Saudi Arabia

It all started with an ad in The New York Times, offering a tour of Saudi Arabia under the umbrella of the newspaper. That sounded safe and comprehensive. Karen and I signed up, only to learn several months later that the trip had been cancelled due to insufficient interest and safety issues in Saudi Arabia.

We were not to be denied and changed our plans to go to Dubai and India. I had been to Dubai several years earlier as part of a public health mission to Ethiopia. So the visible wealth of the city was less of a surprise to me, but Karen was very taken with the new hotels and restaurants and the beautiful city.

We had a spectacular lunch at the Aloha G, a world-famous restaurant shaped like a sailboat, with a landing strip on the roof so helicopters could come and go. The fast elevator took us to the top floor, and we emerged into a very beautiful, sophisticated interior. From this vantage point, we could look out over the waterfront, which was undergoing major public infrastructure development, with roads and water systems for the artificial islands residential communities.

We stayed in a modern hotel and shopped in a deluxe mall, where you could buy all kinds of expensive jewelry and watches. You could also buy silver and gold bars. Yeah, it was money looking for commerce.

The museum, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, had been buying major artworks, converting their oil money into fine paintings, which they hoped would make it become a tourist attraction like the Louvre in Paris. I got to see a Rembrandt just acquired for an incredible sum at auction. (See photo above.)

While Dubai is the first of the major Arab oil cities to rise, others are in the works, but they have all been suffering major setbacks with loss of commerce, tourism, and the many people who have left.

England 1962 

My first travel experience found me in London chasing another romance from the previous summer, Jeanette.

I had picked up Jeanette at MOMA. She was a knockout! Beautiful, black hair, light blue eyes, and a great figure. She claimed to have been Miss London in the past. Surprisingly she was an Orthodox Jew attending the London School of Economics, and required me to attend Temple with her on Yom Kippur while we were dating. In the fall, she stayed on expecting to spend the year with me, however, medical school started and that came first, so she went back to London. I promised to spend the next summer in London, and I managed to get a research grant to Saint Thomas hospital. Sadly, the romance with Jeanette quickly failed as she had gained weight and seemed not so exotic anymore in London.

During my time at Saint Thomas hospital, which was across from the parliament buildings, I conducted hyperbaric research and became roommates with the godson of Lord Beveridge. After visiting Lord Beveridge in Northumberland the summer of 1962, I hitchhiked to Oban, and took a ferry to the island of Mull. It had old ruins and sheep wandering the island but really very little else, it was part of the Hebrides. The story gets interesting on the return...

There’s a single road that I had hitchhiked through on a milk truck, and anytime you encountered oncoming traffic you have to wait in what’s called a layby, all of which delayed me so much that by the time I got to the ferry it had gone. I wanted to proceed on my journey and learned that a mail boat was going out to intercept the ferry midway. I got a lift to the mailboat and was onboard when it caught the ferry. I thought I was home free until I got off the boat in Tobermory. There the police arrested me suspecting me of bringing illegal material into Scotland because I boarded the ferry at sea. I was finally cleared and allowed to go on my journey. I think I had a local adventure that night!

Ethiopia

While I was in Ethiopia, I was following the history of the Ten Commandments, which had been brought from Israel to Ethiopia for safekeeping by King Solomon's son, Menelik, 1,000 Years B.C. They were stored in a monastery on an island in the middle of Lake Tana.

At the edge of the lake, I stopped a fisherman and asked him if he could take me out to the monastery. He agreed. He was an exceptionally good-looking young man, as are many Ethiopians.

As we chatted in the boat, I noticed that his English was excellent. I asked him how he learned how to speak so well, and he said his girlfriend was American and was studying medicine at Yale Medical School. I thought he was putting me on.

While we were travelling to the island, his cellphone rang and guess who was calling...his girlfriend! I verified that, in fact, that's who it was and where she was and absolutely marvelled at the coincidence.

I did not find the Ten Commandments, but I did follow this beautiful, young couple in America. He came over, they married, and had a child.

This was one of the most extraordinary incidents In my colorful life.

Israel

My second trip to Israel was with Karen on one of our honeymoon holidays. I had been invited by a fellow nuclear medicine practitioner, Dr Jack Barone, who headed up several clinics in Israel and wanted to show me his programs. He was also interested in learning more about my concept of the people of Israel being affected by lithium. During my first visit there, I was struck by how unafraid the people were, despite being surrounded by enemies.

