Category: Travel

No comments

Tanzania and Fire of Genius for the Holidays

  By ,

The end of November and beginning of December has been a whirlwind of traveling and Fire of Genius activities. I went to Tanzania, and now suddenly it’s time to order your signed copy of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius for the holidays.

One word I heard a lot in Tanzania was “Awesome!” Our small group visited several of Tanzania’s National Parks including Tarangire, Serengeti, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area. There were all the big animals you expect to see on a photo safari, visits with three different indigenous peoples (including a morning hunt with the Hadzabe), and some of the most incredible vistas on the planet. There was even an unforgettable sunrise balloon ride over the Serengeti. I’m still digging out, but I’ll have more details and photos shortly. Here’s a taste:

Because of the trip, the timeline has jumped from Thanksgiving to the beginning of the December holidays. Which means time is getting short to buy copies of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius. You can order or pick up at all the usual booksellers – Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, and ideally, your local independent bookstore. [If they don’t have it, ask them to order it] I also have first edition copies you can order direct from me if you want a signed book. I’ll even inscribe it the way you want, either for you or to whomever you plan to gift it to for Hanukkah or Christmas or the holiday (or birthday) of your choice. Want more information on the book? Check out the videos and podcasts on my Media page. More events are being added daily.

Order here for signed copies. Want a copy sooner – check out Barnes and Noble or your local independent bookstore.

The reception for the book has been wonderful, with many people reaching out to say how much they liked it and its unique view of Abraham Lincoln. In fact, one person in my Tanzania group said they had started reading it just before heading on the trip! As always, if you like the book, please leave a rating/review on Amazon, Goodreads, and similar places.

The holidays are coming quickly, and this time of year is notorious for heavy traffic by the usual shipping companies, so ORDER NOW to ensure you receive the book in time, either for yourself or as a gift for your loved ones.

Fire of Genius

 

Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America is available at booksellers nationwide.

Limited signed copies are available via this website. The book also listed on Goodreads, the database where I keep track of my reading. Click on the “Want to Read” button to put it on your reading list. Please leave a review on Goodreads and Amazon if you like the book.

You also follow my author page on Facebook.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Fire of Genius: How Abraham Lincoln’s Commitment to Science and Technology Helped Modernize America and Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America.

His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

2 Comments

The Year in Science Traveling -2021

  By

Lincoln at GettysburgLast year I started off my annual science traveling post with “Well, this shouldn’t take long.” Despite expectations, I could have started my 2021 post with: “Ditto.”

My year in traveling looks like my previous year’s “goals” list; just change the date and carry over everything to this year. Now I’ll be carrying most of it over to 2022. As with everyone else, I’ve grown exhausted by the continuing battle with COVID, in part due to its evolving variants, and in part due to the irresponsible choices of many to remain unvaccinated. And as with everyone else, it has crimped my traveling schedule. Luckily, I was too busy to travel in the first half of 2021, which I’ll talk more about in my annual “A Year in the Writing Life” that will come out next week.

I again planned to do a series of “Chasing Abraham Lincoln” road trips. Some were local (Richmond, Gettysburg, Washington DC), while others were a bit farther afield (Illinois, upstate New York, New England, California). All are now transferred to my 2022 plans. As usual, my goal was to get to five new countries this year. The reality is that the last trip I took out of the country was to Cuba in May 2019. Things started looking up in July when my brother proposed a two-week catamaran trip around the British Virgin Islands for November. Circumstances soon changed and that trip was cancelled. The idea of sailing around Spain and Portugal in November was put on the table, then removed literally the next day as both countries were added to the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list due to COVID. Okay, let’s do the Caribbean instead. Same problem. All of this was after foregoing a trip to the Galapagos because we thought we would be tied up at that time.

Around the time things were getting the most depressing, I saw that a writing acquaintance was doing a self-imposed “writer’s retreat” on Long Island. It was a lightbulb moment, and before long the plan became a mini vacation on Long Island on the way to New England for a Thanksgiving visit with my family. The trip was delightful. We had no trouble getting accommodations because it was off-season, although several restaurants on the coast were closed for the same reason. But we did get to see my 60th aquarium and visit some cool museums at the Vanderbilt estate, plus hiked the beautiful fall woodlands at Sands Point. Then there was the wine tasting at Lieb Cellars vineyard. All-in-all, a wonderful trip. As was the chance to see my family for the second time in a year, a treat given the continuing restrictions.

