tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660483644738470715.comments2011-07-31T22:53:40.736-07:00Umlaut BerlinRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03887163574928384574noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660483644738470715.post-17073750471265411632011-07-31T22:53:40.736-07:002011-07-31T22:53:40.736-07:00You are a master of words, for your connection of ...You are a master of words, for your connection of these two labels, if nothing else. I can't wait to join you in Berlin!Maddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03938410291395690211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660483644738470715.post-81310664680426878642011-07-16T15:52:50.410-07:002011-07-16T15:52:50.410-07:00Yarn, I love the quotes you have in here, especial...Yarn, I love the quotes you have in here, especially this quote and discussion about experiencing a city by bike, a car never allows a full experience. How can one smell the German soft cheeses baking in the sun, the nooks of Berlin, oh the flower nectars do they smell much different there? Do people have trimmed lawns or wild gardens? Your host sounds wonderful, send him my regards!<br />I just returned from a tour around southern Ghana to explore resource extraction sites, though I wish the experience had been by bike or walking transport, it would have been... more yoking. Most certainly exploration of a small scale mining with young boys escaping into tunnels into the ground and sifting alluvial soil for gold was strong, as was the large scale huge open pit mine which was more shocking, the being fed beer and lunch with chiefs in two districts, the teak plantation, the farmers walking into the forest reserve to gather crops for market, the thatch huts with chickens and goats and kittens and dogs (probably the happiest domestic animals I have ever seen - no leashes or fences in any of these villages and cities), the fisher people at the Sekondi harbor with over a thousand people and handmade wooden canoes, the stands of food like fufu or black tea cooked over an open flame along road sides and urban areas, the woman carrying a 400 pound tunas in a bucket on her head as she gracefully walked through the harbour paths while men hawked umbrellas or a bucket of tinier fish they caught that morning, the balance these women have, and even the men too who sometimes can be seen carrying their luggage on their head. From the bus window, the sites were fascinating, and in some instances quite similar, but to bicycle through Ghana or even just Accra... to bicycle or walk anywhere. Oh to hell with motorized transport - such luxuries and privileges we have lost!Nastassja Noellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388601323497656481noreply@blogger.com