Edinburgh Elephant House Adventure

The entrance to Elephant House, a cafe just off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the birthplace of the Harry Potter books.

J.K. Rowling inspires me.

I knew she was all right when evangelicals began trying to ban her books in American libraries.

When her wealth began to rival that of the Queen of England, she became the hero of all writers.

The crowd inside the Elephant House. Table 10, Rowling's favorite, is frequently reserved.

We no longer have to apologize for spending long hours in solitude, or for fits of relative poverty. The cost-benefit analysis of our souls has been permanently silenced.

Edinburgh, Scotland is vividly Rowling’s inspiration. The Medieval roots of witchcraft, British class stratification, and the value of experiential education play themselves out daily in this landscape of castles, old trade streets, and universities.

Yours Truly and my friend budding Hungarian writer and translator Bence Molnar.

As the staff will share with you, Rowling never intended on renewing the writer’s relationship to the cafe. Elephant House was the only public place in Edinburgh she could keep her infant daughter from crying.

Children's drawings of elephants near the cafe counter.

Trophy cases in the cafe are arrayed with elephants: cut of onyx, carved of wood, stuffed with cotton. The music in the cafe is typically smooth jazz or bright, classical piano work.

Fan art, scribbled on napkins or bits of paper by children, is posted on a wall with Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling notices just to the left.

The picture windows at the back catch the south east side of Edinburgh Castle. You can also catch a sliver of Greyfriar’s Kirk graveyard.

Settling In at Strathyre's Rosebank House

The entrance to Rosebank House in Strathyre, Scotland

Strathyre’s Rosebank House proprietress Mal Dingle is picking me up in nearby Callander.

She’s 5’8” and hearty, gray hair elegantly fringing her face, delivering the anticipated accent without theatricality or irony.

Will she give into it? After decades of familiarity with Scotland? After leaving for art school in London, finding love and fortune and returning to funnel her life into B and B work mode?

Yours Truly and Mal Dingle

The abbreviated definite articles and the word “wee” emerge from her with sincerity. Her love of Scotland and for looking after people is genuine. She txts me twice as my bus approaches it’s destination. When I disembark, she wants to know how I am “getting on.”

“It is so beautiful up here,” I say, “I can’t stop smiling.”

A view of the River Balvag from Rosebank House

I do not intend to come to Scotland. My international invitations for 2011 include an artist’s colony and English-only dude ranch in Japan, some gay-owned B and Bs in Germany, and a sober, vegan commune off the coast of Vancouver.

Somehow, a guy from the Scottish travel board and a college classmate prevail upon me. Mal invites me to stay in the Forest Suite while her sister, my Facebook friend, is also visiting. The last pieces of the journey come together as I am boarding my flight from SFO.

The banks of the River Balvag

It’s an unusually sunny two weeks. No one can remember the weather being this clear for so long. “Did you bring it with you?” Mal asks.

It is probably a good thing the Scots can only count on a few hours of cloudbreak a day: the sun is brighter up here.

The clarity of the sun, the intense light, generates, to my eye, greater color and detail. I tromp through gorse and under budding rowan in the sun. In the shade, my open hands brush against ferns, mosses, lichens, and mushrooms. My eyes are fully dialated: I’m tripping on nature.

The garden behind Rosebank House in Strathyre

Across from Rosebank, cyclists tour and walkers stroll either side of the River Balvag. Mal’s Mountain Room overlooks both paths.

The Rose Room, Garden Room, and Forest Room (where I am booked) look onto a garden of red azaela and other bedding plants. There is a cast iron picnic area for socializing and a quaint log cabin for solitude.

(above top to bottom)

The spacious Forest Suite, huge key fobs won't get lost while you recreate, a view of the village from the bathroom skylight.

In inclement hours, guests can get close to the elements from the comfort of a glassed in gazebo on the second floor. Alternatively, Rosebankers can tipple a few in the comfy lounge fully distracted by DVDs, television, wi-fi, books, or games.

This weekend, I have the pleasure of meeting two of Mal’s first customers. Roger comes back frequently. It is typical for him to bring three of his pals from Yorkshire. William liked his inital stay at Rosebank so much, he basically moved in, so Mal always has at least one paying guest, like a lucky charm.

There can be a “wee” bit of confusion in the marketplace. Mal reports of at least five B&Bs named Rosebank House here in Scotland. This is the only Rosebank in Strathyre, however, and certainly the only one where Mal’s touch is evident.

The global hugback can be felt in pages of the guest book. I note visitors from South Africa, Florida, The Netherlands, and Japan on a single page. And daily guests from the U.K. are about mingling in the garden, the lounge, or at the breakfast table.

