tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-130056152024-03-12T16:01:23.622-07:00Casey, Travels and Other MusingsJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17702540235066625767noreply@blogger.comBlogger449125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-67547816001451885062015-09-13T15:06:00.002-07:002015-09-13T15:15:51.075-07:00Daily Prayers for Refugees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-25463929830744885452015-01-18T17:17:00.000-08:002015-01-18T17:36:03.650-08:00Italy Once More...2015<div data-redactor="1" style="color: #141414; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
I used to love planning a trip, particularly pre-internet days when we would pour over maps planning the itinerary, familiarizing ourselves with the layout of the new country, writing city information offices, getting big packets in the mail with all the wonders of..say..Munich. Flying was fun, discovering places and restaurants without Trip Advisor et al was exhilarating, having lots of serendipity moments made great memories, life was an adventure. </div>
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Somehow some of that has been lost but travel is still planning, exploring and serendipity, just 2105 style rather than 1985. And, even though we have now been to Italy many times, including once for a full year, planning for Italy always is accompanied by excitement and anticipation. Usually part of each trip is slow travel and part is expediency. There are times when what you want to visit and see is too spread out to allow for slow travel. So, our 2015 trip has some of each...leisure and hurry.</div>
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We are also at the stage that, though there are many, many parts of this country that remain mysteries to us, we find that we prefer to spend most of our time re-experiencing places we have been and love. No matter how many times we are someplace, there is always more to see and learn...nooks and crannies we missed before. Sort of like exploring your hometown after a visitor talks excitedly about a gem you didn't know existed...after living there decades. </div>
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So this year, it is mostly has beens, in fact, all except for a couple days spent with friends in the home we have never visited. This will be one of the special times which we all look forward to. </div>
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The biggest hurdle for travel in our new world is the chore of getting from here to there. While flying and arranging for flying used to be fun, it no longer is..at all, ever. It is now no more than the means to the end. So, we have our United flights from San Diego, Newark to Venice, which I will admit is nice as I thought we would need to fly to Milan and then work our way to Venice and then return Rome, Newark to San Diego. We're still waiting for upgrades. Even though we have hundreds of miles, using them is difficult..didn't used to be that way, did it?</div>
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Our first stop is a week in the lovely Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia...Venice. I am so looking forward to this week for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the wonderful <a href="http://www.homeaway.co.uk/p861734">appartment</a> we will call home for the week. I have an excellent report that it is lovely and its location is superb in sestiere San Polo. Casey will have a friend from Cortona join us for the week as there are times when you are 16 that being with mom and dad is Boring. A highlight for them will be a gondola rowing lesson along the canals...<a href="http://rowvenice.org/">Row Venice</a> plus, I suspect they will be doing their own exploring in the calles and campos. Ken and I are already making a list of restaurants--both ones we have been to and ones we want to check out. With a bunch of friends who spend weeks and months there every year, we have plenty of recommendations.<br />
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If you have ever been to Venice, you know that we will spend minutes and hours lost in the maze of calles, campos and intertwining neighborhoods called sestieri. These times are so much of the charm and siren call of this city, unique in the world. Combine this with the unexpected and magnificent art found in churches and galleries, the amazing palazzos along the canals, the sense of a past society of intrigue, riches and way of life unlike any other and you know you are a spectator of untold mysteries and scandal. Every turn is meant for the photographer.<br />
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From this fairytale place we move onto Cortona and return Matteo to his family and then to our favorite place on earth, <a href="http://www.santantonio.it/">Sant' Antonio</a> in Montepluciano for another week. That is a post of its own. And then...friends, Greve--our home for the year, Almafi, Positano, and finally Roma. More on those things in more posts...maybe.<br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-24077758399073074022014-03-08T11:44:00.001-08:002014-03-08T11:45:35.415-08:00 Meet Scratch--The Best Ever Dog!<div style="text-align: center;">
Be sure to start with the yellow cover. You may have to back up to that.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We miss him….a lot!</span><br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-62607563932144243792013-08-27T20:47:00.001-07:002013-08-27T20:47:10.572-07:00Shrimp Curry RecipeYes, I know, I should be writing about a month in Italy, but that requires sorting through pictures from 3 cameras, three phones and one iPad...a rather herculean task. So, instead, I will share tonight's dinner. Actually, I am doing this so that I know what I did, where to find it and try to replicate it someday. It really was quite good as attested to by Ken and Casey. <br /><br />Unfortunately, true to form, I forgot to take pictures. When one is hungry and the aroma of food is overwhelming, who thinks of a camera?<br /><br /> SHRIMP CURRY RECIPE<br />This is a mishmash of several recipes. It was quite tasty. <br /><br />1 14oz can coconut milk<br />4-5 tablespoons red curry paste (entire 4 oz. jar)<br />Julienned carrot<br />Julienned red pepper (however much)<br />Potato cut into small cubes <br />Sugar snap peas <br />Thin sliced onion <br />1 cup chicken broth (more or less)<br />2 tbls Asian fish sauce<br />2-3 tablespoons brown sugar<br />2 or so tablespoons Thai basil (if you have it)<br />Chopped cilantro <br />Shrimp (small shelled, deveined)<br />However much you prefer: hot chili oil, siracha, red pepper flakes. <br /><br />So, this is what I did:<br /><br />1. Heat up small amount of the coconut milk in a skillet<br />2. Add the red chili paste and heat for a couple- three minutes<br />3. Put in the veggies, stir to cover with paste and cook for a few minutes...stirring <br />some<br />4. Add rest of coconut milk and cook for a few minutes until veggies are the way you <br />like <br />5. Add shrimp, broth, fish sauce and brown sugar. Cook until shrimp is ready.<br />6. Stir in cilantro, thai basil and a dash or two of lime juice<br /><br />Serve with jasmine rice. <br /><br />As usual, no picture.<br /><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17702540235066625767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-32230653626486002652013-05-09T20:51:00.001-07:002013-05-10T07:49:24.221-07:00Lemon and Tarragon ChickenA couple days ago I was sitting in Scratch's chair while helping Casey with his physics--well, more like encouraging him as I know zip about physics. This is Scratch, our beloved, spoiled puggle. <br />
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As his chair is next to our floor to ceiling bookcase in my office, I perused some of the books on the bottom shelf and noticed a put out to pasture cook book..."<i>Simply Italian</i>" by Valentina Harris, a descendant of the Renaissance Sforsa family.<br />
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Flipping through the pages, while feigning an interest in physics, I saw a beautiful photo of a chicken dish. Normally, I flip right past chicken but this looked good. So, yesterday, I made it and tonight we had left overs. It was very good last night and even better tonight. Yummy good. <br />
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<b>Lemon and Tarragon Chicken</b><br />
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25 g. (1oz.) unsalted butter<br />
1 tablespoon olive oil<br />
6 chicken joints<br />
Salt and freshly milled pepper<br />
250 ml (8 fl. oz) chicken stock<br />
3 egg yolks <br />
Juice and grated zest of one lemon<br />
About 10 tarragon leaves, chopped<br />
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Heat the butter and olive oil together in a deep pan, then seal the chicken joints quickly in the hot fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then cover with the stock...(I put in extra stock.). Turn the heat down, cover with a lid and simmer gently for about 45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. (Think I did somewhat longer.) <br />
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Take the chicken out of the pan and arrange on a warm platter. Raise the heat under the pan and beat the egg yolks and lemon juice and zest into the remaining juices with a whisk. Pour this over the chicken and sprinkle with the tarragon (which really adds to the flavor.) Serve at once. <br />
Serves 6<br />
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I used peeled boiled potatoes the first night and rice the next night. Both were good with the gravy poured over. <br />
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This is so simple but so good. Enjoy. <br />
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPadJanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17702540235066625767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-76559139444066131282013-02-18T12:44:00.002-08:002013-03-23T13:30:53.038-07:00Costa Rica--Tortuguero Part 2--The EndWell, have been back from Costa Rica for 6 weeks and am now getting around to finishing blogging it. Last night Ken asked if I had finished writing which was quite remarkable as I usually have to nag him into reading it. I think this summer I may break down and blog while traveling--maybe or maybe not. Most likely not.<br />
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So, our time in Costa Rica ended in a taste of paradise--nature untrammeled by civilization and people. In some ways reminiscent of the Galapagos but even though it is awesomely beautiful it is not as totally pure or as breathtaking as the innocence of the wildlife there. <a href="http://www.janeandken.com/ECUADOR/Introduction.html">Our Galapagos Trip</a><br />
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Leaving our lodge we headed down the relatively wide Tortuguero River leading to the Tortuguero National Park. In the park, the river narrows with byways and small offshots that Ferdinando, our guide, expertly navigated, going deeper and deeper into the forest. We were surrounded by the calls of the wild--birds and mammals. It seemed as if we were often exploring little creeks with beautiful toucans floating above the jungle tops.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Galapagos</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Costa Rica</td></tr>
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The trees hid colorful iguanas (quite different from those in the Galapagos)-- hidden that is until one fell off its perch, splashing loudly in the water, barely missing a very startled Casey.<br />
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We heard monkeys carrying on extended conversations as they called to each other across trees. At some point in the conversations, one would decide to jump from limb to limb, tree to tree--sometimes through the air from one river bank to the other. It was truly awesome to be in the center of this everyday life. Watching the incredible acrobatics and gymnastics became a ballet and dance form--far different from the theatrics of the Olympics. Casey, the ever patient photographer, waited for this shot, poised to press the shutter at just the right moment. Magic!<br />
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On the way back to the lodge, Ferdinando treated us to a detour to the Caribbean coast. With engines revved, we rushed along the coastline with the spray of salt water hitting us. It was fun.<br />
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That night we had another moment of magic. When we entered the open air dining area, the young woman said "Please come with me. We have a special place for you tonight." Not having a clue as to why or what was happening, we followed her to the small picturesque thatched roofed area overlooking the pool. Gas lamps and torches and candles lit the circle. There was just one table, beautifully set. We were led to it by the young man in black who became our private waiter. A large barbecue was set up next to a table spread with huge amounts of beautiful meats, vegetables fruits and breads. The lodge's chef was there cooking and preparing a most sumptuous banquet--just for us. There were beef, pork and shrimp shish kabobs, corn on the cob, several vegetables dishes, mangoes, strawberries and watermelon. To say we were stunned would be an understatement. Now we truly were on Fantasy Island. We were there 4 nights and never saw other guests receive this treatment. Even now as I write, it seems very dreamlike. Certainly it is indelibly etched on our minds, never to be forgotten.<br />
