WARSAW

Warsaw is the first stop on this whirlwind European Itinerary.  Upon arrival we were treated to some excitement as the Bristol Hotel where we are staying is next to the seat of government.  An important meeting between the Qatar head of state and the leader of Poland was just about to take place.  All the dignitaries had their entourages with them and they were leaving the hotel to sounds of police sirens, photographers' flashes and honking horns of all of the vehicles.

Surely this hotel has housed many dignitaries and their visits are commemorated with brass wall ornaments.

We will have a chance to explore the city more but the glimpse of Old Town we had today highlights a labyrinth of winding cobblestone streets, ornate tenement facades and picturesque plazas.

Everything is very colorful and there are many people strolling and amateur musicians playing.  It all contributes to a very festive atmosphere. It is hard to believe that at the end of 1944, 85% of Warsaw's structures had been razed to the ground. Everything has been rebuilt using pre-war sketches, paintings and photographs of Old Town.  The process took until 1962.

European Exploration

                                                                             

I always love Exotic travel  and destinations that are not the "everyday" but sometimes it is very important to see the legacy that is Europe.  Over the next two weeks I will be exploring many of the most important cities in Europe.  These will include Warsaw, Krakow, Budapest , Prague and Vienna.  These cities will provide historical information, cultural experiences and a chance to enjoy great musical venues.  I am looking forward to all that I can see and learn as well as being able to share in this blog.  

A NEW ADVENTURE  CUBA

Tomorrow I join Tauck Tours for an amazing opportunity to see Cuba before it changes.  I am hoping that the internet has progressed to allow me to share this adventure with everyone.  Stay tuned and I will share this great adventure!  

I am looking forward to iconic sights and wonderful food and excellent 

arts and crafts.  This is a once in a lifetime experience for those of us who have had Cuba as legend and history as we grew up.  And also for those

who will experience this culture as a part of the everyday world and will never now that it was such a mystery and threat to all!

I am excited!

THE LAST POST FROM SRI LANKA

Unfortunately the rains came and for the last 4 days it has only rained.  This is an unusual weather pattern as it is not yet Monsoon season.We have been lucky that we were still able to see all of the sights and and the only thing that was disrupted was our seaplane flight from tea country to the coast.  Instead we drove for 6 hours.  It gave us a chance to see the rural nature of most of the island and how the people live.

Now we are in beautiful Cape Weligama right on the sea.

What's amazing is that if you drive for about 20 minutes you are back in  low tea country
which looks like a jungle with the tea plants and the coconut trees as well as cinnamon plants.

After seeing the country side we then had the opportunity to tour Galle Fort and learn about how the country started and the many countries who have influenced the development of Sri Lanka.  Here is a glimpse of the Fort.  But also it is interesting to see the old
buildings which were influenced by the Dutch and Portuguese.


                                                






And the best was saved for last when we were able to visit a turtle conservancy.  We saw where the eggs were laid, then hatched and after three days were were able to help the little ones go back to the sea!    

A CULTURAL FAREWELL AND A WELCOME TO TEA COUNTRY

The last night in Kandy we were able to see an incredible performance of typical Kandyan dancers.

 

Their costumes were bright Sri Lankan colors and they had great juggling, gymnastics and fun as well as fire eating and walking.  It was quite a spectacle!

Then on to the serene hills of tea country. We had the fun of taking the train from Kandy to Hadden which provides a spectacular look at the country side.  Here is the train.

 It is beautiful and so wonderful to see the tea fields that stretch for miles as well as the locals picking tea and then bringing their bags to be weighed.

It is a hard life as the pickers must climb up and down the
hills filling their bags.  They have to be incredibly
careful that they take only the tops and the buds of the
leaves making sure that enough is left so that the plants will
be able to put out new leaves as soon as possible.

The tea process is also labor intensive as we saw when
visiting one of the many tea factories.  There are no mammoth
machines but rather old fashioned machines that first wither the leaves or dry them out. Then they are pliable.  This allows the leaves to be rolled to break up the cells of the leaves before they can be fermented, fired, sifted and graded.

 Here is an example of how precisely the work must be conducted
as the factory worker carefully spreads the tea for fermentation
which takes about 2 hours before it is removed to the next step.

The food in Sri Lanka is flavorful and healthy.  We are staying at Tea Trails which is a hotel made up of converter bungalows that originally belonged to overseers of the plantations.  Each one is different with no more than 6 rooms and beautiful gardens which have the stamp of the colonial planters.

How much fun--the first night we got to help prepare the dinner!

 
This gives an idea of the number of ingredients
in any one dish and the beauty of the
finished product.

THE SPICES OF SRI LANKA

Certainly the food and spices of Sri Lanka are some of the outstanding traits od the country.  We were able to visit a spice garden where they all grow.  There is nothing like
the fresh taste of spices from the garden.  Vanilla here has an incredible

true taste as we learn that it is so pure here when what we
are used to is synthetic.   The man to the left is demonstrating
how cinnamon is made by scraping the plant and then putting the inner pieces together to dry.  Then they will resemble what we know as cinnamon.




Later we were able to visit a local batik factory and see how these
lovely fabrics are made by hand.  This is one of the typical handicrafts of Sri Lanka.

To conclude our time in the beautiful hillside town of Kandy we also visited the hill caves and above you see the statue of the last king of Kandy.  Finally we went to the holy Temple of the Tooth where Buddha's tooth can be found.  This is a sight revered and visited by all.

The Adventure Continues

There are still so many more archaeological wonders to discover.  First we visited the Unesco World heritage site of Plolonnaruwa.  This was the capital of the country between the 10th and 12th centuries AD.  Many have said that it resembles Angor Wat and the question is how they are connected as that hasn't been determined.

And what I love is that the morning can be
filled with historical sites and temples
and in the afternoon we can go on an elephant safari.  We saw
34 elephants!!

We also learned about the production of rice.
We visited a rice mill to learn how paddy is processed,
cleaned, packed and transported to different parts of the
country.  This one rice mill processes 10 tons an hour
and operates 24 hours daily.  This is still not enough rice
for the country!




Everything has been great but the true highlight was being
able to wash an elephant and seeing a local fisherman taking pride in his catch.