London & Dubai

London

After leaving Rennes I had two days in London. On the first evening I caught up with some friends and we were able to get tickets for the Dame Edna show Eat, Pray, Laugh. They had never seen Barry Humphries live and they were absolutely amazed and sore from laughing during the performance.

I had seen the show last year in Sydney and he had tweaked it for the British audience and some topical news – which always goes over well.

When our family had Christmas in London in 2007 we used the temporary ice rink in Hyde Park and there were a few other stalls and carnival rides set up for the season. Six years on and the Winter Wonderland has expanded enormously. There is a large Christmas Market, and, along with the ice rink, there is a massive fun park with elaborate rides that has been set up in the area of Hyde Park that is generally used for pop concerts.

 

The Christmas decorations are brilliant in the main shopping districts of Regent Street and Oxford Street.

 

Protests

While wandering around London on my last day there I came upon a hunger strike protest set up in front of the US Consulate in Grosvenor Square. There were several tents with beds and the strikers were lying in these but available to speak with passers-by. Apparently about 20 Iranian opposition figures had fled Iran and had been housed in a refugee camp across the border in Iraq. These refugee camps are established under the auspices and protection of the UN.

The signage was excellent and set out the background to the protest which was that on 1 September this year, Iraqi militia arrived at the camp and executed about 50 people including these well - known Iranian dissident political figures. Several of the victims had been handcuffed before execution and photos of some of the victims dead and alive were on display.

The political agenda for these activists was that Iran becomes a secular state, adoption of a parliamentary democracy model and application of the western rule of law, with universal suffrage and education.

This type of reform would be radical and a major problem for the ultimate religious leadership of Iran which is an Islamist state with Sharia law. I was surprised that I had not heard of these events in the news previously. With the current delicate negotiations underway with Iran over nuclear disarmament I suspect that hunger protestors in London will not be able to exert much pressure on Iran via western governments. A dreadfully sad example of the continuing travails in the Middle East.

 

Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason is an iconic specialist gourmet food store that has operated on Piccadilly for over 200 years. About two hours after seeing the protest in Grosvenor Square I was in Piccadilly and heard a loud hailer and noisy organised chanting. I was surprised to see a rowdy group with placards at the door of Fortnum & Mason.

As I got closer I realised that these activists were acting on behalf of French Geese who presumably dislike being force fed corn in order to fatten their livers! Under French law proper fois gras (which is a very popular delicacy) can only be termed as such if it has been produced using forced feeding techniques. Any other goose liver product cannot be sold as fois gras.

I guess democracy is all about freedom of speech and right to assembly but I couldn’t help but think that while some geese are obviously having a difficult time in France – the political issues in Iran/Iraq are infinitely more important.

Dubai

Dubai is the second city of the Arab country United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is bounded by the Persian Gulf, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. For centuries this region has been home to nomadic tribes – usually Bedouin and the seven emirates or principalities comprising UAE have their origins in these tribes with tribal chiefs or ruling families for each. The country is led today by those seven current chiefs or Emirs and has a form of partially elected advisory government. Arabic is the national language and Islam is the state religion.

 

There is no personal income tax in the UAE however land owners pay 5% tax on any rents received. Foreign banks and corporations pay a form of tax unless they are in designated geographical zones where nil tax of any kind applies.

Abu Dhabi is the capital and Dubai is more the commercial/financial hub of the country. Dubai has a population of less than 2 million and less than 20% of the population is native Arabic. It is home to many people from nearby Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. These populations fall into two groups: those many thousands who do the labouring/menial work and the wealthy classes who come to enjoy the lifestyle afforded by Dubai.

There are no labour unions allowed in UAE and the massive building explosion has been performed in the main by guest workers who do not share in the very affluent lifestyle of the locals. Westerners make up less than 10% of the population and usually work for international firms with operations here.

History

The Turkish Ottoman empire controlled this region for over a century up until 1916 when it came under attack by the allies in WWI. TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) led several successful Arab campaigns against the Turks around this time and was something of a hero to the Arabs and a firm advocate for the independence of the Arab world.

Nevertheless the British made itself protector of the region ostensibly to protect trade routes from pirates operating in the Gulf. While there was some mutuality about these arrangements the emirs also ceded certain rights to Britain.

On 2 December 1971 an agreement was struck between Britain and the Emirs which resulted in Britain exiting the region and the UAE coming into existence. By coincidence my arrival coincided with national day parades being held to celebrate the anniversary of independence.

It was noteworthy that a lot of the bunting and celebration, while highlighting the colours of the UAE flag, also highlighted the beatific face of the Dubai emir who is the current leader of the UAE. His words are quoted everywhere and he is often described as a visionary. Even some of his poems were on display in English. Let’s just say that perhaps they lose something in translation!

 

It has to be remembered that the Emir is a supreme leader and is politically and commercially very powerful - and I just sensed that it would do no harm and might even be prudent for a citizen to have the Emir's picture on display along with all the flags etc on this special day!

Real Estate

It has to be realised that first of all Dubai and all of the UAE is a desert - a classic harsh, sandy desert where tribes lived and tended their herds for centuries. Dubai is on the coast and was established in the early 1800s as a village of pearlers and fishermen at the mouth of a small water course that is now called Dubai Creek.

At the time of independence in 1971 there were no high rise buildings and the first high rise tower was opened by the Queen in 1979.

