tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17948974798305068782024-03-13T13:56:12.611+11:00Come fly with meCOME FLY WITH ME - to Moscow, Berlin, Rio, Cuba, New York, Sydney and much more. Or, if you prefer, travel overland on the Savannahlander train into Australia's deepest Queensland. Check out my review of moon appearances around the world. Tombstones also score a gig.
And if you feel like a change of subject, I cover the small stuff, such as frogs and dictionaries, in my other blog: kitten-on-the-keys.blogspot.com.au.wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-70016467697952077972014-07-01T16:38:00.000+10:002014-07-18T17:13:10.828+10:00Alaska's Dalton Highway: Deadhorse-Fairbanks, a 15-hour marathon drive <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aX4YQHGExXA/U7JF58_7aaI/AAAAAAAACRA/hCFUrTIZ-Qc/s1600/Events+-+1881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aX4YQHGExXA/U7JF58_7aaI/AAAAAAAACRA/hCFUrTIZ-Qc/s1600/Events+-+1881.jpg" height="400" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Dalton Highway: Prudhoe Bay-Fairbanks</td></tr>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Sunday June 1, 2014</span></b>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Due to Arctic ice winds, our
scheduled flight from Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Fairbanks is
cancelled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">So we must return the same way we came – by road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We had arrived yesterday, after driving 800km over two days, on a tour in a 10-person van from Fairbanks, with an overnight stay at Coldfoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">We had driven through central Alaska and over its handsome mountain range to the frozen shores of the Arctic Ocean and the only town in these parts: Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay. </span></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CKl6QP2A3wE/U7OeRbxatGI/AAAAAAAACYE/yfxC3Dbf-hg/s1600/ice+sheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CKl6QP2A3wE/U7OeRbxatGI/AAAAAAAACYE/yfxC3Dbf-hg/s1600/ice+sheet.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somewhere in central Alaska</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">However, we are due to return from Deadhorse to Fairbanks by plane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The short flight is the final leg of this three-day tour, but, after our overnight stay at Deadhorse, the weather closes in...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2EPV59U24Oo/U7JQIMn41uI/AAAAAAAACRk/IpX9ksEu8AM/s1600/weather+closing+in.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2EPV59U24Oo/U7JQIMn41uI/AAAAAAAACRk/IpX9ksEu8AM/s1600/weather+closing+in.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The weather closing in at Deadhorse</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">So we take up Michael’s offer - he was our driver/guide from Fairbanks - to drive us back to Fairbanks in a
marathon 13/15-hour overnight run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Thing is: he has to return the van to Fairbanks anyway, so we agree to keep
him company - just as we had on the way to Deadhorse - but this time, there would be no overnight stay in Coldfoot. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The plan is to drive through the night (or what constitutes night in an Alaskan summer, as the sun hangs around for 24 hours, and darkness is not an option) along the only road: the notorious Dalton Highway. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">You can come too on this marathon drive. Just pack a few woollies...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">But before we set off, there are a few things you need to know about the
Dalton Highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">1) It is no ordinary highway: </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">it is considered to be one of the most dangerous highways in the world, </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "AnonymousPro","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">and was featured in a 2011 British TV series ‘World’s Most Dangerous
Roads’</span>. And with no
population along the way, it is probably the loneliest: it has no cell phone
coverage, no cafes, and despite the fact that it follows a pipeline
transporting over 700,000 barrels of oil per day, there are only three gas
stations along its 667km.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> <div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">2) It is a rough industrial road, largely unpaved, that starts 134km from
Fairbanks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It is a haulage route for semi-trailers bringing supplies to Prudhoe Bay. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">3) It is twinned with the Trans-Alaska
pipeline that conveys oil from the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Together, they traverse the
Arctic tundra, cross the Brooks Range Mountains, the Yukon River and the Arctic
Circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We gather up food supplies, pillows and blankets and hit the road.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Time of departure: 3.20pm. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Goodbye Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. The next gas station/cafe is Coldfoot and, all being well - seven hours away.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-khtCppNRTTA/U7NJ8eUW4BI/AAAAAAAACSY/3DF8gYpXj_I/s1600/prudhoe+bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-khtCppNRTTA/U7NJ8eUW4BI/AAAAAAAACSY/3DF8gYpXj_I/s1600/prudhoe+bay.jpg" height="180" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Deadhorse</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-56-HoqEyIEk/U7JKZuaOzKI/AAAAAAAACRM/RnWnQXzf6y0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-01+at+3.40.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-56-HoqEyIEk/U7JKZuaOzKI/AAAAAAAACRM/RnWnQXzf6y0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-07-01+at+3.40.40+PM.png" height="235" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse from the air. Includes snow, frozen lake and a section of the Trans-Alaska pipeline.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zt-DU-BeOyE/U7JM3w20OPI/AAAAAAAACRY/RQnuf5yJoe4/s1600/deadhorse+forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zt-DU-BeOyE/U7JM3w20OPI/AAAAAAAACRY/RQnuf5yJoe4/s1600/deadhorse+forest.jpg" height="251" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Deadhorse national forest</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">From here on, me and my ipod track our progress, hour by hour.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQ4u8zES2jQ/U7NOQck44OI/AAAAAAAACSw/9VZtv1Wl6N8/s1600/Dalton:deadwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oQ4u8zES2jQ/U7NOQck44OI/AAAAAAAACSw/9VZtv1Wl6N8/s1600/Dalton:deadwood.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dalton Highway landscape, near Deadhorse: Arctic summer setting. </span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hour one:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> As we depart Deadhorse, the highway sets the scene - it is
a jaw shattering corrugation – but we have a clear view of the lovely patchwork across the Franklin Bluffs over the river. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OvoOc1p0wdo/U7JSp6-Ea5I/AAAAAAAACRw/LHH-hyryoK8/s1600/Franklin+cliffs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OvoOc1p0wdo/U7JSp6-Ea5I/AAAAAAAACRw/LHH-hyryoK8/s1600/Franklin+cliffs.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Franklin Bluffs</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">There
are four of us, plus Michael at the wheel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wendy rides shotgun in the seat beside the driver. Her husband, John, in
the seat behind; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rodger and I are in
back. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5IUG7Zm9ah4/U7JUyL3h0UI/AAAAAAAACR8/1BpRBJALdJs/s1600/On+the+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5IUG7Zm9ah4/U7JUyL3h0UI/AAAAAAAACR8/1BpRBJALdJs/s1600/On+the+road.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On the road. You can see the tractor/trailer rig approaching...</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Skies
grey with a flurry of snow. We drive beside the Sagavanirktok River (locals call it Sag) with its cargo of
unlaundered ice chunks as it tries to commandeer the highway that is, at this
point, merely a raised wedge of gravel. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Y62RAIK00A/U7NM-lp5kdI/AAAAAAAACSk/P-H4OHR9uMA/s1600/sag+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Y62RAIK00A/U7NM-lp5kdI/AAAAAAAACSk/P-H4OHR9uMA/s1600/sag+river.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Sag Rivers laps at the very edge of the highway</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(A
note on gravel:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is mined from a nearby sprawling excavation and is essential as a foundation for the Deadhorse camp buildings to
prevent subsidence by permafrost.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bu1M2Qa9XMA/U7JWIvWljUI/AAAAAAAACSI/t7PHOj0dKrQ/s1600/gravel+excavations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bu1M2Qa9XMA/U7JWIvWljUI/AAAAAAAACSI/t7PHOj0dKrQ/s1600/gravel+excavations.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Prudhoe Bay's gravel excavations</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(A
note on permafrost: it is a permanent layer of frozen soil – an ice mattress if you like
- just below the tundra in much of Northern Alaska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It can melt and shift and bring a building down and is the stuff of
stories where half a cottage falls into a hole.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour two: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">we discuss the issue of toilet stops – there are no toilets until Coldfoot - and we all agree that we can do al
fresco.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The highway alternates between corrugations, then a treat of smooth
bitumen, then clouds of dust. The pipeline, which had been buried under the treeless
plain makes an appearance. So do hills.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c5uk9N34_4I/U7NWp66S-JI/AAAAAAAACTA/Bf6RPt6fJz0/s1600/pipeline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c5uk9N34_4I/U7NWp66S-JI/AAAAAAAACTA/Bf6RPt6fJz0/s1600/pipeline.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The pipeline marches across the tundra</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The
temperature rises from 33 degrees F. to 43.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hour three:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> into the gully, still
following the river and the pipeline. Dark clouds above, but sunlight on low
hills ahead. With patches of snow they are giant haunches of friesian cows.</span></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ComND3OViPo/U7Ni1OjSehI/AAAAAAAACTQ/emX_rFItXdo/s1600/friesian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ComND3OViPo/U7Ni1OjSehI/AAAAAAAACTQ/emX_rFItXdo/s1600/friesian.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Isn't Alaska gorgeous?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We are trapped behind a truck carrying a giant cotton reel of orange
coil. Mountains veiled in mist form a guard of honor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The road is wet and the truck kicks up mud and
freckles our windscreen.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Comfort stop. The men scatter. Wendy and I discard all modesty behind
the muddy van. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We snack. Bananas, apples, chips. Michael cleans the windows. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The highway goes low and we are under the mist. It blots out the road
behind. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">There is no going back.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We rattle on. The ceiling and interior walls shake. The CB radio makes
the occasional comment to all listening on its channel. It is channel 19, and is an open
communication for truckers, fellow travellers and pipeline security along the
highway. At one point, when Michael was following a slow truck, the radio
chirped: 'You can pass now'. And the truck's body
language followed suit,
pulling close to the edge and slowing down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The
mist drops across the road ahead. Headlights loom, followed by a large shape - a semi trailer heading straight for us. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dt_aG-PsMy8/U7NjTXCqJ9I/AAAAAAAACTY/jc_hTR8eHR0/s1600/two+semis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dt_aG-PsMy8/U7NjTXCqJ9I/AAAAAAAACTY/jc_hTR8eHR0/s1600/two+semis.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two semis on a highway built for one. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(A
note on Dalton Highway etiquette: Size Matters. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trucks have right of way and smaller vehicles
are tolerated if they slow down and pull to one side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Headlights must be on at all times. )</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Over
the hill and a landscape painted in broad strokes of snow spreads before us. We
catch up with the cotton reel truck.</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0iZiAAG5Dcc/U7NmGUz4wDI/AAAAAAAACTk/KN0QJNAJZ4Q/s1600/over+the+hill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0iZiAAG5Dcc/U7NmGUz4wDI/AAAAAAAACTk/KN0QJNAJZ4Q/s1600/over+the+hill.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Da<span style="color: #262626;">lton Highway</span> - a mere thread - weaving among mountains</span></td></tr>
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</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hour four:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> cotton reel truck calls on
the radio: 'You're right to go now '. And we do. We'll miss him. We had started
to bond with him.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Temperature now 36 degrees F.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We pass one of many frozen pools. Shallow streams trickle through the
tundra. The grasses are just wet sponges sitting on a table of permafrost. This
surface wetness argues with the technicality that this area is a desert because
it receives so little rain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">No one walks the tundra, or lives by the frozen lakes. The tundra is a bog and you sink to your ankles with every step. The summers are too short, the winters too long and deeply
cold, coming in at -50 degrees F.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OG5TKnbW9OY/U7NoTwmiG4I/AAAAAAAACTw/2wcfwOzXiFA/s1600/stream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OG5TKnbW9OY/U7NoTwmiG4I/AAAAAAAACTw/2wcfwOzXiFA/s1600/stream.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Shallow streams running through the tundra</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">But the pipeline marches on, a many-legged endless caterpillar. Can it be
seen from space?</span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "AnonymousPro","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(A note about the pipeline:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is one of the world’s largest pipeline
systems: it is 1,300 km long and was built at a cost of $8 billion between 1974
and 1977.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1973 oil crisis overcame
vigorous environmental, legal and political objections, and then its
construction had to cope with frozen ground and the occasional earthquake.)</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IpV1vFWA6Eg/U7NpCHWpDBI/AAAAAAAACT4/sY_Y42P6KQo/s1600/pipeline+with+dalton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IpV1vFWA6Eg/U7NpCHWpDBI/AAAAAAAACT4/sY_Y42P6KQo/s1600/pipeline+with+dalton.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: small;">Fellow travellers: the pipeline and Dalton Highway</span><span style="font-size: small;"></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The mountains loom up ahead. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHs7vSWUTPI/U7NtwSkjZaI/AAAAAAAACUE/GE-5sSnSJYw/s1600/mountains+loom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHs7vSWUTPI/U7NtwSkjZaI/AAAAAAAACUE/GE-5sSnSJYw/s1600/mountains+loom.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looming mountains</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Wendy lies along a seat with her pillow and
sleeps. John now in front seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Conversation covers Steve Irwin and tall stories about bears. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Then John,
who is Australian, is describing the Nullarbor Plain, our salt lakes, the vast
lonely treeless distances of Australia’s deserts - and as we traverse Alaska’s empty
tundra and
mountains, I feel both countries have much in common.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Temperature
41 degrees F.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour five. Atigun pass (elevation
1,444m/4,739feet)</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(Note: The Atigun Pass is a high mountain pass across the Brooks
Range.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is where the Dalton Highway
crosses the Continental Divide.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J1BbtW7Flm8/U7ON3mLWmHI/AAAAAAAACV0/o0AvWzDilmk/s1600/the+pass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J1BbtW7Flm8/U7ON3mLWmHI/AAAAAAAACV0/o0AvWzDilmk/s1600/the+pass.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Atigun Pass</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">A nervous 10 minutes as we pass a sign saying 'Danger avalanches. Do not
stop'. Mist is thrown in. We do not stop. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pitX0aE5Dgc/U7NuiO-FcgI/AAAAAAAACUM/h_9PKxcbqnA/s1600/atigun+pass+mist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pitX0aE5Dgc/U7NuiO-FcgI/AAAAAAAACUM/h_9PKxcbqnA/s1600/atigun+pass+mist.jpg" height="201" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Atigun Pass with mist</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Banks of snow tonnage lie menacingly on the steep mountain slopes above
us, ready to unload and sweep down the mountain and over the road.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVgUKIEpM/U7Nu3YUI9lI/AAAAAAAACUU/dyCke-7iyPY/s1600/atigun+pass+snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncTVgUKIEpM/U7Nu3YUI9lI/AAAAAAAACUU/dyCke-7iyPY/s1600/atigun+pass+snow.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Atigun Pass' roadside snow</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76HzDEdDOGM/U7NviWrmLFI/AAAAAAAACUg/d6AI7oFpwDk/s1600/atigun+pass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-76HzDEdDOGM/U7NviWrmLFI/AAAAAAAACUg/d6AI7oFpwDk/s1600/atigun+pass.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our van nervously making its way through avalanche territory</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xotCDtrXRnw/U7NxWqUTHrI/AAAAAAAACUs/soBhLJ93gIc/s1600/avalanche+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xotCDtrXRnw/U7NxWqUTHrI/AAAAAAAACUs/soBhLJ93gIc/s1600/avalanche+sign.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Avalanche area</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iX-56X4n2aI/U7NyycZHRSI/AAAAAAAACU4/YOwNPQUBtE8/s1600/avalanche+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iX-56X4n2aI/U7NyycZHRSI/AAAAAAAACU4/YOwNPQUBtE8/s1600/avalanche+1.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday's avalanche</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P15Ig1hNtdI/U7NzBzJJm0I/AAAAAAAACVA/_25VtFyZhJg/s1600/avalanche+2.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We hope the semi does not set off an avalanche</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O1m8PINFAto/U7NzVPk078I/AAAAAAAACVI/4pSsorpvaOo/s1600/avalanche+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O1m8PINFAto/U7NzVPk078I/AAAAAAAACVI/4pSsorpvaOo/s1600/avalanche+3.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Avalanche after the snow plough <span style="color: #262626;">clears the road</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4xZzz2B_IFw/U7NzkliTmII/AAAAAAAACVQ/2DY-mWXee7Q/s1600/avalanche+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4xZzz2B_IFw/U7NzkliTmII/AAAAAAAACVQ/2DY-mWXee7Q/s1600/avalanche+4.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">More of yesterday's avalanche</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">If a van can tippy-toe along a road, then that is what it does. We all hold our breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For that reason, we
make it through - but not all drivers do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Once through the pass, the sun is gone and mist blurs the surrounding
mountains. They are dark walls scribbled with graffiti of snow.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep1hNXHVZ3o/U7N0HfLNmwI/AAAAAAAACVY/yHRpQantCr0/s1600/mirror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ep1hNXHVZ3o/U7N0HfLNmwI/AAAAAAAACVY/yHRpQantCr0/s1600/mirror.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Artistic shot</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> We drop to the tree line and sight our first lone tree since the coast. Then there’s a few scattered trees, so we can become accustomed to them;
merely suggestions that they are planning a forest.</span></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9ofJJuwZU8/U7OM6G-xyfI/AAAAAAAACVo/sfSX-zaD_io/s1600/a+few+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f9ofJJuwZU8/U7OM6G-xyfI/AAAAAAAACVo/sfSX-zaD_io/s1600/a+few+trees.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few trees acting as a starter forest</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The sun shows no sign of setting. This is indeed a long day's journey
into night.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHKkB6a08co/U7OOyChILII/AAAAAAAACWA/sO4K1H8KERI/s1600/sun+never+sets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHKkB6a08co/U7OOyChILII/AAAAAAAACWA/sO4K1H8KERI/s1600/sun+never+sets.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mud and an Alaskan night sky</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Rodg rides shotgun. John moves to back seat, having tired of the job of
navigating. We commend him for leading the way and not getting us lost.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Temperature: 41 degrees F.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Now we
are surrounded by stands of trees, mostly black spruce. We are no longer in a
desert. Rainfall on this side of the mountains is much higher, capturing it all
and leaving little for the other side. It is also warmer as the mountains
shield this side from the arctic winds.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cACbU-KY-yM/U7OPVXN6VAI/AAAAAAAACWI/Vl1l0BZNxso/s1600/black+spruce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cACbU-KY-yM/U7OPVXN6VAI/AAAAAAAACWI/Vl1l0BZNxso/s1600/black+spruce.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Black spruce</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hour six</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">: Rodg and Michael talk
philosophy and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (which Michael loved) and students
(both are university lecturers). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Road now dry. No corrugation but back-breaking potholes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We
pass a broken down truck. Deserted. As we near Coldfoot, we know we will cross
paths with the next tour group who are on their way to Deadhorse and doing the
same tour as we did just a few days ago. They are probably in bed by now and
John suggests we wake them up.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour seven: Coldfoot (population 10 - if you include us).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We stop for
dinner.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IctxrzW4-ls/U7ORtM9FJwI/AAAAAAAACWU/C_LRHibU910/s1600/coldfoot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IctxrzW4-ls/U7ORtM9FJwI/AAAAAAAACWU/C_LRHibU910/s1600/coldfoot.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">On the road again: Bitumen road. I read these notes so far to my fellow
passengers, and everyone wants a copy as a souvenir of this marathon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">I am riding shotgun.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(Note on riding shotgun, seated beside the driver: this is a duty we all
share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shotgun has several
responsibilities, the most important being to engage the driver in conversation
and distracted from any temptation to close his eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other minor duties include navigation, which is
