Traveling is coffee for the soul.
There are many astonishing and wonderful things in the world, and I like to travel and see them. I am a middle-ageish man and I live in Northeastern Europe. My wife often travels with me, voluntarily. All pictures are taken by me, unless otherwise indicated.
The Field of Angels, a memorial to enslaved children who died in their infancy.
Can you even begin to imagine, what it would have felt like if, when you were five years old, you would have suddenly been taken away from your family and friends, it would have been explained to you that you have been sold to a new owner who will take you far away and you will never see your parents and siblings again?
Me neither. Thank God.
Countless people, however, have experienced such things, and worse: the slaves. Whitney Plantation is one of the best places to try and understand the sinister and repulsive history of American slavery. It is one of the many tourist-oriented plantations by the Mississippi between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Whitney is, however, the only one of those whose point of view is not that of the rich owners but that of those on whose work the wealth was based on - the enslaved.
The beautiful gardens of the plantations bear few traces of the horrors of the past.
In my opinion, museums at best can help visitors better understand things, to make history more real to them. I think Whitney Plantation does a good job in this. I already knew most of the facts the guide and exhibitions told me, but the visit helped me to better understand those facts. Of course, there is - thankfully - no way for me to completely understand what the slaves really experienced and felt.
Unlike most other plantations, the visitors are first taken to the miserable slave cabins, only later to the prestigious big house.
Even more than the violent and savage treatment of the enslaved - which, of course, is horrific - I felt disgusted by the complete denial of their humanity. The enslaved were cynically treated like merchandise, or pack animals, or machinery. The practice I find most repulsive was the breeding of human children for merchandise. An enslaved person was an expensive investment, worth a lot of money for the owner. Therefore, it was in the plantation owners' interests to produce more enslaved people, for their own use or to be sold. This was generally not very difficult, as anyone born to an enslaved mother was automatically considered a slave. Who the father was, did not matter. Consequently many enslaved women had to live, or die, as breeding machinery: they may have had more than ten children, many of whom were sold or otherwise taken from the mothers at a very early age. Enslaved men and women may have been forced together, on the peril of violence, to produce offspring. If an enslaved woman failed to have children by other means, the owner may have raped and impregnated her himself, and consequently place his own children in a position comparable to that of cattle or machinery, or merchandise. These cases were not exceptional at all.
There are statues of enslaved children on the Whitney Plantation. This one depicts Anna, who was given as a house pet - our guide indeed used the word "pet" - to the childless woman who owned the plantation at the time. Later, at 14, Anna gave birth to her first child, whose father was the middle-aged brother of her owner.
A visit to the plantation always includes a guided tour, explaining the gruesome everyday life on a slave plantation: hard work, in Whitney's case on sugarcane fields, as usual in Southern Louisiana, often on cotton field in more Northern parts; many enslaved workers could not stand the inhumane working conditions alive for more than a few years. The guide described the violence, the awful food, the unworthy living quarters. In the exhibitions, there are many oral history quotes from 1930s interviews with Americans who were born enslaved. They are used to give voice to those who were so often silenced. There are several books based on the interviews, and some have been used in a documentary film.
A quote from the 1930s interview with Hannah Chapman, who was born enslaved.
The visit to Whitney Plantation made an enormous impression on me, even though as a Finn I feel no direct connection to the history and legacy of American slavery. I can only imagine what the visit is like for the descendants of enslaved African-Americans, or the white slave owners. From New Orleans, the visit takes a few hours: we left the city after breakfast and were back for late-ish lunch. I consider the time well spent. If you don't have an access to your own or rented vehicle, there are tours by bus, which may include visits to other places, too.
John Cummings, the founder of Whitney Plantation museum. He told that his goal was not to promote guilt but understanding: "Those responsible are in Hell, if you believe that".
