Jannette and Bob

Back to Shanghai

2010-08-28T22:12:00.003+10:00

We have been to Shanghai a number of times, and returned this time with the main purpose of attending Expo 2010. We had purchased a 3 day pass in Australia, had selected an hotel near the subway, and were ready to experience what Shanghai had to offer.

We arrived early the first morning at the Expo entry gates. It was still 45 minutes before they opened, but there was already a massive queue. Once we were in, our first job was to sign up for tickets to the China pavilion (an entry ticket to expo does not ensure entry to the China pavilion). By the time we reached the pavilion area, a notice was broadcast that all the tickets for the day for the China pavilion had been allocated! We did finally gain entry to the China Pavilion,but it was quite a saga, The pavilion massive, magnificent, and very well presented.

The expo site itself is huge (over 5 sq km). It runs along both sides of the Huangpu River and there is very good transport within the site to get around. We found that most visitors were Chinese, with relatively few westerners to be seen. All pavilions had big queues - but some were bigger than others. We spent a lot of time in cattle crush arrangements. Some pavilions had signs along the queues with expected time limits for waiting, with lines reaching the '3 hour wait time' in some. If it looked to be more than an hour or so we bypassed that pavilion. Germany was hugely popular, so we did not see that. But then, there are many pavilions, and there were quite a few we did not see.

The pavilions could be judged both by their exterior and what was inside. A gorgeous exterior did not necessarily mean that the inside was impressive, and vice versa. We were amazed at the effort and expense that went into many of the pavilions, and wondered if the countries gained equivalent payback from their efforts.

Overall, the expo is very well done - the site is beautiful, there is heaps to see, and much is well worth seeing. At night the pavilions took on a whole new view, so that was good to see as well.

The crowds can be challenging. We feel we are quite good at managing in crowds, being not too harassed by lots of people, but the queuing was at times a challenge. There are differences between our ideas of the unwritten rules of personal space and queuing and those of the locals. After two days at expo we had a day off, and this made our last day there more manageable.

We had three days to explore Shanghai as well. Continuing the theme of 'water towns' , we took a bus to Zhujiajiao, about 30 kms away but still part of Shanghai. It is very touristy, but lovely still. We visited Qibao (a similar canal area) as well, but found this area to be totally overloaded with visitors, and so spent little time here.

Of course we did the usual - walked the Bund, which has had a makeover since we saw it two years ago, wandered up Nanjing Road, and generally enjoyed the food and everyday goings on in China. This is the part we love, and are happy to do over and over again.

Suzhou - the Garden City

2010-08-28T22:11:00.000+10:00

Suzhou is one of those places that is so widely photographed that you feel as though you have already been there. It is widely known as a 'water town' i.e. built around canals, and also for its gardens. Of course the reality is that the well known part is only a tiny fraction of a huge city.The taxi driver had a lot of trouble finding our hotel, the Ping Jiang Lodge. Described as a Chinese courtyard hotel, it is down a small street and right beside a canal. Once found, we were very happy with our room – or rooms I should say. One large room had a dining table for 8 and the second room a canopied bed, a table for 8 and a desk. It seemed we needed friends and family around to make use of all the sitting places. It was also in a good position for walking to the sights.

We loved the magnificent new Suzhou Museum, designed by IM Pei, and opened in 2006. Pei's family was originally from Suzhou. We could certainly see similarities in style with the beautifulMuseum of Islamic Arts (also Pei designed) which opened in Qatar while we were living there. This museum is in black and white, with stark angles and corners softened by glimpses of green bamboo or maples through a variety of glass windows or walls. It was worth queuing for.

As we wandered through the sights of Suzhou, it became obvious that this was a place where scholars, writers and poets had gathered, as there were often references these people. The famous Humble Administrator's Gardens is the largest and one of the best preserved of Suzhou’s gardens. The garden was laid out in 1500s for the imperial inspector Wang Xianchen when he retired from public life. The name Humble Administrator's Garden was inspired by the essay 'To cultivate my garden and sell my vegetable crop is the policy of humble man'. However, other references say that the garden ‘was named after the not-so-humble administrator, who, upon his retirement, purchased the property with money extorted from other officials during his time at court ‘.The garden is divided into the middle, eastern and western parts and a house is at the south end of the garden. Some of the spaces in the garden, like the ‘Listening to the Sound of Rain Pavilion’, and the ‘A Pure Mind Thinks Deep’ illustrate the garden’s purpose of refreshing the mind and soul.

We enjoyed the garden, but were amazed at the behavior of some visitors to the gardens. It seemed that taking photographs was a priority regardless of where one was standing. A continuous procession of visitors walked over the grass and into the gardens for a spot to take that perfect picture. As a result, the lawn was concrete hard dirt. The (fairly aged) women who were busy hoeing the ground must have felt they had a hopeless task as the vandalism continued. This behavior was in stark contrast to the actions of the security people in the huge parks in Hangzhou, where one foot on the grass would result in immediate orders to move to the path.

The ‘Garden of the Master of the Nets’, the smallest of the gardens, was slightly more peaceful. It has buildings such as the ‘Five Summits Reading Hut’ and the ‘Viewing Porch for Looking at Pines and Studying Paintings’ which reflected the scholars’ interests. Other areas such as the ‘Chapel of Accumulated Emptiness’, ‘Shooting at Ducks Walkway’ and the ‘Pursuing Tranquillity Lodging’ are more whimsical. The peonies here were beautiful.

It is obvious these gardens have an important historical place in Suzhou’s history, but it is also clear that the gardens are suffering from the effects of large visitor numbers. A very difficult problem to solve.

We did enjoy Suzhou – there was plenty to see, the people were lovely, and the food was great.Now to Shanghai.

Hanging out in Hangzhou

2010-08-28T22:09:00.001+10:00

We have been to China a number of times now, but this was our first visit to Hangzhou. This is the place where the Grand Canal starts, and one of the cities visited by Marco Polo all those years ago. We stayed in the touristy but beautiful West Lake area. Experience had taught us what to expect in a Chinese city, but in Hangzhou we had to reset our China mindset.

For a start, there were public toilets everywhere – clean, and NO CHARGE!

There were wide footpaths, all on one level.

And - there were trees and gardens that went on forever. It was just beautiful.

When we first arrived from KL, we caught the shuttle from the airport, walked to our hotel, and in no time were checking out the local area. First job was to book bus tickets to our next stop, Suzhou. I had booked all I could for the trip, but not the connecting transport between cities in China. Never knowing how difficult or easy this may be, I like to get it done. With a bit of searching we found the bus office, booked tickets, and then headed to West Lake.

The city is built around West Lake, which was dredged into existence from a swampy lagoon in the 8th century. It is obvious that the area around the lake has been 'done up'. It all looks clean and sparkling, but that does not take anything away from picturesque, typically Chinese scenery. There are arched bridges, willowed banks, misty hills, ancient pagodas and boats floating slowly on a wide lake surrounded by gorgeous gardens. In the parks surrounding the lake the usual activities were happening – walking, sitting, dancing, singing and now, (unfortunately), karaoke. In one area two men were competing with their microphones. Not a good sound.

For dinner we headed to Qinghefang Old Street, a busy street with shops, teahouses and restaurants. We feasted on delicious omelette, pork threads, and snow peas with mushrooms, while the lady who runs the show sat in a chair by the door stroking her dog and keeping her staff in check.

The area around the lake is quite mountainous, and there are plenty of walks to temples, pagodas etc. Next morning, on our way to the northern end of the lake we wondered why there were crowds around the lake. Hearing the music, we soon realized it was the daily ‘fountains dance to music’ display.

One could walk for days around the lake. From the hills there were good views, although drizzly rain meant it wasn’t clear. At one point we were surprised to hear a very deep loud voice start to sing ‘Nessum dorma’. It sounded beautiful amongst the greenery, but our enjoyment was short when we realized the unseen person was practicing bits he obviously had not mastered, and that he could really only sing the first few bars.

Not all the walks are hilly, and there are many flatter paths around the lake as well. A big bicycle hiring business means that cycling another option. The next day on our walk to the south of the lake we visited the Tea museum and plantation. Interesting there were the massive ‘tea cakes’, huge discs of compressed tea processed in the way it was prepared many years ago.

We soon became aware that Hangzhou still has many locals, or maybe Chinese tourists, who are not so used to seeing Westerners. There were not a lot of Westerners, but those who were there were regularly approached to be photographed with Chinese people. We were also surreptitiously included in the background of their photos, and made the objects of quite a bit of attention. Many of the Chinese were obviously curious, and this is something we had not seen since our first trips to China. It was no issue for us of course, as the attention was accompanied by the very best of humor and courtesy.

We enjoyed Hangzhou, and we were sorry we had to move on, but Suzhou was calling.

Malaysia-China Trip: KL to Penang

2010-05-11T19:26:00.004+10:00

As mentioned in the last post, the KL locals we met were lovely - very friendly and helpful. There were smiles everywhere. We had only to stop to look at a map in the street and someone would offer assistance. Amazingly, shop keepers and taxi drivers were not pushy. Even if we did not buy they wished us a good trip, or welcomed us to Malaysia!! In the markets there was only friendly touting, no hassling. It was a bit different than the situation at some markets.

It was with this positive view of Malaysia that we headed by bus to Penang. This is a 5 hour trip in a very comfortable coach with deep seats - only 3 to a row. The service starts with a coffee offered in the waiting lounge to water, juice, buns and coffee being offered on the bus. For the first hour or so the countryside looked as though it had been cleared of all vegetation, and I was wondering the country was totally deforested, but gradually endless forests of palm trees replaced the nudity.

As we crossed the bridge from the mainland I thought of how my brother Peter must have done this crossing many times when he was stationed here with his family during his time in the RAAF. I imagine they would see a lot of change, as I could see much development from the time I was here nearly 20 years ago.

Penang has an interesting history in that some of the players are rather well known. Captain Francis Light acquired possession of the island (on behalf of the East India Company) from a local sultan in return for protection. (His brother in law was Sir Stamford Raffles, and Light’s son is later is credited with the founding of Adelaide.) Light allowed new arrivals to claim as much land as they could clear so the population grew quickly, with large numbers of people from various Asian countries settling here. The economy, however, did not grow as quickly, as European planters set up spice plantations which were slow to develop and required high initial input.

It was this slow growth that is said to have saved Penang from the rapid development experienced in other areas of Malaysia. Central Georgetown, where we stayed, is like a big sprawling Chinatown. Georgetown (and Malacca ) were proclaimed World Heritage sites by the United Nations in 2008. Initially the towns went into celebration mode, but it is hard for some to see the value in the old buildings so many are becoming derelict as they are protected from from demolition. This leaves many buildings as crumbling shells.

Regardless of this, Georgetown still has a great feel. We did find it a bit challenging as pedestrians, as the footpaths go from nonexistent to multi levelled. With my history of falling in the street I am always a bit at risk of doing myself damage. And of course the heat can be a challenge when walking.

On the first evening we wandered through town to the waterfront. We bought a ‘Rapid Passport‘, which gives unlimited use of the Rapid bus system for a week. This card got good use while we were there. We then moved on to dinner - tasty noodles and rice for under A$1.50 a plate.

There are temples galore, of every persuasion. We took a bus up to Kek Lok Si, a huge Buddhist temple complex. Here there is a seven story pagoda and a massive statue of the Goddess of Mercy. The path to the temple is a long uphill trek past many stalls. We also made a visit to the 'Blue Mansion' as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is called. This house, now an hotel, has an interesting history. It certainly is a gorgeous blue. We had lunch afterwards at 'Passage thru India'. The name was worrying, but the food was good.

We enjoyed Penang and it was cheap as can be. Our hotel was A$13 a night, even cheaper than our A$38 a night place in KL, food was tasty and also a good price, and the historically interesting but laid back tropical island environment was great.

Malaysia-China Trip: Kuala Lumpur

2010-05-09T09:11:00.022+10:00

Kuala Lumpur was our first port of call, and as we left the airport terminal the heat and humidity swamped us. Just as we had expected.

We had been up early, as our flight departed from the Gold coast airport. After wondering how we would find our first Air Asia experience we were very happy with this first leg. No movies, but we had plenty to read, and hey, as luck would have it, we had a spare seat beside us. We had prebooked the Skybus to the city, so with an added light rail trip we had only a short walk to our hotel.

Our hotel was in bustling Chinatown, and we found it to be a good spot to be located. Public transport was close at hand, and cafes and food stalls are abundant in that area. In fact our hotel ran between two streets, with the markets on one side, and a food street on the other. Very handy.

We found lots of old British architecture, modern skyscrapers, mosques, lovely people and gorgeous food. On our first day we had to visit the former KL Railway station to purchase bus tickets for Penang, and what a building this station is - or was. Designed by a British architect in a Moorish type style, and with minarets to burn, it is a relic of the British past. It is often mentioned in the guides that the architect had to meet a specification that the building withstand 3 feet of snow! Typical of the happenings of those times I guess. These days it is very quiet here. A bit sad really, but it is easy to imagine how busy it once was.

In the same vein are Merdaka Square, the Royal Selangor Club and the massive Sultan Abdul Samad building. Rather than a typical concrete city square, Merdaka square is a an open field. The British administators played cricket here, and relaxed in the mock Tudor style Selangor Club built on one side of the square. Apparently this is where the Hash House Harriers originated in 1938.

The Sultan Abdul Samad building on the other side of the square was once the Secretariat building for the British but is now the Supreme Court. These relics of the past are of course dwarfed by much new development.

The Petronas Towers are visible from afar, and are built over one of those glitzy shopping centres that remind us of our Doha days. We always wonder who buys all those expensive goods. The centre is surrounded by attractive gardens and lakes - a lovely place amongst the busy streets.

The highlights of KL however, we found to be the people and the food. But more on that next time.

Time flies when you are having fun

2010-01-23T18:49:00.007+10:00

It seems as though the week is getting shorter! How can that be when I am not even going to work???

There is deep water running at the Yeronga Pool twice a week, two gym sessions a week at the physio to try and fix my tendinopathy problem, this week a trip to Toowoomba, my photos to sort, some work on our garden and then of course social events which just seem to happen.

We had a good night out at the Ottoman Cafe at West End on Thursday with some of our lovely neighbors. We hadn't been there before but it was worth a visit. The place is nicely decorated, the menu choices are good, and the food was very tasty.

We shared mains - this one was platter of lamb and chicken. The Ottoman Pot was very good - slow cooked lamb and eggplant that melted in the mouth. We shared some baklava and Turkish delight for dessert, and I must say the baklava was very good - it was not drowned in sugar syrup like it can be, and was still warm from baking. There was Arabian dancing for entertainment, and we walked home well satisfied with our evening.

To keep me well occupied, I am in the process of organising a trip for us to Adelaide. We have bought tickets to Womadelaide which has an excellent lineup of artists, and then we will travel to Ceduna to visit a lovely lady we met in Qatar.

We are going the long way around by travelling via Sydney, Blackheath, and Wagga Wagga to catch up with family and friends. It should be fun, and will take about a month.

The weather remains alternately hot or not so hot - in fact there have been some lovely days and I seem to be getting quite acclimatised. I love the way we can eat outside almost all year round.

Here is last nights beautiful sunset.

January 2010

2010-01-17T20:15:00.011+10:00

Christmas is over once more. It was great fun. There are lots of little ones now to up the excitement level, the weather was great for the beach, and we all had new books to enjoy. With all the girls and associated families together, what more could one want! See photos.

Before we knew it, it was New Year's Eve. No night on the town for us, but is was fun to recreate one of the Dutch customs that my family always followed - that is, making oliebollen, or new Year's Eve's doughnuts. These are delicious balls of yeast dough (with dried fruit and lemon zest) deep fried in oil. Before eating, they are sprinkled with icing sugar. For Helena and Lewis, it was their initiation to this custom. They were very taken, and hope that grandma will do this every year!

On the topic of food, we have had quite a 'foodie' weekend. It started with our weekly trip to the West End markets, which are held in Davies Park, almost beside our complex. Here we stock up on vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat - whatever we need. It is a great way to buy these provisions, and we always look forward to this Saturday morning adventure.

This week we also wanted to go to the Bookfest at the Convention centre. I have been trying to track down a copy of a Women's Weekly Cookbook which I received as a speech night prize many years ago. I have used this book for a number of favourite recipes, and much to my dismay, found that in our move to Brisbane it must have joined the many books which we gave to Lifeline. I have searched in second hand bookshops to no avail, but found a copy at Bookfest. I very happily paid $2.50 - not only was it a good price, but it is a slightly newer version, and so has metric measurements as well!

To celebrate, as by now I was dying for a coffee, we headed for the Swiss Gourmet Deli in Boundary street. Not only is the coffee good here, it has the best Portuguese tarts anywhere.