My proposal to the Israeli army was that since the water in the Dead Sea was mined for lithium, it probably came down the Jordan River to its source, which is in the mountains of Lebanon. The government agreed to let me explore that concept. They provided me with a Jeep and driver, and I set out to collect samples along the river. While we confirmed the presence of lithium, it did not exceed the guidelines, so no further action was taken.

I attempted to teach some newer techniques in nuclear medicine at Barone’s clinics. He had assigned one of his daughters to teach us Hebrew. Karen proved to be a much better student than I was.

We lived in a small bungalow in a kibbutz in Afula. And it was a relaxing, peaceful time.

Liberia

During my senior year I had an opportunity to go to Liberia as part of a tropical medicine course. It was taught by Stooly Brown, a world famous tropical medicine professor who teaches around the world. His fame created the opportunity for a few of his students to go to the Firestone rubber companies rubber plantation in Liberia. I was fortunate to be selected and had a fascinating trip.

Two other classmates arranged for similar experiences in different locations. We traveled together from Portugal to Jordan and then onto Egypt after striking a friendship with some Jesuit students who had just returned from Egypt and advised us how to change money in that corrupt country. In Egypt, we went to the Cairo museum, and then onto the pyramids. Of course back then you were still allowed to climb, and I climbed the largest one up to the top. To my surprise I found inscribed on the uppermost stone something that looks like a checkerboard. The way down was harder than the way up since the blocks of stone were large enough that a miscalculation would have resulted in a very dangerous fall.

From Cairo we flew to Kano, Nigeria, a Town on the edge of the Sahara Desert as it merges with more typical Africa. I arranged to stay at a Christian mission and then set out by bike to discover the market place and do some shopping. On the way I was greeted by very enthusiastic natives calling out “Elhadji”. I had no idea what that meant but that kept up for the whole day.

When I got back to the mission, they informed me that the white souvenir had her scarf with red embroidery signifying that I had been to Mecca. Hence, the respect shown to my scarf made for a pleasant day. I bought a few souvenirs and we still have a blanket upstairs made of camel hair, which will last forever because we don’t use it. From Kano I had a very memorable trip on a mammy wagon, these are trucks that just take on passengers along the way, and that got me to the capital of Nigeria for more shopping in Lagos, a very crowded and relatively large African city. I stopped in Ghana on the way to Monrovia, Liberia where I completed my trip.

Later, I proceeded by mammy wagon to the Firestone rubber plantation where I was enthusiastically welcomed and given a lovely room in the hospital which I shared with one of my classmates who was also taking this option. Sadly, he took advantage of the situation to do almost nothing, while one group worked at a missionary hospital and the other group cared for leprosy natives. I took mammy wagons to the missionary hospital and leper colony where they worked. The hospital allowed me to use an old Dodge auto and I managed to navigate bumpy dusty red roads to experience these places.

During the three months there, I helped in an amazing amount of surgery finally doing a C-section myself and reduced large thyroid goiter. Time here was a extraordinary personal experience with many anecdotes for another time.

Machu Picchu

I was reminded of another trip that was part of our honeymoon package to Machu Picchu with me a top Hyan Pichu.

Israel

Then of course there were the Three Trips to Israel. The first a month after our marriage one of our honeymoon trips where we lived in cabbutze in the AFula mentioned earlier and a important trip when the children were at the Hopkins school which organized a trip to Israel and Karen and I became the responsible parents. Our guide for the week we nicknamed a turbo herb because he was in perpetual motion and taught us a lot and took us around most of Israel. Notable moments were David coming back from a night on the town with pierced ears and Sarah so absorbed in the Holocaust Museum material that she remained hours after we left. Of course there were visits to The monster duh no accessible by a tram car. My first visit years before required climbing the original goat path. A difficult climb during the hot sun at the Dead Sea. When I did this climb during my first visit to Israel I was smart enough to stick my T-shirt in water before the climb. (In sandals) It was dry at the top.

Cars

I always liked convertible sports cars and after the green Corvette I replaced it with a silver Corvette purchase by me in New Haven. This was a wonderful car with a 350 hp engine and folding headlights. Unfortunately a tree fell on it in my driveway during a hurricane.

