Coming Soon.....more Ireland, Mbabane, and Tegucigalpa!!!

Helsinki, Finland May, 2010

I had the opportunity to visit Helsinki for a week for work. This trip has been on/off since the Iceland volcano erupted, so I was just glad to finally get it scheduled and done!!

Helsinki is at about the same latitude as Juno, Alaska and is the farthest north of the equator I've been. I had the chance to use all my sweaters for the last time this year- the weather was mostly rainy and didn't get above 60 degrees F. We did luck out with a couple of sunny days, however, and the evening light was so good that it allowed plenty of time to run around and do the 'quick and dirty' tour of the city. Overall, I think it would be a great place to live if you don't count the 9 months of cold and snowy weather.....so probably not a good place for me! We heard plenty of stories about the winter and its enough to kill any impulse to visit between the months of September and March! But the people are overall very polite and friendly- and people that we worked with there talked about how industrious and honest they are, as well.

Our hotel was outside the city center by about a mile, but it was an easy walk down to the Norra Esplanaden, (the 'esplanade' to us American folk) which is the main pedestrian/shopping avenue. We concentrated on this area of the city, as it is close to the marina, restaurants and, most importantly, shops!! Because of the balmy weather, I think all of Helsinki was out when the sun was actually shining. And because the shops close down at 6 or 7pm, we had to make that our top priorty when we were done work. Some of my colleagues and I were very enchanted by the store, Iitalla, which features Scandanavian glass, including blown glass art by Toikka. He specializes in birds, which sounds strange when you say it out loud, but they are very beautiful and interesting in person, I promise. Several in my group bought one. I bought the 'Willow Grouse', which looks like a dove in my opinion, so that's what I'm going to call it. I have the feeling I'll be visiting that store again if I should ever go back....

Eating was a great pasttime of ours, as well- the first time I've ever had reindeer, thank you very much! And it was gooooood! I'm not a big fan of venison, but this was much milder and very tender. Don't tell Santa. Salmon, whitefish and the Morel mushrooms are other commonly found dishes on menus. They're all good!! Its also suprising how many people eat ice cream.

The national language is Finnish, but most people also speak Swedish and English. Good thing because the Finnish language is impossible to understand and more impossible to speak- even if you don't know what the word means. I'm convinced that they insert gratuitous syllables in their words- not to mention random consonants. 'T's shouldn't be next to 'K's in my opinion. Or 'K's next to 'V's. Seriously- try it- its hard!!!

The character of the city reminded me alot of other western European cities I've visited. There were not alot of buildings over 10 stories high, really. Most buildings were pretty simple and lacked alot of architectural doodads. We did visit a couple of beautiful churches. And the train station is designed by the famous architect Eliel Saarinen and is really beautiful inside and out. Alot of the streets are cobblestone and there are wide sidewalks with bike paths. The trolley system connects most of the city and is very easy to ride. And the Fins do a great job of planting their bulbs in the fall because tulips were in abundance!

Overall, it was a great trip. Supposedly, we'll be back again in the fall- I'm hoping its more like 'late summer', but I guess I'll have to get my fleece out just in case!! If you're interested in seeing the rest of my photos, please visit : http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=285832260408%3A1077217493&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Morocco- Rabat and Fes

Sorry its taken me so long to put this up! I was in Morocco the 3rd week of January for work. It was a pretty short trip, 7 days, but we were lucky enough to fall over a weekend, which gave us some free time to explore!!

I stayed in Rabat, the capital city. Its not the largest city in Morocco, or the fanciest or the most touristy. Locals consider it 'provincial' and it kind of shut down at night- we had a hard time finding places to eat dinner. The official languages are Arabic and French, which meant that Erin couldn't understand a thing that was being said. The Rabat airport is the smallest I've ever been in. One room for incoming, one room for outgoing. (plus a business lounge, which we managed to find on the way home...) The weather was a nice change from DC- highs in the 60s and sunny for the first part of the week, but of course it got colder and rainier on the weekend!!!

Saturday, we arranged a day tour to a town called Fes. I'd been told that I had to go visit- and I'm glad I did, but I don't see myself going back- haha!! We took the train (about 3 hours) and were met by a guide at the Fes train station. The countryside is amazingly green- I expected more desert, but that occurs more inland. Our guide spoke English extremely well and with a British accent, which he explained was because he learned English from watching BBC! I'm sure he was exaggerating.

