Folksy Travel by Bill Smale • Page 7 of 54 • Click on "Menu" below to search Country or City (wait 30 seconds after clicking) or to see Country Guide

February 7, 2025February 7, 2025

Batmobile in Turkey

The Batmobile in Turkey is quite an interesting surprise. Of course this one is an exact replica but I think if you visit the museum you will enjoy not only how they display the Batmobile but also the Batcycle which is the original. In addition, of course, as you can see from my previous phlog there are many olden antique cars as well as motorcycles to enjoy viewing. If you’re a car enthusiast I really encourage you to stop by here if you have the means to get here kinda out in the countryside.

February 7, 2025February 7, 2025

Key Automobile museum near Selçuk

Key Automobile museum near Selçuk, Turkey is kind of an interesting presentation of fairly recent antique and very interesting automobiles and motorcycles. I think it’s worth you visiting if you have an interest in cars. There was some extensive displays of BMW motorcycles and cars. When I saw the attraction on Google maps I thought it might be interesting but then it showed the Batmobile and that meant I had to visit. I backtracked on my journey for about 40 minutes since it was closed the day before. I’m very glad I got to see it. Enjoy the photos.

There were a couple interesting things about this car. The front is very unusual and the doors don’t open out, they slide forward to let you out.

Triumph of TR series — We used to see these fairly often on the roads in California. A friend of ours even had this vintage triumph which they never drove due to some problems with getting the right parts to fix it.

Austin Healey — If this was completely white it would be the same color as my sixth grade teacher’s Austin Healy, Ms.. Dicarlo”s car she drove from San Francisco which was quite a ways.

MG A — This MGA was one year earlier than the one my dad bought. He arranged to have the wall between the seats and the trunk taken out and two seat seats put in facing backwards for us kids which was great fun because we could see where we had been. The story was, my dad wanted a sports car and my mom said it was OK if the whole family could ride in it. You will notice there are no door handles. You had to reach inside the car and pull a cable to open the door. This meant you couldn’t really lock the door which was an interesting idea?

Museum coffee shop — The coffee shop (Coca-Cola) inside the museum

Ford Mustang pool table — A replica of a 1965 Ford Mustang as a pool table

MG roadster — I love this design and it kind of reminds me of the TV show “the avengers” but I think that John Steed’s car was a Bentley.

Thunderbird at the key museum — This Thunderbird was definitely worth buying. After that series Ford decided to make it less sporty looking and not very interesting

Amphibious car — I had a matchbox version of this car and thought it was so cool. You could drive it on lakes

Corvette stingray — This car started quite a revolution for Chevrolet and for kids as well. Just after this car came out bicycle manufacturers started making the stingray bicycle which had very high handlebars and was very sporty looking.

The original Corvette — This was the style Corvette used for the TV show “Route 66”

Nude Mercedes hood ornament — This was an interesting Mercedes hood ornament

Old Renault — This old Renault has the typical sloping front and that’s how you tell the old Renault

Bread delivery truck — This is kind of a funny looking bakery truck. Remember in those days they used to deliver bread and milk

Gangster car — This is such a typical 1930s gangster car. Look at the running boards

Old pump calculating price — I found this fascinating. On the pump above you can see this price per gallon and then a chart for what the price is for how many gallons. If the price changed it would be quite a job to switch all of these out

The old barbershop — An old barbershop. On the very right you can see a display stand and inside they have collars with collar buttons which you could buy

Ford Edsel — The one car that I totally loved when I was a kid and was not on display in real size, only in miniature, was this Edsel

Country leaders limousine minus a bodyguard — This is probably a limousine for a liter of a country and it looks like somebody has already taken out one of the bodyguards

Old gas pumps — The reason we call these things at gas stations “gas pumps” is because they actually had to pump the gas up into the cylinder above to fill the cylinder with the amount of gas the customer wanted. Then gravity would pour the gas into the gas tank.

Visible measuring canister — This visible measure concept was introduced to avoid suspected scamming by the gas station. You could see exactly how much gas was going to be put into your car through the glass measuring container above.

Blue ring octopus Jeep — The blue ring octopus is deadly and this looks like the markings of a blue ring octopus. I decided not to touch theJeep.

Tire pressure pump — Tire pressure gauge and air pump

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

Sailing to theOuter Hebrides Scotland

Sailing to the outer Hebrides in Scotland you’re going to find some very interesting things besides just sheep. The roads are narrow, the wind is strong, the weather can be tough but you can find a lot of tranquility as well. Located here is the famous Harris Tweed and some other things you would not expect. The towns are small but you can enjoy the big hearted hospitality of the people here.

