you could feel the street on your skin after a few hours of walking around and at the end of the day my snot was black! Too much info?? Lol!). People are everywhere, all around working away or moving about, bumping into you (not rudely, just the nature of crowds) or simply minding their business with whatever task they are into. Yet, for as sketchy as the surroundings looked and for the amount of people coming closely in contact, I felt safer there than anywhere I’ve been so far. I can’t speak for all people who’ve traveled or will travel there, and I did get scammed a bit, but I never felt unsafe. Strangely there were times I wandered with my camera in hand (I NEVER do that! It’s always packed unless in use) or walked through areas that at a glance you would think “don’t go there!!”. But my senses never felt any danger or real threat, so I went where I wanted watching the life of Bangkok unfold. That’s the feeling I came away with from Bangkok… Before moving on I have to say I’m not at all a fan of the scent of Bangkok… It’s fish mixed with dirt, car pollution, stale standing water, industrial oil and what smells like a toilet somewhere. Not everything can be peaches! 🙂

Side Street

Bangkok_3

Bangkok Life

Crabs & Clams

Moving on to my day: as I’m not a huge fan of big cities, visiting downtown Bangkok took a bit of a kick in the rear. I kinda dreaded having to navigate such a large place, especially given that the language was SO different than anything I’d been used to before. As it turned out, one DAY in Bangkok was enough for me!

Bangkok_4

Bangkok_5

Side Street_2

Street Market_2

Before heading to town I did a bit of research on what to see/do and came across a website that outlined the top 9 things to do in Bangkok in one day… Perfect! Sounds like a plan for me and it got me excited to head into the city! So I jotted down all the necessary information (where and how to get there) and the next morning headed out.

Birds in a Cage

Second Story Living

Dried Seahorses

Bangkok_5

That was about where everything went NOT according to plan… The first thing on the list was a floating market which thankfully also mentioned it’s only open on the weekends. So #1 was off the list. On to #2, the temple of dawn: Wat Arun. I asked the receptionist to get a taxi so I could be taken to the Airport Rail station to head to town (as always I figured I would walk from there or get another cab if needed to where I wanted to go). She however, suggested I just have the taxi take me into town (“much easier”). Ok, fine. Why not? So I get into the cab and we start heading to town. On the way he starts telling me about “boat”. “Boat trip down river”. I responded with “nice, ok” not realizing that he took “ok” literally and proceeded to take me to a boat tour place. Once I figured out what was going on I insisted that no, I wanted to go to the Grand Palace (a teeny boat trip across the river from there would get me to Wat Arun). He then said that wasn’t possible because the Grand Palace was closed to tourists due to the Kings Birthday being tomorrow (December, 5) which was actually true. “Too much traffic there” is what he also stated.

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung Cocks

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung_2

We ended up at the Oriental Pier just north of the Taksin Bridge where they gave boat tours. 2000 baht for 1 hour… Which equates to almost $61… No thanks. I would rather spend my time walking around than one hour on a boat taking typical tourist “picture, picture, picture” (how the tour lady explained the boat trip). It also turned me off that she tried to negotiate the price with me. To me, the original price is either worth it, or it isn’t. I’m happy to pay the full price of something IF it’s worth it to me. This wasn’t, so I declined all the way. 15 minutes later after finally succeeding in explaining to my taxi driver that I wanted to pay him (375 baht in total damage) and just walk to town from there I headed out on foot.

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung_3

Wat U Phai Rat Bamrung_4

China Town

I was definately NOT in the touristy part of town… I was in the Hangover Part II, back alley, so-many-car-fumes-in-the-air-you-could-barely-breathe part of town. I was so off the map of where tourists “should” be that I never even ran into another gringo until I got to China Town. It is amazing to see how people live. Food markets and street food kiosks were everywhere lined right up along the edge of the sidewalks where cars and motorcycles (which by the way they also use sidewalks to drive on) zoomed past. There wasn’t anywhere to be able to stop for a break unless you sat for food and bathrooms? Hope you have a big bladder because you won’t find one for a while in that area! But then again, as I said I was off the perhaps “normal” path for a bit.

Car Show?

Long Live the King

China Town_2

I made it to China Town along Yaowarat Rd. where they were having some sort of itty bitty car show! There were tons of people wearing yellow shirts that at first I thought were part of a tour of sorts but later realized yellow is the color of the King, so just about everyone was wearing a yellow shirt to honor his birthday:) I ran into my first English speaker since leaving the hotel who confirmed I had been walking the right way for the Grand Palace (phew!!!).

China Town_4

Itty Bitty Car Show?