Fes is like a town that time forgot. It was established during the Berber period and was a major stop for the camel caravans that brought goods up to Europe. The 'medina' is the oldest part of the city and is a huge market place. We saw spices, tourist stuff, lanterns, home goods, silver, copper, leather goods, fruits, meats and even a camel head and goat hooves for sale. (ugh!) Its not just a tourist site- people live, work and shop there. The buildings are 3-4 stories high- they have businesses on the first level and apartments on the upper levels. The 'roads' vary in width- some are probably as wide as 12', but most others are about 5-6'. This makes for very crowded conditions!! Especially when you factor in the donkeys that are used to transport stuff. Its no joke that you have to pay attention to whats going on around you- if you hear someone yelling, get out of the way because that probably means that a donkey is coming up from behind and I don't think the donkeys really care about stepping over your dead body!! haha!! Seriously- the smells, sounds and sights of that place will stay with me (and haunt me!) forever!! Our guide told us that the sounds of the medina was actually the inspiration of poets of long ago and were the foundation of the Arabic poetry styles. I can hear it- taken apart, the sounds are jarring, but they are musical when they are put all together- very interesting.

We visited the tanning 'factory' in the middle of the medina- actually, we smelled it long before we got there. At the door, they hand you a sprig of mint leaves and believe me- those leaves were pretty much stuck up my nose! I have some photos from the observation area of the vats of dye. We were told that Fes is most known for its leathergoods. I guess it gets processed here and sent up to Europe for fabrication. All kinds of leather- sheep, goat, and camel. No cows over there!! It was a great trip- a full day! When I got home, I realized that the entire day, including a fantastic lunch, train, tour, etc- only cost each of us about $40. Amazing!

Here I have to pause for a moment to talk about the food. Normally, I am an 'American' eater- I like things that are recognizable and while I'll try some things, others I'll just pass on. The food in Morocco was some of my favorite! We had a meal the first night that stands out as one of my favorite of all time. It was course after course of pitas, cous cous, schwarma, vegetable 'salsas' (because thats what they most reminded me of and I don't know what the real word is) for pitas, lamb and veal that just melted in your mouth- man, was it good! I even tried my first date (Indiana Jones style) and, well, I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!!!! Finish it all with a shot of hot mint tea (LOVE IT) and a spritz of scented water for the hands and I was in heaven. I can't wait to find a Moroccan restaurant in DC to compare it to!



Ok- so back to Rabat. I felt safe there- the women wore modern clothes and worked outside the home. It was a standard Middle Eastern city in that there was alot going on in the streets- the cars were a bit crazy, there was no crosswalk, etc, and the buildings and streets were a bit on the dirty side. But the people seemed nice enough. I did get taken advantage of financially a couple of times, but everything was so inexpensive I didn't even mind that too much. I actually didn't see too many sites in Rabat itself because we worked all day, but I did get to see Rabat's medina (nowhere near the experience of Fes!) and the Kasbah, a small community that is a maze of streets with pretty whitewashed/blue buildings. It seemed mostly residential, but there were some shops mixed in. When you wind your way to the top of the hill, you find the look out, where you can see the ocean. They do have a beach, but it was way too cold. The only people there were surfers.

I will be going back probably in the summer, so I left Casablanca and Marakesh for those trips!! You can see the rest of my photos here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=635235109308%3A474740808

Jerusalem Part 2

Well.....not much else to report on the trip because food poisoning took me out of commission for the 'free weekend'!!! Drats! Anyway- its no fun to be so sick so far away from home, I can tell you that. But I survived..'sigh'.


I was feeling a bit better by Tuesday, when we were done with our work and could run around a little bit. Suzanne and I went down into the Old City and then met the others for lunch. We walked from the hotel through an area called Yemin Moshe. It was developed in the 1800's (new for Jerusalem!!) as the first suburb outside the city walls. From what I read, it seems to have gone the route of all suburbs in the US- it boomed, then sank into ghetto, then was 'gentrified' in the 1980's. Now, its extremely expensive- apparently alot of American Jews have property there and use it as a vacation home. Very picturesque.



