MABELL MARIE (MOORE) MOORE'S- SCANDINAVIAN TRIP

 

and

 

Balinese holiday to the Orient

 

Across the Fence

 

By Arvord Abernethy

 

(Before 1989)

Would you like to take another trip this week? We will be going to the Scandinavian countries of Norway , Sweden and Denmark with Mrs. Seth Moore (Mabelle) and her sister, Virginia Pond of Austin . They have no ancestral connections there, but Mabelle said that they heard so much about the beautifully scenery of the countries, the friendly people, the clean, quaint towns which have no slums or pollution, they just wanted to see it.

 

The ladies made it much better after they learned that the beautifully fjords people told them to be sure and see were not foreign made cars. You see, ages ago the west part of Norway sank into the sea and the ocean filled the narrow river beds to a great depth and for long distances. These inlets are called fjords. Sornefjord extends back into the land with open sea for boats for over 125 miles. The narrow walls sometimes tower 5,000 feet above the water. Virginia took some pictures while on a cruise on this fjord that reveal the great beauty.

 

Norway is so far north, in the northern part the sun never sets for over two months during the summer. There at Bergen where the ladies landed, the hotels have black shades on the windows so the rooms can be darkened. Even though this is far north, the warm Gulf Stream bathes the west coast of Norway , giving it a real pleasant climate.

 

Bergen , a thousand year old city, has played an important part in Norway’s history. King Haakon’s Hall, which stands near the bay, was opened in 1261 and is a testimony of Bergen ’s importance as an early seat of government as well as the center of shipping. Old tales tell of the Vikings having used Bergen as a base for some of their ventures which brought them to North America long before Columbus ’ discovery. The harbor area serves as a market place for fish, the leading meat in Norwegians’ diet, and also as a flower market for the abundance of flowers which they grow.

 

Bergen was the home of Edvard Greig, one of Norway ’s great composers.

 

The tour then took the group by motor coach up through the high country with an unending view of snow-capped mountains, quaint villages and farmsteads that often had grass growing on a sod roof to protect from the winter cold. Much of the furniture in the rural homes is handmade as the long winter days give people time for furniture building and wood carving. This route also took them on to where they saw several glaciers inching their way down through valleys.

 

At Lom , Norway they visited the Lom Stave Church . Norway has several stave churches, probably so-called because the boards run up and down like the staves in a barrel. The age of the church in not known, but the first known record of it was 1270. The carved dragons on the roof are some identification of its age. A quiet cemetery fills the churchyard.

 

The Scandinavian people are a very loyal and proud people of their past accomplishments. Maybelle and Virginia visited two so-called opened air folk museums. One portrayed country life and the other city life. Displayed in some ancient buildings, that had been brought in and restored, were tools, equipment, clothing, furniture and other things that showed the culture even back to the 16^th century.

 

Oslo, Norway’s capital, proved to be a very interesting city with its many museums, art galleries and public buildings. The old Viking royalty often buried their dead in a ship along with their horses, pets, furniture, etc. and then sank the ship. Some have been raised and restored and are now on display. The ladies also found that Oslo hamburgers have sliced beets on them.

 

Sweden proved to be a very interesting land, not so much for its mountain scenery, but for its style of life. The Swedes are a peace loving people who have gone over 160 years without being in war. It could be called socialistic politically with the government providing many services, this causing taxes being very high. Sweden has enough farming land to produce food for its people. Virginia made a picture of rows of hay on fences drying.

 

The tour took the group through the city of Uppsals, Sweden where is located the Uppsala Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of the Lutheran Church. This beautiful two-spired Gothic structure is the largest cathedral in Scandinavia. Domkyrkan Cathedral in Uppsala is a very elaborately decorated building. In a well kept cemetery, the group visited the grave of Dag Hammerskjord, the very popular and efficient United Nations Secretary who met an untimely death.

 

Stockholm , the capital of Sweden , could be called the city of spires and towers because of its many cathedrals, palaces, castles and public buildings. It could also be called the “ Venice of the North” as much of it is built on a baker’s-dozen islands, and had many canals. Mabelle was able to coax a smile out of one of the palace guards as she made his picture.

 

 A four hour boat cruise took the party from Sweden to Denmark , another unique land. A land of fairy tales, mermaids, music, flowers, red barns, storknest on chimney tops, palaces and royalty. The group stayed one night in Rander, Denmark where Victor Borge entertained on the piano before coming to America . One of the ladies in the party was asked, and did play on the piano. At one they were asked to join in the folk dances; Maybelle said she had a little trouble getting the hang of it.

 

Wish I had more time to tell you more of the trip, but I must go. Mrs. W. W. Hoover still has relatives living in Norway. She and Dr. Hoover made a trip back there a few years back and he told me how much they enjoyed it. Only difference in the two telling of their travels was that Dr. Hoover was drilling on one of my teeth when he was telling of his trip.