I suspect that the last two emirs probably have been visionaries in that they have used wealth from oil (which really only started to flow in the 1960’s in the UAE) for infrastructure, schools, hospitals and have established policies that look well into the future. Today about 7% of Dubai’s income derives from oil-and the plan is to replace that income with tourism and allied activity.

Apparently 97% of its water comes from desalination plants (thereby giving it a reliable and limitless source of water – provided the pumps keep working). It consumes more water per capita than any other city and this would be to tend the public gardens and incredible lakes and structures that now cover this city. Waterfalls (indoor and outdoor) abound and water features seem normal in this man made oasis.

But the most obvious feature of Dubai is its massive building development. Everything is bigger or better than everything else! For example-the recently opened highest building is over 800m tall-twice the height of the Empire State building in the US.

 

Palm tree lined boulevards criss cross the city – the widest I saw had sixteen lanes and cars and buses are the preferred means of transport.

A national railroad and associated city subways project is underway and who knows how many new huge waterfront resorts are currently planned or under construction.

Shopping

Dubai Mall is the largest in the world – no question about it! Frank Lowy of Westfield would be appalled at the vast open (empty and no rent!) spaces or promenades that are topped by cathedral like domes that soar ten stories up. Every brand shop I could think of was there. Think department stores- Bloomingdales of New York, Galleries LaFayette of Paris, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer of London – all present! Then there is the traditional souk or local market (much better in an air conditioned mall environment with its own distinctive wing). Then there is the Food Hall which dwarfs the whole of Darling Harbour in terms of range and quantity of outlets. I nearly forgot the massive aquarium and cinema complexes. And, of course, Fortnum & Mason has a big store at the Mall!

It really is daunting to the visitor and I had to seek directions to find may way out on each visit!

Within a few km in any direction from the Dubai Mall there are further malls – which all seem to be Westfield size edifices.

 

Official Religion

Islam is the official religion and this means some limitations like very few outlets selling alcohol, restrictions on revealing clothing etc. Prayer rooms are prevalent in malls and other public places and necessary if one is going to pray at the five allotted times each day. Sharia law applies in matters of Family Law but western style courts generally apply for other matters.

However, courtesy and hospitality appear to be prominent values which obviously play well in an inbound tourist market. English is widely spoken and westerners should have no anxieties about religious intolerance.

 

Appeal

While the lifestyle for westerners here would be opulent and lucrative – it is almost unreal and in many ways is artificial. There are wonderful parks built for children – but they are massive and you have to drive to them as they don’t have local suburban parklands that are possible in our climate.

The climate is hot - and at this time of the year dry. But I understand that in summer it is often over 40C and humid.

Services are cheap and performed almost exclusively by foreign labour – Thai, Indian, Pakistani. At the prevailing wage rates nearly every western couple would have a live in nanny and/or housekeeper and the locals  also avail of these services. I saw many instances of well to do local couples in traditional dress of kandura (men) or abaya (women) with a few kids in tow being managed or prammed by a foreign worker.

There may be more interesting traditional Arabic ports to visit, but I think that Dubai has much to offer either an accidental tourist such as me or someone seeking a week or more in a stylish resort. Now that Qantas is using Dubai as a hub I expect that tourism and stopovers from Australia will increase – which I am sure was something to do with the decision by Emirates to code share with Qantas-and I don’t necessarily think that that business relationship will necessarily end there!

But I will end my Gap Year blog here - as I leave Dubai tomorrow morning to return home to Sydney!

 

Berlin and Rennes

Berlin

I arrived in Berlin first thing on Friday and checked into my flat in The Adina - a very centrally located apartment hotel not far from Check Point Charlie. It is part of the Australian hotel/apartment chain Toga P/L which operates Medina serviced apartments. For anyone visiting Berlin it is difficult to imagine better located accommodation at a very reasonable price.

Berlin is close to the eastern border of Germany and after WWII was divided up between the allies: -France, USA, England and Russia. Relations with Russia soured as the cold war took effect in the late 1940’s and, like Berlin, Germany itself had also been split between the Russian controlled east and the UK/USA/France controlled west. Over the initial fifteen post war years nearly 2 million East Germans relocated to the West Germany (usually via Berlin) and the Russians found the presence of Berlin so deep in East Germany territory a major irritant. But the allies were determined to maintain hold of West Berlin.

 

In 1961 Russia erected a wall along its border with West Germany (and in Berlin) and then denied the allies from access to Berlin via road/rail across its territory. The allies consequently operated an airlift for 14 months to supply West Berlin and to keep it independent. In the end the rail/road access was again permitted but the wall remained.

East Germany was a puppet of the soviet bloc and was known as the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and West Germany was known as the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). In the 1970s they both gained a separate seat at the UN and after the soviet bloc disintegrated in 1989 reunification occurred during the early 1990s.

 

This rather tortuous history is symptomatic of Germany’s history over the centuries. There were Germanic tribes in Roman times and various alliances, wars and treaties between sectors of what is now mainland Europe. Its industrial revolution and growth of cities occurred later than in Britain. Issues of nationalism and rights of the workers/masses figured starkly in the last century as borders shifted and power bases changed and the loss of two catastrophic wars played out.

The City

Berlin has elegant boulevards and tree lined streets and there is no obvious evidence of the incredible effects from the allied bombing in WWII which devastated the city. The layout is orderly and is dominated by beautiful parkland, the Tiergarten, and the Spree River and its tributary the Spandau.

