Vacation Advisory!

[Artem]

Returned from a week long vacation in the Dominican Republic. Didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. Great place for a good rest.

[Brian]

Does anybody have any recommendations for hiking boots? Next week my friends and I are heading to Guatemala to scale a volcano or two.

[kishnevi]

Brand is far less important than making sure they fit.  You don't want to get blisters two thousand feet up in the middle of the jungle.  Plan to spend several hours (afternoon preferable) shopping for boots,  visit several stores, and walk around in them for five or ten minutes at a time.  (Selling shoes is how I get the rent CD purchasing money.)

[Brian]

May 8-10: Copenhagen, with side trip to Helsingor
May 11-12: Gotland, Sweden to go biking
May 13-15: Stockholm, Sweden

Here's the music I'm bringing for the flights:
Alfven: Symphonies 1-5 etc. (Jarvi, BIS)
Berwald: Symphonic Poems (Sakari, Naxos)
Englund: Cello Concerto, Piano Concertos (Gustafsson, Raekallio, Ondine)
Leifs: Pastoral Variations (Lindberg, BIS)
Linde: Concerto Piccolo (Lindberg, BIS)
Linde: Violin & Cello Concertos (Gomyo, Kliegel, Naxos)
Nielsen: String Quartets and Quintet (Young Danish Quartet, Dacapo)
Nielsen: Symphonies 2 & 3 (Schonwandt, Dacapo)
Nielsen: Symphonies 4 & 5 (Bernstein, Sony)
Nielsen: Wind Quintet (Frosunda Qtt, BIS)
Oscar Peterson: Exclusively for My Friends (4 CDs, originally 6 LPs)

And here are the books I'll be reading.

[Brian]

May 8-10: Copenhagen, with side trip to Helsingor
May 11-12: Gotland, Sweden to go biking
May 13-15: Stockholm, Sweden

Bye folks! I'll be back online May 19.

[Mirror Image]

So long, Brian! Be safe and be sure to take plenty of pictures for us!

I have a somewhat fascination with Sweden as I found out a few years ago that some of my ancestors hailed from there.

[kishnevi]

Off early tomorrow (need to be at the airport at 6AM!) to Boston and then to Fredericksburg Va for the weekend with my uncle and his Civil War Group.   This week and last week mark the 150th anniversaries of the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse, both close to Fredericksburg,  and we'll be touring those battlefields plus a couple of other things in the immediate area before returning for a day in Boston in relatives. Weather by Florida standards will be downright cold--50s and 60s almost all the time, except for tomorrow when Boston will be in the 70s.   Be back in Miami and hot weather on Tuesday.

But unlike last year, I have a tablet, so I will be able to post snide remarks unhindered, and listen to at least some music on the plane and the bus between Massachusetts and Virginia:   I've got loaded on the tablet courtesty of Amazon Cloud Player
Beethoven's Symphonies--Bernstein/VPO
Mahler 5--Gergiev/LSO
Lionel Rogg playing various Bach fugues and free form works for organ
Rachmaninov Piano Concertos 1 and 2--Andsnes/Pappano
Alexandre Tharaud playing various Scarlatti sonatas

[SonicMan46]

Off early tomorrow (need to be at the airport at 6AM!) to Boston and then to Fredericksburg Va for the weekend with my uncle and his Civil War Group.   This week and last week mark the 150th anniversaries of the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse, both close to Fredericksburg,  and we'll be touring those battlefields plus a couple of other things in the immediate area before returning for a day in Boston in relatives. Weather by Florida standards will be downright cold--50s and 60s almost all the time, except for tomorrow when Boston will be in the 70s.   Be back in Miami and hot weather on Tuesday..............

Hi Jeffrey - I'm a BIG Civil War buff (easy living in Piedmont, NC) for decades and have visited nearly all of the BIG battlefields - need to get back to Gettysburg since the ugly tower was torn down and a new visitor's center has opened - may be in the fall or early next year.  We just returned from a trip to Northern Alabama, Shiloh Battlefield, & Nashville, TN - put a travelogue in another forum - need to transfer some posts here!

We visit VA a lot and have also been to the Wilderness area & Spotsylvania Courthouse; of course, Chancellorsville Battlefield is in the vicinity (where Stonewall lost his left arm and died w/i a week or so) - have a GREAT time and let us know your adventures.  Dave

[SonicMan46]

Northern Alabama, Shiloh Battlefield, & Nashville Tennessee! - last month we did a 5-day trip to the areas listed - I left a lot of posts in a travelogue in another forum - will try to bring a bunch here since there may be some who might find the trip of interest and a potential vacation option - below is the opening post w/ a map showing where we visited. 

Susan & I just returned from a 5-night trip to the west of North Carolina (our home state, USA) - flew into Nashville, TN (Tennessee), picked up a rental car, and drove to Florence, Alabama (AL) - spent 3 nights there @ a great Marriott Hotel - then back to Nashville (about 2+ hrs drive) for 2 more nights (our 4th visit to Nashville but first part of the trip were NEW experiences for us); I put about 500 miles on the car w/ this adventure.

To start this travelogue is an attached map of middle TN and northern AL; the first part was a drive from Nashville (red arrow) to Florence (blue arrow) - from the latter, we did a day trip to the Shiloh Battlefield (green arrow back into TN near Corinth, Mississippi), an early Civll War battle occurring April 6-7, 1862.

