Exploring Worlds, Old & New

Showing the World to the World.

December 27, 2020 – New World.

by

THOMS SUNDAY TRAVEL SECTION.

WHERE TO?                       TASTE.                        SEE.

Of course on the history line, Giza is a new world
The 4500+-year-old sphynx at Giza.

Exploring Worlds, Old, and New can mean many things.

The Old World can be where we believe life began.

Or the lands where kings, prophets, and Apostles once trod, laying the cornerstones of our faith.

In the days of Jesus, Christianity was a new world to many.
Capharnum (Capernaum) where Jesus would perform several miracles.

The Old World can be where your parents or relatives from long ago left to come to a new world.

But it is a new world in comparison to the Middle East and Asia.
Europe is the “Old World” for many Americans.

 

What is a New World?

Columbus made a big deal about a new world, but there were already people living there for thousands of years.

There is a 5400 yea-old structure in Luiosiana, long before Columbus arrived.
Chris Columbus, the New Worlds’ first cruise director.

If you have never left your home town, the next town over could be a whole new world.

Or your first visit to a big city.

What if you visit your ancestors home in the old country, isn’t that a new world?

There’s the world under the sea and space, which may not be the final frontier.

There is a world of food and another for beverages—the art and architecture worlds.

Some destinations can keep you busy for days just with their architecture.
The world of architecture can be staggering.

There are a lot of worlds out there. Resolve to explore at least one of them in 2021.

 

A Whole New World.

Explore the world of food.

If a drive-thru taco is your only knowledge of Mexican food, there’s a whole new world.

Mexican and Spanish food are not identical.

They have spices from Asia, the middle east and the new world.
The seasonings in Spanish cuisine are worldly and wonderful.

Did you know that most Spanish food does not require a first responder to be standing by with an extinguisher?

Sure they use spices—many a gift brought by the Moors from the middle east.

Yes, they use peppers.

But most peppers you find in Spanish cooking are sweet or mild, with just a hint of heat.

Spanish food is about flavors blending and complimenting.
Peppers do not overpower Botifarra sausage.

The Habanero comes from the Amazon, and now many Central American countries grow them.

But it was not part of Spain’s diet until after Chris went sailing that ocean blue.

Find a Spanish restaurant, cooking school, or google “traditional Spanish cooking.” Discover a tasty new world.

 

A Fit New World.

Recently getting new glasses after wearing the same prescription for five years allows me to see a new world.

Take care of yourself. Glasses or a hearing aid can show you incredible “new” worlds in a flash.

At more than 440 feet above the floor, even great eyesight cannot make out all the detail.
Are you sure the detail on St Peter’s dome was there before I got new glasses?

Losing weight, taking care of an ankle, knee, or hip that is causing pain takes longer. The change is more gradual, but the rewards are incredible.

Take that walk. Ride that bike. If the weather allows, go to a different park or neighborhood each day. Explore why you improve your health.

Hilltop towns are better than stairmasters.
No wonder so many Europeans have great glutes. No taking the elevator here.

If finances allow, the most popular treadmill and stationary bikes take you on voyages through different settings.

 

Read of Worlds.

James Mitchner’s books were always twice as thick as other authors. But when you finish one, you have been somewhere else. There was color, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures in his writing. Find an author who “takes you away” over a rainbow, racing across Europe or to another world.

The Palazzo Vechio is still the city hall of Florence Italy.
The Salone dei Cinquecento has been a setting for Hannibal Lecter and symbologist Robert Langdon.

If reading is too difficult or taxing, turn on the 20th-century idiot box. Let your senses take you to the Wild Wild West, a British Estate, or a voyage on a starship.

The greatest thing to happen to the cruise industry was a T.V. show. Was it really the fine acting we were watching or the exotic locales?

Was James T Kirk the first Cruise Director on television?

Nothing will ever beat out imagination for exciting locations.
These are the voyages of the starship…

 

Explore From Your Desk.

A very good place to start. For now, traveling and exploring is easiest from your computer. Type in “Baroque music,” “Palladino Architecture,” “Greek pastry,” “French Wine,” or a “world” of your own choice.

What would be a new world to you?
There’s a great big beautiful world…

You should get enough information, although some of it painfully incorrect, to explore.

And the videos… Anyone with a phone is now producing travel videos. The good news, you have hundreds to choose from. The bad news, you have to get through hundreds sometimes to find one that speaks to you.

I still do homework before I travel.

A picture of a bakery in France is not like being there. But it is a start.
Maps, books, videos, there is no excuse not to “visit” somewhere new today.

As you probably know by now, I like to immerse myself in a destination. I do not wish to see it whisk by outside a bus window.

I have been to the Frankfurt Airport numerous times transferring to other parts of Europe. It is still on my “to-see” list. Airports give you no insight into what lies yonder.