Checkpoint Charlie

This was a famous landmark during the time of the Berlin Wall. It was the gate between East Berlin and the US sector of West Berlin. It was the scene of various escapes by vehicle from East Berlin and a symbol of the tension that continued during the cold war period.

                                                                                Checkpoint Charlie

I took a tourist Berlin Bus Tour from here which gave an excellent orientation to the city which is very easy to navigate and museums and galleries of various purpose and history abound. There is a public, eclectic modern art scene in Berlin. The city is a very cosmopolitan destination for people from all parts of Europe and beyond.

The bus tour included well known landmarks such as the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, the Humboldt University, the shopping precinct of Potsdam Place and the busy hub of Alexanderstrasse.

                                                                               Brandenberg Gate

 

Eich bein en Berliner

In a speech to the people of West Berlin in 1962 US President Kennedy famously uttered these words (or something like them) meaning “I am a Berliner!” This was very well received at the time and I thought of this proclamation on my first day in Berlin when in the space of two hours three separate strangers approached me to ask for directions! Two were Germans from out of town. This happens a lot to me no matter what city I visit and I have no idea why. It was not as if I was wearing a Tyrolean hat or lederhosen! As it happened, I did know the answer for two of my questioners and I gave a very confident answer to the third!

Berlin Subway

The subway was very clean and efficient and appeared new (perhaps it was a new line as the original lines date back to the 1920’s). On a visit to Munich some years ago Sharon and I had noticed that there were no ticket barriers on entrance or exit from the subway station and the same applies in Berlin. In almost every other major city I can think of you have to use a ticket or card to activate an entrance or exit gate in the subway.

This must reflect something about the German character or willingness to conform-or perhaps there are dire fines for fare evasion!

I took a trip out to the eastern suburbs and alighted at various suburbs for a look around. Some were dormitory suburbs with tall residential blocks; others were commercial hubs or villages.

Museum of German History

I came upon the entrance to this museum by chance on a main thoroughfare. I left nearly four hours later – and was thoroughly impressed with how the museum presented its story. Basically it traced German history from Roman times. For each century there were easy to comprehend narratives explaining what happened along with the implications. With this there were artefacts, household furnishings, clothing, medallions, artworks or other items representative of that period.

 

In the last few centuries there were obviously more items to exhibit – but the curators did a wonderful job keeping the displays relevant and interesting. I had not formally studied modern history but with the ravages of WWI, and the clash of nationalism and socialism in Germany in the subsequent decade, the rise of Hitler and his party appears to be understandable. However, it would have been difficult for the average voter to have anticipated the extremities and depravities his ultimate behaviour and policies as leader-even though there was little to misinterpret about the direction he would probably take.

Christmas Markets

Christmas markets are a European tradition which Sharon and I have enjoyed previously. In Berlin there were several elaborate markets either operating or being set up. They are clusters of beautifully lit solid wooden stalls selling food, mulled wine, craft products, Christmas decorations and souvenirs. They usually operate in the evening and are popular places to congregate.

                                                                         Christmas Decorations

Other Museums

There is an island which is home to several museums but as this trip was more of a reconnaissance mission I will visit that next time. But I did also visit other museums including one focusing on the German/European statesman Willy Brandt who had been a mayor of Berlin in the early 1960s; and an interesting museum focusing on communication – commencing with how we communicate as humans through to all the technologies we have adopted to assist from - steam engines to mail, phones, TV, the Internet etc. It was a very interactive venue and utterly absorbing.

                                                                      Abandoned Building

Overnight Train

I left Berlin on Sunday evening en route for my brother’s house near Rennes in Brittany. After weighing up various transport options, I elected to take an overnight sleeper train from Berlin to Paris and then to change to Montparnasse station for the TGV to Rennes. My companion for the night in the sleeper compartment was a young German executive who works for Wikipedia and he takes this travel option pretty frequently.

Although it was a 13 hour journey the rattle of the train and the sound of the wheels clacking over the tracks is somehow soothing and I had an excellent night’s sleep.

Berlin rail station has been rebuilt and is an engineering marvel. Many other cities have several stations on the perimeter of the city with tracks heading off in various directions. Berlin was reopened in 2007 and has a set of east west lines and two storeys below a set of north south tracks and can therefore service travel in any direction from the city. It is close to the city centre and connected to the subway system.

Rennes

I arrived in Rennes mid afternoon on Monday and enjoyed meeting up with my brother, Gar, and his two sons, Paul and Gregoire. The boys are doing well at school and next year Paul will be going to the senior high school. I had previously visited in March this year and am increasingly familiar with Rennes which is the capital of the province of Brittany. This area has an interesting history and was settled by Celtic tribes originating from Wales and Ireland centuries ago. There is a current emphasis on the special history of the region and many signs are presented in French and Breton and the Breton language is being taught in many schools. It was amusing to learn that the song for the Rennes FC is sung to the tune of the famous Welsh anthem, Land of Our Fathers!

                                                              Gregoire, Paul & Gar

Over the years it has not been a strong region economically and in the 1950’s de Gaulle made an edict that there would never be any tolls on highways in the region as a means of making the area more economically attractive. There was nevertheless a recent attempt to introduce limited tolling for large lorries in Brittany which stoked outrage including burning down the newly built sensor structures and other related disturbances and demonstrations! The government has decided to defer the plan until a date to be determined. This is code for backing down altogether! The French have always been disposed to direct action on matters that concern or upset them and this was a very stark reminder to the lawmakers as to what will and will not be tolerated.

