December 5, 2023 • 39 mins
We're celebrating our 100th episode with a two-part series! We've handpicked favorites from past guests, in this double-sized episode with tales from every corner of the globe.
Guest's travel memories include: an encounter on the pilgrimage along Spain's Camino de Santiago; wildlife sightings in Yellowstone National Park; a serendipitous mishap in the Norwegian fjords; and the transformational tale of Meg Daly, whose bike accident sparked a revolution in Miami. We'll also travel to awe-inspiring destinations, experiencing the beauty of the Northern Lights in Alaska, and paying homage to the solemnity of World War cemeteries in Belgium and France. We're not just sharing stories; we're exploring the unique ways these experiences have shaped the lives of our guests.
We take you to Ohio's Duck Tape Festival, share a climber's experience of summiting Mount Everest, and unearth the mysteries of an archaeological dig in France. We’ll also share an emotional visit to a Holocaust survivor's hiding place in Poland. To close out this special episode, we'll recount my voyage through a pirate zone in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa. Whether it's the bizarre, the beautiful, or the downright scary, we're celebrating the transformative power of travel and the universal nature of shared experiences. (And Part Two, coming next, will offer more!)
Suggestion: Take down the episode numbers of any of the tales you especially enjoy, to hear the full stories.
_____
Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and 'one of the top 100 Indie books of the year). She has contributed to many guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
Contact Lea- she loves hearing from you! @lealane on Twitter; PlacesIRememberLeaLane on Insta; Places I Remember with Lea Lane on Facebook; Website: placesirememberlealane.com.
New episodes drop every other Tuesday, wherever you listen. Please consider sharing, following, rating and reviewing this award-winning travel podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lea Lane (00:01):
On Places I Remember.
we offer travel memories, andto celebrate our 100th episode,
we've created a double-sized,two-part compilation of some of
the most special memories thatour guests have offered on our
podcast, going back to 2021 upto the present.
We've chosen some of thefunniest, most moving and
meaningful memories celebratingus and you, and if you like an
(00:23):
example, go to that numberedepisode and listen to the rest.
Here's the first of the twosections of our best memories
from Places I Remember episode99, enjoy.
In episode two, a former NewOrleans Mardi Gras Queen
(00:43):
remembers a charming connectionthat changed her life.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
There are a million carnival balls here and you have
the social ones, the debutantsare in, then you have that's
maybe 15, but the rest of themevery different group in the
city has its own carnival ball.
Some are men's crews and someare women's and some are
mixtures.
And I was queen of two balls,one when I was in college, and
that was where your family youknow if your family has some
(01:10):
connection somebody in collegeis queen and a member of the
ball who's much older is theking.
But when I was 13, I was queenof something called the
Children's Carnival Club that mygrandmother helped found with
two other women.
My king was 12.
So we were 12 and 13, veryprecocious age.
He wore a blonde page boy wigand white tights underneath his
(01:35):
tunic and I think he hadelevator shoes on, because I was
12 at the time and I had aponytail through my crown in the
back.
And what's really interestingabout this is that the
organization is almost 100 yearsold now and we are the only
king and queen to ever getmarried, and we married in our
mid 30s.
(01:56):
Oh my goodness, you're the kingof the world Does he still have
a blonde page boy and I don'tknow.
(He's gray and sort of goingaway now.
Lea Lane (02:07):
On episode four, a pilgrim walking on the Camino de
Santiago in northern Spainremembers others she met along
the route.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I remember the biker who I kept passing and he kept
passing me when I was walking in2010, who stopped along the
side of the road to wait for meto catch up to him so he knew I
was okay and then he asked if hecould put my backpack on the
back of his bike.
I remember walking by myselfout in the middle really in the
middle of nowhere and beingpassed by a car that went
(02:38):
probably 100 yards ahead of meand stopped because I had taken
off my backpack to get somethingout of my backpack and they
wanted to make sure that I hadput my backpack back on and was
walking again before they left.
They wanted to know I was okay.
Or the man just outside Vigowhen I was walking with my
youngest daughter.
We're standing and looking atthe phone and she's looking at
(03:00):
the book and he says you go thisway and I said well, are you
sure?
He says yes, I'll take you.
He walked us 20 minutes alongthe beach to a bar where he
bought us both drinks and thenwalked us up to the highway,
pointing out where the arrowsstarted again, and told me he'd
(03:21):
never walked the Camino, that hewas waiting for a woman to walk
with him and pay his way.
I told him I'm sorry, sir,that's not me today,, I know.
Lea Lane (03:33):
In episode five, our guests had a Dancing with Wolves
encounter in YellowstoneNational Park.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
We had spent the morning spotting wildlife in
Lamar Valley, which is theNorthern region we often call it
the American Serengeti becauseit's so rich and full of
wildlife and we had a prettysuccessful morning of wildlife
spotting.
We are on our way back to NamaHot Springs Hotel for lunch, and
driving along and we were allkind of quiet the guide suddenly
(04:03):
changed directions and turnedinto a pull-off on the opposite
side of the road.
She instructed all of us to bequiet.
She said she had spotted a foxthat was on a hill and it
suddenly bolted.
So we just sat there not reallyknowing what we were about to
see, and within a minute threefull-grown wolves raced over the
(04:27):
ridge, through the trees anddown into a gully right below
the road and started feeding ona carcass that we couldn't see
until we started looking veryclosely at it.
They weren't very far away andwe could see them very, very
clearly, and then they startedplaying, romping, like dogs do,
and then the sun was out andthen they started kind of
(04:48):
sunning themselves on the ridge.
Then one wolf sat up andstarted howling.
Wow, and within just a momentor two he was answered by wolves
on the opposite side of theroad.
So another pack had heard hiscall and this went on for a few
moments.
It was raw and wild and itreminded me that we almost lost
(05:14):
these wolves.
They were almost gone.
We killed them to the point ofextinction, but we brought them
back.
We had the foresight.
As humans who own thesenational parks these are our
parks we had the foresight toremedy that and we were
successful.
Lea Lane (05:31):
In episode eight I recount a ferr y journey for
unusual reasons on the Norwegianfjords, with my family many
years ago -- two young sons andmy husband.
We were taking a little ferryboat across a small fjord and we
were getting off the ferry andmy husband went ahead with the
(05:52):
car and I stayed behind to tiemy son's shoes.
And then, when I went to getoff the ferry, I noticed we were
moving and my husband was lefton the shoreline.
So, oh my goodness, I was withtwo little babies no diapers, no
passports, nothing.
So I ran to the captain and hesaid I'm sorry, you're going to
have to go all the way aroundtoday.
(06:13):
You'll see him at the end ofthe day and I was so worried
that he wouldn't be there thathe would go off somewhere and
I'd never see him again.
But my kids had a great timebecause the captain gave them
chocolate and all that.
I was worried for eight hours,but we got back and it was a
memorable reunion.
But that's my memory of thefjords.
Beyond the beauty, Meg Dalychanged Miami big time when her
(06:36):
misfortune led to unexpectedrewards for the city.
Listen to this excerpt fromepisode 10.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Seven years ago I had a bike accident and I broke
both of my arms.
As an A-type person, that'svery humbling because I couldn't
do anything for myself.
After a couple of months ofhealing I realized I could take
the train, the metro rail.
near University of Miami andI was just at Coconut Grove.
And then I walked below thetrain tracks the rest of the way
(07:05):
July, hot, in the shade of thetrain tracks, and I've driven
past this stretch of land that'sa big scar cutting through our
county being in the space, Irealized how wide it is and how
much space there is.
It's 100 feet wide.
Again, I mentioned 120 acresfor the 10 miles and I thought
(07:26):
why don't we turn this into apark?
Anyone who's been to the HighLine?
We have the same design team.
You talked about great design.
Coming to Miami, James CornerField Operations.
We said let's just embark onthat idea.
I remember the moment ofslowing down and walking in a
space that I've driven by mywhole life and it woke me up to
(07:49):
opportunity.
Instead of saying that'sblighted, I said wow, we can do
something with this and turn itan asset for the community.
It's a great memory and it justkeeps on given because we keep
on getting more of the Underlineevery day.
Lea Lane (08:04):
Camping with your horse.
Hear about it in a an episod e,11 memory.
Speaker 6 (08:09):
North of Taos is a wilderness area called Valle
Vidal.
It's thousands and thousandsand thousands of acres and it is
spectacular.
It was a logging area at onetime and there are old logging
roads that cut throughout thehills there.
(08:30):
They make a great place to rideTwice.
I've been horse camping therefor a couple of weekends at a
time.
It is just the most wonderfulexperience to sleep in your tent
, your horse is in a pen.
They have a campground thatspecifically is built for horse
camping.
Your horse is in a pen close toyour tent and you get up.
(08:53):
Everybody has breakfast,including your horse, and you
ride out for the day.
You don't have to worry aboutcars.
You might see some big hornsheep.
It's just absolutely wonderful.
It's the most beautiful place Ihave ever been.
