I’m A Goat!

I’ve been up in Oregon for the last 2 days.  I was at a friends house tonight and was able to see his farm animals (don’t ask).  These goat pictures cracked me up. 

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Travel No Comments » January 2008

Looking out the window

I flew up to Portland, OR this morning.  Here’s a shot I took from the window using my trusty iPhone.  I plan to head to Powell’s tonight and maybe even do some street photography.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Photography, Travel, iPhone No Comments » January 2008

Oregon

I’ve been in Oregon on business the last few days. I flew up to Hillsboro Tuesday for a couple of meetings. On Wednesday evening I drove to Portland to meet my sister for dinner.  My sister, Dawn, lives in Spokane but her husband is a pilot for SouthWest Airlines and so she is able to fly for free.  Since I was going to be in Portland she just hopped on a short 45 minute flight and met me there.

Dawn and I both loves books so we went to Powells Books in Portland.  It’s a huge bookstore.  According to Powells it’s, “the largest used and new bookstore in the world.”  Yeah, it’s big.  We only had a few hours before Dawn had to catch her flight home so we were only able to spend about an hour in Powells.  If you’re ever in Portland I highly recommend that you spend a few hours there.  It’s just a blast.

After books we had a great dinner in downtown.  Portland is like a miniature San Francisco. It has some great art and a lot of character.  If you’re ever up in the northwest make sure you spend a day or two in Portland.

This morning I woke up a little before 5:00am to catch my flight home.  I was flying out of a small jet center in Hillsboro.  There was some very nasty fog.  So nasty that I was stuck at the jet center for hours waiting for it to lift.

I shot this picture with my iPhone this morning.  This scene didn’t change for hours.  My flight was nearly 6 hours late. I’m not a big fan of fog today.

One good thing is that we had free coffee.  Early this morning all the seats in the jet center were taken so we didn’t have much room.  I’m so glad my clunky old Thinkpad has enough room to hold a coffee cup.  Unfortunately the WiFi was out for hours so we had no Internet service.  Usually that’s not a bad thing because I have a book.  But last night I bought a few books for Dawn (The Pleasure Of My Company, Shopgirl, The Shadow of the Wind) and forgot to buy one for myself.

Eventually the fog lifted and I was able to hop on the jet and fly home.  I caught up on some podcasts during the flight and was inspired by This American Life #344: The Competition and #253: The Middle of Nowhere.  They are well worth listening to (you can download them free via iTunes).

Now I’m home and hanging out with Luka and Diane.  Diane is now reading The Pleasure Of My Company.  Dawn called earlier tonight to tell me she loved it and was just about finished.  I think I’ll write up my book review tomorrow.

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Books, Family Stuff, Travel 1 Comment » December 2007

Roadtrip Nation

The Roadtrip Nation Movement was born out of this question, and the idea that hitting the road to meet with inspirational leaders from all walks of life could help people figure it out.

Started by a group of recent college grads who set out to discover their own roads, Roadtrip Nation has evolved into a National PBS Series, student roadtrip movement on over 350 colleges, three books and a growing online network at roadtripnation.com - all of which help people discover their own roads in life based on individuality, passion, and exploration.

Click Here to learn more

Posted by Mark Wallace Posted in: Travel, Useful Info No Comments » November 2007

