Notes from Noëlle

Book Club

2010-08-22T16:20:00.001+02:00

For our February book club meeting, we chose Moon Light in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles. I absolutely loved the book.

The back cover of the book describes this book best: "Exploring the booming business of email-order brides, an industry where love and marriage collide with sex and money, Moonlight in Odessa is a darkly humorous debut about the choices and sacrifices we make in pursuit of love and stability, and the lengths we will go to for a happy ending."

What made this meeting so special is that the author was able to attend our meeting to discuss her book. Here I am with Janet.

Discussing the book...such insight into Janet's background and what inspired her to write this book.

I love to travel and now have added Odessa to my list of places to see.

Janet's novel was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their top ten debut novels of Fall 2009. Also, it was Book of the Month in the September issue of National Geographic Traveler.

For more information about Janet and her book, please visit the below website.

http://www.jskesliencharles.com/

The Dead Sea, Jordan

2010-07-27T22:21:00.001+02:00

I'm finally on my last post from our Lebanon/Jordan vacation back in May.

Our final stop in Jordan was the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at 400 meters/1,320 feet below sea level.

A Bedouin tent

Driving over to the Dead Sea from Petra

We stayed at the Marriot located right on the Dead Sea. There are very few hotels in this area.

This region's miraculous air is dry, unpolluted and pollen-free with very little humidity. Due to the constant evaporation, the air contains high concentrations of several minerals. These minerals provide 8% more oxygen than anywhere else on earth and consequently makes breathing easier.

The water of the Dead Sea contains 21 minerals including magnesium, calcium, bromine and potassium. 12 of the minerals are found in no other sea or ocean. The high salt and mineral concentration enables everyone to float but doesn't allow the proliferation of fish and other marine life.

Tom floating..

Me floating and waving...

Our hotel had pots of mud next to the sea. Many people visit this region for the health benefits of the mud. Tom and I also covered ourselves in mud but we were too muddy to handle my camera.

Our relaxing hotel...

Petra Jordan

2010-07-24T17:00:00.000+02:00

Back in May, we headed to Jordan after we left Lebanon. Our first stop in Jordan was Petra.

Petra, the Red Rose City, is located in the southern part of Jordan. It is a 2000 year old city carved into rose colored stone. The site for this magnificent city was lost for over 1000 years and was rediscovered in 1812 AD. Petra is just incredible to visit. If some of this looks familiar to you, it's because parts of Indiana Jones was filmed here.

Here is Tom wearing a keffiyeh.

Petra is several kilometers long, so we decided to explore some of it on a camel.

Since I am now an "experienced" camel rider, this camel seemed to be a bit nervous and jumpy to me. As it turns out, Tom's camel (which was behind my camel) repeatedly kept biting me camels tail!! Go figure!

This is the oldest bar in the world. This bar occupies a 2000 year old Nabataran rock tomb.

Beirut Lebanon

2010-07-23T23:39:00.000+02:00

Looking through my pictures, I realized that I never finished blogging about Lebanon back in May. Tom and I had the most amazing time in Lebanon. We learned about their history and met so many wonderful people. Here I am driving up toward a tank that was parked on a road in Beirut.

A close up of the tank with its driver...

Art in Beirut...

The architecture was amazing

We stayed outside of Beirut for the entire week. We decided to spend the last night in Beirut so that we could get to the airport on time and not miss our flight. Tom found us a hotel that was overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and that also had a pool on the roof. This was a perfect end to our week in Lebanon!

What I've been doing so far in July...

2010-07-12T23:33:00.001+02:00

I love just strolling around Paris. In the summer, I especially love to walk next to the Seine as well as the Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint Louis.

Blue, blue sky and a very picturesque building in my "neighborhood".

We went to watch the FIFA World Cup semi-finals between the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower.

The city set up a huge tv screen and had entertainment before the game and during half-time. The Eiffel Tower is just beginning to twinkle at 10pm. It was a wonderful evening.

I met Leesa, Karin and Aurelia at the Rosa Bonheur. It is a cute bar, restaurant and dance club in the Parc des Butte Chaumont.

We arrived there around 5:30pm, just before it got busy.

There are picnic table on both sides of the restaurant.

This park is in the 19th arrondisement and was opened in 1867 to coincide with the Exposition Universelle. The temple of Sybil (a copy of the temple of Tivoli in Rome) sits 30 meters up on the island.

Part VI - Paris and Epernay

2010-07-11T20:00:00.000+02:00

We had a surprise gift in our fresh vegetables that we bought at the marché (farmer's market) today. His name is Pierre. Since apartment life wasn't for Pierre, Hélène adopted him and put Pierre in her garden. So now when Hélène invites us out to her place, we can visit him. He's so cute!

Shopping and walking around Paris...

Reading up on history..

The streets are alive on Ile Saint Louis...

Notre Dame in the background...

The oldest tree in Paris (I think)...

Musique de la Fête - We spent a wonderful evening walking around the Latin Quarter and St-Germain des Prés listening to all of the fabulous bands perform on every street.

Off to Epernay - the capital of Champagne

We started with sandwiches around this fountain.

Then, we headed over to our favorite independant champagne company in the WHOLE world! Yes, it's that good!!

A private tour in their caves....

Followed by tastings in their beautiful parlor

Next, we headed over to Moët & Chandon

In their champagne cellars...

We saw my favorite French comedien who does a one man show called "How to be Parisian in 1 Hour". Yes, it's in English ! :)

Here's a website where you can get more info about his play:

http://www.billetreduc.com/30709/evt.htm

Me and Olivier - oh la la!!

We had a wonderfully busy and extremely fun month of June!

Part V - Back in Paris

2010-07-10T20:00:00.001+02:00

Bob's Senior Luncheon - It's tough being a senior in Paris!

Balloons with their dreams/wishes on them.

Once again, Leesa planned a wonderful picnic on the Seine!

On the way to his prom and after parties...

Graduation Day!! Left his suit jacket "somewhere" in Paris at one of the parties after the prom.

Receiving his diploma and the 2 cheek French kiss.

A reception in the gym after graduation

Do you think that Bob could smile for a picture - just once?!?!

Oh wait!! Bob will smile when his Grandfather wants to take his picture at his friend's going away/after graduation party.

to be continued..

Busy as a Bee !!

2010-07-09T22:00:00.001+02:00

I haven't had a chance to check out other blogs and leave comments in a long time. I've missed catching up on what everyone is doing. July is continuing to be a busy month.

