Toulon with Vince & Marie

We're still settling into life in Kiev. On thing we've had to do without for long stretches is internet, so these photos from summer are a little late in coming.

We started our summer in the south of France with Vince and Marie. They live right on the beach in Toulon. Cole flew out from California as well and we all spent the week on the beach. Such a treat after England.

Marie took a long weekend and we drove down the coast to Saint Tropez, Cannes and Antibes. Saint Tropez harbor is relatively small but it is packed with yachts that are bigger than some of the buildings. Most are flying the Cayman Islands flag and are guarded by a troupe of tanned, buff men in polo shirts. We ate gelato and tried to decide which monstrosity we would choose to own.

Saint Tropez

We stayed the night in Cannes. I kept wishing Cary Grant from To Catch a Thief would saunter by on his way to the beach club. We spent the afternoon on the beach packed in like sardines. The next morning we hiked up to the hill in town and got a view of the city. I think I must be really spoiled because even though Saint Tropez and Cannes are undoubtably beautiful I felt they fell short of Santa Barbara.

Cannes

My favorite place we visited was Ile de Porquerolles. Its a short ferry ride from Toulon to this small island. After Cannes this felt very relaxed. There are no cars so everyone rents bikes or walks. The small town has a couple restaurants, hotels and ice cream shops. The rest is very undeveloped. As we were only there for the day we headed to the big beach which you see in all the travel brochures. The water was crystal clear turquoise with not a single ripple. Next time we're there I want to spend a couple days and take bikes around the island and explore some of the other beaches.

Porquerolles

We wondered how this guy got in?

The south of France is great if you love olive oil like me. They soak everything from olives and cheese filled ham to squid and sardines in oil and herbs. The effect is incredible. I could not stop popping the sardines like candy. They have a sharp briny flavor but they are mellower than the canned variety because the fish is so freshly cured. Lunch was spent eagerly soaking up the oil with bread and licking it greedily off my fingers. Amazingly most of the people we saw were quite thin and fit considering a large part of the local food is drenched in oil. Luckily for our waistlines we were only there for a week. Though our next stop was Italy were all we did was eat.

Cornwall

Heath and I spent a week in Cornwall for our spring break. We rented a cottage in the hamlet of Gorren Haven on the south coast. The village has a church, a market and a fish & chip shop. During the summer it is packed with families desperate for the sea but in April it is very quiet. We spent the week sleeping in, visiting local sights and having tea. The weather wasn't warm but it was sunny, which was much appreciated since the week prior was freezing cold rain.

Spring is the best time of year in England because its when all the flowers push their way up. This spring awakening is something we don't see in California. While we were in Cornwall the daffodils bloomed. They sprout up, bright yellow, all over the countryside. At the Lost Gardens of Heligan there were huge blankets of them.

Giant Rhodendrums

When we were in Rennes last year we visited Mont St. Michel. In Cornwall there is a small island with a castle appropriately called St. Michael's Mount. The island is still privately owned but it is open to tourists. It was high tide when we went so we took a boat over. You can see the path under the water because it's so clear. If it wasn't so cold it'd be great diving.

During the week we also visited the Eden Project, St. Austell Brewery (Heath has a new favorite beer) and the towns of St. Ives and Fowey.

We decided to take a leisurely route home and see part of Somerset. We stopped in the city od Wells famous for its beautiful cathedral and Bishop's Palace. The cathedral has an astronomical clock similar to the one in Prague. The Bishop's Palace has a giant garden and it is surrounded by a moat.

Wells Cathedral

Next we stopped for a night in Glastonbury. If you're looking for crystals, medieval costumes and books on new age religion this is the place to go. Heath and I enjoyed the Glastonbury Abbey which is now mostly in ruins. We visited the site of King Arthur's grave and the sacred thorn that Joseph of Arimathea planted. Lastly we hiked to the top of the Glastonbury Tor and got a 360 degree view of Somerset.

Glastonbury Abbey

Relaxing at the Tor

Diving in Dahab

I know I'm really late in posting these pictures. Last month for our February break we went to Egypt to dive the Red Sea. We were very late in booking anything so we went with a tour company. This was the first time we'd done that. It was nice for a change to have someone else do your planning.

