Jim Colyer

I will travel with Globus/Monograms, the same company I went to Hong Kong with. 8 days.

Classical Greek tour with Globus/Monograms

Nashville to New York to Athens going
Athens to New York to Nashville returning

Day 1 - Athens
Meet traveling companions and tour guide.

Day 2 - The Acropolis (high place) and Parthenon.
Erechtheum
Porch of the Maidens
Temple of Athena Nike
Glimpse Temple of Zeus & Theater of Dionysus
Theseum (where Socrates taught)
Panathenaic Stadium - 2nd century, made of marble and site of the first modern Olympic Games 1896

Day 3 - Cross the Corinth Canal to Corinth where Paul preached.
Mycenae - Impressions of Homer
Treasury of Atreus - Lion Gate
Remains of Agamemnon's Palace
Short drive to Epidaurus & 2300 year old open-air theater.
Spend the night in Nauplia

Day 4 - Nauplia - Olympia
Arkadian Mountains
Spend afternoon in Olympia
Temples of Zeus & Hera
Meseum containing statue of Hermes by Praxiteles
Cooking demonstration

Day 5 - Olympia - Patras - Delphi
Seaport of Patras - fishing village
To Oracle of Delphi - sanctuary of Apollo
Slopes of Mount Parnassus
Delphi Archaeological museum - Charioteer, 5th century BC bronze statue
Dance lesson, sirtaki from Zorba the Greek

Day 6 - Delphi, Meteora area
Meteora - 24 rock-top monasteries
Varlaam monastery & St. Stephens monastery

Day 7 - Meteora area - Thermopylae - Athens
Thermopyae - Battle of Leonidas - 300 Spartans fought Xerxes' Persian army
Lecture about Thebes, the stting of Sophocles. Oedipus Rex
Marathon, where Athenians defeated Persians

Day 8 - Breakfast - Airport

I flew to Hong Kong, October 31, 2016, for 4 days and 3 nights. I flew American Airlines and changed planes in L.A., both going and coming. A hostess (Lyona) from Globus/Monograms met me.

Hong Kong is an island city off the Chinese mainland. It was a British colony 156 years except during the Japanese occupation of World War II. Victoria Harbor's location on the South China Sea is what attracted the British. The Hong Kong archipelago consists of 260 islands. Lantau is the largest.

With a population of over 7 million, Hong Kong is a Chinese Manhattan. The business district is located on Hong Kong Island, across the Harbor from Kowloon.

Hong Kong was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1997. The territory is a Special Administrative Region under a "one country, two systems" idea. SAR includes Hong Kong, Kowloon (Cow-loon) and the New Territories. Lyona said there were still about 25,000 British there.

Hong Kong is Asia's city. The tall skyscraper in the business district is the International Commerce Center. HSBC Bank is the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation. The currency is the Hong Kong dollar, and I got some.

Hong Kong is a financial center, and both Chinese and English are official languages. Road signs are in English, and cars drive on the left side. Hong Kongers love to shop and dine.

The Chinese have no alphabet. Writing is an art form, written language consisting of characters, squares with crisscrossing lines. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong.

Lyona escorted me up Victoria Peak to enjoy the panorama of the city and the Harbor. The Peak and the Harbor are named after the British queen.

I was given a sampan boat ride, and we passed the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. We drove through Wan Chai, the red light district in The World Of Suzie Wong. We stopped to enter the hotel in the movie. Of course, it had been remodeled and looked nothing like it did in 1960.

Lyona knew about Elvis Presley, and we sang "Love Me Tender." She helped me check into my hotel in Kowloon. The Chinese people I encountered were polite and accommodating. They had thick black hair, helmet-like. The men's "sideburns" came to points.

I went to Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Tian Tan Buddha is a huge bronze statue. 21% of Hong Kongers are Buddhists. We had lunch in a Buddhist monastery, and I befriended an Australian couple.

I had heard bizarre rumors about Hong Kong food. The only bad food I got was the Shanghai noodles. They were rubbery like bubble gum, and I could not eat them.

I stayed in the hotel at night watching Fox News on TV. Donald Trump was on the verge of winning the 2016 presidential election.

The Beatles played Kowloon in 1964 before flying to Sydney.

Nearby Macau was a Portuguese colony. It is called the "Vegas of the East" because it is the only place in China with legalized gambling.

Latitude lines run north and south from the equator. Longitude lines (meridians) run from the north pole to the south pole. The prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England, a London suburb. From Greenwich, east and west meridians run 180 degrees around the globe to meet at the International Date Line.

