25.08.2007 - 26.08.2007
30 °C
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Jordan and I spent Saturday biking through the streets, alleyways and bike paths of Kyoto.

We visited and saw a few things including Nijo Castle and its beautiful gardens.

On Sunday morning, we visited Kyoto's Golden Temple (made out of real gold!)


then took the bullet train back to Tokyo to see the Tokyo Yakult Swallows crush the Baystars 6-2...

The excitement came in the 6th inning when Jordan and Sveta were featured on the scoreboard....

Tomorrow is our last day....
Posted by svjorber
18:31
Archived in Japan
Tagged round_the_world
22.08.2007 - 24.08.2007
33 °C
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Hakone is a major tourist area in the Tokyo region located near Mt. Fuji. We reached Hakone by the express 1 1/2 hour "Romance Train" from Tokyo. The Japanese know how to do trains...

We bought a fare card that enabled us to ride all the modes of transport in the area for three days, including buses, trains, funiculars, cable cars and ships!. We reached our hotel by bus, the venerable Fujiya Hotel


and rested for the evening. The next day, we explored the area, starting with the Hakone-Tozan Railroad.

all the way to Gora where we switched to a funicular...

and then to a couple of cable cars to reach the top of the mountain at 3000 ft. The mountain is the result of a volcanic eruption and still spews boiling water laden with sulfur and other minerals.



This water is also used to feed the local hotels for hot baths and a thriving wellness industry. A local custom is to cook eggs in this boiling mess. The eggs turn black and are said to add 7 years to your life if you eat one and 14 if you eat two!

From the top of the mountain, one can catch glimpses of the elusive Mount Fuji, which appears and disappears throught the clouds in an instant.

One the other side of the mountain lies lake Ashi, where we cruised the lake on a replica of an old ship.

In the afternoon of the third day, we also visited the great Hakone open air museum


and then ended up taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto with top speeds of 160 miles per hour...


See you in Kyoto...
Posted by svjorber
06:03
Archived in Japan
Tagged round_the_world
20.08.2007 - 21.08.2007
34 °C
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Posted by svjorber
05:15
Archived in Japan
Tagged round_the_world
18.08.2007 - 19.08.2007
33 °C
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We concluded our trip to China with a couple of days in Shanghai, a city of 17 million... Our visit included the famous Yuyuan Garden located in the heart of the old city,
and the old city which has been mostly rebuilt into commercial developments (here is a view at night)

We also visited the waterfront, also known as the Bund (here is the view opposite the Bund)

That's it. Japan is next.
Posted by svjorber
15:33
Archived in China
Tagged round_the_world
15.08.2007 - 17.08.2007
31 °C
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Posted by svjorber
04:38
Archived in China
Tagged round_the_world
13.08.2007 - 15.08.2007
33 °C
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Posted by svjorber
15:36
Archived in China
Tagged round_the_world
11.08.2007 - 12.08.2007
34 °C
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Posted by svjorber
08:31
Archived in China
Tagged round_the_world
07.08.2007 - 10.08.2007
32 °C
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Posted by svjorber
08:37
Archived in China
Tagged round_the_world
03.08.2007 - 06.08.2007
23 °C
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Posted by svjorber
00:53
Archived in Russia
Tagged round_the_world
(Football)
05.08.2007 - 05.08.2007
23 °C
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I am running out of internet time but I wanted to post about our evening at the football game here in Moscow where we had a chance to watch Spartak Moscow, the league leader win over Tomb 3-2. The game was played at the former Olympic stadium in Moscow, home of the Spartans.
The action was excellen, this is where Tomb scored the first goal...

The fans went crazy when Spartak scored back
Posted by svjorber
11:59
Archived in Russia
02.08.2007 - 02.08.2007
23 °C
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Posted by svjorber
22:17
Archived in Russia
Tagged round_the_world
01.08.2007 - 02.08.2007
18 °C
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St Petersburg is the town where Sveta is from, and we wanted to go back to the place where she spent the first three years of her life. I was told that Children's House #11 was closed but our guide told me that he went there with other parents last year. So we went.

It looked very familiar. When we introduced ourselves, a nurse said she did not remember Sveta. When we talked to the Director, she vaguely remembered but we could not find her name in the register. This is when we discovered that we were in The House of Children #11 (Detsky Dom) as opposed to the Children's House #11 (Dom Rebenke) - The Director had no idea where this other place was. Back to ground zero.
We search the internet in Russian and found a list of Children Houses but no Number 11. We called #14 and they said they used to be #11, so we went... Wrong number 11, but there we found a nurse (Valentina) who remembered Sveta and used to work at #11.

We spoke to the Doctor in charge at #14 and they gave us the phone number of the Doctor who signed Sveta's orders 14 years ago in #11 (she is now director at #2) So we went to visit her at Children's House #2

It turns out that Children;s house #2 (they are a lot nicer inside now)


is 200 meters from the original House #11 where Sveta was, which was closed and is now turned into a dental clinic.

Mystery solved. The next day, we printed pictures of the reunions with the Dr, and Valentina and gave then a framed copy as a souvenir. 
Posted by svjorber
21:38
Archived in Russia
Tagged round_the_world
29.07.2007 - 02.08.2007
19 °C
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At our next stop, we had the opportunity to visit St Petersbug, the Venice of the North... Here are a sample of the beautiful palaces and monuments to be seen...
The Spilled Blood Cathedral which marks the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in 1881.

Then comes the statue to Peter the Great presented to him by Catherine:

followed by the famous Aurora ship, involve in three Soviet wars

Here we are posing across from the Hermitage museum

On other days, we ventured outside the city to visit the famous PeterHof

and then Catherine's Palace in Pushkin:

They know how to do palaces...By the way, all these palaces were nearly destroyed in WW II and the Russians have done an incredible job rebuilding all this.
Posted by svjorber
21:25
Archived in Russia
Tagged round_the_world
26.07.2007 - 26.07.2007
43 °C
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Important Facts About The Dead Sea:
- Dead
- 1200 Feet below sea level
- Hot as Hell! (45C=113F)
Anyhow, we had a lovely time at the Dead Sea, the Lowest Point on Earth

We visited the fortress of Masada, where Jewish rebels fought the Roman army in 66 CE.

then some of us took advantage of the nearby En Gedi spa for a delicious mud then sulphur bath...

Posted by svjorber
07:45
Archived in Israel
Tagged round_the_world
25.07.2007 - 25.07.2007
36 °C
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On the evening of July 25th, we had a chance to attend a game of the brand new Israel Baseball League. The League is a professional league consisting of 6 teams, mostly made up of US and foreign players.

The Bet Shemesh Blue Sox won 10-1 over the Ra’anana Express behind a dominating pitching performance from Sacramento, California native Rafael Bergstrom. Bergstrom earned his fifth win with a complete game two-hitter, giving up one run first inning before cruising the rest of the way to shut down the Express and strike out six batters while walking two.
The Blue Sox offense gave him more than enough support as shortstop Gregg Raymundo put Bet Shemesh up in the first inning with a two-run homer. Designated hitter Johnny Lopez went 3-for-4 with two RBI while rightfielder Jason Rees provided three more RBI as the Blue Sox won for the first time in four games.
As a special treat, my old friend Gadi who I had not seen in at least 15 years joined us around the 7th inning.

Posted by svjorber
07:31
Archived in Israel
Tagged round_the_world
(Entries 1 - 15 of 38)
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