#folksytravel Archives • Page 12 of 56 • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

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

January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

The Sutherlands’ Dunrobin Castle in Highlands

The Sutherlands’ Dunrobin Castle is representative of the wealth, status and power of that family. It was these people who took over alot of the Highland areas for sheep farming and displaced the population to either working for them or moving outside of the sheep herding areas often to the seasides where they had no skills and where the farming was often impossible. Many of those people got on boats and left for the US, Australia and Canada and never looked back. It was a very sad time in the history for Scotland but it was a great time for the countries they went to since they brought their traditions and especially their music which became an important and integral part of what we now call “American music”. This castle is one of the nicest ones I’ve ever seen and it is extremely well-maintained. If you are in this area it’s one of the places you really must visit.

The castle Drive — The drive up to the castle

Of view from the garden — The castle from the garden

The Sutherland code of arms — This French motto means “fearless”. In fact the Sutherland family came from France and is most likely of Viking descent, as I was told by the historian in the castle

The pool table — This is about the largest pool table I have ever seen

Autograph photographs — Autographed photographs with the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, in the center

Castle Center, Courtyard — The center courtyard

Children's bedroom — The children’s bedroom

The outfits — The display of the various robes and outfits

Dunrobin Castle Garden — A view of the garden from the castle

The Sutherlands collection of rhubarb — Giant rhubarb plant growing

An amazing cloud — This looks like an alien ship. It was an amazing cloud

January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Orkneys out and about

When you travel to Scotland try to make time to visit the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands. When you’re out and about in the Orkneys you will find some really beautiful landscapes and you will also I think be surprised by how many ancient people travel to this windy and cold series of Islands. The weather is very difficult but it is a very fertile, geologically ancient with bountiful seas. But when you visit you should have a car since local transport is not really adequate for short intensive visits.

Orkney rabbits — potential dangers everywhere

Beautiful vegetation — The wonderful clean waters and vegetation

Rainy weather — The reason it’s so beautifully green and lush is because there is so much rain

The castle ruined — There are many old ruins and castles here

And or a buddy — Your potential next buddy

The Orkney ferry — The way to get to the Orkneys in comfort

The dog lounge — In case you bring your dog

Out and about with the geology — The amazing geology

Cold and windy weather — It was cold and windy on the boat

Craggy Beachside — Just a beautiful craggy beach side

A treasure trove inlet — A small inlet. Maybe there was buried treasure here

A nice Citroen on the Orkneys — Some lady and her dog had a very nice Citroen

A nice beach — One of the very nice beaches

Old marking stone from the Vikings — This was the actual old stone

January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Prague is a most beautiful city

Prague is the most beautiful city so if you were looking for a city in Europe with history, beautiful streets, beautiful buildings, ancient history told through what you see and a place you can get around easily and not get tired of looking around for at least a week then Prague is your city. So look through these photos with Bill Smale Adventures.

A water closet — It’s nice to know there was one around

Most beautiful display — It was permanently displayed on a light pole

Prague Cathedral — A main cathedral in the city

Crazy building — The wildest building there

Prague sculpture — Sculpture and art is everywhere

Beautiful borscht — A great borcht and a very tasty cabbage salad

Excellent restaurant — Highly acclaimed and really excellent

Trams and buses — There are trams and buses everywhere

Old Prague alchemy — The ancient alchemy lab

A new ice cream idea — The famous ice cream on a rolled a pancake which is a fairly new idea in the Czech Republic

Making the dough — This is how they make the dough for the ice cream cone

A beautiful Prague clock — An old universal clock

Beautiful Prague architecture — Everywhere you go you see beautiful architecture and designs

Beautiful old Prague car — These old cars are fixed up to take touristS slowly around the city

The Jewish center and synagogue in Prague — This is the synagogue and the Jewish center with pictures of the people who were taking hostage and killed in Israel

January 21, 2025January 21, 2025

Walking the beautiful beach side of Budva

Walking the beautiful beach side of Budva you will find a place that is growing to become a mini Riviera in Montenegro. This town and the area around it has tourist attractions including some ancient Roman ruins, some churches and beautiful ocean views. I found it to be one of the two places in Montenegro I really enjoyed and decided to extend my stay partly because the accommodations had this beautiful view you can see below and it was just very relaxing. Enjoy the photos with Bill Smale Adventures.

The apartment view — The view from the apartment which was also very nice inside with everything I needed to clean cook and just relax.

Rainy Budva — There was quite a bit of rain in December but still it was nice being here. You can see the rain over by the hills.

Is this hotel Garibaldi? — I should’ve checked to see if, in English, this hotel was named “Hotel Garibaldi”. That would be interesting since it is just across the Adriatic from Italy add 2000 years ago this area was controlled by the Romans.

A beach side Churchill cigar — There was a cigar shop on the first floor of this apartment complex so I took advantage and found a Churchill

A smooth cigar — This is a very nice smooth smoke

Budva Cats — There are cats everywhere which seems to be a thing in the Balkans, maybe a really good effort to keep the mice in check.

The local beach side — The beach is not really beautiful sand filled areas but the water is so clear and beautiful. While you are eating at the restaurants looking over the water you can see the fish.