Vegan haggis: not an oxymoron!

My days at Rosebank begin with a breakfast of vegan haggis, toast, juice, fried mushrooms and tomatoes. If the weather holds, I plan a hike up a Munro, Corbett, or a Graham. When it rains, Mal approaches me with suggestions for indoor activity day trips. Perth for shopping, Stirling for history.

My nights are filled with games of Skat, quiet reading, and coffee-fueled chats. Mal says many of their guests become familiar friends. I look forward to my return as one of that number.

Yours Truly in the garden at Rosebank House

The Music of Manchester's Science and Industry Museum

The transport section of Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry

Even without instrumentation, Manchester is filed with music.

In Manchester, I listen to footsteps, empty alleyways, smashed bottles, fist fights and 3 am “good nights.”

The Victorian brick and smokestack look of the city has updated. A skyscraping blue hotel occupies the same footprint a factory once did. Yet, like that factory must have, it hums over your shoulder, wherever you go in the city, extolling the business of the times.

At Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry, one’s ear is constantly stimulated. Sometimes by a steam turbine, sometimes by the rollers and combs of a cotton sliver.

Sometime, one listens to the imagination. What were those conversations like on the world’s first passenger airplane? What does the furnace of a star sound like?

Consider the excitement that build Manchester: the concentration of ideas and innovation. The bicycle chain, purple dye, water-resistant clothing, and synthetic fabrics owe their birth to the tremendous concentration of industrial-era minds that met here.

This small coal-train runs for ten minutes down two stretches of track. Adult rides are 2£.

The challenge for those living during those heady years was to nurture a love of art and culture, to lead a life of moral example, all while being invigorated by wealth and punished by brutalizing conditions.

So it is poignant that, in the relative peace of our time, we may educate ourselves to the everyday music of theirs.

Frequency Hopping in the United Kingdom

My table at Biblocafe in Glasgow, Scotland

I'm in the U.K. and eager to post related to my adventures here. I have a video for Manchester which I will post ASAP.

I have promised posts on Northern Colorado and Arizona also, so I will be folding those in as I journey North and East in Scotland.

******

One challenge I have had in the U.K. is that laptop culture, specifically ubiquitous free Wi-Fi, is a hard sell.

Most people do not want people with computers hanging around their business all day! Don't they have jobs!?

Never mind that simply owning a computer winks to business owners your disposable income level and your education: loiterin' is loiterin'...

Alternatively, desiring Wi-Fi indicates you have deep pockets. So the Bed and Breakfast would like 1/2 the price of a room in exchange for 24 hours of internet access, thank you.

Also, once a Wi-Fi network is "down" do not expect it to be back up any time soon.

An inquiry for when service will be reestablished is met with many people asking other people for guidance and all ultimately returning blank stares.

No one seems to know anyone who dares to turn a modem on and off, is handy with a server, nor do they intend to call a service.

I was listening to the television the other day and heard an ad I thought directed toward an unusually technophobic market, about how "technology gets in the way" of actual living. Surprisingly, it was the Apple advertisement for iPad 2.

Since the iPad will sell briskly here as elsewhere, it struck me that Apple wasn't advertising to technophobes, they are attempting to normalize the product for non-users.

Will handheld electronic owners be emboldened to use their tools in public if non-owners feel they can't still approach their friend in a cafe or on a park bench? If non-owners see a tool for communication and efficiency or a dangerous toy for private advantage?

This issue is resolved by sustained public activity in the United States. Everyone in the coffee shop has a laptop, everyone is online, and everyone is interacting.

Your Mom has a laptop and an e-reader and a smartphone. So does your nephew or niece. Parents go through their children's text messages at the end of the day. Sometimes you sleep with your e-tools or at least keep them by the bed. A couples sits at the same table IMing one another about a distruptive patron or a mutually attractive one.

Blogs, vlogs and social networks don't constitute a new public space so much as they extend the old space (with some growing pains.)

I've been grilled by a few people, starting at customs, about what it means to be identified in part by my internet use.

- What does it mean that I am a "travel blogger."
- Delta Magnet is "a very unusual name" to go by online.
- I will be meeting people I have never met except for on social networks!? (alarm sounds)

"How do you know this man is the right sort of people?" I was challenged by a friend. Just because a man works for the Scottish Tourism Bureau and wants to be my Facebook friend doesn't mean anything, especially if one's true friends you know don't have any connection to him or know the pub you both plan on patronizing!

Fortunately, there have been great partings in the clouds.

