[PRCo] Re: Fwd: Streetcars All Over the World - Zurich (2)

[John Swindler]

Hi Fred
 
The rest of the story about visiting Nova Scotia two weeks ago goes back 15 years to a church in Churchtown.  You and Ed were there.  (:>)   But our 15th anniversary was approaching, and Carol said 'I'd better come up with something good'.  So I found a deeply discounted 7-day cruise out of Boston that included Bar Harbour, which we had visited 15 years ago.  Also included Halifax, St. John and Sydney.  And speaking of guided toures, we could walk about the towns just as easily as a "Gray Line tour", and for a whole lot less.  You don't have to spend a fortune, although many did.
 
The pier terminal in Boston was only a 6.5 hour drive from Lancaster Co.  And the locals in Canada appreciated the effect the cruise industry is having on their collapsed mining and steel economy, unlike some other areas, such as much of US.  In Pennsylvania supposedly agriculture is #1 and tourism #2 according to some propaganda from the state.  But that is what helps PTM secure grants.  It's job creation, both directly and indirectly.  And it is a world-wide problem.  It doesn't take a vast herd of workers to produce steel anymore.
 
Last Christmas we exchanged gifts. Carol's was a trip to Prague and Budapest.  I retaliated with a western Caribbean cruise.  We have enough 'junk'.  Don't need anything else taking up space.
 
Fred talks about winning a few converts.  My 'plug' will be that the $4 gas is hurting the travel industry, and there are some great bargains out there.  True, the exchange rate isn't what it use to be, but you don't have to go first class.  And secondly, don't know what ones health will be like in the future, so now might be the time.  Fred's parents are one of my examples of waiting too long.  
 
As for the Baltic country, that was Lithuania on a military assistance visit.  And while in Rotterdam during Desert Storm, was the unofficial tour guide on several occasions.  Quick story.  Morning after we arrived, the XO lectured us not to travel about the city as it was a foreign country and we would not know how to get about.  The admin officer then blurted out that the XO was "too late - Cpt. Swindler has already been traveling about the town on the trams."  I found it amusing. 
 
First solo trips overseas were in 1968 and 1969, courtesy of CTA summer employment.  Both included unplanned jaunts across the channel, which were needed to sample light rail.  Glad I did it, but wished I'd been better prepared.  But I was just a college kid at the time.
 
Time to take the dog out.
 
Cheers
John
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Fwd: Streetcars All Over the World - Zurich (2)> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:31:58 -0400> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org> > I always regarded what I do as a form of education. If I win a few > converts, then it is worth the effort. Mark McGuire once told me > that he wanted to go to Europe ... so some of what I post is for > him. If you get something out of it, then it's worth while.> But more important than that, I have long held a global perspective > that reads "every country does some things right and some things > wrong and you will be unable to critically fathom what we do right > and they do wrong and vice versa if your only perspective comes from > the television set in your home or your neighbors. You need more > than just our media and our politicians telling us what we are doing > right and someone else is doing wrong. That should explain why > travel can be so enriching if you permit it to do so.> > I also hasten to point out that you will never totally understand by > taking an all-inclusive guided tour that "squeezes a quart into a > pint pot," i.e. the one that gives you 10 European countries in 21 > days including jet lag. Those tours tell you that the American on > the tour bus in front of your needs a hair cut. They isolate you > from the general public, usually giving your group a table in the > banquet room of restaurant sequestered from the natives you went to > see. The only natives you see are the shop keepers who give the > tour guides and tour bus drivers a kick back on your purchases. You > will never even get true cuisine from the nation you visit; the meals > will often be sanitized for Americans if you are in a strange > country. Even in Bulgaria I was cheated out of the garlic that the > natives were eating. And the Orbis Hotel chain in Poland cooked for > westerners and not for Poles.> > The real way to understand is to find and make friends in other > countries. To travel on your own ... starting with a brief > introduction to the language and building up. I had a friend, who is > now decased, who decided in the middle 1960s that he wanted to spend > more time in Switzerland. He had gone on one railfan tour. John > concluded he wanted to go to the places the tours didn't go. He was > almost 50 years old at the time and still he went out and started > taking German lessons. Man did he struggle with the language. And > for the next two decades he spent almost a vacation a year in Germany > and Switzerland. He would tell me about letters he got from Marcus > Buchs or some other railfan over there that he had met. He was > there in the 1980s when TMI cut loose ... he read it in a German > newspaper. He got their viewpoint on it before he knew what was > really happening right in his own back yard. He proved once and for > all that, while he wasn't perfect, he could struggle enough to get > those tools he needed to enjoy another culture. When he died he had > something like 12,000 negatives, half of which had been taken in Europe.> > Find groups over there that do things that interest you. I had a > former boss who retired and, because he hated the heat in Florida in > the summer, he would lock up his condominium on Sarasota and rent a > flat in London every summer. Then he would take tours of the > continent with the Brits. He may not have understood Germany any > better but at least he got a good perspective on the British. You > like trolleys, then make friends before you go through Light Railway > Transport League or fan groups over there or museums over there. > Then you get the fun of walking out of the museum at Crich on a > Saturday evening and eating in the local pub with friends.> > There are also some really strange tours. Art departments at > colleges may take students to European art museums and they may have > a few extra seats at very reduced prices for other inrterested > people. I knew a lady from our church who wanted to get a cheap > price for her own vacation; she would make up an all inclusive tour > and then opened it up to everyone in church. But she took the > freebies ... her free room as the tour broker, and divided that among > everyone ... She also had no profit motive. So her tours could be as > much as 20% under commercial tours.> > This lecture isn't for Derrick because he has been in Sweden many > times. He knows the Gospel According to Fred.> > It isn't for Ed Lybarger because he has been from Singapore to Germany.> > And John Swindler's wife seems to drag him all over the landscape > now. I think it was Nova Scotia last but I seem to recall that she > took him to Slovaka and Hungary this year too. John also had the > military send him to one of the Baltic nations as an advisor and to > Holland once. And he also had relatives in England. He knows the > lecture. He could write it.> > Bob Dietrick has been to Ireland this year.> > And Dennis was in Italy this year.> > I guess the discussion isn't wasted on too many of this group after all.> > One caution. Your Christmas card list will get longer and overseas > postage is more expensive than 41 cents.> > > > > > > > > On Sep 19, 2008, at 7:05 PM, John Swindler wrote:> > > Postings about other places help provide hints for future travel > > possibilities. But I suspect - and hope - you already realize > > this, Fred.> >> > John> > > > 
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