KOLKATA
To Kolkata first we went --
The seat of a commie government.
Though she has no coliseum,
She boasts the Indian Museum
And the Victoria Monument.
'Twas for the poor of this city
That Mother Teresa showed her pity.
An auction house for teas
And three universities
Has India's former capital city.
On the banks of the Hooghly River,
She grew in three centuries of endeavor.
Though short must be our look,
According to my book,
Kolkata has much to deliver.
From my DK Eyewitness Travel Guide book “India”:
“Today this vibrant city with its distinct imperial flavour, is the capital of West Bengal, the only Indian state with a Communist-led government.”
“In 1690, an English merchant, Job Charnock, established a trading post in the riverside village of Sutanuti which, together with neighbouring Govindapur and Kolikata, grew into the city of Calcutta.”
The higher learning schools on the map and in the text of the book are Calcutta University, Presidency College, and Sanskrit College.
I note on the map in the book that there is a Lenin Sarani (Street) and a Ho Chi Minh Sarani.
The capital was shifted to New Delhi in 1911.
On our bus ride from the airport to our hotel, our guide remarked that Kolkata is considered the cultural capital of India.
----------------------
Wednesday, March 25, another sunny day in the city, we did no touristing in New York. We packed up, and I did my e-mails at Starbucks. We got on the 3 PM shuttle to go to JFK airport. It was a ride of an hour and 45 minutes.
While waiting for our plane, we were joined by nine of our OAT group. The flight to London left about 8 PM and took about 6 hours. It's normally a five-hour time change, but with USA's daylight savings time, four hours. The British Airlines personnel took very good care of us (enough good food, etc). We arrived in London about 6 AM London time. The wide-body plane was full. It was a comfortable fight for me and apparently for Helen, as we snoozed a lot in our chairs.
There's a lot of bus-riding and a lot of walking to be done in Heathrow airport. We rode the bus at least half a mile from the plane to the terminal. I guess I activated the buzzer; I have never been checked so thoroughly by security as I was that time – had to completely empty all my pockets and remove my belt for a thorough pat-down. It was cloudy when we arrived and then it rained but, of course, we could not go outside. We all sat together in a restaurant in the airport for quite a while, then went to our boarding area for our flight to Kolkata. In the boarding area we were joined by the 12th member of our group. There will be two more, but they join us after we visit Bhutan.
The wide-body British Airlines plane was very lightly loaded. Helen and I each moved to a three-empty-side-by-side seat accommodation. Helen stretche out and slept. I sat in a chair in the middle of three chairs and snoozed part of the time that way. When I wasn't snoozing, I was reading and rereading the section about Kolkata in my book. And I wrote the above poem based on what I read. It was a comfortable flight, and once again the British Airline crew took very good care of us. It was approximately a ten-hour flight. We boarded about 9:30 AM London time and landed about 7:45 PM London time, which was about 1:15 AM Kolkata time. I was amazed that there is a time difference of 5-1/2 hours between London and Kolkata. And, yes, it does involve a half hour in the change – something I've never experienced before – because, I was told – India does that to keep all of India in the same time zone --- though I question India's being narrow enough to fit in two time zones.
And now we are settled in our hotel in Kolkata, and it's early in the morning of Day 6, Friday, March 27. With help, I was able to adapt to their power outlet. Free wireless Internet is available in the rooms, but I'll need to see the desk first to get a PIN number.
Bernie :-)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
DAY 3, MARCH 24, 2009
HANS
Hans is like a father to Leo.
With his mother they make a trio.
Together they seem merry.
But Shelley he won't marry,
Says he can't get along with she, oh.
New York City still. Once again clear and cool. Cold in the morning but warmer in the afternoon and evening than it had been. Once again we didn't get out of the hotel until midday.
We went across the street and changed our train tickets. Returning to New York from India April 17, we will take the train to Lynchburg April 19 instead of April 23.
Below the train station are several stores and a huge food court. We bought a few groceries in a store and had pizza in a little Italian restaurant.
Then I posted my blog entry on the Internet at Starbucks.
It was getting to be late afternoon when we set out as tourists. We took the subway downtown to the Fulton street station to have a look at and near Ground Zero, which is all fenced off for construction of the Victory Tower.