Foggy day sailing — Foggy day on the boat

Ferry boat seating — Luxury seats on the ferry, very comfortable

A recruitment sign for the Hebrides — People are leaving the islands so now they want to recruit people to come and live there so the areas do not just die out. You will find quite a few abandoned homes which is not a good sign but don’t let that spoil the beauty of the Hebrides.

House building advertising on the ferry — How to build a new home

Learning Gaelic while sailing — Good idea to learn some Gaelic

Gaelic signage comes first — Boat information priority is in Gaelic

Land in the distance — Beautiful view of land in the distance

The mainland view — Behind us is the mainland

Harris tweed advertising — The famous brand of the islands. There are hundreds of people, companies and private individuals, creating tweets for resale and shipment all over the world. A lot of the material is used to produce something in another country and then shipped for export. There is very strict certification processes for Harris Tweed so when you get Some with the label you know it’s original

Ancient house — Thousand year-old housing style

GPS governing — You can see the same GPS governance provided the captain of the ship as you walk towards the restaurant

Surfing Scotland and the Hebrides — Now you know surfing is quite a sport here but I’m not sure I recommend it in the winter, it’s pretty cold.

February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

Walking in Podgorica, Montenegro

Walking in Podgorica, Montenegro you might find some interesting things here and there. It’s the large city in Montenegro so you can expect a lot of traffic and everything that goes with a big city. After a couple nights here I recommend you go out into the countryside and also the beachside areas. There you will find much more relaxing atmospheres, beauty and historical treasures. Enjoy these photos with Bill Smale Adventures.

Walking to the San Francisco Café — I saw this after getting out of the taxi and so I went here before going to the hotel. How could I miss going back to my hometown.

Reminiscing about songs — Somebody knew about this famous 60s song

Live football game — They even had a football game playing on the TV live

Casinos in Podgorica — in most every town in Montenegro they have these casinos. I didn’t go into one but I think I know what to expect. Las Vegas is a distant memory. I regret not going to see Dean Martin at the Sands casino and hotel

The original Budweiser beer — This of course is the real Budweiser beer, not the fake one they made in the US which is pretty much just flavored water, not that I have an opinion.

Graffiti on the walls in podgorica — Graffiti is very popular

The center tower — The famous tower in the center of town

Mosque tower — Walking around you will see these towers in the mosques

Walking down a small street in Podgorica I did not expect to see a US real estate company

Cyrillic street names — in the old part of town you can see the addressing system and street names in Cyrillic

Famous Maradona artwork — Maradona is so revered

The town center river — The river in the center of town

Old town artwork — Artwork here and there in the old part of town

Decorative graffiti walking in Podgorica — Not sure what it says but it is very decorative and a lot better than just having a plain gray wall

I found my cigars — I found my toscanellos

Kids driving small cars — Teaching the kids to drive at an early age

Hard Rock Cafe in Podgorica — of course they have a Hard Rock Cafe, not sure if it’s a real one

Memorial obelisk — a memorial of some sort

Residential Podgorica — Typical residential area

High school artwork soccer player — Walking around you can see another famous soccer player. This artwork was done near the high school

High school soccer team — And this was the name of the high school soccer team

February 4, 2025February 4, 2025

Investigating ancestors with a historian in Belgium

Investigating ancestors is best done with somebody who knows what they’re doing. Bob Nellis arranged in advance to meet with Jean Pierre Petre and Michel Henry, respectively an historian and Michel who lived in the area and was not only a language assistant but also knew a lot about the goings on in this area. With them Bob was able to fill in a lot of blank spots in his information needed to complete some of his sleuthing. Of course it was a very educational day but also encouraged us to appreciate what these beautiful towns represent and how they might have provided a life, good or bad, for the previous inhabitants. After all, many of them left other countries.

