I’ve just come back from nearly three weeks in Rome, Vienna, and a couple places in between (thanks to Sheila and Liz for holding the fort!), where I expected my 8-month-old, plus stroller and diaper bag, to hamper the routine. Instead, being a mother suddenly became my primary travel experience. It drew interactions that a loner introvert like me would usually have had to work at.

It’s no secret that the Italians love kids. Groups of Italian teenage girls dropped their boyfriends’ arms and turned their backs on the Colosseum to take pictures of my little boy, who smiled away and took it all in stride. I left his legs bare much of the time and once a woman ran out of her shop as I was passing, not to lecture me about covering him up, but to kiss his bare little feet while he was slumped over asleep in his stroller. Elderly people made a point to play with him in restaurants when he got fussy during dinner time. It all made me want to move there immediately, because, frankly, the US doesn’t do a good job of making you feel like the coolest person in the world for being a mother.

What really struck me was the middle-aged woman I met in passing, or simply passed on the street. They melted when they looked at him, of course, maybe thinking of their own grown-up children or grandchildren to come, but there was something else, a kind of pathos and patience in their expressions that gave me the odd feeling I was constantly passing retired goddesses who spend a lot of time doing dishes.

There was wisdom in those faces, adoration of this new human and knowledge of everything I am to experience over the next decades of my life: the joys my son will give me, but also the heartbreaks. Their expressions of pleasure and sadness said everything anyone needs to know about life. It’s simply here to be lived, every little part of it.

For almost as long as civilization has been around, literature, history, and current affairs has focused on the meetings and clashes of great minds and overblown egos. It has focused on the activities of men, ignoring the activities of women who were simply at home making life happen. The trials of bringing up children and making food and creating a home-space have been ignored as trivial.

But last week, while George Bush took his ego on a trip to Jerusalem and Gordon Brown frantically tried to save his political career, I was standing in various places talking with other women about teething, and I knew, suddenly, that there was nothing more important in the entire world than two women from different cultures, neither of them speaking the other’s language, waving their hands around to talk. We gestured to demonstrate methods of alleviating teething pain; we rolled our eyes and laughed ruefully to show how exhausting and frustrating it was to have a baby at all, and how wonderful. We didn’t need words or trade deals or peace treaties or conferences.

Even elderly women in Vienna, a city not known for its love of children, smiled at him. “Hold onto it,” said one 80-something-year-old on the U-bahn as she was getting off. “Hold onto every minute.”

I could, I realized, go anywhere in the world and have something essential to talk about with knowing anything about local politics. Motherhood is universal. And if you think discussing teething and sleeping habits and pooping is trivial, consider this: how many despots, dictators, and paranoid egomaniacs are running the world right now because their mothers were too harassed, tired, uninformed, or incompetent to hold their babies when they were crying? If you believe that a butterfly flapping its wings in China affects the weather of the whole world, then how do you think the world is affected by how one single mother deals with her teething baby when he’s screaming?

Welcome to the carnival where you can tour the world in one blog post!

If you’d like to host the 28 May or 4 June Carnival of Cities, please email me at sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Some intriguing contributions this week….

** Cities in the Americas **

Seattle, Washington, USA Mary Jo Manzanares says that An Angel Whispered to Me: “See Corteo” posted at The Seattle Traveler. This Cirque du Soleil production is worth seeing, whether in Seattle or one of their performances in another city.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, USA Leslie Carbone gives some historical background and then presents a video on Dunmore’s Proclamation, Liberty to Slaves at her blog Leslie Carbone.

Miami, Florida, USA Michael writes that Downtown Miami’s Skyline Looks To Be Stretching Skywards posted at Michael Emilio. Of course, the Florida real estate picture is pretty grim, so who will buy all those condos in the sky?

Burlington, Vermont, USA Gray says that A Single Pebble has the best Asian food in the county and possibly the whole state. Posted at SoloFriendly.com.

Chicago, Illinois, USA TherapyDoc wonders if those City Cats are going to start strolling right down Michigan Avenue; “It isn’t every day the big cats come down to the big city.” Posted at Everyone Needs Therapy.

