A few years back I took this picture on the streets of Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. This small ensemble of percussionists was slowly ambling down the street to the rhythm’s staccato beat.

I watched curiously for a bit, but this particular side street was empty of people so there was no one around to ask what was going on.

Due to leave soon on a boat back to Buenos Aires I didn’t think too much more of it until reviewing my photos. Later, at home, I posted the photo on a few travel forums soliciting answers, but I didn’t receive any replies.

I recently received an email from Shirley - answering my question and directing me to the site candombe.com- which explains the art, history, music, dress, and everything else beyond what’s captured in this small group.

From candombe.com:

Candombe (can-dome-bey) is an African derived rhythm that has been an important part of Uruguayan culture for over two hundred years. Uruguay, with a population of approximately 3.2 million, is a small country located in South America, bordered by its two massive neighbors, Brazil (162 million) to the East, and Argentina (34 million) to the West. This rhythm traveled to Uruguay from Africa with black slaves, and is still going strong in the streets, halls and carnivals of this small enchanting country.

Frequently, many drummers assemble onto the streets of Montevideo, playing their drums under the moon lit sky. As these drums move down the narrow streets of Montevideo, doors and windows swing open wide to receive this message that’s being delivered. At intervals the cuerda will pause, and by setting a fire, will heat their drums’ skins for tuning purposes. Pure candombe.

To learn more about this Afro-Uruguayan music, and it’s history and long journey from Africa check out candombe.com. And thanks Shirley for the email!

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Marken is a small fishing village on an island about 23 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. It’s part of the North Holland area called “Waterland,” and connected to the mainland by a 4 km long dike.

It’s an easy day trip by bike, but if you’re riding a single speed made for the city you can expect a bit of work if the winds pick up.

I rode from my apartment in the Jordaan neighborhood down to the Central Station and along the modern waterfront.

Getting a bit lost along the way I passed through the small neighborhood of Zeeburg and over two large bridges (with separate bike paths,) which connects North Holland.

After crossing under the A10 motorway I was officially in the country and followed the signs north while studying farmhouses sitting amid long trenches of water. I stopped for a coffee at the town of Durgerdam (above photo) then proceeded up through Uitdam and on to Kruisbaakweg, the road which sits atop the dike.

Being mid March there wasn’t much activity in Marken except for a local wedding party, but after exploring the nooks and crannies of the town, as well as the small museum and modern library, I settled down for a burger and a couple Amstels at the one open restaurant.

The extremely narrow streets, small houses, and cobblestone walkways reminded me of the island from “The Prisoner.” Thankfully I was allowed to bike home without being consumed by a giant white sphere.

Be seeing you!

More Marken and Waterland photos

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With apologies to Chicago, a city I love, but it takes some time away and a refreshed eye to realize that the cramped corridors, filthy corners, and lackadaisical employees shuffling listlessly about in certain U.S. airports to make me realize that we could do so much better.

In fairness I’m writing this while the agonizing stories of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 are making news, and the U.S. certainly has some newer airports to be proud of as well: Detroit is a wonder to walk through and extremely efficient. Denver, now 13 years old is more crowded than ever but still maintains an airy, open feel and has plenty of room to grow. And many regional airports are a breeze to navigate and showcase local flavor of their area.

However in contrast many of our international gateway airports like Chicago and LAX appear straight out of the Soviet era when compared to the gleaming gems of other ports. (And I haven’t even considered Asia in this.)

After spending a few days solo in Amsterdam I returned to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to pick up my sister and our guide Lili. Fretting about being late as always I arrived early enough in the morning to wander around and explore the facility. Some things that stood out to me:

This great idea. What’s the first errand you need to complete after a long stay away from home? Pick up some perishables of course. Schiphol has a full supermarket, allowing you to stock up your (tiny European) fridge upon return. And an adjacent liquor store too!

Left: In pier three I noticed dual jetways, although not used for our United flight. These were implemented at a few United gates in Denver for a while last year, but abandoned after a rear portion collapsed onto the wing of a plane. For some reason they work here.

Right: Almost ridiculously large signage everywhere. Arrival areas 1, 2, and 3 all exit into the same central hall, with ramps and elevators to the below train station. After clearing passport control departing passengers are treated to an enormous transit lounge with a plethora of restaurants and shops under one roof.

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Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome - but…

Over the weekend I made a pit stop in downtown Gary, Indiana.  I’ve sped over Gary on interstate 90 many times in the past, but never thought to actually look and explore underneath the milky layer of haze and smog that constantly envelopes the city. 

Only 30 miles south of the stellar skyline of Chicago, Gary is a town that the gods of new urbanism and gentrification have failed to smile upon.   Sadly, it has the appearance of a bombed out city that’s been abandoned and sealed off.   And what I find odd is that this isn’t a remote and hard to access town that the interstates have passed by leaving Main Street with no base.  It’s hard to travel through the upper midwest WITHOUT driving through Gary.  Interstate 90 cuts right between downtown and the old steel yards.  You can SEE the city from the highrises of Chicago!