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After dinner, Casey retrieved the guitar hanging in the guest lounge and played for Ken and I as we sipped our espresso and savored the very special evening we had spent together.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">The next morning after a leisurely breakfast, we packed up for the last time and waited for the little air chariot to take us back to San Jose and our flight home. The staff lined up once again to wave good bye and wish us a return.</span></div>
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As Casey said, "the hard part of traveling is the going home." I think he has the bug.<br />
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Casey the co-pilot. </div>
Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-17000506668538550012013-02-06T12:35:00.000-08:002013-03-23T13:31:19.498-07:00Episode 4--Costa Rica--TortugueroWell, yes, it is taking a while to complete this adventure. Just chalk it up to a.) being busy, b.) being lazy, c.) out-of-town, d.) other priorities, or e.) whatever. They all have the ring of truth to them. Life has a way of moving on often without much explanation.<br />
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So, on to Tortuguero--probably my favorite part of another wonderful adventure--not that the other parts lagged in the wonderful department. It was all good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56nzlGpy9MuHXrYugYD1KrJBlWRvmmXAo-sRsY3rSgUIYYbS3jevnfnhykDgLKOa2zMtauT8LRsciYeXV1Cx5a5zdoNM0QgkPouXVwbIaJztPd78xCHxgrAZ5XC6Crbzs1sg/s1600/DSC00162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56nzlGpy9MuHXrYugYD1KrJBlWRvmmXAo-sRsY3rSgUIYYbS3jevnfnhykDgLKOa2zMtauT8LRsciYeXV1Cx5a5zdoNM0QgkPouXVwbIaJztPd78xCHxgrAZ5XC6Crbzs1sg/s400/DSC00162.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="http://www.entercostarica.com/travel/72/Tortuguero.php">Tortuguero</a> is on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and as such has a strong Afro-Caribbean heritage and presence in its food, its people, its life-style. It is significantly different from our other two destinations. In common with Arenal and Monteverde, though, is its exquisite beauty and nature that still remains unspoiled, providing a refuge for animals and birds of thousands of species. Because the Caribbean side and Tortuguero are much less accessible than other areas of Costa Rica it is less well-known or traveled. You feel as if you are in a special place--lucky to be there. There is a peace--a quiet solitude. It is a place where you wish for one more day--no matter how many you had. Good memories but bitter sweet.<br />
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We arrived by plane--a small plane, but at least one not held together by duct tape, as was the one in the Amazon. When the plane lands, on a little dirt strip and you see the river in front of you and the <a href="http://costaricaexpeditions.com/tortuga-lodge/">Tortuga Lodge</a> across the river, the word "paradise" floats in the air. And then...the little water boat whisks you across the river where the staff is lined up welcoming you with fresh drinks and warm smiles and leads you to your open air table because it is lunch time. It was like being in a time lapse movie where we coud hear Tattoo announcing "ze plane, ze plane." Really there was something quite magical and other worldly about it. In many ways it reminded me of the Amazon Rain Forest, set in waterways--rivers and off-shoots, quite different from Arenal and Monteverde which were mountains and land.<br />
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After lunch and settling into our rooms, we wandered the breathtaking grounds, ran into a crocodile, listened to birds and monkeys chattering and luxuriated in our surroundings--far from bustle and hustle of the world that was somewhere far away.<br />
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We kept our distance from this guy (or gal, whatever.)</div>
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Look Closely Here--What Do You Find?</div>
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And then, before dinner, we went on a twilight nature hike which was pretty much a nightmare of momentarily huge proportions. The first unregistered clue was when we were told to don the lodge's knee high boots as our hiking boots would not be sufficient. Fortunately, I grabbed a walking stick which, along with the guide who held me up most of the way, keep me upright. </div>
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Twilight was a misnomer--we were in the middle of the jungle and it was dark, very dark. What we had not been told was that along with being a jungle, it was a swamp--one that had just experienced two days of heavy rain. Between the two inches of water and the slimy, gooey, slurpy mud under the water, the boots were sucked up to about mid-calf with each step. And, they wanted to stay stuck! Pulling them out seriously impeded balance and falling into the mess was a most frightening thought. Thank goodness for young, strapping Juan whom I clung to like syran wrap. Needless to say, wildlife viewing was far from my thoughts; although we did see the occasional poisonous frog. Unquestionably, we had a very abbreviated hike. I should add, not surprisingly, Casey loved it and would have kept going; except, you would not want to be there without a guide. Becoming lost was a certainty. Returning not so certain.</div>
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A glass of wine with dinner never tasted so good! Time to relax and be thankful for the experience and even more thankful that it was over. Slept well that night.</div>
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Tortuguero is where the sea turtles come to nest and lay eggs each year but not at the time we were there which was disappointing but OK. There is so much more to see and do. All done by boat as there are no vehicles in Tortuguero--just boats in the waterways and bicycles in the postage stamp village down river. </div>
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Ferdinando was our guide along the quiet river and canals of the jungle. Like safari guides, he could spot wildlife where we saw none. He could hear a muted sound and know what it was and where to look. He taught Casey many things and soon Casey often spotted things before Ferdinando. Casey may have a future with animals and wildlife as it seems to be an interest that helps define who he is.<br />
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A few glimpses of what is Tortuguero water ways.</div>
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And...will close for now and pick this up again tomorrow. I like to keep posts short so that they don't impinge on your time..after all you have more to do than read blogs--at least, I sure hope so.</div>
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Still a little left on Tortuguero, some final thoughts on Costa Rica and finally, the all time great picture taken by master photographer, Casey. All of this coming soon. </div>
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-87583642683297714382013-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:002013-01-25T13:20:16.611-08:00Costa Rica Episode 3--Monteverde Cloud ForestAfter a leisurely breakfast and preparations to leave Arenal and the beautiful Lost Iguana, we were picked up and taken to Lake Arenal which was just a couple minutes away--we had passed it numerous times on our excursions. A private boat and boat captain took us across the lake to the very muddy, very wet, very rustic landing place where a driver and van awaited us for the drive to <a href="http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/">Monteverde</a>. Up until this point, we really had wondered why friends and family warned us of the mind and body numbing roads in Costa Rica. Yes, some had been a little rough but nothing to write home about. Within 30 seconds of this ride, we knew. This ride was to make the white-roads of Italy pale by comparison. There were ruts, holes-big holes, rocks, boulders and more for the next 2 hours or maybe it was 3--at the time I would have said 24. Additionally, as we went up the drop became steeper and steeper. We were thankful for a driver who clearly had made this trip many, many times and knew each boulder and hole. This was clearly more rugged territory than the more developed Arenal area. The reality is this just gave us one more colorful memory and experience; after all, we have enough freeways at home.<br />
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Finally we arrived in the town of Monteverde which is composed of restaurants, souvenir shops, excursions/tour/activity businesses, a couple banks (which was good as we needed an ATM to replenish our colónes which were about 500 to a dollar) and a very good ice cream place. Monteverde developed as a tourist area much later than Arenal and so lacks some of the rush and bustle which, truthfully, is really quite nice. It is still pretty rustic, simple and laid back with wooden sidewalks and sometimes dusty window displays. Certainly not the nightlife that Arenal has, in which we did not participate.<br />
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We were immediately taken to our lodging the <a href="http://www.costaricaexpeditions.com/monte-verde-lodge/">Monteverde Lodge and Gardens</a> which architecturally is really at one with the surrounding foliage and forest. It is a mountain lodge not a glitzy hotel. At first we found ourselves comparing it with the beauty of the Lost Iguana and the lovely, large, well-appointed room we had there but we soon reminded ourselves of the difference between a resort and a lodge. The room here was rather cramped quarters for 3 people. Perhaps there were larger rooms which would have been nice. Since Casey is now man-size, we three trip over each other easily.<br />
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With that said, we did enjoy it here. The staff was helpful and accommodating--doing such things as drying our rather wet outer garments when we returned from the rather wet cloud forest. The restaurant was good and the wait staff was professional, warm and very nice.<br />
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The first night we went for a twilight, read dark, wildlife hike in the adjoining forest. Our guide was totally outstanding who, like safari guides, saw things we would never have spotted. At first I was a little concerned because Casey does not call me "queen of klutz" for nothing. There were up and down stairs and paths--some steep, reminding me that I should have listened to Ken when he told me I should exercise to get ready for this trip. Paths were slippery with wet leaves. But, in spite of these conditions, we were told not to grab any tree or foliage to steady ourselves as there might well be snakes entwined on them. This wasn't the most welcome of warnings! I did use a walking stick for the first time in my life and found that it worked wonderfully well and provided a refreshing degree of confidence and stability. The rest of the trip I used one on our hikes.<br />
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We saw several animals, sleeping birds, tarantulas, spiders, puma tracks and, I am sure, things I have forgotten. I had not known that birds perch on a limb and go to sleep for the night until dawn. We saw several doing this. It was a good walk. Dinner was in the lodge that night.<br />
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And...here is one. In bed for the night. Cute, isn't he or she?</div>
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The next day was a trip to the cloud forest in the morning. Cloud forests are higher in elevation than rain forest; however, just as wet. We actually did not see very much on this outing. Everything was in hiding. There was a tarantula or two, some birds and a millipede but that was about it--no animal life.</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">All and all, it was rather a dud except the forest is lush and gorgeous--sort of like nature's temple. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">That afternoon we went to a hummingbird gallery which basically was a place that had many feeders with sugar water to which humming birds flock. They were beautiful and there were a lot of them but it just seemed contrived with all the feeders.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9UgIVlh00WGgDQ2NM1zL4rD443UQva6DSab8VdOILEiKxhEtraBoMKIXs2DpiqoBZpT-P44VedKrbHOnJHF4OF6Q_0EeyEO20gU1q0buDt__fySanwXmskIkSVYgMHmzQ2w/s1600/IMG_3729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9UgIVlh00WGgDQ2NM1zL4rD443UQva6DSab8VdOILEiKxhEtraBoMKIXs2DpiqoBZpT-P44VedKrbHOnJHF4OF6Q_0EeyEO20gU1q0buDt__fySanwXmskIkSVYgMHmzQ2w/s200/IMG_3729.JPG" title="" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trio</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathHE5byQmRN8sKoGF9rD0ssmv_rZvQBdEq7Rww3xIy-YO2PpgyUDgV352XLBWx7OqZ308huDvb5i8HGaw9vAK2jwRISlZLlSIL6EvalqdaGGr384L8UY4-8Gs9t6crK3F0U/s1600/IMG_3699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgathHE5byQmRN8sKoGF9rD0ssmv_rZvQBdEq7Rww3xIy-YO2PpgyUDgV352XLBWx7OqZ308huDvb5i8HGaw9vAK2jwRISlZLlSIL6EvalqdaGGr384L8UY4-8Gs9t6crK3F0U/s200/IMG_3699.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sofia</td></tr>
