“I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in an Irish bog to see the moon when it is full. “
I apologize for the lateness of the hour. Every Monday my neighbor and I chat. It is her way of improving her English. She is Brazilian and does speak English but is hoping to learn better pronunciation. Today her son, who is graduating from high school on Saturday, joined us, and the three of us chatted about everything including corn ice cream, a favorite in Brazil. I couldn’t imagine ice cream and vegetables being a good pairing. Her son agreed.
The day is damp and cold. My house is only 65˚ so we’re back to sweatshirt weather. It has started raining, and it is a welcomed rain. My garden needs the moisture as does my grass. My pollen-covered car could use a good cleaning and a heavy rain will do the trick.
When I was a kid, I dreamed of going to faraway places. My geography book was a wish book filled with pictures of where I would travel. I was in Rio on the top of the hill standing below the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer. I went up the Amazon on one of those long wooden boats while two tribesmen paddled. Each tribesman had a bone through his nose. I wandered down the rows of banana and cocoa trees growing on plantations. I saw the sphinx in Egypt from atop a camel. Riding in an airplane was part of my dream. Though no one I knew traveled just for pleasure, I knew for certain I would.
I once walked from my grandmother’s house in East Boston to Logan Airport. My uncle, only two years older than I, was the guide. It was a long walk, miles, but I didn’t care. We wandered the terminals, the old wooden terminals. I stood on the observation deck of one of those old terminals and watched the planes coming and going. From displays scattered around the gates I took brochures describing airline routes, sights and hotels. I watched people with their suitcases getting in lines to board planes. I was both wistful and jealous.
When I got back to my grandmother’s, my parents were livid, but I thought their anger a small price to pay for what had been a grand adventure. A few days later, I started reading the brochures and cutting out pictures. I began an album of my trip. I described the plane ride and flying into and being surrounded by clouds. The pictures of my hotel rooms had arrows pointing to my bed. All the wonderful sights we saw in the different cities were pasted on the pages and described by me in a first person account. I was traveling the world.
I filled the whole album with wishes and dreams.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: boating on the Amazon, camel, cold day, damp day, dreams and wishes, Egypt tribesmen, imagination, learning English, Logan Airport, Rio, strangeness of the English language, travels
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
June 1, 2015 at 2:12 pm
I made this long comment and suddenly it just vanished!!!! I hate when that happens because I can’t remember everything I wrote 🙂
I too wanted to go up the Amazon river but I always saw myself on a steam boat. I also travelled up the Mississippi river in a steam boat and if I ever win the lottery I’ll do both of them, so very littkle chance of that happening 🙂 🙂
I mostly travelled to Australia and New Zealand in my mind though. I’ve always wanted to see a Wombat in the wild in Australia and a Kiwi bird in New Zealand. The Wombat is perhaps the easiest one because the Kiwi is nocturnal and hard to find. Now days I also want to see a Kea, a New zealand parrot. It is said to be one of the most intelligen birds there is with the possible exception of the Raven. But The Kea is at least green 🙂
I never made an album though but I did use a red ballpoint pen and draw how I would travel in my map book 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
June 1, 2015 at 3:39 pm
Christer,
The comment section has been a bit strange today. It would not accept my reply to Hedley on Katmandu. I also had to recreate what I’d said. I should take it personally. It didn’t vanish but rather I was told it could not be posted.
I also want to travel the Mississippi on a steamboat, but I’d like to take the Amazon more unclose.
Funny but I haven’t ever wanted Australia and New Zealand. I don’t know why. On that side of the world I’d be looking for a trip to Asia and some of the small, less traveled countries.
Drawing is even more creative than cutting and pasting!
Have a great evening!
June 2, 2015 at 12:26 pm
I thought I did something wrong 🙂 I better save the text before trying to post for a while and it might be the same way here.
June 2, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Christer,
Today seems to be fine, but I’s copy a long answer just in case.
June 1, 2015 at 2:25 pm
I used to do the same with travel brochures! Top of the list for me as a child was South & Central America – Rio de Janeiro, Machu Pichu, the Iguaca falls, I wanted to see them all. I still do. My gran travelled all over the world on her own & that always inspired me. I’ve been to India, Australia, Japan, America & a lot of Europe but there are always more magical places to see! I love your stories of all your travels & really enjoyed this post, thank you.
June 1, 2015 at 3:42 pm
Kathryn,
South American was one of my places, and I always wanted to go through the Panama Canal. I have since been lucky enough to do both. India is on my list of yet to go but really want to places. I so love traveling.
Thanks for the kind words about my stories and I’m happy you get to travel with me.!
June 1, 2015 at 8:34 pm
Going to the airport was one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon. As a teen in NYC we took the bus to JFK airport. In those days before security we could not only go to the gates but even get a tour of the flight deck from the crew.
In the early sixties the terminal buildings for each airline were architectural marvels. The TWA terminal was designed by Eero Saarinen and looked like a bird inflight. The Pan Am World Port had a saucer like roof that allowed the airplanes to pull up under the roof to protect the passengers from the elements. The American Airline terminal had a 300 ft. stain glass window at the front designed by Robert Sowers. The International Arrivals Building had a huge curved roof and contained a four star resturant called the Golden Door named for the Emma Lazarus poem ‘The New Colouss’.
The TWA terminal was saved from the wrecking ball because it’s a national historic landmark. The stained glass window from the American Airlines terminal was disassembled during the demolition and pieces of it may be moved to the AA museum at the DFW airport. The other buildings have been replaced by nondescript more functional buildings for the realities of the 21st century rather than the glory days of the early 1960s. A Google search for each terminal will bring up photos of them from the days when flying was glamorous.
Today was an entire day with sunshine, low humidity and no rain.
June 1, 2015 at 9:10 pm
Bob,
I just checked out the pictures of those terminals. They are beautiful, especially the Pan Am and TWA terminals. I also wish they would save the PanAm building for a couple of reasons: because it is wonderful looking and it had been PanAm, an airline I miss as I flew it often to go overseas. It was the only airline serving Africa when I was in the Peace Corps.
I loved it when flying somewhere was special, so special you wore dress-up clothes.
June 1, 2015 at 9:59 pm
In 2007 I changed planes on Delta coming from Milan and going to Dallas. I had a two hour lay over in that grand old World Port. The building looked very dowdy from it’s glory days in the early 60s. I could see that the roof was leaking and the added gates required narrow corridors which were crowded. The building was not only falling down, parts were roped off and the ceiling was propped up, and it no longer worked from a security stand point.
The TWA building sits empty but is a part of the Jet Blue terminal. There was talk of opening it up as a museum and or restaurant.
June 2, 2015 at 10:45 am
Bob,
I find it so sad when once glorious buildings are allowed to fall apart. Holding on to our past is too important to neglect.