fairly simple on the Dalton Highway as there are no turn-offs or byways or four-way
roundabouts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just follows the
pipeline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, shotgun must be alert
for wildlife sightings, such as moose, caribou, lynx, dall sheep – because
nothing much else happens out there.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The highway does bitumen and we pass stands of black spruce, a small
tree that has adapted to the shallow bog above the permafrost.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(Note on black spruce:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like the
Australian eucalypt, it will seed after a wildfire, which again like Australia,
are a summer phenomenon in Alaska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fast-food chopsticks are often made from black spruce.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We are seeing the backs of the trees we passed on Friday. No traffic. We
are not in peak trucking season and besides it 11.15pm.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QwY1ix6awc/U7OSdXXBDdI/AAAAAAAACWc/iHhi5uvuZCA/s1600/forest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2QwY1ix6awc/U7OSdXXBDdI/AAAAAAAACWc/iHhi5uvuZCA/s1600/forest.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">We saw these trees from the other side on the way to Deadhorse</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Temperature 40 degrees F.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The pipeline
sticks close.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SmPwsZ_T4Y0/U7OTAafiLCI/AAAAAAAACWk/CWVomErOshs/s1600/pipeline+with+mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SmPwsZ_T4Y0/U7OTAafiLCI/AAAAAAAACWk/CWVomErOshs/s1600/pipeline+with+mountain.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pipeline with tundra...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E0rN8h3IVHE/U7OY0tE2ZaI/AAAAAAAACXc/GXTR5chnQQY/s1600/pipeline+mtn.jpg" height="300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pipeline in mountain setting...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eT-SPmrMeTI/U7OZHUUDLWI/AAAAAAAACXk/_GzHz3zkl8s/s1600/pipeline+wriggle+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eT-SPmrMeTI/U7OZHUUDLWI/AAAAAAAACXk/_GzHz3zkl8s/s1600/pipeline+wriggle+2.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pipeline getting a wriggle on...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9ZJsOyEVBQ/U7OZZzt7xII/AAAAAAAACXs/xmOv8QZ3zbs/s1600/pipeline+wriggle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m9ZJsOyEVBQ/U7OZZzt7xII/AAAAAAAACXs/xmOv8QZ3zbs/s1600/pipeline+wriggle.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pipeline in profile</span></td></tr>
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</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour eight: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">we cross Jim river.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(Note on Jim River: in January 1971, the Jim River weather station
recorded the all time coldest temperature of -80 degrees F.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Michael spies a grizzly bear and we watch him scamper into the forest,
looking back to see if we are chasing him.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Now we have ticked the box for sightings of bears, musk oxen, caribou,
foxes, moose, dall sheep and the ptarmigan (Alaska’s state bird).</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APGXK2gERG0/U7Y1lIPicXI/AAAAAAAACYg/A4zHVNDubqU/s1600/caribou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APGXK2gERG0/U7Y1lIPicXI/AAAAAAAACYg/A4zHVNDubqU/s1600/caribou.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WMttPgxNqFc/U7Y2OJ9Wt3I/AAAAAAAACYo/nAqcyVr-CLA/s1600/birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WMttPgxNqFc/U7Y2OJ9Wt3I/AAAAAAAACYo/nAqcyVr-CLA/s1600/birds.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LH72MxpcgBw/U7Y2oUf-SgI/AAAAAAAACYw/ouIAmsU9vao/s1600/sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LH72MxpcgBw/U7Y2oUf-SgI/AAAAAAAACYw/ouIAmsU9vao/s1600/sheep.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hAzQmvj9tE/U7Y3FwDbRPI/AAAAAAAACY4/sOZ7L4voYsU/s1600/ptarmigan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hAzQmvj9tE/U7Y3FwDbRPI/AAAAAAAACY4/sOZ7L4voYsU/s1600/ptarmigan.jpg" height="357" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e2RZ8G1_RBg/U7Y3VSbAY8I/AAAAAAAACZA/DoSwcpkfYX8/s1600/moose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e2RZ8G1_RBg/U7Y3VSbAY8I/AAAAAAAACZA/DoSwcpkfYX8/s1600/moose.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sVybkMcqSOk/U7Y3sQ-_ACI/AAAAAAAACZI/Gbcfy3xn7hk/s1600/fox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sVybkMcqSOk/U7Y3sQ-_ACI/AAAAAAAACZI/Gbcfy3xn7hk/s1600/fox.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvAPj23E4G4/U7Y3_p-Jj3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/GQX3uZ0088k/s1600/ox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvAPj23E4G4/U7Y3_p-Jj3I/AAAAAAAACZQ/GQX3uZ0088k/s1600/ox.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6wQHpE7Mmck/U7Y4Rf_SIpI/AAAAAAAACZc/of4QrTZgO1I/s1600/bears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6wQHpE7Mmck/U7Y4Rf_SIpI/AAAAAAAACZc/of4QrTZgO1I/s1600/bears.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Polar bear and brown bear in their natural setting: the hotel lobby.</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Now we are at Gobblers Knob and the last view of the Brooks Range mountains. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-anR6BTF7HWQ/U7OYIZXCKkI/AAAAAAAACXU/2rav-A71AwE/s1600/gobblers+knob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-anR6BTF7HWQ/U7OYIZXCKkI/AAAAAAAACXU/2rav-A71AwE/s1600/gobblers+knob.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gobblers Knob</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">On the ridge, you can see where the sun will NOT set in mid summer on
June 21. It will rest its chin on the horizon then rise again.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">(A note on Alaskan names: they like to set the scene, Gobblers Knob
being typical, along with Deadhorse, Coldfoot and Disaster Creek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another example is a
native village where Michael lived for a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is called Place of Caribou Droppings.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FNc9VmoSx1A/U7Y6qwqjqPI/AAAAAAAACZo/HvPA9I5Qz9M/s1600/Events+-+2046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FNc9VmoSx1A/U7Y6qwqjqPI/AAAAAAAACZo/HvPA9I5Qz9M/s1600/Events+-+2046.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The weather is misty and drizzly as we cross the Arctic Circle. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JP4UMUPMXXA/U7Y5pGjgteI/AAAAAAAACZg/XxDL_LK_gKc/s1600/arctic+circle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JP4UMUPMXXA/U7Y5pGjgteI/AAAAAAAACZg/XxDL_LK_gKc/s1600/arctic+circle.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We feel the transition, a small vibration, an earth tremor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know we’ll never be the same. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-69Bo1LkKYgg/U7XvcKJ1OcI/AAAAAAAACYU/FJmYz12F2fg/s1600/Fearless+leader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-69Bo1LkKYgg/U7XvcKJ1OcI/AAAAAAAACYU/FJmYz12F2fg/s1600/Fearless+leader.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our fearless leader, Michael. Hat logo is inspired by mountain peaks through window.</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Michael
spots a lynx - tailless and out for a midnight date. The lynx has a wide foot
so he run on snow and hunt the snowshoe hare, which also has a broad foot, so has equal chance to do a runner. In the natural order of things, lynx
will prey on hare until numbers are decimated and then lynx will prey
on other lynx, until their numbers are decimated. Thus allowing snowshoe hare numbers to build up... </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">And around
it goes - survival of the fittest and call of the wild and who gets eaten and who gets away. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">And, for that matter - who gets to be a trophy. This archway in Fairbanks is made from over 100 moose and caribou antlers. They did not get away...</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4SnqTXnYXAo/U7Y8gGqoMOI/AAAAAAAACZw/SZt0tFKgEQY/s1600/antler+arch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4SnqTXnYXAo/U7Y8gGqoMOI/AAAAAAAACZw/SZt0tFKgEQY/s1600/antler+arch.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antler Archway in Fairbanks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> But I digress. On a rock face on the mountain ahead, snow melts and spills a string of pearls down a granite slope. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D36iZqoOoU8/U7OVNMTnveI/AAAAAAAACXI/gb1yxm-HETo/s1600/waterfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D36iZqoOoU8/U7OVNMTnveI/AAAAAAAACXI/gb1yxm-HETo/s1600/waterfall.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Snow melt waterfall</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour nine: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">all's quiet in the back van.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">It is almost dark but mainly because of a low rain cloud. We are on the
look out for the last on our animal check list: wolves. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We pass between finger rock (yes it is shaped like an index finger
pointing skyward) and its answer, fist rock, (yes, shaped like a fist) on the
other side of the highway.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V0sb6l3GicI/U7OUIToEjMI/AAAAAAAACW4/6AqkUQ_F8hQ/s1600/finger+rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V0sb6l3GicI/U7OUIToEjMI/AAAAAAAACW4/6AqkUQ_F8hQ/s1600/finger+rock.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finger rock</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Finger Rock still stands today because it is tough. And you have to be tough in these parts. Someone took a chainsaw to the spruce that grew farthest north on the Alaskan pipeline, despite - or with spite - as the sign said 'Do not cut'. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jHxhcmTu20/U7OawCn8oJI/AAAAAAAACX4/bJmoJ2EAry0/s1600/farthest+north.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jHxhcmTu20/U7OawCn8oJI/AAAAAAAACX4/bJmoJ2EAry0/s1600/farthest+north.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">It just don't pay to be the farthest north spruce tree</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9jHxhcmTu20/U7OawCn8oJI/AAAAAAAACX4/bJmoJ2EAry0/s1600/farthest+north.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "AnonymousPro","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The pipeline
is still with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all these hours
together, I am responding to its endearing doggedness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is always beside us, either marching on
high legs or wriggling up a hill or bridging a river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: "AnonymousPro","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It keeps on keeping on, and is a belt around
Alaska – in fact, it is a money belt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
provides nearly 90 per cent of Alaska’s revenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alaskans pay no personal income tax and, on
top of that, they receive an annual oil dividend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">I think I have lost an hour – I am getting sleepy – is it actually Hour
Ten? Did I count the hour we spent at Coldfoot?</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Moving right along: muddy road through forest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michael takes it slow.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ap6HCFIaS-8/U7OTaIxcOrI/AAAAAAAACWs/vcO0iF5-ZeQ/s1600/muddy+dalton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ap6HCFIaS-8/U7OTaIxcOrI/AAAAAAAACWs/vcO0iF5-ZeQ/s1600/muddy+dalton.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: small;">A </span><span style="font-size: small;">muddy section of <span style="color: #262626;">the</span> Dalton Highway</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"><br /></span>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hour Ten</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">: (I think) We are into the
hard grind where we are tired and the road seems long and the kid in the back
is asking 'are we there yet?'</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">The iPod
is running out of battery.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour 11: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">we cross the mighty Yukon. Road still muddy<b>.</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">It is as dark as it gets at this time year - kinda dim but you can see
the green of the willow shrubs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">At 1:55am the sun is a decorative pink glow on the left horizon. Word is
that it will rise in a few minutes.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dgq8S7w5Pd4/U7OUtUUEWEI/AAAAAAAACXA/ivHiRkT_fN4/s1600/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dgq8S7w5Pd4/U7OUtUUEWEI/AAAAAAAACXA/ivHiRkT_fN4/s1600/sunset.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1.55am night sky</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"> This is indeed the land of the mid night sun. It crams as much summer as
possible into a few short months and nighttime is not an option.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">A truck waits by the road and its driver steps out to signal us to stop.
He asks for anti-freeze. Michael checks his boot. No luck. But now we know
there is someone else in the world beside ourselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">John is carsick and he sits in the front to minimize motion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">It gets darker – as it does before the dawn.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold;">Hour 12: </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro-Bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the sun lies in wait just below the horizon. The landscape waits, bleak,
still<b>.</b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">At 2.37am Michael and I are the only two awake along with the windscreen
wipers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Hours 13/14/15:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Me and my ipod sleep<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">At 5.30am, we arrive at Fairbanks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
It is a proper town with </span>buildings and street lights and paved roads. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">We have no time to adjust to the shock of civilisation: Michael takes his van, spattered to its roof with the mud of the Dalton
Highway, home; the rest of us have a plane to catch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #262626; font-family: AnonymousPro; font-size: 15.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: AnonymousPro;">Mission accomplished – though it feels like an anti climax, because we
all know that the point of a journey is not the destination - but the journey
itself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-24350058173011501122013-10-27T11:19:00.001+11:002013-11-25T15:18:42.263+11:00Volgograd was once Stalingrad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GEseZrdhcoE/UpKzaeWP9hI/AAAAAAAAB-w/jvFDN7fPVD8/s1600/IMG_0914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GEseZrdhcoE/UpKzaeWP9hI/AAAAAAAAB-w/jvFDN7fPVD8/s400/IMG_0914.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mother Russia's call to arms - and he hears her</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Volgograd is a city that remembers. <br />
<br />
It was once called Stalingrad, and it was torn to pieces in the largest scale battle of World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad against the German army (July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943) took the lives - it is estimated - of nearly two million from both sides. It is said to have been the turning point of the war, when the German military lost its strategic advantage.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W4mcgeH2z9A/UpK195NOVrI/AAAAAAAAB-8/406ojJFUPds/s1600/IMG_1922.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W4mcgeH2z9A/UpK195NOVrI/AAAAAAAAB-8/406ojJFUPds/s400/IMG_1922.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This was one of the few buildings left standing after the battle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A sprawling memorial to the battle is built on the hill (Mamayev Kurgan) that saw some of the most intense fighting. Mother Russia, a magnificent woman 87 metres tall (to the tip of her sword) stands astride the hill.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZMFwRClpf8/UpK5MycEUOI/AAAAAAAAB_I/M2i00pyv_kM/s1600/IMG_0931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZMFwRClpf8/UpK5MycEUOI/AAAAAAAAB_I/M2i00pyv_kM/s400/IMG_0931.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Motherland calls - the world's tallest statue 1967-1989.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Beside the Motherland statue, another mother mourns her loss. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOLrqTf-v1I/UpK6ZCC7gPI/AAAAAAAAB_U/_7tjeEgJ0oA/s1600/IMG_0958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOLrqTf-v1I/UpK6ZCC7gPI/AAAAAAAAB_U/_7tjeEgJ0oA/s320/IMG_0958.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Time passed. Life went on. This memorial park, in its autumn colours, is now host to a Mother Russia to be... <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NFAzLyTK_0M/UpK9HoEyH6I/AAAAAAAAB_g/VBmCYfVqyFs/s1600/IMG_0921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NFAzLyTK_0M/UpK9HoEyH6I/AAAAAAAAB_g/VBmCYfVqyFs/s400/IMG_0921.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Views from Mother Russia's hill...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXXnybzQ3PQ/UpLA3PRUHCI/AAAAAAAAB_s/T_nHz_o3WiE/s1600/IMG_0966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXXnybzQ3PQ/UpLA3PRUHCI/AAAAAAAAB_s/T_nHz_o3WiE/s400/IMG_0966.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G40kEG__gZA/UpLA5vdMQLI/AAAAAAAAB_0/WSjzsGGJCMg/s1600/IMG_0974.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G40kEG__gZA/UpLA5vdMQLI/AAAAAAAAB_0/WSjzsGGJCMg/s400/IMG_0974.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--8wCvvU0UpY/UpLBOKovIRI/AAAAAAAAB_8/F0LINTTzPRg/s1600/IMG_0909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--8wCvvU0UpY/UpLBOKovIRI/AAAAAAAAB_8/F0LINTTzPRg/s400/IMG_0909.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">You gotta wonder about tin houses built on top of chimney stacks. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
For better or for worse, Volgograd was rebuilt in the 1950s, which is why its buildings have an architectural sameness. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-22LXjT4lnW4/UpLF1KzkBjI/AAAAAAAACAI/ALyGb3HN-Ew/s1600/IMG_0991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-22LXjT4lnW4/UpLF1KzkBjI/AAAAAAAACAI/ALyGb3HN-Ew/s400/IMG_0991.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This factory wears its date with pride. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UqFTuwgeWR0/UpLLO-VtA1I/AAAAAAAACAg/5FzoB8IU6xY/s1600/IMG_0985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UqFTuwgeWR0/UpLLO-VtA1I/AAAAAAAACAg/5FzoB8IU6xY/s400/IMG_0985.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And this building is an example of 1950s grafitti</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt1q5tXGA3k/UpLLEU3dJMI/AAAAAAAACAY/ahQpiSUQWcE/s1600/IMG_0989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt1q5tXGA3k/UpLLEU3dJMI/AAAAAAAACAY/ahQpiSUQWcE/s400/IMG_0989.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Grafitti 2013 style</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<span class="mw-headline" id="Education"><br /></span></h2>
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<br />
<br />
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<span id="goog_861438348"></span><span id="goog_861438349"></span><br /></div>
wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-47412054421174738912012-08-22T08:08:00.000+10:002012-08-22T08:14:19.668+10:00Over 140 bears invade St Petersburg<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In July 2012, over 140 bears - all tame and dollied-up - invaded a city park in St Petersburg. <br />
<br />
They were mute but colourful ambassadors of goodwill, having travelled the world for 10 years and - for us Australians - they visited Sydney in 2007. <br />
<br />
Before they left for their next stop - Paris - I caught up with them in the Alexandrovsky Garden in St Petersburg. <br />
<br />
Each two-metre-high bear figure represented a different country - and Australia was there. Filed under the letter 'A', our bear was an explosion of colour by Australian artist Ken Done. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-cISq0FpTw/UDHVxbgzFqI/AAAAAAAABs8/y9mX0xZBV_E/s1600/IMG_1640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-cISq0FpTw/UDHVxbgzFqI/AAAAAAAABs8/y9mX0xZBV_E/s400/IMG_1640.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-StfTh2acUJo/UDHWEQpraYI/AAAAAAAABtI/2EoZJLxmIO0/s1600/IMG_1641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-StfTh2acUJo/UDHWEQpraYI/AAAAAAAABtI/2EoZJLxmIO0/s400/IMG_1641.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And at his feet was a little plaque, so he knew where home was...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Kc_RAiTTIM/UDHW4s9qzuI/AAAAAAAABtQ/ICNaiCWJClc/s1600/IMG_1639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Kc_RAiTTIM/UDHW4s9qzuI/AAAAAAAABtQ/ICNaiCWJClc/s400/IMG_1639.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The bears formed a circle in alphabetical order around the park fountain...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfCi2HhjELo/UDHXwT6boWI/AAAAAAAABtY/6kmyKe9Tkvo/s1600/IMG_1649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vfCi2HhjELo/UDHXwT6boWI/AAAAAAAABtY/6kmyKe9Tkvo/s400/IMG_1649.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And they were kept in line by the Russian army...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RjYneiAt5rA/UDHYfKL6adI/AAAAAAAABtg/0ybpxL592so/s1600/IMG_1703+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RjYneiAt5rA/UDHYfKL6adI/AAAAAAAABtg/0ybpxL592so/s400/IMG_1703+2.JPG" width="342" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>The St Petersburg Times</i> covered the exhibition in an article published on July 4, 2012.<br />
<br />
Here's what it said:<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Bear hugs from Berlin</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A circle of 143 bear sculptures representing
different countries are in town to promote peace and harmony.</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">By Olga Kalashnikova</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The St. Petersburg Times</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The world-touring United Buddy Bears are celebrating their 25th
exhibition and 10th anniversary in St. Petersburg. One hundred and forty-three
brightly painted two-meter tall bear figures from all over the world stand hand
in hand in the Alexandrovsky Garden, promoting living together in peace and
harmony. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The free outdoor exhibit is open in the city 24 hours a day through Aug.
5. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Buddy Bears first hit the streets in 2001. Project initiators Eva and
Dr. Klaus Herlitz wanted art to be on display in city streets and decided to
start a unique art project in Berlin. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“The positive reaction we got from visitors gave us the idea to use
Buddy Bears’ popularity to provide more targeted food for thought to promote
mutual understanding between different people. In 2002 this thought developed
into the idea of the United Buddy Bears,” said Michael Stefanescu, managing
director of Buddy Bear Berlin. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i>Here's a photo (taken by me) of a detail from the Russian bear. It is decorated with a traditional khokhloma pattern.</i> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2q9UyfoQu4I/UDHbGdUUtII/AAAAAAAABuI/4uJsbdSWclc/s1600/IMG_1677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2q9UyfoQu4I/UDHbGdUUtII/AAAAAAAABuI/4uJsbdSWclc/s400/IMG_1677.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> The article continues:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Each fibreglass bear represents a member state of the United Nations.
All of the bears are standing together hand in hand, forming a large circle of
equals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Artists from all over the world were invited to realize the project.