One of the highlights of the tour was a chance encounter with John Cummings, the current owner of the plantation and the founder of the museum. Mr. Cummings, a retired lawyer, is a very good speaker and gave us an interesting account of the founding and goals of the museum. Sometimes, in American public debate, it is asked should the African-Americans not be able to leave the legacy of the slavery behind, as it was abolished 150 years ago. According to Cummings, this sentiment is based on unfamiliarity and inadequate understanding of the realities of slavery. That's why he says: "I, personally, will no longer be content to live in ignorance. Do not ask the question, 'why can't they get over it', unless you know what the 'it' is".
In the video below Cummings and other staff at Whitney Plantation share further thoughts and information.
We visited the Whitney Plantation on May 24th 2017.
If you're headed from, say, Atlanta or New Orleans towards Washington DC or New York (or vice versa) you can, instead of boring Interstate Highways, drive almost a thousand miles of beautiful and slow mountain roads. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in the Southern end of the route, the Shenandoah National Park in the North. They are connected by a scenic mountain route known as the Blue Ridge Parkway.
When within the clouds, you don't really see the scenery, but it may still be beautiful.
We drove about half of those mountain miles in early June 2017. As you can see from the video above, the weather was not really favorable, except towards the end of the journey. We had also planned a tight-ish schedule. We occasionally headed down from the mountains to the Interstates in the valleys, where it's possible to travel a lot faster. It was also a matter of safety: the winding mountain roads are a little scary if the visibility is poor, especially considering the abundant wildlife. We saw deer, wild turkeys, opossums (we suppose), and one rattlesnake. When darkness falls, it is better to drive on an illuminated highway than in the dark mountain roads - an even better idea is to reach your destination before sunset.
Deer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
As usual in the USA, things have been made easy for a car tourist. There are vantage points every few miles, and a lot of differnet sights to see, so many that even the most duty-conscious tourist can't possibly visit them all (and some of the sights are, how should I put this, questionable). We recommend Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina, just south of Great Smoky Mountains, and the Mabry Mill, a cute open-air museum in southern Virginia, as well as Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence (I'm planning on writing more about Monticello later). There are hiking trails and other opportunities to experience the Great Outdoors, but we drove past them, because of the schedule and couch potatoness.
Like many Native American peoples, the Cherokee smoked tobacco in this kind of stone pipes, often in their ceremonies.
The Cherokee played a ball game they called the "Little Brother of War" with sticks like this. The exhibition in the Cherokee Museum is quite impressive, including a presentation of the "Trail of Tears" (or, literally, "The Road on which They Wept"), the forced transfer from the traditional Cherokee lands to Oklahoma, where most of the Cherokee still reside.
The green Mabry Mill is fairytale-like, at least in June.
We do not recommend Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the southern end of the route, not to travelers like us anyway. There are most bizarre Las Vegas-like plastic tourist traps, such as the half-scale half a Titanic, including the Iceberg. Traveling on mountain roads may be slowed down by not only weather but also traffic jams, especially during the holiday season and on weekends. The route is quite popular and tens of millions of people live nearby.
Titanic. Well, half a Titanic. And the Iceberg.
Huge motor homes, towing "rescue boats", are frequently seen on U.S roads. Many are much larger than this one seen at a Blue Ridge Parkway picnic area.
Like most US National Parks, Shenandoah charges an admission fee, but there are no road tolls or charges on the Blue Ridge Parkway and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free of charge. Practically, the only way to experience the route is a car (or, of course, a motorcycle or such), your own or rented. At least in the summer season, it is possible to reach some places in the The Great Smoky Mountains National Park by public transport.
We drove on the Blue Mountains from June 4th to 6th 2017.
The walls of Acre provide great views over the Mediterranean Sea.