While we waited for Alex to join us for lunch, we whiled away some happy time in Avid Reader, a wonderful bookstore where one can spend a lot of time. Here my attention was caught by an interesting cookbook on the 'SALE' table. I noticed, among other things, that Russian, German and Polish Food and Cooking had a mushroom soup (mixed mushroom solyanka) which has pickled cucumber, capers and lemon to add bite - sound good. There is also a recipe for Russian pirozhki. As I discussed these delights with foodie Bern only days ago in relation to the Adelaide markets, it seemed an omen that I had to buy that book. Well - any excuse will do.

We had decided to try lunch the new Little Greek Taverna, opened only recently on the corner of Boundary and Browning Streets, West End. This is a tiny shop, with a menu choices suitable for lunch or dinner. I had very tasty lamb souvlaki with salad.

Bob had scallops, and Alex lamb cutlets. All were very good. Alex and I also had a coffee frappe. I have not had one of these before, and it was very enjoyable - very coffee tasting, not too milky and not too sweet. As Bob has this week done his barista course (a Christmas present from me), we have been into the crema etc for coffee and wondered how they had achieved this on this frappe.

Alex looked it up online when we got home, and we were most surprised that it such a common recipe - where have I been?? Interestingly, it is made with instant coffee, and the froth is the result of shaking. We only had a few sachets of instant coffee in our picnic bag to try the recipe, but it seems to work, so tomorrow I will get a bottle of Nescafe and try it with fresh coffee.

For dinner I had a first go at two recipes from the Food Safari Cookbook. I really wanted this and was so happy to get it for Christmas. I have long loved the TV program, and so the book is a great idea. I decided I am going to do a bit of a Julie/Julia on this book, and cook all the recipes (though not in one year). So yesterday I cooked from the Thai section - chicken with basil and a rice and coconut dessert which was very yummy. The food was very good, so I am looking forward to trying more recipes.

As a last food experience for the weekend we went this afternoon to the State library for a talk on rustic cookbooks - particularly regarding a book by Phillis Clark who lived on East Talgai Station. Very interesting to see her documentation of recipes and remedies. There is also a Gardening book which documents all the trees etc planted - most amazing.

So that is the start of 2010. Now to planning some trips away.

End of year get-together

2009-12-18T22:15:00.009+10:00

The weather was warm and clear, the food was great, and the company even better for relaxed dinner on Edwina and Frank's deck.

Edwina, Liz and Rene collaborating in the kitchen.

Owen, Rene and Peter discussing how to serve the dessert.

Bernadette impressed with Bob and Chips's coordinated movements.

Rene and Bec having a private joke.

Peter, having solved the cheesecake serving issue.

Frank and Bernadette - it's been a lovely evening!

2009 - Family events

2009-12-16T17:05:00.028+10:00

I am doing a little round up of what we have been up to over the months since we got back from Qatar. It seems a fitting thing to do as we get closer to the end of 2009.

There have been two new babies to celebrate, lots of birthdays, a family reunion, an engagement party and other get togethers that were held for no reason at all.

Here I am with my mother and sisters Cathy and Liz at a lunch at Liz and Steve's place. More photos.

Annabella Rose, born to Julien and Mark in Sydney on 16 June this year. More photos.

Lauren and her cousin Nicole (my sister Cathy's daughter) on Lauren's 29th birthday in July. Nicole is only 1 month younger.

Samuel John, born to Bron and Glenn in Brisbane on 31 July this year. More photos.

My two sisters and three of my brothers made it to a family reunion at Coolangatta in August. Above are my parents and brother Gerard. The weekend happened to also be our 40th wedding anniversary. More photos.

We went to Sydney for Julien and Lewis's birthdays in August.

In October Helena and Lewis flew up from Sydney unaccompanied for the first time. We took them for their first camping trip - a big success. See pics here.

Bob had another birthday and the family all came to celebrate. More photos.

For the first time all our grandchildren were together for a photo.

Also a first opportunity to catch Sam and Annabella together.

My nephew Brendan and his fiancee Laura held a party in Stanthorpe for their engagement .

Only a few weeks ago we travelled to Sydney for the children's dance concert. It was a massively hot day, but was a lot of fun. More photos.

So, a full year it was- here is to next year- may it be as good. But first there is Christmas to come.

2009 - Events we attended in Brisbane

2009-12-16T17:04:00.050+10:00

There always seems to something on in Brisbane - whether it be locally in West End, in the city, or in the suburbs. In August the West End Community Association made a long overdue request to the local indigenous people for permission to settle on this land. It did seem rather late for this ceremony, but but better late than never I guess. One of the local elders talked about the history of the Murri groups that originally owned this land, there was dancing, and then morning tea for all.

In September we visited 'Across the Gulf', an exhibition of works by 22 gulf artists from Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. After our time in the Middle East some of the images seemed quite familiar.

We walked from West End to the exhibition which was held in the Howard E Smith wharves under the Story Bridge. Not sure how many people visited as it not exactly easy to access.

RiverFire in September heralded the start of the Brisbane Festival. The weather was perfect that night.

The festival offered weeks of music, theatre and dance. After poring over the program we decided to see the Portuguese fado singer Mariza and the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Mariza's concert was fabulous - she is a great entertainer. Moon Water by Cloud Gate was impressive - amazing bodies and movement.

There were also many activities in the suburbs. We went to the Into Africa festival day at Yeronga - another great day of music, dancing and food.

Next was the opening of the Kurilpa walking bridge in front of GOMA.

Not sure about the relevance of the Brazilian dancers at this event, but it was a good to see the bridge opened, as it is useful for us when we walk to the city.

Our local councillor Helen Abrahams with Anna and the crew.

On the way home we walked past the Hale Street link bridge - or GoBetween Bridge as it is now called. This is not so good for us as it will allow access for many cars to West End, where there are not many streets wide enough to cope with the flow. It will have a $2.70 (for 300m).

The Multicultural Festival at Roma Street Parklands is always a good day out. The gardens are looking really great.

We saw these posts at Rosalie when we went to the Blue Room CineBar to see a movie. How neat!

Last week we went to see the latest exhibition at GOMA - The Sixth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6). Very well worth a visit.

This is fruit made from cardboard - a free activity outside the gallery.

Mushroom cloud made from pots and pans.

This is the best - a stuffed elk that has been covered with glass and resin balls. Just beautiful in its totally white setting.

2009 - Picnics

2009-12-15T21:29:00.015+10:00

During our our time in the Middle East we found the heat and the general lack of green - be it grass or trees, made it difficult to spend time outdoors. So we are now really enjoying and appreciating this luxury. Not only being able to sit out on the patio almost all year round, but to get out and about in some gorgeous settings.

This was a lovely day at Moreton Island with Edwina, Frank and family. Even in the winter months the weather was balmy.

Another day - a trip to Stradbroke in beautiful weather.

The sky was blue, the view amazing, there whales to be seen in the ocean and then - a kangaroo hopped by our picnic table as well!

The northern areas around Redcliffe have lots of great spots for picnics. We have had quite a number of family picnics around this area, as both Bron and Bob's mum live here. Here we are at Woody Point with Cronks and Crowthers and friends.

Bron was just home from hospital with Sam so she called by to let us all have a look.

What a life!

Samuel John and Annabella Rose

2009-09-24T20:00:00.007+10:00

Samuel John's early entry into the world happened 4 months ago now, and he is thriving and happy baby boy. He has doting parents and plenty of family around to give him lots of attention.

He is 6 weeks younger than his cousin Annabella, although he would have been almost 3 months younger had he gone full term. They look similar in size when lying down, but when being held Annabella is obviously stronger.

It will be fun to see them together as they grow and develop. So easy for grandparents - lots of the fun and just some of the hard work!

Baby Sam (?)

2009-08-01T14:09:00.005+10:00

Baby Sam (although we are not yet sure if this is going to be his name) arrived five weeks early to surprise us all. Bron and Glenn, (his over-the-moon parents) were of course the most affected by his surprise entrance. Bron had planned to work for another three weeks, but luckily had packed her bag that night before going to bed.

He is gorgeous, like all the our grandchildren. Aren't we the luckiest ever?? I am totally amazed how easy it is to instantly fall in love with each new baby. He weighed in at 4 lbs 14 ozs and is 42 1/2 cms long. He has a little light brown hair. When we saw him this morning he was in a humidicrib, but he will be transferred to the special care nursery this afternoon. It seems he will be in hospital for some weeks. His parents had not imagined them coming home without him, but that will be how it is for a while. They are of course delighted that he arrived safely and that he is in such good care. As we all are!

Photos are here

Annabella Rose -16 June 09

2009-06-16T14:21:00.004+10:00

Today Julien and Mark's little daughter was born. She is Annabella Rose Ronfeldt, sister to Helena, Lewis and Beatrix, and her 3 big brothers.

Born at 2 am

Weight 2.775kg

Height 48cm

Head 34cm

Julien and baby are both very well, and Annabella is beautiful. More photos here.

Back home

2009-06-14T18:55:00.004+10:00

I returned to Brisbane at the end of April - there are 2 babies on the way and an apartment to sort out for a permanent home. There has been plenty to do. I made cot quilts for Julien's three children, so now have to do one for baby number 4. And for September there is one to do for Bron - very exciting.

It is good to be back, but of course until Bob is back on 2 July, it is not home. Hopefully by then I will have home a bit more organised. Luckily there have been lovely social occasions to keep me feeling alone. See photos here.

Currently I am in Sydney, awaiting the birth of Julien and Mark's little one. From tomorrow I am back in the preschool, school etc merry go round - and in Sydney traffic. Being a grandma in 2009 is quire a challenge!

Bahrain and Dubai

2009-06-08T21:47:00.011+10:00

During our time in Qatar we had opportunity to have a couple of weekends away. The first was to Bahrain, only a 45 minute flight away. Bahrain is actually 32 islands located between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The largest island is Bahrain, and here we stayed in Manama - the capital city at the northern end of the island. It is a small city, with about 600,000 inhabitants, and like in Qatar, most of the people live in the capital.

We found Manama in many ways quite similar to Doha, but then different in some areas. It does not appear as wealthy as Qatar: here the country does not rely on oil now, and has planned for its future by becoming a financial centre. As a result there is a huge development of banking buildings being built on reclaimed land. In fact, while the gate to the souq is now quite a way inland, it was once on the foreshore of Manama. The city is a bit more western, and there is more variation in the dress of the locals. Not so much of the white thobe and black abaya, but still covering of the head etc.

The Bahrain National Museum has a very good section on burial mounds. We were not able to visit any mounds as they are outside the city but the museum has very good examples and descriptions. There were approximately 85,000 burial mounds constructed in Bahrain between 2800BC and 630BC. They cover 5% of the land. Four different types of mounds evolved over time. We spent a good morning here and then walked a good distance to restaurant I had read about in Lonely Planet. Cafe Lilou as every bit as good as it was made out to be. It is decorated in Parisian style, and has a good menu of interesting Western dishes. It seemed a good change after the mainly middle eastern fare of Qatar.

Our Bahrain visit was in February. In March I unexpectedly went home to Australia to resettle Bob's mother. Bob met me in Dubai on the way home to Doha.

Dubai is centred on Dubai Creek, a salt water stream that divides the city into two and provides a popular transport route. Many of the hotels overlook this stream, although the resorts are mainly along the beach. This city is much more cosmopolitan than Doha, but with a big focus on shopping. The shopping centres, however, are an entertainment in themselves - no need to shop. We caught the train to the northern end of Dubai to see the Ibn Battuta mall.

This is said to be world’s largest themed shopping mall. Designed to celebrate the travels of the famous Arabic explorer Ibn Battuta, the centre has sections decorated according to the countries he visited - Andalusia, Tunisia, Egypt, Persia, India and China.

The Madinat Mall and Resort is built like an old Arabian town. It is massive, with accommodation, 75 shops, 40+ restaurants and much more all connected by waterways. The Mall of the Emirates has a ski slope, and so it goes on. We found there was plenty to look at without spending too much time at the shops.

Here are the photos.

Morocco: Toukbal National Park to Marrakesh

2009-04-08T00:43:00.023+10:00

We farewelled the Sahara and the Kasbahs for our next adventure. We were now climbing the High Atlas, and had to journey over the spectacular Tizi n'Tichka Pass. There had been a lot of snow on the mountains, and it was thought that the pass could be closed. We were lucky that on this day it was open. The weather had been getting progressively chillier, and on the mountain it was freezing. The scenery was spectacular however, as the mountains are magnificent, and with a coating of snow they were magic. The pass was open only one way at a time, and it was good that it was our direction that was open when we arrived. There were a huge number of trucks and cars waiting to go the other way.

It was a long drive over the pass, and we had to wait ages before we could stop for a coffee, but finally we were over and then on our way to our mountain homestay. The minibus went as far as Imlil, the trailhead for the High Atlas. This little town revolves around mountain treks, and here we left our packs at a local cafe and took a day pack up the mountain. Luckily Khalid hired mules to carry our packs, as it was a steep 3 km walk in cold conditions. The gite was at Armed, a small hillside village 1960m above sea level. As we walked up the narrow track we had to get past a truck loading apples from a local grower, as the area has many orchards. This seems to be the main livelihood other than tourism activities related to trekking in the mountains.

The gite had fairly basic accommodation - shared rooms for our group and a communal lounge for meals etc. It was freezing here, and the fire in the living room seemed to give out more smoke than heat. Our dinner was, as usual very good, but we were off to our sleeping bags early hoping to get warm. This was not too successful, but it was interesting to experience the way our host family lives. After breakfast the next day some of us joined our leader in a trek to a higher pass. We walked through a valley where we often sank to our knees in snow, but we persevered until we started up the hill again. Here it was icy and very slippery, and we were advised to not go further as coming down would be dangerous. We didn't take much convincing, and so headed back home. Life here has probably not changed much over the years, and living conditions are very basic. Our family was very welcoming, and it is obvious that this small business is very worthwhile for them.

The walk back down to Imlil was much easier, and for another change of scene, we were now headed for the beach. Our journey took us quite close to Marrakesh, which was our last stop, and we passed some of the areas that have become holiday homes for wealthy Europeans. But first we were going to Essaouira. We passed fields of crops, fruit and nut trees, and also saw a number of businesses selling argan oil. We hadn't heard of this before, and found that the argan tree is a slow growing thorn tree similar to the olive. It can survive in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius, and so is important in fighting desertification in Morocco.

It was raining at Essaouira, and this continued on and off until we left Morocco. The sea was wild, and some of the streets were flooded. This did not spoil Essaouira, which is a lovely relaxed town, that although obviously tourism oriented, still manages to be charming. It is obviously a favourite of the campervanners, if the lineup along the foreshore was any indication. Our accommodation here was a Riad Dar el Qdima in the medina. Riads are Moroccan houses built with the rooms looking inward to a courtyard or garden, and they have a very pleasant atmosphere. Inside was peaceful, and yet just out the front door we were in the midst of the market and eating places. We had a great seafood meal the first night with the group - it was good to have a change of menu. On the second night Bob and I ate at Restaurant Ferdaus , which is recommended by Lonely Planet. This had a lovely atmosphere, good food and good prices, so we were happy. The weather continued wet and windy - the fishermen congregated at the seafront watching the wild sea, and the seafood stalls stayed closed.

From here we were bound for our last stop - Marrakesh. This is the place that sounds magical and really the essence of Morocco. It turned out to be wet and freezing and it seemed the locals were out to get tourists. Maybe in sunny weather it would have seemed completely different. Who knows. Bob left to go back to work at this point, so I went to the medina and the Jardin Marjorelle in the rain. The gardens were lovely, so that was good, and a last dinner with our group gave a finality to the last day. There were some people on the tour that were just great company, and we hope to see them again. As for Morocco, it surpassed our expectations many times over. The scenery, the variety of the scenery, the people, the food, the music - it was all a wonderful experience. Here are the photos.

Morocco: Todra Gorge to Ait Benhaddou

2009-04-05T01:18:00.018+10:00

Another camel ride took us from the desert to the Auberge and breakfast. Then it was back in the minibus to our next destination. We had to backtrack a bit and then were on our way to Todra Gorge. The country remained fairly arid, but every now and then we would come across a palm filled oasis. These palmeraie are amazing - such a concentration of date palms in a valley surrounded by bare hills. They are beautiful, so it is a pity that these areas are suffering from lack of water as tourism increases.

Morocco has a number of gorges but Todra Gorge was special as it was our tour leader Khalid's home town. The valley nearing Todra Gorge is thick with palmeraie. On arrival we found that we had to walk on a suspension bridge across the gorge to reach to our hotel. It was a beautiful sight with palm trees, almond trees in blossom and flowing water. Our group were the only people in the hotel and at night we could choose from the menu either tagine or couscous. We were getting used to this choice on the menu.

The next morning a walk through the gorge was scheduled. As the sides of the gorge rise to 300m at places it was rather cold, but the sights were beautiful. After walking deeper into the gorge we returned to the village, past women washing clothes at the river, past farmers working on their crops, and into the streets of mud houses. We visited the home of one of the waiters from our hotel. Aziz has 8 brothers and a sister. Only a couple of his siblings are married and the rest live at home. They make carpets and after the obligatory Moroccan mint tea, we were shown their work. They spread out numerous carpets in their living room. This is a fairly small room and seems to be the main communal family areas. There are a few bedrooms shared by a number of brothers, and the cooking area is downstairs.