Goodbye India

It’s midnight here in Bangalore and I’m sitting in the waiting area at the airport.My flight leaves at 2:05am. It’s not a red-eye flight, it’s the normal flight outto Germany. In India everything is upside down and nothing is what it seems at first.India is a country of contradictions and mysteries.I’ve been so busy at work and trying to get out to see the city that I haven’t hadtime to blog while I’ve been here. I’m not sure I’d even know what to blog about thisplace. It’s full of color, hope, energy, and in the middle of a technological revolutionthat’s turning the economy upside down. But it’s also a country of 1 billion people,many poor. It’s run by a corrupt government that is trying hard to work out the badand keep the good. It’s a place where a bribe is a normal way of doing business, orinfluencing a politician. The bribes are not hidden or secret, it’s just businessas usual.I found my new co-workers in Bangalore to be awesome. They are funny, smart, and alot of fun to hang out with. The people at the hotel where I stayed were also great.They were nice, helpful, and genuine. When I went to France I was expecting a bunchof snooty people who were rude, but didn’t find any. But here in India I find themeverywhere I go.People are constantly trying to take advantage of western travellers. Prices are inflated500% or more (I paid 1700 rupees to get from the airport to my hotel when I got here.I later found that I should have only paid 150 rupees). Indians do not say “Thankyou” or “Your welcome” to each other. They don’t even look waiters in the eye whenordering. The caste system still has a grip on the subconscious of this society. Itneeds to go.But my observations of India are really oversimplifications of a country. They arestereotypes, cliche’s. You just can’t paint a picture of this place, you have to comehere. And when you do you’ll find that some days are good, and some are not. You’llmeet inspiring people, and those that are revolting to you.So don’t take my word for it. Visit India yourself and make your own judgement. I’dhate to think what anyone would think if they came to the United States and only sawNew York City. New York is hardly a good representation for life in the US. I haveseen thousands of miles of India and many, many cities. It cannot be wrapped in anice package or summarised in a blog. You’ll have to go there yourself.I’ll be home in 32 hours. I can’t wait. I want to see Diane’s face. I want to petmy dog. I’d like to eat a burrito. Of course my photoblog won’t be as interesting,but I’ll work on that. I guess it’s the price I’ll have to pay to be at home. Andhome is a place I love.32 more hours Diane!! I’ll be home soon…

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » June 2005

India

Well I’m in India now.  Bangalore is pretty cool.  It’s notas crazy as cities in the northern part of India, but it’s still not like Arizonain any way.  I’ve been posting pictures on my photoblog,I hope you’ve been keeping track.  The internet connection here is notvery good, so it’s difficult to update my site on a regular basis.I’m in a nice hotel with a dress code, wide hallways, and room service. Just outside the hotel are people sleeping in tents and homeless children beggingfor food.  It’s a bit strange.  It reminds me of an old song by RandyStonehill,

and I’ve seen the sick and brokentoo weak for standing uphold up their beggar’s cupjust hoping for enough to eatwhen just around the cornerat the shangri-la hotelthe wealthy take their lunchat poolside to escape the heat

I’ve spent weeks in India before this trip, so I’mno stranger to the conditions and I don’t even pretend to have answers. I wish everyone would spend a few weeks out of the good old USA and experience howthe majority of the world lives.  I think it should be required of all teenagersto travel abroad, and I’m not talking about France.  Everyone should visita developing country; India, Sudan, Malaysia, Costa Rica.  Get out there, doit.

A few things I learned to appreciate after my first tripoverseas: taxes, nice roads, freeways, honest police, clean water, sewage systems,quality medical care, clean air.  So my message to Americans: be thankful.

Now that I’ve said that I’ll also say thatIndia is rich with history, tradition, and interesting people.  Some of the siteshere are amazing.  I had some veggie food today that was very tasty.  I’llhave to figure out what it is and include that in future entries.  I’llbe here for two more weeks so I have plenty of time to explore and get used to drivingon the wrong side of the road.

More to come soon!

