Jeez, I just realized my last post was nearly three months ago. How sad is that? It's particularly onerous when I consider how much has happened in the last three months. Just a short recap (as well as a declaration that I'll not let this thing slide so long again). You've heard the last one before, I suppose.
Anyway, a recap. After we got back from Slovenia in July, things were pretty calm. We had a few little weekenders to towns nearby (Schleswig and Goslar). This was followed by David's brother and his wife, Carmen moving to Vienna, Austria. It is really nice to have them (relatively) nearby. Shortly after, the whirlwind kicked off. The middle of September brought a work trip to Taipei (a fascinating and wonderful city) and a sentimental journey back to Japan with Mark and Joanne. Last week we drove down to the Czech Republic to meet Joshua and Carmen. This week, I was in Berlin.
Now, just a bit more detail here and there. Mostly I stick to highlights since there is just too much.
Taipei:
We stayed in a very cool hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_Grand_Hotel). The Grand Hotel is designed in the style of an old palace. The detail inside and out was intricate and colorful - just a very cool place to stay.
Each night after work we investigated a new night market (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_markets_in_Taiwan). Each one was filled with all manner of delights - from sweets to soups and sneakers to tchotchke. Interestingly and disgustingly, we saw some of the weirdest food ever. There were wrinkly, black, unidentifiable things on offer as well as some dish (a soup, I think) that made everyone's stomach turn. It was especially nauseating given the heat and the confines of the markets. We tried fresh juice, excellent curry noodles, tea and 10 minute massages that hurt so bad I thought I would throw up. We took a 45 second elevator to the observatory of the (currently) tallest building in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101). And there was a night market where you could pick out a snake and they would kill it and cook it to your liking. Particularly disturbing was the cage full of baby rabbits that I suppose served as dinner for those snakes that were not, you know, dinner.
Japan:
We started our Excellent Adventure in Tokyo where we met Mark and Joanne. After a quick round of hugs we hopped on the Shinkansen headed north to Aomori Prefecture where the whole David/Leslie & Mark/Joanne story began 11 years ago. We went back to Misawa and were surprised to find that the very shabby, rickety bar district that sustained us through our angry, resistant days as young airmen was completely leveled and replaced by what amounted to a crappy stripmall and a concrete pad called "Freedom Park" or some such bullshit. Worse yet, a 1pm curfew was in place. What the hell?
After we mourned our lost Misawa like an old friend, we soaked ourselves in a newly renovated Komaki spa, ate enormous amounts of ramen, kicked around the Hachinohe fish market, walked on the beach, visited a veritably unchanged Yagen and generally took a walk down memory lane. Our first house was still there - no longer military quarters, though. Besides the area right around the main gate and the first bit of "Green Pole" road, Misawa was just about the same. I didn't realize just how rural this part of the world was the first time around.
Sort of the crown jewel to our return north was a night spent at Aoni Onsen in the Hakkoda mountains. Aoni was, way back in the day, a refuge for samurai and until just a decade or so ago, only accessible by foot. It is extremely remote, wonderfully rustic and entirely gas-lamp lit. I can't even begin to describe the ambience. It just wouldn't do it justice. There were a number of hot baths - mixed and gendered. Each one was elegant and exactly perfect. The food was also amazing. Traditional Japanese dinner was served in a dimly lit dining room on very low tables and we sat on tatami mats. Everything was locally caught or gathered. Our rooms were extremely simple with no furniture but a low table. We slept on thin futon matresses under an ocean of feather blankets. We fell asleep and woke to the sound of the creek running through the middle of the spa. I can't wait to go back.
From there we went to Kakunodate - a town featuring preserved samurai houses. As part of this visit we also made a detour for a sake brewery tour. Wow - it was just great. It was like going to your cousin's business and being shown around. Luckily, our cousin was generous and broke out a cache of incredible sake for us to try. I never knew sake didn't suck.
From here we headed south to Tokyo. David booked a night in a kooky capsule hotel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel). It was interesting (and cheap). While I wouldn't stay again just for the fun of it, I would repeat the exercise for the price. Tokyo was great - we ate ourselves stupid on amazing sushi, watched about a million people cross the street at 11:30 at night and crammed ourselves into a TINY little bar where we were thoroughly ripped off. I bought a Japanese kitchen knife that goes through everything like warm butter. And we spied the young and old prowling the streets at all times of day and night.
On our last morning, we marched off to the fish market to have a look around. We found ourselves deep in the dealer area of the market, dodging flung buckets of fish guck and eyeing 65 dollar cuts of tuna. It was really a great "Lost in Translation" experience. Tokyo is such a special city. Man, I feel like a sap, but Japan has a disproportionate part of my heart.
Last weekend, we headed off to a tiny town in the Czech Republic, just across the German border from Dresden. Carmen found us a great little pension in a bucolic little area with excellent outdoor access and cheap beer. What on god's green earth else could you ask for? We spent the weekend walking about in the day and drinking beer and spying wild pigs by night. It was a great time.
As is becoming the norm, we have a number of trips on tap through this year and into the next. It goes with the territory. Our boss told me this week to make sure I have a passport with sufficient pages.
As always, I still love Hamburg (even though I don't see it so much these days).
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Spotting lions and vowels
So, I am just back from the latest round of travel. My first stop in the middle of June was South Africa en route to Botswana. David was just wrapping up a seminar in Pretoria, S. Africa and we planned it so I would arrive a few days early and he would stay a few days late so we could have a quick look around Kruger National Park, in the north east part of S. Africa. I flew overnight and caught a quick hop from Johannesburg to Nelspruit where I rented a car. David was due to arrive the next day, so I was on my own in wild and woolly South Africa, a country whose reputation certainly precedes it. I was feeling a little bit jumpy given that I was running on very little sleep, I've heard so much about the violence in S. Africa and (I noticed as we were landing) driving occurs on the left side of the road. Hmmm...good thing I once lived in Japan.
My rental was a cute little VW rabbit, which I drove to the park, stopping briefly for food and water. Once I got in the park, I promptly began my safari adventure. I reserved a hut in the Malelane rest camp - a remote satellite camp of Berg en dal rest camp. Kruger is spotted throughout with a number of these rest camps, which are basically camp grounds with restaurants, gas stations, and a grocery store. All of the camps are completely surrounded with high fencing. You know, because of the lions. And the rhinos. And the elephants. And, well you get the picture. It's South Africa! The hut was a simple affair - a round stucco building with a grass roof. Electricity, bathroom and bed were all included and everything was quite comfy. That afternoon, I spent about three hours just driving very slowly through the park. My efforts paid off in 1 elephant, a giraffe, a whole herd of impala and a leopard which everybody but me could see. In Kruger, a strict 'don't get out of your car under any circumstances' rule applies. You can understand why. This also explains why I couldn't really jockey into a better position to spy on the leapord. I photographed the tree he was in anyway, just in case I could see in better detail once I downloaded the photos.
The next morning bright and early, I picked David up at the airport and we headed back into the park for a 4 day adventure filled with all the wild life you could shake a stick at and more. One highlight, at least for me, was the morning walk with armed rangers. We had great fun getting way too close to two rhinos. I have blurry photos to prove it. On an evening game drive, we found a whole lazy pride of lions, one of which was lounging about in the road. What a bunch of divas, those lions. One afternoon we stumbled on a huge (in so many ways) herd of elephants at a big watering hole. There were 50 or more elephants of all shapes and sizes. We also hung out around a lake filled with hippos, who are a noisy, splashy group of beasts.
