Dive #50

I officially reached my 50th dive in Kauai.  I consider this an important milestone as this now makes me an experienced diver.  Even though I have already been to some pretty advanced diving sites such as diving in the Galapagos, it's a nice whole number.  I can now be allowed to dive the Blue Hole in Belize!!!  Dive #50 occurred in the Sheraton Caverns, a dive site I have been to in my previous visit to Kauai.  But I didn't remember seeing as many green turtles as I did on this occasion.  They were everywhere!
 

Kealia Landing, Kapa'a, Kauai

I apologize for the delay in posting more photos of my getaway to Hawaii.  But here it is.....We rented this fabulous three-bedroom house, overlooking Kapa'a beach.  The ocean view is stunning and the whales can be seen breaching right in front of us every morning.  That was my favourite part about having breakfast with the beautiful ocean beckoning us.  At night, we would keep the sliding doors open so we could hear the ocean lulling us to sleep.  This place was a slice of paradise.  I hope to return again to this beautiful home soon.

R & R in Idyllic Kauai

The morning of our departure, our flight got delayed due to frigid temperatures.  The wings had to be de-iced before we could take off.  I'd never seen this done before so it was really cool to watch as the de-icing machine goes back and forth along the arms of the plane.

 



 Goodbye cold!

 

And ten hours later........aloha sunshine!!!

A Break from the Snow

I was never a huge fan of the cold or snow for that matter.  The only reason why I go outside my house in the winter is to walk my dog, Tia or take her out to the neighbourhood off-leash park.  So I am looking forward to being in Hawaii in the next few days and hopefully getting a few more dives under my belt.  I'll try and post the pics as soon as I return.....so in the meantime, ciao!! 

Figueres and Cadaques Excursion

Entrance to the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres.

Dali's crypt.

One half of the very large ceiling painting, The Palace of the Wind, depicting Dali and his wife, Gala, ascending to the heavens.





This was a massive statue of what appears to be an Amazon standing on top of a cadillac.  Most impressive.

A beautiful and scenic drive along the Catalonian coast to Cadaques.

The coastal town of Cadaques, a sleepy fishing village often frequented by Dali during his childhood.

More Barcelona Sights.....

Other fine examples of Antoni Gaudi's work can be appreciated in his fairytale residence-turned-garden, Parc Guell.  It is easy to get lost amongst the serpentine terraces and gigantic collonades.  I imagine this place is a zoo during peak tourist season, but in January, quite a pleasant promenade.  The blueprint of the entire park is vast and you can spend an entire day here, admiring all the glass mosaics that are hallmarks of Gaudi's hand.

Winter in Barcelona

The city of Barcelona has an indelible hold on my heart.  What's not to love?  The culture, the food, the beautiful people and most of all, the art.  It is everywhere.  There is nothing drab about this city and the best place to see it all is on foot.  The last time I was here was a decade ago and it is as stunning as I remembered it to be.  I spent an entire week just living like a typical Catalonian: indulging in a charcuterie plate of manchego cheese drizzled with honey and Andalusian cured meats with a glass of a bold red Spanish wine, shopping along the boutiques that line Gran Via and people watching.  December in this city is a little brisk in the morning but by mid-afternoon, it is a balmy 15 degrees Celsius.  I do not ever recall experiencing rain in Barcelona.  In my mind, it is always blue skies and sunshine.  This is Casa Batllo, a product of Antoni Gaudi's whimsical creative genius, interspersed among the ordinary buildings along Passeig de Gracia.  The structure is most dramatic to behold at night where the facade explodes in a three dimensional pot-pourri of coloured glass and organic shapes.

Alice Through Coloured Glass Mosaics

 

 

 

 

When not scuba diving in Utila (which was rare), I did have some time to explore the local scene, much of which was closed during the hot, lazy afternoons anyway.  But if anything should get me out of my mid-day siesta, it is a foray to the Jade Seahorse, an Alice-in-Wonderland-esque bar/restaurant/hotel, tucked away in one of the many small, quiet streets of the island.  If you can withstand the mosquitoes (and for some reason, they love me), the bar is the place to be when the sun goes down. 