With good insurance coverage, I had it rebuilt and repainted it gold. After three years at Yale, I was eligible for a 3 month sabbatical. I arranged to do this at Stanford in California. I put an ad in the New York Times seeking someone to drive my car to California. He turned out to be a black musician who promised to bring my car to Stanford at an agreed-upon date. He looked a lot like Sammy Davis Junior and had this huge bass guitar which he placed in the passenger seat. I flew to California and nervously awaited his arrival. I got very nervous when he did not arrive on the appointed date but he called that night and assured me that everything was all right and that he’d be there the next day. When he arrived he told me stories about how he was received in the Midwest. A black man driving a gold Corvette with a large bass guitar in the front seat. It was quite a sight, but it worked out fine.

Stanford

At Stanford I worked with professor Joe Kris in the nuclear medicine section. I was well received, found interesting research, and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Stanford was a beautiful university well designed so the medical school interacted with the rest of the university and the private sector which became Silicon Valley.

Lunch was an intellectual treat with lively discussions with various faculty members. I worked with cardiologists to develop nuclear medicine methods of evaluating heart disease, especially a mathematical interpretation of an isotope bolus as it transversed the heart. I continued this research back at Yale with Andrew Dwyer a medical student burdened by a neurological condition but an excellent mathematician. We republished our results and were pioneers in the emerging subspecialty of nuclear cardiology. He went on to become one of the editors of the prestigious Journal of radiology. I went on to private practice and created the radiology department at the Temple medical center. My most significant contribution to New Haven and radiology.

Iran

While in Israel, Dr. Barone along with the Israeli nuclear company, El Scint, arranged for me to visit medical facilities in Iran.

We were met at the airport in Tehran in the middle of the night by our host, and spent several days there. Most memorable was the traffic. There were no street lights, and intersections were roundabouts that were pretty much a game of chicken. We shopped and Karen bought some nice souvenirs.

I was taken by my host to a major Mosque in nearby Mashhad. I was made to feel that there was some danger in my entry doing this, and they dressed me up in a big coat and taught me a few Iranian phrases in Iranian words to say as we entered. We were scrutinized upon entry, but the visit was fascinating. I believe it was during the time of Ramadan or some holiday and there were large numbers of worshipers in one room flagellating themselves lightly with chains. A riveting memory!

Karen managed to twist her ankle stepping off a high curb and our hosts showed concern, but it turned out not to be a serious injury. We flew on from Tehran to Is Farhan, a soft strikingly beautiful and peaceful city with parks and statues revering the great poets of the country.

Next on our trip was Shiraz, a major academic center in which I was to deliver a speech at a medical grand rounds. I was impressed that the speaker before me was a professor from Columbia who I knew, and I spoke of new technical developments in nuclear medicine. Thereafter, more shopping with purchases of some antique copper utensils ensued.

From Shiraz another midnight flight to Delhi, India. The taxi ride from the airport passed through rural scenes of people and animals doing their morning chores. Delhi was a big crowded major city from which we visited the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and other tourist sites.

Our next stop was to Nepal starting in Kathmandu. Upon arrival, we learned that a new king was to be installed, and the town was cleaned and decorated for the celebration, including jewelry decorated elephants in the street. As a result, all the good hotels were booked with foreign dignitaries, and we found ourselves in a poor part of town, I actually think the street was named Queer Street. It was important to get proper food for Karen who was in her fourth month of pregnancy. Her diet was mainly hard-boiled eggs. Our host arranged for us to visit and dine with an upper class family and the food was wonderful. Karen felt well and bought herself a lovely fur trimmed jacket. We later learned the fur was from an endangered species.

Our next stop was another midnight flight to Bangkok, where we were met and entertained by a host family related to my friend Jim. We visited the extraordinary temples of an earlier time linked together by a functional canal system. The architecture and sculptures were extraordinary. It was hard to believe all this was done by hand labor and skilled architects and engineers. It is claimed that there are over 40 thousand temples all built without machines. Amazing and beautiful, the power of religion.

Transcontinental Passage - The Northwest Passage that Franklin Pioneered

Several years ago, as a result of global warming, a waterway just below the Arctic circle opened up. I couldn’t resist the temptation to sign up for passage on a Russian icebreaker attempting to cross the partially frozen passageway, just below the Arctic Circle.

