Glad we're not there anymore

Have been seeing pictures and hearing news reports about the protests in Egypt, and we are both very happy we visited Alexandria and Cairo when we did (as in, before the protests started).






I checked the Royal Caribbean website to see how they may have altered the itinerary to avoid docking (and visiting) Alexandria, but then remembered that after our cruise, they had a repositioning cruise, and the ship (Brilliance of the Seas) was going to start sailing from Dubai. Which would be cool, but I think we'll wait a bit before we do another overseas trip.


In the meantime, DH has been digging holes - four so far, with at least two more to go. (Three if we get the wisteria to bring in the bees.) He's doing it by hand for two reasons... One, the soil (such as it is) really sucks. It's clay and rocks; probably more rocks than anything else. Power tools quake at the sight of our yard. Two, he likes the exercise, swinging that axe. Sure he's sore for a bit, but in his mind, "no pain, no gain." However he makes the holes is fine by me, as long as he doesn't hurt himself.



So here's what's going in this week: 2 Coral cherries, 1 Black Tartarian cherry, 1 Baby Crawford peach, 1 Valencia orange. We also got grape vine pruning instructions from Jessie at Castillo Winery, so DH will be out there working on those this week, too. We may actually get some fruit this year.









This last (not so good) picture is one Maude Estelle Gorman Potts, my paternal grandfather's sister. Even in this shot (which my cousin Ginger got from Ancestry.com), I can easily see my father and my brother's features. I about fell over; it looks like one of them in drag!

The Vegas Travelogue

...which I guess I should have posted before I posted about the Megabucks winner, huh?

Went to Vegas last weekend (MLK Day weekend) with KB. Caught a late night flight (8:45) Friday and arrived around 10:00-ish. I love the flights to Vegas; they're loud and boisterous, everyone looking for a Good Time and everything - winning big, getting laid, barfing in the Sigfriend and Roy Garden - is possible. When we retrieved our luggage (yes, we checked our bags - I have no upper body strength and I hate hate hate feeling burdened. Besides, on Southwest, your bags fly free) and got to the taxi stand, the line was 4 switchbacks long! Yes, folks; I believe the economy is well and truly un-tanked.

We cabbed our way to Aria, part of the new City Center complex at the MGM end of the Strip (which makes sense, as it's owned by MGM) and drove in past the Cosmopolitan Hotel, which is the newest one to open on the Strip. We got checked in to Aria quickly and made our way to our room on the 7th floor.

Aria, from their main entrance

The view from our room. I aimed towards the pool area and the mountains, not the HVAC.

The rooms themselves are lovely. Beautiful features, comfortable arrangements, fine toiletries, and one of the most comfortable beds in a hotel. Ever. Unfortunately, as I hadn't upgraded to a better view, we overlooked the ventilation system. Luckily, the windows were double-paned and soundproof, so we didn't hear the noise. If you looked over the HVAC, we saw one of the Monte Carlo wings and THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay. Once there was light in the morning, we could see the mountains, and KB saw some hot-air balloons floating around.

Anyway, we ventured out of the room, wandered to Bellagio's 24-hour cafe for a light dinner, then took a short walk across one of the pedestrian overpasses so we could get a nice view up and down the Strip. Blinky lights! Shiny! Pretty! I think we made it to sleep around 3:00 AM.

The next morning, we got down to the Aria's restaurant a half-hour after they closed their normal breakfast menu. Luckily, they had their "late riser" section of the menu still available, so we made do with omelets and ... I don't remember, something yummy. Afterwards, we did the south Strip walk and hit: Monte Carlo, New York New York, MGM Grand (where we picked up our tickets for Cirque du Soliel's KA show that night), Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, and Tropicana. We wandered around each one a little bit, soaking up the ambiance and donating a little to the local economy.

The MGM lion, guarding the gate.

The Sphinx in front of Luxor. Did you know she's bigger than the one in Egypt? Who knew?

Excalibur. Lovely to look at.