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » May 2005

Musee Paris

Today was a day of museums, musee in French.  I originally headed out this morningto see the Maison Europeenne de laPhotographie but was so excited to see it I got there too early.  So I decidedto wander around a bit.  The first thing I found was a great neighborhood called VillageSt-Paul.  Lots of old shops and cool stores.  There was a very old andinteresting church there too, but I didn’t get the name.  A few steps laterI was in the Musee Carnavalet. I was only killing time so I didn’t go in to the paid area, but they had a lotof free areas to roam around.  It was incredibly beautiful.After Musee Carnavelet I headed back to MaisonEuropeenne de la Photographie. It’s a gallery dedicated to photography –exhibition prints, the printed page, and film.  I was a little disappointed inthe gallery because some of it wasn’t open.  But they did have some verylarge prints from one of my inspirations VictorSchrager.  I tried to emulate some of his work last year.  You can seemy attempts in my abstractgallery.After spending a good amount of time at the photo gallery I headed to NotreDame.  The cathedral is amazing.  It’s gigantic and I was frustratedthat I couldn’t get a decent picture.  I got there at 12:00 and the bellsstarted ringing, it was very cool to hear those huge bells ring out.  I’msure they could be heard a long way away.  I wanted to climb the tower, but theywere doing some construction and it was closed today.  I did go inside and explore,they were actually having a mass while I was there.  Hundreds of people werewalking around, taking pictures, and talking while the mass was going on.  Evidentlythis is just part normal life.After Notre Dame I headed for MuseeMallol.  This was one of my favorite stops in Paris so far.  The sculptureby Mollol was impressive, and there were works by other artists as well.  Therewas a temporary exhibit by Gustav Klimt thatwas… interesting.  They had a bunch of his sketches there.  Also at themuseum were works by Ingres, Degas, Cezanne, Fouijita, and Picasso.  I reallyenjoyed a wall full of sketches by HenriMatisse.  This museum was a knockout.After I’d finished up at Mallol It was getting late in the afternoon, so I headedback to the hotel to take a break.  My legs were killing me, I thought I’dpulled a muscle in my calves from climbing the stairs in the Arc De Triomphe yesterday. But my legs kept up and my sore feet kept going.  When I got to the hotel I tooka nap, read a little bit, and then decided to head out again.I left my camera in my room, mainly because my legs were so really sore and I wastoo tired to carry it around.  I hopped on the subway and went one stop overthinking I’d find a cool place to eat.  When I came out of the subway Isaw the real Moulin Rouge infront of my eyes!  The real Moulin Rouge doesn’tlook much like the one in themovie, but it is real.  It’s also in a real bad part of town. Strip clubs, sex shops, adult theatres, they were everywhere.  It reminded meof Bourbon Street on steroids.  I didn’t stick around long.I did find a cool little place to eat.  I had some square cheese and meat kindof thingy, some salad, bread, and more delicious chocolate cake.  I think mydad would love Paris, just because you get bread with every meal.  I’venever had so much bread in my life.  I think bread is the only required partof any French dish.Well that’s my day.  On the agenda for tomorrow: MuseeD Orsay, Musee Picasso,and Musee Nationale d’Auguste Rodin.  Look for more updates tomorrow.

