踏上上海 - Stepping out in Shanghai

What a mix of old and new…On one side of the Huangpu River are the colonial buildings

Protective dragon

that mark Shanghai as a world banking center since the 1930s. On the other side are new high rise office and apartment buildings rivaling any city with a vision of the future. Touring this city may have been my favorite part of the trip.

Går rundt Copenhagen del en

We left Dallas at about 5:00 PM and arrived in Copenhagen at about 1:00 PM the next day.

Absalon on horseback

Since we’d spent 13+ hours traveling, the first thing we did after getting settled in our hotel was to go exploring. And we found that Copenhagen is the most confusing city to get around in. Dave is usually really good about map-reading and finding what we're looking for, but we were lost more than we were found. This is because the streets start and stop, then begin again in unrelated places – or at least that was our reasoning for our confusion. We did finally find the Tourist Information center and got our Copenhagen Card (museum passes), along with a better map; it was more detailed and prettier (okay, maybe not actually a better map). Thank goodness there were lots of folks around who spoke English and didn’t mind tourists asking for directions, or at least to point out our current location on our map.

Flitting around Fort Worth

Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center and Conservatory

In the early part of the spring, when we had a break from the nearly daily rain that has fallen in North Texas this year, Dave and I decided that we wanted to see the newly re-opened Conservatory at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. This 110 acre garden located is in a pretty part of the city, near the Trinity River, the Fort Worth Zoo, and the Will Rogers Complex. The oldest botanic garden in Texas, it was established in 1934 and has about 2,500 species of native and exotic plants in its 22 specialty gardens. The Conservatory houses the ‘tropical plants’ that can’t stand the vagaries of Texas weather.

Application was made to the National Register of Historic Places and can be viewed online. It is an interesting, if extensive document, in that it gives the history and physical structure of

Red veined bracts

all the small gardens within the Botanic Garden. I actually downloaded this document and have read much of it for background for this blog. The Garden was entered into the National Register on January 29, 2009. The rose garden, constructed in 1933, is cited as ‘one of four excellent examples of the classic period of the municipal rose garden, an era from 1927 to 1937’. Its formal style was influenced by Italian and French formal gardens of the 16th through the 18th centuries. The other historic parts of the garden are the Rock Springs area, the vistas and adjacent woods, the horseshoe and the original Garden Center building and greenhouse. Construction of the public rose garden and other parts of the garden was unusual because approximately 750 artisans and laborers were hired through relief programs of Herbert Hoover's administration and Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Construction was expected to take years. With the Reconstruction Finance Corp. labor force, the garden was finished in nine months. The Botanic Garden is a great place to wander around in a fairly natural setting – they have omitted the poison ivy and undergrowth of a completely natural Texas woodland. We’re looking forward to going back to visit the Japanese Garden and to see some of the other smaller gardens.

There are plenty of things to see and do in Fort Worth, as well as lots of places to grab a snack! For information about my rating system, see Reading the Reviews.

What we did:

Four carrots

Fort Worth Botanic Garden (3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas, 817-392-

White flowering plant

5510) is open daily. An admission fee is charged for the Conservatory and Japanese Garden; the other gardens are free. There is plenty of free parking.

What we ate:

Three and one-half carrots

The Gardens Restaurant (3220 Rock Springs Road, Fort Worth, TX 76107, 817-731 – 2547) is a pretty little place with seating both indoors and out. The day we were there, it was full outside but seating was available inside. They were also hosting a luncheon of some 

Left T to B: Gardens menu, Reuben sandwich
Right: Apricot chicken sandwicn 

sort in one of the private rooms. This made service horribly slow; apparently there were only two waitresses. It was also irritating to see the chef sitting at a table next to us talking at length with a colleague when the servers were so obviously rushed off their feet; adding insult to injury was another person who seemed to be drifting around aimlessly, neither cleaning tables nor taking orders. We were finally told by the hostess that even she had been called in to help with seating, since they had not expected such a rush. We were still irritated by the time our food arrived, which made it difficult to enjoy the meal. Why didn’t we walk out? I had heard good things about the food and really wanted to taste it. Dave had the Classic Reuben; it came with corned beef, melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing on rye bread. I had Apricot Chicken Salad on Toasted Ciabatta; this was homemade apricot chicken salad, with mixed field greens and tomatoes. The sandwiches were very good, as were the fries. The food almost made up for the long wait. We both enjoyed our lunches and would go back, again. Prices were reasonable.

