Wok N Roll with us...Bob and Teri Along with Atlas and Kalani

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Providence, Rhode Island 9/9/2016

We took a day to head up to the Capitol of Rhode Island located in Providence. The Capitol was completed in 1904 and has the 4th largest self-supporting marble dome in the world. (behind, in order, St. Peter's Basilica, the Taj Mahal, and the Minnesota State Capitol). Unfortunately, when we visited we were unable to see the dome as it was under going major renovations. So for us and you, here is a link of what the dome looks like. The Dome

We took a tour of the rest of the capitol that included: the Chamber of the RI House of Representatives, the State Room where dignitaries and press conferences are held, the Chamber of the RI Senate, and the State Library. The tour was short and we seemed to get teamed with a disability group (making the tour maybe less informative than it might have been otherwise). But there was one member in the group that seemed to be rather intelligent (savant, maybe?) but had trouble forming his communication. The tour guide could not understand him and we got about every forth word. For me, on a personal note, I was reminded of my father in his final years, only mid 60's. He had a stroke that made it difficult for him to talk and he drooled and wore a bib when he ate. I was always bothered that those around him figured he was lacking intelligence when his incredible brain was still fully intact and ticking. I was also frustrated at how difficult it was for me to communicate with him and so impressed with his patience as I asked numerous times for him to repeat. How frustrating this must be for some and I share this in hopes that others may not prejudge others by first impressions. This particular individual at the Capitol I think had so much to share and I tried my best to really hear what he had to say and yet left pained that so few heard him.

My message today, love all those around you and please do not prejudge. We hope you enjoy our pictures. We are headed home, yet we have a few more Capitols to visit as we work our way back to Florida.

Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Capitol

House of Representatives Chamber
Rhode Island State Capital

State Room
Rhode Island State Capital

Senate Chamber
Rhode Island State Capital

Library
Rhode Island State Capital

Elevator State Seal
Rhode Island State Capital

Friday, September 9, 2016

Newport, Rhode Island 9/8/2016

Things one learns quickly when they come to Rhode Island: It is the smallest state in the US; it is the state with the shortest state motto-"Hope"; and, it is the State with the longest name which is actually, 'Rhode Island and Providence Plantations'.

The city of Newport is know for its gilded age mansions. It is difficult to come up with the exact number, but we counted over 11 of them in this area. Because we had visited 2 other Vanderbilt mansions in our travels, while here we decided that we would visit 2 of the Vanderbilt mansions here in Newport. As you look at these (excessive riches) pictures, keep in mind these were cottages that they normally only visited 6 weeks out of the year. Marble house, one of the most expensive homes, was was said to be not their second home but rather their 5th or 6th home. We chose to visit Marble House and the Breakers while here, both Vanderbilt homes.

Marble House, a 50 room mansion, completed in 1892, was the summer cottage of Alva and William Vanderbilt. The house cost 11 million at that time of which 7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. The house had 36 servants.

An interesting note, when the marble for the second floor was destroyed prior to shipment, Alva insisted they keep to schedule and the whole second floor is done in a faux marble.

Three years after completion, the two were divorced (so unheard of for the day), but Alva owned the house outright, having received it as her 39th birthday present. Alva would soon remarry, however, then only use this beautiful house as basically a storage room. Later she would use it to hold Woman's Suffrage meetings. The house was permanently closed in 1919 when she moved to France to be near her daughter Consuelo.

The second Vanderbilt mansion that we visited was the Breakers. The Breakers is the 70 room summer estate of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife Alice. This home was completed in 1895 for 7 Million dollars. It is a 70 room mansion, with over 125,000 sq feet. While 'some' rooms we did not find to be as elaborate as in Marble House, the home was spacious, and in many ways just as grand. I believe we heard that Cornelius only spent one season here, due to health issues. So much money and so little enjoyment. I told Bob as we left, if all this 'cottage' money was put towards fighting cancer, cancer would be gone by now.

These are beautiful homes to visit, and should we return we may visit more of them. The gilded age came to an end due mainly to taxes it seems. Of further note these people, though rich, lived with considerable stress. They built barred rooms in their cottages and locked up their silver every night and also toted their silver to their regular homes to protect. They were so concerned with losing their 'riches'.

There are so many more interesting facets to explore in these mansions. But we have been on a somewhat long journey, so for tonight, I will post pictures to share in hopes that our readers enjoy.

Marble House, RI

Dining Room
Marble House, RI

The Gothic Room
Marble House, RI

The Gold Room
Marble House, RI

A Special Room for Visiting Women to freshen up in.
Marble House, RI

One of many Ceilings
Marble House, RI

Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom
Marble House, RI

Their daughter, Consuelo's Bedroom
Marble House, RI

Mr. Vanderbilt's Bedroom
Marble House, RI

Servant's Kitchen
Marble House, RI

Back Yard of
Marble House, RI

The Breakers, RI

The Grand Entrance
The Breakers, RI

Part of the Dining Room
The Breakers, RI

The Billiard Room
The Breakers, RI

Part of the Grand Entrance
The Breakers, RI

The Breakers, RI

Note the Rail Car (left) and the Rail Hammer (right) that
the Cherubs are holding
The Breakers, RI

The Breakers, RI

Another Beautiful Ceiling
The Breakers, RI

At First the Preservation Society thought this was silver,
but it did not tarnish.
It is Platinum
The Breakers, RI

The Breakers, RI

Mr. Vanderbilt's Room
He only spent one season here as he had a stroke shortly
after the house was completed.
The Breakers, RI

Bathroom. Note the 4 faucets.
Each bathroom had hot and cold water for both fresh and saltwater.
Because Marble is so cold, the tub had to be filled numerous times
before bathing for the water to stay warm.