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And, this was December 31--New Year's Eve. Not much was happening in town--in fact, I think nothing. The Lodge did have a special menu but it was turkey which didn't appeal to us. So, we went to <a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/central-and-south-america/costa-rica/northern-costa-rica/monteverde/55925/sofia/restaurant-detail.html">Sofia</a> which was recommended by the lodge. This was a very nice restaurant with an upscale menu which surprised us. It turns out that Sofia and <a href="http://www.frommers.com/destinations/monteverde/D1092205.html">Trio</a>, where we ate the next night, are owned by a woman from the US who has restaurants here. The menus reflect some creative sophistication along with an acceptable wine list. We enjoyed both places.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibg6yCETsaxyxHrNiBcM7SO0TBdTa-nK0sqi5iUa8-HaJLzQ1YhTUGwKVnXzCHmsnpH00FMkpCt-jY8D6crtQfOnZKSiILFFj7NDKjuJ0GKyfksYnYFvWZhtmSjePrpOqRBy4/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibg6yCETsaxyxHrNiBcM7SO0TBdTa-nK0sqi5iUa8-HaJLzQ1YhTUGwKVnXzCHmsnpH00FMkpCt-jY8D6crtQfOnZKSiILFFj7NDKjuJ0GKyfksYnYFvWZhtmSjePrpOqRBy4/s200/IMG_3711.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPJZUDcEvajrzLJ-kLQotKVPUwte_rCqF_dNCZBSkb7lnREe711gzwbxI0vLNDkboz_7hx7tplG6mReJqQCz5QkrQc7ClbCnpG4uJIYK812pvzWUPn0nGjhVAR3n-y_lJom0/s1600/IMG_1160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPJZUDcEvajrzLJ-kLQotKVPUwte_rCqF_dNCZBSkb7lnREe711gzwbxI0vLNDkboz_7hx7tplG6mReJqQCz5QkrQc7ClbCnpG4uJIYK812pvzWUPn0nGjhVAR3n-y_lJom0/s200/IMG_1160.JPG" width="150" /></a>Our last day in Monteverde, Ken and I toured the Don Juan Coffee and Chocolate Plantation while Casey had much more fun horsebacking riding. Somehow learning the ins and outs of all you ever wanted to know about coffee growing did not seem what a 14 year old would enjoy. The truth is that Ken and I didn't find it all that interesting either. I think we should have joined Casey even though I am quite certain my anatomy would feel the pain afterwards. Looking at this picture, it seems as if Casey could have used a larger animal but we weren't there so maybe they were all this size. All I know is that he had a great time, didn't fall off and said they went at a pretty good clip. He was happy.<br />
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In the afternoon we did go somewhere that we all found interesting--<a href="http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/bat-jungle/">The Bat Jungle</a>--which I know sounds creepy. But, it actually was very interesting in that the guy that took us around really likes bats, has studied them extensively and shares a wealth of knowledge about bats world wide. I was a little worried when they took us into the cave that bats would be flying around and into us but, happily, there was a glass wall between us and them which suited me just fine. The bat guy did go in and feed them and made himself at home and seemed to be pretty much left alone. Actually, contrary to my feelings about the coffee planation and the hummingbird garden, I would recommend going here.<br />
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The next morning we were picked up early for a three hour ride back to San Jose where we went to a small airfield and boarded our private chariot plane which took us to Tortuguero--which we all loved. Think of Fantasy Island and "zee plane, zee plane" if you are old enough to know.<br />
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This was actually bigger than the plane we had in Kenya and not held together with duct tape as was the plane in the Amazon rain forest--which was larger. Forgetting to pray is not an option on these adventures.</div>
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-90232979391580402102013-01-17T15:02:00.000-08:002013-01-17T15:13:47.321-08:00Costa Rica, Episode 2--ArenalAbout this whole episode thing....blame it on Downton Abbey, of which I was not even aware for its first two years. Soap operas in any form, even sophisticated PBS imports from the BBC, always seemed that they would be a little tawdry and appealing to our baser natures (not that I ever watched one to see how wrong I could be)--besides, waiting from one week to another for the next "episode" seemed much too suspenseful. Of course, I did do Mad Men for a while which definitely was tawdry. Anyway, it seems that Downton Abbey has become a craze in many sectors, not least of all among my friends. So....firing up Netflix, I watched Season 1, Episode 1 as it was clear that season 3 could not begin in a vacuum. That happened last week and now I am on episode 6 of season 2, with the VCR recording season 3; tawdry has been replaced by high intellectual value.<br />
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So, in keeping with my new addiction, this is Episode 2 of the Grand Costa Rica Christmas adventure, taking place in Arenal, home of the elusive Arenal volcano. This is what we saw of the volcano as we arrived at our lodging. Shortly there after, it disappeared into the mist and rain for the next 4 days. I believe it reappeared shortly after we left.<br />
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Beginning shortly after our arrival, the rains began--torrential, deafening, wet rains, night and day. In between the heavens emptying, there were light rains and misting--but keeping the motif of wet. We never were reduced to lowly sprinkles. But..never fear, we did not travel all this way to be intimidated or have our plans derailed. We carried on in true Downton Abbey fashion. Fortunately, it was not cold and beauty surrounded us, lifting our souls.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_hU6GCfeHAe-fAGjqGIZBuLEc2OufP6Ffh9Aup4nZPdGYwvC3jcv2254NDPczQ6nHFnw5HZrweNj6FLpd_JVJhtn9T6qSYHzEOxDto10FWqYt2LavN8MBmFR3t2c7yOYLYA/s1600/IMG_3598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2_hU6GCfeHAe-fAGjqGIZBuLEc2OufP6Ffh9Aup4nZPdGYwvC3jcv2254NDPczQ6nHFnw5HZrweNj6FLpd_JVJhtn9T6qSYHzEOxDto10FWqYt2LavN8MBmFR3t2c7yOYLYA/s200/IMG_3598.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWY3yjaEXoLhh-mD61XF5qzqz0YFLFiEyn7qjf4Nyu0asLyihy26cGxPtg03NzYFdHBgV2Rm6uPs0sOTrFoUeCIS4eiW2PEaM_gzKhmLiueCEs4JeuCr-mCBeL1L5FCtZOzY/s1600/IMG_3599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWY3yjaEXoLhh-mD61XF5qzqz0YFLFiEyn7qjf4Nyu0asLyihy26cGxPtg03NzYFdHBgV2Rm6uPs0sOTrFoUeCIS4eiW2PEaM_gzKhmLiueCEs4JeuCr-mCBeL1L5FCtZOzY/s200/IMG_3599.JPG" width="200" /></a>About our accommodations, suffice it to say they were lovely. A very large room--very large--with a balcony spa and a straight-on view of the volcano--or what should have been a view. The grounds were tropical with birds, monkeys and other scurrying wildlife. Because the Lost Iguana is quite a distance from the town of La Fortuna, we had our meals there (except for lunch when we were almost always away). Glad to say the food was quite good. The rooms are scattered through out the property and so golf card pick up service was available when needed--like when the skies opened up and it was dinner time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdNcBz_9SiQNUms0XYqCnj7XERp8XAWp-nLH9nfvwwu4bIEERp5w6yTII_Qc-NWqQJ74-WsI8-BUat4bwBMDqK83Cj0mGOonlqW_WQzxQDIzcyVhSJfCXxI4G4OaGygPLeQA/s1600/IMG_3601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqdNcBz_9SiQNUms0XYqCnj7XERp8XAWp-nLH9nfvwwu4bIEERp5w6yTII_Qc-NWqQJ74-WsI8-BUat4bwBMDqK83Cj0mGOonlqW_WQzxQDIzcyVhSJfCXxI4G4OaGygPLeQA/s320/IMG_3601.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPFnESjYbPKPGtVOL0Mq257S3fySDLhr0aOP07HM44PTle5o0-nMZUSPRqj50gjkDLOTl9WbY03ugbZ9GQYVfZLNrelvu5sP6j4qPzUkJX4uQpbMQfxZgXzxUyRrcGAOaF_U/s1600/Our+rafting+group.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPFnESjYbPKPGtVOL0Mq257S3fySDLhr0aOP07HM44PTle5o0-nMZUSPRqj50gjkDLOTl9WbY03ugbZ9GQYVfZLNrelvu5sP6j4qPzUkJX4uQpbMQfxZgXzxUyRrcGAOaF_U/s320/Our+rafting+group.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: left;">OK--what did we do? Well, adventure #1 was white water rafting. When we first began working with Costa Rica Expeditions, Gustavo our agent, scheduled us for level 5 rapids which did not seem like such a good idea to me, a total novice. He seemed to agree once I explained this so we settled on level 2 and 3 rapids on a different river--the Sarapiqui. I can tell you that it was amazing fun even when the rain came down so hard that it was truly impossible to see. The best part of this was that it made the rapids even more exciting and we certainly could not get any wetter. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByl70xO84q_8on15qyqhtgGyJbxo53FrUzFFv9bqGJYuH23QCwBgHSQWP7BluN6I5NUWvEBjljALoBjGfcVWHLUjKnhJ9oJXfXDxSK6cRhgeW487B93LyWtKYrdtNpDHs2D8/s1600/Pura+Vida.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhByl70xO84q_8on15qyqhtgGyJbxo53FrUzFFv9bqGJYuH23QCwBgHSQWP7BluN6I5NUWvEBjljALoBjGfcVWHLUjKnhJ9oJXfXDxSK6cRhgeW487B93LyWtKYrdtNpDHs2D8/s200/Pura+Vida.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0iARGprAa8kbPs1OwW7RZxidD5CTHvPDcvC_y6RFIWcf7PV53VlnYo0tUZQ94UtvYVdrXf4Ww0Lopmj5fQH3654ddFVsBjJMBQGLL5LQPpoZnZKQS8kZrYlu7KfqGqS-NFQ/s1600/in+raft.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0iARGprAa8kbPs1OwW7RZxidD5CTHvPDcvC_y6RFIWcf7PV53VlnYo0tUZQ94UtvYVdrXf4Ww0Lopmj5fQH3654ddFVsBjJMBQGLL5LQPpoZnZKQS8kZrYlu7KfqGqS-NFQ/s200/in+raft.JPG" width="200" /></a>Above is our raft group. The guy in blue is Enzo our guide. See if you can spot us in the other two pictures? The paddles are lifted in the air as we shout Pura Vida after successfully conquering each rapid, and, I am pleased to report, I did not fall into the river, needing to be rescued by the kayak guy. Although, my body of ancient years did know it had had a workout which gave cause for a leisurely, wonderful massage in the late afternoon. <br />
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Oh yeah, you may wonder how we took such wonderful pictures of our adventure; well, clearly we didn't. I am not sure how they happened but it seems that there is this magician man who jumps from location to location along the river taking photos--quite difficult to picture. As we were all having lunch with our guide after the rafting, this guy sat down, opened his computer and showed us 35 amazing pictures of our trip down the rapids. Of course, we bought the cd just to have some pictures to show you.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRx1KyAaqj2ddw3JAQYzKy4Xq-7Rannd4ufkYeUJ4IL6XP0wQsjreHyGERSZS76QN3Kj6uulfSvpfzD5OLhYRr46DfYtkw9bWiMmUnRjpHs7DFsX71E0vrlA0WTMMO7ysBo5s/s1600/Me+ziplining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRx1KyAaqj2ddw3JAQYzKy4Xq-7Rannd4ufkYeUJ4IL6XP0wQsjreHyGERSZS76QN3Kj6uulfSvpfzD5OLhYRr46DfYtkw9bWiMmUnRjpHs7DFsX71E0vrlA0WTMMO7ysBo5s/s200/Me+ziplining.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>
The next day came the activity which had caused me the most apprehension--zip lining. However, as friends had assured me, this is really super easy and an incredibly memorable experience. Check this link to get a pretty good idea of what it was <a href="http://www.skyadventures.travel/Arenal_En/Sky_Trek.html">Sky Trek</a>. The first line (well, the first real line as there are 2 baby ones so you can make sure you want to continue) started in the rain forest but within a couple seconds I was sailing through the air, looking down into a deep, really deep, chasm--quite an adrenalin rush. One line was 700 meters, allowing a fantastic view of the surrounding forest and Lake Arenal. I was so ready to start over when finished--except it is not a cheap activity. And...to prove that I am not a vain woman always needing to be beautiful...here I am fearlessly jumping into the unknown. See, I did do it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTK8MILGVIjXiecBPIZHy0tJi17P9Ptj6Gb_2YqPLCpw8YbA60rKo2PRD5JmyRmGjv4zfepWJF3H9ezrgbHUoTXnp6TwRxyz-vZewhAjJPCkt49OTBFsQvSAay5jngqkL3S8/s1600/IMG_1071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTK8MILGVIjXiecBPIZHy0tJi17P9Ptj6Gb_2YqPLCpw8YbA60rKo2PRD5JmyRmGjv4zfepWJF3H9ezrgbHUoTXnp6TwRxyz-vZewhAjJPCkt49OTBFsQvSAay5jngqkL3S8/s320/IMG_1071.JPG" width="320" /></a>Our third major activity (there were smaller ones), was Caño Negro Wild Life Refuge, a 2 1/2 hour drive but well, well worth it--beginning with it being warm and sunny, rather than wet and rainy. This tour is on the river right along the Nicaraguan border. Here we had a leisurely boat trip down the river, spotting all kinds of wild life along the way---birds, colorful male iguanas and their dull, brown females, caiman, birds, monkeys, birds, lizards, horses, cows, sloths and birds--and, I am undoubtedly forgetting something. We liked this excursion a lot and highly recommend it. It was one of the best wildlife viewing places we were as when in the rain and cloud forests, it is actually difficult to see many things other than frogs, spiders and some birds--at least that was our experience.<br />
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After lunch, we took a quick 5 minutes detour to the Nicaraguan border but, with security guards ever busy eye, we thought it probably wise not to pass by the barbed wire. Zendar, our very good guide, quite agreed.<br />
