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| May 23 – 24
On Saturday, May 23rd, we awoke while it was still pitch black to get to the airport to catch our 8AM flight to Easter Island. (Apparently, Easter Island is treated like an international flight and we needed to check luggage so we arrived at the airport two hours before our departure… though we probably could have been OK with less) =)
After a quick breakfast at the airport, we boarded our flight which was again plagued by mechanical problems (this time, no air conditioning while we were trapped in the ever increasing heat).
However, we did enjoy a spectacular sunrise over the Andes!
After our long flight, we arrived at Mataveri airport (IPC) on Easter Island where we were greeted by warm, humid weather and flower leis!
Once we had dropped off our belongings at the hotel, we discovered that our client (and host) was with a TV crew working on a documentary show. For the remainder of the afternoon, we walked around the small town and walked to a nearby archaeological site to appreciate the views…
Colorful boats in the harbor. Easter Island reminds me a lot of the Dominican Republic… except for all the Moai sculptures, of course! =)
Our first glimpse of an ahu (platform) with several moai (sculptures)
After meeting with our client that evening, we were told to spend the next day soaking up the sights of the island to get a better sense of the history and culture of Easter Island. And, so, off we went for the next day!
Ahu Tongariki – The site with the most standing Moai (restored):
  
  
Rano Raraku – The volcano where the Moai were carved and from where they were transported all over the island:
  
“Secret Worlds” – The Travel Channel crew filming for a documentary:
 
Anakena – The beach and restored Moai:
  
 
Raro Kau & Orongo – A volcano and site of a ceremonial city of the Rapa Nui:
  
Ahu Tahai – Sunset:
 
