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| Tampere, Finland |
I’ve literally had nightmares about my luggage being lost. Yesterday I lived one of these awful dreams. It’s amazingly frustrating to stand there at a carousel watching suitcase after suitcase go by and not see your own. I’d have torn my hair out but why add physical pain to my physiological misery? We were’t alone. A couple of dozen others from our flight were in the same boat. Turns out our bags took a later flight and will be delivered to us today. They better be (shakes fist).
But it’s good to be back home. I would have loved another few weeks of travel but I always feel better about life right after a vacation out of the country. Good for the soul, the intellect and one’s perspective on life.
It’s estimated that as many as forty percent of U.S. citizens have never traveled internationally. Statistically it is more likely that people who have not and won’t travel abroad are politically conservative. I recall Sarah Palin actually bragging about having never left the United States. Other factors like income and education level help determine the way people travel — or don’t. But I do feel confident in saying that many conservatives here don’t even consider vacations abroad. Disneyworld, Yellowstone Park and Miami Beach are good enough for them. Conservatives don’t like to challenge their narrow and limited world view. That's the bigots life.
I’ve talked to a few of my fellow ESL teachers about this and all of us have been to more foreign countries than U.S. states.
Anyway on this trip we were in four different countries (counting a day trip into Estonia) and there are so many other places I want to see such as Austria, Portugal, Chile, Vietnam and Japan. If someone will cut me a sizable check I’ll take in those countries and more and in return record my impressions on this blog. Deal?
A few random thoughts from our journey:
*Where the hell are the homeless people? I saw one in Helsinki and one sleeping on the floor of a Metro train in Copenhagen. Maybe these countries take care of their less fortunate. What a concept.
*Everywhere I’ve been in Europe you get good bread and delicious pastries. Here in the states, not so much.
*People are forever eating those pastries in Europe but they’re not getting fat. Where the hell are all the obese people? You hardly see any.
*Non-alcohlic beer is sold in every bar and restaurant I’ve been to in Europe. But decaff coffee is hard to find. Europeans like to be heavily caffeinated.
*Most places you go in the world people are friendly and polite (course it helps if you’re white). Folks couldn’t have been more charming and helpful. They don’t seem to mind tourists at all.
*Finland used to be about the whitest country in the world. Now there are plenty of people of color. I’m proud of my people for becoming increasingly accepting of immigrants.
* Technically I drank alcohol on the trip. At the Copenhagen pub the person who bought one of the rounds didn't realize they were supposed to get me an N/A beer. I took two sips and was suspicious before the buyer's father quizzed him and the mistake was discovered. I don't think I have to start from day zero.
*Only one of the many taxi and uber drivers we had was not an immigrant from a middle eastern country.
* The showers in Europe suck. Weird, small, no water pressure, often not enough hot water. C'mon, do better.
*Big cities without much litter are truly sights to behold.
*Grand trip. Football match. Ferry rides. Nature. Museums. Historic buildings. Kind and charming people. Good food. Good drink. Best of all I was with the perfect travel partner, my darling, wonderful wife.
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