London, England (February 23rd-25th, 2007)

This past weekend, I went (back) to London. The more I go, the more I love this city. There's just so much to do and see there.
Laugh all you want, but this trip was largely inspired by the shopping opportunities that it provided. Last year, when I went to London for the first time, I lucked out into getting into London Fashion Weekend. I had such a great time, that this year, when planning a trip back to the city, I tried to coincide my visit with the event. It worked out well. I still can't believe that I can just take off for the weekend for "shopping trips". I'm such a snob. I wonder if I'm the only goof that decides to hi-tail it to Milan, Paris or London when I need some retail therapy. If I were in Toronto, my big trip would be to Yorkdale, the Eaton's Centre or Yorkville. Ha ha ha. Oh well, might as well make the most of it while I still can!
Anyway, so I arrive to London late Friday night armed with a big "to do" list, as usual. This trip made me realize that going to London really isn't enough time. Sure, you get an extra hour on the way there (time change), but since I have to wait until a certain time for a flight (work commitments) and on the way back, you're essentially losing an hour, a day and a half really isn't worth the trip to London. I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time I go (knock on wood that there is a next time).
Saturday is to be a jammed packed day. I'm up bright an early, arming myself with a greasy English breakfast (not a full breakfast - just toast, a fried egg, bacon, sausage and beans) and day pass on the underground (love it!).
Among one of the many stops of the day, Molton Brown. I was recently introduced to this bath/body line by a friend, so I wanted to visit a store in its "homeland". I'm sort of weird that way. I like to go to the source. Anyway, the shop was fab, and I did make one exotic purchase. These kinds of stores have become a recent splurging phenomenon for me. I remember the days that L'Occitane on Bloor was too intimidating to even look into its windows, and now, it's just like going into The Body Shop (albeit, a whole lot better). I guess Molton Brown is really nice, but I'm more intrigued by Korres right now. I'm such a snob.
Of course, no trip to London would be complete without a trip to Burberry. Of course I wanted to buy nearly everything in sight, but I was good enough to keep my credit card in my wallet. Those trenches though...sigh, maybe in the distant future. It's just such a beautiful material. You know it's good stuff. And the fit? Fab. Snob, snob, snob.
On my list of "things to do": go on the slide at the Tate Modern. This exhibition just sounded too cool to pass up. I mean...it's a giant slide! The queues (I LOVE that word - I'm going to introduce the world to America if/when I go home) were crazy, but I still had to do it. Forget the little ones, I wanted to go on the slide from the 5th floor. It didn't look like the people were sliding really quickly, but it sure felt fast. And
long too. Long enough that there was a point where my body asked my brain: "Is this over yet? I should have come to the end and be on solid ground by now." Like that feeling that you get when you miss the last step, or, when you're used to going off the 1m springboard and then you go on the 3m for the first couple of times (I remember that like it was just yesterday!). Anyway, it was pretty fast. And the spiral was tight enough that by the end, I was starting to feel dizzy. I had to take a moment at the end before I could stand up. You were
sliding feet first, lying on your back, arms across your chest on top of a burlap mat that had a little pocket on the bottom to tuck your feet into. They even provided knee and elbow pads for those who wanted them, but I'm h-core. I didn't go for them (nor did anyone else I saw go down the slide). The random spotlights that shined in your face was a little annoying. I don't know if that was on purpose. Also, the centrifugal force was pushing me up on the side of the slide, and only the middle of the bottom of the tube was flat, so I was going down most of the slide on a bumpy surface. Quite annoying, and really shaky on the body. Still, I'm really glad that I did it. It was a lot of fun, and I would highly recommend it for anyone visiting the city.
BTW, Men: Paul Smith shirts? Yum.
When I went to Harrods to look for some food (forget eating at restaurants in London - Harrods Food Halls are the best!), I noticed that there was a special exhibition going on. Harrods Rocks was mainly a display of guitars. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Rock and Roll and guitars, so the exhibition didn't really do much for me, but I'm sure that if you're really into that sort of thing, this is a great exhibition. I did enjoy looking at the special guitars. The ones that had been specially designed. The ones with bling were really pretty (I still like looking at sparkly things) and I think most of the pieces are going to be auctioned off at some point for charity.
That night, a musical (of course). This is another reason why a weekend isn't enough to visit London. There are so many shows to see, and going to one cuts into your day. Still, I wasn't going to pass up on an opportunity to see singing and dancing onstage! The pick of
the night: Wicked. I'd heard rave reviews about this show after it first opened on Broadway, and although I wouldn't be watching Kristin Chenoweth, I knew I had to go watch this show. It was amazing! Potentially better than Chicago. Hard to decide, but the music, colours and costumes were fab! I thought Kerry Ellis, who played Elphaba did an amazing job. The best of the show. It was a little funny to heard British accents in a show, but I got used to it. I think it did take away from some of the punch lines though. I was cracking up at some of the nuances that were in the show, but I get the feeling that they were lost on the Brits (or potentially the other non-American tourists in the audience). I love the Wizard of Oz movie, and this show just added to the story. Everyone should watch this show. This one and Avenue Q (which I HAVE to see next time).
I wanted to pack everything in to the Saturday, because Sunday morning, I would be going to London Fashion Weekend and who knew how long I would be there for. I'm disappointed to report that I didn't go crazy there. Sure, I feel in love with lots of stuff (bags, bags, bags!), but I'm too practical to forget about the ridiculous exchange rate. I'm sure that the prices were very reasonable for designer standards and for British standards, but I just couldn't do it. Sigh. I bought a little something, but nothing that amazing to report. I was sort of sad after leaving the place that I didn't buy something, but I'm sure it'll pass. It wouldn't even be like I felt like I was spending all that money on a "so and so", because I'm pretty ignorant about British fashion, but I'm sure that in the future a lot of the names there will be household names (if they aren't already) or they'll be cult favorites with the fashionistas. Sigh. I did get a bunch of free magazines and snacked on free Skinny Cow dessert bars. Tee hee. Another reason I love this event, is because it's the place to see London street fashion at its best. Most of the attendees are quite fashionably dressed, so it's a great learning experience. London fashion is really different from Italian, French, American, etc fashion, and I don't see very much of it, so I was a little thrown off by some of the stuff that they were wearing, but it really grew on me. Pencil jeans, ballet flats, leggings, stacked/slouchy boots (mid calf and ankle variety), jersey tops and vintage-y wear were everywhere. I kinda wanted to adopt some of the styles. I still consider myself a little fashion clueless (I'm a lot better than I used to be - thanks to living in Europe), but especially in the way that I'm not sure how I want to be. I'm starting to have an idea of how I want to project myself to the world, and I see people on the streets and at this event that are dressed to the nines...makes me wonder if I can do it too. I mean, fashion or practicality? I'd love to dress a certain way every day of the week, but my lifestyle just doesn't seem to allow it. Or maybe it doesn't, but I'll just stand out from everyone else (one of the points of fashion - but I don't really like to stand out...and it's not even the way that I dress is shocking, it's the fact that everyone else is just so relaxed with their fashion attitude). Oh, and there were tweens and pre-tweens that were dressed impeccably. I didn't even know the word fashion at their age. I was very impressed, and a little bewildered. I wondered if all of these people really do dress like that all the time. It just didn't seem to match with, I don't know what, but it just didn't seem right for some reason. And I love fashionable families. They don't have to match with each other (sometimes that's a little scary), but each part of the family need to be fashionably dressed. It's incredibly impressive and few and far between. I like fashion. And I would like to have enough money to not feel badly to indulge on great pieces every so often. I'm still in "sale" state. Boo-urns.
Anyway, that's my trip to London in a nutshell. Not too heavy on the tourist side (been there, done that - although there's still touristy stuff on my "to do" list), but definitely a lot of fun. I miss London already, but tonight, I'm going to Lisbon!

