40. Visit Denmark

The end of summer makes me sad for all kinds of reasons. I hate it that the days are getting shorter, and that soon the temperatures will be getting colder, and of course, as an academic, I am in the position of being a perpetual first-grader, knowing that once that first day of class happens there's no backing out for another year. So, before I turn my attention to the fall I want to do two things -- finish the record of all the places I went this summer with this post on Denmark, and try to get in as many summer activities as I can before school starts (so if anyone else does too, please check out the Coming Attractions at the end of the post).

This summer was the most travel-filled of my life. I visited seven new countries (Dominican Republic, Jordan, Israel & the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Uganda, Denmark and Sweden) as well as two new places (the Isle of Skye and Cambridge) in the UK, a country I've already visited, plus the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Idaho). Denmark is the only place I haven't written about, so here is a bit about travels in Denmark to round out the rest.

When we arrived in Copenhagen we were in good shape for two reasons. One is that the city, like the whole country, has a wonderful public transportation system, and the second is that I had a great former student, Joey, who sent me a message in advance letting me know how to use it. So, we bought our "20 click" passes for two zones and used up the first two "clicks" on the train from the airport to the main train station in town, which was very close to our hotel. Awesome.

Joey met us the next day and took us for our first wholly Danish eating experience of open-faced sandwiches, and gave us a bit of orientation to the city. The next day he met us in the morning and took us on a tour of a slightly alternate reality, Christianshavn. Going there is kind of like stepping onto the set of a 60s musical. Depending on your perspective it's an anarchist/commune/collective with its own rules (literally posted near the entrance), art, morals and of course, characters. I have only two pictures here -- one of Joey near the waterfront, and one of a former church sporting a typically-visually exuberant tapestry -- because the most colorful section of the community doesn't allow any photography at all. It's apparently been going since the 1960s, and although it's often entered by more conventional types in search of soft drugs (hard ones are prohibited in the posted rules), there is a whole community of residents of all ages that runs cafes and open-air markets within. Part of it sits on a lovely waterfront area, and the whole place is one of the most interesting I've ever visited.

We never did visit what are probably Copenhagen's two most famous sites, the world famous amusement park, Tivoli, in the middle of the city, and the statue of the Little Mermaid (dismissed by Joey as "the little disappointment") which is on display in Shanghai right now. But we did continue our tour of the castles and palaces of Europe, and visited two pretty remarkable ones. The first, the Rosenborg Slot (Palace)is a beautifully-preserved palace that housed generations of the Danish Royal Family. Unlike lots of other major palaces, things inside are remarkably accessible, allowing visitors to get very close to the furniture and art work crammed on the walls. I've included a picture of one of my favorite spots -- the throne room, with the king and queens' thrones guarded by three lion statues.

The other palace we visited is one of the most famous in the world, thanks to William Shakespeare. On our way back from Sweden, we spent an afternoon in Helsingbore (usually anglicized as Elsinore), the home of the famed prince of Denmark, Hamlet. As you can see from the photo, the castle really does sit right on the ocean. It also played a very important role in the rise of Denmark as a regional power, because it allowed Denmark's monarchs to control the waterways and institute tolls on shipping in the area that heavily enriched the coffers of Denmark.

The last picture I added to this blog, one taken by Jerry holding my camera in front of Joey, Jerry and me the night before we left, was actually the last photo of my collection from the whole summer of travelling. And I like it because it reminds me of what made both my trip to Denmark, and all my travels of the summer, special and memorable -- the chance to go to beautiful places with a variety of good friends -- some colleagues, some former students, some current ones and some new friends I met at these new places, and see and learn all kinds of new things. I may not ever travel so much in a single summer again, and I'll always be grateful for the opportunities I had over the last four months.

52 Ways to Say I Love You...

in Norwegian, with many thanks to Ida, the ultra-helpful clerk at the hotel we stayed at in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Hello Goodag
Goodbye Ha det
I love you. Jeg elsker deg.
May I have two beers, please? Jeg skulle nye bestille to 0l -- taak!