More Big Fish

After numerous attempts to catch up to these extremely bashful sharks, it dawned on me that I was missing out on the pure joy of just being in the same waters with these magnificent beasts.  So I put away my camera and simply enjoyed the scenery.  At one point, I was very close to a juvenile whale shark, which was about 20 ft long (yes, juvenile).   It had been gaining momentum and swimming rapidly away from me when all of a sudden, it had a change of heart and circled back.  I then found myself face to face with this gentle giant and for that fleeting moment, nothing else mattered.  It was such a humbling experience to be that close to nature, I could barely contain myself.  I felt very blessed.

A Very Big Fish

I indeed made it down to Utila, Honduras for a week of scuba diving and whale shark watching.  And while I caught my connection in Atlanta with only 5 minutes to spare prior to departure, my luggage did not.  It took 2 days for my stuff to arrive.  I did not have any toiletries in my hand carry (lesson learned), no sunblock and worse of all (gasp), no hair brush!!!  Of course, we were on a tight schedule with four dives a day, I was badly sunburned by Day 1.  I had the most attractive short tan from a shortie wet suit I had to rent because none of my dive gear made it with me until a couple of days after I arrived.  Nevertheless, I made the best of a bad situation.  Met some very friendly Americans during my stay and they were kind enough to lend me some hair stuff and toothpaste.

The diving in Utila is spectacular.  The aquatic life is absolutely pristine and healthy.  I manage to catch some whale sharks too, along the way.  But these large pelagics are extremely shy and easily startled.  I was lucky to even catch one on camera. 

A fresh start

I am marking a fresh start with the intent of keeping this blog alive despite my extended hiatus.  Been so busy with work and life and home renovations, I barely had time to upload photos, let alone put them together into a blog!  Notwithstanding, I am making the effort to post more pics about my travels and adventures, local and abroad.  And so to new beginnings....

Marrakech

I often travel with two of my closest girlfriends and one of the "must dos" when you find yourself in Marrakech is to visit a real hammam. We had the full treatment, where we were stripped naked and scrubbed down, rinsed and then allowed to relax in a steam bath. Once we were all loosened up, we had a full body massage, then had some henna tattooed on our bodies. Voila!

This hammam was found in the heart of a labyrinthian souq. I'm not even sure how we navigated our way to the area and managed to come out okay.

Jamaa el Fnaa at night. During the daytime, the square is bustling with vendors and snake charmers. But at night, the real enterainment comes alive with fire and live music. The smell is intoxicating. People-watching from the top of a cafe in the medina, while nursing a soothing cup of Turkish coffee.

Volubilis

We took a fabulous half-day excursion from Meknes. Volubilis is well-known for having the largest and most well-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco. Although most of the structures have crumbled from the many centuries of neglect, the mosaics remain absolutely stunning.

In the Sahara....

One night in the desert. It was tranquility with not a single city light to be seen. There must have been a billion stars that came out that night. We stayed in a Touareg's tent where they served us tagine and sang songs of love and nature. We drank mint tea and stayed up as long as we could.

A sandstorm on the way to the Sahara. The tiny bits of sand can really cut through skin in no time. My lower legs were exposed so I suffered the sting. Luckily I had my scarf to protect my face.

Ryad Bahia

In Meknes, I met an incredibly fascinating woman named Bouchra Jamai who together with her husband, ran this ryad within the medina. She was not only highly-educated, speaking 5 languages, but she was also very well-travelled. This is her ryad, the Ryad Bahia. When you are in Morocco, you must stay in one of these traditional style town houses. They are beautiful and give you a sense of being in an Arabic country. I'm afraid my photos probably do not do justice to the splendour of this dwelling but at least you get the picture.

Overcast morning in Tangier

I will never forget the first morning I found myself in Morocco. I was awoken to the blair of sirens: A call to prayer at dawn. It was still dark outside and my friends and I were recovering still from a turbulent ferry ride across the Strait of Gibraltar the night before. We came by way of Tarifa in Spain. This used to be a conduit reserved only for EU passport holders so we had the privilege of being one of the first few non-EU tourists to make the crossing. This photo was taken from the terrace of Hotel Continental, perched high above the port.

AGO - King Tut's Treasures

I just love how much light this place allows because of all the big windows. I wish I could do this for my new house!

This was supposedly a piece of art. Not sure of what though.

I recently visited the AGO for King Tut's Treasures. I couldn't take any photos inside so I took photos of the outside instead. Even then, I had to be careful of what images I could snap. I had not been to the AGO since Frank Ghery's makeover but it was a nice treat. Reminded me of the interior of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, except of course, no titanium walls.