On our last morning, we were stopped by a heard of buffalo who were in no hurry. These creatures are an underestimated species. 1200 to 2000 pounds of beast with giant horns that include a heavy helmet that looks like badly parted hair, they are not to be trifled with. Every animal in the savannah knows this. Until that morning, I thought they were glorified cows. A close encounter with 20 of them modified my view of the African buffalo. We had to sneak our car in between two waves of the herd. Not something I am wont to repeat.
Each night we stayed in a different rest camp, all of which were different and nice. In each area, the landscape was also quite different and was likewise hospitable to different animals. We saw all of the big five except the leopard. Well, technically, I was in proximity to the leopard, as I said. But, I don't really think that counts. We also saw many zebras, one hyena, a wild dog, several small cats, lots of baboons, monkeys, and countless varieties of deer-like creatures including kudu, Sable antelope, springbok, etc. It was such an excellent time, I would do it again in a moment. No questions.
After S. Africa, I spent three days in Botswana for work. Botswana is a stable, relatively wealthy country. It's capital, Gaborone, is absolutely boring. I have nothing to report.
My next stop after a 20 hour hiatus in Hamburg, was Slovenia, a tiny country bordered to the north and west by Austria, the west by Italy, the south by Croatia and the east by Hungary. I could be missing a border country. I don't have a map handy and I am too lazy to google it. In any event, this former part of Yugoslavia is an outdoor person's paradise. The country is filled with huge, peaky, green mountains, pale green rivers, beautiful lakes and every type of outdoor activity you can possibly imagine. David and I absolutely fell in love.
We spent a week in Ljubljana (pronounced Loo-blee-ahna), which may be my favorite city ever. It is the Europe I always imagined - old buildings, throngs of quaint little street cafes, musicians on the street, everyone eating ice cream, a castle on the hill. In a word, charming. And perfect. Ok, that's two words. But Ljubljana deserves it. It especially could use the extra vowels. There seems to be a shortage of these in Ljubljana in particular and Slovenia in general. It doesn't change my feelings for the place, but it makes pronunciation a bit difficult for my english-speaking tongue.
From Ljubljana, we made our way to the mountain region of Slovenia. The first night we stayed right near a beautiful mountain lake and watched a bit of a strong man contest. Weird, but fun. After this we moved onto Bovec, a town renowned for adventure sports. Here, we tried canyoning, a fun sport that involved a 45 minute hike up a mountain to a spot where we could access a mountain stream. The next two hours we spent descending through the canyon mostly by jumping into the creek, sliding on rock slides and jumping into cold, deep pools. The water, in the 40s by the feel of it, necessitated a full, thick wetsuit with booties. We also got helmets.
The peak for me was the "surprise" slide. Our guide made each of us lie flat in a pool at the mouth of a water fall which we weren't allowed to look down in advance. He proceeded to pick each of us up and 'slide' us one-by-one down a 6 meter waterfall enclosed on all sides by a rock formation. We each splashed below into a deep pool. It was really scary and fun. Especially since you didn't know what was coming. David outdid us all by being dropped off of a three story water fall. I was invited but declined. It was hard enough watching him fall more than 30 feet. He emerged hooting and pumping his fists in the air. He still gets glassy eyed when he talks about it.
We filled our days with amazing hikes. We walked for hours and saw nearly no one. The last day and night and next morning we spent in the Vipava valley (a wine region). It looks exactly like Italy only without the high prices or tourists. It was so weird. We drove for hours and saw no tourists. None. In Europe, in July. There isn't really any infrastructure for tourists in this part of Slovenia in spite of how beautiful it is. I can't imagine this will last. We stayed at an operational farm that also houses tourists. It was a big, old farm house surrounded by vineyards with an amazing view of the valley. We spent the evening eating great food, drinking great wine and scheming about how we are moving to Slovenia. We both felt like we found the place we want to spend the rest of our lives. David swears if we move to Slovenia, he will live there until he dies. It's that nice.
Ok, I've gone on enough. I still love Hamburg, but (with only a tiny feeling of betrayal) I admit that my heart is in Slovenia.
My rental was a cute little VW rabbit, which I drove to the park, stopping briefly for food and water. Once I got in the park, I promptly began my safari adventure. I reserved a hut in the Malelane rest camp - a remote satellite camp of Berg en dal rest camp. Kruger is spotted throughout with a number of these rest camps, which are basically camp grounds with restaurants, gas stations, and a grocery store. All of the camps are completely surrounded with high fencing. You know, because of the lions. And the rhinos. And the elephants. And, well you get the picture. It's South Africa! The hut was a simple affair - a round stucco building with a grass roof. Electricity, bathroom and bed were all included and everything was quite comfy. That afternoon, I spent about three hours just driving very slowly through the park. My efforts paid off in 1 elephant, a giraffe, a whole herd of impala and a leopard which everybody but me could see. In Kruger, a strict 'don't get out of your car under any circumstances' rule applies. You can understand why. This also explains why I couldn't really jockey into a better position to spy on the leapord. I photographed the tree he was in anyway, just in case I could see in better detail once I downloaded the photos.
The next morning bright and early, I picked David up at the airport and we headed back into the park for a 4 day adventure filled with all the wild life you could shake a stick at and more. One highlight, at least for me, was the morning walk with armed rangers. We had great fun getting way too close to two rhinos. I have blurry photos to prove it. On an evening game drive, we found a whole lazy pride of lions, one of which was lounging about in the road. What a bunch of divas, those lions. One afternoon we stumbled on a huge (in so many ways) herd of elephants at a big watering hole. There were 50 or more elephants of all shapes and sizes. We also hung out around a lake filled with hippos, who are a noisy, splashy group of beasts.
On our last morning, we were stopped by a heard of buffalo who were in no hurry. These creatures are an underestimated species. 1200 to 2000 pounds of beast with giant horns that include a heavy helmet that looks like badly parted hair, they are not to be trifled with. Every animal in the savannah knows this. Until that morning, I thought they were glorified cows. A close encounter with 20 of them modified my view of the African buffalo. We had to sneak our car in between two waves of the herd. Not something I am wont to repeat.
Each night we stayed in a different rest camp, all of which were different and nice. In each area, the landscape was also quite different and was likewise hospitable to different animals. We saw all of the big five except the leopard. Well, technically, I was in proximity to the leopard, as I said. But, I don't really think that counts. We also saw many zebras, one hyena, a wild dog, several small cats, lots of baboons, monkeys, and countless varieties of deer-like creatures including kudu, Sable antelope, springbok, etc. It was such an excellent time, I would do it again in a moment. No questions.
After S. Africa, I spent three days in Botswana for work. Botswana is a stable, relatively wealthy country. It's capital, Gaborone, is absolutely boring. I have nothing to report.
My next stop after a 20 hour hiatus in Hamburg, was Slovenia, a tiny country bordered to the north and west by Austria, the west by Italy, the south by Croatia and the east by Hungary. I could be missing a border country. I don't have a map handy and I am too lazy to google it. In any event, this former part of Yugoslavia is an outdoor person's paradise. The country is filled with huge, peaky, green mountains, pale green rivers, beautiful lakes and every type of outdoor activity you can possibly imagine. David and I absolutely fell in love.
