India - Delhi

I've just returned from the trip to India and Nepal.

It was definitely the most culturally unique trip I've taken in the past year and is a bit difficult to describe. It's not as easy to say "I loved it," as there were so many things we did (from rides on a rickshaw, to an elephant to a mountain flight) and so many sensory experiences (from the food, to the heat, to the colors...) I did love it and am so glad we went.

I took a ton of pictures - and think they show the best of the trip.


I arrived into Delhi and had the day to myself as Lauri and the rest of the tour were not arriving until that evening. It was my first lesson in 'being a woman traveling alone' - as I left the hotel and was immediately confronted with all sorts of people who wanted to show me a shopping center, provide directions, walk next to me, or give me a ride in their taxi. (Taxi's would pull over on the street and yell at me "hey - I'll take you where you need to go.)


I had a quiet dinner and was happy to join the group. Our highlights from Delhi were:

-the Red Fort
-traveling in the a rickshaw through the old town where we were hit with water balloons from people celebrating the Holi festival
-Visits to the Jama Masjid (largest mosque) and humayun's tomb
-A luxurious dinner at the Imperial Hotel's Spice Route
Lauri and I enjoyed champagne and went over the highlights of the day. We couldn't believe that so much had happened in only 24 hours and relished in some good food and air conditioned bliss.


All of the pictures from Delhi are here.

Agra, Jaipur and Katmandu to follow (there are a lot of pictures =)

Israel - trip #3 of '08 - St Patrick's & The Dead Sea

from sea level (above...quickly captured from the taxi) to 417 meters below

So this trip I wanted to try to see something new & different... and when I found out that the Dead Sea was just another 45-50 minutes east from Jerusalem, and that we had 2 meetings in Jerusalem, it jut made sense to go and float. It is the lowest point (on dry land) on earth (see photo above), and keeps on getting lower because of evaporation and the fact that the source of the Sea (the Jordan River) is largely diverted for drinking and irrigation needs...and that they've had several very dry years now.

In this photo you can see what used to be the water's edge - by the lifeguard hut, showers, and umbrellas, and how they have had to extend the facilities to keep up with the retreating shoreline:

Dead Sea 'rules':

it is impossible to not float...

It is such a unique sensation... you wade in for a bit, and then just kind of lean back and your feet rush to the surface... and that's it. Despite warnings of what happens if you swallow the water or get it in your eyes, after 10 minutes or so I had to try to dive under.... you can't.

I tried, and when I resurfaced (meaning when I brought my head back out) there were several people laughing at my legs flailing away as I tried to go under... lesson learned. and then it dripped in my right eye... lesson 2 quickly came on the heels of one. It stung (and tasted wickedly salty/bitter).

There was also a mud pit nearby - and a pack of eastern european tourists who had put it literally all over their bodies and were just standing around or sitting in the sun, letting the mud do what it does... (as evidenced above - I tried it a bit... figuring, when at the Dead Sea, do as the Russians do...)

So I floated around for a while - both in normal 'sitting' position - and also tried out 'the superman' pose (see the photo page link here or at the bottom) - one unique fact that you might not find in your guidebook: your fingers do not prune up - even if you've been in there for 40-45 minutes like I was...and my fingers prune with the best of 'em.

It was super quiet and still - and overall a very good, interesting, and unique experience.

- and then we decided to go try out the sulphur hot spring - where you are given the opportunity to smear more stuff that you find on the ground - this time a kind of whiteish/grey substance... on your face.
(where else do you just pick up stuff from the ground and rub it on yourself? - kind of odd)


The skies were still a bit dusty because of south eastern winds over the desert - so while we were not able to even see Jordan across the Sea, it still created some very interesting scenes...
and back to the other 'bits' from the trip - this is a cafe in a town called Zichron Yakov - where one of my clients prefers to meet instead of at their offices. We flew in to Tel Aviv on the overnight flight, checked in at the hotel, showered, and then headed north to have this breakfast meeting. It is a good little spot, owned by one of the wineries in the area, and has free wifi - so why not meet and sit outside in the sun? A very unique first meeting in Israel for my colleague.