China Town_4

China Town_5

Now, normally when navigating my way around places with a map and my feet I always think after the fact “gee, those distances were a lot shorter than I would have thought based on the map”… This is NOT so with the Bangkok map! Everything is quite a bit further than the maps would lead you to believe… One block on a map seemed to be 5 in reality, lol! After about 4 hours of walking I was getting a bit tired. According to the map I was ALMOST there so I kept trucking… And this is where the scam occurred…

Bangkok ‘Gangster’ Scams

Back to Thailand

Europe, France

Versailles

2014-11-25 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

The meeting point for the Versailles tour was again at Place St. Michel early the next morning. Train tickets were included in the price and part of what I really appreciated is that we would all go as a group to Versailles for the tour of the gardens, but we didn’t have to return to Paris as a group. We were each given our own return ticket for the train, shown where to go and told bon voyage once the tour was over:)

King Louis XIV

Versailles Castle

Versailles Castle_2

Versailles Castle_3

For All the Glory of France!

The train was about 40 minutes but honestly it felt much shorter than that! Along the way I chatted with an older woman from Thailand (I’m going there in less than a week now!!) picking her brain on various bits of information about the Country. Once we arrived we zoomed past the lines for the castle tour and headed straight to the gardens. I should note that I only purchased a ticket for a garden tour so never went into the castle. I did contemplate it but after only watching the lines to get in get longer and longer, there was no way! Something to go back there for:)

North Parterre

Looking back from North Parterre

Pyramid Fountain

Note to travelers: If you do plan to visit the castle of the Sun King Louis XIV in Versailles, I would suggest that you get there FIRST in line!!! I’m not kidding- the lines to get in were at least a couple miles long and they didn’t get any shorter throughout the day! Also, there are TWO SEPARATE lines… One line is to purchase tickets, the other is to get in line for the tour. If you get into the wrong line (i.e. the tour line) without a ticket, they will refuse you and send you into the other VERY long line to purchase a ticket. You’ve been warned! All this information was provided kindly as a warning to us from our garden tour guide, so I’m passing it along:)

Another brief “warning”… Bring your walking shoes and something to nibble on/drink!! The gardens are HUGE and while there are some benches here and there to sit on, they are generally always full with other tourists taking a break. There is the option to rent golf carts (go figure) if needed for those who aren’t that into walking however. Last “warning”: the fountains do NOT run all the time. They run for a few hours in the morning, then for a few hours in the afternoon. AND (if memory serves) they only run on Sundays and Mondays… You will have to double check that for sure, but the point is that check before you go whether you will be going during a day/time that the fountains will be running! It’s just so much nicer when they are active:) Also on the days that the fountains run they have a grand finale at 5:30 where the largest fountain starts up. All the others in the garden shut down during this finale. Also, portions of the garden are closed on some days… In other words- don’t just show up to this location if on your own. Do your research first to ensure the best experience:)

Cute Bush Clips

The Apollo Fountain

Posing with Apollo

Apollo Fountain_2

Thankfully the guide for this tour was awesome! She had personality, character and obviously knew her stuff as she was full of great information and history- both new and old on the Gardens!

Louis the XIV was quite the character… He fancied himself a God and named himself the “Sun King”. He began his reine at the tender age of 5 and reigned for 72 years, which is the longest in European History for a major country and he is often depicted showing off his legs in paintings as he was quite fond of them. He was a vain man but also very clever. For example the Hall of Mirrors was constructed to be used as an intimidation trick against those who opposed him. At that time it was extreemly difficult to get A mirror, let alone an entire hall of them so not many people had ever seen their reflection before. Side note: the mirrors were first developed and made in Venice:) If people were invited to see the King, they first had to pass the hall of mirrors. You could imagine, having never seen your reflection and stepping into a hall full of them that whatever you might have been wanting to say to the King would quickly escape your mind!

Hall of Mirrors

Castle View_2

Posing with Castle

The Colonnade

There are 50 fountains in the gardens that expand over 1900 acres!! Each was constructed with the Sun King in mind as there are mythological Gods and symbols throughout. The Sun King wanted the fountains to run each and every day, all day regardless of whether he was on the grounds or not! As you might imagine there just wasn’t a large enough source of water to do so all the time, so workers began shutting off the fountains when Louis XIV wasn’t present. He found out about this however and wasn’t pleased. As a solution he simply said to funnel water from nearby rivers. This wasn’t popular among the people as they needed the river water for their vineyards to make wine! They acquiesced however but it still wasn’t enough water to keep the fountains going non-stop! So the King simply said to take the water from the River Seine! Thankfully for the people he passed away before constructions began to funnel water from the Seine to feed his fountains, lol!

Three Fountain Grove_2

Three Fountain Grove

The Ballroom Fountain filling up

The Ballroom Fountain

Garden View from Castle

Latona Parterre

Neptune Fountain Grand Finale

Neptune Fountain Grand Finale Site

Dragon Fountain with Apollo

This fountain was probably one of my favorites. It was of the God of the Underworld, Hades. They play sounds of thunder as you walk around the arches surrounding the fountain to represent the wrath of Hades that in turn creates an earthquake. The sculpture of him trying desperatly to escape the Underworld with water shooting out of his mouth is just too cool!!