The trip began on a chartered flight from Ottawa Canada ( a very interesting capital) from the Bloomberg headquarters in New York to an abandoned World War II airport in Greenland. From there, we boarded the Russian icebreaker which had been rented by this travel company for the passage.

On the flight to Greenland, my seat neighbor indicated he was a photographer for the New York Times to cover the passage. There were many other Europeans also representing interesting publications onboard. Initially the captain said departure would be delayed and possibly canceled because the ice conditions were not favorable for a passage. However, the next day was better weather and we went on our excursion.

The passage through Davis Straits was unremarkable, and our destination, Indian island, was feasible. I had the good fortune to meet and befriend a young Eskimo woman also assigned to report on the trip. The Eskimo inhabitants of this large island were having a get together which we joined after the walk to the meeting house. Passing through the community on a dirt road with some winter sleds sitting on the lawn, I purchased a small souvenir, and explored the details of our proposed passage. We were following the earlier path of an English explorer named Franklin who set out with a very well equipped group, but I was lost, frozen, and broken up by the harsh winter.

A few crew managed to walk out to civilization with Hair raising tales of starvation, cannibalism and heroism. The previous year they had discovered his sunken wreck along our passage. Midway to the Pacific, there was an outpost which we docked and were taken to a chartered plane which returned us to civilization. It was a spectacular experience.

New Orleans to Mexico

At the end of my residency, there was a national radiology meeting in New Orleans, at which I presented a patented method of radio therapy planning once again obsoleted by the computer. In those days you could also include radiotherapy training in your residency. I did and was boarded in therapy as well as diagnosis.

From New Orleans I flew to the Cancun area of Mexico to visit the Inca ruins of Chichen Itza and Palenque, and then on to Mexico City to see the Olympic games. On the way I had some memorable experiences including an offshore visit to a sea turtle sanctuary with an American girl I met on a remote beach on Isla Mujeres accessible only by sea plane or beach landing. I returned about 30 years later with my family, and found it developed and now accessible by boat tours.

Mexico City was crowded, I found wonderful museum with a fascinating history, despite the unfavorable building problems. I located the stadium for the Olympics and bought a discounted ticket from a scalper. The opening ceremony was incredible. Each country paraded into the stadium, displaying their country’s uniform. The United States delegation was particularly large and was greeted with a combination of boos and cheers.

I sought out the rowing competition in part because I was rowing myself on our river and I had met a lovely Dutch family, whose son was competing. I sat with them and it enhanced the intensity of competition. I returned to the stadium to watch some races, the most memorable was the 4 x 100 relay won by the Americans, who subsequently upon receiving the metal held up black gloved fists as an expression, the black power.

I went on boarding a local bus to an archaeological site that was just being excavated called Palenque . Among the artifacts discovered was a large stone carved tablet thought to show a a rocket with an astronaut award. I didn’t agree with that interpretation.

I traveled back to Mexico City for a flight to New York to prepare for my internship in Denver. I put a notice on the Columbia bulletin board soliciting passengers. I got one call from a gal graduating from Smith who is going to Colorado near Denver. We agreed I would pick her up in New Jersey the following week. Gail was a 6 foot-tall attractive gal, with only a guitar and a pocketbook by Ferlin Getty. She proved herself to be smart and pleasant and we enjoyed our conversation, stopping near Chicago to visit some sand dunes, and then Preston. At nightfall, we stopped at a motel and took one room. She was a virgin and we agreed to just cuddle through the night, it was wonderful. She was headed for a job in Estes Park Colorado and I dropped her off and proceeded to the Colorado medical school hospital. There they told me there was no more room in the interns quarters, and I should find a place on my own and they would reimburse me.

They solved the problem by renting an empty fraternity house, and I lived quite comfortably. Following the advice of the chairman’s secretary, I joined two other interns in another house that was rented for the entire academic year.

Both of my new roommates were also medical interns. We endured the difficult year together, each finding a girlfriend along the way. At the end of the internship, Joan and I flew to Acapulco.. I took a side trip to Tesco known for its silver mine and jewelry. I bought something for Joan. Among my patients, was a gentleman with disseminated small pox. He needed to be flown back to New York for special care. He needed a doctor to travel with him so naturally, I volunteered.