Looking back, it seems my entire traveling year was crammed into November. Prior to leaving for Long Island, I attended my one and only in-person conference in two years. The Lincoln Forum had gone virtual in 2020, but they were intent on holding an in-person event in 2021. All attendees were required to be fully vaccinated – and prove it – in order to be present. Everyone was required to wear masks for all lectures and meetings, although removal was okay (by necessity) during meals. Around 300 people enjoyed a mostly normal Forum, exchanging ideas and learning about ideas. I was elected to the Board of Advisors. I’m happy to say that a grand total of zero reports of COVID cases arose from the meeting. Luckily for us, the omicron variant didn’t show up until just after our conference. It was nice to be back with people.

There was one additional in-person event in 2021. The Lincoln Group of DC, of which I am now president, had a tour of a local battlefield in September. We car-pooled and masked to limit exposure, with the rest of the tour being completely outside. Again, we managed to do it with no reported cases before or after.

So, what’s the plan for 2022?

Largely, the 2022 plan is “see 2021 plan.” The uncertainly of the omicron surge in cases has already sunk several plans for the spring, but I’m hoping/praying/pleading that travel is back on the table. In fact, we’ve already booked a Windstar cruise for late September/October that begins and ends in Istanbul and bounces around the Black Sea. We’re hoping to book another major travel destination in the early spring or early summer, but the options are still open for that one. September will be a busy month, in part because of the Windstar trip but also because my new book is scheduled for release on September 1. I’m likely to go to New England at least three times, the July 4th and Thanksgiving holidays and on my “Chasing Abraham Lincoln – New England” tour. I expect to be doing some road trips to accommodate a speaking tour for the book. I’ll also be checking off as many of the “local” road trips I’ve been carrying for two years.

A quick note on the “Year in Science Traveling” title. This website was originally called “Science Traveler” to reflect my intent to delve into the science of worldwide traveling. That was the plan when I left my last science job in 2013, the same year my first book came out (on Nikola Tesla, followed a few years later by Thomas Edison). I continue to travel and have plans for more science travel-related content, but regular readers will notice that I’ve renamed the website with my author name to reflect my divergent interests. Abraham Lincoln had always been my side-gig, but it’s clear to anyone reading this that Lincoln is now my main job and science traveling is the side-gig. I’m planning to revamp the website in early 2022 to make it more modern and functional. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is President of the Lincoln Group of DC and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

[Photo credit: David J. Kent, 2021, Detail of “Return Visit” sculpture]

One Comment

The Year in Science Traveling – 2020

  By

Well, this shouldn’t take long.

Normally I catalogue all the traveling I did over the past year. Like everyone else in 2020, I experienced a case of travelus interruptus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To say that put a damper on my travel intentions is an understatement. Most of the world won’t even let Americans cross their borders right now (how’s that for irony). Even crossing state lines is a challenge with several instituting significant barriers to visitors.

So this is how I planned for the year to go:

 

You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So…get on your way!

(compliments of Dr. Suess: Oh, The Places You’ll Go!)

 

Instead, my traveling year looked like this:

 

Passport stamps 2020

 

Notwithstanding the allure of my kitchen, which my bathroom scale says I’ve been spending way too much time in, my original plan had included a significant amount of travel in 2020. There were to be several Lincoln-related road trips: Illinois, New England, Upstate New York/Ohio, and California. Then there would be the annual four-day Lincoln Forum and commemoration ceremony in Gettysburg. That doesn’t even count the semi-monthly forays into downtown Washington DC for Lincoln Group of DC dinner/lectures and book study group. Nor does it count the “local” trips into Richmond and other spots in Pennsylvania. None of that happened.

I had also planned a road trip through the central U.S. to visit the remaining contiguous states I hadn’t seen yet. That didn’t happen either.

