BITS & PIECES OF A MISPLACED LIFE: TRAVEL

NOT ALL PLACES ARE DESIGNED FOR HUMAN COMFORT

“Seattle as I understand it –very little—was not 
a place designed to make you feel comfortable. 
How could we expect that within the magnetic 
field of Starbucks, Boeing, Bill Gates and 
Microsoft, Amazon, and Kindle?  There was, as 
Gary Snyder said, in a book I found in the Pike 
Place Market, danger on peaks. ‘Give up! Give up!’”

Iain Sinclair. American Smoke: Journeys to the
 End of the Light (New York: Faber and Faber Inc. 2013)
**

NOT ALL PLACES ARE DESIGNED FOR HUMAN COMFORT (2)

  “Marlowe telling the desperate story to four 
complacently office-bound  shipping company 
executives in London, explodes with the exasperation 
that Conrad himself must have felt, like most 
travelers to rough places, returning to colleagues 
in a great commercial center and its comfortable 
suburbs: “Here you all are, each moored with two 
good addresses, like a hulk with two anchors, a 
butcher round one corner, a policeman around another, 
excellent appetites, and temperature normal – you 
hear – normal from year’s end to year’s end. His
 bafflement at the stay-at-home’s ignorance of 
the risks and fragility of life is familiar not 
just to travelers who have returned from intemperate 
latitudes but to anyone who has had a close brush 
with death.”

   Edward Hoagland. Balancing Acts

f
**


FLYING FROM IRELAND TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1947 

“Carol Reed, not yet knighted, whom I knew slightly,
 was also on the plane. By the time New York was 
reached, we knew one another pretty well. Hardly
 surprising since the plane took four days to 
reach its destination. We weren’t in the air all 
the time. In fact, we started by motoring to 
Faolkestone, a most unexpected place  from which 
to take off. Then there were unscheduled stops, 
as it was officially put, at Shannon, Gander and 
an island that sounded like Santa Margharita, 
that I’d never heard of before not fortunately 
since, making it one of the most of the will 
it/won’t it flights of that time.”

Kieran Tunney. Tallulah Darling of the Gods. 
(New York:  E.P. Dutton & Co.  1973)
**
THE FOURTH LONGEST RIVER IN AFRICA

The Zambezi River is the fourth-longest river in Africa, 
the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest 
flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage 
basin covers 1,390,000 square kilometres, slightly less 
than half of the Nile's. 
            Wikipedia


ON THE OLD ZAMBESI RIVER (Length: 1,599 mi)

While sailing on the old Zambesi,
I discovered writing verse cd be easy
If the Muses were kind & giving.
Hey! What a way to make a living!


LADY GODIVA’S TOWN

“Everyone has heard  about Coventry, if only because
 in the Middle Ages it originated the ultimate form 
of the strip tease in the naked lady on horseback 
from whom all citizens turned their eyes except 
Peeping Tom, who in punishment was stricken blind. 
The legend is still so alive that the new hotel 
in the shopping center is called the Leofric, 
after the chaste Godiva’s husband, the feudal 
lord of the town.”

Lewis Mumford. The Highway and the City (New York:
A Harvest Book, 1963)
**

Why do people say go to Coventry?
 
Meaning "to deliberately ostracise someone", 
this phrase originates from a 17th century 
English Civil War punishment, when Coventry 
was a Parliamentary stronghold. The king's 
soldiers were so hated that Royalist prisoners 
were sent to Coventry, where it was felt they
 would be ignored.

WHY DO THEY SAY—Internet
**

Why do we say "send someone to Coventry"? |

“To send someone to Coventry is an idiom used in 
England meaning to deliberately ostracize someone.
Typically, this is done by not talking to them,
avoiding their company, and acting as if they 
no longer exist.”

Featured snippet from the web

**

TRAVEL QUESTION #1

Because of its breathtaking views, the motto
of this New Zealand city is "Supreme by Situation."
In 1865 it was, in fact, the capital of New
Zealand. It was named in honor of a famous
English Duke? What city is it?

** 
ON PLANNING A VISIT TO THE VOLCANIC ISLAND
OF LATE (SOUTHWEST OF TONGA)WITH THE AUTHOR
OF THE BLUE STAR (TOM EARLY) AND LOTTE LENYA

Lotte came early,
But Early came too late
To Late for Lotte,
So Lotte left Late & Early.
I am so confused lately
About Late and Early,
I have called the whole trip off.

Louis Phillips

**

ANSWER TO TRAVEL QUESTION:  WELLINGTON
















 
What South American city was once the capital of a European country?
 Rio de Janeiro
   Cancel
You’re probably familiar with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for any number of reasons — Copacabana Beach, Carnaval, Christ the Redeemer — but European capital city likely isn't one of them. Indeed, Brazil was once part of the vast colonial empire of Portugal, and from 1808 to 1820, its capital of Rio de Janeiro also served as the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal. As Napoleon was conquering Europe, he planned to join Spain in an invasion of Portugal and divide up its land, leading to the Peninsula War. For safety against attack, the Portuguese Royal Family moved out of Lisbon and across the Atlantic to their prosperous territory of Brazil, which was protected by British allies. They remained there until 1821, after Napoleon was defeated. After the Royal Family left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil became independent after more than 300 years of colonial rule. Rio de Janeiro served as its capital until 1960, when it was moved to Brasilia.

Source: The Culture Trip | Date Updated: September 17, 2021  WWW. Traveltrivia.com


**

VENICE

“ A traveller can come charging toward a city, hit it at the wrong angle, and bounce off. My feeling about Venice will always remain inextricably related to the fact that throughout my only visit there, which lasted two days, it rained solidly and my one pair of good shoes collapsed from walking on pavement as wet as the canals.”