Our tour started out with a day in Cairo. We went first to the Giza pyramids. You're able to pay extra to go into the biggest one. Not for the claustrophobic. The passage was a tight dark wood ramp that went up to a small chamber with a tomb. There is no way it would be allowed in the US. The pyramids are a crazy collection of tour buses and tourists, people selling every kind of pyramid inspired junk you can imagine and camel guides. Our next stop was the Sphinx. Just as much mayhem just squeezed into a smaller space. We also visited Sakara Pyramid which is the oldest. It is a step pyramid.

That afternoon we went to the Egyptology museum. It is massive! There's really only so many mummies one can appreciate though. By far my favorite exhibit was the King Tut collection including his famous gold mask. King Tut had the most incredible jewelry collection! It made me quite envious. It's hard to imagine that he wasn't a very important king and only ruler for a short time. I can't imagine the collection that must have accompanied the the longer ruling kings.

If anyone is ever considering driving in Cairo- Don't! There are no traffic rules. There are lines painted on the road to guide traffic but everyone ignores them. Instead of three lanes you have five cars abreast each vying for next small opening. I had heard before that the number one cause of death in Egypt was crossing the road and now I believe it. Despite this we didn't see any accidents. By the end of the day though we felt really bombarded and we were looking forward to Red Sea.

Dahab use to be a small fishing village on the Red Sea. It is about 1 hour north of Sharm el Sheik. We've been told that over the last four years it has boomed. We still found it to be a pleasant place to spend 6 days. It doesn't cater to the package holiday crowd so despite being touristy your don't see the all in one resort travelers. There is one main street that runs along the coast. It is lined with souvenir shops, restaurants and dive centers. Diving is Dahab's main draw as the water is very clear and it has some of the nicest reefs.

Heath was excited to do diving because Vince is a diver and Heath would like to be able to go with him. We signed on the a PADI open water course. We were lucky that and got an instructor all to ourselves. Mohamed was great and we had lots of fun chatting between our dives. The course is a combination of videos and reading as well as skills you learn in the water. The skills are to teach you how to handle things that may happen under the water so you won't panic.

The best part of course was the open water dives we did once we were proficient in the other things. I've never seen so many bright colorful fish in my live. We dove a couple of really spectacular reefs. One was called Eel Garden because a collection of eels lived in the sand and they would float like plants coming up from the bottom of the ocean. The would retreat to their sandy homes when you swam over them. On another dive we went to The Islands which had giant corals. There were all different kinds. We saw brain corals, small red and yellow corals and giant fan corals. They were beautiful.

We spent the mornings and afternoons diving. Evenings we spent relaxing at one of the restaurants along the beach. Most were decorated with large cushions and lamps. Some even had fires going. The food was delicious. Dahab felt like paradise. Even with the hoards of tourists Dahab retains some of its fishing village roots.

The landscape in the area is very dramatic. The mountains surrounding Dahab are brown and red and rocky. They jut up almost straight from the ocean with only a small beach area. They are completely desolate with no signs of life. It's such a surprise when you enter the water and see it teeming with brightly colored living organisms. Across the Red Sea from Dahab you can see the matching coastline of Saudi Arabia. At night you can see the lights from a small town on the Saudi coast. Dahab is one of the most relaxed towns I've ever visited and I wonder how the town in Saudi differs from it.

We completed our course and are now certified divers. We had a lovely holiday soaking up the sun and sea and we got to see some beautiful things.

Looking out at Cairo from Giza

The Pyramids

The Sphinx

Dahab

Mohamed

Morocco

Morocco was incredible. The sun felt so nice. We spent the first two days wandering around in Marrakech. We visited the souks which are covered markets stuffed full of people selling things. Everyone is asking you to come in and look at their wares. There’s a shoe souk, one for wood, one for metal works, one for spices, for olives and one for the dyers. They were all loud and busy and at little overwhelming. There’s no way to tell direction in the souks; they all flow together and you get swept up with the crowd.