You vave to get out of the vehicle, out of the station, before you can say you have been somewhere.
Those far away places, with strange-sounding names, are calling me.

Just this week, I found something new in Greece while searching for something else.

Explore. open your eyes, your ears, taste, and smell the wonderful worlds around you.

 

Visit New Worlds.

Plan, then practice exploring your new world.

I used to be a very picky eater. Now, I am apt to try something an entire nation or culture eats if it does not kill them. But it has to be inanimate.

The Turkish diet is their spin on the Mediterranean with lots of vegetables.
The kid from Indiana eating Turkish food? Stuffed eggplant (Karniyarik) usually finds its way onto my plate during a visit.

After two years on Greek cruise ships, many of you know I had no plans to visit THAT country.

With 58 letters in its name, this community in Wales has even been in a Stephen Sondheim song.
Once when I sailed, I visited Wales, to pose in… ohhh.

I have C.D.s and albums (YES, I am that old) of music from different countries and cultures.

Think of musical performances in 4000-year-old theaters or mariachi bands on a sandy beach.

Many ancient theraters and stadiums still hold performances in the summer.
The worlds of music, history, theater, and architecture overlap in one.

Eating Smyrna figs in the orchard they come from, or wine in the country where the grapes grow.

Seeing your favorite artist or piece of art in person.

Did you know The David statue is 17 feet tall?
No picture can prepare you for seeing great art in person.

Listen to a choir sing the Sound of Music in Salzburg.

Worlds collide.

 

New Worlds Resolution

2021 is almost here. Why not make it the year you actually keep a resolution.

“Visit” a wonderful new world.

Spicen your life by trying something new.
If we know variety is the spice of life, why do we keep eating the same gruel?

Find one you can explore from your home. The writings of, the paintings by…

Then find one outside your door. A new walking or biking path. A class in… a glass of…

If the Spanish Steps in Rome motivate you to exercise, put Italian music on.
The walking path above Manarola on Italy’s Cinque Terra. Are you ready for it?

Plan a trip to somewhere you have never been.

Mash your worlds together.

Read up on Paul and the other apostles.

Go out for a Greek salad.

Flavors can spur a memory or a dream.
A good Greek salad will send you somewhere else.

When you can, travel to Greece and walk in the footsteps of Paul. And have a salad.

Or Ansel Adams now, a drive through the Tetons later.

Imagine standing in the same place where someone, or something was.
Do you have a favorite photographer or photo?

Your family ancestry now, and a trip to the “old world” when you can.

Enough sitting around. Get up and discover a new world. NOW!

 

Please scroll down to the “Enter your comment here” section at the bottom. Please comment or tell me your thoughts on: 

“Where do you dream about visiting? A city, a country, or another type of world? What can you do now to start discovering it? 

Please help me spread the news by rating, commenting, and sharing this blog below. – THANKS!

 

“See the World” Continued on Page T3.           “Taste the World” Continued on T11.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth Will says

    Thomas, your readers are lucky to have had you as a Sunday morning travel guide in 2020 – allowing us all to delve deep into places we long to see in person. Thanks to you, we did travel in 2020, and we learned a few lessons about gratitude and perspective along the way. Here’s to a new year full of hope, health, and opportunity and more Exploring Worlds Old and New!

  2. Becky Garman says

    Another wonderful Sunday morning with Thomas. Much inspiration and ideas. I am off the couch and on my way to explore the parks in my new city.

  3. Annie Lukes says

    I am ready to “travel” to new places, new recipes, new health motivators, new characteristic upgrades, new personality flaws improvements, new family and friend connections, new views on life, new routes to forgiveness that still hold me back, new talents with piano playing and doing personal art – new and creative ways to approach each new day!! I thank you for inspiring me to be creative in how I approach new!! Love, Annie

  5. Amineh Rasmussen says

    I loved this week’s entry – it truly makes you want to pick a destinaion, even though it may be a virtual one. At the beginning of Covid I was only reading travel logs have heartedly, but now that this may go on even longer, I realize there is so much to learn from reading about new places and enjoying the amazing photographs as well. I am always learning new things about places I’ve already been from Thom’s website. For example when I visited Cinque Terre, I did four of the little towns by train. I always wanted to do the walking path above the towns, and I just found on his website a fabulous picture of that path, way up on the hills overlooking Manarola. Now I want to visit it even more!

    • Thom says

      Part of the fun is the anticipation of going. I hope it helps you through the current times and other times in the future. ❤️ Thank you for commenting!

  7. Michael Bassford says

    I find traveling anywhere new is inspiring. I like visiting new cities to view the architecture of it’s buildings and watching the people go about their days. I am especially interested in viewing places from the air and I want to travel in hot air balloons over African plains, ultralight over the hills of Tuscany, and paraglide over the lakes of Como. Adventures from the skies are definitely in my future.