Coming Attractions

Classes start at school on Monday, August 30.and between now and then, I hope to get in some activities that I haven't had much chance to do this summer.

Camel's Hump Dawn Hike Saturday, August 28, 3 am. The hike that was supposed to take place in July has been rescheduled for the early hours of the morning of August 28. Siham is coming to town for it, Josh is in, and still waiting to hear from the rest of the crew that had been planning on it the first time (and any new people who are interested, obviously).

Biking, outdoor rock climbing, ice skating, kayaking on Lake Champlain and Adirondack hike. None of these have been definitely scheduled yet, so I hope people will let me know which of these they'd be up for, and when. The rinks cut open skating times pretty severely in the summer, so Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings (4-6) are the main options right now. As for the Adirondack hike, initially Luke and Ashley were both on board, so we can still see if we can schedule that. And there's a bunch of possibilities for the others, so I'd love to know what people are up for.

39. Visit Sweden

So, this post is actually a bit out of order, since I was in Denmark before I went to Sweden. But since I started this in Sweden while I was there, I decided to finish and post this one now . Our trip to Sweden was a bit different than the way I usually travel, because we didn't go to the capital (Stockholm) or even any large city like Goteborg or Lund. Instead we took the ferry from Helsinore (about which more in another post) in Denmark to Helsingborg in Sweden. And then we spent a couple days exploring the coast of Skane, the southernmost county of Sweden. I highly recommend it.

On the first day we took the ferry and checked out the city of Helsingborg which, despite the rain, was great. Probably the best part was climbing the tower of Karnan that has been restored from the original castle there. The whole town sits on a harbor and has lots of fabulous architecture, so taking a look at the town and sea from the top is pretty spectacular. I've posted a picture of the tower, and another of the view of Helsingborg from within the gates of the castle grounds.

The next day we went to yet another castle, this one called Sofiero (I had to have a picture of me standing on the front steps), a little ways out of Helsingborg. It used to be a summer residence of the Swedish royal family and has an astounding set of gardens, woods and sculptures surrounding it and leading to the ocean behind. Inside were lots of photos of past generations of the royal family, who seemed decidedly more down to earth than your average royals. They seemed to favor casual clothes, and participated in war-time rationing like everyone else. The gardens are obviously a lot of work and everyone, including the royal children, were supposed to help with them.

From Sofiero we hopped back on the bus and headed to Molle, the northernmost coastal town of the area. On the bus we were befriended by some wonderful people from the area who knew we didn't understand the system. Yvonne was helping her mom, Lillian, an 88 year-old lifelong Molle resident do some weekly shopping, and Glen was on his way home to his house in the village of Nyhamnslage about half an hour from Molle. When they realized we were on a bus headed elsewhere and needed to get off in Nyhamnslage, Glen insisted that we all come over to his family's place for some homemade elderberry flower soda after giving us a tour of the harbour. The home he took us to has been in his wife's family since 1830, and though it's hard to tell from the picture, the house behind Jerry, Yvonne and Lillian in the picture has a thatched roof, as do many homes in the area. Glen is a professor at Lund University and makes a 2 hour daily commute by bus and train (as does his neighbor Yvonne who is a middle school art teacher also in Lund) even though he has a car. Jerry and I were very impressed with their environmental consciousness, as well as Glen and his wife's wonderful hospitality with the soda and map explanation that you see Glen giving us here.

After our elderflower soda detour, we got on the right bus, and went the rest of the way to Molle, were we did an awesome hike along the cliffs of the ocean to a cafe for tea overlooking the water, and then onward toward a lighthouse at the very end of the peninsula. Then we hiked back to Molle, ate a great dinner of local fish on the harbour and grabbed a late bus back to Helsingborg. The next day we took the ferry back to Helsingore, a world-famous town because it is the home of Hamlet's castle (more on that in another post).