Each bear was created in a different style to express the unique character of
the artists’ native countries, allowing visitors to take a journey around the
world while visiting the exhibition. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“Together Buddy Bears represent a complete work of art, spreading an
enormous zest for life,” said Stefanescu. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“The bears promote tolerance and mutual understanding between different
nations and cultures. None of the bears represent a government or current
political system. They represent people and their cultures. The arrangement of
the different countries symbolizes the vision of a world that will be peaceful
in the future,” he said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">There are also four special bears that present ideas necessary for
people to co-exist peacefully. Two golden bears holding hands show that nobody
can live on their own and that how people behave toward one another has
consequences. The first Golden Rule bear conveys the message that the more
friendly a person is to other people, the more friendliness they are likely to
receive in return. The words “Try to treat everyone the way you want to be
treated” are written on it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The second Global Ethic bear illustrates that there can be no peace
among nations without peace among religions. The bear represents the basic
commandments from the “Declaration toward a Global Ethic” and is covered in
quotes from different religions that all mean the same thing — “In everything,
do to others as you would have them do to you.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">There is also an Einstein Bear with the scientist’s words: “Peace cannot
be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” The Respect For
All Life Bear appeals for people to have a kind attitude towards all living
creatures. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Each bear represents a different country. Cuba's bear smokes a cigar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><i>Here are my photos of Cuba's bear:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The bear was chosen from other animals to be the ambassador for this
mission because it is the symbol of Berlin, the city where the sculptures and
idea originated. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“People perceive bears to be simpatico and likable — maybe just because
most of us grew up with teddy bears. And the raised arms of the bears symbolize
that they are not dangerous and do not want to harm anybody,” said Stefanescu. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Since 2002, over 30 million people have viewed the globe-trotting bears.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“Wherever the exhibition has been displayed, including in St.
Petersburg, all visitors are excited, thrilled and enthusiastic … We are also
glad to see that the message of tolerance and understanding is well
understood,” said Stefanescu. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The project aims not only to help with the way people view other
countries and the world, but also to raise financial aid for those who need it.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“We also want to highlight that many countries are in urgent need of our
support. Children from all over the world can benefit from the proceeds
generated by auctioning off sculptures from the circle of United Buddy Bears,”
he said. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Charity has become a key part of the Buddy Bear exhibits. During the ten
years of its activities the project has raised more than $2.4 million to help
children in need. In St. Petersburg one Buddy Bear that represented Russia
during a past exhibition (and can still be seen on display at the exhibit as a
second figure representing Russia) will be auctioned off to benefit a local
children’s charity organization. The starting price is 160,000 rubles ($4,915).
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The Buddy Bears’ next destination is Paris: In October this year, they
will make their famous circle next to the Eiffel Tower. In 2013 the bears will
travel to Brazil. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">“Due to the fact that more cities and countries are requesting to host
the exhibition, it seems that the world tour of the United Buddy Bears is a
neverending story,” said Stefanescu. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The United Buddy Bears exhibit runs through Aug. 5
at the Alexandrovsky Garden in front of the Admiralty. M. Admiralteiskaya. <span style="mso-field-code: " HYPERLINK \0022http\:\/\/www\.sptimes\.ru\/redir\.php?url=http\:\/\/www\.buddy-baer\.com\0022 \\t \0022_blank\0022 ";"><u><span style="color: blue;">www.buddy-baer.com</span></u></span>.</span></i><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
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New Zealand was there:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl8bkSCrQl0/UDHiVrT9cUI/AAAAAAAABu4/TTabaz3PRLc/s1600/IMG_1712+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nl8bkSCrQl0/UDHiVrT9cUI/AAAAAAAABu4/TTabaz3PRLc/s400/IMG_1712+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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and America...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1uMVqAXqAP8/UDHi4ba2E2I/AAAAAAAABvc/eEO0AoZ4cvU/s1600/IMG_1701+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1uMVqAXqAP8/UDHi4ba2E2I/AAAAAAAABvc/eEO0AoZ4cvU/s400/IMG_1701+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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and Moldova - front and back...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y2Wh3s2uDlM/UDHjbjs9XXI/AAAAAAAABvo/thTvGsvCMoM/s1600/IMG_1646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y2Wh3s2uDlM/UDHjbjs9XXI/AAAAAAAABvo/thTvGsvCMoM/s400/IMG_1646.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRcQma2lsyo/UDHjyRzWyoI/AAAAAAAABvw/PGjfD0LLALU/s1600/IMG_1647.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bRcQma2lsyo/UDHjyRzWyoI/AAAAAAAABvw/PGjfD0LLALU/s400/IMG_1647.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Here's more bears, but I can only guess their country of origin...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KQWenMQiRY/UDHc4ATY3iI/AAAAAAAABuQ/XXmK6XQY_vc/s1600/IMG_1660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KQWenMQiRY/UDHc4ATY3iI/AAAAAAAABuQ/XXmK6XQY_vc/s400/IMG_1660.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Detail of above bear:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7pEXgQkrMIk/UDHdJ2w3QtI/AAAAAAAABuY/Xj7TN2WpwZQ/s1600/IMG_1661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7pEXgQkrMIk/UDHdJ2w3QtI/AAAAAAAABuY/Xj7TN2WpwZQ/s400/IMG_1661.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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This bear is gorgeous:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gt8DFaoOw1E/UDHnavNxd-I/AAAAAAAABwY/tkvLGsTD6n4/s1600/IMG_1655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gt8DFaoOw1E/UDHnavNxd-I/AAAAAAAABwY/tkvLGsTD6n4/s400/IMG_1655.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HJMGZSq7IYg/UDHnr47j6vI/AAAAAAAABwk/uNpR5TN6mBg/s1600/IMG_1657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HJMGZSq7IYg/UDHnr47j6vI/AAAAAAAABwk/uNpR5TN6mBg/s400/IMG_1657.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And this bear made a friend:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tUrKSaysACI/UDHodieEFTI/AAAAAAAABws/HDQxx6IC_0E/s1600/IMG_1653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tUrKSaysACI/UDHodieEFTI/AAAAAAAABws/HDQxx6IC_0E/s400/IMG_1653.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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This bear is a flight of fancy:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wA4F-bIQaFk/UDHpFraPqkI/AAAAAAAABw0/fLTv1gEBBw0/s1600/IMG_1673.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wA4F-bIQaFk/UDHpFraPqkI/AAAAAAAABw0/fLTv1gEBBw0/s400/IMG_1673.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvNsOimILGM/UDHpYF1AsGI/AAAAAAAABxA/aFgMtb2pCUQ/s1600/IMG_1675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xvNsOimILGM/UDHpYF1AsGI/AAAAAAAABxA/aFgMtb2pCUQ/s400/IMG_1675.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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A handsome threesome... <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-88750iqqWA4/UDHqPFsEYCI/AAAAAAAABxI/Y7LMk-5pYR8/s1600/IMG_1682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-88750iqqWA4/UDHqPFsEYCI/AAAAAAAABxI/Y7LMk-5pYR8/s400/IMG_1682.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And this one does not look like a bear at all...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VitMP19GwE4/UDHqzeFGq5I/AAAAAAAABxQ/qvRO0rb8U2U/s1600/IMG_1691+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VitMP19GwE4/UDHqzeFGq5I/AAAAAAAABxQ/qvRO0rb8U2U/s400/IMG_1691+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-78954772880157166082012-08-18T16:28:00.000+10:002013-09-18T10:08:59.764+10:00Blokes of Russia and Eastern Europe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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(<span style="font-size: x-small;">WARNING: This post contains gratuous nudity, a murder mystery and a great deal of silliness)</span></div>
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When you go to Russia and Eastern Europe, you can't help but notice the blokes.<br />
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There are some real spunks, all shapes and sizes - in the flesh or marble, ivory, paint, stained glass...<br />
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Come with me, and I'll show you.<br />
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Starting with these blokes below. They were hanging about everywhere - on buildings inside and out - overworked and under-dressed - to good effect, I felt. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PTBC9L5_cIA/UC8k8-mmm8I/AAAAAAAABnQ/A0AFOae77Mc/s1600/IMG_2407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PTBC9L5_cIA/UC8k8-mmm8I/AAAAAAAABnQ/A0AFOae77Mc/s400/IMG_2407.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He has to hold up the ceiling AND keep the painting straight. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-doG3KT196ck/UC8c5q9QhqI/AAAAAAAABmI/ytwMg3hVVac/s1600/IMG_1603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-doG3KT196ck/UC8c5q9QhqI/AAAAAAAABmI/ytwMg3hVVac/s400/IMG_1603.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just imagine the physio bills!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thankless job - if you ask me</td></tr>
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Here's a young soldier, doomed to forever miss trains in a suburban underground Moscow station:<br />
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This group of men are special: they sang like angels in one of the small chapels inside St Basil's, Moscow. The baritone is Egor Chernegov-Nomerov, and he is singing here with the folk group, Doros. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OPuOYxIL-VQ/UC8fHWPpX3I/AAAAAAAABmk/CCU1mOZohfU/s1600/IMG_1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OPuOYxIL-VQ/UC8fHWPpX3I/AAAAAAAABmk/CCU1mOZohfU/s400/IMG_1440.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Egor Chernegov-Nomerov singing with the folk group, Doros, in St Basil's, Moscow</td></tr>
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Here's another group of men - dolls all, and dolls inside dolls...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O9X7F7gmgmo/UC8gcumBDHI/AAAAAAAABms/MTVfPHPOFe0/s1600/IMG_1427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O9X7F7gmgmo/UC8gcumBDHI/AAAAAAAABms/MTVfPHPOFe0/s400/IMG_1427.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russian dolls </td></tr>
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This bloke below qualifies for this blog because he is such a snappy dresser. He is sculpted in a frozen moment, possibly demonstrating a new kind of egg beater, or the path taken by the moon around a stick.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOs80q4ntks/UC8iTeX1uxI/AAAAAAAABnA/qxCoS_pp-7g/s1600/IMG_2218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOs80q4ntks/UC8iTeX1uxI/AAAAAAAABnA/qxCoS_pp-7g/s400/IMG_2218.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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By contrast, this big bruiser, who barely fits into his alcove (along with a sheep and a giant shell), would be most appreciative if you could spare a couple of dollars...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jpZf9yaoHWU/UC8kGhpTh9I/AAAAAAAABnI/rO3ufmvNzbw/s1600/IMG_2473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jpZf9yaoHWU/UC8kGhpTh9I/AAAAAAAABnI/rO3ufmvNzbw/s320/IMG_2473.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Whereas this physically-challenged fellow (below) tries to earn his keep. His brief is to stop people walking on the grass...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xsSczIGdsSM/UC8nFtboD5I/AAAAAAAABnY/MHTrZDsOjbY/s1600/IMG_1862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xsSczIGdsSM/UC8nFtboD5I/AAAAAAAABnY/MHTrZDsOjbY/s640/IMG_1862.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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...but as you can see, no one takes the slightest notice of him...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ArEl-8r6-ig/UC8oNtkS4DI/AAAAAAAABnk/gr32QBWIllQ/s1600/IMG_2036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ArEl-8r6-ig/UC8oNtkS4DI/AAAAAAAABnk/gr32QBWIllQ/s400/IMG_2036.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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...so he calls a policeman to point out the error of their ways.<br />
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Then the mobile phone rings...<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ZFoMyYIOkg/UC8r3bj13fI/AAAAAAAABn4/KUQxQvSxow4/s1600/IMG_2591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--ZFoMyYIOkg/UC8r3bj13fI/AAAAAAAABn4/KUQxQvSxow4/s400/IMG_2591.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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...and it is Death calling...<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C0CHAG5UmpE/UC8sqCG7XtI/AAAAAAAABoY/Bzme8uxBVJ4/s1600/IMG_2132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C0CHAG5UmpE/UC8sqCG7XtI/AAAAAAAABoY/Bzme8uxBVJ4/s400/IMG_2132.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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...with news...<br />
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....sad news...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nyrbDoUKUC8/UC8tdShLhsI/AAAAAAAABos/XzFuyXQBBH4/s1600/IMG_2067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nyrbDoUKUC8/UC8tdShLhsI/AAAAAAAABos/XzFuyXQBBH4/s400/IMG_2067.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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...very grave news...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_j4VV3FnQs/UC8udXoKUOI/AAAAAAAABo8/Ey4UXh7odhg/s1600/IMG_2634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j_j4VV3FnQs/UC8udXoKUOI/AAAAAAAABo8/Ey4UXh7odhg/s400/IMG_2634.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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...that Eros has lost his head...<br />
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no no, not this is not Eros...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghWCknrHWzI/UC8vJmXAWnI/AAAAAAAABpI/vP1FLpkBoVQ/s1600/IMG_3229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghWCknrHWzI/UC8vJmXAWnI/AAAAAAAABpI/vP1FLpkBoVQ/s400/IMG_3229.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Cloak of Conscience' by Anna Cromy</td></tr>
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Below is the head in question.<br />
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Identified as the head of Eros, it was found in Market Square, Krakow.<br />
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The rest of the body is yet to be located. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9A_o617oozs/UC8t_PyHNGI/AAAAAAAABo0/epuoDkaCT5E/s1600/IMG_2896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9A_o617oozs/UC8t_PyHNGI/AAAAAAAABo0/epuoDkaCT5E/s400/IMG_2896.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Eros Bound' by Igor Mitoraj</td></tr>
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Urgent phone calls were made...</div>
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The police arrived...</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQpFG974amQ/UDANqRhP_kI/AAAAAAAABqA/T-SwIKK0DKA/s1600/IMG_1399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FQpFG974amQ/UDANqRhP_kI/AAAAAAAABqA/T-SwIKK0DKA/s400/IMG_1399.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Along with two detectives...</div>
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And the cavalry.</div>
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Suspects were rounded up...</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozxqnPvWSGs/UDAPPy8tKwI/AAAAAAAABqY/2qh7P0cgzqE/s1600/IMG_3370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozxqnPvWSGs/UDAPPy8tKwI/AAAAAAAABqY/2qh7P0cgzqE/s400/IMG_3370.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Another suspect...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dyiZc1_gmKM/UDAPsut28LI/AAAAAAAABqk/zDfBFQljAkk/s1600/IMG_3820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dyiZc1_gmKM/UDAPsut28LI/AAAAAAAABqk/zDfBFQljAkk/s400/IMG_3820.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
It turned out that this fellow had an alibi. At the time of the murder, he was chained to a rock and his liver was being consumed by an eagle. Without, may I add, pain killers.<br />
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This suspect was found carrying an illegal sword. It was examined by forensic experts, and the suspect, who could not be named, was helping police with their enquiries. <br />
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Another suspect had weapons concealed upon his person...</div>
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And this suspect obviously had something to hide... </div>
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After some months, another beheading took place, and the killer was caught red handed...</div>
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Here is the scene of the second beheading...</div>
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At his trial, the killer, a mere boy, was found to be under age, and escaped the death penalty.<br />
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The executioner was disappointed, as he had been warming up his bludgeoning technique...<br />
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The boy was sentenced to a year's community service...<br />
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Here you see him repairing the plumbing in the ladies' loo.<br />
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He also had to promise that he would no longer use his knife as a weapon, but as a tool for good.<br />
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He took up carving tiny ivory figures...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TrZ_V0GTlSM/UDAa1wXAIrI/AAAAAAAABsI/t6ilocpV_ag/s1600/IMG_2316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TrZ_V0GTlSM/UDAa1wXAIrI/AAAAAAAABsI/t6ilocpV_ag/s400/IMG_2316.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sometimes using himself as a model...<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UI6cKnmdQOU/UDAbPtRDz9I/AAAAAAAABsQ/Sej416ridHo/s1600/IMG_2317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UI6cKnmdQOU/UDAbPtRDz9I/AAAAAAAABsQ/Sej416ridHo/s400/IMG_2317.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So - everyone lived happily ever after, and that calls for a parade, don't you think?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLHZRRMX80E/UDAb3fAVQBI/AAAAAAAABsY/44OEL7mBOBA/s1600/IMG_3382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gLHZRRMX80E/UDAb3fAVQBI/AAAAAAAABsY/44OEL7mBOBA/s400/IMG_3382.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-56304184953692685282012-08-18T13:35:00.000+10:002012-08-18T13:58:44.027+10:00World domination and town planning in Moscow and Warsaw<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Warning: this post may contain some educational content and a few mixed metaphors)</span></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">May I introduce the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science. It is the tallest - and the most hated - building in Warsaw. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLSK9YCh0oQ/UC75M88NHBI/AAAAAAAABlI/RJ37oePV0RA/s1600/IMG_2657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLSK9YCh0oQ/UC75M88NHBI/AAAAAAAABlI/RJ37oePV0RA/s640/IMG_2657.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palace of Culture and Science - a gift to Warsaw from Stalin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It is a grand folly of Russian baroque and gothic architecture, and dominates the urban landscape. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As the city's most visible landmark, this building was controversial from the start. Many Poles loathed the building because it was a symbol of Soviet domination, and that feeling persists today. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Construction started in 1952 and lasted until 1955. It was a gift from the Soviet Union to the people of Poland - whether they wanted it or not. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But then - keep in mind: Stalin had the upper hand at that time. He had won the war and for this reason, town planning was a pushover. He had a vision of world domination, and his buildings were to be its embodiment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">As a result, his development applications, no matter how outrageous, were automatically approved. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">There was no need for any environmental impact statements, or studies into its effect on neighbouring buildings, or provision for parking. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Furthermore, cheap labour for its construction, being the surviving population of a defeated nation, was plentiful. And as these people were grateful to be alive, OH&S was not really an issue. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This Warsaw building was one of a set, being the love child of Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">These were known as Stalin's Seven Sisters, and were a matched set of seven skyscrapers built around Moscow from 1947 to 1953 in an attempt to rival the height - if not the grace - of American skyscrapers. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RFXbefbLqSo/UC8Q3eNfwEI/AAAAAAAABlo/plpOXFRQR94/s1600/IMG_1684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RFXbefbLqSo/UC8Q3eNfwEI/AAAAAAAABlo/plpOXFRQR94/s400/IMG_1684.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moscow State University's main building stands on a 7m thick concrete slab foundation</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">However, Russian technology could not achieve the height of American skyscrapers, so they upstaged them with sheer muscle and stodge.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Seven Sisters were massively over-engineered with steel frames, concrete ceilings and masonry infill, and based on concrete slab foundations. In the case of one such building, Moscow State University's main building, the concrete slab foundation is seven metres thick. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Nowadays, these buildings sit fat and graceless in the urban dining room with their elbows on the table and
outstaying their welcome.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But like wisdom teeth, they are way too hard to extract. So the prevailing attitude is: might as well chew on them.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Today, they make themselves useful, being occupied by hotels, government offices or universities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">In time, Stalin's name was removed from Warsaw's Palace and Culture and Science, but it was not possible to erase the stain of its past and its testament to Stalin's repression. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Note: Hitler also had a town planning vision for Berlin. Among other things, he had drawn up plans - and even cleared the land - for a monumental domed building 16 times larger than the dome of St Peter's. It would have been the largest enclosed space in the world. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>But Hitler lost the war, so his DA is still pending.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-90300951250032310932012-08-18T09:31:00.000+10:002012-08-26T08:39:41.606+10:00Tour of Russia and East Europe: Rodger's overview<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Our tour of Russia and Eastern Europe in August 2012</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">Tour by train starting from
Moscow, then to St Petersburg (Russia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Warsaw and Krakow
(Poland), Budapest (Hungary), Prague (Czech Republic) and Berlin (Germany).</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YdXORgpGi0/UCyFKC5lKCI/AAAAAAAABhg/OM9bXsPmPE8/s1600/IMG_0333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YdXORgpGi0/UCyFKC5lKCI/AAAAAAAABhg/OM9bXsPmPE8/s400/IMG_0333.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Our visit to Russia,
Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and finally Berlin provided a great
comparison of how these countries see their history and their relationships to
each other. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">It is 22 years since the collapse
of the Berlin Wall and Russian domination of Eastern Europe; 67 years since the
end of World War II; over 200 years since Napoleon attacked Russia. Many of these cities and countries have
histories going back 1,000 years. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">We stayed only a few days in
each city. Most of our input was through
local guides, who were well educated but perhaps provided only one view of
their country and its history. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Here’s a summary of what we
heard and how it sits with the history we have been given in the West.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Russia is much more than
Moscow and St Petersburg but these two cities provide an interesting contrast. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Moscow is alive with cars and
lots of people getting into the business of capitalism. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_z4V2H99FKc/UCyTe71SO2I/AAAAAAAABjs/X1stziXqSB4/s1600/IMG_1071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_z4V2H99FKc/UCyTe71SO2I/AAAAAAAABjs/X1stziXqSB4/s400/IMG_1071.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moscow Airport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">There is a divide in Moscow,
separating those people who are young and educated from the older and less
educated. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">English is common with
younger people, but not with the older and less educated, who are slow to
adjust to the new environment. The future lies with these younger
people, and looking at the way they dress and act, they could be in any city in
the world. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Moscow is much more expensive
than the rest of Russia. This is recognised in the payment of pensions etc.:
the Muscovites receive at least 20 per cent more in payments to compensate for their
higher cost of living. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To give a hint of the costs in
Moscow: at our hotel, a beer was $16 and a glass of house wine was $25!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peQx4zWYCV0/UCyUDltireI/AAAAAAAABj0/WGbzLqNJJtk/s1600/IMG_1078.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peQx4zWYCV0/UCyUDltireI/AAAAAAAABj0/WGbzLqNJJtk/s400/IMG_1078.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moscow suburb, seen from bus en route from the airport</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hf6R9FthPt4/UCyUZT3NskI/AAAAAAAABj8/x9MimDwFo4g/s1600/IMG_1079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hf6R9FthPt4/UCyUZT3NskI/AAAAAAAABj8/x9MimDwFo4g/s400/IMG_1079.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moscow suburb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">There are plenty of memorials
to the WW2 victory and also Napoleon. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The communist past still has many
monuments but these are remembered more with cynicism than with reverence. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Graves of Communist leaders of the
Kremlin are next to Lenin’s tomb, and these are considered to be historically
significant. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QVKcEXsYnvU/UCySHu7XbxI/AAAAAAAABjg/h7VlzsOuo2U/s1600/IMG_1132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QVKcEXsYnvU/UCySHu7XbxI/AAAAAAAABjg/h7VlzsOuo2U/s400/IMG_1132.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Square: Lenin's tomb is the small building between towers. </td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5BAftgKAJOg/UC3Mh292pYI/AAAAAAAABko/SauFOjrIbeU/s1600/IMG_1134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5BAftgKAJOg/UC3Mh292pYI/AAAAAAAABko/SauFOjrIbeU/s400/IMG_1134.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graves of Russia's Communist leaders</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The guide pointed out that
Khrushchev was not buried next to Lenin’s tomb because he didn’t die in office. She added that his burial place was better
away from all these “others”. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">St Petersburg is less wealthy;
even so the locals are on the road to consumerism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFaOND9p4cc/UCyWVEVeAKI/AAAAAAAABkE/zgJj-W6kn60/s1600/IMG_1723+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rFaOND9p4cc/UCyWVEVeAKI/AAAAAAAABkE/zgJj-W6kn60/s400/IMG_1723+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street scene, St Petersburg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">They are comfortable with
their history of Tsarist times and never discuss the loss of all the Republics
after 1989 - except to have a crack at Gorbachev and Yeltsin for losing the
“empire” and the hurtful inflation of the late 1990s. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">However, there is no hint
that they want it back or would be willing to chase that goal. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">From Russia we passed into
Latvia. The Russian attitude at the border was a little old fashioned. They searched the train and warned against
photography at the border.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">They locked the toilets so we
could not hide anyone without a passport.