Arlington, Texas, USA The Whited Sepulchre is not happy about The Texas Sinkhole; no, not the Houston one, but the tax-subsidized one for “America’s Team.” Posted at The Whited Sepulchre.

Mexico City, Mexico Jack Norell describes Coyoacan, Mexico City posted at Eyeflare - Travel Articles and Tips, saying, “Coyoacan is a gorgeous leafy suburb of Mexico City. It is famous for its markets and, on a Saturday and Sunday, for great secondhand bookshops and also ice cream (you should try mil flores flavor - “a thousand flowers.”) The name Coyoacan means ‘Place of Coyotes’.”

Loganville, Georgia, USA Amy @ The Q Family describes how to Pick Your Own Strawberries at her blog The Q Family Adventure, saying, “Enjoy Spring; go out and pick your own strawberries in this Atlanta suburb.”

Daytona Beach, Florida, USA Kara Williams got up to racing speed at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at Daytona International Speedway posted at Traveling Mamas.

Branson, Missouri, USA Jeff Sullivan describes the Knudsen Brothers in his post Six - Best New Shows In Branson posted at Branson Travel Attractions.

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada Debbie Dubrow writes about Exploring Whistler Village posted at Delicious Baby, saying, “Read about our family vacation to Whistler BC, where we enjoyed the last ski-weekend of the season.”

** Cities in Europe **

London, United Kingdom Caitlin Fitzsimmons has the scoop on how to Save money in London: Part 1 - Transport posted at Roaming Tales, saying, “The first in a 5-part series on how visitors can save money in London.”

Larnaca, Cyprus Andrew Edgington says that Inexpensive Cyprus Apartments In Larnaca Are A Great Deal posted at Cyprus Informer.

** Cities in Asia **

Jaipur, India Lokendra Rathore describes some beautiful Gardens Around Jaipur posted at Karan’s Guest House.

Hanoi, Vietnam If you’re curious about Vietnam and have wondered, “So, what’s Hanoi like?” then read Pam Mandel’s description of the cacophony of city sounds (including the 6 a.m. morning announcements) posted at her blog Nerd’s Eye View.

Coorg, India AdmirableIndia.com spends time in Coorg, Madikeri and includes photos on the AdmirableIndia.com blog.

That concludes this week’s edition; the Carnival of Cities host next week (on Wednesday, 21 May) is the ever-entertaining Nerd’s Eye View.

Submit your (one, non-spammy) blog post about any aspect of a single city by noon US Pacific Time on Tuesday, 20 May, using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for visiting!

Technorati tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival.

It’s hard to believe that there’s any sort of beachy, “surf’s up, Dude!” culture in Tokyo, but there certainly is if you take the JR East Yokosuka rail line about an hour south of the city, to Zushi Beach.

It is less well known but not much less crowded than the beaches at Kamakura, and is very popular with windsurfers (and surfers, whenever a freighter steams past and some waves roll in.)

July and August are the “official” beach season. Like so much else in very orderly Japan, the Polynesian-style thatched hut beer joints and fish taco stands don’t begin to appear on the rather grubby sands until it is officially time to appear, then they sprout overnight and disappear as quickly at the end of August.

Rather than spend the ridiculous amount of Yen that you’ll be charged for a beachside meal, head inland a little and go Hawaiian at Vahana’s Bar in Zushi.

It’s a two-story building on a main street in Zushi, with palm fronds and surfboards hanging all over it.

There’s a pretty extensive menu, friendly staff, frequent live music and lots of locals.

Beats the heck out of some overpriced, pretentious club in Roppongi.

On the road and looking for something a little different this summer ? Well, if you don’t mind a little ’shock and gore’, head to the nearest medical museums.

From stomach sized hairballs (National Museum of Health and Medicine) to a giant hamster wheel for energetic patients (Glore Psychiatric Museum), medical museums offer the chance to explore the medicines colorful history and discover the bizzare, the offbeat, and the extreme treatments of days gone by.

You’ll be amazed (and relieved) by how far the practice of medicine has come.