From here we walked to another house for lunch. This was at the home at another waiter's family. Intrepid tours try to use a variety of local hotels and eating places and it is interesting to see that this woman earns money by cooking a meal in her home and serving it to a tour group who sit on a mat in her bare living room. Khalid's mother came bearing biscuits she had made. It was lovely to meet her as we were most impressed by the way Khalid carried out his job. He has an economics degree and has 2 brothers and 1 sister. His older brother paid for him to get his degree, and this is the way young people get their education - by someone in the family getting a job e.g. as a waiter in Europe, and then paying for their sibling. It is obvious in Morocco a higher education is only available to those who can afford it. (BTW - his brother who paid for him has married a Swiss girl and now lives in Switzerland.)

Khalid's life (he is mid twenties) is also very different to that of young people in Australia. He lives in Marrakesh with a few young men and it is apparently quite difficult to entertain young women in their flat. He says that if the neighbours see them having young women there they are likely to call the police. He did say though that they sometimes have a 'sister' come to visit. While Khalid feels lucky to have landed this job, we felt lucky to have not only the benefit of his good but low key management but also his interesting perspectives of his country.

That afternoon we both visited the local hammam (bathhouse). The Moroccans have some fancy versions of these for tourists, but we went to the local - Bob went to the men's, while I went with four of the girls to the women's section. As we entered we stripped to our undies and were pointed to one of the steamy rooms. Although a basic bathhouse, we did pay extra to have someone scrub us and generally show us what to do. There are 3 rooms with different temperatures. We started in the hottest - the floor is very warm and each person fetches a bucket of hot water. Special mitts are used with soft soap to exfoliate the skin, and we were embarrassed to have piles of grey skin collect beneath us. This continued with buckets of water being intermittently splashed over us until we were squeaky clean. This procedure was followed by a massage, so by the time we left we were floating. It was a great experience, not only that we were now very clean, but for the wonderful insight into the lives of the locals. The women were of all ages and were mostly in family groups. It is quite a social process as mothers, children, sisters etc clean each other. There seems to be none of the modesty that Western teenagers often display, and there was a lot of laughing going on.

The next morning our first stop was the local weekly market. This was no tourist market, but was a warts and all affair selling everything - dates, vegetables, cooking pots, donkeys and car parts. We bought mandarins again here as we had found they were very good.

After this we were on our way to Ouarzazate (pronounced Warzazat), the home of Atlas Studios, one of the largest film studios in the world. Recent films made there are Kundun, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator. The town does look a bit like a film set, or at least the part that we saw did. We had lunch here but then went on to the grand Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, which really does look like a film set. Apparently this town has had a lot of money spent on it by film companies who have used the kasbah for scenes in their films. Lawrence of Arabia, The Jewel of the Nile, Kundun, The Mummy and Gladiator had scenes shot here and much of the village was rebuilt for Jesus of Nazareth.

Crossing the Mellah River in front of the hotel to visit the kasbah was fun. The water was shallow and we were to walk on rocks and sandbags to cross to other side. There were a number of horseman wanting to take us across but Khalid said we would walk. We found however, that the men had removed many of the sand bags and as we all went deeper into freezing water, they rushed in and plucked us out of the water onto their horses. When I say 'pluck' can you imagine this tall, very good looking Arabian man (with kohl around his eyes) plucking ME out of the river onto his horse ? Well, he did. Quite a scary character he was. Khalid was furious with them as they did seem rather unscrupulous. The walk through the kasbah was worth it as it is amazing, if a bit 'new' looking. Our horsemen were waiting for our return, so got double the money.

We stayed in a guest house run by the family of Mr Houssain, seen in blue above. He has had a part in a number of films shot in the area. Intrepid has lent him the money to expand and renovate his house for guests. He and one of the women gave a cooking demonstration that night. No guesses - it was a tagine and couscous. The really good part was showing us how couscous is made from flour and water. It did give us a new appreciation for this food.

These are the photos.

Morocco: Middle Atlas to the Sahara

2009-04-03T02:09:00.013+10:00

We continued our journey south and before long came to a Swiss?? village. Surely not, but yes, here it was. The town of Ifrane. Chalet type houses, fancy hotels, and ski slopes. This was surely unexpected. The snow covered ground helped to complete the picture of course. There is also a prestigious university here, and the wealthy students who attend that, together with skiers make this town seem quite out of place here. They had good coffee here (we had worked out now we had to ask for 'nos nos' to get what we like) so we were happy.

We now realised that Morocco is full of the unexpected and so when we entered thick cedar forests we were not surprised. These forests are home to the Barbary apes. These creatures, a species of macacque, live in large groups and there were many in and under the trees. They must be used to being the subject of interest from tourists as they were not very shy.

The landscape continued to change, and as we travelled to higher ground the country became more arid. The scenic snow covered Atlas mountains provided a stunning background to a series of impoverished looking villages, and a variety of landscapes.

Our home for the night was an Auberge in the tiny village of Berrem. This village was the first that we had seen consisting entirely of mud brick construction. I thought maybe this village had been preserved as an example of earlier times, but soon we realised that most of the housing in Morocco is like this. During a walk through the village we saw the locals (I should say local women) doing their washing in the stream, carrying sticks for firewood and looking after the children. At night the locals provided music and dancing for our entertainment. We certainly had a good time here.

We were now headed to Merzouga on the way to the Erg Chebbi dunes (an erg is a vast sea of shifting windswept sand that is formed into picturesque undulating crests and valleys). We drove over mountains and through valleys and became acqainted with the type of townships that lie in the green oases between the mountains. Houses are made of mud, and systems of farming and irrigation have not changed over the years. Amongst the many date palms growing in these valleys are apple, stone fruit, almond and olive trees together with grain and vegetable crops.

Gradually the vegetation decreased, and we drove over flat rocky ground to finally reach the sand dunes. We were now only 20 kms from the Algerian border. My first impression of the Sahara desert was that the colour of the sand is amazing. Not at all like the colour of Qatar sand dunes at all, but more an orange colour. They are beautiful. I had not been looking forward to a camel ride to our desert camp (especially after the horse ride in Petra) but the camel ride was good. In fact when I saw the height of the dunes we travelled over in our one and a half hour trip to camp, I was really pleased I was not walking.
Our room for the night was a Berber tent. We have seen these quite a lot around the Middle East. They are made of camel hair, and in the gale that blew that night they did not seem very weatherproof. As we arrived the girls in our group raced up to the top of the massive dune behind our camp. We followed at a more sedate pace but I gave up when the blowing sand was too much. It was very windy up there! At night we enjoyed a delicious chicken tagine and couscous meal in the tent, and the cook and the camel boys even provided after dinner music. This was certainly a memorable event - had I ever thought I would be camping in the Sahara Desert?

The pictures are here.

Morocco: Rabat to Fes

2009-02-23T18:44:00.026+10:00

Rabat is also a coastal city, and is only one hour by train north from Casablanca. This city is the political capital of Morocco, and seems on first impressions to be quietly elegant compared to Casablanca. The main street, Avenue Mohammad V, is a wide palm-lined boulevard with stately government buildings on each side.
We walked up this avenue, through the Medina and up the hill to the Kasbah des Oudaias - the oldest part of the city. This kasbah (i.e. fort or citadel) overlooks the ocean and the river from its cliff-top perch. It is mainly residential, has a very Grecian look about it with its attractive white-washed houses and blue doors and trims. Apparently these homes were mainly built by Muslim refugees from Spain. At the time we visited there were few residents around, so it seemed very quiet and peaceful.

Inside the kasbah are also the Andalusian Gardens, originally part of the old palace, and laid out by the French during the colonial period. We walked through these gardens and then through the alleys of the kasbah up to the Platforme du Semaphore. This area has a wonderful view of the ocean and over the river estuary to the town of Sale, which was once settled by the Romans. How far the Romans did venture!

Once down from the kasbah, we walked to the Hassan Tower (or Tour Hassan) and the Mausoleum of Mohammad V at the most visited tourist site in Rabat. The Hassan Tower is the minaret planned by Sultan Yacoub Al-Mansour to be the largest in the world. It was started in 1195, but when he died 4 years later construction stopped and the tower never reached its expected height. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755 so now the tower stands beside the remaining pillars of the mosque.

Located on the opposite side of the Hassan Tower, on the Yacoub al-Mansour Esplanade, is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. It contains the tombs of the present Moroccan king's father (the late King Hassan II) and his grandfather. Like many Moroccan buildings it is white with a green tiled roof, but is quite ornate with its mosaics and detailed metal candelabra outside.

From Rabat it was a two and a half hour train journey to Meknes, Morocco's third imperial city. We passed through rich agricultural lands growing grains, vegetable and fruits. Sultan Moulay Ismail (1645 - 1727) was the ruler who was responsible for the sights we would see in Meknes.

He had built 25kms of city walls with some impressive gates and a palace complex that was never completed. He is renowned for his inhumane treatment of his slaves, but it seems he cared for his horses. His Royal Stables complex (above) was built to house 12,000 royal horses, with a a groom and a slave for each horse. The design of the stables was well planned with a canal running through the complex to provide fresh water for the horses. The associated granaries held enough food to feed the horses for 20 years! With such a large amount of stored grain the the granaries needed to be kept cool, so they had thick walls and for cooling purposes a reservoir below and a suspended cedar forest above the roof. Today, most of the stables are in ruin due to an earthquake during the eighteenth century, but some areas were restored, as they were used in the movies The Jewel of the Nile and Ishtar. Outside the granaries is a huge lake - the Agdal Basin. This was used to supply water to the palace.

The Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, next on our tour, is unusual in that non-Muslims are allowed to enter. We did have to take off our shoes. The mausoleum consists of three courts, a mosque, and the tombs of Moulay Ismail and his family. There are beautiful Moroccan tiles (zellige) decorating the entrance hall and the carved ceilings are meant to help the visitor visualize paradise. From here we went to the Bab el-Mansour, a gorgeous gate located on the southeast side of the Place El Hadim, a large open square surounded by shops. Lunch was in the medina, and when our group filled the little shop where a camel burger had been ordered for us, the owners son took us to their family home around the corner. Grandma had to to move, but it seems she must be used to that.
Just north of Meknes are the Roman ruins of Volubilis. The Romans first settled here in the 3rd century BC, deforesting the land so that they could supply Rome with wheat. The city was inhabited until the 18th century when it was plundered for its marble. The 1722 Lisbon earthquake finished off the ruination of the site. Most amazing here are the remaining mosaics, and sad is the fact that they are all disintegrating in the open air. It was a good time to visit however, as the wildflowers were very pretty.

Fes, our next destination, is a place which in my mind I have dreamed of as being the real Morocco. On our first night here we were lucky to try an authentic and prized Moroccan dish - bastilla. This is a savoury-sweet pastry made of very thin sheets of pastry layered with pigeon or chicken (who knows what we had) with caramelised onion, lemon and sugared almonds, and dusted with cinnamon and sugar. It was delicious.
The next day, we started our tour of Fes at the gates of the Royal Palace, the Palacio del Rey. These gates are truly magnificent, showing in detail the wonderful skills of the artisans of the time. Fes is also renowned for its pottery and leather work. Moroccan pottery - bowls, tagine dishes etc are available everywhere and are beautiful. We were surprised that the kilns that the pottery are fired by crushed olive pits. The tanneries are one of the renowned sights in Fes - though the smell is not so good. The dye pits are an amazing sight, and although not quite as colourful a sight as seen in some of the postcards, are still amazing to see. The leather shops, full of hard selling sales people overlook the pits. Prices are high, but the sights are worth a lot more.

The medina here is an amazing place - it seems to be a maze of winding alleys. We regularly had to press back against the walls as calls of 'balak' meant we had to get out of the way of a mule. There are souks everywhere, and I think without a guide you could be lost forever. Lunch was at a smoke filled eating place with a very gregarious and loud host. Great food here though. The afternoon was spent at an obligatory carpet shop and various other touristy shops. We loved Fes - it seems to have over the top everything yet still seems genuine and likeable.

Here are our photos of Rabat to Fes

Morocco: Casablanca

2009-02-14T23:58:00.018+10:00

Morocco and Turkey have been high on our list of places to visit. A two week break for Bob from school at the end of January (unfortunately the last break before he finishes his job here at the end of June) gave us the opportunity for a trip - but where to go?? Once we realised that Turkey would be freezing at that time of the year we chose Morocco. We knew it would also be chilly there but hopefully not cold enough to spoil the fun. We chose a small group trip, as with limited time this seemed the best way to fit in what we wanted to see. It covered (see map below) a variety of areas in Morocco - from cities to mountains, desert and beach.
(Image from http://www.intrepidtravel.com/tripnotes/XSC/2009-01-01)
From the moment we saw snow covered mountains from the plane our preconceived notions of what Morocco would be like were shattered. This was not snow-capped mountains but mountains fully covered by snow. And the rest of the land was green - green like like Ireland. As we drove by taxi we were further surprised - sheep by the roadside were minded by shepherds. Donkeys or mules are still a much used form of transport. And what about the locals? They looked like monks?? or hobbits?? We have got used to the white thobes of the Qatari men and the black abayas of the women but this was our introduction to djellabas, the hooded cloaks worn by Moroccans. Many of the men wore striped or plain colour djellabas, but the women wore plain (often pink) or patterned versions.

We had two days in rainy Casablanca before the start of the trip. This city is huge with wide boulevards and rundown buildings interspersed with remnants of attractive colonial architecture. On the trip from the airport we passed huge shanty areas (apparently 1/3 of the population of Casablanca live in these areas). Casablanca has at times been colonised by the Portuguese, the Spanish and lastly by the French, so the French language remains alongside Arabic. All French street names are gradually being replaced by Moroccan Arabic names as the country is gradually removing the results of French colonisation. We found out that the Berber language is also an issue here. Upwards of 60% (some sites say 80%) of the population are Berber yet up to the mid 1990s this language was suppressed by the government, to the point of imprisonment for using the language.

On our first day we walked through some of the poorer areas in town to reach the the King Hassan II Mosque, opened in 1993, and a major tourist site in Casablanca. It is the world's third largest mosque (after Mecca and Medina) and was built to commemorate the previous king's 60th birthday. It is one of the few mosques that can be visited by non-Muslims. Situated on a rocky outcrop right on the Atlantic ocean it is a massive building that can hold 25,000 worshippers inside and another 80,000 on the surrounding squares. The mosque is incredibly ornate, and also has modern features such as a retractable roof, titanium doors that can be raised electronically and a glass-bottomed water channel which can be used for internal cooling. Beneath the the prayer hall is an ablution area where Muslims wash before prayer. This room has numerous lotus shaped fountains. As tours occur at non prayer times we didn't see them with flowing water but it must be an amazing sight. Below this floor are two hammams (Moroccan communal baths). The area is quite stunning, but apparently the baths have never been used. Why would they have built them??

The mosque is beautiful, but the poverty we had seen in some areas made the building seem out of place. There was no-one there but tourists. The guide said the the huge funds (over US$800 million) to build the mosque were raised by the public subscription. That seemed not quite believable and further reading when I got home suggests that money was not always given willingly. I found this blog entry outlining an interesting discussion with a Moroccan taxi driver. In some ways it seems as though the building was built as a site for tourists. Maybe not, but although it all seems inappropriate use of funds, this type of scenario has been played out in countries everywhere since time began.

We walked quite a way north of the mosque to the wealthier suburb of Ain Diab. Although there were upmarket houses, hotel and clubs here, they were interspersed with derelict buildings, broken footpaths and endless road works. To Australians the beach also looked very ordinary. What made it so good was the extraordinary friendliness of the people. When we stopped for a coffee at a small shop the woman was lovely and after the coffee brought us a small green drink - it looked like a milkshake. We found out later it was an avocado drink. We regularly heard 'Welcome to Morocco' from passersby.

At night we went to a lovely restaurant called 'Riad'. We had our first taste of a Moroccan tagine - the chicken for me and the lamb for Bob. They were very good and just right on a cold night. The next day it continued to rain, but luckily we had our fleece tops and Goretex jackets. Unfortunately not our boots (there was only so much I could bring over), so we had cold feet. We did a long walk to the Quartier Habous. This is a 'new' Medina (Old Arab part of a city) built in the 1930s, and it gave us a taste of the goods we would see in a number of other Medinas in Morocco. We also went to the city markets where we had a good chat with a friendly stall owner, and strolled over many of the streets around our hotel (Hotel Guynemer).

That night we met the other 10 Australians (so it turned out) who would be on the trip. Coincidentally our first group dinner was at the restaurant we had enjoyed the night before, so we had a second chance to try the menu. The next day we were catching the train to Rabat, the political capital of Morocco. Here are the photos.

