A red city, Bologna

We walked out of a restaurant after dinner and saw the moon shining over this church. I couldn't pass it up, I had to take this picture. Wow! Such is the stuff of life, in the end, all we do is make memories, whether happy or sad ones. I went to Bologna because I read it is red and I like red. Is that enough reason to visit? I think so. Bologna is very different from other Italian cities, it is more laid back and easier to get around. It's fun walking in the colonnaded arcades of the red buildings. There are a few world class museums that are obscure and well worth visiting.

Basilica San Vitale, Ravenna

One would have missed out a lot if one has not seen this and many of the fine examples of Byzantine art and architecture. I visited Ravenna a few years after Sicily. In Sicily I saw some gorgeous Byzantine mosaics and these dates much later than the Ravenna mosaics. The cathedral at Monreale just outside Palermo is so incredible, though they have been restored, doesn't in any way diminish their importance. The mosaics at the Palatine chapel in Palermo, though on a much smaller scale is also very spectacular. We visited at a time when they were restoring them but they did leave the chapel opened to visitors. The importance of the Ravenna mosaics is they are an important example of very early Christian Byzantine art and architecture in Western Europe, the other early ones being in the East, in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople. The church in Ravenna was begun in 527 and completed in 548. It is the only major church to have survived in such a pristine condition from the period of Emperor Justinian. Justinian and his wife, Theodora is featured prominently in the mosaics adorning the interior of the church.They are absolutely amazing.

Funny moments 2

We attracted so much attention sitting on a horse and buggy with our Egyptian driver. It was funny. Everywhere we went, there were people pointing their cameras at us. I remember when we first rode into traffic, it was so strange, there were cars wheezing by but we just went till we got to the Giza pyramids. Even at the pyramids, we were as much a spectacle as the pyramids themselves. We came upon this group of Egyptian school kids and those that had a camera phone were taking our picture even as we were taking pictures of them. It was priceless.

Funny moments

I still laugh at this incident each time I'm reminded of it. In June 2009 I was in Yunnan, a province in Southern China. I went out to the countryside with a lady taxi driver. She wasn't Chinese of the Han race but she is Nasi, one of the many minorities of China. This little place was called Lijiang and people of the Nasi race predominates. Here I was out in the fields with the natives when I happened upon these 2 Nasi villagers. The younger lady picked up this heavy load of rice and started running and hauling it away while the older one ran behind her. I was chasing them to take a picture of them at the side and if possible from the front. I remembered, trying so hard and not being able to keep up with them both. They left me in the dust and I had to be happy with this picture of them from the backside.

Caltagirone, Sicily

In between trips, I'm looking at old pictures in my computer. I found these of Caltagirone, a little Sicilian village near Catania. I remember we took the train from Catania. It is famous for tile making. There is this steep staircase which was originally built as a road but it was too steep. So steps were cut into it and the tiled the whole thing, each step with a different pattern. It was a tough climb to the top. The top is filled with Baroque churches and the view is so magnificent. This sure brings back happy memories.

Giza

Are you having fun yet? Well, I am and I was when this picture was taken about 18 months ago. It's been almost 6 months since our trip to Morocco and I can't wait to get out again. In 2 weeks we'll be leaving for Turkey. I'm finalizing the trip and am almost to the point of packing. It was surreal as we drove closer to the pyramids, first it's just a glimpse through the palm trees and you realise, 'oh my god, they're real and I'm looking at them up close!' It still feel a little surreal. I'll never forget that moment, the moment I first set my eyes on them! I've worked so hard so I can afford these trips and I've enjoyed every one of them. This world is an amazing place.

It's so Sicily

I wished these were mangoes but they are not. They are the fruit of a cactus called fiche or something like that. The first thing that is striking about Sicily are these ubiquitous cactus, they are everywhere and it's no wonder that their fruit ripen, they are being sold all over the place. I've never tasted any of these. I read they are pretty sweet and has lots of seeds. I read somewhere that this guy ate so much that the seeds gave him compacted stools. I've seen these cactus in Southern California too. I don't know if anyone ever eat the fruit. What would I do if these were mangoes. I remember at an airport in Southern China, they sold mangoes. I bought one, paid for it and the fruit seller, then, peeled, sliced it and place it in a plastic bag. I then ate from the plastic bag. Mmmmmmm.... I love mangoes.

Labor day

A mixed berry clafoutiPanna cotta with raspberry saucePacking for Turkey

Labor day in the US is celebrated on the first monday of September unlike other places in the world. I heard on the radio someone saying, 'we don't celebrate May 1 as labor day, it's the day communist and socialist countries celebrate as their labor day'. The first labor day in the US was celebrated on September 5, 1882. The young nation of the USA wanted to blaze their own trail and has been ever since. We celebrated labor day yesterday with a BBQ because tomorrow, the real labor day, I have to work.

I found some great quotes about labor....
'God sells all things at the price of labor' Leonardo da vinci

'Without labor nothing prospers' Sophocles

'The end of labor is to gain leisure' Aristotle

Have a wonderful labor day. I'll be laboring on labor day!