Priceless Products and Packaging

Posted on May 5, 2013 by sglaser

Priceless Products and Packaging is a new feature on Travel Oops that celebrates interesting products and packaging from around the world. Wandering up and down the aisles of grocery stores or markets is always enlightening when you’re visiting another country. The text included on the packaging and in marketing campaigns often reflects characteristics and values of a nation. Translations are the best because, understandably, sometimes the meaning is inadvertently lost or tweaked slightly.

Continue reading →

The Travel Ahh…Sometimes the Everyday is Extraordinary

Posted on January 21, 2013 by sglaser

Clichés are, by nature, tired and worn out. But the ordinary to some people may be the extraordinary to others. We have lasting images of clothing, food, drinks, professions, activities and buildings that are associated with certain countries. Some people would call these clichés. But seeing these images can be quite exciting. Recently, a friend from Australia was visiting us in Colorado and spotted deer in our back yard. We think nothing of it, and if anything, get annoyed since they eat our juniper trees. However, to our friend, it was amazing, and he couldn’t believe they were so close. Plus, this was a brand new animal for him to see.

In Greece, I wanted to see whitewashed windmills against a brilliant blue sky or sea (photo above). Speaking of windmills, how can you visit Holland and not want to see them along with tulip fields? So again, the common, mundane and everyday can be extraordinary to a visitor. Finally, no one can say that Flamenco dancing, Legong dancing and Cliff diving are mundane!

Naxos, Greece: Thinking of how pretty the contrast of the white is on the barren brown landscape.

Kinderdijk, the Netherlands: Getting to see a lineup of windmills.

The Netherlands: Being excited to see tulip fields in full bloom.

Bali, Indonesia. Admiring the beauty of the rice fields and dedication of the workers.

Continue reading →

Travel Oops: The Queen’s Birthday — A Royal Rager?

Posted on January 16, 2013 by sglaser

The Orange crush streaming out of Centraal Station and on to the streets of Amsterdam indicated that the Dutch — especially young people — must love their Queen Bea.

Throngs of Dutch citizens waved flags and sported the Netherlands’s national color, orange — lots of orange. Revelers even dyed their hair in flaming shades of tangerine, tangelo and clementine.

To be honest, it looked like my roommates and I had stepped into a Florida citrus convention.

It was Koninginnedag — Queen’s Day, which recognizes the Queen’s birthday and is celebrated every April 30. As an American, I could barely say it let alone did I know exactly what Koninginnedag would be like.

But, like her loyal subjects, I figured I could drink tea with my pinky up in the air, eat crustless cucumber sandwiches and wave to Queen Beatrix as she rode by in a horse-drawn carriage.

Leah, Amy and I, who were on a college study abroad program based 30 minutes away in Leiden, wanted to check out the whole monarchy thing.

However, as we walked out on to the Amsterdam streets, we got sucked into the detour to debauchery. People spilled out of the packed bars, slammed beers on the streets and sat on rooftops. It was clear that we needed to start drinking alcohol right away. It was 9:30 a.m.

Continue reading →

The Travel Ahh…Alleyways and Side Streets

Posted on January 13, 2013 by sglaser

Side streets and alleyways often exude mystery. What’s around the corner or what will I find? Danger? Intrigue? Side streets and alleys often have a negative, managing connotation and are associated with dodgy activities. Perhaps, that’s the appeal. The photo collection of alleyways and side streets here is not particularly threatening — especially since the photos were taken in the daytime. However, each alleyway and street offered something interesting.

The shot above and the following two pictures I took in Melbourne, Australia. I was lucky to be traveling with Amy, a dear friend of mine who is an excellent photographer, and she inspired me to appreciate beauty in even the smallest detail.

I really like this shot above because you can see Federation Square — perhaps the opposite of an alleyway — A cheery meeting place with heaps of activity.

Continue reading →

Travel Oops: Halted by “The Hoff” at Les Halles in Paris

Posted on January 8, 2013 by sglaser

From: lille5kutt on YouTube

What is it with Europe fawning over David Hasselhoff? He was HUGE there in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Seriously. The guy actually sang as the headliner at the Berlin Wall on New Year’s Eve in 1989. Perhaps Germany brought “The Hoff” in to provide some comic relief after all the turmoil, tragedy and strife the wall had brought since 1961.

But no. The Germans were serious. Stationed on a crane overlooking the wall, Hasselhoff performed the song, “Looking for Freedom,” which had dominated the pop charts in Germany earlier that year. The Hoff wore a piano keyboard scarf and a jacket blinking with lights. Yep. He did. The Light Bright jacket actually took attention away from the sledgehammered, chipped, chiseled up and nearly demolished wall.