I've been catching up on appointments, updating my blog, meeting friends and of course exploring Paris.

Bob leaves on July 20th to go to Monteal. After he leaves Montreal, he heads to New Jersey, then Tennessee and finally arrives at Purdue University on August 14th. We've been busy getting all the necessary paperwork and packing done.

Hope to catch up with everyone soon!

Pizza Delivery !!

2010-07-09T13:02:00.000+02:00

The delivery crew looking a little disorganized....

Then, it seems to turn into a pizza race...

Safety first...only 1 of the 4 delivery crew uses the crosswalk.

Part IV - our travels around France

2010-07-07T20:30:00.001+02:00

Onto the Châteaux...first stop... Château de Chenonceau. This château has been described as the most beautiful of Châteaux. This Renaissance château stretches across the River Cher on piers.

Next stop...Château de Ambroise. This château was the home to French King Louis XI and his wife Charlotte of Savoy.

In the Gothic Chapel of St. Hubert (on the grounds of Château de Amboise) are the remains of Leonardo de Vinci.

One of the many "small" fireplaces in the château.

Château de Chambord - Commissioned as a hunting lodge by Francois I in 1519. It's the largest of the Loire châteaux with 440 rooms.

A quick stop for lunch and photo op in Orléans.

Final stop... Chartes...to see the Chartes Chathedral renowned for its stained glass.

Part III - our travels around France

2010-07-06T20:00:00.001+02:00

Our next stop was Saint Malo where we spent the night. Saint Malo is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It has the highest concentration of seafood restaurants in Europe. It is a beautiful city with very narrow, windy roads.

Dinner in Saint Malo...

Bob and another coke!!

This crepe tastest as good as it looked!

Onto Mont St-Michel...amazing !

Next stop...Fougeres! Fougeres is the largest medieval castle in Europe.

Dinner in Tours...

Our home for the next 2 nights - our own cottage! We stayed at the Maison de la Grandmere in Vrigny which is in the middle of the Château Region.

Part II - our travels around France

2010-07-05T20:00:00.003+02:00

Next stop...Honfleur. Honfleur is a small town on the coast of Normandy in Northern France. It is one of the most picturesque ports in Europe.

Caen's Museum for Peace in Caen. This is an amazing museum which details the path Europe followed from the end of World War I to the rise of fascism to World War II.

We stayed the night in Bayeux. We stayed at Le Castel, Noble Guesthouse. This house is a 1937 Art Deco villa. We were able to rent the entire first floor which included balconies and terraces.

The next day, we headed to Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach was one of the main landing point of the US forces.

We were so lucky to arrive at Omaha Beach during a touching ceremony marking the anniversary of this landing.

The American Cemetery - There are 9,387 white marble crosses and Stars of David in memory of the Americans who gave up their lives to free Europe on the beaches below. France has given the US permanent free use of this 172 acre site.

Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument - For this invasion, 300 US Army Rangers were handpicked to attempt the assault of the German-occupied cliffs. Only 90 Rangers survived this vertical assault. The German bunkers and bomb craters remain just as they were found.

St. Mere Eglise - This town was made famous by the paratrooper John Steel and by the film "The Longest Day". John managed to land on the church and his chute caught on the steeple. He hung there while the fighting continued on the ground for 2 hours before being cut down by the Germans, taken prisoner and later released by the Americans. An effigy of John Steel is still on the steeple.

St. Mere Eglise's war memorial with plaques commemorating the liberation of the town.

Stopping at one of many Calvados farms in Normandy. We all had tastings at Bernard Lebric's farm and bought Calvados as well as Apéritifs. Like they say "An apple a day..."

What I've been up to...

2010-07-04T15:13:00.000+02:00

June was a very exciting and busy month. Bob had all of his grandparents fly from the U.S. for his graduation. Here is the start of our adventures in Paris and in the French countryside.

Waiting for the bus...

Paparazzi!

At the Trocadero....

On the other side of the Eiffel Tower in the Parc du Champ de Mars....

At a sidewalk café by Ecole Militaire...

In Jardin du Luxembourg....

In the Jardin des Tuileries waiting for the walking tour to start....

Off to Strasbourg...Bon Voyage!

Riverside café in Strasbourg - Santé !!

Packing for our 5 day tour of France...

First stop...Rouen

So many different things to see and so many different directions to look in Rouen

To be continued...

Jeita Grotto

2010-05-27T14:36:00.001+02:00

The Jeita Grotto is located 18 kilometers northeast of Beirut. This grotto has one of the world's most impressive agglomerations of stalactites and stalagmites.

We took a gondola to get to the upper cave.

The caverns extend about 6 kilometers back into the mountains. However, the entire cavern is not open to the public.

Tom and "The Guardian of Time" - a sculpture by Lebanese artist Tony Farah. We were calling the statue Mr. Stalactite man until I just found out his real name.

After the upper cavern, we had to walk outside to get into the lower cavern. We had to ride a boat in order to explore this cavern. This lower cavern is closed every winter because it is flooded by the rising levels of the Nahr-el- Kabl (or Dog River).

During the civil war, these caves were used as ammunition storage. Luckily , the caves showed no damage from this.

After visiting South Africa, the guineafowl is my new favorite bird. I just love their markings.

Since cameras were not allowed inside of the caverns, I took the pictures off of their website (http://www.jeitagrotto.com/).

Byblos, Lebanon

2010-05-26T10:57:00.003+02:00

Here's what makes driving in Lebanon so exciting. No lanes, no rules, and no street signs! Notice that the cars parked on the right are facing different directions. While driving in Beirut, most of the traffic lights don't work and if they do, they are merely used as "suggestions" of what you should do. We never saw an accident while we were there and everyone is very calm driving this way. We never experienced a single aggressive driver.

So...the maps and the tour books all tell us that the name of the town is Byblos but the few signs that we saw on the highway say Jbeil (Byblos in Arabic). No wonder why we were lost again!

Byblos is a pretty fishing village north of Beirut. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Modern scholars believe that the site of Byblos goes back at least 7000 years!

We spent most of the day exploring the ancient ruins.

There is a very modern souk in Byblos - it is nothing like the souks that we had visited in Tunisia, Morrocco or Dubai. The souks here are more like little shops - glass windows, wooden doors, paved walkways and fixed prices on everything.