On the following day Gar and I drove around the area and did some short trail walks within an hour of his home. There are so many small villages or communes in the area and the highly regulated building codes ensure that the villages are restored very attractively and have excellent services.

Discount flights out of the nearby airport at Dinard are infrequent at this time of year and I left this afternoon and arrived in London ahead of my flight to Dubai on Friday evening.

North Michigan

North Michigan

Michigan has the states of Ohio and Indiana on its southern border and to the west has the huge freshwater expanse – Lake Michigan. Its eastern border is a narrow section of Lake Huron separating it from Ontario Canada which protrudes nearly the entire length of Michigan, and to the north its border is with mainland Canada. Michigan comprises a peninsular pushing north from the US mainland and another peninsular on the Canadian mainland pushing south and they join at the straits between Lakes Michigan and Lake Huron.

It became a state in 1837 and had been a federal territory before then. It was home to tribes of Indians and there are many reservations usually with casinos which are a primary and often exclusive sources of income for the Indians.

 

It has abundant wildlife and water and it is easy to see why it was home to native people. It is a farming state and logging has historically been a major part of its economy.

My interest in visiting was this natural beauty and I based myself in the north at Traverse City which is close to the 45^th parallel.

A major crop is cherries and the airport at Traverse is called Cherry Capital Airport! But citrus orchards and, in recent decades, wineries have also sprung up along with staple crops such as corn.

While in a similar weather zone to New England, it is the Midwest region of the US and people are different-a harsher accent and more direct and droll in their manner than their more genteel New England based cousins.

Storms

I was planning to drive up from Chicago on the Sunday morning having flown in late on Saturday night. On the TV news there were quite forceful warnings about a weather and storm front that was bearing down on Chicago and its environs around noon. So I set off earlier than originally planned on the five hour drive along the coast of Lake Michigan to Traverse City.

 

The weather started to become very windy and rainy about 1:00pm and I was surprised to hear a loud blasting alarm in the car-and even more surprised to see it was my mobile phone. I had never heard this strident alarm before and it included an SMS saying that a serious storm and possible tornado was approaching a county I had passed 30 minutes previously. It seems they have an alert system that obviously can access any mobile (even non US mobiles) in a given area. The radio also had warning transmissions overriding normal programs.

The message was to seek cover from the storms and to be aware of flying debris. I was well clear of the worst of it but subsequently learned that eight people had died in the storms in the Chicago area and officials credited the low toll to the effectiveness of the warning system.

 

Lake Michigan was whipped up by the storms and for following days I saw breakers like a coastal break in Australia rolling into its beaches. These are usually placid lapping ripples so the storms had obviously raged for some time across the Lake.

Navigation

Along the coast I found many disused lighthouses and also ports which had been very busy with passenger traffic to places like Chicago and with produce including timber for faraway markets. The ships were quite large and would have plied the Lakes long before the highway system was developed.

 

Much of the USA comprises treeless plains and it was therefore necessary for housing and related development to log these massive forests in the north and to shepherd the logs via lakes and waterways to the ports. Then they were shipped to railheads on the coast of Illinois and Wisconsin for transport by rail to the settlers. The railways themselves consumed enormous amounts of trees for rail sleepers.

Such was the demand that by the early 1900’s much of the northern forests were left a wasteland and there had been no planning for replenishment. The issue was finally addressed during the Great Depression when one of the major federal work programs was to replant these natural forests. With modern forest management techniques the situation has been recovered and forestry is now a very vibrant industry.

The whole northern area is dotted with freshwater lakes of various shapes and size. Nearly all of these will be frozen by December and the arctic winds have begun and the area will be snow covered until March/April. I was surprised to see how many businesses were already “closed for the season” and I learned that many employees work in ski resorts during these off months. However, in the summer there is great scope for water sports and many non-resident homeowners descend upon the area for the summer holidays.

Excursions

Each day I would head out for a drive with a specific destination in mind. On Tuesday I travelled north to the straits between the two Great lakes. There is a massive suspension bridge at Mackinac which joins the two land masses - the structure is 8km long and, before its construction in 1957, ferries were the only form of transport linking the two halves of Michigan. The bridge is very high and subject to very strong winds which cause it to be closed for safety reasons on about ten days each year.

On other high wind occasions vehicles with high loads are prevented from using it – even though it remains open for other traffic. Hunters are significant users of the bridge during the hunting season that runs between November and January. It is customary to strap the deer or other kill to the roof of your truck or car. However on these very windy days there are often situations where the hunters try and stuff the dead deer into the vehicle cabin so as to qualify to use the bridge!!

 

After crossing this magnificent bridge I called into the Visitor Centre. I had noticed a walking trail leaving the car park and thought it might be interesting. I inquired with the ranger and he asked how far I planned on walking. I had in mind about 3km and asked him how long the trail was. He replied it was over 1,400km! (Apparently it was a section of a walking trail that commences on the east coast of the US and continues across the northern states). I indicated I would probably only do a part of this that day and then he asked if I had anything orange to wear. He explained that the hunting season was now on and it would be very dangerous to be walking without the customary iridescent vest!

We agreed that my best option instead was a two mile coastal boardwalk in the next town St Ignace which was a sleepy fishing village a few miles further on where I would be out of harm’s way!

