A Geo Gnome’s Journey Across the Deep Blue Sea
I began my journey on Sept, 13th 2007 at the Seattle-Tacoma airport (Seattle, Washington) just prior to boarding a plane for my long journey to Europe.
Seattle is the largest city in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region. It is located between the Puget Sound and Lake Washington, ninety-six miles south of the US-Canadian border.
Seattle's official nickname is the "Emerald City," the reference is to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area. It is also referred to informally as the "Rainy City" (due to its especially rainy weather), and the "Gateway to Alaska" (for obvious reasons mentioned above).
Other interesting geographical facts: The city, somewhat like San Francisco, is hilly. Although I have not yet been there, like Rome, Seattle is said to lie on seven hills.
Seattle is in an earthquake zone and has experienced a number of significant quakes. Although the beautiful Olympic Mountains lie just beyond the Sound, Seattle’s total area is 41.16% water.
Seattle is often regarded as the birthplace of “grunge” music, and has a reputation for very heavy coffee consumption! The famous Starbucks was founded in Seattle.
The Space Needle is Seattle's most recognizable landmark and has been featured in the logo of the television show Frasier and in the popular television series Grey's Anatomy. Other notable Seattle landmarks include the Smith Tower, Pike Place Market, the Fremont Troll, the Experience Music Project, the Seattle Central Library, the Washington Mutual Tower, and the Columbia Center, which is the fourth tallest skyscraper west of the Mississippi River and the seventeenth tallest in the nation. Some interesting but scary trivia: on June 16, 2004, the 9/11 Commission reported that the original plan for the September 11, 2001 attacks included the Columbia Center as one of ten targeted buildings.
Flight from Seattle, Wa to Frankfurt, Germany via Los Angeles, LAXThis is me, the Elf, hanging out in the Business Class lounge at “LAX” (Los Angeles airport) waiting to board the flight to Frankfurt, Germany. If you look closely at the sign board upon which I am sitting, you will see some of the other interesting destinations include Narita (Tokyo, Japan), Incheon (Seoul, Korea), Munich (Germany), Zurich (Switzerland) and Singapore (Southeast Asia). I hope to make it to some of those destinations soon.
Although I can’t boast a long stay in Los Angeles, I was there for a few hours at the airport so took the time to learn some interesting facts about “LAX.” LAX is the official abbreviation for the Los Angeles International Airport. It is located approximately fifteen miles from the infamous LA downtown area.
LAX handles more “destination” passengers (means they started in LA &/or will remain in LA) than any other airport in the world! It is the world's fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and, naturally, the busiest airport in the state of California. In 2006 it was the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the U.S. and the 20th worldwide.
I spent my time in the Tom Bradley International Terminal. This terminal opened for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games and is named in honor of Tom Bradley, the first African-American and longest serving (20 years) mayor of Los Angeles. I was one of ten 10 million passengers that will travel through this terminal in one year.
The LA airport occupies almost 3500 acres of the city on the Pacific coast. LAX is one of the most famous locations for commercial “aircraft spotting,” most notably at the so called "Imperial Hill" area (also known as Clutter's Park) in El Segundo from which nearly the entire South Complex of the airport can be viewed. Another famous spotting location sits right under the final approach for runways 24 L&R on a small grass lawn. You can spot planes while enjoying a delicious meal at the well-known Westchester In-N-Out Burger restaurant. From what I have read, this place is one of the few remaining locations in Southern California from which spotters may watch such a wide variety of low-flying commercial airliners from directly underneath (how cool!). The airport's coastal location exposes it to fog, so many times the flights are diverted to another airport approximately fifty miles to the east.
Ok, well, I have eaten all of the cake, cookies and chips in the lounge. Now I am ready to sleep on the long journey to Germany (eleven hour flight).
Frankfurt, GermanyLike my stop-over in LAX, I only had a few hours in the Frankfurt airport – en route to my final destination (The United Kingdom); but, Frankfurt really is a beautiful city and very interesting too, so I just knew that you would want to know more!
Frankfurt is the fifth-largest city in Germany, however it really is at the center of the larger “Frankfurt Rhine Main Area” which has a population of five million and is Germany's second largest metropolitan area.
Situated on the river Main, it was once called Frankfort-on-the-Main by English speakers. Today it is most commonly known as "Frankfurt."
