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Book Quotes - Caribbean 

Well, it's been about nine months since my last book quote blog. I've read a "few more" books since then!

“A man could sail on forever … forever till the final darkness comes.”

The Caribbean cruise I performed on in March has long since past, but I continued to "dwell" on and around the islands (if only in my mind) for a few months after, being that "Caribbean" by James Michener is over 900 pages long and I'm not a fast reader. More like sporadic, depending on if I'm traveling or at home.
I enjoyed this read very much all the way to the end.

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When the writers of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were doing their research, they must have used this book as one of their sources.

"Port Royal was special. It had no police, no restraints of any kind, and the soldiers stationed in the fort seemed as undisciplined as the pirates who roared ashore to take over the place, night after night. They were of all breeds and certainly all colors, and all with nefarious occupations. In some hectic months Port Royal averaged a dozen killings a night, and prominent on the waterfront was a rude gallows from whose yardarm, “dancing in Port Royal sunshine,” was the corpse of some pirate who had attacked the wrong ship at the wrong time."

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"I learned that one of the glorious experiences of travel is to be in a small boat just before dawn as you approach a tropic island. Darkness everywhere but a sense that something lies ahead. Then a distant glimmer of light, a kind of throbbing in the air, and because it is in the tropics, where the sun rises and sets with a rush, not a lingering tease, here comes the great orb, all of a sudden. Light everywhere! And then, far ahead the outline of an island in the midst of a great ocean. More light, more island, and as your boat sweeps in you see the palm trees and the hills and the reassurances that people live there. Don’t miss a thrill that may come only once in your lifetime.”

~ The same goes for a large ship,... but add the daily all-you-can-eat buffett! (If you're into that sort of thing)

The Road Is Full Of Surprises 

The road is full of surprises. 

What was once a nice peacefully whimsical night time city view of downtown Wilmington, NC from the 5th floor, which I really was enjoying, turned into the majestic Jurassic Period outside my window the next morning. Started after 7am, mainly with a reverberating, earth-trembling, mega-thud. From my horizontal position on dreamy king-size sheets, I felt the Hilton, the whole building, actually bounce a second or two.

Bulldozers resembling the skeletons of menacing T-rex's commenced to munching on demolition-size, concrete parking structure tidbits. Was probably going to go on the whole day, too. No use trying to sleep. No, that's okay, I only got to bed by 2am. 

1.... hour... later.... [Say with fake French accent ala Sponge Bob Square Pants]

Okay, they delightfully change my room to across the hall. And how fitting since it was now gazing upon the Cape Fear River on Halloween day!!

Moral of the story, I guess: Do not be afraid of change or...clean your room when you have company (readers) over.

An "Evening" At Notre Dame - Paris 

On the last day of our trip to Paris, as I had just exited a gift shop (somewhere around where this crooked window photo on the left was taken) ......I get a message from our Airbnb host,

 "Hi Steve, I heard about the terrorist attack in front of Notre Dame. I hope you are fine. Any way I heard that only the terrorist was injured. Just try to avoid Notre Dame area because around that area I heard that everything is blocked..."

I can't say I was surprise. Alarmed, but not surprised. A lone, hammer-wielding man attacks police and is very quickly brought down. 

Okay, so when returning to our rented place, we'll go around the area.

Then we realized, "What about the concert we had tickets for that same evening being held inside the gargoyle protected cathedral?"

On our way back to our "home" area across Point de Sully and over the tiny island of île Saint-Louis, back to the Latin Quarter, we passed police directed traffic jams. (Below)

Somber, overcast sky hangs over Notre Dame just hours after the incident. (Below)

Stopping at our favorite, La Methode Restaurant, we pondered our next adventure. Will the concert go on? Would the performers bow out? Our waitress, as well as an employee who just arrived, said they'd probably have the square in front of Notre Dame closed. I called Shakespeare & Company book store near the river Seine (a prior visit told me they spoke English) to have them tell me it looks like the area is open. 

We decided to see for ourselves. 

We were rewarded with an amazing experience. Under heavy security, the likes of which I have never seen before in person, all patrons were ushered into a side door. The concert, Ordo Virtutum by Hildegarde Von Bingen, would go on! (see below) (I filmed a short video excerpt of concert at very bottom of this post)
[Ordo Virtutum is about the struggle for a human soul, or Anima, between the Virtues and the Devil...] *Wikipedia . 

With the cathedral's outside perimeter bathed in a halo of armed police, the vocalists on the altar, and vocalists entering from behind, it was as though angels were all around us! 

Still trying to put this night into words, but I'll just say that I felt part of a world of peace-loving citizens who aren't about to let the evil in the world win out, because in the end, it doesn't! 

Heading back to dessert (and a beer for me), we passed a welcomed line of vehicles manned by the men and women who deal with this on the front lines every day. (see below)

We were safe and I was so deeply moved by this, our last evening in the City of Light.

ThrowBackThursday - Adventures in NYC 2009 

ThrowBackThursday Post- Looking back on a blog post of recent yesteryear (and bringing it over from the old website for further reference). 
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A fast-paced slide show of my visit to NYC in the Summer of 2009. I've already been again (2010) so guess I'm a little behind! This may be boring to you. unless you're a family member, but I'll post it anyway for posterity! If you like Wicked, Sinatra, Disney, you'll like the music!

As is my habit all photos were taken with my simple phone camera. I shot numerous angles of some of the same shots and ended up putting them all in, to make it even more boring for you!  Some are blurry, dark, and even backwards, but there ya have it.

I really, really "heart" NYC!

ThrowBackThursday - On being inches away from Picasso and others 

A quick photo before melting in the 102 degree NYC heat

ThrowBackThursday Post- Looking back on a blog post of recent yesteryear (and bringing it over from the old website for further reference).
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Reflecting on my recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, it reminded me of a game I used to play with the kids that used as playing pieces little cardboard squares with tiny prints of world famous paintings.  They were merely just that - nice, little cardboard replicas.
 


Well, it was a different story being just inches away from such works of art. Suddenly, this was the real thing, close enough to touch (though I dare not!!) .  It gave me the chills.   I Never thought I would enjoy it so much!
 
"Good artists borrow, great artists steal" ~ Picasso
The majority of the time I spent in the special Picasso exhibit and paid for the audio headphone tour (which I highly recommend-I got tired of reading, especially because it was really crowded and hence distracting) (Did you just see that?  The beginnings of art-snobbish-ness).  When it came closing time, there was sooo much I DIDN'T see!
 
I'm definitely going back and when I get home I'm going to have to pay a visit to some of those museums in LA.
 
Do you enjoy art musems?  Can't stand'em?  Share your thoughts below.

The Humor of Travel (ie: Keep a Sense of...) 

We must always keep a sense (or at least make a valiant attempt) of humor on the road.

Here we have Exhibit A:

This is not a Middle East war zone reconstruction! It was our evening accommodations.
   
Exhibit B: Hotel construction bribery

Water, candy, chocolate seem to peer out of the bag as if to plead, 'Please stay' 

Like these are going to be effective! Oh, ha ha!

  Well, there ya go kids! Until next time!