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

September 23, 2025September 23, 2025

Sutherland – Scotland

Scotland is a wonderful country. It is expensive but the people are more than friendly. A Scots friend of mine says the Scots are “chatty”. They will come up to you and start a friendly conversation. In the North you will notice a lot of sheep. A lot of this culture was brought about by the Sutherland family. Their origins are in France, possibly Normans (viking descendants). They “moved out” the tenant farmers to make way for expansive sheep farming. Those farmers had a hard time trying to adapt to their new professions on rocky areas or as fishermen. The starving and depravity forced many to leave Scotland for the US, Canada, Australia and other places. If you visit the Highlands where the Sutherlands did their deeds enjoy the beautiful countryside and sthe wonderful hospitality of the people living there.

Sutherland Scotland River — Beautiful river

Sutherland Scotland growth — Growth is everywhere

energy Sutherland Scotland — Lots of renewable energy

pheasant — He needs to watch out for shotguns if hunting is still allowed.

countryside in Sutherland Scotland — The deep countryside

The wolf stone. Maybe if they didn’t focus so much on sheep their might be a few wolves left.

hard life — A hard living for those displaced by the Sutherlands in “the clearances”

Ruins — The wall is still the largest structure

the clearance — Recognizing the deeds of the people who chased these farmers off their land

THE EMIGRANTS
COMMEMORATES THE PEOPLE OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND WHO, IN THE FACE OF GREAT ADVERSITY, SOUGHT FREEDOM, HOPE AND JUSTICE BEYOND THESE SHORES. THEY AND THEIR DESCENDANTS WENT FORTH AND EXPLORED CONTINENTS, BUILT GREAT COUNTRIES AND CITIES AND GAVE THEIR ENTERPRISE AND CULTURE TO THE WORLD.
THIS IS THEIR LEGACY.
THEIR VOICES WILL ECHO FOREVER THRO THE EMPTY STRATHS.
AND GLENS OF THEIR HOMELAND.
UNVEILED BY THE FIRST MINISTER OF SCOTLAND, RT HON ALEX SALMOND MSP, 23 JULY 2007

deer roving Sutherland Scotland — Oh, many deer left

spaceship cloud — Some might think there is an alien spaceship hiding in this cloud

standing stones — Standing stones are everywhere

September 22, 2025September 22, 2025

Gods Colosseum and museum

At Ephesus near Selçuk in Turkey you will see this amazing city requiring several hours to walk around and investigate. It is one of the most fascinating and expansive Roman city I have visited. It should be one of the highlights of your trip to Turkey.

Proof I was there. No photoshopping or AI.

September 19, 2025September 19, 2025

Turkey town hopping

Hopping around towns in Turkey is easy and exciting. Driving in Turkey is pretty much the same as in Thailand. The laws and rules are “suggestions”. There are many police check points as you go from one area to another. But the police and everyone in the country are friendly and helpful so there is nothing to really be worried about when traveling around.

Avilik

This is almost the first Adriatic side town south of istanbul. It is where the front license plate fell off the front car plate frame which I didn’t notice was broken when I rented the car. The broken frame showed up on the photos I took before getting in the car at the rental office which saved me the price of replacing the plate. The police stopped me so many times but I explained the issue and even though most of the time language was a barrier they let me drive on. The police in Avilik told me to continue my trip and contacted the rental company and traffic police. They were very helpful.

view from restaurant towns in Turkey — A nice little town and a nice view from a restaurant on the hill

Kaş

A cute little town driving south and worth a visit. I gave a ride to 3 girls from Kazakistan waiting for a bus. I learned some interesting things about traveling to Kazakistan.

Beach town in Turkey — A cute town with a nice beach

artist in town in Turkey — A clever artist

tractor parking — Where else would you park a tractor?

calimari in town in Turkey — Very tasty calamari

cute Renault — This is the electric Renault I could buy if I lived in a city.