We had a good look inside St. Paul's Chapel, whose cemetery out-front borders Ground Zero across the street. The chapel was built in 1767 and was the site or near the site of George Washington's first inauguration. It is billed as the oldest public building still in use in NYC. So it has historic interest as an old building. But it has more interest in connection with 9/11. It was the place where support was provided to the many volunteers who worked at Ground Zero. It has numerous displays relating to the volunteers, the victims, and people from around the country who in various ways expressed their sorrow for the victims and support for the volunteers. We took several photos.
We took a cab and arrived at exactly 5:30, the agreed meeting time, at 2nd Ave. and 9th St., the agreed place to meet Hans, who arrived at the same moment by bicycle together with 8-year-old Leo on his little bike. In a few moments, Leo's mother Shelley arrived on her 1949 Schwinn bicycle. This is the site of the Ukrainian restaurant Veselika, where the five of us had dinner together. I enjoyed Ukrainian goulash. It's fairly close to Hans' apartment and closer still to where Shelley and Leo live in a tiny, 5th-floor, efficiency apartment on 11th St.
We walked from the restaurant to Shelley's and Leo's apartment. The neighborhood looked a little bit familiar to me and I recognized a few features, including Veniero's, established 1894, a wonderful desert shop and dessert restaurant, which blows your mind with its offerings., where Hans bought some cheesecake. On a previous stay with Hans, we had once eaten dessert in Veniero's and on several mornings I had run through some of those streets to and alongside the East River.
In the apartment Shelley fixed coffee and hot chocolate to go with the cheesecake, and we had a nice leisurely visit. We had very briefly been to the apartment before when Leo was a baby. Leo sang “Country Roads” and another song for us. He teaches himself by listening to and singing along with songs, using earphones with their laptop computer.
Hans has served as a devoted, doting father-figure for Leo since his birth. It turns out that the three of them go places and do things together. They go to Cleveland where Shelley is from, will go there for Easter. Shelley has been to Austria with Hans many years ago.
I had heard the story but pretty much forgotten. So I asked Hans how he met Shelley. And Helen asked Hans why he doesn't marry her, to which he said he can't get along with her and also that he has plans four years from now to make a long-term world cruise with a boat he owns and is renovating.
My goodness, it's been 20 years! Hans said he met Shelley in 1989. They were boyfriend-girlfriend for a time and that ended. Shelley had a short marriage with a Frenchman (the father of Leo), who abandoned her – I think it was before Leo was born – and went back to France.
Shelley long ago earned a bachelor's degree. She's an artist, a sculptor. She had a studio with students. Presently she's not working. She plans to go to law school and become a lawyer. She is one of eight “kids” in a Cleveland Irish family.
From near the apartment we took a cab back to our hotel. Helen had quite a conversation with the cabbie, a divorcee who has a nine-year-old daughter.
Hans always amazes us how intellectual he is for a high-school graduate from a village in Austria. I gave him an interesting article in the New York Times to read. Helen had found this article about how J.P. Morgan took the lead in bailing the U.S. out of a major financial crisis in 1907. On our way to a corner to get a cab, Hans went in a magazine store and bought me a copy of Harper's in which, as we fly to London and beyond, he wants me to read an article about Infinite Debt.
Bernie :-)
Hans is like a father to Leo.
With his mother they make a trio.
Together they seem merry.
But Shelley he won't marry,
Says he can't get along with she, oh.
New York City still. Once again clear and cool. Cold in the morning but warmer in the afternoon and evening than it had been. Once again we didn't get out of the hotel until midday.
We went across the street and changed our train tickets. Returning to New York from India April 17, we will take the train to Lynchburg April 19 instead of April 23.
Below the train station are several stores and a huge food court. We bought a few groceries in a store and had pizza in a little Italian restaurant.
Then I posted my blog entry on the Internet at Starbucks.
It was getting to be late afternoon when we set out as tourists. We took the subway downtown to the Fulton street station to have a look at and near Ground Zero, which is all fenced off for construction of the Victory Tower.
We had a good look inside St. Paul's Chapel, whose cemetery out-front borders Ground Zero across the street. The chapel was built in 1767 and was the site or near the site of George Washington's first inauguration. It is billed as the oldest public building still in use in NYC. So it has historic interest as an old building. But it has more interest in connection with 9/11. It was the place where support was provided to the many volunteers who worked at Ground Zero. It has numerous displays relating to the volunteers, the victims, and people from around the country who in various ways expressed their sorrow for the victims and support for the volunteers. We took several photos.