So, our two-day tangent was just a little slice of Sweden, but enough to make me know I like it, and hope I'll be back. And in case anyone's wondering, my observations -- admittedly brief -- confirm my suspicions that American fears of socialism are incredibly overwrought. It's true that food and consumer goods cost more, but there was also a lot more organic and less-processed food. As far as I could tell, there was still plenty of private enterprise, no one seemed lazy because of knowing they'd be getting good services from the state, and the transportation system was awesome. But check it out for yourself -- I think you'll be glad you did.


52 Ways to Say I Love You...

...in Icelandic.

Hello Halló
Goodbye Bless
May I have two beers, please? Má ég hafa tvo bjóra, vinsamlegast?
I love you Ég elska þig

Coming Attractions

I'm writing this from Newark on my way back to Burlington and need to figure out some scheduling for the next week and a half. But I know that I am very motivated to try to reschedule the Camel's Hump midnight hike for this coming weekend (weather permitting), so if you're interested let me know, and also make a post or email if you're interested in hiking, kayaking, biking, ice skating or berry picking in the next week and a half. I hope to do some combination of all or some of these soon!

38. Go punting on the Cam

My very dear friend Lilly, who I consider an authority on many things, including anything to do with the UK, pointed out to me that we had to go punting because "it's what one does in Cambridge". The reason I was in Cambridge was to present a paper with my friend and colleague Jerry, with whom I co-taught an interdisciplinary international service learning course in spring and summer 2007. We knew it would be a challenge bringing together the prospectives of a photojournalist and an activist political scientist, but had no idea just how fundamental our differences would be. The paper was about the ways that we and the students worked on these differences and, we think, learned a lot in the process.
For nerdy academics, our dream conference appearance is one where a bunch of people show up and you know what you're saying resonates with them because they nodd a lot and have lots of questions and answers. That's what happened at this meeting, and in addition to giving a presentation we felt good about, we made a lot of new connections with people from a med school professor in Michigan to the coordinator of an intercisciplinary PhD program in Germany. We went to a lot of presentations where we were the nodders, and learned about a whole variety of topics on different aspects of interdisciplinarity, education and global issues as well.
But of course, when one is in Cambridge, one must punt, and so we did, and the next day we did the other ubiquitious activity here, bike riding. (When I went to Cambridge I thought I had never seen so many people on bikes, but that mental record was utterly shattered a few days later when we arrived in Copenhagen. Now I can REALLY say that I've never seen so many people on bikes.)
In the process I learned two very important things:
1. punting is much harder than it looks. I learned this first lesson not by doing, but being assured by our "chauffeur" as well as several former students, and by being run into a few times by out-of-control amateur punters plying the river Cam.
2. Scotland is not the only place in the UK where it rains lots, interspersed with overcast periods and appearances of the sun on the rarest of occasions. The rainy weather in Cambridge means you have to take your opportunities where you find them, so our punting adventure got delayed and shortened because of the rain.

From a tourist perspective, punting is a great way to see Cambridge University, which I only recently learned is not really a single entity but 31 individual colleges, some dating back for hundreds of years. Most are pretty exclusive and only let visitors poke around for very limited times of the day (and then for a fee for each individual one). Thus, the best bet for a visitor is to go punting down part of the Cam -- known as "the backs" because from here you can see the backs of most of the prestigious colleges and their chapels -- while being given juicy tidbits about Prince Charles' less-than-illustrious career as a student at Trinity, the biggest and richest college of Cambridge.

So here are a few pictures from punting, biking and the conference. There's one of Jerry and I standing in front of a conference sign the day we did our presentation, and a couple from our biking day, when we stopped to eat lunch at a cool pub with beautiful flowers called the Green Dragon. And there are two from our punt on the Cam, one of our punter getting his boat and a second taken from the boat as we were approaching one of the cool bridges under which we floated.

52 Ways to Say I Love You

Well, it's England, after all so I'm shirking and not doing a language. Someone, not to name any names, has promised to get me Morrocan and Berber very, very soon.

