Riding the bull. . . and getting the horns. . .

This is a picture of a person, who shall remain nameless for modesty sake, after the whitewater trip.

Believe it or not, the person wasn't all that sore afterward, though it looked like the area had absorbed a horrendous beating.

If anyone on here ever visits the wonderful bog: blogmyrabbit.blogspot.com then maybe they can implore the Web master Beez to put up an Identikit and take guesses on the subject.

Riding the bull. . .

This isn't the El Toro River, which is one of the more popular rivers to raft in this area, as the water was a wee bit too low. This is another river in the Sarapiqui region that Jim, Tracy and Cathy went on.

They are all experienced rafters (and Cathy has guided rivers in the Northwest before). It's a technical river and the water was a little low, but they still had a good time.

There were a few bumps and bruises, however, and that will be saved until tomorrow.

Idaho connection. . .

This is yours truly and Jim Browitt, former sports editor at the Lewiston Morning Tribune and now a second-year law student at the University of Idaho.

Jim and I worked at the Tribune together in the early 90s. I bolted for Japan (where he also came to visit) and Jim stayed on and became the sports editor and ran an outstanding section until he decided to hang it up and hit the law books.

Jim and his wife Tracy and friend Cathy came down for four days in the middle of March. It was great to see them (and to meet Cathy) and to catch up on the happenings of the Lewiston-Clarkston valley.

They enjoyed themselves as well and hopefully we'll get to see them down here again in the future.

Back to the jungle. . .

After the sojourn through Europe and the Japan disaster, we were lucky enough to hang out with Ma and Pa Eidson and their wonderful friend, Bernie. They were here for three weeks (two weeks here at the hotel with the middle week in La Fortuna soaking up the sun).

They made their way back to the States the other day and we had a great visit with them. Looking forward to their next trip down here and to seeing other friends and family down this way as well.

Back to Guernsey II . . .

Here is Lucy and I with Arlo (left) and Dylan, Richard and Corn's
other two boys. This is in the living room, where they had just installed a new fireplace to heat the area.

It was great to hang out by a fire and talk and just hang out (and Lucy appreciated the extra warmth!).

We interrupt the normal

blithering about travel and Costa Rica for an important announcement.

For the three of the loyal readers who have not been paying attention (and there is at least one in Tokyo who has) Japan has been rocked by a horrible, horrible tragedy.

Of course, this hits home for myself, as I lived in Japan for five years. I did not live near Sendai (Tokyo was as close to the north as I lived) we still have friends that we consider family living in Japan.

Today, as I was perusing the news wires, I read that donations to Japan are not all that high. Perhaps because people see Japan as a rich nation (unlike Haiti). However, the level of destruction and devastation is just enormous.

We're not going to endorse any Web site for aid here, but we'd like to encourage everyone to give just a bit to the folks who have absolutely nothing left after the twin disasters of the quake and tsunami.

Back to Guernsey. . .

Richard and Cornelia put up some pictures of our visit to Guernsey on their Facebook page a while ago and I poached them and have posted them here.

This is Richard, Toby (my godson) and me hanging out in their dining room area.

Toby is pretty camera shy when it comes to other folks, but really will open up and crack a smile when his folks are around.

That's a good thing as Richard is a great photographer (he has had his pictures published in newspapers in the U.K.) and the kids are just adorable.

Riding high

Also out by the aquarium are some aerial gondolas, which run right on the shoreline of the expo area. It's a pretty nice view from up there and it's a relaxing ride of about 10 minutes or so.

More aquarium

Some of the more entertaining creatures at the aquarium were the otters. They just lazed about and batted their plastic ball around in the water while mostly floating on their back and occasionally diving down to the bottom for some reason or the other.

Lisbon again

There more to Lisbon than castles and other fine sights, of course. One day we trekked (by subway and foot) to a newer area of the city, where a world expo was held several years ago.

There is the largest aquarium in Western Europe (perhaps in all of Europe?) and it was impressive. The main tank was gigantic and had all kinds of fish (sharks, rays, tuna, eels) and it was a big area to walk around in.

This is a shot of the penguins that they have at the aquarium. They are incredibly fast critters, shooting like missiles under the water.

More toy museum

Of course, we're not going to leave the toy museum at just one entry. There were four floors, after all.

There were toy soldiers, cars, trains, dolls. Most of it was quite old (the gentleman was probably in his 80s).

Some of the toy soldiers were manufactured by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s. They weren't all German soldiers, but some Portugese soldiers with the German and Nazi flags.

Sintra: The Toy Museum

While we were walking around Sintra, we saw a sign for the Toy Museum. We figured, why not? We paid our Euros and started walking around on the first floor.

An elderly gentleman wheeled up to us in his chair and started speaking in Portugese, then realizing we were clueless, switched to English. It turns out, all of the toys on exhibit were his. He said that his grandfather used to give him and his brother toys all the time--it didn't matter if they were good or bad. This continued even after his parents "kidnapped" him and sent him and his brother to boarding school in England.

It was an impressive collection.

More of the Pena Palace

Here are some more shots around Pena Palace. Highly recommend a visit to check out the interior. Pretty plush and lavish for when it was built.

Sintra III

After the Moorish Castle, we hiked over to the Pena Palace, which was last occupied by royalty in the late 1800s. It's a brightly colored palace with dozens and dozens of rooms. It was really fun to walk through and check everything out.

They don't allow pictures to be taken inside the palace itself, just on the outside. There were some great views here as well.

The kitchen was something that was amazing, with massive copper pots and frying pans hanging on walls and on counter tops.

Sintra II

This is the view from up high on the Moorish Castle. It's kind of narrow and there isn't much of a protective wall going up there. Could only imagine what it was like for folks running up and down the steep stairs to get to the towers way back in the day. We took our time and it was a little intimidating as it was a long way down.

Way off in the distance is the Atlantic Ocean.

Sintra

We didn't spend our entire time in Lisbon. We did get out and about and went to Sintra for a day. It was maybe 30 minutes by train from Lisbon.

Sintra is a nice little town, which is really popular with Lisbonites (Lisbonians?) during the hot summer months. It wasn't hot when we were there, so there weren't a lot of folks there.

There is an old Moorish castle there that is thousands of years old (they're still doing research there and digging up stuff on a regular basis).

You can climb up to the towers and the views are amazing. You can see all the way to the ocean.

Most folks take a bus or a cab to get there, but Lucy and I decided to walk. It took around 90 minutes, but it was a nice day and a great hike with some really nice scenery.

Lisbon VIII

As stated before, the streetcars are a great way to get around Lisbon. Here's a shot of one that Lucy captured zipping by while we were heading back to our hotel.

Lisbon VII

Here is the inside of the monastery. Pretty impressive, to say the least. You can see Vasco de Gama's tomb here as well.

Lisbon VI

This is an ancient and really incredible monastery where Vasco de Gama is interred. His coffin/resting place is quite the work of art as well, inside part of the monastery that we were able to walk around in.

It is a massive structure and very impressive. Just can't imagine the amount of work and time it took to get that whole thing put together way, way, way back in the day.

Lisbon V

Here we are in another one of the plazas with a massive statue/sculpture behind Lucy. You can actually see this square from the Saint Jorge Castle, and it's very near the waterfront area.

Our hotel was maybe a 15-minute walk from this area and we could see the big arch or gate from a ways away, so we naturally headed in that direction when we set out on our first exploratory trip.