Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Miami - South Beach
This place is so cool! South Beach (or SoBe to the locals) is the art deco hotel capital of America I think because they are plentiful and beautiful. Collins Street is the place to be seen. Whether you dress up or dress down it needs to be chic. Along the street are parked restored 65 Mustangs or Chevrolet Bel Air's to add to the flavour. South Beach also has a boardwalk/bike path that goes for miles and the beach is also known for its colourful Lifeguard towers. Combine this with the warm ocean breeze and overall it's a great experience.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is now one of the new 7 wonders of the world and is now also listed by Unesco as a world heritage site.
Chichen Itza was a centre of pilgrimage for the ancient Maya for over 1,000 years. About 987 the ruler of the Toltec people of central Mexico came here, and with his Maya allies made Chichen Itza the most powerful city in the Yucatan. The ruler called himself "Kukulcan", the name of the Mesoamerican Feathered Serpent deity and Chichen Itza became a centre for worship of that god as well.
About 1221 the Maya revolted against the rulers of Chichen Itza. The city was not abandoned, but as political power shifted elsewhere it declined and no major new buildings were constructed. Chichen Itza remained a place of pilgrimage for the Maya until it was conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th century.
The structures of Chichen Itza were overgrown with jungle and slowly decayed until major archaeological projects began in the 1920s. Since then, more of the ancient structures have been cleared and restored.
The Pyramid of Kukulcan or El Castillo (the castle) is the most famous landmark of Chichen Itza. This was a temple-pyramid dedicated to the Feathered Serpent God, Kukulcan. Sculptures of the Feathered Serpents run down the sides of the northern staircase. A curious phenomenon that occurs on the Spring and Fall equinoxes as the sun sets is the light and shadow patterns caused by the corner tiers that appear on the northern staircase resembling a snake culminating in the head at the foot of the stairs (there's a photo I took of a poster that shows this). This temple was actually built over a smaller, interior temple which can still be accessed - just not by the public. Only 50% of the temple has been restored so far.
Other monuments in the area include:
Temple of the Warriors - this is the one with all the columns.
The Great Market
Great Ballcourt - there are 7 courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame played with a solid latex ball which could only be hit with (heavily protected) right shoulder, elbow, hip or knee. The object was to get the ball through the hoop at the top of the stadium (as the hoop is about 50 feet off the ground, that was no mean feat!)
Temple of the Jaguars - Attached to the ballcourt complex, with stone jaguar, feathered serpent columns, and murals inside.
Sweatbaths - These played an important part in ancient Maya spiritual traditions as places to purify the mind, body, and emotions, thus getting in touch with one´s pure spiritual energy.
Platform of the Skulls - the dead were left here for scavenging by vultures.
Cenote of Sacrifice - the Sacred Cenote (a large natural well or limestone sink hole) was holy to the ancient Rain God "Chac" and humans were sacrificed there by drowning.
Chichen Itza was a centre of pilgrimage for the ancient Maya for over 1,000 years. About 987 the ruler of the Toltec people of central Mexico came here, and with his Maya allies made Chichen Itza the most powerful city in the Yucatan. The ruler called himself "Kukulcan", the name of the Mesoamerican Feathered Serpent deity and Chichen Itza became a centre for worship of that god as well.
About 1221 the Maya revolted against the rulers of Chichen Itza. The city was not abandoned, but as political power shifted elsewhere it declined and no major new buildings were constructed. Chichen Itza remained a place of pilgrimage for the Maya until it was conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th century.
The structures of Chichen Itza were overgrown with jungle and slowly decayed until major archaeological projects began in the 1920s. Since then, more of the ancient structures have been cleared and restored.
The Pyramid of Kukulcan or El Castillo (the castle) is the most famous landmark of Chichen Itza. This was a temple-pyramid dedicated to the Feathered Serpent God, Kukulcan. Sculptures of the Feathered Serpents run down the sides of the northern staircase. A curious phenomenon that occurs on the Spring and Fall equinoxes as the sun sets is the light and shadow patterns caused by the corner tiers that appear on the northern staircase resembling a snake culminating in the head at the foot of the stairs (there's a photo I took of a poster that shows this). This temple was actually built over a smaller, interior temple which can still be accessed - just not by the public. Only 50% of the temple has been restored so far.
Other monuments in the area include:
Temple of the Warriors - this is the one with all the columns.
The Great Market
Great Ballcourt - there are 7 courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame played with a solid latex ball which could only be hit with (heavily protected) right shoulder, elbow, hip or knee. The object was to get the ball through the hoop at the top of the stadium (as the hoop is about 50 feet off the ground, that was no mean feat!)
Temple of the Jaguars - Attached to the ballcourt complex, with stone jaguar, feathered serpent columns, and murals inside.
