The Dingle Races, Co. Kerry, Ireland

This past weekend saw the annual Dingle horse races in Ireland. A few dozen races over three days with the largest purse being 6000 euros. Most of the jockeys are kids that look to be around thirteen to fifteen years old. It's not hard to get right in the thick of it...stand at the rail and be showered by the dirt clods thrown up by hooves as the horses thunder by. For the first time this year the bookies are using electronic betting boards instead of the usual chalkboard method.

bookie alley behind the rail....

The grandstand and the stragglers at the end of the Dingle Derby "grand finale" race. The spectators were already spilling onto the track as the winners crossed the line.

p.s. blogger has been hugely problematic lately. I can't get my pics to post at their full resolution (among other things). I apologize.

Vignettes of Bern, Switzerland

The milky teal River Aar...the color typical of the glacial mountain streams....

A painted stone arch...looks perfect....

A painted shutter reminds me of Red House....

There are tons of street fountains in Bern but what the heck is this???

How many cities have their own bear pit?

I'll hold your shutter....

A simple window box of rosemary....I'm inspired...

Europe always does the plain green plant in the pot so well....

The Swiss and their amazing clocks....

The Bellevue Palace Hotel

Why we travel....

 Butterflies and poppies, 1889

 Roses, 1890

 Emperor moth, 1889

 Blossoming almond tree, 1890

 

The Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige), 1887

Are you reminded of anyone?  A famous painter perhaps?  One we have paid homage to before on this blog?  Amsterdam is the home of the Van Gogh Museum, caretaker to many of this famous artist's paintings and sketches.  I'm sure there are readers of this blog who know far more about Van Gogh than myself but, when confronted with the entire oeuvre of this mad genius, I was moved by a side of him I had never seen before, namely paintings influenced by his fascination with Japanese art and culture.

Van Gogh never traveled in the East (unlike his pal Gauguin who eventually made it all the way to the western Pacific) but he was inspired by the beauty and simplicity of the Japanese aesthetic and incorporated those influences in obvious ways in his paintings over a short period in the late 1880s.  Looking at these paintings I reflected on how this blog, a continuing mish-mash of travel and art, is propelled by that same spirit of finding inspiration in the unbelievably diverse cultures of our world. 

Where in the World?

tulips & cannabis....

 ....more bicycles than you can imagine possible in one place...

Very distinctive architecture that, minus the bright tropical colors (below), looks suspiciously similar to that which I saw last week in Willemstad, the capital of Curacao....hmmmm.   If you've guessed where I am you also know that a pretty amazing museum is nearby....stayed tuned....

Transiting the Panama Canal

 The JR passing through Miraflores Locks (thanks for screen cap Tom!)

It is surprisingly low-tech.  Here are rope handlers bringing us the tie line in a dingy.

 Boat is tied to "mules", little cog railways cars, on either side.  They will pull us through locks.

As we get into narrow section of lock the rope from other side is thrown aboard.  The ropes are used to haul on the steel cables attached to the mules.

 

Approaching the second set of locks, San Miguel Locks

 On the Chagras River section.  It's really hard to believe these container ships don't roll over all the time.

 On Lake Gatun, the large artificial lake formed when the Chagras River was dammed.

Going back down to sea level through the final set of locks, Gatun Locks.

The Atlantic in the distance!  Another successful transit over the continental divide and lots of sunburned faces in the mess hall in the evening....

Will it? Won't it?

Apparently we were being buffaloed by the bunkerers.  The refueling (bunkering) process continued through the night due to faulty pumps on the fuel barges resulting in us missing our midnight low tide window to go under the bridge.  So twelve hours later we went under it at mid-day.

 the approach...

The pile of girders that will eventually morph into a fabulous new Frank Gehry museum devoted to the natural world.

passing under the bridge...

 believe it or not, this was incredibly exciting!

We are now at the head of canal but since we missed our morning passage window we need to tie up for the night.  My brother alerted us to www.shiptraffic.com where you can search for Resolution (JOIDES) and see us tracked in real time on google maps.

First Full Day on JOIDES Resolution

Approaching the JR yesterday morning....pilot boat alongside for scale...

Four of us successfully board up rope ladder from heaving boat....felt very "survivorish".  Here's my bag getting hauled aboard.  I think we all looked awkward enough that they later lowered the gangway with the ship's crane to accommodate the departing scientific crew.

 They all seemed pretty happy to be leaving after six weeks at sea.

 A few hours later a fuel barge showed up and began the fueling process which continued throughout the night.  Mid-morning today a second fuel barge tied up and also began refueling us.  Apparently the weight of fuel, combined with this evening's low tide will give us the necessary clearance to pass under the Bridge of the Americas at the entrance to the canal.  From wikipedia, the clearance under bridge is 201 feet at high tide.  According to the IODP website the "air draught" of the JR's derrick, the height above the waterline, is 205 feet!!!   This is gonna be close!