The City of Fort Worth has sprawled in all directions, having a rather lace-like quality to its

Fort Worth skyline

eastern boundary. Although you may believe that you are in Keller, Watauga, Haslet, Saginaw or some other small town, you’re actually in Fort Worth. And that’s why this entry is included in this blog: we were in Fort Worth and didn’t know it.

Four carrots, but only for the food!

Tom + Chee (#137, 8901 Tehama Ridge Pkwy, Fort Worth, TX 76177, 817-847-7635) is all the things I don’t like in an eatery. The menu is on the wall, you order at the counter, you 

Top L to R: Menu, Crunchy BBQ sandwich
Bottom L to R: Drink, Build Your Own sandwich

have to seat yourself, it’s loud, and it’s a chain. So why did I actively go looking for this place to introduce it to Dave? Because the food is very good. You can Build Your Own Grilled Cheese sandwich (or half sandwich) and that’s just what I did. Mine was gouda and goat cheese on wheatberry bread with sautéed mushrooms and basil pesto. The bread was buttery and toasty, the cheeses nicely melted, there were plenty of mushrooms, and the pesto was just the tang it all needed. I asked for a fork to scoop up the melted cheese and mushrooms that dripped out. The half-sandwich is plenty, but you can also get tomato soup and/or dessert. Dave had the BBQ + Bacon Crunchy Grilled Cheese. It had barbecue potato chips, bacon, and American cheese on white bread. We both got soft drinks and were able to refill them a couple of times before we left. We spent about $15. This group prepares amazingly good sandwiches. Happily, you can order online and pick up in the store – I wish it was closer to my house!

 

Spores on the underside of a leaf

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Raining with a Chance of Sheep

Tasmanian bay and sailboats 

Tasmania was not at all what I expected. While there are ‘mountains’ that ring the coast, the interior of the island is rolling hills covered in lush green grass and herds of sheep. The mountains do get touched with snow, but the foothills host redolent, temperate rainforest plants. The wind-swept beaches and hills reminded me of Scotland, but without the castles; the weather lived up to the best traditions of Scotland, however. It takes no more than six hours to get anywhere in Tasmania, and the roads are good, so we rented a car. Our seven day road trip took us to most of the island, but there are still many sites we didn’t see and events we didn’t experience. This is one of those places in the world we want to visit again.

Hobart to Launceston

It’s a lovely drive from Hobart to Launceston, with opportunities to pop over to the beaches to touch the sand and to find that the water is, indeed, very cold. The Tasmanian Wool

Raw Wool and Wool on the Hoof

Centre in Ross affords an opportunity to learn about the wool industry, tour their small but substantial museum, learn about the town, and do a bit of shopping. Local artists sell finished wool garments, as well as hand spun and dyed yarns.  I’d never seen or touched raw wool directly from shearing and didn’t know how it was graded; I still wonder how the grading was done before the advent of technology since the wool fibers are measured in microns. The wool from a black sheep isn’t black, but a muddy brown; wool texture changes based on fiber size, but also on the variety, gender and age of the sheep. The raw wool feels oily.

Singing in Sydney

Night view from Sydney Tower

I know better; I know to pack an emergency change of clothes, toothbrush, and toiletries in my carry-on bag, but after 40 years of air travel without a lost bag I grew complacent. My hot pink bag with the multicolored handles and large international orange airline Priority label on it, along with about 20 other bags, was not put on the plane in Los Angeles. I had shoes, meds, toiletries, but nothing else; the next day was looking like I'd be wearing shoes and my jacket. That's not standard dress even in relaxed Sydney. The solution was that I purchased a pair of chinos at a clothing store and three pairs of cheap socks, three pairs of cheap but cute undies, and a rather nice shirt at the subway station. The new lesson I’ve learned on this trip is don't ever buy underwear (no matter how cheap and/or cute) at a subway station. They were one size fits all and ‘really stretchy’ the sales girl said. Well, this one size fit one leg to just above the knee. And so the adventure begins…