I actually did find a small local populace in the Save-More Food Center at Broadway and 11th.  Two armed guards and the chaos of a refugee camp didn’t deter me from purchasing some batteries for the camera.  While waiting in the check out line it hit me:  The next series of the controversial CBS series “Kid Nation” should be shot in Gary.   The current location is an old ghost town ranch in New Mexico.  This would create a perfect change of location for the second season.  The kids will open up shops, bulldoze the crumbling facades, encourage tourism, develop an economic base, and play “Kid Sim City Gary” to no end.   Who knows - at end perhaps Gary will take an upward turn if managed by a bunch of 5th graders.  I haven’t seen the show, so I have no idea what the actual day to day operations are, but I don’t think they could make Gary, Indiana any worse.

In seriousness it’s a sad place to see, especially knowing that just 30 years ago this proud steel town was a driving and bustling force in the midwest economy.   I found some incredible photos of Gary’s decay at Forbidden-Places.net   They’re both eerie and profound, especially the photos of the theater interior.  A commenter noted that with high Chicago housing prices it could be a boon to revitalize Gary’s core and construct housing and condos for those wanting to live and work near Chicago.

But I doubt it will happen.  Seeing the destruction of New Orleans a year after Katrina I was impressed at how many people, even in the “bad” areas, were out and about engaging in construction and repair of their homes and businesses.  There’s a pride and sense of worth you find in certain communities around the country.  Unfortunately I don’t think Gary has seen that for decades.  In reading stories and articles on Gary what you find is recollections of the city for what is WAS in it’s heyday, and NOT for what it could be in the future.

More pics…

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Returning from my weekend getaway I discovered something I didn’t know: The rest area atop the summit of Vail Pass, (between Vail and Copper Mountain,) is VERY nice! Clean bathrooms, access to hiking trails, and plenty of parking. And in the middle of the summer when it’s 90 in the city, it feels great to stop the car and stretch in crisp 60 degree air.

The second? Well it’s more of an observation than a realization: You really should forego the lemon yellow “Support Our Troops” stickers if you’re going to be driving this, which is hauling this… which is hauling this… I don’t even know what the hell is under that tarp. Perhaps a grill requiring another few barrels of crude? Yeah yeah I’ll shut up. We’re Americans and we have the right to drive whatever the blah blah… Besides I do feel safer now that 10 U.S. troops died on this same Saturday, perhaps taking their last breaths at the exact same time I passed this monstrosity of irony. Fill’er up!

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For my friends and strangers over at misc.transport.road -  some photos of interstate 70 as it winds Glenwood Canyon, Colorado.

I haven’t visited or posted to this group in a while, but there is a usenet board full of folks who are interested in roads, highways, and general infrastructure.  If you’ve ever wondered about arcane topics like font styles on overhead signs, new versus old gantry design, and why highways and freeways are numbered the way they are it’s worth a visit.  And like any good message board there’s plenty of heated arguments and flame wars too.  I’m more into trains and aviation, but it’s very impressive to see the way flyovers and interchanges are designed and put together.  Especially if you’ve ever navigated the 105/110 interchange in south Los Angeles.

Even if you’re not into it, it wouldn’t hurt for more people to go take photos of bridges, airports, and train stations in order to ensure your right to admire and photograph them still exist.  For more info on Glenwood Canyon and the history of interstate 70 check out Mathew Salek’s comprehensive site.

Eastbound

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As mentioned below it was a long week at my desk looking staring through the filthy smeared glass at the sweatshop floor. In between processing our mountains of paperwork my coworker printed some maps and Google Earth photos from one of his favorite campsites. So on Saturday myself, Caleb, and our friend Nas rented a truck and headed up to northern Colorado for a night of camping.

We rented this kick ass Ford extended cab truck. Normally I bike around the city and drive a mid size Saturn as to maintain a practical liberal environmental footprint, but this truck was sweet. Bigger than most cars inside, enough room for our gear in the back, six cup holders, huge mirrors - it was a nice way to cruise around the mountains and valleys. Plus our campsite was down a series of county dirt roads, so it was actually necessary as some were quite muddy.

We headed north on 25 and stopped at the Waffle House in Longmont for breakfast. Nas had never been to a Waffle House, and he was quite impressed, (or frightened,) at the efficiency in which orders are shouted back, eggs are tossed and splattered around, and coffee was filled. A full Waffle House on a Saturday morning is a bit like being backstage before a big musical: a cavalcade of many events and everyone contributing to the final presentation. Which in my case was chicken fried steak and three more cups of coffee. And one to go.

Below: Cameron Pass Lake on highway 14. Dirt roads near Walden.

We hit up the grocery store in Fort Collins my standard camp fare: brats, hotdogs, Sunchips, baked beans, and smores. Caleb had the brilliant idea of packing our cooler with dry ice in addition to the regular ice. This kept the bottom half of the cooler extremely cold, colder than Jupiter I believe, and keeps the ice from melting and turning your cooler into a big box of slush by the end of the day.