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So, these are the highlights of Arenal. We loved everything here--even the rain. If you decide to go, be sure to consider The Lost Iguana Lodge. It's only drawback is its distance to the town of La Fortuna if you are wanting nightlife, shopping, etc We were quite content to stick to nature.<br />
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Next up: Episode 3--Monteverde, bats, cloud forest (as opposed to rain forest,) and coffee.</div>
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-5337977458570038352013-01-14T15:59:00.000-08:002013-03-23T13:51:50.121-07:00Another Christmas Adventure--Costa RicaIt seems that Christmas has become a time for us to explore unknown places--that is, unknown to us. Last year it was historical, tumultuous, mysterious, revolution prone Egypt and Jordan--camel riding, pyramid climbing, temples and tombs. This year we chose beautiful, lush, nature at its best Costa Rica--rain forests, cloud forests, rivers, canals, rafting and ziplining. Very different places but both quite wonderful. The greatest joy of these trips, though, is the fun we have together and the memories that are forged and created for all of us but most particularly for Casey to carry with him through life. We are lucky that a 14 year old enjoys doing these things with his parents, so often this is not the case with teenagers. God blesses us.<br />
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Zip Lining</div>
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At one time, I would blog in real time as we experienced things; however, I find myself now choosing to use down time differently--reading a book, contemplating, lounging and watching life, maybe being ambitious enough to organize pictures from 3 cameras. I choose not to find time has disappeared in front of an iPad screen. With the journal that photos create, it is not too difficult to reconstruct when we get home. Plus, there is the added benefit of reliving the experience when writing and gazing into 600 visual records. Of course, it does take longer to write this way as pictures such as the one above cause me to reflect, remember and appreciate that moment we had. Such good memories.</div>
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As always, living on the west coast entails longer travel times than our east coast friends have..unless we are going to places like Hawaii, China and Japan. This time it was San Diego, Houston, San Jose (Costa Rica, that is.) We left Christmas morning as we wanted to have Christmas Eve with son Jeff, who then graciously took us to the airport as we abandoned him on Christmas day. We did make sure he had a few thousand piece Lego to keep him busy that day. No Christmas is complete for him without a Lego even though he is quite a grown man. </div>
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We arrived in Costa Rica at 9:30 pm where we were met by a representative from <a href="http://www.costaricaexpeditions.com/wl3/index.php">Costa Rica Expeditions</a>, whom I highly recommend when you decide to cross this country off your bucket list. After a short night of sleep, we were retrieved at 7:30 am to begin our acquaintance with sloths, toucans, monkeys, iguanas, crocodiles, caiman and at least 500,000 different birds. Casey was in his glory and now can give you the name of each of these birds. He and wildlife click.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQS4yXJxy3rPSfe0QXVBYByjCME0UQxaGxLrsGOTzrfz4d9vnYfezmG-mbXPhrjnMsb3_jTKkCbYLAZP4oY9aVFJenWgXpopkB4U9o63Pc4aIssQ8d19jWKLWcQ9Hz5rCeNA/s1600/DSC00018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQS4yXJxy3rPSfe0QXVBYByjCME0UQxaGxLrsGOTzrfz4d9vnYfezmG-mbXPhrjnMsb3_jTKkCbYLAZP4oY9aVFJenWgXpopkB4U9o63Pc4aIssQ8d19jWKLWcQ9Hz5rCeNA/s400/DSC00018.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaggtxMx30wTH9eDf5UtOgum_xAD8Eu2UUkoBDIulrtYeki-zFcYLyXU_bRme86ugExovYL4b2Saqy6nTVrhu5asxj6oOD-Hz9XpUB_OpaoA2MvVNZcbC5l-paJmss2MiNOY/s1600/IMG_3594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaggtxMx30wTH9eDf5UtOgum_xAD8Eu2UUkoBDIulrtYeki-zFcYLyXU_bRme86ugExovYL4b2Saqy6nTVrhu5asxj6oOD-Hz9XpUB_OpaoA2MvVNZcbC5l-paJmss2MiNOY/s320/IMG_3594.JPG" width="213" /></a>Our first stop was <a href="http://www.waterfallgardens.com/">La Paz Waterfall Gardens</a> which had been recommended to me by friend Liz, an even more intrepid traveler than I. She is the one who gurued us re. Egypt and Jordan. I knew if she approved of La Paz it was an OK side excursion before the real adventure began. La Paz is an animal sanctuary for rescued wild life which have been illegal pets or hurt in the wild. And, although the animals are penned, it is a way to see some of the elusive wildlife up close and personal. There are also wonderful butterfly and frog exhibits, ocelots, pumas, sloths and birds, of course. As in all of Costa Rica the foliage is lush, green and junglesque. There is a hike to and from the exquisite waterfalls but the trek is well worth the effort and, fortunately for me who is rather non-agile (read clumsy) at times, a wooden handrail to grasp.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhO_88_AlW2UAaIduQgU13gHvPM9Yp0ctgfo4IBTBrMDgFkqvB0Z9PEBi1BuVOt8CVQjyqtnC6sFABwcnFbWdO2cAQPdL8RIAWIfsbff1lnxLiTO_xp7wOwsBohwM8IOhpWfU/s1600/IMG_3591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhO_88_AlW2UAaIduQgU13gHvPM9Yp0ctgfo4IBTBrMDgFkqvB0Z9PEBi1BuVOt8CVQjyqtnC6sFABwcnFbWdO2cAQPdL8RIAWIfsbff1lnxLiTO_xp7wOwsBohwM8IOhpWfU/s320/IMG_3591.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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We spent 3 or so hours here, including having a typical Costa Rican lunch of meats, rice and beans and wonderful fresh fruit, before heading off to our first destination, Arenal.<br />
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Our driver Doña Irma and our guide Gustavo were delightful. Driving in Costa Rica is not like driving in San Diego-which may or may not be a blessing; however, we were glad for Doña Irma's skills as some of the roads are a little challenging. It took three or so hours through coffee fields, mango groves and countryside to get to our lodge in Arenal, <a href="http://www.lostiguanaresort.com/navegadores/eng/home.php">The Lost Iguana</a> which was all that the website promised--beautiful, relaxing, wonderful service and a full view of the volcano...except we only saw part of it the first day and from them on it disappeared into the rain and mist. Although this was the "dry" season, as with much of the world these days, the climate is turned upside down. We had torrential rains almost our entire 4 day stay in Arenal. But...never fear....we didn't let water stop us and so we did all we planned...zip lining, white water rafting (after all rain couldn't make us any wetter than the rapids), hiking and more. All of this will be dutifully reported in episode 2 of the Costa Rica Adventure.<br />
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Our one and only view of the volcano </div>
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More to come</div>
Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-25094853972625169862012-10-16T13:14:00.002-07:002013-03-23T13:31:50.827-07:00My Jordan Picture Book<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" height="425" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"/><param name="flashvars" value="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=8SZM3Dhsz1iBA&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true"/><param name="menu" value="false"/><param name="quality" value="best"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><embed width="425" height="425" align="middle" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" name="wrapper" quality="best" menu="false" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashvars="configXMLURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/config/config-share.xml&slideshowModuleURL=http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-module.swf&projectGUID=8SZM3Dhsz1iBA&swfName=slideshowFlashContent&showReplay=true" src="http://images-community.shutterfly.com/flashapps/slideshow/slideshow-ui.swf"></embed></object><br />
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-11600482771929137192012-09-26T20:49:00.000-07:002012-09-26T20:49:58.179-07:00Really, Really Good Scallops and Veggies!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a new recruit to the wonders of scallops, I've been experimenting with recipes. Tonight I repeated a past success and will now share as it was just as wonderful the second time around. Also, the veggie part of it is OUTSTANDING and would be good at any time. A new favorite here.<br />
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Seared Scallops with Summer Vegetables and Beurre Blanc <br />
<i> From Cooking Light</i><br />
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1/2 cup dry white wine<br />
1/4 cup chopped shallots<br />
3 tbs chilled butter, cut into small pieces<br />
1/2 tsp lemon rind<br />
5/8 tsp kosher salt, divided<br />
1 medium zucchini<br />
1 medium yellow squash<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">1 orange </span>bell pepper it into 1 inch pieces<br />
1 small red onion<br />
2 tbs. olive oil, divided<br />
1 cup grape tomatoes<br />
3 garlic cloves, sliced thin<br />
1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided<br />
1 1/2 lbs sea scallops<br />
1/4 cup small basil leaves--optional<br />
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<li>Place a jelly-roll pan in oven. Preheat oven to 500° (leave pan in oven during heating.)</li>
<li>Combine wine and shallots, bring to boil. Cook 6 minutes (I found this too long) unitl mixture is reduced to 2 tbs. Strain through sieve into a bowl, discard solids. Return to pan. Gradually add butter, stirring with a whisk until smooth and emulsified. Stir in rind and 1/8 tsp salt. Keep warm.</li>
<li>Cut zucchini and yellow squash in half lengthwise. Cut each half crosswise into 3 pieces; cut each piece lengthwise into 4 strips. Combine zucchini, squash, pepper, onion and 1 tbs spoon oil i a large bowl, toss to coat. Put veggies into preheated pan. Bake at 599° for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic, toss. Bake for 4 minutes or until veggies are lightly browned. (I cooked longer.) Remove from oven; add salt and pepper.</li>
<li>While veggies cook, heat large cast iron skillet over high heat. Pat scallops dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add 1tbs. olive oil to pan. Add scallops; cook 1 1/2 minutes each side or until seared and the way you like them. </li>
<li>Serve scallops with veggies and sauce. Garnish with basil.</li>
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Again, let me say, the veggies are so, so good.</div>
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Serves 4 </div>
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For Ken and I, I just use 5 scallops each and then sort of cut back on veggies to what I think we want. I do the full sauce as then if we want more, we have it. Better too much than too little. The key with the scallops is to have the skillet hot, hot.</div>
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<a href="http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/seared-scallops-50400000122470/"><span style="color: red;">Cooking Light Recipe</span></a></div>
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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-83661716506283029532012-09-04T11:44:00.000-07:002012-09-04T13:54:58.834-07:00Temecula--A Hidden DestinationYes, yes, yes---somehow keeping up with this blog after so many years becomes increasingly difficult--particularly when life is rather routine and ordinary. The thing is...I started this as a type of journal which hopefully will be meaningful to Casey in the years ahead. With that said, my on again off again commitment doesn't quite meet that goal, does it?<br />
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Several weeks ago, well months now, Ken and I went away for a few days while Casey was enjoying the fun of house boats on Lake Shasta. (Have to say that it is worth every penny to send him to summer activities far away so that we can have our own fun.)<br />
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Anyway, thanks to a Groupon purchase, we had a few discounted nights at <a href="http://www.innatchuronwinery.com/churon_new/">The Inn at Churon</a> a winery/BandB in San Diego's own wine belt, Temecula Valley, which is producing some excellent wines. Unfortunately, we were not very pleased with our lodging as it is in a state of approaching being a "has-been" in need of new owners who are willing to invest. This is quite strange as everything in Temecula Valley is relative new making it surprising that anything could be in serious disrepair so soon. Did not like their wine either.<br />
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We did stop by some wineries that we had found in the past and discovered new ones tucked into hillsides and resting on hill tops; thus adding to our "wine cellar" which consists of a small cooler and any cool hideaways in the house. How I would like the wonderful basements we had in St. Louis and Syracuse (which actually had a wine cellar but, sad to say, was before we were wine aficionados.)<br />