Coming Attractions

Just posted the new list last week. I'm writing from Sweden on the last few days of my trip to Europe. On Wednesday I fly home, and I hope to put some dates and plans to Vermont-based new things very soon.

List Update -- So Much to Do, So Little Time

When I was in graduate school I read both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. They both bothered me a lot, though I couldn't say exactly why. Now thirty-seven New Things into my list later I think I have some evidence to articulate an argument that Rand is wrong. I think self-reliance is overrated (and we Americans WAY overestimate our capacities in that regard anyway), and there's nothing wrong with asking for help to learn something new, or exploring the world with others. I've spent the last half-year doing exactly that, and I am happy to report that I have a debt of favors a mile long, but it's matched with a ton of great memories and shared experiences. And front and center in my indebtedness column are Leah and Siham, with whom I collectively came up with the idea of 52 New Things. Since we started talking about it back in late October, we've been getting together at least every couple of months to compare lists, update each other and figure out new fun things to add.

The weekend before I flew to Scotland was one of our summer meet-ups and, on top of having a fabulous time, we did some overhauling and what follows is the list update. First, I should note that the two of them made a great suggestion that I happily agreed with, which is to extend the list "year" to February 28, 2011. That's the anniversary of our first collective trip, to Bar Harbor to see the sunrise at the earliest point on the east coast. It's also when Leah and Siham formalized their lists. AND extending the date opens up all kinds of fun winter possiblities, so I think it's an all-around marvelous idea.

So, what I've done below as the first list (without comments, since every one of them has a post) are the 37 New Things that I've done so far. They're in blue. Then I have a mixed list of uncompleted new things that are either in-process (green) or not yet begun (red). I know not all of them are going to happen, and new ideas will pop up to be added or substituted. So, the list is, as always, open for new suggestions, especially given the two additional months that just got tacked on to the "year".

Here's what's already happened:

1. Start a blog
2. Go to Nepal
3. Try rock climbing
4. Try ice climbing
5. Try snow shoe hiking
6. Learn to make fresh mozarella
7. Go cross country skiing
8. Take a Penguin Plunge
9. Go ice skating at Rockefeller Center
10. Hike Camel's Hump in all four seasons (in process -- winter and spring hiked)
11. Try skate skiing
12. See a Bar Harbor sunrise
13. Try snowboarding
14. Do a winter sport at night
15. Cook an Indian meal
16. Go downhill skiing
17. Participate in a contra dance
18. Visit the Vermont Veterans Militia Museum
19. Learn to change a bike tire
20. Learn to make a chocolate souffle
21. Visit the Washington Monument at Night
22. Take a ballet class
23. Eat a Vermonster
24. Go bird watching
25. Spend an afternoon watching car racing
26. Learn to change a car tire
27. Visit the Dominican Republic
28. Visit the Basque Block
29. Try glass blowing
30. Visit Jordan
31. Visit Jerusalem
32. Give a talk in Uganda
33. Visit Egypt
34. See a band at Nectar's and eat at Pizza on Earth
35. Go to the Rokeby Museum
36. Try haggis.
37. Go sea kayaking.

Here's what's in the works:

