Egypt - september 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the story of my first sunrise

Going outsite at around 4h20 in the morning, it looked lie this - you could still see the moon

Then i waited for 10-15 minutes and the magic started:

Taken at Soma Bay, Red Sea, Egypt, August 2009

Back to posting

It has been a while since my last post. At that moment i was all excited about my upcoming roadtrip to Canada and the US and most of all to see one of the best rock bands ever in Toronto - Pearl Jam on August 21th at the Molson Amphitheater. I heard it was an amazing gig - but i didn't attend.

Two days before i was supposed to leave for Toronto i was sitting in my office sipping on a cup of coffee when i got a phone call. I was told that my dad has passed away during the night. I was in utter shock and immediately broke down and started sobbing like a baby. Thank god some colleagues where present to cofort me a bit. 

This was totally unexpected. He was only 63 years old. Ok, he never was the fittest person, he didn't practice any sports and was more of a carpe diem kind of person who loved a good meal and a good bottle of wine. But still no one would have thought he was sick. But on that sunday it was quite hot, this heavy and humid hotness that makes breathing harder. Apparently he felt sick for the whole day, threw up a lot and only at 11 pm he called an ambulance. An hour later he was dead.

That day was an utter chaos. I drove up north to my mum's house, drove back to the city to get the official papers and the death certficate from the hospital and to declare hs death at the townregister. It was an ordeal. It was so hot, i passed from anger to crying and back to anger.

Of course i had to cancel my trip because the funeral was only set for Thursday but i would have had to leave on Wednesday. And anyway i am not sure I could have enjoyed this holiday. Still i absolutely wanted to sing along to Perl Jam's "Alive" and think of the fact that i am still here.

After the funeral i fell into a severe  depression. I just stayed at home, sleeping, waking up, staring at the walls, sleeping again, yelling at my boyfriend. Then suddenly i had mood swings and became a total maniac. One night i hadn't slept at all and all night long i was thinking that i would love to buy myself a little consolation gift ( i know you can't replace a person with material things). So i lay awake next to my sound asleep boyfriend and just waited for him to go to work. Then i snuck out and went to a shopping mall because i wanted to buy a MacBookPro. I was at the mall at 9 but the electronics shop only opened at 10. so what did i do? i spent the hour trying on a million clothes and bought myself a skirt (at the end of summer and i am not at all a skirt person) and a couple of t-shirts and a purse/wallet by the brand Desigual. They are a spanish brand that i discovered recently in Madrid. They do very original and colorful stuff, a little bit in the style of Custo Barcelona.

Here is a picture of  my new favourie skirt, it just has more blue and turquoise tones:

One of the T-shirts had some dirty words about religion printed on it.. I just had to buy it. In my country it is a tradition that after the funeral a mass is being held. I was raised catholic a little bit but since i was 11 i told my parents i had become an atheist. So for me it was quite hard to be in this church, sitting trough a mass of 1 hour when all you want to do is cry and listen to some nice music and talk to friends. I really didn't agree with lots of the words of the priest and from time to time i was even close to laughing - can you imagine?

The priest kept on to this ridiculous metaphor, that the world is only like a camping or a tent and that now my dad has a real home. Come on, he owned 2 houses, he never lived in a tent, well whatever, i was happy when it was over. I don't want to hurt believers, i am just not one of them and on that particularly hurtful day i was quite bothered to having to listen to this.

Oh and did i tell you that the day of the funeral was the hottest day of the year. I had my purse filled with water bottles, everything felt so heavy and i almost fainted at one point but tried to put on a brave face.  In the evening a heavy thunderstorm passed over our village. I thought it was quite fitting the general mood...

Then i got back home and to my apathic state of mind...

I notice i drifted away from the original topic. 

Well during my shopping frenzy i got my MacBook, put it in the car and went back to the mall and then i literally bought all the other shops.  I haven't spent so much in months. In 2 shops togehter i must have bought 3 coats, 10 t-shirts, blouses for work, accessories i don't need, but at least i was occupied. I was carrying aroud so much stiff my hand had aleady incisions and marks from one of the well filled shopping bags. I carried piles and piles into the fitting rooms and bought stuff i will probably never wear.

But this was still not over. aft

er that i headed to the Garden center, bought tons of colorful flowers to make a butterfly garden, went home and planted like crazy. By that time it was alread 6 in the evening after a night without sleep and hardcore shopping. i was just like a Duracell rabbit and couln't stop doing things. 

The next days where the total opposite again, i was depressed, slept a lot, pitied myself and was full of fear to go back to work. This went on for days. Then my boyfriend convinced me to book a last minute trip to get me out of this place that is stuffed with memories and that my dad built with his 2 hands. 2 days later we were on a plane to Egypt to do some relaxing and diving/snorkelig in the lovely red sea. I have now found a new love - Underwater love... These fish where so georgeous, i really must get serious with passing this diving licence.

And one of the advantages of the insomnia was that i got to observe for the very first time in my life a sunrise. I am not kidding. I am 31 but have never seen a proper sunrise. This one was amazing. A pink ball rising over the sea and the jetty. The moon was still present on the other side. This moment felt great. i was all by myself, just equipped with a camera and enjoyed the calm and peacefulness of tis morning. I felt happy for the first time since D-Day.

