The Magical Kingdom Here On Earth

We went to visit the royal palace and center of religion for the country. Now I have been to some pretty spectacular royal settings: The commanding grounds and palace of Versailles, the royal palaces of Vienna, the Vatican, temples of Bali, the forbidden city of China etc. But nothing is like the magic of Thailand. Its royal grounds literally glitter in the sunlight. Everything is gold and silver. Buildings are covered in mosaic mirrors and porcelain tiles. The wealth is displayed in 24 karat gold leafing. The statues are monumental. The architecture is fanciful and beautifully carved in detail. It is like a movie set for Shangri-La. An image of heaven could not be much different from what was created. To be the king of Thailand meant to be surrounded with opulence and luxury. I almost expected this section of the city to be lifted up to the heavens. It is a site to behold,

There are hundreds if not thousands of statues of Buddha all over the city: the reclining Buddha, the standing Buddha, the emerald Buddha the sitting Buddha. But maybe one of the most amazing is the solid gold Buddha cast in the 13 century. When the Burmese were threatening to invade, they covered it in plaster and there it remained forgotten for centuries. It was thought to be old but of little value. Then in 1957 this statue was moved to a new temple. When they were lowering it in place, one of the ropes broke and as it crashed to the floor, part of the plaster fell off revealing what was hidden for all this time, a solid gold statue of the sitting Buddah. It is the single most valuable piece of religious art in the world at least price on its actual raw worth.

Bangkok

It is a big city choked with traffic and pollution. Cars buses scooters and tutus all crowding the city streets. There is a crescendo of horns honking and police yelling out directions. The people on the streets trip over the constant street vendors selling everything from live eels to temple offerings. It is hard to separate the saturation of color and noise from the waffling of smells that permeate this beautiful city. The fragrances are like individual links of a chain that come one right after another. There is no part of the city that does not have a smell. Frying fish, fragrant flowers, barbeque chicken pungent smells from who knows what are all linked together and mixed with whiffs of incense. Temples dot the city and you first come across them from the smell of incense before you lay eyes on their golden roofs of delicately carved wood. Buddhism is the predominate religion with a sprinkling of Hinduism and just a smidgen of Christianity. The dominance of Buddhism makes the city glimmer in gold. Every temple shimmers in the sunlight. The attendants of these ancient shrines are young boys with shaved heads and wrapped in saffron robes. Every young man is expected to serve the church for a period of time. Most serve 18 months. But if you have a good job and are supporting your family, that time can be cut down to 7 days. Offerings are made with carefully arranged flowers and fruit. Devout worshipers carefully take off their shoes and enter with reverence and bow before the huge golden Buddha statues that dominate each temple. The priest blesses the people with holy water and ties a string on their wrist to bring them luck. It is a very inclusive religion. I was standing back watching the priest bless the followers when he looks at me and motions for me to come over to him. I too receive the holy water and the string around my wrist. The parallels with Christianity are not lost on me. They too have commandments that include no lying, no murder, and no adultery, honor your parents and no alcohol. The last commandment seems to be routinely ignored by at least part of the believers. While they don’t have weekly services they go to temple when they feel the need to connect with Buddha. Scripture study is more an individual thing.

The Kingdom of Thailand

My friend Mike calls me up and tells me he wants to go to Thailand in a week. I guess I was the one friend he knew that would always be up for a little adventure. And he was right. We booked our flight and off we went, to explore another part of the world.

Dinner with Elton John in Venice

We had about a week left before everyone had to fly back home. So we went on to ClickAir to see what cheap flights we could find. After checking out flights to Prague, Canary Islands, Milan, the winner for the cheapest fares was Venice. And what a winner it was.

Venice is everything you expect it to be. After a short bus ride from the Airport, we caught the water bus down the grand cannel to get to our hotel. Yeah that is right, instead of busses using roads, they really do use the cannels of Venice. You can buy a 3 day unlimited pass for 20 euro’s. Venice is such a small city that I recognized a lot of the grand palaces built right on the cannel from movies that have used this magical city for its setting. Really there is just one big cannel cutting through the center of Venice with a lot of side cannels feeding off of it. So it is pretty easy to not get too lost. We arrived at our hotel which was just steps from the Rialto Bridge one of only 2 over the main cannel. It proved to be an ideal location. We spent the day taking in the sites and exploring St Mark’s square. This is the big square that is framed by impressive government offices and a spectacular basilica at the far end. It is also the square that frequently floods when the sea is pushed up the gulf by strong winds and raging storms. Fortunately for us, this time of year it stays dry. Towards the far end of the square, they were setting up a huge stage and seating for about 2000 people. The rumors going around was that Elton John would be giving a concert there that evening. So around 7pm we headed back to the plaza and found a nice restaurant to have dinner out on the square. We took our time to eat and were treated to Elton John appearing at about 8:00 on stage at the other end of the plaza. We could hear perfectly and could even see him when we stood up. He sang through his signature songs for the next 2 hours. Wow what a treat and what a way to see this legend in concert. Much better than some stadium event with him just a dot on the stage from the nose bleed seats. No one hurries you through dinner in Europe and a 3-hour meal is the norm. So the waiters were very nice making sure we were taken care of the whole time the concert was going on. Thanks Elton for a wonderful magical evening under the stars of Venice.