Evidence of destruction during the war — There was of course massive destruction during the war

Outside the church — Finally Jeff enters the photo

A prominent owners house — The house of a very prominent family in the area

A large farm and house — One of the major houses with large farming concerns

Chalk making furnace — A chalk making furnace

This is how it was made and that used for fertilizer and possibly some other things

Working on the roof — Working on a roof on an old house

February 3, 2025February 4, 2025

Searching for ancestors in Belgium

I took the train to Wavre, Belgium to meet and support a Cornell classmate, Bob Nellis, in his search for ancestors and the history of the area and the people for a book he is writing. The subject is not only his family but of many Belgians who immigrated to the US in the 1800s. He was brought up in a town of Belgian immigrant families possibly from the same general timeframe as his ancestors and even possibly from the same general area in Belgium. He kept repeating the term “Walloons“. It seems that is a term of community, identity and endearment used in reference to the French speaking Belgians. I think reading his book after it is published will give you a much better frame of reference. I will put a reference to his book and where you can buy it after it’s published.

Searching for the family name — visiting graveyards is a good way to understand the families of the local population. He found many variations of his family name in the graveyards which sparked a lot of enthusiasm which I can understand having done that myself.

Local ancestor church — A local church his family may have attended

A world war one memorial — A memorial to the great war, the war to end all wars

Jeff came along — Jeff and Bob grew up together and Jeff ventured here from Minnesota (departing from his home in Michigan) with Bob. Jeff was the chauffeur, photographer and bodyguard.

A car for an industrial — Memorializing an industrialist. The grill in the car looks very much like an old Renault

War memorial — Memorial for the war dead

Pointing at the memorial — You have to point at something to show it has value.

Remembering the ancestors — I can imagine his emotions as he walks through the church and absorbs his ancestors attending a service. A very solemn occasion

Pointing at old artwork — Again, it’s important to point

The altar — These churches were very small so you can imagine the populations were not large and getting smaller as people left for other countries

Dog sign — Europeans tend to take their dogs pretty much everywhere they go so the sign is indicating the sacredness of the graveyard and not to bring animals that may not understand the significance of the place. My dog, Mon, was very sensitive to spiritual things so I think he would’ve stayed out on his own

Foggy areas — It was very foggy in the mornings. It reminded me very much of the old movies of World War I and World War II were battles were being fought in the fog

Losing business — What was very disheartening was most of the businesses closed permanentlydue to lack of customers. It seems the big box stores have taken away business and hollowed out the old communities. That was very sad to see. So while this is very much a walking town I don’t know how you can commune with people if their meeting place is some giant store where you just greet people in passing if you happen to know them.

A witch on the door — Our timing was very close to Halloween

Mushroom sauce — A very nice mushroom sauce for an elegant dinner

A nice steak — Bob treated us to a very elegant dinner at an extremely nice restaurant, a great topping for the day of ancestor searchings.

Ice cream — And of course you have to have ice cream and a grappa

A delicious dessert — Another delicious dessert

Our hats — At the end of the day we celebrate our adventure by admitting we have similar taste in hats, except for Jeff’s Borsalino style

A Gin tonic — A beer, a glass of wine, a gin tonic or a glass of water; whatever you desire

A beer for Jeff — Jeff has done the hard work today as the chauffeur in a foreign country so he very much deserves the beer

Bob resting — But it was very tiring for everybody. Let the ancestors come to visit in our dreams

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025

The Basilica cistern Istanbul with Bill Smale Adventures.

the basilica cistern Istanbul is one of the main attractions which is not inexpensive to enter, something like €27, but they have fixed it up so it does create an interesting tourist attraction that you might be interested in seeing. I didn’t find any more fish here so I guess they cleaned them out.

me in the cistern — Just to prove I was here

Orientation for cistern touristS — There are quite a few groups entering. From the exit you can see them getting an orientation

Water provider architecture — With the series of lights and reinforcements the government has really created something interesting out of a long forgotten underground structure for providing water to various large structures such as the main Christian Church turned mosque and the Topkapi palace.

An added sculpture — They added a sculpture in the center

Reinforcement of the basilica cistern — Turkey is subject to earthquakes so this reinforcement and preservation is necessary

Inscribed column — Some of the columns have inscriptions

Ceiling design — The ceiling is a very interesting structure and design

Basilica cistern Istanbul — More of the ceiling from farther away

Reconstruction on the cistern — There was a lot of repair necessary

Green lighting — Here you see one type of lighting which will change

Creating a shadow — And see how it changes to another light and an interesting shadow

A funny skeletal sculpture — This kind of looks like Medusa’s skeleton

A lot of money — This is all over the cistern so I wonder if they clean out all this cash. I suspect many of these coins are donated by visitors who don’t want to take coins back to their country

Blue green lighting — Interesting lighting

Time to leave — This was the end so time to leave

January 31, 2025January 31, 2025

Istanbul in an afternoon with Bill Smale Adventures.