Acre is a relatively small city on the Galilean coast, in northern Israel. As far as we know, people have lived in the area since approximately 3000 BC. The city and its inhabitants have been cursed with a strategical location. Acre has been conquered, besieged and bombed:
by Alexander the Great, about 332 BC
by Caliph Umar's army in 636
by the Crusaders in 1104
by Sultan Saladin in 1187
by the Crusaders again in 1191
by the Mamluk sultan's troops in 1291
by Napoleon in 1799
by English, French and Austrian navies in 1840
and by many others
Acre is probably most famous for Crusaders, at least in the so-called Western World. The biggest attraction in the town is the Crusader Castle, known as the Citadel. To be precise, only the underground parts date from the Crusaders' time. The Ottoman Empire, who ruled Acre from the 16th Century until the First World War, had a more modern fortress constructed on the foundations of the crusader-built Citadel. The bloody, noisy and gunpowder-smelling history of the city is presented to the visitor by means of modern technology: a device and earphones are given to every visitor, and it automatically explains the history of the site on a chosen language. Films explaining life (and death) in Acre are projected to old walls, and sometimes floors.
The system works, but in my opinion it controlled the visitor's experience maybe too much, limiting curiosity and spontaneous interest. My device worked well, but it seemed that some others experienced malfunctions, which causes annoyance and frustration. That said, I'm sure the museum staff is happy to help and, if needed, exchange a non-functioning device to a working one. The audio clips themselves are well executed. A highlight for me was the story of Napoleon's siege of Acre, presented as a dialogue between a French and an Ottoman soldier.
The king of Jerusalem with his entourage.
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The Crusaders' bathroom was known as the latrine.
There are many other historical sights in Acre, in addition to the Citadel. A Crusader-built tunnel runs under the city center, a small but charming local history museum is situated in the wall fortifications, and there's a restored hamam spa from Ottoman times. The visitors to the hamam are provided with similar guide devices as in the Citadel. In my opinion, here the application is not as good as in the castle: the deluge of stories and information may feel overwhelming, and the video screens divert attention from the beautiful building and interesting objects.
Bathers in the hamam.
The masseur at work.
Acre is not only about museums. It is fun to get lost on the bazaar alleys, and walk on the city walls, taking in the views of the Mediterranean and the city of Haifa over the bay. The historic center of Acre is surrounded by the sea from three sides, and the breeze often keeps it nicely cool - the Israeli climate is a bit too hot for our northern tastes.
The Blue Mediterranean.
Napoleon's army (if I remember correctly) left this cannon on the Acre walls.
In Israel, nothing is ever far away. It's easy to take a day trip to Acre from Tel Aviv or Haifa by local train. The city is completely different from modern Tel Aviv or sacred and chaotic Jerusalem. One of the fascinating things about Israel is that a different reality is always just around the corner, or not more than a 30-minute train ride away.
The Acre Railway Station is a short walk away from the Old Town. On the way there are, among other things, some eccentric artwork, like these disco deer and storks.
The warlike past of Acre is very visible in the town, as are the tensions of today - there's no escaping them in Israel. But, when sitting in a waterfront restaurant, looking at the turquoise water and an old man teach fishing to his grandchildren, it is easy to forget unpleasant things and, for a moment, to concentrate on the beautiful.
I have visited quite a few castles, and even worked in one. It would be fair to say that I like castles a lot. In Sintra, just outside Lisbon, there are no less than three castles, so I obviously had to go there. In the end I only had time to visit two of them, as their opening hours are limited, less than 12 hours a day.
The Castle of the Moors, Castelo dos Mouros, is the oldest and, to me, most wonderful of Sintra's castles. In fact it's one of the most interesting castles I've ever visited, and it says a lot. It was, as the name implies, built by Arabs, known as moors at the time, who ruled medieval Portugal and Spain, They build their stronghold on top of a steep mountain, to a position easy to defend. The oldest walls are some 1200 or 1300 years old.
The walls of the Castle of the Moors.
In 1147 AD the Moors surrendered to troops commanded by Afonso Henriques, whom the Portuguese consider a national hero. The Portuguese flag has flown over the castle ever since - however, the design has changed several times. Now, many different historical flags fly in the flagpoles. The castle lost its military significance already on the 15th century, and an earthquake damage it on the 18th century. The restauration work started on the 19th century, first paid personally by the king of Portugal. The remaining structures of the castle are very interesting, but best is the dramatically beautiful setting on top of a mountain, above Sintra town. Pictures do no justice to the views.