They also unscrewed the roof lids of the train, and peered inside. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">In Lithuania, the wealth
seemed to emerge, and seemed more evenly spread. They are very sure of their
future and wanted all to know about their past. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The wartime occupation by
Germany and Russia was high on the education agenda for Lithuanian school
children. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SI3DrLudsYM/UCyIh38rNWI/AAAAAAAABiA/KGa8xOy4bsM/s1600/IMG_2162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SI3DrLudsYM/UCyIh38rNWI/AAAAAAAABiA/KGa8xOy4bsM/s400/IMG_2162.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Museum of Genocide Victims along with related art projects by school children</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The awful deeds of the
Gestapo and KGB are detailed the Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUM2aQwdZc8/UCyI88Ro1tI/AAAAAAAABiM/A4NRkaavx-w/s1600/IMG_2165.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUM2aQwdZc8/UCyI88Ro1tI/AAAAAAAABiM/A4NRkaavx-w/s400/IMG_2165.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many grim art projects by school children, illustrating the fate of genicide victims</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Not so prominent are the
memorials to the Jewish community of Lithuania. They <i>are</i> there, but less conspicuous than in Berlin for example. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Lithuanians want to tell
you about their history and when they ruled to the Baltic, given that now their
land is a tiny fraction of what it was. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Nevertheless, they are
realistic about their future and I think happy to be in the EEC and NATO which
offers security against the Russians - at least in military terms if not in
economic terms, as all their fuel and heating gas comes from Russia. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Lithuania reminded me a
little of Sweden - just across the Baltic and a similar climate and construction
techniques.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Next was Poland - now free
and confident about its economic future.
Agriculture and industry are both strong, but it is yet to join the Euro
and is proud that its Zloty is appreciating against the Euro. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The city of Warsaw has been
rebuilt - but right in its centre is the Stalinist building that was
headquarters of the Russian invaders. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The locals don’t like this
building as it towers over the city centre as a reminder of their troubled
occupation by Russia. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jn6Df8I1NgE/UCyJ7-GScTI/AAAAAAAABiU/gDHtHXI37i0/s1600/Warsaw_2389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jn6Df8I1NgE/UCyJ7-GScTI/AAAAAAAABiU/gDHtHXI37i0/s400/Warsaw_2389.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stalin's gift to Warsaw: the Palace of Culture and Science</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Poles are proud of their role in the downfall of Russian domination. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Again consumerism is doing
well and English is like a badge of honour. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">A young woman cashier was
proud to announce my bill in simple and strained English when it was clearly
visible on the register. And again she was most careful and counted out change
with slow and precise English. At the end she showed pride in being able to do
the transaction in English. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">They are on their way. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">In Prague, consumerism is
well established, judging by the large shopping mall in the city centre
(Westfield on steroids, one wag called it) with lots of shops stuffed with
clothes and goods of all descriptions. Young
people are walking around with their shopping, on their mobiles, never having
known the shortages of food and goods under communism. They will just not
understand their parents etc. when they tell them of rationing etc.). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Marx and Lenin would turn in
their graves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Auschwitz just north of
Krakow shows us its horrors. Many people were looking around the site, seeing
the story unfold about the systematic murder of so many people. It stands as a
reminder of what not to do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Into Hungary, and
Budapest. We visited Budapest four years
ago when there was much more buildings under construction/repair than now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">It seems English has improved
here, and shopping areas are well supported. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">However, the economy is under
pressure and its leaders are making the wrong noises about democracy. For instance, all judges over 60 years old have
been fired and new ones appointed by the Government head – a move that does not
sit well with democracy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Hungarian Train manager tells
us how Hungary really deserves to get back its lost territories in Romania. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Except for the Russians,
these countries all talk longingly of bygone eras when they controlled large
empires. (I remember the Italians had a big poster with a map of the 2,000-year-old
Roman Empire, hinting that it would be good to get it back!).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Prague was next after
travelling through clearly poorer Slovakia.
From the train, we could see huge derelict factories and thousands of
workers apartments.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N-h-JLtCkJc/UCyL3hQdBYI/AAAAAAAABic/uOX3BnuXd58/s1600/Slovakia_2995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N-h-JLtCkJc/UCyL3hQdBYI/AAAAAAAABic/uOX3BnuXd58/s400/Slovakia_2995.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suburbs of Slovakia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-to-O-qlA0qs/UCyMZ0C0NfI/AAAAAAAABik/8eQi69W7D-8/s1600/IMG_2366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-to-O-qlA0qs/UCyMZ0C0NfI/AAAAAAAABik/8eQi69W7D-8/s400/IMG_2366.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derelict factory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Compared with modern western
factories, the old Communist factories could not produce the goods. The guides explained the inefficiencies of a
system where workers’ pay and conditions were guaranteed. There was no incentive to work hard, so
production was slow. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Polish guide told us
about her life - her two parents worked so when she got home from school she had
to go to the food shop and stand in the queue for a kilo of meat and bread. She
didn’t mind - it was how it worked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">To Berlin - as we cross from
Slovakia to Germany the trains become modern and clean - the countryside
becomes neater – farms are much bigger than previous countries - villages look
modern. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">This was once East Germany
but still it looks to have moved a lot since 1990. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Berlin - modern, rebuilt. As
we arrive at out hotel in Potsdamer Plaza we see several pieces of the old
“wall”. This was the divide. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Qy-AINrhno/UCyNTPr_tiI/AAAAAAAABis/ASFM_DSIDF0/s1600/the+wall_3761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Qy-AINrhno/UCyNTPr_tiI/AAAAAAAABis/ASFM_DSIDF0/s400/the+wall_3761.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Segment of the Wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T73Z4uVkVEA/UCyNnBg82AI/AAAAAAAABi4/agiMD_BV5yM/s1600/wall_3746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T73Z4uVkVEA/UCyNnBg82AI/AAAAAAAABi4/agiMD_BV5yM/s400/wall_3746.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wall, with wads of chewing gum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Berlin offers a lot - many Museums, the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag, palaces of old Emperors, reminders of the
wall everywhere with a solid line in the road or footpath. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FXhzkV2Jhtk/UCyOLleZQsI/AAAAAAAABjA/EGERL0M_DVY/s1600/IMG_0136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FXhzkV2Jhtk/UCyOLleZQsI/AAAAAAAABjA/EGERL0M_DVY/s400/IMG_0136.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Berlin wall still makes itself useful, as a canvas for artists</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lns-PZP9dk4/UCyOkBzaaQI/AAAAAAAABjI/Mtqs9K0Ac_0/s1600/IMG_3919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lns-PZP9dk4/UCyOkBzaaQI/AAAAAAAABjI/Mtqs9K0Ac_0/s400/IMG_3919.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The wall is a magnet for tourists</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Jewish Memorial site in the centre of Berlin occupies a complete city block - and is remarkable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3osvU8TLDbs/UCyPkca1ujI/AAAAAAAABjQ/-FkUX5eaU_w/s1600/IMG_3812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3osvU8TLDbs/UCyPkca1ujI/AAAAAAAABjQ/-FkUX5eaU_w/s400/IMG_3812.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewish Memorial Site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"> By contrast, Hitler’s old bunker is merely a car
park: unsealed dirt and grass: it is marked with a very simple sign showing the
layout of the now filled in bunker. They don’t want to glorify it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8qn1rxlT96E/UCyQHkhxugI/AAAAAAAABjY/Ts0jo73dg9E/s1600/IMG_0112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8qn1rxlT96E/UCyQHkhxugI/AAAAAAAABjY/Ts0jo73dg9E/s400/IMG_0112.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sign that marks Hitler's bunker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Berliners are different
to other Germans. It reminds me of the relationship
New Yorkers have with other Americans. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">Berliners are confident, easy
going and somehow more relaxed than their countrymen. The city reeks of German
efficiency, especially compared with our Eastern European experiences where the
Soviet era still not quite forgotten. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;">But the bureaucracy to gain
entry into the Reichstag was memorable. A 4-minute interview after queuing for
45 minutes to be allocated a time slot several hours later - photo ID needed.
Seems to be overkill but it will perhaps sort out the misbehavers??</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-67389181940669736752012-08-12T21:16:00.000+10:002012-08-13T05:49:09.681+10:00Golden moments in Russia and Eastern Europe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
On our tour of Eastern Europe, we discovered gold. As we explored its landmark churches and palaces, gold stood out as an indispensible decorator tool.<br />
<br />
It was splashed around - not necessarily with style - but certainly with abandon.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XKch6-oCvYs/UCYCUCVFX7I/AAAAAAAABds/datB_YNKFZU/s1600/IMG_1753+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XKch6-oCvYs/UCYCUCVFX7I/AAAAAAAABds/datB_YNKFZU/s400/IMG_1753+2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">While gold was affordable, apparently bras were not.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
It was the era before electricity, and winter nights were long and dim. The glow of gold doubled the wattage of candle or chandelier power, possibly allowing you to read by light reflected from your gold cherubs.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMrUfBFAbeg/UCYD4g-2W_I/AAAAAAAABd4/5LKvNerXcvA/s1600/IMG_1775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMrUfBFAbeg/UCYD4g-2W_I/AAAAAAAABd4/5LKvNerXcvA/s400/IMG_1775.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold cherub reading lamp</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpnrKj-6TVQ/UCYE6tPOMrI/AAAAAAAABeA/76VTGcoA0S8/s1600/IMG_1776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpnrKj-6TVQ/UCYE6tPOMrI/AAAAAAAABeA/76VTGcoA0S8/s400/IMG_1776.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gold wattage</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
But - I suspect - gold's real point was prestige. If you could afford to flaunt gold fittings and fixtures, then you were seriously wealthy, possibly with power and influence to go with it. You could command respect and even the odd bribe.<br />
<br />
Nothing drives this point home more than a full set of gold Greek columns...<br />
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...complimented with gold chandeliers...<br />
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gold chooks... <br />
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gold chicks...<br />
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and, of course, gold chairs.<br />
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Gold was also lavished on the exterior of buildings: it was the neon lights of the 1860s.<br />
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The Catherine Palace towers, so perfectly formed, needed that touch of gold to finish them off.<br />
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Neighbourhood birds rated these towers highly as a vantage point. On a scale of one to ten, they gave them 8.5 in the height and classy category. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FQz1vG8Ns7o/UCcUicFoNfI/AAAAAAAABfw/6wq3fbQjWoE/s1600/Catherine+1861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FQz1vG8Ns7o/UCcUicFoNfI/AAAAAAAABfw/6wq3fbQjWoE/s320/Catherine+1861.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Gold lace trimmed the churches, both outside...<br />
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...and inside...<br />
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The Madonna wore gold...<br />
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Even the bibles were gold, though somewhat encrusted...<br />
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Then there was that golden note...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Z1wbGJuj8g/UCcaaEz7brI/AAAAAAAABgo/_kQmIJGbbSk/s1600/IMG_1469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Z1wbGJuj8g/UCcaaEz7brI/AAAAAAAABgo/_kQmIJGbbSk/s320/IMG_1469.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
...played by the Russian brass band to see us off at Moscow station.<br />
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And off we went, to see the golden sunsets:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x55snWoks7c/UCcbOZ_qisI/AAAAAAAABgw/pWJuiXQf9U4/s1600/IMG_3112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x55snWoks7c/UCcbOZ_qisI/AAAAAAAABgw/pWJuiXQf9U4/s400/IMG_3112.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budapest sunset</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geMrbnA2IR4/UCcbeKefpOI/AAAAAAAABg4/u0K8w-rwMMA/s1600/IMG_3178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-geMrbnA2IR4/UCcbeKefpOI/AAAAAAAABg4/u0K8w-rwMMA/s400/IMG_3178.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budapest by night</td></tr>
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<br /></div>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-36863165394587241392012-08-09T15:37:00.000+10:002012-08-13T14:27:06.929+10:00Looking to the sky: The Ceilings of Eastern Europe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Eastern Europeans do a grand ceiling. Their cathedrals and museums set the tone and then went on to inspire their hotels, railway stations and shopping malls. <br />
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This post brings you ceilings throughout the ages, from Moscow, Berlin, St Petersburg, Vilnius (Lithuania), Prague and - Auschwitz.<br />
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Yes. Auschwitz. Some ceilings are the pride of Europe. Others, such as those from Auschwitz, are a testiment to its shame.<br />
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And somewhere in between is the humble ceiling - it too has a place in this post. <br />
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We'll start with the trendsetters, such as St Basil's in Moscow and the Hermitage in St Petersburg. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YhrSYoN-oWY/UCMaGJE_9vI/AAAAAAAABV0/tKmpa3CCJZI/s1600/IMG_1431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YhrSYoN-oWY/UCMaGJE_9vI/AAAAAAAABV0/tKmpa3CCJZI/s400/IMG_1431.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">St Basil's, Moscow</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YrgtpwAKHRA/UCMazM4QwFI/AAAAAAAABV8/es_cySbEKpw/s1600/IMG_1314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YrgtpwAKHRA/UCMazM4QwFI/AAAAAAAABV8/es_cySbEKpw/s400/IMG_1314.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bolshoi Ballet theatre, Moscow</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SeYKVTCTx0E/UCMbcs-261I/AAAAAAAABWI/CJDvYuWCYk8/s1600/IMG_1904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SeYKVTCTx0E/UCMbcs-261I/AAAAAAAABWI/CJDvYuWCYk8/s400/IMG_1904.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Hermitage</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-musd-bCEYg0/UCMcO5sNlfI/AAAAAAAABWQ/V4NNpIPSXm4/s1600/IMG_1962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-musd-bCEYg0/UCMcO5sNlfI/AAAAAAAABWQ/V4NNpIPSXm4/s400/IMG_1962.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Hermitage </span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJkON8aHVrA/UCMc5YvrviI/AAAAAAAABWY/kCcJd1ihJao/s1600/IMG_2139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJkON8aHVrA/UCMc5YvrviI/AAAAAAAABWY/kCcJd1ihJao/s400/IMG_2139.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A crystal viking ship in Vilnius</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hakTNmHIdhQ/UCMeAlbPX6I/AAAAAAAABWk/6EoHlbdjF0g/s1600/IMG_2250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hakTNmHIdhQ/UCMeAlbPX6I/AAAAAAAABWk/6EoHlbdjF0g/s400/IMG_2250.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The spider web ceiling in a Vilnius church</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eipsfRwcXKk/UCMhQmsrCuI/AAAAAAAABW4/YWtH6r_C9c0/s1600/IMG_3049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eipsfRwcXKk/UCMhQmsrCuI/AAAAAAAABW4/YWtH6r_C9c0/s400/IMG_3049.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Budapest</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VNbbZhUeeWA/UCMlOtXKFlI/AAAAAAAABXM/zyjYwBfvuOo/s1600/IMG_2677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VNbbZhUeeWA/UCMlOtXKFlI/AAAAAAAABXM/zyjYwBfvuOo/s400/IMG_2677.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wieliczka Salt Mines, Krakow: the chandeliers are rock salt. </span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b3g0vfiGaVM/UCMsR3K5H-I/AAAAAAAABXg/89H92fPdvAQ/s1600/IMG_2408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b3g0vfiGaVM/UCMsR3K5H-I/AAAAAAAABXg/89H92fPdvAQ/s400/IMG_2408.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wilanow Palace, Warsaw</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-01_KHY6RlQ0/UCMtEJAC4SI/AAAAAAAABXs/YnJkl5I0hOw/s1600/IMG_2159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-01_KHY6RlQ0/UCMtEJAC4SI/AAAAAAAABXs/YnJkl5I0hOw/s400/IMG_2159.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here he is: somebody to hold up all these ceilings</span></td></tr>
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<b>Moving right along: European hotels met our needs for pillars and chandeliers. </b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9y480HDaUFY/UCMtlANz2wI/AAAAAAAABX0/-IjwSp5ttIM/s1600/IMG_3783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9y480HDaUFY/UCMtlANz2wI/AAAAAAAABX0/-IjwSp5ttIM/s400/IMG_3783.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ritz Carlton, Berlin</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IAKIqWKZ33Q/UCMuOB7i6nI/AAAAAAAABX8/9edfxHyS1Rc/s1600/IMG_1519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IAKIqWKZ33Q/UCMuOB7i6nI/AAAAAAAABX8/9edfxHyS1Rc/s400/IMG_1519.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6e3b14l0CTw/UCMudH3Xb1I/AAAAAAAABYE/m0G_CqxwqYI/s1600/IMG_1522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6e3b14l0CTw/UCMudH3Xb1I/AAAAAAAABYE/m0G_CqxwqYI/s400/IMG_1522.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bISanZanO_8/UCMZHlwgN4I/AAAAAAAABVk/9TmrLbToxhU/s1600/Moscow+hotel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bISanZanO_8/UCMZHlwgN4I/AAAAAAAABVk/9TmrLbToxhU/s400/Moscow+hotel.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marriott, Moscow<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JvU0l1ExW0s/UCM0qm8eplI/AAAAAAAABYk/QvTQCjhIHOY/s1600/IMG_3650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JvU0l1ExW0s/UCM0qm8eplI/AAAAAAAABYk/QvTQCjhIHOY/s400/IMG_3650.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Then there are the ceilings that hold up the sky, such as this Berlin suburban railway station </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-67ptjKftZjQ/UCMz_D5psEI/AAAAAAAABYY/PcKCl64BobM/s1600/IMG_4195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-67ptjKftZjQ/UCMz_D5psEI/AAAAAAAABYY/PcKCl64BobM/s400/IMG_4195.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The glass and mirror dome over the Reichstag</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJQMjPo_3Rs/UCM08wVSw1I/AAAAAAAABYs/s20B-RI34fM/s1600/IMG_3710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJQMjPo_3Rs/UCM08wVSw1I/AAAAAAAABYs/s20B-RI34fM/s400/IMG_3710.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An atrium strung between hi rise buildings in Berlin</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">GUM Department store, Moscow</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HlhjODr2Buc/UCM_o1yfoLI/AAAAAAAABaw/ItWbs2P-kfU/s1600/IMG_3081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HlhjODr2Buc/UCM_o1yfoLI/AAAAAAAABaw/ItWbs2P-kfU/s400/IMG_3081.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budapest market hall</td></tr>