10. Hike Camel's Hump in all four seasons. Just had to list this one again in order to note that two awesome hikes are yet to come. For the summer hike, which had to be postponed, the plan is to go up by moonlight and back down with the sunrise. And for the fall one, my sister and brother in law and their daughter, my favorite two-year on the planet, (aka Katrinka, Brian and Tigist) are coming to town, and we'll do the hike on October 16.
38. Go punting. As my friend Lilly recently pointed out to me,"you must go punting on the Cam. That is what one does in Cambridge".
39. Go to Denmark. Another new country opportunity just begging to be taken since we'll be in England anyway to give a paper at this conference at Cambridge University.
40. Go to Sweden or Norway. If you're going to be in Denmark, doesn't it make sense to see another new country as well?
41. Drawing or painting class. Not sure when, but if I can find a shortish evening one, I'd still like to do it.
42. Power point. Still haven't gotten beyond the basics on this, and really, really should.
43. Learn to use tools. I need to find out a good way to do this. Thanks to Jamila's dad and grand-dad, I do now have a stud finder for putting nails in my walls, which is an improvement because a year ago I never heard of one.
44. Surfing. If I can find the time while the weather's still warm, Leah is still willing to line us up with equipment and lessons to try it out.
45. Bake croissants. My friend Dean is still willing to teach me, but the Back Door Bakery is temporarily closed while Dean and Patti get used to life with their wonderful new son, Henry.
46. Brew beer. Still haven't taken Dan, Derek or John up on their offers to teach me, but I plan to.
47. Star gazing. Really want to do this one, and my friend and colleague John is the perfect person to lead a session, but I need to get my act together and try to schedule it.
48. Learn to play an instrument. Don't know when or what, but it's still a possibility.
49. 24 hours in the city that never sleeps. I really, really want to do this, and there are some great students and former students who are totally up for it, but it's going to be a challenge to fit into a weekend in the late summer or early fall.
50. Go to Quebec City. Leah, Siham and I are DEFINITELY doing this one as one of our fall activities.
51. Hike Mount Washington. My friend, colleague and fellow list-maker Kristin, is willing to do this one with me (and possibly Annemieke as well), and we just need to grab two consecutive days and go.
52. Do nothing. Suggested by my former student Madison, I find this intriguing,and have also found it interesting that I haven't actually picked a day to (not) do it. But I definitely will.
53. Hike one of the 46 Adirondack Peaks over 4000 feet. The only one I've ever done is Cascade, and Ashley and Luke have both volunteered to do another with me.
54. Take a martial arts class. Maybe at the Y, maybe in Winooski. We'll see.
55. Go to Alaska. Don't know if this is going to happen or not, but Alaska is the only state I've never been to, so I'd like to if I can swing it.
56. Falconry. Still need to do some research on this one, though former student Kim thought she had a lead for me.
57. Meet-up in Latin America. The boys are still planning to do their bike through the continent and Siham and I are still planning to fly down and meet up with them. The year extension will make that easier.
58. Take a flying lesson. Don't know if I can swing it, but still very interested if I can.
59. Knit a pair of mittens. Did the first one with my sister Katrinka's help, but forgot how to do the thumb. When they come in October she can show me again.
60. Learn to say I love you in 52 languages. It's getting harder; if people know languages not already listed, help me out, please!
61. Go to a classical music concert. My talented musician friend Annemieke is on this one, and I'm sure it will happen soon.
62. Go camping in Vermont. Given the speed by which the summer is flying by, I'm thinking it might turn out to be winter camping, which could also be very cool.
63. Go dog sledding. Stole this one off my friend Kristin's list, and think it would be tons of fun.
64. Learn to do a single jump and a one-footed spin on ice skates. I've fallen woefully behind in my work on this one, but once I'm done with this trip, skating goes back to the top of my agenda.
65. Get a tattoo. Hopefully Kristin is still on board to do this one together on our shared birthday (December 10).

As I noted at the top of this post, Siham, Leah and I usually get together every few months and revise our lists, and do something on them together. So, I thought I'd put in a few photos from our get-togethers. There's one of me in my Halloween costume (I was the State of Vermont) that Leah and Siham were helping me put together the night the list idea was born. Then there's one from our trip to Cadillac Mountain on Bar Harbor to watch the sunrise, and one from their weekend visit in May to see another of our close friends, Jamila, who came to Vermont for the month of May. And there's one of Leah and I taking a break from list revising to eat ice cream on the outside deck of Das Bierhaus. The non-sequiter is a picture of Tigist wearing the dress I bought her when I was in Jordan. Couldn't resist throwing it in.

So, that's the line-up for the rest of the year as it stands right now. If you have an idea or want to participate in anything on it, please reply to this post or shoot me an email. Lots of great stuff in store for the second half of 2010!