On another drive I noticed in the middle of nowhere a small shop and shed which advertised stationery. I went in and saw several printing presses in operation producing stationery using wood cuts that had been made by the now deceased founder, Gwen Frostic. She was a keen botanist who spent her life in the region and developed the woodcut business to the point that there is an international market for her products. See: http://www.gwenfrostic.com/

Potesky

About 80 km north of Traverse City was a very attractive little town of Potesky on the coast of Lake Michigan. It had a port and was prosperous, tidy, historic, and well-endowed with churches (I counted seven in three blocks!) and had beautiful decorations set up for Christmas. The light poles were like old fashioned gas lights and around each post they had woven fairy lights and at the top of each pole near the main light they put either red wreaths or red bunting. The effect was so pretty and when the streets are snow covered it will be spectacular.

 

Apparently Ernest Hemingway lived here for some years and in a saloon his usual place at the bar is highlighted.

Wineries

On another excursion I visited a winery district on a peninsular out from Traverse City. There were about a dozen wineries each with their own specialisation. One I visited was using Malbech grapes from Argentina in some of its blends.

Great Bear National Park and Sand Dunes were well worth a visit although I was constrained from trail walking due to the presence of hunters. While driving along the forest roads cars or utilities are randomly parked and these are apparently the hunters’ vehicles.

 

There are many streams on which canoes were being used although there would be more in summer. The current will take you from A to B and the paddle is used to steer. The canoe rental company then drives you back to your starting point after your three hour journey down stream.

Tomorrow I fly to Berlin and on to Rennes in Brittany.

 

 

New England

Celebrations

Bryant Park is a city block surrounded by 42^nd and 40th Streets and 5^th and 6^th avenues and is an oasis in the busy midtown environment. For the upcoming holiday season (Thanksgiving and then Christmas) a skating rink has been installed. I called in on my last evening in New York and found that the park was set out with stalls in the European tradition of Christmas Markets. There were lots of handicrafts and fresh produce for sale giving the atmosphere a community feel in this major metropolis.

Driving

On Sunday morning I set off for New England which is the cluster of states in the NE corner of the USA between NYC and the Canadian border. It is also the area where the British first settled the country. Along with the satnav the rental company also offers a toll pass which is linked to your credit card for the duration of your rental. This is an excellent idea as tolls are very common on major bridges and sections of highway. The Interstate system of dual carriageway freeways criss crosses the entire country is toll free and was a major infrastructure project from Eisenhower’s administration.

The weather was fine and the highways are designed for easy exit and entry and I took several by ways and side tracks through little hamlets. I pulled up at a few points where there were marked walking trails but I noticed warning signs about ticks. I could not tell if this was just the usual liability warning in case of litigation or whether I should take it seriously. The sign went on to describe the four varieties and sources of ticks that were likely to be encountered in all seasons – including ticks from deer which usually result in Lyme’s disease. In any event I decided not to chance it.

This litigation liability issue appears everywhere. On radio advertisements for pharmaceuticals-there is usually a brief very positive narrative about the benefits of the product followed by a further narrative of the dire consequences of possible side effects. Often the latter litany is longer than the description of virtues!

New London

My first stop was New London in the state of Rhode Island. This very orderly town was established in 1646 nearly 30 years after the first settlers arrived at Plymouth. It has a safe harbour and over the years has become a regional port for the district. It was already decorated for Christmas and bunting was set up for Veterans Day – a national holiday that was celebrated the following day. Many of the villages and townships I drove through seemed to have a similar selection of street names: Main, Elm, First, Second, Walnut, State etc

The early settlers were motivated by many things - but among them was religious freedom and most centres had several churches of many denominations.

Newport Rhode Island

This town had obvious interest as it was the place at which Australia first won the America’s Cup yachting regatta in 1984. It is a maritime village with a distinctly British feel to it. It would be chaotic in summer but I found it a very peaceful sleepy seaside resort and enjoyed wandering around the seafront and seeing the marinas of opulent yachts.

Plymouth

Later in the day I visited Plymouth on the coast of Massachusetts. This was the point at which the Mayflower landed in 1620 and a replica of the Mayflower is tied at port. The town itself is very picturesque and small despite being the start of something very big.

There were various village celebrations of Veterans Day – much as happens in Australia with Anzac Day. Americans appear much more overtly or fervently nationalistic than Australians. Perhaps this is just a personality difference – but listening to talk back radio the dialogue was quite emotive and realistic. As in Australia veterans from Vietnam were not warmly welcomed home. This has compounded much of the trauma experienced by many who took part in that war whether volunteer or conscript. There are figures about suggesting that there have been more suicides by Vietnam veterans in the US than there were casualties in the war – although I am unsure how that could be properly calculated.

Harvard University

I arrived in Boston late on the Monday evening and the following day visited my alma mater – Harvard University. It is not well know that I undertook studies there in 2001 - in the Harvard Business Graduate School. (It was a sample 3 day Executive program!).

Harvard does have a mystique and its charming campus dating back to the 1600’s has been host to generations of scholars, presidents and rogues who have gone on in many cases to deliver fundamental changes to our society.

New Hampshire

From Boston I headed up through New Hampshire, a small but independent state, and arrived at Littleton in the NW corner not far from the Canadian border. I spent two nights in the area exploring the White Mountain Range and National Park. Although the weather was fine and there was no wind it was -7C at the middle of the day and it was not prudent to take any trail walks in those conditions. I had a nearly empty bottle of water in my car and was about to finish it off around midday but the contents had frozen!

I came across the Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods a resort built pre WWII. There was a famous conference in 1944 with representatives from 44 allied countries present which met for three weeks with the purpose of sorting out the post war monetary system for the world economy. It was the point at which the IMF was founded and a number of other important banking and trade protocols were agreed. These decisions are all referred to as the Bretton Woods Agreement.  