More far-flung plans were to finally get to the Middle East, in particular Israel, Petra, and the Egyptian Pyramids. There also was the idea of visiting the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu. Didn’t happen.

So what did I do this year, travel-wise?

Well, I did make one road trip. Around the first year anniversary of my father’s passing and the 4th of July I drove to New England to see my mother, and as it turns out, my brother and his wife who had unexpectedly moved nearby a few weeks before. I figured there was a small window prior to COVID infections getting much worse (which turned out to be true), so squeezed in the visit not long before Massachusetts cracked down on a mandatory 14-day quarantine, later to include mandatory negative test results (and now likely, vaccination). It was the only trip I made the entire year.

To keep myself busy, and at least somewhat sane, I read more than I planned. I summarized the 90 books I read in 2020 on my Hot White Snow website. I also read a lot of Abraham Lincoln books, which I’ve documented here. Click on my Goodreads link to follow my reading travels.

Beyond that I participated in dozens of Zoom webinars and interactive presentations. My Lincoln Group of DC lectures and book study group meetings all shifted to Zoom. I gave a few presentations myself via Zoom, and have another scheduled in a couple of weeks. Many of the events worked out well enough virtually, but I know we’ll all be ready to see each other in person when safe to do so.

I also took advantage of my 2020 calendar, which features photos by David Wiegers of Abraham Lincoln statues placed all over the world. For each month I would talk about the statue of that month, but also reminisce about my own time visiting the location, or in some cases, future plans if I hadn’t already been there. What started on a whim turned out to be an interesting way to travel back in time to 12 foreign locations where the people thought honoring Lincoln was a good idea. I enjoyed the ability to travel, at least in a sense, through those posts. You can see the December post and a recap with links to all the other posts here.

Not surprisingly, I’m not even going to try to preview 2021 travel. As vaccines slowly make it out to most Americans (and overseas), I’m working on the assumption that even road trips will be curtailed at least until summer. For now it’s wait and watch. When the timing is right I’ll be ready to get back out into the world. Hopefully you’ll join me.

P.S. Check out my “A Year in the Writing Life” annual post. It has some big news, which is yet another reason I don’t expect to travel until next summer. 2021 should be a much better year!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

No comments

Lincoln in Portugal – Wiegers Calendar July

  By ,

Setubal PortugalPerhaps one of the oddest locations for an Abraham Lincoln statue is at a winery in Portugal. Which gets us to David Wiegers’s calendar entry for July. And a chance to reminisce on my quick visit to Portugal near the three years I spent living and working in Brussels.

My first thought looking at the July photo was that this was a strange background for a Lincoln statue. Perhaps it was my early years working hazardous waste sites in New Jersey, but it looked like there were some sort of petrochemical refinery tanks, with Lincoln standing in an overgrown field. Nah, must be grain silos in the mid-west. Nope. Turns out they are fermentation tanks at the Bacalhoa winery in Setubal, Portugal.

The winery started way back in 1922 and has undergone several iterations, slowly becoming one of the most respected vineyards in the country. José Manuel Rodrigues Berardo, Portugal’s most famous art collector, became the majority shareholder in 1998, so it comes as no surprise that he created a blend of wine and art on the property. In addition to modernizing the wine-making facilities and vines, the grounds now display a large collection of exotic statuary ranging from replicas of terra cotta warriors from Xi’an, art deco, Zimbabwean soapstone sculptures, and yes, a full length standing statue of Abraham Lincoln sculpted by Charles Keck. New York City born, Keck’s works include a seated Lincoln statue in Wabash, Indiana, the Huey Long statue in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol, and a large Lewis and Clark statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. I missed seeing another Keck statue in Senn Park, Chicago, showing a barefoot young Lincoln taking a break to read a book.