37. Try sea kayaking (and visit the Isle of Skye)

If I needed any further evidence that the best thing to do is the one that intimidates you the most, our day sea kayaking off the coast of Scotland just provided it. It was chilly and it rained, and I was pretty iffy about the layers upon layers of "kit" I was wearing, but all of that turned out to be so inconsequential. For those who know all about sea kayaking (a group of which I'm decidedly not a member), the coast of Scotland is prime territory.

We went to the ultra-charming town of Plocktown after a day of hiking on the Isle of Skye in a town called Sligachan, which you get to by bus when you get to the end of the line by train at Kyle of Lochalsh (and I'm recounting all this in large part just because I think the names are so cool). Just as Plockton is all about the sea kayaking (and sailing), Sligachan is a hiker and rock climber's paradise, and apparently the Black Cuillens in the area have some of the best technical hikes and climbs in the world. I am obviously not technically proficient in either of these areas, but would point out that it's not often that you can take a day hike that includes views of the ocean, lakes (aka as lochs here, of course), and mountain peaks all within a few hour's trekking.

So, after our fabulous day of hiking we hopped on a bus the next morning and headed to Plockton for our sea kayaking adventure. We had been tipped off by our friend and colleague, David, about his friend, Alison's, sea kayaking business, Sea Kayak Plockton (http://www.seakayakplockton.co.uk/), and so we arranged a day out with her.

I'd been out on Lake Champlain with the Saint Michael's College Wilderness Program (taught by my friend and former student Kate) once a few summers before, but this seemed more intimidating. Besides the fact that we were in the ocean, the weather was cool and rainy, and bit more gear-intensive. As you can see from the pictures, we definitely had the layering thing down, with long sleeve (non-cotton) shirts, wet suits, fleeces, sea kayaking cagoules (basically, jackets), spraydecks (those apron-looking things that you hook onto your kayak), life vests, wet suit boots, hats and probably other stuff I'm forgetting.

But once we were out on the water, all the gear made sense, because even when it began to rain, we stayed warm, and pretty soon I didn't even care about the weather anyway, because being out on the water, was so sensational. We passed the Duncraig Castle, a whole bunch of seals who poked their heads up at various times and swam near us, lots of islands, and gorgeous, craggy hills and mountains. The mist that obscured the Isle of Skye also gave everything an otherworldly feeling that was incredibly cool.

We were also lucky in having a phenomenal instructor in Alison, who talked me through a whole day's paddle out among the islands of the bay, and who, at the end of the day, let me practice capsizing for the experience of getting better at releasing me from the kayak (unfortunately no pictures, but I assure you, all those layers can hold a LOT of sea water -- the clothes I was wearing are still wet). And then she felt so bad that we were going to miss yet another awesome Plockton-area attraction, the Eilean Donan Castle (where they filmed the movie Highlander), that she drove us out to check it out that evening. Talk about going the extra mile -- it was a wonderful bonus to an already-phenomenal day.

Here are some pictures our time in Plockton, on and off the water, as well as a shot from our hike on Skye. In the Skye one I'm standing at the high point of a ridge that was our ultimate destination in order to look out over the ocean and connecting loch. There are also photos of Jerry taking a breather while loading the kayaks at the end of the day, and one he took of Alison and me (blue hat) out on the water. Jerry also took the one of Alison and me after I had dried off from my capsize exercise, and she had taken us up to the Eilean Donan Castle. And finally, there is one of the village of Plockton, as seen from inside the window of the bed and breakfast where we stayed.

My conclusions are these: first, sea kayaking is a fabulous activity that everyone should try and second, if you're looking for a wonderful place to take a trip where you can do world-class hiking, climbing, kayaking and/or sailing with castles, lochs, mountains and oceans as back-drop, the Northwest Highlands and the Hebrides Islands of Scotland are where you want to go. Finally, if you're looking for the most charming village in the world, it just might be Plockton. Come visit, but you might not want to leave.