And the magic did not end there. The next day we visited the Basilica and governors palace. Beautiful marble structures filled with all the bounty and treasures of a couple of centuries ago when Venice was the richest trading city in Europe.
We also did a “Secret walking tour of Venice”. It was fascinating to hear how this sleepy village was able to transform itself into a powerhouse of Europe. Starting with a simple market and expanding to include trade in spices, fabrics, and exotic handcrafted treasures from all over the western world.

That night we went to our second concert. Held in one of the large palaces we were treated to classical pieces that brought back the sophistication of Venice’s glory days of fine composers performing their works with all the brocade and silk fabrics of the day.

Romans in Spain

Mike Jose and David came to join me for a couple of weeks. Mike and Jose have been to Europe a lot and were well familiar with Barcelona. It was David’s first time. So we spent a couple of days showing him the highlights of this wonderful city. I never get tired of all the things this city has to offer. By now I can get anywhere I want by metro. I love public transportation over here. It works so efficiently and is really so cheap. We decided to take a little sailing trip down south. So off we go to Sitges, a wonderful resort town just south of Barcelona. We spent the day anchored right off of shore enjoying the sun and the warm Mediterranean Sea. It is a fun way to spend the day at the beach without getting sand all over. In the evening we sailed to the port in Sitges and spent the night exploring the cute shops, hanging out and having a wonderful dinner together. It was so much fun, we decided to spend a couple of days there. After soaking in the sun and the local flavor of this quaint village, we headed further south to the town of Tarragona. It is an old town established by the Romans to guard their foothold in this part of Spain. There are still remnants of this foothold the most impressive being a nice sized coliseum. Scattered around are crumbled walls and watchtowers. A lot of the ruins were destroyed during that most uncivil civil war in Spain. It is still worth a visit, which should include a visit to a 14th century church and monastery, the old governing palaces and a gothic area of town.

We spend the night there and sailed back to Sitges the next day. Just a brief overnight stop in Sitges and we were off to Barcelona. But we didn’t stay long.

We Need San Juan’s Day

As you probably have figured out, Spain has more holidays than a dog has fleas. Sometimes I wonder how they get anything done at all over here. The latest is San Juan’s Day. Who would have thought that Saint John the Baptist would have his own holiday? And if you are going to have a holiday named after you, why not make it an all night party on the beach.

I was having dinner with my friend Kevin. We were well aware of this holiday. It comes with an endless supply of fireworks making the 4th of July look like an amateur celebration. Every kid in Barcelona has his own stash of bottle rockets, pinwheels, firecrackers guided missiles and anything else they can get their hands on. So all day long we were treated to a constant attack of loud bangs and shooting rockets. At dinner things started to build. So after a nice plate of local cuisine, we decided to wander down to the beach. You see, this holiday involves an all night party on the beach. And the beaches were packed. What started out as a quilt-work of blankets and candles turned in to shoulder-to-shoulder dancing and partying. It was truly amazing. DJ’s blasting out music and people clustered in groups that fluidly welcomed everyone on the beach for a fun time. And this party doesn’t end until the sun rises over the horizon. With the first rays of day, everyone jumps into the ocean fully clothed. Their sins are washed away and they can start a new year sparkling clean. Thanks John the B. Nice night by a guy that really knows how to throw a party.

I Knew I Was Gay When…

I have a friend visiting me from the Netherlands. It has been fun having him aboard and learning more about his country. We were talking about Christmas traditions and he told me that in the Netherlands, Santa Claus comes in November. He arrives by ship from Spain with Black Pete (a throwback from when the Moors controlled Spain) riding a spotted horse. The Netherlands was once part of Spain. Santa Claus is dressed in the red robes of a bishop complete with the mitered hat. Both Santa Claus and Black Pete go to the schools. Each child’s name is called, and the student stands in front of the class while Santa Claus tells all of the bad things the child has done all year (provided by the teacher of course). If they are really bad, Black Pete who is holding a whip made from tree branches threatens to stuff the child into the bag and take him back to Spain. (And I thought the children of America were terrorized by lumps of coal in their stockings.) On December 6th, Santa Claus leaves presents for all the good children and heads back to Spain.

My friend told me that when he was four years old, Santa Claus gave him an electric train set. He was totally uninterested in it, but took the wrapping paper and proceeded to tape together a paper dress with a very long train. He paraded around the house showing off his wonderful creation. Of course his father was devastated that the only train his little son was interested in was the one following his flowing paper dress. The funny thing is, when he grew up, he developed a strong fetish for black men. He attributes that to his early exposure growing with Black Pete and his whip. He might have been the only child in the class hoping to be thrown in the bag and carried back to Spain by big black muscular Pete.