The Museum of Islamic Arts, Qatar

2009-01-22T18:32:00.004+10:00

The Museum Of Islamic Art here opened here on 2 December 2008, and I visited it for the first time last week. It is a spectacular building set on an island of reclaimed land in Doha Bay. The building was designed by IM Pei, a Chinese born architect, now 91 years old, who has designed many buildings across the world, most famously the Pyramid at the Louvre. It has been said that Pei studied a number of monuments in the Islamic world, and finally used the 9th century mosque of Ahmed ibn Tulun in the Egyptian capital of Cairo as his inspiration. The museum exterior is one of geometric angles, like a stack boxes really. These angles create lines and shadows which give a fascinating effect. I love the arch shapes on the top floor which from a distance are so like the eyes of middle eastern women. Inside there is a huge lobby with a very high atrium. Here it has the effect of a high class hotel, but within the galleries the design is very much in keeping with the art on display.

The collection at any time is about 850 items from a range of countries and items are beautifully presented. There are 2 displays which are very interesting.
One is a series of paintings commissioned under the patronage of the Qatar Royal family. The artist, renowned Indian artist MF Husain says there will be 99 paintings of Islamic and pre-Islamic history 'as there are 99 names for God'. He is using contemporary style - I love these works.

The second display is also of a project sponsored by Qatar to translate the manuscript of The Book of Secrets (from the year 1000). Not only has it been translated, all the 30 machines described in the book have been reconstructed. A fascinating display.

Here are the photos.

Weekend in Doha

2009-01-18T22:37:00.009+10:00

Back in Doha my first weekend back was full. Luckily I got back here on a Wednesday so I had a bit of time before Friday to recover from my 'break' in Australia.

Bob had bought tickets to the semis and finals of the Men's Tennis Open here. We enjoyed the Women's in December so we looked forward to this one. I would go just to sit in the stadium. It is near the corniche and from the top seats (only a few dollars and still very close to the action) there is a great view of Doha. When we got there at 4pm it was light and we could see the water, but as ir drakened and the lights came on we had a wonderful view of the Doha skyline. On the Friday night we saw Roger Federer (Switzerland) beaten by Andy Murray (Britain) and then Andy Roddick (U.S.) beat Gael Monfils (France). So the final on Saturday was between the two Andys, but on the Saturday early we headed with a group from our team out to the Al Shahaniya Camel track to see the camels training for the races.

The camel track is in the desert about 45 minutes west of Doha. We had heard that there are hundreds and hundreds of camels to be seen here and it was true. There were camels everywhere, riders from many nationalities and lots of 4WDs being driven beside the track. Apparently until a few years ago young boys (around 4 years old) rode the camels. This practice was outlawed as the boys were often treated badly and now the camels have robot jockeys controlled from the cars. During practice however the camels are mostly ridden by young men. The riders were very friendly and seem to be used to tourists. It is a good time of ear to go out here as the weather is now beautiful in the day and a bit coolish at night. We don't imagine it will last long so we are making the most of it.

We had all brought a picnic to have out there, but someone decided it would be better out on the water, so we drove back the corniche in Doha, a few guys did some negotiating, and there we were on a dhow out in the water of the bay. The driver took us south to near the new Museum of Islamic Arts (seeing inside this is next on the list)and then in a circle to the near the hotels at the north of the bay and back to where we started. The water looked a gorgeous blue, as was the sky so it was a perfect day to be outside.
See how we went on Flickr.

Jordan - Petra

2009-01-13T23:41:00.001+10:00

We were awake early on the day of our visit to Petra as this was the end of the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca). This holiday (Eid al-Adha or Festival of Sacrifice that commemorates the trials and triumphs of the Prophet Abraham) is celebrated everywhere here. Our Petra based tour manager said they do this by going to morning prayer, visiting family and friends and making arrangements for the slaughter of an animal. He had bought TWO goats. There seems to be a bit of competition about this! Certainly the prayers were different than usual - as mentioned before they were broadcast for over 3 hours so we were well and truly ready to leave for the Petra site at 8am.

Petra is renowned as the 'rose stone city' and it lives up to this claim. The city was built in the 3rd century BC by the Nabateans, who carved palaces, temples and tombs from the sandstone cliffs. From here they controlled the trade routes from Damascus to Arabia. This hidden valley became their city and through here the frankincense, spice, silk and slave caravans passed, paying taxes and protection money. Our guide told us that the city is so well preserved because several earthquakes forced the inhabitants to abandon the city.

A dusty trail leads downwards along the Wadi Musa (The Valley of Moses). We travelled the first part of the route on horseback (part of our tour), but I was not impressed, as horseback is not my thing, and I was so busy holding on I could not take photos. Back on my 2 feet, we enter a narrow cleft, the entrance to the Siq, the main route into Petra itself.

It is a stunning journey through the Siq (we would call it a canyon but apparently it is one stone rent apart by tectonic forces). The Nabataeans were expert hydraulic engineers, and the walls of the Siq are lined with channels (originally fitted with clay pipes) to carry drinking water to the city, while a dam to the right of the entrance diverted an adjoining stream through a tunnel to prevent it flooding the Siq. Once inside, the Siq narrows to little more than about five metres in width, while the walls tower up hundreds of metres on either side. The floor, originally paved, is now covered with soft sand. Our guide said that as a young boy he rode his horse down this path, and even now donkeys, horses and camels travel here carrying tourists.

The boys who ride the donkeys are most entertaining. 'Lady? Taxi for you? Airconditioned taxi?' They have good English, and can ask all the relevant questions in many languages. When I asked a couple of them about school, they said 'No school. Learn from tourists'. Just as we thought there was no end to this narrow track, we arrived at the magnificent treasury (Al-Khazneh). This tomb, carved out of iron laden sandstone became famous in the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. It is a fantastic sight, set in a circular space enclosed by rock walls, but the treasury is just a facade with only a square room behind it.

Many visitors only go this far but the treasury is only the start of the amazing sights. From here we walked into the outer Siq and the Street of Facades, which is a row of Nabatean tombs with intricate carvings. We passed a large theatre and then walked up the colonnaded street, past the temple and started up the 800+ steps to the monastery. The Monastery (Al-Deir) is most impressive, as it is huge and set amongst some impressive cliffs with wonderful views. Each of the viewing points has a different aspect, and each has a souvenier shop. Most amazing as they would not get many customers in a day. My knees were feeling it, but we gradually made our way back the way we had come. Once back at the entrance, we walked back to our hotel. This was also a serious climb so we had an early night.

To catch our flight back to Doha in Amman we travelled back via the King's Highway. More mountains - very picturesque. We visited the ancient Crusader Castle of Karak and also the Mosaic Map in the 19th Century Greek Orthodox St Georges Church in Madaba.

We very much enjoyed what we saw of Jordan and were very impressed with both the natural scenery and the historic sites. More photos of Petra are here.

Jordan - the Dead Sea Highway

2009-01-12T21:59:00.000+10:00

The drive down to Petra was very scenic, and it was such a change to see greenery after the bareness of Qatar. As we left Amman we drove over picturesque rolling hills with olive trees just as we had seen in the North. Here we felt as though we could have been in Italy. As we travelled towards the Dead Sea we passed through fertile farmland, with crops growing in the open and in green houses.

The Dead Sea is large - 75 kilometers long and from 6 to 16 kilometers wide. It is fed by the Jordan River, but it has no outlet and at 400 meters below sea level, it is the lowest point on earth. The extreme saltiness of the water gives it such a high density that makes it virtually impossible to sink, but we did not try this out as in December it was on the chilly side. There were some brave boys enjoying the water, and we even saw some local girls getting wet with full Muslim dress on. The water does feel extremely sticky and Lonely Planet warns not to shave before entering the water!

Travelling further south the scene changed regularly, with bare black mountains without any growth changing to sandy hills or massive red rock outcrops. There was very little traffic on the road but we passed many Bedouins groups with their herds of animals.

Nadal our driver gave us an extra experience by driving off road into Wadi Hasa, a gorgeous red rock gorge. He said this wadi is very similar to Wadi Mujib, a nature reserve we had just passed. This area was truly memorable.

Many of Nadal's extended family are involved in tourism, and he seemed related to a number of the travellers on this road. As we came to the top of a long winding pass, we met one of his cousins. This guy was waiting for his offsider and some tourists who were horse riding to that point to camp the night. In no time he had lit a fire, boiled his kettle and we had tea by the road.

It was getting dark as we entered Petra, and after such a great day we looked forward to seeing if all we had heard about the Petra site was true. See the pics here.

Jordan trip - Amman, desert castles and Jerash

2009-01-11T19:06:00.000+10:00

From 5 December the schools were closed for the second Eid break so we organised a trip to Jordan. We flew Gulf Air to Bahrain, and then on to Amman, the capital of Jordan. There were many people travelling for the Eid break and we noticed a number of men in the terminal wearing white towels with a belt. It seems these men were heading to Mecca for the Hajj, and among many other rules, pilgrims cannot wear any clothes that have been stitched. During this Eid Festival of Sacrifice we saw many pens of sheep and goats in the streets of towns ready for sacrifice and on the the last day in Jordan were woken at 4am by the loudspeakers in the nearby mosque relaying the chanting that went on for some hours. Not a good way for us to start the day.

The trip was organised for just the two of us, so we were met by Nadal our driver who took us to our hotel just near the King Abdullah Mosque. In front of the hotel on this Friday afternoon was a huge market selling mostly clothing which looked secondhand but also fruit, vegetables and the usual market goods. From what we had read, we knew Amman was not known for its beauty but it was interesting that it is quite different to Doha and much more like the middle eastern cities we have seen on newscasts.

Next morning we headed east from Amman on the road to Saudi Arabia and into the stony desert to visit some of the Desert Castles built by the Omayyed Caliphs in the 8th century AD. The first of these we saw, the Qasr al-Kharana, is thought to have been a caravanserai or wayside inn (now I know what this word means). It is well preserved and had 60 rooms built around a courtyard and a central basin for collecting rainwater. The castle sits on its own in the plain and has good views of the surrounding areas from the roof. Outside we were invited to have tea and coffee in a bedouin tent. These tents are outside most of the tourist sites and are handy both to supply much needed coffee to tourists and also provide income for locals. Sweet tea was served in glasses and then Turkish cardamon coffee in cups. To the right is the implement used in earlier times to grind the coffee and cardamon. I found this coffee quite addictive.

Qusayr Amra is smaller and is said to have been built as a retreat for the caliph. It features a bath-house where water was drawn with the aid of a hydraulic pump driven by animal power. The castle is lined with frescoes of hunting scenes, fruit and nudes and although damaged they were impressive, and not what I imagined to find in this area.

Qasr Azraq, the last castle we saw was made famous during World War I, when T.E. Lawrence, (Lawrence of Arabia) used the castle as his military base during the Arab Revolt against the Turks as this site is close to a number of country borders. This bulding is much larger than the previous castles,is built of black basalt and has some amazing stone doors that are still in good working condition.

From here we headed north of Amman to Jerash, where the countyside changes from desert to rolling hills, olive groves and some amazing ruins. Jerash, or Gerasa, as it was known, is a beautifully preserved Roman city that makes other Roman sites look quite ordinary. Although the area has been continually inhabited for 6500 years, it was hidden for centuries in sand and has only been excavated over the last 85 years. Jerash has paved and colonnaded streets, hilltop temples, huge theatres, public squares and plazas, baths, fountains and city walls with towers and gates. Jerash was most impressive and we really enjoyed the city and our local guide. He told us he had just bought a sheep, at some considerable cost, for the Eid feast of sacrifice - Islam's holiest day. When I asked how he cooked the sheep, he said that he has it slaughtered and then divided among family and poor neighbours. His mother (a very strong woman he said) had already requested a 5kg leg!

The next morning Nadal took us to see more of Amman before heading south. The Citadel has excavated ruins and some great views of the Downtown area. From here we went to another excellent Roman theatre which can seat 6000 people, and then drove through the souq area before heading to the Dead Sea. See photos on Flickr for the sights.

Fire below

2008-12-04T21:25:00.000+10:00

Last Monday night we were woken at 1am by continued yelling outside. That is not unusual here as the locals eat and play very late, the so-called security men under the building think of night as day, and of course the building site next door has its never ending pneumatic drilling, cement pouring and delivery trucks coming and going 24/7. We soon noticed a burning smell as well, and when I looked down from the balcony and saw an orange glow and sparks flying we were suddenly wide awake. I lost my skimpy nightwear quickly, we both jumped into pants and t-shirts and Bob raced up the stairs to wake the floors above. The next few hours were traumatic to say the least.

Our building has 4 sections - like four 7-story towers, but close together. The first floor is open for parking and each of the 4 bits have a foyer that opens to the car park. As we got downstairs we saw that the huge piles of flat pack furniture that is stored there was now one huge blaze, with acrid smoke, as the furniture is a compressed paper/resin mix. As we gathered on the vacant block opposite we could now see the yelling was coming from the people on the balconies of the affected building -their foyer was ablaze and they were engulfed in smoke. This building houses many Asian supermarket workers. I imagine they are crammed into apartments that for us house 1 or 2 teachers.

It was not long before police in their 4WDs arrived, racing at full speed into the narrow roads around our building. In the meantime the Indian workers were trying to move the cars which were in danger of exploding. The smashing of glass added to the noise of the burning, the crazy car antics etc and finally a water truck arrived for the fire workers. This water did not last long, but as more tankers arrived it took them ages to access the fire as the streets had not been blocked off and emergency workers were fighting for space with the locals in their 4WDs. Luckily a cherry picker arrived to rescue the poor people out on the balconies, but then we found out that 2 of the young men had jumped in fright and one had died.

By 3am it was organised that we would be collected by other members of the team who live in a block in another suburb. They kindly collected us, rallied with tea and coffee and spaces to sit or lie, and there we stayed until we could go back to our apartments at 3pm the next day. Luckily none of our team were injured, though quite few sought medical help for sore throats etc. We feel sad for the workers in the affected building and are disconcerted about some of the issues that arose e.g. the different style of handling of emergencies, the fact that no fire alarms went off and that appparently the fire hoses under the building were not connected to a water source. As the building was then not guarded prperly there was some looting and money and jewellery was stolen.

Luckily nearly all the team are leaving to travel either home or around in the Eid break of a week which starts Friday. Hopefully by the time we get back there will be some action on the demands of our in country manager to rectify some of the problems. We leave for Jordan tomorrow and then I leave for Australia on 11 December so we are lokking forward to the break.

Middle Eastern food: Bread

2008-12-03T19:16:00.000+10:00

Food is always a major interest in our travels and Doha is giving us the opportunity to experience Middle Eastern food both as an 'eating out' experience and in shopping and cooking. What stands out is the central role of flat bread in Middle eastern cuisine. Bread is used a bit like we use lettuce leave i.e. under food, or like cling wrap, to cover food. The image on the left is an upmarket type bakery, but most bread seems to come from small local bakeries with a hole in the wall where the locals line up for stacks of bread that they take away on just a piece of paper. In these bakeries men sit on the floor breaking the dough into pieces and flattening it and then the flat rounds are put on a cloth covered spatula and pressed to the wall of a round oven. This video shows how. In the supermarkets more commercially made small flat breads are about 50 cents for 10 so I assume the bread at the locals is very inexpensive.

Here are pita bread hot from the oven at the Lebanese restaurant not far from here.

I really like the long bread below which we had at an Iraqi eating place. Don't know its name but it has a lovely yeasty taste.

Every meal is accompanied by local bread, but Western style bread is not that great, though we have found a French bakery with nice grainy bread. As for the food here that goes with the bread, that is the next chapter.

School days by Bob

2008-11-23T02:18:00.000+10:00

In Qatar, school days are Sunday to Thursday. At Abdul Rahman Bin Jassim Preparatory School for Boys (Years 7-9) at Al-Wakra, a ‘sea-side’ town about 20 minutes south of the capital, Doha the school day is 7.00am – 1.25pm .

That’s if the traffic is good – it can take either 15 minutes, or 50 minutes as the back-up at roundabouts is massive, and all the four-wheel-drivers take advantage of any slip-lane or strip-mall lanes to get further up the queue (they jump over kerbing as required to do this), thus compounding the problem of three-lanes feeding into a 2-lane roundabout by making it 5 lanes coming in. You just keeping edging forward, and join in the beeping, glare at the useless ‘roundabout controllers’, and count the number of smashes each morning.

As soon as you leave the last clogged roundabout, the speed limit is immediately 120kph, which our little Nissan Sunny with 3 occupants can’t actually do, but almost everything else can and does, so we huddle in the right (slow) lane, and occasionally pass a truck or a load of Indian workers in an ancient US school bus.

We leave home at 6.15am, when it is just getting light at the moment, and usually arrive just before the morning parade at 7.00am. Exactly 625 boys, all in white thobes and head cover – a crocheted skullcap covered by a ghuttra (white, or red and white ‘checked’ shawl) and a black igal (heavy woven cord with tassels) which holds it in place. They spend a great deal of time during the day adjusting this headwear, so that it expresses some individuality, and so it stays on their heads – it’s not actually the most sensible headwear for someone leaning over a desk. Up to Year 6 they only wear the cap, so for the Year 7s, it’s a new garment and they find it difficult to keep their hands off it. Most young Qatari males seem prone to vanity and the adults too seem to spend quite a bit of time preening and browsing in perfume/cologne shops, of which there are many.