I am seated presently in the wonderful Biblocafe across the street from Glasgow's Burbank Bowling lawn. To the east is a pocket park where a quartet of woolly picnicers are lounging in second-hand clothes. The barrista is carrying espressos to their encampment in ceramic mugs.

The Wi-Fi signal here is as strong as the brew. The venue doubles as a used-book store and creative gathering place if you need further inspiration.

At the hostels, the sheer volume of young people visiting from elsewhere make Wi-Fi, for calls and posting photos, an essential.

Elsewhere, I met a wonderful fellow traveler from Brighton who is keen to put me up for a night or two should I choose to cover the South! And I have been assured of e-continuity by my hosts in Strathyre and Edinburgh.

I am breathing a contented sigh of e-relief!

Mile High Capitol Adventure

Folks nicknamed Denver the “Mile High City” due to it’s altitude above sea level.

The portion of Denver that is factually a Mile High may be limited to skyscrapers and clocktowers, but there is an absolute and accurate measure: the State Capitol Building.

My buddy David and I resolved to take a hike to the top.

On the way in, we horsed around in the vast fountains on the mall. David lifted up his shirt to show me his belly and said he needed a new pic for “Hot or Not,” the photo rating site that was popular during the first dot com rush.


I was obliged to pose with one of the Capitol’s stately cannons between my legs. This photo op was so popular we had to wait in line behind a trio of teenagers for our turn.


On our way inside the building, David observed that it was 420 and made the appropriate devotion.

It should be indicated that he was not paranoid about this at all! Nor did it in any way influence the security guards to double check the inside of my backpack!

We stumbled upon a docent led tour and merged.

We learned that all the wood, brass materials, granite and marble in the Capitol had been sourced from inside the state. This was so important to the builders that gifts of more valuable materials were turned away.

Also noted: Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote based only on a technicality. Colorado proposed and passed the legislation first, but Wyoming had their election sooner.

Something I didn’t expect to be introduced to was a series of portraits commemorating the states race variety!

From the capitols establishment during the industrial revolution, Denver paid lip service to the idea of racial unity signified by newly freed slaves, westward and northward migrants, railroad workers of Asian descent, and the still very robust native population building the state together. In context, it's an uneasy collection.


Whereas once one climbed a long rickety spiral of stairs to ascend the Capitol dome, our way was smoothed by a short elevator trip and a pause at a new, dense museum.

The highlight of this was playing Godzilla with a miniature version of the Capitol.


Inside the dome there are attractions upwards, downwards, and outwards.

City Fathers are remembered with stained glass portraits lining a columnar molding above.


In the center of the dome is the dramatic rotunda - not for those with with a fear of heights.


Outside, in every railing, are brass pointers indicating the direction and the highest mountaintops in view.


While some of the northern peaks are now obscured, I found the pointers reassuring.

Early on, the states’ natural beauty was determined to be more worthy of these plaques that what battle happened where or what business was established in what location.

Denver Public Bike Adventure

Denver's citizens made their city green partially by design and partially by necessity.

Wealthy Denverites have been endowing huge tracts of land to the municipality since the gold rush in an attempt to urbanize the wide-open feel of the Rockies.

When I was a child, there was still a working cattle ranch in near range of the state capitol. The foothills were underdeveloped and still quite lush.

By the time I went to high school, a boom in development left Denver struggling for air. Once reknown for its numerous sunny days and abundant oxygen, temperature inversions trapped Denver’s carbon emissions in the metro area. Air quality was second only to Los Angeles in severity.

Help was already on the way. As an air traffic hub with millions in federal dollars, Denver made bold plans to enhance its transit and its airport. It took the green road without looking back.

Today, five light-rail lines extend far into the suburbs. A robust bus line, a mall closed to vehicles, and wide sidewalks help its natives get granular with civic attractions. Denver also boasts more parks per capita than any other city.

The public bike system is a further enhancement. One can rent bikes in a number of convenient, high traffic locations near parks and businesses.

I paid five dollars for a 24 hour membership to see how much of the local character I could take in during one day.

I went from The Denver Post building to Cheeseman Park. I continued through the Speer Boulevard Bike Trail to the Denver University stop off near Larimer Square.

The racks of public bikes are make more striking by their bright red color. Also, every bike has a basket. Perfect for shopping!

This is some of the public art along the Spear Boulevard bike trail. What was once an inconvenient ditch has been transformed into a twisting, elegant trail that takes cyclists from the South East part of Denver into LoDo or Lower Downtown.

File under "This is not a water feature." The trail follows an indigenous whitewater stream the downtown area was constructed around back in the day.

The gardens at Cheeseman Park. There are several bike racks around the park.

The giant clocktower at Arapahoe in LoDo where Denverites ring in their new year!