Lisbon Portugal protest

My own visit to Portugal took me not far from the Lincoln statue. Setubal is just south of Lisbon, where I spent several days fighting overcast weather and occasional rain. On a multi-mile stroll I took in the grand bull ring, many marvelous statues, the huge central squares, the castle, and found myself in the middle of a labor protest. For the latter, I decided to follow along with the large crowd marching up the main road from the central square to the Monument to the Marquis of Pombal. Only after seeing the protest on the hotel television that night did I realize being in the middle of a protest march in a foreign country might not have been the best decision of the day. Luckily I also found my way out to the world-famous Oceanario de Lisboa, one of the earliest, and largest, big-tank aquariums in Europe. On another day I took the train north to Sintra, a World Heritage Site featuring the Castle of the Moors and Pena National Palace.

So as with other locations in this year of explore the Wiegers calendar series, I was close to yet another Lincoln statue outside the United States. It seems everyone likes our sixteenth president. Certainly many in the United States would like more Lincoln right now.

Until next month!

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

 

No comments

Lincoln in Australia – Wiegers Calendar June

  By ,

Abraham Lincoln AustraliaAbraham Lincoln is in Australia! Well, maybe. It’s complicated.

The June photo in David Wiegers’s calendar is of a statue of Lincoln that supposedly stood in Melbourne, Australia. He adds a parenthetical notation – (Missing). And missing it is. Very missing. What little I’ve been able to find suggests the statue was built of white marble and installed about the time Centennial Park opened in 1888. The photo matches David’s photo. Except for one detail – Centennial Park is in Sydney, not Melbourne, Australia.

Lincoln was joined by about thirty other statues, all commissioned by New South Wales Premier Sir Henry Parkes, who some liken to Lincoln in style and ability. Among the statues was “British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, US President James Garfield, and figures representing the four seasons, commerce, science, the arts and architecture.” Then in the 1970s all the statues were removed for restoration. Neglected for decades, many of the statues were in poor condition. Poor Lincoln was missing a nose, thumb, and part of his coat. Unfortunately, most of the statues, including Lincoln, never made it back into the park and no one seems to know what happened to them. Only about ten have been accounted for, although apparently none of them was reinstalled in the park.

In 2017 I had the good fortune to visit both Sydney and Melbourne (as well as Cairns and Uluru). The closest thing to a Lincoln memorial in Melbourne is The Lincoln, a hotel and pub that may or may not be as missing as the Lincoln statue (its website link doesn’t seem to be working). I did, however, get to see the Melbourne Sea Life Aquarium and tour out of town to gaze upon the famous “12 Apostles” rock formations on the southern coast. The scientist in me noted that there was nearby FitzRoy Gardens (named after the captain of the Beagle, the ship that carried Darwin around the world) and the Cook’s Cottage, named after world traveler Captain Cook. Lincoln may be lost, but science is everywhere.

Sydney Opera House

In Sydney I was able to visit all the famous landmarks: Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, and much more. I didn’t visit Centennial Park (there’s no Lincoln statue there anymore, remember), but did experience aboriginal culture and ventured out into the Blue Mountains. Of course, I also visited Sydney’s Aquarium. Absolutely beautiful.

Abraham Lincoln may be missing from Australia, but at least I got to experience much of the nation-continent. I also visited New Zealand. Given the distance and time necessary to make the trip, I may not get there again. That is, unless they find the Lincoln statue. Then I’m hopping a plane to see it.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

3 Comments

The Grandeur of Antelope Canyon

  By

The Grand Canyon gets all the press, but nearby and not to be missed is Antelope Canyon. With COVID-19 keeping most of us from any serious outdoors time, I decided to travel back in time to visit an old flame of sorts. Several years ago I arrived back in the Washington, DC area from my home in Brussels, then hopped a plane out to Las Vegas. After several days of losing money I loaded up a rental car for a road trip that took me to the Grand Canyon. The views were magnificent, both from the rim and the single prop airplane we took over the mighty gash. Then it was on to an inflatable raft and down the Colorado River from the Glen Canyon dam. I’ll have more on that later, as well as the continuing drive out to Bryce Canyon. This piece is about Antelope Canyon, another stop on the grand visit.