We met the others for lunch and I managed a few bits of a Falafel and some Schwarma. Good stuf! Then, we shopped!! The stores are a mix of leather goods, olive wood carvings, ceramics, jewelry (Roman glass or Eliat, which is a greenish stone). There were some nice spice stores that also had olive oil and soaps. Some people say the demeanor of the shopkeepers varies from quarter to quarter (The Old City has 4 quarters- Muslim, Jewish, Armenian and Christian. We were allowed in all of them, but the Muslim quarter can get a little rough and there's not as many tourists there.) I didn't really see a difference. They are all very polite (a few helped us as we became hopelessly lost.) and very insistent that you at least come in and see their stuff. A couple seem to have caught on that Americans aren't used to that- they would let you come in on your own and just say quietly 'I will let you look...'. But it is pretty fun to shop there.



We went to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I'd been before, but I wanted to see if I could get some better photos. It wasn't very crowded, which is nice. For those that didn't hear my spiel the first time, the Holy Sepulcher is (it is believed) the final 3 (4?) stations of the cross are located- and where Christ's tomb is located. Golgatha is there- that is where the cross was built into the stone. You can get into the actual tomb through a 3' high opening you have to crawl through. Only 3 people can fit comfortably, so there's usually a guy at the door telling people to come out and let others in. Well, that guy was not there this time, and there were some very rude (Russian???) tourists who decided they would bully their way in to the front of the line. It's hard because you get pissed off, but then I realized where I was and I had to literally say to myself, 'Now, Erin....what would Jesus do?' Hahaha!!


We then took a cab ride up to the top of the Mount of Olives, which overlooks the city. The cab drivers are all expert at this and usually offer you a 'tour' of the sites out there. And I really only trust a cab driver to navigate the road up there- very tight quarters!!! It was freezing and windy, so we didn't stay long and it was almost impossible to get a photo in focus w/ the wind. But it really is neat to see the cemeteries (Muslim, Jewish and Christian) with the Old City and the new high rises in the background. Someone told me that that is the most expensive place to be buried in Israel, and I believe it. The golden dome of the Dome of the Rock is always the focal point. I'd love to get to see it, but we can't get anywhere near it. Literally. A guy who was traveling with us was raised Muslim and he tried to go- they told him he had to read from the Koran even though his passport shows he was born in Turkey. I guess finally his cab driver got him inside. Lucky dude!! It looks beautiful.

We then went to Gethsemene and the Tomb of Mary. Very quick visits, as we were trying to beat the rain!

The airport home was another fun adventure. I got stuck with a '5' sticker, again, which I knew meant that I'd get searched quite thoroughly. All my stuff unpacked, swabbed, packed again. Oy. I guess I should be relieved that they were that thorough, as it makes my flight safer. And they are really nice about it.



Anyway- good to be home! I'm now ready to rush myself into the Christmas spirit!! Merry Chrismtas to everyone!!!!

Jerusalem, Israel December 2009

Thursday

We finally got some time to relax a bit today! After lunch we went to a Christmas Bazaar at the American Colony Hotel that had all kinds of homemade gifts. Nativities, purses, ornaments, etc.. .. .. Suzanne and I both got photographs. They were old Reproductions from Glass Negatives that a family has had for generations. Most of the photos were taken in the late 1800's, early 1900's. I debated over 2 and ended up with one of the Garden of Gethsemane (I need to check how to spell that!) It is Sepia Toned and is printed on silver paper, so it has a gold glow and really has a lot of depth. Beautiful! I can not wait to get it framed. I took a photo of the 'Grandpa' who took the pictures, his son and his Grandson.

And here's a photo of my photo! Ha!

(It looks better in person ..) It was taken in the early 1900s before the garden was so 'Touristy'. Looks a lot different today! I really may go back and get another one. There was one with a shepherd, sheep over looking the Old City before everything was built up-gorgeous!

We did a fast pass through the Old City-in Herod's Gate (Muslim Quarter), out Jaffa Gate (Christian Quarter). I literally got kicked in the butt by a boy about 10 years old. He got me as I walked by him. I was so surprised I just turned around and yelled "HEY!" Which only made him laugh harder. I am now wishing I had grabbed him by the scruffy neck and given him what-for, but I'm glad I did not start World War 3! But after walking up the street this morning and having dirty floor water dumped on my foot by a shop keeper, I'm feeling a little beat up! I hope tomorrow is better.