The boys often greet each other and their teachers in the traditional ways – by rubbing noses, or with 3 kisses, and lots of hand-shaking and hand/arm-holding. Many teachers also do this with some of their colleagues, and they seem quite a tactile race despite their aloofness. Teachers are not supposed to hit the students, but there is quite a bit of shoving and back-slapping (not just the encouraging kind) when the boys are moving between classes or on parade. Some teachers, especially the Bedouins, use lots of contact of all kinds, and are among the best-liked and most successful teachers. With them, there is constant movement from student to student for a variety of purposes, all of which involves physical contact, and this in fact results in individual attention which is incredibly appropriate for each student – the bright, the slow, the inattentive, the lazy
One of the most interesting parts of the day is prayer-time: the hall has large mats/carpets laid out (there are numerous Indian ‘boys’ who do little else but bring tea/coffee to the staff and supposedly are responsible for maintenance). The prayer session involves the whole school lining up as in a mosque and carrying out the regimen required, but the boys seem to be on their worst behaviour when beginning this, and are yelled at constantly a large Beduoin staff member who, along with other staff members have the job of controlling students by whatever means they can on parade, between lessons, during breaks and at this session. This particular gentleman chooses to wield a large stick, usually only as a threat, but it does seem rather incongruous in this setting. The others use their loud voices and occasionally a hand.

Most teachers are not Qataris: they come from Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Lebanon, etc, and most have at least a bachelor degree, but very few have any Education training at all, which is one reason why people like me are here to act as Advisory Teachers. Many teachers have families back in their home countries, where teachers are paid heaps less, but accommodation of family-size is much more affordable.

The Emir’s (2nd or 3rd) wife, the Sheika Mosa, is the brains behind the Education Reform which began here in 2003, whereby all Ministry of Education (Primary, Prep and Secondary) schools are being reformed and changed to ‘Independent’ Schools. They are moved holus-bolus to a completely new building (often kilometres away) which is of fixed design. It is an attractive, fully air-conditioned 2-storey building with a theatre, cafeteria, training centre, 3 science labs, 2 computer labs, a library, a graphic design room, music room, and separate faculty areas of 5 classrooms and a staffroom, all radiating from a central assembly/prayer hall which you can overlook from the upper floor. My school is even more attractive because it has a ‘Mission’ of teaching through ‘The Arts’, so it has very colourful paintings, mosaics, Arabic calligraphy and general colour. The logo is also interesting, depicting a boy in the traditional dress described above. There is a beautiful green oval, the usual courts, and an Arabic ‘Prayer Tent’ complete with lounging cushions and carpets. The boys’ dress does not lend itself to physical activity, but they do change to a tracksuit for PE. Most do not appear very fit once they begin to mature.

Each school is sold for 1 Riyal to a ‘Principal/Operator’ who has control of a sizeable budget covering staff and resources. He must be a Qatari, as must his 2 Vice-Principals – Academic and Operational. Each school is also supposed to have a fixed percentage of Qatari teachers, but most can’t manage this as Qataris don’t find teaching an attractive occupation – in spite of the fact that they are paid heaps more than any other teacher, plus travel allowance and social allowance. Our Principal is Operator of 4 schools, and rumour has it that he draws 4 Principals’ salaries. However, despite the ‘Independent’ label, the schools must work under the tight controls of the Supreme Education Council, and can be closed down if they continually ‘under-perform’.

Schools should also have 4 native English-speaking teachers, but this also is currently unattainable.

The reform requires that English, Maths and Science are all taught in English, which is a big ask at this stage. My school draws Year 7 students from both Ministry (old) schools where no English is taught and from Independent primary schools where they may have learnt some for up to 5 years. Add to this the teachers’ struggle with the language, and it’s an interesting situation. Students also study Arabic, Islamic Studies (Religion), Social Studies, Phys Ed, Art, Music, and Drama. The reform has not proceeded at the intended rate, and there are still about 80 schools (almost half) to be ‘reformed’. Unfortunately, the National Assessment processes are already activated, and most schools perform poorly due to the amount of English used and the lack of motivation among students who seem to see no need for education when the Emir guarantees an income and a good lifestyle for any Qatari male citizen.

A Prep or Secondary teacher here teaches only one subject and one grade, eg Year 7 English; only men may work in the boys’ schools, only women in girls’ (and in co-ed primary schools); s/he may have 15-20 lessons in a 30-lesson week, and will thus teach one lesson 3 or 4 times in each day, to classes of exactly 25 students. Thus, preparation is not onerous, but there is a great deal of assessment and reporting. There are 180 teaching days per year. Students may be sent home without warning to allow for a PD session, but teachers may also be told of that, or of a parent meeting, on the morning of the meeting. Parents are notified by mass SMS.

About 80% of our school’s students are Qataris, and because of our location, there are many members of the extended Al-Thani (ruling) family as students. There is probably about one per class, and this may have an influence on the school’s high level of resourcing, although all are good in this area once they’re established.

My job is as Advisor to the English and Arabic Departments and the Library. I work with the respective Departmental Coordinators and teachers on planning, methodology, and assessment, and am expected to provide at least weekly PD sessions and regular in-class observation/feedback and modelling. Our team has Advisors for Maths and Science also, and usually there is a Senior Management Advisor who coordinates the team members and works with the school’s administrators. We, however, are just 3, so we also have to do the work with the admin and the school as a whole. Our school has been in operation for 3 years and had a Support Team in its first year, as all do. It was rated as an ‘A’ school, but last year fell to a ‘C-‘, so has been ‘awarded’ a further year of support – us. It’s quite challenging, and I’m glad of my wide (and long) experience; it also requires lots of documentation, as we have to ‘deliver our deliverables’ which number 13 and are quite explicit and demanding. We report weekly to the school, and monthly to our employer and are reported on monthly by the subject coordinators, the admin and the Supreme Education Council. Advisors and teams can be, and are removed and deported if they are not seen to be doing exactly what’s expected – 7 went home to NZ very recently.

Our employer now has about 86 people here, on a variety of projects related to this reform, and they look like increasing their presence here in the next years. This first semester has been interesting, with the first month as Ramadan, when school hours were 8am-12 noon and it was not easy to actually make things happen. This was followed by an Eid (religious holiday) break of about 10 days, and now several weeks of teaching with assessment occupying one week of every month. We have another Eid from 4 or 5 December to 13 December, then an end-semester holiday from 23 January to about 7 February, then Semester 2 which has NO breaks at all – finishing 30 June, although students finish a couple of weeks before that.

And, all in all it's been a rewarding and enjoyable few months: working and living in a new setting, meeting and being with lots of new people, and having a good time. Here are some photos.

Weekend

2008-11-09T22:03:00.000+10:00

Temperatures in Doha have really cooled in the last week. The evenings are now a really good temperature. Last evening we went to the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Women's Tennis championships and it was a gorgeous night to be sitting outside. The tennis stadium is down near the corniche. We were up on the high (cheap) seats of the recently extended stadium. These seats have a view over the lights of Doha and catch the breeze so it was a good spot to be. The first match was between two Russian women - Vera Zvonareva and Elena Dementieva and the second was Venus Williams playing Jelena Jankovic. The result was that Venus is playing Vera in the finals today. (Venus did win and picked up a cheque for US$1.3 million.)

This finished off a fun weekend. We had a crowd around on Friday for Bob's birthday and then yesterday we had the car so we had breakfast out and went shopping. Now that we have a car some days, we find on our drives that Doha is bigger than we initially thought. There is lots of building going on and the city is quite spread out. Just like home there are ever more shopping centres being built, yet just as everywhere the papers are reporting that financially hard times have hit many families here as well. While much smaller than China, we see many similarities in the way the country is hosting sporting events and international meetings perhaps in an effort to show the world how far they have come. The tennis was certainly a beautifully organised event.

Doha : The Corniche and around

2008-11-05T16:04:00.000+10:00

There was big progress with documentation last week. Bob got his ID card on Tuesday and so now the process is for him to sponsor me (such a lovely feeling!?). Now that he has the ID he has applied for a multi-exit visa - to leave the country we need one of those or otherwise we have to make application every time we leave. As we have some trips coming up we have chosen the multi-exit visa for 500 Riyals. The alternative is to apply each time we leave, which has no cost, but we are not confident that clearance would arrive in time for us to leave. The good part is that now he has ID he has been able to apply for a driving licence and also a permit to buy alcohol from the Distribution Company.

We can now have the use of a car every third day outside of work hours (it is shared between the 3 teachers at Bob's school). Our first day with the car was last Friday so we could explore Doha further than our legs can carry us. I could finally take some photos along the Corniche, really the most scenic part of Doha. This area has a number of Doha's major buildings. Outstanding is the new Museum of Islamic Art. This was supposed to open last year but has been delayed a few times and is now planned to open on 1 December. I love the design with the 'eyes' which are so much a part of this region. At one spot we came upon crowds of people who were buying fish.

The corniche is quite long and winds from south to north along Doha Bay. The old city centre was near the southern end, which is where the souqs are. A new centre is being built to the north of the bay. There is a good map of Doha which shows the general locations. Directions in Doha are vague for Westerners e.g follow C ring road to the Ramada roundabout (all the big roundabouts have names), go to the Muntazah roundabout and then go behind the Titanic building. This is where we live.
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The Titanic building is oval shaped and we are between Al Bahili St and Aqeel St. Much of the new city centre is under construction (as is most of Doha, but it is like China in that they have some interesting shaped buildings. At the end of the day we drove down and walked in the cool along the corniche- the temperature at night now is quite good. Here are the photos

Bollywood ball

2008-10-27T19:07:00.000+10:00

The Bollywood Ball was the first large social gathering for the group. It was held on the roof of our building at Al Mansoursa. There are quite a few staff at Mushereib (this is older accommodation but closer to shops and the Corniche etc) and a few people at Old Airport and these people were also invited. The American teachers in the building next door invited themselves I think, so it was a large gathering. The Mansoura people had all contributed to the cost of buying decorations, lights etc and the organisers had done a good job in decorating a pretty basic area. At night the lights of the city add to the decorations. Most people had fun finding suitable indian clothes and some looked spectacular - have a look at the pics.

Desert trip

2008-10-24T23:50:00.000+10:00

Thursday night we went on an organised desert trip with seven others from the project group. The trip takes about 6 hours and includes a 4WD vehicle trip through the desert and then dinner in a tented site near the water. We left at 2.30 and got home about 10pm. The trip took us south from Doha, tnrough Al Wakra where Bob works, past Mesaieed (an industrial town with a HUGE gas refinery) and then across the desert (no roads) to Khor Al-Udaid - the inland sea on the border of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
See map of Qatar.

When we left the road after Mesaieed we stopped for a very touristy camel ride stop. Although we had seen camels wandering around before we got this far, these camels were here to earn money.It was quite entertaining to hear their snorting and complaining as they took off for another circuit with excited children and cautious adults. The others on the trip were a large group of Dutch families so I enjoyed eavesdropping on their conversations. Here we also saw the start of swarms of quad bikes and motor bikes hired by locals and tourists to have fun on the sand dunes. Back in the car we headed off into the desert which was amazingly beautiful - mountain after mountain of sand with the sun setting with red and orange hues across the sky. Our drivers were experienced, and we felt mostly quite safe as we slid (well- that's what it felt like) down VERY steep inclines just metres behind the car in front. It was lovely to see the natural Qatari environment without the construction sites and pneumatic drills that are so much a part of Doha.

We stopped for a while at Khor Al-Udaid - the inland sea. We had passed many salt pan areas but here there was water which looked very peaceful amongst all that sand. In the distance we could see the mountains in Saudi Arabia. Here the children ran down the sandhills, we enjoyed the peace and the drivers either had prayer time or chatted with no hurry to move on. Back in the car we made our way back northward in the dark with a stop at a tented site near the water to have dinner. There is an option here to spend the night in the tents,and the Dutch group were staying. A couple of the locals had a music session, we had a satisfying barbeque type dinner, and then we headed back to town. We have the Bollywood Ball at our apartments tomorrow night and there are preparations to be done! Here are the desert pics.

3 weeks in Doha

2008-10-15T21:51:00.000+10:00

This week I have been in Doha for 3 weeks. Considering the number of expats around, I will feel like a long time resident in a very short time. This week I have completed 2 major events (1) had a haircut and (2) attended my first meeeting of the TLG (Tuesday ladies group).

The haircut was not really the big deal - it was deciding where to go. There are hair salons everywhere. All salons are for either males or females. We see hundreds of men's salons when we walk in the late afternoon. They all seem to have one or two hairdressers lounging back (or sleeping) and waiting for a customer. One of the Autralians in our group was out walking and went into one salon (they are all called that) and asked the price of a haircut. They said 15 Riyals (about $6 now) so he said OK. They cut his hair (shaved was more like it) and then started on the massage, the mud face pack etc. His protests were ignored, and he ended up paying 100Riyals. That made a few of the other guys concerned about their haircutting needs, so have they have been carefully sussing out English speaking shops.

Salons for women all have fronts where you can't see in and have signs saying 'no men allowed inside'. I was given a recommendation for a Canadian cutter that a lot of the women here use, but I really wanted someone I could walk to and so not have to rely on someone to get me there. I chanced the salon in the Ramada hotel not far from here. Same thing, signs re no men etc. I was therefore surprised when I went in and found 3 MALE hairdressers! The separate areas for women are sometimes challenging to work out. Many restaurants have a 'family' area which is where couples or families go. So when cafes do not have a family area I am not sure if I would be welcome (these are the cheaper cafes which seem to be mainly frequented by the 'labourers' - or so it seems). There are many upmarket coffee shops in the shopping centres and many of these are frequented by Qatari men - I guess a bit like going to the pub back home. We don't often go to a coffee shop anyway as the coffee is upward from A$5!

So with my hair shorter (and not quite so limp in the heat) I set off to Tuesday Ladies Group. This is a group for expat women of any nationality and it looks like fun. Meets every second Tuesday at the Ramada. We pay a fee for a coffee, pastry and lots of fruit, have a chat, meet new people and then there is usually a speaker or demonstration. Today there were two young female Qatari lawyers who have been educated abroad who spoke about the changes in their lifetime in Qatar, the role of women here and having to adapt back to their culture here when they got back. It seems some of the young Qatari men are a bit challenged by women like this. They still mainly have arranged marriages, but if after a couple of chaperoned meetings the girl decides this is not the one in most cases they do not have to have to go ahead.

This meeting led to me going to aqua aerobics on Thursday with a group of Australian and British women. They use the beautiful pool in one of the gated communities and it is a great session. This is on a few times a week and they always have a coffee afterwards so my social life is looking up and my exercise schedule improving.

AT the TLG group a couple of young women were promoting their salon and were offering henna body painting for 10 riyals. So in readiness for the Bollywood ball at our apartment block this weekend I had my hand done.

Prayer time and mosques

2008-10-15T19:49:00.000+10:00

We have never lived in a predominantly Muslim culture before (apparently Qatar is about 77% Muslim) so there is a lot we don't know about Islam. There are mosques everywhere - many in each area, a small one at a service station we noticed, prayer rooms in shops etc. Throughout the day the call to prayer is heard regularly from the mosques but also in shops so you can't but help but be aware of this part of the culture. We first hear the call early in the morning around 4am or so and then a number of times throughout the day. The newspapers publish the prayer times which vary between areas and change from day to day. So I had to find out more.

From the about.com site ‘Muslims observe the formal prayers at the following times:

Fajr (pre-dawn): This prayer starts off the day with the remembrance of God; it is performed before sunrise.
Dhuhr (noon): After the day's work has begun, one breaks shortly after noon to again remember God and seek His guidance.
'Asr (afternoon): In the late afternoon, people are usually busy wrapping up the day's work, getting kids home from school, etc. It is an important time to take a few minutes to remember God and the greater meaning of our lives. Maghrib (sunset): Just after the sun goes down, Muslims remember God again as the day begins to come to a close.
'Isha (evening): Before retiring for the night, Muslims again take time to remember God's presence, guidance, mercy, and forgiveness.’ These time periods are always the same but the exact times vary according to the movement of the sun.

It is also necessary to be clean before prayer. Once again from about.com

'Here's How to make Wud’u
1. A Muslim begins every action with intention. To yourself, make the intention to cleanse yourself for prayer, for the sake of Allah.
2. To yourself, say "Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem" (In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful).
3. Wash your hands three times, making sure the water reaches between the fingers and all over the hands.
4. Bring a handful of water to your mouth and rinse it thoroughly three times.
5. Sniff water into your nose three times to clean it. Use your right hand to bring up the water, and your left hand to expel it.
6. Wash your entire face three times.
7. Wash your arms, up to the elbows, three times. Start with the right.
8. Use your wet hands to wipe over your head once, from front to back and front again.
9. Use your wet fingers to wipe the inside and outside of your ears, once.
10. Wash your feet up to the ankles three times. Start with the right.
11. Dry off.
12. Make the supplication,"Ashhadu anlaa ilaaha illallaahu wahdahu laa shareekalahu, washhadu anna Muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasooluhu (I witness that none should be worshipped except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger).'