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However, this blog entry is not about wine or the lush Tuscanesque landscape of Temecula Valley.<br />
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Instead it is about the discovery of a hidden treasure that we have ignored and misunderstood for years and years. When we lived in Riverside, we would occasionally drive down to San Diego and now that we are in San Diego, we have driven up I15 more times than I can count or remember--on our way to Riverside, Palm Springs, Idlewild, Arrowhead, Big Bear, Apple Valley and other SoCal destinations. Each time we have driven right by the Temecula city turn off--seeing only the businesses spread out along the highway--MacDonalds, tire shops, a mall, maybe a roadside restaurant or two. Certainly nothing beckoned us down the ramp. It seemed like just a small, old, tired place, certainly not a place of charm or interest. As this old town and the new vibrant Temecula Valley are on opposite sides of the freeway, the town is easily ignored.<br />
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Our foray into the town only happened because Temecula Valley restaurants are really geared for the weekend crowds that come for wine tasting and a few days get away time. Many are closed during the week, or so it seems. So, we decided to cross the tracks (really the freeway overpass) and see what was available in Temecula proper. And we were enthralled by what we found. A town that lost its history and purpose when the freeway went in, reimagined itself and has become a place of wooden sidewalks, cute shops carrying wares different than the ubiquitous offerings of the mall culture, places to eat (not Michelin quality, for sure), a look into its old time jail, a Lionel Train store that has anything for which you may be searching, a wonderful new theater and cultural complex and an old hotel for sale in the event you have always wanted to run an inn. It's a fun way to spend a few hours, strolling, exploring, and in my case, finding clothing that is unique that I love wearing.<br />
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So, if you have time to kick back, relax and just stroll a bit, take a detour into Temecula town.<br />
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While we were meandering, we began talking with Kristine Turner from nearby Marietta Springs. She offers "A Culinary and Wine Lovers Tour" if that sounds interesting. I have no idea whether it is good but she seemed interesting and fun--<a href="mailto:kristine@kristineturner.biz">kristine@kristineturner.biz </a>or 931-239-5973</div>
<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-23022769773094089572012-07-25T15:02:00.001-07:002013-03-23T13:32:11.532-07:00A Photo Book of Our Egypt TripWell, yes, a little late!<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-9559797102548050022012-05-31T07:16:00.002-07:002012-05-31T07:16:29.955-07:00Post Script to Yesterday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I think he's ready now. </div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-8058332687387126572012-05-30T11:09:00.001-07:002012-05-30T11:09:28.333-07:00To Cry or To Laugh?Which shall it be? I guess it depends on what I want out of life this day. Let's see--it is gorgeous here--only a day that a loving God could give us. Flowers are bold and bright......<br />
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Fountains are bubbling and the perfect setting for birds to take their baths....<br />
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After they feast.....<br />
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The harmony of the bird talk and song, awesome and peaceful. What a creation! That is the smile and the laughter.<br />
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Then--I must leave this spot of heaven to go buy clothes Casey neglected to mention he needed for the Junior Model United Nations Conference. How could he not have heard that he needed: dress pants, shirt, tie and SHOES--the caps compliment of the teacher when she e-mailed to tell me that he was not dressed appropriately today. His church casual clothes, which by the way look very nice, will not do--tomorrow he must dress properly. I do understand why this is important and I do intend to strangle him when he gets home today; however, what an expense for a one time wear. I guess he will gussy up for promotion next week and the award ceremony he has prior to that..neither of which require such formality.<br />
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I wonder where he parks his brain much of the time. I keep looking but can't find it. I keep thinking that the day will come when he packs it with him in the morning along with the backpack slung over the shoulder--often with homework forgotten on his desk. For goodness sake, he starts high school in 3 short months.<br />
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I pray that the God who makes the beauty will mature my child quickly and that all will be well. But then, I am remembering this post from 4 years ago <a href="http://janeandken.blogspot.com/2008/04/does-9-year-old-think.html">Does a 9-Year -Old-Think</a> and I shutter to think it may never happen.<br />
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But, today I choose to laugh....<br />
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<br />Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-79357033339749402482012-05-09T16:32:00.000-07:002012-05-09T16:35:35.164-07:00Time for GoldIn 1962, 50 years away were too far in the future to contemplate; becoming old was inconceivable and youth was eternal. But...somehow, time passes, moves happen, kids come and grow up, careers take curves to places unexpected, trauma and drama fill space and good times overtake all. Most importantly, "old" doesn't happen. Surprise! <br />
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Many memories fill the scrape books of the mind. I sometimes wonder if they stay planted when minds begin to skew and faces are no longer familiar. I think they do as they are filed away so carefully, protected with laughter and guarded by time. If I live another 30 years (which I do plan on,) I'll let you all know.<br />
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Son Jeff wanted to do something for us to celebrate--an open buffet for friends, a trip for Ken and me somewhere; he was thinking bigger than we wanted or needed. Our wish was to just enjoy "our boys"--Jeff and Casey, and follow a fond memory of the weekend we spent together in San Francisco a few years ago. So, we asked for a night in Los Angles at a lovely hotel and dinner at the Beverly Hills location of the restaurant we enjoyed so much in San Francisco. <br />
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So, on Cinco di Mayo we headed north, remember, we are far south. First stop was Venice Beach which totally personifies why people think of California as a land of wackos. It's a crazy place where you will see just about anything along the boardwalk. There's also a beautiful beach, well-kept lawns where graceful taichi is performed, open air massages enjoyed, lovers love, and playgrounds where kids play. It is so California with a ballet of bicycles, skateboards and skates swirling along the paths. It was fun for us just to stroll and absorb.<br />
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Lunch at the Venice Ale House</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Isn't son Jeff a handsome lad?)</span></div>
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Next stop was Beverly Hills--the <a href="http://www.slshotels.com/">SLS Hotel</a>, of which (for those of you old enough, you know that Churchill would approve of the grammar syntax) I am sure you have never heard. It is new and is the first of four in a new luxury hotel group. The other three will be in South Beach FL, NYC and Las Vegas. </div>
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The SLS has hundreds of permutations--Sparkle Like Sunshine, Susie Loves Sam, Savor Luxury Stays, Sweet Like Sugar, Satan Loves Sinners and on and on. It is fun to see the creativity as every place you look there is an SLS. Many of the rolling wall of slogans have been contributed by guests.</div>
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The designers decorating imaginations ran wild--it is as if they went to sleep, dreamed, woke up and went to work each morning fresh with new ideas of fun. Even the interiors of the elevators tickle. </div>
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Wild? Isn't it?</div>
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Lamps and chandeliers are crazy. With hundreds of them, I don't think there are two alike. </div>
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This was my favorite--straight out of Great Expectations.
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Casey's Favorite</div>
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Really Weird</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACwUZ115XwrTtFaWqF7e1Ahc7mcX9zy9Jvb6ClHfrL_ksVzuQb88ZfhjZBY3MX0m5eL7CeJ_7xKZZXx4u-u2m6cuMXwuPQN5F61N8JATECoiIrg6YvRA5H8761MNJPcIlRbM/s1600/IMG_2964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACwUZ115XwrTtFaWqF7e1Ahc7mcX9zy9Jvb6ClHfrL_ksVzuQb88ZfhjZBY3MX0m5eL7CeJ_7xKZZXx4u-u2m6cuMXwuPQN5F61N8JATECoiIrg6YvRA5H8761MNJPcIlRbM/s200/IMG_2964.JPG" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeN14UjijKMQdoRczqCQtxOAz-RSDW2Yb3LA3ttCsx4ciq2Bpt_X2zUiQnWUou-bWZ-TXDNWL2WF_6nB4F7138yoPk3KSmQNrU2Bl3ARrOY8p_9UEK0k-TnVtb-Kp0Ds9u00/s1600/IMG_2948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDeN14UjijKMQdoRczqCQtxOAz-RSDW2Yb3LA3ttCsx4ciq2Bpt_X2zUiQnWUou-bWZ-TXDNWL2WF_6nB4F7138yoPk3KSmQNrU2Bl3ARrOY8p_9UEK0k-TnVtb-Kp0Ds9u00/s200/IMG_2948.JPG" width="200" /></a>Even the rooms are unique--unlike the stereotypical rooms in any hotel, even those billed as luxury hotels. Basically, they are pretty predictable and the same. Here they are different. Beginning with the almost totally black mirrored walls, including bathroom and shower, the mirrored wall above the sink in the bathroom which slides open as a window into the bedroom, the bed that sits in the middle of the room, the huge tub in Casey and Jeff's bath, the black TV hidden in one black mirrored wall--oh, this is all too hard to describe. Just know that it is different, fun and almost decadent. If you love the atypical, this is a </div>
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place you would enjoy--mark it on your bucket list.</div>
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Each floor has a white room with a white pool table--really quite beautiful. It was a perfect way for the "boys" to spend some time having fun; although, the swimming pool area was quite spectacular, too. Casey was learning from a couple of experts--particularly Uncle Jeff who at one point spent a good amount of time at the local pool hall.<br />
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At some point while I was thoroughly enjoying this camaraderie, a lovely gift from the general manager arrived in our room--a beautiful flower arrangement, a chilled bottle of chardonnay, an exquisite cake and a very nice note of congratulations, all nicely arranged on a small table awaiting our little celebration. (Don't you love the self-timer function on cameras? Casey's our master, of this trickery.) Although this was pre-dinner, we had to have a toast and a sliver of very sweet, gooey cake.<br />
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Dinner was not at the hotel; although, we will go back someday as the <a href="http://www.sbe.com/thebazaar">The Bazaar </a>restaurant beckons. Our reservations were at <a href="http://www.anfamily.com/Restaurants/crustacean_beverlyhills/displaypages/homepage.html">Crustacean</a>, the sister restaurant of fond memories in San Francisco. Jeff and I salivate when thinking of their specialty, roasted crab and we were not disappointed. Ken sticks to giant butterflied prawns as he has a thing against having to work for his food. Me? Love digging into crab, lobster, escargot, whatever. Along with the crab, one must have the drunken, garlic noodles which, having tried to imitate several times, I now almost have mastered.</div>
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Well, not very good of Ken but the rest of us are OK.</div>
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The evening finished with Casey going to the room while Ken, Jeff and I hit The Bazaar for drinks and people watching. I am pretty sure we were in the company of wealthy and powerful and probably a celebrity or two thrown in. Definitely a lot of young people who we surmised were rich kids of rich parents. No one paid any attention to us--wonder why? Were we fooling them all with our humbleness? </div>
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The Baazar is also the location of the gift shop which is as whimsical as everything else at the SLS. Fun to look at but nothing I need or want or can afford. The chairs (or one should say seating) in the lounge are just as eclectic and varied and unique as the lighting. We fortunately were comfortable on a cow pelt (or simulated) couch but some looked pretty uncomfortable.