We headed west on highway 14 out of Fort Collins and LaPorte, and up through Cameron Pass where we stopped at the Summit for a small walk and swim. Well only Caleb swam. Down the pass and through a brief rainstorm we arrived at the small town of Walden. Walden is the main city in Jackson County, Colorado. Bordering southern Wyoming Jackson County has more in common with Wyoming than the Colorado mountains: wide open plains, fields and farmlands with mountains surrounding the valleys.

I had a few maps printed out with various landmarks on each one. Thanks to the nice lady at Tom’s Liquors she clarified our directions and ensured we were headed in the right direction.

Below: Small lake our campsite overlooked.

Flat Lake, our destination, was already occupied by a few campers, so we continued down some muddy dirt roads, took one turn off, and found this place at the end of our second dirt road where nobody was around for miles. After setting up campsite and gathering some kindling we took a small hike. We didn’t get far since Nas noticed that there were wild strawberries and blueberries growing on the ground! We all had the same idea at once. Our Skyy Vodka would now be “strawberry infused vodka”! We had smores, hot dogs, beer, beer, more smores, and after a few hours of “infusing” we strained our vodka through the coffee press and tasted our handiwork. Perfect drinks, and perfect night.

The next morning we made some toast, pop-tarts, and coffee over the fire, then cleaned up and did our dishes in the lake. We went swimming again and headed back into Walden and had lunch at the Antlers Inn Restaurant. You can’t miss it - Main Street is only five blocks long.

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Having not completed my full trip reports on Munich, Prague, and the Czech region, here’s some various photos of trains and subways. These are the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, and main train station in Munich.

S-Bahn regional train

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View of town from the hill

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Villages between the towns of Ceske Budejovice and Cesky Krumlov, in the southern region of the Czech Republic.

I love how each house had it’s own garden and firewood stacked next to it. Very green and self sufficient!

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During my two weeks in Europe I was surprised at what a cycling city Munich was. My only thoughts of major biking in Europe were of the Netherlands. Munich is truly an advanced biking city: Bike lanes on many major routes, many cyclists amid cars in streets flowing perfectly with traffic, designated bike, walk, and drive signals at many intersections too.

All pedestrians and drivers are accustomed to folks cycling as a normal form of transportation. People whisked by me with German efficiency, with exception to this American accidentally standing or walking in the bike lane on occasion . And when I was in the way a polite ring of a bell sufficed just fine.

Here’s some random commuter bike photos I snapped. And look at these sexy fenders!

Basket and sleek fenders!

At the central train station

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Some eye candy from my most recent ski day. After spending the night in Breckenridge we skied at Arapahoe Basin, a smaller resort just a few miles from Keystone.

Although mostly intermediate and expert runs, A-Basin CAN be a good place to practice on it’s limited easy terrain and bunny hill. It’s smaller size and easy parking means it’s easy to separate and meet up, or picnic slopeside without meandering through mazes of outdoor shops and condos just to get to the lift. This trip I took advantage of A-Basin’s manageable size to give snowboarding try. Having skied for 12 years I never had any interest in boarding, but after a few runs down the bunny hill I got a good feel for it, and a sore wrist and tailbone.

Yes I give A-Basin two thumbs up. More pics below:

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Here’s some photos my mom took during her trip on the California Zephyr, en route from Chicago to Denver.   Surprisingly she arrived in Denver on time, and using Amtrak actually was a benefit as the Denver airport was closed during our huge blizzard (see December 20th post)

Returning a few days later was a challenge, as yet another blizzard hit the midwest and she found it slow going through Nebraska and Iowa.  24 hours late?  Still better than taking a covered wagon in December I guess.

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Copper Mountain is an excellent “mini mega resort”. It’s not quite as overwhelming as Breckenridge or Vail, but large enough that you can spend a few days there with friends and family and have enough variety to suit all levels. The east side of the mountain has mostly intermediate and advanced runs, while the west side has more beginner easy grade heavily tree lined runs.

For a while the only nightlife Copper offered was a few scant restaurants, which necessitated a drive to nearby Breckenridge. Now however there’s plenty of shops, restaurants, and a brewery. I’ve stayed overnight at Copper three times over the past few years and have been satisfied every time.

The on site condos are classified as “bronze”, “silver”, and “gold”, in relation to their proximity to the lifts. The closest “golf” buildings share a large hidden underground parking facility, and are only a few hundred feet from the lifts. If lodging for the night all visitors will be given access to the fitness center, a beautiful granite building housing a spa, weight room, pools, hot tubs, and steam rooms.

Copper Mountain’s official website is www.coppercolorado.com When planning an overnight ski trip from Denver I always see what specials are available.

Also the Summit Stage free bus runs to Breckenridge, so your non-skier friends can head there for the day. More pics below

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Random photos from a few rainy days in the quarter…

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