Since my residency didn’t begin until October, I had the summer off. I I tried to get a job as a ship doctor thinking “love boat” but only landed an offer on a freighter to South America. They had a 20 member crew and a half dozen paying guests. I instead took a job in the Catskills replacing Dr Small who had been admitted with a severe heart attack. His office in Woodburn New York would be my summer job. The town Lawyer drove to Albany to get me a quickie New York medical license and they persuaded the people living above the medical office to move out for the summer, I was all set. The doctors ‘s wife was my secretary and receptionist and showed me how to run the office. I was on call 24/7.

The summer population was mostly from New York City. There was a Jewish girls camp who decided a Young doctor driving a Corvette was not what they wanted for their girls. On the other hand, there were women in the community very much wanted a young Jewish doctor. Among the patients was a camp for deaf boys, one of whom came to my office in the evening with blood, running down his face from a deep cut in his head that required sutures. With the help of four adults holding this 10-year-old down, I was able to sew up this terrified young man’s wound.

Travel with Friends

Among my old Mount Vernon friends is Linda Taft, a high school pal who remained in contact even after she married Jason Litton, and the four of us got along so well we traveled with them to the Galapagos, the Antarctic, and a sailboat to charter off the coast of Turkey beginning in Cos Since. We chartered this boat with the captain, I was relieved of the responsibility of the trip. However I did not see eye to eye with all of the captains decisions. These were finally mediated by Hugh, one of our friends and crew, who was a pilot by profession and pulled me aside and said whatever the captain says goes and so that was that. I did persuade him to sail to an island where one of the early Christian saints had gone into retreat and generated important text while hiding there.

The Corinthian

Having traveled on the Corinthian, we are on their mailing list and they sent us a brochure indicating a trip to the Amazon described as an incredible 2000-mile voyage between the Atlantic and the Peruvian rainforest. We got onboard in Baum, which is close to the Atlantic, and spent a few days at port before setting sail. There I recall the huge mangos that kept falling down about the size of our coconuts, they were all along the streets and the cars took a terrible beating.

We set sail upstream seeing lots of birds, fish, and even pink porpoises. Our next port of call was Manaus, where two major tributaries of the of the Amazon come together. Incredibly the tide level changes about 50 feet, so when you got to the dock and saw the ramp it was quite a site. Here at the merging of the Rio Solimoes and the clear dark waters of the Rio Negro is a former Boomtown, whose fortune were made from the export of rubber in the late 19th century. 100 years or so ago in an effort to attract people to this new city, they had an opera house built, and managed to persuade some high-level singers to put on performances. The opera house was built in the Italian Renaissance style in 1896, which was unlike anything we saw on the rest of the trip.

We continued on Iquitos, a rustic Peruvian city with local housing on 20-foot stilts to deal with flooding. We bought a few souvenirs there and visited an archaeological museum with wonderful ancient gold and ceramic art artifacts depicting graphic erotic interactions. Karen pretended she didn’t like it… I thought it was great!

From there we went onto Lima, which was capital of Peru at the time. More tourists, more museums, and more ceramic artifacts. From Lima, we flew back to New York, trying to digest all that we had seen. In summary, we saw a lot of South America from the point of view of the Brazilian jungle. Surprisingly, we never did see a jaguar, there were lots of birds and fish, but very few mammals.

Quebec City and the Erie Canal

Among the hundred or so members at the Sea Club, our Florida residence, there are several Canadians from Quebec City. Their description of this city was so interesting that when we came upon a tour of the St. Lawrence seaway we had to go. The tour would bring us to that region and then return us to New York City via the Erie Canal.

We flew to Montreal and booked passage on a tour boat which took us to the St. Lawrence Seaway and the closest port to Quebec City. The day in Montreal allowed us to visit their spectacular catholic cathedral and experience the dynamic mix of immigrants growing Canada into a great nation similar to the USA.

The Erie Canal started at the Banks of Lake Erie and was dug all the way down to New York City in order to connect the commerce of the agriculture of the mid-west to the commerce of the NYC. This was an enormous undertaking and one of the engineering marvels of its time. For me for me the highlight was a stop at Cooperstown, the home of the baseball Hall of Fame, a passion of mine during my adolescence. I was rooting for Dem Bums and Jackie Robinson, highlighted by the World Series rivalry between the Dodgers and the Yankees. It was a great era to be growing up in New York and Cooperstown did a good job recording the era with, important artifacts of the day.