St Patrick's Day is very much celebrated in Israel - and I knew of an Irish Pub called Molly Bloom's that I had seen from the taxi many times while driving down the road that runs parallel to the beach in Tel Aviv (bonus points to anyone that knows the literary reference).

Here is a view from inside
and the exterior scene - and as it got later, more and more people kept showing up.
There were not all that many tourists there, which was interesting, and we ended up meeting a group of younger locals that, as most people in Israel are, were interested in why we were there, how we found their country, where we were going, and what the 'external world's' perception was of Israel. Most people there are very warm and welcoming - and really take pride in their country and want to make sure that they share the best parts with visitors - and are painfully aware of what most people see on TV...
It was a fun night out - and a very unique place to celebrate St Paddy's... - also - I was recognised! One of my clients was there and was texting me from across the street - but with so many people there we never met up.

photo page

The Nigerian High Consulate

I went to get a visa recently as I am due to travel to Lagos...not really knowing what to expect because I really could not figure out much beyond the fact that it was going to cost me £50... seriously - you tell me what is going on either here or here - both of which give us a nice flashback in time on web design.

So - because I do not like to delegate stuff like this to our travel help people... I decided to go it on my own - and just went to the embassy on a nice Friday morning:

They apparently open the doors from 9-12, and then shut to take care of everyone that has shown up that morning. When I arrived and told someone why I was there, I was told to go downstairs, turn left, take a number, and wait for it to be called....sounded easy.

But - when I got downstairs there were a ton of people...and I did not see any tickets...so I looked around for a bit before I saw a deli style dispenser strapped to the wall - so I took a green ticket. I then turned around and saw another dispenser...so I took a white ticket. hmmm.

The line I was waiting for was already on number 83, and my white ticket (this was the correct one) was number 61...which meant I was going to be there for a very long time, as the numbers go up until 99, and then roll to 00, 01...

I asked a few more questions, hung around at the front for a bit until we were all collectively admonished to sit down and wait or else the numbers would never change... so we sat.

The scene was a bit chaotic as no one really knew the process, nor did they know which colour (ugh - I'll never like that spelling) ticket to take, or which desk they were waiting for... I had helped a guy out earlier who had arrived after me, and he waved me over to a free seat next to him (there were not many) - and this was my view:


A few 'tense moments' broke out when various individuals felt like voicing their opinions on the process, the officials, or expressed displeasure over perceived line jumping or other injustices, or wanted to take the rules of the house into their own hands to get people to sit down, out of a particular queue, etc. During one of these moments I had gone up front again (yes - I might have been part of the problem one time) - and a guy was so fed up that he threw his ticket on the floor and stormed out of the room. I saw the ticket sitting there, calmly retrieved it, and went back to my seat. --- It was number 02! super jackpot. the golden ticket! (the guy never came back - so I did not feel bad for advancing 59 spots - and then I did the right thing by giving my friend there my previous ticket, which leapfrogged him up 14 spots).

So - what you do is you wait for your number, go up, show your passport, your application, your introduction letter, pay your £50, and then sit down again and wait for your number to be called again (nowhere in the room are there any instructions).
Then, after what seems like an interminable amount of time (there is no countdown screen for this process...you just wait) you get called up again, and you submit it all to another person, along with a photo, and they ask you a few questions, and then take your passport and tell you to come back in 48 hours to get your visa.... wait. this was Friday, and I had a flight to Tel Aviv on Saturday night... and the woman behind the glass did not care.

It felt like a Seinfeld episode...
"Next! number 03"
me:wait - I'm travelling tomorrow
"Next! number 03!"
me:I need my passport
"You cannot have it - it takes 48 hours -come back Tuesday"
me:I can't - I'm going to be in Israel on Tuesday, and I need that passport to get there (it was just sitting there, on a stack of 20 or so others, behind an inch of glass/plastic)
"No, it has to stay here - number 03!"
me:no, it cannot stay here - I need it...