Antelope Canyon is actually two canyons, unimaginatively named the Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon. Both are on land belonging to the Navajo Nation tucked in between the famed Horseshoe Bend and Lake Powell, the man-made reservoir created by the Glen Canyon dam. Access is limited, and to my surprise, only possible since 1997. To visit, you need to make reservations with a tour group led by a Navajo guide. Our guide made the experience much more than simply walking through the tight slot canyon. He was able to give a sense of both the geological history of canyon formation and the cultural importance of the area to the Navajo people.

Unlike the Grand Canyon’s mighty river, Antelope Canyon is dry. Visitors snake through the narrow winding passages, more like tunnels than most people’s idea of a typical canyon. No water flows through and a soft sand lines the pathway. But it wasn’t always that way. The smooth yet striated canyon walls easily reveal the canyon’s origins. Over hundreds of years, flash flooding during the monsoon season picks up sand and, as it rushes through the tight curves of Navajo sandstone –  essentially, petrified sand dunes – abrades the canyon walls into their iconic flowing designs. The dryness of the passages are deceiving; sudden rains can quickly flood the canyon. Even rains that fall far away can be funneled into the canyons with little notice. Which is one of the reasons for the mandatory guided tours.

Antelope Canyon

Our guide carried a recorder-like musical instrument, whose haunting song he played at one point in the tour. He explained that Antelope Canyon is a sacred site to the Navajo, almost like entering a cathedral. We pause and collect a sense of reverence and respect for the place we are about to enter, and the Navajo people who are our hosts. From our guide we can’t help but feel uplifted by the power of nature and the harmony of the experience. To the Navajo, this is a spiritual experience. The effect was heightened by beams of sunlight radiating down from openings in the top of the otherwise seemingly enclosed canyon. I too felt awed.

As I travel the world I find it is these small places, the ones many people never see, that inspire me the most. At Antelope Canyon I was able to experience both the science and natural wonder of the place and the deeper meaning to the Native American populations who struggle to retain their cultural history in an often unforgiving world.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

No comments

Lincoln in Norway – Wiegers Calendar April

  By ,

Wiegers calendar AprilAbraham Lincoln seems to be everywhere in the world. In April of my monthly series, the David Wiegers calendar takes me back to Oslo, Norway, where Lincoln makes an appearance in Frogner Park.

Frogner Park includes an area many unofficially (and incorrectly) refer to as Vigeland Sculpture Park because of the more than 200 large sculptures by Gustav Vigeland in bronze, granite, and cast iron. For anyone who hasn’t experienced Vigeland’s work, you’ll be surprised, and perhaps even shocked, by the bizarreness of some of his statues. Favoring grotesquely caricatured nudes, Vigeland’s statues offer a variety of shapes, sizes, and attitudes of the human spirit. Many are of children, including The Angry Boy, a bronze statue that captures well the strife of the terrible twos (or maybe sevens). The vast majority of the sculptures are made of Iddefjord granite, including its most striking sculpture called The Monolith. A museum has more artwork and explanations of Vigeland’s creative process. Here’s some trivia – Vigeland also designed the medal given as the Nobel Peace Prize.

As with January’s Lincoln statue in Edinburgh, I feel foolish for not seeing the Lincoln statue in Oslo because I was there, and indeed spent quite a few hours roaming Frogner Park and the Vigeland statuary. Yet somehow I missed it. Apparently it stands just outside the park. Designed by Norwegian-American sculptor Paul Fjelde and donated in 1914 by the U.S. State of North Dakota, the large bronze bust of Lincoln sits on a granite pedestal flanked on either side by bronze tablets reading: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth” and “Presented to Norway by the people of North Dakota, U.S.A.”

While I missed Lincoln, my visit to Norway was heartwarming and inspirational. Several venues in Oslo brought out my science traveling side. The Viking Ship and Fram Museums highlight the long history of seaborne adventure in Norway. The Kon-Tiki Museum allowed me to relive my marine biology days and fascination with the Thor Heyerdahl’s thrilling adventues on both the Kon-Tiki and the Ra Expeditions. Downtown I got to tour the Nobel Peace Center where the aforementioned Nobel Peace Prize is awarded (I had also visited the Nobel Center in Stockholm, Sweden, where all the other Nobel Prizes are awarded).