It's not easy to dig a well in a castle on a mountain top. The crafty Moors solved the problem by building an underground cistern to collect rain water, so that the defenders of the castle would have something to drink even when under siege.
Near the Castle of the Moors, on a slightly higher mountain top, stands the Pena Palace. It is not nearly as old, the palace was built in mid-19th Century, but it incorporated some structures from an earlier convent building. It was originally the king's summer residence. It is quite a patchwork of architectural styles, and the richly decorated rooms create an impression of a castle in the clouds - and the palace is indeed frequently covered by clouds. When the 1910 revolution deposed the last king of Portugal, the palace was converted to a museum.
There is one more castle in Sintra, known as the National Palace, Palácio Nacional de Sintra. It, too, is originally built by the Moors, but the present appearance date from 14th and 15th centuries when the Portuguese kings resided there. Unlike the Castle of the Moors and Pena Palace, the National Palace is situated in the center of Sintra town. One day would probably be enough time for most visitors to visit all three castles, but I spent so much time in the two mountain castles that the National Palace closed before I got there. I admired it from the walls of the Castle of the Moors.
Kansallinen palatsi.
There's more to Sintra than the castles. It may not be a bad idea to spend two days there. Travel time from Lisbon is about an hour by suburban train, and tickets are very affordable. The mountain castles can be reached from Sintra station by bus or taxi. It is possible to walk, too, but it cannot be recommended to day-trippers whose time is limited. A budget traveler who stays in Lisbon should either eat in Lisbon or come equipped with a picnic lunch: Sintra is very popular among both Portuguese and foreign visitors, and that shows in cafe and restaurant prices.
The Accident happened in reactor number 4, which was situated in the part of the building to the left of the picture. The reactor number 3, to the right, remained in production until December 2000.
Mankind, as a species, is far from perfection. Sooner or later human beings will make mistakes. This applies to all human activity. Smaller mistakes may remain unnoticed. Often mankind is able to repair the consequences of its bigger mistakes, too. Some big errors, however, may result in irreversible disaster and destruction.
One of the costliest mistakes of human history took place about 30 years before I wrote these lines. It happened in Soviet Union's Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plat, in present-day Ukraine very close to the Belorussian border. Actually it was a series of mistakes, as usual in the history of great disasters. A relatively simple explanation of what happened is found here. There are numerous more detailed accounts in books and online, including Wikipedia.
I was a child at the time of the disaster, but I remember it well. I recall a sense of nervous uncertainty. What exactly has really happened? How dangerous it really is? Will we die of cancer if we go out when it rains? Can we eat wild berries ever again? Do we have to leave our homes? In fact, the Chernobyl disaster had almost no effect on my life, or anyone's life in Finland. Those 150 000 Ukrainians and Belorussians who had to leave their homes, now dangerously close to the disaster area, were worse off. "Only" 41 deaths have been directly attributed to the disaster, but human and econimical cost of health problems and environmental damage are probably impossible to calculate.
A memorial to the firefighters killed in the disaster.
Today it is possible to visit Chernobyl on an organized tour. I visited the area in 2011, a few months after the 25th anniversary of the disaster. Access to the immediate area around the power plant is strictly controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. The only permissible way to see the area is group tours, which are organized by several tour companies in Kiev. Every company seemed to charge a similar price, which, of course, raises some questions. I bought my ticket from Solo East Travel and have no complaints about the services. A little bureaucracy was required before the trip: I gave my personal data and passport number to the company when placing my reservation, and immediately after arriving in Kiev, the day before the tour, visited the company office to pay reservation fee.
Anyone who plans visiting Chernobyl should be aware that the Ukrainian authorities have occasionally cancelled all tours to the area on short notice. This happened shortly before I had booked my trip, and it was quite uncertain until last minute if I would get to Chernobyl at all. The current conflict between Ukraine and Russia affects everything in Ukraine. Things may change rapidly and are difficult to predict. It should be noted that the focal point of the crisis is far away from Chernobyl, in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine and conflict has caused no danger to travelers in other parts of Ukraine. Kiev and areas around Chernobyl have remained peaceful.
