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Wanderlust
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Getting back to the basic idea of exotic travel, check this out:
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Oh yeah David, getting back to the basic idea of exotic travel, thanks for the new input ????: Your contribution is pretty cool. The time-lapse recording gives the shipping an unusual dynamic. Have you ever looked to the left and the right, where the tracks run? There are small diesel locomotives (formerly steam locomotives) that tow the ships through the passage. It is amazing with what precision these giants of the seas are shipped through the small eye of a needle called the Panama Canal. Panama should be worth a trip, not only because of the canal but also because of the beautiful nature. A country caught in a balancing act between the wealth of the capital Panama City and the poor life of the rural population.
“There’s a kind of magic about leaving, only to come back completely changed.“
– Kate Douglas Wiggin –
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And the right music to go with it:
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David that is quite a fascinating lock system they have in the Panama Canal. In Seattle, they have a small version of that to get in and out of the lakes (Union and Washington) to the ocean (Puget Sound), called Ballard Locks where you can actually see small ships utilizing the complex lock system.
The Panama Canal is one cruise I’ve been considering doing in the near future from Vancouver along the Pacific Westcoast to the Panama Canal and up through the Caribbean to Florida. Will be a great opportunity to visit a number of Central American and Caribbean countries along the way.
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“Travel – it leaves you speechless, then it turns you into a storyteller.”
-Ibn Battuta –
Hi Jung,
that sounds like a great idea. Don’t forget your travel diary for the certainly impressive travel memoirs and if you’ve really been there, please share your travel experiences with us. I am exited. Maybe it looks like this….
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Hey Jurgen, welcome back! Late here, about to turn in, but thought I’d say hello. Will catch you tomorrow. Got to commute to town in the morning, but looking forward to listening to Why on the road. Certainly lots for you to catch up on here while you were away, enjoy!
Best, Jung
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I’d love to do this drive sometime! I just need a reason to be in Louisiana…
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Great David. Thank you for snatching the post from the black (server) hole. A very nice idea on top: Bridges are wondrous structures that have made it possible for us to travel to many hidden parts of the world. I have no idea what good reasons there are to go to Louisiana, but a trip across this remarkable bridge is probably one of them. There are bridges like sand on the sea and videos on this topic as well. I found the following video that introduces some very beautiful bridges in this world.
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Hi Jurgen, that’s a cool video of famous bridges in the world. I can say I’ve been across two of them, the Bixby Bridge on Hwy 1 on the California coast near Monterrey and the San Francisco Golden Gate bridge. I remember that Bixby bridge crossing it, but never realized it was one of the famous bridges in the world.
Back in 2012 my company sent a bunch of us down to Cancun Mexico for an all expense payed team building event for a few days and I got to experience the beautiful sandy beaches with turqoise water and the Mayan ruins in Tulum. Certainly a life long memorable trip.
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Hey David, I’ve made that drive many times. The first twenty miles are cool, then it gets a little monotonous! Half the highways down there are over water. Take I-10 west from NOLA and then north on I-55 along Lake Maurepas. You have to do the satellite view on Google Maps to appreciate the sogginess of the terrain. The interesting thing about that drive is that there are clumps of dry land here and there along the way, with a restaurant or a hardware store, just enough to make you wonder who could actually live out there. Anyway, you could always do the drive across the causeway to get down to Jazz Fest.
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That’s really neat, David! Thanks for the insight. My one time in Louisiana was a drive straight across I-10. I recall it was pretty desolate and swampy from Lafayette to Lake Charles; glad I filled up the gas tank in Baton Rouge.
Here’s another long bridge drive I’d like to try. It’s actually only about four hours from me, so I could just about make a day trip out of it:
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On the subject of bridges, I spontaneously thought of the song “View from a Bridge” by Kim Wilde. I love 80s pop (have I already mentioned this….😀?) But this kind of music seems to me to be a slow seller here in the forum, so I’ll try it with Sting. Maybe you can think of other pieces of music on the subject of bridges. I’m curious.
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Hi Jürgen, I guess they don’t really sing about a bridge, but a bridge is in the title, so that’s got to count for something…
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Great post David, that makes me feel very grooooovy!