We spent a week in Ljubljana (pronounced Loo-blee-ahna), which may be my favorite city ever. It is the Europe I always imagined - old buildings, throngs of quaint little street cafes, musicians on the street, everyone eating ice cream, a castle on the hill. In a word, charming. And perfect. Ok, that's two words. But Ljubljana deserves it. It especially could use the extra vowels. There seems to be a shortage of these in Ljubljana in particular and Slovenia in general. It doesn't change my feelings for the place, but it makes pronunciation a bit difficult for my english-speaking tongue.
From Ljubljana, we made our way to the mountain region of Slovenia. The first night we stayed right near a beautiful mountain lake and watched a bit of a strong man contest. Weird, but fun. After this we moved onto Bovec, a town renowned for adventure sports. Here, we tried canyoning, a fun sport that involved a 45 minute hike up a mountain to a spot where we could access a mountain stream. The next two hours we spent descending through the canyon mostly by jumping into the creek, sliding on rock slides and jumping into cold, deep pools. The water, in the 40s by the feel of it, necessitated a full, thick wetsuit with booties. We also got helmets.
The peak for me was the "surprise" slide. Our guide made each of us lie flat in a pool at the mouth of a water fall which we weren't allowed to look down in advance. He proceeded to pick each of us up and 'slide' us one-by-one down a 6 meter waterfall enclosed on all sides by a rock formation. We each splashed below into a deep pool. It was really scary and fun. Especially since you didn't know what was coming. David outdid us all by being dropped off of a three story water fall. I was invited but declined. It was hard enough watching him fall more than 30 feet. He emerged hooting and pumping his fists in the air. He still gets glassy eyed when he talks about it.
We filled our days with amazing hikes. We walked for hours and saw nearly no one. The last day and night and next morning we spent in the Vipava valley (a wine region). It looks exactly like Italy only without the high prices or tourists. It was so weird. We drove for hours and saw no tourists. None. In Europe, in July. There isn't really any infrastructure for tourists in this part of Slovenia in spite of how beautiful it is. I can't imagine this will last. We stayed at an operational farm that also houses tourists. It was a big, old farm house surrounded by vineyards with an amazing view of the valley. We spent the evening eating great food, drinking great wine and scheming about how we are moving to Slovenia. We both felt like we found the place we want to spend the rest of our lives. David swears if we move to Slovenia, he will live there until he dies. It's that nice.
Ok, I've gone on enough. I still love Hamburg, but (with only a tiny feeling of betrayal) I admit that my heart is in Slovenia.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The desert (sort of) and the beach
We are back in Hamburg for a couple of weeks before at least one of us is off on our next jaunt, so I figured I better catch you up on our latest activities.
But first (for planning purposes, because that's what Germans do best), a peek at the next six week's calendar:
South Africa (David)
Botswana (Leslie)
Slovenia (Leslie & David)
Trinidad & Tobago (David)
Besides the frequent flier miles we are racking up, we are also accumulating a heap of overtime because our job pays us for travel time. A trip to S. Africa is worth about 16 hours (one way). Just travel nearly gets us a week off on these big trips. The only bummer is we have no time for vacation. But, when life feels like a vacation, it's not such a big deal.
And now, a look back. First of all, the sun has been shining almost nonstop here in rainy-ass Hamburg. Or, I guess I should say - formerly rainy-ass Hamburg. The grass is even starting to turn brown. Did you get that? The grass is starting to turn brown. It's a little disorienting, not walking around in rainboots and constantly checking my bag for an umbrella, but I can get used to it.
A couple of weeks ago, our neighbor (and frequent Stella-watcher and Stella-friend), Inge invited us to her beach house for the weekend. I normally would be reserved about spending an entire weekend at a relatively remote location without a car and with someone I only casually know at their house. But, Inge is cool. She was a communist and still calls her good friends 'comrade'. She is also an artist. As it turns out, her very cute beach house is covered in her art, which is one part impressionist and one part kooky lady with a proclivity for flourescent pink. It works, especially in volume. She is the only person in her entire neighborhood without immaculately groomed grass. Instead, dandelions and other weeds grow wild, threatening the pristine lawns around them. Somehow, her status in the community allows her to get away with her unkempt yard - really a feat in hyper-orderly Germany.
Anyway, we spent a great weekend on the beach - walking, relaxing, drinking wine and watching Stella fetch tennis balls out of the Baltic sea.
Let's contrast this with the next beach experience - Bahrain. What an incredibly weird place. It is a tiny little island right off the east coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. The population is around 1 million people, many of whom are immigrant workers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Phillipines, and other relatively poor Asian countries. These immigrants effectively do all of the manual and service labor - all of it. You would never in a blue moon see a native Bahraini waiting tables, cleaning or even managing hotels or restaurants. Maybe a really swanky restaurant, but even then, a stretch.
Even professional positions are 'outsourced' - the engineers, bankers, doctors, professors, etc - all from the West. I'm not sure exactly what most native Bahrainis do during a typical day, other than shop at the competing malls that occupy an absurd amount of Bahraini real estate. Malls and desert - it's just about all that's on the island. Oh, and big, fancy hotels, which seems to be where everyone eats.
The country (and most of the region) is filled with odd paradoxes. For instance, most Bahraini women are extremely conservative in their dress, wearing black abayas that cover their entire bodies, head to foot and some variety of hair covering. The hair cover is also black and typically covers at least a woman's hair but may also cover part of or her entire face except for her eyes. Although, most women with only their eyes peaking out are Saudi Arabians who've driven across the 20km bridge to get their shop on.
Now to the paradox. We were in Bahrain from Saturday evening until Friday evening. Weekends in Bahrain and most Gulf countries are either Thursday and Friday or Friday and Saturday - the muslim holy day is Friday. I tell you this because we noticed a sharp change in the hotel clientelle starting Thursday evening. First of all, there were many more Saudi Arabians than other days during the week. You can tell because the men wear red and whited checked hair coverings and their wives show only their eyes. The other notable change were some pretty scantily dressed women milling about the hotel - in the elevators, in the lobby. These women absolutely stuck out under the circumstances - but the 5 inch heels and 3 inch skirts would have grabbed any Westerner's attention. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just think it's freaking weird that these uber-conservative Saudis cross a physical (and apparently symbolic) bridge to a land where whores and beer (both of which are absolutely forbidden in Saudi Arabia) await them. And somehow this is completely acceptable.
I don't know what gives. But, who am I to judge? They just better not judge me.
The other weird paradox is the abuse of air conditioning. Don't get me wrong, it's hot. And humid. And you need air conditioning. But, for almost a week solid, I froze - in the seminar room, in the hotel, in cars. The A/C blasted out of every vent, conduit and building orifice at about 30 degrees. I was really glad to get back to Hamburg, where it was warm.
Also, given the abundance of ultra-cheap labor, you can get a custome-made suit for about 60 euro, which we did. It's pretty sweet, too. Cashmere-silk blend, nice jacket. The pants need some work, but for the price, hey! At first, David and I deliberated about the ethics of having some guy make us a suit for such an absurdely low price. But then, I realized this guy was making about ten times what he would normally get in the Calvin Klein factory. At least. And he can set his own hours. And we're not giving money to some corporation. At least, not that I could tell.