We took a cab and arrived at exactly 5:30, the agreed meeting time, at 2nd Ave. and 9th St., the agreed place to meet Hans, who arrived at the same moment by bicycle together with 8-year-old Leo on his little bike. In a few moments, Leo's mother Shelley arrived on her 1949 Schwinn bicycle. This is the site of the Ukrainian restaurant Veselika, where the five of us had dinner together. I enjoyed Ukrainian goulash. It's fairly close to Hans' apartment and closer still to where Shelley and Leo live in a tiny, 5th-floor, efficiency apartment on 11th St.
We walked from the restaurant to Shelley's and Leo's apartment. The neighborhood looked a little bit familiar to me and I recognized a few features, including Veniero's, established 1894, a wonderful desert shop and dessert restaurant, which blows your mind with its offerings., where Hans bought some cheesecake. On a previous stay with Hans, we had once eaten dessert in Veniero's and on several mornings I had run through some of those streets to and alongside the East River.
In the apartment Shelley fixed coffee and hot chocolate to go with the cheesecake, and we had a nice leisurely visit. We had very briefly been to the apartment before when Leo was a baby. Leo sang “Country Roads” and another song for us. He teaches himself by listening to and singing along with songs, using earphones with their laptop computer.
Hans has served as a devoted, doting father-figure for Leo since his birth. It turns out that the three of them go places and do things together. They go to Cleveland where Shelley is from, will go there for Easter. Shelley has been to Austria with Hans many years ago.
I had heard the story but pretty much forgotten. So I asked Hans how he met Shelley. And Helen asked Hans why he doesn't marry her, to which he said he can't get along with her and also that he has plans four years from now to make a long-term world cruise with a boat he owns and is renovating.
My goodness, it's been 20 years! Hans said he met Shelley in 1989. They were boyfriend-girlfriend for a time and that ended. Shelley had a short marriage with a Frenchman (the father of Leo), who abandoned her – I think it was before Leo was born – and went back to France.
Shelley long ago earned a bachelor's degree. She's an artist, a sculptor. She had a studio with students. Presently she's not working. She plans to go to law school and become a lawyer. She is one of eight “kids” in a Cleveland Irish family.
From near the apartment we took a cab back to our hotel. Helen had quite a conversation with the cabbie, a divorcee who has a nine-year-old daughter.
Hans always amazes us how intellectual he is for a high-school graduate from a village in Austria. I gave him an interesting article in the New York Times to read. Helen had found this article about how J.P. Morgan took the lead in bailing the U.S. out of a major financial crisis in 1907. On our way to a corner to get a cab, Hans went in a magazine store and bought me a copy of Harper's in which, as we fly to London and beyond, he wants me to read an article about Infinite Debt.
Bernie :-)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
DAY 2, MARCH 23, 2009
It was another cool sunny day when we finally left the hotel a little after noon to go to the top of the Empire State Building, which is a walk of only about three blocks from our hotel. Helen had never been up there. I THINK I was up there once – the memory is very dim – with Mark Siddall and Ed Baroch back in the mid 60s. It's not cheap. At senior rate, going to the highest as well as the next-to-highest observation floor, I think we paid $33 apiece. We didn't buy any of the extra tour packages offered. And it's crowded – a lot of waiting at that time of day. The corporation that owns the building must be really raking in the revenue. There are lots of purple-uniformed employees directing traffic. The views were very nice in all directions, and we took several photos. Helen was particularly interested in the three towering, black Donald Trump buildings to the north.
On the top there was a friendly guide whose job it is to answer questions. She pointed out various things for us that we asked about: the Trump buildings, the spot where “Sully” crash landed in the Hudson, the Chrysler building, and Staten Island and the route of the New York Olympics, which I ran once circa 1991. Originally from Hartford, CT, she had had a career as a ballet dancer. Then, would you believe, she was an instructor in the dance program at Randolph Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College) in Lynchburg, Virginia. Then she became a guide in the Empire State Building. At a community college in Queens, which she pointed out to us, she is learning sign language so she can be a signing guide for the deaf in the Empire State Building.
There was a group of seven friendly Buddhist monks, men and women, in their distinctive robes. We kept meeting them again and again, particularly as we kept doubling back in the waiting line. Thinking they were were from a foreign country, I asked them where they are from. Would you believe, they are from a temple in Seattle, WA, and it is near Microsoft. I told them we are going to Bhutan and have visited temples in Korea, China, and Japan. One of them told me he has been to Bhutan and Nepal.
We had lunch at Wendy's and learned we can use the wireless, essentially for free, at Starbucks, both on 5th Avenue. So we returned with the computer and got on the Internet.