52 Ways to Say I Love You

...in Scottish Gaelic. Interestingly, all the signs in Scotland are in both English and Scottish Gaelic, and our clerk, Claire, at the Sligachan Inn who very kindly provided these phrases for me, told me that now students have the choice to take their classes in English or, as she did, in Scottish Gaelic.

Hello Feasgar Math (pronounced Facegar Ma)

Good by Chi sibh (Chee shibh)

Can I have two beers, please? Am faod mi da deoch lachir mar sea do thoie(Am food me da deeoch ladir mar se do holle

I love you Tha goal agam art (Ha ghoul agam ort)

Coming Attractions

Still planning to put out a revised list in the next few days...

36. Try Haggis (and neeps and tatties)

It's a little before 6 am, and it's been light for almost an hour here on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. I've been to Scotland before, but never to Skye, so my new thing #37 will combine a new place (Skye) and a new activity (Sea Kayaking). But for new thing #36 I did a pretty easy one (try a new food) in a place I've been before -- and completely loved. That would be the city of Edinburgh.

I was always hesitant to try haggis in the past because of it's famous main ingredient, sheep's organs (stomach, heart and lungs). But a great thing about doing this list is that now compared to say, ice climbing, eating a plate of haggis seems like small potatoes, so I decided to try it. When I'm not traveling I try to stick to a vegetarian diet, so won't be going out of my way for this one anyway, but my official verdict is that it's actually not bad. I think it's more like hash than anything else, and since it's loaded with fat, it tastes pretty good, and is probably terrible for you. I had it the traditional way, with neeps (parsnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes), and as you can see from the picture below it basically looks like a big plate of baby food.

Of course, I had to post a few other pictures from our time in Edinburgh as well. I'm here with my friend and photojournalist colleague, Jerry. We're presenting a co-authored paper at a conference in Cambridge in a few days and decided to extend the trip to go to Scotland on the front end and Denmark afterwards. I had been in Edinburgh twice before, once with my friend Alex and again with my sister Katrinka, and though both trips happened over fifteen years ago, being back has made me remember how completely much I love the city. It's full of mists and fogs and the coolest Gothic architecture and spires and gargoyles imaginable. We did some of the classic tourist destinations, including touring the castle at the top of the city, the palace of Holyrood (official Scottish residence of the royal family when they're in town and site of lots of 16th and 17th century intrigues and murders), and a hike above the city to the extinct volcano called Arthur's Seat.

There is a shot of the castle from the park below, and another from within the Great Room where they had banquets with the knights and nobles. I love the shot of Jerry at Holyrood Palace because it looks like he's taking some important business call when actually he's listening to the audio tour we were following. And there is a shot of me on top of Arthur's Seat looking over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth.

I'm going to save the Scottish Gaelic I collected last night for the Isle of Skye/sea Kayaking post, and still need to finish my list revision, so that's it for now. Except to say that Scotland is exactly as great as I remember it from many years ago, and I strongly recommend a visit (but bring your jacket because it's cold, even in late July).

35. Visit the Rokeby Museum

One of the many lessons I've learned from this year is that, when your plans don't work out, sometimes you just have to go to Plan B and be grateful for it. This weekend was supposed to be one of the hikes I've been looking forward to all year -- a moonlight/sunrise of Camel's Hump. I leave today for my last big trip of the summer -- this one to Europe -- and I was very pleased that I'd be fitting this in before heading out, and thrilled that a whole crew of past and current Saint Mike's students were on board to do it. But alas, the weather did not cooperate, and the hike is now being postponed till sometime in the second half of August.

Happily, though, my good friends, Siham and Leah, co-originators of the whole list idea, had come up for the hike and were staying for the weekend. So, we decided we'd better make the most of it. We tend to get together about every other month to go over our lists, and see what we've done, what new ideas we've come up with, and what joint plans we want to make for the future. So, we tackled some list revisions over some drinks on Friday night, and I'm going to do a separate post of my list update that came from that conversation.