Hong Kong latitude 22°N
Hong Kong longitude 114°E
Nashville latitude 36°N
Nashville longitude 86° W
Louisville latitude 38° N
Louisville longitude 85° W

I have been in 11 foreign countries on 5 continents.

Revised 2017

Globus - home page
Globus - Hong Kong 2016
Hong Kong - Asia's World City
Central, Hong Kong
Hong Kong @ China Focus
Inside Hong Kong
Hong Kong - Must See Attractions
Hong Kong Travel Guide
Things To Do In Hong Kong
Victoria Peak
Big Buddha

I flew to Denver, August 10, 2013, with Southwest Airlines. I checked in and got my boarding pass. I had a compact waiting from E-Z Rent-A-Car. I had my drivers license, proof of insurance & Mastercard.

I checked into the Ramada on E. Colfax and hung out on the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall. There were shops and restaurants. I bought a T-shirt at the Hard Rock Cafe and told the girl about my song, "Save The Planet."

17th Street is Denver's financial district, the Wall Street of the West. The Cash Register Building is the Wells Fargo Center, and I walked around it. I wanted to tour the Denver Mint, but settled for seeing it out of the corner of my eye as I was leaving town. It is where they make coins.

Denver was founded in 1858. It is called the Mile High City because it is 5,280 feet above sea level. Interstate-25 runs north and south. I-70 runs east and west. Denver is in the Mountain Time Zone, 1200 miles from Nashville. Population is over 600,000.

There is a government presence! There are companies related to energy and the space program. The Rocky Mountains are rich in minerals, and mining is important to Denver's economy.

I drove north to Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. The Perseid meteor shower was clouded out. Such things are unpredictable, and I cannot control nature. I found the Estes Park Observatory and listened to a talk about planets with the local astronomical society. I slept in McDonald's parking lot.

I toured Rocky Mountain National Park with Rocky Mountain Transit Management. It cost $32. We drove Trail Ridge Road to the Continental Divide, the point from which water flows west into the Pacific Ocean and east into the Atlantic Ocean. I stood at the sign marking the Divide at Milner Pass.

We stopped at the Alpine Visitors Center 12,000 feet up. The view was inspirational. There was light rain and thunder and lightning in the distance. It was windy and chilly.

Trail Ridge Road is the highest paved road in the country. It is 48 miles long. Our guide talked geology: snow patches, ice fields, glaciers and moraines. Moraines are debris left by glaciers. He spoke of tree lines and tundra. Tundra is a treeless area.

I stayed at the Discovery Lodge in Estes Park the night of August 12. It is near the Visitor Center. I watched Little Big Town host the CMA Music Fest. While eating at KFC, I thought of Karen Fairchild.

I drove by the Stanley Hotel, built by F.O. Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame.

From Estes Park, it is an hour and 20 minutes back to Denver. I again drove through the town of Lyons. I dropped the car off at E-Z, checked in at Southwest, found my gate and flew to Nashville. I took a taxi to Vanderbilt.

I have visited 15 of the 59 National Parks:

..1 Death Valley
..2 Denali
..3 Grand Canyon
..4 Grand Teton
..5 Great Smoky Mountains
..6 Kings Canyon
..7 Mammoth Cave
..8 Mesa Verde
..9 Petrified Forest
10 Rocky Mountain
11 Saguaro
12 Sequoia
13 Yellowstone
14 Yosemite
15 Zion

Resort towns grew up at the entrances to National Parks. Estes Park is the gateway to RMNP. There are 408 National Park Service sites.

Revised 2017

I went to Bolivia for the Southern Skies Star Party, July 14-21, 2012. I flew to Miami and hooked up with Jen Winter's group. There were 8 of us. From Miami, we flew over Cuba, Central America and down the west coast of South America. We changed planes in Lima, Peru, and flew to La Paz.

A van took us to the Inca Utama Hotel on Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America. The Southern Hemisphere is a challenge! My goal was to have another experience with the southern stars and constellations. I was at 12,000 feet in the Andes Mountains.

I took a day trip to Tiwanaku, a pre-Columbian archaeological site. Puma Punku is a temple, meaning "entrance of the puma." I saw only ruins. No signs of ancient aliens!

Myself and two others climbed a hill to look at the Andes range. A panoramic view of Lake Titicaca was on one side and snow-capped mountains on the other. We took the wrong path coming down, and I could see the headlines: "Lost in the Andes!" We kept moving toward the lake and finally came across a farmer, who drove us to our hotel.