Beirut

2010-05-24T21:48:00.002+02:00

We stayed outside of Beirut in the Btebiat-Hammana Valley in a town called Deir El Harf. We tried to find a short-cut to Beirut and our new, fast route only took us 2 hours (remember - we are only staying 30 miles east of Beirut)! We are having a difficult navigating through the hills, valleys and the signs that are only in Arabic.

How funny is this - the same name of the park that I walk in each morning in Paris!

Tom in front of The American University of Beirut

Pigeon Rocks - Beirut's famous natural offshore arches

We signed up for a 5 hour walking tour of Beirut with a Lebanese guide. We met next to this huge banyan tree at the entrance of the American University of Beirut.

A beautifully restored apartment building

The effects of Lebanon's civil war (from 1975 until 1990) can be seen throughout the city. This building, which was a Holiday Inn, is located just blocks away from the apartment building pictured above. The Holiday Inn had just opened a few weeks prior to the start of the civil war. This hotel quickly became a prime sniper position. The owners of this building cannot decide what they want to do with this building (keep it as a hotel or use it for another purpose), so it stands as a painful reminder of the war.

Our tour guide, Ronnie, showing us the ruins of a Roman Bath.

Since the French troops arrived in Lebanon in the late 1800's and stayed until the early 1900's, there are many streets names that are French.

A nice pedestrian area at the Place de L'Etoile

Rafiq Hariri, former Prime Minister, was killed in February 2005.

His remains are buried in the white tent which is next to the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque.

The Bekaa Valley and Baalbek

2010-05-24T13:17:00.000+02:00

We headed northeast from Beirut to the Baalbek ruins. Baalbek is known as the Heliopolis or 'Sun City' of the ancient world. These ruins are the most impressive ancient site in Lebanon and the best preserved in the Middle East.

These 6 remaining columns were part of the Temple of Jupiter which was completed around 60 AD.

Standing in Baalbek with the Bekaa Valley behind me.

The Temple of Bacchus

Going through one of the check points along the way. We received a smile and a wave.

Lebanon here we come !

2010-05-16T17:41:00.002+02:00

Lebanon is a small country (10,400 square km) with a population of 4 million.

Here we are landing in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. In the mid 1960's, Beirut was know as the "Paris of the East".

We are staying 30 miles east of Beirut, but it took us more than 2 and 1/2 hours to drive to our hotel. We spent the first hour just trying to get out of Beirut. In Beirut, the blue signs on street corners do not give the name of the street itself, only the "sector name" and the street number. In addition, numbered buildings are rare, and many streets do not have names at all or are locally known by different names than those given on the map. Needless to say, we saw a lot of Beirut as we drove around looking for the highway to take us East toward our hotel.

Outside of Beirut, we encountered different problems -- highway and street signs that are only in Arabic.

Although I am behind on my "blogging", we have been in Lebanon for 4 days already. Everyone is warm and welcoming, the food fanatastic, and the weather superb !

Foire de Paris

2010-05-12T16:45:00.001+02:00

We headed out to the Foire de Paris on Saturday with Hélène. They have EVERYTHING that is made in France (and neighboring countries) including furniture, lighting, camping equipment, pools, women's wear, creams, food, drink etc., etc.

This year, there was a large area dedicated to the French Islands including French Polynesia, Guadaloupe, Martinique etc.

Laurent explaining about the Chateauneuf du Pape as he pours us his wine.

How could we not buy his special flavored wines??

We bought the Sangria Rouge....yum!

This foire is held every year at the Porte de Versailles.

Bob's last jazz band performance :(

2010-05-10T19:33:00.001+02:00

Bob performed at International Day at his school on Saturday. How sad that this will be his last performance in high school - where did the time go?

Even his jazz band leader played with the band - he is a wonderful instructor!

I love this painting on the large metal shutters that are down when this bistro is closed. This is at the bus stop where we have to cross the Seine River to get to Bob's school.

Parc de Sceaux

2010-05-09T21:32:00.000+02:00

On Friday, we spent a lovely day walking around Park de Sceaux. The park is south of Paris and it is a park that Leesa goes to quite a bit.

Futbol in the park....

Us at the back of the chateau. Leesa took this picture.

In the cherry tree section of the park...

Rabbit Island

2010-04-21T14:00:00.000+02:00

Right in the middle of the roundabout at Porte Maillot (between the 16th and 17th arrondisement), is a little park with a lot of rabbits. It's incredible to see them happily hopping around on their own little island.

They even have a great view of the Arc de Triomphe! What a life!

Blue Skies in Paris

2010-04-17T17:08:00.000+02:00

Nothing but blue skies in Paris on Friday. There were no ashes from the Eyjafjallajoekull eruption as well as no plane contrails....

Saturday was a carbon copy of Friday...

Manifestation !!!

2010-04-12T20:40:00.001+02:00

We joined our friend, Hélène, and the Anesthesiologist Nurses in their protest against government changes in their job vs. education status and compensation. Anesthesiologist nurses have a very critical role in surgery and it takes years of additional education past their nursing degrees to perform the job. Now, to save money, the French goverment wants to change the rules and base their pay and benefits not on the work they do everyday, but on the type of school they attended in the past. It is simply not fair.

We protested mainly in front of and around the French National Assembly (which is similar to the House of Commons in the UK or the House of Representatives in the USA)

Rehydrating...protesting is hard work! :-)

I hope that this sign on my back doesn't say "kick me".

Tom and I, looking very anesthesiologist nurse-like...

A mad protester (aka Tom)...

Hélène...

The Concorde across the Seine River

Lunch time! A baguette, cheese and wine! I love France!

Marching along the Seine...

Bob's 18!!!

2010-04-11T14:58:00.000+02:00

Usually, we head up to the Trocadero for Bob's birthday picture. This year, we were short on time so the Eiffel Tower (thanks to Hélène) came to us.

A few days later, we went to Bob's favorite Sushi restaurant on his actual birthday.

Amsterdam

2010-04-10T19:24:00.000+02:00

Tom, Bob and I just spent 4 wonderful days in Amsterdam. It's been 19 years since I've been in Amsterdam!

Statue of Anne Frank...

Bob and Tom standing in front of Anne Frank's house. Anne was 13 years old when she began writing her diary in July 1942. Anne lived in a small hidden apartment with 7 other people for 2 years before they were betrayed. First, Anne was sent to Auschwitz and then she was moved to Bergan-Belsen. Unfortunately, she died of typhus just weeks before the camp was liberated.

The flower market...

The Heineken Brewery...