Anyway, Bahrain was an interesting place that I am glad I saw. As part of the traditional seminar excursion, we went to the Bahrain International Circuit - a Formula One race track. We all got to go inside the control station and the press boxes - a very cool insider's look. We also went to the brand-new Bahrain National Museum. One more quick story. This new museum got lots of money from UNESCO, representatives of which came to see the museum on opening day and were surprised to find the museum open only 4 hours each day because they couldn't find enough people to keep it open all day. See what I mean?!
Ok, next stop, (for me) - Botswana. I'll try to post again between now and then - we should have something fun to share with you!
Since the sun is shining and it's been like 80 for 2 weeks, of course, I love Hamburg!
But first (for planning purposes, because that's what Germans do best), a peek at the next six week's calendar:
South Africa (David)
Botswana (Leslie)
Slovenia (Leslie & David)
Trinidad & Tobago (David)
Besides the frequent flier miles we are racking up, we are also accumulating a heap of overtime because our job pays us for travel time. A trip to S. Africa is worth about 16 hours (one way). Just travel nearly gets us a week off on these big trips. The only bummer is we have no time for vacation. But, when life feels like a vacation, it's not such a big deal.
And now, a look back. First of all, the sun has been shining almost nonstop here in rainy-ass Hamburg. Or, I guess I should say - formerly rainy-ass Hamburg. The grass is even starting to turn brown. Did you get that? The grass is starting to turn brown. It's a little disorienting, not walking around in rainboots and constantly checking my bag for an umbrella, but I can get used to it.
A couple of weeks ago, our neighbor (and frequent Stella-watcher and Stella-friend), Inge invited us to her beach house for the weekend. I normally would be reserved about spending an entire weekend at a relatively remote location without a car and with someone I only casually know at their house. But, Inge is cool. She was a communist and still calls her good friends 'comrade'. She is also an artist. As it turns out, her very cute beach house is covered in her art, which is one part impressionist and one part kooky lady with a proclivity for flourescent pink. It works, especially in volume. She is the only person in her entire neighborhood without immaculately groomed grass. Instead, dandelions and other weeds grow wild, threatening the pristine lawns around them. Somehow, her status in the community allows her to get away with her unkempt yard - really a feat in hyper-orderly Germany.
Anyway, we spent a great weekend on the beach - walking, relaxing, drinking wine and watching Stella fetch tennis balls out of the Baltic sea.
Let's contrast this with the next beach experience - Bahrain. What an incredibly weird place. It is a tiny little island right off the east coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. The population is around 1 million people, many of whom are immigrant workers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Phillipines, and other relatively poor Asian countries. These immigrants effectively do all of the manual and service labor - all of it. You would never in a blue moon see a native Bahraini waiting tables, cleaning or even managing hotels or restaurants. Maybe a really swanky restaurant, but even then, a stretch.
Even professional positions are 'outsourced' - the engineers, bankers, doctors, professors, etc - all from the West. I'm not sure exactly what most native Bahrainis do during a typical day, other than shop at the competing malls that occupy an absurd amount of Bahraini real estate. Malls and desert - it's just about all that's on the island. Oh, and big, fancy hotels, which seems to be where everyone eats.
The country (and most of the region) is filled with odd paradoxes. For instance, most Bahraini women are extremely conservative in their dress, wearing black abayas that cover their entire bodies, head to foot and some variety of hair covering. The hair cover is also black and typically covers at least a woman's hair but may also cover part of or her entire face except for her eyes. Although, most women with only their eyes peaking out are Saudi Arabians who've driven across the 20km bridge to get their shop on.
Now to the paradox. We were in Bahrain from Saturday evening until Friday evening. Weekends in Bahrain and most Gulf countries are either Thursday and Friday or Friday and Saturday - the muslim holy day is Friday. I tell you this because we noticed a sharp change in the hotel clientelle starting Thursday evening. First of all, there were many more Saudi Arabians than other days during the week. You can tell because the men wear red and whited checked hair coverings and their wives show only their eyes. The other notable change were some pretty scantily dressed women milling about the hotel - in the elevators, in the lobby. These women absolutely stuck out under the circumstances - but the 5 inch heels and 3 inch skirts would have grabbed any Westerner's attention. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just think it's freaking weird that these uber-conservative Saudis cross a physical (and apparently symbolic) bridge to a land where whores and beer (both of which are absolutely forbidden in Saudi Arabia) await them. And somehow this is completely acceptable.
I don't know what gives. But, who am I to judge? They just better not judge me.
The other weird paradox is the abuse of air conditioning. Don't get me wrong, it's hot. And humid. And you need air conditioning. But, for almost a week solid, I froze - in the seminar room, in the hotel, in cars. The A/C blasted out of every vent, conduit and building orifice at about 30 degrees. I was really glad to get back to Hamburg, where it was warm.
Also, given the abundance of ultra-cheap labor, you can get a custome-made suit for about 60 euro, which we did. It's pretty sweet, too. Cashmere-silk blend, nice jacket. The pants need some work, but for the price, hey! At first, David and I deliberated about the ethics of having some guy make us a suit for such an absurdely low price. But then, I realized this guy was making about ten times what he would normally get in the Calvin Klein factory. At least. And he can set his own hours. And we're not giving money to some corporation. At least, not that I could tell.
Anyway, Bahrain was an interesting place that I am glad I saw. As part of the traditional seminar excursion, we went to the Bahrain International Circuit - a Formula One race track. We all got to go inside the control station and the press boxes - a very cool insider's look. We also went to the brand-new Bahrain National Museum. One more quick story. This new museum got lots of money from UNESCO, representatives of which came to see the museum on opening day and were surprised to find the museum open only 4 hours each day because they couldn't find enough people to keep it open all day. See what I mean?!
Ok, next stop, (for me) - Botswana. I'll try to post again between now and then - we should have something fun to share with you!
Since the sun is shining and it's been like 80 for 2 weeks, of course, I love Hamburg!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Catch-up
So, as seems to be the order of the day, I am lagging behind in Deutsch-updates. And, oh what a string of them I have for you in this installment.
Backing up just a couple of weeks, we recently spent a long weekend in Munich drinking enormous beers and eating enormous pretzels, both of which were delicious. It's funny, too, because there is a strong north-south tension between Hamburgians and Muncheners. I'm not quite sure what the fuss is about, but there seems to be a bit of snobbery on both sides and some monetary jealousy up north. I can't figure out what the Hamburg folks are crying about - this town is loaded. I understand some of the animosity, at least from Hamburg - a real liberal bastion. Munich is conservative, especially politically and they are really pushing for more work, less benefits and all the same crap that has been a mainstay of the American economy since the industrial revolution.
One area that Munich is absolutely not in the least tiny little bit conservative about is beer consumption. Those cats can put away the beer any time, any place. David and I were at a weekend market downtown and by 9:30 the place was filled with (obviously) locals getting their breakfast drink on. Beer is nutrition in Bavaria. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't think the neo-liberal labor approach is compatible with such a serious beer drinking schedule. I'm personally rooting for the beer drinkers in this battle - they clearly have a leg up.
Some of the definite highlights of the trip were
- Dachau concentration camp (really a lowlight - stark and sad)
- Munich biergartens. The one in the Englischergarten is particularly nice
- Neuschwanstein and Hoheschwangau Castles. The Neuschwanstein is what the Disney castle is modeled after and you can really tell. The setting was indescribably beautiful. Snowcapped mountains, cool mountain lake, dreamy castle with a waterfall in the background. Really worth a visit.