Lea Lane (09:10):
I've never heard a more compelling description of
the Northern Lights than thisone in episode 16.
Speaker 7 (09:17):
It was in February and it was 70 below.
It was a little chilly.
But I had a job where I used todo singing telegrams in
character.
My husband at the time waspicking me up and driving me
home from one of my littlesinging things.
It's pitch black.
We were driving home.
I look out the window and I seethis stuff in the sky, these
(09:41):
colors.
I was like pull over, pull over, pull over.
He pulls over and the sky justcame to light with these
beautiful colors and ribbons andthey were swaying.
It was almost musical and itwas my first time seeing the
Northern Lights.
To this day and this was over30 years ago to this day, I can
(10:01):
still feel that feeling of aweand magic and wonder when people
talk about it, because I waslike I know.
I know it's very difficult todescribe.
You need to see it for yourself.
Lea Lane (10:14):
In episode 18,.
he memory of a visit to WorldWar I and World War II
cemeteries in Belgium and Franceis especially compelling and
insightful.
Speaker 8 (10:24):
One of the best parts of the experience was where the
memorials and cemeteries thatwere adjacent to the
battlefields, not necessarilythe battlefields themselves.
Of the many cemeteries we wentto, one of the more interesting
ones was one of the ImperialGerman Army cemeteries.
I believe this was in theBattle of the Somme.
These German cemeteries aresort of much less traveled.
(10:48):
There was nobody there.
The crosses were very spartan,dark, thin steel crosses and
very Germanic, very World War I,but very beautiful at the same
time, just because of thecontrast of, say, the sort of
white memorials that the Alliedcountries cemeteries have.
(11:08):
These were black steel crosses.
We were in one German cemeteryin particular in Bremendoviers,
adjacent to the battlefield ofSomme, and featured hundreds of
these black steel crosses, veryhaunting.
We were walking along thegrounds and in the back of the
plot were a few stone markersnot steel crosses but stone
(11:32):
markers and lo and behold, theyhad the Star of David on them.
And sure enough, these weregravesites of Jewish German
soldiers who fought and diedside by side with Christian
soldiers of the Imperial GermanArmy.
It's just staggering to thinkthat 15 years later the family
of these fallen Jewish soldierswere subject to Nazi fascism,
(11:53):
the Holocaust.
And then you think of the ironywhen you bookend this with the
American cemetery in Normandywhere, 26 years later, the Jews
fought side by side with theirChristian brothers in the
American Army and the AmericanArmed Forces as Jewish
liberators of Europe.
And so I just think that ironicbookend of that, the 26 years
(12:14):
between the two cemeteries, theinclusion of the Jewish soldiers
in the World War I cemetery forthe Germans and the Jewish
soldiers for the American ArmedForces in Normandy, so that's
something that I'll alwaysremember, the beauty of that and
the irony of it.
Lea Lane (12:31):
I recorded four episodes of unusual seasonal
festivals throughout the world.
Here's one memory from episode19.
Here's one summer festival thatI remember most -- the Duck
Tape Festival.
Near Cleveland, in Avon, Ohio.
The three-day event celebratesone thing and one thing only
tape.
Avon is home of the maker ofthe Duck Tape brand, duct Tape.
(12:55):
So Duck Tape Festival is notjust a clever name.
I knew that tape was useful,but I never knew how useful.
I remember floats made entirelyof Duck Tape, clothes from Duck
Tape and sculptures.
The festival is probably theonly place where you can see a
giant Duck Tape Empire Statebuilding next to a 350-pound
(13:17):
Duck Tape cheeseburger.
The festival draws more than50,000 attendees each year.
Admission is free and if you'relooking for a reason to attend,
the first 500 visitors each dayreceive a free roll of Duck
Tape.
I still have mine on a shelf.
Perhaps my oddest travelmemento In episode 21.
(13:38):
Famed climber Jim Davidsonremembers summiting Mount
Everest in Nepal.
Speaker 9 (13:43):
Yeah, it really has burned into my memory standing
on that ridge at 29,000 feet,watching the stars disappear and
the sun coming over the plains.
You know it took me a long timeto get there and I've been
striving for it and you getthose goals and you want to do
those goals.
But it is really true that it'swhat the journey can do for you
, how the journey will refineyou into a better version of you
the good days and the bad days.
(14:05):
So I didn't have any hugecelebration when I summited.
I just felt very humbled that Iwas able to take this journey
and get there.
I'm very grateful for thepeople that had helped me and
the things I'd learned along theway.
So it really is not so muchabout ticking that thing off as
going on the journey to learnwhat you're supposed to learn
and becoming a better version ofyou.
I think that's what travel doesfor us and I think that spills
(14:26):
over in a good way into ourlives.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
I have a very strong memory of my junior year from
college abroad.
We had a long weekend in Parisfrom class that was available
and we went down on the road ona dig on an archaeological site
at some old Chateau in the TourValley and spent three days, I
(15:01):
think, digging only four stepsthat were probably medieval
steps.
It wasn't like it was a bigdiscovery.
Lea Lane (15:12):
You weren't Indiana Jones.
Speaker 10 (15:14):
I wasn't Indiana Jones.
They were steps up to theChateau but nobody had seen them
before and it was just.
It made the whole experience.
Gee, when else could I have hadthat experience?
So obviously, visiting museums,the Eiffel Tower and all that
all stuck sufficiently strong inmy memory that I actually went
back and moved to France, but itwas probably digging those
(15:36):
steps that made the biggestimpact on me in terms of
understanding what history wasall about.
Speaker 12 (15:44):
I think in a very intense memory I have, but
something that definitely sticksout is when I went to the Golan
Heights.
Lea Lane (15:50):
It is real yeah in Israel.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
So we were kind of thinking we'd go.
I think there's a little.
What's the term a communitythere?
I think you just think youcould get a little tour around
that.
A kibbutz, yes, that's it.
But what happened in reality wasvery different.
So this guy took us in a jeepall around the places in the Six
Day War and all these abandonedbuildings and stuff like that.
But just a thousand feet awayfrom us, just on the other side
(16:14):
of this little river, it wasSyria and we went to.
Eventually we settled in thislittle rundown building from the
1967 day war and there wasgraffiti everywhere, there was
debris everywhere, there was nowindows, but you could just look
out and see the country ofSyria right in front of you.
And my dad told me that when hewent to Syria it was like the
nice st tpeople he ever met.
(16:35):
So when I heard like a loud bangon the other side and I think I
saw like people running eventhough it was a very rural part
it the royal steel people itmade me very emotional because
number one, like it, felt soreal to me.
You could see this wasn't justsomething on the news, it was
something real.
And the guy there was like, yep, the rebels are fighting again.
And I started crying because Ijust felt so bad for everyone
(16:58):
there.
But also I felt because I don'tknow.
I came on that trip worryingabout my grades at school and
then I realized how lucky I wasin the bigger context of the
world and it made me want to dosomething about it.
And then, one part specifically, we heard footsteps and we were
like oh my God, and we saw likeguys guns walk in and I was
like, yep, this is it, but itwas just the IDF.
After they were like hey, itwas so.
(17:19):
It was so sad.
How to see how I guessmilitarized the border was, you
know, and how different thecountries were and they were
just so close to each other.
Lea Lane (17:30):
In episode 26,.
Emmy winner Simon Fullerrecalls a heartwarming moment in
the Serengeti.
Speaker 13 (17:36):
I mean I've been to Africa many, many times, to many
different countries and a greatnumber of wonderful trips and
safaris.
There was one trip where Iactually went specifically to
just recharge my batteries andto think about projects in my
career and that was the tripwhere I came up with the idea of
Serengeti.
So that was obviously found andimportant.
(17:57):
But the part two to that wasthat I got to take my three
young daughters there afterSerengeti had broadcast.
Always we were making it atleast, and shared the wonder of
that beautiful part of the worldwith them.
And so to see them see anelephant in the wild and a lion
and all the many, many beautifulcreatures we saw, to see their
(18:18):
reaction to it for the firsttime they were three and a half
and eight and a half at the timeNothing will ever beat that for
me.
That's the memory I would taketo my grave.
It was just the innocence ofyoung humans and the innocence
of nature meeting and thatpurity and the love.
No, it wasn't fear actually, itwas just awe, it was just.
(18:41):
That will be a memory I willlast forever and ever.
Lea Lane (18:46):
Maine is more than lobsters and lighthouses.
This sweet memory in episode 27shows why.
Speaker 14 (18:53):
When my dad was still alive we rented a cottage,
a waterfront cottage, in K andI mentioned it early.
It's a lobster fishing villageon the Schudick Peninsula and
it's well off the beaten path.
It's got a wonderful littlelobster shack but it's the kind
of village people I think whoaren't from Maine from away
think of when they are picturinga Maine coastal village.
(19:15):
It's a small protected harborjust filled with lobster boats,
no pleasure boats.
The harbor is wrapped withwharves s that are lined with
buoys and traps and various gearfrom lobster fishing.