From: lille5kutt on YouTube

Frankly, this news event should not have been that surprising to me since the Hasselhoff had captivated Paris two years before in July 1987, and I was a witness to the phenomenon. If an American can create a French Frenzy well, then what’s to stop him from playing in a prelude to the unification of Germany. It’s almost like Hell freezing over, right?

______________________________

Two years earlier…

I celebrate with Deb as we land on French soil.

After saving money for a year, my friend Debbie and I traveled through Europe on our own. France was definitely a big part of the itinerary. We couldn’t wait to experience Paris, The City of Lights.

Debbie was fluent in French and while I didn’t know the language, I would ask her to tell me how to say various phrases, and I would blunder my way through them. Trying to blend in, despite the language barrier, I wanted to be French while I was in Paris that summer.

Continue reading →

Travel Oops: “Someone smashed a window, Miss! And he’s right there!”

Posted on December 26, 2012 by sglaser

After local troublemakers invaded Le Fevre and punched the principal as he tried to get them out of the school, the entire staff was on high alert. First, the assailants had broken a window and then charged into the main building to “bash” a year 12 who had slept with one of their girlfriends. They brought knives and knuckledusters (brass knuckles).

Having a school lockdown situation was nothing new to me since I came from the US. I was now in Australia as an exchange teacher. Word on the street with my year 11’s was that the derelicts weren’t finished. Another massive bashing was on the way.

Two weeks earlier, at nearby Henley High School, students had given their uniforms to some hooligans from another school. Consequently, the intruders, who had major grudges, stalked the Henley halls unnoticed. They kicked the crap out of a student, who again, had slept with the wrong girl and then unwisely publicized it on Facebook.

Continue reading →

Travel Ahh…Children

Posted on December 17, 2012 by sglaser

Because of the recent unthinkable tragedy in the United States, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about my own kids and children in general. I want this Travel Ahh…to be a celebration of children and their innocence. The photo above is of a child in East Berlin, East Germany feeding pigeons in a mall area. I love how kids can be captivated by a bird adults think of as a dirty pest.

Exouth, Western Australia. Putting your hands in mud or dirt is a universal joy. This is my daughter, Kasey, who was fascinated with the red dirt.

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. These shy girls were coming home from school and they kindly agreed to have their photo taken.

Continue reading →

Travel Oops — “Do You Have a Gun, Miss?”

Posted on December 11, 2012 by sglaser

A “temporary” building with two classrooms, P301, on the inside, was a faded green mint color — like saltwater taffy gone stale, having been left in a carnival candy sack too long.

But I had windows, a big white board, carpet and neat tables and chairs lined up perfectly. On high, the air conditioning unit blasted air that could cut any perennial’s life short. Was this real? I didn’t have any of these items in my US classroom.

In the little climate controlled temporary, I felt a certain calm even on the first day as a new exchange teacher. Of course this was mixed with a free-flowing anxiety. I didn’t know a thing about Australian students or Year 8s, for that matter, but really, how hard could it be? Plus, if I totally bombed, I could definitely milk my accent for the first week of school, at least.

Right?

Continue reading →

The Travel Ahh…Roads and Streets

Posted on December 10, 2012 by sglaser

Roads and streets are definitely symbolic when it comes to travel. Just listen to Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild” or read Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Of course, when you are stuck in traffic during a commute, the road is the last place where you want to be. But, when you’re traveling, roads and streets always lead somewhere new or unexpected. Sometimes it’s not always the destination, but what you see on the way that is so striking. (The photo above was taken along a remote road on Kangaroo Island, Australia.

Continue reading →

Gimme Shelter — In a Balinese Elephant Cave

Posted on December 5, 2012 by sglaser

Goa Gajah or the “Elephant Cave” is a beautiful ancient Hindu complex near Ubud, Bali (what isn’t beautiful in Bali?) The entrance is a bit intimidating since it looks like a dragon’s mouth. A place to worship, the Inside of the cave is rather small and at one corner stands a small statue of the Hindu deity, Ganesha, who has an elephant head. Photography is not permitted, and visitors and worshippers, alike, must cover their legs (except children and this was good since it was so hot and humid, the cave was somewhat stifling!)

A bathing temple with fountains is also part of the lovely grounds. Another open air building stands nearby in the peaceful and serene setting. It is believed the spiritual complex was built around the 11th century as a sanctuary for Hindu priests.