Larimer Square is a historic preservation district in LoDo with restaurants and shopping.

One of my all time favorite rest-stops at the end of any jounery! The Tattered Cover is a world-reknown independent bookstore with a lovely cafe. This is Jackie's Corner where authors covet the chance to be featured.

Game Day Adventure at Coors Field

It's tough to snag good seats to watch the World Champion San Francisco Giants play baseball in their hometown.

Seeing them Coors Field in Denver is an excellent compromise. Seats just to the left of home plate were absolutely attainable.

The Colorado Rockies franchise is relatively young, only 15 years old. Their design of their expansive stadium has quirky touches appropriate for a team looking to endear themselves.

Wynkopp Street, which leads pedestrians from the heart of LoDo (Lower Downtown) to the stadium, is trimmed with baseball themed sidewalks and an asymmetrical arch which is a tribute to game balls.

Inside the park is another playful touch. A small pond, stocked with mallards, is tucked at the edge of the first base outfield.

When a home run is hit, the scoreboard lights up with the phrase, "Watch Out Ducks!"

Entering Coors Field from Wynkopp Street

Yours truly beside the columns of the ball arch, where various balls from the koosh ball to the croquet ball are commemorated

I'm standing fewer that twenty rows back

Fresh popcorn and fresh lemonade (hold the sugar) are de rigueur vegan ballpark treats

"Watch Out Ducks!": the fountains shoot up every time there is a home run at Coors Field

New Adventures Posting Soon to Frequency Hopper

Yours Truly hugging a caged tree on the 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado

To kick off a summer full of posts, I'm adding the following adventures between now and April 24. Keep checking back!

Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

Game Day Adventure at Coors Field

Denver Public Bike Adventure

Mile High Capitol Adventure

Northern Colorado and the Wyoming Border, U.S.A.

Fort Collins Hot Air Balloon Adventure

Northern Colorado and Wyoming Tiny Town Adventure

Prescott, Arizona, U.S.A.

Iron King and Peavine Trail Hiking Adventure

Sedona, Arizona, U.S.A.

Bell Rock Vortex Hiking Adventure

Sedona Loving Bowls Adventure

Scotland posts begin at the end of this month!

xxoo
Dale

Nightlife Adventures in Denver, Colorado

When I fly into Denver, I usually stay with my Mom just north of here. So staying with a friend in town for a few days and nights is an adult treat.

My pal David is typical of Californians emigrating to Colorado. He used to have a high-powered career and an overpriced home. He now has greater disposable income relative to necessities and a more conservative outlook on healthy living.

David lives in Capitol Hill, walking distance from dozens of brew houses, restaurants, and alternative businesses. He lives with his 15-years-young Pomeranian, Teddy and cultivates a contrarian sense of humor.

Because Teddy is mostly bald, people ask what breed he is when one walks him. David says his breed is “old.”

His computer is programmed to play a riff from “Master of Puppets,” Metallica’s famous drug-addiction song, whenever one of his friends logs onto Facebook.

The vibe in this part of downtown Denver skews younger and more transient than other U.S. cities. There is no rent control. The market is filled with attractive affordable sale apartments. There are lots of alternative businesses.




It is more diverse than the rest of Colorado, where the dominant Mexican-American and Euro-mutt contingents saturate a landscape covered with churches and schools. There are tons of black folks and gays and a small international crowd.

Many of the nightspots in Denver give casual nods to the its Wild West roots. It is not unusual to see cowboys or wagon wheels or beer barrels. Instead of a disco ball, Charlie’s has a pair of mirror paneled shit-kickers hanging over the dance floor.

Athens Adventures Pics

A South view of the arcades of the Odeum of Herodes Atticus

Odeum of Herodes Atticus preparing for a concert. The black bags are filled with cushions for the marble seats. The entire ampitheater is marble.

A Roman bath near the National Gardens. Workers were digging a vent for the subway when they discovered it!

The Temple of Zeus. You can see how the temple's upper structure modeled a fishbone. The columns were stacked up like the vertebra of a spine, which you can see from the one laid out on the ground.

Me at the temple of Athena on the Acropolis grounds.

On one of the rocks overlooking the Odeum of Herodes Atticus

At Boo's Cafe. A gay hangout near my hotel auspiciously bearing my childhood nickname!

The Parthenon. You can see construction cranes. One of the facades is being reconstructed.

The Temple of Athena

A wide view of the Acropolis. Hard to believe this is right in the middle of Athens!

A crowd of tourists roaming the Acropolis.

The Sunday convocation at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The changing of the guard in Sunday dress whites. The weekday garments are brown.