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<b>Ceilings of another sort: the underbellies of bridges. This one features the graffiti of Berlin.</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OpWVBzAWqE/UCM1qwfMdzI/AAAAAAAABY0/kGMFP5cMcC8/s1600/IMG_3970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--OpWVBzAWqE/UCM1qwfMdzI/AAAAAAAABY0/kGMFP5cMcC8/s400/IMG_3970.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Underneath a Berlin bridge, with graffiti</td></tr>
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<b>These two bridges are designated 'No standing' bridges...</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QDmIBAhwFnM/UCM2QjomyII/AAAAAAAABZI/_vExy_5SBGk/s1600/IMG_1558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QDmIBAhwFnM/UCM2QjomyII/AAAAAAAABZI/_vExy_5SBGk/s320/IMG_1558.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Blue Bridge</td></tr>
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<b>Read on to admire the ceilings of buses, trains, stations and then, the best for last..the grand finale...the ceiling to beat all ceilings... </b><br />
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<b>But first, to the lowest of low ceilings: Auschwitz...</b><br />
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<b>(CLICK ON 'READ MORE' below) </b><br />
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<b>Auschwitz: the concentration camp. </b><br />
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<b>The photo below shows the ceiling of a gas chamber. The square of light in the ceiling is a trapdoor. Through this trapdoor, a gas was released. Those people underneath died.</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lAgFWN5d-3M/UCM4hv2gVYI/AAAAAAAABZQ/KLToWu7vxcs/s1600/IMG_1858+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lAgFWN5d-3M/UCM4hv2gVYI/AAAAAAAABZQ/KLToWu7vxcs/s400/IMG_1858+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Auschwitz</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMiFMtDLnd4/UCM4p6abRgI/AAAAAAAABZY/U3wcDSTpnLw/s1600/IMG_1861+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pMiFMtDLnd4/UCM4p6abRgI/AAAAAAAABZY/U3wcDSTpnLw/s400/IMG_1861+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Auschwitz crematorium ceiling - black with use</td></tr>
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<b>Let us climb these stairs to other ceilings...</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NuIJ3szFX1o/UCM6haFu1RI/AAAAAAAABZg/tejExIsTYFQ/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NuIJ3szFX1o/UCM6haFu1RI/AAAAAAAABZg/tejExIsTYFQ/s320/IMG_3422.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Trams, trains and buses have their own language of ceiling...</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqPmQQ6W7gU/UCM6wQrL--I/AAAAAAAABZo/eIMHSQRLx88/s1600/IMG_3463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eqPmQQ6W7gU/UCM6wQrL--I/AAAAAAAABZo/eIMHSQRLx88/s400/IMG_3463.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The vintage tram in Prague that rattled through the streets. Pedestrians stopped and took photos.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gwV1TXV-52k/UCM8XlpF3-I/AAAAAAAABZw/G5aHQFdEprY/s1600/IMG_1488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gwV1TXV-52k/UCM8XlpF3-I/AAAAAAAABZw/G5aHQFdEprY/s400/IMG_1488.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ceiling of our dining car on the train</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QAa8vuTaAlI/UCM8kUDow3I/AAAAAAAABZ8/RwqK6CGM6iI/s1600/IMG_1500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QAa8vuTaAlI/UCM8kUDow3I/AAAAAAAABZ8/RwqK6CGM6iI/s400/IMG_1500.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ceiling of dining car No. 2 in our train</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgZI4KMxE8I/UCM9h1uzW2I/AAAAAAAABaM/ydvRQEUWLqo/s1600/IMG_1694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgZI4KMxE8I/UCM9h1uzW2I/AAAAAAAABaM/ydvRQEUWLqo/s400/IMG_1694.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Underground train, Moscow</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DrFRpIiiLzo/UCM916ZpV8I/AAAAAAAABaU/Wz6pwR-hfCw/s1600/IMG_2937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DrFRpIiiLzo/UCM916ZpV8I/AAAAAAAABaU/Wz6pwR-hfCw/s400/IMG_2937.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Passenger carriage of Hungarian train</span></td></tr>
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<b>I like this bus ceiling (in Berlin), because it had a window for viewing hi rise buildings. </b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tln_2UyhH6I/UCM-Pq4NOkI/AAAAAAAABac/j92ZRZkPqe0/s1600/IMG_3674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tln_2UyhH6I/UCM-Pq4NOkI/AAAAAAAABac/j92ZRZkPqe0/s320/IMG_3674.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>And, of course, not to forget train station ceilings. </b><br />
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<b>This fine utilitarian station, Sestokai - possibly built out of a flat pack from Ikea - was the meeting point for our Hungarian train. </b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkPz_2S9sD0/UCM89E-L21I/AAAAAAAABaE/Mf8s8XOcBj4/s1600/IMG_2373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lkPz_2S9sD0/UCM89E-L21I/AAAAAAAABaE/Mf8s8XOcBj4/s400/IMG_2373.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Sestokai is somewhere in outback Lithuania and, make no mistake, it was not inspired by the following station... <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZk9-0nZWVg/UCNEP5ghBGI/AAAAAAAABbI/lqaWl5Cmrxk/s1600/IMG_1504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oZk9-0nZWVg/UCNEP5ghBGI/AAAAAAAABbI/lqaWl5Cmrxk/s400/IMG_1504.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YiJtMYiO8hk/UCNEnV4QCHI/AAAAAAAABbU/eR2QavV4ULY/s1600/IMG_1282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YiJtMYiO8hk/UCNEnV4QCHI/AAAAAAAABbU/eR2QavV4ULY/s400/IMG_1282.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moscow underground </span></td></tr>
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<b>Finally, there's the ceiling to beat all ceilings...</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sMougCVUStI/UCNFFpl1b0I/AAAAAAAABbc/_sNVRMMPeis/s1600/IMG_3009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sMougCVUStI/UCNFFpl1b0I/AAAAAAAABbc/_sNVRMMPeis/s400/IMG_3009.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sunset over fields in Lithuania</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Budapest</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oI8Jz9h7I08/UCNFmfwsl0I/AAAAAAAABbs/YVAKIeNxMiw/s1600/IMG_3705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oI8Jz9h7I08/UCNFmfwsl0I/AAAAAAAABbs/YVAKIeNxMiw/s400/IMG_3705.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Berlin</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z38OsjeB2w8/UCNGPoIMQEI/AAAAAAAABb0/3-P50Dla-fY/s1600/IMG_4234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z38OsjeB2w8/UCNGPoIMQEI/AAAAAAAABb0/3-P50Dla-fY/s400/IMG_4234.JPG" width="400" /> </a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Georges River, Sydney, NSW, Australia</span></td></tr>
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wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-89929789418545908532012-04-09T10:02:00.002+10:002012-04-09T10:39:19.970+10:00Sculpture by the sea - Bondi Beach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year, around October, the seaside walk between Bondi Beach and Bronte Beach is furnished with sculptures. And you can't take a bad photo. </div>
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The blue sky, the craggy cliff-side shore sets the scene for sculptures posing against a background of ocean swell.</div>
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Here's a few of my favourite sculptures. </div>
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<img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YDyU8gUdato/T4Il_faPw7I/AAAAAAAABNo/PLvWKHoiHPA/s400/bird+sculpture+by+sea.JPG" width="300" /></div>
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This is a flat perspex sculpture with beach view. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blocks of mirrors that reflect, distort and reinterpret the surrounding rock scape</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A knitted pod beside the path</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homes beside the path make their own contributions to the art scene.</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-92026891103393624392012-04-04T16:57:00.000+10:002012-04-04T17:08:42.122+10:00Meet the neighbours<br />
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This morning I took my camera out on my paddle board into the middle of the river.<br />
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It was a still sunny autumn morning. Here are some photos of my neighbourhood.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SjvYfb1LKzU/T3vrI-I9SJI/AAAAAAAABMA/6TXZSjJW3zU/s1600/IMG_1533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SjvYfb1LKzU/T3vrI-I9SJI/AAAAAAAABMA/6TXZSjJW3zU/s400/IMG_1533.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea Scout hall beside the park. A floating shark-net surrounds the swimming pool.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of the shark net. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dEKbWH2nupY/T3vrqtHWq_I/AAAAAAAABMQ/3PPz0h9HNgY/s1600/haunted+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dEKbWH2nupY/T3vrqtHWq_I/AAAAAAAABMQ/3PPz0h9HNgY/s400/haunted+house.jpg" width="322" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The haunted house: every neighbourhood has one. No one lives here. This house is suspended over the river, and sometimes, on a dark night, you can see a candle at the window.<br />
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Can you see the large and healthy gum tree growing on the balcony of the house below? It seems to have no visible contact with the ground yet it is way too big for a garden pot. Go figure. <br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UBTeTttrZLU/T3vxuM1CwaI/AAAAAAAABNI/jx2RAz6AbQc/s400/tree+1.jpg" width="288" /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjiy8p-4xNQ/T3vsEUpW9OI/AAAAAAAABMg/-i8kIpz4m_c/s1600/bird+feeder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="378" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hjiy8p-4xNQ/T3vsEUpW9OI/AAAAAAAABMg/-i8kIpz4m_c/s400/bird+feeder.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A garbage can lid draws a crowd, as it is filled with breakfast for the rainbow lorikeets. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sugylnwm1Mg/T3vsKgrlXMI/AAAAAAAABMo/WPdrbQ7mXec/s1600/feet+on+the+table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sugylnwm1Mg/T3vsKgrlXMI/AAAAAAAABMo/WPdrbQ7mXec/s400/feet+on+the+table.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tsk. Feet off the table, please.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CBU-2MhSLrU/T3vseRN4JjI/AAAAAAAABMw/bz5vaTnBPCI/s1600/reflection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CBU-2MhSLrU/T3vseRN4JjI/AAAAAAAABMw/bz5vaTnBPCI/s400/reflection.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On reflection...</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-19561151375429124182012-03-15T11:26:00.000+11:002012-03-15T11:26:14.996+11:00Cronulla beach 8am - autumn sun<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IP4W_axMQ1U/T2E2xmczc0I/AAAAAAAABJc/LrStF01bkDo/s1600/IMG_0113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IP4W_axMQ1U/T2E2xmczc0I/AAAAAAAABJc/LrStF01bkDo/s400/IMG_0113.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Cronulla beach 8am</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-24857929711161686612011-10-12T15:51:00.000+11:002011-11-14T13:30:04.662+11:00Tough tides: the sea reclaims its own at Byron Bay<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Low tide at Cronulla (a Sydney suburb) ocean pool</td></tr>
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Ocean tides: they do exactly as they please and we can only watch.<br />
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Sometimes ocean tides appear to do our bidding. Here is my photo of a tide keeping itself nice, being at a low ebb with waves lapping a respectful distance from the shore.<br />
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The photo below shows the same pool but the tide is in and waves are making a frenzied takeover bid. <br />
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But - mostly - waves lose momentum at the next low tide, and peace is declared.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">High tide at same pool while it gets a thorough rinsing </td></tr>
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To another beach, this one being Byron Bay, a seaside town in the far-north eastern corner of NSW, 772 kilometres north of Sydney and 165 kilometres south of Brisbane. <br />
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These photos were taken in 1996, after a cyclone tore away sections of beach.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ncAMCQroW8o/TpU4BfM4e-I/AAAAAAAAA1E/GDNn-RU-uSo/s1600/byron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ncAMCQroW8o/TpU4BfM4e-I/AAAAAAAAA1E/GDNn-RU-uSo/s400/byron.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the cyclone. </td></tr>
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Rogue waves stripped away sand and exposed what had been buried underneath 24 years earlier.<br />
And it was not a trunk full of gold bars or a lost city. <br />
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In an attempt to slow erosion of the escarpment in 1972, old car bodies had been buried under the sand. The cyclone uncovered a demolition derby rusted to a halt. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEXj6tBtork/TpU4Z8bmuYI/AAAAAAAAA1M/006wFMdnAmg/s1600/byron+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEXj6tBtork/TpU4Z8bmuYI/AAAAAAAAA1M/006wFMdnAmg/s400/byron+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old car bodies trying to upholster the beaches</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beached steering wheel</td></tr>
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Subsequent cyclones reclaimed more of Byron Bay's beaches, and home owners within reach of these waves shored up their slopes with straw.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bundles of straw protecting a beachside home from rogue tides</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;">And if this is starting to sound like the story of the three little
pigs, one of whom built his house of straw, the second of sticks...here are the sticks. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More sticks</td></tr>
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And, as cyclones continued to huff and puff and blow their beaches down, Byron Bay tried harmony and love...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lZJ3tWh9KzM/TpU8KvCiMvI/AAAAAAAAA10/xyhH5oBWa6c/s1600/byron+carving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lZJ3tWh9KzM/TpU8KvCiMvI/AAAAAAAAA10/xyhH5oBWa6c/s400/byron+carving.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carvings into the rock face along Byron Bay's beach front </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5Pma41uUBs/TpU8ZRPoNYI/AAAAAAAAA18/7QjAvdz84mY/s1600/byron+face+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5Pma41uUBs/TpU8ZRPoNYI/AAAAAAAAA18/7QjAvdz84mY/s400/byron+face+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another carving on a rock topped with sand </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Putting a good face on it</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-72477163139131139622011-10-07T08:30:00.002+11:002011-10-07T08:31:10.959+11:00New Year's Eve: Sydney Harbour Bridge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Midnight 2010: Sydney Harbour Bridge ready to party</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sydney Harbour Bridge welcomes 2011</td></tr>
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I have more of these photos. Let me know if I should load them.wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-64962977673270475722011-10-06T11:28:00.000+11:002011-10-26T08:58:35.230+11:00The last word: tombstones from around the world<br />
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When the dying's done, the dead are not silent.<br />
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They are remembered long after they are gone, bookmarked with tombstones, plaques - and our own personal memories. <br />
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Here are a few ways that we have given the dead a voice.<br />
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But first, let me set the mood:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kYh59MVUnug/TovUdwxBCGI/AAAAAAAAAxw/I8HjdEF57T4/s1600/DSCN0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kYh59MVUnug/TovUdwxBCGI/AAAAAAAAAxw/I8HjdEF57T4/s400/DSCN0083.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Funeral weather</td></tr>
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Now you are suitably chilled, your tour of the dead starts in New Zealand, with Jack's seat.<br />
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It recalls a dearly loved grandfather who lived long (1904-1991) and left behind a seat with this plaque which looks across valley near Queenstown. <br />
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It concludes 'as the family march ahead please look back as we the ancestors follow'.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f59sM3Y75wo/TozoUrG8ubI/AAAAAAAAAzU/C8PVjLkInqM/s1600/nz+plaque+07.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f59sM3Y75wo/TozoUrG8ubI/AAAAAAAAAzU/C8PVjLkInqM/s400/nz+plaque+07.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jack's seat</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hUF5vNiNFok/Tozxu971Z-I/AAAAAAAAAzY/MGO-Kq5BwVs/s1600/view+nz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hUF5vNiNFok/Tozxu971Z-I/AAAAAAAAAzY/MGO-Kq5BwVs/s400/view+nz.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The view from Jack's seat</span></td></tr>
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Jack opted for a view and offered a seat to the passers by.</div>
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Other people choose a less solitary style with community living (so to speak) in the cemetery, there to rest among their fellow dead away from the chatter of daily life. </div>
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<img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2jnxFMzuYQ/TozcS3gEZfI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/SgSfe16uj2Q/s400/grave+yard+06+canada.JPG" width="400" /></div>
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<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sunlight and shadow</span></td></tr>
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Such cemeteries are where we find history. This Boston cemetery is the resting place for Paul Revere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pvVM9EBR7KI/TovU6eiQnDI/AAAAAAAAAx0/Dje5OW3KN_U/s1600/mood+shot+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pvVM9EBR7KI/TovU6eiQnDI/AAAAAAAAAx0/Dje5OW3KN_U/s400/mood+shot+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boston</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iNMU3yiobKI/TovVXcMXAiI/AAAAAAAAAx4/7OEfKrInO4I/s1600/paul+revere+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iNMU3yiobKI/TovVXcMXAiI/AAAAAAAAAx4/7OEfKrInO4I/s400/paul+revere+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Paul Revere's plaque</span></td></tr>
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<b>Pompeii</b><br />
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This was one monumental burial. When the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, it buried the entire town in ash and pumice. It stayed buried for 1,700 years, yet the dead were still able to speak to us when they were unearthed.<br />
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Here are the preserved remains of two.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzf6fPuP-yU/TovXM_UHAoI/AAAAAAAAAx8/UQ36xnWf4Y0/s1600/grave+pompie+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzf6fPuP-yU/TovXM_UHAoI/AAAAAAAAAx8/UQ36xnWf4Y0/s320/grave+pompie+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6TMcyql2qzE/TovXPeLS6-I/AAAAAAAAAyA/0jOhOlpC0xY/s1600/grave+pompie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6TMcyql2qzE/TovXPeLS6-I/AAAAAAAAAyA/0jOhOlpC0xY/s400/grave+pompie.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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These figures are distressing: their last moments are frozen and we get to watch. They were buried before their time, so to speak.<br />
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<b>The Titanic</b><br />
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This heart breaking tragedy, just beyond our living memory, was the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Over 1,500 people went down with her, and many of the dead went unburied.<br />
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Only 329 bodies were recovered, and 119 were buried at sea. Many could not be identified so they were given a number.<br />
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Later, using such clues as clothing, some of the dead could be claimed by their relatives. Others had be buried with a number alone. Ultimately, 150 Titanic victims were buried in Halifax, 44 of whom were never identified. <br />