Our group toured La Paz, highest capital city in the world. It sits in a "bowl" surrounded by mountains. Population is over a million. We walked the La Paz streets, where people drive like maniacs and think nothing about walking out in traffic. Dark-skinned women wear wide skirts and bowler hats. Dogs are everywhere, and the Spanish is annoying. Bolivia is a Third World country.

Lake Titicaca is partly in Peru, partly in Bolivia. Bolivia is landlocked. I thought it would be nice if Peru gave Bolivia a strip of land to the ocean. Countries are territorial!

I thought Bolivia would be my last trip out of the U.S. until I decided to go to Hong Kong. Traveling is work! Airport security makes it hard, as do foreign languages. I get a certain knowledge, and it draws me to these experiences.

I have traveled on 5 continents: 43 states and 11 foreign countries. I am an astronomer and a world traveler. An adventurer! Indiana Jones!


Email...
I did not bring anything back. No coins or pictures. I write! My impressions are my souvenirs.

We entered a church on the square in La Paz. Bolivians are Catholic, descended from the Spanish conquistadors who conquered the region. Bolivian history is in 3 parts: pre-Columbian, colonial, and the Republic. Bolivia got its independence from Spain in 1825, led by Simon Bolivar, for whom the country is named.

I hate foreign languages. Spanish, in particular, gets on my nerves, and here I was in La Paz surrounded by a million people speaking Spanish. I was nice to the Bolivians, especially to our guide and the ones who worked at the hotel. The hotel was clean and the food excellent. They fed us well, and we ate llama. I had caribou in Alaska.

Alpha Centauri is the 3rd brightest star and closest system to earth at 4.4 light-years: 25 trillion miles. Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri were called the "eyes of the llama" by pre-Columbian cultures. I still see those two bright stars shining over Lake Titicaca!

The Milky Way was a grand spectacle, as it was in Australia 10 years earlier. When we look into its thickest part, we are looking toward the center of our disk-shaped galaxy. There are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, and our solar system lies toward the outer edge, safe from the chaos and black hole in the center.

Stars are suns, and exoplanets are being discovered around them. The search for extraterrestrial life is on! There were telescopes behind our hotel, and members of our group located objects and showed them to me. A globular cluster called Omega Centauri stood out. This fuzzy ball is composed of millions of stars.

There is a South Pole star! It is much dimmer than the North Star, but constellations like the Southern Cross appear to go around it.

The earth revolves around the sun with its axis tilted 23 1/2 degrees, causing the seasons. Summer in the United States means winter in Bolivia. Winter in July! It was mild, however, the temperature no colder than 40 degrees.

I saw the Indiana Jones movies. He was an archaeologist! I did visit Tiwanaku and Puma Punku, ruins featured in the Ancient Aliens series. Some people think they were built by aliens. I do not. Nor do I subscribe to UFOs, which are made-up stories. Not to say there is no extraterrestrial life! With 250 billion galaxies, there may be.

Bolivia

Revised 2016

Michael and I made our second trip to New York, September 24-26, 2009. We made our way from Kennedy Airport in Queens to Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. We again ferried to the Statue of Liberty. The Statue is a National Monument. They were taking 200 people a day to the crown and were booked until January. We headed for Times Square and the Portland Square Hotel, where we checked into our room and prepared for Kristina in Concert. We had time but had to keep moving. The Portland Square Hotel is located at 132 West 47th Street. Phone 240-383-1803. We used my AAA card.

Kristina in Concert was at Carnegie Hall for two nights, and we saw it on September 24. The characters lined up in front of the orchestra to sing their parts. It was nearly three hours, and the melodies were full of emotion. Even though it was the English version, it was still difficult to understand the lyrics. Of course, I knew the story. I pitied those who did not. Leaving the theater, Michael asked me what I thought. I told him it was an accomplishment. An achievement! And I saw it with my son! We sat high in the balcony, close to the edge. A dangerous spot! Benny and Bjorn were in the audience (I figured they would be) and came to the stage at the concert's end. The song getting the biggest ovation was "The Gold Turned To Sand." Carnegie Hall was built in 1891 by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. It is located at 57th Street. After the show, Michael and I went to a karaoke bar in Times Square, and I sang Dancing Queen. I told him I had made it on the big stage.

We walked from Times Square to the Financial District. We entered the New York Life Building. Michael is an agent and sells their products. We had a tour scheduled at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and were taken to the Gold Vault underground. We saw $190 billion in gold. Michael remembered that one bar was worth $118,000. I kept biting my nails, and he asked me if I were nervous. It was the gold! We returned to the charging bull and got pictures. Michael rubbed the bull's balls for good luck. There were more people than last time because of activity at the U.N. I told Michael he might be doing business on Wall Street one day.