We made it back to MGM in time for dinner at their Nob Hill Tavern restaurant (wonderful food, if a little lacking in their initial customer service skills), and then took our seats for KA. Holy cow. Each Cirque show is unique, but they all knock my hand-knit socks off. KA has this incredibly huge moving platform that can maneuver to any direction - and the actors work on it, no matter what direction or angle it's at. Dumbfounding.

After the show, we stopped in to the M&M store (always a joy) where KB got some custom-printed M&M's for her god-daughter. Right there! In the store! You tell the machine what you want to print, you pick out your M&M colors, and then you fill up the machine, press the button, and out plops freshly printed M&Ms! Pretty cool. Made our way back to Aria, hit the slots a bit, then back to the room and asleep by 2:30 or so.

Next day, we made it to breakfast before the cut-off time and had more lovely food. Today's walk was to the north. We hit: Planet Hollywood (formerly the Aladdin), Paris, Bally's, Harrah's, Venetian/Palazzo, Wynn/Encore, Mirage, and Caesars Palace. Once at Caesars, we stuck around until our reservation time for Mesa, and then we had a wonderful meal there (damn, I do love those pork tenderloins, and the chile relleno KB ordered was fabulous). We finished the night by walking to Bellagio and Cosmopolitan (where KB was having a grand time at the Star Wars machine). Once at Aria, I hit big on the Sex in the City machine (a $109 jackpot on a penny machine!!). I blew most of those winnings on a bunch of dollar machines, including the one that hit the Megabucks jackpot yesterday.

Next morning (Monday) was check-out day, so we opted for room service breakfast while we got our acts together. A short cab ride to McCarren, virtually no line at security, some more slots at the gate, a much more subdued crowd on the flight, then home by 4:00.

Of all the casinos, the one that surprised both KB and I was the Tropicana. They completely and totally re-did themselves. They used to have this Caribbean look outside - white with blue and orange roofs and shutters. From what the photos showed, the rooms looked like cheesy standard Motel6 issue - in other words, ugly. In all my trips to Vegas, it never once crossed my radar as a Place To Stay. After looking at their new all-white facade, their massive waterfall out front, clean and bright and open gaming area, and seeing the pictures of their newly designed rooms, I gotta say, it's definitely on the list as a contender. Impressive redesign.

The casino that seems to have changed the least? Excalibur. It has a lovely facade, overlooking the corner of the Strip at Tropicana Blvd, but that's about it. I don't think the interior has been spruced up since they built it in 1995? 96? They look like they still believe that Vegas is a place where you can bring your kids.

Tuesday, KW and I drove to Chico to pick up some files that his divorce lawyer had collected, so we decided to stay there overnight. It's really a great little city. Too bad it's in the middle of absolutely nothing. Wednesday I got sick and have been coughing and sneezing ever since. Ugh.

Enjoy the pictures. (Of Vegas, not of me and my cold. That would be gross.)

Megabucks winner!

No, it wasn't me. :-( But I swear I played that very machine while Kei and I were there (Aria Hotel in Las Vegas) last weekend!

Losing It

I am normally sooooo careful about my knitting needles. I have the ones that aren't being used filed in a little box, sorted by size. (That's not being obsessive, that's being organized!) The ones that are in use, I keep the needle package with the project so I remember what size (and because 99 times out of a hundred they're circular) and length I'm working with.

Why, oh why, then, do I have about 6 empty needle packages and 4 or 5 needles without a package... and the empty packages don't match the extra needles??

I felt my organizational skills were getting away from me towards the end of last year, so I am trying to start this new year being a bit more aware and trying to Put Things Where They Belong. Finding these mis-matched needles and packages does not make me feel I have gotten off to a good start.

Oy.

On the other hand, I have two FOs and a WIP picture to post on Ravelry. The Citron, she is done! (And in order to make her fit around anyone's shoulders, I'm going to have to block the snot out of her...) And there's something else that I finished last night, but the recipient sometimes reads this blog. Best not to say anything just yet. The WIP is a shawl I've been working on since 2005 (yes, you read that right, 2005).

The Citron, pre-blocking. About 14" (give or take) from center to end of ruffle.

