Hobart's World

European Vacation, 2001, part 4: Germany

We arrived in Frankfurt, Germany for our last part of the trip.  Chani's uncle Tom picked us up at the airport and drove us to Freundenberg where he lives.  He acted as our guide for the rest of the trip, which was nice since we don't speak any German.
 
We spent time in Freundenberg with him, but he also drove us to Menden to check out the castle there.  With the exception of the street scene in Freundenberg, the rest of the photos are from the castle.
 
We had such an amazing time with Tom.  He took us to the pub he frequents, which is owned by a Brit and a Germany and has primarily a British clientele.  They were so excited to have Americans there that they bought us beer after beer, and many were in liter mugs!  I'd never had so much Warsteiner in my life!  We ended up getting back very late and Fred and Tom were in deep trouble from their wives.  Luckily, I wasn't attached! 
 
The trip was really a great 2 weeks, and, other than the looks we got from folks that found out we were from Texas (George W. Bush had recently pulled us out fo the Kyoto Treaty, so he was pretty unpopular in Europe) we had a fantastic time.
 
But it wouldn't be my last trip to Europe.  More on those trips in later posts.

European Vacation, 2001, part 3: England

When we got to London, we stopped off at our hotel.  It was a pretty old place and kind of rundown.  An older couple ran it.  There was a portapotty style shower in the room itself!  Well, we just needed a place to stay, not a luxury hotel room.
 
We then took a tour of London.  One of the things I wanted to get a shot of was one of the telephone boxes.  Man, it was plastered with Adult ads inside!
 
We also visited the plaza in front of the American Embassy, where I posed with the statues of Eisenhower and FDR.
 
The original Hard Rock Cafe is in London, and you can see Fred holding me up in front of it.  It's close to Buckingham Palace, where I am posing with Mat.
 
The last photos are of me with Chani in front of Big Ben and a shot of me in front of the London Eye.
 
From London, we flew to Germany for the last leg of our trip.

European Vacation, 2001, part 2: Scotland

Our next stop was the train at Holyhead in Wales after the ferry ride from Dublin.
 
In Edinburgh, Scotland, Fred, Mat, and I started out walking to Edinburgh Castle.  On the way, I posed with a statue of David Hume, and hung out with a strangely dressed fellow outside a cafe.
 
 
The next photo is of me and Fred in front of the gate to Edinburgh Castle.  The place is amazing!  It is on a hugh bluff overlooking Edinburgh.  It is an incredible view.  There is also a set of artillery in the castle which are fired to announce the time. 
 
After leaving the castle, I took a shot outside and inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, and posed with Fred in front of the Bank of Scotland.
 
We then went to Holyrood House, the Queen's residence when she is in Scotland.
 
Fred, Mat, and I then decided to visit the Museum of Scotland.
 
After all the fun we had in Scotland, we hopped on the train back to London. 
 
 
 
 

European Vacation, 2001, part 1: Ireland

Shortly after my vacation with Brendan and Susan to Europe, I had the opportunity to go back with Mat, Chani, Fred, and Chelsea in the spring of 2001.
 
Our first stop was Ireland.  We stayed at bed and breakfasts, and drove all around the island, staying for a week.  We started off in Dublin, drove around the island staying in Cork and Galway, until we made it back to Dublin. 
 
The first three shots are from Dublin Castle.  One is in the chapel, one a shot of the side, and on a shot of the snake pattern and large gate as seen from the castle.
 
The next three are at the St. James Gate brewery for Guinness.  They have a few bars in the building, culminating in my favorite at the top of the visitor center where you can enjoy your Guinness.
 
On our drive to Cork, we came upon some ruins that we thought were cool.  The next two shots are of that.
 
I also got the chance to visit Blarney Castle again.  The same man was there who helped people kiss the stone.  We almost didn't get to climb to the top of the tower.  We got there very late and as we were approaching the tower, the man at the top who held me last time to kiss the stone, waved to us and yelled that we had to hurry up or he would lock us out.  We booked it up that castle, not that easy, mind you, and made it.
 

We also drove through Cashel and saw the Rock of Cashel, another castle.  In the picture with Mat, we are next to a sheep pasture with the Rock of Cashel behind us. There was actually a little baby sheep that got out of the fence and was stuck on the ledge between the road and the fence. Very sad!   There is also a shot of a cottage near a hotel that we posed in front of.