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » May 2005

Bonsoir

Paris continues to be a lot of fun.  Yesterday I started the day looking foran adapter so I could plug my laptop in.  I was told by the concierge I couldpick one up at the “department store” down the street.  Well thedepartment store was a huge place called Printemps. It took me forever to find it because I kept taking wrong turns, the streets hereare small and there are a lot of turns, it’s very easy to get lost.Before I found Printemps Istumbled on Ste-Trinite Church.  It’s the church in my photoblog. It was very interesting and had all kinds of facts about it on plaques around thepark outside it’s doors.  Unfortunately all the plaques were in Frenchso I couldn’t read them.I turned my self around and finally found Printemps. A huge store, a lot like Macy’s in New York City.  It was 8 or 9 storiesfull of clothes, ties, perfume, coats, and stuff like that.  There were no electronicsand I think the concierge must not have understood what I was asking him about. The Printemps building is surrounded by other shops, stores galore in that neighborhood. So I kept walking in hopes that I’d find something.  Nothing but clothes,clothes, and more clothes.I ended up down the street at the Opera Garnier. The building is magnificent but, of course, I didn’t take any pictures. Maybe I’ll get back there later this week.  By this time I’dwalked miles and was getting a bit tired, so I decided to hope on the Metro (subway)and head to the Louvre.I got to the Louvre in no time. The Louvre is gigantic.  It’sdouble, maybe even triple the size of The Met in New York.  I bought a ticketand began exploring.  I was there for a few hours and by the end of my time Iwas just about to fall over; literally.  This place is so big that you walk severalmiles inside the building.I saw the Mona Lisa, which was very cool, but also hundreds of other sculptures, paintings,and artifacts from all over the world.  There was a room full of French Royaltyartifacts that was stunning (photos in the photoblog).  There was an old crownthat had jewels the size of half dollars.  I’ve never seen jewels so big. I was so tired I left before seeing everything.  I plan on going back later thisweek, the museum is closed on Tuesdays.I came back to the hotel, got some rest, posted a few pictures, and then lost my wirelessaccess.  It comes and goes, but by that time I was hungry and I headed out toa little cafe down the street.  I had some salad, a small pizza thing, and chocolatecake for dessert.  The cake was delicious!Today I woke up and headed out to the Eiffel Tower.  I’ve finally figuredout the Metro and can zip around town pretty fast.  In fact it only takes 12minutes to get from the Champs Elysees to my hotel room, including the walk from themetro to my room.  Yes, I timed it.  It takes longer than that to get throughthe stoplight north of my house.I climbed the stairs from the Metro station (Ecole Militaire) and when I saw daylightI was stunned to see no Eiffel Tower anywhere!  This was the right station, it’son the map and everything.  I finally figured out which way to walk and got aroundthe buildings and saw the tower.  It was not as big as I thought it was goingto be, sort of like seeing the Space Needle in Seattle.  Cool, but not as coolas you thought it would be.But after spending some time around the tower it began to look a little bigger. I walked the length of the park, Champ De Mars, got under the tower, walked to theother side by the Seine, came back and looked some more.  I had lunch under thetower, a ham and cheese sandwich thing and some espresso.  Mmm.  The espressowas not as strong as they are in the US.  Maybe just a glitch, but definitelynot as strong.After I’d walked around the park for a bit I decided to walk over to the MuseeD’Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art).  When I got there the place lookeddeserted.  I found out that they are restoring it.  But there was a smallermuseum called the Palais de Tokyo, a sitefor emerging contemporary art.  It only had a few exhibits, but they were veryinteresting.There was on exhibit that was great.  It was a room that looked like a modernliving room, except it had televisions on everything.  All of the TVs were playingone or two second clips of old American television.  They’d edited theclips to repeat.  Things like J.R. from Dallas saying “I’m sorrymomma.”  It just kept repeating over and over, “I’m sorry momman,I’m sorry momma, I’m sorry momma…”  All of the TVs hadstuff like that, it was a cacophony of television noise.  Reminded me of mostliving rooms in America.  Shut that TV off!!After Palais de Tokyo I hopped on theMetro again and came out at the Arc De Triomphe.  What a site!  I boughta ticket and climbed the 400+ stairs to get to the top, but it was worth it. The view was incredible.  I stayed up there for a good amount of time, partlyto catch my breath, and partly because the views were breathtaking.After the Arc I walked down the Chaps Elysees.  It was a lot of fun.  Therewere high end shops everywhere, and a McDonald’s that boasted “550 seating places”. I should have checked to see how much a Big Mac was going for.I spent some time in a little park just off the Champs.  By this time I’dwalked a few miles again.  My calves were killing me after climbing the stairsin the Arc De Triomphe.  I had a Snapple and rested up a bit.  ThenI hopped on the Metro and was back in my room 12 minutes later.  I laid downto take a nap and woke up about an hour ago.If I have enough energy I’ll head out again a bit later.  I’d liketo see the tower at night, but it doesn’t get dark here until about 10:00 andI think the Metro stops running at 10:00.  We’ll see.Au revoir!

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » May 2005

Paris Limbo

I finally made it to Paris.  I’m here, but my room won’t be readyfor another 5 hours.  The hotel I’m staying at is letting me hangout in their small dining room for a bit.  They gave me breakfast (croissant,roll, and juice) while I wait.  I’m exhausted from the train ride and amready for a room with a shower.The train ride was rough.  I was in a small sleeper car.  In my room therewere 5 other people.  We were stacked 3 high on each side.  There was noroom for my luggage.  When I boarded the train I asked the man taking the ticketswhere I was supposed to store my luggage.  According to the train guide I hadthere was supposed to be a luggage area, but I couldn’t see anything that resembledstorage.  The guy rolled his eyes, said something in French and told me to followhim.  We stored my bag in an empty room – the French man scolded me again(in French) and locked the door.  Then he told me (again in French) what to expectwhen the train got to Paris, and how I would get my bag back.  I had no idea.I got back to my little room on the train and discovered that 3 others spoke Englishand had the same cluelessness that I did about our luggage.  Two ladies in myroom were from North Dakota.  They kept calling me “Arizona”. They were retired and on their way to see the D-Day beaches where their husbands hadfought.  “Do you snore Arizona??”  I hoped not.I had to climb a little ladder to get to my bunk.  It was just under 6 feet long,ensuring I couldn’t stretch out, and had no rail to keep me from rolling rightoff the edge and falling to the ground.  On the opposite top bunk was anotherAmerican who kept to himself and read late into the night.  Under our bunks wasa Spanish couple, and under them were the ladies from North Dakota.  “’Goodnight John-Boy” one of them said as we turned out our light.I got into Paris about 7:00am local time.  A homeless man showed me how to finda taxi.  I got to the Hotel at about 7:30.…I was just informed that my room was ready early.  I’m now sitting in mytiny room typing this.  Unfortunately the website was wrong and I do NOT havewireless Internet in my room.  The only Internet is at the bar downstairs, andI think you have to pay by the hour.  So we’ll see how that goes.My room is tiny.  About as big as my master bathroom at home.  The bathroomitself is almost comedic.  There are about 6 inches between the rim of the toiletand the wall.  It’s cozy.  I’ll take some pictures.I’m here, I’m exhausted, I’m going to take a nap.  I’llfigure out how to get online and post some of this stuff after I wake up.  Ialso need to find an adapter so I can plug in my laptop.  I was going to getone at the airport but forgot.  Ouch.  I hope I can find one soon or I’llbe totally out of luck.