Not a FO, a WIP; the Knitpicks Faeroese Shawl in Gossamer yarn, Rose Garden colorway. I'm at row 129 of a 258-row project. It's easy, just ... well ... look at all that garter stitch! Can you say "BORING"?? The border knitting starts at row 226 or so; I can't wait! (The reason it's been on the needles since 2005 goes like this: I bought it when I was a brand new knitter. Lace intimidated me, small yarn intimidated me, so when I bought the yarn and the pattern, I was actually pretty apprehensive about it. I knit and ripped the first 25 rows about 3 times before I got into the swing of it, but it still took a lot of effort, so it fell into the 'hibernating' category. Fast forward to last year, when I pull it out of it's little baggie and - lo and behold - I realize that (a) it's pretty much all garter stitch except for (b) 37 lace stitches down the middle. So now I pick it up at least two or three times a week and get another 4 or 5 rows finished while I watch TV. (It doesn't go much faster than that because there are so many stitches on the needle, not because it's terribly difficult.)

Last travelogue (I think)

I think these have covered all of the places we visited; this one wraps up our last day in Barcelona.

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Well, hi there. We’re back on dry land (and not just for a shore excursion) at last. Can’t figure out why the buildings all seem to be rocking back and forth, but it’s good to be within easy walking distance of a Starbucks again.

The departure process was remarkable easy. We packed and put our bags out for pick up last night, as part of the normal “getting ready to leave” routine. Up this morning at 6:30, but only because we wanted to have a light breakfast before we left the ship. A short wait in a small dining room with coffee and pastries, then we were given the “leave when you’re ready” signal. It was very well organized, and we just walked off the boat and into the luggage claim area. Our bags came around on the carousel in less than 5 minutes, then it was just a short walk to the taxi line: no customs or immigration procedures at all. The biggest delay in the process was waiting for a taxi that took credit cards (we’d been told that “almost all” the cabs did so, and had no problems with that when we first got here). For whatever reason, the policeman that was coordinating traffic couldn’t find us one until after 10 cabs or so shook him off. Oh, bother. In any event, we finally found a 21st century cab and took off for the hotel.

Keeping in mind that the place we stayed at when we first got here was OK, if somewhat Spartan, and that the staterooms on the ship were fine, if somewhat on the small-ish side, it’s easy to imagine how it felt when we pulled up to a nice, big, modern Hilton hotel. Yeah, it’s totally American and yeah, it’s outside what anyone would call part of a “real” European experience – but we don’t care. It’s NICE to have big room, with a king-sized bed, and all like that. And, yes, there is a Starbucks right across the street in a big American-style shopping mall!

We’re just sitting back a bit now, enjoying the room and watching the sun try to break through the morning fog. The hotel is a bit out of the downtown area, but there’s a subway station close at hand so I imagine we’ll head out after a bit and do one last afternoon of sightseeing. We’re also going to find a Chinese (or Asian of some variety) restaurant for dinner, keeping with a small tradition regarding last meals in Europe before heading home.

We head for the airport bright and early tomorrow for a 9-something flight to Frankfurt, and then the airplane ordeal begins. The weather reports look pretty good now all the way through Calgary and into San Francisco, but we’re ready for whatever happens: an extra set of clean undies in our carry on bags, along with other essentials, and no pressing business needs to get back since all of our clients are occupied with the holidays.

(Meg's addendum: We saw quite a bit of Barcelona on this last day, doing a lot of walking and a liberal use of the easy, efficient, and clean Metro system. Oh, and we didn't find a Chinese restaurant for our last European dinner. A number of people told us where one or two were, but they couldn't/wouldn't recommend any. Guess it's not an ethnic food the Spaniards like to eat. The photo of the McDonald's breakfast was acknowledgement of our transition back home - that, and Mickey D's was the only place we could find that served protein with/for breakfast... all the 'normal' Spanish-style breakfasts that were being sold in the airport were just pastries!)

Kelly's travelogue #4

These may be out of order, but here's the next one.

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Well, here we are, sitting in the commercial harbor of Rhodes just about sunset, waiting to embark for Egypt. A lot to report over the past two days but here are the high points.