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<i>(My thanks to Rodger who made the expedition to the Halifax Cemetery to take these photos.) </i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUkSNIffzFc/TovdPEJnQ_I/AAAAAAAAAyE/QllbI9_mb8I/s1600/titanic+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUkSNIffzFc/TovdPEJnQ_I/AAAAAAAAAyE/QllbI9_mb8I/s400/titanic+06.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Australian, one of Titanic's victims: Arthur Gordon McCrae, BE University of New South Wales</td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aCqVH8QPj7Y/TovdS0EvFZI/AAAAAAAAAyI/fETo76pWbR8/s1600/titanic+freeman+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aCqVH8QPj7Y/TovdS0EvFZI/AAAAAAAAAyI/fETo76pWbR8/s400/titanic+freeman+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aa7hawJt6Ls/TovdWrNwvOI/AAAAAAAAAyM/lKoipC9K67s/s1600/titanic+markers+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aa7hawJt6Ls/TovdWrNwvOI/AAAAAAAAAyM/lKoipC9K67s/s320/titanic+markers+06.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A line up of Titanic grave stones</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6byBK1h776A/Tovdb-M72zI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/zuYqes6xBJo/s1600/titanic+unknown+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6byBK1h776A/Tovdb-M72zI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/zuYqes6xBJo/s400/titanic+unknown+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No. 179 - an unidentified passenger on the Titanic</td></tr>
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<b>Anne of Green Gables</b><br />
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One of my favourite dead people is Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the book <i>Anne of Green Gables. </i><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2xspN9dh3D4/ToviuPMUAwI/AAAAAAAAAyU/v1EeM9UNW5Q/s1600/montgomery+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2xspN9dh3D4/ToviuPMUAwI/AAAAAAAAAyU/v1EeM9UNW5Q/s320/montgomery+06.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resting place of L.M. Montgomery at Cavendish, Prince Edward Island</td></tr>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYZK0uTfuEg/Tovi2yhAK2I/AAAAAAAAAyY/XQbWufwFz8I/s1600/l.m.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYZK0uTfuEg/Tovi2yhAK2I/AAAAAAAAAyY/XQbWufwFz8I/s400/l.m.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Despite the fact that <i>Anne of Green Gables</i> was a fiction, she was far more real to me than Lucy Maud.<br />
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I thank Lucy Maud for creating Anne, but she was not Anne. There was no gravestone for my Anne, so I am declaring her not dead. <br />
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And as such, Anne lives on today, speaking through her books.<br />
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<b>World Trade Centre, New York</b><br />
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So many unburied here. These photos were taken in 2006. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vumPwUpxRPQ/TovlO0PKRnI/AAAAAAAAAyc/Mx9uJ-v-z3Q/s1600/ny+rubble+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vumPwUpxRPQ/TovlO0PKRnI/AAAAAAAAAyc/Mx9uJ-v-z3Q/s320/ny+rubble+06.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Air space where the towers once stood</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGXvPwVhMa0/TovlXWB25AI/AAAAAAAAAyg/wcv8-wISBtU/s1600/ny+timeline+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mGXvPwVhMa0/TovlXWB25AI/AAAAAAAAAyg/wcv8-wISBtU/s400/ny+timeline+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is a timeline of the events of September 11, 2001</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nBke1Y6rmJs/TovlfeOp0yI/AAAAAAAAAyk/A3UyALwbQfg/s1600/ny+timeline+2+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nBke1Y6rmJs/TovlfeOp0yI/AAAAAAAAAyk/A3UyALwbQfg/s400/ny+timeline+2+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Timeline part two</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1uY_-_HBpjA/TovlmRJ8JLI/AAAAAAAAAyo/SJiwOp4X4QE/s1600/ny+world+trade+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1uY_-_HBpjA/TovlmRJ8JLI/AAAAAAAAAyo/SJiwOp4X4QE/s400/ny+world+trade+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">World Trade Centre Station</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gFmOQPx3NzA/TovltKni6NI/AAAAAAAAAys/igQrKj-hAwM/s1600/ny+ground+zero+06.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gFmOQPx3NzA/TovltKni6NI/AAAAAAAAAys/igQrKj-hAwM/s400/ny+ground+zero+06.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Photos of that day: note the police presence</span></td></tr>
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<b>A cemetery near Gavle in Sweden</b><br />
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In Sweden, they not only bury their dead, but put them into deep freeze. <br />
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The photos of this cemetery are not black and white stills. These are full colour photos of a winter's day in Sweden, taken in late December. The scene was black and white - and bitterly cold.<br />
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In Sweden, the winter sun hangs reluctantly just above the horizon for only a few hours, so the day is half lit with a sun about to set. This photo was taken in the middle of the day.<br />
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The dead lie under a blanket of snow and in the windless chill, the silence is almost a presence. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eK0_OIqIZv4/TpUyUkq5IPI/AAAAAAAAA0k/vFAeERWcAsE/s1600/sweden+cemetery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eK0_OIqIZv4/TpUyUkq5IPI/AAAAAAAAA0k/vFAeERWcAsE/s400/sweden+cemetery.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<b>The Port Arthur Massacre (Tasmania)</b><br />
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This single cross speaks of the 35 lives lost when Martin Bryant went on a killing spree in Tasmania's Port Arthur prison colony on 28 April 1996. It was - and still is - a popular tourist site. It was Australia's deadliest killing spree.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-48ywUihqKR0/TowaY0BKGFI/AAAAAAAAAzM/rQorTDO9ERE/s1600/fence+port+arthur+tas+05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-48ywUihqKR0/TowaY0BKGFI/AAAAAAAAAzM/rQorTDO9ERE/s400/fence+port+arthur+tas+05.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port Arthur, Tasmania</td></tr>
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<b>Last but not least: Salzburg</b><br />
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Salzburg does a most decorative cemetery, lush with flowers, shrubs and statues.<br />
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The dead seem incidental. <br />
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<i>(Note: you can also tour my version of the spectacular Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. You'll find it in the post called 'Buenos Aires' in this blog.) </i><br />
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Rest in peace.<br />
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-2760896647576712472011-09-27T16:23:00.000+10:002011-09-28T16:11:06.340+10:00The Moon: Sydney, Adelaide, New York<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You can't go anywhere without the moon. It follows you whenever you travel, so that you always have a souvenir of home. Wherever we are it shines on us. It connects us all. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And it couldn't care less about us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Despite its remoteness, it is always well groomed and indeed a scene stealer. Here are a few moons I've collected over the years. </span><br />
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<img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EVXe2zzTz-Y/ToFb7FbIX0I/AAAAAAAAAwk/eD1LnfR01YA/s200/IMG_0408.JPG" width="150" /></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SZ7AiZ2WumY/ToFfKf0yHfI/AAAAAAAAAwo/I-fGSFS7wQI/s1600/IMG_4973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SZ7AiZ2WumY/ToFfKf0yHfI/AAAAAAAAAwo/I-fGSFS7wQI/s320/IMG_4973.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A partial eclipse</span> </td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FWycXy_t7Z4/ToFfO3Pb7aI/AAAAAAAAAws/WBYKcKRP5e0/s1600/IMG_4981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FWycXy_t7Z4/ToFfO3Pb7aI/AAAAAAAAAws/WBYKcKRP5e0/s400/IMG_4981.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bite taken out of the full moon</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dkLYVf6821g/ToFgIlB9lBI/AAAAAAAAAww/YkMrJL6e5YM/s1600/IMG_5608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dkLYVf6821g/ToFgIlB9lBI/AAAAAAAAAww/YkMrJL6e5YM/s400/IMG_5608.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mood shot</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-shMCSJ25ZG8/ToFhAU1UBeI/AAAAAAAAAw0/My9KzY9UaBA/s1600/IMG_5759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-shMCSJ25ZG8/ToFhAU1UBeI/AAAAAAAAAw0/My9KzY9UaBA/s400/IMG_5759.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love this one: it is so chocolate box</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pWFosZmnSy4/ToFhGQoULvI/AAAAAAAAAw4/TO4cWb4k6f0/s1600/IMG_5761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pWFosZmnSy4/ToFhGQoULvI/AAAAAAAAAw4/TO4cWb4k6f0/s400/IMG_5761.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of the same: you can't waste a pale pink sky with TV aerials</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EtsZr_rB3Kg/ToFhM-9EkbI/AAAAAAAAAw8/2gnPjHY3G_0/s1600/IMG_5766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EtsZr_rB3Kg/ToFhM-9EkbI/AAAAAAAAAw8/2gnPjHY3G_0/s400/IMG_5766.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As it rises further, it is no longer an orange, more a cheesecake</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F7XX7PEbvjE/ToFhTuUkGSI/AAAAAAAAAxA/Q1ZI79RI55M/s1600/IMG_5767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F7XX7PEbvjE/ToFhTuUkGSI/AAAAAAAAAxA/Q1ZI79RI55M/s400/IMG_5767.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last pink sky, I promise</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wvneZuLHzw4/ToFika4Tp_I/AAAAAAAAAxE/jPwmOgjAOsg/s1600/IMG_8380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wvneZuLHzw4/ToFika4Tp_I/AAAAAAAAAxE/jPwmOgjAOsg/s400/IMG_8380.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Light show on the Sydney Opera House sails - with an upstaged moon </td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oq0R6DfM5jo/ToFipts1VAI/AAAAAAAAAxI/cG_qoiOHva8/s1600/IMG_8387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oq0R6DfM5jo/ToFipts1VAI/AAAAAAAAAxI/cG_qoiOHva8/s400/IMG_8387.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sydney Opera House sails - new pattern</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YUmds1YM1Rk/ToFi-FMbQlI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/lktqqwxr5bc/s1600/IMG_8401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YUmds1YM1Rk/ToFi-FMbQlI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/lktqqwxr5bc/s400/IMG_8401.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swirls</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i9HqjGNnBUE/ToFjD6BxorI/AAAAAAAAAxU/L-lXBnZwHe0/s1600/IMG_8408.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i9HqjGNnBUE/ToFjD6BxorI/AAAAAAAAAxU/L-lXBnZwHe0/s400/IMG_8408.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon, aloft, aloof...</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NJu1qZrLpMo/ToFjJ1QOyQI/AAAAAAAAAxY/F9Pz7HGm4AE/s1600/IMG_8418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NJu1qZrLpMo/ToFjJ1QOyQI/AAAAAAAAAxY/F9Pz7HGm4AE/s400/IMG_8418.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A low key outfit for the Opera House sails</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uM4KWDejFVg/ToFmFK3jMTI/AAAAAAAAAxo/eRDNnwynJzU/s1600/IMG_2589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uM4KWDejFVg/ToFmFK3jMTI/AAAAAAAAAxo/eRDNnwynJzU/s400/IMG_2589.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon in veiled attendance to Adelaide's light show</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0M0v8gzdPOE/ToFmP0WlJsI/AAAAAAAAAxs/yLIdQRNwzps/s1600/IMG_2603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0M0v8gzdPOE/ToFmP0WlJsI/AAAAAAAAAxs/yLIdQRNwzps/s400/IMG_2603.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon caught up in the action</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Le5PSb-CoxQ/ToFksvbXl3I/AAAAAAAAAxc/9E-Y2o1D0i0/s1600/low+rez+red+moon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Le5PSb-CoxQ/ToFksvbXl3I/AAAAAAAAAxc/9E-Y2o1D0i0/s400/low+rez+red+moon.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red moon over New York (you've seen this in my New York post, but I had to include it in my moon-themed post)</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-27481267529009243742011-09-22T14:49:00.000+10:002011-09-22T14:49:19.456+10:00Northern Lights: Adelaide's light show<br />
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North Terrace is Adelaide's showcase of fine colonial buildings and includes the city's art gallery and state library. <br />
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Most of the time, it leads a life of quiet sandstone dignity, except when South Australians have a festival of the arts. <br />
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Then they romp. <br />
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This light show - called Northern Lights - on North Terrace coincided with Adelaide's Writers' Festival in February 2010. <br />
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Projections cast on the buildings drew attention to their design, bringing out their finest features.<br />
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Each projection lasted about three minutes, then would fade - to reveal a disappointed facade. After a theatrical pause, a new projection would sweep across the building, and all would be well again.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6hcPzB41Y7k/TnquDtUMvLI/AAAAAAAAAvI/SIw49BTus0o/s400/moonlight.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moon over Adelaide's North Terrace</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PZfyPHO4orw/TnquW9GxVfI/AAAAAAAAAvM/pTlSNkRKIWY/s1600/light+catcher.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PZfyPHO4orw/TnquW9GxVfI/AAAAAAAAAvM/pTlSNkRKIWY/s400/light+catcher.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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The light caught the leaves out</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtAPlZz-rXY/Tnqua-B0ltI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/QpJilLIcdeU/s1600/moonlight+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vtAPlZz-rXY/Tnqua-B0ltI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/QpJilLIcdeU/s400/moonlight+2.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elder Hall: all frocked up.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CqQ0l9D2yJs/Tnquv_OX64I/AAAAAAAAAvU/BWi2YDD9vck/s1600/same+again.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CqQ0l9D2yJs/Tnquv_OX64I/AAAAAAAAAvU/BWi2YDD9vck/s400/same+again.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Same building, new frock</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iRPco67pbh4/Tnquzz9IH7I/AAAAAAAAAvY/PMgBduNKFX0/s1600/same+building.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iRPco67pbh4/Tnquzz9IH7I/AAAAAAAAAvY/PMgBduNKFX0/s400/same+building.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">....ditto..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of South Australia's state floral emblem: Sturt's desert pea</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonython Hall: one minute a vine-covered castle, then ...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...a pink palace...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...a red fort.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mFMneI--XNk/Tnqvj1BRhKI/AAAAAAAAAvs/rPm6DH0g25I/s1600/more+moon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mFMneI--XNk/Tnqvj1BRhKI/AAAAAAAAAvs/rPm6DH0g25I/s400/more+moon.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The moon cast a sober light on such frivolity </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will this building EVER live down its pink pillars?</td></tr>
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<br />wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-14342954848339220812011-09-22T11:27:00.001+10:002011-09-22T11:31:37.573+10:00Unfamiliar Customs: a light show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/tzVvElyZ1Do?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Unfamiliar Customs is how this light show is described. It throws a large scale image on a traditional sandstone building called Customs House on Sydney's harbour edge.<br />
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It was part of the Vivid Festival, a light show after dark in Sydney's winter, in June 2011.<br />
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During the day, our city buildings went about their business with quiet dignity. At night, they romped, and all without moving from the spot.<br />
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The light animations turned them into surreal cartoons of themselves, and when it was over, the light show left no trace and the buildings denied it ever happened.<br />
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All that remains of this event are the Youtube uploads: take a guided tour of the event with google, it's awesome. <br />
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This my first Youtube upload, so be kind to me.wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-876102667241367052011-08-10T15:32:00.004+10:002011-08-14T10:01:31.531+10:00Bronte surfers<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A winter's day at Bronte beach. A storm out to sea had sent power waves to the shore. </td></tr>
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wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-39663828355530862432011-06-23T13:25:00.006+10:002011-09-02T13:59:39.628+10:00South America for beginners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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A tour to South America, Panama Canal and Cuba requires three things.</div>
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1. A plane </div>
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2. A flight crew</div>
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3. A map:</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">4. Passengers</span><br />
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And, having checked everything is in good working order... </div>
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Let's go!</div>
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wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-65585220809484084292011-06-23T12:01:00.009+10:002011-08-14T09:47:07.651+10:00Buenos Aires (Argentina)<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
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Date: Monday 9 May 2011.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time: 1410 </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">QF 6034</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sydney/Buenos Aires </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Flight time 13hrs 20 minutes. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
BUENOS AIRES...</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There's 220 of us. En masse, we are a force of nature. A fleet of seven sightseeing buses take us on tour, and we see the streets where Buenos Aireans set up house - but not all houses are for the living. We visit the Boca district and its vibrant colours, the sombre tombs of Recoleta Cemetery...and everywhere, there is the tango.</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</div>(Please note: I take responsibility for all photographs, spelling mistakes and opinions.)<br />
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<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Buenos Aires signature dance</span></td></tr>
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<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A professional dog walker</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Boca District</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z7ld27yBXAg/TgKZfU12qPI/AAAAAAAAAf4/w6QqDlAk5iA/s400/colours.JPG" width="400" /></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The story goes that this is what you do with left over paint.</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reRdw-lP9RQ/TgKZmxtSUdI/AAAAAAAAAf8/kUgLFRmEgYM/s1600/cat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-reRdw-lP9RQ/TgKZmxtSUdI/AAAAAAAAAf8/kUgLFRmEgYM/s640/cat.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We stroll along the main street of the Boca District, La Caminto. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Boca District is for tourists. The slums are not...</span></span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;">Seen from the bus window: Mile after mile of Buenos Aires Leggoland slums. They compete for the same air space as the hi rise office towers, but look as if they might blow over with the first brisk breeze. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aVwMKy1aaEo/TgKaa4DQMsI/AAAAAAAAAgc/9fy89_NZxvw/s1600/buenos+aires+slum+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aVwMKy1aaEo/TgKaa4DQMsI/AAAAAAAAAgc/9fy89_NZxvw/s400/buenos+aires+slum+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">People actually live here</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVoism-cxes/TgKan4h8x7I/AAAAAAAAAgo/2qBP8Yh8gB8/s1600/Buenos+wires.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BVoism-cxes/TgKan4h8x7I/AAAAAAAAAgo/2qBP8Yh8gB8/s400/Buenos+wires.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Electricals</span></td></tr>