Konya

big lunch — A tasty wrap. Almost too much lunch for me

city statue — Every town in Turkey needs a statue

show mountain — Going over the mountains to the next town in Turkey Along the coast

Antalya

ice cream in a town in Turkey — Un dia sin ice cream es como un dia sin sol (a day without ice cream is like a day without sunshine)

heinz hot sauce — I never knew Heinz made hot sauce

ancient ruins — Ancient ruins on the other side of the river

September 17, 2025September 17, 2025

Walking around Taksim

across the bridge from Topkapi in Istanbul is a very busy area and series of streets called Taksim. It seems this area is extremely popular with everybody looking for something different from the “imperial“ area on the other side of the river with most of the main tourist attractions. But they’re very narrow streets here with some very nice restaurants and coffee shops that make this area feel like a major tourist shopping street but also a very “local“ area. When visiting Istanbul, this is an area you really have to visit and just spend a day or two walking around. There are a couple very fun cable cars which go up steep hills and a street car which goes down the main shopping street with all the famous and expensive brands of imported goods.

The place to wash your feet around Taksim — You can wash here before going into the mosque

Turkish ice cream around Taksim — This is a Turkish style ice cream cart with an interesting and fun activity for the customers

Nighttime crowds — The main streets get very crowded around Taksim at night time

Turkish coffee shop — Turkish coffee parlors are much cheaper than the western style café and I highly recommend visiting a couple and sitting around local people enjoying some chat, local information and conversation conversations.

Famous tower around Taksim — You can go up inside this famous tower for a big price

In front of the tower — Proof, I was there

Expensive tower — It’s a little expensive to go up this tower

Aile restaurant on a backstreet provides very delicious Arabic food

Aile menu — This is their menu and it’s very highly rated

Olive vegetarian food — The vegetarian style food with a lot of olives was just delicious

Purple is the color — Purple seems to be the color here for some reason which I didn’t bother to ask about. Purple and white are Cornell colors

Street car tracks — A few cars travel to Main Street along with the street car, which is ancient

Steep streets — There are some very steep streets, reminding me of San Francisco

A lot of people — Even though the Backstreets can be pretty crowded

Cable car entrance — This is the entrance to the very inexpensive cable car

Cable car — This is the cable car, leaving the platform going down the hill

Cable car history — This gives you a history of the cable car

Old building — Some beautiful old buildings

And of course, there needs to be a Guinness

Homeless cats — Everybody loves and feeds the cats and they seem to behave and probably do their job catching the mice. These cats are very busy standing guard, but most likely waiting for food.

Grand bazaar entrance — An old entrance to the grand bazaar

You can find all kinds of Turkish delights which are dried fruit, fruits, nuts, and sweets, rolled up and ready to eat for snack, snacks or dessert. There are so many varieties.

Not popular Street — Some streets are not that popular

Interesting building — This is a very interesting building

Shopping area — A shopping area outside the mosque

Nice spaghetti and tea — I forgot to take the photo before eating the tasty food. Tea is usually served for free unless it’s a very touristy place and then they want to charge money for it.

September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

Fun in Okinawa

After Ishigaki Jima I flew to Naha on the main Okinawa Island and contacted one of the people I met drinking one night in a small drinkery in Ishigaki town. They brought the whole family for a fun night f food and drinks at a local place they frequent.

Fun in Okinawa. Go carts — Tourists like driving go carts

close, not closed — It was “close”, I was standing right in front of it. This spelling replacement for “closed” is a misunderstanding of the word usage and is prevalent throughout Japan an Thailand.

The convenient overhead monorail going to the airport.

Spam is an influence from the post war US occupation.