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » May 2005

Out of place

I’m sitting in the Uddin & Uddin Das Cafe uber dem DB Reisezentrum in Frankfurt,Germany.  It’s 4:23pm here, 7:23am back home.  I’m a bit outof it.  Let me catch you up on the journey so far…I was in Nashville, TN last weekend riding bikes with my friends Davy and Brad. We had a blast.  We zipped down the Natchez Trace on our bikes, stopping alongthe way to take a picture or grab a bite to eat.  Unfortunately for me I alsograbbed a nasty Sinus infection.When I got home I was feeling pretty sick, but by Monday afternoon I was well intoseriously ill territory.  Tuesday was incredibly bad, and Wednesday I paid avisit to Urgent Care.  I had Acute Sinusitus.  Bacteria were attacking myface.  The doctor prescribed some powerful pills and told me I’d be sickfor while.Luckily for me Diane is around.  She’s my hero.  I only had threedays to get everything ready for my month long trip to Europe and Asia, but I couldn’teven walk 10 steps without feeling like I was going to faint.  She took careof me, ran errands, bought food, and kept me going.Yesterday (Friday) I hopped on a plane in Phoenix bound for Chicago.  I had a2 hour layover in Chicago and then got on a flight for Frankfurt, Germany.  Iflew Lufthansa from Chicago to Germany, and it was a horrible flight.  We weresqueezed in tighter than sardines.  The flight sat on the tarmac for an hourin Chicago.  During the first 6 hours of the flight I only had 2 Dixie cup servingsof water.  I was getting seriously dehydrated.  I finally got 2 more “cups”of water just before we landed.  9 hours of suffering.  Lufthansa gets an“F” for service.After I got off the plane I found myself in a large airport, full of signs I didn’tunderstand.  I found some helpful folks at an information desk who told me whereto go to get to the main train station in Frankfurt.  They had easy to understanddirections.  I headed out and joined the thousands heading for train tracks headingall over Europe.  As I looked for my departure platform the directions becameless clear, “Did they say track one, or train one?”I got to a platform that looked right, studied the all German train map and decidedit must be right.  The train came in and I hopped on board.  Within secondswe were heading out into the open sky.  As I looked out the windows I thoughtI’d somehow been zapped back to Nashville.  The landscape is similar, it’shumid and muggy outside, and everyone was talking funny.By sheer dumb luck I actually did get on the right train and made it to the main hubin Frankfurt.  From here I’ll take a train to Paris where a bed and showerare waiting.  I have an eight hour layover here at the train station.  Normallythat wouldn’t be horrible, but this place is not exactly jumping with thingsto do and see.  In fact it took me almost an hour just to find a place whereI could sit down.  They don’t have any public benches or waiting areas.Again, sheer dumb luck allows me to sit at this upscale lobby I’m currentlyin.  My train ticket allows me access, something I found out only after decidingI’d pay whatever it costs to have some space.  I talked to a lady behinda little counter here and she told me I was ok to wait here for free, after I showedher my train ticket.So here I sit, still sick, jet lagged, and sweaty.  I walked around outside abit and took some pictures (I’ll post those later) but I’m not reallyfeeling up to snuff yet so I’m going to hang out, read, and try to get better.If I can figure out how to use the pay phones I’ll try giving Diane a call andsee what’s going on in the real world.Next stop, Paris!!

Posted by admin Posted in: Travel No Comments » May 2005