Athens was very interesting, but not the kind of place that calls either of us to come back for another visit. It’s a strange mix of modern and ancient, all right next to each other. We docked in Piraeus, the old port, and took a bus tour past the docks and then on into Athens. Something like 5 to 7 miles from one to the other, but it’s really all one big city now, just like LA or Chicago: the tour guide was telling us that we left one town and entered another, but you couldn’t tell from the surroundings.

Athens itself is just another big city, but with a Mediterranean feel… meaning that the buildings are low and mostly white. Then, right in the middle of the urban mix, you come across the Acropolis and an instant time travel back about 2,000 years. The modern city has grown up around and right next to the ancient ruins, with very little demarcation between the two. Not at all what we expected.

The Acropolis itself was fascinating: three major structures including the Parthenon, all in various states of decay and restoration: quite a mix, but fascinating to walk around. We have many pictures and will share those when we get back to the land of free (or at least reasonably priced) internet access.

We left Piraeus just before sunset and had a pleasant transit to Rhodes. And that’s when the fun began!

Rhodes is beautiful, historically interesting, and very, very easy to fall in love with. It’s so nice as to be hard to describe: 14th century fortifications, all largely intact, churches from the knights of Saint John, mosques from the time of Suleiman… it’s about 10 centuries of European history all wrapped into a package that you can see in a half-day of walking around. We did the walk and our jaws are still hanging around our knees. One of the things that really struck us was that the folks in Rhodes managed to grow up and around the artifacts of their past, but in a very graceful way that struck a great balance between the old and the present, but the folks in Athens didn’t manage to find the same balance.

The real bottom line of Rhodes: we’re already trying to figure out how we get back here for a week or so, because we know that we only scratched the surface. Seriously, we’ve had the opportunity to see a fair number of places around the world, and this is near the top of the “we gotta come see it again” list.

And did I mention that the temperatures were in the upper 60s with clear blue skies? So nice…

We were back in the ship in time to see a gorgeous sunset, and now we’re off to Egypt after a day at sea. We’re looking forward to seeing the pyramids and the battlefield at El Alamein, but I think that maybe more that those (which will be pretty cool to see) we’re looking ahead to Malta. We’ve heard that Valetta, the main city, is just a beautiful and interesting as Rhodes. That we’ve gotta see!

Kelly's travelogue #3 (and you thought I forgot...)

Here's his next installment:

Well, here we are, on the final day of the cruise. We’re currently in the western Mediterranean, en route to Barcelona and having just passed south of Sardinia. A busy past few days:

When last reported, we were on our way to Alexandria. We made the port on schedule and were in the excursion staging area bright and early, ready to take on the pyramids. And we waited…and waited…

It turns out that this part of North Africa is subject to very heavy fog in the winter time, and the road from Alexandria to Cairo was closed as a result. Fortunately, it cleared to the point that busses were allowed to leave the port area around 9:00 or 9:30, but that put us a couple of hours behind schedule for the excursion – which was scheduled to last around 12 hours as it was.
However, we pressed on and the first part of the ride was through Alexandria itself, and that was our first view of life for Egyptians who are not rich. Alexandria is, as are apparently all Egyptian cities, pretty much slums that have a few areas blocked off for those who have all the money. Trash everywhere, run-down apartment high rises, and many buildings that were in various states of demolition. I heard one person comment that Alexandria was a slum that happened to be located next to a port, and it was easy to believe.

On the road to Cairo it was initially very foggy and the tour guide was reduced to saying things like “if you could see it, there would be an oil refinery off to your right…” One of the most interesting things that we could see was that there were very few lane markings on the highway… all the drivers seemed to just make it up as they went along, using their horns liberally along the way. Shades of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Dizzyland...

Another interesting note: all the tour busses were accompanied by at least one “Tourist Police” escort, usually a fairly big guy with a large bulge under his left armpit. Others weren’t so subtle: they were in uniform and carried automatic rifles. No one was sure if we should have been comforted or scared, so we opted for a state kind of in between.