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The Gift Shop</div>
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And so closes our 50th anniversary--except for the last treat the next morning when I visited the elegant white and gold <a href="http://cielatsls.com/">Ciel Spa</a> for a luxurious massage--maybe one of the best ever. The boys entertained themselves with more pool while I luxuriated. And then it was time to leave with memories to carry through another fifty or maybe, if we are lucky 30 years. </div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;">Thank you Jeff.</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-7904790166092599182012-04-16T15:53:00.000-07:002012-04-17T10:54:58.800-07:00Awesome, Brilliant Yosemite--Wow, God!<div style="text-align: center;">
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The inescapable truth...God Is!<br />
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Sometimes I am mightily puzzled by people who deny there is a God--God, The Creator, The Power, The Father. I understand that accepting an all powerful, unseeable, untouchable, unhearable God can be difficult but it seems so much more imponderable to believe that all that is happened by poof, that all was created out of nothing without an architect.</div>
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The underlying non-answerable question of a child who says "I don't understand. Didn't there need to be something to create something" must be difficult to answer if God is taken from the equation. All of Stephen Hawking's theories and cerebral exercises become invalid in the face of this child's question. There had to be something to "poof." Didn't there?<br />
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Anyway, for me, Yosemite offers unquestionable proof of God and puts the lie to Hawking. It is gorgeous without compare. It can only be a gift from someone who loves man--well, and woman.<br />
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So, to go back to the beginning--God can be seen, God can be touched, God can be heard. He is all around if we but look.<br />
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And--His crowning glory and achievement!</div>
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<br /></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-78405518797967504612012-03-27T18:58:00.000-07:002012-03-28T09:28:46.607-07:00Amman--The Citadel and JerashWell, finally--the last installment of Christmas, 2011--Egypt and Jordan--we've been back 3 months which doesn't seem remotely possible. I would make some comment like "time flies" but that belies all sense of originality. So think I will proceed with out excuse or shame.<br />
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Our last day we were not going to be beset with boredom as we had more to do--a city tour of Amman, visiting the citadel and finally, to end our time, exploring the amazingly preserved Roman city of<a href="http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/jerash.html"> Gerasa</a> known today as Jerash. I need to thank my friend <a href="http://lizandrichardsa.typepad.com/liz_and_richards_2008_adv/2008/02/jerash.html">Liz</a> for encouraging us to go to Jerash as we had about decided that we would be too exhausted by the end of our trip and, having been to many ancient Roman ruins in many countries, we thought we could bypass this one. Liz, whose pictures in the link above far surpass ours, convinced us otherwise. Thank goodness.<br />
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Amman is one of the most ancient cities in the Middle East with archeological finds dating back to the Neolithic period and permanent structures appearing in 3200-2300 B.C. and fortifications beginning in 2200. In Biblical history it was Rabbath Ammon "the great city of the Ammonites." Somewhere around 250 B.C. it was renamed Philadelphia. Eventually through many upheavals, conquering and annexing, it became part of the Roman Empire--as did most of the known world.<br />
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To begin: the tour of Amman was not very detailed but interesting. The homes of the super, super (really super) wealthy are as impressive, well more so, as any we see in La Jolla or other rich American enclaves. Of course, we are talking about Middle East wealth which is rather often beyond the pale. In fact, most of these homes were summer or part time residences maintained by the housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, and such. One of the interesting features is that they all are built of white stone--very monochromatic but beautiful.<br />
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But, the west has arrived there in the form of huge, high-end malls with the same ubiquitous stores as one finds in malls anywhere. One had opened just days before we arrived and women were leaving with shopping bags sporting logos with which we are all quite familiar--the same as you find in New York, San Diego, Rome, Beijing, the world over. Of course, walking along side the road were the people leading donkeys, women wearing long burkas and trailing behind the men. The juxtaposition of life is eye opening. There is a lot of construction in areas which seem dominated by international businesses. Jordan is solvent and growing.<br />
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From the tour we headed to the ancient hill known as the citadel or acropolis which is right in the city of modern Amman. During Roman rule, there were the typical buildings and grid layout found in Roman cities everywhere. Today there is little left of that history but some pillars and slabs except for a remarkable theater--one of the best preserved in the world. For a fleeting moment, I thought maybe we could take <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=13005615#editor/target=post;postID=8589793428658145810">Casey to the opera</a>.)<br />
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After the Romans came a Byzantine period with churches and a large cathedral, converted into a Great Mosque at the time of the Arab conquest. By the time of the middle ages, there wasn't much going on there. For me, though, more interesting than the remnants of buildings and known history was the quite small museum which had fascinating finds from neolithic tombs and buried lives. Sometimes when going to museums in the United States we see such things; however, they take on new and different meaning and understanding when they are in the land to which they belong. All of a sudden, people from millennia in the past become real.<br />
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And then finally--Jerash--a great way to close out two very exciting, wonderful, memorable weeks. It is hard to imagine all that we did in those few days. </div>
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Gerasa was the site of the Macedonian Greek colony established by Alexander the Great when he conquered the area in 334 B.C. (a little history lesson there.) Eventually it became a strategic point in the large caravan trade and became a true urban center. In the process it morphed into several different names, including Antiochia (Antioch.) Eventually the Romans descended and made it theirs and prosperous. It was transformed into "a planned, architecturally city typical of the Roman East." (Jordan, Past and Present.) Eventually Trajan and Hadrian both left their marks until finally it became an important center for Christianity. Within the Roman ruins that dominate Jerash, there are remnants of Christian churches. </div>
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Casey had a serendipity event in the ruins which added fun for all of us. As the three of us were exploring rooms within walls, we heard Italian. There was an Italian couple who had hired an Italian speaking guide as they entered the ruins. We sort of hung back and listened, encouraging Casey to make himself known which eventually he gathered up the courage to do (believe it or not, Casey is shy.) They were totally astounded, of course, to hear this boy who had been speaking English with his parents, suddenly start speaking to them in perfect Italian. Soon they invited Casey to walk along with them. We assured them that we did not speak the language and were not trying to piggyback on their guide. So, we went our way and they went theirs--with us always within eye sight of where the four of them were.</div>
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Casey loved it and so did the Italian man who virtually ignored his wife from then on as he focused on this amazing American lad. They all had nothing but praise for his Italian and were amazed.</div>
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Back to Jerash--it truly is worth going to. So many Roman ruins are in piles of stone. Of course, there are piles of stone at Jerash but there are still haunting clues as to what was once there. The other interesting thing is how modern Jerash surrounds the Roman town and looks down upon it. New and old are one.</div>
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So ended our time. Bashar deposited us back at our hotel, tired, happy and overwhelmed by what we had seen and done. That night we needed to pack and prepare for an 11:00 PM pick up as our plane was leaving at 1:00 AM (as in the morning.) We decided to have an early meal at the Mexican restaurant again as we thought we would try to rest and sleep--what a bizarre thought that was. Of course, we didn't.</div>
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And so began a long, arduous, never to be repeated trip home. We had been up for 18 hours. Ahead of us were 28 more hours before arriving in San Diego--Amman, to Frankfurt, to Denver to San Diego. By the time we hit our very own bed, it had been 48 hours since getting out of bed in Amman for our last full day of adventure. Amazingly, we were up the next morning and feeling good--no jet lag then or in the days to come. But....I never, ever, ever want to repeat that trip home...then again, it is a small price to pay for adventure and seeing marvels of this world. Yep, would do it again if it were the only way. You?<br />
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The End.<br />
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Bashar Herzalla--great driver in Jordan <a href="mailto:bashar_herzalla@yahoo.com">bashar_herzalla@yahoo.com</a>
</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-43286809007035968922012-03-21T16:30:00.000-07:002012-03-21T19:56:01.056-07:00Moses, Crusaders and Romans--A Time Capsule<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sometimes I am struck by the irony of calling things "old" in the United States. Our old is so not old in terms of recorded civilizations, history and what is known about man. Granted, there may be unknowns, unexplored treasures hidden in places not found, but where that may be is mysterious. We just don't go back very far.<br />
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As I write this post, I am awed by Jordan and what we experienced in our short 3 days there--Petra with the Nabataean civilization going back at least to the 1st century BC; the<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Highway_%28ancient%29"> King's Highway</a> an ancient route mentioned in the Biblical book of Numbers and traversed for centuries and centuries by travelers and traders of the ancient worlds; Mt. Nebo where Moses stood while God laid before him the Promised Land which he could not enter; the Crusaders'<a href="http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/kerak.html"> Fortress of Kerak</a> built in the 12th century but a place that was historical Moab at the time of the exodus (13th or 15th century BC), the ruins of the <a href="http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/jordan/amman/citadel.html">Roman/Islamic citadel</a> in Amman, the incredibly preserved and complete ancient Roman ruins of Jerash--one of the most comprehensive Roman ruins we have visited in our travels and, finally, Amman itself which was the home of the Old Testament Ammonites captured by David in the 10th century B.C. All of this within less than a day's drive of each other. These places are old!<br />
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We left Petra early in the morning as we wanted to take the longer route--the King's Highway--back to Amman. We were enthralled by the landscape as we tried to imprint the past on what we saw. As the picture above shows, this is desolate, desert, dry country. It is part of where Moses and his people wandered for 40 years. Now there are Bedouins eking out what to us appears to be subsistence living. The land seems no more hospitable now than it was when manna fell from the skies and yet, the Bedouins resist government efforts to dislodge them from their heritage. Their history is their DNA.<br />
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Our first stop was the crusaders' Kerak fortress, another fascinating first for us. We all know of the crusades, crusaders, atrocities and motivations of those times; however, we had never really seen a Crusador fortress and that is definitely what this was. It was large, complex, built of huge stones, situated on a hill overlooking the countryside, pretty impenetrable by enemy forces. We clamored around it for a while, climbing steep steps and exploring dark, dungy rooms.<br />
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Next, at a small village, Bashar, our driver/guide, stopped and bought sandwiches and food for a picnic. Along the road, not too long after this stop, there was a man with a small tent, table and chairs. This was our picnic setting. I will admit we were a little hesitant to eat the sandwiches as they were mostly vegetables with dressing type sauce and the shop from which they came really didn't inspire confidence; however, we knew that it would be terribly culturally impolite to refuse Bashar's offering. The reality was that the sandwiches were good and we remained quite healthy.<br />
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I am sure that this is a traditional stop for Bashar as the Bedouin had handcrafted jewelry and other items for sale which, of course, we bought. Where and when else would we have such an opportunity and they clearly would offer us good memories when back in rather mundane San Diego. This is where I took one of my all time favorite Casey pictures--one of those moments when by sheer accident the stars aligned for perfection.<br />
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MAN OF THE DESERT<br />
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From here we traveled down the King's Highway to the town of Madaba which has a very old Christian church with a famous mosaic floor. This town was the Old Testament Moabite town of Medaba. We spent a few minutes there and then traveled on to Mt.Nebo. </div>
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I had really looked forward to this part of the trip but it was not what I had anticipated. I had in my mind's eye a high, majestic mountain looking over plains far below on all sides. It wasn't as high as I anticipated and with the construction on the churches, the fencing and other obstructions plus people (although not what it might be in better times) there was not the time for reflection nor were there the vistas that I would have liked. Because it was very hazy that day--which I understand is not unusual, we could not see Jerusalem in the distance and could barely make out Jericho which is not too far below. We could look in the direction of Jerusalem and so ended with at least a sense of the topography.<br />
