Japan, Post One - Introduction

In 2007, the World Science Fiction Convention was held in Yokohama, Japan. Ron and Val Ontell arranged a wonderful tour before the con.

I wish I had kept a journal as I did on the India/Nepal tour, because all I can find are my photos from the Japan trip, and our itinerary. I'm not sure how many photos I can actually match to the cities we visited.

Well, here goes with three-year-old memory!


Japan, like Italy, is an incredibly photogenic country. There are some wild natural areas, but every place that can be cultivated or built on is cultivated or built on. Everything the Japanese touch, they make beautiful.


Not only the gardens and courtyards are designed with graceful branches or archways to frame photos any direction you point your camera, but even the pets seem to know how to place themselves, like this little dog surrounded by flowers.


Japanese food is artistically laid out--every plate served is a minor masterpiece. Even in the fish market, everything is laid out in colorful design.

Having now been there once with a guided tour, I would not be afraid to go back alone as long as I stuck pretty much to the cities. The Japanese people are extremely polite and helpful. Not many speak English (most Japanese can read it, but haven't had enough experience speaking it), but as English has become the language of tourism, and Japan welcomes tourists, there are signs in English everywhere tourists are likely to go.

Japan is a very safe country, and a very clean country. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and will be happy to share my admittedly fragmented memories with you over the next few weeks.
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How to import a car from Japan. Click here.

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Italy, Part Seven - Venice Part Two

Find Italy Part One here.

Venice today is clean. The canals no longer smell. However, the city is still sinking. As global warming speeds up, the water laps ever higher, and the famed Piazzo San Marco frequently floods. If you dream of seeing Venice before major parts of it disappear beneath the waves, I suggest you start saving to make that trip your next European vacation.


Being on the water of course means that sea food is readily available. We were not able to cook, but we still enjoyed seeing what the markets had to offer.


One of the lovely things to do in Venice is eat at a restaurant on one of the canals.

There is also great art to be found, perhaps surprisingly much of it modern. Here I am at the Guggenheim Museum.

Just wandering around, you come upon today's art right out on the streets.


Venice was our last stop in Italy, and we spent the last day wandering about, just enjoying the beauty of the city and the friendliness of the people. At the time we were there, there were terrorist threats against Americans and Brits in Europe. Occasionally in other Italian cities, but most often in Venice, we would enter a shop or restaurant chattering in English--and the clerk or maitre d' would greet us loudly in German! We felt safe--perhaps under the protection of the San Marco lion.

See my Picasa photo album of Italy here.

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Definitive Guidebook to Italy

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Italy Part Six - Venice, Part One

Find Italy Part One here.

From Florence we took a high-speed train to Venice. Anyone who has ridden the reliable, comfortable modern trains of Europe or Japan wishes desperately we had the same kind of transport in the U.S.


Venice is, of course, famous for its canals. The entire city is a walking precinct--no vehicles allowed. Because the canals wind everywhere through the city, and most bridges are arched with steps on either side, the only available vehicles are boats. The buses are boats. The ambulances are boats. The police vehicles are boats.

The most famous boats, of course, are the gondolas, but they are far outnumbered by more practical, if less glamorous, transport.

Venice is right on the sea. One day we took a "bus" out to one of the islands in the bay, to get a perfect view of the city of Venice.


There was a church with a high tower, from which I took this photo. Again, amateur as I am--strictly a snapshot taker--the photo could be a postcard. Yet another effect of the beauty of Italy.

More about Venice next week.
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Definitive Guidebook to Italy

Click here for Seven Reasons to Visit India.

MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that the author of this blog has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned in this message and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from
anyone via the Internet or offline.

Italy Part Five -- Florence

After visiting Assissi, we drove to Florence and turned in our rental car. We certainly didn't need a car for our last two cities, Florence and Venice. While cars are allowed in Florence, the historic part of the city that tourists want to see is all easily walkable.

Florence is arguably the most beautiful city in the world. It's in the center of Tuscany, which many people think is the most beautiful area in the world. The light in this part of Italy is incredible, the inspiration of world-renowned artists through the centuries. Take for example the photo at the top of the page--it looks like something you would see on a post card. But it's just a snapshot I took, and I'm no great photographer.


And look at this photo. It's unretouched--a black and white sunset, captured about an hour later than the photo at the top. But it's not black and white film--the sunset actually lost all its color and resolved into shades of black, white, and gray. I've seen thousands of sunsets, but this is only the second black and white one I've ever seen--the first was in Colorado, maybe twenty years ago. I have no idea what rare meteorological condition takes all the red and orange and yellow and purple out of a sunset.


This is a far more typical Florence sky, with those glorious cloud formations in real life that we see so often in Renaissance paintings.


Lois found us a hotel right in the middle of Florence, looking out on the famous baptistry. It sounded like a good idea, being centrally located, placing us within walking distance of everything we wanted to see. What we didn't count on was all the nightlife--loud music into the wee hours of the morning. Followed by the bells of the Duomo at 6am!


Here are the famous Baptistry Doors--except that what is there today is a copy. The original gold doors are too precious to be left out in a public square. As you can see, there is still always a crowd in front of them.


Outside the famous Uffizzi Gallery are statues of great Renaissance figures. Here Eric salutes Leonardo da Vinci.

I found most of my photos from this trip, but somehow I have misplaced the ones I took inside the Accademia Gallery, of Michaelangelo's David. Well, you all certainly know what that famous work looks like!
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Definitive Guidebook to Italy

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MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume
that the author of this blog has an affiliate
relationship and/or another material connection
to the providers of goods and services mentioned
in this message and may be compensated when you
purchase from a provider. You should always perform
due diligence before buying goods or services from
anyone via the Internet or offline.