Frankfurt was named Europe's richest city in 2001 but that really is because of their focus on the banking industry. Not only is it is the financial and transportation centre of Germany, it home to the European Central Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is one of the two largest financial centers in continental Europe (the other one is Paris – and I am going there too! ).
Frankfurt is sometimes nicknamed "Bankfurt" (duuh, because of what I just told you!), "Mainhattan" (yes, because of the River Main) or "The Big Äppel" (referring to "Äppelwoi", or apple wine, a type of apple cider that is produced and consumed mainly in this region).
The skyline is beautiful and it is one of only four European cities that can boast a significant number of high-rise skyscrapers. With eleven skyscrapers taller 500 feet, Frankfurt is second only to Paris, La Défense (where my Aunt Joni works and where you will see me later during my trip ).
The city of Frankfurt has five soccer teams, one ice hockey team and they even have a basketball team called the “Deutsche Bank Skyliners” (get it? Skyliners…tall people playing basketball? ). If I had time to catch a game it is likely that my dinner that night would be a Frankfurter Sausage (you guessed it – a hot dog!) or a Frankfurter Rindswurst (a sausage made of pure beef – originally introduced to meet the demands of the growing Jewish population in Frankfurt). For dessert I might have a Frankfurter Kranz (or Frankfurt Crown Cake). It is a delicious cake filled with butter cream, and also sometimes comes with jam or jelly. Then it is topped with caramel-covered brittle nuts, called Krokant (YUM!!!). This cake is specifically from “Frankfort-on-the-Main.”
You might ask what relevance Lufthansa is to Frankfurt… well, Frankfurt is one of the busiest airports in the whole of Europe and is the biggest cargo-airport in Europe. Its biggest airline is (you guessed it) Lufthansa! Auf Wiedersehen für jetzt! (pun intended! )
United Kingdom, here I come (and finally off of airplanes)!!!My first stop was Manchester, England.
Often described as the "Capital of the North," Manchester is a centre for the arts, the media, higher education and commerce. One recent report showed Manchester to be the "fastest-growing city" (money-wise) in England. Of course that report was paid for by Manchester but, there must be some merit to it because it is the third most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and is often called the “second city in the UK” (I guess you can figure out which one is first?!).
Since my humble Master (Lecy) is a runner I thought she would be interested to know that Manchester was the host to the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Of course its real sporting claim-to-fame lies in its heritage of soccer – or football as they call it here. There are two Premier League football teams, Manchester United (undisputedly the best football team in the world – and if you don’t believe me just ask my Caretaker, Aunt Joni ) and Manchester City (no comment!)…
Derbyshire, The Peak District and Pennines - England
Enough about Manchester, because the real beauty stretches between Manchester and Sheffield (another famous English town) in the rolling hills and moorlands of the Peak District.
The Peak District is an area in central and northern England, lying mainly in the northern county of Derbyshire (pronounced "dar-ba-sher," as opposed to "der-bee-shire").
The Peak District has been settled from the earliest periods of human activity, proven by middle Stone Age (Mesolithic) artifacts that have been found. The first roads in the Peak were constructed by the Romans, although they might have followed existing tracks. Packhorse routes cris-crossed the Peak in the Medieval era, and some modern day paved roads are believed to date from this period.
The Peak District is an amazing place for all types of outdoor fun. There is a huge network of public footpaths and long-distance trails, as well as large open-access areas for hill walking and hiking. Bridleways are commonly used by mountain bikers as well as horseback riders. Some of the long-distance trails re-use old railway lines.
The Snake Pass is the name of a very windy road – almost like a mountain pass that crosses the Peak District. The highest point is 512 meters (1679 feet) above sea level. The road is exceptionally scenic and, on a clear day, you will have beautiful views over the city of Manchester (over 10 miles away) and beyond. The road was first built as a toll road in 1820 as the most direct route between the two cities of Manchester and Sheffield. The name of the road matches its winding route, but the real interesting trivia is that the road got its name from the emblem of the Snake Inn which is one of the few buildings on the high stretch of road (see the picture!). The pub's (“Public House”) sign is derived from the serpent on the Cavendish arms of the Duke of Devonshire. The Snake Inn has been renamed the "Snake Pass Inn", so the pub (restaurant and inn) is now named after the pass which was originally named after the pub! How funny!
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