Anthony Bailey. “Throughout the Great Cities” in The New
Yorker (August 5, 1967)

**
BUENOS AIRES


“Buenos Aires is utterly bizarre, a combination of  Paris and Madrid  shorn of historical depth, with hallucination avenidas
flanked with lime trees, where not even the humble housewife need forgo the architectural aspirations of Marie Antonette.”
 
Bruce Chatwin
**

THREE POINTS CAPE

Forming the southernmost tip of Ghana, Cape Three Points is located between the coastal village of Dixcove and town of Princes Town, Ghana. Cape Three Points is known as the "land nearest nowhere" because it is the land nearest a location in the sea which is at 0 latitude, 0 longitude and 0 altitude (the distance is about 570 km).[1] It marks the western end of the Gulf of Guinea.[2]

WIKIPEDIA

**

A 15 YEAR OLD RUNS AWAY FROM HER AUNT WHO
WAS TRAINING HER FOR A PROSTITUTE’S ROAD

“So she ran away. She borrowed and saved for a ticket home. But the bus driver she landed with, for a ‘prank,’
a cruel and misogynist trick, made a practice of stranding unattached girls at the Hoover Dam. It was under construction in 1931. He would tell them to get out and use the rest room, and drive away. So there she was, at the Arizona-Nevada borderline, without her suitcase, without any money. Fifteen years old. At the diner she couldn’t even pay for her pie. Forced to choose which trailer house full of construction workers she should ask to spend the night in. My father was having coffee, and he told her she’d better trust him – he was better than the rest – and the rest just laughed. So what was she to do? He was a perfect gentleman. But one thing led to another,’ she said.”

 Told by a woman named Claire whom the writer Edward Hoagland met on a train


Edward Hoagland.  Balancing Acts (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992)

**

ARABIA FELIX

    Ma’rib was the Queen of Sheba’s capital nearly three thousand years ago – a burgeoning garden spot and trading center on the spice, myrrh, and frankincense caravan route that wound north from the Gulf of Aden through Mecca and eventually to Gaza on the Mediterranean. It was the largest city in Old South Arabia, or Arabia Felix, “Happy Arabia,” as the region later came to be called…”

Edward Hoagland. Balancing Acts (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992)


(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992)


**

FLYING FROM IRELAND TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1947 

“Carol Reed, not yet knighted, whom I knew slightly, was also on the plane. By the time New York was reached, we knew one another pretty well. Hardly surprising since the plane took four days to reach its destination. We weren’t in the air all the time. In fact, we started by motoring to Faolkestone, a most unexpected place  from which to take off. Then there were unscheduled stops, as it was officially put, at Shannon, Gander and an island that sounded like Santa Margharita, that I’d never heard of before not fortunately since, making it one of the most of the will it/won’t it flights of that time.”



Kieran Tunney. Tallulah Darling of the Gods. (New York:  E.P. Dutton & Co.  1973)





 
What South American city was once the capital of a European country?
 Rio de Janeiro
   Cancel
You’re probably familiar with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for any number of reasons — Copacabana Beach, Carnaval, Christ the Redeemer — but European capital city likely isn't one of them. Indeed, Brazil was once part of the vast colonial empire of Portugal, and from 1808 to 1820, its capital of Rio de Janeiro also served as the capital of the Kingdom of Portugal. As Napoleon was conquering Europe, he planned to join Spain in an invasion of Portugal and divide up its land, leading to the Peninsula War. For safety against attack, the Portuguese Royal Family moved out of Lisbon and across the Atlantic to their prosperous territory of Brazil, which was protected by British allies. They remained there until 1821, after Napoleon was defeated. After the Royal Family left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil became independent after more than 300 years of colonial rule. Rio de Janeiro served as its capital until 1960, when it was moved to Brasilia.

Source: The Culture Trip | Date Updated: September 17, 2021  WWW. Traveltrivia.com


**

VENICE

“ A traveller can come charging toward a city, hit it at the wrong angle, and bounce off. My feeling about Venice will always remain inextricably related to the fact that throughout my only visit there, which lasted two days, it rained solidly and my one pair of good shoes collapsed from walking on pavement as wet as the canals.”

Anthony Bailey. “Throughout the Great Cities” in The New
Yorker (August 5, 1967)

**
BUENOS AIRES

“Buenos Aires is utterly bizarre, a combination of  
Paris and Madrid  shorn of historical depth, with 
hallucination avenidas flanked with lime trees, 
where not even the humble housewife need forgo 
the architectural aspirations of Marie Antonette.”
 
Bruce Chatwin
**
THE LAND NEAREST NOWHERE

Forming the southernmost tip of Ghana, Cape Three 
Points is located between the coastal village of 
Dixcove and town of Princes Town, Ghana. Cape 
Three Points is known as the "land nearest nowhere" 
because it is the land nearest a location in the 
sea which is at 0 latitude, 0 longitude and 0 
altitude (the distance is about 570 km).[1] It 
marks the western end of the Gulf of Guinea.[2]

WIKIPEDIA

**

ARABIA FELIX

    Ma’rib was the Queen of Sheba’s capital nearly
 three thousand years ago – a burgeoning garden 
spot and trading center on the spice, myrrh, and 
frankincense caravan route that wound north from 
the Gulf of Aden through Mecca and eventually to 
Gaza on the Mediterranean. It was the largest city
 in Old South Arabia, or Arabia Felix, “Happy Arabia,”
 as the region later came to be called…”

Edward Hoagland. Balancing Acts (New York: Simon & 
Schuster, 1992)