Warning signs at the entrance to Chernobyl restricted area.
My group's bus left Kiev early in the morning, and returned in the evening. Around the plant, there are two controlled areas, a smaller closed area right around the plant and a bigger restricted area around the closed area. Access to both areas was strictly controlled, the passports were checked on arrival and radiation levels on visitors' bodies and clothes are measured on leaving. A guide joined our group in the restricted area. It is strictly forbidden to move on one's own in the areas, everyone must remain with their group. The guides are employed by the government of Ukraine, not the tour companies. The guide assigned to our group was excellent, he gave a thorough account of the events and answered our numerous questions in a friendly and apprehensible manner.
Even in the closed area the radiation is not much more intense than natural background radiation. We were told that a flight over Atlantic results exposes passengers to more radiation than a day-trip to Chernobyl. However, everyone had to sign a document resigning the right to take legal action against the Ukrainian government in case of loss of health after visiting Chernobyl.
A short introduction to the events.
The authorities procrastinated with the decision to evacuate the area, but when the operation finally begun it was executed rapidly. We were told that the children in this kindergarten were having a nap when suddenly buses appeared to take them away.
Toys lef outside the kindergarten.
Radioactive fallout is absorbed by vegetation and trees in the area. A forest fire in Chernobyl is a huge risk, because the fallout could be released back to atmosphere from the burning trees and it could be widely distributed by the wind.
Personally, the abandoned town of Pripyat was most impressive. Particularly the school made me think: I was a schoolkid myself at the time of the accident. Even if Soviet 1980s school materials look rather different than Finnish, the classrooms felt eerily familiar. It was easy to picture my own school in similar state after 25 years of abandonment. I could not avoid thinking that all the world may some day look like Pripyat, after mankind has destroyed itself.
The nature is reclaiming the closed area. Pripyat is turning to a forest, and roots of the trees slowly shatter concrete. I find this thought both scary and comforting.
Best hotel in Pripyatt.
A classroom in the school.
Forest has conquered the school courtyard.
Pripyat indoor swimming pool.
A traveling funfair remains permanently on a square in Pripyat.
Moss grows on bumper car track.
In Chernobyl, dress in a long-sleeved shirt or jacket and long-legged pants. A hat is also a good idea. In an Ukrainian summer a lighter outfit may seem more appropriate, but since visiting the buildings involves walking through bushes, it's a good idea to protect skin from ticks and scratching branches. Water and photographic equipment is also needed. Everything else is probable better left in your accommodation. Lunch was included in our tour price, and the power plant staff canteen served tasty food. Is it not wrong to travel to places of disaster and suffering, like Chernobyl? Is it right that tour groups make a profit on the misfortune and death of thousands of people? Seeking thrill is a place like that is a little questionable, isn't it? Did I go to Chernobyl in order to prove something to others? These questions are worth consideration. I understand very well if someone wants to stay away of Chernobyl or other places of disaster and suffering, for example the concentration camps of the second world war. It is good and proper to think about one's motives when visiting this kind of places. In my opinion one can in good conscience travel to Chernobyl and comparable places, but not because of some ego-boosting bucket list or in order to brag about extreme experiences and "courage". The visit should be for better understanding, and also to respect those who suffered. I believe this is easier, if one tries and gets to know the character of the place before the visit. In case of Chernobyl this means familiarizing oneself with the basics of the history and effects of the disaster. Obviously tour groups profit on Chernobyl trips, and undeniably this involves questions about morality. Of course, I do not know where exactly the 160 US dollars I paid Solo East Travel went. As stated above, the guide assigned to our group was an excellent professional and helpful in understanding Chernobyl. I am happy if my money helped paying his wages.