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Hi David,
thank you for posting this beautiful song and the also magical interpretation of Mona and Lisa. I really like the songs of Simon and Garfunkel. Just like the music of the Beatles, for me it is a timeless music that never ages and somehow seems to float above things.
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Hmmm… that’s a tough one, Juergen. I can think of a couple of songs that deal with bridges metaphorically, but as far as the actual thing the only one that comes to mind is London Bridge.
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Hi David,
I really didn’t want to use the term bridge too narrowly. You’re right, there probably aren’t that many songs about a specific bridge. London Bridge also came to mind, not sure if we mean the same song. In elementary school we learned a song about the Bridge of Avignon. And the Anglo-Irish band „The Pogues“ sang about the Albert Bridge in London. I have actually also thought of songs that have the term bridge in the title or that are about bridges in the figurative sense so what you mean by metaphorical.
The following song, a chanson version of an original children’s song, is about the bridge of Avignon. This bridge of the city of the same name is located in southern France (Provence) and is considered as a landmark of the city. Along with the Palais des Papes and the Avignon Cathedral, it has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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And now the “Celtic” contrast program: The Albert Bridge was built in 1873 and is a road bridge over the River Thames connecting Chelsea in Central London on the north bank to Battersea on the south.
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Where’s that confounded bridge?
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Hi JP,
well my dear, the hints are pretty poor: “I’m just trying to find the bridge” , “Has anybody seen the bridge?“.
I asked my buddy google. But he didn’t know exactly where this damned bridge should be either. Do you have a clue? The piece sounds a lot like James Brown.
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Hey Jung,
thanks for your photos from Mexico. It looks like you had a great time there. I would love to experience this country and its culture someday. You are right, it is such experiences that no one can take away from you. I also see it that way when I travel.
Bridges are fantastic structures and actually a topic in themselves. Many bridges are a piece of contemporary history and if they could only talk, they would have a lot to tell. About their builders and the time in which they came into being. Of the different cultures they have seen coming and witnessed disappearing. The countless feet that have walked on them. They have experienced people of very different origins and their languages ​​from many corners of the world. And yet everything was ephemeral, except for the bridges themselves, which have withstood the ravages of time.
There are bridges that lead to fantastic places if you have the courage to step on them. Every step you take takes you further and further into a strange exotic world full of wonder and mystery. That’s what happened to me in Costa Rica as I followed fragile-looking suspension bridges on their way through the peaks of the giant trees. Deep beneath my feet, a billowing green ocean of dense foliage, wildly proliferating plants, and exotic blossoms stretching toward the blue of the distant sky. Many meters above my head the treetops of huge jungle giants, which have been spreading their mighty canopy of leaves there for centuries. Only sporadically single rays of sun fall through this dense roof and show me the beauty of this mysterious world with golden fingers. A tunnel of bright green interwoven with the dark brown of the countless tree trunks that seems to lead you through space and time. The calls and songs of strange birds ring out, here and there a faint rustling can be heard or the distant murmur of a small stream. Flitting shadows can be seen out of the corner of your eye, and if you take the time to just stand still and catch your breath, then the hidden inhabitants of the rainforest will eventually be very close to you: small pairs of eyes watching you carefully, colorful butterflies circling each other dancing, little hummingbirds that appearing to stand in place, flapping their wings at incredible speed, while their long beaks disappear into colorful blossoms. And the cracking of the branches, becomes an iguana, well camouflaged, deftly climbing a tree.
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The band „Bread“ sang about “the” London Bridge in 1985. Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The first historic London Bridge was built by the Romans about 2000 years ago. Subsequent structures were located in almost exactly the same place and represented the only connection across the Thames until the opening of Westminster Bridge in 1750. Probably this „London Bridge“ is meant in the song or it is only a metamophorical bridge. I haven’t figured that out, unfortunately. Anyway a nice song.
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“Ãœber sieben Brücken musst du gehen” (“Over seven bridges you have to go”). A beautiful “bridge song” by the East German band Karat. Written in 1978, when the former GDR still existed. From today’s point of view, the song gets a completely new meaning. I was surprised to find out that there is also an English cover version of this song (something like that is really rare). So also for me a premiere (and I do not need to translate the text…😀).
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