September 14, 2025September 17, 2025

Searching Ell for family

Searching for ancestors records in Luxembourg is easy. It is done in the main city and there are people there to help. You even get an archive library card after doing some searches. However, finding gravestones and other physical proof of ancestry proved to be much harder. It seems almost all the gravestones in the churches are not older than 150 years or less. The old ones left are put leaning against walls indicating some major disruptions at the churches, something I need to investigate further. But renting a car and driving through the countryside proved to be the best part of my visit to Luxembourg. It s very beautiful and organized and clean country though fairly expensive. I started searching Ell where my great great grandfather was born. In the end I found no traces of the either of my great great grandparents, the Strotzs. I highly recommend the village of Larochette. You will enjoy the myriad of cafés, restaurants, walking and hiking areas as well as old castles. I want to stay in this town on my next visit.

Strotz church searching Ell — Most likely the Strotz church

inside church in Ell. Searching Ell — Insdie the small church

cream cheese searching Ell — This looks like a soft cheese but is actually an interesting favored cream cheese

separated school — A school separating girls and boys. The ranching word for young female horse definately comes from the French word for girl

Prefecture office — The district office. This is where Japanese got the English translation (prefecture) from the Japanese word for something like a state, a KEN (県）。

rental car — The car I rented. My cheap small one was not available so Europecar upgraded me to a Mercedes.

Larochette searching Ell — Larochette where my great great grandmother was born

Larochette church — Most likely where my family went to church in Larochette

enjoying weather Searching Ell — Enjoying the beautiful weather outside the church

road to Ell. Searching Ell — The road to ELL

confessional — I had nothing to confess except that my search in the hometowns turned up nothing on this trip

September 13, 2025September 13, 2025

Hopping in Kiso and Mt. Fujij

As I was traveling around Japan I decided to go to my old school area on Mt. Fuji, Fujinomiya, and also to a place I love to visit. The Kiso trail goes from near Matsumoto area to Nagoya and still has old villages with places to stay and a walking trail along the centuries old walking trail. These two areas are close to Tokyo so easy for day or several day trips. The Chuo line goes from Tokyo along the Kiso trail and is one way to see this beautiful area.

triumph car near Mt. Fuji — An old car museum display of one of my favorite type cars.

pokemon go players — Near my hotel in Kashiwa all these people are standing around playing Pokemon Go

the ghost musical — I am guessing this musical is based on “the ghost and Mrs. Muir”

motorcycle stop wakayama — Actually this is near Wakayama in the mountains and has been a favorite motorcyclist stop for over 50 years

The river view which is superb during the cherry tree blossoming season

bagdad cafe wakayama — The old sign for the “bagdad cafe”, evidently a hint from the movie

Map of customers — At a local restaurant a map with pins of were customers live

Measuring the CO2 level in the restaurant

few shops open — Many shops were not open due to dwindling tourist arrivals

noodle shop — I had delicious noodles here

March view — A view from the top in March

A small private garden. There are millions of these in Japan

mountain view Mt. Fuji — Later in the evening he snow dusted hills change color

Mt. Fuji view — A view from my grad school campus

shiraito no taki — Shiraitonotaki (white thread water fall) near my school has become quite a developed tourist destination

September 12, 2025September 12, 2025

Palermo-Last Day

When I first came to the outskirts of Palermo in 2010 all the cars I saw were badly scratched or dented and parked on the road and sidewalk in every kind of configuration. I didn’t want to subject my rental car to this fate so I turned around and went to another place to stay and visit. However, this time I found it to be a safe place to drive and park a rental car, though I didn’t rent one, and things were generally better organized. Palermo is a nice city with many sights and inexpensive street restaurants to enjoy. I highly recommend Palermo.

street art — Street art can be a goal of your walk around the city

sweets at coffee shop — Something sweet with coffee

japanese restaurant — Definitely not run by Japaese, jMaybe by vietamese or chinese

wedding dress up — Getting dressed up for a wedding reception at the wharf restaurant

anti tourism — An increasingly popular opinion

A very healthy salad with a campari spritz

following band — Following the band to the celebration

bike shop. Palermo-last day — Bike shop fixing the. Young boy’s bike

nice spaghetti — This spaghetti sauce was not too rich

spiderman in Palermo — The young boy was spiderman

japanese characters — Japanese characters are popular

September 10, 2025September 10, 2025

Drifting around Ishigaki island

Ishigaki island is much closer to Taiwan than Okinawa and a much smaller island. However as you are drifting around Ishigaki Island you will find a wonderful ocean, interesting plants and animals and really friendly people wanting to talk to you over a drink. An island close by is Taketomi. When I was there in April/May I got the feeling it wasn’t the tourist season since most everything was closed. It is worth a day trip from Ishigaki and I recommend just walking around since it is such a small island.