- The Residenz Museum. Formerly the home of the king and queen of Bavaria. A nicely done museum of royal life through the last few centuries.
Not worth it in Munich (at least as a couple)
- Hofbrauhaus (one of the Oktoberfest hotspots). It was sort of loud and moist when we were there and someone rifled through my bag when we were in a crowd. Thankfully all the crap I had crammed in it obscured my wallet and camera.
Ok. Totally different subject. In Hamburg we have some left-wing friends who are politically active, particularly against the far-right nationalist (read 'Nazi') party. On May Day (May 1), there was a demonstration in Hamburg. The details are thus: the nationalist party wanted to march in a working class neighborhood to celebrate May Day (usually recognized as Labor Day or Laborers Day). To counter this, the anti-fascists staged a counter-demonstration largely to protest the wanker Nazis and to actually celebrate May Day. As a side goal, a signficant effort of the demonstration was to disrupt the Nazi parade.
As it happens, we got the insider's guided tour to one of the most raucous demonstrations that has hit Germany in nearly two decades. The police, who were tasked with protecting Nazi assholes from getting attacked by the left demonstrators, were outnumbered on all sides and were obviously scared. I was just glad they don't carry guns. As it was, I saw way too many demonstrators getting the crap knocked out of them by hopped-up, nervous, baton-happy cops. It was really like something from the evening news. Or, oh, I don't know - YouTube (have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ALYMaPU8Og for Nazi car burning or the first minute of the news clips here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lp7Mn4P_A0).
We and folks we were with were nearly whacked by crazy, baton-wielding cops, but we had the sense to get out of the way of the rush when it happened. However, I saw a girl get knocked down as a line of a hundrded or so cops rushed past. A few of the cops stopped to beat on her a good bit before they moved on. A particularly disgusting show of force.
We also got to witness the aftermath of the anti-fascist's attack on the Nazi buses. All of the windows of the big tour buses were totally smashed, the buses were badly damaged and many of the cars the Nazis came in were set on fire. This we saw personally. I imagine the bus company will think twice before they agree to haul a bunch of neo-fascists to a demonstration.
It was really chaos and there was a feeling that these guys, the left-wing demonstrators had a big impact. Maybe even made a difference that day. In the neighborhood where the Nazis marched, a lot of the working class folks (ethnic minorities) living in the neighborhood also demonstrated with vigor - carrying anti-fascist flags and getting into the spirit of things. Something you don't see too often, largely out of caution. It was something pretty special and I am glad I got to see it. I felt proud of Hamburg and the anti-fascist movement. It's sad that we need an anti-fascist movement in Germany after everything that happened here. But, I'm glad that there is one.
Of course, after all this excitement, I still love Hamburg. Here is my favorite photo of the day:
Backing up just a couple of weeks, we recently spent a long weekend in Munich drinking enormous beers and eating enormous pretzels, both of which were delicious. It's funny, too, because there is a strong north-south tension between Hamburgians and Muncheners. I'm not quite sure what the fuss is about, but there seems to be a bit of snobbery on both sides and some monetary jealousy up north. I can't figure out what the Hamburg folks are crying about - this town is loaded. I understand some of the animosity, at least from Hamburg - a real liberal bastion. Munich is conservative, especially politically and they are really pushing for more work, less benefits and all the same crap that has been a mainstay of the American economy since the industrial revolution.
One area that Munich is absolutely not in the least tiny little bit conservative about is beer consumption. Those cats can put away the beer any time, any place. David and I were at a weekend market downtown and by 9:30 the place was filled with (obviously) locals getting their breakfast drink on. Beer is nutrition in Bavaria. Not that I'm complaining, I just don't think the neo-liberal labor approach is compatible with such a serious beer drinking schedule. I'm personally rooting for the beer drinkers in this battle - they clearly have a leg up.
Some of the definite highlights of the trip were
- Dachau concentration camp (really a lowlight - stark and sad)
- Munich biergartens. The one in the Englischergarten is particularly nice
- Neuschwanstein and Hoheschwangau Castles. The Neuschwanstein is what the Disney castle is modeled after and you can really tell. The setting was indescribably beautiful. Snowcapped mountains, cool mountain lake, dreamy castle with a waterfall in the background. Really worth a visit.
- The Residenz Museum. Formerly the home of the king and queen of Bavaria. A nicely done museum of royal life through the last few centuries.
Not worth it in Munich (at least as a couple)
- Hofbrauhaus (one of the Oktoberfest hotspots). It was sort of loud and moist when we were there and someone rifled through my bag when we were in a crowd. Thankfully all the crap I had crammed in it obscured my wallet and camera.
Ok. Totally different subject. In Hamburg we have some left-wing friends who are politically active, particularly against the far-right nationalist (read 'Nazi') party. On May Day (May 1), there was a demonstration in Hamburg. The details are thus: the nationalist party wanted to march in a working class neighborhood to celebrate May Day (usually recognized as Labor Day or Laborers Day). To counter this, the anti-fascists staged a counter-demonstration largely to protest the wanker Nazis and to actually celebrate May Day. As a side goal, a signficant effort of the demonstration was to disrupt the Nazi parade.
As it happens, we got the insider's guided tour to one of the most raucous demonstrations that has hit Germany in nearly two decades. The police, who were tasked with protecting Nazi assholes from getting attacked by the left demonstrators, were outnumbered on all sides and were obviously scared. I was just glad they don't carry guns. As it was, I saw way too many demonstrators getting the crap knocked out of them by hopped-up, nervous, baton-happy cops. It was really like something from the evening news. Or, oh, I don't know - YouTube (have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ALYMaPU8Og for Nazi car burning or the first minute of the news clips here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lp7Mn4P_A0).
We and folks we were with were nearly whacked by crazy, baton-wielding cops, but we had the sense to get out of the way of the rush when it happened. However, I saw a girl get knocked down as a line of a hundrded or so cops rushed past. A few of the cops stopped to beat on her a good bit before they moved on. A particularly disgusting show of force.
We also got to witness the aftermath of the anti-fascist's attack on the Nazi buses. All of the windows of the big tour buses were totally smashed, the buses were badly damaged and many of the cars the Nazis came in were set on fire. This we saw personally. I imagine the bus company will think twice before they agree to haul a bunch of neo-fascists to a demonstration.
It was really chaos and there was a feeling that these guys, the left-wing demonstrators had a big impact. Maybe even made a difference that day. In the neighborhood where the Nazis marched, a lot of the working class folks (ethnic minorities) living in the neighborhood also demonstrated with vigor - carrying anti-fascist flags and getting into the spirit of things. Something you don't see too often, largely out of caution. It was something pretty special and I am glad I got to see it. I felt proud of Hamburg and the anti-fascist movement. It's sad that we need an anti-fascist movement in Germany after everything that happened here. But, I'm glad that there is one.
Of course, after all this excitement, I still love Hamburg. Here is my favorite photo of the day:
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Whew...
Living in the fast lane can really take a lot of effort, it seems. A friend of ours asked us if we wanted to have dinner some weekend soon. I told her we'd be gone next weekend and besides the weekend after that, we'll have to shoot for mid-July. Huh? July? Really? It's mid-April. There are a couple of trips that are not so firm, but yeah, July. You maybe can't tell, but I have a really big smile right now. Who'da thought?