Sweatbaths - These played an important part in ancient Maya spiritual traditions as places to purify the mind, body, and emotions, thus getting in touch with one´s pure spiritual energy.
Platform of the Skulls - the dead were left here for scavenging by vultures.
Cenote of Sacrifice - the Sacred Cenote (a large natural well or limestone sink hole) was holy to the ancient Rain God "Chac" and humans were sacrificed there by drowning.
Miami Airport Immigration
The flight to Miami was uneventful although US immigration was suspicious of my having spent only 2 days in Mexico. I mentioned i went to see Chichen Itza and then he said 'you came all the way from Australia for 2 days?' I explained about the course in Philadelphia and each bit of information I proffered he queried deeper, ie which city, what was the course on, what was one of the instructors names? It felt a bit like Millionaire - I think I got up to $2000 before the commercial break. But unable to trap me on that he changed tack to see if I was really Australian (apparently my accent wasn't enough of a giveaway - I must have been masking it with my natural Arabic accent) by asking me about the early days of ACDC! Seriously, do I look like Molly Meldrum? I smiled (only to myself because its against the law to smile while at the immigration desk - apparently only terrorists do that...thats how they catch them) to myself when an immigration agent who could only have been 25 talks in a nostalgic way about the early days of ACDC playing in pubs. For Gods sake, he wasn't even born! I'm not sure what my answer should have been...should I have done a bit of air guitar (with sound) to Thunderstruck! It must be foreigner familiarization 101 for US immigration. It felt like a reverse citizenship test! Made me wonder what other countries get....do travelers from the UK get questions about the Beatles or Princess Diana? Do Italians get questions about the Coloseum? French the Eiffel Tower? Hopefully it's age-specific, perhaps if I was younger I would have been queried about Paul Hogan throwing a shrimp on the barbie, or perhaps the America's Cup.
How funny is this!
In Miami Airport my fellow passengers and I were making our way towards immigration and had to go up an escalator. I was just about to step on when suddenly it stopped. The 20 or so Americans on the escalator just looked around with a 'what do we now look on their face' and, I kid you not, waited - not knowing what to do. They were helpless! It took about 7 seconds before someone figured out 'Hey, it's okay. We can use our legs. They're stairs!' Crisis averted....phew!
Valladolid and the cenote
The town of Valladolid was originally a Mayan village until the Spanish conquered it. The centerpiece of the town is the plaza and the 16th Century church. The usual Spanish practice was to change the name of the town, and replace those Gods the locals worshipped with Christian versions.
The Yucatan peninsula is mostly made up of limestone which means they have a lot of caves, and underground rivers. Cenotes are sink holes resulted from the ground collapsing into a cavern of river below. The cenote pictured is 20m from ground level to the water and the water is 50m deep. Back in 2010 they held a cliff diving competition here..
The Yucatan peninsula is mostly made up of limestone which means they have a lot of caves, and underground rivers. Cenotes are sink holes resulted from the ground collapsing into a cavern of river below. The cenote pictured is 20m from ground level to the water and the water is 50m deep. Back in 2010 they held a cliff diving competition here..
Monday, May 7, 2012
Cancun
The flight to Cancun was almost uneventful. The lady next to me, an African American woman declared before we even taxied that she was the world's worst flyer. My brain said 'oh God', my mouth said 'I'm sure we'll be fine'. From then on if the seatbelt signs were turned on she'd let a little whimper but if we hit a little bump, it became 'oh Lordy Lordy, we is gonna die!' and 'Mercy Jesus!'. Thankfully, if you're reading this, her prediction didn't come true.
Cancun Airport gets a lot of international flights and for the most part is quite organised. However baggage claim and customs was a whole other story. About 10 flights had deplaned at the same time and it was chaos getting bags then forming an orderly serpentine line around the baggage carousels into the customs hall. Human nature being what it is, some courageous travelers thought they could just 'slide' into the line without being noticed. That lasted all of 2 seconds when there's a chorus of 'hey, get the back of the line...which starts way over there!' It took about an hour to get through the regulatory stuff.
The heat hits you as soon as you leave the airport - and it's not even summer here yet! I must say the taxi system is well organised and certainly puts scam artists out of business as you have to pay for your taxi before you leave the airport. The price was $64USD for a taxi or $16USD for a shuttle. It took all of 0.2 seconds to make that choice (the shuttle). The airport is a 30 minute ride from the main tourist area.
Cancun is like Surfers on steroids. Cancun is actually an L-shaped island that the Mexican Government thought would make a great tourist attraction 42 years ago. So after a nifty bit of dredging and swamp reclamation, Cancun was born. The original name of the town here was Nizuc but that obviously wasn't sexy enough. At last count Cancun had over 38,000 rooms. As you drive along 10kms of giant hotels you wonder if it's not more than that...