We used to sit on the ledges outfront and watch the lobster
boats go in and out of theharbor and one afternoon we went
(19:37):
down to there's some lovelygallery in town and one
afternoon we went to the lobstershack and I got talking to the
owner, Joe Young, and he's aborn storyteller.
He's a descendant of theoriginal settlers, a sixth
generation lobsterman, and hisaunt, Bernice Abbott, was a
friend painter at MarstonHartley and Joe's parents rented
(19:57):
a kind of a chicken coop shackto Hartley when he came to Maine
and he painted there.
Joe keeps a gallery in a shackin one of the shacks on the
wharves with a lot of herphotographs and you just really
get the sense of Maine.
When you're there You're like,wow, this is what it's all about
and it's the simple pleasuresof spending time with my dad.
(20:18):
I just loved it and enjoyinglife and slowly.
Lea Lane (20:24):
Yeah, traveling to Antarctica is one of the
ultimate bucket list trips.
Here's an example why inepisode 33.
Speaker 15 (20:31):
We're doing a Zodiac cruise to look at the wildlife,
the whales and so on, and itjust so happened that there was
a pot of orcas swimming around.
And all of a sudden we realized, and there was several young,
and the first thing we saw wasthere were some penguins on ice.
And all of a sudden we seethree male orcas swim side by
(20:54):
side each other towards thatlittle ice.
It was flat ice that thepenguins were on and just as
they were about to get to theice they dove beneath it and by
diving beneath it they created awave that flipped the ice over,
that put the penguins into thewater and then the chase was on
(21:15):
and just watching them chasingthe penguins, corralling the
penguins to then the young camein.
So what they were doing wasteaching their young how to hunt
.
And then, after that was over,then all of a sudden there was a
seal.
There was a crabbiter seal inthe water and next thing we
started noticing and at thispoint our engines were off the
(21:38):
whole time, okay watching thisright in front of us happening.
And then all of a sudden wenoticed they started playing
with the seal and getting theseal, feeling comfortable and
almost befriending the seal.
And then, as they were playingwith it and swimming alongside
and everything, and as the sealwas feeling more comfortable, we
(21:59):
noticed they started gettingrougher with the seal and
started pushing the seal alittle bit.
And then they started flippingit out of the water and getting
a little more aggressive withthe seal and then to the point
where they would stun it.
And then all of a sudden, theyoung would come in and we
realized, oh my gosh, they wereliterally what was happening in
(22:19):
front of us.
They were teaching their younghow to hunt, and this all lasted
about with the penguins in theseals, about an hour and a half.
And you have to understand.
Yes, we watch them hunt theseal and everything in the
penguins, but this is natureunfolding in front of you.
The baby Orca had the seal inits mouth, right underneath our
(22:42):
zodiac, and the penguin at onetime jumped onto our zodiac
before it went back in the water.
It's just nature unfolding infront of you, and nowhere else
in the world can you feel assafe, but experience such
experiences as that.
I'll never forget that feeling.
I'll never forget thatexperience.
(23:03):
I'll never forget everyone inthe zodiacs.
Their jaws just dropped and itwas so hard to pick up your
camera to get photos.
I got photos of it because it'shappening in front of you.
So the one thing I'll leave youwith I'll guarantee you, if you
go to Antarctica, the rest ofyour life.
Anytime you look at a globe ora map, the first place your eyes
(23:24):
will always go to is straightdown to Antarctica, and you're
going to wonder how am I goingto get back there again?
Lea Lane (23:32):
In episode 34, we see how even one tiny moment in this
case on a camping trip in an RVcan create a memory for life.
Speaker 16 (23:41):
Probably one of my favorite memories is going to be
with my family at Yosemite.
We walked out into the fieldwhere you're right next to El
Capitan on your left and thegiant waterfall on your right,
and it is a picture of all thepaintings.
You could ever imagine beingout in the wilderness for free.
But the memory that reallystuck out for me was my daughter
(24:03):
was out in this open clearingand doing cartwheels and
giggling and staring at things,seeing the climbers and just in
awe, and that to me, was one ofmy favorite memories, absolutely
hands down, of seeing hertaking in something like that.
Lea Lane (24:17):
That's beautiful.
When we think of glitzy andglam Dubai, we don't usually
think of this kind of memory, astold in episode 35.
Speaker 11 (24:27):
I was fortunate enough that I married the lovely
Sarah in a little church inDubai.
Despite the UAE being a Muslimcountry, they are very
respectful of other faiths andwe got a little church wedding
during lock down time.
So we were in masks, Our twoguests were in masks, two
(24:49):
witnesses, the minister was inmasks and we had it on Facebook
Live.
So our friends and familyaround the world could watch it.
So that's always going to be,no matter what happens.
That's going to be my takeaway.
Lea Lane (25:05):
Mermaids in South Korea.
Well, kind of as you'll hear inthis memory from episode 36.
Oh my, gosh.
Speaker 17 (25:13):
So the Manjongul Cave in Korea is one of the
attractions in Jeju Island, thatis, it's actually a world
UNESCO Heritage site, so you cango and experience the
stalagmites and stalactites.
I could go on and on in termsof the hiking experiences
(25:36):
throughout Jeju Island, but oneof my memories, special memories
of Jeju Island, is the henyo,which is the sea woman, and they
catch seafood for a living withonly a knife while holding
their breath, some pretty much80 years plus, and they free
(25:57):
dive down to 30 feet for minutes, depending on their experience.
And you can still see some ofthese we call them sea mermaids
at work and learn about thehistory and culture in the Henyo
museum on Jeju Island.
For me, this was one of themost memorable experiences in
(26:20):
Korea.
Lea Lane (26:23):
Heidi Sarna wrote a book about surprising Singapore
and she remembers one of thesurprises in episode 39.
Speaker 18 (26:30):
Well, I would say, sort of going back to something
earlier I was saying about thejungle swallowing up things in
Singapore just because it growsso fast and it's tropical.
So when I first started nosingaround because I'm a heritage
buff, as I said I had read aboutan old Malay mansion, or palace
even.
It was described just off of abusy road, near the Botanic
(26:51):
Gardens and it, which is nearwhere I live, and I just
couldn't believe it and I keptreading these blogs and then I
tried to find it and then thefirst attempt I just was like
walking in circles and gettingbitten by mosquitoes and but I
kept reading.
It was there and then finally Igot better instructions from
one of the bloggers and I reallybushwhacked through the jungle
with long pants on and you knowth r e and it was just like a
(27:15):
quarter mile up this little hillin a really heavily wooded area
and there were the ruins of aMalay Royal Palace and it's
still there.
It's such a thrill.
So in a way that was a symbolicmoment to have like hidden in
plain sight.
There really are more layers toSingapore, peel the onion,
explorer and t that propelled meto get into the street Secret
(27:35):
Singapore book too.
That was the first secret thatI wrote up for the book, and and
so that has a special place inmy heart.
Lea Lane (27:44):
Orcas i family oriented mammals, and here is a
story to inspire you, in episode40.
Speaker 19 (27:50):
Here in West Seattle , near where I live.
in 2002, a young orca wasdiscovered here in Puget Sound
and she was lost, alone, and sheturned out to be 300 miles away
from home.
It was her calls thatidentified her as a northern
resident or her mother had died,but her family, her grandmother
(28:12):
and aunts, were still alive.
There was no way she wouldnaturally be reunited with them.
Noa fisheries, the agencyresponsible for managing marine
mammals, had a big dilemma ontheir hands.
What should they do with thislittle orca who was down here by
herself?
And we helped persuade themthat she should have a chance to
(28:32):
go home, go back to her familyand not be sent to an aquarium
and, and even more so, not berehabilitated through an
aquarium but rehabilitatedsomewhere in Puget Sound so she
could stay as well as possibleand happily.
hey thought it was a risk worthtaking.
They thought there was a goodenough chance that she could.
She should go back to herfamily.
And n fisheries.
(28:53):
The department of fisheries andthe Vancouver Aquarium committed
to the first ever in C2rehabilitation of an orca, and
we, the community, a group ofseven nonprofits, work together
to support them, and it was anincredible time, and every day
we were wondering the littlewhale.
Her name was Springer.
Her name is o her ID number wasa 73.
(29:14):
She was a two year old orca andshe turned out to be resilient
and she didn't have any seriousdiseases.
She had a bad case of worms.
She was rescued, she wasdewormed, t tested to make sure
she wasn't carrying diseases andcarried home on a donated
catamaran where her family cameto get her less than 24 hours
(29:35):
after she was returned.
She came back the next yearwith her family and the year
after that, year f that, andtoday she's got two calves of
her own.
Lea Lane (29:43):
In episode 43, I remember two wacky festivals in
Japan.
On the third Sunday of December, on Montetago in Japan, people
are encouraged to swear.
The cursing festival HakutaiMatsuri is said to have begun
200 years ago.
During the Edo period, workersin the garment industry, most of
whom were women, were stressedout and they longed for a break
(30:06):
from their fatiguing task ofmaking kimonos by hand.