Hans called us about 5:15 and, rather than take a Taxi, we walked about 19 blocks south, mainly on Broadway -- only about half an hour -- to meet him at Union Square, where there is a statue of George Washington and where an outdoor market was shutting down for the day. We went into a rather large organic foods/health foods grocery store across the street from the square and bought our supper, including hot dishes scooped into covered plastic plates. We took our food upstairs, which is an eating area with long family-style tables which you share with strangers and stools that keep getting reclaimed like musical chairs. It was comfortable, and the food and the conversation were great.
From there we walked a few blocks to an old, lonely, small theater and took in the very “different” movie: “We Peddle Uphill.” We arrived in a hurry, just as it was starting. So we didn't get a chance beforehand to look at the information about it that was posted out front. It's a series of vignettes -- maybe a dozen of them -- taking place in various states around the nation. I wasn't able to understand the messages at all. My bad hearing doesn't help, but I can't blame it all on that. I don't think Helen understood much either. I don't know how much Hans understood. Upon exiting, we were able to read what was posted about the movie. It's supposed to be about the “paranoia, injustice and intolerance” -- greed was mentioned too – that it said has characterized 2001-to-2008 (post-9/11) USA. Well, even knowing, I couldn't well relate some of the vignettes to that. One of them seemed more relatable to post-9/11 than all the others. It was about an initially very strong woman library director who dared to defy the Terrorist Information Act (maybe not the correct name) upon a late night surprise visit by two male investigators and returned to the library quite some time later as a vegitative person.
We returned to our hotel by taxi, and Hans walked to wherever he'd locked his bicycle and rode it to his apartment.
Bernie :-)
On the top there was a friendly guide whose job it is to answer questions. She pointed out various things for us that we asked about: the Trump buildings, the spot where “Sully” crash landed in the Hudson, the Chrysler building, and Staten Island and the route of the New York Olympics, which I ran once circa 1991. Originally from Hartford, CT, she had had a career as a ballet dancer. Then, would you believe, she was an instructor in the dance program at Randolph Macon Woman's College (now Randolph College) in Lynchburg, Virginia. Then she became a guide in the Empire State Building. At a community college in Queens, which she pointed out to us, she is learning sign language so she can be a signing guide for the deaf in the Empire State Building.
There was a group of seven friendly Buddhist monks, men and women, in their distinctive robes. We kept meeting them again and again, particularly as we kept doubling back in the waiting line. Thinking they were were from a foreign country, I asked them where they are from. Would you believe, they are from a temple in Seattle, WA, and it is near Microsoft. I told them we are going to Bhutan and have visited temples in Korea, China, and Japan. One of them told me he has been to Bhutan and Nepal.
We had lunch at Wendy's and learned we can use the wireless, essentially for free, at Starbucks, both on 5th Avenue. So we returned with the computer and got on the Internet.
Hans called us about 5:15 and, rather than take a Taxi, we walked about 19 blocks south, mainly on Broadway -- only about half an hour -- to meet him at Union Square, where there is a statue of George Washington and where an outdoor market was shutting down for the day. We went into a rather large organic foods/health foods grocery store across the street from the square and bought our supper, including hot dishes scooped into covered plastic plates. We took our food upstairs, which is an eating area with long family-style tables which you share with strangers and stools that keep getting reclaimed like musical chairs. It was comfortable, and the food and the conversation were great.
From there we walked a few blocks to an old, lonely, small theater and took in the very “different” movie: “We Peddle Uphill.” We arrived in a hurry, just as it was starting. So we didn't get a chance beforehand to look at the information about it that was posted out front. It's a series of vignettes -- maybe a dozen of them -- taking place in various states around the nation. I wasn't able to understand the messages at all. My bad hearing doesn't help, but I can't blame it all on that. I don't think Helen understood much either. I don't know how much Hans understood. Upon exiting, we were able to read what was posted about the movie. It's supposed to be about the “paranoia, injustice and intolerance” -- greed was mentioned too – that it said has characterized 2001-to-2008 (post-9/11) USA. Well, even knowing, I couldn't well relate some of the vignettes to that. One of them seemed more relatable to post-9/11 than all the others. It was about an initially very strong woman library director who dared to defy the Terrorist Information Act (maybe not the correct name) upon a late night surprise visit by two male investigators and returned to the library quite some time later as a vegitative person.
We returned to our hotel by taxi, and Hans walked to wherever he'd locked his bicycle and rode it to his apartment.
