Travel

That's correct. Of course, if we ever did this, we would likely have the advantage of being hosted by some of my friends and/or business contacts in Asia. That might not save us much money, but it would mean some very nice food and entertainment.

I think a passport costs about Us$200 these days. Never apply for an expedited passport because it costs more for basically nothing. Let it take the normal 2-3 weeks to get to you. Normally, a passport is valid for 10 years so the cost is not too bad if pro-rated. I remember when it cost basically nothing.

As to Taiwan, it was one of the last countries in Asia which I visited. I don't know Taipei at all, but have good friends in Kaohsiung and love the south of Taiwan. The island is beautiful, with mountain ranges running down most of the eastern side of the island. The photo of the Chinese Temple which I posted was taken in Taiwan. I will see if I have more photos which might be interesting. I have to figure out again how to do the Google Embed thing again, because I have tried several times today and it has not worked. I have yet to figure out what I am doing wrong.

Here are some further thoughts, Mr. Kung.

Before taking an expensive trip to Asia, there are a lot of places in these United States that I’d like to see first…including Texas.

My brother just got back from a road trip with a friend to the Custer site in Montana. He loved it although he mentioned he would have been more than fine on his own.

One possibility is the both of us taking a road trip down to Plano and then dropping Ron off to do his own thing visiting the various Indians sites. And I’m guessing there are a whole bunch of them in Texas, maybe even within shouting distance of Plano.

That’s a big drive but at 32 hours driving time (according to an online trip calculator), certainly doable. It’s one of those things. By the time you screw with getting an airplane, you could be a 1/3 of the way there. And there might be a few sites to see on the way.

And, of course, you being Texan, you know where to go and what to see. Not as much fun for you, for sure. But you would get to show the place off.

Just a thought. I like the idea of going to Asia but there are domestic places I would really want to see first if I’m going to spend the time and the money.

I seem to have figured out how to post photos, but I really don't see what I did differently. Oh well. I will keep on trying.

Awesome. Not only have you linked your Google Photos images here, but by clicking on them one can get the full size. This is absolutely ideal. I’m not sure I knew this could be done. That’s not what I was getting when I linked to a photo in my own Google Photos library. Now I’ve gotta figure out how you did it.

I think you’re doing something wrong, but somehow it worked out. We’ll have to talk tomorrow and we’ll go through the steps. I’ve looked at your source code and have no idea what’s going on.

Give me a call tomorrow and I'll walk you through it.

Well, did they find out if indeed Muslim attacks on tourists are being ignored?  It's certainly hard to believe that they stopped, though it's possible that you mostly have individual attacks striking a small number of people, which would receive less attention anyway.  Especially when the thugs are Muslims.  I suspect many news sources have never really reported on the "South Asian" rape gangs in England (e.g., Rotherham).  Or for that matter, the rape problems in Sweden and Germany (and everywhere else Muslims gather).

The month of June has been something of a sentimental period for me. Fifty years ago, my best friend and I traveled to Europe for the first time. I don't recall the exact date we left, but I believe it was June 8th. As it was a three-week tour, on this date we would have been about to leave Europe for the return trip to the USA.

Looking back, I would have to say this trip was a major occurrence in my life. It led to my future study in Europe and employment in Europe and Asia. I lived outside the USA for about 25 years as a result.

Sadly, my friend died eight years ago. 

"I don't know where the time went" is one of those dusty old cliched phrases which has (no doubt) been used by old farts for millennia. It is no less true for that.

Where did you first land?

Amsterdam. I can only tell you this because I have the slides of this trip stored in old slide cubes . 

We went from there to London. Then we crossed back to Germany, followed by Switzerland, Austria, Venice, Rome, Pisa and ended up in Paris.

While I remember many of the places we saw, it is personal experiences and novelties which are clearest in my mind. For example, something as simple as a street light at a crosswalk was new and interesting to me. I recall sitting at my hotel window one night in Switzerland, looking out at the peaceful scene on the street below. There stood a couple of yellow globes slowly flashing their lights, telling drivers and pedestrians to be cautious.  I had never seen such lights before and found them fascinating. 






Then there were the glasses which one encountered in German restaurants. They were very delicate and had thin walls. I had never come up against anything like them before. The picture below gives an idea of what I am talking about, but I remember seeing much finer glasses than this one. 



I recall seeing a mountain somewhere in eastern Switzerland or Voralberg, Austria and thinking the Hall of the Mountain King was beneath it, or perhaps Moria.

I must be a little careful in mixing up my memories as two years later, I was studying in Europe and crossed many of the same and similar roads. 

Yeah. Never been there but they do things a bit different in Europe. I would think ‘round these parts that those flashing yellow globes would be interpreted as “Bonus points” for anyone presently in the crosswalk. Think "bowling for Antifa." In Europe, if one of those little peddle-cars hit you, would it even knock you over?