Tunisia (Dec 23rd, 2006 - Jan 5th, 2007)

See...this blog doesn't do trips like this any justice at all. Oh well, here's a smidge about this trip.

I was warned that all I would eat on this trip is couscous. I didn't have any idea if this would be a good or bad thing. I mean, the first time that I'd eaten couscous was here in Europe anyway...at the cafeteria where we eat lunch. It's an option in the salad bar every so often. Anyway, I loved the sauce that the Tunisians serve with their couscous. Everyone else didn't enjoy it, but I loved the stuff. I guess it's the same thing with me and my 1st year university experience of Residence Cafeteria food. Shepherd's pie and macaroni cheese? So different from the Asian food that I was used to eating every day, so it was such a novelty.
We went to the Bardo National Museum which has a lot of mosaics on display. It's impressive the detail that went into these things. It's amazing what was produced without the technology as we know it today. I'm not saying that you need a lot of technology to make a mosaic, but I don't know...I segway in weird ways.


For the first time I've visited an amphitheatre, I've gone onstage and pranced around. It was a blast. This is in Carthage.





Sidi Bou Said reminded me a lot of some of the Greek islands that I visited in Greece. I'm pretty sure it was because of the blue and while buildings.


At our Christmas Eve dinner (at a really classy/chic restaurant), this was our dessert utensil. I've heard of "forkchops", but this thing is new.