From there we pressed on through a series of locks to the Hudson River, stopping at the Roosevelt Estate and West Point. Arriving by boat to New York at night was spectacular. After passing the city, we went around the Statue of Liberty and proceeded to our dockage on the west side of Manhattan. The trip through the heartland of New York State by canal boat gave great appreciation for the development of our great country, an impressive time during which immigrants transformed the rough native America into the cohesive force we enjoy today.

My Sailboats

The Free Robin, a 41 foot Morgan catch, was the only boat I purchased new. It cost about $140,000 which was beyond my reach, but a medical colleague, Dr. Frank Robinson, agreed to partner with me. We bought it and tied up at my dock outside my Branford home. The boat served us very well during our trips on the Long Island Sound and the East Coast from Washington D.C. to Martha’s Vineyard.

Dr. Robinson, who is about 10 years older than I, finally reached a point where he said he was too old to Sail. He asked me to buy him out, which I did with the help of my dad. Dad and I had some wonderful sailing times together from my childhood in Greenwood Lake, to a Dutch boat anchored off the Mamaroneck Beach club, and then onto my favorite, the Begerra, a 32-foot ketch with front and rear cabins. Ideal for my Growing family at the time, the kids piled into the back cabin and Karen and I slept up front. We explored the entire Long Island sound. An amusing requirement was that if any of the children were to leave the cockpit area and go forward on the deck, they had to formally come to me, salute me and say “captain requesting permission to, go forward.

A few years later, a former colleague physicist at Yale who lived on the same river, asked if I would like to partner with him and could he keep the boat at my house. His wife managed to find us a used Pearson 38 sloop which we enjoyed for a few years together. George moved on and we sold the boat. During that partnership, we would enter the Branford Wednesday night sailing races. We would drink beer and marvel at the boats that we were competing with. They had brand new carbon fiber sails and experienced crew, so needless to say we never were contenders but we had a great time.

My son David’s best friend Cricket was graduating and considering an application to Connecticut college on the Thames River, which was accessible by boat. We sailed up with Cricket and checked it out. I felt confident enough to take the train back from New London to Branford and leave David in charge. When Cricket’s parents heard that they were very unhappy. Nevertheless, I knew my son, and they did a good job getting the boat home without incident.

Another solo trip that David made was over to Port Jefferson with friends, and unfortunately a storm came up. It was severe enough to tear the Genoa, and from my conversation with the other sailors of the day who turned around and headed for shore, it took a good bit of seamanship to get from Branford to Port Jefferson.

I am pleased to report that my son David, now a tenured professor of neuroscience at the University of Chicago, has kept up his interest in boats. His wife’s sister’s husband is an executive at a powerboat company and David trades boats every year. His newest is about 35 feet with a bathroom, and they sail from New Buffalo, Michigan.

My youngest Sarah, a medical physician, is very environmental and prefers boating in canoes, which we also kept at the dock. A favorite story during her adolescence was while out together. I said, “Sarah I’m concerned about what would happen if I fell over and you had to manage the boat and I suggest we rehearse a solution.” So I threw a life preserver overboard and said let’s pretend that’s me, you take the helm and bring the boat up alongside the life jacket, and the use the main sail winch to pull me up with the line. Sarah now lives in Massachusetts very close to the Connecticut river, and has my wedding gift, a blue fiberglass canoe, to enjoy with her wife on the river.

My middle child, Julia, lives in Washington just north of Seattle and is part of a rowing club. She is a physical therapist, strong and athletic and enjoys challenges.

At 88 my boating days are largely over, although we still have our home on the river with a large inviting dock, and from time to time I make it out in my inflatable dinghy. Karen and I still love to travel and despite the fact that my balance is too bad to handle a boat and I often resort to a walker or scooter to get around. We find that we can still travel on Cruise ships with an elevator and have gone to the Bahamas and Victoria Canada.

LITHUANIA

About 10 years ago Karen discovered a trip to the Baltic countries sponsored by Yale. We flew to Finland and took a ferry to. Estonia. In Lithuania We hired a separate guide to take us To Dad town “Lin Kuva“ and we found the house that my father left.

From an internet photo of the town, Dad located his synagogue ( see photo), and drew a map showing the location of his house, his well and cow barn and outhouse

All original Jews in Lin Kuva had been murdered or had managed to leave we were shown the field and and site where they had been slaughtered . graveyard shown here is a sample . The temple scene is from Budapest . Prague was among other Judaic sites that we had visited on our trip. The trip was another brilliant idea of Karen’s. And now in our retirement, she manages our life and I marvel at my good Fortune to share my life with her. I had no idea when I proposed to her in Kenya what a truly extraordinary woman she has been another illumination in my life.