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By this time we were tired--it had been a long day and we were ready for the hotel--which was an interesting experience in and of itself. For reasons I do not understand, Ahmed (remember he who planned our trip) decided we needed an end of trip treat and so had us staying at the Hotel Intercontinental--where the ritzy, jet-set, diplomates 1% stay. We didn't see what their rooms would have looked like, I might add, but I am sure ours was not one of them.</div>
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When we arrived at the hotel, there were blockades across the portico, requiring all vehicles to stop and have major security scrutiny including running detectors and mirrors under the car--reminiscent of when we crossed Checkpoint Charley in the days of the Berlin Wall. Having passed inspection, Bashar was allowed to park and help us and our luggage into the hotel.</div>
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The hotel had 3 restaurants...fancy, more fancy and Mexican. We opted for Mexican in Jordan to compliment our Italian and Indian in Egypt. Much to our surprise it was pretty good--almost like home.</div>
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Next and Finally: Roman Ruins and Home.<br />
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</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-25938689263252056872012-03-12T17:24:00.000-07:002012-03-21T11:03:48.312-07:00Bedouins, Crusaders and Where Moses Stood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
At the far end of Petra, guide/photgrapher <a href="mailto:hamadooza@hotmail.com">Hamad Farajat</a>, just happened to know the owner of the donkeys waiting up on the hillside. For a small sampling of Jordanian dinar, we could ride the donkeys to the top of the hill where we would then transfer to a truck to take us to Hamad's car so that he could drive us to a Bedouin camp--for another sampling of dinar. Why not? When would we have another opportunity like this? Never!<br />
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Hamad</div>
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So we formed the donkey brigade. (aside: Hamad must have told the donkeys' owner of my horse escapade as he totally picked me up and lifted me on to the unsuspecting donkey--another embarrassing moment.) </div>
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Happy Family Outing--in the Desert--on Donkeys</div>
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This really was another fun experience as we lurched up the hill. Below us was Petra in its splendor, surrounding us were desert hills below blue, blue skies, above us was a village built by the government when those living in ancestral caves of Petra were required to leave their cave homes.<br />
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I learned that donkey's truly are sure-footed as they step on crumbling limestone and shale. A couple of the paths were pretty uphill steep. A long the way we passed two quite pregnant camels which were the possession of our donkey owner; he had more elsewhere. As it turns out, he really appeared to be pretty wealthy by Jordanian desert standards. When we reached his village, we exchanged his donkeys for a 4 door, well-equiped truck which took us on a wild ride down the hills to Hamad's car. Obviously he had driven these paths before.</div>
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The Village above Petra</div>
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Hamad then took us on another bumpy, wild, really wild, ride in his car to two Bedouin family encampments. He offered us the opportunity to share a meal with the Bedouins which he assured us would be a memorable, fun experience; however, we who are normally quite intrepid travelers, turned him down. Once at the encampments, we knew we had made the wisest of decisions. It is very unlikely our constitutions could have handled the meal or that I would have been here to write about it.</div>
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Hamad</div>
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Hamad parked the car a ways from the first family's tent so we walked over the desert rocks to get to it. There we were met by a young boy and two young women whom I think were his sisters. Casey, who loves, loves animals loved the adorable new born goats cavorting around a water pail--and the dogs. This is a short video of our tea time at the tent of our first visit.<br />
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Across the ravine we could see a larger family hillside complex with several camels, horses, a whole bunch of goats, some lambs and dogs and a nice white truck. Checking for and getting Hamad's OK, we walked over to meet the family who were very welcoming and seemed to enjoy showing us around. The wife showed us the inside of their tent, particularly how sturdy and weather proof the top of the tent was with heavily compacted matted animal hair--I have no doubt that it was quite rain proof. At one end were many neatly rolled rough but clearly heavy blankets which would be unrolled each night on the floor. This tent was quite large with a good size "living" area which doubled as the sleeping area at night. The far end where I suppose clothes and supplies were kept was blocked from sight by the tall pile of blankets.<br />
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Watching the sure-footed goats as they moved from one rock-cropping to another occupied us for a few minutes while the father of the camp had fun introducing Casey to a tethered camel. They immediately established a close friendship as you will see. The little girl taught me how to say thank you--but now I forget it.<br />
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Well, didn't get to the crusaders fortress or, more importantly, to Moses' last mountain. But..this is long enough for one read so will continue next time. I know it is taking a very long time to finish up this short 2 week trip. So..stay with me a little while longer.<br />
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Thanks for checking in. I appreciate my readers.<br />
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Oh, this is us relaxing after the heavy Petra, Bedouin day. The hotel general areas were really lovely.<br />
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<br /></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-52050699972032676182012-02-28T19:52:00.001-08:002012-03-10T14:51:26.858-08:00Off to Jordan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of the first things to learn when moving from Egypt to Jordan is that it is not just a change of countries but continents, too--Africa to Asia. Casey was excited about this as he can now add a 5th continent to his travels. Not bad for a 13 year old.<br />
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We left Luxor in late morning for the flight to Cairo where we connected to a flight to Amman, Jordan, arriving somewhere around 6 pm, a little early--nice. Bashar, our driver, soon found us; we stopped at an ATM to get Jordanian dinars--another currency for the collection. In Egypt the dollar was strong--not so in Jordan. The exchange was not in our favor--significantly. But, once you plunge into travel, you surely can't get hung up on exchange rates or you sacrifice enjoyment.<br />
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From Amman we had a 3 hour or so drive to our destination, the mysterious rose colored city of Petra. Is there anyone who has not been captivated by the quintessential picture of the ancient, capital city of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabataeans" title="Nabataeans">Nabataeans</a>?<br />
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Petra was a key city along the ancient Silk Road trade route which connected Asia, Africa, the Mediterrean and Europe. The Nabatean people were brilliant, not only creating this magnificent city out of stone but carving an incredible water system through this same stone--parts of this can still be seen today. Considering that this culture was centuries before the Romans remarkable feats of engineering, their accomplishments are super impressive. Often when having the privilege of seeing what previous civilizations have left behind to awe us, it is impossible not to wonder what we are leaving for those who follow us 3 and 4 millenniums away. My hunch is that most of the 20th and 21st century will crumble but that Petra will stand.<br />
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We were staying at the Movenpick Hotel which is located right at the walkway leading to the entrance of Petra--a nice place to stay. Bashar met us in the morning and took us to meet Hamad, our guide through the wonders of Petra. Hamad was an excellent, knowledgeable guide plus a professional photographer. He used our cameras to take pictures throughout the day. He knew just where to take them, how to frame, where the light was etc. We ended up with photos we would never have had. For instance:<br />
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Right after the gate, we elected to ride horses down the path leading to the Sig. This seemed like a brilliantly fun thing to do; forgetting that I can't remember the last time I was on a horse--I am quite certain that I was somewhere in the dim and forgotten past. Things went very well and I loved sitting high and admiring the surroundings. What an impressive sight.<br />
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The problem came as I was to dismount. As I lifted my leg over the horn on the saddle, somehow my right foot caught in the stirrup and my left leg remained high on the horse--so I dangled momentarily--surely a graceful scene. Eventually I fell on my right buttock with left leg still pointing skyward and right foot still caught--can you picture this?. The guide (horse guide not Hamed, fortunately) tried to catch me at which time he was almost knocked off the cliff. I have no idea how many people witnessed but Ken didn't (thank you, God.) Casey did as did any number of other tourists and guides. Looking at no one, I hobbled up, dusted off and went on my way as if nothing unusual had happened. I suspect, though, that the horse guides still talk about the weird American woman.<br />
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Moving on, we walked through the ancient 1200 meter entrance way called As-Sig, which is a deep, winding narrow gorge with 80 meter walls soaring skyward. Along the way are incredible colors, water channels dug by the Nabateans, agricultural terraces and votive niches. It is really awesome. And then, as if what you have now seen hasn't awed enough, you get the first peak of the Treasury--which in reality was the tomb of an important Nabataean king. There is so little history of these people that the mystery of who this person was will remain a mystery throughout time but...he must have been a big man on campus, for sure.<br />
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Can you imagine the trade caravans coming through the gorge with camels laden with treasures from east and west and this was what greeted them? Do you think they were any less awed than we?<br />
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Once through the Sig there is a wide open piazza type area in front of the Treasury with the expected vendors and guides hawking for business. From there the wide dirt path wanders through the remains of the city that was--caves that were tombs and homes, a Roman theater, temples, magnificent buildings carved into the rock, donkeys, Bedouins, camels, tourists. Amazing, amazing, amazing.<br />
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Next: A donkey ride, Visiting a Bedouin camp, and the King's Highway</div>
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</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-2116211531704914012012-02-07T16:27:00.000-08:002012-02-07T16:52:05.147-08:00Christmas in Luxor<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, we are coming to the close of the Egypt portion of our grand Christmas adventure. Soon we will be in Jordan. By now we have seen pyramids, tombs, palaces, museums and temples. We have traveled by plane, ship and camel--well, actually, maybe 200 meters by camel, to be honest. We've eaten well, laughed, explored, people watched, drank mint tea, listened to the call to worship uncountable times and just had fun. Oh, yeah--met lots of Mohammeds.<br />
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Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent on the banks of the Nile at the <a href="http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=402">Luxor Sherator Resort</a>, which was really quite nice--a great way to relax and enjoy these two days that are special to us. We loved seeing the large Christmas tree in the lobby and other decorations reminding us of our heritage and beliefs. We had wondered about Christmas in a Muslim country. Once when someone wished me "Merry Christmas" I ended up asking, as I caught myself saying Merry Christmas back,: "What should I say to you?"..."Just say Happy New Year." That worked.<br />
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We had used Starwood points to stay here and I guess because Ken has residual status after having been top tier many times in his working years, we were upgraded to an incredibly large and lovely suite over looking the Nile with a balcony that stretched around two sides. It made Christmas that much nicer not to be cramped in a regular hotel room cramped with a bed for Casey. <br />
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Nice Welcome Gift from Manager</div>
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And...the commode was a masterpiece which Casey still talks about. I had heard of these Japanese innovations but hadn't seen let alone used one before. It took a manual to know what to do. Hot air/cool air/warm water/cool water/for him/ for her.... Never did get it all figured out but sure replaces the bidet.<br />
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By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were rather beat from the day's activities--see last post--and wanted to do nothing more than kick back, relax, enjoy late lunch and walk the grounds along the Nile--which we did. That night we enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner at La Mamma--one of the hotel's restaurants. It was such a good time with the three of us and we laughed at Casey's arrabiata made appropriately spicy with jalapeños.<br />
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The hotel had a large Christmas banquet type dinner that night with multiple courses and fancy dress which didn't appeal to us for many reasons, chief among which being who wants to spend an evening with people you don't know, eating more food than you want and dressing up (which we could not have done anyway.) Our way we had the entire Italian restaurant to ourselves, totally enjoying interacting with our waiter and listening to Dean Martin singing That's Amore. Who would have thought in Egypt?<br />
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That night, Santa, amazingly, found us so many miles from home, even bringing Casey's stocking and wrapped gifts. Thank goodness for reindeer who can travel so quickly. Casey was surprised in the morning and enjoyed the small gifts and candies that had nestled safely in our suitcases.<br />
