Where in the World?

I arrived in London Heathrow this morning at 5:28 a.m. It’s wonderful to be back for a few days. The weather was typical; somewhat cold, cloudy with a little rain. That bothers some people, but it never really bothered me. It’s just what this part of the world can be like. I never let that stop me from doing anything here.

I love the fact that you can walk around everywhere in London. It makes for a richer experience than driving from place to place. The tube system (subway) is easy to use as is the bus system. I’ve always felt safe using both, though I prefer the tube and walking as I never quite know where I am on the bus.

I went into my exploring mode, which means I don’t know exactly where I’m going. I choose the direction from a starting point and then follow my nose. Babi, who I haven’t seen in over a year, met me for the afternoon and evening. We walked along the back streets near Leicester Square, Covent Garden, SoHo and Piccadilly Circus.

Great food. Great conversation. Great cappuccino. Lots of diversity. Masses of people. Cosmopolitan city. Culture. Art. Music. Adventure around every corner. These are some of the reasons I love London.

Have a great day!

Michael

One of the many things that make me very happy is Thai food. So, wherever I travel I seek out and taste test Thai restaurants. It’s a thankless job, but I suck it up and perform to expectations every time

Last night, we found a great Thai restaurant in the Soho area of London tonight. Busaba Eathai is located on Wardour Street. This restaurant has great reviews on Zagat.com. It was a short 10 minute walk from the Picadilly Circus tube station.

There was a long line waiting to get in as we approached Busaba. I asked the door attendant how long we would have to wait and he said only 15 minutes. I was surprised, but we were seated almost exactly 15 minutes later. A waiter handed us a menu while we were outside so that we could order as soon as we were seated. It was a great system that seemed to ensure a steady flow of people in and out of the restaurant.

The seating was communal which meant we sat with a bunch of people we didn’t know. It simply didn’t matter. The restaurant was quite loud, very busy and full of people having a really good time.

Now to the most important part; the food. We ordered pad thai, prawns in chile sauce with basil, a green curry with chicken and basil, and an order of coconut rice. The food was simply fantastic. I typically don’t eat the curry dishes, but this one was incredible. I think it was the basil. The prawns had just the right amount of “bite” and a wonderful flavor heavy with basil. The pad thai was light and quite tasty. If you have never tried coconut rice, I highly recommend it. The subtle flavor is a great compliment to any Thai dish.

Overall, we give this restaurant a 5 star. If you are ever in London, I seriously recommend this restaurant.

Have a great day!

Michael

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. – St. Augustine

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. – Robert Louis Stevenson

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. – Lao Tzu

I’m back in London today.The sun is shining and it was quite lovely flying into Heathrow this morning. I really enjoy traveling and I get quite excited every time I go somewhere. This trip is a combination of work and personal, which is my preference when I travel. I like to keep things balanced.

I look forward to seeing old friends, especially Rebekah, and possibly meet some new ones. London has a million things to do, so there is never a lack of adventure in this city. One of my favorite pastimes in London is to walk the streets and just see what I can find.

Erica and I plan on attending a three day meditation retreat this weekend near Bristol. I’m expecting a lot of relaxation and inspiration. It should be a nice departure from the last month of craziness.

I firmly believe that everyone should travel at least a little. It’s important to get out of your comfort zone, expand your horizons, develop new perspectives and just have some adventure. Travel gives all of this to you. It doesn’t have to cost a lot. It could be a short drive to an area you’ve never visited or something more involved like a tour to Beijing, China. Pick something that looks interesting and go experience it. You won’t regret it.

Have a great day!

Michael

Our last day in Scotland was spent in Edinburgh. It was a day of fulfilling curiosities and exploring places we didn’t see on the first day there. After another bus ride we exited onto Princes St. near Edinburgh Castle. A short walk brought us to the The National Gallery of Scotland. We spent a couple of hours touring the gallery rooms. It was a wonderful time in an impressive museum.As we walked up to the Royal Mile again, we decided to explore one of the closes (alleyways). Once at the top of the steep set of steps, we happened upon the The Writer’s Museum. The museum has displays devoted to Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. It was quite interesting and I highly recommend it.