This went on for a bit until a guy came over behind the glass to see what was up... he asked if I wanted to rescind my application, and I said yes, if that was going to get me my passport back - I then formally rescind my application.

Then the original guy that had processed my application and £50 came over and asked what was going on...he then took my passport, application, etc and motioned to me to go back to his station where I after some behind the glass deliberation I was told that for another £20 they'd hold my application until I was able to come back in.

It took me about .8 seconds to agree that this £20 was well worth not having to go through the ticket ordeal again... so I left, and enjoyed talking about the experience for the rest of the day - I thoroughly enjoyed myself down in that room (except for the near fight parts and the time I got yelled at for videoing it (even though others were too)) - and I'm not going to post that here... just in case... and I think that ticket fortune saved me maybe two hours.


so I am going back tomorrow to continue the process.

Belsize Park

While we've not yet been here for much time - I did get to see some interesting weather recently before my last trip... so just to give a feel of 'where we are now': (click any photo to enlarge)

across the street to the left

across the street to the right

a bit more to the right - down the road

directly across

small storms blew through one after another

'The City' (financial district) illuminated in the distance

the BT Tower in the distance

What's in the free papers?

A couple of good ones since I've been back... I see the Metro in the morning, and The London Paper on the way back to our flat at night... there are others (the ubiquitous people in their yellow 'slickers' with their siren song of 'free London Lite' and 'City A.M.' (which is the cliff's note version of the FT) but I brush pass them as my new enviro kick is to only read them if they've been left behind on the Tube... they each distribute north of 210,000 a day - so there is a good chance of getting one second hand.

Anyway - No 1. is Smurf off: (click any of the pictures for a 'full view')

No 2. might be my new top place... I've not had a hair cut since mid October... (for photographic evidence of this... see below from France a few weeks ago) - so I may start visiting:

with my new 'approaching mullet' action: this does not quite do it justice...

(UPDATE: the 5 month hold out is over - had a haircut just hours before my flight to tel aviv..... it had become 'enough'.)

and No 3. is the weather -- the sunniest winter ever... not funny or odd - just showing that it doesn't rain here all the time (just every day this week...):

Spring...Again!

It's that time again!

Last year the flowering trees and abundance of daffodils, crocus and tulips amazed me. They are all over the city again, and our neighbor is even celebrating the new season with a front yard, (can you call it that when it's tiny - I guess front square is a better description) filled with flowers.

Catching Up.

Life has gotten the best of me lately - with back-to-back travels and our move- I am just starting to catch up with TJ and now we're both off again.

I leave for India and Nepal on today for 12 days with Lauri - he left for Israel again on Saturday and then we're home for 2 days together before TJ leaves for another week....so I'll try to post as much as possible before we leave again.


Here are some good pictures from John and Lisa's visit with us. They came for a few days and we had such fun with them eating our last good pub dinner for awhile at the Anglesea Arms, watching as much of the Super Bowl as we could before midnight and sleepy-ness hit, went for a walk around Parliment, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and St. James Park, and a fantastic dinner at Wagamama!

Israel - trip #2 of '08

(I just thought this was funny while stuck in traffic by Herzlyia - OIPH instead of IHOP)

Just a few weeks later and I was back again ... this time to introduce another colleague who focuses on a different set of services to clients there. He'd been to the middle east before (Dubai) - but had never been to Israel - and at the end he said that he liked it much more than Dubai because it had a similar beach/Mediterranean atmosphere - but that it also looked and felt much more 'real'.

I was hoping he'd see some decent weather too - but as luck would have it I now can say that I was there for the first time in 10+ years that it has snowed in Jerusalem twice in the same month. The same storms were there for the first couple of days - windy and wet and it got to the point that many were apologising (as I should, for that spell check correction) for the weather... but then it cleared by the end of the week.