David is freshly back from South Africa and this weekend, we are heading to Munich for three days of castle exploring and bier trinken - woohoo. David is slightly less than enthused. He thinks Bavaria is completely cheesy - coo coo clocks, sausage & lederhosen. Oh, and oompah bands. I have the same impression, but I want to see it anyway. It's the Germany that every American imagines, sauerbraten and all. After this excursion, I think we are pretty much done with touring Germany. There is just too much other stuff to look at in Europe. And my list keeps getting longer while free time keeps getting shorter. I maybe need to quit my day job.
What else? Our Deutsch is slowly improving. I've implemented a number of methods - Rosetta Stone CDs, formal classes and Pimsleur 'Learn German' on my MP3 player. I figure if I bombard myself, some of it just has to sink in. I am hopeful that at least my comprehension will improve. I'm not so sure about speaking - my accent is awful. At least that's what all the Germans say. But that's how they roll - it's nothing personal. At least they like dogs. And beer.
Although, it seems that public beer drinking may be on the decline here in beer-loving Deutschland. One of the big party districts in Hamburg recently made it illegal to consume alcohol on the streets, which is nearly religion in that neighborhood. I also read that some podunk town outlawed public drinking after 5pm and on weekends. It's perfectly ok to get shitty in public on, say, Monday at 8am, however. Thank god.
So, that's about it. Stella is well and she still hangs out with her very good friend, Inge. They recently spent 10 days together at the beach. Man, that dog lives the life, I tell you.
While I love all the travel, of course, I still love coming home to Hamburg!
David is freshly back from South Africa and this weekend, we are heading to Munich for three days of castle exploring and bier trinken - woohoo. David is slightly less than enthused. He thinks Bavaria is completely cheesy - coo coo clocks, sausage & lederhosen. Oh, and oompah bands. I have the same impression, but I want to see it anyway. It's the Germany that every American imagines, sauerbraten and all. After this excursion, I think we are pretty much done with touring Germany. There is just too much other stuff to look at in Europe. And my list keeps getting longer while free time keeps getting shorter. I maybe need to quit my day job.
What else? Our Deutsch is slowly improving. I've implemented a number of methods - Rosetta Stone CDs, formal classes and Pimsleur 'Learn German' on my MP3 player. I figure if I bombard myself, some of it just has to sink in. I am hopeful that at least my comprehension will improve. I'm not so sure about speaking - my accent is awful. At least that's what all the Germans say. But that's how they roll - it's nothing personal. At least they like dogs. And beer.
Although, it seems that public beer drinking may be on the decline here in beer-loving Deutschland. One of the big party districts in Hamburg recently made it illegal to consume alcohol on the streets, which is nearly religion in that neighborhood. I also read that some podunk town outlawed public drinking after 5pm and on weekends. It's perfectly ok to get shitty in public on, say, Monday at 8am, however. Thank god.
So, that's about it. Stella is well and she still hangs out with her very good friend, Inge. They recently spent 10 days together at the beach. Man, that dog lives the life, I tell you.
While I love all the travel, of course, I still love coming home to Hamburg!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Freezin' & Schlagin'
On Sunday, we went to a professional ice hockey game. I didn't even know there was such a thing. At least not in Germany. But there is. The Hamburg team is called the Freezers. Really dumb name. Their logo is a guy with a hockey mask and a blue face. Even dumber logo.
Exhibit A:
The game was fun, though. It was more of a performance, at least at the beginning and end. There was a light show, some guy rapelling onto the ice, an artificially made authentic snowstorm, lots of lyrical chanting and big flags being waved around. I have never seen a N. American hockey game in person, so I have no basis for comparison, but it seemed pretty fancy. I was happy there were nachos and the beer prices were fair (3 and change for 1/2 liter).
I thought it was interesting that there were many U.S. and Canadian players on both teams. I guess it's like football & basketball: Europe seems to be a place to put young so-so athletes to see if they can make something of themselves. Since we've been here we've met a semi-professional field hockey player (again, didn't know there was such a thing) and a semi-pro football player, who was very large in person. Go figure. But they seemed to be on the same so-so athlete circuit, trying to get somewhere. I can't figure out if I should feel bad for them because they aren't in the big time or feel really happy for them because they get to make money doing what they love.
Enough athletics talk (next thing you know, I'll be talking about the weather, which totally sucks lately, by the way).
The other thing in our life lately is the newly revived German tradition of Schlager music. It's god-awful, sappy, cheesy, mostly love music along the lines of Michael Bolton, but with less talent and really terrible videos featuring low-budget computer animation. I'm talking pastel hearts bouncing around in random fashion behind the singer(s). David loves Schlager and watches it every chance he gets. There is a cable channel dedicated to the topic, so he gets the chance a lot.
David has identified three clear generations of schlager: I, II, & III. 1st generations Schlager is usually one person lip synching on a stage (either live or studio). One clear feature of 1st generation is that the singer is fixed in one spot. Is this a camera/technology issue? Not sure, but they stay put. Arms are free to gesticulate at will and a certain amount of swaying is permitted, but that's about it.
2nd generation allows some movement around the crowd, who, by the way, are usually clapping to the music with straight faces while swilling beer.
3rd generation Schlager blows the doors off. These are full blown music videos. Often the set is in a remote location, like Mallorca (a huge German tourist destination in Spain). The singers are often single guys, a guy (with a first and last name) accompanied by a much younger girl (with only a first name) or possibly two sisters (one blond, one brunette). Occassional deviations from these combinations are permitted, although not with any regularity.
This is art people, not to be trifled with. Annually, Schlager-loyalists descend on Hamburg for one day in June to partake in an outrageous parade called the Schlager Move. Everyone dresses in dayglo leisure suits and sways to the intoxicating beat. It's an event David intends NOT to miss. Be sure.
Here's a sample of some typical, particularly awful Schlager for interested parties:
Old school:
A bit more modern:
Nice, huh?
Even though Germany is home to Schlager, I still love Hamburg.
Exhibit A:
The game was fun, though. It was more of a performance, at least at the beginning and end. There was a light show, some guy rapelling onto the ice, an artificially made authentic snowstorm, lots of lyrical chanting and big flags being waved around. I have never seen a N. American hockey game in person, so I have no basis for comparison, but it seemed pretty fancy. I was happy there were nachos and the beer prices were fair (3 and change for 1/2 liter).
I thought it was interesting that there were many U.S. and Canadian players on both teams. I guess it's like football & basketball: Europe seems to be a place to put young so-so athletes to see if they can make something of themselves. Since we've been here we've met a semi-professional field hockey player (again, didn't know there was such a thing) and a semi-pro football player, who was very large in person. Go figure. But they seemed to be on the same so-so athlete circuit, trying to get somewhere. I can't figure out if I should feel bad for them because they aren't in the big time or feel really happy for them because they get to make money doing what they love.
Enough athletics talk (next thing you know, I'll be talking about the weather, which totally sucks lately, by the way).
The other thing in our life lately is the newly revived German tradition of Schlager music. It's god-awful, sappy, cheesy, mostly love music along the lines of Michael Bolton, but with less talent and really terrible videos featuring low-budget computer animation. I'm talking pastel hearts bouncing around in random fashion behind the singer(s). David loves Schlager and watches it every chance he gets. There is a cable channel dedicated to the topic, so he gets the chance a lot.