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Recoleta Cemetery, where we visit the dead of Buenos Aires in their ornate tombs.</div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bxi7enFrZBI/TgKa9VWM05I/AAAAAAAAAgw/eqQ4INnwmgQ/s1600/angel+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bxi7enFrZBI/TgKa9VWM05I/AAAAAAAAAgw/eqQ4INnwmgQ/s400/angel+.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mourning in concrete</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ii1_XHdxas4/TgKm2Q1hZQI/AAAAAAAAAis/LNhHfrcIZ-M/s1600/h+ceme.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ii1_XHdxas4/TgKm2Q1hZQI/AAAAAAAAAis/LNhHfrcIZ-M/s400/h+ceme.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mourning in a rather nice terracotta brick</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-50UlEIhTMDw/TgKm6iFpo4I/AAAAAAAAAiw/hlAVINnlwb0/s1600/h+cemetery+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-50UlEIhTMDw/TgKm6iFpo4I/AAAAAAAAAiw/hlAVINnlwb0/s400/h+cemetery+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I feel these plants are not showing proper respect for the dead</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WxlQN41BJ8I/TgKm_eXpOgI/AAAAAAAAAi0/kTBPtwduIcI/s1600/h+cemetery+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WxlQN41BJ8I/TgKm_eXpOgI/AAAAAAAAAi0/kTBPtwduIcI/s400/h+cemetery+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_3xOf0i00Ik/TgKnDJixtaI/AAAAAAAAAi4/IC0OqQ0Dp8g/s1600/h+cemetery.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_3xOf0i00Ik/TgKnDJixtaI/AAAAAAAAAi4/IC0OqQ0Dp8g/s400/h+cemetery.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMzEy87wV7c/TgKbKCl7__I/AAAAAAAAAg0/Ut7kYibwjJk/s1600/cleaning.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NMzEy87wV7c/TgKbKCl7__I/AAAAAAAAAg0/Ut7kYibwjJk/s400/cleaning.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cleaning day</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjuwQYCr0KE/TgKbPlrxroI/AAAAAAAAAg4/kuAzbA6vFoU/s1600/cross+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjuwQYCr0KE/TgKbPlrxroI/AAAAAAAAAg4/kuAzbA6vFoU/s400/cross+.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T86SywcG9P0/TgKbSgMhjGI/AAAAAAAAAg8/s8U6nkY0LeI/s1600/cross.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T86SywcG9P0/TgKbSgMhjGI/AAAAAAAAAg8/s8U6nkY0LeI/s400/cross.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rVmSh0mQc3g/TgKbWwIj82I/AAAAAAAAAhA/0_YoYgyexaE/s1600/door+tomb.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rVmSh0mQc3g/TgKbWwIj82I/AAAAAAAAAhA/0_YoYgyexaE/s400/door+tomb.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lovely art deco door</span></td></tr>
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</div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Having driven by the cram of Buenos Aires' slums, I feel that the dead in Buenos Aires have a better standard of accommodation than the city's poor. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XASDldbD5VU/TgKbbx8zayI/AAAAAAAAAhE/0YlsvUKSPvQ/s1600/eva.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XASDldbD5VU/TgKbbx8zayI/AAAAAAAAAhE/0YlsvUKSPvQ/s400/eva.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Eva Peron's plaque</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7BIEQEsQSk/TgKbg4_MuHI/AAAAAAAAAhI/p65IiQiDq5c/s1600/flowers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7BIEQEsQSk/TgKbg4_MuHI/AAAAAAAAAhI/p65IiQiDq5c/s400/flowers.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even now, over 50 years after death, Eva's tomb is festooned with flowers</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb8mrUv2oYw/TgKopN4cT_I/AAAAAAAAAjA/RgXWPQ01UaQ/s1600/IMG_5849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb8mrUv2oYw/TgKopN4cT_I/AAAAAAAAAjA/RgXWPQ01UaQ/s400/IMG_5849.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Historic building in pink - I believe Eva lived here</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sLq3gZSg9Ik/TgKo6rN42xI/AAAAAAAAAjE/vIY9u1mR8uM/s1600/IMG_5892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sLq3gZSg9Ik/TgKo6rN42xI/AAAAAAAAAjE/vIY9u1mR8uM/s400/IMG_5892.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0l-j0QlEcrg/TgKbybt4BmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/YCd2q1os4iQ/s1600/electricals+more.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0l-j0QlEcrg/TgKbybt4BmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/YCd2q1os4iQ/s400/electricals+more.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">More electricals</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXkTAPSEhKk/TgKb1og9aII/AAAAAAAAAhQ/KuPNqOObYa0/s1600/electricals+one.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gXkTAPSEhKk/TgKb1og9aII/AAAAAAAAAhQ/KuPNqOObYa0/s400/electricals+one.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Electricals and vegetation</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tg5GjR4JF3w/TgKb6kmD-bI/AAAAAAAAAhU/GoOAChgXFXs/s1600/Buenos+flower+sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tg5GjR4JF3w/TgKb6kmD-bI/AAAAAAAAAhU/GoOAChgXFXs/s320/Buenos+flower+sign.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The sun flower sign</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xItoV-g5Ozc/TgKb_bUaHTI/AAAAAAAAAhY/phBsTaBM6oI/s1600/flower+sun.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xItoV-g5Ozc/TgKb_bUaHTI/AAAAAAAAAhY/phBsTaBM6oI/s400/flower+sun.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Isn't this tops! It opens to the sun and closes at night.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFnaEOuV9pA/TgKcDs4pAcI/AAAAAAAAAhc/jVijagxGVrs/s1600/half+flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fFnaEOuV9pA/TgKcDs4pAcI/AAAAAAAAAhc/jVijagxGVrs/s400/half+flower.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-Mc3G0rTmw/TgKcIPpQpLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/VqiyLbBzW-s/s1600/centre+flower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-Mc3G0rTmw/TgKcIPpQpLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/VqiyLbBzW-s/s400/centre+flower.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Metal stamens</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qFuBQFjMijQ/TgKcNjcul7I/AAAAAAAAAhk/idlbeGIfAvE/s1600/bird.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qFuBQFjMijQ/TgKcNjcul7I/AAAAAAAAAhk/idlbeGIfAvE/s400/bird.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Can you see the bird? It is sitting on the 'engine' at the centre of the flower.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8XhA3nWhdIs/TgKpZy9N5LI/AAAAAAAAAjI/SEtOEukCCKk/s1600/IMG_5904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8XhA3nWhdIs/TgKpZy9N5LI/AAAAAAAAAjI/SEtOEukCCKk/s400/IMG_5904.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The flower is made from the outer metal of a Fokker Friendship. </span></span> </td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We cruise along canals of the Tigre Delta </span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-21CRskjNyb8/TgKct1fC3II/AAAAAAAAAhs/rgEPdSu4FZk/s1600/boat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-21CRskjNyb8/TgKct1fC3II/AAAAAAAAAhs/rgEPdSu4FZk/s320/boat.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Inside our river boat</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DqDS9FXzwP4/TgKcyjmCvuI/AAAAAAAAAhw/B3xIiZUN9jQ/s1600/another+boat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DqDS9FXzwP4/TgKcyjmCvuI/AAAAAAAAAhw/B3xIiZUN9jQ/s320/another+boat.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The Tigre Delta is a waterway of shifting sands. Islands are easily formed and, in an endless cycle, they are just as easily washed away. For those people who have not learned from recent history, a new island is fresh real estate. On this pile of unstable silt, they build holidays homes. Some are shacks, others are mansions, but all are at the mercy of wash from passing ferries (such as ours), and moods of the delta. <br />
If they do not buttress the shores with a stout breakwater, the waterway sucks away the sand, crumbling the shore like wet cake. The house foundations are next, followed by the house itself. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-BOElzXlHM/TgKc3pbh0SI/AAAAAAAAAh0/FP8k4NUAzRA/s1600/broken+home.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-BOElzXlHM/TgKc3pbh0SI/AAAAAAAAAh0/FP8k4NUAzRA/s400/broken+home.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slow mo demolition</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E3W02teZvcE/TgKc7_3jjLI/AAAAAAAAAh4/3TNlfWw8l0E/s1600/corner+shop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E3W02teZvcE/TgKc7_3jjLI/AAAAAAAAAh4/3TNlfWw8l0E/s400/corner+shop.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The corner shop</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TmQmQWenZMg/TgKdCMrLZWI/AAAAAAAAAh8/LElLpZa7Pe8/s1600/fishing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TmQmQWenZMg/TgKdCMrLZWI/AAAAAAAAAh8/LElLpZa7Pe8/s400/fishing.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Check out the industrial strength breakwater. This mansion is here to stay.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yS6xF9zrhf8/TgKdHVMPDiI/AAAAAAAAAiA/jaslicJtiYE/s1600/glass+house.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yS6xF9zrhf8/TgKdHVMPDiI/AAAAAAAAAiA/jaslicJtiYE/s400/glass+house.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Such an ordinary house, such extraordinary protection!</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3CmBrWf_wY/TgKdM2odphI/AAAAAAAAAiE/YBb8v81okb0/s1600/boat+sinking.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V3CmBrWf_wY/TgKdM2odphI/AAAAAAAAAiE/YBb8v81okb0/s400/boat+sinking.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Is it sinking?</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5QFuOHQWucg/TgKniV0kkrI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Rwq_Boss4gw/s1600/hotel+room.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5QFuOHQWucg/TgKniV0kkrI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Rwq_Boss4gw/s320/hotel+room.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our room in Park Tower, Buenos Aires. </span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GZwliC5f9z8/TgKp55ipL6I/AAAAAAAAAjM/ZxQ3x-UgrXM/s1600/IMG_5914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GZwliC5f9z8/TgKp55ipL6I/AAAAAAAAAjM/ZxQ3x-UgrXM/s400/IMG_5914.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hotel foyer</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGNKnToxJog/TgKqGWmBQ2I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/RfjY-uBALCQ/s1600/IMG_5916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGNKnToxJog/TgKqGWmBQ2I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/RfjY-uBALCQ/s400/IMG_5916.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Classy vases</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-47511892111708048632011-06-23T11:17:00.004+10:002011-08-14T09:48:02.322+10:00Iguassu Falls (Brazil)<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wednesday 11 May 2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time 0900</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">QF6034 </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Buenos Aires - Iguassu Falls</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Flight time 1hr 50 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">No time change</span><br />
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Bus transfer to Iguassu Falls, then I am up up and away in the helicopter.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJYSABkSZMA/TgKND9TtZcI/AAAAAAAAAe4/sI2iMFsLfNc/s400/helicopter.JPG" width="400" /></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJYSABkSZMA/TgKND9TtZcI/AAAAAAAAAe4/sI2iMFsLfNc/s1600/helicopter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJYSABkSZMA/TgKND9TtZcI/AAAAAAAAAe4/sI2iMFsLfNc/s1600/helicopter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJYSABkSZMA/TgKND9TtZcI/AAAAAAAAAe4/sI2iMFsLfNc/s1600/helicopter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JJYSABkSZMA/TgKND9TtZcI/AAAAAAAAAe4/sI2iMFsLfNc/s1600/helicopter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwHAdsclptU/TgKNMXQvbkI/AAAAAAAAAe8/hnP7pd5_EeU/s1600/6+iguassu+helicopter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwHAdsclptU/TgKNMXQvbkI/AAAAAAAAAe8/hnP7pd5_EeU/s320/6+iguassu+helicopter.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Only as we take off do I see there is no floor!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGS60HprPyA/TgKNRvuNxkI/AAAAAAAAAfA/8jmk-_RvDdo/s1600/Falls+from+air.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGS60HprPyA/TgKNRvuNxkI/AAAAAAAAAfA/8jmk-_RvDdo/s400/Falls+from+air.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ8Xx4Bcvbs/TgKNjNTselI/AAAAAAAAAfE/_EatzvFH_Ks/s1600/falls+sideways.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ8Xx4Bcvbs/TgKNjNTselI/AAAAAAAAAfE/_EatzvFH_Ks/s400/falls+sideways.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0y_m7QaIo0/TgKNmOwmX8I/AAAAAAAAAfI/vL12cCdPV3A/s1600/falls+three.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B0y_m7QaIo0/TgKNmOwmX8I/AAAAAAAAAfI/vL12cCdPV3A/s400/falls+three.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnBIy8YniXw/TgKNpyZ1HgI/AAAAAAAAAfM/0fjYA3oJdUA/s1600/falls+two.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnBIy8YniXw/TgKNpyZ1HgI/AAAAAAAAAfM/0fjYA3oJdUA/s400/falls+two.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKVLalhyyLA/TgKNtO5Pl9I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/RcLGWJeeENo/s1600/feet+and+falls.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKVLalhyyLA/TgKNtO5Pl9I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/RcLGWJeeENo/s400/feet+and+falls.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Proof I was there: I can produce that very shoe</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uWz1aGyYoBk/TgKN1aSGNlI/AAAAAAAAAfU/MRB3I85aK7U/s1600/falls+one.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uWz1aGyYoBk/TgKN1aSGNlI/AAAAAAAAAfU/MRB3I85aK7U/s400/falls+one.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is a most thrilling walkway over tons of water thundering to the falls' edge. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey1GPWTsLmc/TgKN4TIfWDI/AAAAAAAAAfY/xZHz2o85f6o/s1600/falls+rainbow.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ey1GPWTsLmc/TgKN4TIfWDI/AAAAAAAAAfY/xZHz2o85f6o/s400/falls+rainbow.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This rainbow followed me as I walked along the walkway. Conclusion: I was the pot of gold</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uZG1MZ7bafI/TgKN-rrEeDI/AAAAAAAAAfc/m9mHAVsRieg/s1600/boats+from+air.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uZG1MZ7bafI/TgKN-rrEeDI/AAAAAAAAAfc/m9mHAVsRieg/s400/boats+from+air.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bird's eye view of boats on the river</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tb1WytMX7ns/TgKOCA3hywI/AAAAAAAAAfg/q-FGm0GW_Ns/s1600/butterfly.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tb1WytMX7ns/TgKOCA3hywI/AAAAAAAAAfg/q-FGm0GW_Ns/s400/butterfly.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">These butterflies were everywhere, and so tame. They wanted to come home with me.</span></td></tr>
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Photo below: Computer translation: Sign in Spanish with English subtitles.<br />
And speaking of translation: at dinner in a Buenos Aires restaurant the menu offered tomoto soup with embezzled egg. When we asked the waiter what was an 'embezzled egg', we were told it was a poached egg. 'Poached'. Got it? Stolen. Embezzled. <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzTGcWLihfg/TgKOImx5iHI/AAAAAAAAAfk/YWKzn7xhZfQ/s640/6+Iguassu+sign+post.JPG" width="480" /></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Computer translating Spanish to English.<br />
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</tbody></table>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-80261344890618099732011-06-23T10:42:00.002+10:002011-06-29T14:28:30.122+10:00Rio: watching a plane landing on a very short runway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X_QqNmltF3c/TgKKOZ4BVHI/AAAAAAAAAeU/v-Y7MvefmjA/s1600/a+plane+1+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X_QqNmltF3c/TgKKOZ4BVHI/AAAAAAAAAeU/v-Y7MvefmjA/s400/a+plane+1+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The runway comes into view...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Captured in living colour by your Rio correspondent: a plane landing among mountains, over water, on a very small target: a short runway with no margin for error. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bJinb6sbYBg/TgKKRF_vaOI/AAAAAAAAAeY/0Tzs6lo372A/s1600/a+plane+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bJinb6sbYBg/TgKKRF_vaOI/AAAAAAAAAeY/0Tzs6lo372A/s320/a+plane+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Taking aim...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A-RKJ0n9sEo/TgKKTrdxHII/AAAAAAAAAec/U7WunPKjK4E/s1600/a+plane+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A-RKJ0n9sEo/TgKKTrdxHII/AAAAAAAAAec/U7WunPKjK4E/s400/a+plane+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Screech of tyres as it veers left</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d3NO_RlR8Is/TgKKWJM1WPI/AAAAAAAAAeg/uKL2joU24dc/s1600/a+plane+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d3NO_RlR8Is/TgKKWJM1WPI/AAAAAAAAAeg/uKL2joU24dc/s400/a+plane+4.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">..still on course...</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2wSwglQ903M/TgKKYlLlm4I/AAAAAAAAAek/U30GQjYY4ag/s1600/a+plane+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2wSwglQ903M/TgKKYlLlm4I/AAAAAAAAAek/U30GQjYY4ag/s400/a+plane+5.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">100...50...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7EXmUmODMV0/TgKKbGG_DyI/AAAAAAAAAeo/IaKCqB_CVqQ/s1600/a+plane+6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7EXmUmODMV0/TgKKbGG_DyI/AAAAAAAAAeo/IaKCqB_CVqQ/s400/a+plane+6.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">10!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q90LasBFSxU/TgKKluVdIjI/AAAAAAAAAes/fUkP6bJKWxs/s1600/a+plane+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q90LasBFSxU/TgKKluVdIjI/AAAAAAAAAes/fUkP6bJKWxs/s400/a+plane+7.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hand brake on!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LM51DL4agHc/TgKKoDruDgI/AAAAAAAAAew/L127olkBAPk/s1600/a+plane+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LM51DL4agHc/TgKKoDruDgI/AAAAAAAAAew/L127olkBAPk/s640/a+plane+8.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Full reverse thrust!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8BKhqCa-83M/TgKKugPElAI/AAAAAAAAAe0/djrv-zV3M0c/s1600/a+plane+10.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8BKhqCa-83M/TgKKugPElAI/AAAAAAAAAe0/djrv-zV3M0c/s640/a+plane+10.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-16070743208530235042011-06-22T16:22:00.004+10:002011-06-29T14:44:56.508+10:00Rio's cablecar to Sugarloaf Mountain<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kHpvywesMkY/TgKCeRBH58I/AAAAAAAAAdk/h5vjRDOpTdc/s1600/cablecar+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kHpvywesMkY/TgKCeRBH58I/AAAAAAAAAdk/h5vjRDOpTdc/s200/cablecar+14may.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ground to first landing level</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Iguassu Falls - Rio de Janeiro</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">12 May 2011</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Time: 1800</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Flight time 1 hr 45 mins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkhBZ6fXbCs/TgKCp9GpnPI/AAAAAAAAAdo/FKM1BnkFWfY/s1600/4a+Rio+abseiling+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pkhBZ6fXbCs/TgKCp9GpnPI/AAAAAAAAAdo/FKM1BnkFWfY/s400/4a+Rio+abseiling+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abseiling: if you can't build a favella on it, you climb it.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Evening cablecar ride up Sugarloaf Mountain. It rained.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bAC1eNdzf-Y/TgKC5XXFP6I/AAAAAAAAAds/DvdOHcqNDCY/s1600/cable+sugarloaf+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bAC1eNdzf-Y/TgKC5XXFP6I/AAAAAAAAAds/DvdOHcqNDCY/s400/cable+sugarloaf+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--caXD4SrnYM/TgKDEwaS1iI/AAAAAAAAAdw/_OKdzuMwnTU/s1600/cable+car+view+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--caXD4SrnYM/TgKDEwaS1iI/AAAAAAAAAdw/_OKdzuMwnTU/s400/cable+car+view+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We have lift-off</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w14W02CoevM/TgKDNpeu7lI/AAAAAAAAAd0/wTkKWjUJ0dk/s400/cablecar+view+3+14may.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Sugarloaf</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWoxXcUT7GU/TgKDYEJ6r5I/AAAAAAAAAd4/rTbk9xZZL3U/s1600/4a+Rio+rain+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DWoxXcUT7GU/TgKDYEJ6r5I/AAAAAAAAAd4/rTbk9xZZL3U/s320/4a+Rio+rain+14may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wet Australians on Sugarloaf</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Efvi6bS08wo/TgKEhTV568I/AAAAAAAAAd8/V1N7-SO7RDY/s1600/christ+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Efvi6bS08wo/TgKEhTV568I/AAAAAAAAAd8/V1N7-SO7RDY/s400/christ+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christ the Redeemer seen from Sugarloaf</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5_WtFZWXUY/TgKEjme-3hI/AAAAAAAAAeA/QWljesRjnJA/s1600/christ+at+night+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5_WtFZWXUY/TgKEjme-3hI/AAAAAAAAAeA/QWljesRjnJA/s400/christ+at+night+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A halo of light in the clouds, the Redeemer stands anchored while mists and winds swirl around it ... a steadfast symbol in a restless world...</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7pVCarS3g6I/TgKEmWknW_I/AAAAAAAAAeE/n_1v62685cI/s1600/christ+on+mountain+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7pVCarS3g6I/TgKEmWknW_I/AAAAAAAAAeE/n_1v62685cI/s640/christ+on+mountain+14may.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wpb6m7eGjtI/TgKE7pXyUmI/AAAAAAAAAeI/O-Py7o2BuHw/s1600/clouds+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wpb6m7eGjtI/TgKE7pXyUmI/AAAAAAAAAeI/O-Py7o2BuHw/s320/clouds+14may.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">My camera loved this view. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BJYwu2Nj3fo/TgKFTVWnIBI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Iscv9Liv4XA/s1600/4+Rio+at+night.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BJYwu2Nj3fo/TgKFTVWnIBI/AAAAAAAAAeM/Iscv9Liv4XA/s400/4+Rio+at+night.