Question of the Day | 07/07/2009 11:00 pm
What is your traveling personality?
Do you fly by the seat of your pants? Are you glued to an itinerary?
Did you plan for it years in advance or take off like Thelma and Louise?
Get on board with Liz Smith, Candice Bergen and Joan Ganz Cooney as they discuss their globe-trotting styles.
Get on board with Liz Smith, Candice Bergen and Joan Ganz Cooney as they discuss their globe-trotting styles.
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The little pensions on the Mosel River, where the owners are also vintners, or butchers or bakers. Give them the littlest bit of German and they will give you all the english they know.
Germany for me is like a Grimm fairy tale––it just reeks of European charm, plus its history is so fascinating and dark. I am reading at this time Richard Evans’ three part volumes of Germany’s Third Reich. Your daughter might want to tackle that. I have a great interest in this country and its history: My mother’s family came from northern Germany and one of my sons and family live in Freiburg. Chris’s suggestions (below) are good.
GOT to see Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is a medieval walled city with a cathedral over 1000 years old, and what makes it special is that it was NOT destroyed during WWII and then rebuilt. What you see there is the original town. There are usually a lot of tourists because of this, but it is WELL worth a day of exploration.
Also, best castle: Marksburg, a 700-year-old castle on the Rhein, and the only one never destroyed. During the tour you will see the real defensive works, the small loopholes, the narrow stairs allowing only one person to pass through, the incredibly thick walls. Neuschwanstein is pretty and fairy-tale like, but it is hardly a "real" castle by comparison.
Phyllis,
Your post had me laughing out loud. I swear - I’m alone in a room, laughing out loud. I so needed that.
I was born in Indiana, and I can only image. But what got me was "We got lost in New York and ended up in Harlem … " Too funny. I would love to know what the "neither of us knew it at the time" part was. Perhaps it will surface sometime. As always, part of your charm. Best,
Good to know I gave you a ha, ha. So you, too, are a midwestern gal? The other matter of "neither of us knew at the time" is so complicated and full of Sturm and Drang that if it comes out at all it will be in very small increments. Stay tuned. Bestest back atcha.
phyllis Doyle Pepe
I’m offended on many levels.
Your words
"We got lost in New York and ended up in Harlem and had to get directions from a lovely man that we first thought was going to steal our money and rape us to boot."
This is insulting and bigoted on many levels. Why did you think this man in Harlem would steal your money and rape the both of you?
What would lead you to believe out of all the beautiful women in Harlem he would have this desire to rape the both of you?
Was he in the middle of a rape and stealing someones money when you stumbled upon him?
What was it about this particular individual?
Was it his ethnicity?
Did he have a menacing look? Did he look suspicious?
Was this man following you? Did he suddenly appear with every step you took?
TOURIST OF ALL ETHNICITY’S VIST HARLEM DAILY AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTS OF RAPES AND STEALING OF MONEY! … YOUR PRESENCE WAS NOTHING SPECIAL!
Reality
It is painfully obvious you reached into your bag of stereotypes and assumptions! … Harlem is a lovely place inhabitanted by persons of all ethnicity’s, socio-economic backgrounds, and education levels. Harlem is a vibrant and exciting place to live in as well as to visit. Thousands of tourists come yearly to visit Harlem for her cultural, historical and educational institutions.
History
Harlem is known for the "Harlem Renaissance." Do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? The Harlem Renaissance was an exciting period a place and period where the culture of Blacks was admired and all the rage. It was a period that produced some of the best literature and music. It’s the period between 1920-1940’s. Nightclubs and lots of stars. Nightclubs frequented by Hollywood legions like Charlie Chaplin, who came to enjoy the culture and the night life. Huge stars performed like Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Bill Bojangles Robinson and Billie Holiday just to name a few. Writers such as Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, Dorothy West and Ralph Ellison.
Today students, researchers, and professors from around the world come to study and do research at "The Auturo Schomberg Center for Research In Black Culture." Tourists come to visit the "Studio Museum in Harlem", a well known art institution. Tourists come to visit Riverside Church and Saint Philips Episccopal Church etc. I could go on instead I’ll recommend some books.
Brief Book List
"A Renaissance In Harlem, Lost Essays of the WPA, by Ralph Ellison, Dororthy West , and Other Voices of a Generation", Editted by Lionel C. Basco.
"Repeal Of The Blues How Black Entertainers Influrenced Civil Rights", Alan Pomerance.
"The Biography of Bill Robinson Mr. Bojangles", Jim Haskins and N.R. Mitcanc.
These are some books to get you started with your education about Harlem. It’s better to deal with facts rather than rely on the stereotypes of hollywood and the media.