In the photo of what looks like the icon in the phone booth, I have no explanation.  there was no signage or anything.  We saw this on our way to the Cliff of Moher and just had to stop.  I assume it's some sort of shrine for people in the area, but of what significance I couldn't tell you.

I would have some shots from the cliffs, but during our whole trip the Hoof and Mouth Disease outbreak was a big deal in the agriculturally heavy Ireland, so a lot of places were off limits.  We really couldn't get very close to the cliffs.

The last set of shots are from Bunratty Castle.

After our wonderful time in Ireland, we left Dublin on a ferry to Holyhead in Wales to begin the second week of our trip.

 

 

Trip to Europe with Susan and Brendan, 2000, part 3: France

Part 3 of my European vacation with Susan and Brendan is in France.  All of these photos are takne at the Louvre in Paris.
 
There are photos of me outside, as well as poses in front of the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.
 
This is the final part of this particular trip.  I had a great time and would later travel with them to Belize and Italy.  Those trips will be posted soon!

Trip to Europe with Susan and Brendan, 2000, part 1: England

Here are shots from my trip to Europe with Brendan and Susan.  We will start off with shots from England.

This is the breakdown of the photos:

1: Brendan with legendary actor Derek Jacobi, on of my favorites!

2: Me and Brendan in front of a royal guard at the Tower of London.

3: Me on the stage of the Globe Theatre.

4&5: The London skyline

5: London skyline with the Globe in the background.

6:  Brendan with another great actor, Julian Glover

7: Susan and me in front of Westminster Abbey.

8:  Me and Tower Bridge

I included the photos of Brendan with the two fantastic actors because I like them both a great deal and am still impressed that Brendan got to meet them.

Wildflowers

In Austin, Texas, there is a wonderful place for people who like wildflowers.  I visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center with my friends Mat and Susan.
 
The photos focus more on some of the design elements in the center, like great collonade and a fountain. 

LBJ Library and Museum

Here is a set from my trip to the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas with my good friends Amali and Mat back in 2001.
 
I think the fountain has changed since then, but this is how it looked when I was there.
 
The grounds outside are quite lovely, I recommend it as a nice place to relax and reflect.
 
Inside the building are exhibits on LBJ's life and presidency.  The Great Hall is in the middle and has a huge marble staircase.  As you can see in the photo, above the stairs behind me are windows showing the archival boxes with the president's papers.  There's a lot of fascinating info up there!
 
You'll also see me with the animatronic LBJ telling jokes by a fence.  Originally, that exhibit was just a slide show with the audio of LBJ and his jokes.  I think the robot is more fun, if a little creepy.
 
You can also see me pose at the Oval Office replica and on the back of the Lady Bird Special train replica with Mat.

Some of the photos didn't come out very well, but this was pre-digital camera, so you rolled the dice with photos.
 
The museum is a great place to visit.  LBJ's life encompasses some of the more fascinating events in the 20th Century.  Check it out!

The Blue Ghost!

There are only a few pictures in this set, but I want to post them anyway.

I went to Corpus Christi, Texas in 2001 and we decided to tour the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier from WWII.  It is also known as the Blue Ghost.  It was called that originally by the Japanese. It was the only carrier to be painted blue, a statement that it could not be sunk to demoralize the Japanese.  It also was reported sunk by the Japanese media 4 times, only to continue to come back to fight.

The photos show me with one of the anchors, in a doorway, and on a plane on the deck (I'm in the engine).  While we were on the deck, one of the docents came up to us and started telling us about how the ship was used in the filming of the Ben Affleck movie, Pearl Harbor.  They used it for the American and the Japanese carriers.  He also gave us a little inside information on the plot of the movie, insinuating to us that there was a "ménage à trois " in the movie between the main characters.  A little uncomfortable coming from the 70-odd year old tour guide.  Uh, thanks guy, be we just want to know about the ship itself if it's all the same to you.  Honestly, I'm still hoping he meant a "love triangle" and just got the term wrong.

Anyway, it's an interesting tour and an amazing experience to see how our sailors lived and fought during the war.