I spent that last day just soaking up the last rays of sun because at home it has already become quite fresh in the temperature department. I am the biggest winter hater you might meet. I hate it so much, the cold physically hurts me. Apparently it has something to do with my thyroid. So on cold days i simply refuse to leave the house because i would become totally crammed and anxious, curb my back to avoid the shivering. To make things short i was not happy to return to a rather crisp climate. Nights are really cold already and my wearing-open-shoe days will also be over soon.

But oddly i am now quite happy to be back at work, the thing i dreaded most of them all. It helps to talk to people and to be busy. I am now trying to do my best at work and today for instance i stayed in my office until 9 pm until i was done with everything. I felt tired and exhausted, but proud.

Yesterday i got the chance to meet and speak with my new boss, to get to know him a bit and he seems like a very nice person. Still i am a little afraid. Anyway, I am afraid of everything and everyone.

But the very best news is that my former boss wants to meet me on monday in his office because he heard i was still interested in culture. I am so impatient to know what he has in mind for me, maybe nothing and my hopes will be crushed, again. But he hasn't called for no reason so there must be something up. I can't wait!!!

Good night everyone....

I will later post a more detailled piece about my trip and will aslo share some photos.

Riga - Latvia (August 2008)

Back to my travel memories...

Before Cuba, i spent 4 days in Riga the capital of Latvia. I went there with a couple of friends and we where hosted and shown around by Latvians that we had met beforehand at home.

I didn't like the city that much. It is not one of these places where you just get out and are in awe all the time. Yes it has got a nice old town with some cute shops and i think they are doing a lot there to open trendy western style bars and restaurants, but there was this special something that was missing... We also spent a day by the seaside in Jurmala, a town located a 30 minutes train ride outside of Riga on the Baltic Sea. It reminded e a lot of the places i have been to in the North of Germany or on the Dutch and Belgian Seaside. But it was pretty, just not a place to spend a whole week. But all in all we had tons of fun and laughs and brought back a couple of inside jokes that are still running a year later....

Dont miss the bar at Hotel Latvia, it is located on the top floor and you have an amazing view of the whole city and if your lucky of the Blatic Sea. The decoration is uninspired - your typical fancy lounge style type of bar with highly overpriced cocktails.

If you prefer a more special and fun nightlife spot i can recommend the Shot Cafe. As it name already states they have a menu full of shots at reasonable prices and you can order fun stuff like a "monkey brain" :-) The decoration is fun and lovely, like a 30'3 inspired café and you could tell that the people where having fun. everyone was dancing to a very good mix (not as the crowd in hotel Latvia who thought they where better than anyone else and where just lying in their sofas like dead sacks...). This place even madeit to the top ten list of the weirdest travel attractions of the travel review website IgoUgo.com. See the article here.

Another highlight was our visit to the Lativan Open Air Museum, where ou can wander around a rebuilt typical old Latvian town with little huts and lakes, they even have employees in episode costumes to make the thing more real. It is all located in a refreshing forest at a gorgeous lakem a short tram ride out of the city center. We spent te whole afternoon there fooling around like children.

Almost there

This is what our road trip will probably look like, but there are certain long drives where we need to plan sleepovers and we wil do so most probably when we get there, when we find a place we like or where the other is nice.

But the event of the summer will of course be the Pearl Jam concert on August 21 at Toronto's Molson Amphitheater. Seems like we got bad seats, but whatever. These guys played the tunes of my youth and i am thrilled to se them perform ... I also want to check out the very new Woodstock museum. Anyone been there, any thoughts?? And also any suggestion for the road we mapped out would be more then welcome...

Can't believe i will leave on wednesday, meaning that i have to do my most hated task: suitcase packing - grrrrrr..... i always overpack, take 5 pairs of shoes in case it would be really hot, cold, wet, heels, coblesgones and would prefer to take my chucks in all 3 colors i own a pair of, etc. the same goes with jackets, and then i have this obsession with scarves and purses, i can't decide. This time i swore to myself to leave as much as possible at home, we are not going to a third world country and you can buy lots of nice stuff that you won't find here.... I can already picture myself on the return check in with 300 Euro to pay as extra weight and carrying around a supplementary huge handluggage full of unuseful souvvenirs...

Fighting wih boyfriend guaranteed "I told you so, blablabla"

xoxo


Update: so i never wetn on this roadtrip. I was supposed to board on wednesday morning. monday morning at the office i got a call: my dad had pased away during the night, unexpectedly. He was to be uried on Thursday and thus i cancelled my trip. i wish i could just have flown there for the PJ gig and yell "I'm still alive"! But one day i will fly wherever i have to to make y dream come true...

Cuba

There are not enough words to describe how I feel about this country. I think it was my all-time favourite destination. I spent a whole month there in November/Decemebr 2008 (yes, i escaped again from our sad winter). We toured the whole island from West to East and I enjoyed every single bit of it (except the roads and the lack of street signs and direction signs maybe ...).