Hades Fountain

Hades Fountain_2

Posing with Hades

If there was something King Louis XIV wanted, nothing stood in his way to get it. One of the fountains in the gardens today (mirror fountain) is a tiny version of the fountain outside the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas. It’s nowhere near as grand or great as that one, just a small simpler one but as our guide said: had such technology existed at the time and had King Louis XIV known about the Bellagio fountain, he would have bought Belgium and turned it into one giant fountain, lol!! That’s just the kind of King he was.

Quick fun things also told to us by the guide: not long ago the gardens of Versailles were rented out for 4 consecutive days for a whopping $26 million dollars for the wedding for the daughter of a technology (if memory serves) tycoon in India!! Kim Kardashian and Kanye West apparently could only afford a 45 minute reception, lol! The history of the “French bath”: it is noted that the King himself in his 77 years of life only showered 38 times… He and others of his time simply perfumed themselves to death to cover their otherwise rank odor. Hence people who over-perfume themselves today are said to have taken a French bath:) Yes, that is REAL GOLD on the front gates of the Palace. Just sayin…

Bacchus Fountain

Latona Parterre

Water Parterre & Castle

South Parterre

South Parterre_2

Orangerie

Castle View from South Parterre

Decorative Florals

The stories and history spoken to us by our guide was absolutely endless and honestly this was a tour I feel I could have (and should have) taken twice just to be able to soak in all the information properly. From the history of King Louis XIV, the gardens, the fountains, what each garden bit and fountain represented and even a bit on poor Marie Antoinette, our guide was full of information!! Though honestly I was expecting the gardens to be more floral in nature as opposed to bushes and trees, it was an awesome experience and place to be! And one day to revisit of course:)

On to Heidelberg

Back to Europe

Europe, Italy

Florence

2014-11-03 ramblintraveler Leave a comment

For those who personally know me, the next sentence won’t come as a surprise, but for everyone else… I am fortunate to have been born and raised (for the first 7 years or so) just outside of Florence. My dad has been living here for several years now, and since it has been 4 years since I’ve been back to Italy, why not #1 spend some time with my dad, #2 use our home in Italy as a base to explore other European countries and #3 make the eventual trip to Thailand not such a painful one from a flight perspective:)

I know, I know, I sound totally spoiled. But I can’t help where I was born, I can only recognize how fortunate I am in many ways and most importantly to be thankful for what I am able to do and to have such an international family!!

Now that that is cleared up, I am currently still in Italy writing furiously to catch up on this blog from the years past travels so that I can write about more recent adventures and ones that are still to come:) I arrived here in Italy at the end of August (2014- I know, I’m really almost caught up with blogging about my travels to present day!!!) at the Florence airport and was greeted by my dad at the airport with one of his famous “daddy” pick-ups, as we call it in my family. That is simply where he insists on parking the car so he can go into the airport and greet the new arrival from the gate, instead of waiting outside in the car for the new arrival to walk out of the airport:)

We had a lovely dinner at a pizzeria near where my dad grew up and has been going for over 40 years!! Let me just say, for the record that, in my opinion, there is no better pizza IN THE WORLD than the pizza in Italy, and more specifically the pizza in Tuscany!!! The thin crust is to die for!! Now the further South you go in Italy, the thicker the crust gets… Just a warning for those going South wondering why I’ve described the pizzas as being thin-crusted:) Oh and the ham too… I’ve never tasted better ham either (on my pizza of course!!) than in Italy!! Ok, I better stop talking about food for now… I’m making myself hungry!!

We headed to the house (about 40 Km outside of Florence) after dinner and turned in for the night. The next few months were spent catching up, hanging out, hiking in the National Park that we back onto, exploring several surrounding cities, reconnecting with Florence, a trip to the Island of Elba, going to Salzburg, Austria for a few days together (then I left to explore more of Europe on my own), entertaining some friends from Scotland, blogging (for me:)) and now we are getting ready to head out on a cruise that the family organized for my dad’s 75th birthday present!!

It’s been a busy few months for sure!! Not to mention that while I’ve been here I’ve been making sure that my dad has stayed busy making me homemade lasagna, limoncello, meat sauce, arista, crostate di more, pasta with the favorite sauce (can’t tell you the recipe it’s a family secret:)) focaccia, pasta fagioli, and on and on!! It’s a miracle I’m not obese!! Lol!! Actually, it’s not a miracle… I workout vigorously everyday to counter the calories I indulge in while here:)

On to SpanItalish

Back to Europe

Oh… I should mention I’ve cheated a teeny bit on the pictures… All are current except for the Florence pictures… They are ones from winter 2010… But in coming posts of Florence I will have pictures from this trip, I promise!! Just wanted to give you a little teaser to start;)