The cleansing rules also include toilet habits - you may have noticed in our apartment bathroom the hose near the toilet. These are in all public toilets. There are a lot of videos on YouTube both about prayer call and also about ablutions before prayer.

So now I know a bit more - it seemed like there were more than 5 prayer times a day though I wasn't counting. I wonder what proportion of Muslims follow all the prayer rules? It seems like quite a commitmnet but then I guess it is just like breathing for most Muslims. Now that I have that bit sorted in my head I will move on to a lighter topic next time.

First driving trip: Al Khor

2008-10-06T02:41:00.000+10:00

While we are here there is a car for Bob and the 2 other teachers at his school in Al Wakra to share. For the first month they had a driver, but now their car has arrived. Problem is that the staff here have to go through a number of steps to get a driver's licence. An ID card is required before anything else can be applied for in Qatar. For the residency ID they have to have a blood typing test, a medical (chest xray for TB and a blood test for AIDS), finger printing, get passport size photos with blue background, then complete the paperwork for the project admin staff to submit etc. When that is complete they can apply for the driver's licence. Project staff are sent in dribs and drabs to have these steps completed, and so far Bob has all the bits ready to submit. One of the teachers working with Bob is a little further along the path, but his wife who is also working here is lucky as her ID application is now complete so now has applied for and received her driver's licence. She was concerned about driving, as the traffic is mad and fast and also drives on other side, so last Friday she had a practice and was then ready to go further.

We decided to drive up to Al Khor, a town about 50 kms north of Doha which was once a pearling village (as was Doha). Once leaving Doha we drove through the desert - here fairly flat ground with a few scrubby bits of growth. There is a fair bit of building going on at various places on the way. Like Doha this town also has an attractive Corniche (esplanade). Al Khor is much smaller than Doha and like Doha there is reconstruction and construction going on everywhere. Apparently excavations here have found remains dating back to between 5600 – 5300 BC so the town is very old.

The building at Al Khor is more low rise than Doha here and along the waterfront are some huge mansions. There is also a small museum, which was not open. The fish market was however. This market consists of a number of small shops and when we walked in they were all keen to get us to buy. As had no way to keep fish cool that was not an option but it looked very fresh. I didn't get out my camers as I am fairly careful here about that, but in one of the shops they ASKED me if I wanted to take photos! They then all ran into the shop and posed with various sea creatures and one of the guys wanted to give me a fish! In some countries they would have wanted payment from me than the other way around.

The waterfront is attractive, with several play areas and sun shelters. Driving through Al Khor we came to the mangrove swamps and the harbour. Definitely worth a trip back to have a better look and maybe try some of the local eating places.

On the way home we stopped at one of the shopping centres called Villagio - wow what a contrast! Here you can ride a gondola on the canal that snakes through the complex. The ceiling is beautiful with clouds painted on blue sky, or otherwise stars, as there are day and night sections. There are many British shops here - M&S , Boots, H&M etc. We did our grocery shop at Carrefour - this has a huge range and so far all I would ever need here.
So that was our first excursion in Qatar. As write, this is now a week ago as my computer would suddenly not connect to Internet. All fixed now so full steam ahead. Photos of Al Khor and Villagio mall are on Flickr.

Doha, Qatar: Our apartment

2008-10-04T00:07:00.000+10:00

Bob has been in Doha three weeks now, and can find his way around the area local to our apartment. At this stage, after two days, the streets look much the same to me and I haven't yet got my sense of direction. Still, I will have plenty of time to work on that.

Our apartment block is new, has 7 floors and of the 42 apartments, 38 now have staff from the project Bob is working on in them. The apartment is much better than I imagined. It is quite large, with high ceilings and fairly large rooms. We have a lounge dining area, a kitchen with a large fridge, front loading washer, and microwave, 2 bathrooms - 1 with shower over bath and the other with shower (though currently neither have shower curtains), main bedroom with king size bed, and 2nd bed with 2 single beds. So, plenty of room for visitors! All apartments have exactly the same furniture, though apparently not arranged in the same way - not by design but just adhoc. The furniture looks like timber, but is really manufactured from sawdust. It looks good, but is really heavy to lift. The actual design of the pieces is unreal- I feel as though I am in a doll's house. It is all curves, with fancy legs etc. All however is very comfortable, so we are happy. Here are some photos on Flickr

We are on the third floor and look over some rooftops and some blocks that are building sites. Apparently they work at night on the buildings, but I have not heard it as this Eid week after Ramadan is public holidays.

On my first day here we went shopping and bought some basics Bob had been doing without - pillows, a frying pan to go with the 1 saucepan, some more plates etc and some bedlamps, as all the ceiling lights are not bright enough to read by. No doubt we will need more stuff, but we are trying to keep it to a minimum.

It is quite different to hear the call to prayer during the day, especially at 4am, but it is really atmospheric and it makes you realise you are in a different world. These past few days have made a number of first impressions - Doha is large, has modern and traditional buildings, has heaps of shops and eating places, the traffic goes much to fast in the city, the supermarkets have an amazing range of foods (that is worth much more writing), it is dusty, and the footpaths in the suburbs are non existent or bad. However, so far I feel very comfortable out - not the staring etc we had been warned of, so so ,far so good.

The Missing Months

2008-10-03T20:35:00.000+10:00

I have just had a look to see when I last posted and it was way back in June! No excuses really, except that in that time we have done a lot and I have not really had much opportunity to be so indulgent as to write about life. So - to fill the gaps - we now no longer have a Toowoomba home and are now full time Brisbane residents (when we are home), I have retired from USQ after more than 20 years, Bob left CSHS and has taken up a contract as teaching advisor in Doha, Qatar, and as of 1October, I have joined him in Doha. How is that for a busy time!

So before I move on to life in Doha, I will put up on Flickr the photos from the last few months.

The beach in winter around Brisbane

2008-07-06T17:53:00.000+10:00

It seems as though the weeks are just speeding by. One minute we are home from Europe and then China, then it was the June long weekend, and now we are into July. We have found ourselves at the beach lately, and have enjoyed it immensely.

The first jaunt was to Stradbroke Island. This trip was with Bron and Glenn, and as we had not been there before this was great. The weather was beautiful , the water looked lovely and the whales were passing by, so all was good.

Then last week we went to the Gold coast-haven't been there for ages, but Alex was yearning to see the sea, and as we go to Coolum at Christmas time, it was a good chance to look around down there.
We stayed at Tugun, right on the beach. The days were just gorgeous, and we had some good walks.

We drove down to Byron Bay for a day, and generally checked out the changes since last time we were there. Certainly the Tugun bypass road has made the area a lot quieter.
The days away were most relaxing. I have been reading 'The Great Shame' by Thomas Keneally - about Ireland and the famine etc in which I got very interested after being there, and also Somerset Maugham stories, which I started reading after seeing 'The Painted Veil' . Both very good. So now home again - which is also very good!

Long weekend - June 08

2008-06-15T20:15:00.000+10:00

The last long weekend for the year - and we did have fun. Jules and family arrived on Saturday afternoon. Bob and Alex picked them up from the airport - we need 2 cars now. We were waiting to see if Beatrix was walking now, but she is still preferring the 'bear walk' most of the time.

On Sunday we walked to GOMA. It was the day before the Picasso exhibition opened. We had a look there and then took Helena and Lewis to see the dinosaurs at the museum. Had lunch at Southbank and then Bob and I walked the kids home while all the others went to see 'Sex and the City' at the Southbank cineplex. They all seemed to enjoy it - Bron and Alex are big fans!

I'll put up the pics. I notice now I didn't manage to take anyone but the little ones. Better fix that next time we are together.

China trip: May '08

2008-05-23T23:45:00.002+10:00

We left on May 17 for a short trip to China for Bob's work. We flew in through Hong Kong ahad a chance to catch up with Angela and Don. Don worked at our sister school at Jinan for many years. They took us to Sai Kung in the New Territories. We have not been that way before. They hired a junk for an hour and we went out on the water which was lovely in the cooler evening, and then we had a seafood dinner at one of the many waterfront restaurants.

From here we went through Shanghai where staff from the Nantong school collected us for Bob to do his work there. Then back to Shanghai for the Flight to Jinan in Shandong Province. We know the staff here well and they were very welcoming. On the way home we went through Beijing for our flight home. When we went to see if we could see the Olympic site, we found that the China Open Games were on and bought a ticket. So for 60RMB (A$10) we had a good look at the site and sat in the stadium. That morning there was only pole vaulting on, but the atmosphere was great.

Everywhere we wnt in china there is enormous change . It is really amazing. Here are photos.

Sydney -10 May '08

2008-05-23T23:45:00.001+10:00

On the way home from our Europe trip we spent a day in Sydney.

We had not seen the little chicks since February, and so it was lovely to see them, and of course their parents. we were amazed how the girls had changed- Helena in her school uniform really looks a schoolgirl rather than a little girl now. And Beatrix had changed a lot. Not so much in size, but the features of her face had changed and she looks lovely. They are all are of course. Lewis was excited with the toy plane we brought back, but this time he had changed the least.

So with trip done and having caught up with Julien and Mark and then Bron and Glenn back in Brisbane, we had to think about work again-and the next China trip of course!

Here are photos.

Europe '08 (16): London again and looking back

2008-05-23T23:44:00.002+10:00

Looking back, I did not get back to talking about London. It seems we have seen quite a bit here. I did take some photos onOn Friday (4 April) when we did a big walk to the city. We only took the tube a short way and then walked through Portobello Markets, through Notting Hill into Kensington. We needed coffee by then, so stopped at 'Diana cafe'. Amazingly, this cafe had the best coffee we have tasted here. The place is full of Diana photos, but it was lovely enjoying a good coffee in the sunshine outside. From there we walked further to Albert Hall and surrounds. A good day for us!

We also had a great Thai lunch at a cafe at Notting Hill another day, and towards the end of our day spent a day at Hampstead Heath. So, a few more places we can recognise when we see them on television or whatever. So here are yhe last photos of London.

At the end of our trip we looked back at the fabulous time we have had. We enjoyed the variety of the of the places we visited, and felt that we had a good amount of time in the diferent towns. Like on previous trips, although we enjoyed almost all the places, we seem to enjoy the most the the country and seeing scenic places and small towns.

Since we have returned, people have asked ask what we enjoyed the most. Always impossible to answer, as we like all the places, but some are good for different reasons. Cornwall had some lovely areas, Ireland was beautiful along the west coast, Potugal had lovely people and great sights, and St Petersburg had magnificent buildings and of course the Hermitage. And then of course China,which we went through in each direction we always love. Best of all on ths trip of course was seeing Lauren and Ted and their London, and we are grateful to them for having us at their place. So, till next trip.

Europe trip '08 (15) : Shanghai

2008-05-23T23:44:00.001+10:00

Shanghai - last stop after seven and a half weeks of travelling. We are happy that the relatively cheap hotel we had chosen is good. It is set in a very Chinese area, which we like, and we can walk most places. A lot of the hutong area around the hotel has been demolished, but that seems to be happening everywhere. Every city we have travelled to seems to be underging lots of building and roadworks - sometimes it seems the world is one construction site! However here, like Beijing, there is so much work it is unbelievable. Even the road along the Bund is being redone.

We spent our time just wandering round, and trying to slow down a bit as we had an overnight trip home coming up. We had a thoroughly enjoyable time here, even though we have been a number of times. And it was very good after Europe to have such affordable meals. So next is Sydney for a day and then home. Here are the photos.

Europe trip '08 (14) : Russia, St Petersburg

2008-05-23T16:49:00.000+10:00

Our last European stop is in St Petersburg and we are excited to see this city. Also happy that Lauren and Ted were joining us here. We had arranged a transfer from the airport (which we don't normally do) but we were not sure how easy/difficult getting a bus or whatever would be. This worked fine and we arrived at the Northern Lights - a hotel which I had seen written up by a traveller in a Sydney paper. Luckily they had mentioned the stairwell up to the 4th floor, or we would have thought we were being taken into unsafe territory. Basically, the the first 3 floors are gutted, and hotel guests have to walk up very dusty dark stairs to the hotel. This has only 5 rooms but we were very happy with the room etc. That done we went out to see what all the noise in the square was about. It was 1 May here, and there was a ceremony in the square. Heaps of people about as it was a public holiday, but luckily hardly any traffic. Interestingly the next day, Friday, was a holiday as well. This had been exchanged for Sunday, which was then a work day!

We were impressed with the sights on our first walk. The streets are wide, the buildings impressive, and the sun was shining. In fact it was hot. We passed St Isaac's cathedral, walked along the the Neva River, and then to the magnificent Hermitage Museum. We had not intended to visit this today, but as it turned out to be the 'free admission' day for the month, we decided to make a short visit as it was now mid afternoon. The Hermitage did not disappoint. It is actually 5 buildings - the Winter Palace is the largest- and has over 3 million items! The more we saw, the more we thought Catherine the Great must have been the biggest shopper of all time! On this visit we looked mainly at the Egyptian collection, but as we knew Lauren and Ted would have arrived, we headed back to join them for dinner. We walked along the canals (reminds us of Amsterdam) and had a great dinner at a pub called 'The Other Far Side Bar' which Ted chose (and frequented much during our stay)

The next day we started by seeing inside St Isaac's Cathedral, which can be seen from a distance because of its huge gilded dome. It is huge (can seat 12 000 worshippers) and very ornate inside. Apparently 40 000 workers toiled on this building.The murals on the ground level are beautiful, and the flying white dove at the top of the inside of the dome is lit by the natural light of the domes lantern and looks so small it is hard to believe it has a wingspan of 1.65 metres. I liked the photograph of the farmers growing cabbages in front of the cathedral during the revolution.

From the Cathedral we went towards the river past the statue of the Peter the Great commissioned by his wife Catherine. It is better know as the 'Bronze horseman' after Pushkin's poem, and stands on a 1600 to granite boulder. From here we crossed to the other side of the river. This side also has numerous grand buildings, museums etc and even some two sphinx monuments. Continuing along this bank, a lot of buildings are part of the naval colleges, and as we cross the bridge to Vasilevsky Island, two rostral columns studded with ship's prows stand out in the surrounding area. We crossed then to Zayachy Island to see the Peter and Paul Fortress. We took the long way around (no signs that we could read) and passed a 'beach' with many local in various states of undress (it was hot by this stage). We did get to the fortress, but by this time we wanted a toilet (we spent a lot of time in Europe looking for these) and food -in that order- and as we could find neither, we left without looking inside. It was agood day k however, especially from the point of view of seeing the locals doing their thing on their day off.

The official Hermitage visit was the aim of the next day. It is hard to describe how much stuff there is in there- rooms full of paintings from the most well known artists, rooms overflowing with sculptures etc. And every room is beautiful in its own right, whether it is delicately painted, marbled, gilded - you name it. It really is a sight to see. That night we went to the famous Mariinsky Theatre to see Prokofiev's Cinderella. The theatre was quite close to our hotel, and is grand but showing its age. The performance was wonderful so it was a good experience.

For the last day we had left the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. It sits on a canal near the Mikhailovsky Gardens. It is spectacularly multicoloured on the outside, and the inside is also covered with very intricate and beautiful mosaics. It was reopened only 10 yearsa go after a long restoration, but as it is the type of building we associate with Russia, it was a treat to see. It was time to have a last lunch with Lauren and Ted, as they were leaving before us. It was lovely to have spent time with them, and sad that it will be 2009 sometime before we see them again. We finished off our time in St Petersburg with a last walk around. It had been well worth a visit. There is heaps to see. The people in shops, cafes etc were easy to deal with and the atmosphere of the city as we saw it progressive and positive. Probably what stood out for us were the people and the way they presented themselves. even wandering the streets on a holiday the girls had the works- high heels, stockings, hairdo and makeup (often more than we would see in Australia) but certainly no tracky dacks on the street.

Here are the pictures

Europe trip '08 (13) : Finland: Helsinki and Porvoo

2008-05-19T22:43:00.000+10:00

After London, our next stop was Helsinki in Finland. We had been expecting some cold weather, but in the lead up to the time we had noticed that the weather there was very warm. So in the 22 degree temperature during the day we did not need the jackets we had brought. We were staying in the Erottajanpuiso Hostel close to the centre of the city. Hotels were pricy and we figured if eating out was the same, we could always cook at a hostel. This turned out to be a good place to stay as there was a bar next door which had tasty and very well priced food.