Had dinner out with the group-really nice group, very fun. Its way more fun to be here with people than on my own!

Some random things I learned today:

1. never, ever call the Dome of the Rock "Temple Mount". It's Dome of the Rock unless you want to get a beat down or start WW3!

2. While walking around, everything feels very normal and you can almost forget about the undercurrents of hostility. No guns this time. Lots of kids walking around after school. Very few sirens, and I have not seen any police yet. Bethlehem (West Bank) is unstable and controlled by the Palestinians, so therefore not accessible for us, unfortunately.

4. Jerusalem has a McDonalds, but it is advertised with the tiniest golden arches I've ever seen. Only about 4 'off the ground and probably a foot high. So cute!

5. The Old City: Definite difference between the Muslim quarter and the Christian Quarter. The Muslim quarter was active, busy, Hectic, full of merchandise and kinda dirty. As soon as we crossed into the Christian quarter, the shopkeepers were more interested in us, the shops were more touristy, streets were clean and there were much less people. Just interesting to note-no judgments are being made!

.................more later!!!

Back in Ireland! Sept 14-19, 2009

Monday, 9/15

It feels great to be back in Ireland! I love it here! I arrived in style at the Four Seasons Hotel (thankyouverymuch). After a little nap and a freshening up, I got my map and hit the pavement. The hotel, while it is nice, is not close to ANYTHING so I had quite a hike to get to the touristy area (St. Stephens Green, Trinity College, etc.) I'm kind of glad in a weird way that my hotel is far out becuase I was able to walk through the 'everyday' Dublin- bike messengers, business people talking on cell phones, Moms (or nannies) walking their kids home from school, etc. The neighborhood I'm staying in is called Ballsbridge and is very nice- I saw some real estate postings for a 2 bedroom flat selling for 250,000EU. Yikes!

Saw the famous 'Dublin doors'. Alot of the residences are plain-front brick townhomes and Dubliners have gotten a reputation for the variety of colors they paint their doors. I'm not sure if there is a historic significance to that or not, maybe I'll find out sometime! *Edit* I asked a cabbie and he said 'well, luv, it's really just to individualize, isn't it?' LOL!

Walked up to St. Stephen's Green- a large park in the middle of the city. Sat on a bench and ate my grilled cheese/tomato (yes, tomato- I figured I eat tomatos while I'm in Ireland) sandwich then walked around and window shopped. Almost cried in relief when I saw a Starbucks (how sad is that)but my carmel macchiato hit the spot on such a cold day!!

Tuesday, 9/15

Met Ambassador Dan 'Steelers Owner' Rooney today- very nice man- seems like he definitely knows what he wants! I mentioned on the way out that I was from Pittsburgh and his eyes lit up. But then he asked if I'd been to the new Heinz field and I said 'no' and then I think I really lost him when I didn't know that the G20 was going to be held there next week!!!! (do your research, Erin!!!) But he was very nice. After work, I walked up to Grafton Street, which is a pedestrian thoroughfare of shops, bars, etc. Dublin's big on shopping. I really can't tell who is from here and who is a tourist but it felt nice to actually be someplace that I didn't stick out like a sore thumb! Definitely seems like there aren't alot of Americans, though. Watched street performers, took photos and got a pint of Carlsberg (can't do Guiness!!) and a fish and chips.

Wednesday, 9/16

After work, I had a nice walk around the city with my co-worker and his wife. We went up O'Connel street and then back down to the Temple Bar area. Saw the castle and the River Liffey. Dinner was a 'steak burger', which you would think is a hamburger, right? No...just a ball of ground steak in gravy with fries. Hmm....these Irish are not known for their food!

Lots of people walking around- all the students must come out right after school and not go home until 7 or 8 because that's all you see! Saw the aftermath of an unfortunate bus/tram accident- didn't look like everyone walked away unscathed on that one! Scary to see. Love the architecture and they do alot with flower baskets in the Grafton Street/ Temple Bar area!

Interesting note: my co-worker's great-great-grandfather was a missionary to New Zealand and helped settle the country! (Think of the U.S's George Washington-type..) The things you learn about your co-workers on these trips!

