This is a local story…and a warning. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with packed buses leaving from downtown after a work day…well, if you find yourself in a bus full of workers heading home don’t make eye contact with the driver. With a loud booming voice, “let the senior citizen have a seat” I hear from the driver’s region. I look around…who?…what senior citizen? As I’m craning my neck and preparing to judge the young whipper snappers not offering up their seat to this august individual, I make eye contact with the driver in the rear view mirror. His eyes are directly in my line of sight. Huh? What? Are you looking at me? “Don’t you want to sit down?” I respond that I’m not a senior citizen. NOT! He repeats. “Don’t you want to sit down? It’s a long way before we stop”. I demur. And mutter under my breath that I’ll never take this bus again… OK, maybe I’m overreacting and maybe I should have swallowed my pride but damn, I don’t look that old! Do I? (Maybe “whipper snappers” gave me away). Anyway, beware those local packed buses…you too could be a victim!
micetrail
Travel adventures & observations – local and global
recent posts
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- Oman and thoughts of UAE
- Spring in Sri Lanka (or rather sweating) – 2025
- A journey to Western Australia and the Outback – 2024
- Christmas Markets with my Sis – 2023
- No traveling recently so…here’s some musings on massages around the world
- Algerian & Tunisian Highlights
- Adventure in Algeria & Tunisia – 2022
- An interesting time to be in the Baltics
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Today is a great day to be outside in San Francisco. I happened by the golf course up here at the Legion of Honor. Visiting the Pissarro exhibit and learning about his family, his background as an anarchist and his being the quintessential Impressionist. It’s a very pleasant way to spend the holiday here in SF. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent a week touring my home town. Hope you all are having as good a vacation as I am.
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Cirque de Soleil has effectively replaced the circus…probably a relief for all the animal lovers out there. They’ve been able to attract the thrill seekers and the dreamers in the past but it seems they might be slipping a little with this last installment – Totem. Although it’s still a fantastic show, it’s lost a little of its mysticism and story-telling. This current roadshow is supposed to be about evolution but, except for some pretty funny sight gags, seems to have lost its way in developing the theme. Yes, there are gollum-like creatures, apes (human) and beach bums…but where’s the evolving? Not in the story-telling which is schizophrenic…American Indians, space creatures, juggler in a jar, briefcase-toting businessmen, speedboats, rowboats…back and forth and relationship-restricted. I just didn’t get it!
I always liked the atmosphere that Cirque created and I feel they’ve lost their way a bit in this last installment.
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I just got a postcard from Egypt and have my own ideas about what it says. Maybe you can suggest some other interpretation than the one below:
“two misshapen people have a conversation and then one of them jumps into a kayak and releases a three leaf clover into the sky, which then makes one of the people sick and he throws up. Then he decides to get water from the Nile and have a cup of tea…which then causes him to throw up over a toilet. Then back to the kayak, where one of them is approached by three crocodiles (the original species…not the ones from sub-saharan Africa). Then one of the people take an empty bowl and makes rabbit stew and also adds a handle to the bowl. Since Christmas is coming soon, an un-striped candy cane is thrown into the Nile and is eaten by a piranha. Now back on land, the people decide to rest in their tent and have a cup of tea. One of them lays down, which causes the other one to get excited and uh..uh..uhmmm – let’s talk about the upcoming holiday and candy canes.”
Makes sense, yes?
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You lookin’ at me?
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I’m back from Madagascar recently and suggest that unless it’s #100 or above on your bucket list, then give it a pass. One of the most primitive places I’ve been. Not for the luxury traveler or for the whining traveler but, if you want something in the “outahere” category, this is it. Fabulous lemurs leaping, sleeping, eating and pooping down your back. Lemurs in “torpor”, babies hanging on for dear life on their mothers, big-eyed lemurs, 4 foot tall lemurs, teacup mouse lemurs…all pretty wondrous. Don’t pass up the baobabs on the Mozambique channel nor the fabulous tsingy…amazing spires and mazes of needle-sharp rock formed over eons of the sea rolling in and out. Accommodations range from 2 mattresses in a tent to thatch-covered bungalos to high-ceiling’ed well-appointed rooms with 2 baths. Roads are atrocious and dusty. Be prepared for discomfort and long drives over deep rutts. And don’t fret the schedule – after all it is Madagascar.
micetrail 