Well, I recently returned from a great mini-trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada. Niagara, particularly the Canadian side, is certainly impressive, and I believe it deserves its third place ranking on my list of photogenic waterfalls (after Iguazu Falls in Brazil/Argentina and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe/Zambia). Niagara was probably the world's first tourist trap town, and it remains the height of crass commercialism, but I guess that's okay if one expects it. The falls are lit up in the evening with the colors of a rainbow.
Toronto is a great city! Imagine a cleaner, safer version of New York City, but with nearly as much depth of character. It has a great mixture of ethnic neighborhoods each with a lively street atmosphere. I visited a friend, Jim Bolton, with whom I traveled in Namibia, and took in the attractions, including a Blue Jays baseball game at the Skydome, improvisational comedy at Second City, and a view from the world's highest structure, the CN Tower (at the equivalent of 147 floors).
On the way back, at a Greyhound bus station in Buffalo, I met some young backpacking travelers from the Czech Republic, whom I invited to stay at my home for a few days. I've received such spontaneous hospitality from folks in various countries, and I enjoy opportunities to provide the same here. They were great guests and really seemed to enjoy D.C.
My summer has been pleasant, though mostly uneventful since my return from Minnesota in early June. I had a nice visit from a Brazilian friend for several days. Since then, I've not done much special. July 4th was spent with 400,000 other folks, as usual, watching the fireworks. I also enjoyed watching the National Symphony Orchestra which provided musical accompaniment for the fireworks. Colonial Williamsburg made a great day trip by Amtrak. Other than that, I've been out bicycling and occasionally attending a movie or a musical performance (Neil Young, Blues Traveler, David Wilcox, etc.). By the way, I'd recommend the movie "Contact" to most of you folks.
On the agenda for later this year is a trip to Venezuela.
There are several big news items about some of my friends:
-- Hatem and Kathy Mostafa have moved from San Diego to Boise, Idaho.
-- Igor and Alla Kosov are moving from Ukraine to Israel.
-- Tim Malloy has a German lady friend about whom he sounds more serious
regarding marriage than I've heard him before. Stay tuned.
Please, drop a line to bring me up to date on your news. You can contact me by clicking on this E-mail address: doman@tidalwave.net
Best wishes to all,
Deano