We took the subway to the Bronx, to 161st Street and the new Yankee Stadium. It cost $1.4 billion and sits beside the old one. It is Steinbrenner's legacy. The Yankees played the Boston Red Sox, the greatest rivalry in sports. The Yankees won 9-5. The Stadium was the star, and we walked all around it, viewing the game from different angles. There were huge pictures on the walls of Yankee greats: Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle. I nearly choked up as we entered the Cathedral. Being among Yankee supporters, I felt we were among friends.

Our last day, we found Rockefeller Center and the NBC Studios. We saw the statue of Prometheus, and I told Michael about the Greek myth, how Prometheus gave the gift of fire to mankind and was punished by Zeus until Hercules set him free. We strolled through the NBC gift shop.

Our trip ended with a ride through Central Park. We stopped at the John Lennon Imagine Mosaic, and Michael took my picture giving the peace sign. Everyone else was flashing the sign, so I did. The Dakota was nearby, and I recalled how Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman in December, 1980, and how I called Karen after seeing the story on the front page of the Tennessean. Chapman sat on some steps and waited for the police. He made no attempt to escape. Our driver said Yoko still lives on the top three floors of the Dakota. We heard Beatle songs while having breakfast at Starbucks.

Flying back to Nashville, I told Michael how I fed him a bottle in the back bedroom of the house in Lebanon while thinking about New York. Reading about Central Park, I learned that it got its name from being in the center of Manhattan. Michael told me it was his dream to go to New York. Now he has been twice. These trips are one of the ways I am helping my son.


NEW YORK CITY 2005
Tuesday, August 9 (Day 1) - Michael and Karen came to my apartment at 4:30 in the morning. I met them in the garage, and Karen drove us to the airport. We left Nashville on Delta Flight 5405. It was Michael's first time on a plane, a good thing about the trip. We changed planes in Cincinnati and arrived at Kennedy Airport in New York at 11:31am. We took the airbus to Lower Manhattan. The first day was hard! We spotted the Empire State Building in the distance and kept walking. The Empire State Building is at 5th Avenue & 34th St. It was built 1930-31, and the architecture reflects the period. It is shaped like a pencil! There are 102 floors. The observatory is on the 86th. The line was long, and I told Michael the story of how I came here in the Army. "It was a cold, windy night. My hat blew off, and I had to run after it." We looked down on Manhattan as I had years ago. 20,000 buildings can be seen. Back on the street, we entered Central Park. Joggers ran past. I felt we were getting in deep, so we retraced our steps. We found Times Square! Michael was elated, and it dawned on me what Times Square meant to him from seeing it on television. He took pictures from every angle. Night fell! We were turned away from hotels and went into TGI Friday's. The Yankees were playing the White Sox on the Yes Network. We watched the game and talked about staying up all night. We went looking one last time and found the Portland Square Hotel. It was a miracle! The room was small but clean and quiet. Best of all, it was right around the corner from Times Square and the Palace Theatre, where we had tickets for a Broadway show. Nothing is cheap, and I tried to keep spending under control while doing what we came to do. Michael had his cell phone and stayed in touch with his mother and friends. People were everywhere! We dodged them. Horns blew, and cabs whizzed! Michael and I stayed close. We had a flexible plan and adjusted it as we went along. We walked for long stretches, then sat and rested. This was a chance for Michael to work off some pounds and for me to fight arthritis.

Wednesday, August 10 (Day 2) - We made our way to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx by subway. It is located at 161st & River Ave. I got tickets by email. We were in the upper deck down the third base line toward left field. The game took up a good part of the day. I wanted a day game so there would be light when we hit the street. The Yankees played the Chicago White Sox. It was traditional American League baseball. The Yankees lost, but the main thing was that we experienced a game at Yankee Stadium. There were some leftovers from the great team of the 1990s: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and manager Joe Torre. The Stadium itself was the attraction. I noted the big "NY" behind home plate and the facade in the outfield. I recalled how Mickey Mantle came within inches of hitting one out. From our seats, I spotted the edge of Monument Park. The Yankees' dugout was on the first base side.

