Shangri-la Bangkok

Kade's sister worked at Shangri-la Bangkok for a bit.

I Get It

Below is a response I had to a relative who also enjoys traveling. He's been to a lot of countries but has some (in particular, Italy) he returns to frequently. This was in 2019. Since then, I've been to Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Denmark. Maybe he motivated me!

What's interesting is that you have been to a # of places where I've not been, yet really desire to: Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Mexico (a little less so), Sweden and, of course, Portugal and Spain.

Missed Krakow - one of my biggest regrets - after stopping in Warsaw for a couple of nights en route to meeting Uncle Jim in Prague in '94. He and I did the Prague - Vienna- Salzburg - Budapest circuit for a couple of weeks. We were on trains mostly, yet had an enjoyable cruise down the Danube from one destination to another. 

And since we have talked about trains, besides the Moscow to St. Petersburg overnighter with Kade in 2007, back in '94, to get to Warsaw, I took a boat from Helsinki to Tallin (Estonia), then the rest trains: Tallin to Riga (Latvia), Riga to Vilnius (Lithuania), and Vilnius through the corner of Belarus, arriving in Warsaw. Stayed in each of the locales for a few days, and was lots of fun. And in Thailand, we have taken trains from the Bangkok city center to cities in the north, and even down to beach towns close to the Malaysian border. Like you said, if overnight, it's less than a hotel. Plus, it's a unique way to arrive somewhere.

Have been to around 40 countries, but the longer stints in places have been the most pleasant. Hard to beat Italy, for example. And Italy, like Thailand, Switzerland or Chile, you can return over and over and it still be magical. So I get why you do what you do.

Happy Little Birthday

Jesus in Bangkok!

Maybe

I got this e-mail from great-uncle in 2013.  He passed away in 2013.  He loved traveling and helping make connections.  Kamil is a person we got to know in Central Asia and Russia.

Kamil is going to visit an island near Thailand. Please send me Kade's family phone # and address....just in case if he has time there. I think that would be nice.....maybe.

Take care and good Luck.  

jwv/jim/uncle jim/doc/jimbo

Kamil, would love to help you with some Thailand travel tips and ideas. E-mail me and let me what you need. Thailand is very tourist-friendly, and over 1 million Russians went on holiday there last year. I know a lot about Bangkok, and a considerable amount about cities in the North and cities/beaches in the South. Just let me know how I can help. Good luck planning, and have a fabulous time.

Allen

Quite an Adventure

1959

Notice name of hotel in London, the stop in Oxford, the train journey from Moscow to Kiev. It was quite an adventure for my grandfather, Major Espy, who would have been 52 at the time.

Hats

I inherited these hats from my great-uncle, who died a couple of years ago.  He enjoyed traveling, and went on a few trips together.  One journey was to Uzbekistan in the early 90s.  The colorful embroidered hat on the left is called a doppi (in Uzbek) or tubeteika (in Russian).  The one on the right is a traditional Mongolian hat.  It's possible my uncle got this hat in Central Asia in the 90s or a later trip to China.  I'm pretty certain he never traveled to Mongolia.

The painting is one I bought for my mother while on a trip to Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Nice Country

Postmarked August 2, 1945

March 1944

Click here for more on Sam R. Vann.

Samarkand Souvenirs

My great-uncle got these items on his trips to Uzbekistan.  The 2500 was the birthday celebration of the Silk Road city, Samarkand.

Dad's Journeys

This is a photo of my dad (Mark C. Espy, Sr.) as a boy, standing in front of a world map in his bedroom in Headland, Alabama (circa 1951).  During his lifetime he did a significant amount of traveling, both in the U.S. and internationally.  He saw virtually every US state, including Alaska and Hawaii.  Countries he visited: Canada (3x), Honduras, Brazil (2x), Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Belize, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Haiti, England, France (2x), Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Russia and Finland.  