So they found a way to releasetheir stress by cursing.
Today, hundreds of people willtake a 40-minute hike to Otago
Shrine, swearing at 13 priestswho are walking in front of them
and disguised as tengu, adisruptive demon with a big nose
.
The most popular phrases usedto curse are bakayararu, idiot
(30:30):
and kanoayaru, bastard.
Sounds Sounds a bit likepoliticians.
Before reaching the OtagoShrine, the tengus will stop by
18 smaller shrines to presenttheir offerings, while the crowd
keeps cursing and trying totake the offerings.
Those who get the offerings areblessed with good luck.
Damn, what a festival.
And here's our last winterfestival, the Naked man Festival
(30:52):
.
On the third Sunday in February,some 10,000 men wearing nothing
but a thin loincloth gatheraround Sai Daiji Shrine in
Okayama.
These barely clothed men jumpinto an icy pool for
purification.
Then, at midnight, lights ofthe shrine are turned off and
the men shove each other in thefreezing temperature for more
(31:12):
than an hour to compete for thelucky sticks that were thrown by
the priest.
The winners are those whocapture the sticks and push them
into a box filled with ricecalled masu.
Those who get the sacred sticksare called lucky men and
blessed with a year of happiness.
Some people believe that thefestival was born around 500
years ago.
Worshippers of the shrinecompeted to get paper charms
(31:33):
from the priest at the end ofthe year because they believed
good things would happen to themif they received one.
Another legend states thatbeing naked could ward off evil
forces and misfortune.
Hence villagers would chooseone quote lucky man to absorb
all the misfortune.
The man that was chosen wouldwalk through the crowd naked.
Then he would leave the villagetogether with all the bad luck,
(31:55):
troubles and illness of all thevillagers.
If it were only that easy.
.
.
A weird and unforgettablememory in Canada's Yukon in
episode 45.
Speaker 20 (32:08):
I don't know how this got started, but anyways,
some guy donated his big toethat had got amputated because
it was, you know, it had too bada frostbite and so they
preserve it in salt at thishotel.
And you go there and there's athe toe captain is there and
basically you buy a shot ofwhiskey.
He puts the toe into thewhiskey and then you have to.
(32:32):
You have to drink it, and youknow the poem is drink it fast,
drink it slow.
Your lips must touch the gnarlytoe.
Lea Lane (32:41):
I've never heard of that before.
Speaker 20 (32:43):
Oh, it's really fun.
Lea Lane (32:44):
How many times have you done that, Paul?
Speaker 20 (32:46):
I've done it once.
But you know I'm like, you geta nice certificate and I think
I'm about number 80,000 ofpeople that have done this
experience, yeah, so.
Lea Lane (32:58):
I think I'll pass on that one, but I love it.
Speaker 20 (33:01):
Super fun, yeah, but you know, if you chew or
swallow the toe there's a $2,500fine, because people have done
that.
Lea Lane (33:09):
Really.
And it comes out at the end.
I guess, no matter where in theworld you are, what you
remember most can be universal.
Listen to this memory aboutIran in episode 46.
Speaker 21 (33:23):
One of my favorite memories of Iran is being with
my dad in the car and going toget the kebabs from the
restaurant and what you do is,if you don't want to eat the
kebabs at the restaurant, youtake a big pot, your own pot,
and you take it to therestaurant and they fill it up
with rice and they fill it upwith kebab and yeah, and they
(33:45):
put the lid on it and then youbring that home and we used to
do that.
Every weekend we would do thatand that was just a special time
that I spent with my dad one onone, and to be able to do
something cool like that was somuch fun.
I remember that very, veryvividly.
Lea Lane (34:01):
In episode 47, we learn of a special site in
Sonoma County, California, andit's not about wine.
Speaker 22 (34:08):
One of my favorite secrets is out on the coast,
goat rock, tile rock with abeach and everything very
beautiful.
If you know where to look, youwill see long scratches in the
stone above the beach, and whatthey are is ice age mammoths.
Woolly mammoths with theirtusks used to scrape along.
(34:30):
They used to scratch their backi their tusks right along the
goat rock beach in the ice.
So that's something that youwell, without the book secrets,
nobody will never find that.
Lea Lane (34:42):
In episode 50, Holocaust survivor Alan Hall
talks of revisiting the sitewhere he hid during World War II
an amazing memory.
Speaker 23 (34:52):
Well, I've visited, revisited several times.
The only time I ever broke downwas I visited, revisited, with
my brother and his family.
My family, my mother, my dadhad died previously -- and we
actually were at the door of thecloset, the room where we hid
for two years in the closet, andthere, for the first time, the
only time I absolutely lost it.
(35:13):
I just I you know I'm tearywhen I talk to you about it.
Now, I don't know, I can'texplain to you that there is a
something really terrific aboutthat space, and that is this was
a space for us which was asuncomfortable as it might have
been, it was heaven.
Sitting in the closet and notbeing apprehended, not being
(35:33):
fearful of being apprehendedevery moment, even though food
was short and all the rest of it, it was still heaven.
I revisited that place in 2000and 18.
Yes, 2018.
That same building has beenrehab completely.
It is now the Warsaw (Polish WHotel.
(35:55):
It is the most plush, the mostopulent, the nicest hotel I've
ever seen on any continent.
The very space where I had.
Of course, it's been totallyreconfigured, but now is grand,
a grand suite, unbelievable, yes, and i.
(36:16):
ou know, I say this with asmile on my face because it's so
.
it's ironic.
I want to go back to the hoteland I want to check into that
space, just to satisfy myself.
Lea Lane (36:30):
Everyone seems to travel to Portugal, and this
memory from episode 51 shows onereason why.
Speaker 24 (36:38):
I was so lucky to have been a teenager and get to
spend every summer there with myfamily and explore the country
from north to south.
My family is from (.
), which we didn't talk, whichis in the central part of the
country, which is alsophenomenally beautiful.
But if people say, is there astory that sums up Portugal to
you, For me it quickly, it'sthis.
It's probably about 18.
(36:58):
We're driving to the Algarvewhere we were going to spend two
weeks.
We're going through theAlentejo.
Back then there were nohighways in Portugal, so all the
roads were two lane and windy,unlike today where all the roads
are five lanes or six lanes.
We came to the town of Ponsorra.
It was August and the cardecided to blow its fan belt and
die.
So here we are in this smalltown in the middle of the cork
(37:19):
forest.
You would think that we wouldbe hard on our luck, but we
weren't.
There was one man who had agarage that I remember him,
he's Mr Sperto Romanos.
This is 30 some years ago.
He was fantastic.
He said I'll take care of thecar.
Here's a restaurant.
Go have lunch and then comeback and we'll tell you what's
going on.
We did.
It was very good food.
Went to his garage a but thiswas a Sunday, so he came in just
(37:40):
to help us.
He said I'm sorry, your fanbelt's blown.
You know I've got to changeyour head gasket.
Here's what we're going to domy friend's going to drive you
down there today so you don'tmiss your holiday, and in a week
, when the car is done, I'llhave it delivered to you.
Oh my goodness, that's thekindness of the Portuguese
people.
Lea Lane (37:57):
In episode 52, we talk about Mississippi and I offer a
memory of one of the greats ofthat state.
I also, in terms of BB King, Ihave to say I actually met him.
But I didn't meet him in theDelta.
I met him in Italy at a jazzfestival.
He was one of the peopleinvited.
It was 1993, I think it was theUmbria Jazz Festival.
He was a king.
(38:17):
I actually was in the room.
I was on a press trip.
I was next door so I watchedLucille, his guitar, being taken
into his room every day.
He must have slept all day long.
I had to be very quiet.
His manager was going around,"don't say anything.
He's sleeping well, well intothe afternoon.
But I remember meeting him.
He enjoyed himself and you havea quote in your book where he
(38:38):
said the blues are the three L'sliving, loving and hopefully
laughing.
And he did all three.
I can tell you I watched it.
Speaker 25 (38:45):
He was known for his generosity.
The people in Indianola oftencommented to us on how generous
a spirit he was, how he hadlearned that from his mom.
He lost his mom when he wasvery young and that had a big, a
very big impact on him.
Lea Lane (39:01):
In episode 53, my sons interviewed me and here's my
memory of a harrowing cruise inthe Indian Ocean.
Speaker 10 (39:09):
What's the pirate zone?
The pirate zone is like theBarbary Coast.
Yeah, i, it's in the oceanbetween India and East Africa.
We knew we were going to haveto go there.
It was a fabulous.
It was a trip from Dubai toCape Town, so the itinerary was
to die for and I didn't want toliterally die for.
(39:29):
So I didn't realize that wewould be in the pirate zone for
two weeks and during that timewe had to turn all our lights
off.
And they turned the lights offon the ship.
You know, outside you couldn'tgo out and they had pirate
drills and they talked aboutpirates all the time and people
were walking around going arg,arg and all that.