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That afternoon we hired a boatman to take us across the Nile to deposit Casey to where we had arranged a horseback riding session and then on down the Nile to where Ken and I went to the quite enjoyable <a href="http://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/luxor-museums/">Luxor Museum</a>. (This should not be confused with the less well thought of mummy museum in Luxor.) We thoroughly enjoyed this museum as it has some wonderful antiquities and yet is not so large as to overwhelm. Even then we hurried through faster than we would have preferred as we needed to get back to our little boat to return to the other side of the river to retrieve Casey. There was such a fairy tale quality to the day,<br />
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That night we opted for dinner in the every day type dining room of the hotel where there was a pretty bad buffet. We should have returned to La Mamma, I think. Maybe Dean would have been singing White Christmas with Bing.<br />
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The next day we repacked, after buying a new satchel to carry new treasures, and were whisked off to the Luxor airport for a flight to Cairo and from Cairo to Jordan and mysterious rose- colored Petra, a place I had dreamed of seeing but never thought I would. As you will see, it was wonderful and held a whole new set of adventures for us. Bedouin encampments, more horse rides donkey rides, Roman ruins and Mexican food.<br />
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<br /></div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-67807604046882387662012-02-01T21:48:00.000-08:002012-02-07T15:08:48.178-08:00Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut and Medinet Habu<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Mohamed, our wonderful guide throughout the cruise, picked us up around 8 a.m., loaded our luggage into the van, and off we drove to the Valley of the Kings, final resting place of pharaohs, queens, consorts and lesser nobility.<br />
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Mohamed</div>
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The <a href="http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/kv.htm">Valley of the Kings </a>is barren, dry desert. There is nothing remotely beautiful about it if one is looking for trees, greens, water, color. It is beige, beige, beige. If you look at it as another example of earth's diversity and geological wonders, then you can find beauty--as in all things.<br />
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From <a href="http://travelsinparadise.com/">Travels in Paradise.Com</a></div>
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It is a short drive out of Luxor, through dune colored hills and then the parking lot with little shuttle trains that take visitors to the tomb area. The downer is the huge number of men and young boys selling books, postcards and trinkets. It is so obvious that the need for money is great and the opportunity for making anything approaching a livable income is non-existent. In the best of times, it would be hard, in these times of few tourists it is impossible. </div>
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We bought a ticket which allowed access to three tombs of our choosing. There is an extra ticket to go into Tutankhamun's which we did not get as we had read and were told there really is nothing to see in it. It is not painted and colorful as others are and nothing remains except a large plain sarcophagus. Maybe I wish we had gone but too late now. </div>
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The three we went into were recommended by Mohamed as being the most interesting and colorful. We were astounded by the remaining wall drawings and incredibly bright, vibrant colors. Unfortunately, it is prohibited to take pictures in the tombs so I have none. This link has some good examples but even they don't do justice to the awesome walls. <a href="http://www.culturefocus.com/egypt_valley-of-kings.htm">Culture Focus.com</a>. There are long entrance walls covered with many scenes and stories referring both to the life of the entombed pharaoh and the hoped for benefits of the anticipated afterlife. Gods and goddesses in myriad strange forms decorate the rooms, ceilings and walls. The workmanship boggles.<br />
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I found this on the web. Isn't it amazing?</div>
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There is nothing on the surface of the valley to indicate what lies below making it clear why finding these tombs is such a painstaking process; there are thought to be many not yet discovered.<br />
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Typical Entrance into Tomb</div>
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From here we went onto the temple of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatshepsut">Queen Hatshepsut</a> which is quite impressive, particularly from a distance. Much of it was destroyed by her stepson who followed her and who wasn't very fond of step-mom. He had many of her statues broken and her face defaced where ever he found it. Consequently there are just a couple physical representation of how she may have looked. It is also not clear how she died or where she was buried, not surprising leading to ideas that she may have been murdered by her stepson. Recently her mummy was found in a cache of royal mummies but where it had previously been buried seems to still be unknown.</div>
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Queen Hatshepsut, "the woman who would be pharaoh", was truly remarkable, succesfully leading Egypt for somewhere around 23 years. She often wore men's clothing-including the fake beard, successfully fought wars and had an impressive building program. Pretty impressive woman! Would have led a Fortune 500 today.</div>
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From here we had three more ancient sites before the end of our Egypt tour and being taken to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day kickback time. I have to admit that at this point we looked forward to this as we were approaching the point of overload after a week of "seeing and experiencing." Casey was holding up better than Ken and I--youth does have advantages.<br />
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Next stop was Medinet Habu--the<a href="http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/habu.htm"> Mortuary Temple of Ramses III</a>. The pharaohs may have been buried in obscurity but they sure didn't want to be forgotten so they built beautiful, above ground testimonials to themselves. Medinet Habu is impressive in size and decoration. By now we had seen many places with colors remaining after centuries of exposure to elements; however, here the colors were particularly vibrant. It was also interesting to see the depth in the carving of figures and hieroglyphics--much deeper than any other place. You can see it in the pictures. <br />
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Our last two stops were the Tombs of the Nobles which are in a rather isolated area with very little there. We were able to enter two of them but photos were not allowed. One of them was fairly deep underground and had retained full walls of murals and drawings--quite impressive.</div>
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The last stop was at the Colossi of Memnon. These huge, gigantic statues originally stood at the entrance to the mortuary temple of Amenophis III which is no longer. The fact that they still stand is amazing. They are called Memnon because for many years (long ago) one of them emitted a strange whistling sound each morning. The Greeks, always prolific at ascribing reasons to anything unexplained, decided that it was the statue of Memnon, a warrior said to have been turned into a statue in Thebes after being killed by Achilles. The sound was his lamenting his mother, the sun, as she rose each morning. As the statue deteriorated, so did the sound. We listened--but nothing.</div>
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This was the end of our guided portion of Egypt. From here we were delivered to our hotel in Luxor--the Sheraton Resort--which was lovely. Since it was Christmas Eve, we were pleased to find a large green tree in the lobby, decorated in red and gold. It was a nice touch. We said goodbye to Mohamed and started our private Christmas time. More on that next time.</div>
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</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13005615.post-37241035908673456232012-01-26T16:54:00.000-08:002012-01-27T08:37:53.908-08:00Magnificent Karnac and Colorful Luxor Temples<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A Painting from an ancient Christian Church inside the</div>
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walls of the more ancient Luxor Temple</div>
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When exploring within ancient temples, there are always surprises. As in the less ancient Greek and Roman buildings which often transformed and morphed into many permutations over the centuries, so too the temples of pharaohs. </div>
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Other than the halo you can't really see this, but it is a painting of the Virgin Mary </div>
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on a pillar in Karnac.</div>
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Our last two cruise nights were spent docked at Luxor, the site of the very large ancient city of Thebes. It does seem strange but as the ship docked in such a way that our cabin faced the Nile, we had more time to enjoy its serenity and peace-particularly as there were not gaggles of other cruise ships parading by. We enjoyed leaving in the morning, visiting the huge Karnac temple complex and Luxor Temple, which is right in the city of Luxor, and then returning to the ship for a late lunch, relaxing on the sundeck with new friends and enjoying the galaibya party and dinner.<br />
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Because we had a private guide and were continuing on in Luxor for a few days, we had a more leisurely day than others who followed the cruise schedule. They did both temples in the morning, came back to the ship for lunch and then went to the Valley of the Kings in the afternoon. This would have been an exhausting itinerary, and, in fact, folks were dragging a little bit.<br />
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Anyone who has ever perused the National Geographic or watched the Discovery Channel or Planet Green knows of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak">Karnac</a>--the huge complex of three temples dedicated to the god Amun-Ra, the goddess Mut and the god Montu. Amun was the main divinity of Thebes. Through several dynasties, 13 centuries, this monumental complex was added to with small side temples, mortuary temples, statues, pillars, living areas and rooms and buildings of unknown purpose. Today we see it in bits and pieces, some parts more complete than others but nothing is whole. The massive pillars are impressively awesome in their rows and columns with colors, usually muted but occasionally bright, still showing in places; I found myself wondering what it was like when priests and royalty walked through their shadows.<br />
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Although both Mut and Montu have their own temples and precincts within the complex, visitors only see the "precinct of Amun-Ra" which is what we mostly think of when we reference Karnac and what most visuals show. The other two temple areas are still being uncovered and restored. You can see them but not go to them--disappointing. They are much older and go back to even more ancient gods of Thebes.<br />
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From Karnac, after buying an Anubis (the two headed jackel god of afterlife and mummification) statue for son Jeff--his one request of us. Of course, as with anything in Egypt, bargaining is the expectation so we needed to go through that exercise--which is not one of my favorite cultural experiences--anywhere, we moved on.<br />
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Our next and last stop for the day was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Temple">Luxor Temple</a> which sits among the streets and shops of Luxor. This temple and Karnac were connected via a two mile "parade route" which was used for ceremonial processions. It was lined on both sides with sphinx which are now being dug up and replaced along the ancient road. This is a slow process as existing buildings are needing to be torn down to do this.<br />
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It is thought that Luxor Temple was mostly a sanctuary dedicated to the celebration of the royal "ka" soul of the ruler which was passed from father to son. If so there would have been ceremonies to confirm the hereditary transfer of the king's sacred powers-Ka-to his son; however, much of this is still conjecture. There are many colossal statues here, including the greatly egotistical Ramses II and his favorite Nefertari who were the subjects at Abu Simbel. Like Karnac, it was constructed over a period of several dynasties. In time, the Romans converted chapels into servicing Roman gods, then Christians had churches within the walls and finally Islam entered the area. At the entrance is a structure with triple religious heritage--ancient Egyptian temple, Christian church and finally, on top, a mosque in use today.<br />
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The bottom is ancient Egypt. If you look half way up, you will see reddish doors which were the Christian church (at the time it was built the Egyptian portion was underground) and on top you can see the mosque with a part of the minaret.<br />
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There is so much to tell about these temples and complexes but if you are interested, it will be much easier to click on the links which I have provided as the information is far more complete and intelligible than I can provide.<br />
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And now....the final night and the galaibya party. From what I gather these parties are traditional to Nile cruises. A galaibya is an Egyptian garment of a certain style; it should be full length but some people simply choose a shirt---while other people don't dress up at all. It really is a very casual, do whatever you want event.<br />
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When in Cairo, we decided that we would do it all, so Casey and I bought our galaibya there and got really nice ones. Ken bought a cheapie on board which was just as well as I can't imagine that we will wear them again. Well, maybe Casey will have a reason at some point. He looked very impressive in his.<br />
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And this is the charming, beautiful couple from Hong Kong that were part of our table, Wayne and Iris<br />
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....this was the end of the cruise. The next morning we were packed and out of there by 9. Next stop: the famous, mystical Valley of the Kings and Christmas in Luxor. And then....PETRA<br />
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</div>Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13622825482727155797noreply@blogger.com4