Thursday, August 11 (Day 3) -
This was the day we cracked New York! We rode the subway to Lower Manhattan and Ground Zero. It was fenced in, and we walked around the perimeter. It was a solemn site, not unlike Pearl Harbor. It was not so emotional at this point, but we wondered what things were like in the city on that day. Michael pointed to a cross. From Ground Zero we hoofed it to Wall Street as I had before. Wall Street is the country's financial center, and Michael wanted to see the New York Stock Exchange, where stocks are bought and sold. NYSE lists 3,164 companies with the largest trading volume of any stock exchange except NASDAQ. This was an education for Michael. Wall Street got its name from the wall built by the Dutch to keep Indians out. The British took "New Amsterdam" and renamed it New York after the Duke of York. We moved toward Battery Park. A German girl took our picture as we ferried to the Statue of Liberty. She was from Hamburg, so we talked about The Beatles and the Star Club. Michael and I spent an hour on Liberty Island looking up at the green Statue. His Liberty pictures are like post cards. I was doing this for him. He was seeing New York for the first time! The Statue was a gift from the French, done by sculptor Bartholdi to commemorate French support during the American Revolution. Lady Liberty holds a tablet reading July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals. Her arm is straight, and she holds a torch. Seven rays from her crown represent seven continents. Her official name is "Liberty Enlightening the World." Battery Park is so named because of guns that once defended Manhattan. We returned to the room to rest. It was a hot day. I was thirsty, and water fountains were not to be found. I secured the tickets for All Shook Up, which I got from Ticketmaster by email. The show was at the Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway. I remembered the address because it was the year Shakespeare was born. We sat in the balcony. The theatre was ornate, and the usher told us it was about 100 years old. All Shook Up combined the music of Elvis Presley with the plot of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. We exited the theatre and went to our room for our last night in the city.

Michael had to see Trump Tower, so we found it. It is residential, condominiums for the rich. Donald Trump is a real estate developer and Michael's hero. I took a picture of Michael against the backdrop of Trump and his wife, Melania. Michael bought shirts at Brooks Brothers, and the clerk told him Trump's assistant had come in the day before. We passed Rockefeller Center and got pictures of Prometheus and Radio City Music Hall. We slipped into the NBC studios shop. We ate at ESPN Zone.

Friday, August 12 (Day 4) - On our way out of town, we stopped by New York University. Washington Square Park is on the edge of NYU, and we saw the arch. We entered the book store. Michael compared its business books to MTSU's. We got to Kennedy Airport with time to spare and ate at Chili's Too. It was a straight flight to Nashville. Karen met us and dropped me off at Vanderbilt.

I had in mind to take Michael to the main sections of the United States: down south, up east and out west. Daytona Beach was down south. New York and Washington, D.C. were up east. Las Vegas and California are out west. I see my early trips as preparation for these trips with Michael.


NEW YORK CITY 1984
I spent two days in Manhattan in October, 1984. My first stop was Dinosaur Hall in the American Museum of Natural History near Central Park. Dinosaur-mania was talking hold, and I saw tyrannosaurus, brontosaurus, triceratops and stegosaurus. Some fossilized eggs added credibility to the existence of these creatures. I attended a show at the Hayden Planetarium inside the museum.

My second day began at the top of the World Trade Center (the one without the tower). I looked down at the Statue of Liberty inside its scaffold. It was being renovated. From the Towers, I hoofed it to Wall Street. The street was short and nearly deserted since it was Sunday. George Washington was inaugurated there in 1789. A bus took me up the Avenue of the Americas to Midtown, where I saw the statue of Prometheus against the backdrop of the RCA Building. In Greek mythology, Prometheus taught man how to use fire. His statue shows him descending from Mount Olympus encircled by the Zodiac. I wanted to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, but they were not performing. From my room, I watched the presidential debate between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. The morning before I left, I rode a bus out 42nd Street to the United Nations. I entered the building but did not take the tour. I glimpsed the N.Y.P.L. (library) and Madison Square Garden before heading for Nashville.


NEW YORK STATE April, August, 1974
On truck with Chester! We went to Erie, Pennsylvania, and across upstate New York: Rochester and Syracuse. We spent the night in Binghamton. We were in New York when the tornado hit Louisville on April 3. The closer we got to Louisville, the more we heard about it. It took the roof off Candy Heim's house. She was in the Air Force.

PHILADELPHIA & NEW YORK CITY December, 1970
In Philadelphia, I gazed through the windows of Independence Hall at the Liberty Bell. In New York, I ascended the Empire State Building and blitzed through Greenwich Village by night. I was in the Army and made these trips with two guys from Valley Forge Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. It was cold and windy in New York, and my saucer cap blew off at the top of the Empire State Building. I caught it before it went over the edge.

Revised 2015