Frogner Park Vigeland

A train to the western coast of Norway got me outside of Oslo, along with a side trip via a cog railway into the mountains and a boat trip through the fjords where hundreds of waterfalls from the precipices into the deep waters. The hills around Bergen offered a grand view of the coastline. There was even an aquarium in Bergen to add to my ever-expanding list.

In these days of COVID-19 quarantine, where travel is on perhaps long-term hold, these Wiegers calendar pages provide a chance to see Lincoln sculptures around the world while letting me reminisce about my previous travels. They also give me some ideas of places I want to see once the coronavirus that plagues the world has passed.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

2 Comments

Lincoln in Japan – Wiegers Calendar March

  By ,

Wiegers calendar MarchTravel has been curtailed for the near future due to coronavirus, so I remember my trip to Japan as I look at the March calendar photo from David Wiegers. You can click on these links to see the entries for January (Scotland) and February (Ecuador). March takes us to Asahikawa, Japan. The second largest city on Japan’s norther Hokkaido island, Asahikawa is about a two hour drive northeast of Sapporo. Mount Asahi looms further to the east, while downtown you can slurp the city’s signature ramen noodle soup.

Asahikawa also has a statue of Lincoln.

More than a statue, a full-sized Lincoln with his stove-pipe hat lounges casually on a park bench, his arm outstretched as he gazes the empty seat next to him in anticipation of passersby stopping to chat or tell stories. It might look familiar to you because it is a copy of the statue sitting in front of the McLean County History Museum in Bloomington, Illinois. Bloomington/Normal is a sister city with Asahikawa. The sculptor, Rick Harney, is a Normal resident who also has Lincoln sculptures in Pontiac and Danville, Illinois. The one in Asahikawa is his only one in Japan.

I had the privilege of seeing the statue in Bloomington during a visit with the Lincoln Group of DC a few years ago.

Bloomington Illinois

My whirlwind tour of Japan a few years ago took me to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, but not as far north as Hokkaido, although it’s on my list for the future. While in Japan I got to ride the Shinkansen bullet train (with a view of the bottom part of Mount Fuji; the top was shrouded in clouds), hike among the gates of the Inari Temple in Kyoto, check out the aquarium in Osaka, and checked out Tokyo’s nightlife in Shibuya and Shinjuku. Then there was the “conversation” I had with a dignified yet tipsy Japanese man on the Yamenote line around Tokyo.

Each month I get to be reminded of overseas travels and how Abraham Lincoln has been revered all over the world. Next month, like January, adds a frustration I’ve experienced several times – sometimes I don’t see the statue even though I was at the location. Stay tuned.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

No comments

Coronavirus and the Last Supper in Italy

  By

This week the news hit that the novel coronavirus that has plagued central China continued its expansion around the world, with the northern Italy Lombardy region the hardest hit. A friend in Venice posted a note saying her family opted to drive to the Italian Alps rather than take a chance flying in an incubation tube. I’m happy that my trip to Italy was several years ago and I have great memories.

Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region, which also encompasses Como and the lakes. My time in Milan was precious. Our arrival by train brought us into Duomo Station, not far from the intricate façade of Milan Cathedral, the largest church in Italy. As soon as we entered the square we were besieged by men giving out “free” colored thread wrist bands. Free in the sense that they tied them to your wrists for free before haranguing you for payment. Still, the square was lively and the cathedral magnificent. Between eating pasta near the Duomo and dinner on Via Dante, a pedestrian side street featuring international flags and a plethora of sidewalk cafes, we explored the Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle) and environs. As much as we enjoyed it, the next day in Milan provided the highlight.

After a morning roaming the new architecture of the Missori neighborhood, and the archeological ruins along Via Ticinese, we made our way to Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie with its famous convent. Entering the attached refectory at our ticketed time, we joined a small group waiting for entrance into a anteroom separated from the main hall by glass doors. These elaborate precautions are taken to limit the number of people – and more importantly, volume of warm air – allowed in the refectory at any given time. Inside we are given a scant fifteen minutes to view, and be awed, by Leonardo da Vinci’s pseudo-fresco masterpiece, The Last Supper.