Travels Overview

These few stories only that scratch the surface of the last 50 years and probably 50 countries we have visited.

There isn’t enough space here to cover our travel experiences and I plan to write the trips in another book. We were fortunate to have traveled during the last 50 years when the world was by safer and less infectious place. Several notable medical events included a 4 month trip around the world trip while Karen was pregnant spending two months in Israel. Then a week lecturing in Iran then on to to India, then a lecture in Bangkok Thailand. We then on to Hong Kong and Hawaii .Karen was hospitalized with false labor during our I month at a friends home in San Francisco. We got home just in time for Karen to go to bed And deliver our son ( now 45 and professor of neuroscience at university of Chicago) Karen is a plukey gal. On another trip Karen was hospitalized for heart arrhythmia. in India. Then there was the time she broke her ankle just before we got on an Amazon boat journey to the upper Amazon. We got her a scoot. This gal is pluckey!

For the record let me list the countries that I can remember. We have been to all continents and above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic circle.

Starting with the Caribbean we have visited Puerto Rico, British Islands, St. Thomas, St. John, Saint Croix, also Tortola and Calibre. We have been on several Caribbean cruises which including the sailing ship the Sea Cloud. Our rental 38 ft catamaran from St Croix visited Venezuela Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Isla Mujeres. We crossed the fearsome Drake Passsge. from Ushuaia. Of course we got engaged in Kenya and I worked as a doctor in Liberia and Ethiopia.

Been to Egypt two times, once was on the millennium New year with my entire family at the pyramids. Nigeria, was the whole family Ghana Ivory Coast. Liberia. Guinea, Senegal, Rocco, Libpress, Dubai, United Arab Republic, Cyprus. Moving on to Asia, India, China, Formosa, and a bunch of others colluding the Galapagos, Japan, Canada, Arctic, Greenland, Liberia, Nova Scotia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Australia, Canada, Thailand. Undoubtedly I’ve missed some…

Antarctica

In August 2015 we met with a sailing friend, Peter Solomon, who also lives in Connecticut on Long Island sound with a dock that could accommodate our Morgan 41 sailboat. We had sailed with him in the Caribbean and enjoyed a week at his home on St. John with short trips to the nearby islands. During the day he was working with their travel agent who offered a discount if we could get the group up to 10. I was surprised how easy it was to recruit other friends for the trip. We had the opportunity to recruit the Anderson’s on that trip to the Antarctic, and Peter‘s friends included the Rosenthal‘s.

The fist leg of the journey was to South America, stopping at a ranch near Buenos Aires. We took a tango lesson with the Anderson‘s and then onto Ushuaia were we boarded the Corinthian, which is the vessel that would take us to the Antarctic. We flew to South America directly into Argentina then picked up a flight to Ushuaia to board the Corinthian, a boat we had traveled on before. We had a two bed cabin, which was very comfortable. We prepared ourselves for the next day, which was the crossing of the infamous Drake‘s passage where the Atlantic and Pacific Waters rushed around the tip of South America, causing turbulence, and depending on the weather, very large waves reaching around 10 to 15 feet. The cruise preparation was to distribute vomit bags around various parts of the ship. The bags were placed along the rail in anticipation of a rough passage which never materialized. I would judge the waves, never to be more than 6 feet, which was very calm for this area. After we reached calmer water, we motored until we reached a small harbor past the string of islands off the tip of Antarctica.

It was not hard to find penguins once we landed… The smell of their excrement, guana, filled the air reassuring us that they were nearby and quite fearlessly allowing us to get close. A word about penguin nests, the hard rocky ground is favored for a nest site. The nest were created by piling small stones in a circle, and putting a few feathers and grasses at the bottom. The Penguins compete for these small stones because there are not that many available and it’s not uncommon to see a penguin steal stones from another nest.

There were other relics left by earlier explorers including the unsuccessful attempt by the crew of the first Shackleton Expedition. There are several books and accounts of the heroics which finally returned the entire crew without loss of life. Shackleton is credited for the leadership and knowledge that saved the entire crew. What a great experience!