We needed a break after that and had a lovely lunch over looking the Djeema al Fna square which is the heart of Marrakech. The square is also full of people selling stuff as well as offering their services. There are orange juice sellers there from 7am all the way to 10pm. There’s also henna artists, storytellers, musicians, and dentists, who have tbles set up piled with teeth they’ve pulled out and various dentures for you to try. Needless to say we didn’t sign up for an appointment. For the tourists there are monkeys chained to their handlers that perform tricks and snake charmers. We avoided that area of the square either in protest and in my case fear. In Morocco everyone rides scooters. I still don’t understand how there aren’t more accidents. You have to be constantly on your toes. There are different kinds on honks too. There’s the “just letting you know I’m here” toot, the “what’s up” honk and the “get the hell out of my way or I’ll run you over” blaring honk.

He carved stuff using his feet!

Berber Heath

We ventured out to the Palace Bahia one afternoon. It was lovely with Moorish architecture and gardens. We also went to see the Madrasa, which is the old Islamic School where boys went to study to become imams. The Madrasa has been closed and is now open to tourists. We’re lucky as all active mosques are closed to tourists. The Madrasa is possibly the most impressive building I’ve ever seen. It comprises some of the best examples of Muslim decorative arts from the tile work to the marble and plaster carvings and the cedar wood ceilings.

Palais Bahia

There are cats everywhere!

Madrasah

The next day we had a cooking class we set up with our riad. I had asked to learn how to make bastilla. We went to the market and bought all the ingredients and then we set about learning how. It’s a really complicated process. The end result though is worth it. Heath and I enjoyed feasting on our bastilla (we only made it through about an eighth) in the courtyard of the riad. Riads are traditional houses with courtyards and patios on the roof. They are extremely peaceful. Its amazing how removed the feel from the hustle and bustle of the streets.

Next we headed out on a desert tour. Normally we’re not really in to tours but we wanted to see a bit of the desert. With twelve other people we drove up the Atlas mountains through Berber villages on a three day trip. The company was great and the scenery was beautiful. We visited Ait Benhaddou an ancient Kasbah that they used in Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. At one point we had to stop for camels crossing. We went to a village and learned about how they make the Berber carpets. At some point we are going back there to buy carpets because they’re beautiful. They can take up to nine months to make. It was a bit awkward though because no one planned on buying one then and the guy brought out loads and sat there silently waiting. On our way out we stopped at a bootleg liquor store. It was a little room off a hotel with one small window. Three guys sat in there drinking tea surrounded by dusty bottles of booze. We all bought a bottle of wine to help us sleep out in the desert.

Ait Benhaddou

Tondra Gorge

The second night we slept in Berber tents out in the desert. The highlight was riding the camels out to camp over the empty desert at sunset. The low came when we found out the camel blanket we rode in on was also our sleeping blanket. It stunk like camel. Heath named his Tonto. Mine kept rubbing its eye gunk all over my pants. The stars were so bright that you could see the milky way.

Heath and Tonto

It felt so good to get back to Marrakech and sleep in our Riad. I had booked two nights in a really nice riad and we really appreciated it. It was beautiful! A warm shower never felt better. The next day we headed to Essouira on the coast. The city is white and blue. Like all beach towns its much more relaxed than the city. Our riad was great. The owner is a musician and at night him and his friends would play and sing. It was also the best food we had the whole time. Every night they did a communal meal and we had amazing couscous, salads and lamb.

During the day Heath and I wandered down to the beach and through the shops where the owners were much less pushy. We had lunch out at the shacks where the morning’s catch is brought in. You choose whatever fish, shrimp or crab you want and they cook it up over the fire for you. Amazing!

In Essouira I visited the local hammam. The hammam is the public bath. I chose to have someone scrub me. You sit is a warm steam room and a woman comes and rubs you all over with this black gooey soap. Then she scrubs you all over with mitt until all your dead skin is rolling off in fat black worms. When I emerged I was a shiny new person with the softest skin. Usually women go once a week to the hammam. When I was there a couple of mothers were there scrubbing their children. It has a really friendly family atmosphere.

My favorite part of Morocco was the mint tea. Everywhere you go they serve up yummy sweet mint tea. Heath and I brought some back and I’m looking forward to making some. Although I think part of what makes it so amazing is the cute glasses and silver pot. I would happily go back to Morocco. I feel there’s so much there I’d like to see.