We were trying to make fun ofit but it didn't feel so good
(39:52):
because that very ship we wereon had been assaulted, I guess,
by pirates and there was evenlittle gunshots that you can
see, the holes in the ship.
Later we noticed that.
That was probably my leastfavorite experience, but my
favorite experiences was gettingout of the pirate zone.
That felt great.
So you know it was a littleexciting.
(40:12):
I did realize a lot of peopledidn't take the trip because it
was a fantastic itinerary butthey did not want that
experience.
But of course I said it wasworth the risk, and I think it
was because there were nopirates.
Speaker 8 (40:24):
Right.
So sometimes your most scarytrips can also be the most
satisfying.
Lea Lane (40:30):
We hope you enjoy these wonderful memories on part
one, and on our second partepisode 100, we'll offer even
more.
Don't miss it.
On Places I Remember.
we offer travel memories, andto celebrate our 100th episode,
we've created a double-sized,two-part compilation of some of
the most special memories thatour guests have offered on our
podcast, going back to 2021 upto the present.
We've chosen some of thefunniest, most moving and
meaningful memories celebratingus and you, and if you like an
(00:23):
example, go to that numberedepisode and listen to the rest.
Here's the first of the twosections of our best memories
from Places I Remember episode99, enjoy.
In episode two, a former NewOrleans Mardi Gras Queen
(00:43):
remembers a charming connectionthat changed her life.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
There are a million carnival balls here and you have
the social ones, the debutantsare in, then you have that's
maybe 15, but the rest of themevery different group in the
city has its own carnival ball.
Some are men's crews and someare women's and some are
mixtures.
And I was queen of two balls,one when I was in college, and
that was where your family youknow if your family has some
(01:10):
connection somebody in collegeis queen and a member of the
ball who's much older is theking.
But when I was 13, I was queenof something called the
Children's Carnival Club that mygrandmother helped found with
two other women.
My king was 12.
So we were 12 and 13, veryprecocious age.
He wore a blonde page boy wigand white tights underneath his
(01:35):
tunic and I think he hadelevator shoes on, because I was
12 at the time and I had aponytail through my crown in the
back.
And what's really interestingabout this is that the
organization is almost 100 yearsold now and we are the only
king and queen to ever getmarried, and we married in our
mid 30s.
(01:56):
Oh my goodness, you're the kingof the world Does he still have
a blonde page boy and I don'tknow.
(He's gray and sort of goingaway now.
Lea Lane (02:07):
On episode four, a pilgrim walking on the Camino de
Santiago in northern Spainremembers others she met along
the route.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
I remember the biker who I kept passing and he kept
passing me when I was walking in2010, who stopped along the
side of the road to wait for meto catch up to him so he knew I
was okay and then he asked if hecould put my backpack on the
back of his bike.
I remember walking by myselfout in the middle really in the
middle of nowhere and beingpassed by a car that went
(02:38):
probably 100 yards ahead of meand stopped because I had taken
off my backpack to get somethingout of my backpack and they
wanted to make sure that I hadput my backpack back on and was
walking again before they left.
They wanted to know I was okay.
Or the man just outside Vigowhen I was walking with my
youngest daughter.
We're standing and looking atthe phone and she's looking at
(03:00):
the book and he says you go thisway and I said well, are you
sure?
He says yes, I'll take you.
He walked us 20 minutes alongthe beach to a bar where he
bought us both drinks and thenwalked us up to the highway,
pointing out where the arrowsstarted again, and told me he'd
(03:21):
never walked the Camino, that hewas waiting for a woman to walk
with him and pay his way.
I told him I'm sorry, sir,that's not me today,, I know.
Lea Lane (03:33):
In episode five, our guests had a Dancing with Wolves
encounter in YellowstoneNational Park.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
We had spent the morning spotting wildlife in
Lamar Valley, which is theNorthern region we often call it
the American Serengeti becauseit's so rich and full of
wildlife and we had a prettysuccessful morning of wildlife
spotting.
We are on our way back to NamaHot Springs Hotel for lunch, and
driving along and we were allkind of quiet the guide suddenly
(04:03):
changed directions and turnedinto a pull-off on the opposite
side of the road.
She instructed all of us to bequiet.
She said she had spotted a foxthat was on a hill and it
suddenly bolted.
So we just sat there not reallyknowing what we were about to
see, and within a minute threefull-grown wolves raced over the
(04:27):
ridge, through the trees anddown into a gully right below
the road and started feeding ona carcass that we couldn't see
until we started looking veryclosely at it.
They weren't very far away andwe could see them very, very
clearly, and then they startedplaying, romping, like dogs do,
and then the sun was out andthen they started kind of
(04:48):
sunning themselves on the ridge.
Then one wolf sat up andstarted howling.
Wow, and within just a momentor two he was answered by wolves
on the opposite side of theroad.
So another pack had heard hiscall and this went on for a few
moments.
It was raw and wild and itreminded me that we almost lost
(05:14):
these wolves.
They were almost gone.
We killed them to the point ofextinction, but we brought them
back.
We had the foresight.
As humans who own thesenational parks these are our
parks we had the foresight toremedy that and we were
successful.
Lea Lane (05:31):
In episode eight I recount a ferr y journey for
unusual reasons on the Norwegianfjords, with my family many
years ago -- two young sons andmy husband.
We were taking a little ferryboat across a small fjord and we
were getting off the ferry andmy husband went ahead with the
(05:52):
car and I stayed behind to tiemy son's shoes.
And then, when I went to getoff the ferry, I noticed we were
moving and my husband was lefton the shoreline.
So, oh my goodness, I was withtwo little babies no diapers, no
passports, nothing.
So I ran to the captain and hesaid I'm sorry, you're going to
have to go all the way aroundtoday.
(06:13):
You'll see him at the end ofthe day and I was so worried
that he wouldn't be there thathe would go off somewhere and
I'd never see him again.
But my kids had a great timebecause the captain gave them
chocolate and all that.
I was worried for eight hours,but we got back and it was a
memorable reunion.
But that's my memory of thefjords.
Beyond the beauty, Meg Dalychanged Miami big time when her
(06:36):
misfortune led to unexpectedrewards for the city.
Listen to this excerpt fromepisode 10.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Seven years ago I had a bike accident and I broke
both of my arms.
As an A-type person, that'svery humbling because I couldn't
do anything for myself.
After a couple of months ofhealing I realized I could take
the train, the metro rail.
near University of Miami andI was just at Coconut Grove.
And then I walked below thetrain tracks the rest of the way
(07:05):
July, hot, in the shade of thetrain tracks, and I've driven
past this stretch of land that'sa big scar cutting through our
county being in the space, Irealized how wide it is and how
much space there is.
It's 100 feet wide.
Again, I mentioned 120 acresfor the 10 miles and I thought
(07:26):
why don't we turn this into apark?
Anyone who's been to the HighLine?
We have the same design team.
You talked about great design.
Coming to Miami, James CornerField Operations.
We said let's just embark onthat idea.
I remember the moment ofslowing down and walking in a
space that I've driven by mywhole life and it woke me up to
(07:49):
opportunity.
Instead of saying that'sblighted, I said wow, we can do
something with this and turn itan asset for the community.
It's a great memory and it justkeeps on given because we keep
on getting more of the Underlineevery day.
Lea Lane (08:04):
Camping with your horse.
Hear about it in a an episod e,11 memory.
Speaker 6 (08:09):
North of Taos is a wilderness area called Valle
Vidal.
It's thousands and thousandsand thousands of acres and it is
spectacular.
It was a logging area at onetime and there are old logging
roads that cut throughout thehills there.
(08:30):
They make a great place to rideTwice.
I've been horse camping therefor a couple of weekends at a
time.
It is just the most wonderfulexperience to sleep in your tent
, your horse is in a pen.
They have a campground thatspecifically is built for horse
camping.
Your horse is in a pen close toyour tent and you get up.
(08:53):
Everybody has breakfast,including your horse, and you
ride out for the day.
You don't have to worry aboutcars.
You might see some big hornsheep.
It's just absolutely wonderful.
It's the most beautiful place Ihave ever been.
Lea Lane (09:10):
I've never heard a more compelling description of
the Northern Lights than thisone in episode 16.
Speaker 7 (09:17):
It was in February and it was 70 below.
It was a little chilly.
But I had a job where I used todo singing telegrams in
character.
My husband at the time waspicking me up and driving me
home from one of my littlesinging things.
It's pitch black.
We were driving home.
I look out the window and I seethis stuff in the sky, these
(09:41):
colors.
I was like pull over, pull over, pull over.
He pulls over and the sky justcame to light with these
beautiful colors and ribbons andthey were swaying.
It was almost musical and itwas my first time seeing the
Northern Lights.
To this day and this was over30 years ago to this day, I can
(10:01):
still feel that feeling of aweand magic and wonder when people
talk about it, because I waslike I know.
I know it's very difficult todescribe.
You need to see it for yourself.