Helsinki has both Scandinavian and Russian influences, and the town centre is close to the harbour front. All signs are in Finnish and Swedish, reflecting the times when Finland was a province of Sweden. The main shopping streets are elegant and had a number of upmarket hotels where the Parisian type rows of seats facing the street outsise were crowded with well dressed patrons. This street also has a park down the centre where locals were catching some sun after the winter. The market square on the harbour front at the end of the street sold the usual fruit and souveniers and a range of reindeer fur products! We could tell we were in Northern Europe! From here the harbour looked busy with a range of ferries and liners.

Moving from the main streets, the buildings are low rise and mostly classic type European, but with a few standout churches such as the Orthodox Upensky Cathedral and the Tuomiokirkko (Lutheran Cathedral).The Upensky Cathedral is east of the market on an island and has 13 gilded cupolas and a very ornate exterior. The Tuomiokirkko on the Senate Square is very grand and lots of people gathered on the wide stairs.

The city was very walkable and we did along walk to the north of the centre, passing Parlament House, the National Museum, and the Finlandia Concert Hall on the way to the winter Gardens. These had plants which seemed to catch the attention of locals, but to us looked like rainforest plants. Across the lake were some remaining grand wooden style houses. Moving west we went in search of the Sibelius monument which turned out to be huge. After a few bus loads of tourists were finished with their snap before getting back on the bus, we had a chance to have our look. It is a magnificent monument.

We found a great little snack place on the waterfront near here to have a sandwich. It was lovely weather, so all was good. On the way home we sought out the Church on the Rock, which I expected to be sitting high on a rock, like a few we saw in Slovenia etc but it is hewn into a rock. It is modern and quite spectacular inside. They have concerts here as well which would be lovely to hear as the acoustics are supposed to be very good.

On our last day here we caught the bus to Porvoo, about 50 km out of Helsinki. This town is the second oldest settlment in Finland, and has a a large 'old town' area where all buildings are made of wood. These old houses and other buildings line the banks of the Porvoonjoki River which runs through the town. We could not see inside the church on the hill as it had been set alight last year and the inside is still being rebuilt. In the newer part of town cafes and coffee shops line the river.

Arriving back in Helsinki we could see many people were on their way to the town centre. This was the day before May day on 1 May and it is a tradition that students wash the statue of Havis Amanada in the main square and put a hat on her. It seemed to be a huge celebration, and when we went out to dinner there were streams of very jolly people making their way to restaurants or home. Many seemed to be couples our age, and many were wearing sailors hats. It must have been some night, because next morning on our way to the bus station we were almost wading through litter and bottles on the streets. We never expected it of the Finns! Here are the photos.

Europe trip '08 (12) : Portugal: Porto

2008-05-11T19:21:00.000+10:00

Ted had to be back at work, so he flew home while Bob, Lauren and I took the train to Porto further north. The journey took 3 hours (for 19.50 Euros). Porto sits on the hilly banks of the River Douro, so the streets are steep (once again). On our first foray we walked down to the Ribeira area, the riverfront area of old Porto. From the Ponte Dom Luis I (one of the six bridges that cross the river) we could see the barcos rabelos (the traditional boats that carry the port wine down the Douro), the port wine lodges on the far side of the river, and the touristy riverside promenade on the city side. This bridge, completed by a student of Gustave Eiffel, has 2 levels - the top just for the Metro and pedestrians, and the lower for traffic and pedestrians. We crossed the bridge to look at the port wine lodge area and then recrossed to have dinner on the waterfront area. While tourists were eating, the locals were hanging out washing etc just above us. It was a lovely evening and a great place to eat.

The next day we started the day with a visit to the Mercado do Balhoa (the markets). I love looking at food markets - there are always vegetables, fish etc that I have never seen before. Around the area were azulejo tiled buildings and the Capela das Almas, which is covered in tiles on the outside walls. I had read about a little fishing village called Afurada near the mouth of the river, so we had a long walk down along the river to see this. When we could see the village across the river, we had to wait for the ferry man to come to take us over. The village is really part of Porto, but has remained reasonably traditional. We were amazed to see all the clothes lines along the banks of the river - lots of them. Near the lines was a new low building in which we were surprised to see the local women doing their washing! This laundry had not long been open and had replaced the communal fonts where they used to wash. Seems washing is a social activity here. Not only in the laundry but around the village there was a lot of socialising going on (particularly the women). by the time we walked back along the other bank of the river back to central Porto, the day was done.

The last day here we had a late afternoon flight but had time to visit the gardens at the Cristal Palace Gardens, seeing on the walk there quite a number of buildings , statues, building facades and gardens that were worthy of a good look. And not to forget the port wine - it was good too!

We really enjoyed Portugal. The people were lovely, there was lots to see, we were on beautiful waterfronts, and the costs were more reasonable than some of the ares we have visted recently. Here are the photos.

Europe trip '08 (11) : Portugal - Lisbon and Sintra

2008-05-05T00:01:00.000+10:00

We were looking forward to visiting Portugal - something different to the British areas in which we had been immersed. We were also looking forward to trying the sardines, the wine, and hoping Portugal to be as attractive to us as Southern France and Italy (which we love). We had booked an apartment for the 4 of us in Alfama, the old (and hilly) part of the city. This turned out to be great -a very atmospheric, space for each couple, and a good kitchen and dining area where we could take turns to provide. There were views down the hill to the water which were lovely, yet we were in a neighbourhood where locals went about doing their daily life.

The first meal out (of sardines of course) was not the best. The fish were too big, and the whole thing was overpriced. After that we were more discerning and did much better. We did our usual initial seeing-what-is-what walk around our environment. We found Alfama beautiful (in a disintegrating sort of way- like Buenos Aires, which we loved), hilly -as we expected, but very likeable. We wandered down to Praca do Comercio and around and then made our way back uphill. This became a challenge after a long day but made us feel better after partaking of local pastries etc.

The next day we took the train down to the Belem District, 6 km west of the centre. This was the place from which Vasco da Gama set sail in 1497 on the voyage where he discovered a sea route to India. When he returned to Portugal, Dom Manuel I ordered the construction of a monastery on the site where Vasco and his men had kept a vigil on the night before they left. The masive Mosteirio Dos Jeronimus which was thus built has now becomea UNESCO World Heritage site (Da Gama is interred here). Huge sums of money were channelled into this project, including pepper money, a 5% tax on income from the spice trade. The detail in the filigree work over the entrance door is amazing, and the very tall columns inside the church are also detailed. The cloisters are beautiful and huge. As Ted said ‘what did the Salisbury builders know about cloisters compared to this!’

About a kilometre down the road is the Torre de Belem, a fort built built in a mixture of styles. It used to sit midstream, but is now just off shore. Also on the water’s edge is the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, a huge limestone caravel shaped structure. This was inaugurated in 1969 on the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator’s death, and shows Henry on the prow with other important Portuguese people of the time behind him.

The Belem area had some very good examples of the azulejos – polished painted tiles that cover many Portuguese buildings. After the initial day’s lunch we did much better this day. The coffee here was usually good, and the Portuguese custard tarts wonderful. Food in general was mostly good prices for us- certainly better priced than England and Ireland had been. When we returned to Alfama, we were in need of provisions, so Bob and I headed uphill towards the Graca area to search for a grocery shop. On the way we came to the Miradouro da Graca, from which there are wonderful views of Lisbon, inland and out to sea.

We had planned to go to Sintra the next day, but read that parts were closed on Mondays, so instead opted for a wider reaching walk to discover some of the other areas of the city. Whereas the Alfama area where we were staying was touristy yet suburban, we walked through long shopping streets, the more commercial and hotel Baixa area , and the higher Biarro Alta.
We were looking forward to Sintra, and were not disappointed. The Lonely Planet says that Sintra ‘is like page torn from a fairy book’, and they are right. Apparently it has an exceptional micro-climate that has resulted in lush exotic (for here - not for Australians) vegetation. In the densely covered mountains are a number of bizarre and beautiful castles. The Palacia Nacional da Pena was our first on our list, and we set off on foot, even though it looked to be way, way up on the mountains above Sintra town. It was a long uphill slog (we took the long route), and had well and truly earned a snack and drink by the time we got there. The Palace is set on a peak in a National Park. The kitschy over-the-top exterior is amazing. There is every kind of turret and decoration available. Inside the rooms are crammed with furniture, china, ornaments whatever, although every room does have a particular style. It sounds crazy, but is great to see. The park surrounding the palace is also large and lush, with lakes, statues and many types of plants.

If this wasn’t enough, we then went a little way down the hill to the Moorish Castle. This ruined castle is set in thick wood. . We puffed our way to the top of the battlements which give superb views of the surrounding areas. Once down the hill again, we had a quick look at Palacio Nacional de Sintra. There is another place we did not see, but it was a good day. Here are the photos

Europe trip '08 (10) : Ireland - Dublin

2008-04-28T03:15:00.000+10:00

Dublin: Dublin was the last stop on our Ireland trip. We stayed near the airport and travelled in on the bus to the city. We found Dublin was nothing like Cork, and enjoyed seeing the city. We headed to Trinity College first, mainly to see the the Book of Kells. This was amazing, really worth seeing. On the way we passed this scuplture of Molly Malone.

From here we walked to Merrion Square, home of many Georgian style houses and Oscar Wilde's house former house. There is also a good statue of Oscar Wilde in the Square.

Next was St Stephen's Green. The Green was originally an expanse of open common where whippings etc took place. The gardens are huge and very attractive. From here we did a general walk along the river and about.

We were happy to have visited Ireland. The prices of most things were expensive- accommodation, food , drinks - it was expensive. The Irish people we met were lovely- but we didn't meet many. We ended up buying Irish music CDs to play in the car as our visits to towns never matched up with music nights in pubs. And memorable were the the Irish radio staions- they seemed to have a lot of talk- particularly talkback. One station spent a morning discussing how to arrange things in the dishwasher - a very important topic of course. This station also asked people to call in about their ahppy moments for the day. These were read out for all to hear e.g my baby had solid food for the first time today, I started a new job todaay, and one memorable lady who had had 'Loovly sex with her boyfriend that morning'. This was Ireland.

Photos of Dublin

Europe trip '08 (9): Ireland - Co Cork and Co Tipperary

2008-04-27T21:06:00.000+10:00

Beara Peninsula: The Beara Peninsula lies in Co Kerry in the north, but is mainly in Co Cork. Our aim was not to drive around the whole peninsula but to cross it over Healy Pass. From Kenmare we again drove anti-clockwise along the north of the penisula to Lauragh. The countryside is very lush and attractive here, but soon we left the coast to ascend the winding Healy Pass. Only a kilometre or so on the way we took a detour to look at Glanmore Lake. The scenery around the lake is stunning, and the lake itself has a little island with a couple of fir-type trees and the remains of an old hermitage. Once gain we took a wrong road and ended up at a dead end near a farm miles away from the main road. But signs in Ireland are like nowhere else. In a little guide to the Slea head drive that I bought the author says something like 'at risk of being thrown into prison for 10 years, I say that road signs in Ireland are in the hands of the defence department. As they always fear invasion, signs are either missing, incorrect or not there at all, just to confuse potential invaders!' Whatever the cause, we passed a number of signs that were pointing in the wrong direction. Maybe the work of leprachauns?

The top of Healy Pass had wonderful views, and then it was a descent to Glengarriff. This town is very attractive, and was very busy on the day we were there - I think church was just over. Glengarriff is in a sheltered position deep in Bantry Bay. It seems the climate there is more mild than the surrounding areas, and an attraction in the area is an Italianate Garden on Garinish Island nearby. Unfortunately, as the ferry was not due for some time, we did not visit the island. Apparently Glengarriff was once a retreat for wealthy Victorians who sailed from England to Ireland. It was only after the pass had been blasted through the mountains that a link with Killarney was established.

The manager at the hotel in Kenmare had recommended we stay in Baltimore or Kinsale. Baltimore looked very attractive but we headed on to Skibereen as I wanted to see the exhibition there about the famine. This, however was not open, so we drove to 24 km south west of Cork. Unfortunately, Kinsale looked like a good place to stay, but we could hardly get anywhere for all the traffic, so left there and headed to Cork. We stayed on the outskirts of Cork, but headed to the centre for dinner as it was Sunday and not much was open.

Cork: What we saw of Cork did not make us want to spend much time there, so in the morning we headed for Cobh (pronounced Cove, once called Queenstown after a visit from Queen Victoria). Luckily this was a very attractive place with a lot of history re shipping and Atlantic crossings. The Sirius, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic left from Cobh and the Titanic made its last stop here. When the Lusitania was sunk off Kinsale in 1915, many of the survivors were brought here. We visited 'Cobh, The Queenstown story' in the Heritage Centre in a converted railway station. There are exhibitions about the shipping links, but also about the mass emigrations that followed the famine years. Of the 6 million people that emigrated from Ireland between 1848-1950, 2.5 million left from Cobh. The famine years have been used so many books written about Ireland, but there is apparently a view that much of the devastation could have been avoided as although the potatoes failed, there was plenty of wheat and meat being exported to England. I must read more about this. Photos of County Cork

Tipperary: The circuit we were taking now headed north to Tipperary. We only passed through Tipperary town - it also has no bypass and so trucks thunder through the main street, as we were heading to Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is very prominent in Cashel town. It rises from a grassy plain and the ancient buildings are set on out crops of limestone. There are number of parts to the site, and like many of these in Ireland, are amazing to see. Some parts are looking like they are being affected by water, but much is in good order. The town was also quite pleasant, and the guy who ran the B&B was very talkative. He believes Ireland has changed a lot in recent years. He says the people have changed - have been affected by having more money, lots of emigrants, and that if the economy changes, which is a possibility, that somethings will have to change again. The B&B also had a group of baseball playing school students staying for the night (luckily not near our room). They were accompanied by their coach, a woman who teaches at their school in Belfast, and a priest who was driving the car. Breakfast with them was interesting also.

We were basically now heading up to Dublin, but on the way we wanted to check out Kilkenny and a couple of sites we had seen on screen. Kilkenny was attractive and we had a good walk around but then headed for Inistioge. This is a small town south east of Kilkenny made famous by the film Circle of Friends. It is a picturesque little village with a 10 arch stone bridge and a tranquil square. The last stop was to be Avoca in County Wicklow, but on the way we stopped to look at Graiguenamagh, which is set on a lovely stretch of the Barrow River.

Last stop Avoca was made famous by the television program Ballykissangel. Fitzgerald's Pub looks just as it did, and the shop and streeet are familiar. There seem to be plenty of visits from tourists so it has not yet faded into obscurity. Here are the pics.

Europe trip '08 (8): Ireland - Co Kerry

2008-04-27T04:50:00.000+10:00

To Dingle and Dingle Peninsula: From Limerick we we travelled south towards the Dingle Peninsula. Adare on the way south was very pretty with thatched cottages and gardens. Apparently this town is very popular for weddings. Tralee, which I had imagined to be scenic was however a basic sort of town.

We started the drive around the Dingle Penisula from the north and in an anti-clockwise direction. The windmill at Blennerville marked the start of the circuit. We made some detours off the road to small beach towns - Castlegregory was one of these. These small towns must be very chilly in winter, but today the weather was sunny and mild. With the sea on our right and the mountains, including Mt Brandon (951m) on our left, the drive was very enjoyable.

Soon we arrived at the turn-off to the Conor Pass (456m) over the mountains. The road is steep and narrow, and as we climb the land starts to resemble a moonscape. We also drove up into low clouds, and just before the snow and sleet started the little Peugot warned us with a 'possiblities of ice' message. The snow swirled in the winds. When we reached the top we wondered if we would be able to see any view. In case there was a clearing of the clouds, we started to walk the steep ascent from the car park. It was freezing and wet, but we persevered, though I did wish I had worn my walking boots. Amazingly, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and we had a perfect view both back where we had come from, and towards Dingle town. Well worth the effort.

The Slea Head drive on the west of the peninsula is also spectacular. This route starts and ends in Dingle, mostly following the coast along the end of the peninsula west of Dingle. This area has been settled for over 6000 years, and there are many ancient sites including beehive huts, forts and churches. We passed through the small town of Ventry, and then visited Bunbeg Fort, an impressive example of a promontory fort built on a sheer cliff over Dingle Bay. The drive continues past a crucifixion scene with views across the bay to Kerry. The drive now followed the coast north, past Coumenoole Strand, where some of the filming of Ryan's Daughter took place. (We also saw Inch Strand, on the eastern side of Dingle which was also used in this film).

The Blasket Islands Interpretive Centre on the drive is a stunning building, built mainly by EU funds (as seem many new developments in Ireland). This centre gives the history of the Blasket Island people, particularly their literary outputs. A number of academics spent time with the islanders to learn unpolluted Irish language. These people encouraged the Islanders to write their stories. We bought a couple of the books, which are very interesting to read. The islands are no longer inhabited. We continued the drive, through the small town of Ballyferriter to the Gallarus Oratory. This drystone building is in perfect condition although 1200 years old. It is quite stunning. A stop at Kilmalkedar church finished our touring for that day, and we headed for our B&B in Dingle. Photos of Dingle Peninsula trip.