This is just the start, i.e. I'll add further posts describing in more detail the fascinating places and sites to visit in this area of the USA - now this will likely only be of interest to those who might be in the USA, but hopefully several members close by will be stimulated to visit some of these places. Dave
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[SonicMan46]

Shiloh Battlefield - day trip from Florence, AL back into TN near the Mississippi state line - I'm an USA Civil War buff and have been to nearly all of the major battlefields of this war, which started on April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter in Charleston (South Carolina) harbor and lasted 4 years ending at Appomattox Court House in southern Virginia (about an hour and a half from our home) in the spring of 1865 where Robert E. Lee surrendered to U.S. Grant.

In early 1862, Grant captured Forts Henry and Donelson on the Tennessee (TN) & Cumberland rivers, respectively; he moved down the TN river to Pittsburgh Landing (pic below looking quite peaceful but a major area of activity in early April 1862 w/ gun ironclads, hospital boats, and other vessels); the battle started abruptly on April 6 when Albert Sidney Johnston's Confederates drove Grant's army back to the river; much of the activity centered around a small church called Shiloh (pic below of a reconstruction of the original), hence the name of the battle. Grant's army was soon reinforced by Buell's Army of Ohio.

On the second day (April 7, 1862), Grant w/ now superior forces drove the southerns from the field and recovered all lost ground from the day before. This was a 'shocking' battle for the country; more than 110,000 men fought on both sides, over 3000 were killed on the battlefield (many more died later of their wounds) - the dead were so concentrated in places that Grant stated that he could cross a field just stepping on the fallen men w/o touching the ground! AS Johnston lost his life from a bullet to his right leg and the South lost one of its best generals. Now, all knew that the war would be long, bloody, and with a major loss of life - in the end over 600,000 men died in this war (nothing in US history of wars even came close).

The visitor's center has an excellent 'new' film w/ CGI graphics of Union gunboats coming up the TN river to Pittsburgh Landing - Dave
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[SonicMan46]

Shiloh Battlefield w/ some of my own photos - please see the early post on this important American Civil War (1861-1865) battle which happened in early April, 1862. The Visitor's Center is a small museum w/ historic exhibits of the main aspects of the battle and plenty of personal information on the experiences of the fighting men; an approximate half hour film is excellent.

A short walk through the Cemetery to Pittsburg Landing (also my pics) - so peaceful on the Tennessee River but this was the major arrival point of Grant's many ships which included supply & hospital boats (shown in a photo from the web); of course, he had many ironclads which could lob shells from their decks into the Confederates on land.

The battlefield is quite large (several miles in all directions), so an auto guide is the main means of seeing all of the sites - there are plenty of stops along the way, so one could spend hours (and even several days) on the historic property; a CD audio tour can also be purchased. Dave
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[SonicMan46]

Western Civil War Gunboats - a few posts back I mentioned Pittsburg Landing at the battle of Shiloh and posted a photo of some docked boats which were not gunboats that were used on the western campaign (i.e. Mississippi River and the major tributaries, such as the Ohio, Tennessee, & Cumberland Rivers). U.S. Grant in early 1862 captured Forts Henry & Donelson on the Tennessee & Cumberland Rivers (the latter runs through Nashville) - Nashville was evacuated by the Confederates; Grant then proceeded into southern Tennessee w/ his next major victory @ Shiloh (as already discussed) - he then concentrated on the last stronghold on the Mississippi, i.e. Vicksburg, MS - if captured, then the Federals would control the entire MAJOR river in the USA (this was called the Anaconda Plan conceived by Winfield Scott); New Orleans had already been captured - well Grant's goal was not achieved until July 4, 1863 (the day that Lee was retreating from the 3-day battle @ Gettysburg, PA).

NOW, I'm adding an extra post here for those who may be interested because the topic fascinates me - I briefly mentioned the use of 'ironclads' in a previous post, but the naval innovations that occurred in the American Civil War had profound influences on the history of the world on the oceans. The 'gunboats' created in this war had two major differences vs. wooden ships w/ sails: 1) Steam power was used, i.e. no sails; and 2) Iron plates were on their surfaces, impervious to a regular cannon balls. These western gunboats were designed by James Eads among others; of course, the most famous ironclad battle of the Civil War (i.e. Monitor & Merrimack in Hampton Roads, March 1862) occurred in Virginia - the MAIN point is that the use of these steam driven ironclad ships in early 1862 virtually ended the era of wooden ships w/ sails in war - it was a NEW way to fight on the sea! Below are just some pics from the web of the boats used in the western campaign - often called 'Turtles' due their low draft and lack of sails - Dave
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[Brian]

Flying out to Paris, Brussels, the Alsace, Basel, and the Loire Valley. See y'all on July 21. 

[Ken B]

From Aug 8 to 25
At the cottage, with, I will have you know, the first girl I ever kissed.

[Florestan]

From Aug 8 to 25
At the cottage, with, I will have you know, the first girl I ever kissed.

Make sure she never meets your current girl. 

[Ken B]

Make sure she never meets your current girl. 

[The new erato]

Make sure she never meets your current girl. 

In which case she also may be the last girl you ever will kiss......

[Ken B]

In which case she also may be the last girl you ever will kiss......

She is going to be the first guy she ever kissed! So we might both have some splainin' to do!

[Florestan]

She is going to be the first guy she ever kissed! So we might both have some splainin' to do!

You lost me for good. The only way that phrase makes any sense would be, with some minor corrections:

"She" is going to be the first gay she ever kissed!

Ummmm, nevermind.

[The new erato]

Unclear sentence but KenB is the first guy she ever kissed.....I guess (hope) that was what he meant.