Madrid

I travelled to Madrid in March 2009. My friend and I wanted to do a long weekend trip because we were sick with the weather in our hometown. The winter this year has been particularly harsh and I have been sick all the time. So a break was much needed and we were looking for a place not too far away where we could spend 4 days in the sun. We were checking out the weather of various possible destinations and came to the conclusion that Madrid would be perfect. On the Internet they predicted 10 days of sunshine and 25°. Luckily we found a cheap promotion including flight tickets and 4 nights in a gorgeous design hotel in the center of the city.

I have never been very keen on going to Madrid. i have been to Spain a lot of times - 3 times in Barcelona. I liked Barcelona so much, it still is one of my favourite cities in the world. I alwyas thought Madrid would be dull in comparison to Barcelona because it wasn't located on the coast and I almost didn't know anyone who went there and shared his experience with me.

But I was surprised. The city was full of life night and day, there was a lot to see, street art and nightlife... I can only recommend it.

Here is a set of my photos from Corsica

My travels

Since i started to work i literally used almost all of my income to travel. I have been visitng most of the capitals of Europe, partially on a personal basis, sometimes also for work (but even then i tried to use all the time i had left to visit as much as i could). I hate our long and gloomy autumns and winters here in Europe, which is the main reason why I tried to "escape" at least once a year to warmer and sunnier areas of the world.

So far my favourite region remains the Carribean. I have become a "fan" when i had the chance to go on a cruise with my parents when i was 15. I got the opportunity to get a glimpse of a couple of islands and now that I live on my own I try to visit every single island in the Carribean. I am fascinated by the easy going way of live going on there "Take it easy", just relax, by the lovely people, the beautiful nature, the beaches and the pristine clear waters.

So far I have been to: Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Cozumel, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Maarten, St Thomas. My next trip will probably be to Barbados.

I have visited the whole west coast of the United States from Seattle, to Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles and i have been to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Brice Canyon.

My absolute favourite place on this continent must be New York, where i got to spend a week in April 2000.

I have only been once to the African continent (Tunesia) and I plan to head to South Africa during the next couple of years.

I also had a lovely, but short time in Thailand.

But right now I am obsessed with Australia. I plan to travel to Oz at the end of the year, I am even considering moving there, for a while or on a permant basis. I have never been there, but my instincts are telling me that i will ove it. The accents of the Australians is like music in my ears and i can't get enough of it.

But enough talking, I will try to post one single picture of every place I traveled to in the pas 20 years.

My first one will be from Corsica, my most recent trip (June/July 2009). This is an island in the Mediterranean and from all the places I have visited i can say that in my opinion it is the most diversified island. There is something for everyone: beaches, mountains, lakes, forest, trekking, beautiful old cities, lots of nice little shops and restaurants.... You will not be disappointed.

Boston

In a couple of weeks i'll be visitng Boston, part of a road trip i have been wanting to do for 2-3 years at least, starting from Toronto - Montreal - Quebec - Bar Harbor - Boston - Cape Code - New Haven - (maybe NY City if there is enough time) - up the Hudson river - Niagara Falls and back to Toronto.

Anyway, how lucky i stumbled upon this little guide that will most certainly come in handy :

• I love a bargain. i'm also a huge fan of spending an afternoon digging through racks of clothes to find unique things to love. and last but not least, i like being kind to the environment. (reduce, reuse, recycle!)
  so, here is my list of the best vintage, thrift and secondhand boutiques in boston. if you're ever in the area, don't miss these fabulous places.

• poor little rich girl (somerville)
  this cute store, in the heart of davis square, sells both consignment and vintage apparel. it has a welcoming layout with clothes organized by size, fun knick knacks and retro decor. don't miss their selection of vintage gloves, earrings and hats.
  
• raspberry beret (cambridge)
  this semi-new shop (which also has a wakefield location) has great prices, quality vintage clothing and staff that are so helpful and friendly you'll want to be their friends. what more could a girl ask for?
  urban renewals (allston)
  i am always blown away by how organized and well-run this secondhand store is. it's also huge, (think warehouse) so you have to be patient and determined but the pieces are organized by color, so that helps. only con: no dressing rooms.
  
• the garment district (cambridge)
  this place is practically a boston/cambridge institution. they have a nice selection of vintage clothing, but can also be a great place to find a halloween costume. don't miss their dollar-a-pound downstairs but be prepared to dig.
  
• cafe society (brookline)
  this is an absolutely delightful store. the owner is a doll, the dresses are to die for, and the prices aren't too unreasonable. don't miss it.
  i hope this is helpful, and let me know if you have anything to add.
  stay tuned for next week: my guide to boston {bakeries, pâtisseries, and desserts}.
  
  

Thanks to the blog of "Naturally Nina"

If you got any other suggestions of places to visit in the cities i will be visiting you are welcome to drop me a line. I will also appreciate your tips about where to stop on my between Toronto and Montreal (thought about Wellington....), between Bar Harbor and Boston and between New Haven and the Niagara Falls.

Thanks in advance...