Tag: Travel
Look Both Ways
On Wednesday, the second day of my 10 day tour of Scotland, we were heading up to the Isle of Skye and we made a few stops along the way. It was very beautiful. And at one stop, which was pretty close to our final destination, at Fort Williams. We pulled over on the left side of the road to look at some mountains. I thought I would get a nice picture of the whole group, including the bus, with this stunning scenery in the background.
So I ran across the two lane highway and stood on the shoulder on the other side to take a picture. It was a fairly busy road. I took the pictures, and I looked to my right. There was a line of cars coming towards me, but there was an opening between two cars wide enough for me to shoot across, and so I ran to beat the car on the right, oblivious to the fact that this was the UK and the greater threat was the cars on the left. I did not see the car that hit me at about 35 miles an hour.
The driver never touched the brake. She never had a chance, since I just ran out in front of her without warning. One of my many regrets is the trauma she will carry from that moment.
I remember the impact, the thud, and felt oddly at a peace as I flew in slow motion into the air. I thought “Hmm, I’ve just been hit by a car and feel no pain. That’s nice.” But I also said to myself, “This can’t be good.”
Then, once I hit the ground, things went from slow motion to normal speed. I was on my back in the middle of the road with a group of very, very anxious people gathering around me. I wanted to assure them that I was okay, and tried to get up. Unfortunately, my voice was a hoarse whisper, at best, and my legs would not comply. Even trying to say the words, “I’m okay,” revealed that I wasn’t okay. I’d had had the wind knocked out of me, and I couldn’t really speak,
People were running around insisting that I not be moved. One of the first people to come to me was our brilliant 27 year-old tour guide, Declan, with the first aid kit. He assured me that the wound on my arm was superficial and I would be fine. Rita came by, obviously very concerned.
What happened from then on is a bit of a blur. I was frankly surprised with how quickly the ambulance arrived with the paramedics and a very, very competent, in-charge guy took control. It was odd I didn’t feel as badly as I thought I should, given the impact of the accident. I didn’t feel great but was pretty confident I would recover. However, I did begin vto get concerned when the paramedic told me, “Don’t worry. The helicopter is on the way.”
“Helicopter?!” I said. “That seems kind of excessive.” .
“Well,” he said, “we won’t use it if we don’t need it, but we just like to have it available.”
Next up, a doctor, who was just driving by, came out to offer help. His name was Joe. Another guy showed up with blankets and a pillow that he had in his car for his very pregnant wife in case she went into labor. The blankets were returned pretty bloody.
Dr. Joe asked about my condition. Declan told him that there was a severe wound on my forearm that had “subcutaneous” damage.
I teased him by looking at him with my shocked face and said, “Declan! You dirty liar! You told me it was a superficial wound!” The look on his face was a combination of sheepishness for being caught in a white lie and anxiety that said to me, “Hey buddy, If you could see what I’m seeing, you wouldn’t be joking about it.”
I also kidded the lead paramedic. When he asked what happened I facetiously blamed the accident on their crazy rules where cars drive on the wrong side of the road.
His deadpan response was, “Did anybody ever tell you to look both ways?”
“Touche’,” I responded.
I never saw the woman who was driving. I was told she was unsurprisingly hysterical. I was comforted a bit when I was told that the police said that she would not have any problems with liability because I had immediately admitted fault. But, as noted before, I do grieve the psychological impact it will have on her.
I was loaded into the helicopter and, after a pretty long wait, we took off for the hospital in Glasgow. According to Rita, traffic was completely stopped in both directions and was backed up for miles. A Good Samaritan named Craig drove Rita the two hours to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow. I landed on the roof and spent the next four days there getting excellent care from the Scottish National Health System.
I had a lot of fractured ribs and the aforementioned deep wound on my forearm. Various scrapes on my legs and feet. The arm needed a skin graft. Only pain killers for the ribs. Arrived at the hospital on Wednesday. Released on Saturday. Back on the tour on Monday.
Oh what a lucky man I am.
First Christian Church of Peoria
Tom Weber picked me up at the airport. He’s a good looking and very fit 74 year old guy who’s done the cross country ride six years in a row. He also did a ride down the east coast, from Portland, ME to Key West. And a week later down the west coast. Yeah, he’s pretty fit.
Looks like he took a page from Peter’s book on being secure in his masculinity. Peter wears multi-colored tights. Tom wears bright orange finger nail polish. What’s my thing going to be? Not sure I’m quite so secure yet.