Hunting

Outdoor pursuits continue year round and in a few weeks much of this area will be snow covered. There were occasional snow flurries in the evening and the locals seemed to take this in their stride. In a local paper there was a picture of a smiling twelve year old girl cradling a rifle with a dead deer at her feet – the article was celebrating her first kill of the hunting season. Cross country skiing replaces trail walking once the snow cover is established.

I was surprised to see a sign referring to a Dog Chapel and I took the turn off and after a mile there was indeed a chapel on Dog Mountain! The sign said: All Creeds; All Breeds; No Dogmas! I was intending to investigate the chapel further but there was a large menacing dog barking at the car.

Perhaps he was the Pastor- who knows?

Vermont

Vermont is very picturesque with valleys slicing through the Appalachian Mountains and lots of rivers, streams and lakes-many of which were already frozen. Montpelier is its capital and is the smallest capital city in the US.

I drove south to Manchester which was the holiday destination of choice for the well to do in the 1800’s and early 1900’s for the summer. Graceful large homes on large blocks line elegant avenues and these have been beautifully preserved.

Abraham Lincoln had three sons but two died in their childhood. The sole surviving son went on to become a successful lawyer and industrialist in Chicago and he built a magnificent home he named Hildene just outside Manchester on a 500 acre property. It was completed in 1905 – the same year as the Neville residence at Petersham! His granddaughter lived there until her death in 1975 and there were no other offspring.

The displays inside are very well done – and include the grand daughter’s journal. It showed an entry when the grand daughter was apparently called upon to officiate at the launching of the new US Navy aircraft carrier, Abraham Lincoln, in May 1960.

She was pretty down to earth and not given to ceremony and the entry reads something like: “. . . smashed a bottle over a boat and got home about 7:00pm”!

Federation

The US is a federation of states and they like to maintain a degree of independence and can levy all sorts of taxes including income taxes.

I was reading an article about the demise of NorthWest Airlines that went under in the 1990’s and in its hey-day it was very progressive airline in introducing customer service initiatives. One of these was serving liquor on flights- but even for that they had to seek permission from the licencing authorities in each state over which they were flying!

London and New York

London Culture

In Pimlico there is a well-established restaurant, Hunan, (http://www.hunanlondon.com ) to which I was introduced several years ago. It is basically a tapas style Chinese restaurant of exceptional and consistent quality. There is no menu as such, on arrival you simply advise any particular aversions or allergies and leave it to them. The portions are quite small and it is not uncommon to have 18-20 portions over a meal. Usually it is necessary to book a few weeks ahead but I rang on Saturday (after watching the Wallabies get beaten by England!) on the off chance and was pleased to be accepted for a 6:00pm dinner.

The adjacent table had four people I think of Iranian or maybe Pakistani descent but who spoke impeccable English. But as I listened to them tell the waiter what they would not eat for cultural/religious reasons I wondered why they had chosen this venue! Meat, chicken, fish, seafood, an extensive list of root vegetables and I think tofu were not acceptable. None of this appeared to bother the management and the patrons enjoyed a varied and creative meal based upon a very limited set of permitted ingredients!

Hyde Park Corner

On Sunday I visited Speaker’s Corner at Hyde Park – up near Marble Arch. When Sharon and I were dating we went a few times on Sundays to the Domain in Sydney (it was free and I was hoping  to give Sharon the impression that I was worldly, broad minded and interesting for suggesting such a venue). In those days there were a few thousand people gathered around various speakers on all sorts of topics and it was modelled on Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. At the Domain in the 1970’s, John Webster was a well-known and highly entertaining Brit with a booming voice who each week would comment humorously on current affairs and literally any topic-and dealt with interjections with sublime wit (or abuse).

 

These days in both locations attendance has dwindled and the speakers are usually religious zealots who tend to get involved in hopeless debates with irascible interrogators. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see that The Catholic Truth Society had a speaker operating in Hyde Park! I guess blogs and other forms of media have made much of this public speaking redundant –but free speech really is a cornerstone of our society and it occurred to me there are still many cities in the world where a Speaker’s Corner would not be permitted.

Tourist

One aspect of this truncated ‘Gap Year’ that I had not properly anticipated is that each day probably the only decision of any significance that I make is what to do that day! Sometimes I have objectives in mind but often I don’t. After a rainy and grey weekend, Monday dawned bright and clear in London so I set off from my flat in the West End and crossed Piccadilly into Green Park and on to The Mall at Buckingham Palace where the Changing of the Guard was about to commence.

A number of other tourists had gathered and I had excellent vantage points for all the colour and ceremony.

St James Park was a mass of autumn colour and it was invigorating to be able to stroll through all this natural beauty crunching fallen leaves under foot and watching squirrels frantically scavenging ahead of the winter.

I continued my walk up out of the Park into Regent Street after crossing Pall Mall (I am starting to sound like Monopoly!) into Piccadilly Circus and Coventry Street and on into Trafalgar Square for a visit to the National Gallery. It was an unplanned but thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a perfect autumn day.

West End

The West End in London and Broadway in NY are the home of theatre musicals and the two hottest tickets are The Book of Mormon and Matilda (Roald Dahl’s story with music by Australia’s Tim Minchin). I was able to get a ticket for that night’s performance of The Book of Mormon. It will play in Australia in about two years and was written by writers of South Park with music by the lyricist behind Avenue Q. It was high energy, utterly camp, incredibly politically incorrect – all the things I like in a musical! Some, (particularly devout Mormons), might find aspects of the show offensive but you know that before attending.