Cancun Airport gets a lot of international flights and for the most part is quite organised. However baggage claim and customs was a whole other story. About 10 flights had deplaned at the same time and it was chaos getting bags then forming an orderly serpentine line around the baggage carousels into the customs hall. Human nature being what it is, some courageous travelers thought they could just 'slide' into the line without being noticed. That lasted all of 2 seconds when there's a chorus of 'hey, get the back of the line...which starts way over there!' It took about an hour to get through the regulatory stuff.
The heat hits you as soon as you leave the airport - and it's not even summer here yet! I must say the taxi system is well organised and certainly puts scam artists out of business as you have to pay for your taxi before you leave the airport. The price was $64USD for a taxi or $16USD for a shuttle. It took all of 0.2 seconds to make that choice (the shuttle). The airport is a 30 minute ride from the main tourist area.
Cancun is like Surfers on steroids. Cancun is actually an L-shaped island that the Mexican Government thought would make a great tourist attraction 42 years ago. So after a nifty bit of dredging and swamp reclamation, Cancun was born. The original name of the town here was Nizuc but that obviously wasn't sexy enough. At last count Cancun had over 38,000 rooms. As you drive along 10kms of giant hotels you wonder if it's not more than that...
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Technology
Let's talk about technology in the US. There's wifi practically everywhere and it's free! There was wifi on the train from New York to Philadelphia, there was wifi on the plane from Dallas to New York. There's wifi in just about every cafe. There's wifi in train stations and airports. As wifi makes it easy to connect and do emails, texts with other iPhone users, internet etc, why can't Australia get its act together and provide wifi more readily? I think I'll answer my own question here. It's because the broadband providers in Australia charge 2-3 times more than in the US for equivalent plans. There's not enough competition. Competition is fierce here. Not just between carriers but between cafes, airlines, even trains. They all know they have to provide something for nothing - just to keep customers. It's got to the stage that free wifi is expected now, I can't imagine what the next freebie will be.
Ben Franklin
No visit to Philadelphia would be complete without mentioning Benjamin Franklin. Ben was born in 1706 in Boston but moved to Philadelphia in 1723. When he was 15, his brother James started a newspaper and Ben wanted to contribute but knew James would not let him so he wrote letters at night and signed them Silence Dogood, a fictional widow. The letters were a hit and Ben eventually confessed they were his. The Franklins ran into trouble with the Boston puritans (landing James in jail) and so Ben ran away to Philadelphia and got a job as an apprentice printer. Ben eventually created his own printing business and eventually a book store too. He bought the Pennsylvania Gazette often contributing under his various aliases, and also printed an annual called Poor Richard's Almanack. The saying 'a penny saved is a penny earned' was originally one of Bens saying published in the almanack.
As books were expensive, Ben launched the first public library in 1731.
Fires were a serious threat the Philadelphia, so Ben organised the Union Fire Company in 1736, which was essentially the first public fire brigade. His famous saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' was actually in relation to the fire brigade.
Ben recognized that the city needed help in better treating the sick, Ben formed a group that resulted in Pennsylvania Hospital in 1951.
Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. This was nothing new to Franklin. In 1743, he had already invented a heat-efficient stove — called the Franklin stove — to help warm houses efficiently. As the stove was invented to help improve society, he refused to take out a patent.
Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals. In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Politics became more of an active interest for Franklin in the 1750s. In 1757, he went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight with the descendants of the Penn family over who should represent the Colony. He remained in England to 1775, as a Colonial representative not only of Pennsylvania, but of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts as well. He was sick of the corruption in the Government and was already wondering if America should break free of England.
He returned home and was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution is Franklin's. In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.
The French loved Franklin, the man who tamed electricity, so the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
In his late seventies, Franklin returned to America and became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789.
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral.
As books were expensive, Ben launched the first public library in 1731.
Fires were a serious threat the Philadelphia, so Ben organised the Union Fire Company in 1736, which was essentially the first public fire brigade. His famous saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' was actually in relation to the fire brigade.
Ben recognized that the city needed help in better treating the sick, Ben formed a group that resulted in Pennsylvania Hospital in 1951.
Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. This was nothing new to Franklin. In 1743, he had already invented a heat-efficient stove — called the Franklin stove — to help warm houses efficiently. As the stove was invented to help improve society, he refused to take out a patent.
Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals. In the early 1750's he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Politics became more of an active interest for Franklin in the 1750s. In 1757, he went to England to represent Pennsylvania in its fight with the descendants of the Penn family over who should represent the Colony. He remained in England to 1775, as a Colonial representative not only of Pennsylvania, but of Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts as well. He was sick of the corruption in the Government and was already wondering if America should break free of England.
He returned home and was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson's, much of the contribution is Franklin's. In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI.
The French loved Franklin, the man who tamed electricity, so the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
In his late seventies, Franklin returned to America and became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789.
Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral.
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