Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Ioloni Palace Honolulu

Hi Dear Folk,

We found a bakery on the edge of China Town, a young man was running it and was so very nice.  We bought the most delicious ready made turkey hoagie, which is a long fresh bread roll, $6.00 we asked him to cut the two sections in half and it was enough for both Barb and I for lunch.  We didn't know what to expect, but it was delicious, with turkey, lettuce, tomato, black olives, pickles and cheese.  I think it was our best value meal in Hawaii.


This is where we sat and ate it in the grounds of the palace.  Here is the dragon fruit, very easy to peel and split in two.  I would say the texture is like a Kiwi fruit, taste similar, but not the same.  I will definitely try them again.



The front of the Ioloni Palace, it's considered American Florentine style I think.  The history of Hawaii is a sad one you should read up on it, very interesting and of course there is a film Princess Kaiulani.  In fact the palace was taken over and used as government offices for many years.

When the Royal Hawaiian family were ousted from their position all the furniture was sold off and dispersed across the world.  Over a period of years the trust has gradually been getting things back.  At the time the palace was built it had electric, even before The White House.  It's another sad chapter in American history.







Many Royal dignitaries of Europe were entertained in this dining room.  In fact the Hawaiian King did a tour of Europe and other countries, including the court of Queen Victoria.  The flag of Hawaii has a Union Jack in the corner, the stripes would have been red, white and blue but the flag maker put the stripes in the incorrect order so they made it white, red and blue and it has stayed that way ever since.




I like to see the old photographs of how it used to look.





The respectable American business men of Hawaii had the cheek to sentence the Queen to five years hard labour.  In the end they imprisoned her in one of the palaces smaller bedrooms, where she made the above quilt and wrote many songs.




If you're interested in the history of Hawaii you should read the book by James A. Michener called Hawaii.  Probably best remembered for his book South Pacific on which they loosely based the musical. 

We very much enjoyed the audio tour here and felt that understanding more of the history of Hawaii helped us understand the Hawaiian people far better.

So I will sign off, with my name in Hawaiian.  Literally translated Follower of Christ, pronounced Ukali o ke akua although I was given another translation which is more a phonetical translation from Christine, Kilikina

Ukaliokeakua
 

3 comments:

  1. What a beautiful place and your lunch sounded delicious. I will look up the history some time as it has got me curious.

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  2. Beauiful photos, Christine! I did read Hawaii and found it a very interesting read.
    Thinking of you!

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  3. I am loving taking this trip with you.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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