I've been trying out different hotels... this time a newer 'boutique hotel' called Melody - right across the street from the massive Hilton and a park that looks down on to the sea. Great location for getting to the Old Port's shops & restaurants - and a good spot to head out for runs/walks either south along the beach to Jaffa, or north past the port and up along the Hayarkon River.

Melody Hotel

Plus - it is about half the cost of the bigger 'brand' hotels - and also includes a good breakfast (which would be $18 at a big hotel like the Intercontinental, Sheraton, or Hilton), free wifi ($20/day at the others), and snacks in the evening (n/a).

It was once the Canadian Embassy - but has since been converted to a 7 floor hotel - with a roof deck:

view from roof deck looking north east

south east:

and west across the street:

We were there for just 4 days - and stayed fairly central - in and around Tel Aviv, to be able to see as many companies as possible.

One thing that I've been wanting to capture - I'm sure that any one who has walked up the beach north towards the Sheraton & Hilton has seen the guys below - who take the beach paddle game to an entirely new level. I grew up calling it Kadima (didn't it used to say 'pro kadima' right on the paddles?) - but in Israel Kadima is a town, and is also the political party of the Israeli Prime Minister - so they call it something different that I cannot recall right now...

Anyway - they line up in front of a wall at the base of one of the hotels and just fire the ball at each other... I have not yet figured out their rules - they appear to be:

1. hit it as hard as you can at the guy in front of the wall
2. see if he can fire it back at you / return it
3. repeat until the ball hits the ground or someone else that is walking/biking/running past
   

Sometimes it looks to be 2 v 1... these might be training sessions or perhaps they are al just out there for the exercise - Many wear gloves, and are so proficient with the paddle that there is a small wear mark not much larger than the size of that little blue ball on it. Others wait their turn to 'play' - while many other people stand by and watch the spectacle. The noise is amplified by the wall - but anyone who has ever spent some time on the beach playing this game (or really just any time on almost any beach) will recognise the sound immediately:

Royal St Georges

OK - it's again been a long time between posts for me again... but we're now in our new place, and temporarily poaching someone's wireless - and no travels set for another 2 weeks... so now they'll be coming at a rapid pace (maybe).

The first one is a golf post - not fun for some - but fun for me.




Royal St Georges is a course that is part of the British Open / Open Championship (depending on where you live) course rotation. The tournament was last there in 2003, and it was just announced that it will be back in 2011.

I found that the course is open for 'public play' on certain days & times - and that over the winter months that they offered half price green fees...which expired at the beginning of March. As the course is not too far from London - my colleague and I decided to keep an eye on the forecast, and then see if we could capitalize on a nice day. One came on a Tuesday - so we 'rented' a zipcar and took off before 8 am for the coast (through heavy fog...)

The gps took us in what might have been the fastest route...but it certainly did not seem to be the most direct, and there were a few 'dodgy' moments in our race against tee time... but we made it with a good 10 minutes to spare.

1st tee:

the tallest bunker in the UK (neither of us fell victim off the tee on this hole):

It was definitely well worth the the trip and £65 - and I absolutely want to go back - not just because I did not have my A game with me that day (as evidenced by the photo below - just trying to figure out where not to hit it..) - but also because it is an Open venue - and a very good, but fair test.

I had also read that it was wise to bring a jacket and tie... after the round we went in to the locker room to use the facilities - and even the guy vacuuming (hoovering? spell check does not like that) was wearing a vest/shirt/tie/coat... He told us that if we wanted to see the clubhouse we needed to also be similarly attired - and I think a bit to his chagrin we were back within 10 minutes. Again - well worth it... the history, trophies, displays, etc. from the various Ryder Cups, Walker Cups, Amateur Championships, and Open Championships (won by Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle, Harry Vardon, Bobby Locke...) was great - as was the ability to sit in the great library room that looked out over the course with a silver 'tankard' of some ale with a big stone fireplace... pretty cool.

result: 83 (poor putting from inside 12 feet, and poor back 9 tee shots resulted in bogey after bogey)

more can be seen on this PHOTO PAGE - a new one for 08.