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Oct 1948

Oct 1949

Nov 1949

July 1950

April 1951

June 1953

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June 1955

June 1957

July 1960

July 1964

July 1964

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Sexy Handicrafts

My cousin purchased this for me on his stopover in Cozumel, Mexico while on his Caribbean cruise. Other stops they made were Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  

Seafood Market & Restaurant, Bangkok

Source

 

 

I had lived in Bangkok three years and had not heard of this place, for whatever reason.  But everything changed the weekend Kade and I got married.  A cousin of mine - an Alabama native living in Tokyo! - arrived in Bangkok to attend our wedding, and one of the places that she wanted to take us was to Seafood Market & Restaurant.  She had lived in Bangkok once before, and knew about it.  My great-uncle, who was also in town for the wedding, was part of our little entourage that evening for dinner.  It was this uncle who was most impressed by the experience.  We're talking about someone who has traveled extensively, both in his own country and abroad.  And he's also spent lots of time at the beach, on the Florida coast, where he has a cottage.  His judgment, when it comes to seafood, means something.  All I can say is, when I visit or talk with him, and we start reminiscing about his time in Bangkok back in 2003, he raves about this place.   Apart from the food, which was predictably delicious, what dazzled my uncle was the enormous size of the restaurant, the way it was designed and decorated, the vast (and I mean vast!) array of fresh seafood and produce, the unique way in which you selected the items you desired to eat, how you the communicated exactly how you wanted it all prepared, and then just the sheer number of chefs and woks in the super-sized, semi-outdoor kitchen.  Wow!  Maybe one day we will get to try it again!

My Cousin Sam

Sam West and his wife Judy

 

Sam's grandmother was Sarah Belle (Carroll) West, from Ozark, Alabama.  She and my great-grandmother, Emma Penelope (Carroll) Espy, were sisters.  Sarah also went by the name "Sallie."  Sam and Judy spend most of the year in Asheville, NC.

Sarah Belle (Carroll) West

Floating Market

When my great-uncle came over to Bangkok for my wedding in 2003, Kade and I took him to this floating market, about an hour outside the city.  We took a mini-van from his hotel, and arrived at a dock somewhere.  From there, we had to ride in one of the long-tail boats.  Right as we got down into the boat, which was a little tough to get into and you had to sit very low, my uncle said, "God, can you imagine so and so back home trying to get into this boat?  They wouldn't be able to get in or out!"  He was referring to just how fat many Americans are.  It was typical Uncle Jim.  Quite funny, and true.  We loved the market, and it lived up to its hype.  I'd say it was one of the highlights of my uncle's trip to Bangkok.

12 Floating Markets Around Bangkok

Bordeaux

 

 Bordeaux in France: Top 5 To Do’s

We thought you guys would enjoy this update from Bordeaux. Notice in the pics of the underground limestone cave in St Emilion where this particular chateau is digging it out to cellar its wines. All of the buildings in the stunning ancient Roman village of St Emilion are made using gorgeous limestone blocks that were removed from the earth below the village. Indeed, the whole wine appellation of St Emilion, the vineyards that surround the village, are sitting atop miles of this limestone and the older vine roots go 50ft+ down into the limestone to drink water and nutrients, making St. Emilion wines so delicious and prized by wine aficionados. 

 

Also, notice the pics of the chateau building with its wonderful limestone walls, which are as solid thick blocks of limestone. There is a basilica in the village of St Emilion that is literally carved out of one gigantic block of limestone. Vignerons, here, have just finished pruning all their vines throughout all of Bordeaux and as we were driving into St Emilion yesterday you could see piles and piles of burning vine trimmings and smell the smoke in the air. Sometimes steaks are grilled very quickly over these flaming vines to feed the harding working vineyard workers who are pruning, re-wiring, re-staking the vines. 

 

Mark

Hello from Bordeaux.

 

Well, we had one final shower late this afternoon. Tomorrow they are telling us it will be sunny and about 65 degrees, but the proof will be in the pudding. We hope that the weather is nice tomorrow as we pick up our rental car at 8.30am to head down to the Pessac-Leognan wine appellation south of the city. We have an appointment to meet with Remi at 9.30am at Domaine de Chevalier, a very highly regarded Grand Cru Graves estate. Estate owners here run both Chevalier and its sister estate Domaine de la Solitude.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of 2002 Domaine de la Solitude at a brasserie near Pierre Square on Sunday evening.

 

The following morning as we were on the steps of the Grand Theatre waiting for our wine tour driver, the engaging but professional waiter passed by on his bike and stopped to say Bonjour! This is just one of many examples that we've encountered of how warm and friendly the Bordelais are.

 

Today I took some quick pictures as we walked along the Garonne River from our apartment to crowded Gare St. Jean. This is a very busy train station for the Aquitaine Region, with trains pulling into the station from almost every corner of France. We were attempting to locate the rental car agency to be familiar with the area before in the morning, but were finally informed that the car agency was on the south side of the huge train station. We'll just hire a taxi in the morning to make sure we can get to the right place. Tomorrow we will visit chateaux in the Pessac-Leognan and Pauillac wine regions. 