From Lady Stair’s Close, we walked onto the Royal Mile and turned east. We wanted to explore St. Giles Cathedral. Surprisingly, we found many hidden gems here. They have an enormous pipe organ that stands almost 40 feet high and cost 1M British Pounds (almost $2M U.S. at today’s exchange rates). It is shaped like a sailing boat with sails and a deck and was very impressive. Another curious artifact in the church was a document (one of seven) dated from 1638 that in summary discusses separation of church and state. It also makes it clear to the king at the time (King Charles I) that he didn’t have the right to tell the people how they should worship. Seven copies were signed and delivered to major cities all over Scotland. According to one of the guides, this document was used by Thomas Jefferson to craft the Declaration of Independence. Fascinating! I need to do some more research into this area.

After St. Giles, we viewed a 3D “documentary” in the Loch Ness Discovery Center. I was left wanting much more at the end, but at least we tried. Exploring is all about trying new things and seeing what you like.

We ate lunch at Deacon Brodie’s. Apparently Mr. Brodie led a double life in the 18th century; a skilled woodworker during the day and burglar at night. It is thought that he was Robert Louis Stevenson’s inspiration for the book, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. He was eventually caught, found guilty and executed in the late 1700’s. We ate in what was once his woodworking shop.

Next stop was the Brass Rubbing Center where we all took a break from walking and did a rubbing. It was fun to do, but much harder than it looks. The Center has many choices in a variety of sizes to choose from. It’s fun for the whole family.

Nearing the end of our day, we had our requisite latte and scone. Another short walk took us to the end of The Royal Mile and the Scottish Parliament building which was surprisingly modern in the midst of all the historical buildings located in the old town section of Edinburgh. A long walk back up the hill to Edinburgh Castle and a steep climb down to the bus stop ended our tour of Scotland.

I love to explore which is fueled by a hefty dose of curiosity. The best way for me is to pick a general direction and wander into things. That was our final day in Scotland and it was fitting end to a wonderful trip.

Michael

Our day started at Stirling Castle near the town of Stirling, Scotland. Stirling Castle was quite extraordinary. A good bit of restoration work has been accomplished here. More excavations and restorative work is being performed over the next several years. It was real easy to get a view of how life might have been back in the 15th century. The castle sits atop a large hill/small mountain with splendid views of the surrounding valley.Linlithgow Palace and St. Michael’s Church was next on the agenda. The town of Linlithgow was lovely with a relaxed small town atmosphere. The palace was partially in ruins, but you could still walk around inside. A lake surrounded three sides of the palace. Next to Linlithgow Palace is St. Michael’s Church. It belongs to the Church of Scotland and had one of the most stunning pieces of stained glass I have ever seen (see a partial view to the right).

Our last stop was at Cairnpapple Hill, which is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Scotland. Around 5500 years ago people left evidence of activity on the hill. The area provides stunning views across many miles of Scotland in all directions. Around 5000 years ago, major activity started with the building of a henge or circle on top of the hill. No one really knows what religious ceremonies were performed here, but several hundred years later, it became a burial site and remained that for almost 2000 years.

I try to imagine what it was like to live 5000 years ago. What did the land look like? How did the family function? What did it really take to survive? What were their beliefs? How far did they travel? What did they think about while looking out across the vast vistas from the top of Cairnpapple?

It was another glorious day in Scotland with one more to go.

Michael

Wow! Edinburgh is simply a wonderful city. We explored only a minuscule portion of the old town. Lots more to see, but what we saw and experienced was fantastic. Our journey started in the Hermiston Park and Ride, just outside of Edinburgh to the west. The owner of our bed and breakfast (Crosswood Hills) recommended we take the bus from Hermiston to Edinburgh as it is difficult to find suitable and affordable car parking in the city. It was a great idea.We exited the bus at the second stop along Princes St. and immediately had a fantastic view of The Mound and Edinburgh Castle majestically built on Castle Rock. I learned that this basalt mountain is an extinct volcano. Our tour of the castle grounds lasted for about two hours. The oldest building in Edinburgh Castle is St. Margaret’s Chapel. For lunch we ate at the Queen Anne Café. Very nice!

The Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre was next on our list. After a taste of Single Malt Scotch we learned about the history of Scotch Whiskey and how it is made. This is Scotland’s national drink. The Edinburgh Old Town Weaving Company was an interesting place not only for the incredible clothing merchandise inside the multi-level store, but it also had a database that could print out any of several thousand Scottish clan names.

The rest of the day was spent walking The Royal Mile, exploring shops and peering down the many closes, which are small, narrow alleyways between the main streets.

The people of Edinburgh and Scotland are friendly, open and ready to help. Everyone we met was exceptionally nice and never rude. Great people in a great land!

Michael

My sister, mother, dad and I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to get ready to drive to St. Andrews which is about 50 miles north of where we were staying in Scotland. We were all supporting his dream of playing the Old Course at St. Andrews. So, we packed up and headed north arriving in St. Andrews at 6:15 a.m. After my dad signed up on the singles waiting list, we headed over to the restaurant to get some quick breakfast.While we were there, my dad’s name was called three times, so he initially missed out on starting his round. After another short wait, he and 3 others were joined to form a foursome. The weather cleared, the sun came out, and the newly formed teamed started their play.

It was fantastic to see my dad start and then successfully complete a dream that he has had for many years. I think that it is important when someone is knocking on a dream, that everyone, especially family, should help in fulfilling it. When these opportunities and synchronicities fall into place, the only road to take is the one that leads to the dream.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was joyfully spent walking in the ruins of St. Andrews Castle, St. Andrews Cathedral and the church of St. Rule. For the afternoon we spent the time touring the Kingdom of Fife along the northern coast of the Firth of Forth. We visited the lovely coastal villages of Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem and St. Monans. I highly recommend The Honey Pot in Crail for some wonderful pastries, coffee and sandwiches.

Overall, a fantastic day with dreams fulfilled and lots of sightseeing.

Michael

I’m in Edinburgh, Scotland this week with my parents and sister. We are staying at a bed and breakfast on a sheep farm southwest of Edinburgh. The countryside is simply beautiful with many rolling hills and huge fields of yellow flowers (Oil Seed Rape). Obviously, there are a lot of sheep.I had to get adjusted to driving on the left hand side of the road again. It took about a day to get used to the narrow country roads. We drove to St. Andrews, birthplace of golf, so my father could get information on playing the Old Course. The highlight for my dad will be when he plays the Old Course and fulfils a lifelong dream. Later in the day, we drove to a town that bears our last name, Thornton. Oddly enough, across the street from the Thornton Parish Church was Davidson’s Chemist, which is my mother’s maiden name. Coincidence? I like to think of it as synchronistic.

After Thornton, we drove to the enigmatic Rosslyn Chapel south of Edinburgh. It has been famous for centuries and even more so after The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was published. It was built in 1446 by William St. Clair. The chapel has an incredible amount of carvings displaying a dizzying array of symbolism; Christianity, Pagan, Freemasonry and the Knights Templar. There are also carvings of New World plants, which strangely pre-date the Columbus’s “discovery” of that continent by almost 100 years. What a wonderful place to explore!

Have a great day!

Michael

I finally arrived home, 46 hours after leaving London Heathrow airport on Friday, March 16th. I wrote about the first part of that saga yesterday. At that time I had no idea how today would play out in this adventure I was wrapped up in. The snow fell thick and heavy during the night. There were two foot snow drifts up against my hotel window when I woke up this morning.

Since my return was so full of craziness and adventure, I’ve summed up the events below:

