Program 299a: Exploring Art in Southeast Asia and Ireland; Travel Kindnesses

Get better acquainted with Southeast Asia and Ireland — thru the eyes of its artists — on the next Travel with Rick Steves.  We'll explore how understanding the stories behind paintings, and knowing the role of important architectural sites, can help frame your appreciation for anyplace you visit. 

And Rick hears from callers with memorable stories of the kindness they encountered from strangers in Denmark and Japan.  

Enhance your view of the world, with Travel with Rick Steves. 

• Program 229a is a re-edit of Program 299, which first aired Sept. 8, 2012.
• We provide a fresh set of fundraising modules each September to help you fundraise Travel with Rick Steves in the year ahead, whether or not you plan to offer the Rick Steves premium package.  If you'd also like to fundraise during a current week's program, you can contact producer Tim Tattan for suggestions on additional cutaway options during each week's show. 

• Julian Brown, tour guide to Southeast Asia, based in Paris
• Barry Moloney, tour guide based in Kinsale, Ireland
• Rozanne Stringer, art history PhD student at the University of Kansas, and tour guide to Ireland 

• The Angkor Archeological Site is one of the most important sites in southeast Asia.  
• Wikipedia has information about, and links to, the Bangkok National Museum, and about the Sukhothai Kingdom archeological site in Thailand. 
• Admission to the National Museum of Ireland is free, and includes exhibits on archeology, decorative arts and history, and natural history at three locations in Dublin.  It also features exhibits on traditional country life in Ireland at a location in County Mayo. 
• Trinity College Dublin has information for planning a visit to view the Book of Kells.  
• The Hugh Lane at the Dublin City Gallery has recreated the art studio of Francis Bacon. 
• The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin includes an online close-up view of the paintings callers discussed, "The Marriage of Aoife and Strongbow," by Daniel Maclise, and Caravaggio's painting "The Taking of Christ."  
• Harry Clarke is known as a master stained glass craftsman and many of his works are displayed in buildings in Dublin.  His famous Geneva Window is on permanent display at the University of Florida's Wolfsonian Museum in Miami. 
• Rozanne considers the Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry to be one of the most beautiful structures in Ireland.   

• "Our guide took us to the painting of the marriage of Strongbow and Aoife in Dublin's National Gallery.  Could you comment on its significance?"   (Hugh in Salem, Oregon)
• Discusses the story of Caravaggio's work "The Taking of Christ" as "The Lost Painting," now displayed in the National Gallery of Ireland.    (John in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• Describes details of a ferry ride in Denmark in 1982, and observations about proper eating behavior there.  "We were the only Americans.  I chose bottled water as a beverage. To help me avoid being 'gross,' another passenger gracefully placed an empty glass on my tray so that I would be well-mannered.  I have never forgotten the kindness of this person who took care of me without words.”  Also discusses looking up the home of ancestors in Czech Republic in 2006 and 2009.   (Jinny in Carthage, Missouri)
• “A few months after moving from Manhattan to Houston, I found myself in Tokyo for business on September 11, 2001.  Alone and unable to reach friends and colleagues in New York, I met an older Japanese man who helped me at a temple complex.  He turned out to be from Nagasaki. We spent the day together.”   (Maggy in Mount Airy, Maryland)

• Osamu Kitajima, “The Three Orders,”  Behind the Light / Higher Octave
• Unspecified Vietnamese musicians, "T'rung music:  'Vong Co' from the Central Region," Vietnam:  Songs of Liberation (collection) / Paredon - Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
• Yes, "Angkor Wat," Union / Arista
• Orchestral introduction conducted by Lawrence Collingwood on John McCormack's, "The Kerry Dance," Songs of My Heart / EMI Classics
• * Evergreen Ensemble, "Kambing Slem," O Bali / CBC Records
• Dervish, “Trip to Sligo,” At The End of the Day / Dervish
• Sinead O'Connor, "My Special Child," Celtic Heart (collection) / BMG
• Fiona Joyce, "This Eden," Celtic Collection (collection) / Putumayo
• Enya, "Bard Dance," The Celts / Reprise
• Steve Earle, "Galway Girl," Transcendental Blues / Entertainment One
• * The Chieftans, "Rob Roy;  O'Sullivan's March," Film Cuts / RCA Victor
• James Galway, with The Chieftans, "The Fields of Athenry," The Celtic Minstrel / RCA Victor
• Hen's Tooth Discs, "Cockles and Mussles (Molly Malone)," Authentic Music Box Arrangements, disc 2 / Hens Tooth Discs
• Ensemble Galilei, "King of the Fairies;  Old Gray Cat," The Emerald Isles (collection) / Telarc
• Hiromitsu Agatsuma, “Curfew,” Beams  / Domo Records

• Julian Brown says at 12:45 that Hanoi has a particularly vibrant contemporary art scene.  He also mentions Rangoon as a good city for modern art, tho' artists in Myanmar are still stifled by their country's politics. 
• Barry notes at 37:50 that a famous Harry Clarke stained glass window is on display at the University of Florida.   (It's on permanent exhibit at their Wolfsonian Museum in Miami.)
• Caller Maggy describes her experience in Tokyo on Sept. 11, 2001, starting at 54:12.