And now, to get back to work… =)
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| May 20 – 22
On Tuesday, May 19th, our team of 4 Haas students departed from San Francisco enroute to Easter Island to conduct a study on the marketability of pineapples for the mainland Chilean market. After 17 hours of travel and a delayed layover in Dallas (due to aircraft mechanical problems), we arrived in Santiago, Chile for the initial phase of our assignment.
The team (Melissa, Antonio, Dan & Kelly) at Cerro San Cristobal overlooking the city of Santiago overshadowed by the Andes
During our few short days in Santiago, our team visited numerous local supermarkets and conducted surveys to get a better sense of the market for pineapples.
Antonio in front of the canned pineapple section which had 9 brands alone in this market!
Aside from the time spent with the team to both explore the city and complete the initial phase of our task, I had the chance to reunite with my Chilean host family from 2003! Having spent six months in Santiago in 2003, it was a relatively simple task to locate my former home (though a long walk from the hotel!)
Home sweet home. Just as I remembered it!
I really enjoyed the time to spend with my host family and was shocked by how much my host siblings had grown! But my greatest surprise was the discovery that my host family had had my “Chile Updates” (a little photo record of my 6 months in Chile) bound!
The only hard-bound copy of my “Chile Updates 2003” in the world…
And inside the pages of this volume, we discovered a picture taken nearly six years ago when I first arrived in Santiago!
My host family – July 2003
And of course, that meant that we had to reenact that photo to capture the passage of time. =)
My host family – May 2009
Our few days spent in Santiago passed relatively uneventfully. Many things remain the same while others have changed quite dramatically. One of the major and obviously noticeable differences is the complete overhaul of the “micro” transportation system which had been quite chaotic in 2003. Apparently, as of 2005, all the crazy yellow “micros” were replaced with a modern system where cash is no longer accepted!
A double-length new micro with printed destinations and electronic payment systems!
The new means of paying is with an electronic “BIP!” card!
What all this meant was that when one of my teammates and I were stranded near a market and wanting to take a bus, we discovered that we couldn’t pay cash! Thankfully, a compassionate driver let us onboard and explained to me how the system had changed since I had last been here. =)
After 3 days in Santiago, our team was prepared for the 5.67 hour flight to Easter Island where we would be spending the next 3 weeks researching all aspects of the pineapple value chain to determine the feasibility of our project!
Stay tuned for upcoming updates from Easter Island! (Granted, of course, that the internet cooperates!)
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| Having been on the road for over five weeks and finally on the home stretch across eastern Europe before our final flights home (to LAX via JFK) across the Atlantic and the continental United States, our three days in Prague were spent recovering from the mad dash around our last few destinations! =)
After our arrival from London, we pretty much made our way to our hostel where we passed out for much of the morning and early afternoon. In fact, we also pretty much slept in until lunchtime on both the second and third days! But even then, we were able to make our way around to see, hear and taste the history and culture of one of Europe's "most charming and beautiful cities" (the historic centre of Prague is another UNESCO World Heritage site!) thanks to the long summer days where we still had 8 or 9 hours of light even after lunch! =)
Even though I could probably try to organize our activities by day, we ended up visiting some of the same areas across our three days so I'll just list some of the highlights below before I forget!
One of the defining characteristics of the historic parts of Prague is the cobblestone lanes running every which way between the fascinating rows of colorful and magnificent buildings!
Cobblestone roads
During our three days in Prague, we wandered the convoluted streets, and on several occasions, found ourselves in the fascinating Staromistske Namisti (or the Old Town Square) of Stare Mesto (Old Town). I should note that Prague was one of those cities where very little is translated into English... but at least Czech uses Roman characters which we could read (unlike in India or Egypt!!)! =)
Beautiful buildings facing every which way in Staromistske Namisti with the towers of the Tyn Church in the background
It seemed that something was always going on in the Old Town Square! When we first arrived, there was a big screen set up for the grand final of the EuroCup between Spain & Germany... on another day, there was some military parade/ceremony going on (no idea what because... everything was in Czech! =P)
Czech soldiers at a ceremony in the Old Town Square
And of course, throngs of tourists gathered every hour to watch the Astronomical Clock on the side of the Old Town Hall.
In front of the Astronomical Clock
Not too far from the Old Town Square, heading towards the New Town (which is still old... but hey, there's even an Old-New Synagogue!), we stopped by the Powder Tower, "the gateway to the Royal Route which leads through the Old Town over the Charles Bridge to the castle up the hill."
In front of the 65m tall Powder Tower
From the observation deck on top of the tower looking towards the Old Town
View of the Old Town, Tyn Church and the Prague Castle (on the distant horizon) from the Powder Tower
On the other side of the Old Town from the Powder Tower, we crossed over the Vltava River via the Charles Bridge to follow the Royal Route up to the Lesser Town and Castle districts of Prague.
On the bustling Charles Bridge
After crossing the Vltava, and before heading up to the Castle, we went up Petrin Hill where we checked out the Mirror Maze and climbed Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower... let me just mention that I am afraid of heights... and this tower involved 299 steps around and around the outer steel frame up the 60m tower with the wind blowing and the tower quivering...
Petrin Tower on Petrin Hill
And even though it was somewhat of an unsettling experience for me to climb, there were some fabulous panoramic views of the entire city from on top of the tower and hill.
A glimpse of the Lesser Town... rooftops that seem to point in every direction and not in an orderly grid!
View of the Vltava River, Charles Bridge and Old Town (Tyn Church)
From Petrin Tower/Hill, we made our way up to the Prague Castle which was guarded by a fierce looking soldier. Actually, I think I saw him almost smile when I was lining up my shot... but he quickly resumed his stern demeanor before I could snap away! =)
Guard in front of Prague Castle
We quickly realized that the imposing towers of the Prague Castle that we'd seen from the Old/New Town were in fact, the towers of St. Vitus Cathedral, which has parts dating back to the 14th century but is a mixture of styles ranging from the Medieval to the Renaissance to the Baroque.