Of course, no visit to Amsterdam would be complete without a canal cruise.

Amsterdam has 165 canals spanned by more than 1,280 bridges.

Bob's curls on the canal cruise...

A view from the canal...Amsterdam has more than 7,000 gables.

A wonderful way to take your son and 2 dogs around Amsterdam.

I had forgotten how many bikes and bike lanes there are in Amsterdam. It is such an easy way to get around the city's narrow roads.

Heading home...or maybe not..

2010-02-20T16:05:00.002+01:00

February 3rd...

So, we arrived at the airport at 4pm for our 6pm flight. We checked in and our flight was scheduled to leave on time.

We went through security, passport control etc. to do some last minute shopping to use our few remaining Rands. We got to the gate 30 minutes before the scheduled flight just as they are announcing that our flight has been slightly delayed.

No problem...a cute and young (20's) Australian girl sits next to me and we start talking. She tells me all about her incredible 7 week safari all throughout Africa. The countries that she went to were amazing....

After a while, we look up at the board and now it says that our scheduled departure time is 22:00 (10pm)! Okay, still no problem...more shopping time for me.

An Emirates representative tells us that a plane (not ours) had a "minor" crash (no fatalities) on our runway. The airport was working on moving the crashed plane and cleaning up the runway. Meanwhile, our plane had been circling for some time and now was running low on fuel. So, they were re-routed to Durban South Africa (1715 kilometers away) to refuel.

So, my new Australian friend and I continue to talk. A little while later, she glances up at the board and sees that we have a new departure time... 13:00+ !! That means 1pm the NEXT DAY!!

The representative comes out again and explains to us what happened:

1. The crew from the plane that was re-routed to Durban couldn't fly to Cape Town because they were above the FAA rules for flight time per day (?) or something along those lines.

2. Our crew had to fly on South African Airways jet to get to Durban and bring the plane, passengers and crew back to Cape Town.

3. When our crew arrived with the plane back to Cape Town, they couldn't continue on to Dubai right away because they would be breaking the flight hours law.

4. So, we had to wait until 1pm the next day, when they would be able to fly again.

So, we got to spend another night in Cape Town!! Yipee! Plus, there was a huge mining convention in town and there were only really expensive rooms available. Yipee again!! Our room was 2 floors and bigger than our apartment in Paris! And...they gave us a glass of champagne at check-in!!

Looking from the second floor down...we had walls of windows!!

We even had a microwave and fancy coffee maker! We don't even have a microwave in our apartment. We then headed down to waterfront and ate a delicious dinner outside.

Next morning ...at the airport. Tom is not even in this picture yet because he at the very end of the line (at the top left side of the picture). Everyone that had connecting flights in Dubai had to get new connecting flights. We would arrive in Dubai around 12:30am and the next flight to Paris was at 8am. So, we got to sleep in Dubai airport. The first time that I have ever slept in an airport so I was very excited!

And no...we didn't leave Cape Town on time today. We were delayed another hour because we had to wait for the caterer to deliver the meals.

An exciting end to a wonderful vacation!!

Paarl, South Africa

2010-02-18T13:33:00.001+01:00

February 3rd

We packed up and headed over to the Fairview Wine Estate in Paarl. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 6pm so we were lucky to have enough time to visit one more winery. This winery produces wines, cheeses and also top notch olive oils.

In front of the winery is a goat tower.

Relaxing and enjoying the view from the top of the tower...

The winery paired each wine with a specific cheese - it was so delicious!

Of course, we bought a couple of bottles to bring home.

These goats were busy butting heads when they noticed that I was taking a picture of them.

They paused for a second and looked at me so that I could take this cute picture. Very photogenic!

And now we're off to the airport...

Stellenbosch and Franschhoek

2010-02-16T17:42:00.001+01:00

February 2nd

Groot Drakenstein Prison - In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from this prison. This prison is where he spent the last few years of his incarceration. Many celebrations were held in South Africa this month commemorating 30 years since he was released from prison. This prison is now a minimal security prison amongst the vineyards.

I just saw the movie Invictus. Invictus tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of the South African rugby team, Francois Peinaar, to help unite their country. It is a truly inspirational movie.

Invictus means incapable of being defeated or beaten.

Our first winery today was the Cabrière Estate.

Tom working while waiting for our tour begin.

Once again...breath-taking views..

Cellar tour...

Our tour guide Eden...

Walking around Stellenbosch...

Oom Samie se Winkel...this means Uncle Samie's Store. It has been operating as a general store since 1904. This store is a Stellenbosch institution and is also a national monument.

Tom's new friend...

Since our dinner was so amazing last night at Noop's, we made a reservation for tonite as well. Our reserved (Bespreek) table.

The viewed from our bespreeked table - so gorgeous!

Cape Town and Franschhoek

2010-02-15T19:26:00.001+01:00

February 1

First thing in the morning, we headed to Cape Town. Tom "needed" to pick up more toys - especially the Zulu ebony club (used to kill animals).

Some of Tom's toys.

We then headed to Franschhoek which means French Corner.

Our first winery was Mont Rochelle.

Beautiful views...

The Huguenot Memorial - In 1688, the French Huguenots fleed from religious persecution in France. Approximately 200 Huguenots arrived in the Cape of Good Hope. They were assigned farms around Franschhoek where they planted vineyards.

We had an absolutely wonderful dinner at Noop in Paarl.

The Winelands

2010-01-31T17:48:00.007+01:00

January 31st

We have now arrived in the Winelands which is north of Cape Town. We bought several handmade items from this artist.

In South Africa, there are more than 11 official languages. Afrikaans is the most common language.

Our first stop today was the Afrikaans Language Monument. Languages from 3 continents influenced the development of Afrikaans. I hear a lot of German influences in their language.

It is a huge monument on the top of a hill.

Next, we headed to Stellenbosch which is the second oldest town in South Africa. This church was built in 1823 as a school for slaves' children and coloured people.

This is the ammunition bunker for the Dutch East India Company. This was built in 1777 to defend the early settlement.

Interesting art on the streets of Stellenbosch...

Of course, no trip to the winelands would be complete with a trip to a winery (or two).

We headed to the Delheim Winery which was recommended to us by the tourism office.

This winery is nestled at the foot of the mountains. Go figure...the sign says the vines are from France!!

Our tour guide...

The tour and the wine tasting was free!! How do they do it!?!?