The music and dancing were great and the singing and acting were superb. The story line is basically about pairs of white, 19 year old American Mormon boys going to Uganda to ‘convert’ villagers who are in grinding poverty, a war zone, a famine, living through warlord attacks and a range of other threats. It was a surprisingly ideal setting for the writers to develop some ridiculously funny scenarios and I am not surprised that the show is a hit both in London and NY.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a travel day and over six months ago I had found and booked a very cheap fare to the US – on Iceland Air. Departure was from Gatwick with a 90 minute layover in Reykjavik to change planes for NY. I arrived in Reykjavik at 3:30pm local time and saw that there were six separate departures at or about 5:00pm to the US including Boston, New York (JFK), New York (Newark), Seattle and  Washington.

For such a small country I was surprised that they were in this market and at such good prices with such an extensive fleet of modern aircraft. This mystery was partially solved a few days later when I had lunch with the Gandolfis, the very erudite couple we met on the cruise. Arthur explained that for several decades trans-Atlantic flight fares had been highly regulated but Iceland Air offered flights which included a stopover (brief) in Iceland thus falling out of the definition of being a trans Atlantic flight.

Their unregulated, cheaper fares became very popular with young Americans and that attachment has continued into the era of deregulation –which started with Laker Airlines in the 1970’s. Iceland was using its location as a point of difference and exploiting it commercially. Their advertising is very prominent in NY.

New York, New York!

The sight of the brilliant night cityscape of Manhattan from the air never fails to move me –and I suspect-many people. It reflects the buzz, excitement and vibrancy of this iconic city with its culture and brashness; its diversity and rhythms of the communities that inhabit it.

On arrival the cooking smells of roasted chestnuts and crisp bagels from the corner vendors capture your attention.

Maybe it’s the familiarity through films and music over the years but despite its huge population and the visitor’s anonymity, you really do feel welcome and entitled to share and enjoy this fabulous city.

My previous visits since 1989 have generally been for business and inevitably brief – this time the pace will be different.

On my first morning I took the subway from my Midtown flat to the Financial District. The replacement building for the destroyed World Trade centre is nearly complete and is very evocative. The building again demonstrates that architecture is unquestionably art and with this building they have certainly captured the resilience and defiance of the community. It arises like a modern obelisk with silver glass cladding capped by a communications tower forming a point like a spear.

 

It is apparently the tallest building in America - although I saw in the press today there might be some debate about that. It doesn’t really matter-there are other subtle allusions and features that underpin the design and construction of this magnificent building.

I was impressed by all the renovation and works being undertaken on roads and scaffolding on many buildings in the wider Downtown district and wondered why so much was happening all at once. I subsequently learned that much of this was rectification work after the effects of Hurricane Sandy a year or so ago.

The weather is milder than the UK except when the winds start – and the evenings are very cold.

Unions

New Yorkers do not lack the ability to express opinions – stridently. In one or two downtown locations I saw huge inflatable rubber rats. These were associated with union pickets or demonstrators with grievances at particular worksites. One demonstration of about a dozen men was in front of a statue of George Washington which was being renovated in Wall Street. I asked one of the protestors what the issue was about – and he didn’t know!! He suggested I speak to the guy in the hat. He was the leader and very genial and delighted at my interest. He pointed out that the guys doing the statue renovation were being paid less that they should be in accordance with union agreements in the area.

The guys working on the statue seemed oblivious to all the fuss and I don’t think the job would be taking more than a week or two anyway.

The irony of a debate occurring about a pay dispute over probably $2 an hour across the road from the NYSE where$ billions if not $trillions were being traded that day seemed lost on everyone.

Precincts

New York was settled in the 1600’s and, as with all older cities, different precincts developed as various trades, commercial activity or immigration occurred-hence the Garment District, the Legal District (court houses), the Theatre District, the Diamond District near midtown where even today orthodox Jewish traders ply their trade-and you just know as they hurry past you in their traditional garb, that in their traditional way over 100's of years, at least some probably have a cachet of diamonds in the pockets of their long overcoats en route to a buyer.

The Subway is the optimal way for getting around Manhattan and beyond to the Boroughs. I had never been to The Bronx before so I took the Subway and got off at a random station in the Bronx and became immediately aware that Hispanics and African Americans were the dominant population. Many seemed idle and were just hanging around in mid-afternoon sun so I didn’t stay long and caught a train back. I was sitting next to two young Hispanic men who were in animated conversation and the younger of the two was matter of factly showing the scar from a recent bullet wound to his hand.

Meetings

On Wednesday I caught up with Arthur and Anna Gandalfi whom Sharon and I had met and become friendly with on the cruise. A social occasion with Arthur is like a gymnasium workout for the mind! We spent a pleasant few hours together and I am sure that we will keep in touch one way or another.

I had meetings on Thursday with executives with two of PHR’s New York based clients (sounds quite grand – but it is true!). Lazard is based in the famous Rockefeller Center and McGraw Hill is in an adjacent building. The Rockefeller Center has set up its Ice Rink for winter and the massive spruce Christmas tree was delivered on a semi-trailer today and will take a week to decorate.

