Headed to Rome tomorrow for a few days, and then off to Florence, Tuscany and Umbria! We are excited… stay tuned…

From a previous trip to Rome…

 

Visited the Ballard Locks and fish ladder several days ago. The salmon were running, the sea lions waiting nearby for their fresh salmon lunch, and the sailboat traversing the locks. Great fun… and Keith sure did like the sailboat!

Yesterday was family day- lunch at the Beardslee Public House where everything is made from scratch and nephew Jed is the executive chef. Delicious and fun! Then we went on to a soccer game with grand nephew Willy playing!

Jed and sister-in-law Mary Lou.

Grand nephew and niece, Willy and Lyla

And we had another family get together last evening at Mary Lou’s sister’s  home. Nephew Joseph and his daughter Greyson below.

Today we went to the Kubota Japanese Gardens to see the butoh dancers for the “Wandering and Wondering”event. What an amazing and wondrous treat! Dancers moved from one garden area to another in a slow motion dance accompanied by cello and other simple instruments. Really spectacular!

Keith and Bill at Kubota

Butoh dancers

This will be the last posting for our Pacific Northwest ( and Victoria, BC) trip. Was wonderful to spend time with family and friends, see remarkable sites, and savor the cool summer air! Off to the airport early tomorrow– looking forward to seeing Mom and friends!

 

We love Victoria! Yesterday we saw several sites– Christ Church Cathedral, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Chinatown and the Parliament. Victoria is a walkable, vibrant city with wonderful parks, walks along the water, and good restaurants – all this wrapped up in cool, refreshing (low 60s) weather!

Christ Church Cathedral.

Wonderful Emily Carr exhibit- Emily was born here in BC – famous for her studies of nature and First Nations culture.

Wandered the streets of Chinatown – including stops at Fan Tan Alley, a Chinese grocery store, and a Chinese kitchen and souvenir shop- fun!

Parliament with totem pole on lawn.

Spectacular architecture at the BC Parliament – opened in 1898.

Sunrise this morning from our hotel room.

Early morning walk along the shore. Spectacular!

Off to catch the ferry back to Seattle. Cheers!

Travelled to Butchart Gardens north of Victoria today- oh, my, what incredible gardens they are! The Sunken Gardens were particularly spectacular – Keith said they reminded him of the “shire”… quite a fairyland!

The rose garden was wonderful- cropped these photos to get the macro images of the roses! Roses of all colors!

Toured the coast around Victoria and caught the sunset over the inner harbor…

 

 

A quiet day resting up a bit for the long trip home tomorrow. Bob and I walked in a nearby park this morning, then went back to the condo to rest. I even took a short nap. Late afternoon we splurged and went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for high tea. What an experience and treat! And another example of the significant contrasts in Bangkok– seeing very simple housing yesterday and an opulent hotel today. The tea menu was extraordinary and the tea tasted wonderful!

As my trip comes to an end, I have attempted to write a few haikus inspired by my adventure…

Markets temples food

History, culture engulf

Discovery awaits. 

 

Hot sticky dripping

Traffic, motorcycles dart

Cranes build everywhere.

 

Colors, textures sing

Smells, sounds paint a mosaic

Energy abounds.

 

Buddha pray Buddha 

Spirit houses protect you

Lotus, incense gifts.

 

Contrasts explode here

Simple lives, luxury lives

Beauty, ugliness.

 

The food, oh, the food

Excites and bursts with flavor 

Simple, sustaining.

 

Well, time to close out the blog for this trip tonight. Thanks so much for coming along with me on my adventure – I have really enjoyed creating the blog!  Headed to the airport in just a few short hours. Has been a great trip spending time with family and seeing and experiencing some amazing things! But, I am ready to go home to my PI family and friends and the beautiful low country!

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was a quiet day- it was good to lay back a bit after very busy days. Bob and I went to Lumpini Park early in the morning- a wonderful city park with lots of green space and many locals… numerous tai chi groups, beautifully kept gardens, runners and walkers, older citizens enjoying breakfast picnics, monitor lizards, and much more – I loved the vitality and energy of it all!

Monitor lizard – many reach 4-5 feet! We saw two wrestling in the water- either fighting or mating- not sure which??

 

After our walk in the park, Marina had a Hindu Puja ceremony performed by Rajani– a form of Hindu worship and blessing – offering gifts to the gods and Marina, and blessing Marina on the new chapter of her life.

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Today Bob and I went to the Grand Palace and then wandered through neighborhoods and alleys. The Grand Palace is spectacular – the gold, the colors and the architecture were amazing! The longest mural in the world circles the perimeter of the temple area depicting the history of Hinduism, and the temple is the most holy temple in the country– housing the Emerald Buddha ( actually made of jade). And there were lots of Chinese tourists too!

A common site around Thailand- removing shoes before entering a temple ( and other places as well). Those are my blue and pink running shoes…

Many of the Grand Palace buildings are covered in a very thin 24 carat gold veneer. Spectacular!

The monks enjoy the temple area as tourists!

Yes- another selfie!

Bob wandering down an alley- we thought this was a market area but it turned out to be an alley of homes. I loved this alley!