Walking on the beach side — Taking a walk along the beach side

A lot of building in Budva — There is a lot of building going on but there are not enough hotel rooms for touristS so you will find most of the accommodations are through booking companies as private apartments

A beautiful day at the beach side — People enjoying the break from the rain on a beautiful day outside

Short walking distance in Budva — It’s a rather small bay so you can see from one end to the other and do the walk-in about 25 minutes

Roman office ruins — a former Roman administrative building

Old church — There is a very old church here

Ruins from the Romans — Newly uncovered ruins

Walking near the fortifications — Walking in the old part of Budva

An entertainment submarine — Definitely not a military submarine

A cigar with A Campari spritz — This was the first Camacho cigar I ever had and it was very nice. It went well with the Campari spritz

Fortifications in Budva — The city fortifications

The south Beachside — The south side of the Riviera

A rainbow — I think there was a pot of gold buried in this marble

Beef and vegetable vegetables stew — A very nice stew with beef and vegetables

My apartment view — My apartment looking out

Radar controlled area — I think you can figure out what this means

Whirlpool is in Budva — It was interesting to find whirlpool here

January 20, 2025January 20, 2025

Wonderful old town Skopje with Bill Smale Adventures.

Wonderful old town Skopje of North Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia and after they broke up with the other parts of the republic they named their country Macedonia which raised the anger of the Greeks sense Macedonia was the kingdom of Alexander the great who was physically occupying an area south of Macedonia which is now in Greece so the Greeks forced them to change the name to North Macedonia. That’s an interesting turn on the litigations against names which extended to “champagne”, “Parmesan cheese” and “, “camembert”, oh and not to forget “Budweiser”. Skopje is the capital and is famous for its old town and large buildings proclaiming it’s history and culture.

Wonderful dogs — the dogs are very friendly, seemed to be homeless but are very clean, well fed and they have a tag in their ear for identification.

Flying to Skopje — Flying from Belgrade you can see the mountainous Kosovo

Wonderful sea of clouds — The sea of clouds

Wonderfully bad food — I don’t often put negative things in my Phlogs but this was one of the worst meals I’ve ever had. The beef was bad and it was almost all bones, fat and grizzle. I was told it was a very good place for grilled food but I was way overcharged for things I didn’t order and for things they didn’t say they were going to charge for so it was a good experience in a tourist trap which I really don’t need but I guess you can’t avoid all of them.

Skopje dog — Another buddy who I met every day

Bad Skopje hotel name — Not a name you would give a hotel in the US

Quality Skopje food — This local restaurant provided some language difficulties but they were very nice people and the food was for local inhabitants and was really nice and very good quality. Kebapcilnica Rio 1990

https://maps.app.goo.gl/La3LaCE7Xhzexq9h7?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Wonderful menu — Of course they have an easier to read menu

A quiet Skopje drinking area — A nice place to just duck into and have an aperitif

Wonderful coffee and cheesecake — Coffee and cherry cheesecake is wonderful

Military shopping — The military also goes shopping

Ancient clothing — An antique store with some heritage clothing

Skopje Shopping area — The old shopping area

Antique phones — In case you need a new phone

Empty seating area — There is a lot of outside seating for restaurants and coffee shops but it was very cold

Wonderful Skopje Jewelry shops — Gold and jewelry shops and ladies beautiful dresses are on display all over this old town. I counted more than 50 jewelry shops

Wedding dresses — There is even a wedding dress store

Typical Shop — Just a typical small shop

The local Skopje bazaar — This is at the end of old town and is where the local people go shopping in their bazaar. You can find a lot of of name brand but very cheap products. I even found a shop that was selling secondhand fake Rolexes

The indoor portion — The indoor part of the local bazaar

Albanian souvenirs — There is a very large population of Albanians which I was told were kicked out of Kosovo by the Serbian and now live in North Macedonia.

Beautiful dresses — More beautiful dresses

A famous old warrior — I wasn’t really interested enough to check who this was

Park on the sidewalk — If the street has no parking you just park on the sidewalk which creates some difficulties for pedestrians

Building artwork — Artwork on a large building

Abandoned business — This used to be a working restaurant or coffee shop I guess

The wonderful Skopje river — The main river in scoop J

The bridge of famous people — This is the bridge with statues of fairly recent famous people

Of floating restaurant — This is a restaurant but was not open at the time. You can see the Macedonian flag

The Skopje bridge of civilization — Read the plaque below which explains the figures

A replica sarcophagus — This of course is a replica and I didn’t ask which Alexander this was for. I was under the impression the remains Alexander the greatare still in some unknown place but maybe I am confused with something else.

Ancient mosaic — Rebuilding an ancient mosaic

Beautiful glass creation — I just thought this was really beautiful

Ancient salt mine — This salt mine competes in ancient history with the Celtic salt mines in Salzburg Austria

Explanation of the mine — As you know salt was very important to preserve food and to provide minerals for the body

Alexander the great statue — Of course Alexander the great Hase to show up

Phillip's statue — Alexander’s father Philip

Alexander's mother fountain — The fountain memorializing Alexander’s mother

Wonderful Skopje cappuccino and toffee cake — A wonderful cappuccino with a toffee layer cake

Wonderful north Macedonian food — I was back at my favorite local restaurant I showed you above and I got a whole assortment which was really delicious but a little bit too much food. But I just had to try the variety and get an idea of some north Macedonian food.

Cooking on TV — And while I was eating this woman was doing some cooking on TV

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