 

Seth didn’t make the trip because he hasn’t explored all of the Leon River yet, and there are some fish in Henry Lake, Idaho that he hasn’t caught. So he headed out for Idaho with Roland Willeford and there they met up with Ray and Bobby Ragsdale, and Wade and Irma Lee Allen. They didn’t get fat on the fish they caught.

 

Going to museums and art galleries is very boring to Seth, so he was afraid that he might say or do something that would embarrass Mabelle, and that is one thing that he has always been very careful not to do.

 

On their honeymoon, Mabelle was so young, and petite, she was afraid that the hotel clerk would not believe that they were husband and wife and would ask some embarrassing questions. Seth solved that by letting her carry in the bags as though they had been married for some time.

 

Across the Fence

 

By Arvord Abernethy

 

I enjoyed so much getting to write about Mabelle Moore’s trip to the Scandinavian countries last year. I was very anxious to get the chance to write up the story of her trip to the Orient this year.

 

Mabelle, now that is Mrs. Seth Moore, along with her sister, Mrs. Virginia Pond of Austin , and 26 others took a 24 day Balinese holiday to the Orient this year. The trip was sponsored by Travel World Tours, which had put together a most interesting and enjoyable trip.

 

Mabelle is a master at putting together a scrapbook of her travels. She collects brochures, colored pictures, and these along with colored snapshots she takes, to which she adds a short caption, make up a most interesting book. She cuts the pictures from the brochures and enough of the description to explain the object, and then neatly pastes them in the book.

 

Each time you turn a new page, you see a new sight, and with the description there, you feel as if you were on the tour, seeing in person the beautiful sights and having a tour guide explain it to you. National Geographic Magazine couldn’t have done it better.

 

The tour group met at Los Angeles and there boarded a Pan-Am 747 jet for a nonstop flight to Tokyo , Japan . This was about an eleven hour trip and was all in daylight, but when got to Tokyo it was the next day because they had crossed the International Date Line. They had lost a calendar day. However, they gained it back as they came back as they had two Sundays in the same few hours of flight.

 

Tokyo could be called a city with a dual personality. Nearly everywhere you look you can see the ancient East merging with the modern West as though they were two people walking hand in hand down the way. At the modern Tokyo Hilton, where the group stayed, one could see a nearby torii gate that led to a Shinto shrine. And in the lobby of the hotel was a beautiful Japanese garden. Four things usually characterize a Japanese garden: large rocks, sand, a variety of luxurious plants and running water. These people are very strong on flowers, garden and parks. Even on many of the lamp post along the streets one will see flower pots laden with a mass of blooms.

 

Tokyo has many shrines in it, but the Meiji Shrine is probably one of the most famous. It was built in memory of a famous emperor and is set in a large park like area. One enters the area through to torii gate which is of two massive round timbers as posts and topped with two decorated timbers across the top. There are several buildings in this compound, but the chief ones are the Great Shrine and the Main Shrine. Mabelle said that she noticed much reverence by the people at the shrines.

 

Another exciting experience the group had was the eating of a typical Japanese meal in Japan fashion. The meal is served on a round table which is about twelve inches high and has a large Lazy-Susan in the center on which the food is placed. The meat course in this one meal had eights meats which ranged from jelly-fish to Peking duck. The only part of this feast which might have been unpleasant for some of this group of retired persons with arthritis and stiff joints was that they had to sit on mats on the floor with their feet in any direction they could get them. Mabelle said that she sat with her feet straight out in front of her most of the time, and then when she would get up she would roll over on her tummy and get up on her all-fours.

 

The tour took them on to Kamakura where the giant, 700 year old Bronze Buddha sits. This proved to be a very interesting place, not only for this group, but tourist in general. Mabelle took a snap shot of a group of Japanese school children there, all neatly dressed in their school uniforms. She said that school children throughout the Orient wear uniforms. The houses of worship for many forms of religion were seen on this trip. There were Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, Confucius shrines, Moslem mosques as well as Christian churches.

 

The journey took them on to Hakone, which is in a very scenic part of Japan with its high tree-covered mountains and its clear blue lakes. After a stay here at the Hakone Prince Hotel, they took the Bullet Train, which travels up to 130 miles per hour, on to Kyoto , the ancient capital of Japan . It is on this route that one can get an excellent view, on a clear day, of Japan ’s majestic Mt. Fuji .

 

Another must for tourist in Tokyo is that part of the Imperial Palace grounds which is open to the public. The entire grounds are encircled by rock walled moats which once was a means of security and protection for the rulers.

 

Cherry trees were in full bloom when the group was at the Imperial Palace grounds, so Mabelle got some fine shots of them. The Japanese have such a great love and respect for cherry trees, they gave the United States a large number to set out around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D. C. They are now one of the most photographed objects in our nation’s capital at blossom time.           

