Friday Funny Sign — Maybe I Won’t Get a Tummy Tuck

Posted on November 23, 2012 by sglaser

Adelaide, South Australia. While purple and pink are supposed to be soothing colors, this surgery building is anything but reassuring. Of course, it’s abandoned, but nevertheless, the sight inspires your imagination to go “Frankenstein” with an image of rusty saws, twisted mallets and various bolts on an operating table.

Gimme Shelter — While I Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Posted on November 21, 2012 by sglaser

Adelaide, South Australia. The Austral Hotel on Rundle Street always caught my eye whenever I was downtown. Built in the early 1800’s, it is apparently an iconic building in Adelaide, so I’m not the only one whose attention it grabbed. Now it is a popular place to eat, drink and host events.

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“Yes Worries!” — An Encounter with a No-Nonsense Flight Attendant

Posted on November 21, 2012 by sglaser

I actually met the one Down Under resident who doesn’t adhere to “no worries.” She was a flight attendant (I’ll call her Hortense) on our Air New Zealand flight from San Francisco to Auckland in January, 2010.

Instead, her slogan, I believe, was “Yes Worries!” and she adopted this long ago because she secretly and firmly believes all the people around her are inept imbeciles. On the flight, I especially thought she despised her co-workers. They, along with most passengers, were her recurring nightmares.

The other flight attendants could not have been more helpful, accommodating and funny. One of the head flight attendants was a tall, blonde woman who wore bright red lipstick and always smiled — no matter what your question was. “I’m sorry,” She beamed. “We can’t have you up in the aisle just yet. We’re still in the midst of our ascent and not at the proper altitude for walking around.” Huge permasmile.

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The Travel Ahh….Boats

Posted on November 18, 2012 by sglaser

There’s something about a boat (like the one above in Sanur, Bali.) Partly, I think it’s about water, imagining the waves sloshing and spraying against the sides, but, to me, it’s comforting to see boats — fishing boats especially. When traveling, I always try to get shots with boats displaying flags.

Again, scenes like this are part of a culture’s daily life that, really, would it be all that exciting if I saw this at home? Actually, I am just that snap happy, because, not even thinking about it, I took photos this summer of boats in my home state of Minnesota.

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The Friday Funny Sign — Let’s go to the Beach — or maybe NOT!

Posted on November 16, 2012 by sglaser

Midcoast, Oregon. If the chilly water along the Oregon coast doesn’t scare you, the signs at the entrances of many of the beaches may. Not only is it great white shark territory, but large logs launch through the waves as well.

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Gimme Shelter — How about a Castle in Visegrád, Hungary?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by sglaser

Visegrád, Hungary, 2006. For a wedding setting, it’s hard to beat a medieval castle and citadel built in the 13th century on a high hill above the Danube River. My friend Rob and his Hungarian fiance, Kate, got married here. Most of the wedding took place at the citadel. The crumbling walls added an ancient feeling to the ceremony. At one point, Visegrád was the royal seat of Hungary, and the castle was King Matthias Corvinus’s summer abode in the earlier 1300’s.

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Living Large with No Money in Mykonos

Posted on November 14, 2012 by sglaser

1995 © Stephanie Glaser

Upon arrival, it’s easy to believe you have money in Mykonos in 1995 — especially when you’ve just found a gorgeous whitewashed pension with cobalt blue trim for $13 a night. It’s got a view of the Aegean Sea, a pool and a toilet. Goats even roam the hills in the background for a quaint, rustic feel.

Where is Robin Leach? “I’m ready to be interviewed about my champagne and caviar lifestyle!” In reality, for my friend Indira and me, it was more of an airline size bottle of Ouzo and a street side gyro lifestyle.

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The Travel Ahh…A Lasting Impression

Posted on November 12, 2012 by sglaser

When traveling with kids, you hope they will appreciate culture as much as you do. You also, when they are young, hope they will remember what they have experienced. In 2010, the beautiful dances of Bali, in particular, Legong Dancing, definitely made an impression on my daughter Kasey.

We went to a show in Ubud that was spectacular. Then, little did we know, we would see more Legong dancing in several restaurants (geared for tourists). The striking music always caught our attention — especially Kasey’s. She would look around and wait for the princesses to come out.

For her, these beautiful princesses, who were unlike the Disney princesses that she loves, captivated her even more. The music that complements the dancing so well also stuck with her.

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Friday Funny Sign — You gotta stop for “The World’s Largest Hand Dug Well”

Posted on November 9, 2012 by sglaser

Greensburg, Kansas. The marketing department of “Big Well” has done their job (do I dare say they’ve done it “well?”) Signs indicating and promoting “The World’s Largest Hand Dug Well” line US Route 54 in Kansas. Of course, there is not much to compete with along that stretch of highway.

In 1993, my dad, Ed, and I were roadtripping to California from Minnesota and kept seeing these signs. Finally, we had to stop. Why not? It’s the World’s Largest Hand Dug Well!! (Actually, there are wells in Egypt and Italy that really vie for that title.) Dug in the 1880’s, “Big Well” is 109 feet deep, and in 2008, was named one of the “Eight Wonders of Kansas” (www.bigwell.org). And, also at the SAME site, you can see a meteorite on display.

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The Travel Oops Interview: Playing baseball “The Midway Globtrotters” style in Spain

Posted on November 9, 2012 by sglaser

photo courtesy of Ray Glaser

The average civilian might think that while being stationed in the Navy on the Midway, the largest air craft carrier in the US fleet during the 1950’s, playing sports would be next to impossible. Not so for Ray Glaser, my father-in-law, who is an athlete at heart. In fact, sports were an integral part of his military career and contributed to some of his fondest memories.

Ray played baseball on a soccer field in Spain, ran the 220 meter dash in Athens’s Olympic stadium, and learned to ski in Switzerland.

A Quarter Master who plotted visual communication and navigation, Ray served four tours in the Mediterranean on the Midway aircraft carrier from 1949-1953. During that time, he played for the Midway basketball, baseball and track teams.

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