Travelsmartplanet

Chocolate was hugely expensive in the 18th century and a pound would cost the same as a pair of shoes. You had to be wealthy to be able to serve cocoa to guests. the cocoa was served hot with spices and sugar and was used medicinally and for warmth and strength. Both women and men drank it. Ladies thought it was energizing. More than two centuries later, I think we still agree about that.

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Cape Breton, Nova Scotia:

At Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, inside the wealthy chief engineer’s house, we saw dinner hanging around. See the goose and chicken In a special contraption suspended from the rafters.

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The Dutch brought sugar cane to the West Indies. During the Colonial period, refined white sugar was shipped in the shape of cones, typically the product of slave labor. Once in the mold, sugar water or other solution was poured over the sugar to remove the excess molasses. The sugar loaves were then removed from the molds and dried. They were wrapped in blue paper (from Insifo) for shipping.

For transport it was shaped in molds and then wrapped in paper made from old clothes linen pulp add indigo to paper color
Salt cod was the “money” used to trade for it.

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While walking through the massive English Garden in Munich we were wowed when we came across people surfing at the southern edge of the park, next to the Haus der Kunst. Sure it  is a tiny part of the artificial river which had a wild current in it, but there were people of all ages and all degrees of competence with their boards and gear ready to give it a try. And a huge crowd watching –  be careful, you may get wet!

www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html

Tags: age, board, crowd, current, English Garden, gear, people, river, surf, wet

The “English Garden”, really the Englischer Garten in Munich is  known as one of the largest urban public parks in the world. Believe it or not, it was designed by an American physicist, Sir Benjamin Thompson in 1789.

Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel on the British side during the American Revolutionary War for which he received a knighthood from King George III. He later lived in Germany and became Count Rumford.

www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html

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Cannon showing stakes around the moat

Photo; Stan Posner

You can still see the best preserved earthwork fortification of the Confederacy along the banks of the Great Ogeechee River, just south of Savannah, GA. It played an important role in the defense of Savannah during the Civil War, when the Union navy blockaded the Georgia coast. The sand and mud earthworks of Fort McAllister were attacked 7 times by the Union’s ironclad ships, but did not fall until captured in 1864 by General William T. Sherman during his infamous “March To The Sea”.
The beauty of the concept behind this fort was that the mud absorbed the shells and the walls could be rebuilt overnight. Underground were the barracks, officer quarters and a hot shot furnace for cannonballs. You may be surprised to find out that cannonballs were red-hot out of the furnace when they were fired – the point was not to punch a hole in the target, but to start a fire, especially if the enemy was in a ship in the river.

When Sherman’s army finally took the fort, it was only because they unexpectedly invaded from behind. Instead of coming down the river, they approached from the land side and “blind-sided” the enemy, who were vigilantly watching for an attack by sea.

The fort and its surroundings have become a State Park, with a Civil War Museum and shop, camp sites, picnic tables, cottages, fishing, playgrounds etc. The small museum has artifacts from the fortifications and a short orientation movie. If you’re lucky enough to visit on the right day, there are re-enactments of Civil War battles held on site periodically, including soldiers and their families having lunch cooked on an open fire, drilling and marching. Experience the sights and sounds of Civil War living as well as the smell of battle.

Hours: Daily 7 am to 10 pm (Museum 9-5). Park: 912-727-2339

Click here to see a slide show with more photos

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