Lea Lane (10:14):
In episode 18,.
he memory of a visit to WorldWar I and World War II
cemeteries in Belgium and Franceis especially compelling and
insightful.
Speaker 8 (10:24):
One of the best parts of the experience was where the
memorials and cemeteries thatwere adjacent to the
battlefields, not necessarilythe battlefields themselves.
Of the many cemeteries we wentto, one of the more interesting
ones was one of the ImperialGerman Army cemeteries.
I believe this was in theBattle of the Somme.
These German cemeteries aresort of much less traveled.
(10:48):
There was nobody there.
The crosses were very spartan,dark, thin steel crosses and
very Germanic, very World War I,but very beautiful at the same
time, just because of thecontrast of, say, the sort of
white memorials that the Alliedcountries cemeteries have.
(11:08):
These were black steel crosses.
We were in one German cemeteryin particular in Bremendoviers,
adjacent to the battlefield ofSomme, and featured hundreds of
these black steel crosses, veryhaunting.
We were walking along thegrounds and in the back of the
plot were a few stone markersnot steel crosses but stone
(11:32):
markers and lo and behold, theyhad the Star of David on them.
And sure enough, these weregravesites of Jewish German
soldiers who fought and diedside by side with Christian
soldiers of the Imperial GermanArmy.
It's just staggering to thinkthat 15 years later the family
of these fallen Jewish soldierswere subject to Nazi fascism,
(11:53):
the Holocaust.
And then you think of the ironywhen you bookend this with the
American cemetery in Normandywhere, 26 years later, the Jews
fought side by side with theirChristian brothers in the
American Army and the AmericanArmed Forces as Jewish
liberators of Europe.
And so I just think that ironicbookend of that, the 26 years
(12:14):
between the two cemeteries, theinclusion of the Jewish soldiers
in the World War I cemetery forthe Germans and the Jewish
soldiers for the American ArmedForces in Normandy, so that's
something that I'll alwaysremember, the beauty of that and
the irony of it.
Lea Lane (12:31):
I recorded four episodes of unusual seasonal
festivals throughout the world.
Here's one memory from episode19.
Here's one summer festival thatI remember most -- the Duck
Tape Festival.
Near Cleveland, in Avon, Ohio.
The three-day event celebratesone thing and one thing only
tape.
Avon is home of the maker ofthe Duck Tape brand, duct Tape.
(12:55):
So Duck Tape Festival is notjust a clever name.
I knew that tape was useful,but I never knew how useful.
I remember floats made entirelyof Duck Tape, clothes from Duck
Tape and sculptures.
The festival is probably theonly place where you can see a
giant Duck Tape Empire Statebuilding next to a 350-pound
(13:17):
Duck Tape cheeseburger.
The festival draws more than50,000 attendees each year.
Admission is free and if you'relooking for a reason to attend,
the first 500 visitors each dayreceive a free roll of Duck
Tape.
I still have mine on a shelf.
Perhaps my oddest travelmemento In episode 21.
(13:38):
Famed climber Jim Davidsonremembers summiting Mount
Everest in Nepal.
Speaker 9 (13:43):
Yeah, it really has burned into my memory standing
on that ridge at 29,000 feet,watching the stars disappear and
the sun coming over the plains.
You know it took me a long timeto get there and I've been
striving for it and you getthose goals and you want to do
those goals.
But it is really true that it'swhat the journey can do for you
, how the journey will refineyou into a better version of you
the good days and the bad days.
(14:05):
So I didn't have any hugecelebration when I summited.
I just felt very humbled that Iwas able to take this journey
and get there.
I'm very grateful for thepeople that had helped me and
the things I'd learned along theway.
So it really is not so muchabout ticking that thing off as
going on the journey to learnwhat you're supposed to learn
and becoming a better version ofyou.
I think that's what travel doesfor us and I think that spills
(14:26):
over in a good way into ourlives.
Speaker 10 (14:40):
I have a very strong memory of my junior year from
college abroad.
We had a long weekend in Parisfrom class that was available
and we went down on the road ona dig on an archaeological site
at some old Chateau in the TourValley and spent three days, I
(15:01):
think, digging only four stepsthat were probably medieval
steps.
It wasn't like it was a bigdiscovery.
Lea Lane (15:12):
You weren't Indiana Jones.
Speaker 10 (15:14):
I wasn't Indiana Jones.
They were steps up to theChateau but nobody had seen them
before and it was just.
It made the whole experience.
Gee, when else could I have hadthat experience?
So obviously, visiting museums,the Eiffel Tower and all that
all stuck sufficiently strong inmy memory that I actually went
back and moved to France, but itwas probably digging those
(15:36):
steps that made the biggestimpact on me in terms of
understanding what history wasall about.
Speaker 12 (15:44):
I think in a very intense memory I have, but
something that definitely sticksout is when I went to the Golan
Heights.
Lea Lane (15:50):
It is real yeah in Israel.
Speaker 12 (15:52):
So we were kind of thinking we'd go.
I think there's a little.
What's the term a communitythere?
I think you just think youcould get a little tour around
that.
A kibbutz, yes, that's it.
But what happened in reality wasvery different.
So this guy took us in a jeepall around the places in the Six
Day War and all these abandonedbuildings and stuff like that.
But just a thousand feet awayfrom us, just on the other side
(16:14):
of this little river, it wasSyria and we went to.
Eventually we settled in thislittle rundown building from the
1967 day war and there wasgraffiti everywhere, there was
debris everywhere, there was nowindows, but you could just look
out and see the country ofSyria right in front of you.
And my dad told me that when hewent to Syria it was like the
nice st tpeople he ever met.
(16:35):
So when I heard like a loud bangon the other side and I think I
saw like people running eventhough it was a very rural part
it the royal steel people itmade me very emotional because
number one, like it, felt soreal to me.
You could see this wasn't justsomething on the news, it was
something real.
And the guy there was like, yep, the rebels are fighting again.
And I started crying because Ijust felt so bad for everyone
(16:58):
there.
But also I felt because I don'tknow.
I came on that trip worryingabout my grades at school and
then I realized how lucky I wasin the bigger context of the
world and it made me want to dosomething about it.
And then, one part specifically, we heard footsteps and we were
like oh my God, and we saw likeguys guns walk in and I was
like, yep, this is it, but itwas just the IDF.
After they were like hey, itwas so.
(17:19):
It was so sad.
How to see how I guessmilitarized the border was, you
know, and how different thecountries were and they were
just so close to each other.
Lea Lane (17:30):
In episode 26,.
Emmy winner Simon Fullerrecalls a heartwarming moment in
the Serengeti.
Speaker 13 (17:36):
I mean I've been to Africa many, many times, to many
different countries and a greatnumber of wonderful trips and
safaris.
There was one trip where Iactually went specifically to
just recharge my batteries andto think about projects in my
career and that was the tripwhere I came up with the idea of
Serengeti.
So that was obviously found andimportant.
(17:57):
But the part two to that wasthat I got to take my three
young daughters there afterSerengeti had broadcast.
Always we were making it atleast, and shared the wonder of
that beautiful part of the worldwith them.
And so to see them see anelephant in the wild and a lion
and all the many, many beautifulcreatures we saw, to see their
(18:18):
reaction to it for the firsttime they were three and a half
and eight and a half at the timeNothing will ever beat that for
me.
That's the memory I would taketo my grave.
It was just the innocence ofyoung humans and the innocence
of nature meeting and thatpurity and the love.
No, it wasn't fear actually, itwas just awe, it was just.
(18:41):
That will be a memory I willlast forever and ever.
Lea Lane (18:46):
Maine is more than lobsters and lighthouses.
This sweet memory in episode 27shows why.
Speaker 14 (18:53):
When my dad was still alive we rented a cottage,
a waterfront cottage, in K andI mentioned it early.
It's a lobster fishing villageon the Schudick Peninsula and
it's well off the beaten path.
It's got a wonderful littlelobster shack but it's the kind
of village people I think whoaren't from Maine from away
think of when they are picturinga Maine coastal village.
(19:15):
It's a small protected harborjust filled with lobster boats,
no pleasure boats.
The harbor is wrapped withwharves s that are lined with
buoys and traps and various gearfrom lobster fishing.
We used to sit on the ledges outfront and watch the lobster
boats go in and out of theharbor and one afternoon we went
(19:37):
down to there's some lovelygallery in town and one
afternoon we went to the lobstershack and I got talking to the
owner, Joe Young, and he's aborn storyteller.
He's a descendant of theoriginal settlers, a sixth
generation lobsterman, and hisaunt, Bernice Abbott, was a
friend painter at MarstonHartley and Joe's parents rented
(19:57):
a kind of a chicken coop shackto Hartley when he came to Maine
and he painted there.
Joe keeps a gallery in a shackin one of the shacks on the
wharves with a lot of herphotographs and you just really
get the sense of Maine.
When you're there You're like,wow, this is what it's all about
and it's the simple pleasuresof spending time with my dad.
(20:18):
I just loved it and enjoyinglife and slowly.
