Travel

Alaska’s Inside Passage – Among soaring eagles and floating glaciers

15-19 June 2014

Tlingit robe on Kake

Tlingit robe on Kake

Cloudy and a comfortable 50° as we dock in Kake on Kupreanof Island. The island, named for the governor of Russian America, may have been visited by Sir Francis Drake in 1579, but it’s greatest fame comes from resident Tlingits being bombarded by the US Army in 1869. The 52×20 mile island is now home to 600 residents and the world’s tallest totem pole at 128′ (built to celebrate the centennial of US purchase of Alaska). Talked with a carver and a weaver; locals are sparse but friendly; saw many eagles, a black bear cub, and numerous ramshackle houses. The low islands in the bay are where they bury their dead. Today, Father’s Day, this island isn’t any livelier.

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By Pat, ago

Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage – Aboard the Baranof Dream

10-14 June 2014

DSC00022What has 100 jewelry stores, five large passenger ships, and 10,000 pedestrians crammed into six small blocks? Ketchikan, Alaska. Unless you want to purchase a diamond or a fur coat, watch a duck tour boat drive down the street, or pose in front of its iconic welcome sign, it is best to find a historic bar and order an Alaskan beer then get out of town ASAP. This is exactly what I did. I cursed the miserably crowded streets, enjoyed the ambiance and beer at the historic Gilmore Hotel, then boarded the Baranof Dream to better destinations.

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By Pat, ago

What I Remember About Cuba? Fidel Spoken Here.

DSC04404POLITICS: Always remember: “It’s complicated.”

“Revolucion Siempre” Always the revolution. In Cuba, revolution counts, and not just the one in 1959. Signs and slogans are everywhere. Cuba is a country of revolutions: against Spain in 1868 and 1895, and Batista and imperialist intervention in 1959. When I think of Cuba it is one-dimensional: Fidel/Communism/State; for Cubans this is not true. Cubans may not have confidence in Fidel but Cubans never fail to support the revolution. (more…)

By Pat, ago

LA HABANA de CUBA

19 December 2013: LA HABANA de CUBA

Che at Revolution Square

Che at Revolution Square

“Havana is Havana, the rest is grass,” probably said by a Habanero.

I prefer “If you don’t get out of Havana, you haven’t seen Cuba.”

Everyone is ready for Havana. We speed along the Autopista, a bumpy, wide, but straight highway from Che to Fidel. The highway was designed for landing airplanes in case of war. War was a real fear for Cubans: both because of the one-sided political rhetoric and because we Yanquis are only a few miles north. Our drive is comprised of cane fields, banana trees, a few ox carts, grazing cattle, and acres of fertile land vanishing under thorny marabou.  (more…)

By Pat, ago

AWESOME THREESOME OF CUBA

15 December 2013: TRINIDAD, CIENFUEGOS AND SANTA CLARA – AWESOME THREESOME

Horse carts more numerous on streets than cars.

Horse carts more numerous on streets than cars.

Rough and narrow roads filled with more horse carts than cars. Dense fields of maribou; grazing cows and horses, pigs and chickens running through yards; vegetable gardens; men cutting marabou for charcoal, machetes chopping away; mountain peaks to the north, and everywhere the banana tree. Temperatures cooler and humidity lower. Lush and green Cuba is a tropical paradise. Columbus thought the island “More beautiful than any I have ever seen.”  (more…)

By Pat, ago

SANCTI SPIRITUS – lively and spirited colonial city

 

13 December 2013: SANCTI SPIRITUS

16th century Parroquial Mayor is Cuba's oldest church.

16th century Parroquial Mayor is Cuba’s oldest church.

I experience a four-hour bus ride through the least developed area of the island: narrow road with no paved shoulders, some sugar cane fields, pig and chicken farms, goats, sheep, busy small towns, cattle, horses, trucks, bikes, people transports, and pedestrians. The slim road is a gauntlet of movement. (more…)

By Pat, ago