Front Towers of St. Vitus Cathedral
Inside St. Vitus Cathedral
Flying buttresses of St. Vitus Cathedral
Also within the walls of Prague Castle, we went down Golden Lane (which is free after 6PM!) and saw this little house where Franz Kafka once lived... for those who don't remember high school literature... he wrote that wacky book "The Metamorphosis". =)
By No. 22, the house where Franz Kafka once lived
Way on the other side of the Old Town, we also visited the National Museum located in the New Town.
The National Museum and statue of St. Wenceslas in Wenceslas Square
Inside the National Museum
Earlier, I had mentioned that we not only saw, but also heard and tasted what Prague had to offer... One of our evenings, we enjoyed a concert in the National Museum by the Bohemia Ensemble.
The Bohemia Ensemble in the National Museum
As for food and drinks, we somehow ended up at U Flecku, a local brewery/restaurant since 1499! Not sure what I was actually eating (other than the sausages) but it was pretty good! =)
Dinner at U Flecku
Anyway, that pretty much highlights some of what we did in Prague so I'll just conclude this update with two nice photos of the Prague Castle skyline and the Vltava River at sunset. =)
Silhouettes of the Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge on the Vltava River
The Prague Castle on the Vltava River
So after three days in our eleventh city, we once again, packed our bags and headed off to the airport for our last two days in our final destination before heading home... Budapest, Hungary!
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| After two sleepless nights (the first spent on a bus up to Mount Sinai and the second in the Cairo airport), we arrived in London in the early afternoon to visit the sites in and around the tenth stop on our round-the-world adventure. =)
Our arrival in London signified a few things. First, we discovered that everything was ridiculously expensive, especially coming from Egypt and India! Second, we discovered that the sun doesn't set until after 9PM and that we now had an insane number of daylight hours to sightsee!
Days 32 & 33
Over the course of the two days that we were in London, we wandered around seeing many of the "touristy" sites that London has to offer. Thanks to my friend Jen who allowed us to crash at her place near Trafalgar Square, nearly everything was within a 15-20 minute walking distance!
To start off our sightseeing, we crossed over the River Thames and wandered up the bank and marveled at the massive Houses of Parliament and "Big Ben".
The Houses of Parliament & Big Ben across the River Thames
Closeup of the tower of the Houses of Parliament
After wandering inside to watch debates in progress in the House of Commons and House of Lords, we wandered over to see Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs have been crowned since 1066.
At Westminster Abbey
From Westminster Abbey, we wandered through St. James Park towards Buckingham Palace... along the way, we saw numerous flora and fauna...
A beautiful swan and two "ugly ducklings"! =)
Next, we arrived at Buckingham Palace, the home of the British monarch, in the early afternoon. On our second day, we returned to watch the changing of the guard, which was a massive tourist spectacle.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace Guards
Queen's Guard marching in
Marching Band
Queen's Guard in more modern attire?
After seeing Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, we walked back towards Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. On the first day, we wandered around outside (we missed the closing of the National Gallery by a few minutes!) and on the second day, we explored the various halls to view numerous paintings by such artists as Monet, Van Gogh, etc.
Sitting by a fountain in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square
Looking down on Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery
On our second day, we wandered around with Jen to see the numerous artifacts "acquired" by the British from all over the world at the British Museum.
In front of the British Museum
The original Rosetta Stone... we had seen a copy just a few days before at the Egyptian Museum... where our guide noted that the British had taken the original!
One of numerous artifacts collected at the British Museum... I wonder what is left wherever this came from?
The only site which we weren't able to walk to (well, we could've have... but chose to take the underground because it was just a bit further away than everything else!) was the Tower of London, built in 1078 and known for having been a prison as well as a place of executions and torture over the centuries. Thankfully, it's just a tourist site now that also houses the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. =)
At the entrance to the Tower
The massive outer wall of the Tower with its surrounding (now grassy) moat
Reconstruction of medieval life
Next to the Tower of London, we saw the imposing Tower Bridge. While we also looked for London Bridge, turns out that the "original" was sold and shipped to Arizona in 1968... the current London Bridge is a much less interesting construction that is a short ways away from the Tower Bridge. =)
The Tower Bridge
One of the last things we did on our second day was to get an elevated view of the city from the 443 foot tall London Eye.
Nearing the peak of Europe's tallest Ferris Wheel
The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge & Westminster Abbey from above
Day 34
On our last day in London, we joined an all-day tour to Stonehenge and Bath with an 8:25AM pickup and 7:00PM return.
We arrived at the prehistoric monument, which is another UNESCO World Heritage site, and listened to the guided audio tour as we circled the site which had its beginnings around 3100 B.C.
Prehistoric monument at Stonehenge
Massive stone arches at Stonehenge
At Stonehenge
From Stonehenge, we continued west towards the city of Bath. Along the way, our guide informed us of the large military presence in the area, evidenced by several signs like the one below:
Tank Crossing!
We arrived at the picturesque city of Bath, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is known for its numerous examples of Georgian architecture crafted from the Bath Stone.
One of Bath's streets with Bath Stone structures
After disembarking from the bus, our tour continued to the ancient Roman Baths dating back from the 1st century A.D.
The Great Bath at the Roman Baths
After visiting the Roman Baths, we wandered around Bath's streets, sampled the local fare, and admired the architecture of the various buildings.
In front of Bath Abbey
By Pulteney Bridge
After we returned back to the city, we walked around a bit to enjoy our last evening in London.
London Eye, Westminster Bridge, Houses of Parliament & Big Ben at night
Thanks Jen for showing us around and letting us crash at your place!
After three packed days of sightseeing in England, we packed our bags and prepared for our next flight to our 11th and second-to-last destination... Prague, Czech Republic!
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