We are staying at Paarl in the Winelands. This is the view from our balcony/patio. Paarl is Dutch for pearl. There is a huge granite rock comprised of 3 rounded outcrops on the mountain. They say that when it rains, the rounded outcrops glisten like pearls.

When, when WHEN????

2010-01-31T17:43:00.004+01:00

When will I get the hang of driving on the "wrong" side of the road?!?!? For those who don't know me, I don't know my right from my left. I can't seem to get the hang of driving on the left side of the road. When the Tom-Tom tells me to take a left on round-a-bout, I have no idea where to go. My Tom has to point the way. Argh!!!

Tom did it !!!!

2010-01-31T17:42:00.003+01:00

January 29th

Yipee for Tom - he took the plung!!! How exciting!! Geranimo!!

What Tom did after his jump...

We ate at Moby Dick's for dinner which was almost next to our hotel. We had fresh seafood for dinner.

Another interesting day

2010-01-28T19:58:00.013+01:00

January 28

We headed out to the Cango Ostrich Farm today to learn about these interesting birds.

It takes 42 days for an ostrich to hatch. Here I am holding an "early bird" which hatched in 41 days. It is only 1 day old!

This is Betsy who is 6 years old.

Emues from Australia...

This is Adam who is 27 years old. Ostriches are the largest birds in the world.

I should have paid more attention to this sign!!!

Here I am trying to get on the ostrich to ride it bare back. No one in our small group wanted to ride the ostrich but me. I obviously had no idea what to expect!!

I still had no idea what I was in store for....

Still...no idea what was going to happen...

The ostrich takes off....notice my hair...luckily you can't hear the words coming out of my mouth!!!

The ostrich trainers running full speed along side of me....

A few facts that I wish I knew before I got on the ostrich:

1. Ostriches are the fastest 2 footed runners IN THE WORLD!!! They reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour and can maintain this speed for 30 minutes!

2. Ostriches are between 6' and 10' in height and weigh as much as 340 pounds.

3. Ostriches were occasionally used for riding in ancient Egypt however this practice never really took off because of their NASTY TEMPERMENT!!!

Peter, our guide....

Tom standing on ostrich eggs. Ostrich eggs are incredibly strong since they have to support the weight of an ostrich (340 pounds) while it sits on them until they hatch.

Tom is holding an ostrich egg. An ostrich egg is equal to 24 chicken eggs so you'd better be really hungry if you order an ostrich omelette!

After I recovered from my insane ostrich ride, we headed over to Cango Caves.

The Cango Caves were "discovered" in 1780. However, the caves were used by the Bushman since the Early Stone Age. Cango in Khoi means water between 2 mountains. Tom at the entrance of the caves.

The caves are a consistant 19 degrees Celcius year round.

Our tour took us more than 1 kilometer into the caves.

On our way back to our hotel through the mountains...

Amazing views!!!

Coming down the mountain toward our hotel...

Riding high in the trees

2010-01-27T18:03:00.006+01:00

January 27th

Views from our hotel room

Today, we headed into The Tsitsikamma. Tsitsikamma is a Khoi word that means "place of abundant or sparkling water". This region is covered in large tracts of indigenous forests as well as deep river gorges that make their way to the sea.

We took a zip line tour high up in the trees. Our 2 guides - Carmen and Mary.

Our guide explaining to me how to fly through the trees..

Looking from one platform to the next.

Tom zipping through the forest.

Getting harnassed and getting safety lines attached.

Our group at a platform about 70 feet above the ground.

There were 10 different zip lines. The canopy tour took about 3 hours. This is one of the longest and highest (about 100 feet or 30 meters above the forest floor).

Ready or not...here I come!!

A view from a platform

We wore leather gloves to protect our hands from the wire cables. On our right hand we had an extra layer of leather because we had to use our right hand as a break (by pulling down hard on the primary cable). If we didn't 'break" before the platform, it would be an ugly landing. :-)

Walking out of the forest. These huge trees have extremely shallow roots and sometimes get blown over in high winds.

We went on the Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours which is run by Stormsriver Adventures. This company has been firmly committed to changing the lives of impoverished communities for more than 10 years. It was the first "Fair Trade" accredited adventure company in the world. Some of their community projects include clothing distribution of the poor, environmental education, feeding school children, aid awareness and education, training and development of local communities etc., etc. It was an amazing and educational 4 hours!

To jump or not to jump....

2010-01-26T17:38:00.035+01:00

that is the question...

We are staying within 30 minutes of the world's highest bungee jump - Bloukans Bungy. At 210 meters (709 feet) it is recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's highest.

January 25th - We had our first quiet and relaxing day of our vacation. We drove around the area and I only took a few pictures. The landscape is so diverse in this area. The trees are magnificent.

After driving around, we relaxed at our hotel on the Indian Ocean.

January 26th - Below, on the center of the bridge, is where the world's highest bungee jump is located.

Well...as you can see...I decided to jump!!! It was unbelievable and yes...I would do it again!!

Going down...

and down...

and still going down...

Here is a video of my jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Ce11krHSk

I survived and lived to blog about it...

On the way back to our hotel...more baboons!

Monkeying around...

2010-01-24T18:26:00.008+01:00

Sunday, January 24th

We started our day at Monkeyland near Plettenberg Bay. Monkeyland has monkeys, apes and lemurs. These animals come from zoos or, unfortunately, from people who had them as pets and no longer wanted them. In South Africa, it is legal to have monkeys as pets but illegal to have tortoises as pets.

Monkeyland is the world's first multi-species free-roaming primate sanctuary. It is world renowned for its rehabilitation work.

Monkeyland has more than 10 species of monkeys who all live in harmony. There are 12 feeding platforms throughout the park which is 12 hectares. They are feed fruit, vegetables, chicken, etc.

Seeing if the tortoise was male or female....female (if you were wondering)...

Our safari guide...the stick is used in case we encounter snakes! Yikes!!

It such a strange feeling to be walking amongst all of these animals.

A suspension bridge which is 30 meters above the ground.

A sneaky thief...

We then headed to a craft based community workshop. It was established by a group of unemployed, entrepreneurial women from the Kurland community. We bought soap, magnets and jewelry. The affects of apartheid are still devastating.

Elephant crossing!!

Our next destination was The Elephant Sanctuary. There are 6 elephants are this sanctuary right now. Some were found injured (2 of them had part of their trunks cut off in a trap) and others were dying of dehydration.

Here I am with Tandi from Botswana walking trunk in hand. Tandi is 15 years old and weighs over 5000 pounds.