March 16th

• Woke up at 3:00 a.m. in London on March 16th.
• Travel to Heathrow. No traffic at 4:00 a.m. in the morning.
• Relatively easy check-in with Lufthansa.
• Arrived in Frankfurt around 8:30 a.m.
• The 747 developed a fuel leak before we board. Flight delay of 2 hours.
• Left Frankfurt around 12:30 p.m.
• Toddler began screaming right before take-off and continues to scream for almost 7 hours. The flight to Boston was 7 1/2 hours.
• 60 miles out from Boston, we started flying in a holding pattern due to the snow fall at Logan. Total time = 45 minutes.
• We began our approach to land and at 1800 feet elevation, the captain aborts the landing due to a low breaking coefficient on the runway (e.g. ice and snow).
• We circle north and west of Boston for 45 minutes. As we began the approach again, the captain got the call that Logan is closed.
• Toddler was still screaming.
• Someone made a decision to fly us to Bangor, Maine where we land around 6:00 p.m.
• We waited on the tarmac for about an hour. The plan was to fly back to Boston as soon as possible. Unfortunately the weather keeps Logan closed.
• Still sitting on the tarmac, we learned that the crew cannot fly anymore due to the fact that they have reached their flying limit for the day.
• We were told that a fresh crew will be flown up from Boston. The plan was to fly back to Boston in the evening.
• The captain informed us that the fresh crew cannot leave Boston because of the weather. 350 of us had already figured that out.
• The toddler screams some more.
• We exit the plane at 8:30 p.m. and sat in a holding area for one hour so that the one baggage worker can unload our 747 in the snow storm.
• At 9:30 we got through customs, grabbed our backs and fought each other (not really) to get on the bus to take us to the hotel.
• I walked in the snow about a block to a convenience store to grab snacks for dinner.
• Sleep overtook me at 11:30, some 24 hours since I woke up in London.

March 17th

• Leisure morning while on hold for 1 1/4 hours to find out when our plane will fly to Boston.
• ETA was 4:00 p.m.
• Got to the airport at 12:30 p.m. and checked in. New time for flight to Boston was 2:30. Excitement was in the air.
• Grabbed some lunch and stood in the security line for 30 minutes.
• We were now back in our holding area from last night where we got to wait until 2:35. Apparently a 2:30 take-off was optimistic.
• The toddler began screaming again
• Everyone rushed to get on the plane
• We sit for quite some time. Finally the captain gets on and tells us how the baggage handlers don’t have experience loading a 747 and are taking longer than usual.
• 3 (Three) hours later the last piece of luggage was loaded.
• Toddler screams for about 2 hours during this time.
• Next step was de-icing. The engines were shut off and the crew (2 people) began spraying the hot chemical on the wings.
• It took them 40 minutes to de-ice the plane because 1 of the 2 de-icing machines broke.
• The temperature continues to climb to sauna levels which puts everyone on edge and makes the toddler scream some more.
• Finally we take off and land about 7:00 p.m.
• Our luggage literally dribbles out of the carosel because of a jam.
• It took an hour for me to get my luggage. It was now 8:00 p.m.
• The toddler stopped crying.
• I drove home and arrived about 9:30 p.m.
• The entire adventure had taken 46 hours since I left London the previous day.

I would say that 98% of the time, I was quite calm and took everything in stride. It made the whole affair much easier to deal with. Several things fascinated me about this entire event. #1- The majority of the people were in really good spirits. They accepted the adventure and just went with the flow. #2 – As I mentioned yesterday, a wonderful camaraderie developed that “glued” everyone together. #3 – The flight attendants were fantastic. This could have been a really stressful occasion for them. #4 – Everyone tried to help each other either by talking or giving a hand with the luggage.

But most importantly, as we were waiting for our luggage, lots of people were talking to each other as new friendships had been formed. Business cards and contact information were being shared. People were actually saying what a great adventure they’d had. I’d never seen anything quite like it. I really enjoyed watching the interactions unfold. The people on this flight will be telling the stories of their adventure for quite some time.

It’s good to be home though.

Michael

Our friends are those who know their own faults well enough to forgive us ours. – Moulton Farnham

I met my good friend Rebecca for lunch today very close to Trafalgar Square (e.g. Nelson’s Column, The National Gallery, etc.). It always seems to work out perfectly when we want to get together. I had an errand to do near Bond Street Station and she was riding her bike around London. We quickly set up a time that worked out perfectly for both of us.

I find that our conversations generally get right to whatever issues we need to voice and share. We have a lot of trust with each other and that’s what separates this kind of friendship from casual acquaintances. I’m fortunate to have five friends of this caliber and I feel gifted to know each of them.

After lunch, we walked to Watkins Books as we both felt drawn there. Events and timing were perfect to allow Rebecca to do something that had been on her mind. It was great to watch the synchronicity unfold.

I’m rich and blessed because of the close friends I have and I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t have met them. I look forward to many more years of their company.

Michael