On Saturday we did two New Things -- one from Leah's list and one from mine. Leah is a former student leader of various hiking and rock climbing expeditions with the SMC Wilderness Program. And yet, incredibly, she had never gone up Mt. Philo. We remedied that with a sunrise hike -- partly a consolation prize to me for having to postpone the Camel's Hump sunrise and partly so Leah could finally say she'd looked at Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks from the top.

In the afternoon we stayed with the south of Burlington theme, and went to the little town of Ferrisburgh to check out the Rokeby Museum. It's a historical house, and the exhibits are mainly a family history of the five generations of the Robinson Family who lived there. I think we all agreed that the most inspirational part was learning about the 3rd generation, Rowland and Rachel Robinson, who were devout Quakers and dedicated Abolitionists. They weren't merely reformists, but radicals, working for the immediate abolition of slavery, and living their principles in every facet of their lives. Their home was not only a stop on the Underground Railroad, they openly hired people who had made it there and decided not to go on to Canada (a flagrant violation of the Fugitive Slave Law). Rachel did not buy any products that had been produced by slave labor -- from cotton cloth to sugar and molasses to tobacco and rum (not that the last was much of a problem for them, since they were also part of the temperance movement). And both were active members (and in some cases founders) of local and state-wide abolition organizations. Their children and grandchildren were pioneers in their own ways -- especially some of the women of the family, several of whom became commercially successful artist/illustrators at a time when most women did not support themselves financially. The place is well worth a visit, and I'd certainly go again with anyone who wants to check it out (www.rokeby.org).

The pictures are a bit of hodgepodge from the day. There are two taken at the Rokeby Museum, one of Siham and Leah sitting outside one of the outbuildings of the farm, and another of one of those freaky oddities of by-gone years. It's called a hair wreath and it's made out of -- yes- human hair. And there's a diagram drawn by the maker showing which humans produced the hair of which parts of the wreath, just in case you're curious. I also put in a few pictures from our Mt. Philo dawn hike, one of Leah and Siham at the rock near the beginning, another of Siham and me at the top, and a third (taken by Leah, who grabbed my camera and did a far better job than I would have) of an adorable tiny salamander we met on the way down. And finally, in between Mt. Philo and the Rokeby we just had to be good Vermonters and hit the Saturday farmer's market. Here we are nearby on Church Street loving the idea of summer in Vermont.

52 Ways to Say I Love You

In Czech, with many thanks to Laura Brade, who I've never actually met. She's the girlfriend of the son of our family physician growing up, Keith Davis. And Dr. Davis definitely deserves a special shout-out as well. When I was going to junior high and high school in Twin Falls, Idaho, his practice was in Shoshone, about an hour's drive away. He was a great doctor, but he became a legend in the eyes of my family when he once drove down from Shoshone in the middle of winter to give me a shot of penicillin and stayed for an hour on top of it to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction. That's what I call an awesome family doctor.

Hello" = "Ahoj" (as in, "Ahoy there maties!" Emphasize the AH part of the Ahoy. I think the Czech have a complex due to the fact that they are a land locked country) or "Dobrý den" Pronounced DOE-brie (the cheese) den.

Goodbye = Čau! Pronounced just as the Italians would pronounce Ciao! The more formal goodbye = Na shledanou (somewhat tricky to pronounce and I usually avoid it) But here goes: NAH SKHLE-da-noooo

I love you = Miluje tě (pronounced MI- lu-yi tye)

I would like two beers please (for a female speaker) = Chtěla bych dvě piva, prosím. (A male speaker would say Chtěl bych...). Pronounced: KHTYE-la beekh dveh PEA-vuh PRO-seem

Coming Attractions

I'm putting out a new, revised list on my next post, so that will get covered there. For now I'll just say that once this trip to Europe is over I'm going to have a little more than two weeks to make the most of summer in Vermont, so I hope lots of people are up for joining me!