Thursday, 9/17

Done work today at noon and hit the streets. (well, I cheated a little and did a hop-on/hop-off bus ride around the city!) Saw the gate to the Ambassador's residence on the tour and the guide talked about the new US Ambassador- I had to pinch myself to realize that I had just been talking to the guy that morning!!! Weird....

Friday, 9/18

Took a day off and booked a coach tour out to the country with 30 of my favorite octagenarians! Really, everyone was very nice. The tour went out to the village of Trim, where there is a castle ruin that Stacey and I had seen on one of our previous trips but didn't get to go in. Our tour guide was a local guy who said that as a kid, he used to play in the ruins- climb up the outside wall and run around what was left of the insde! Oh man, how fun!!!!!We also visited the pre-Christian site of the Hill of Tara (didn't get much out of that except for good exercise dodging sheep poop and some good photos of the countryside!!) and then made our way over to the coast to a fishing village called Howth. I decided that if I ever get reincarnated, I'd want to come back as a country dog in Ireland- I mean- how much better can life get??? Running around in the fields all day, no leashes, no hot weather, a nice fire at night (because, of course my owner would be like that....) I wish I'd gotten to go to more in the country, but I'll save the Northern Ireland and Scotland trip for another go!! To see all of my photos, you can visit my kodak gallery page:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16294gsw.35i0cvv8&x=0&y=-bl6ryr&localeid=en_US

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

My trip to Jeddah was mid-August. I was going to support another Interior Designer, so my workload was light, but I definitely helped out alot when it came to working the furniture inventory! We were given our Abayas by our expeditor as soon as we got to the airport and we had to change into them right away in the bathroom! Hot as heck! The airport was pretty intimidating, but I was surprised at the lack of security- I expected to see men with guns all over, but I didn't see any at all. The capital of 'the Kingdom' is Riyad. Jeddah is on the coast, and tends to be cooler and less strict in dress codes.

Once outside the downtown area, we were told that we could take our head scarves off, but most of the time we kept them on. We made a mistake and sat in the 'men's area' of the hotel cafe one morning, but the waiter politely told us to move to another area and it really wasn't a big deal. Most of the men we saw in the hotel were business men and the formal dress for them seems to be the robe with the red/white checkered head scarf. Younger men wore a mix of stuff- we saw a group of young guys hanging out by a car and 2 were wearing tank tops and shorts while the other was fully robed. We were told it was a personal preference for them, not so much religion-based. Most of the women didn't cover their entire faces, but when we visited the local mall, we saw alot of women with the whole look- covered face, gloves, etc. It was kind of spooky. I just got the feeling that they looked down on us 'hussies' because we weren't covered. But someone else pointed out that they may be jealous of our freedoms, so who knows! Young girls (pre-puberty)didn't have to wear the abayas.

I didn't get many photos of stuff because really there wasn't alot of time. The Saudis look down on photographs of people, so I wanted to make sure I didn't offend anyone. So all of my photos are taken from a fast-moving armoured car!! One of the things I wish I had gotten pictures of are all of the modern sculptures around the road. Very interesting! The area where we stayed was a newly built suburb, so there was good infrastructure (as in wide, paved highways, etc.) They love their indoor malls over there! I guess it makes sense because of the heat.

One interesting thing I learned was that, although men could have more than one wife, the rule is that you have to be able to treat them all equally. So we saw many 'compounds' with several identical houses (or mansions, really!)- each wife got their own house. The opression of women is a very real thing, at least to this westerner's eyes! One woman we talked to (at the Embassy) said that alot of men don't treat their wives equally and many get excited by their 'new' wife and kids and toss their older ones out with the bathwater. If a wife is beaten and runs to the police, she is held there until her husband can come pick her up again. If she leaves her husband, he keeps the children- they can't leave the country. The only way she can leave with her kids is if she somehow can talk her husband into a trip outside the country and then escape from there.

We asked if the womens' dress was by choice, by religion or by husband and were told that its a combination of all 3. The fully covered (face, gloves, etc) would be classified as 'fundamentalists'.

All in all, not a place I really have to go to again.......hopefully! But I did get to keep my abaya, so maybe next Halloween.........