Tom took me to the Church where we’re staying. It’s the First Christian Church of Peoria. The denomination is the Disciples of Christ. The church proper and its various rooms, offices, conference rooms are littered with sleeping bags and piles of clothes. I was told to choose a piece of floor and spread out there.
First order of business is to reassemble my bike, but I’ll need the assistance of the experts. And they have all made a shower run, going to a local Y or gym or pool. My bike will have to wait.
So, I’m sitting in a pew writing this.
A Trip to the Bund
Went to the Bund at the recommendation of the concierge. It is the waterfront walkway that overlooks Shanghai harbor. He said there were shops and restaurants. I found neither. It was a very scenic place. The Shanghai skyline is truly unique. It’s like the skyline that people in the 60’s would have predicted for the 21st century. Kind of like the Jetsons.
It was blazing hot. I walked along the waterfront and saw fewer and fewer people. The place was deserted and I was starving. I actually, got a little light-headed. What a place to have my heart attack.
Finally, I just decided to walk off “The Bund” and go into the city to find food. Went down some back alleys, incredibly grim. Dirty and smelly. People in little hovels cooking food for sale in open pots with the trash nearby. Dogs and cats roaming freely. Incredibly unsanitary and I have a high tolerance for those things. Starving, but couldn’t eat. Do I have to go all the way back to the hotel for food?
Finally, I stumbled upon “tourist central” and bought a cantaloupe on a stick just for sustenance. It was actually very good. Then, I wandered into a large open tourist area that was packed with people. Found a Coldstone and was very excited. But it was not like U.S. Coldstone. Two scoops of ice cream in a cup. The clerk ripped open a small package of M&Ms and just poured them on top. I threw half of it away to maintain my diet.
Still hungry, I came upon a long line for a dumpling place. Figured they must be good dumplings, so I got in line and waited about 20 minutes for my dumplings. They were fine, but again, threw about half of them away because they seemed so heavy.
Went back to the hotel to cool off. Secured a private tour for the evening.
View from my taxi
I’m heading for Tianjin, a city outside of Beijing. Don’t know much a out it but it gives me an excuse to ride the high speed train.
In Beijing
Just arrived in Beijing to participate in the U.S. Ambassador’s Investment Forum, designed to educate Chinese companies on the challenges and opportunities of investing in the United States. I will be on a panel with other service providers, including lawyers, accountants and investment advisors.
A Day in London
I travelled to Europe yesterday for a series of presentations on the presidential election. I’ll be keeping an online diary over the next week for my stops in London, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The Flight
The flight to London was unevental except for a major scare at the outset that had nothing to do with flying. My laptop, on which resides the final version of my presentation, crashed and began issuing me scrary messaages. The last time this happened, a week ago, it took me 2 days to get my data back. If I’ve lost the presentation, life is going to be very difficult when I land. So, I stashed the laptop away and prayed. Fortunately, the problem seemed to go away when I logged back in at my hotel. I immediately saved the presentation in a Lockbox folder. Whew.
The Hotel
I’m staying at the Radisson Blu in Covent Gardens. Each of the 3 or 4 times I’ve come to London, I’ve stayed in Covent Gardens. It is one of my favorite places in the world, waling distance to the West End for plays, Trafalgar Square for iconic London and St. Martin in the Fields, my single favorite stop in the city. I have not stayed in a Radisson in probably 15 years since a horrific night in Binghampton, NY, when the fire alarm went off 3 times over the course of the night. My son, Danny, who was 7 at the time, was traumatized. We vowed never to stay in a Radisson again.
Lost in Translation in Beijing
Beijing is a difficult city to navigate, made more so by the fact that even the natives don’t know where anything is. I spent about a third of my day yesterday lost in the city and nobody could help me.
In the morning, I set out for breakfast with some colleagues at the Park Hyatt Hotel, a seventy story high rise near the China World Trade Center. I was told it was close by my hotel, the Grand Millennium. When I asked the concierge for directions, he suggested I take the subway. It was only one stop away and he wrote the name of the hotel in Chinese on a card. Feeling adventurous, I took his advice. Big mistake. Continue Reading
A View of Hong Kong Harbor
I am in Hong Kong on a business trip. This is my fourth or fifth visit. And, though it never gets old, it doesn’t seem as exotic as it once was. It’s a very international city and everyone I’ve encountered so far speaks English well.
The bad news is I’ve spent most of my time in my hotel room. The good news is I have a 270 degree view of Hong Kong Harbor from my bed.