typical local food — Typical local foods, the noodles and way of cooking pork is special to these islands

fish restaurant — Fish is the very delicious here

my hotel — My hotel which was not so cheap and a pretty old and not well maintained building. Hotels here are fairly expensive except that most seem to have rooms for 3 or more people, groups and families

Along with Avocado toast you can have “hot sand”,not so crunchy or gritty since “sand” is Japanese for “sandwich”.

Gas pump — Nice to see an old gas pump probably left from the US post war occupation

on guard — Watching out for all sorts of criminals especially illegal China fishing boats

beautiful ocean — Beautiful water. I wanted to try snorkeling but the shop said I was too old to go on a boat

traditional drawing — Okinawa tradition in a drawing.

island from above — Taketomi is the second from the right

While the Ryukyu islands were a kingdom each island had a different language. Locals today say they can’t understand what people on their neighboring island are saying.

growth monitors — Many trees are being monitored for growth

Two Korean tourists on the left (spoke very good Japanese), the bar owner in the back (bar seats 6 people), and two local residents to the right. It was a fun nght.

bar entrance — The vending machine on the left can be pulled out on a hinge and that is the bar’s entrance. Unique!

Highball — So “highball” is now a verb. This 1950’s term is still used in Japan and refers to whiskey and water.

beef is popular — If you “lanch” here you will have had a good lunch. Beef is a big thing in these islands and they raise cows on most of the large islands in a careful manner like in Kobe or Matsuzaka. But it is expensive.

roof tiles — Roof tiles stacked behind a coral wall

Coral wall plants — Plants growing out of the coral wall

Traditional clothing — Traditional costumes

nice trees — Reminds me of the Bhodi trees

chinese influenced temple — A temple with some chinese influences

I took a bus tour around the island. These are my fellow tourists.

ishigaki opposite side — The opposite side of Ishigaki

K car — Most cars in Japan now are “K” cars with 650 cc engines

flavored ice — Ice flavored with not much cream

September 9, 2025September 9, 2025

High on Heidelberg Castle

when you’re traveling to Germany Heidelberg it’s definitely one of the cities you should visit at the castle is very interesting. So remember when you get in this area make sure you get high on Heidelberg Castle.

River below when you are high on Heidelberg Castle — Beautiful views of the city below and the river

Nice view — One of the best views when you are high on Heidelberg Castle

Symbolism — Very iconic and important symbolism for the times when they were set on the entrance gate here

City clock — This is the old clock in the city center

Beer keg, a giant one — The giant Heidelberg beer keg

Dispenser — This is where they dispensed the beer

Chapel — You have to have a chapel in a castle

Heidelberg Castle pipe organ — Church pipe Oregon

Desk and chair — A very old desk and chair

Ornate hallway — And extremely ordinate hallway

Detailed ceiling — The ceiling of the hallway. Look at the detail

Room entrance — And ordinate room entrance

It was interesting to see Hebrew here. Obviously there was a lot of respect for the people who helped build and manage the castle

Marks in the stone — Builders’ marks in the stone

The old outside wall — This shows the old Castle wall on the outside which was built many hundreds of years ago

Cast model — The model of the castle as it is today

Complete model — Another model of the castle when it was complete

Great Frederick — This guy brought the castle to its peak architecture

Pharmacy inside the castle — There was a pharmacy inside the castle

Medicine creation laboratory — Were they concocted the medicines

This is a very old brand

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