Ring of Kerry: Still in Co Kerry, the Ring of Kerry on the Inveragh Peninsula was next after the beautiful Dingle Peninsula. We passed first through Killorglin on the River Laune. The 8 arched bridge was built here in 1855. The scenery was spectacular, with sea and mountain views and plenty of wildflowers as well. At Cahersiveen we made few detours before reaching Port Magee. Valentia Island lies off this town.

The Skellig Ring runs off the Ring of Kerry from Port Magee to Waterville. It follows the coastline but has a couple of high passes. The land is very weatherworn and rugged, and the road is narrow and winding. The Coomanaspig Pass separates Portmagee and St. Finan’s Bay, gradually coming to Ballinskelligs which has atmospheric ruins of a monastic settlement, possibly of Skellig Michael, on the beach. Waterville, a place frequented by Charlie Chaplin was next. From here it was uphill again, via the Commakista Pass to Caherdaniel and then via Sneem back to Kenmare. We really enjoyed staying in Kenmare - the hotel was very pleasant and the town attractive. Interestingly, the young woman who checked us in and served in the pub was from Australia. She was extemely pleasant, and a change from the staff in most of the places we had eaten in. We met very few Irish people in these establishments, being served mainly by Eastern European staff. I assume their language skills stand in the way of them being talkative past the essentials. Photos of Ring of Kerry.

Killarney: Killarney, particularly the national park, is just a short drive from Kenmare. The day started out alternately sunny or rainy and stayed that way all day. Moll’s Gap was the first stop, the start of the drive through the park. The rugged, rocky landscape that we had seen in the Ring of Kerry continued here, although this type of landscape was alternated with moss and lichen covered forest. Soon we began to see the lakes that Killarney is famous for. Ladies’ View is a lookout over the upper lake. This was apparently named after one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting exclaimed ‘This is the finest view in all the realm!’ Next was Torc Falls. The walk here was beautiful, as the moss covered trees and rocks made a very lush sight. The walk became a longer walk than we expected when we took a wrong turn, and we were well exercised by the time we set off again for Killarney. We passed Muckross Estate, but decided to move on to Killarney town. This town is large compared to surrounding towns and very pleasant. We had lunch there (chowder again!), and a good walk around the town. There is lots of accommodation here, some very grand, and lots of tourists. The drive back was equally enjoyable, and we were soon back to our accommodation in Kenmare. Photos of Killarney

Europe trip '08 (7): Ireland - Limerick and Co Clare

2008-04-18T05:52:00.000+10:00

Limerick: Our Aer Lingus flight arrived on time and our hired car took no time to organize. For once the car people were not hard-selling insurance for the car! We were traversing the country in one hit to get to the west coast at Limerick as we had been assured this was the way to go. The country we travelled through was very ordinary. Where were the green fields and picturesque scenery we had seen many times in brochures and films?

Finding our accommodation in Ennis Road was not a problem, and it turned out to be very comfortable. The staff seemed very harassed, but our room etc was good. We walked down to see the city. The Shannon River is central to city which seems to be a combination of mostly very old with some new build. There are churches everywhere and they do dominate the city. We are not surprised by that. One surprising thing was the length of the girls’ school uniforms – they are to the ankle! We usually try a typically local food on the first night, so had potatoes and cabbage in a local pub. More photos of Limerick

County Clare: From Limerick we spent a day travelling north around County Clare. After circling the Shannon River we continued around the coast through Kilrush, Kilkee and Quilty and north along the coast towards the Cliffs of Moher. The coastline was rugged and the villages atractive. We were amazed at the housing as almost every house looked fairly new and in most cases very large. They all looked neat and very well kept, but with big driveways and lawns - not many trees or a garden.

The Cliffs of Moher were very attractive- sort of like a version of the 12 Apostles- or however many are left. The area is very organised for tourists so we did view the cliffs with many others. We continued up the coast looking for lunch, and picked very well at McGann's pub at Doolin. Here we had our first Irish Seafood Chowder, and it was heavenly. Served with brown breade and a pot of tea, I was well satisfied.

As we went further north we came to hilly and very rocky burren (from the Irish boirann -for rocky country) landscape. A windy road took us to a lookout with a spectacular view of the Northern Burren and Galway Bay. We then wound down Corkscrew Hill, a road that was built as part of a famine relief scheme in the 1840s, to Ballyvaughn. From here we started south back towards Limerick, but must have taken a wrong turn somwhere, and had to circle back to see some sights. Irish signs are not the best, as we had heard, so we often did a longer drive than expected. We finally found Poulnabrone Dolmen, or Portal Tomb, a large slab of rock perched on stone upright in a rocky pavement area. Photos of County Clare

Europe trip '08 (6) : Stratford, Leamington and Oxford

2008-04-10T06:04:00.000+10:00

We stayed near Coventry and visited Stratford, Leamington and Oxford on the weekend of 5 April. The day started in a flurry as Bob searched for the car keys, but after some alternative plans we were on our way. Stratford was our first stop, and here we visited three of the Shakespeare houses. First was Shakespeare's birthplace. The display was very good and the garden in full colour.

From here we went to two other properties. The great garden at Nash's house was very impressive. The Wyatt sculptures in particular were great to see. I like this type of sculpture, and the connection to so renowned a writer is amazing. The garden was most impressive, as it had plants that had obviously been there for a very long time, but also was in full bloom. A complete change again was to see the lovely Avon River- it seemed here that time had stopped, and I could really imagine the boating scenes we see in English films.

We spent the night at a roadside hotel near Coventry. As it was very budget, I had not expected too much, but it was a very homely enjoyable place. The conservatory type dining area was lovely to be in, the food was wintery and filling and tasty, and the atmosphere very good. Apparently the place will be closing as it is being bull-dozed for a highway, so this is a shame.

In the morning I looked out the window and could not believe the WHITE view outside. It was amazing! The delights of such an amazing morning of whiteness continued as we arrived in Leamington. We walked through the Jephson Gardens which were just beautiful in the snow. The sun was shining, so it was cold but the scenery stunning. I took photo after photo as all seemed so unreal! It seems we must attract this weather in April, as we had the same in the Czech republic 2 years ago.

From here we went to Oxford. It was a beautiful day, and we were back in London by mid afternoon. Here are the images I captured.

Europe trip '08 (5) : Devon and Cornwall

2008-04-10T05:35:00.000+10:00

As we did not see a lot of Devon in our weekend trip when we first arrived, we headed off to see more of Devon and Cornwall.

We took the motorway straight over to Bristol and started in a westerly direction along the north coast of Devon. The first town was Minehead, actually in Somerset. This small town has a very good situation, with the esplanade commanding a wide sweep of the bay. The harbour is enclosed by high walls to protect the boats. We enjoyed the drive drove with the Bristol Channel to the North, and Exmoor National Park on the South. Their beaches may not match ours, but the villages were very pretty.

Dunster, a small medieval village on the way, has an octagonal Yarn Market in the centre. Apparently it is unspoiled because it was owned by one family for 600 years until 1950. Like many villages it has its own castle.

Selworthy with its thatched cottages gave us plenty to look at and admire. It is a very popular village for visitors. It has narrow streets which wind up the hill towards the 16th century church.

We continued along the coast, as our goal for the night was Ilfracombe. There were plenty of green meadows (can't really call these 'paddocks'), shoreline, water views, and lots of cliffs. We reached Lynmouth towards the end of the day, so did not have time to stop. It was here that the poet Shelley brought his 16 year old bride in 1812. It was then a small fishing village, and has grown a lot since then, although there were disastrous floods here in 1952. Lynton joins Lynmouth, although it is on the cliff 180 metres above.

Ilfracombe turned out to be a very good choice to spend the night. There is a variety of housing here, but there are many Victorian homes and the town looks to be or have been a very prosperous centre. It has tall cliffs on the waterfront, with tunnels that are used to access the beach. It certainly is a picturesque setting. We were not taken by the new theatre building. Were there protests about these building? They look like nuclear reactors.

We had dinner in the George and Dragon, and ended up sitting beside a couple from Buderim in Queensland. Their daughter came here 6 years ago and is now marrying an English guy. I am so glad Lauren came here with Ted. Dinner was great, so it was a good start to 0ur trip.

The next day we headed further west and then south down the coast. The coast land became more rugged as we drove out to Woolacombe and Croyde on the way to Clovelly, a pretty but touristy fishing village which descends 122 metres down a steep cobbled path to the sea. Donkeys have for years been used to transport luggage to the hotels. Lovely old houses with pretty gardens make for an interesting walk, though going back up was hard work.

At Hartland Point further south a farmer wanted his 3 euros to cross his land. Hartland Point has seen many ships come to grief. We kept on small roads and passed Hartlands 14th century church at Stoke, and then Welcombe on the Cornish border. We spent 2 nights at Newquay, a very touristy town as well. From here we went south to Land's End via St Ives and some dry and rugged, but attractive country. Land's End has been developed into a sideshow type atraction so we did not spend long here, instead going to Porthleven which is a very attractive village. Cornwall certainly lived up to its 'fishing village' reputation.

Here are the other photos .

Europe trip '08 (4) London, city and Ealing -1

2008-04-07T04:43:00.000+10:00

We haven't been to Ealing before, so there is plenty to see here. The daffodils are out everywhere, but most of the trees are still not into their spring leaf stage. Ealing Common and Gunnersbury Park are good to visit, and the style of housing in the area is interesting.

We have spent a lot of time just in Tesco and Sainsbury's, checking out what they sell, what is different and how much it costs. Prices on the whole see quite comparable to home. I had expected higher prices, although 2 years ago in many European countries we visited then we found the same thing. Vegetables, particularly those in season, are very good and have very good prices. The berries as always are amazing - to buy half a kilo for a few pound or less is very good for us. Some meat is more expensive, but chicken, pork and fish are cheaper in most cases. There is so much choice in fish as well.

We have made a few trips into London. On 27 March we went into the city and met Lauren for lunch. After catching the tube in we did a walk aound the area before lunch . We passed St Pauls' and quite a few streets around there before lunch, and then ate near Lauren's work at a Pret-a-Manger for a good sandwich. Next was Trafalgar Square and there we did a few areas of the National Gallery. Always amazing to see so many Monets, Renoirs etc in one space. On the way home found a shop that just sells travel books and maps -3 floors of them! Spent some time looking around and bought a Portugal book for our trip there.

Friday that week we went to Cambridge. We had been there in '95 and saw King's College when Barry Tuckwell was rehearsing for a concert. We did not have a good look around then as we had an accommodation booking further north, so it was good to have more time to do this on this visit. We also went to Ely, where they have a very impressive cathedral.

On the Saturday after that we had another foodie morning with Lauren and Ted at the Borough Markets. Great range of vegetables, fruit, meat etc etc here. Had a good coffee. Lauren and Ted are not impressed with coffee in London but they have a favourite here. From here we walked along the river to the Tate modern saw 2 exhibitions here - the Juan Munoz and Duchamp Man ray Picabia. Lauren and Ted had already seen these. I particulary liked the Munoz, though not so sure re the crack in the floor or what a group of people were doing carying bricks up and down the stairs.

More pics are here

Europe trip '08 (3) : Windsor - day of Sarkozy visit

2008-04-07T02:08:00.000+10:00

26 March: Last time we went to Windsor we looked at the palace, but because our car had to be returned we didn't look at the town. So we headed back to have a look around. It just happened to be the day the French President was visiting the queen. When we arrived preparations were underway - sand on the steets (?), police and soldiers everywhere. We aren't particularly interested in seeing the royal family, but it was fun seeing all the preparations, the press people jostling for space, and listening to the band which set up near us playing some great music. Before the queen left the palace by car there were was quite a parade of soldiers, musicians etc, and then when they had met him down the road somewhere, they all came back again, with the important people now in carriages.

We headed off for lunch, but as we headed over to Eton, the horses etc headed out again after doing their duty. Sure made our day more interesting. See more photos.

Europe trip '08 (2) : Weekend in south west England

2008-04-07T01:00:00.000+10:00

It was good to be in London and see Lauren and Ted again. They met us at the airport, and as it was the Easter weekend we set off the next day for a drive down towards the south west. We had no jet lag problems at all, so it was no problem to head off. Once we we were out of the city, we kept mainly to the smaller roads. Lots of little villages and then the first stop at Salisbury. Like almost every town it has a cathedral and a pretty magnificent one by Australian standards. It was built in the early 1200s and not only has Britain's tallest spire, but also the world's best preserved original Magna Carta. One old gentlemen volunteers had quite a discussion with me about Australia (everyone we meet has family in Australia), and when I went to go he took my hand, kissed it and said 'aren't I a cheeky one?' Guess he says that every time, but he was very friendly and genuinely interested in talking about his church, Australia, the weather, whatever.

By then we were hungry and were very fortunate that in the first little village (Burcombe) we came to we found the Ship Inn, which happened to have a Michelin recommendation. Other patrons include what looked like the typical lady (with peaches and cream skin and a cashmere twinset) and gentleman of the manor, and a local farmer sitting at the bar with his wellington boots on. The atmosphere was great, and the food very good also. But we were bound for Yeovil, not for any reason but that I had found accomodation there.

The next day we headed south, to Sidmouth, Exmouth and through Exeter, heading south to Torquay. After all that driving it was again time for lunch, and with our luck in finding good eating places that weekend , we found La Provence. The choice here is a 2 or 3 course meal with choices. We had 2 courses, and were very happy with our meals - good food and wine do really make for a good weekend! More photos.

Europe trip '08 (1) : Beijing - on way to London

2008-03-27T05:35:00.000+10:00

On 19 March 2008 we started our trip to London to see Lauren and Ted (and of course to see places we have not seen). Beijing seemed a good spot to break our trip, as we do love this city. We were amazed with the size of the new Capitol airport - it is huge. On entering the airport from the plane we were ushered into a people-mover and very quickly zoomed what seemed like kilometres to collect our bags. We caught the bus to our hotel (cost 16RMB or $2.50). We were the only people on the bus. The Harmony Hotel turned out to be right across from the railway station so is very handy.

With only one day here we wanted to have a good walk so headed off to check out Maryanne's potential accommodation for the Olympics. All looked fine - it does exist, so we rewarded ourselves with lovely lunch. We chose one of our favourite dishes - Kung Pao Chicken (with chili and peanuts), omelette with an aniseed tasting Chinese vegetable called toon, and vegetables. Just delicious! Here are some more photos.

Art gallery

2008-03-02T17:26:00.000+10:00

This weekend we finally made it to the Gallery of Modern Art. It is a beautiful place, very spacious, and with the river making the background it is a lovely place to visit. The Andy Warhol exhibition is great- he did so much more than we knew about. The place was buzzing - lots of familes and groups of young people which was good.

Lots of variety this weekend- a Bee Gees show, the West End markets, drinks upstairs with a few of the neighbours, a barbeque with Bron and Glenn at Glenn's parents, and today a morning spent at the computer and then the art gallery.

Sydney visit

2008-02-18T19:20:00.001+10:00

Last weekend we visited Julien and Mark and of course the rest of the family in Sydney. We were really looking forward to seeing Beatrix crawl, and of course see Helena as a 'schoolgirl' and Lewis as a 'preschooler'. Our hopes were exceeded - it was a lot of fun and a bonus that Beatrix 'remembered' us. The weekend was very enjoyable, and a great lunch at Leichhardt was a good start.

West End

2008-02-18T18:09:00.000+10:00

We have been living at West End , Brisbane at weekends only for 9 months now, but we have been coming here for here for weekend visits, lunches at Asian places etc for a long time. We never thought we would live here, but are happy that we chose this area as our next home. The uniqueness of the area is what we love, but we are part of the changes that are happening in the area. There is a lot of development going on, which will bring changes, but also some needed updates eg a new table by the river near our place would be good. Here are some imges of West End.

Settling into our home

2008-02-08T12:47:00.000+10:00

Since we moved into our empty apartment in May 2007 we have made a lot of decisions about window coverings, furniture etc, and basically decided how we want to live here. We have also done a lot of shopping, spent quite some money, and are still deciding exactly how to add some final touches, being aware that certain daughters have warned us not to repeat previous decorating trends.

The gardens have grown like we can't believe - so different than Toowoomba where plants take much longer to grow. All is lush and green after the rain.

We are very happy with our environment and really look forward to coming here after work each week.

See more photos.

Christmas Holidays 2007

2008-01-13T20:03:00.000+10:00

Another Christmas at Coolum. We thought we were very fortunate to share this time with our daughters and families.This year Lauren was in London with Ted. We missed them but were also happy that they can experience Christmas in Europe.

Helena and Lewis were excited about Santa and all the expectations of gifts etc. Beatrix was trying very hard to become mobile and was successful though did not quite get to the crawling stage.

Although the weather was good for the first few days - it then became rainy and windy, and generally stayed like that for the rest of the 10 days! We really need the rain - so we did not complain - and we had an enjoyable time anyway.

Here are more photos on Flickr