Bernie :-)
Monday, March 23, 2009
DAY 1, MARCH 22, 2009
After a very short night, we took a cab very early and intentionally arrived at the Kemper Street Station an hour early. The train arrived on time at 6:10 AM. It was just below freezing early in the morning and sunny all day. We did a lot of snoozing on the train. The AMTRAK ride, in several respects, falls into two parts, namely Lynchburg to Washington, and Washington to New York: (1) diesel-electric locomotive to Washington, electric engine thereafter (overhead power lines), (2) essentially full load to Washington, fewer and fewer passengers thereafter (3) only two stops in Virginia, namely Charlottesville and Alexandria, more and more stops later, especially through New Jersey, and (4) nice scenery through Virginia, lots of slums, junk yards and the like farther north. The train was clean and very comfortable with luxurious, spacious seats and adequate toilets close by. The normal stops were very short. But in Washington, it was announced that we would stop for about 20 minutes for “servicing” (which includes change of locomotives) and we could stand outside beside the train to smoke or not. (No smoking in the train, thank goodness.) But in this instance we were stopped for an hour. It seems that the big diesel engine was mistakenly allowed to shut down, and they couldn't get it restarted to move it away so it could be replaced by the electric locomotive, and it had to be towed away. We had a small cooler of snacks with us. We arrived at New York's Pennsylvania Station at 2:30 P.M.
Our very-long-time friend Hans Schmuck met us at the station. He looks as strong and healthy as ever. We thought we were going to stay in his apartment. But, saying his apartment is a mess, which wouldn't bother us at all, he took us across the street to Hotel Pennsylvania, where he had booked a room for us on the tenth floor. It looks like Penn Station and Madison Square Garden are together across the street from our hotel. We feel bad about his spending what must be a lot of money for that. It's approximately midway between the Hudson and East Rivers on 7th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets. After checking in and chatting a little in our room, we took a bus ride to the Hudson River where we could view where “Sully” “landed” on the river, right out from a ferry terminal on the New Jersey side. It was cool and blustery (windy). We walked down the river to and through the Chelsea Piers, where there are a lot of recreational/athletic facilities. There is a nice, fairly new, paved two-lane way along the river for bikers, runners, walkers, and roller bladers – you have to watch out for the high-speed bikers. We had dinner at a brew house restaurant there. Hans filled us in on his own activities –- doing a lot of plumbing these days (self-employed) -- and filled us in on his siblings, nieces and nephew, mother, uncle, and aunt (all of them in Austria), and also his 8-year-old friend-since-birth and her mother here in New York City. Philip is 19 and doing his 6-month military stint in “security,” living in a camp in Vienna. Elizabeth and Francesca are like 10 and 9, and Elizabeth plays the piano; Gabriella takes them skiing. Angelika “lives in the old days” and is forgetful. Thomas still lives with Angelika and is still delivering the mail. Walter's cancer is 'throughout his body,' but he stays in “good spirits.” We took a cab back to the hotel where Hans left us from the lobby and will meet us again at 5 PM today (March 23). We went to bed early and slept in late. It's sunny again this morning.
Interesting history about the house Hedwig Maurer (Hans' maternal aunt) has lived in since her marriage to Mr. Maurer (long deceased): Hedwig's daughter-in-law has recently sold the house, which she inherited from her husband Martin Maurer (Hedwig's deceased son) and moved out, but Hedwig is permitted to live out her life there. Going back much farther, Hans' mother's mother was born in the house out-of-wedlock. Thereafter, the grandfather of Hans' grandmother lost the house in gambling with a Mr. Maurer. So the family of Hans' ancestors had to move out. Then, some time later, the house, having come down through the Maurer family, belonged to the Mr. Maurer who became Hedwig's husband.
We are here in New York until Wednesday evening, March 25. I wish we had not come to New York so early, but that was Helen's plan. It will be expensive, and I was thinking: What will I do with myself for three days here? But, of course, Helen is right. There are many things to do in New York City.
I haven't been able to get on the Internet. I'm writing this off-line to put on the Internet later, which would be a good idea anyway. There are three possibilities: (1) You can use the hotel's computers. VERY expensive. (2) With your own computer in the lobby, you can get on the Internet, charging to your credit card. Moderately expensive. I tried, planning to send just a short message. Couldn't get on. Wouldn't accept my credit card expiration date. (3) Our room does not have wireless. It is a small room. I suppose more expensive rooms have wireless. But you can get on the Internet from the room by dial up, using the telephone jack. Hey, we use dial up at home. I could select a New York phone number to avoid long distance charges and be in business. But, so far, I can't make that work either. We have our MAC computer. I didn't think it had a telephone slot, but now I see it seems that it does. But I don't know how to get to the AOL with the MAC. It's not like the IBM-clone system I am used to, where the icons come up when you turn on the computer. But now I have the solution: Starbucks down the street two blocks. I'll put this on the blog at Starbucks.