1. The Glore Psychiatric Museum is housed in the former ‘State Lunatic Asylum No. 2′ building in St Joseph, Missouri. From medical artifacts such as a tranquilizing chair and a dousing tank to exhibits featuring the ‘1,446 Objects Swallowed by a Patient’ and the ‘television diary’, this museum will leave you speechless, spellbound, and mighty relieved that the days of such barbaric medical treatment is well and truly over.

2. The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia was orginally established as a place where trainee doctors could go to learn about anatomy and human medical anomalies. It’s those anomalies - such as the preserved body of the ‘Soap Lady’ and a cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland - that now draw the public to it’s doors.

3. National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington DC is a goldmine for American history buffs. Here you can see not only the bullet that killed Abraham Lincoln but also the probe used to locate the bullet and the blood stained shirt cuff of the surgeon who attended Lincoln’s autopsy. Other permanent displays include ‘Medicine During the Civil War’ and ‘Battlefied Surgery 101′.

4. International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago offers a diverse collection of surgical memoriabilia and artefacts from around the world. Spread out over four floors, the exhibits include early 20th century X-ray machines, trephining (skull drilling) instruments, and an iron lung. The museums newest exhibit, Beyond Broken Bones, looks at the history of orthopedics and prothestics from the Ancient Egyptians to modern day.

There are medical museums all over the USA open to the public. So next time you are on the road and looking for something different, find out if the city you’re in has one.

After a week spent flying in coach from Austin to Washington Dulles to Chicago and back, I am in full-on rant mode about the horrid state of air travel in the U.S.

Never have I felt like such an underappreciated sack of potatoes; an abused commodity and not a customer. Although I’m normally a glass-half-full sort of gal, it’s time to shift into “hostile mode” about air travel.

Nothing personal here; I know several pilots and flight attendants and they’re great people, but for the foreseeable future, I recommend that anyone who travels by air must always assume that the worst is going to happen on your trip, and plan accordingly.

Ready? Dukes up.

** Airline attack plan — overbook flights to ensure that every seat is full, then bump the excess people (that’s you, sucker.)

• Your riposte: check in as early as possible, preferably always online 24 hours prior, print your own boarding pass and get to the gate early. Stragglers lose.

** Airline attack plan — cramp your style by squooshing maximum human flesh into teensy seats with minimal seat pitch (legroom.)

• Your riposte: Don’t be obese or tall (control whatever aspect of this that you can.) Check with SeatGuru for the least-abysmal legroom options on your aircraft. When you can, always pick your seat ahead of time online and make it an aisle seat, for your own mobility and comfort.

** Airline attack plan — save money by not providing food or drink unless you pay for it.

• Your riposte: Never travel without at least an energy bar with you; assume you’re in the Sahara or some other place bereft of food. Carry an empty water bottle through security, then fill it at the water fountain. Never assume that anyone will feed you, so bring your own sandwich from home, or a box lunch from your hotel, or pick up something at the airport. Don’t let ‘em starve you or leave you thirsty and dehydrated.

** Airline attack plan — make checking luggage miserable by charging you for bags, then losing them.

• Your riposte: Never let ‘em get their paws on your stuff. Never check your luggage unless you want to go to Alabama or some mystery place at Heathrow to claim it. Get over that pack mule syndrome and travel light (2 pairs trousers, 3 shirts, 2 pair shoes & do laundry during your trip) then put all that in a carryon with wheels. Be sure that you can lift your bag into an overhead bin yourself and don’t expect any help. Women, figure out how to carry only a laptop bag and be sure you can fit your purse into it, because you are only allowed one personal bag and even though sometimes that’s ignored, don’t give them an opening to force you to check anything.

Your ultimate attack move in return to all this is to refuse to fly unless you absolutely, positively have to, or at least adopt a personal no-fly list for the most egregious airlines.

Factor in some additional time and try the train or the bus (yes, the bus and these guys have free WiFi aboard.) It couldn’t be much worse than the cattle car airlines, and you’ll sure have more seat room.

Make it a pleasant road trip and drive yourself, perhaps carpooling with office mates for business travel.

If you do have to fly, pop those B-complex vitamins for your nerves, and gird yourself for battle. I’ve got your back.