Short post today; instead of paragraphs of text, you’ll receive a visual tour of Skopje, Macedonia’s crazy construction sites, sculptures, and public buses that would make you think you’ve woken up in Wee Britain. Continue Reading…
One of my favorite preschool memories: snipping pictures from magazines and pasting them up to create my very own book of colors. One of my favorite childhood ditties: “Red and yellow and pink and green…purple and orange and blue…I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too…”
To this day, I get a kick out of ROY G. BIV, and, yes, I color code my iPhone apps.
No surprise that the compulsive, creative artist/organizer in me loved receiving Paul’s nomination to participate in the Capture the Colo(u)r themed photo contest. Funny, though, sorting through six months of travel memories to find five photos turned quickly into hours of nostalgia spent scrolling through more than a few snapshots from home. Little square mobile pics reminded me of many good memories and great friends, and they looked so cute in a rainbow row…
For contest entries and competition details, please scroll down farther, but for a side-tracked walk down iPhone-memory-lane, indulge me and stay up here just a wee bit longer:
Destinations, Montenegro
Settlers of Kotor: Climbing Ancient Fortifications (and Scheming Up Board Game Expansion Packs)
July 12, 2012
High atop the Mountain of St. John, ancient stonework fortifications dating back to Emperor Justinian’s 6th century construction projects overlook Stari Grad, the old town of Kotor, Montenegro. The secured land is prime real estate located directly above the valuable eastern European port city on the Bay of Kotor at one of the farthest inland points of the Adriatic Sea.
If the spot was on the Settlers of Catan game board, I’d claim it on my first turn. A sea port with mountain access, and industries of art, gold, masonry, iconography, and architecture? Yes, please. Continue Reading…
Destinations, Food, Montenegro
Kotor, Montenegro: The City We’d Never Heard Of and Olives We’ll Never Forget
July 10, 2012
Kotor, Montenegro bears a truly impressive setting and a mind-boggling, complex history. I’ll admit (same song, second verse) to not knowing anything at all about the city or the region prior to our grand overland experiment. Each new visit to a place inspires research and learning (same song, third verse?), and here’s the smattering I’ve pieced together about this corner of the world: Continue Reading…
Dilemma: We’re in Croatia. We need to get to Lebanon.
Do we A) pay for fast plane tickets or B) take the same money and divvy it up between bus rides, accommodations, food, and a cheaper, shorter flight from northeastern Greece and gain visits to Montenegro, Macedonia, and Greece (interspersed with brief stops in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Cyprus) in exchange for roughing-it on a few more bumpy roads?
For Choice A, turn to page 37. For Choice B, turn to page 73. (Kidding, kidding…but if there was a page 73, that’s where we’d be!)
Our decision: Overland through Eastern Europe. For nearly the same cost as two tickets, we gained a ten day visit to new-to-us corners of the world.
During our single day visit to Dubrovnik, Croatia on the way south to Montenegro, we managed to find the best food inside Dubrovnik’s old city walls and the best pastime just a ferry ride away at calm, peaceful, crowd-free Lokrum Island where its kaleidoscope of green and gold light waves and sea stones sends shimmering invitations to swimmers and sunbathers alike.
My only impression of Dubrovnik before arrival was something of a cross between spy rendezvous spot and Alias-style black screen with grunge lettering spelling out D-U-B-R-O-V-N-I-K to the sound of J.J. Abrams’ trademarked techno music. Eastern Europe continues to reveal my shameful ignorance of place and laughable alter ego as CIA agent.
Our single-day visit (and my subsequent Google spree) cleared up a few misunderstandings and made me wish for a masters in medieval history. Continue Reading…
Destinations, Musings, South Africa
Weekend Update: In Midair Above the African Continent
July 1, 2012A short note this weekend. Our Mediterranean days have come to a close.
This post goes live while we’re (hopefully) flying peacefully through the air on a long trail stretching between Cairo, Egypt and Johannesburg, South Africa. We’ll have started the trip on a June Saturday night in Beirut, Lebanon and we’ll finish the final transfer to emerge in Cape Town, S.A. on Sunday the 1st of July: our sixth anniversary.
The last time we crossed this much distance, we did it the deluxe way: sixteen days on a couple-thousand mile journey across the Atlantic. This time, without bursting too far through time zones, we’re entering the Southern Hemisphere for the second time this year, and jumping from summer to winter in a matter of hours in one of those modern-marvel tubes of steel. Continue Reading…
One of my favorite pictures from Croatia is an iPhone snapshot: Ted and Tony, chilling on the Drasnice waterfront with afternoon drinks and faux-gardettos.
At this point in the trip, we were winding down from our Italian race, grateful to show up in a little town of 200 people and be greeted by travel friends Meg and Tony who could show us the best of the sleepy beachfront bar, afternoon espressos, and Adriatic sunsets and also make time for an adventure or two. Continue Reading…
Had you asked me about travel in Croatia before this year of visiting countries around the world, I’d have given you a blank look. Aside from briefly memorizing the open-jaw jigsaw puzzle piece shape to pass my junior high geography course, I didn’t carry much context for the Croatian landscape, food culture, or travel scene.
Ask me now, after spending a week and a half renting an apartment in Croatia on the shoreline of the Adriatic, and I’ll tell you how this beautiful little country hugs the water, grows fresh vegetables, serves up tasty fish, and caters to travelers seeking peace and calm and beachfront hideaways (provided they know to come before tourism season kicks into full swing!). Continue Reading…
Destinations, Lebanon, Musings, Weekend Update
Weekend Update: Ain el Mreisseh to Achrafieh
June 24, 2012Through heat and sweat and humid smoggy air, I marched my way out the back door and eastward toward an ice cream shop on the other side of town.
Mission: to meet with a friend-of-a-friend and again bring Twitter to life.
This is how I found myself crossing Beirut solo, leaving Ted to rest at home in the shade and breeze of a balcony-boasting apartment.