 

Kyoto served as Japan ’s capital for over a thousand years, but still holds much of its old charm and culture. During its heyday, the city attracted Japan ’s most talented craftsmen, artist and architects, so some of the most beautiful of the country’s shrines and treasures remain there.

   

There are about 210 Shinto shrines and 1600 Buddhist temples in Kyoto and they are all in typical Japanese architecture. The roofs are built with a sway in them that turns up at the corners. It is said that they turn at the corners so the evil spirits sliding down the roof will be cast out into space and not be able to enter the temple.

 

During the grand days of Kyoto , which was for over a thousand years, much of the ruling was done by feudal lords who were called shoguns, and there was much rivalry for position and power. There was a series of TV programs called “Shogun”. I didn’t watch it as I thought it was another “Show gun-will travel” western pictures, so missed out on a lot of Japanese history. It was during this period that the rulers built what is called a singing floor. It is so constructed that no one could slip past the guards without the singing floor warning them. Mabelle thought this was one of the oddest things she saw on the trip.

 

From Osaka , Japan , the tour flew to Taipei on the island of Taiwan where the Republic of China is located. When mainland China was taken over by the communists, Gen. Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan ( Formosa ) and set up a republic. Under this government, Taiwan has become an economic miracle with its manufacturing of electronics, furniture, jewelry, porcelain and brassware.

 

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei is one of the most impressive in the world. It is a huge white edifice of five arches, the center one being the largest with the other ones tapering down. All are topped with typical Chinese architecture roofs. Back of these arches in a beautiful Chinese garden sets a very attractive Memorial Hall.

 

While in Taipei , Mabelle and her sister, Virginia, were entertained by the brother and family of our own Mrs. Dr. Tan, Henry M. T. Hsu. Mr. Hsu is president of an environmental engineering corporation there in Taipei . May I introduce you to the rest of the family: meet the wife, Li-Yii, the son, So-Huan and the daughter, Yai-Yin.

 

Mabelle had the pleasure of meeting and spending a short time with Dr. Tan’s sister when they got to Singapore . She is Miss Tan Yen Chu, who is with Western Geophysical Co. of America in Singapore .

 

From Taiwan , they hopped across the China Sea to Manila in the Philippines. Here they found a merging of cultures similar to that found in Japan . It would not be unusual to meet a person with an Oriental face, a Spanish name and speaking English.

 

The group was entertained one evening in the home of the Donald Evangelistas. He is the manager for Travelworld Tours in the Philippines. They enjoyed an evening of an old-fashioned get-together, as the children and grandchildren of the Evangelistas would play on their instruments, sing and put on little acts.

 

It was a strange sight

 

The next stop was at Bangkok , Thailand , a Buddhist city which is filled with pagodas, gilded spires, unusual roof tops and less attractive river boats. Some of the spires seem to be beyond description. They are as if they had been intricately embroidered from thousands of pieces of bright colored porcelain, mosaics, mirrors, mother-of-pearl and much, much gold.

 

Mabelle took several snap shots during their river boat trip. There was one showing a Texaco filling station right on the bank where a boat could fill, and a car could fill from the other side. One picture showed a school boat, like our school buses, taking on a load of school children in their neat blue skirts and white blouses.

 

The river and canals are the chief routes of transportation in Bangkok , and many, many people live their entire lives in the river house boats.

 

The trip took the group on to Kuala Lampur and Singapore , Malaysia . Singapore is the chief city and still carries some of the evidence of British rule. Mabelle and Virginia took a trishaw trip through Old Chinatown, which is an interesting part of Singapore . A trishaw is a three wheeled bicycle carriage that has largely replaced the hand pulled rickshaw.

 

The next stop was at Bali , Indonesia . When we thing of Bali, we often think of that graceful Balinese dancing in which the girls are so graceful with their arms, fingers, and bodies, they become a flowing movement with a meaning in every move.

 

The group took a local bus tour that took them right out into the primitive country people. She got snapshots of a farmer plowing his rice field with a water buffalo, women cutting and threshing rice and a girl carrying a basket of bananas on her head. Mabelle saw one woman with three baskets stacked on her head. This is tropical country with luxuriant trees and flowers, but the economy is low.

 

The last stop of the tour was at Hong Kong ; and it is something else. As you view it from Victoria Peak you will think you are seeing New York or Chicago with all their skyscrapers and high-rise apartments. There is nothing else like it in the Orient; money appears to be abundant, and there is much wealth there.

 

But as you go to some parts of the city and to Aberdeen Harbor you will see some of the overcrowded conditions. It is said that in Aberdeen Harbor there are over 20,000 people who will live their entire lives and then die on the house boats.