Lea Lane (20:24):
Yeah, traveling to Antarctica is one of the
ultimate bucket list trips.
Here's an example why inepisode 33.
Speaker 15 (20:31):
We're doing a Zodiac cruise to look at the wildlife,
the whales and so on, and itjust so happened that there was
a pot of orcas swimming around.
And all of a sudden we realized, and there was several young,
and the first thing we saw wasthere were some penguins on ice.
And all of a sudden we seethree male orcas swim side by
(20:54):
side each other towards thatlittle ice.
It was flat ice that thepenguins were on and just as
they were about to get to theice they dove beneath it and by
diving beneath it they created awave that flipped the ice over,
that put the penguins into thewater and then the chase was on
(21:15):
and just watching them chasingthe penguins, corralling the
penguins to then the young camein.
So what they were doing wasteaching their young how to hunt
.
And then, after that was over,then all of a sudden there was a
seal.
There was a crabbiter seal inthe water and next thing we
started noticing and at thispoint our engines were off the
(21:38):
whole time, okay watching thisright in front of us happening.
And then all of a sudden wenoticed they started playing
with the seal and getting theseal, feeling comfortable and
almost befriending the seal.
And then, as they were playingwith it and swimming alongside
and everything, and as the sealwas feeling more comfortable, we
(21:59):
noticed they started gettingrougher with the seal and
started pushing the seal alittle bit.
And then they started flippingit out of the water and getting
a little more aggressive withthe seal and then to the point
where they would stun it.
And then all of a sudden, theyoung would come in and we
realized, oh my gosh, they wereliterally what was happening in
(22:19):
front of us.
They were teaching their younghow to hunt, and this all lasted
about with the penguins in theseals, about an hour and a half.
And you have to understand.
Yes, we watch them hunt theseal and everything in the
penguins, but this is natureunfolding in front of you.
The baby Orca had the seal inits mouth, right underneath our
(22:42):
zodiac, and the penguin at onetime jumped onto our zodiac
before it went back in the water.
It's just nature unfolding infront of you, and nowhere else
in the world can you feel assafe, but experience such
experiences as that.
I'll never forget that feeling.
I'll never forget thatexperience.
(23:03):
I'll never forget everyone inthe zodiacs.
Their jaws just dropped and itwas so hard to pick up your
camera to get photos.
I got photos of it because it'shappening in front of you.
So the one thing I'll leave youwith I'll guarantee you, if you
go to Antarctica, the rest ofyour life.
Anytime you look at a globe ora map, the first place your eyes
(23:24):
will always go to is straightdown to Antarctica, and you're
going to wonder how am I goingto get back there again?
Lea Lane (23:32):
In episode 34, we see how even one tiny moment in this
case on a camping trip in an RVcan create a memory for life.
Speaker 16 (23:41):
Probably one of my favorite memories is going to be
with my family at Yosemite.
We walked out into the fieldwhere you're right next to El
Capitan on your left and thegiant waterfall on your right,
and it is a picture of all thepaintings.
You could ever imagine beingout in the wilderness for free.
But the memory that reallystuck out for me was my daughter
(24:03):
was out in this open clearingand doing cartwheels and
giggling and staring at things,seeing the climbers and just in
awe, and that to me, was one ofmy favorite memories, absolutely
hands down, of seeing hertaking in something like that.
Lea Lane (24:17):
That's beautiful.
When we think of glitzy andglam Dubai, we don't usually
think of this kind of memory, astold in episode 35.
Speaker 11 (24:27):
I was fortunate enough that I married the lovely
Sarah in a little church inDubai.
Despite the UAE being a Muslimcountry, they are very
respectful of other faiths andwe got a little church wedding
during lock down time.
So we were in masks, Our twoguests were in masks, two
(24:49):
witnesses, the minister was inmasks and we had it on Facebook
Live.
So our friends and familyaround the world could watch it.
So that's always going to be,no matter what happens.
That's going to be my takeaway.
Lea Lane (25:05):
Mermaids in South Korea.
Well, kind of as you'll hear inthis memory from episode 36.
Oh my, gosh.
Speaker 17 (25:13):
So the Manjongul Cave in Korea is one of the
attractions in Jeju Island, thatis, it's actually a world
UNESCO Heritage site, so you cango and experience the
stalagmites and stalactites.
I could go on and on in termsof the hiking experiences
(25:36):
throughout Jeju Island, but oneof my memories, special memories
of Jeju Island, is the henyo,which is the sea woman, and they
catch seafood for a living withonly a knife while holding
their breath, some pretty much80 years plus, and they free
(25:57):
dive down to 30 feet for minutes, depending on their experience.
And you can still see some ofthese we call them sea mermaids
at work and learn about thehistory and culture in the Henyo
museum on Jeju Island.
For me, this was one of themost memorable experiences in
(26:20):
Korea.
Lea Lane (26:23):
Heidi Sarna wrote a book about surprising Singapore
and she remembers one of thesurprises in episode 39.
Speaker 18 (26:30):
Well, I would say, sort of going back to something
earlier I was saying about thejungle swallowing up things in
Singapore just because it growsso fast and it's tropical.
So when I first started nosingaround because I'm a heritage
buff, as I said I had read aboutan old Malay mansion, or palace
even.
It was described just off of abusy road, near the Botanic
(26:51):
Gardens and it, which is nearwhere I live, and I just
couldn't believe it and I keptreading these blogs and then I
tried to find it and then thefirst attempt I just was like
walking in circles and gettingbitten by mosquitoes and but I
kept reading.
It was there and then finally Igot better instructions from
one of the bloggers and I reallybushwhacked through the jungle
with long pants on and you knowth r e and it was just like a
(27:15):
quarter mile up this little hillin a really heavily wooded area
and there were the ruins of aMalay Royal Palace and it's
still there.
It's such a thrill.
So in a way that was a symbolicmoment to have like hidden in
plain sight.
There really are more layers toSingapore, peel the onion,
explorer and t that propelled meto get into the street Secret
(27:35):
Singapore book too.
That was the first secret thatI wrote up for the book, and and
so that has a special place inmy heart.
Lea Lane (27:44):
Orcas i family oriented mammals, and here is a
story to inspire you, in episode40.
Speaker 19 (27:50):
Here in West Seattle , near where I live.
in 2002, a young orca wasdiscovered here in Puget Sound
and she was lost, alone, and sheturned out to be 300 miles away
from home.
It was her calls thatidentified her as a northern
resident or her mother had died,but her family, her grandmother
(28:12):
and aunts, were still alive.
There was no way she wouldnaturally be reunited with them.
Noa fisheries, the agencyresponsible for managing marine
mammals, had a big dilemma ontheir hands.
What should they do with thislittle orca who was down here by
herself?
And we helped persuade themthat she should have a chance to
(28:32):
go home, go back to her familyand not be sent to an aquarium
and, and even more so, not berehabilitated through an
aquarium but rehabilitatedsomewhere in Puget Sound so she
could stay as well as possibleand happily.
hey thought it was a risk worthtaking.
They thought there was a goodenough chance that she could.
She should go back to herfamily.
And n fisheries.
(28:53):
The department of fisheries andthe Vancouver Aquarium committed
to the first ever in C2rehabilitation of an orca, and
we, the community, a group ofseven nonprofits, work together
to support them, and it was anincredible time, and every day
we were wondering the littlewhale.
Her name was Springer.
Her name is o her ID number wasa 73.
(29:14):
She was a two year old orca andshe turned out to be resilient
and she didn't have any seriousdiseases.
She had a bad case of worms.
She was rescued, she wasdewormed, t tested to make sure
she wasn't carrying diseases andcarried home on a donated
catamaran where her family cameto get her less than 24 hours
(29:35):
after she was returned.
She came back the next yearwith her family and the year
after that, year f that, andtoday she's got two calves of
her own.
Lea Lane (29:43):
In episode 43, I remember two wacky festivals in
Japan.
On the third Sunday of December, on Montetago in Japan, people
are encouraged to swear.
The cursing festival HakutaiMatsuri is said to have begun
200 years ago.
During the Edo period, workersin the garment industry, most of
whom were women, were stressedout and they longed for a break
(30:06):
from their fatiguing task ofmaking kimonos by hand.
So they found a way to releasetheir stress by cursing.
Today, hundreds of people willtake a 40-minute hike to Otago
Shrine, swearing at 13 priestswho are walking in front of them
and disguised as tengu, adisruptive demon with a big nose
.
The most popular phrases usedto curse are bakayararu, idiot
(30:30):
and kanoayaru, bastard.
Sounds Sounds a bit likepoliticians.
Before reaching the OtagoShrine, the tengus will stop by
18 smaller shrines to presenttheir offerings, while the crowd
keeps cursing and trying totake the offerings.
Those who get the offerings areblessed with good luck.
Damn, what a festival.
And here's our last winterfestival, the Naked man Festival
(30:52):
.