Below is Tandi showing us how she flaps her ears to get flies off of her and also to get the dried mud off of her back.

Tom feeding Tandi... Tandi's trainer has been with Tandi for more than 4 years. He only takes 1 vacation a year because Tandi is so used to him. He lives above Pretoria and the bus ride takes more than 24 hours.

Riding bareback...

Elephant brushing...

Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

2010-01-23T17:57:00.002+01:00

January 23rd

Today, we left Cape Town and drove 340 miles east. We will be making Plettenerg our home for the next week. We will be seeing lots of wild animals this week and we'll hopefully have 1 day where can hang out by the pool and recharge our batteries.

Our hotel is right on the Indian Ocean.

My new Nelson Mandela T-shirt....

Tom's new African shirt....

Cape Town

2010-01-22T19:48:00.008+01:00

January 22....

Last night we ate at Masala Dosa for a delicious Indian Dinner.

We each had the "dosa" (a thin rice and lentil pancake which is filled with either meat or beans)

Tom's appetizer... indian bread (naan) with curried chicken, spices and hard noodles.. excellent !

In the restaurant -- huge manaquins :-)

Then we headed to a bar in downtown Cape Town.. that had free wifi and let me blog for free for awhile (the Holiday Inn Express is stupid expensive for wifi).

Notice the Zebra skin in the background store window... Very cool but also over $1000 USD.

This morning we went to the Iziko South African Museum and Slave Lodge. This building, completed in 1679 was built to house 9000 slaves, convicts, and the mentally ill. The tour was very interesting.. it was 'hosted' by a man who really lived back into the 1600's who guided us through the various rooms. His tour is based on his diary he wrote when he lived in Cape Town and delivered salt to the slave compound.

At that time, the Dutch were constantly bringing in fresh slaves from Africa, India, China, and Indonesia. About 10% died on the trip to Cape Town, and then once they were here 10-20% died every year due to the retchid conditions.

By law, Slaves were not allowed to wear shoes, talk to other slaves in the streets, etc. Non-Christian marriage was tolerated because it led to slave babies who could be sold off for profit for the Dutch (Dutch East Indian Company).

Along with slaves, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) - no idea how they got those initials... started a garden (farm) in Cape Town to supply their ships rounding the horn of Africa.

Here I am at the begiining of their garden... still present today and quite lovely...

Here's Tom in a huge rubber tree... hundreds of years old...

Just so that you know our vacation is not all 'fun and games', we went to Joe Soap Laundromat to do our dirty clothes today. This dog was waiting patiently outside in his car as his master did their clothes as well.

Tom was working on his computer inside the laundromat...

As you can see in the distance, Table Mountain was cloudy when we started our laundry.,,,

and when we were done, it was clear !

After laundry... another walk and then a rest at a cafe.

While we were at the cafe, a very freindly gentlemen with an outrageous oufit joined us. He told us he is the 'Egg Man' and that Nelson Mandela was calling me....

After the Egg Man, we did some shopping and then got hungry. We then found the Caveau Wine Bar.

This was a delicious tapas restaurant -- probably the best dinner we had in Cape Town !

At this restaurant, they have one of the oldest wine vines in South Africa... dating form 1781! It is just 'hanging out' in one corner of the courtyard restaurant.

After tapas, we ordered the house special of Bread and Butter Pudding... it came with homemade vanilla ice cream.. amazing !

Cape Town and the Peninsula

2010-01-21T19:40:00.002+01:00

This is me blogging last night at our hotel...such hard work!

January 21st

We started our day at the District 6 Museum. First, let me say that apartheid was such a devastating time for South Africa. It's one thing to read about it but to see first hand the long lasting affects is absolutely mind boggling. All of South Africa was changed forever by apartheid. More than 150,000 Capetonian's lives were forever changed.

Cape Town is divided into "Districts". District 6 was like "The Village" in New York City. It had been a vibrant community of diverse ethnic groups and religions living in harmony.

The Group Areas Act of 1950 declared District 6 as a White Only Group Area. More than 60,000 of District 6's residents were forcibly taken from their homes and shipped out to the Cape Flats (a miserable place miles from town with no jobs and no homes) before their houses were to reduced to rubble.

Below is a map of Distict 6 which is painted on the floor of the museum. Now, residents who were evicted years ago, write on a huge map of District 6 laid out on the floor - to show where they once lived.

A tower of the some of the original street signs from District 6.

After the museum, we headed out in our car to explore the peninsula again.

Beautiful scenery...

Roads cut into the mountain side

Beaches with sind surfers...

We went to a Visitor Center a couple of days ago. The girl at the visitor center warned us about the baboons. She said that they were extremely smart. She warned us not to put our bags down on the ground while we were photographing them. She told us that the baboons would grap our bags and open them looking for food and drink. She also told us to keep our car doors locked as they know how to get into unlocked cars. We remembered her words.

A baboon out for a stroll...

A photogenic baboon who was stopping traffic

As the above baboon was distracting all of us, a male baboon got into the backseat of a minivan. The front seat passengers jumped out and then the baboon got out with their backpack.

The baboon had opened the backpack and was in the process of searching for treats....Too funny!!

A mother nursing her baby...

A baboon "monkeying" around...

Robben Island and Cape Town

2010-01-20T18:29:00.003+01:00

January 20th

We went to Robben Island which was originally called Robbe Eilend (seal island) by the Dutch in the mid 17th century due to its large seal population. For almost 400 years, this island was used as a place for banishment. It was used for criminals, lepers, the mentally ill and for politcal prisoners.

Here is where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in the maximum security prison on this island.

It was a 30 minute boat to arrive at this island which is 11 kilometers north of Cape Town in the icy Atlantic Ocean. We were first given a bus tour around the island which has a circumference of 12 kilometers. Below is the cemetery where some of the lepers are buried.

This is the lime stone quarry where the political prisoners worked 5 days a week. Many of these former prisoners now have lung disease and/or eye disease caused from the dust and the bright sunlight.

A view of Table Top Mountain and the city of Cape Town from this island. The cloud attached to the mountain is called a tablecloth and it provides much needed moisture for the animals and plants on top of the mountain.

Next, we had a guided walking tour of the prison. Our guide was Ntando. He was a political prisoner here for about 10 years. He as here the same time as Nelson Mandela. Ntando had protested against apartheid when he was a student.

In the background is the hospital.