Bernie
Our very-long-time friend Hans Schmuck met us at the station. He looks as strong and healthy as ever. We thought we were going to stay in his apartment. But, saying his apartment is a mess, which wouldn't bother us at all, he took us across the street to Hotel Pennsylvania, where he had booked a room for us on the tenth floor. It looks like Penn Station and Madison Square Garden are together across the street from our hotel. We feel bad about his spending what must be a lot of money for that. It's approximately midway between the Hudson and East Rivers on 7th Avenue between 32nd and 33rd Streets. After checking in and chatting a little in our room, we took a bus ride to the Hudson River where we could view where “Sully” “landed” on the river, right out from a ferry terminal on the New Jersey side. It was cool and blustery (windy). We walked down the river to and through the Chelsea Piers, where there are a lot of recreational/athletic facilities. There is a nice, fairly new, paved two-lane way along the river for bikers, runners, walkers, and roller bladers – you have to watch out for the high-speed bikers. We had dinner at a brew house restaurant there. Hans filled us in on his own activities –- doing a lot of plumbing these days (self-employed) -- and filled us in on his siblings, nieces and nephew, mother, uncle, and aunt (all of them in Austria), and also his 8-year-old friend-since-birth and her mother here in New York City. Philip is 19 and doing his 6-month military stint in “security,” living in a camp in Vienna. Elizabeth and Francesca are like 10 and 9, and Elizabeth plays the piano; Gabriella takes them skiing. Angelika “lives in the old days” and is forgetful. Thomas still lives with Angelika and is still delivering the mail. Walter's cancer is 'throughout his body,' but he stays in “good spirits.” We took a cab back to the hotel where Hans left us from the lobby and will meet us again at 5 PM today (March 23). We went to bed early and slept in late. It's sunny again this morning.
Interesting history about the house Hedwig Maurer (Hans' maternal aunt) has lived in since her marriage to Mr. Maurer (long deceased): Hedwig's daughter-in-law has recently sold the house, which she inherited from her husband Martin Maurer (Hedwig's deceased son) and moved out, but Hedwig is permitted to live out her life there. Going back much farther, Hans' mother's mother was born in the house out-of-wedlock. Thereafter, the grandfather of Hans' grandmother lost the house in gambling with a Mr. Maurer. So the family of Hans' ancestors had to move out. Then, some time later, the house, having come down through the Maurer family, belonged to the Mr. Maurer who became Hedwig's husband.
We are here in New York until Wednesday evening, March 25. I wish we had not come to New York so early, but that was Helen's plan. It will be expensive, and I was thinking: What will I do with myself for three days here? But, of course, Helen is right. There are many things to do in New York City.
I haven't been able to get on the Internet. I'm writing this off-line to put on the Internet later, which would be a good idea anyway. There are three possibilities: (1) You can use the hotel's computers. VERY expensive. (2) With your own computer in the lobby, you can get on the Internet, charging to your credit card. Moderately expensive. I tried, planning to send just a short message. Couldn't get on. Wouldn't accept my credit card expiration date. (3) Our room does not have wireless. It is a small room. I suppose more expensive rooms have wireless. But you can get on the Internet from the room by dial up, using the telephone jack. Hey, we use dial up at home. I could select a New York phone number to avoid long distance charges and be in business. But, so far, I can't make that work either. We have our MAC computer. I didn't think it had a telephone slot, but now I see it seems that it does. But I don't know how to get to the AOL with the MAC. It's not like the IBM-clone system I am used to, where the icons come up when you turn on the computer. But now I have the solution: Starbucks down the street two blocks. I'll put this on the blog at Starbucks.
Bernie
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
HELLO!
This is the blog of Bernie & Helen Davis' trip to Bhutan and India. We leave Lynchburg, VA 22 March 2009. We return to Lynchburg 23 April 2009. We go by train to and from New York City, our jumping off point. We spend a few days with a friend initially in New York and a day or so there at the end. We spend about a week in Bhutan followed by about three weeks in northern India. We will be with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). There are 16 in our group.
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