David has identified three clear generations of schlager: I, II, & III. 1st generations Schlager is usually one person lip synching on a stage (either live or studio). One clear feature of 1st generation is that the singer is fixed in one spot. Is this a camera/technology issue? Not sure, but they stay put. Arms are free to gesticulate at will and a certain amount of swaying is permitted, but that's about it.
2nd generation allows some movement around the crowd, who, by the way, are usually clapping to the music with straight faces while swilling beer.
3rd generation Schlager blows the doors off. These are full blown music videos. Often the set is in a remote location, like Mallorca (a huge German tourist destination in Spain). The singers are often single guys, a guy (with a first and last name) accompanied by a much younger girl (with only a first name) or possibly two sisters (one blond, one brunette). Occassional deviations from these combinations are permitted, although not with any regularity.
This is art people, not to be trifled with. Annually, Schlager-loyalists descend on Hamburg for one day in June to partake in an outrageous parade called the Schlager Move. Everyone dresses in dayglo leisure suits and sways to the intoxicating beat. It's an event David intends NOT to miss. Be sure.
Here's a sample of some typical, particularly awful Schlager for interested parties:
Old school:
A bit more modern:
Nice, huh?
Even though Germany is home to Schlager, I still love Hamburg.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Madrid, Denmark and more!
I realize I've gotten increasingly sporadic with blog posts - down to about once a month. For my modest readership, this may be a relief/disappointment/completely irrelevant. For my own personal sense of continuity, I feel obligated. So, onward we go.
We've been traveling heaps this year, already. In addition to a winter tour of northern Germany and Egypt (see earlier post), we've also been to Madrid, Spain and this weekend we spent several days at a beach house in Denmark. As Gina says, it's a 'pinch me' moment for sure.
Madrid was for work, which I am mixed about. I mean, I love it. Don't get me wrong. It is just so damn cool; however, I don't get to see much. The routine is usually arrive Sunday afternoon and prepare for work. The week is fairly busy and we are largely confined to the hotel until about 6 or 7. So, we go to dinner and then pretty much call it a night. But the break from routine is really nice - I like it. And there is always time to sqeeze in a grocery store tour (my top 5 favorite thing to do in a foreign country).
Anyway, Madrid is downright opposed to catering to any sort of dietary anomolies. I got mushrooms (with ham), roasted red peppers (with fish). Even the seemingly safe salad came with a big scoop of tuna on it. Empanadas labled as 'vegetarian' featured fish. I guess it's all relative. Another part of the usual travel routine is that a couple of cultural activities are scheduled - often historical, usually very cool. In Cairo we toured the pyramids, in Madrid we went to the Prado museum and then dinner. The museum was great and so was the dinner - lots of tapas, wine and (for the meat eaters) about half a cow followed by delightful cake.
This week, we took a couple of days off work and headed north to Denmark. Our friends rented a house on the west coast of Denmark (Rinkobing, to be precise - although in the interest of full disclosure, the 'o' should have a little diagonal line that doesn't figure in on my keyboard but still manages to imperceptibly change the pronunciation). All told, there were 10 of us - 9 adults and one 9 year old girl that was completely crazy about Stella. The reverse is a little less clear, but Stella tolerated her well.
We had a really nice time with everybody. We all took turns making dinners and breakfasts. Of course, there was lots of beer drinking and relaxing. Stella sort of capped the event by maiming a seagull on the beach. David and I were walking with Lilith, the girl, on the beach when we saw Stella pouncing on something at the water's edge. So as to minimize the emotional impact on the kid, I fished the bird out of a very rough sea just as it was about to give up the ghost. In thanks, it bit me. Damn. I was really hoping it was bird-flu-free.
We gathered it had a broken wing. Thanks, Stella. And David and I just weren't sure what to do. So we hauled it back to the house to fret there. The whole time we were anxious about what to do in large part because we thought Lilith might freak out. As it happens, she pretty much forgot about it as soon as she told her mom and went inside to color. Given that we were in another country and didn't speak the language and the contact number for the house was going unanswered, David and I decided to put the bird out of his misery. Ugh.
The bird-indicdent behind us (but not forgotten), we took advantage of the jacuzzi and sauna. Man, I love Denmark. Even the stores were nicer - all of the products were somehow shinier, neater, cleaner. Albeit, more expensive. The houses were tidier, even than Germany, which is no mean feat. I guess in a country with a few million people and outrageous taxes, everything just should look nice.
Next on the travel agenda is NY (for both David and I) followed by S. Africa (just David). There are other trips in the pipeline, but I'll save that for posts closer to the event. For the near future, we are in Hamburg and I'll be more regular keeping friends and family abreast, whether you like it or not.
Even though there are no saunas, I still love Hamburg.
We've been traveling heaps this year, already. In addition to a winter tour of northern Germany and Egypt (see earlier post), we've also been to Madrid, Spain and this weekend we spent several days at a beach house in Denmark. As Gina says, it's a 'pinch me' moment for sure.
Madrid was for work, which I am mixed about. I mean, I love it. Don't get me wrong. It is just so damn cool; however, I don't get to see much. The routine is usually arrive Sunday afternoon and prepare for work. The week is fairly busy and we are largely confined to the hotel until about 6 or 7. So, we go to dinner and then pretty much call it a night. But the break from routine is really nice - I like it. And there is always time to sqeeze in a grocery store tour (my top 5 favorite thing to do in a foreign country).
Anyway, Madrid is downright opposed to catering to any sort of dietary anomolies. I got mushrooms (with ham), roasted red peppers (with fish). Even the seemingly safe salad came with a big scoop of tuna on it. Empanadas labled as 'vegetarian' featured fish. I guess it's all relative. Another part of the usual travel routine is that a couple of cultural activities are scheduled - often historical, usually very cool. In Cairo we toured the pyramids, in Madrid we went to the Prado museum and then dinner. The museum was great and so was the dinner - lots of tapas, wine and (for the meat eaters) about half a cow followed by delightful cake.
This week, we took a couple of days off work and headed north to Denmark. Our friends rented a house on the west coast of Denmark (Rinkobing, to be precise - although in the interest of full disclosure, the 'o' should have a little diagonal line that doesn't figure in on my keyboard but still manages to imperceptibly change the pronunciation). All told, there were 10 of us - 9 adults and one 9 year old girl that was completely crazy about Stella. The reverse is a little less clear, but Stella tolerated her well.
We had a really nice time with everybody. We all took turns making dinners and breakfasts. Of course, there was lots of beer drinking and relaxing. Stella sort of capped the event by maiming a seagull on the beach. David and I were walking with Lilith, the girl, on the beach when we saw Stella pouncing on something at the water's edge. So as to minimize the emotional impact on the kid, I fished the bird out of a very rough sea just as it was about to give up the ghost. In thanks, it bit me. Damn. I was really hoping it was bird-flu-free.
We gathered it had a broken wing. Thanks, Stella. And David and I just weren't sure what to do. So we hauled it back to the house to fret there. The whole time we were anxious about what to do in large part because we thought Lilith might freak out. As it happens, she pretty much forgot about it as soon as she told her mom and went inside to color. Given that we were in another country and didn't speak the language and the contact number for the house was going unanswered, David and I decided to put the bird out of his misery. Ugh.
