How a banker turned filmmaker and peace ambassador.
For forty years, Klaus Beer worked at a savings bank in a small German town, but his passion is traveling. He made travel films and wrote travel guides. From Canada, he brought back the idea of creating an amusement park with place name signs from all over the world. His “Wanderlust Park” has stood for international understanding and a peaceful world for almost 25 years.
Visit to Cherokee in the US state of North Carolina.
The tribes called Cherokee in English are with about 300,000 members the second largest still existing indigenous people in North America. Most live in Oklahoma and in Western North Carolina. There I am told that the “Cherokee” don’t actually exist.
I always wanted to drive a long distance through the USA to feel the vastness of this country.
Land of the Lakota, Pine Ridge and winter in “the rez”.
It’s supposed to be 25 degrees below tonight in Pine Ridge. Wind chills will make it feel even colder.
The first computer, lovely parks and Black Guns Matter
Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in the USA. It was here that the American Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) was proclaimed and the Constitution was adopted. From 1790 to 1800 Philadelphia was the national capital and the second largest English-speaking city in the world after London. Today, “Philly” is the sixth largest city in the United States with a population of 1.6 million and the poorest among the largest cities.
40-year-old rail cars and still a comeback?
Once upon a time, the USA was a railroad nation – the Wild West was conquered on a steel steed. But that was a long time ago. Rail travel has long been a niche market in the country. The U.S. government wants to change that and invest 66 billion dollars in rail transport. In view of rising fuel prices, this may come at just the right time.
Miss Ruby and Mr. Watson: Dallas all rural
Lake Ray Hubbard, in the northeast Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, is man-made. Hubbard presided over the Dallas Parks and Recreation System board from 1943 to 1972. In the morning, blacks, Hispanics and Asians fish here at the lake. Some whites walk their dogs. Or, on weekends, launch their small motorboats into the water. One is called Mumboo and is dark red with glitter. In the distance, a six-lane feeder bridge stretches across the lake, connecting the suburbs to downtown Dallas.
North of Santa Fe: Snow, Desert and Pueblo
Behind the red lattice gate on el Salto Road is a little paradise. It belongs to Kevin Whitefeather of the Red Willow people. Kevin says his tribe includes 3,500 people. They live in a pueblo near Taos, in northern New Mexico.
Greyhound station Columbia, South Carolina, USA
3 hrs layover, no lockers, metal benches with uncomfortable seat grids – but a friendly driver who offers to store my suitcase in the bus prior to departure so that I don’t need to bother with it. It’s one of these situations where I wonder how this country could become so great.
Looking at the calendar and my location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
On December 15, 1939, the film “Gone with the Wind” premiered here, based on the best-selling novel by Atlanta’s Margaret Mitchell. Hattie McDaniel, later black Oscar winner, was excluded from the gala due to racial segregation. Although criticized for glorifying slavery, the film has been credited with triggering a change in the way how black Americans were portrayed on film.