PHR is registered with the US Consul in Sydney so that any US firm wishing to start operations in Australia who contacts the Consulate might get to know about PHR’s services. To date this connection has not sourced any business for PHR. However, on Friday out of the blue we received an email approach via this channel from a large corporation in Virginia that is commencing operations in Australia soon – I was able to immediately reply and let them know I was in the US visiting other clients of PHR. No doubt we will speak with them next week.

Broadway Theatre

On Wednesday night I saw Matilda. It is a great production which is aimed at a young audience probably early teens and up. The Roald Dahl story revolves around a Miss Hannigan type school principal and an incredibly bright student Matilda who has parents who are ignorant spivs. Great singing and dancing – and Tim Minchin’s music and songs are terrific.

Central Park

Central Park is a wonderful part of New York. It comprises sporting venues, cycling and jogging tracks, riding trails, lakes, streams and waterfalls. It is huge and also includes a zoo and any number of playgrounds and venues for families. On my first visit to NYC in 1989 I went cycling in Central Park but on this occasion took my time walking through its entire length from 59^th Street to 110^th Street.

My timing was great in that the autumn leaves had not yet fallen and I saw the park in a magnificent state. It is very well used by the local residents who mainly live in apartments. I saw professional dog walkers (ten dogs at a time) and also several Hispanic maids walking the household pooch!

Apart from the variety of activities, the seasons change quite dramatically and the pool for example is being replaced with the skating rink. Soon it will be snow covered and apart from the spruce trees the other trees will be bare.

In various parks around the world I have noticed the custom of people installing plaques with inscriptions on park benches. Often the actual park bench has been donated by the inscriber.

In the UK these tend to be staid and predictable – In memory of Tom and Mary who loved this Park etc etc.

In Central Park the plaques tend to be more eclectic – it seems for a lot of people Central Park was their backyard for a generation. There were inscriptions from children to their parents thanking them for the memories of growing up there; presents between grandparents on auspicious birthdays; some are dedicated to particular named dogs; some were in memory of children or at least young adults – with the common date of death of September 2001.

Exhibitions/Galleries

There are literally hundreds of museums and galleries in New York. This is probably a function of population, immigration and also a highly developed interest and tradition in the pursuit and benefaction of creative art forms.  Every gallery lists donors and there is a well-developed culture of philanthropy towards the arts.

Yesterday I visited New York Public Library in Fifth Avenue which had an excellent exhibition about children’s books.

In the early 1900’s most NY libraries had signs saying children and dogs were not allowed! There was some campaigning and attitudes gradually changed towards literacy for children and by the 1930’s there were school text books for reading. The exhibition included some books from the Fun with Dick & Jane series. I had used these same books at school in the 1950’s.

This was standard fare in US schools until the 1960’s when the relevance of a white household in a very benign and predictable domestic environment started to lose traction-reading scores were also declining. One can only imagine how Dick and Jane would fare with the more sophisticated children of today!

This provided an opportunity for Dr Suess to emerge with The Cat in the Hat and subsequent books which did much to re stimulate the interest of children in reading.

Other interesting pieces of data from the exhibition:

·         Mary Poppins was written by an Australian woman, PL Travers, who was initially cautious about Walt Disney making a film from her book. But she relented and became fabulously wealthy as a result. Part of her reluctance was the worry that, as an author, her reputation might be diminished if she was seen to be writing children’s books!

·         A book which is very familiar to Matthew and Lucas, A Very Hungry Caterpillar, started life in 1969 as  A Week With Willie the Worm. But when the publisher figured out a way of punching holes into individual pages in mass production, this allowed the caterpillar to ‘eat’ various items – so holes appeared in the pages where the eating had occurred and the book became an outstanding success!

·         The Golden Books series was established in 1942. It was an overnight success because each book sold for 25 cents (about 15% of the price of the next cheapest children’s book); and because they were sold at convenience stores and all manner of outlets as well as in bookshops-thus becoming very accessible to a huge market.

Today I visited the house of John Pierpont Morgan in Madison Avenue at 36^th Street. He was one of the most successful stockbrokers, bankers and deal doers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The value of some of the deals he brokered would be larger in real terms than what occurs these days. He was revered for a number of reasons and while he was alive he had a personal art gallery built adjacent to his home! The land for his home would be incredibly valuable to a developer wishing to build yet another sky scraper but the family does not need to sell! He was the founder of the JP Morgan bank.

The house and gallery are now open to the public and JP was an avid collector of manuscripts and artefacts and personally attended archaeological digs right up to his death in 1913. His son continued in the business and set about finding a way to organise and make available to the public his father’s astonishing collection. Much has been dispersed to various galleries and museums around the world and Renzo Piano (architect of Aurora Place Sydney fame) was engaged to design an annexe to link the buildings and create the museum.

Man Booker Prize

In the JP Morgan museum there was an exhibition about the Booker Prize which has been awarded annually since 1969. It was established to give a spur to the book industry and has been very successful in that task. Each year the nominated shortlisted books sell very well as does the eventual winner.

 

There is always inevitable controversy about judging etc which adds to the interest. Bookmakers field on the results and the awards are televised live! Every winning book was on display and some correspondence by judges showed the extent of all sorts of intrigue. One amusing story surrounded the 1988 award to the Australian author, Peter Carey, for Oscar and Lucinda. It turns out that a disgruntled employee of the publisher reacted badly to his firm being purchased by News Corporation so the UK and Australian edition (which the judges had used and assessed) was missing a chapter and there were further glitches in the US edition prompting a recall of all editions! The exhibition even had the menu for the awards night in 1971 at a pleasant restaurant in Regent Street.