Once we got the clothing issue sorted, we walked through the Royal Botanic Garden. I was

Top L to R: Cockatoos, Queen Victoria, Kookaburra
Bottom L to R: St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney Harbor

really excited to show my traveling companion, Dave, the resident fruit bats (flying foxes) with the six-foot wingspan. Unfortunately they are gone; the weight of the bats was destroying trees so they were driven off (the bats, not the trees). I'm sorry to say that these bats are now having difficulty surviving because no one wants them on their trees, either. Of course, there are more than just plants in and near the gardens. On several of our passes through these grounds we saw flocks of sulfur crested cockatoos and a few Kookaburras. These birds, as well as the Australian ravens, are noisy ~ think Tarzan movies, then amplify the bird sounds and you’ll have a close approximation of what greets you in the mornings. As we walked down the west side of the gardens we noticed Saint Mary’s Cathedral, a gently gothic church housing historical items as well as lovely stained glass windows. A bit further away was a wonderful statue of Queen Victoria without her customary scowl, inviting you into her building that is also a repository for stained glass and for upscale shopping. Eventually, we arrived at the Vaitor desk on the Circular Quay to get our Sydney Attraction Pass. It does save you a bit, but isn’t nearly as good as the pass for Lyon, France (see Near-Normal Lyon Blog). Since the day was clear, we spent quite a bit of time looking around and taking pictures from the top of the Sydney Tower. The views helped us get orientated to the city and decide what we could and could not get to on foot. Taking a page from Disney marketing, as you exit the tower, you get to go through the gift shop and pick up the pictures that were taken of you in front of a green screen at the entrance.

Top to Bottom: Chairlift, echidna,
Tasmanian Devil, giraffes 

Our second day in Sydney we went to the Taronga Zoo. You have to take a ferry over to the other side of Sydney harbor, then you get to ride a ski lift gondola up to the entrance. The transportation is exciting and the venue is really pretty. We spent all day walking up and down more hills that there are in San Francisco. Dave got squeaked at by a bird or two and we watched the handler entertain the male Asian elephant. She got him to kick and throw balls, move logs, spray water (the kids went nuts about that) and probably the most important trick, back up. They do about 20 different tasks to keep the elephant from being bored and to make sure that it obeys voice commands so that a vet can actually go into the enclosure and check out any problem. The zoo has all of the Australian animals, as well, and had opened up a couple of new 'night time' exhibits since I'd been there last, probably 12 years ago. We did see a Bilby ~ they are nocturnal and are now the animal associated with Easter rather than the rabbit. They also had a Tasmanian Devil that didn’t look devilish at all sleeping in its enclosure and some interesting reptiles that were quite a bit more active than we expected (it is spring in Australia, after all). Amazingly, or maybe not since the school break is from mid-November until February, there were oodles of school groups and mothers with preschoolers. One little girl was really good at chasing away seagulls from where we all were eating. She tried it with an Australian White Ibis and nearly got pecked. Needless to say, she didn't try it again. Food in Australia is expensive. For two orders of chicken strips, French fries and soft drinks it was $30AU which was about $24US.

Until you're there you can't tell how big the Sydney Opera House is; it’s enormous! The only

L to R: Opera House, Alex and the purple carpet,
Alex and the structure of the sails

way to get inside the performance halls is to buy a ticket to a presentation or take a tour. And the tour of the Sydney Opera House was excellent. Alex, our guide, kept us entertained while teaching us about the building. He took us into the actual opera auditorium, the symphony auditorium and one of the small theaters. The seats (we were allowed to sit for about 10 minutes between sets of stairs and there are about 300 of them) were designed by a surgeon, have the same density as a human body and are quite comfortable. Alex has a wealth of knowledge about how productions are staged, the reasons why certain materials are used in construction, and the interactions among performers. One of the things I found most interesting was that the original design for the Opera House was presented as a set of sketches rather than formal plans. Although architect Jørn Utzon never visited this finished masterpiece, he won awards for his work and was honored when the reception hall was named for him. The other information Alex gave us that made a big impression on me was the variety of entertainment that has gone on in the Opera House. It has been used as a cinema as well as a wrestling arena, Arnold Schwarzenegger won his final Mr. Olympia body building title in 1980 in the concert hall, and live chickens have wandered on stage and off during an opera. Perhaps other tour guides have some of the same information, but I doubt that they are as interesting, entertaining, and engaging as Alex!