 

On the return of our walk tonight to our apartment, we stopped by La Brasserie Bordelaise and Ralph ordered boeuf bourguignon to go. It was just before their dinner rush around 8 pm. The waiter asked us to please be seated at the bar. He soon poured us each a glass of Bordeaux blanc and brought over plate of bacon-wrapped dates for us to enjoy as we waited. Yet another example of Bordelais cordiality. The beef burgundy along with mashed potatoes was among the best we've ever had and paired perfectly with the 2001 Pomerol, which was recommended by the very nice woman at L'Intendant Wine Shop. 

 

Bordeaux is an incredible place!

   

Mark and Ralph

We stopped at the L'Intendant Wine Shop today and picked up three Bordeaux wines: 2006 Lacoste Borie (Pauillac), 2007 Chateau Fayard (Saint-Macaire Cotes de Bordeaux), and 2001 Chateau Rouget (Pomerol). The shop sells Bordeaux wines exclusively and has reasonable prices on a nice selection of its wines. There is a very friendly and knowledgeable older saleswoman there who we have enjoyed meeting. She is impressed that we are visiting from North Carolina I think. The wines she helped me select are accessible wines great for drinking now. Here's a photo of them along with a few of this wine shop with the spiraled staircase. It is located across from the Grand Theatre (Opera). We also enjoyed using Bordeaux modern tram today to visit the Arab markets near Saint Michel square. The tram is in my view the most sophisticated in the world. It's tracks are in the streets and cars may travel on the street when tram is not there.

 

We had lunch in a neighorhood restaurant where we enjoyed the plat du jour of Dover Sole, Rice Timbali and green salad along with a glass of crisp and delicious Entre-Deux-Mers blanc. 

 

Cheers!

 

Mark and Ralph 

We just returned from a visit to Saint Emilion with our driver/guide Maryse Gravouil, who owns Bordeaux Excursions. Maryse grew up in a Cognac producing family, just north of Bordeaux in the countryside. She moved to the city of Bordeaux when she was 18 to attend school. At Maryse' suggestion, the three of us stopped for lunch today in the village of St Emilion to dine with her friend Chez Pascal. This is a place where the locals come to enjoy only the freshest market fare. A couple of pics are included of this little place, which is frequented by area vignerons, necogiants and wine merchants. 

 

Along with everyone else, we enjoyed today's market special of braised lapin in a mushroom cream sauce, mashed potatoes seasoned with a hint of nutmeg, sauteed young carrots and a simple greenleaf salad. We started with a fantastic pulled pork spread (unsauced) which Maryse recommended and enjoyed it with rustic bread and a glass of local red. I topped off my meal with a plate of housemade chocolate mousse garnished with one tiny almond cookie. Ralph was able to snag one quick bite of my mousse but not any more! We all enjoyed an espresso to close our wonderful palate pleasing experience. Their kitchen was in the "cave" or cellar below and the owners (Pascal and wife) rushed hot, aromatic plates up from below to chatty tables. At one point, Maryse said "look" pointing to Pascal at the bar stealing a quick sip of a wine that he had just opened for our neighbors at the next table....."He really has a tough job!!!"

 

We then visited a couple of chateauxs before returning to Bordeaux. Here are some pics of Bordeaux and our visit today. Some turned out better than others.

 

Ralph and I are off now to enjoy a light supper of fresh oysters (huitres), pate and a glass or two of white wine in my favorite part of town, the old Medival section with cobblestone streets near St. Pierre Place. 

 

Bordeaux is a stunning city!!!!

 

Ralph and Mark

We made some great connections with some wonderful people in Bordeaux. The wines and cuisine in this stunning city are extraordinary. Bordeaux is known for its fresh oysters, several different varieties. The best that I have ever had. When enjoying oysters, it is tradition with Bordelais to enjoy a certain type of delicious grilled sausage on the side along with a glass of white wine from Bordeaux. The most common white wine serve is from a large appellation east of the city called "Entre-duex-Mers" which means "between two seas". Entre-deux-Mers lies between the two rivers "Garonne" and "Dordogne" and the rivers here are considered the seas. 

 

The Bordelais are beautiful people who happen to live in a beautiful place.

 

Mark

February 2011