You later learned that this young man was quite lovely and a gentleman. Yet you had stereotyped him as a thieve and a rapist.I hope you learned not to judge a book by its cover. I hope this excercise will enlighten you. This is a perfect time to look deeply within yourself and examine why you would automatically make such vile assumptions about another human being.
LC, I can see how you would be offended by Phyllis’ remarks - on the bright side, yes, she DID learn that the man was a gentleman and I think she made clear that her views did change.
But - to be fair about her "prejudice" - she does not say WHEN she accidentally found herself in Harlem. Was it in the 1970s or 1980s? That area had a serious decline and high crime rates right up until the mid 1990s. In the 1960s, the drug addiction rate was 12 times higher than the national average, and the crime rate was 50% higher than in NYC overall. In the 1980s there were the so-called "crack wars" which also brought increased crime rates. Since the 1950s, the area had lost over HALF its population; so many buildings were abandoned and derelict, and the tax base so low, that retail investment could not be attracted to the area; and as of 1987, NYC owned 65% of the buildings, many of them just gutted shells.
As for outsiders’ "prejudices," all of these problems were real, visible, and publicized in the media; it was generally accepted by outsiders, operating on the information they had, that Harlem was NOT the place for tourists to go hang out, based on the CRIME RATE. Not race. The CRIME RATE. I did not even live in NY but can remember plenty of news coming out of Harlem in the 1970s and 1980s and it was not pleasant.
Since the 1990s, there has been VAST improvement and that area is as you describe it, now. But it was not always so!
Applause Lila! LC seems to have overreacted just a tad here. Living in the midwest myself in the 70’s and 80’s, the crime in Harlem was widely publicized and her initial reaction to being lost there is quite understandable. Just as when we were driving through Atlanta in 1981 and were a bit spooked about the serial killings going on there at that time. PDP was quick to admit that the gentleman she encountered was a fine man. I personally enjoyed her post…having been lost in East St Louis once as a kid, when the crime there was horrible (I believe there was even a scene in "Vacation" in which the family was at a stop sign and lost all their hubcaps). It had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the crime rate.
We are diligent planners and researchers. We feel the need to know as much about a country we are visiting as we possibly can to better hone in on the areas of most importance to us. We never use a travel agency and make our own itinerary. We have miraculously had wonderful results especially our trips to Italy. Packing light is a must as trains are vital to getting from one place to another.
I would describe our personalities as calm, cool and appreciative.
Deber, I’m with you on the diligent planner and researcher bit; although "planning" and "researching" was the best that I could do back in college, until I could actually afford to get to the places I want to go, LOL…I’m trying hard to get to the "light packer" part, LOL.
Italy, eh? I really want to go there…but I also want to go back to Israel. Ahh, decisions, decisions. ;)
When we had our wings and wheels I would plan every detail of the trips."They" used my brain to invent to GPS systems.
For decades we were on the road most week ends for our business, could be art shows, antique or Christmas shows. I knew every rest stop, and most of all every favorite restaurant.
We’d get in the van and husband would say "when and where do we eat next?"
Flying at least once a year to visit mother in Belgium was like getting on a bus. Empty suitcases on the way up, Mother’s kas had my extra clothing. Coming home hoping the customs would not open every bag which was full of antique linens and lace.
Put a suitcase in my hands and I am deliriously happy, I do not even ask what our destination is.
Next plan: April 3 2010 in Foligno. How it will happen is still a ????
I’m not a compulsive planner. But i can’t entirely wing it either. I’m not willing to take off anywhere withuout knowing where i’m going to sleep! Other than that… i can mostly wing it. The most research i’ve done is for my NYC trip coming up. Primarily because there is just soooo much I want to see and do. But i’m still not planning every minute.
On motorcycle trips I like to plan the ride each day and have reservations ready when we get to the end of the day. however… there have been plenty of times we’ve had to change mid day due to problems on the road. that doesn’t bother me at all.
Though I do research on most travel, especially when I travel alone, I like to improvise, and don’t stick to a rigid schedule for every day. I have always enjoyed plane travel, because I used to say that I don’t have to use a map, drive, prepare meals, serve them, answer the phone, or wash the dishes. Often, I’d find someone compatible to talk to, and the hours passed quickly.
When my children were young, and we had little money, we used to spend summers abroad, improvising all the way, and my now adult children say that I taught them several things: Find a profession you enjoy; always have a passport ready, and be ready to pack. They, too, have travelled worldwide and worked abroad.
As for being prompt, my son used to claim that I was at the airport long before the pilot shaved!
I’ve traveled in China, Russia, South America, India, the Caribbean, Europe, Canada, the West coast, and I live in NY. Now that I am retired, I feel like a tourst in my hometown and explore neighbhoods, places, restaurants at my leisure.
I’m a hardy traveler and can cope with pensiones,low priced hotels, and lots of walking. My only regret is that I have no companion who shares my love of travel and who can walk and talk fast.
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