Journeys

The Silk Road

 Dear Reader, 

The Silk Road was a network of trade routes that connected East and West, primarily from the Han Dynasty in China to the 15th century, facilitating economic, cultural and political exchange.  

The routes were not a single road but a complex web of land and sea routes, the term "Silk Road" was coined in the 19th century.

The Silk Road traded in goods like silk, spices and other luxury items, as well as the exchange of ideas, religions and even diseases.  Buddhism spread westward along the routes.  The Silk Road was the longest ancient overland trade route and its total length was about 9000 kilometers.

Marco Polo is arguably the most famous western traveler to have journeyed on the Silk Road.  As a young merchant, he began his journey to China in 1271 and his travels lasted for 24 years.

During the centuries the Silk Road existed, bandits were an ever present threat that merchants had to worry about.  Bandits could attack and rob a caravan at any time during the long journey from China to Europe, spelling disaster for the merchants.

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 From S.T. Coleridge   June 18th  1801 in Westmorland

'A hollow place in the rock like a coffin - a sycamore bush at the head, enough to give a shadow for my face, and just at the foot one tall foxglove - exactly my own length - there I lay and slept.  It was quite soft."

From James Woodforde   June 19th   1799 in Norfolk

'Very cold indeed again today, so cold that Mrs. Custance came walking in her spencer with a bosom-friend.'

Mrs. Custance, a a lady of fashion , would have worn her gowns low cut, in the bosomy manner so often drawn by Rowlandson: in cold weather she would have needed the fashionable item of clothing known as the 'bosom-friend'.

 

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Journeys

 

Young,
we fly to distant places,
walk the Silk Road,
swim in the Nile,
climb Kilimanjaro,
sail the great seas,
picnic in the desert
under the stars.

 

Middle aged, with children,
we travel to Europe,
walk in the hills,
ski, surf board, visit museums,
exclaim at the Eiffel Tower,
swim in rivers,
raid the High Streets.

Grandparents, and old now,

we travel all over the world,
enjoy lions in Africa,
natives dancing in Bali,
big white whales in vast oceans,
and explore National Parks

while drinking cups of tea,
preparing for the unknown

and longest journey.

  

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With best wishes, Patricia