The Last Supper

Perhaps the world’s most recognized painting (in competition with Da Vinci’s other masterpiece, the Mona Lisa), The Last Supper is even more amazing to see in person. Taking up one wall on the short end of a long ancient dining room, the painting depicts Jesus dining with his twelve apostles, moments after he says that one of them will betray him. This dramatic moment is perhaps exceeded only by the drama the mural has undergone during its over 500 year history. Surviving a bombing that destroyed much of the building during World War II, the delicate nature of fresco (or in this case, da Vinci’s modified version of fresco) has meant repeated damage and restoration. At one point a doorway was cut in the wall, chopping off the feet of Jesus and others originally seen under the table.

I’ve been to Rome several times, as well as Venice on a separate visit, but this trip offered me the greatest appreciation of the wonders of Italy. Taking trains between cities, I saw the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City; the Leaning Tower in Pisa; Michelangelo’s David, Brunelleschi’s Dome, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; the two towers of Bologna; and now The Last Supper in Milan.

As I read about the encroaching coronavirus in Italy, South Korea, and the world, I’m reminded that my travel schedule has been lessened in recent months. Perhaps it has been a good thing to stay home for a while, but hopes are that the current epidemic doesn’t turn into a pandemic and limit travel for much longer. My heart goes out to friends in China who have been sequestered by government order for many weeks, especially knowing how small most homes are there.

Italy will again be on my radar once I get back out into the travel world, as will the other two dozen “must-see” places I still haven’t seen. Until then, it’s write, write, write.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

 

2 Comments

Lincoln in Scotland – Wiegers Calendar January

  By ,

Wiegers calendar JanuaryDavid Wiegers is a photographer. He is also an Abraham Lincoln fan. He has combined those two interests into a calendar featuring photos of Lincoln statues from around the world. January is the statue in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This particular statue represents one of those “argh” moments for me. I was in Edinburgh and yet didn’t see the statue. And when I say I was “in” Edinburgh, I don’t just mean for a few days on vacation – I actually lived there for three months in the summer of 2005. The company I worked for at the time had an office in Edinburgh. As manager of the Washington DC office I had the opportunity to work out of the Edinburgh office for that summer (which I’m told was the sunniest summer they had had in a decade, and that’s all I’m going to say about that). I lived in an apartment about a mile or two away from the center of town, so although the actual work facility was a drive in the opposite direction, I did hike downtown fairly often.

On one such foray I walked up to the top of Calton Hill, one of seven in the city. What I didn’t know at the time was that right across the street was Old Calton Burial Ground. And that is where the Lincoln statue stands.

Old Calton Burial Ground

 

When I found out years later I had missed the statue I was, let’s say, more than a little disappointed. I had literally been steps from it without noticing. Worse, that was the first summer I had finally ditched my old 35-mm film SLR and purchased a digital SLR, only to have most of my photos lost in a once-in-a-lifetime comedy-of-errors involving my computer and all of my layered backup options. [A story for another time]

Which means I need to get back to Edinburgh.

Luckily, David Wiegers has been there and has photographed the statue. Seeing it in the very first photo of his calendar brings back both good and bad memories of my brief life in Edinburgh.

Wiegers Calendar January

So why is there a Lincoln statue in Scotland? Because of the six Scottish men who fought on behalf of the Union during the American Civil War. The names of those men are etched into the large dual-figure monument erected in 1893. The lower figure represents an enslaved man being released from shackles at the feet of Lincoln. A bronze shield bears the flag of the time, with thistles to the left and cotton to the right. Two regimental flags complete the grouping.

As I flip through the calendar I see many places that I’ve visited and realize that I missed Lincoln in a few of them. Each month I’ll write one of these posts featuring David’s calendar photo and my own story associated with the statue and/or location. One thing is sure – I’m getting many more ideas for future Chasing Abraham Lincoln tours.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

Check out my Goodreads author page. While you’re at it, “Like” my Facebook author page for more updates!

Photo credits: Two calendar photos are my photos of David Wiegers calendar photo; Old Calton Burial Ground photo by Kim Traynor – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17821287.