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This, you have to agree, is my masterpiece. Feel free to leave compliments.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-41440426415156715462011-06-22T16:06:00.009+10:002011-06-29T14:49:34.462+10:00Rio de Janeiro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O8gPI8cBE90/TgF6UmKDpFI/AAAAAAAAAbE/wndDkkUW4Ng/s400/4+Rio+at+night.JPG" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Rio at sunset - setting the scene.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nb_Uva_ZZZo/TgF61A7EgUI/AAAAAAAAAbI/6V68p4iMNQw/s1600/4a+Copacabana+sand+castle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nb_Uva_ZZZo/TgF61A7EgUI/AAAAAAAAAbI/6V68p4iMNQw/s320/4a+Copacabana+sand+castle.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sandcastles</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mi1KTZCMuk/TgF67p96K_I/AAAAAAAAAbM/YQo5KM47oj0/s1600/4a+Rio+view+from+hotel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_mi1KTZCMuk/TgF67p96K_I/AAAAAAAAAbM/YQo5KM47oj0/s320/4a+Rio+view+from+hotel.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copacabana - view from our hotel window</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCkjsIlWvbA/TgF7DfcEENI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/eRbkxKrfzKY/s1600/4a+Rio+hotel+pool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCkjsIlWvbA/TgF7DfcEENI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/eRbkxKrfzKY/s320/4a+Rio+hotel+pool.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hotel pool</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYWBRf1c4zo/TgF7Q56_fWI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7mVktwznyLE/s1600/beach+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYWBRf1c4zo/TgF7Q56_fWI/AAAAAAAAAbU/7mVktwznyLE/s400/beach+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copacabana in the distance</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEu5h9K4U9E/TgF7U-iMz9I/AAAAAAAAAbY/hjm0voAL9kw/s1600/beach+game+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YEu5h9K4U9E/TgF7U-iMz9I/AAAAAAAAAbY/hjm0voAL9kw/s320/beach+game+14may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copacabana close up</span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wf8mBUTzSZo/TgF7Xq0UWxI/AAAAAAAAAbc/wp1FWxuRrAQ/s1600/beach+ipanema+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wf8mBUTzSZo/TgF7Xq0UWxI/AAAAAAAAAbc/wp1FWxuRrAQ/s400/beach+ipanema+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ipanema</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-diLayuHsWTk/TgKhxsFtwLI/AAAAAAAAAio/S0pYd-vzRS8/s1600/Brazil+souvenirs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-diLayuHsWTk/TgKhxsFtwLI/AAAAAAAAAio/S0pYd-vzRS8/s320/Brazil+souvenirs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98uaJyok-xU/TgF7j5PTfII/AAAAAAAAAbg/MH-mibLx36c/s1600/concrete+church.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98uaJyok-xU/TgF7j5PTfII/AAAAAAAAAbg/MH-mibLx36c/s400/concrete+church.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Catedral Metropolitana: completed in 1976. It is 83 metres high.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8n3ZH9wbI3E/TgF7tWfUASI/AAAAAAAAAbk/RFDo5Cg47XU/s1600/1+Rio+church.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8n3ZH9wbI3E/TgF7tWfUASI/AAAAAAAAAbk/RFDo5Cg47XU/s400/1+Rio+church.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cathedral interior</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xXwh9tN4J0/TgF7yLtMCpI/AAAAAAAAAbo/6J0NxwMWZ9E/s1600/2+Rio+church.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xXwh9tN4J0/TgF7yLtMCpI/AAAAAAAAAbo/6J0NxwMWZ9E/s640/2+Rio+church.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Truly awesome</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bv3vFrxTfR8/TgF71pZatPI/AAAAAAAAAbs/xGT39MuZVN8/s1600/2a+church+roof.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bv3vFrxTfR8/TgF71pZatPI/AAAAAAAAAbs/xGT39MuZVN8/s400/2a+church+roof.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cathedral ceiling</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l50mHt3FhYA/TgF77r2NOcI/AAAAAAAAAbw/iGvZIdjQ-Jc/s1600/bird+in+hand.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l50mHt3FhYA/TgF77r2NOcI/AAAAAAAAAbw/iGvZIdjQ-Jc/s400/bird+in+hand.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7S6Oq6smULs/TgF8GmiEfLI/AAAAAAAAAb0/4r3r7StnhxY/s1600/3+Rio+Churrascaria.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7S6Oq6smULs/TgF8GmiEfLI/AAAAAAAAAb0/4r3r7StnhxY/s320/3+Rio+Churrascaria.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brazilian Churrascaria-style meat on skewers</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z4WlwI1j-ic/TgF8JMEvjVI/AAAAAAAAAb4/zjg1tdNbOZ0/s1600/3a+plates.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z4WlwI1j-ic/TgF8JMEvjVI/AAAAAAAAAb4/zjg1tdNbOZ0/s320/3a+plates.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfphz6poIvA/TgF8Xfu3v9I/AAAAAAAAAb8/JeXxNaTxdTk/s1600/cobblestone+road.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfphz6poIvA/TgF8Xfu3v9I/AAAAAAAAAb8/JeXxNaTxdTk/s320/cobblestone+road.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The cobblestone road up to Christ the Redeemer</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfphz6poIvA/TgF8Xfu3v9I/AAAAAAAAAb8/JeXxNaTxdTk/s1600/cobblestone+road.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ybORyP6rx8/TgF8plvcx9I/AAAAAAAAAcA/mir-S-y157k/s1600/christ+one.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ybORyP6rx8/TgF8plvcx9I/AAAAAAAAAcA/mir-S-y157k/s320/christ+one.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Himself</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wWG7C2rFZsA/TgF8r8MjTiI/AAAAAAAAAcE/txqU0Lx8RgI/s1600/christ+three.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wWG7C2rFZsA/TgF8r8MjTiI/AAAAAAAAAcE/txqU0Lx8RgI/s400/christ+three.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">fading...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8pQySocQDXc/TgF8uGC2lqI/AAAAAAAAAcI/pK6t73Zvzyk/s1600/christ+two.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8pQySocQDXc/TgF8uGC2lqI/AAAAAAAAAcI/pK6t73Zvzyk/s400/christ+two.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">...fading...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_KDZOu5hCk/TgF84osgP1I/AAAAAAAAAcM/ikuzb_JwZbk/s1600/face+one.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I_KDZOu5hCk/TgF84osgP1I/AAAAAAAAAcM/ikuzb_JwZbk/s400/face+one.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The face and hands, very art deco, were made in France in 1931</span></span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-weRlcjWcjqE/TgF8-PLXY7I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/dVQPRK0SYco/s1600/face+two.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-weRlcjWcjqE/TgF8-PLXY7I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/dVQPRK0SYco/s320/face+two.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lT7UGO9kgvY/TgF9F20GAYI/AAAAAAAAAcU/8RHt9_CtSng/s1600/fold+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lT7UGO9kgvY/TgF9F20GAYI/AAAAAAAAAcU/8RHt9_CtSng/s320/fold+.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp8sUSI2qE4/TgF9IIT4qUI/AAAAAAAAAcY/VnlygSj1azU/s1600/hand+of+god.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bp8sUSI2qE4/TgF9IIT4qUI/AAAAAAAAAcY/VnlygSj1azU/s320/hand+of+god.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">We visit a favella, a hillside shanty town. There are 1,200 favellas in Rio. In general, the affluent live on the low lying areas, and the poor cling to the sides of its many mountains. Brazil has 190 million people, and 80 per cent are designated poor, 15 per cent somewhere in the middle, and 5 per cent rich. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The favella offers low rents, lots of stairs and a great view of Rio. It also nurtures crime, drugs being the specialty. However the government </span>is trying to change this. It offers a trade-off: ditch the drugs, and it will install water, electricity and satellite dishes. </div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We visited a favella with all three.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eu_3b929WoE/TgKgG1oloYI/AAAAAAAAAiU/AN7SdiaDFzk/s1600/favella.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eu_3b929WoE/TgKgG1oloYI/AAAAAAAAAiU/AN7SdiaDFzk/s400/favella.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></div><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rSHt9pKh1R0/TgF9wB6DIuI/AAAAAAAAAcc/9FANxKfnhLE/s1600/favella+motif.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rSHt9pKh1R0/TgF9wB6DIuI/AAAAAAAAAcc/9FANxKfnhLE/s400/favella+motif.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Favella motif</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AUSA81pMDo/TgF92lqTV0I/AAAAAAAAAcg/2G5b4yc20tI/s1600/favella+history.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8AUSA81pMDo/TgF92lqTV0I/AAAAAAAAAcg/2G5b4yc20tI/s320/favella+history.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1u9ECtwjWv8/TgF-Fho2LsI/AAAAAAAAAck/E6RFjF9l9HI/s1600/favella+3+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1u9ECtwjWv8/TgF-Fho2LsI/AAAAAAAAAck/E6RFjF9l9HI/s400/favella+3+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Favella colours</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HJy1LCcMOc/TgF-Jq8OOwI/AAAAAAAAAco/tQolo6c2sjA/s1600/favella+4+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1HJy1LCcMOc/TgF-Jq8OOwI/AAAAAAAAAco/tQolo6c2sjA/s400/favella+4+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PjhlkE9vouw/TgF-NvtcgOI/AAAAAAAAAcs/vJjJgb8pgKc/s1600/favella+5+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PjhlkE9vouw/TgF-NvtcgOI/AAAAAAAAAcs/vJjJgb8pgKc/s400/favella+5+14may.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTr-7LZxwYg/TgF-RaGxKmI/AAAAAAAAAcw/MR-axUuPiXg/s1600/favella+clothes+line+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GTr-7LZxwYg/TgF-RaGxKmI/AAAAAAAAAcw/MR-axUuPiXg/s640/favella+clothes+line+14may.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stcmQDjMW7U/TgF-VimEY2I/AAAAAAAAAc0/1TQseGmGYHg/s1600/favella+colours+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-stcmQDjMW7U/TgF-VimEY2I/AAAAAAAAAc0/1TQseGmGYHg/s640/favella+colours+14may.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Electricals</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsrJKQv6kMM/TgF-ZfzsYyI/AAAAAAAAAc4/uu4eMUDaJBQ/s1600/favella+door+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsrJKQv6kMM/TgF-ZfzsYyI/AAAAAAAAAc4/uu4eMUDaJBQ/s320/favella+door+14may.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSNIjj12wZQ/TgF-nFtRPYI/AAAAAAAAAc8/ndUFrOMSTc4/s1600/favella+looking+up+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSNIjj12wZQ/TgF-nFtRPYI/AAAAAAAAAc8/ndUFrOMSTc4/s400/favella+looking+up+14may.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wAagR-Vv1Ww/TgF-6q475HI/AAAAAAAAAdA/8KDJPt0NBa4/s1600/favella+open+space+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wAagR-Vv1Ww/TgF-6q475HI/AAAAAAAAAdA/8KDJPt0NBa4/s320/favella+open+space+14may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Michael Jackson visited this favella. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdl4b458_d0/TgF-_2CNshI/AAAAAAAAAdE/hgdm9U3TRYM/s1600/favella+road+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rdl4b458_d0/TgF-_2CNshI/AAAAAAAAAdE/hgdm9U3TRYM/s640/favella+road+14may.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Narrow passageways are the main thoroughfare</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wF7655fsCSI/TgF_FGItSdI/AAAAAAAAAdI/ZMCdEKbIjZM/s1600/favella+rooftop.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wF7655fsCSI/TgF_FGItSdI/AAAAAAAAAdI/ZMCdEKbIjZM/s400/favella+rooftop.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJJj1Y44HBI/TgF_JAE-ZkI/AAAAAAAAAdM/Y9Vy5EwNUps/s1600/favella+rooftops+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJJj1Y44HBI/TgF_JAE-ZkI/AAAAAAAAAdM/Y9Vy5EwNUps/s400/favella+rooftops+14may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E172IHRkBMY/TgF_NH3zA7I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/YJ61xQetUQg/s1600/favella+security.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E172IHRkBMY/TgF_NH3zA7I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/YJ61xQetUQg/s200/favella+security.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Favella security</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2RL3VjEOP8/TgF_PwJeojI/AAAAAAAAAdU/K7oOKZ6J-2A/s1600/favella+views.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2RL3VjEOP8/TgF_PwJeojI/AAAAAAAAAdU/K7oOKZ6J-2A/s400/favella+views.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Views from the favella</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Skp7ZB7Fv6E/TgF_TXTlCsI/AAAAAAAAAdY/gIzHJGFJZnY/s1600/favella+wiring+2+14may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Skp7ZB7Fv6E/TgF_TXTlCsI/AAAAAAAAAdY/gIzHJGFJZnY/s400/favella+wiring+2+14may.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">more electricals</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F_MucFkofuU/TgKfTg_iCcI/AAAAAAAAAiM/WBBwPpizyL0/s1600/feathers+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F_MucFkofuU/TgKfTg_iCcI/AAAAAAAAAiM/WBBwPpizyL0/s320/feathers+15may.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Cabin crew</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEcAIoBeT8s/TgKfXdGX_iI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/Ar1UzjeoJes/s1600/glitz+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KEcAIoBeT8s/TgKfXdGX_iI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/Ar1UzjeoJes/s320/glitz+15may.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"></div>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794897479830506878.post-40263105734613749682011-06-21T17:04:00.005+10:002011-06-29T14:50:36.833+10:00Manaus<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rio de Janeiro - Manaus</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">15 May 2011</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Time: 1100</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Flight time: 3 hrs 50 mins</span></div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our buses take us to Manaus, a city<br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">in the middle of the jungle. Manaus is 1,600km inland up the Amazon and is only accessible by air or by river. </span></div><br />
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<img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFpxH1JC5UM/TgAzSZ9j6fI/AAAAAAAAAZk/XS3A57dbazM/s400/5+manaus+opera+hse+2+15may+.JPG" width="300" /><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Manaus Opera House constructed by rubber barons.</span></td><td><br />
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</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-3evwujeYU/TgAzhRsRjQI/AAAAAAAAAZo/8yKnas_yVE4/s1600/5b+operahse+reflection+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n-3evwujeYU/TgAzhRsRjQI/AAAAAAAAAZo/8yKnas_yVE4/s400/5b+operahse+reflection+15may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">On reflection ...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lDgjVVegsbs/TgAzkWiYKPI/AAAAAAAAAZs/0wThKFSItFk/s1600/5c+manaus+operahs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lDgjVVegsbs/TgAzkWiYKPI/AAAAAAAAAZs/0wThKFSItFk/s320/5c+manaus+operahs.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NFZ7tFnyeeE/TgAzsvdlMOI/AAAAAAAAAZw/SaUiiS9tLQQ/s1600/5a+manaus+opera+hse+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NFZ7tFnyeeE/TgAzsvdlMOI/AAAAAAAAAZw/SaUiiS9tLQQ/s640/5a+manaus+opera+hse+15may.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Inside the opera house</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7VPFnvQiks/TgAzz_GIljI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/g10lTD5JjV4/s1600/cherups+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z7VPFnvQiks/TgAzz_GIljI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/g10lTD5JjV4/s320/cherups+15may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Every opera House should have cherubs</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LdtjwpL3PE/TgA0AO_3llI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/OvFsw3tWFPA/s1600/amazon+captn+choice+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4LdtjwpL3PE/TgA0AO_3llI/AAAAAAAAAZ4/OvFsw3tWFPA/s400/amazon+captn+choice+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our Amazon River Boat</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EPo5FSLdqAc/TgA0Fyr-_9I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/2gnYKsM23OQ/s1600/amazon+boat+details+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EPo5FSLdqAc/TgA0Fyr-_9I/AAAAAAAAAZ8/2gnYKsM23OQ/s320/amazon+boat+details+16may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our river cruiser contact details</span></td></tr>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Along the Amazon shores</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--kAB2Egw3Ho/TgA0hPtqJQI/AAAAAAAAAaE/IpePLIW9f5U/s1600/amazon+favella+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--kAB2Egw3Ho/TgA0hPtqJQI/AAAAAAAAAaE/IpePLIW9f5U/s400/amazon+favella+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Slums on stilts</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-35grHUemojQ/TgA0wb-L6jI/AAAAAAAAAaI/hz-SmvIXHlE/s1600/amazon+loo+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-35grHUemojQ/TgA0wb-L6jI/AAAAAAAAAaI/hz-SmvIXHlE/s400/amazon+loo+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The dunny out the back</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ymgxTo52DI4/TgA02jvSogI/AAAAAAAAAaM/UJQ1ZlnJcIs/s1600/amazon+onlooker+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ymgxTo52DI4/TgA02jvSogI/AAAAAAAAAaM/UJQ1ZlnJcIs/s320/amazon+onlooker+16may.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Washing day</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOuvCejvoK0/TgA06TrwTAI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4zjau-L900U/s1600/amazon+rio+negro+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOuvCejvoK0/TgA06TrwTAI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/4zjau-L900U/s400/amazon+rio+negro+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Meeting of the waters, where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon</span></td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The floating world </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrOOhhZzXyk/TgKg1b9Rf7I/AAAAAAAAAiY/17YWWBtq-cA/s1600/a+petrol+barge+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrOOhhZzXyk/TgKg1b9Rf7I/AAAAAAAAAiY/17YWWBtq-cA/s400/a+petrol+barge+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lypyPxWWJLs/TgKg6YwXYFI/AAAAAAAAAic/BbW2FOx0I6Q/s1600/a+stairway+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lypyPxWWJLs/TgKg6YwXYFI/AAAAAAAAAic/BbW2FOx0I6Q/s400/a+stairway+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKp-2lUgLIY/TgKg_iLHooI/AAAAAAAAAig/XLLNYpM0JPc/s1600/a+washing+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iKp-2lUgLIY/TgKg_iLHooI/AAAAAAAAAig/XLLNYpM0JPc/s400/a+washing+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YZB0MvSkj8/TgA2QrQP-rI/AAAAAAAAAaY/PLPGnJQ498Y/s1600/amazon+waterfronts+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YZB0MvSkj8/TgA2QrQP-rI/AAAAAAAAAaY/PLPGnJQ498Y/s400/amazon+waterfronts+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rK4u8b4AwfY/TgA2UcjOqyI/AAAAAAAAAac/QOHIqKlnBmc/s1600/boat+again+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rK4u8b4AwfY/TgA2UcjOqyI/AAAAAAAAAac/QOHIqKlnBmc/s400/boat+again+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5UB9OVB5hc/TgA2ZK7L-GI/AAAAAAAAAag/lW56qCDm5L8/s1600/boat+building+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X5UB9OVB5hc/TgA2ZK7L-GI/AAAAAAAAAag/lW56qCDm5L8/s400/boat+building+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lx7TPQqKq70/TgA2dvM4p4I/AAAAAAAAAak/9GAJXCx3Zh8/s1600/boat+rusty+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lx7TPQqKq70/TgA2dvM4p4I/AAAAAAAAAak/9GAJXCx3Zh8/s400/boat+rusty+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--AU8JiY4N7w/TgA2iIjtSoI/AAAAAAAAAao/e8LN0qR-9Ro/s1600/boats+5+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--AU8JiY4N7w/TgA2iIjtSoI/AAAAAAAAAao/e8LN0qR-9Ro/s400/boats+5+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X9KzzPN0Z-I/TgA2mxEEpAI/AAAAAAAAAas/D4uR1OAczMQ/s1600/boats+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X9KzzPN0Z-I/TgA2mxEEpAI/AAAAAAAAAas/D4uR1OAczMQ/s400/boats+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IY54PZMrnH8/TgA2p7BmCTI/AAAAAAAAAaw/Ls5FCDVI9UM/s1600/bridge+over+amazon+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IY54PZMrnH8/TgA2p7BmCTI/AAAAAAAAAaw/Ls5FCDVI9UM/s400/bridge+over+amazon+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A long long bridge over the Amazon, not yet complete</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywyxV0FfyOw/TgA2x1iBCDI/AAAAAAAAAa0/bEVl_0-ccVs/s1600/amazon+small+boat+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ywyxV0FfyOw/TgA2x1iBCDI/AAAAAAAAAa0/bEVl_0-ccVs/s400/amazon+small+boat+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P8elrzSJhoE/TgA24V07wvI/AAAAAAAAAa4/hPDfDZJqY8Y/s1600/amazon+lily+pads+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P8elrzSJhoE/TgA24V07wvI/AAAAAAAAAa4/hPDfDZJqY8Y/s400/amazon+lily+pads+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">These are the biggest lily pads in the world</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0tyzk9RA-Us/TgA291TNltI/AAAAAAAAAa8/9XlH_gojxGw/s1600/amazon+under+lily+pad+16may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0tyzk9RA-Us/TgA291TNltI/AAAAAAAAAa8/9XlH_gojxGw/s400/amazon+under+lily+pad+16may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">They are also the prickliest.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MFXdtEzup8A/TgA3C8oONfI/AAAAAAAAAbA/dxqIJRDIgFE/s1600/hotel+hallway+15may.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MFXdtEzup8A/TgA3C8oONfI/AAAAAAAAAbA/dxqIJRDIgFE/s400/hotel+hallway+15may.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Tropical Hotel, Manaus. Its corridors stretch to a vanishing point.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>wandagirl21http://www.blogger.com/profile/03910757942899118340noreply@blogger.com0