Souks = Markets. I like markets. There's so much activity going on there and sure they're often tourist traps, but at the same time, you get a sense of what locals are like as well. And plus, I love to bargain. It's so fun.




We visited a coliseum in El Jem. I have to say, it was better preserved than the coliseum in Rome. I know that I'm really ignorant when it comes to world issues (past or present), so my mind completely didn't make the connection that Romans existed outside of Rome. Duh.
We happened to be in Tunisia around the time of Eid. Each family would be sacrificing a sheep so we passed by lots of sheep markets. The markets were pretty ad hoc designs. A shepherd wandering the side of the highway with his flock and presto, it was a market.









No desert is complete without cacti. I think you can eat these things.




Another tourist picture opportunity, this contraption on top of the camel is used to hide the bride to be at weddings.






In Kariouan, we visited the Barbier Mausoleum. While I was happy to be able to see things like this, I felt a little uncomfortable. I mean this was a place of worship and our group was going in and looking around the place, making noise and disturbing their practices. I guess they're used to it though.


When we went to Turkey, our tour guide took us into a "rug factory" so that we could learn how rugs were made. WHATEVER. It was more like a commission stop. At least this commission stop involved a demonstration!












I don't know much about the Muslim faith, but I know a little bit more than I did before this trip. This is the Great Mosque in Kariouan.

Okay, I've been to Rome and seen the coliseum there. I've been inside of it too. This one was so much well preserved and there was so much more freedom in terms of wandering territory. We could even go down to the pit - which was cool, because we could play gladiator.
In Tozeur, we took a carriage ride into the palm groves where they harvest dates. They have to artificially inseminate the trees and then they climb them and pick off the dates. It's pretty cool. There were also banana trees...as well as pomegranate trees. Another first "tree" experience.




Just look at that colour...






Look at all that fruit! The dates were so good. The too-ripe ones were so soft that they just melted in your mouth. Yummy.





Look at these amazing ruins. I sort of feel sorry for those who'll have boring brick houses to look at in thousands of years.








Such a beautifully mosaic-ed christening pool.




















I'll never get a real tattoo, but I'm not against the idea of henna. Well, obviously, because here's my hand...with henna on it. It lasted for a long time too. A month or so.




We were driving around the desert in 4x4s. On the 1st day, our driver was a rally car driver so he was all into doing crazy stuff in the dunes. It was really exciting. This picture is taken from the top of a dune looking down at a camel that was taking a break from his work.



They still have parts of the set left over from the original Star Wars movies in the desert. Why? I guess because they know tourists will visit it.





There were a couple roads in the desert, but often we were driving through the sand. I guess camels find it nicer to walk on the road too, although they do slow traffic down a fair bit.






Yeah, we know.







The camels were drinking from the side of the road and as we were the first car of the convoy, we got the best view of the most incredible experience ever...…


One of the camels was either startled to see that we were coming up behind them or that is just lost its footing and fell into the quicksand. Yes, it was real quicksand and the camel was completely stuck. It tried to get out on its own, but to no avail. Our convoy stopped, and the drivers tried to pull it out. Here, they're putting a rope around it...the other end of the rope is attached to a 4x4. After some serious tugging, the camel was safe although it lay on the ground for awhile, not getting up. Obviously it was in a little shock, but it got up and joined the rest of the group, which sort of kept its distance for a little while. Some people in our group swear that the camel actually stretched its neck out a little further to help the rope go around its neck. Makes you wonder - did the camel really know what was going on, and sat their calmly letting the humans help it?
We rode an old train called The Red Lizard. It was straight out of a movie, much like many other experiences that I've had in my time here in Europe. These canyons reminded me of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Tunisia just has so many different parts to it. This was
literally, minutes away from barren desert.


Sigh. Fabulous.













Ha ha ha ha.










That's me riding a camel through the Sahara!




This was our first camp site in the desert. Yes, now I think I can say I've gone camping. It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had, but I don't think I completely love it. I really didn't like the lack of toilets. It's not like there are a lot of bushes in the desert (although this picture shows otherwise - I learned that there are three main parts of the desert. The first is the one with the origial Star Wars set which is near the rocky mountains, the second is this one...near the salt lakes and home of many oases and the last one is what you stereotypically imagine the Sahara to be, sand, sand and more dunes of sand), but luckily the sand dunes are high enough that you can hide when necessary. The actual tent was made of camel fur/hair. Pretty basic, but it shows that you don't really need luxury to survive.