Mrs. Vanderbilt's Bedroom
The Breakers, RI

The Breakers, RI

Daughter Gertrude Vanderbilt's Bedroom
She first slept here when she was 19.
The Breakers, RI

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

St. John's, Newfoundland 8/28-30/2016

The city of St. John's Newfoundland is full of color and history. Like many cities, however, it is hard to park, especially our large beast (truck). But we still managed to get around and see a lot.

Signal Hill is the reception point of the first transatlantic wireless signal by Marconi in 1901. Last year we visited the transmission point for this signal in Nova Scotia. While at Signal Hill we also visited the Queen's Battery and Barracks as well as the Cabot Tower. The fortification of Signal Hill with barracks and a battery began during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815). The Cabot Tower was completed in 1901 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and also the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Cabot' landing in Newfoundland. From what we were told, the tower served no other purpose.

The Commissariat House was built in 1820 to house the Commissariat Department of the British armed forces that were stationed in Newfoundland. This office was in charge of overseeing the pay and supplies of the British armed forces. Our house tour included the offices and fireproof cash vault as well as the living accommodations for the Assistant Commissary General. After the withdrawal of the garrison in 1871, the house was converted to a rectory for the St. Thomas Church.

Because the Colonial Building is undergoing a full renovation, we were unable to tour the inside. We did get to see the outside, however, and we did learn a few things concerning this building while we were here. The building was constructed of white Irish limestone in 1850. It served as the legislative building for Newfoundland from 1850-1960. When the colony began governing itself in 1832, its first legislative home was a tavern owned by Mrs. Tavers. It was not until 1846 that construction of a true legislative house was begun. That house was Colonial building. We learned that this build eventually had a tunnel built to the Governor's house. It is said that legislative debates were know to turn into full scale riots and the tunnel was to enable the Governor's escape. One of the notable riots occurred on April 5, 1932. This protest turned into a full scale riot and all the windows within the building were broken as well as furniture and doors. We were told there was over $10,000 dollars of damage done on that occasion.

The Confederation Building was a replacement to the Colonial building and was completed in 1960. The entryway is done with large Italian Marble columns to tie themselves into Cabot (Italian), having discovered Newfoundland. In the legislature room all the chairs and desk blotters are all made from seal skins. The desks can be re positioned and are done so to keep the various parties sitting together. Presently the Liberal party has control of the chamber (30 of the 40 seats)which is why you see so many desks on the far side in the picture.

St. John's is home to many historic churches. We have included 3 in the blog, 2 of which we were able to tour inside as well. St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church was completed in 1896. It is the oldest surviving Presbyterian church in the city. The church is built of brick and stone that was imported from Scotland. The church is known as the 'Kirk' . While we were not able to see inside the day we visited, the picture we found online is beautiful. Church Interior

St. John the Baptist Anglican Cathedral is the oldest Anglican church in all of Canada. The parish was founded in 1699 and the church was consecrated as a cathedral in 1850. The interior, including the Casavant Pipe Organ are stunning.

The Basilica of St. John the Baptist was consecrated in 1855. At that time, it was the largest building project to date in the city of St. John's. The church was certainly very contemporary for the time. The Basilica is built of grey limestone and granite that was quarried in Galway and Dublin, Ireland.The alter sacrifice that stands at the front of the sanctuary is sculpted in Carrara marble by the Irish sculptor, John Hogan. It is considered to be his best work and is entitled 'The Dead Christ'.

The Newman Wine Vaults were constructed of stone and brick, are one of the oldest structures remaining in St. John's, and one of the few vaults remaining in Newfoundland. They developed a good and unique port. The unique qualities they were able to achieve with their port, they claim to not know if it came from the rocking of the seas or the maturation in Newfoundland with their climate. We are not really Port wine drinkers, but the sample we tasted made us decide to buy a bottle to take home with us to open on a special occasion. We also learned about the various types of Port, which was new to us.

On our last day in St. John's we counted ourselves incredibly lucky. We went up to Cape Spear as we just had to hike out to the most Eastern part of North America. But that day there were 50 plus mile an hour winds, most likely caused by Hurricane Gaston. The seas that day were 25 feet swells and we were so glad that our ferry departure was yet 2 days away.

Tomorrow we depart on an 18 hours ferry from this wonderful island and its wonderful music, beauty and people. We have been here an entire month, yet we think we would like to return sometime, possible during iceberg season. We are headed towards home and expect to arrive around the 3rd week in September. We will still try to blog along our way home as we plan to stop in some exciting places. We are talking about Alaska once again in 2017. We will see what our coming year brings. Those of you that have followed our Newfoundland adventure, we hope you have enjoyed it. For us it has been wonderful, informative and full of love from the locals.

Newfoundland Trivia: (this is the last trivia post) Newfoundland is the only province in Canada to have its own dictionary. While enjoying our stay on this lovely island we also so enjoyed listening to the locals speak. They have a bit of their own accent and every once in a while you will hear them say a distinctly Newfoundland phrase, that really is so fun to hear. Almost everyone in a a shop calls you sweetheart or love and there are other fun phrases as well. Here are just a few:

Do you want some taken up? - Do you want some supper?
Who knit ya? - Who's your parents?
I just dies at you. - You make me laugh.
Its a mausey day. - A foggy wet day.
I'm just 'bout gutfounded. - I'm very hungry.
And through out our travels I also noticed most say 'good day', with that almost Irish brogue. This has been so very much fun.

While a Newfoundlander will say 'we comes from away', their hospitality and friendliness can not be overstated. We will surely miss this lovely place.