On the third Sunday in February,some 10,000 men wearing nothing
but a thin loincloth gatheraround Sai Daiji Shrine in
Okayama.
These barely clothed men jumpinto an icy pool for
purification.
Then, at midnight, lights ofthe shrine are turned off and
the men shove each other in thefreezing temperature for more
(31:12):
than an hour to compete for thelucky sticks that were thrown by
the priest.
The winners are those whocapture the sticks and push them
into a box filled with ricecalled masu.
Those who get the sacred sticksare called lucky men and
blessed with a year of happiness.
Some people believe that thefestival was born around 500
years ago.
Worshippers of the shrinecompeted to get paper charms
(31:33):
from the priest at the end ofthe year because they believed
good things would happen to themif they received one.
Another legend states thatbeing naked could ward off evil
forces and misfortune.
Hence villagers would chooseone quote lucky man to absorb
all the misfortune.
The man that was chosen wouldwalk through the crowd naked.
Then he would leave the villagetogether with all the bad luck,
(31:55):
troubles and illness of all thevillagers.
If it were only that easy.
.
.
A weird and unforgettablememory in Canada's Yukon in
episode 45.
Speaker 20 (32:08):
I don't know how this got started, but anyways,
some guy donated his big toethat had got amputated because
it was, you know, it had too bada frostbite and so they
preserve it in salt at thishotel.
And you go there and there's athe toe captain is there and
basically you buy a shot ofwhiskey.
He puts the toe into thewhiskey and then you have to.
(32:32):
You have to drink it, and youknow the poem is drink it fast,
drink it slow.
Your lips must touch the gnarlytoe.
Lea Lane (32:41):
I've never heard of that before.
Speaker 20 (32:43):
Oh, it's really fun.
Lea Lane (32:44):
How many times have you done that, Paul?
Speaker 20 (32:46):
I've done it once.
But you know I'm like, you geta nice certificate and I think
I'm about number 80,000 ofpeople that have done this
experience, yeah, so.
Lea Lane (32:58):
I think I'll pass on that one, but I love it.
Speaker 20 (33:01):
Super fun, yeah, but you know, if you chew or
swallow the toe there's a $2,500fine, because people have done
that.
Lea Lane (33:09):
Really.
And it comes out at the end.
I guess, no matter where in theworld you are, what you
remember most can be universal.
Listen to this memory aboutIran in episode 46.
Speaker 21 (33:23):
One of my favorite memories of Iran is being with
my dad in the car and going toget the kebabs from the
restaurant and what you do is,if you don't want to eat the
kebabs at the restaurant, youtake a big pot, your own pot,
and you take it to therestaurant and they fill it up
with rice and they fill it upwith kebab and yeah, and they
(33:45):
put the lid on it and then youbring that home and we used to
do that.
Every weekend we would do thatand that was just a special time
that I spent with my dad one onone, and to be able to do
something cool like that was somuch fun.
I remember that very, veryvividly.
Lea Lane (34:01):
In episode 47, we learn of a special site in
Sonoma County, California, andit's not about wine.
Speaker 22 (34:08):
One of my favorite secrets is out on the coast,
goat rock, tile rock with abeach and everything very
beautiful.
If you know where to look, youwill see long scratches in the
stone above the beach, and whatthey are is ice age mammoths.
Woolly mammoths with theirtusks used to scrape along.
(34:30):
They used to scratch their backi their tusks right along the
goat rock beach in the ice.
So that's something that youwell, without the book secrets,
nobody will never find that.
Lea Lane (34:42):
In episode 50, Holocaust survivor Alan Hall
talks of revisiting the sitewhere he hid during World War II
an amazing memory.
Speaker 23 (34:52):
Well, I've visited, revisited several times.
The only time I ever broke downwas I visited, revisited, with
my brother and his family.
My family, my mother, my dadhad died previously -- and we
actually were at the door of thecloset, the room where we hid
for two years in the closet, andthere, for the first time, the
only time I absolutely lost it.
(35:13):
I just I you know I'm tearywhen I talk to you about it.
Now, I don't know, I can'texplain to you that there is a
something really terrific aboutthat space, and that is this was
a space for us which was asuncomfortable as it might have
been, it was heaven.
Sitting in the closet and notbeing apprehended, not being
(35:33):
fearful of being apprehendedevery moment, even though food
was short and all the rest of it, it was still heaven.
I revisited that place in 2000and 18.
Yes, 2018.
That same building has beenrehab completely.
It is now the Warsaw (Polish WHotel.
(35:55):
It is the most plush, the mostopulent, the nicest hotel I've
ever seen on any continent.
The very space where I had.
Of course, it's been totallyreconfigured, but now is grand,
a grand suite, unbelievable, yes, and i.
(36:16):
ou know, I say this with asmile on my face because it's so
.
it's ironic.
I want to go back to the hoteland I want to check into that
space, just to satisfy myself.
Lea Lane (36:30):
Everyone seems to travel to Portugal, and this
memory from episode 51 shows onereason why.
Speaker 24 (36:38):
I was so lucky to have been a teenager and get to
spend every summer there with myfamily and explore the country
from north to south.
My family is from (.
), which we didn't talk, whichis in the central part of the
country, which is alsophenomenally beautiful.
But if people say, is there astory that sums up Portugal to
you, For me it quickly, it'sthis.
It's probably about 18.
(36:58):
We're driving to the Algarvewhere we were going to spend two
weeks.
We're going through theAlentejo.
Back then there were nohighways in Portugal, so all the
roads were two lane and windy,unlike today where all the roads
are five lanes or six lanes.
We came to the town of Ponsorra.
It was August and the cardecided to blow its fan belt and
die.
So here we are in this smalltown in the middle of the cork
(37:19):
forest.
You would think that we wouldbe hard on our luck, but we
weren't.
There was one man who had agarage that I remember him,
he's Mr Sperto Romanos.
This is 30 some years ago.
He was fantastic.
He said I'll take care of thecar.
Here's a restaurant.
Go have lunch and then comeback and we'll tell you what's
going on.
We did.
It was very good food.
Went to his garage a but thiswas a Sunday, so he came in just
(37:40):
to help us.
He said I'm sorry, your fanbelt's blown.
You know I've got to changeyour head gasket.
Here's what we're going to domy friend's going to drive you
down there today so you don'tmiss your holiday, and in a week
, when the car is done, I'llhave it delivered to you.
Oh my goodness, that's thekindness of the Portuguese
people.
Lea Lane (37:57):
In episode 52, we talk about Mississippi and I offer a
memory of one of the greats ofthat state.
I also, in terms of BB King, Ihave to say I actually met him.
But I didn't meet him in theDelta.
I met him in Italy at a jazzfestival.
He was one of the peopleinvited.
It was 1993, I think it was theUmbria Jazz Festival.
He was a king.
(38:17):
I actually was in the room.
I was on a press trip.
I was next door so I watchedLucille, his guitar, being taken
into his room every day.
He must have slept all day long.
I had to be very quiet.
His manager was going around,"don't say anything.
He's sleeping well, well intothe afternoon.
But I remember meeting him.
He enjoyed himself and you havea quote in your book where he
(38:38):
said the blues are the three L'sliving, loving and hopefully
laughing.
And he did all three.
I can tell you I watched it.
Speaker 25 (38:45):
He was known for his generosity.
The people in Indianola oftencommented to us on how generous
a spirit he was, how he hadlearned that from his mom.
He lost his mom when he wasvery young and that had a big, a
very big impact on him.
Lea Lane (39:01):
In episode 53, my sons interviewed me and here's my
memory of a harrowing cruise inthe Indian Ocean.
Speaker 10 (39:09):
What's the pirate zone?
The pirate zone is like theBarbary Coast.
Yeah, i, it's in the oceanbetween India and East Africa.
We knew we were going to haveto go there.
It was a fabulous.
It was a trip from Dubai toCape Town, so the itinerary was
to die for and I didn't want toliterally die for.
(39:29):
So I didn't realize that wewould be in the pirate zone for
two weeks and during that timewe had to turn all our lights
off.
And they turned the lights offon the ship.
You know, outside you couldn'tgo out and they had pirate
drills and they talked aboutpirates all the time and people
were walking around going arg,arg and all that.
We were trying to make fun ofit but it didn't feel so good
(39:52):
because that very ship we wereon had been assaulted, I guess,
by pirates and there was evenlittle gunshots that you can
see, the holes in the ship.
Later we noticed that.
That was probably my leastfavorite experience, but my
favorite experiences was gettingout of the pirate zone.
That felt great.
So you know it was a littleexciting.
(40:12):
I did realize a lot of peopledidn't take the trip because it
was a fantastic itinerary butthey did not want that
experience.
But of course I said it wasworth the risk, and I think it
was because there were nopirates.
Speaker 8 (40:24):
Right.
So sometimes your most scarytrips can also be the most
satisfying.
Lea Lane (40:30):
We hope you enjoy these wonderful memories on part
one, and on our second partepisode 100, we'll offer even
more.
Don't miss it.
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