On New Year's Eve we had a special treat. We shared the campsite with a couple other groups and there was a great meal along with a performance and later on, dancing by the bonfire.
Some of us were hardcore and slept outside, under the stars. It was REALLY cold. I had frost on my sleeping bag one morning. I wore so many layers, was in two sleeping bags and two more blankets on top of that (one being a fabulous camel/wool blanket that the real nomads
wear). I was warm, but the frost made me realize just how cold it was outside.
Our breakfast area! Our hosts made "sand bread" for every meal. The dough was rolled flat like a pita and buried in coals. The coals were then covered with sand. It was SO tasty.

The Sahara is everything that you would imagine it to be and more. Absolutely beautiful...that's all I can say. The sand was such a beautiful colour (although when in the "salt lake" area its a different colour than from the "stereotypical desert" area. It's more red in the latter. I've kept some as a souvenir (how tacky). I've never felt sand like this before. It was so soft...and smooth. The granules are so fine that it feels like flour. This is the stuff that they should put in sandboxes, although it doesn't pack very well - or maybe that's just because it was so dry. In the morning though, when there was moisture in the top layer, it was mouldable. As soon as the sun came up though, it was game over. I think I still have sand in random things that I brought back from the trip.





I wonder how long those prints lasted.







We stopped at a local village. This berber woman and child was there soaking up the sun. The skin colour of the berbers is something that I don't think I've encountered before.





The berber woman said that this goat was born that morning...and look at those little lambs!



These are troglodyte houses...carved into the rocky mountains. Incredible.





We visited a troglodyte home which this gentleman lived in. I couldn't believe that we were walking around their house and taking pictures and stuff. I'm sure that they were used to this, as they even had tea prepared for us to drink (we were encouraged by our guide to leave a tip at the door on our way out), but could you imagine a tour group traipsing through your house? It was a little strange, but I was thankful for the experience. Oh, and look at this man's eyes. Amazing. Berbers typically have red hair and grey eyes.





A Tunisian sunset. I love my life.





These used to be grainaries, used to store grain by the nomads. They'd come back every so often to get more before they went off in the next direction. This was also the backdrop to the movie, The Phantom Menace. George Lucas must have really liked Tunisia.
It's near the town of Tatouine, which, you Star Wars fans should know that there's some planet in the movie which is named after this place.
I walked in a couple of these places. Just like the troglodytes, I was in awe of the carvings, and the stairs and rooms that were created.




This berber woman sports some of the typical tattoos on her face. Of course her attire is traditional, and the plastic tub is awaiting tips from us tourists (we're in her house).






The town of Matmata is built on a hill.






The last stop on our trip was in Djerba. Known for being a little bit of a resort town, our hotel was aptly a 5-star place. All-inclusive. For a school trip, I wasn't a big fan, but it made me flash back to family vacations to the Domincan and Mexico. Anyway, one these last couple of days in Tunisia, I decided to go to a market (I love markets...the hussle and bussle. The colours and excitement.) I mean, look at this. It's amazing. I really wanted to get a tangine, or a pot to
serve soup (or rice - more practical for me), but I didn't fall in love with any of the ones that I saw. That, and I was running out of luggage space. Sigh. Shopping = paradise.




Look at this spice store. I bought a couple things even though I have no idea how to use them...I hope the recipients of the spices will fare better than I ever could. Look at the colours!





Ha ha ha...the cleaning staff made a swan out of towel. And left rose petals all over my room...weird. Obviously by this point, we're out of the desert...and into a 4-star, all inclusive hotel. Crazy school.




I did buy some ceramics. The colours were beautiful so I couldn't resist. The markets seemed to be divided in such a way that certain areas were dedicated to a certain type of thing. The produce area, seafood, ceramics, rugs, clothes, shoes, leather goods, jewellery, spices - the list goes on. While I miss the big malls of Toronto, I really did enjoy walking through the markets. It was a feeling that I can't describe.

This trip was incredible. I really had no idea what to expect before I went, I mean, before Kenya I had a stereotypical idea of what Africa would be like, and a lot of it was similar, but Tunisia was a country that wasn't even close to coming on my radar. My ideas of Africa were that of Kenya, but I knew Tunisia would be totally different. Since people told me that we would be going to the desert, I pictured stereotypical Sahara images...still, it was a completely new experience for me. I feel so privileged. So incredible lucky to have had this experience and all of the other experiences in the past two and a half years. I had a goal of coming back to Europe after my trip in 1997, and in 2001, I wanted to do so by getting a teaching position. My dream came true, but I can't even describe how much this experience has exceeded my expectations - and you all know how high my expectations usually are. I never ever thought that I'd experience half of the things that I've been able to experience in my time here, let alone in my lifetime. Sigh.