I recommend the Chernobyl disaster museum in Kiev to those who can't or do not want to visit Chernobyl - and to visitors of Chernobyl, too. It is very informative, but some parts of the exhibition felt a litlle confusing to me.
There's a nuclear power plant less than 25 km (some 15 miles) away from my home. I wouldn't mind if everyone working there visited Chernobyl as part of their training.
Balclutha, a full-rigged ship built in Scotland, 1887.
Once upon a time San Francisco wass the most important port on the United States West Coast. No surprise then that there are several interesting museum ships there. If you're as interested in them as I am, you can easily spend a whole week day exploring them.
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, another gem ran by the National Park Service, is situated on the touristy Fisherman's Wharf. It includes several museum vessels, many of which are accessible to visitors. Full-rigger Balclutha sailed in commercial freight traffic from 1887 to 1930, and has an interesting and eventful history. For example, she was the last ship ever to fly the flag of the independent kingdom of Hawaii. There's a well-designed exhibition in the cargo hold about different cargoes transported by the Balclutha. All of the ship is accessible, but climbing the rigging is prohibited. In the captains's salon, in the galley and in the forecastle the visitors can imagine what it felt like to sail an ocean-going sailing vessel, when trips lasted several months.
Captain's salon.
Crew quarters in the forecastle. I don't think the anchor windlass in the middle of the room did much for comfort. The picture is taken with a fish-eye lens and is therefore distorted.
Balclutha's figurehead.
The paddle-wheel ferry Eureka is also very interesting, in a completely different way than Balclutha. She was built only three years later, in 1890, and she's almost as big as the ocean-going fullrigger. She originally transported trainso over the Golden Gate from San Francisco to Sausalito. After the First World War she was converted to a passenger and car ferry. After the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge were completed in th 1930s, most of the numerous ferries of the San Francisco Bay were decommissioned. Eureka, however, remained in traffic until 1957.
Entrance to the Eureka.
The car deck.
The passenger deck. It only took about half an hour to get from Sausalito to San Francisco, but there was a restaurant serving full meals on the Eureka.
Technologically Eureka was quite old-fashioned already when built. Paddle-wheels had largely been replaced by propellers, and the one-cylinder steam engine was based on 18th-century technology. The machinery was simple, and reliable on a vessel designed for continuous short trips. It was important to keep maintenance costs low and time required for repairs short.
Eureka's engine, picture taken with a fish-eye lens..
The engine explained.
The Historical Park's collections include other vessels as well, like thid paddle-wheel tug.
The museum, also included in the Historical Park, was under renovation, but we could see some nice scale models in the lobby. This one depicts San Francisco harbor around the 1849 gold rush. The sailing vessel Niantic had arrived from the U.S. East Coast, sailing around Cape Horn. The owners decided to convert it to a shop and tavern - at the time, the potential profit was greater than in shipping industry.
Another model featured the crew in masts.
A few blocks away there's a Liberty-class freight steamer Jeremiah O'Brien, built during the Second World War. She's not a part of the Historical Park but ran by an association. She is seaworthy and in navigable condition, and does sail every now and then. In her hold visitors can see an exhibition on the Liberty ships, which were built for war material transports. Between 1941 and 1945, 2710 were built.
Liberty-class freighter Jeremiah O'Brien.
The telegrapher's cabin.
Fist mate's cabin. The radio equipment is not original but for the modern use of the ship.
The Jeremiah O'Brienin operational main engine.
The rescue ladder of the engine room. Would you want to climb this to escape a burning engine room after the ship has been hit by a torpedo?
There's another WWII vessel next to the Jeremiah O'Brien, the submarine USS Pampanito.
Fisherman's Wharf is probably the most touristy area of San Francisco and it is not my favorite place in the city. The museum ships are great, but in addition to them there are mostly plastic, overpriced theme restaurants and souvenir shops. However, there is one more reason to visit the Fisherman's Wharf: The sea lion colony on Pier 39. Jolly creatures. Smelly, though.
Every now and then one should show off for the tourists...