As we approached Cairo, the weather cleared and we could see the countryside: just about what you might imagine, with the desert running right up to the bits and pieces that were irrigated. Think brown…lots and lots of brown. Another interesting feature: many large structures that looked at first glance like oversized beehives. They were pigeon coops, which the guide explained were used to raise the birds as a food crop. One of the favorites is supposed to be pigeon stuffed with rice and spices, then grilled. I didn’t get a recipe for Chris, so he’ll just have to experiment. [Note - "Chris" is KW's son, who is going to culinary school.]

We made it into metropolitan Cairo – Giza in particular, on the western side of the Nile – rolling through an area crowded with small shops and restaurants, and all of a sudden we were at the pyramids. Just as with the Acropolis in Athens, the city had grown up to and around the monuments, with virtually no transition at all from one to the other. The bus made its way to the parking area, and out we went – only to be assaulted (and I do mean assaulted in a literal sense) by vendors of all sorts. We’d been warned by the tour guide about what to expect and had been given “rules of engagement” to avoid the worst of it, but it was still very disconcerting to not be able to take 3 steps without being accosted by someone selling something. And not just selling as in passively offering up something: one of the basic tricks they use is to thrust something into your hands and then refuse to take it back; the idea is that if they yell loud enough that you “bought” the item in question, you’ll back down and pay for it.

The other thing that really struck us was how many camels there were in the area. Dozens, all of which were available for a camel ride. The idea is that, for a price, the camel will kneel down, you get on, the camel stands up, and you get your picture taken. Tricks of the trade: they’ll quote a price for getting you up (usually around $3 to $5), then – once you’re already up - quote you another price for getting down (we were told that could be upwards of $100, depending on the camel jockey in question). And they’ll add another fee for taking your picture on the camel, even though they’re using your camera.

Free enterprise run amok.

And then there were the pyramids. They’re very large, very impressive, and very hard to appreciate with any sense of historical perspective because of the uncontrolled carnival atmosphere churning around them. After some time at the pyramids, we moved down the road to the Sphinx… and were amazed at how small it is. Still impressive, but also still surrounded by the vendor carnival.

From Giza, we moved on to the site of the old capital of Memphis. As a city or town, Memphis doesn’t exist anymore, and there’s just one small museum with a couple of artifacts in it, so the effort was appreciated, but it wasn’t really much to see. More impressive, in a negative way, was the ride from Giza to Memphis, which was an up close look at life in semi-rural Egypt. Holy cow, Batman! The road ran along an irrigation canal that came from the Nile and was the primary (maybe the only) water source for the area in general and certainly for the agriculture. The first thing we noticed was that the waterway was filled – completely – with trash and refuse of all sorts. As we went along, we could see the parts along the banks where dumping occurred on a regular basis, which included dumping things that really ought not be dumped anywhere, much less into a water supply (we saw this happened as we drove past). Most incredibly: we saw several groups of people fishing, just down stream from the dumping.

Do NOT eat anything in Egypt unless you know FOR SURE where it came from.

From Memphis, we went to Sakara, and this was the highlight of the day. Sakara is a site with some of the smaller “stepped” pyramids, and is very well preserved and protected compared to Giza. We had a chance to wander around the excavations a bit and to go into one of the recovered tombs (but no pictures allowed inside the tombs, unfortunately).

After that it was a stop at a hotel for a late lunch/early dinner, then a long bus ride back to the ship. We got back around 10:30 in the evening, more than a little tired but happy we had made the trip. A nice touch: the ship had cups of hot chocolate waiting for us as we came in through the gates.

Day Two in Egypt. We were scheduled to take a ride out to El Alamein, one of the great WWII battle sites, where the Brits finally got the upper hand over Rommel and the Afrika Corps, but the fog did us in. The scheduled start time was 7:30, but we were still in a hold pattern at 9:45. At that point the coordinator said that 10:00 was the hard stop because after that there wouldn’t be enough time to get back. At that point we looked at each other, nodded, and turned in our tickets for a refund – then headed for the heated pool. Touring is great, but it’s a wise tourist who knows when to fold the hand and move on!