Istanbul in the afternoon should start off in the Egyptian bazaar which really doesn’t have anything to do with Egypt, it is the spice market but of course it has other things in there like Turkish delights and other stuff. You get there by going to Eminönü station and wandering around behind the mosque.

Spice variety in the Egyptian bazaar — There is such a wide range of spices and every shop seems to have the same products available so you can browse and find a good price and exactly what you want. Why don’t you pick something you’ve never tried, take it home and see how it works.

A shop in front in Istanbul — This is one shop I visited which had fairly reasonable prices just in front of the main bazaar

Investigate spices in the afternoon — The shops are very interesting to visit. Talk to the proprietors and see what they have.

A beautiful building — It’s a very nice beautiful place

Some local shops in the area — This area is just behind the main bazaar building where they have a lot more variety of things and definitely worth walking around. It is not just for tourists. Many local people are shopping here.

Old building in Istanbul — The building itself is very

Turkish coffee and tea — This is where I had my first Turkish coffee sitting outside in the cold

Istanbul corn sellers — You will see these corn sellers all over Istanbul

Banking Museum document — After the bazaar I visited the banking museum which was free to enter and kind of interesting

Old bank equipment — This set up really takes me back to my grandmother’s house and my father’s typewriter

Piggy banks — These are old piggy banks that are meant to be opened only by the bank

Account manager desk — One account managers desk

Tram sign — The signage is pretty good. Here you know where to get on the tram

Coffee and cake in Istanbul — This was actually next day at a coffee shop and it was very delicious fruit with cake below

The tip box — You can see the tip box at the checkout counter. I asked a Turkish friend if tipping was customary and he said, “you can give a tip if you like”.

A roll with meat and garnishes — Meat and vegetables inside the roll of dough which was very delicious. The green cucumber pickles were nice and the yellow peppers are the very spicy, salty vinegar flavored ones which I really enjoy.

Dress up clothing mall — One downstairs shopping mall was almost exclusively fancy male and female dress up clothing. This is right near the station at the spice bazaar

A local laundry — This laundry near my hotel didn’t seem to be getting very much business

Pigeon feeding — It’s very often you see people feeding the pigeons in these squares

Interesting display — An interesting display

Older building in Istanbul in the afternoon — An older building with some artwork

Hors d'oeuvre dip Turkish style — The hors d’oeuvre dips which is a very famous Turkish offering. This was enough for three or four people so I took a lot of of it back to the hotel

"Egyptian" obelisk — I didn’t check to see if this obelisk is really one that was stolen from Egypt

Walking area — This was just a walking area with a few shops at the end

Salad without dressing — There was no dressing on the salad. And that seems to be very common but a little bit disappointing

Old fortress wall — The old Fortress wall

January 30, 2025January 30, 2025

Beautiful Topkapi Calligraphy with Bill Smale Adventures.

The beautiful Topkapi calligraphy area of the museum at the Topkapi palace is something not to be missed. I have never seen words used in such beautiful ways to create amazing works of art. All of these photos you have here are calligraphy, they are words shaped into things that are of course imagined. Take your time when you go there to imagine how carefully they must’ve created these to present to the sultans in the Topkapi palace in Istanbul. Enjoy these photos with Bill Smale Adventures.

Protective words — The words on these pieces of clothing are to bless and protect the wearer

Calligraphy up close on clothing — of course you can see the word more clearly

January 23, 2025January 23, 2025

Shetlands Picts, Vikings And horses

A lot of what you find in the Shetlands is Picts, Vikings and horses. Well, that’s not exactly true because most of what you see are sheep and quite a few cows but not many horses. But the Shetlands is well known for the Shetland ponies which are nasty little horses actually, speaking from experience. The Picts were Celtic people who were called “Picts”” because they tattooed themselves and the Roman people who came across them named them for the “pictures” they had on their bodies. In these islands you will find a lot of nice people but mostly sheep and beautiful countryside which has such an ancient geology, igneous and metamorphic structures with a lot of limestone as well. There are many standing stone configurations where you might want to time warp into the past. But you will also find many Viking structures and references to horses.Anyway here are some Pictures with Bill Smale Adventures.

Shetlands map with Picts And Vikings — The map of the Shetland and the interesting things you can see

This history of the Picts And their structures

Shetland ponies history — These horses are being favored now and there is a comeback in the population in various parts of the world

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