Top: Cynthia and Il Porcellino, Skyline
Bottom: Aboriginal art, Birds and people in the
Royal Botanic Gardens

Probably one of the odder tourist destinations, and also near the Royal Botanic Gardens, is the Sydney Hospital. While the building is interesting, it’s Il Porcellino that attracts visitor attention. This bronze copy of the Florentine boar was donated in 1968 and stands in front of the hospital. If you rub its nose, you’ll have good luck, or so the legend goes. We gave his nose a rub as we walked by and I never lost any more luggage ~ just saying… Also on our walks we spotted a wall that illustrated Aboriginal art. This brightly colored painting was on the wall of an apartment house near our hotel. In the painting you can see the traditional images of echidnas, kangaroos, and the snake.

On Darling Harbor is the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. It was much bigger than we expected and pretty good when compared to other aquaria we’ve seen. Of course they had the iconic Sea Dragons, and Platypuses but I was surprised to see that they also had Dugongs (a lot like Manatees and were also mistaken for mermaids by sailors who’d be at sea for a very long time). We saw oodles of unusual sharks and rays and about as many screaming kids. One of the most interesting things we saw was the feeding of the rays. A handler dumped squid into the tank; as they settled to the bottom the rays dove after them and literally sucked them into their mouths. Rays have grinding plates rather than teeth so they can’t really bite, but do leave one heck of a hickey if they happen to latch onto your skin. Since we were at Darling Harbor anyway, we sat in one of the sidewalk cafes and had a glass of wine, then we walked the rest of the way around to the other side of the harbor and up about 50 steps to the Pyrmont Bridge. This pedestrian bridge provides beautiful views of the harbor, the ships and downtown Sydney.

L to R: Dave on sub, Cynthia on ferry
Beer can sailboat, Abseil for Youth 

The Australian National Maritime Museum is also on Darling Harbor but across from the Aquarium. On our way across the Pyrmont Bridge we saw people repelling down a building. Abseil for Youth is a group that raises funds for the Sir David Martin Foundation which, in turn, helps young people in crisis. The group we saw was coming down from the top of a very tall office building. Some were moving rather slowly while others were gliding confidently over the slick façade. It looked like fun to me and had they been letting other folks participate, I’d have taken a turn. Once we got into the Australian National Maritime Museum we did a lot of standing while reading all sorts of information. There was also a tall sailing ship (with three masts), a submarine, and a destroyer that we could board and view. The docents were very good on the sailing ship, talking about construction, living conditions and what sorts of efforts it takes to make one of these ships sail. This ship actually takes a crew and 80 passengers to sea for tours to other Australian states. The docent told us that the passengers live and work as people did on the original 1874 James Craig. Because of the hull design, the ship tends to pitch, roll, yawl and buck which does nothing to settle stomachs and calm nerves; the docent related that the smell of the ship when it came into harbor testified to the not so smooth sailing the passengers commonly experienced. While I like to sail and feel very comfortable on most boats, nothing she said made me want to sign up for a trip on the James Craig. The docents on the newer ships weren’t quite as knowledgeable or entertaining. However, since Dave was stationed on a destroyer, knew a lot about this type of ship and could explain about its equipment, structure, and armament. The HMAS Vampire was bigger than the destroyer he was on, but that was about the only real difference. Since it doesn’t carry one or more boats, a submarine is actually a boat (or at least that’s the story). HMAS Onslow was larger than most submarines, but I was not such a happy camper in that cramped space and I have the bruised knees to prove it. Visiting this vessel did dispel those pleasant beliefs that there are viewing windows, two or three people can stand around the map table, and that it’s easy to see out of the periscope.