After Egypt we sailed for a day, then pulled into Malta (the city of Valetta, to be precise) around noon on the 27th. This was a great stop, easily the equal of Rhodes and in some respects even better. We walked around Valetta (literally: it’s built on a small peninsula and the outer road takes you all the way around the waterfront), and then up through the historic area. Very scenic, and a wonderful mish-mash of English and Italian culture. We decided that we could easily spend a week or two visiting here, looking around and really getting to know the countryside – and it was especially refreshing after the previous stop.

And so now we’re sailing along over a very calm ocean, heading for Barcelona, and hoping that we won’t freeze too much tomorrow. We’ll be off the ship around 9:00 in the morning and will spend the evening there, heading for the airport around 7:00 in the morning on the 30th. Our flights back – weather permitting! - will take us to Frankfurt, then Calgary, then San Francisco. Yeah, I know…why Calgary? All I can say is that Air Canada offered to connect us that way at a good price, so we took it.

I’ll send one more update from the hotel (or, as we like to call it, the stateroom that doesn’t move) tomorrow night.

Travelogue number 2

Here's Kelly's second travelogue:

Greetings from Palermo!

After a quiet day cruising the western Med yesterday (and a fairly close passing of Sardinia along the way), we landed in Palermo this morning. Not too much to see at the docks: as with most of the ports of call, this is a working port with some space set aside for passenger ships. Lots of industrial things to see, but this is probably not the most scenic part of Sicily. At least we hope not.

We’re going on a bus tour later today, billed as “Panoramic Sicily.” And the weather is sort of cooperating: it’s cloudy, but with reasonable temperatures and some sunshine starting to break through.

The ship is a little battered from the storm it ran through on its last cruise. It’s interesting to see some of the spots where the damage occurred: a broken pane of glass here and some cracks there. Nothing major, and all cosmetic… but scattered around the ship at seemingly random places.

However, there’s nothing wrong with our room and all the ship’s services are up and running – with the exception of their closed circuit TV system. And that just means that we can’t watch reruns of some of the worst shows made in the mid-70s.

Next up: another day at sea tomorrow, then Athens on Tuesday.

A whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean

We're back from our big Mediterranean trip. For those who weren't following along, we flew to Barcelona, Spain, on 12/14 (arriving on the 15th, thanks to the miracle of time zones and long distances). We spent a day-and-a-half in Barcelona, then on 12/17 got on the Brilliance of the Seas for our cruise.

Our itinerary had a nice blend of port days and at-sea days: At sea - Sicily - at sea - Athens - Rhodes - at sea - overnight in Alexandria (Port Said) - at sea - Valetta (Malta) - at sea - back to Barcelona. We had a chance to 'rest up' with an at-sea day after visiting every new country.

Overall impressions: Loved Barcelona, Rhodes, and Valetta; we'd go back to any of them. Glad we saw Sicily (Palermo), Athens, and the pyramids in Egypt, but don't feel the need to return to any of them.

DH wrote a travelogue, which he sent out to his family when we were able to get a decent Internet connection. I'm going to put up some posts using his writing, and add some photos.

So, here's his first update:

And we're off and running! The flight over was a non-event in terms of airplane rides - some bumps and jolts over the Atlantic, but nothing unexpected or particularly unnerving. Neither of us slept very much, since it was still a reasonable hour on our Pacific time zone body clocks during the flight, so when we landed and made our way over to the hotel we realized that we were tired. Nap time! Got a couple of hours sleep, then started walking around a bit.

Note to self: even though in a 'temperate' climate zone, Barcelona in December = cold. Just saying...

Our first impression that it's a very nice - clean and comfortable - city was reinforced by a city bus tour this afternoon. Many neighborhoods that looked like they'd be right at home. And the old city center - 'Barri Gothic' to the locals - is very fun. Narrow, winding "streets" (more like slightly out-sized alleys - with a mix of shops and residential buildings - all apparently built on top of the foundations laid by the Romans when they founded the place a couple of thousand years ago. This plus the added glamor of Christmas lights up on all the major streets and special markets in some of the town squares.

Did I mention that it's cold here? Clear blue skies, and OK if you stay in the sun and out of the wind, but otherwise...wow!

Great time being had by all so far.