The bird-indicdent behind us (but not forgotten), we took advantage of the jacuzzi and sauna. Man, I love Denmark. Even the stores were nicer - all of the products were somehow shinier, neater, cleaner. Albeit, more expensive. The houses were tidier, even than Germany, which is no mean feat. I guess in a country with a few million people and outrageous taxes, everything just should look nice.
Next on the travel agenda is NY (for both David and I) followed by S. Africa (just David). There are other trips in the pipeline, but I'll save that for posts closer to the event. For the near future, we are in Hamburg and I'll be more regular keeping friends and family abreast, whether you like it or not.
Even though there are no saunas, I still love Hamburg.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Where's Waldo? Or how I got back in the blogosphere
I am back, faithful reader, after a short respite. The visit with David's family was a smasing success - we visited much of northern Germany and we capped the visit with NY Eve in Berlin. Wow. So much fun. There was downhill tubing, Christmas tree theft, lots of sneaky leaks and of course, much beer. I would definitely recommend it to a friend.
We went back to work for about 1 week and then started the whole vacation process again. This time in Egypt. We spent a week in Cairo, mostly for work. Cairo is completely crazy. And fascinating. It is so polluted, crowded and absolutely overwhelming, I have no words. Other than those I just typed.
They pyramids were great. Much better than I ever expected. So amazing and 5000 years old. Sheesh.
Then it was off to the Sinai peninsula for snorkeling, hanging out with Bedouins (not such an authentic experience) and hoofing on sheeshas over coffee. Nice. We climbed Mt. Sinai and saw where Moses is supposed to have received the holy commandments. Regardless of the truth of the matter, the place had energy - it was desolate and beautiful. We also saw the burning bush at St. Katherine's monastary. The bush, of course, dates to BC. The monastary, 300 AD. That's old.
We spent a horrible overnight mini-bus ride to get back to Cairo and stayed in a dumpy hostel - blech. After we spent an entire afternoon at the Egyptian museum of antiquities (more old stuff), we decided we needed to escape Cairo again.
So, off to Alexandria. It was really special. People were so friendly and genuinely interested and curious, not just trying to swindle tourist dollars. Alexandria has an amazing state-of-the-art library and more old stuff (of course). We saw catacombs dating to ~100 BC, an old Roman theater and Pompei's pillar - all very cool. We also stopped into a McDonalds and now David has sworn to visit Mickey Ds in every country we visit, it was such an odd sociological microcosm of culture and Egyptianess. There is something about being if completely familiar, standardized surroundings yet be surrounded by the absolutely unfamiliar and exotic. I would also recommend it to a friend.
Then it was back to Cairo for yet more old stuff and a sneaky swindler who posed as a guy on vacation who just so happened to be going to the bizarre, too! He was canny, but knew WAY too much about Cairo to be just visiting. And, wouldn't you know it, he just happened to have a cousin with a perfume shop at the bizarre. It took a bit, but we managed to give him the slip. Egypt is so weird with that stuff. The whole of the country is essentially violent crime free. There are occassionally pick-pockets and that is about the extent of it. But! It's a whole other ball game if the would-be crook can get you to believe his lies. That's different and not wrong. Once you acquiesce, you are fair game. I guess it beats clutching your bag for dear life, but it's still annoying.
We also visited Coptic Cairo - a district of Cairo populated with Coptic Christians (a really old Christian schism, related to the Catholic Church). Lot's of old churches there and a nice museum of Coptic and other Christian history in Egypt.
Our final night we went the most amazing whirling dervish show. It was in an old merchant hostel. Really old. Like 1200 years old, old. There was a large courtyard where the dervishes whirled and played for an hour and a half - it was great. And free, which made for an interesting entry process - a semi-violent free for all to get in the front door. Humanity is just so sad, sometimes. But the dervishes, they are just so happy doing all that whirling. The guys look like they are in a state of ecstasy. It inspires envy, to be sure.
So, that's it. Sorry for the disjointed post, I wanted to get it all in without writing a novel. And I feel I did not do justice to the Christmas break, which was wonderful, too. So little to say, so much time. Strike that. Reverse it.
It's so nice to be back in clean, not so crowded, unpolluted, orderly Hamburg. So, of course. I still love Hamburg.
We went back to work for about 1 week and then started the whole vacation process again. This time in Egypt. We spent a week in Cairo, mostly for work. Cairo is completely crazy. And fascinating. It is so polluted, crowded and absolutely overwhelming, I have no words. Other than those I just typed.
They pyramids were great. Much better than I ever expected. So amazing and 5000 years old. Sheesh.
Then it was off to the Sinai peninsula for snorkeling, hanging out with Bedouins (not such an authentic experience) and hoofing on sheeshas over coffee. Nice. We climbed Mt. Sinai and saw where Moses is supposed to have received the holy commandments. Regardless of the truth of the matter, the place had energy - it was desolate and beautiful. We also saw the burning bush at St. Katherine's monastary. The bush, of course, dates to BC. The monastary, 300 AD. That's old.
We spent a horrible overnight mini-bus ride to get back to Cairo and stayed in a dumpy hostel - blech. After we spent an entire afternoon at the Egyptian museum of antiquities (more old stuff), we decided we needed to escape Cairo again.
So, off to Alexandria. It was really special. People were so friendly and genuinely interested and curious, not just trying to swindle tourist dollars. Alexandria has an amazing state-of-the-art library and more old stuff (of course). We saw catacombs dating to ~100 BC, an old Roman theater and Pompei's pillar - all very cool. We also stopped into a McDonalds and now David has sworn to visit Mickey Ds in every country we visit, it was such an odd sociological microcosm of culture and Egyptianess. There is something about being if completely familiar, standardized surroundings yet be surrounded by the absolutely unfamiliar and exotic. I would also recommend it to a friend.
Then it was back to Cairo for yet more old stuff and a sneaky swindler who posed as a guy on vacation who just so happened to be going to the bizarre, too! He was canny, but knew WAY too much about Cairo to be just visiting. And, wouldn't you know it, he just happened to have a cousin with a perfume shop at the bizarre. It took a bit, but we managed to give him the slip. Egypt is so weird with that stuff. The whole of the country is essentially violent crime free. There are occassionally pick-pockets and that is about the extent of it. But! It's a whole other ball game if the would-be crook can get you to believe his lies. That's different and not wrong. Once you acquiesce, you are fair game. I guess it beats clutching your bag for dear life, but it's still annoying.
We also visited Coptic Cairo - a district of Cairo populated with Coptic Christians (a really old Christian schism, related to the Catholic Church). Lot's of old churches there and a nice museum of Coptic and other Christian history in Egypt.
Our final night we went the most amazing whirling dervish show. It was in an old merchant hostel. Really old. Like 1200 years old, old. There was a large courtyard where the dervishes whirled and played for an hour and a half - it was great. And free, which made for an interesting entry process - a semi-violent free for all to get in the front door. Humanity is just so sad, sometimes. But the dervishes, they are just so happy doing all that whirling. The guys look like they are in a state of ecstasy. It inspires envy, to be sure.
So, that's it. Sorry for the disjointed post, I wanted to get it all in without writing a novel. And I feel I did not do justice to the Christmas break, which was wonderful, too. So little to say, so much time. Strike that. Reverse it.
It's so nice to be back in clean, not so crowded, unpolluted, orderly Hamburg. So, of course. I still love Hamburg.
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