Nelson Mandela was in the maximum security prison on the island with the other leaders of the apartheid resistance. They were confined to small single cells. The politcal prisoners were considered far more dangerous than the other criminals on the island (ie rapists) who were in the medium security prison.

The bucket is the toilet and the rug is his bed.

The seals have a special area on the Victoria & Alfred where they can have friendly conversations with each other or just just catch some rays.

We had a wonderful African meal at Mama Africa.

Crocodile kebabs...

Tom negotiating for his Zulu mask...

By late afternoon, the tablecloth was coming over the sides of Table Top Mountain.

These brightly painted houses are in the Bo-Kaap (also known as District 2) section of Cape Town. Bo-Kaap means "above Cape Town" and is primarily a Muslim community.

A pink house that is calling Leesa's name..

Cape Peninsula

2010-01-19T19:03:00.001+01:00

January 19th

We spent the day driving around the Cape Peninsula. Our first stop was The Boulders which is between Simon's Cove and Cape Town. Boulders has a thriving colony of more than 3000 African Penuins.

Posing for the camera...

Penguins in love...

Next we headed out to Cape of Good Hope which is at the southern most point of the peninsula. Here we climbed to the lighthouse at the top of the mountain.

Then, we headed to the Cape Point Ostrich Farm. Here more than 40 pairs of ostrich are bred and each "couple' have their own private outdoor suite.

We stopped for a very late lunch (or early dinner) in Muizenberg at St. James Pool. This town was the country's premier holiday retreat in the 19th century.

Cape Town, South Africa

2010-01-19T18:08:00.000+01:00

January 18th
View from our hotel room....

Our hotel is located on the pedestrian walkway called St. George's Mall.

Street level view from the front of our hotel

Today we visited Imizamo Yethu a “township” in South Africa where 15000 poor black South Africans survive. Anyone from America would consider it an epic slum from looking at it as we did when we arrived. The township strongly promotes people coming to visit for a guided tour to learn about the history, the people, their culture, their way of living, their achievements and goals.

At first our group of 6 people from US, Germany, and Scotland was quite uneasy at what we were doing and what we would see. It seemed like we were peeping Toms or touristic voyeurs (which we were); but on the other hand we really wanted to understand how these people lived this way and why. We wanted to understand this.

It was also a little frightening stepping into a place where a significant percentage of people (mostly women and children) were living with HIV/AIDS and incredible poverty.

Our guide first introduced us to “Mama” who is an older woman supporting 10 children. She takes recycled cartons and makes beautiful jewelry. She had necklaces and bracelets for sale for 3 to 5 dollars each. If you saw them in Macy’s at the counter you would not believe where they came from. There we learned that ‘Mo Lo” (phonetically) means Hello.

The township is really a hoard of shacks made of corrugated metal, wood from disgarded pallets, and whatever the residents can find for free. Though open sewers were not evident in the areas we went, the stench of garbage was quite strong

They have a very strong community organization that takes the money from donations and these tours to help build permanent – though very very modest housing for the residents...
Please visit this site for more information:

http://www.hbcca.co.za/imizamo_yethu.htm

Our guide...

Named the "New York Shop" after their relatives who are now living in NY.

A new nursery school. There is an elementary school which is only a 5 minute walk so there is no excuse for the children not to attend school. They realize that education is very important to improving their community. We were there around 1pm on a school day and we didn't see any children wandering around the township.

One of the new houses. A large majority of these residents work and many of them are taught new job skills.

The corrugated metal church. The are also taught mosaic tile skills and their work is on the column and the stairs of the church. My eyeglass frame is unfortunately right in the middle of the picture.

Next, we took a boat out to Duiker Island. A seal colony of about 6,000 live on this tiny, rocky island.

Although we would like to think that the seals are waving at us, they're not. They raise their fin out of the water which in order to warm the blood that is in their fin. This, in turn, warms their body as the blood circulates throughout their body.

The Mouille Point Lighthouse that was built in 1824 and is still a functioning lighthouse.

A closer look at the stadium in downtown Cape Town that is being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. You can see the cranes on the left side of the stadium still working on it.

We bought 2 wooden maps (one of Africa and one of Europe). This man makes the maps and cuts them out himself.

Cape Town, South Africa

2010-01-18T17:56:00.054+01:00

Table Mountain is the iconic symbol of Cape Town. It is more than 3000 feet in height. This is our view driving up to the Aerial Cablecar. We decided NOT to hike up because we're lazy and totally out of shape!

Views from the cablecar...

The views are amazing on top of this mountain! The Atlantic Ocean in the background...

The animal below is the dassie and they are all over Table Top Mountain. Obviously, they are very used to humans!

You can see Green Point Stadium behind between the mountain and Table Bay. This is the stadium that is being built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (soccer). Beyond that is Robben Island which held political prisoners here as early as 1636. Nelson Mandela was held here as well and the last political prisoners were released in 1991.

We're now at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. In 1860, Queen Victoria's second son, Alfred, dumped a ceremonial bucket of stones into the sea which initiated the constructions of Cape Town's harbor.

Statues of the 4 Nobel Peace prize recipients from South Africa (and Tom). From left to right - Albert Luthceli, Desmond Tutu, Tom, PW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

We saw a great concert by Saint Fearless - a South African band.

Views of Table Top Mountain from the V&A waterfront...

Meanwhile...back in Paris...

2010-01-17T21:40:00.000+01:00

Bob has apparently NOT been missing us. He had Thursday and Friday off from school and during the last 3 days he's had SO much fun that he spent the entire day on Sunday (today) sleeping. He's been out with his friends and has had friend sleeping over.

On Friday, Bob went with his physics class to a town near Geneva, Switzerland to a laboratory called CERN. At CERN, is the world's largest particle physics lab. This includes the largest Hadron collider which is 100 meters underground. His class was given a private tour and Bob was blown away by the technology and the size of the lab.

The picture below depicts the track of the underground Hadron collider which is a ring that is 27 kilometers long!

* The above pictures were taken off the internet

South Africa

2010-01-17T21:16:00.000+01:00

January 16th - We arrived in Cape Town, South Africa!!!

Dubai - January 15th

2010-01-17T21:10:00.000+01:00

The Dubai Museum is located in the Al-Fahidi Fort

The Grand Mosque which has the tallest minaret in Dubai.

Shopping at a Souk....

We took the most amazing desert tour. It included dune bashing, camel riding, Henna tattoos and eating at a Bedouin village.

Lost already???

The "dune bashing" was a blast! We spent hours soaring up and down dunes. In case you were wondering...NO, Tom was not driving!! We had a professional driver that took us.

A good picture of my new highlights....err..I mean my new "natural" color.

The Bedouin village..

My camel tattoo...

I love Dubai!!!!!

Dubai

2010-01-16T21:10:00.004+01:00

The architecture in Dubai is so different from Paris. We've been having a wonderful time here.

Below is the Jumeriah Mosque.

Gorgeous beaches...

The Burg Al Arab. This 7 star hotel (the only 7 star hotel in the world) sits on an artificial island which is 300 meters from the shore. This sail shaped hotel was the symbol of Dubai until the Burg Khalifa officially opened this month.

The Palm Islands are so incredible to see in person. These artificial islands have added more than 520 kilometers of beaches to Dubai. Picture taken off the internet.

The Atlantis Hotel is at the breakwater at the top of the Palm. We had to go to the top of the Palm and then take a tunnel to get to it.

Inside the Atlantis Hotel...

Amazing architecture all over the city...

It may appear that we are in St. Moritz, but actually we are the Mall of the Emirates at their indoor ski slope.

The Burj Khalifa is not really that tall since I can touch the top of it. Actually, Tom was laying on the ground to get this picture (sorry about my quaduple chin!). The Burg Khalifa is now the world's tallest building at 2717 feet tall.

We took this pictures on a sunset boat trip on a traditional wooden Arabic Dhow. The reflection off this building is incredible.

Dubai ! !

2010-01-14T19:20:00.000+01:00

Not ice and snow in Paris...
Not an air traffic controllers strike in Paris....
Not major signal problems on the RER B...
Not air traffic congestion in Dubai which caused us to circle and circle and circle...
Could keep us from Dubai!!

We arrived some time after 1am...got to the hotel after 2am...

Spent 1 full day here so far and we LOVE Dubai !! It's sunny and the temperatures are in the 80's and everyone is so incredibly friendly.

More pictures to come...having internet issues...

Burgers!!

2010-01-10T21:43:00.001+01:00

Tom and Bob were craving bacon cheeseburgers so we headed out to Morgan's Diner. Morgan's Diner is about a 1/2 mile walk from our flat.

Cute messages written on cars.

Except for the French wine, how American is this diner!!

My delicious smoked salmon and avocado club sandwich...

This burger is "properly" eaten with a knife and fork...

Bob's burger...he just can't seem to get the hang of eating a burger with a knife and fork.

A rootbeer float for dessert!!

Do I have a sign on my back that says "Please hit me with a snowball"?!?!

Need a change??

2010-01-08T18:18:00.000+01:00

The temperature at my phamacy yesterday was 1°C (or about 35°F).

Look!! Helsinki Finland for only 39€!!

Or..Ajaccio/Bastia on the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean!! I think I would prefer Corsica at this time of year.

It's that time again!!

2010-01-08T17:33:00.000+01:00

Soldes = big sales !!

5 weeks of sales with the prices getting cheaper and cheaper!!

I've done my small part to help the French economy...when in Paris....

Bob's New Year's Eve in Paris

2010-01-02T18:40:00.000+01:00

Bob's New Year's Eve started at about 7pm. He met a bunch of friends at a restaurant for dinner and drinks. Then they headed to another bar on the Seine River in central Paris for drinks. Next, they headed to a bar/dance club where they met up with about 35 other kids from their school. Bob finally arrived home at around 5am...oh.... to be a teenager in Paris!!! Oo la la!

Happy New Year's !!!!

2010-01-02T18:32:00.000+01:00

Once again, we had a wonderful time at chez Cynthia and Mark. Since, they had just traveled to the Middle East (Jordan, Syria and Lebanon), we had delicious Middle Eastern cuisine! It was so good!

Hmmm...Hélène seems so sweet but...notice the knife in her hand!! ;-)

At 11:50pm, we headed down to the end of the block where we had a full view of the Eiffel Tower! The light show was spectacular once again. The below picture was taken off the internet. I really, really, really have to learn how to use my camera!!

Arrived back home at...

Thank you again to Cynthia and Mark for a fantastic evening!

An Afternoon with Friends

2009-12-31T17:39:00.000+01:00

I met with friends for a delicious cup of coffee at the Malongo Café (50, rue Saint André des Arts).

After coffee, we went for a wonderful walk around the St. Germain des Prés and St. Michel area.

Fête !!

2009-12-28T18:11:00.000+01:00

Our flat door welcoming our friends from Hungary, Japan, Canada, India, France and the U.S.

Saucisson...

Bourbon hotdogs that didn't explode in our oven!!

Bob is always the "problem" - doesn't enjoy being on my blog...

Leesa brought the delicious meringue delicacies from Strasbourg - really, really good!

Prague, Czech Republic

2009-12-24T16:55:00.001+01:00

Yes...we did arrive in Prague at 3:55 AM!!! We were supposed to arrive at 9:30pm but due to weather and other problems, we were delayed slightly. We flew on Czech Airlines and they were absolutely wonderful.

Tom and I love Prague - it's a wonderful city and the people are so warm and friendly. Below, Tom is in Wenceslas Square. St Wenceslas is the Czechs' patron saint and the Good King Wenceslas of Christmas carol fame.

The astronomical clock...tells current time as well as relating the movement of the planets around the earth and the sun through the signs of the zodiac.

On a boat on the Vltava-Moldau - a river that goes through Prague.

Entering Prazsky Hrad (Prague Castle) which is the biggest castle complex in the world. Our guide, Radek, in the blue jacket, was so knowledgeable and funny.

Changing of the guard at the castle...

The metro and tram system made getting around the city very easy - once you got used to the language.

FYI...how to say hot, mulled wine in Czech...

The Christmas market in Staromestské Namesti (Old Town Square). We love these dough-like tube things that are dipped in cinnamon, sugar and other delicious things. Yum!!

It was so cold in Prague that there were also polar bears there and they were extremely friendly!!

I wonder who selected our hotel for this trip?? It was called the U Medvidku Brewery AND Hotel. We could eat, drink and sleep without having to go outside!!

There was even this beer thingy in the hotel lobby!!

Actually, this hotel was wonderful. It was within walking distance to most everything in Prague and just a block away from the metro and tram stops. In addition, we had made reservations for a car from the hotel to pick us up at the airport and he was there at 4AM waiting for us!! What a great trip!